Two for Tuesday: Roasted Vegetables and Marinated Steaks

Mmmmmm.....Roasted Veggies

My dear friend Christopher Robin made these for me for lunch on Thursday. In gratitude, I dragged her to the mall to look at jewelry to accessorize an outfit. (Well, not dragged, per se, since she towers over me, but mall shopping and accessorizing isn't her favorite thing.) See what I good friend I am?

Ingredients 

• 1 small butternut squash, cubed
• 1/2 red and 1/2 yellow bell peppers, seeded and diced
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 3 red potatoes, cubed
 • 1/2 red onion, quartered
• 1 package of mushrooms, quartered
• 3 heads of broccoli, cut into spears
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

 Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F

 2. In a large bowl, combine the squash, sweet potato, and red potatoes. Separate the red onion quarters into pieces, and add half of them to the mixture.

3. In another bowl, combine the peppers, mushrooms, broccoli and the rest of the onion.

4. In a small bowl, stir together thyme, rosemary, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. split in half and Toss with each bowl of vegetables until they are coated.

5. cover a large roasting pan with foil and spray it with pam. Pull of a piece of foil that could cover half the pan. 6. take the potato mix and spread evenly on half of the pan then, put the foil on top.

7. Roast for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring every 10 minutes.

8. Add the other vegetables and move the foil to cover them. Roast for about another 20 min, stirring every 10. 

They were so good, I could not stop eating them!

Luckily, Christopher Robin didn't hold the shopping excursion against me and sent me home with the leftover veggies. I saved them and ate them as a side dish on the Jedi's birthday when I made...

Ta Da!

Marinated Rib-Eye Steaks

I found several recipes for a marinade, but I didn't have all the ingredients for any of them. So, I substituted without any rhyme or reason. Here's the recipe I started from. Here is what, I think, I made:

 Ingredients

•  1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tbs low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 Tbs bbq sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• some crushed dried basil (yeah, I was crushing from whole dried basil leaves so I didn't measure
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 3 or 4 steaks (6 oz says the original recipe.)

Directions

1.  Put everything, except the steaks, in a bowl and stir.
2. Place the steaks in a non-reactive dish. (The original recipe says to pierce them on both sides first. I forgot that step. I leave you to decide whether or not to pierce your steaks.)
3. Pour the marinade over the steaks, flip and coat both sides.
4. Allow to marinade in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours. (Again, the original says to flip them halfway through. Do you think my steaks got flipped? They did not. I wasn't even home.)
5. Now, I don't have a grill. I have a smoker. Its a totally different piece of equipment. I cooked mine under a gas flame broiler. I used the drip pan (one with an upper pan with holes in it and a lower drip tray) and set the pan at the medium height. I broiled them for maybe 8 to 10 minutes on one side, flipped them, and broiled them for maybe 5 to 8 minutes on the other side. I didn't set a timer, so those are big maybes. 

They were delicious. This alleged thing called a grocery budget not withstanding, I think I need to have steak once a month. 

(In case you were wondering, I made baked potatoes and corn as a side dish for those unenlightened in my family who won't go for the roasted veggies. And I had homemade wheat bread on hand. I marinated three of our 6 steaks, in case my marinade was crap. I used a store bought steak rub on the other three. All of them turned out beautifully.)


And having had so much baking success recently (this is sarcasm, by the way), I'm tempted to try making my own English muffins. Still looking for an easy recipe. So far, this might be the best I've found. I'm going to follow the variation described in the second comment.

More about boys and forts

Toa of Boy has built another fort in a new location. This one is a sheet stretching from his desk, across the room to his bed. It's held in place by books and Awana trophies. Under the sheet his bed pillow is propped up against the wall with a couple smaller cushions on the floor in front of it. Two rows of stuffed animals line the entrance to the fort and an assortment of toys is squirreled away in the foot cubby under his desk.

Toa is quite proud of his new fort and enumerated for me the reasons his fort was a good fort. Here they are, quoted as accurately as I can remember them.

"One, it has a couch.


"Two, it has weapons, just in case.


"Three, it has a roof.


"Four, it has guards."

And once again, the fort must be slept in. This time at least there was room for a sleeping bag and for him to actually unfold his body and lay down. A big step up over the fort behind the living room chair.

King of the Ring

We did “King of the Ring” tonight in tae kwon do. The school is hosting a tournament on May 19^th, so we’ve been prepping for that. In tournaments, if there is a tied score during a sparring round, they go to ‘sudden death’…where the first point scored wins. King of the Ring is a game to practice ‘sudden death’ skills. Two students go to the center of the ring, bow, shake hands, and step apart. The instructor says, ‘ready…go’. The first person to score a solid body or head kick stays in the ring. The loser leaves the ring, and the next contender enters the ring. The goal is to be the last person in the ring.

I had been paired with a yellow belt for sparring drills to help her with her drills, so the two of us got called up first. Which I think was unfair to the yellow belt, because usually we progress in size and belt order. But the yellow belt was the tallest female in the class, so we looked evenly matched size wise. I pretty easily scored a point. The female green belt came in, and she is never a very aggressive sparring partner, so I pretty easily scored against her. She seemed happy to leave the ring. The female blue belt came in, and was much more aggressive than I’ve ever seen her. That wound up being a pretty good match and we exchanged several kicks without scoring a body point. Eventually, I got the point, and she went out.

That was all the female students, so the next person to come into the ring with me was an MMA student who was cross training in tae kwon do. He’s in his twenties, 5’11”, two hundred some pounds, boxer. But, in King of the Ring, only kicks score points, and his kicks are what he’s in tkd to work on. Since he couldn’t punch me, I stood a chance. Plus, I could tell he was trying to kick me to score a point, but without putting his full force into his kick so that he didn’t hurt me. A fact which I really appreciated, since if he did land a full force kick on my little self, he would have laid me out.

We threw kicks back and forth, but I couldn’t land a kick on his body; he kept blocking. And since he was trying to pull the force of his kicks, they were just slow enough that I could evade them. Finally, I noticed that because of his boxing training, he always kept his hands high, up near his face. I thought I could get a quick front snap kick in under his elbows to his low gut. So, I threw a fast snap kick in low….at the same time that he stepped forward….and my kick landed several inches lower than its intended target. Several *significant* inches lower.

Later, when he could talk again, he said it was the first time he had ever forgotten to wear certain protective equipment. I bet it will be the last time he forgets. I never saw such a large man go down so quickly. He went down and he stayed down. He spit out his mouth guard so that he could breathe. He tried to struggle to his feet, only to stagger across the gym and collapse again against the far wall.

I went out of the ring on a disqualification.

Facebook Friday

Facebook Friday....it's almost like "flashback Friday", since it's been so long since I've done this.

Once again, the point here is that I do reread my blog, and grabbing a few of my Facebook posts for the past couple of weeks lets me revisit some of those memories. I'm going to leave off the post date. I think that was just unnecessary work I made for myself.

• What's a good post-gardening snack? (Hint: it is NOT a salad. I'm all done messing with green things.) 

•  Dear Student Ministries, Toa of Boy was very disappointed that bags full of live earthworms were not sent home as party favors. He would have given some of them a good home. 

• There is, apparently, a big difference between baking soda and corn starch....even though they both live in a yellow box on the same shelf of the fridge. When one is cooking a pancake dinner and talking on the phone at the same time, one should pay better attention to which box one is grabbing. Just an FYI. 

• Even though I'm not prone to notice which yellow box I've grabbed when distracted...I *CAN* make corn muffins without eggs! Boo-yah!!! 

• My life in the kitchen is such a roller coaster of highs and lows. The terrible cornstarch/backing soda switch was followed by an egg-less corn muffin victory...and then I forgot to add the yeast to the scrumptious homemade wheat hamburger buns. Ah well, if the London Olympics needs a few extra discuses, I have them.

•  I know what we're doing for the first three weeks of the Amazing Race at Learning Tree next year!!! So pumped about this class!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Spelling and Handwriting

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.