CHRISTEPHI

I fell down a rabbit hole last night. Does that ever happen to you? You're innocently poking around the internet and the next thing you know you're hours deep with 15 browser tabs open researching something.  What was I researching, you ask?  High school electives.  Yes, my eldest is only in sixth grade this year, but I've been working on making some curriculum choices for her for next year. Since next year will be her seventh grade year, and seventh grade leads to eight grade which leads to high school, you begin to see how this all happened.   High school is a whole different ball game where each year is tied to the others with a whole progressive course of study to be plotted out! So, down the rabbit hole I went. And I made some exciting discoveries! Not only did I sketch out a basic plan for my kids' high school years -- an endeavor made supremely easy by My Father's World -- but I discovered some really fun elective programs available to homeschoolers...

Every so often I like to pose a STEM challenge to one or both of my kids. We've done some really fun challenges like building bridges strong enough to support 100 pennies with just 3 notecards and some tape.  I recently ran across a post where they used a clothesline and pulley to construct a Lego zip line. Since the kids' nana had just recently given them a set of  Classic Legos , this seemed right up E's alley.  And boy, was I right! First we looked for a plastic clothesline pulley at Walmart, but they didn't have any. Then we went to a small local hardware store, but only found expensive metal ones. So we tried a big name hardware store and finally hit the jackpot! Pulley: $2.38 Clothesline: $2.78 You could buy them on Amazon here and here , but they are more expensive there. Next he had to build a platform and figure out how to attach it to the pulley. Then he tested his contraption and discovered it arrived at its destin...

Last year while on my blogging hiatus, I did something crazy. I planned meals out an entire month or more in advance!   And it was heavenly. I give a lot of myself during a typical school day. My energies are consumed with many, many details. Did this child read today? Did she understand math? How many minutes did that lesson take? Do I need to supplement this topic? How long until they need a break? Did we cover everything? Is that spelled correctly? What is 7x12? How are we doing for time? Did I take my vitamins? Do we need to be anywhere today? And on and on.  By the time our lessons are over, I am frequently suffering from decision fatigue. I just cannot make choices about what we will eat for supper.  I will literally stand in front of the fridge or cupboard staring at ingredients for 15 minutes, then give up and order Jimmy John's. To relive myself of this burden, I have discovered that having a meal plan in place is essential. I have enough physical energy t...

Eight weeks. That's how long our break from school will be by the time we start back after New Year's. It's been such a wonderful break -- much needed!  But our time off is drawing to a close and in these final weeks a good deal of my time is being spent planning our year. I love starting a new school year in January!

We are now a little over halfway through Creation to the Greeks and MFW First Grade. As you may have noticed, I dropped off blogging every week as I expected I would. It's easier to blog when the days are short and cold, but much harder to find time for it once spring arrives and we're out gardening and such in our spare time.  I wouldn't have it any other way!  If you wish to keep up with our weekly doings, you'll have to follow my Facebook page which is updated almost every day that we do school! So, now that we're on the downhill side of the year, I thought I would write a little about what has worked well for us this year and what hasn't. Our planners Back in January I copied the grid pages from my CTG and First Grade teacher's manuals and assembled them into a lesson planner for the year. (Remember: MFW allows for photocopying of the grid pages for planning and record keeping as long as you agree to never loan, give, or sell the teacher's ma...

Here are ten reasons we school year round and what that looks like for us. 1. Enjoying the outdoors. We take longer breaks in the spring and fall when the weather is perfect .  Unless you live near the beach (in which case, pat yourself on the back and move on to number two), you are pretty much guaranteed to have miserably hot summers and possibly even bitter cold winters.  It’s generally a lot more pleasant to be indoors draped over the air conditioner hitting the books in July and August than it is to be out and about.  At least that’s the case here in Missouri! 2. Celebrate! We get to take the entire holiday season off!  That means more time for holiday gatherings, singing carols, and really focusing on the reason for the season.  This year we will break from the second week of November through the first or second week of January giving us plenty of time to prepare for and celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New ...

Minecraft. It's everywhere. You've seen it advertised. You've heard of people playing it. But what exactly is Minecraft and how can it be used in your homeschool?  Is there violence?  What age is it appropriate for?  In what way is it educational? At its most basic Minecraft is an open world of unlimited building blocks, essentially an unlimited supply of digital LEGO.  You play the game as Steve in a world consisting entirely of blocks: block trees, block mountains, block clouds, even a brilliant block sun.  You interact with your world by breaking (mining) blocks and placing them in any way you wish.  If you mine a tree, you get wood. If you mine the ground, you get different dirt or sand or stone, etc.  If you keep going you may find some more desirable items such as coal, iron, or even diamonds and emeralds.  These raw materials can be used to build or combined and crafted into new items such as iron ore being smelted into iron ingots ...

We had another wonderful week learning about what happened to Noah and his family after the Flood, and about Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent. On Monday we learned how to make a quick sketch of the Bible Lands using the silly sentence, "E.T. purrs in the red nile med."  The kids thought this was hilarious and really enjoyed their newfound map drawing abilities.  I even found tiny Bible Lands drawn on some math pages this week. We worked together to craft a summary of Noah for their notebooks. I wrote it for Mister E's and Miss M typed hers on the computer, printed it out, and pasted it on. I think I own every reproducible Bible times coloring book out there. The kids love picking out a picture to color while I read to them. Mister E said Noah got really dirty while building the ark, that's why he colored so much dirt on him. And his skin was brown because he worked outside in the sun so much that he got "toasted. We added an...

Looking back on our second week of school this year, I see that we have become a little more comfortable with the process. Our days are proceeding more smoothly; we are transitioning from one subject to the next with less fumbling; and we are able to tighten up our schedule somewhat.  That's a good thing because even though we had fun last week, each day seemed to take forever! Mister E is pretty resistant to the increased workload of first grade versus kindergarten.  He's not very gung-ho about writing or worksheets or reading books. (He already knows how to read quite well, just doesn't choose to spend his time doing so). Since he's only six, I am trying to keep things pretty light. My main goal for him this year is to improve his handwriting, so I try to give him lots of fine motor activities.  Thankfully he loves Legos and spends quite a bit of time with those during his free time, so I know the fine motor skills will come up to par in time. ...