You might be a Homeschooler if...

Searching for daily memes, but haven't figured one out for each day yet. In the meantime, just thought I'd send out something to make you laugh. Funny You Tube video by Messy Mondays: You might be a homeschooler if...


 

Menu Plan Monday

 

In my East Coast area we are currently under hurricane shut-down for Hurricane Sandy. We planned for that in our menu plan, so things could change up quite a bit, but we had to plan for flexibility in the event that we lose electricity. We are fortunate, though, in that we can still cook even if we lose electricity, as we have a gas stove.

Also, for today the plans have no recipe links. I'll try to have links in the future. So, here's the plan:

Sunday (yesterday):
Roast Chicken*, mashed potatoes, biscuits, broccoli
(*About half of this huge bird was left over, and it is planned use on Tuesday.)

Monday:
Chili, cornbread, salad

Tuesday:
Chicken salad sandwiches, Brussels sprouts

Wednesday:
Sloppy Joes, baby carrots

Thursday:
Ham steak, noodles, green beans

Friday:
Home-made pepperoni pizza, salad

Saturday:
Steak, baked potatoes, broccoli, salad

I was trying to figure out how to indicate vegetarian/vegan options without mucking up the above format too much. I am vegan, but my family is not, so the "plan" revolves around the family, and the vegan options just get added. So, I guess I'll just do the vegan plan below:

Sunday (yesterday):
Biscuits*, broccoli, left-over beans and rice
(*Confession: okay, the biscuits were not vegan. They were also not fat free. They had half an egg, almond milk, and some Crisco, but they were made with whole wheat flour.)

Monday:
Chili*, cornbread, salad (*I make a small part of the chili in a separate pot. I cook TVP [texturized vegetable protien] with onion, and then add to it part of the beans/tomato ingredients as I am making the beef chili.)

Tuesday:
Chicken-substitute patty salad sandwiches, Brussels sprouts

Wednesday:
Sloppy Joes*, baby carrots (*I make part of the sloppy joes mix with TVP.)

Thursday:
Garbanzo or other bean, noodles, green beans

Friday:
Home-made pizza*, salad (*I make one regular pizza for the family and one vegan pizza using the Engine 2 recipe book, using a whole wheat crust, tomatoes and vegetables to tope, with flaked yeast as a "cheese" substitute

Saturday:
Steak*, baked potatoes, broccoli, salad (No, I'm not eating steak. When I serve the family steak and potatoes I eat a stuffed baked potato. I top it with vegan chili (left-over from Monday) and broccoli.)

Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my menu plan!

Coming: Blog Cruise--Preparing for the Holidays

I have decided to take the plunge and participate in a blog cruise -- Preparing for the Holidays.

This is a stretch for me, but I'm going to give it a go. I hope you will come and read my posts!

October Composer Study

So far this year I have been doing poorly at diligently doing certain aspects of our weekly schooling that I really want to get done. One of those aspects is Composer Study. 

In an effort to be prepared to do my Composer Study, I decided to help myself (and anyone else who wants the link(s)) by finding and saving link(s) to what I need, below, to do Composer Study for this term.

So the current Ambleside Online composer information for the current term (taken from the AO page linked above) is here:

2012-2013 TERM 1 (This term's artists are Renoir, Rodin) Claude Debussy (1910) (Impressionist)
    Listening Selections for this term:
    Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun

    La Mer

    Nocturnes for Orchestra

    Suite Bergamasqe (includes Claire de Lune)

    Children's Corner - WOW!

    Jeux ("Games"); a "danced poem" intended to accompany a ballet
Part 1:



Part 2:

        Note: Where is The Girl with the Flaxen Hair? Look at Preludes  

Oh, look! Someone already did this ! ::sigh::

AO Term 1 Playlist

Well, I don't always like someone else's selections. I really like that I found Jeux with the Ballet included!

Think Back Thursday - Emmert King Walker, Sr.

I've seen others do a "Think Back Thursday" entry, and this seemed superbly appropriate in light of what I want to do in this post.

Yesterday was "Aunt Debbi"s birthday; she is 59. "Aunt Debbi" is in quotes because she is not really aunt to anyone in my house -- she is my step sister.  

In 1965 there was a man and his wife, Emmert and Alice, bringing up their family of four children the best that they could, struggling to make ends meet. He had fought in World War II in the Army. When the War ended, he married his military sweetheart, Alice Drolette, whom he met in California. 

 I'm not sure who the man up on the left is. Alice's father, maybe.

They moved to the east coast. He went to college on the GI bill, studying Veterinary Medicine full time, working full time, while his wife had babies. He worked, the bought a car. He worked, they bought a house. He invested and was half-owner in a gas station, all while he sent to college full time.

After six years of college, the University of Maryland, in its infinite wisdom, decided to revamp the requirements for graduation in this field, informing Emmert that he would need two more years of classes. That shouldn't be a problem, right? After all, it was covered by the GI bill. You try being an adult male, married, going to college and working full time, both, and parenting four, and tell me if it is a problem. He dropped out and sold lawn mowers.

The youngest baby in the above photo -- that's "Aunt Debbi". She lives with my family.

October Hymn-Study Revisited

We did our October hymn again, and I decided I prefer the following version over the Barlow Girl version, because the latter has difficult timing, making it difficult to sing along with, let alone learn the words to. So here, again, is the Mormon Tabernacle version, with the words below:

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.
   Refrain
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.
  Refrain

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.
   Refrain

Last week, and then we move to the hymn for November.

Reading Rulers - A Schoolhouse Crew Review

 I have known since I was 14 that I have issues with reading. The lines run together. For years I could "get by" if I forgot my glasses, but as I typed (yes, typed -- I was a secretary), the lines would be difficult to follow. As I got to the end of one line and looked left, it would be difficult to find the correct next line. I would skip entire lines, sometimes entire paragraphs, when I tried to type without my glasses.

 Well, now I am older. I have developed astigmatism in my right eye. When I go to get my eyes checked, even when we try, I am not able to get a lens for my right eye that is clear. Now even with my glasses, it can be difficult to read fluently, as I go from line to line, trying to always find the next line quickly and smoothly.

October Folk Song - Early One Morning

The Ambleside Online Folk Song selection for October is:

Early One Morning, by Barry Taylor (sung by Pernell Roberts below):

 

 The schedule folk songs for the 2012/2013 school year are:
Term 1: Sep Gypsy Rover * * *
      Oct Early One Morning *
      Nov I's the B'y *
Term 2: Jan Keys to Canterbury *
      Feb Mairi's Wedding * *
      Mar All Through the Night * * * * (A Welsh lullaby)
Term 3: Apr Maggie (When You And I Were Young, Maggie) *
      May The Wild Colonial Boy * * *
      June Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen * * 

(Be careful clicking some of the above links with earbuds in -- they can open quite loud.)

 I already did not do September. I'd never heard it before; don't think I care if I catch up with it, but I might play it for my son once. Here is a video link, with the words below the video picture:

Chorus
Ah-di-do, ah-di-do-da-day
Ah-di-do, ah-di-day-dee
He whistled and he sang 'til the green woods rang
And he won the heart of a lady. She left her father's castle gate
Left her own true lover
She left her servants and her estates
To follow the gypsy rover.
Her father saddled his fastest steed
And roamed the valleys all over
He searched for his daughter at great speed
And the whistlin' gypsy rover.
He came at last to a mansion fine
Down by the river Clady
And there was music, and there was wine
For the gypsy and his lady.
He's no gypsy, my Father, she said,
But Lord of these lands all over
And I will stay 'til my dyin' day
With my whistlin' gypsy rover.
I contemplated skipping the November song, "I's the B'y" (I am the boy), but listening/watching the youtube video, I really like it!

I wanted to dislike it. I wanted to tell myself that, since I didn't do the folk song that was scheduled for November 2011 I could just do that, but I like I's the B'y, so I'll have to figure out a way to work in The Lion Sleeps Tonight:

I'll try to select and post more YouTube video choices for the rest of the selections at a later time.

 

Supercharged Science

Today I accessed my current membership to Supercharged Science, and we started working on Magnetism. This is a membership site, so I'm not sure if you can actually get to the Magnetism material by clicking that link. You probably get to a top page that tells you that you need to log in to go any further.

Anyway, my son has always loved Aurora Lipper, so if I can just get and stay organized for a little while, this could work out well for us!  I just printed out the lesson plans, and I need to prepare to go, lesson by lesson, so that I have the materials he needs to do the experiments (in advance) each time we get to an experiment, rather than getting to each experiment and then spending 30-60 minutes of school time trying to find the called for materials.  ::sigh::

I'll have to let you know how it goes. I'll try to take pictures.

Hymn Study, October - For the Beauty of the Earth

Thanks, and a shout out to my blog AO friend Jennifer for making it easier for other AO moms to find and use good resources to complete our monthly Hymn Studies! 

This month our hymn is 

"For the Beauty of the Earth"

Words by Folliott S. Pierpont (1864)
Music arranged from Conrad Kocher (1838)

I liked having this YouTube video to follow along:



And for a more traditional version (timing, etc.), the Mormon Choir is a good arrangement:
 

But I wanted to be able to print out the words so we could put them in our Hymn Study notebook, so I also appreciated the following site for the words: Cyber Hymnal

Schoolhouse Review Crew

I have spoken to several homeschool moms to tell them about the Schoolhouse Review Crew, that new spots are opening, and the Old Schoolhouse Magazine is looking for bloggers to fill those spots. And some of you didn't know this post was coming, so...

Would you like to receive free homeschool curricula? Material that you don't pay for, that you get to use, that you get to keep?  You have and use for four to six weeks, and then you write a blog entry about it?

Do you have a blog? If you don't, are you willing to start a blog, and create a subscribed following of at least 25 readers? This would make you eligible to apply for this position. What would you say on your blog?

When I first started my blog, I tried to blog anywhere from one to five times a week about my homeschooling. Right now life has gotten fairly hectic, and I haven't been able to do personal blog entries as much as I would like, but I still try to post a blog entry at least once a week.

So what does it take to be on the Schoolhouse Review Crew?

1. Do you have an active blog?

2. Do you have at least 22 public followers?

3. Do you homeschool?

4. Do you like homeschool curriculum?

5. Do you want to use new curriculum with your own children and share about your

experiences on your blog?

Would you like to see the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to see what some reviews look like? Schoolhouse Review Crew Blog

If you would like to apply to the Schoolhouse Review Crew, here is the APPLICATION.

If you know of someone else who might be interested, forward this blog post link to them. Thanks.

 

ZooWhiz - A Schoolhouse Crew Review

It was mid-August when I first learned of an on-line website called ZooWhiz. I learned the Homeschool Crew might have an opportunity to review the site, so I went to check it out.

ZooWhiz is a fun learning site for ages 5-15. It has a free version and a premium version. The basic concept of the site is that the student earns tokens for spending time doing work in the subjects of Math, Words and Reading (at their own grade/age level). When the student has accumulated money tokens, he/she can then go to the zoo store to buy animals for his/her  zoo.

Beeyoutiful!

Beeyoutiful Skin Care Products - A Schoolhouse Crew Review

During the month of September I had the opportunity to try out skin care products by Beeyoutiful. I was sent a box containing Laveshmint Hydrating Toner, Laveshmint Daily Moisturizing Lotion, Hair Shine conditioning spray, and Vanilla Dream Body Butter.

These products smell amazing! 

Box of I.D.E.As. - SALT - A Homeschool Crew Review

In the month of September my son and I had the wonderful opportunity to test drive a unit study by Box of I.D.E.As. about Salt. Who knew there was so much to learn about salt? I certainly didn't have any idea...

The Salt Box of I.D.E.As arrived in our mailbox with each each section module of the unit study neatly packaged into its own sealing plastic bag. My box contained ten separately bagged modules, with lots of little items in the various bags such as games, vocabulary cards, maps, and lots of fun things. My box also contained a white board marker and a pencil.