Curriculum Choices

You think its too early to be picking curriculum for next year? Think again!

The biggest problem with picking curriculum for next year....is that I want to be finished with the ones we're using now! Still have a few weeks to go in this school year though!

Sweetling's possible courses for 2012-2013

•  One Year Adventure Novel
(Sweetling found this one herself at the convention and is excited about it. We bought it, so this is a "for sure" for next year.)

• Formal Logic

(For Sweetling's high school years, I want to incorporate some elements of classical education. Sweetling spoke to the author of this book at the convention and is excited about doing logic next year. We're going to hang out on the waterbed and read this book together.)

• Japanese
(another awesome Sweetling find at the convention.)
• The World of the Bible: Matthew-Acts
• American Literature (yeah, we don't have a curriculum or a reading list yet. I'm working on it.)
• American History (led by the Jedi.)
• German (with the Jedi)
• Shakespeare (at co-op)
• General Science (at co-op)
• Spanish 3 (at co-op)
• American Sign Language 1 (at co-op) 
• Drawing (at co-op)
• Vocabulary from Classical Roots (We need to get back to this. I think I'll do this course with her, so we can try to use the words in our regular speech more often.)
• Algebra 2 or Pre-Calculus (I'm going to look for a decent, used Algebra 2 text. Then, with each chapter, we will pretest. If she already knows it, we're not doing it again. If she doesn't know the chapter, or is missing pieces, then we'll just do those sections. The Algebra 2 book I saw from A Beka primarily contained material Sweetling already mastered a few years ago.  I'm going to look at some books from Holt McDougal as well. We might need to go to pre-calculus to find some new math concepts for Sweetling.)

Sound like a lot for a Sweetling? Maybe. But some of these won't take much time per day or even much time per week. I think she can handle it and we'll scale back if need be. The important part of this curriculum is that she picked out most of it herself. She loves languages, and is so quick to pick them up, so I'm letting her run with it!

Toa of Boy's possible courses for 2012-2013

• Logic of English 

(I bought a course which includes spelling, handwriting, grammar, light vocabulary, simple composition....with exercises and directions geared toward the kinesthetic learner. The presenter sold me when she was incorporating relay races, scavenger hunts, and nerf guns into spelling lessons. )

 

America the Beautiful

 (This is designed as a one year history/geography curriculum....but I looked at it and we're going to do it over two years to give us time to read historical fiction and do cool hands-on projects. I like how each small unit includes a lesson overviewing that particular period of history, a lesson on a natural landmark, a lesson on daily life at the time, a brief biography of a noteworthy American, and a lesson on a man-made landmark. Each unit also has a hands on art, cooking, or building project as well as mapping and timeline activities.)

• The World of the Bible: Matthew-Acts
(Sweetling, Toa, and I will be doing this together.) 

• Finish off Elementary Math. (I'm going bookless for this one. I can't find a fifth grade math curriculum worth our time. I think we'll take half a year to finish off fractions, decimals, ratios, probability, and geometry. I'll use my Teaching Children Mathematics textbook from college to help me cover all the concepts in a reasonable order. Then we're moving on to fun math....like "It's ALIVE: Math that Makes You Squirm!") 
• Reading (Toa of Boy wants the opportunity to throw a pie in my face if he reads a certain number of books during the school year. Lovely.)


• Mythbusters: Don't Try This at Home (Unless We Tell You To) (Cause what is cooler for science than watching a Mythbusters episode, then reading a bit about the science behind the experiments, AND THEN TRYING ONE YOURSELF).
• EDIT TO ADD: Toa of Boy just told me he wants to learn about the human body...so we might be doing Apologia's Anatomy and Physiology instead. 
• Art by Deep Space Sparkle. (I just love this site. I want to be a bit more intentional about Toa's art, because he is so gifted. I found a great curriculum at the convention, but it was a bit pricey...and I think that I'm going to wait one more year before going more 'formal' with Toa's art instruction. Meanwhile, Deep Space Sparkle has lots of terrific lessons which showcase important 'building blocks' of good art.)
• Chess (at co-op)
• General Art (at co-op)
• Travel USA (at co-op)
• Phys Ed (at co-op)
• Lego Creation (at co-op)

 Looks good, doesn't it?

And finally, for the mom...(that's me, by the way)...I found a really interesting planning site at PlanBook.com. Now, if only I could find myself a robot, fairy, or brownie that would do most of the housework for me, I'd be set to go!

Tidbits from the Homeschool Convention

In no particular order, and without any cool graphics....things I learned at the homeschool convention.

• Walking on the skywalk might make us Skywalkers, but it does not come with a free lightsaber.
• For an active boy, creative writing exercises must involve terror and tragedy, and then be acted out.....with ketchup.
• Short division is cool.
• Through the lens of God's word, a "distractable" learner looks like this:
• Exuberant --Psalms 100:1
• Creative---Exodus 31:6
• Strong and Courageous--Joshua 1:9
• Enthusiastic--Colossians 3:23
•  Visionary-- Proverbs 29:18
• Inquisitive--2 Timothy 2:15
• Doers-- James 1:22-25
• Joyful -- 1 Thessalonians 5:16
• Worshipers -- Psalm 19:1-6

• A nerf gun is a must have on next year's school supply list.
• Sometimes a silent e is added to the end of the word just to make it look longer.
• Special needs children are expensive, but God will provide.
• Don't doubt what God has called you to do.
• Trust the Lord to open doors.
• Pre-test and SKIP chapters and sections.
• Don't push a gifted student. If she loses interest and needs a break, let her take it!
• Get back to going grocery shopping only once every 2 weeks.
• Give myself grace.
• Read the Aeneid, The Divine Comedy, and The City of God.
• I do know how to spell erroneous.
• I do not know how to spell arrogance. (It's -ance, not -ence.)
• We need to learn formal logic and classical rhetoric.
• Using 'goes into' to talk about division is ridiculous. 
• Toilet paper and leaf blowers made the best sermon I've received in a long time.

And finally---

1. Enjoy teaching and learning
2. Find and memorize Scripture verses daily.
3. Remember my goal.

Forts

Toa of Boy has claimed (again) the space behind the corner chair in the living room as his fort.

He does this periodically. He'll claim the space, move a bunch of his toys into it, and spend several days crawling back there to play. Then he realizes that playing in a cramped foot and a half of space isn't that great, and he abandons the fort for months on end.

A little more or less than a year later, and he rediscovers his 'fort.'

Such happened today. Weapons were moved in. Pillows were moved in. A blanket was moved in. Stuffed guard dogs were moved in. A plastic banana was moved in. The fort was established.

At bedtime tonight, he draped another blanket between the back of the armchair and the stand of TV trays to form a tent over the fort. He took in his pillow from his bed, and informed me that he was ready for bedtime.

I asked him if he had brushed his teeth, verified that he had a pillow and a blanket back there, and gave the go ahead to sleeping in a tightly wedged ball of boy.

The Jedi came upstairs to tuck Toa in, and bedtime prayers were said to a stuffed arm chair. He did crawl back out for a hug.  I turned out the living room light, and left the room.

That was an hour ago. I'm assuming he's asleep back there.

If worse comes to worse, I know a great massage therapist ;)

Cincinnati Homeschool Convention

No one will find this interesting but me. That's ok. I'm not sure anyone is reading this blog except me (and Sweetling, who should probably be doing history. Hello, Sweetling, is your history finished?)

Cincinnati Homeschool Convention is coming this month.

(Hey, Sweetling, if you ARE finished with history, will you find me a short video clip of Strong Sad doing the "it's finally here" ditty?)

And, like a kid in a toystore with a pocket full of Christmas money, I am overwhelmed with cool choices for the workshops.

Here are the options I'm trying to choose between. (Any arbitrary capitalization and misspelling is all me being lazy in my typing and is not reflective of the convention or the speakers.)

Thursday, 3:30
Homeschooling Distractable Kids Who Don't Like School
Teaching Mathematics with Art
Making Geography Memorable

Thursday 6:30
Charlotte Mason and Her Methods
Teaching Reading and Spelling to Kids who Can't Sit Still


Friday 8:30
The Fun Factor--How Active Enjoyment Impacts Learning
Homeschooling the Gifted Learner: Helps, Ideas, and Resources

Friday 10:00
25 Ways to Significantly Cut Your Grocery Bill without Clipping Coupons
What Education is For: The Two Basic Goals of Education
Music, You, and Your Child--Ten Ways to Teach Your Child about Music
SOS--School on a Shoestring
Families Love Exploring the Heart of U.S.History

Friday 11:30
Charlotte Mason and Her Methods
Family Devotions that Blow Up the Box

Friday 1:00
Introducing Writing Strands
Homeschooling Gifted Kids

Friday 2:30
Learning with Living Books
How to Save Western Civilization One Student at a Time
Uh OH! The Fractions are Moving In!

Friday 4:00
Turning Kids on to Writing
Foreign Languages: Where do I start?
Creative Nature Study

Friday 5:30
The Logic of English: A New Way to See Words

Friday 7:00
Learning: A Breath-Taking Adventure
Teaching Math Without a Plan

Saturday 8:30
Exposing the Wizard of Oz--A Christian Guide to Teaching History
Laying Down the Rails
Family Devotions that Blow Up the Box

Saturday 11:30
I'd Throw in the Towel--If only I could find a clean one!
Glimpses of Glory
How to Win Friends and Influence People (why and how to teach rhetoric)
The 10 Greatest Obstacles in Learning a Foreign Language

Saturday 1:00
Learning Styles: Choosing Curriculum to Fit Each Child
The Art and Joy of Storytelling and Reading Aloud
Four-Level Literature
Project-based Learning

Saturday 2:30
Identifying and Avoiding the Trouble Spots in Math

Saturday 4:00
The Key to Education is Relationship
Bullet Proof Writing for Reluctant Writers

Considering there are nearly 20 workshop options running practically every hour, I think I've done wonders to narrow my selections down as far as I have. There is also a Teen Track offering workshops geared to teens which I'm going to let Sweetling read through. She can choose from the Teen Track or from any of the regular workshops.

And because I'm a nerdy dork, or a dorky nerd, here are the descriptions for the workshops I'm considering.

Homeschooling the Real (Distractable, Impatient, Argumentative, Unenthusiastic, Non-Book-Loving, Inattentive, Poky, Vague) Child
High academic achievement (and particular the book-centered kind of achievement recommended by classical educators) often seems designed for one kind of student: the mature, self-directed, disciplined child who loves to read. In this workshop, learn how to deal with the other 90% of students. Includes practical strategies for dealing with roadblocks in the way of academic achievement, as well as time-tested advice for teaching to your child’s strengths while still addressing weaknesses. Susan Wise Bauer, classical educator, college instructor, and author, was home schooled herself and has homeschooled her own four real children, now aged 10-19 (the oldest is now at university).

Teaching Mathematics with Art (or is it Teaching Art with Mathematics)
Can your child’s future really be boiled down to something as simplistic as whether they are right-brained, or left-brained? Surely, as homeschooling parents, we want our children to believe that they are capable of using “both sides” of their brains. In this educational and entertaining workshop, we will explore the natural and logical connections between Mathematics and Art. We will investigate mathematical principles, and see how they are related to, and illustrated by, artistic applications. Likewise, we will explore several artistic concepts, and see how they are based on mathematical ideas. Of course, throughout, the importance
of language and communication will be stressed, as it must play a key role in the understanding of both areas.

Making Geography Memorable (Ashley Strayer Wiggers)
Teaching geography can be overwhelming for teachers and sometimes boring for students. In this workshop, Ashley will offer helpful tips on making geography a memorable, and even fun experience. She will share how to incorporate geography into
everyday life and your other schooling subjects. With hands on activities and practical ideas, your children will start enjoying geography, and learning about the world, we live in!

Charlotte Mason and Her Methods
A practical and encouraging overview of who Charlotte Mason was and the methods used in her approach, including living books, short lessons, fine arts, history, dictation, narration, copywork, poetry, and more.

Teaching Reading and Spelling to Kids who Can’t Sit Still
Do you have a child who can’t sit still and doesn’t like to read? Join us in learning how to engage your active learners in their strongest learning mode -movement. Denise Eide will share her own experiences teaching and parenting her extreme kinesthetic child and two active boys. She will also demonstrate how reading is not only a visual activity but has natural kinesthetic components and how to tap into those to enhance learning for all students.
In this workshop we will:
• Learn active games for teaching reading and spelling.
• Develop a new appreciation of the gifts of kinesthetic learners.
• Discover the image of God revealed in active children.
• Learn how to utilize the kinesthetic gift while strengthening areas of weakness.
Though this workshop will focus on reading and spelling the concepts may be easily applied to other subjects. In addition to learning practical ways to engage your active child, Denise will inspire you in teaching and parenting each of your children in accordance with their unique God-given gifts.

The Fun Factor – How Active Enjoyment Impacts Learning
The research is in! And, the benefits are awesome!! “Fun”, plays an extremely important role in how well children (K-8) learn – and retain what they learn. Come, see and hear pitfalls to be avoided and relevant tips and techniques from experienced educators. Includes reviews of books, and Scripture-based curricula available to enhance the fun and learning!

Homeschooling the Gifted Learner: Helps, Ideas, and Resources
This session offers practical application to teaching gifted children. We will answer questions such as: If you want them tested where do you go to have that done? How do you adjust their curriculum? Where do you find resources to help them? We will introduce and help understand terms such as curriculum compacting, differentiation, and capacity. Concerns such as grade skipping, sibling comparisons, and early college admission will be addressed. This session is a great encouragement and helpful tool to those homeschooling gifted children.


25 Ways to Significantly Cut Your Grocery Bill Without Clipping Coupons
Want to save on groceries but don’t want to mess with clipping coupons? Taught by Crystal Paine, well-known money-saving blogger and author of The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, this workshop covers 25 ways to maximize the mileage of your money at the grocery store--without ever using a coupon!

Music, You, and Your Child – Ten Ways to Teach Your Child About Music
Music is one of the most joyful learning experiences that you can share with your child. Whether you are a novice with little experience or are a serious music lover, Bonnie Ward Simon will offer tips on how to integrate music into your family life and enrich your child’s educational experience.

What Education is For: The two basic goals of education.
Even many experienced teachers don’t know that education has only two basic purposes. Martin Cothran, editor of The Classical Teacher magazine, discusses the twin purposes of education that all homeschool parents need to keep in the
forefront of their minds as they teach their children. He explains how we can benefit from considering how education has done these two things well—and badly—throughout its history, and how we can do them better.

SOS! School on a Shoestring
You can teach your kids for less money than you think you can. More money doesn’t make for a better education - the school systems prove that. For 15 years, Cathy taught her kids for less than $100 per year. The SOS! method works for all learning
styles and follows the classical education model. Let Writing Strands and the SOS! method make your home school a little simpler and a little cheaper.

Families Love Exploring the Heart of U.S. History
How to Plan Easy Field Trips in & around your region of the country and sneak in fun lessons along the way. Through hands-on visuals and lively storytelling, author (and Travel Mom) Michele Zavatsky will take you on an educational journey through a local region of our country. Learn tricks to taking effective hands-on history adventures…on a budget. We’ll compare Forts & Battlefields, cover history from Astronauts to Indians to Explorers, discover natural wonders, learn how to make
things, and best of all, acquire pioneer skills working side-by-side re-enactors. Find out how many sites are ones you would never think of. Learn to create family memories and complete easy lessons on fun day trips from the Mom that “field trips for a living!” (background info: www.KidsLoveTravel.com)

Family Devotions that Blow Up the Box
Parents often struggle with creative ways to teach their kids about God and the principles He’s given us to live by – especially when they have kids at a variety of ages. Often parents see kids that are bored or distracted. Tim will equip you to teach your kids in ways that will hold their attentions…even teens. Tim will share his secrets that are way “ out of the box” and will demo at least 12 object lessons and activities that parent s can use immediately. Practical and powerful…this workshop is very “handson” and “how-to”. It is about equipping parents so they can do the job effectively at home.

Homeschooling Gifted Kids
How is homeschooling a gifted child different than homeschooling other children? How do you meet the needs of your gifted child? How do you keep him challenged? What happens when he’s smarter than you? How will you homeschool him and your other children at the same time? How do you keep him humble while encouraging his gifts? This workshop answers these questions and many more!

Learning with Living Books
Good living books help our children form personal relations and emotional bonds. And those bonds are what make learning stick. Join Sonya for a look at this simple, yet effective, approach to homeschooling. Learn what makes living books “living”, and practice using them in a way that makes learning stick.

How to Save Western Civilization One Student at a Time.
Martin Cothran, editor of The Classical Teacher magazine, discusses the consequences of an education system that has not only given up on the the culture of the Christian West, but is actively undermining it. Why is it important to pass on our culture? What exactly is this culture we need to pass on to our children? What is the role of homeschools in saving Western civilization?

UH, OH! The Fractions Are Moving In! (There goes the neighborhood!)
Since algebraic fractions are a much more complex form than arithmetic fractions, the memorization of the operational techniques generally taught in arithmetic, simply will not hold in Algebra. In this instructional workshop, Tom Clark, founder of VideoText Interactive, and author of “Algebra: A Complete Course”, and “Geometry: A Complete Course”, humorously explains, in detail, the “reasons behind the rules”. Now students can develop a clear, conceptual approach to working with fractions, without a reliance on meaningless shortcuts and tricks, preparing them to be much more successful when working with algebraic relations.

TURNING KIDS ON TO WRITING
Many of us feel inadequate or overwhelmed when it comes to teaching our children how to write. This parent participation session will help you experience the fun side of writing while picking up some ideas for getting started, developing enthusiasm in your children, and teaching composition skills. We will be covering writing skills and resources for beginning writers through high school level. Some of the ideas might be especially useful for older, non-writing students. Come prepared with a pen or pencil and a blank sheet of lined paper.

Creative Nature Study
There is no “right” way to incorporate nature study into your homeschool This workshop will give you a wealth of practical suggestions for adding nature study in a way that suits your family’s homeschool. Understand the importance of studying God’s creation, feel confident (even if you’re a novice), learn how to keep nature journals and learn what to do during nature study no matter where you live.

The Logic of English: A New Way to See Words
Have you always believed English is illogical and inconsistent? In this workshop your understanding of English will be transformed! Award winning author, Denise Eide will reveal phonograms and spelling rules which explain 98% of English words.
No longer will you need to tell your children, “that is an exception,” when they misread or misspell a word.

Learning: A Breath-Taking Adventure
Does that ring true for you? Is learning a breath-taking adventure in your home school, or more of a weary, forced march, plodding through endless subjects? One of the most difficult aspects of homeschooling is breaking away from the model of
education that we grew up with. A desk, a flag and an apple symbolize the "look" of school, while "lecture, drill and test" describe the method of school, the method that left us passive and bored. It's time to enter a whole new world of education; to find a captivating -- breath-taking—way to learn. Join Diana for this refreshing, reviving, and reinvigorating workshop where you will discover the best brain practices in learning, the environment that encourages learning, and the many non-traditional ways students can practice what they are learning. Take a new look at practical, proven, and possible ways to make your home school journey a wondrous
adventure.

Teaching Math Without a Plan? You’ve GOT to be Kidding!
This workshop is designed to help parent-educators understand the scope, the sequence, and the logic of mathematics instruction from pre-school through adult. Join Tom Clark, founder of VideoText Interactive, and author of “Algebra: A Complete
Course”, and “Geometry: A Complete Course”, as he takes you on a sometimes humorous journey, describing all levels of arithmetic and all mathematics courses encountered in high school and college. In addition, considerable attention will be given to identifying the “why” of the study of mathematics with an emphasis on the development of concepts, instead of rote memorization.

Exposing the Wizard of Oz— A Christian's Guide to Teaching History
The essential history crash course for every Christian homeschool parent. Discover insights from Diana's research behind the events of history. Share her wisdom for teaching history. Do you wonder, "Whom do I trust and what do I read to know real
history?" Diana will equip YOU, regardless of your curriculum, to find your way through the challenges. She will lead you to a path you can follow in discovering treasures of history with your family.

Laying Down the Rails
Discover the secret to smooth and easy days: habit training. Learn how to instill good habits, which habits Charlotte Mason encouraged parents to cultivate in their children, and practical tips for cultivating the Top Three.

I’d Throw in the Towel--If Only I Could Find a Clean One
Do you feel like your life is one big chaotic mess of mountains of laundry, dishes, and to-do lists? As an author, business owner, well-known blogger, and homeschooling mom of three young children,Crystal Paine is well-versed in the juggling act that is involved in this thing called “mothering”. In this session, she’ll share practical encouragement and ideas that harried and hurried
young moms can implement to restore balance, peace, and order into their lives.

Glimpses of Glory
Can we fallible and finite human beings see the fingerprints of God in history? Are there examples from various times and various cultures that show the unmistakeable handiwork of the Creator/Redeemer God? Does history have more to teach us
than mere dates, names and places? For an intriguing look at the Story behind the stories, join Diana for this adventure-filled recounting—which could change your life!

The 10 greatest Obstacles in Learning a Foreign Language
This is a presentation of all the reasons (EXCUSES!) that Americans seem unlikely to achieve bilingualism in their homes and homeschools. In a comic format, complete with anecdotes and props, we go through why it’s so hard to teach and learn a
second language and how to overcome these obstacles in immediate and effective ways.

LEARNING STYLES: CHOOSING CURRICULUM TO FIT EACH CHILD
Having problems with uncooperative learners? Do you feel like your curriculum is as much hindrance as help? What about all those publishers who claim to have the best curriculum? How can we sort through all of this to figure out what will really be best for each of our children? Understanding learning styles helps us overcome many of the problems we encounter in home education. In this session we will first identify our own learning styles and those of our children. Then we will discuss methods of teaching to our children’s strengths and overcoming weaknesses using examples from various math programs.

The Art and Joy of Storytelling and Reading Aloud to Children
Who doesn’t like to be read to? And who better to read to children than the people they love and trust most-their parents. This workshop will teach parents to make the very most of their precious read-aloud time with their children. At the heart of each story he tells, Jim Weiss’ renowned ability to make even complex subjects comprehensible and memorable to young children is evident. This delightful and immediately useful workshop will help parents to: become even better readers; more clearly define their children’s listening skills; facilitate the consideration of the freshness, outlook and interpretation of the stories they choose to read; and assist in using ones voice as an instrument with rewarding and dramatic results.

FOUR-LEVEL LITERATURE
This presentation presents the philosophy and strategy of Michael Clay Thompson's cumulative literature program. The core of the program is that students should experience literature as literature, not as a tedium of scholarly assignments. The emphasis is on love of literature, not on grades or units. This goal has inevitable implications for the kinds of evaluation that can be accepted; it particularly means that evaluation is not based on convergent rights and wrongs but on Socratic questions, creative and academic essays, and MLA writing about literature. It also means that scholarship does not interrupt the magic of the reading experience but is postponed until after the reading, in accordance with Coleridge's dictum that there must be a suspension of disbelief during the reading of a great book.

Project-based Learning
Tests are good for students, I don’t doubt that! But, what kind of “test” really helps a child show what they know? What kind of test helps a student think critically and creatively? What kind of test allows a student to use learning styles that meet their needs perfectly and require such skills as organization, presentation and research? Projects! Learn how to turn any teaching lesson, unit or test into a project that will help your children become immersed in their learning – and produce results that your child won’t soon forget.

Identifying and Avoiding the Trouble Spots in Math
Join Tom Clark, founder of VideoText Interactive, and author of “Algebra: A Complete Course”, and “Geometry: A Complete Course”, as he offers an entertaining and educational session designed to help you discover the reasons behind the difficulty, on several of the traditional trouble spots in math. Topics discussed will be determined by the audience, and may include division of fractions and multiplication of decimals (using those mindless rules), long-division, story-problems, positive and negative numbers, and numerous others, all of which seem to indicate that Mathematics is just naturally “difficult”.

The Key to Education is Relationship
Experts in learning tell us that one of the BEST predictors of educational success is having a positive relationship between student and teacher. Translated for homeschooling parents: if we build healthy, happy relationships with our children, they will be able to thrive educationally. It goes far beyond desks and multiplication tables, however. For us, it encompasses every aspect of
life—since our students are learning with us 24/7! Join Diana for an insightful and practical workshop that will give you tools for building and improving these significant relationships.

Bullet Proof Writing for Reluctant Writers – Using the Writing Process to Bullet Proof Your Child’s Compositions
If you’re looking for a simple and easy way to make sure your child produces quality writing, this workshop is for you. Step by step guidance is often what reluctant readers need. Combine that with “chunking” and your reluctant writer is on the road to writing success. In this workshop, Matthew Stephens, former public school teacher and home school father of three, will explain The Writing Process and how it works to produce quality writing.

Help please?

Wordless Wednesday....Almost

Why the birds are so angry....

Two for Tuesday: Oven Bacon

I hate frying bacon. Nothing about being spit on by popping hot grease is fun. So, I hate frying bacon.

I've tried several different oven bacon recipes, usually with the result of filling my oven and kitchen with smoke, setting off every smoke detector in the entire house, and, a long time later, having either too tough bacon or soggy bacon. There was never a middle ground in bacon texture when I tried baking it.

I tried making bacon in the microwave too. That results in going through a half roll or paper towels, dangerously super-heating my plates, and getting a few pieces of bacon done at a time, with similar texture issues.

But today, oh glorious day, I found method for making

Perfect Oven-Fried Bacon

Here's the key trick:

Do NOT pre-heat your oven.

Once you know that, the rest is super easy.

1. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil. (Use baking sheets with rims to contain grease).
2. Place strips of bacon on the baking sheets. I found that each baking sheet held about half a pound without any overlapping of strips.
3. Put the baking  sheets in the COLD oven. Then close the door and turn the oven on to 400.
4. Bake. The original recipe said to bake for 17-20 minutes. Mine took closer to 30. They are done when they turn a golden brown without being or looking crispy.
5. Take them off the baking sheets as soon as they are done and transfer them to a tray of paper towels. Do this right away. I mean it.
6. Eat. They are juicy, delicious, and reasonably mess free!

The original recipe called for baking a whole pound on a single baking sheet. I don't see how that would be possible without seriously overlapping the strips. I think that would result in just one big sheet of bacon. The Jedi might not see a problem with this outcome. The Jedi might want to use this outcome as our new kitchen curtains. Mmmmm,says the Jedi,---bacon curtains, how could they be wrong?  I just used two baking sheets and kept my bacon well separated to avoid domestic decorating disputes.

My next cooking adventure will be a chocolate volcano cake. Somehow a science lesson on Venus led to me promising Toa of Boy that we'd make a volcano cake together. I'm considering two recipe options. One is from the Pioneer Woman, because you can't go wrong with Ree. And one is a hot fudge cake which I've made before with success.

We'll see which one Toa prefers.

Happy Birthday to Me

Wordless Wednesday: Starfish

Facebook Fast

I've been nearly a week without Facebook. Voluntarily.

Why?

Because I'm fasting from Facebook until Easter.

Why?

Because, during Lent, my church does a "Focus 40" devotional together. During this time, we are each asked to consider giving one thing up to help us focus spiritually.

As I was sitting in church, listening to the teaching on fasting, immediately Facebook came to mind. I do want to refocus myself. I thought about it, and realized that during the day, I'm often composing short Facebook messages in my head, even if I don't get around to posting them as updates. There's nothing wrong with that, but I realize I think about what I'm going to say on Facebook way more than I pray. Way more.

So, during lent, the goal is each time I find myself thinking about what status update I could put up on Facebook, I'm going to take that opportunity to talk with God and thank him for the many blessings that I have.

When Toa of Boy does something funny (which is often), I take the opportunity to thank God for my wonderful son. And I give Toa a hug, if I can catch him, and tell him how much I appreciate him.

When I'm tempted to post something whiney about housework, instead I pray and thank God for the blessing of my home, for all the things we have, for the opportunity to stay home.

When I'm at Tae Kwon Do and thinking about posting an update about my toe jam, instead I stop and thank God for my health, for my flexibility, for my strength.

So far its made me much more mindful and appreciative of my blessings; it's kept my attitude positive and my spirit sweet; and its helped me to pray more frequently and more regularly than ever.

Two for Tuesday: Cincinnati Chili

Mmmmmmm.....Chili.

And it's even spelled correctly this time!

Those of you not native to Cincinnati might not appreciate the glory that is Cincinnati style chili. But you will, my child, oh yes, you will.

This recipe, in its original form, was given to the Jedi by a good college friend, Mensley. Through the years, the Jedi has adapted it somewhat. For instance, in its original version, it called for finely grated onion, which in our pre-food processor years was a teary eyed nuisance. Onion powder was thus substituted. Likewise, garlic powder was substituted for the fresh garlic cloves. I'm not sure why, but I think just for convenience sake.

This is the current Jedi version of Cincinnati Chili. 

Ingredients:

• 1 to 1 and 1/2 quart water
•  2 lb ground beef
•  2 cup tomato sauce (we use LaRosa's spaghetti sauce)
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
•  1/4 tsp allspice
•  1 tsp ground cumin
•  5 tbsp chili powder
•  2 tbsp cocoa powder
•  4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
•  1 tsp cinnamon
•  2 beef bullion cubes
•  1 tsp black pepper
•  1/8 tsp garlic powder
•  2 tbsp vinegar
•  1/2 tsp cloves

Directions:

1. Stir raw beef into cool water, very fine.
2.  Bring to boil and wait 30 minutes stirring occasionally. 
3. Meanwhile, combine tomato sauce and spices in small bowl. Add to beef. 
4. Stir and boil. Turn down heat and simmer slowly, uncovered, for 3 hours.
5. Let sit for at least 1 hour after cooking.
6. The Jedi says, "best results if refrigerated overnight." Mrs. Random says, "chow time, baby!"
7. Serve over cooked spaghetti and top with finely shredded cheddar cheese OR serve over hot dogs in a bun and top with shredded cheddar cheese. Additional diced onions in both instances are optional. 

Other notes:

• This does not work well with ground beef that has been frozen.I don't know why. The beef just clumps together in the water and the result is not the fine, smooth texture of Cincinnati chili. Fresh ground beef of 93/7 blend works best.
• We use LaRosa's spaghetti sauce because it's smooth enough that Toa of Boy can eat it without having an allergic reaction AND because LaRosa's sauce is already delicious. It make sense to start with something already delicious, right? (The Italian flavorings do not throw off the chili seasonings in the least.)
• This makes for spicier, more flavorful chili than one gets at the famous Cincinnati chili chains.
• I almost always make a double batch. The extra lives in the fridge for a long time to become lunches, snacks, and dinners in a pinch. I also love to make this for company.
• Lastly, I always start with more water than the original 1 quart the Jedi uses. I just can't get the ground beef stirred into a single quart.

 And for my second food item on this Two for Tuesday post, behold the beauty----

I can't give you the recipe. You just have to have a friend as awesome as Christopher Robin to get something that good. Fortunately, I have that awesome friend, and this was her contribution to our chili dinner on Saturday.

Cincinnati Dayscapes: Miami Whitewater Forest

We had predetermined that no school would be done on February 29th. After all, a Leap Year Day only comes once every four years. Surely such a special day deserved its own observance!

Originally, the plan was to drive up to the Boonshoft Discovery Museum in Dayton. But, due to an unforeseen delay in our morning, that plan had to be scrapped. And, since the day was so beautiful, it was decided that an afternoon at a park was in order.

Our park of choice for an excursion was Miami Whitewater Forest. We picked this park for three reasons:

1. It had a great playground. (Toa of Boy's stipulation.)
2. It had some beautiful scenery. (Sweetling's stipulation.)
3. It was within a 30 minute drive. (My stipulation.)

Behold the playground:

....complete with stuff to climb in....

....a small zip line....

....a giant boat shapped teeter totter....

...and a big plastic climbing rock.

Behold the scenery:

Scenery is best viewed from a swing of course.

The sky was also quite lovely.

We took a short walk along the lakeshore and in general enjoyed the day.

We enjoyed the day so much, that I suggested throwing in the towel for school for the year and just skipping straight to summer break. Sweetling, as usual, was the voice of reason who reminded me of all the reasons that this would not be a good idea.

Still, it was a lovely afternoon.

Miami Whitewater also has several great trails. The ground was quite wet, so I was all in favor of a fantastically muddy hike through the woods to search for various animal tracks. Even Toa of Boy thought this would be a bit much, since we hadn't brought our mud shoes. (Yes, we keep a separate pair of mud shoes, because some of our outings are a bit grimy.)

We're looking forward to going back a bit later in the spring, with our mud shoes, to go hiking.

Wordless Wednesday: Ready for Spring

Weekly Wrap-Up: Craters, Chickens, and Tin-Foil

You know those graphics that are hot on Facebook right now, the ones that name a profession or hobby and have six photos---'what my friends think I do', 'what the public thinks I do,' etc--those ones? The ones that always conclude with 'what I actually do'?

Here's my "What I actually do" photo for the week:

This was, of course, a spelling lesson. I mean, really, isn't that obvious?

A few minutes before the spelling lesson reached this photo worthy state, the lesson included me running from the kitchen to the living room yelling, "I've got the Squeaker! I've got the Squeaker!" while Toa of Boy was chasing after me, trying to retrieve the round furry plush toy I was victoriously waving over my head.

That's not an atypical instance for us. I don't know how we transitioned from steal the Squeaker (who's real name is Speedy, thank you), to Toa of Boy and Mama (not me, my mother) wearing aluminum foil hats, but there you go.

Spelling got finished. (So did grammar, despite that last sentence.) It just had a few diversions along the way.

For the sake of my dignity, I briefly considered claiming that Toa of Boy's learning style is best activated when a few spurts of excitement and physical activity punctuate the school day. I would say that, but here's a Facebook post about Sweetling's geometry lesson from earlier in the week:

Today's geometry lesson ended with Mommy standing on the kitchen table doing a shake your bootie dance while Sweetling, though fits of laughter, kept exclaiming, "Don't draw dinosaurs on the ceiling! Do NOT draw dinosaurs on the ceiling!"

I am forced to conclude the common denominator is me.

Other fun stuff for the week--

We continue to love our new Apologia Exploring Creation through Astronomy book. It's chock full of hands-on projects about the solar system. We like hands-on.

Here's Toa of Boy making craters. The pan is full of a half inch or more of flour, dusted with a layer of cocoa. Pebbles of assorted sizes are dropped from above to resemble the formation of craters.

Yes, it got a little messy. All good school projects do. Toa of Boy cleaned it all up on his own.

And, because I don't think I've officially put this on my blog yet, Sweetling is officially a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

She tested for her black belt at the end of January. She broke all her boards on the first try. Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack. We celebrated by going out for grilled cheese donuts at Tom & Chee. (Sweetling's pick.) The Jedi had pre-ordered a black t-shirt for her which read, "Warning: Shirt comes with a matching belt." She proudly wore it to co-op the Monday after testing. She had to wait a couple weeks for the actual black belt to arrive at the dojo, since they come custom embroidered with the pupil's name in both English and Korean. (Her name is blocked out here for privacy.)


Toa of Boy is due to test for his high blue belt soon as well. In the mean time, here's a photographic portrayal of why Toa of Boy loves our Tae Kwon Do school.

This is self defense training of course.


Last, but certainly not least, I bring you....

........chickens.

Why?

Because that's how our homeschool rolls.

Click the link!  Check out what others are doing this week!

Weekly Wrap Up: A stitch in time

(Confession time--this is actually from a few weeks ago. I've kept this in my 'drafts' box till I got around to getting the photos in. All two of them. BUT, I'm sharing it NOW, and that's what's important.)

We have been sewing and unschooling this week. All week.


I'm a little nervous about this.

I don't know why.

LOTS of learning has been taking place. Sweetling is making something from a purchased pattern for the first time. So, she's learning to interpret the weird wording found only in sewing pattern instructions into actual "oh, so that's what they mean" steps. She's used a seam gauge, dress maker's pencil, and stitch ripper (cause mistakes do happen.) She's threaded the machine, wound the bobbin, machine basted, and reinforced selected edges. She's learned to slip-stich by hand and learned what fusible interfacing is and why its used.

Meanwhile, Toa of Boy, not one to be left out, has learned how to thread a needle and knot the thread on the end. He's learned sew on a bead (for a turtle eye of course) and how to repair a seam on a stuffed animal. (There was a small discussion when he first started trying to sew and was getting a little frustrated. He demanded to know why boys had to learn how to sew. My answer was that everyone needed some basic sewing skills to be able to do simple clothing repair or replace a missing button. He said he could get someone else to do that for him. I asked if he really wanted to pay someone $10 to replace a button when he could do it himself in half a minute. He said he'd get a friend or relative to do it. I asked what if he was by himself on a business trip to Japan and the button popped off his dress shirt right before an important meeting. He conceded to me the argument.) He then raided my scrap basket and is now sewing his own stuffed Kirby doll.

Toa of Boy also kicked my butt in chess. He's gotten much better at his end game. But truthfully, I was in trouble very early in the game. Look at this box he has put me in. What move could I make, as black, that would help dig me out of this trap? (Click on the photo for a larger, clearer picture.)

Now, we've done a little bit of our regular academics. Toa did three pages of math by himself on Wednesday and Sweelting taught Toa all his regular subjects on Thursday while I was babysitting. (That's part of our regular Thursday arrangement.) And we've started out each day with our Bible Truth curriculum.

But mostly we've unschooled this week.

I think I like unschooling for a specific length of time (this week), to accomplish a specific student selected goal (learning to sew from a pattern.). But I don't think I'm ready to jump fully on the unschooling band wagon just yet. 

I'm not worried about "falling behind" or not learning. I think I'm just worried that without just a little structure, days and weeks will go by....and we'll have done some housework, a couple baking projects, and just goofed off. I think I'm worried that we won't have the motivation to tackle anything that seems like too much work. Sweetling's sewing project happened because she wanted to make a costume for an anime con. But that's the exception to the rule.

I think my question to the unschoolers, because I do like the concept a whole lot....my question would be how do you stay motivated to attempt challenging projects?

So, that's us.

 Check out what others have done on Weird, Unsocialized Unschoolers.

Two for Tuesday: Buttermilk Cinnamon Syrup

Yep. You read that right. Syrup.

Because what syrup really needs is real melted butter and buttermilk to round out the whole American eating experience.

This was borne out of desperation. I made my standby of fluffy pancakes and cheesy scrambled eggs for dinner. I knew the bottle of syrup was running low, but also knew that I had another bottle in the downstairs pantry. I was right on the first point, and very wrong on the second point.

Allrecipes came through with this delicious and miraculously easy solution. I don't keep buttermilk on hand, but I put a half tablespoon of vinegar in a half a cup of milk and let it sit for five minutes. The original recipe made two and a half cups of syrup. I halved it for our family dinner. (Thie amounts give are the amounts I used. It filled my little creamer pitcher perfectly.)

Buttermilk Cinnamon Syrup

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 Tbs vinegar (or 1/2 cup buttermilk)
• 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 Tbs corn syrup
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add everything else except the baking soda. Stir. (The milk looks curdled and horrible at first. Don't panic. It blends in eventually.)
2. Bring to a simmer while stirring.
3. Whisk in baking soda. Mixture will froth like a volcano. Whisk 10 seconds and remove from heat.
4. Continue stirring (but not whisking.) Syrup will begin to lose its foamy top.
5. Let sit for a couple minutes, then pour into small pitcher for serving and pouring. It will be very thin at first, but will start to thicken as it cools.

This stuff is creamy, smooth, rich, and heavenly. The cinnamon is a very subtle flavor.

On a completely different subject.....

My family needs to love zucchini. I love zucchini. Zucchini is delicious.

And this scrumptious looking stuffed zucchini dish might be hitting our kitchen table sometime in the near future.

Life Skills

At the beginning of the school year, I was writting about how to make sure Sweetling really learned everything she would need to know to function as an adult. (Even though I don't really want to think about how few years we have left before she is an adult. Why do they have to grow up so fast?)

Shortly after that, I got a call that our co-op needed someone to teach the high school Life Skills class. Hmmm......

Yesterday was my first class. Other than me being the smallest person in the room, I'm really excited about the class. I decided that trying to teach life skills in a lecture format, or from a book, is just pointless. So, we're going to have a project driven class. I put together a syllabus and a list of projects and their requirements. Each week in class, the students will share with each other what they learned by doing that week's project. Then we'll briefly discuss the upcoming project with the time we have left in class.

I don't think this approach would work with a begrudging group of students, but I happen to have an awesome group of young men who I feel confident will really do great with individual projects that require a lot of self-initiative.

And because I labor under the delusion that someone else might be as interested in this as me, here is the front page of my syllabus for the class.

Welcome to Life Skills. This is a single semester, project driven class. Students will be expected to work independently to conduct research and complete multi-step assignments outside of class. We will be using class time to share the results of our projects and to discuss the next project. However, the bulk of the students’ effort and learning will be taking place outside of class.

The goal for this class is to help prepare the high school student to step into the role of an adult with confidence and integrity.

Students will be receiving a letter grade for this class. Each project will receive a letter grade, all of which will be averaged together for a final semester grade. Projects will be assigned a letter grade based on the following criteria:

A—Project completed with excellence. Project meets all given requirements PLUS includes an additional student selected and student driven element.

B—Project completed with excellence. Project meets all given requirements.

C—Project completed but is substandard OR lacks one requirement.

D—Project lacks more than one requirement.

F—No project is presented.

Please note that projects will be accepted up to one week late but will be marked down one letter grade on the grading scale. If a student is unable to attend co-op that week, projects can be emailed to the instructor before class time or can be sent to co-op with a friend or other family member. (With advance written notice, exceptions will be made for extended travel time.)

A single class is insufficient to completely prepare a student in all the skill and knowledge areas needed as an adult. However, we will try to focus on some key concepts. It is my hope that the experience of researching and problem solving can be used and applied to other areas of life as needed.

Several of the assignments will have more than one project option so that students may pursue an area of unique interest to them. Some projects will require more than one week to complete, and should be started in advance. A three-ring binder to organize projects and assignment sheets is recommended. Regular Internet access is invaluable for research. Parental involvement and assistance will also be needed for some of the projects.

And here is the list of projects with their due dates and their requirements.


Christian Life (due January 30th)

1. Complete a personal gift inventory. (There is a youth or an adult version on kodochrome.org or you can use another of your choosing.)
2. Give an interpretation of what this inventory means for you. This can be a written essay, a power point presentation, a video file, or other format.)
3. Research options for personal discipleship and present your findings.
4. Keep a record of when and where you are engaged in discipleship. Make note of the strengths and weaknesses of this plan.

Time Management Log (due February 6th)

1. Record how you spend your time for three consecutive days. Pick days that are fairly typical of your normal life.
2. Add up the amount of time you spend in various categories (school, work, sports, activities, tv, computer, video games, hobby, etc). Create a graph or visual display of the proportion of time.
3. Make a basic weekly schedule for yourself based on the activities and time breakdowns you are currently using.
4. Review your time log and weekly schedule. Are there any areas which should be adjusted? What and how?

Project Completion Sheet (due February 13th)

1. Pick any medium or large project that is of interest to you and is something you haven’t tried before.
2. Write out the steps needed to complete your project and the approximate time you think you will need to complete each step. It’s better to estimate a little high in terms of time needed than to estimate too low.
3. Look at your weekly schedule and pencil in when you will complete each step of the project.
4. Work on the project, make note of time differences, difficulties, and what you did to adjust in each of these areas.

Post High-School Options (due February 20th)

1. Research at least three different and specific options you might like to pursue post high school. These options should be ones which can be pursued within a few months of graduation.
2. Make a list of the requirements needed for each option as well as the benefits to be gained by pursuing them.
3. For each option, complete a brief financial analysis (cost to pursue the option or wages earned from the option.)
4. How on track are you for meeting the requirements of any of these options?

Menu and Grocery List (due Feburary 27th)

1. Create a basic 6 day meal plan for one or two people. Include balanced choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
2. Using your meal plan, create a grocery list for all needed ingredients or components of your plan.
3. At any store, or stores, of your choice, compute how much you menu would cost for a week. If you “purchase” some of your food in bulk, include both the total cost for the trip as well as the cost for just the amount you would have consumed that week.
4. With this data, project how much you would be likely to spend on groceries for a two week period and for a month.

Housekeeping Schedule and Application (due March 5th)

• Option ONE—Check out FlyLady.com. Read about her concept of developing daily routines and dividing the home into cleaning zones. Either complete her detailed zone cleaning list for this week, or complete a daily mission for the zone each day of the week. Share what you learned.
• Option TWO—Take over all regularly scheduled cleaning in your home for the week (including laundry, dishes, etc). Share what you learned.
• Option THREE—Develop your own cleaning schedule for a home. How will your schedule ensure that both the regular maintenance and the less frequent deep cleaning gets accomplished? Try out your schedule for one week. Share what you learned.
• Option FOUR—Use another resource of your choosing to implement a housekeeping system. Try it for a week and share what you learned.

Computer Maintenance (due March 12th)

• Option ONE—Learn what you can about spyware, firewalls, virus protection software, and data back up. How do each of these affect the performance of a computer.
• Option TWO—With the permission or assistance of an adult, learn how to install software.
• Option THREE—With the permission or assistance of an adult, learn how to install or upgrade hardware or how to set up a computer.
• Option FOUR—Research the rates outside services charge for data recovery, virus removal, or other computer repair services.

Home DIY Project (due March 19th)

• Option ONE--Pick any home or garden repair, decorating, or building project that you would like to attempt. Use the internet or library resources for instructions and get permission before you begin. Work on and complete the project. Take before and after photos and share what you learned.
• Option TWO—Assist in any home repair or building project which requires skills or knowledge that is new to you. Share what you learned.

Community Service (due March 26th)

1. Complete at least three hours of community service in a field or area which you have never worked in before.
2. Explain how and why you picked the project and whether it was a good match for your skills, abilities, and interests. If it wasn’t, what would be a better match?
3. How can you continue to include volunteering in your regular life?

Car Maintenance and Repair (due April 2nd)

• Option ONE—If you don’t already know how, learn how to safely jump a car or how to change a flat tire. With supervision, practice the new skill.
• Option TWO—What is the recommended maintenance schedule for changing the oil in a car? How do you check the oil level? If you haven’t done so before, find someone who will let you assist in this process. How much does it cost to do it yourself? How much does it cost to have it done somewhere?
• Option THREE—What fluids go into a car? Where do they go? How do you check their levels? When should you add more or change them? How do you check the tire pressure? With supervision, check all these items on a car and add more if needed.
• Option FOUR—Assist a friend or family member with any car repair or tune up.

Apartment Costs (due April 16th)

1. Shop for a basic apartment in the area which you might like to live. How much is the rent? The utilities? The deposit? How much is it to get phone or cable connected?
2. What furniture would you need to move in? How would you get these items? (Include dishes, towels, pots and pans, small appliances, etc)
3. What basic cleaning supplies would you need? How much would they cost? (hint—check the dollar store for some of these)
4. How much money, total, would you need to have in savings in order to move into this apartment?

Personal Budget (due April 23rd)

1. Using the research from your post high school options, your apartment cost project, and your menu and grocery list project, complete a possible personal budget. How much money would you need to earn in a pay period to make such a budget work? (don’t forget items such as gas, car insurance, phone bills, entertainment, clothing, tithing, and savings)
2. Is your budget achievable based on the type of jobs you might be likely to get soon after high school? If not, what adjustments could you make?
3. Do you know how to balance a checkbook against a bank statement? Ask your parents to let you observe how they balance their own accounts.
4. Keep a real record of your own spending and any earnings for a one month period. Is how you are handling money now consistent with how you hope to handle money in the future?

Safety (due April 30th)

• Option ONE—Research dating violence. What warning signs should you be aware of? How do you protect yourself on a date and in a relationship? (Remember, abuse isn’t always physical. Men can often find themselves in a relationship with an emotionally abusive woman.) Share what you learn.
• Option TWO—Research identity theft. What precautions can you take to protect yourself from fraud? Share what you learn.
• Option THREE—Take a self-defense class.

Relationship Reports (due May 7th)

1. Select and read ONE of the following books:
• For Young Men Only, or For Young Women Only, by Shaunti and Jeff Feldhann;
• Love and Respect, by Dr. Emmerson Eggerichs;
• The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman;
• Saving Your Marriage Before it Starts, by Les and Leslie Parrott
2. Write a brief report or summary of a few of the key concepts you learned in the book.
3. Talk to your parents or to another married couple you know and respect. Ask them about their marriage. What makes it strong? What difficulties did they have to overcome? What advice would they give to a newlywed couple?

Jesse Owens

I've just realized I've been avoiding posting on the "week in review" because our history projects this year haven't been as photogenic as our projects last year. We've still been learning, and I really like Homeschool in the Woods. All the same, Sweetling's main project has been writing articles for a newspaper (which doesn't lend itself to a photograph....unless I get her to dress up as an intrepid reporter). Likewise, Toa of Boy has been working on the components of a lap book, again, not the most exciting thing to photograph.

And without photos, just saying "this week we learned about some of the famous people who became between 1870 and the break out of WW2," just doesn't make for an interesting blog post.

But, it does when I tell it in a story like this.

Our lesson last week was a huge smattering of famous Americans from the Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression. As always, I popped the Time Traveler disc into the Media Center PC which is hooked up to the big flat screen in the living room. We read the lesson, and as we were reading, we'd pause and do google searches on the people and topics we were reading about. We pulled up photos of P.T. Barnum, of Jumbo, and Tom Thumb. We pulled up photos of Buffalo Bill and Anne Oakley.  We listened to "The Entertainer", to "Stars and Stripes Forever", and to a few famous hymn written during this time. We watched the Fantasia 2000 segment of Rhapsody in Blue as well as a silent film of Harry Houdini performing a rope escape. We read about Helen Keller, Jesse Owens, Charles Lindbergh, and Amelia Earhart--people who did what others claimed couldn't be done.

The next day, Sweetling churned out another page of newspaper articles and Toa of Boy put together a fan book of many of these famous people. The day after that, Toa of Boy added five fact cards to his 100 cool things about America, choosing 5 of these famous people to highlight. Sweetling added an advertisement for The Greatest Show on Earth to her newspaper.

And I didn't write up a week in review because I didn't have any pictures to make our learning look interesting. And somehow, I thought we weren't doing as many cool projects and learning activities as we had done last year.

Then Sunday night at church, the kids were asked to name some people who were truly great. The nearly all boys group came up with Michael Jordan and another basketball player whose name I'd butcher if I tried to recall it.

And then Toa of Boy raised his hand and said, "Jesse Owens." And then he proceeded to give a brief reason of why Jesse Owens was truly great.

I had this "aha" moment where I realized, wow, we really are learning cool things this year after all!

Yeah, I know, I'm slow like that.

Jesse Owens, I am not.

Two for Tuesday: Spaghetti Pizza

This is a great answer to the "what's for dinner?" question.

Spaghetti Pizza (or Pizza Spaghetti, if you prefer!)

This was born out of the realization that I had little on hand to make a decent dinner with, not a lot of time, and I didn't want to fall back on my boring old staple of plain spaghetti. Thus the last minute birth of Spaghetti Pizza!

Ingredients

• 1 lb spaghetti noodles ( a little less than a pound actually)
• 28 oz jar of spaghetti sauce
• shredded mozzarella cheese
• any pizza toppings you might have on hand (pepperoni, diced ham, chopped peppers, etc)

 Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 425.
2. Pour a tablespoon or two of oil onto of a large pot of water. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add spaghetti noodles.
3. While noodles are boiling, grease a 9x13 or so casserole pan. Also, heat spaghetti sauce in a separate pan. Complete a scavenger hunt through your fridge and pantry for "pizza toppings".
4. When noodles are cooked (but not mushy), drain water COMPLETELY. Trust me on this one. Put a lid on the colander and shake all the water out. 
5. Spread noodles in the greased casserole dish. The entire pound probably won't fit. (Remember, you need to leave room for sauce and toppings.) Put the extra noodles in a container for lunch leftovers or something.
6. Spread warm spaghetti sauce over the noodles. 
7. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top until sauce is covered. 
8. Top with whatever ingredients you have on hand. Place toppings on half or on sections if you have certain family members who don't care for a particular topping.
9. Pop it in the oven for just long enough to melt and slightly brown the cheese. (Just like a 'real' pizza.)
10. Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then cut it with a pizza slicer and use a spatula to serve out the pieces. (They won't maintain their structural integrity, but that's ok.)

We had this last night for dinner, and my family loved it! It might just go on our regular menu rotation. 

 Meanwhile, I just finished baking a batch of pineapple zucchini muffins. My children are very skeptical about such a combination. A conversation with a certain young lady went like this:

Sweetling: What kind of muffins are you making?
Me: Pineapple zucchini muffins.
Sweetling: Wait, seriously?
Me: Yes, they will be delicious.
Sweetling: Of course. And you're not crazy at all, are you?

I have just laid down the "you have to ate least try these" law with both my children. It's good to be the Mom, baby.

Weekly Wrap-Up: In With the New!

I don't think I've written a week in review since August. But, to quote Flylady, "....just jump in where you are."

This week. I'm just going to focus on this week, and not go into a lengthy explanation of how I got so far off track.

This week started with taking down the Christmas tree. That's always a bittersweet thing. I like the Christmas tree, and yet, I'm also ready to get back to a routine. (Well, I'm a little ready to get back to a routine.) In our family, each year we take turns deciding how the tree will be decorated. This year, it was Mama's turn. (My mama, my mama lives with us now.) She decided we were each going to make heart shaped paper ornaments and write our favorite Scripture verses about Jesus on the ornaments. It was lovely.

Since the tree was all decorate in red and pink hearts, I considered petitioning leaving it up until mid-February for Valentine's Day. But, in the end, the tree needed to come down so that we could get back to the business of school.

So, by Tuesday, we had gotten back into the swing of things. We're using Homeschool in the Woods' Time Traveler series for our history curriculum, and our timelines are coming along so well, we need the entire living room floor to spread them out.

Art led us to a cool pop up of Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Waters (part of our Time Traveler's pack). AND, to a neat cardinal in winter art project, courtesy of Deep Space Sparkle.

Showcased behind the cardinal is some bare winter tree branches. We took our camera outside and snapped some pictures of branches highlighted against the blue sky. We each took turns with the camera and zoomed in on the section of branches we wanted to photograph. Of course, it was a warm, beautiful, sunny day....so this turned into an excuse to take a walk around the neighborhood.

Back inside, we pulled the photos up on the computer, talked about the negative space in between the branches, and used our photographs to inspire us when we drew the branches behind our cardinal.

Then we followed Deep Space Sparkle's directions to complete our art. We painted the sky using blue metallic acrylic paint. We painted in the cardinal and the branches and used a thin black brush to add details.

We haven't done the final step of using a Qtip dipped in white paint to add snowflakes. We're waiting for the rest of the paint to dry first.

Sweetling's science has been on hold since October. Her November subjects got paired to the bone in order to free her up to participate in NaNoWriMo. This week, she got back to her amazing glider. Check him out...I put a folding yardstick by him for a scale.

His wings are covered in this cool plastic which she shrunk to a perfect fit using a hair dryer. Supplies and directions were all part of her Education Exploration science curriculum.

Toa of Boy is more than ready to move on in science, and he wants to study space next. So, Apologia's Exploring Creation through Astronomy has been ordered and is being shipped. In the meantime, Chapter Two is available as sample pages on Apologia's home page. Chapter Two is all about the sun, so we read about the sun, got a soccerball and a peppercorn to compare the size of the sun with the size of the earth. (It was supposed to be a basketball, but we don't have a basketball, so we did our best.)

And, most importantly, Toa of Boy got to witness a small fraction of the awesome energy of the sun by using a magnafying glass to burn a hole in a leaf outside. (We tried a piece of paper first, but wound up using a dried leaf.)

Not bad for a first week back in a long time!

To read what other homeschoolers are doing this week, hop on over to Weird Unscocialized Homeschoolers.

One for Wednesday: Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ok, it's really Two for Tuesday. On a Wednesday. And though I was going to post just one recipe, I now have another.

So it is Two for Wednesday, really. But I can't use that as a blog post because it doesn't have any poetic value.

Maybe there's some sort of 12 step program for alliteration addicts.

Anyway, love this cookie recipe. It makes a TON of cookies (maybe 4 to 5 dozen?). Be warned. You should half it if you don't want to spend all afternoon taking trays of cookies in and out of the oven. But they keep well, and they are full of whole grains. And, most importantly, they are delicious.

I always divide the dough and make half with semi-sweet chocolate chips, and half with white chocolate chips. Plus, I believe cookie dough is the stuff that holds the chocolate chips together, so I tend to go heavy with my chips. Stir in as much or as little as you and your family personally like.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 5 cups rolled oats
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups EACH of white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to just 325. Not 375 like most cookies!
2. In a huge bowl, cream  together butter and brown sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla.
3. Add oats, flours, baking soda, and salt.
4. Divide dough. Place half in another bowl.
5. Add between 1 and 2 cups chips to each bowl. (White in one and semi-sweet chocolate in another).
6. Scoop by heaping teaspoon to cookie sheets.
7. Bake at 325 for 10 to 12 minutes. Don't overbake!

I think a couple batches of cookies might be hitting the counter in the near future. The very near future. We've burned through almost all the Christmas goodies. Time to restock!

And the Two part of my Two for Tuesday. I haven't made these yet, but I've asked the Jedi to give me one more week to do something with the pumpkin sitting near my desk downstairs. The pumpkin might be volunteering for this:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Told you I was in a cookie mood.

New Year's Resolutions

Every year, I promise myself I WILL NOT make any New Year's Resolutions. I never keep them.

Yet, every year, I come slinking back and make a couple New Year's Resolutions. Telling myself the lie that this year, this year, it will be different.

Here I am again. But this year, this year, it will be different.

This year, I'm not makin a whole list of resolutions. This year, I'm going to start small and keep it simple. I'm going to make one resolution. Only one. I'm going to keep it for a month. Only a month. And they are going to be small, manageable, easy things. Small manageable easy things that will make my life better.

January's goal is to remember to turn the dishwasher on before I go to sleep.

Simple, right?

And how happy will it be to start the day out with clean dishes.