It's a Zoo

Today we spent the day at the zoo with our homeschool group.  Even with the rain, it was a GREAT day!  I am so thankful for the homeschool group that we are a part of and the wonderful friends and friendships that we all (the boys too) have made and share.  God is so good to us!

The only bummer part of the day is that I forgot my camera.  So, if I can get someone to forward some of their pictures from today then I will post them here.
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Well, I forgot about this picture that I took on my phone.  Probably not the best quality, but still a good one of just a few of the kids in our group.

Back to School

We are in our 3rd week of school and things are finally starting to feel like we are in a groove.  YeaHa!  For some reason it has been hard to settle into a routine. So with that, it seems like we are already behind becasue a lot of our time has been spent on redoing and undoing, specially with our new science book this year.  Having the boys getting used to the "higher level of learning" books (ie Jr high and not elementary) has been really difficult.  It is taking  more time then I had expected  but it is coming along.

Other then the massive science book, our other books of undertaking for the year are: Math, Latin, Grammar/Composition, spelling/vocab and Bible.  We are still working towards finishing our American history book from last year.  That is the only book that we did not finish.  With moving, and everything else, during the summer,  I decided that it was not worth it to make the boys work through the summer and finish it.

In addition to the academics, both boys are involved with music and sports. Tyler is taking concert band at the local school right by our house and  both boys are playing soccer.  Tyler plays in the rec program and Kyle is still playing competitively on a travel team.  Kyle stays very busy with his soccer as he is on the field at least 4 out of all 7 days during the week.  I would say that is quite a bit being that he is only 10yrs old. He loves it though.   

It should be a fun year.  I will do my best to keep posting updates here.

May Already?

Oh my! I can not believe that it has been a full month since I last posted here. Man, how time flies. So much has happened in this past month.  Here is a quick recap of life around here: 


-The biggest news and most exciting for us is that we finally are getting somewhere with finding a new (to us) home for our family. It seems that 99.99% of all homes for sale (where we live) are all short sale or foreclosures and that means WAITING WAITING and more WAITING...on the banks!  We had an offer on a home that seemed to be going NO WHERE and then Bam! there was actually a home that came available that was a "regular" sale. We jumped on it and are now only 2 weeks away from closing and finally having someplace that we will be able to call "home".  We are very thankful for the rental roof that is over our head now.  Somehow it is just different when you know you have someplace to really call home. 


-With April also came the end of the NHL hockey season and the beginning of the playoffs.  Our awesome Coyotes actually made it to the playoffs this year and we splurged and went to their home games.  It was so much fun and great family times and memories.  They didn't make it past the 1st round but we still love and support our team! 


-Sickness has hit our house pretty hard this month. We very rarely get sick around here (thank you Lord) but unfortunately most of the month of April we have all been fighting some sort of sinus and respiratory illness.  We have gone through more tissue in one month then we normally go through in one year.

-Soccer was in full swing as well.  Kyle spent most of the month in tryouts for next season.  Tyler's team wrapped their spring season and I was right in the middle of my 2 seasons (both indoor and outdoor).

-In the midst of everything else we are still moving right along with school.  Yep...we are in our 31st week of school and counting down until we are all done for  the summer.  It will not be long.  The nice thing with home school is that we don't count down by weeks or days but rather by how many pages are left before finishing up the work in our books.  It looks like, if we stay on track, we should be all done by the end of May. Woohoo!


I will leave you with a picture of us at a Coyotes White Out game.  Fun times and lots of memories!

Gem and Mineral Show

One of the coolest things ever about homeschooling are the wonderful field trips that you get to take.  The past couple of months we have been learning about some earth science.  Specifically, rocks, minerals and gems. The boys have been learning so much about the different types of earths rocks and minerals.  There are so many kinds and types and so much information that it would take years and years of learning and studying to even begin to come close to learning everything that this earth has to offer.

This past week we took a couple of days and hit the road to attend one of the worlds largest Gem and Mineral shows.  It is located right down the road from us in Tucson.  We met some family there who attend every year.  They know the place and the vendors like the back of their hand. They were our tour guides, so to speak. It was great to have them there to show us around and tell us where all the good deals were for a few items that we purchased and brought home with us.

Here are a few things that caught our interest and decided to bring home with us:

 

This is a small Amethyst Cathedral.  It is amethyst crystals that are what is called "In Matrix" or their natural form.  These are pretty pricey just to walk into any retail gem shop and purchase.  One like we purchased would cost anywhere from about $50 to $80.  We were able to get it for $14 at the Gem show.  It is the coolest thing, specially at a price like that! The Cathedrals are priced based on their size and the quality of the crystals.  The larger and darker the crystals the more valuable they are.  Maybe next year we will get a larger one.  

These are different types of lava rocks. The name "Lava" is their everyday street term.  The scientific name for the top one is Spider Web Obsidian.  The spider web name comes from the small lines throughout it that looks like spider webs.  This type of lava is real smooth and looks almost like glass.  The bottom rock is called Hematite and has little bubbles all over its surface.  The differences in the two rocks is determined by the rate at which they cooled after erupting from the volcano. The top one has a glassy surface becasue it is cooled at a very slow rate where as the bottom one has bubbles all over it becasue it cools almost immediately after leaving the volcano.  The bubble rock probably came from an underwater volcano and cooled instantly upon hitting water after the volcano erupted.

This is what is know as Peacock Ore, or more scientifically speaking, Chalcopyrite.  This is a type of rock that naturally has all different colors through out it.  It is just amazing all the things that God created...even rocks!

We brought home quit a few more samples with us but I don't have any pictures of them.  One that I don't have a picture of is a rock that looks like it was perfectly polished by humans, but actually was not.  It is a rock that is only found in a river in India.  They are all the same shape (an oval egg shape).  They are called Shiva Lingam rocks.  They are known, mostly in Asia, for their spiritual powers.  That is not the reason why I think they are cool.  Again, I see it as another amazing act of God.  He isn't just our creater of all things he is also the perfecter of all things.

Week 14...of Homeschooling

We are just completing our 14th week of homeschooling and I have to say we are still going strong and things are great!

It is amazing how much the boys are learning and how much information we have gone through and learned these past 14 weeks.  At the beginning of it all (back in August) I set out a plan for most of our curriculum and where we would need to be by Christmas (end of the calendar year) in order to be on track to finish it all by May on 2010.  I am happy to say that we are right on track.  And actually, if we had not had a few interruptions with the sale of our house and all, we probably would be ahead.  So, all in all we are doing very well. 

The one thing that really blows me away is how fast we  have gotten through our math book.  I have both kids on the same level and with the way things are going right now they will most likely complete 2 years of math in only one year (school years).  Just amazing.  In fact, just today they were introduced to the beginnings of Algebra...already! ...and they "got" it! Amazing! Can you tell that I am blown away?  They are just learning SO fast (much faster then they would be in a classroom setting having to go at a slower pace). Wow!  

Completed Week 10

Wow! I can not believe that we have already completed our 10th week of homeschooling...last week. We are having a such great time.

We have learned so much (yes, even me).

There are so many great things that we get to enjoy and benefit from because we homeschool. One of the best things is that we get to do Bible studies together. We would try to fit it in our days before, when the boys were attending public school, but there just never seemed to be enough time or I could not get them to focus and be interested. Now I plan it into our day as part of our schedule and lesson plans. It is great!

I have discovered that I can get the boys to do just about anything that I want them to do if I put it on their daily schedule. It is awesome. I can even put their chores on their schedule and they do it. How cool is that?

Our field trips are some of the best, too. Well, I have to say that we have not been on that many, however we have a couple planned that have not happened yet. We went to the American Heart Association's Halle Heart Center Museum and learned about the heart and being "Heart Healthy". It was neat and I learned so much too. In fact, it is the only American Heart Association museum in the US...and it is here. Pretty cool!

Two field trips that we have yet to take are to the Hoover Dam and in Feb '10 we will be attending the Rock and Gem show in Tucson. If I am not mistaken, I think that show in Tucson is the largest Rock show in the US. We have already completed our Hoover Dam studies and are currently studying about rocks, gems and minerals in preparation for the show in Feb.

Oh yea, and did I mention that I can't believe how much I am learning too. I am definitely finding out that you are never too old to learn new stuff.

4 weeks and still going

Well, we are now in our 4th week of learning at home. Tyler really wanted to be a part of a concert band so he is attending Band twice a week at the middle school. He loves it! He, basically, has the best of both worlds. He still gets to go to school, see some of his friends (that he has gone to school with for 5 years) then come home do his school work and be done for the day (with out having to worry with homework). Kyle does not attend any part of the public classes, however he will be a part of a home school Math Olympiad group (the math stuff that he can figure out and do in his head is absolutely amazing). We are also going to join a science class with the homeschool group from our church. The math and science groups don't start for another 2 weeks.

There are always advantages and draw backs to everything. With learning at home, I have to say that the boys do go a little crazy at times being in the house all day. That part is an adjustment. ...with out getting in the car and spending money. We tried to go for a bike ride the other day but it is still way too hot here in AZ. I am learning to be more creative with keeping the boys busy. It has been good for me to use my brain a little too. :)

The other day the hubby wiped all the dust off our old Monopoly game and the boys LOVED it. It actually made for a good lesson in economics. As we were playing we were teaching the boys about the value of money, buying, selling, investing, and even how to negotiate. I have to say, it was cool watching them learn and enjoy it. I feel like a kid again playing games with them.

I just learned of Geocaching. I can't wait until it cools down and we can go Geocaching around town. I have never done it before but it sounds like a lot of fun. Anyone ever done it before? I have a few other ideas to tryout to keep us busy and learning outside of the written work we do at home. If anyone has any fun inexpensive ideas I would love to hear about them.

Well, I guess that is all for now. Until next time....

2 weeks complete

Well, we have made it through our first two weeks of learning at home. It has been really great! We have learned SO much (yes, even me). It is amazing how much can be fit into so little time. The BEST part of the whole thing is the fact that we don't have our entire evenings taken up by homework. Now that we have found ourselves with extra time in the evening we have started playing more games and watching more movies together as a family. It has been so much fun...and relaxing.

Our main topic in "History" that we are studying is the Hoover Dam. It is very interesting! The boys are excited about studying it because we are planning a trip soon to go see it. (How's that for a cool field trip?)

Weird Day

Today is the first day of school for all the kids in our district where we live. However, it felt kind of odd not getting the kids up early this morning and heading off to school. We have decided to try homeschooling this year. We are all very excited about it. I know we are all going to learn a lot this year (me included) and have fun doing it, too.