Astronomy Update

We are still on Venus.........

I have to say, we are all sick of Venus!

 But, this is our last book for this planet, and we will be moving on to Earth!

 This is the book we are reading now. It has quite a bit of detail in it, so we are reading 1 chapter per day.

 

Do you utilize your library?  We LOVE our library!  We take a trip to the library every week.  The boys get to check out 15 each.  And let me just say, they loooooove to check out books.  And I am happy to say, they read most of what they check out.

We are using our library to do our Astronomy Unit Study.  If you are interested in our previous updates, here is the link.  http://www.genesis129trailblazers.blogspot.com/search/label/Astronomy

I hope you have a GREAT day!
Sherie

Making Models

Our Public Library offers free model making classes for kids.  I just found out about it, so we hightailed it downtown to enjoy this experience.  My boys HAD A BLAST!!!!  Here are a few pics of them creating their cars.

( Our great library assistant, helping us figure out the instructions)

They were sooooo proud of themselves!  I am proud of them too.  Coming in November, we will be going back to make Blue Angel Models.  (and word on the street says that one of the pilots may be there.  We will see about that)

Have a GREAT day!
Sherie

Astronomy Unit Study Update

We are now past Mercury and are now studying Venus!   I was going to start an art project, but the boys were not very well behaved at the store yesterday, so we moved on from the fun stuff to the not so fun stuff of watching the video of Venus.

I went onto the Public Library's website and searched the catalog for anything on the subject of Venus.  I found a ton of stuff!  So, I sorted through the titles and found 1 video and several books (will post those when we get to them).

This video was a great introduction to Venus.  Although, when it started out, I had to pause it to make sure it wasn't an X rated movie.  LOL!  The introduction was nothing but artwork of the Goddess Venus.  Well, if you've seen any pictures or even any artwork of Venus, you know she is a half naked, if not all naked woman.  I have 2 boys ages 7 & 8.  I was a little concerned.  But, I just forwarded through the introduction and on to the movie/documentary.

Like I said earlier, it was very good.  We will be studying more about Venus in the next few weeks, so be sure to check back for updates!

Check your local library for great resources on study material!

Have a great day!
Sherie

Astronomy Update

Well, we are wrapping up our Mercury study.  It has been fascinating.  Have I remembered anything we have learned?  NOPE!  But, the Big Guy has.  The Little Guy is not interested at all, but as long as he is in the room paying attention, I really don't care if he retains any of it.  At this point, he does not want to be a scientist or have anything to do with the space program.  LOL!  Now, the Big guy LOVES science and space.  This is why he is like a sponge during science time.

Here is the last of the books we read about Mercury:

This book had so much information in it, we only read one chapter per day.  There were 7 chapters. We even read the chapters about Pluto, even though we are not to Pluto yet.  It was very interesting to learn about the surface, atmosphere, etc of Mercury.

Utilize your library for great unit studies.

Have a great day!
Sherie

What do you use for Grammar, aka Language Arts?????

As some know, I am adding in a new curriculum every month, so we don't break the bank all at one time.  Honestly, last year we were paying $410 per month for the boys to go to private school, so a little curriculum cost is not really going to break the bank, its just nice not to have to spend it all at one time.  And also, it gives the boys time to get used to one subject and then add in the next, and then the next, and then the next. 

Yes, I know this means we will not be finishing all of our curriculum at one time, and I am good with that.  We are homeschooling year round, so we don't really need to finish everything by May 30th (or whatever day public school gets out).

The first subject I started with was math.  Little guy had a real hard time last year with math, so I knew we were going to start there with him.  Well, Big guy kept asking where his math was, so I ordered his a few weeks later.  Then, we added history the next month, then Spelling the next, not to mention the tons of printables I have been using.  (I have got to start saving those links so you can enjoy them also.  I promise I will start saving them.)

But, in the mean time Big guy was needing to be more challenged, so I hit the library.  After talking to him several days in a row, I realized even though he is going into 3rd grade, they had not introduced him to the parts of speech.  So, where do I start?  Where do I start?????  Some how I figured out to start with nouns (I am sure the Lord helped me with this, because I have not found anywhere that says you start with nouns first, then........)

Well, one day Big guy was looking at the books about paper airplanes, and lo and behold on a shelf across from that, were all kinds of books for Grammar (aka Language Arts).  WHOO HOO!!!!!!  I grabbed up the first 2 I found on nouns and called it a day.  Here is what we started with:

I don't know if you have figured it out yet, but I LOVE OUR LIBRARY!!!!!!  I mean, you can find anything there.  

So, on day 1  of Grammar, we read A Mink, A Fink, and A Skating Rink.  And we began the nouns book with what is a noun. 

I found some worksheets about nouns (again, I promise I will start saving those links and sharing them) and we began to work.  Big guy is a very quick learner, so it was no time before he had this book completely read and all of the worksheets completed (correctly).

And then, I was off researching the library online to find our next book.  I have it ordered and will share with you when I pick it up.

All this to say, you don't necessarily  have to have a purchased curriculum to get the most out of homeschooling.  Sometimes, the FREE resources are just what the Lord had in mind when He placed in your brain the idea of homeschooling in the first place.

Have a GREAT day!
Sherie