So for my monthly update…

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Stephany

Just kidding, sort of…

Here you can see the new color behind the bookshelf. I am not quite sure it is true to life but the camera doesn't pick it up well. It is a little more brown and cooler.

So our big news is that my oldest daughter moved out and is going to college and all of that crazy stuff that kids do when they become adults.  It has been an adjustment for me.   So rather than think about it too much,  I’ve been keeping  myself going at a breakneck pace.  I have really pulled this place together though.  Every closet has been cleaned and re-organized. The file crates have been purged.  We’ve painted and cleaned.   We even removed the popcorn ceiling from the bathroom because I was tired of fighting mildew.      The closet that used to house craft stuff now houses my good china which used to live in a box in the garage.   Her room is sort of a guestroom/craftroom now.   I’ve reduced an amazing amount of visual clutter.   It really seems to help the boys (and me) concentrate, better.  I also have my own new venture which I am working on putting together.   Feel free to pop over there and sign up for the giveaway.   It isn’t much but I am having fun with it.

I am slowing down,  a bit, and wanting to spend time doing something creative and fun so I decided to take the plunge and add Herbal Roots Zine to our weekly curriculum.    I’ve been thinking of making herbal studies a part of the boys’ regular schedule for awhile now.  I did it with Darian when she was home and while I don’t think she will ever follow that path, she has a fair amount of working knowledge as to how to take care of herself.   You can incorporate quite a bit of science into something like that so I suppose you could call it a unit study.   I will keep you updated as we go along.   I am not forgetting that March is coming quickly.   I will have the new calendar markers ready soon.

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Cedar Rapids Museum of Art

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Stephany

Our secular homeschool group toured the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, to check out the Wizards of Pop exhibit.

 

 

 

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Electricity Project

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Stephany


Electricity Class at the HSAP

The boys got a couple of really neat gifts for the holidays that happen to coincide with the focus of the Discovery Day Classes out at the HSAP which is Electricity.  Brower asked for a Snap Circuits PRO SC-500 and Trapolin got a soldering iron and Elenco Escape Robot Kit

They have had such a good time playing with the Snap Circuits set that they don’t even realize they are learning something until they get to class.  My husband has been helping Trapolin put together a practice circuit board before they work on the robot.




Working with their Snap Circuits Kit

The schematics are easy enough for Brower to figure out.


Posted in Our Projects, Science | 3 Comments

Winter Plant Project

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Stephany

Steve got me one of those nifty root viewers for a present so we had a botany project for the winter months.  It started off really well.  But we don’t have a lot of sunlight to work with and I don’t keep my house particularly warm, so  I seem to be losing them.   I am thinking of throwing them under the lights with the rest of the plants when I start them next week.

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Best Intentions…

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Stephany

Despite my best intentions of keeping up with this blog,  I seem to have fallen behind.  We’ve been working very hard on getting more done during the day.  We’ve also been trying to do less work on the computer and more “hands on” stuff.  Trapolin’s spelling and writing isn’t what I’d like it to be.

Unfortunately,  that leaves me with less time to get to the computer.     I am going to post a little bit at a time to catch up.  Today, I will show off my pretty “Montessori shelf”.      This time of year is always when I work on re-org projects and at least a few have pertained to homeschooling.


We've gotten all of the self-directed materials down where the boys can get to them, independently.

Everything is where they can see it and get to it but the boxes have covers to keep the "cluttered" look to a minimum.

We put together another page of winter birds (and a couple of critters, too):

winterbirds2

I got a laminator for the holidays and it cuts down, significantly,  on the time involved in making nomenclature cards.     I put together a set of cards to hang next to the window the boys watch the bird feeders from.  They are starting to do quite a good job of identifying our local wildlife.

I am terribly behind with this but here on the February date markers we made:

february date markers



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Back-to-”Normal”

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Stephany

Well winter break has come to a close and we are back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.      I would declare the break a success.  Fun times were had by all and I managed to get some things organized.     I almost forgot to post our January calendar markers.  Here is the file:  Snowman.    I thought I would, also, share a little movie we made of our bird watching project results from last month for your enjoyment.

Posted in Free Stuff, Our Projects | 3 Comments

Holidaze

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Stephany

We’ve been busy getting enjoying our holiday season .   The boys wanted to do this little video last night so I thought I would throw it on her for your entertainment.

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More Birding Fun

Posted on December 11, 2010 by Stephany

Just a quick post to share a homemade bird feeder project we worked on today.  This one is nice because it is decorative as well as useful .   It started because I decided to bake up some birdseed cookies for the pretty cardinal who greeted me when I woke up.

The boys worked on some more pinecone feeders while I  mixed up and cutout the “cookies”.  Then we decided to string them all on one long piece of red ribbon.

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Wildlife Projects

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Stephany

My husband was an environmental studies major and I am a biology major which seems to have rubbed off on our offspring.   We’ve always been been avid wildlife fans around here.    I have a variety of  feeders; some of which are homemade and some of which have been gifts.   We moved from the country to our current place near the downtown area and I was afraid the boys would miss out on seeing a lot of wildlife on a daily basis the way they had on the farm.

Our little pond in progress.

Since we moved in we’ve been working to turn our yard into a certified wildlife habitat and we’ve pretty much accomplished that with the addition of a small pond in the front yard and some shelters. I still have a bat house I bought at the Habitat for Humanity Restore that I want to put up by the pond next year but my summer and fall got away with me.


My mother-in-law gifted us with my favorite bird house.

We were wondering what to do next when a friend sent me a link for Project FeederWatch which seems to be a great follow-up project.    The site links to  a special download specifically for homeschoolers     that is part of the Bird Sleuths program.    I don’t feel like I want to spend the money on the complete items,  but there is plenty of free information on the site.






My favorite way to feed the birds adds a bit of color to winter.

It is a good idea to have a few field guides on hand.   They don’t have to be expensive, used ones are pretty easy to find in second hand stores or thrift stores.

It is also nice if you can set up some of your feeders in an area where you can observe the birds from indoors.



Squirrels are resourceful little critters


We put a lot of feeders on our deck during the winter so that we can watch from inside our kitchen  without disturbing the birds or anyone else who might happen along.

I decided that now that we have correctly identified the birds in our area,   I would make nomenclature cards for the boys to work with.    Here is a set of those we see around our yard on pretty much a daily basis during the winter.     Winter Birds Nomenclature



The woodpeckers are my favorite.

We have had a great time working on wildlife projects and I am sure we will enjoy Project Feeder Watch.   We’ve attracted all sorts of wildlife to our yard; even some I would like to relocate (groundhogs and gardening don’t mix)



Or maybe this couple.



There are hundreds of cool ideas out there for making bird feeders and bird houses.  Try some; it won’t be long until you have all sorts of  fun visitors.


Posted in Free Stuff, Our Projects, Science | 1 Comment

Making Time for it All

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Stephany


We try to make most of our gifts in the interest of having a “handmade holiday” but I procrastinated a bit because I’ve been busy with classes and  I’ve needed to make some extra time in my day for working on my projects.

I’ve been thankful for Time4 Learning and the supplemental freebies I’ve mentioned.  It works pretty well.  I set the laptop up on  one side of the table and I work on projects while the boys work on “school”.     We’ve suspended our normal studies for a December “unit study” which  has included history,  geography,  natural science.   ( Yes, we’ve really been enjoying those free interactive lessons from Simple Schooling. )  Here are few other ways I’ve been getting things done while keeping up with the boys.



Handwriting practice is being accomplished by helping me make holiday cards for loved ones. The holiday pencils and pencil holder provide a little added incentive.
















The holiday pencils and pencil holder provide a little added incentive.



The beauty of using Montessori materials is that the boys really are self-directing. I can work on my own thing while being there to guide them if they have a question, and yes, we homeschool in our jammies. :-)





Don't underestimate a child's ability to create. Trapolin loves patterns so I've been utilizing that interest to enlist his help in making gifts. I think I see an Etsy shop in his future.


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