CHRISTEPHI

I started the week by sorting a whole bunch of library books I got for the next couple weeks.  I love our library!  And so far this year I've only had to pay less than 50 cents in library fines.  Considering I consistently have over 50 books checked out at a time…that's pretty good!  It helps that I can manage our books, due dates, holds, and renewals online!! We learned about the Santa Fe Trail, Oregon Trail, and the Gold Rush this week.  Many people in our area made a lot of money outfitting wagon trains headed west.  William M. Paxton, who recorded the history of this area 150 years ago, said that of the many people who left our county with gold fever, most were never heard from again.  Very few returned, most died, a small handful made it rich and stayed out West.  He lamented the loss of so many of the county's fine people. We have two student desks, a child-sized table, and a spacious kitchen table…yet Miss M consistently choos...

Hello again!  We're glad you're joining us on our adventures!  This week we traveled from Iowa to Wisconsin and then on to the California Gold Rush! We had a fantastic time marching around the kitchen singing "You're a Grand Old Flag" and listening to "Stars and Stripes Forever."  When I first started marching, the kids looked at me like I was nuts , but it wasn't long before they joined in on the fun! In science we learned about atoms and molecules.  Frankly, I think the whole concept went a little over Miss M's head, but she had fun anyway.  We built H2O molecules out of marshmallows and toothpicks and filled a cup with them. A "water molecule" made of 1 large hydrogen marshmallow and 2 small oxygen molecules. Then, when Hubby came home, Miss M presented him with a glass of "water."  It was quite a hoot! Friday was a nice day with a whole string of hot days in the forecast, so we made sure to take a nice ...

When two small children wake up in the morning and ask for a tea party for breakfast, sometimes their mama just has to say yes. Our Monday morning lessons were attended by a feathery visitor, this beautiful young oriole.  It was content to stay there for 15 minutes or more! Last week at the museum we got to see a telegraph machine and this week in history we learned all about Samuel Morse!  We also learned about Florida and Texas. Miss M got a new Bible verse this week and learned that Jesus is the Lord of lords and the King of kings.  To honor His position as the authority over all authorities, she made a royal crown.  To prepare for this craft, she made a whole bunch of glue dots with Elmer's school glue on an aluminum foil covered cookie sheet. We let the glue sit until it was completely dry, about 24 hours.  Then Miss M colored each dot with Crayola markers.  I wasn't at all sure this process would work, but it came off witho...

Our week for studying Missouri finally arrived!  Along with it: Maine, Arkansas, and Michigan.  We skipped the taste testing scheduled on Wednesday in favor of some character training due to bad attitudes (both kids' and mama's).  She did it before in 1st grade anyway, so no big loss. Somehow, I managed to get through the whole week without taking a single photo!  Not sure how that happened…but to make up for it, I brought my camera along on our field trip to the Pony Express Museum in St. Joe, Missouri.  (It's actually St. Joseph, but no one around here actually calls it that…not if they're natives anyway!) We listened to Adventures in Odyssey on CD on our drive to St. Joe.  Everyone, even Hubby, got caught up in the story.  When I was about 8, we didn't have a TV at our new home in Florida.  We didn't know anybody and didn't have any neighbors.  There certainly wasn't any internet to entertain us then either.  I remember lis...

I got a bit behind in my blogging about our weekly Adventures!  I'm going to catch up now because I know there are lots of other homeschool mamas out there looking for ideas and inspiration in their own homeschool adventures.  I hope to stay caught up after that! This week we learned about George Washington Carver.  He was an African-American scientist who developed hundreds of uses for peanuts, soy beans, pecans, and sweet potatoes.  His innovations were a great boon to southern farmers.  To honor his contribution to history, we made sweet potato pie. Miss M mashing sweet potatoes for sweet potato pie. The recipe was included in our Teacher's Manual for Adventures in U.S. History by My Father's World.  And oh, my stars!  It is so good!! Delicious sweet potato pie! We learned about why a body needs a head and why Jesus is called the head of the church.  The human body is one of Miss M's favorite subjects and she spent several ho...