TYSC Weekly Experiment

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Young-Scientists-Club/170174354854

TYSC Weekly Experiment BENDING WATER

Materials Needed: balloon and a faucet

Methods:
... 1. Blow up a balloon.
2. Rub the balloon all over your hair to make it static!
3. Turn on your faucet so that a constant but small stream of water comes out.
4. Move your balloon very close to the stream of water but make sure that you don’t touch the water.
5. Observe what happens to the stream of water!

Post your results with photos!

We will post experiment explanations on Mondays, but look forward to hearing from you first through posts and photos.

 

 

So first we needed to charge the balloon....Micah was a great sport!

 

Next we put it to the stream of water to see that the stream would pull towards the balloon, however that is hard to capture on camera.

 



 

Very cool little experiment to do today!  Easy schooling after the holidays!

Sadness All Around

Tis' the season to be jolly?!  I can't help but have an issue with being jolly.  I do not know the kids that got killed but I do have a 7 year old and a 6 year old.  This breaks my heart that this has happened.  People I see are blaming it on the guy having a mental issue, that doesn't make it normal for him to kill KIDS.  Being mad at the school is no right to kill these babies.  What are these parents going to do with presents under their tree and fun traditions planned with those babies?  What are these babies that survived going to do when they have to go back into that school and remember those sounds and those images?  As an adult I have a hard time with those things, I can not even go in the home that my brother passed away in.  How is a CHILD going to do it?  They are going to have no choice but to go back into that school and those memories.  I pray for these souls and for the families.  I am thankful I have my babies home with me everyday so that I can spend as much time with them as possible.  It will not be long before they are grown and leave my home anyways.  I thank the Lord everyday for allowing me to stay at home with my kids.  I may live poorly but we have a warm home, food, and most of all love.

A new Christmas

This is our first year making a new tradition for my kids and I.  I am divorced and we live 1,000 miles from their dad, and hundreds of miles from any of my family.  Tradition used to be that Christmas Eve Eve we would go stay the night at my parents and on Christmas Eve we would all wake up (my sister and her kids and my brother and his kids too) and open gifts then my mom would cook a big lunch/dinner for us.  Then on Christmas Day we did our own little family Christmas.  In 2005 my brother passed away and that tradition started to dwindle.  My sister-in-law stopped staying the night and wouldn't make it till late in the morning to open gifts.  So now that tradition is void. 

This year being a new type of family with my children I want to make it extra special.  My kids are 7, 6, and 4 but they already figured out that Santa was not real.  Between learning about Jesus and saying that there are to many Santa's around that are not the same person he had to be a fake.

This year I think we are going to do our own Polar Express.  I want to get the kids ready in their jammies and go for a ride in the van looking at the wonderful Christmas Lights.  I found this on Pintrest and it made me want to do it more!  http://miraclemama.blogspot.com/2011/12/making-memories.html

 

As a kid my dad worked a lot and long hours.  So while he was gone on Christmas Eve we would beg my mom to let us open at least one gift.  She finally started letting us but we had to wrap it back up and put it back under the tree before my dad got home.  Eventually he found out and we started having Christmas on Christmas Eve instead.  I am unsure how I want to do it with my kids now that we have started a new life.  The time is slowly ticking down but I will soon have to decide.  When do you have your Christmas?

 

Another thing I aways do is take my kiddo's pictures.  Seeing as I am a pretty penny pinching mama I don't normally ever go get pictures done unless they are having a free portrait deal.  However the older the kids get I am finding it even harder to do than when they were babies and wouldn't look at the camera.  Now it is "stop touching me, you are to close" or such shrills coming from their mouths.  So it is the 10th of December and I only have my 6 year old pictures done and a no so good picture of my son.

 

 

 

So tell me what are your family traditions?  Are you going to implement anything new this year?

 

 

Tiny House

Call me crazy but I am really concidering building a tiny house.  Now I am a family with 3 children so it wouldn't be as extream as the ones that are only just over 100sq ft on a pull behind trailer.  Now that I would be crazy to live in LOL. 

In general speaking as far as my life style goes I am a minimalist.  I do not require much and nothing has to be fancy.  Not to say I do  not look at those georgous homes and drool a little, but I am still happy with out it.  I encourouge my children to play outdoors as much as possible, growing up that was my option.  I think getting a home back to the basics is really the best thing I could do for my family.  I grew up in an old farm house and we did not even have running water or electric for many years.  We lived with candles and an outhouse.  We pumped our water from the well and cooked on the old black wood stoves.  We had a huge garden and my dad hunted our meat.  We had to buy very little from the store, which ment we rarely went into town.

 

Now my idea of what would be good for my family would be something around 500-800sq ft.  That would give us plenty of room and the added privacy for bedrooms as the kids aged, since I have one boy and two girls.  The smaller the home means the less the untility bills would be as well.  We have already paid for land, so we would have well water.  I would put in a wood stove for heat since it would be efficent enough for a small space, as well as free as there are trees all over (just replant each year).  The area I live in generaly has mild winters as well as mild summers, so if we had to a window a/c unit would be sufficent for cooling.  Or windows with a box fan in it ;).  Only requirement is I MUST have a full size kitchen.  I love to cook and trying to live "off the grid" it is a must to be able to prepare foods you grow as well as being able to preserve them for later.

 

That point brings me to the next task, I would love a HUGE garden.  I  have always been able to garden until this last home I moved into.  I hate renting for that reason alone!  Being able to grow fresh food and freeze/can them so you have them for all year is just a dream.  Once again this is how I grew up!

 

I think we depend on to much of the outside world anymore.  We forget where we came from and I think in turn that makes us a less grateful nation.  When I was a kid even it wasn't always I want at ever commercial or toy that was walked past.  The I wants was; let's go to the creek, can you fill the barrel up with water so we can play, or I want to go catch critters on the glades.  I think the experiance would be great for my kids.  Once in awhile we go stay at "the farm house" for a night or two to visit family and my kids enjoy it.  There is no TV, if they want entertained they go play outside or in the barn.  The barn is fully set up with a rope swing, and last time we had even made a teeter totter out of a small bale of hay and a board.

 

What are your ideas on a tiny house and living minimaly?  Could you give up all the extra "stuff" in your home to move in something that would cost much less and leave a much smaller foot print on the enviroment?

 

How green are you?

Giveaway hosted by At the Fence

At the Fence is hosting an AMAZING giveaway in the form of a pair of LUGZ boots!  What better way to keep your feet warm and syling this winter then with a pair.  Go check it out!  It ends today so hurry hurry.

 

http://www.atthefenceonline.com/2012/11/winter-weather-and-lugz.html

Synonyms and Antonyms

I made a quick little worksheet to go over synonyms and antonyms.  This is for probably about first to second grader work.  We have been reviewing the difference and I thought this was a good little mid learning quiz for my kiddos.  I hope you like it!  Feel free to use it and share it but place mention my blog if you do.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8wq4OcNTjwKX0pUd0NycmsxSms

 

Schoolhouseteachers.com Review

     I generally try to teach my children for as cheap as possible.  I was given the chance to use Schoolhouse Teachers with my children, which is a product of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  The cost to join is $1.00 for the first month then $5.95 each month after.  To save 10% on that cost you can buy a year upfront for $64.26.  This is a very nominal amount for all the stuff you get with the site.  You have access to lesson materials for many subjects as well as grades.  The site is fitting for Pre-K all the way through high school. You get a free monthly e-book, 5 different planners (my favorite part), and Expo-To-Go sessions all included in the price as well as other perks. 

     The site is very easy to navigate as there are 4 main sections; teachers, dailies, extras, and library.  The teacher section gives you complete monthly lesson plans that come with activities and printable.  The next main section is the dailies, these are updated daily and has things you can do with your kids daily to keep them brushed up on their skills.  I really enjoyed the copy work it provided as it helps with writing as well as spelling.  Next there is the extras which has back issues of The Oldschoolhouse Magazine in it.  This is also the area that gives you your free monthly e-book for being a member as well as your planners.  Last but not least there is the library.  The library contains book lists, copy work, and articles on different things such as arts/crafts/nature.  This is also where lesson plan archives are.

    One of the coolest things I found on the site was guitar lessons.  My daughter just got a  guitar as an early birthday present from her dad last week.  I hand planned to enter that into part of our homeschooling lesson plans under music.  I had been searching high and low for something that I liked to work with her on this and then I got this review and was on cloud nine!  She really loves it and seems to be catching on quickly with it as well.  Jerry Jennings (whom is doing the lessons) has really made it easy.  It starts out with step by step directions about the guitar on into the music and playing portions.  He uses pictures and videos to help show what he is teaching as well.

     With it being close to Christmas and all there was no way that I couldn't jump right to some of the Christmas lesson plans.  To my great pleasure there was a lapbooking project on the site!  My family LOVES lapbooking!  Decembers lesson is Christmas in the Barn, which we read while curled up in mommies warm bed.  The lesson also comes with a 9 page printable of activities to do with the directions attached.

Working Hard

 

 



     There are so many lesson plans that are easy to follow.  There is a range of different subjects that fit all different age ranges.  My children are 4, 6, and 7 and we have found many things to suite them.  They really love the easy to follow writing prompts too. I think this is a great tool to use for anyone needing a full curriculum to pick and choose as you go.  You can make it as you wish and learn what you wish.  It would also be helpful to add suplemental lessons in a cirriculum you are already using.

     You can go to the samples page and check out some of the things that Schoolhouseteachers.com offers.  Here is a link as well to view other reviews done by Schoolhouse Review Crew.

 

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse review crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Oh the trips we will take...

After going about 2000 miles round trip I am glad to be home. It is always so hard to figure out how to entertain children while on a road trip as well as teach them something. As a homeschool family we have to take every thing we do and make it educational. I believe the highlight of the trip was for the kids to see cotton growing.  It is not something that ever really come up about where it comes from.  We have watched sheep get sheered and maybe they just thought cotton was the same as wool. They were very interested in the fact that something we make clothes out of comes from the ground.  Pretty sure the 6 year old had a vision of a shirt growing out of the ground when we started to talk about it. It was a nice thing to pass by and be able to not only tell a bit of history but to also learn about clothes being made. They also now see that many resources come from the ground and not just food.

 

Now no trip to the south is complete without a trip to the beach! We now have a project to learn about now that we are back home and can do some research. While on the beach we found a dead horseshoe crab. His shell was all yellow and clear. Now we have found one alive before and they are a very dark color. So our.question is what makes them dark when their shell is see through?

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

 

Do you ever just need to know that you are not alone in homeschooling?  Or maybe want to know how others are doing it?  Well The Old Schoolhouse Magazine has just that.  In The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's November issue there is so many interesting articles.  Every issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is free.  You may also get the app at http://www.TOSapps.com.

 

I started homeschooling my oldest daughter midway through Pre-K after a bad experience in the public school system.  I had no clue about homeschooling or where to start.  I searched for books and magazines that could help guide me in the direction I belonged.  I came upon The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  It is filled with so many different things each month that you never get bored of it.  From helpful tips to help you on your way to homeschooling to stories from other homeschooling families.  It is nice not to feel alone out there and you get that comforting feeling after reading these stories. 

 

In this issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine you will find many articles on different styles of homeschooling.  There is also an article about how the Amish home school as well.  The Amish: Gentle Souls was a very touching read.  It was very interesting to learn the way that they learn.  It is not traditional school or traditional home school either.  They usually learn in a one room or two room building with one teacher that teaches all grades up to eighth grade.  Eighth grade is the highest level of formal education that they believe in. 

 

It's the Little Things hit home with me.  Just a few days ago I was posting on a home school group page asking how in the world do they keep house and home school.  This article made me see that each little thing makes a difference.  We need to learn that each chore in the home is important to learn as much as the next one. 

 

I could go on with even more great reads in this book as so many of them are so fitting to me.  I also have a child that has issues with learning and there was even an article in there about that.  Check out Homeschooling a Struggling Learner: Where Do I Find the Time?

 

I hope you enjoyed my review and if you would like to see other reviews on this magazine hop on over to The Schoolhouse Review Crew.

 

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse review crew in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive nor was I compensated in any other way.  All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

I'm Thankful!

Today we made I'm Thankful Sunflowers!  They turned out great!  We used brown construction paper for the center and yellow construction paper for the petals.  I then used a hole punch to punch out the center of the brown paper I used for the center.  Then a hole at the end of each petal.  I used a metal brad to put it all together and wrote on each petal something we was thankful for.

Our beans are growing.

October 17th we started our been project. 
 

We took 3 pinto beans:

1 Ziploc baggie

 

1 wet paper towel

 

 

We put the wet paper towel into the Ziploc baggie and placed the beans on top of it.  Every day we open up the bag to allow fresh oxygen to enter the bag and we set it near the window for sunlight.

 

Today we have a bean that has completely lost its shell and has a little leaf popping out of it.  The other two are working on getting that bean shell to shed off. 

 

This has been a very fun and exciting project for my 6 and 7 year old to participate in.  They are excited to see how much they have grown each day!  It is great that in home school you can make EVERY thing a fun experience!

Day 4

Day 13

 

Have you tried this in your home class?  How well was your experience?

 

 

Reading Time

I remember being in public school and we had the Accelerated Reader program.  I was never a reader, hated reading books that had no purpose. The program gave me an incentive to read more and gain points in order to get treats. Well I have been searching high and low for something similar that I could use for my kids at home. I finally found it with the help of some other homeschooling mama's.
http://bookadventure.com/Home.aspx

Check it out!

Schooling on the go...

We had a bit of a travel we had to make away from home for about 3 days. I was trying to prepare for out trip with lots of printables and busy work for the trip and for our daily assignments. I stopped and thought about it and decided not to. I did bring some book work from our current work books (my 2nd grader thrives on book work) but I left the rest. I have blank paper and plenty of pencils. I do believe this trip will be a learning as we go, sorta unschooling way. We already got our fill of the wonderful Bill Nye The Science Guy this morning on T.V. The show was on mirrors and telecopes. They talked about the difference between a reflector and refractor. I thought this was amazing as I just did a paper on the differences for my Astronomy class in college. It was great to just jump in and know what to add to the intrest. They also played a small segment on star gazing as well. I think later we will start a writing journal of our stay away from home. Math we have in our workbooks and I brought the craft sticks to help my 1st grader with her subtraction.  Even better yet we are in a historic old town that will make for a good social studies lesson! I just love the freedom of learning what we want where we want.

How do you do school while you are away from home?

Copywork...What is your take?

Having a daughter, that I feel may be a bit dyslexic, that has a hard time with spelling and reading has made me look into other avenues.  After many months of trying every method of getting her to even be able to read her sight words I thought I would try copywork with her.  Classical Writing and Charlotte Mason both had similar stands on this.  So I researched both of their views and this is what I came up with.

Classical Writing approach:

"Copying, the earliest written form of imitation, has always been an important part of a classical education. Copywork is a very simple exercise where the student reproduces a well-written literary selection in his best handwriting with careful attention to correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. "

~from Classical Writing

Charlotte Mason approach:

Copywork is a whole language approach to spelling and grammar. By seeing and copying the words, the child learns how to spell. Grammar is also learned in this indirect way.
Choose passages worthy of meditation that stimulate the mind of the student but are not beyond his comprehension. Discuss the passage and have the child copy it in his best handwriting. Passages can be hymns, Scriptures, poems, quotations, or excerpts from living books.

~from Squidoo Charlotte Mason Basics

 

I also wanted to incorporate our bible learning as well with this.  So I made notebooks and each day I will write a simple verse for her to copy.  I will also have my older child do this as well but with more complex versus. This will help her with her puncuation and grammer as well as her spelling.  I think this is also a great way to teach penmenship too.

 

What are your views on copywork and do you use it?

Plant Project

Today we started our plant project. We took 3 beans and are allowing them to sprout in a baggie. By doing this we hop to be able to tell the process of growth as well as see all the parts of a plant as they develop. The kids are very excited as am I. I remember growing my bean plant in school and it was so exciting to see how it grew!

Supplies
* plastic baggie
* bean seeds
* paper towel
* water

Steps
1. Dampen paper towel and place into baggie.
2. Place bean seeds on wet paper towel inside baggie. (We used 3 in case one didn't sprout.)
3. Seal baggie up leaving some air in it.
4. Watch for growth!

Homeschool Change

So I moved from Georgia to Missouri. The law in Georgia is you have to count 180 days of homeschooling a year. Now in Missouri I have to count out 1000 hours of homeschool with 400 being of the core subjects. Why does every state have to be so different? We learn every day all day long! So in reality we could hit 1000 hours quick. My frustration is how in the world do you chart hours? We go on a trip in the car something may pop up for a lesson. We maybe in the store shopping and we get into a lesson on greater than and less than on prices. States are so funny on how they want to keep tabs on us homeschoolers. I do have to say I am very thankful to be in a state now where we do not have to participate in state testing. Now to figure out how to chart our hours....any suggestions?

Do Easter the Thirty-One way!

Easter is coming up!  March's deal is for every $31 you spend you get a mini utility bin for $8.  These make GREAT easter baskets and will be reusable after.  They make a great storage bin for toys or bathroom bins.  You can put a small trash can liner in it and put it in ur car for your kids trash.  You can use it an office trash bin.  Use them for hair ties and brushes!  The options are limitless.  I think that is a better offer than a cheap basket that breaks before easter is over or gets trashed right after.

My Thirty-One

Free e-book

Note: Amazon prices change often and they change without warning. Grab this one NOW if you want it. If you AREN’T seeing the price as $0, the freebie offer has ended.

Download the FREE Kindle version of The Story of the Rainbow Butterflies:

The Rainbow Butterflies begin their lives as tiny caterpillars on a leaf. They eat and eat and grow and grow!
After spinning their cocoons they turn into beautiful Rainbow Butterflies!

You do NOT need a Kindle Reader to enjoy these books – just download a FREE Kindle app.

Thanks MamaCheaps for the heads up!

Thirty-One Gifts

Check out this great deal!  http://www.mythirtyone.com/SamanthaMassey/ Be sure to order under My Events!  This is a great savings you can not pass up.  It would be a great time to order some coolers and totes for those spring trips and picnics.  Don't pass this up! Feel free to share the link!

Good day!

We were able to fly through our assignments today in homeschool. I learned that stickers are the key to teaching my 5 year old to read.  I got some tiny stars and when she would actually sound a word out I would stick one on her.  She liked that, so instead of guessing she actually worked towards reading the words.  She however is a cheater when it comes to writing words.  she will right the first letter of each word then go to the next and so on.  I think that voids the purpose of writing out the words to help learn them.  I say one problem at a time though with her. 

Now on the other hand my 7 year old flies through her work then trys to go further.  That is fine and I normaly let her.  However, when she gets on work that is teaching a new thing she get mad because I can not stop working with Kiya to explain it to her.  She is to smart for her own good.  She is by far easier to work with then Kiya. 

Now Micah, my three year old, sits outside the classroom watching us and throwing things at us to get our attention.  You ask why I do not give him something to do? Because he does not want to do anything besides throw things at us and scream.

Oh the life of homeschooling!

Totsy Time

If you have never shopped at Tosy before than shipping is free. Do not miss this great deal on kids umbrella's.  It would be a good buy even to have an extra one to leave in the car incase you are out and forget yours.

Dishwashers saving the lives of mamas!

Do you ever thank God when you walk into your kitchen and catch a glimps at that beautiful thing under the counter?  I have lived many places and years without a dishwasher, I now have one!  Now I just have to say that that overwhelming pile of dishes after dinner time no longer make me want to run and hide.  I fill the dishwasher and the sink is empty, in all of five minutes.  Well now here comes the part that makes me believe that my dishwasher is a super hero! 

When your young kids have that nasty cough and snotty nose, yet they are still all over their toy, you imagin how much germs are spread.  Well did you know that you can put those plastic toys in the dishwasher to sanatize them?  Just make sure you do air dry if your dishwasher has the option or stop it before the drying option. 

Next on the how cool list is your toothbrushes!  You can santize them in there as well by putting them in like a mesh bag and let them go.  You can also sanatize your combs and brushes this way too.

Lastly, the best option for cleaning your dishwasher is to pour vinager in the bottom when empty and run it through a cycle.  This helps get rid of lime build up as well as give it a boost in its sanitation.

Big Move

Well my life's journey took me for a spin. A quick action landed me in Savannah, GA. I must say I love finally living by the ocean. Hop in the car and drive less than thirty minutes to the wondrous beach is amazing. My kids love that there is no snow here and the many activites to do. They play outside every day mostly all day long. I do have to prod them to come I. The house and do school time. Which brings me back to homeschooling. I am not sure about the schools here, well more so that I do ot know anyone enough to trust my babies with them. The kids are happy to be back into homeschool and we have a fun little room set up just for school. It is still a work in progress but I will be sure to update pictures soon. City life is way different then this country girl is used to though. We have 3 walmarts with in 10 miles of me, that I know of. Then 5 grocery stores with in 5 miles of me. I have two huge malls, one on each side of me. Of course the boys love the fact we live 1.8 miles from Bass Pro Shops :).

It was hard moving away from my parents, I know they don't think it was for me though. My mom got diagnosed with cancer a few months ago and has been going through chemo. It is hard knowing I am not close but it was a choice that was going to help my little family out financially. I still have yet to venture off far from my comfort zone of the main road, although I have found a back way to get to Walmart, publix, and Target with out having to get on the main busy road. I am terrified of all the traffic. I just hope and pray the new venture stays positive for me.

Are you ready for your tax refund?

If you are like me you count down the days                    till you can file.  Once you have filed you count down the days till you get your money.  I found the cycle chart early this year so I thought I would share it!

http://www.lfsri.com/irs_efile_refund_cycle_chart_2012.pdf

Check it out and get an idea when you will have your money.  As a planner I have to know everything, and yes I already have the money planned out.  Enjoy!!