Learning With Faith

Garden Project 2012 Part 1

2012-03-05T10:13:00.000-08:00

So, I mentioned awhile back that part of our learning experience is going to be planting a garden this summer. This is an idea in progress. I will be learning right along with Faith (as always).

This isn't going to be a huge rant against Monsanto or Dupont, although there may be one growing in me. I will not get on my soap box to protest the amount of carcinogens that our bodies are subjected to every day with our food, perfumes, soaps, etc... If you would like to make up your own mind concerning these issues I encourage you to read up on the subjects. Two books that I find interesting are:

Animal Vegetable Miracle and Homegrown and Handmade.

I will admit that words like "sustainable", "locavore", and "homesteading" are still quite foreign to me. But I get it. I've had an "Ah ha" moment. I believe the world is a changin, and it is my duty to my children (adult and dependent) to open their minds and teach them to the best of my abilities. And so, Garden Project 2012 begins.

Yesterday was a typical early March Sunday in Michigan. Cold, gray, and wet. Not much to do, and Faith was bouncing off the walls. Although one of my main goals with a garden is to plant it from heirloom seeds rather than genetically altered seeds, we were bored and needed a project. So, we went to the store and bought what was available. Now, this is the perfect way to lift the spirits on a cold March day!

First, we eagerly picked out the veggie and flower seeds as we imagined them

growing this summer in our garden...

Next, we prepared our planting surface and accepted the extra help from our

"volunteers" Oscar and Minnie...

Finally, let the planting begin...

Now, the wait begins.

Soon we will see those little seedlings sprouting out of the dirt.

Stay tuned for Part 2. I know we have a lot to learn. But, that's what it's all about...right? :)

It's Leap Day!

2012-02-29T09:44:00.000-08:00

Last night Faith asked me what Leap Day was and why do we do this? My answer was "Something to do with keeping the years even". Faith's reply, "Huh?". This morning, I decided that maybe I should find some real information about Leap Day. Yep, I know...last minute as always. But, better late than never. So, here are a few links and interesting facts about Leap Year:

1. Our solar year is 365.24219 days. Since our calendar does not deal in partial days, every four years, we add an additional day to February. Therefore, our calendar year is either 365 days in nonleap years or 366 days in leap years. A leap year every four years gives us 365.25 days, sending our seasons off course and eventually in the wrong months. To change .25 days to .24219, we skip a few Leap Days every one hundred years or so.

2. A little story about the confusion before Leap Day, click here.

3. Some more interesting facts, click here

4. Here's an interesting looking site that we are going to explore today, click here

So, if you are last minute like me or planning ahead for the next leap year (not like me), I hope you enjoy the links. Happy Leap Day!

Nutrition Fun

2012-02-19T09:01:00.000-08:00

I'm always amazed at how much Faith retains when we introduce a new subject.

When we finished this lesson, she immediately went to Grandma's room to "teach" her too.

This week,we learned a little bit about good nutrition. If you haven't visited www.homeschoolfreebieoftheday.com you are missing out on some good resources.

This is where I came across a couple of nutrition freebies that became a huge hit!

First we learned about the USDA recommended food pyramid. We did a little cut and paste project with this. Faith caught on real quick to which foods go where.

Click here for the free print out.

Next, we compared three different food pyramids and discussed the differences along with our thoughts about which one seemed like the healthiest guide to follow. Faith and I decided that the Willet's Food Guide Pyramid is the one we would like to try to follow; currently we stick closest to the USDA guide.

Last, we made a pyramid depicting all three guides. This was a very easy

project which we both enjoyed.

Click here for the free print out.

Another successful, enjoyable, home school afternoon. :)

A look ahead: Summer Learning: Planting and Harvesting a Heirloom Seed Garden
Essential Oil Giveaway!

Music Fun

2012-02-09T19:57:00.000-08:00

Among other things, we had some music fun today. Over the past couple of weeks we have been learning and singing some of the old time classic songs. You know, the ones every 1st grader has learned since the beginning of time. There is a bunch of them listed in this wonderful resource book:

What Your First Grader needs to know

So, we were singing along just fine when we came to the song "On Top of Old Smokey". I couldn't remember the tune. After some crazy attempts Faith finally recovered from laughing hysterically at me and said, "Why don't we look it up on YouTube?". Oh...good idea...why didn't I think of that?

We found "On Top of Old Smokey", and a bunch more. Our music class lasted over 1 1/2 hours today. Just one more thing to LOVE about learning with Faith. :)

Here are a some links to our favorites today:

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain

Enjoy!

Literature Unit and New Resource

2012-01-21T10:51:00.000-08:00

Have you become addicted to Pinterest yet? I've been enjoying looking at crafts, crochet patterns, and recipes, but, guess what I found today? An "Education" section! Oh my do I love finding new, fun, ideas for learning with Faith! So here I am to share just a couple that I found in the few minutes I had to spend looking. I foresee hours of surfing fun in my future!

I love literature. I love reading it, teaching it, and doing fun activities with it. Our next books are going to be "The Snowy Day" by Jack Ezra Keats and "The Jacket I Wear in the Snow" by Shirley Neitzel.

Follow this link for a fun activity: "The Snowy Day"

You can also find a "Wintery Fun" math and literacy themed unit.

Or, if you want to be overwhelmed...click here!

Stay tuned for pictures of our Wintery Fun activities. Amazon, here I come!


The Snowy Day

Winter is here....make the best of it! :)

Getting Back At It With Dino's and Giving Tree

2012-01-05T08:10:00.000-08:00

It's January. Blah... or, maybe not...

Every morning Faith wakes up and asks "What are we going to do today?". Sometimes I have great things planned and sometimes, I'm not sure. The other "not sure" day, Faith had a great plan! She has decided that she wants to make a clay project complete with dinosaurs, trees, mountains and volcanoes. This great idea gave me an even greater idea. She is going to get a chance to make her fabulous clay project, but we are going to learn about dinosaurs and their habitats (among other things) first. Stay tuned for dino updates!

Not quite as fun but a good little lesson to keep us busy until I can get everything set up for the dinosaurs...The Giving Tree. For this idea I went back to www.lessonpathways.com. This is such a great resource and really helps me put something together quick.

We are going to read the book:

"The Giving Tree" by Sid Silverstein.

Then, thanks to the help of Lesson Pathways, we have some fun ways to cover the following objectives:

List of Objectives:

Home schooling a first grader really is not difficult. In fact, there are so many resources out there that sometimes the hardest part is narrowing down "What are we going to do today". :)

She Asked For It...She Got It... :)

2011-12-14T17:02:00.000-08:00

When Faith woke up today, the same words came out of her mouth that do every day, "What are we doing today?".

I had a few things planned. Writing, math, maybe practice with money. Today, Faith had other ideas. She wanted to do a "project". Not only did she want to do a project, but she wanted it to be a "gooey one". Well, far be it from me to say no to gooey fun.

We made paper mache!

First I cooked up a batch. Super easy! 4 cups water, 1 cup flour, heat on the stove stirring constantly until it becomes a paste. Throw a few ice cubes in to cool it down and voila, you have warm, gooey, paper mache.

Next Faith decided that she wanted to make something for her sisters for Christmas. I emptied out a couple of containers of French Fried Onions and they were perfect for our project. We're still not sure what exactly they will end up to be. A vase? A pen holder? A storage container? We will figure that out when it's time to decorate. For now, they are slathered with newspaper and paper mache and are sitting out to dry. That is all that matters.

I asked Faith, "So, did I find a gooey enough project for you today?".

"Oh yea", she said.

Holiday Lapbook

2011-11-29T12:41:00.000-08:00

I came across this website the other day. What a great way to mix-it-up a little during the holiday season. This is a cute little story with lap book ideas to go with it. Thought I would share.

//www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/

Code: STMMMS1532

Easy Scarecrow Project

2011-11-14T06:58:00.000-08:00

It's fall and that means a scarecrow project (or two) is a must. And this one is so easy...

Print the template and color your scarecrow parts:

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/fall/mpaperscarecrow.htm

I let Faith choose her "medium". We have oil pastels, soft pastels, water color crayons, crayons, pencils, markers, and paints. Faith chose oil pastels for this project.

Next have your little artist cut out the pieces and glue them together. We glued them on construction paper and since we did the large size, I glued two pieces together.

That's all there is to it. Have fun!

Congratulations!

2011-11-08T08:32:00.000-08:00

Congratulations Melinda. You took the time to share a favorite memory and are now the winner of My Memories Suite Scrapbook Software. Look for an email coming soon. Thanks for sharing.

Didn't get a chance to enter this time? Well, you are still in luck. I have a little freebie for you. Enjoy! http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_3

(Use code: STMMMS1532)

Loving This Weather!

2011-11-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hagar Park, Jenison, Mi.

We have been blessed with a very beautiful fall here in West Michigan. The other day we took time out of our busyness to take a nature walk at the park. Fresh air, exercise, and enjoying God's beautiful creation was the plan for that afternoon. Don't forget to take time to enjoy the beauty in your world. :) Those kind of days are the best!

Give Away Time!

2011-11-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

It's time for our first giveaway. With Halloween behind us and the Holidays right around the corner, this giveaway is perfect!

Are you like me? I have way more pictures than I know what to do with. I do enjoy scrapbooking but rarely find the time. I'm not fortunate enough to have a room devoted to my hobbies which means set up time for scrapping or card making is daunting. I've been wanting to try a digital scrapbook program but just haven't gotten around to it. Well, the time is now!

Entering is easy! Since Faith is in 1st grade, just leave one of your favorite first grade memories (your own or one of your children)

Winner will be announced on Tuesday, November 8, 2011. Good Luck!

Want to check out My Memories to see what you are trying to win just go to www.mymemories.com.

Can't wait until Tuesday?

Use coupon code STMMMS1532 for $10 off in the MyMemories.com Store and $10 off My Memories Suite Scrapbook software

I made this with My Memories Suite Scrapbook software :)

Phoenecian Fun

2011-11-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

We recently studied about the Phoenecians. One of the things we really liked about these people was their love of the color purple. We love purple too. Unlike us, the Phoenecians couldn't just go to the store and pick out a purple shirt, hat, gloves, etc... They had to make their own purple dye from natural sources. So, we became like the Phoenecians and made our own purple dye too.

First, I cut up some purple cabbage and we let it simmer for about an hour.

Next, we drained the cabbage and, voila, we have beautiful purple dye for our "beads".

Then we added our beads (pasta) and let them soak in the dye until we were satisfied with their beautiful purple color.


Aren't they beautiful :)

Finally, we strung our beads and made a necklace out of them. Faith was so excited about her creation that she ran and gave it to grandma before I could even get a picture...but you get the picture...

Have I mentioned how much I love learning with Faith? :)

This idea was taken from our wonderful history curriculum:

Story of the World, Activity Book 1

Teachable Moment

2011-10-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

Last night we had the most spectacular experience. We were treated to a display of the Northern Lights right here in West Michigan. They didn't last long (by the time we were aware of the light show anyway), but it is something we will never forget.

Last night we viewed this in our back yard...

Today we had a renewed excitement for Astronomy.

I love being my child's teacher. :)

Enjoying Summers End

2011-09-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

I'd like to say that we are digging in and really learning some good stuff.

Faith now knows Algebra, can read a novel, and is entering college next year. Ha! Alas...all this nice weather has detoured our home school just a little... But you know what? That's the BEAUTY of homeschooling!

We have very long, cold, dreary winters. During the summer we play hard and it goes by fast! This year, we did our share of playing but we also did a lot of "schooling". Since I know winter is just around the corner, we enjoyed summer for just a little while longer. We'll tackle Algebra next week.

Here are a couple of pictures showing what we have learned this past week. :)

Wish I had more time to read. These books look good!!!

A Huge Success

2011-09-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

Our Astronomy curriculum (and home schooling in general) is still a huge success! You might wonder what criteria I used to label it a success. Well, do tears, begging, and an all out temper tantrum when told we will do Astronomy tomorrow qualify it as a success in your book? It does in mine!

I have personally just finished a very exhausting week of nursing school. In Michigan, public schools can not begin until after Labor Day. Since I knew this first week would be grueling for me, I decided this was a very good idea for our home school too. Plus, what kid wouldn't want to wait a week for school to begin? Well, I found one kid who did not think this was a good idea...Faith. Since I did not have a structured week planned for her I let her choose. Her curriculum of choice was Astronomy. This week we learned about Venus, Earth, and the moon. :)

My week was a huge success in so many ways. One of the biggest...my 6-year-old who "hated" school has in this past week read me a book, recited facts learned weeks earlier about our universe, and stated in awe, "God made our planet perfect for us to live on!" Yes...a huge success...

Busy "First" Day

2011-08-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

Our impromptu first day of first grade turned out to be a very full day of fun, crafts, oh yea...and learning.

Ask Faith: "What are craters?", "Which planet is closest to the sun?", "What color is Mercury?". This last question posed quite a debate for us. We decided it should be gray but didn't have any black paint so our Mercury turned out a nice shade of baby blue. :)

First we read up on Mercury. Then we made Mercury. We mixed up some dough, found some marbles and small pebbles, and pretended to be meteors crashing into the planet and creating craters!

This was a big meteor crash...both hands!

We then moved on to History. We read about Africa and determined where Africa is located compared to ancient mesopotamia and sumer etc...(We have been studying these ancient places throughout the summer). We then learned about some of the traditions and arts that have come from ancient Africa.

Our first project was hand painting. This is our version of hand painting. Geometric shapes were painted on the hands. Faith wanted to actually paint her own hands but I convinced her this would be almost as much fun.


We used Oil Pastels and Watercolor Crayons for this project. Both of these techniques are taught in"Artistic Pursuits"	.

What we use.

After hand painting we learned how to make paper beads. This jewelry is still made today and can be very beautiful.

Creative Beads from Paper and Fabric: Create Your Own Crafts and Embellish Ready-Made Items; No-Sew Fun for All Ages

Ours were made from construction paper and glue. By the end Faith was able to make a bead totally on her own which takes some coordination!

Paper beads ready to be made into a necklace.

Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of the finished product. Faith was so excited that she immediately ran to give it to Grandma. I forgot to get a picture. It was becoming a long day... ;)

After all of this hard work we were tired and hungry. Since Faith was ready to play, not cook supper, daddy went out picked up some pizzas. Way to support our home school Daddy! :)

Curriculum Low Down

2011-08-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

Before I share about our wonderful day on Wednesday I thought that I should share the curriculum that I (we) are currently using. I say we because I have a wonderful daycare/home school provider who has been a tremendous help and really relieves some of the burden. This is what we do...

Artistic Pursuits Grades K-3 Book 1.

Faith is an artist! Seriously, she LOVES art. Most everything we do incorporates art and the foundations came from this book. This book says Grades K-3. We have enjoyed almost the entire book this summer. If you have an artistic child, this book is wonderful.

The Story of the World Vol. 1 Ancient Times (Activity book is a must for a kinesthetic (hands on) learner)

After reading "The Well Trained Mind", I decided that I would like to follow the classical approach as much as possible. Since this is way to extensive to get into here, I will just recommend this book along with The Story of the World Series. You will see very quickly what an awesome curriculum this is and how much we enjoy learning about history.

Exploring Creation With Astronomy

This is a wonderful book full of activities. Apologia has an entire series and I plan to use them straight through our journey.

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We are doing Math and Reading/Writing with our wonderful day care provider so I will cover those in a future post. These by far are the favorites for us both at the moment. This post will give you good background info for my next post about our wonderful "first" day. Hope this helps in your curriculum search. :)

A New School Year

2011-08-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

Today, Faith asked me...no more like begged me...to do school. We have been "doing school" since around March or April. We worked through the summer with just a couple of breaks here and there. I decided that for the month of August, Faith (and I) deserved a break. After one week and two days of summer vacation, Faith was insisting that we needed to do school today. Hearing those words come out of her mouth is like music to my ears.

A little history for you. We tried public school twice and saying that Faith did not like going to school would be an enormous understatement. By the time conferences rolled around Faith was not progressing like I had hoped. So, we pulled Faith out of public school (again) and our journey began.

My hope for this blog is to: Inspire, share, encourage, and maybe even entertain. Enjoy!

PS: I have linked up with Amazon because I purchase the majority of my home school books through them. I do have a couple of other sources that I will share, but Amazon has become my best friend. Everything I share from Amazon is something I personally have read, used, etc... :)