Prima Latina in Review

If you are considering adding Latin to your homeschool classroom, Prima Latina is the way to go!  I was terrified of teaching my children Latin because I have never dealt with it before.  Prima Latina is a great introductory Latin curriculum.  In fact it is really geared toward children 6 yrs old and younger, which means my 5th grader may appear too old for it, but is enjoying a subject that is fairly easy for him.  I only bought one workbook and make copies off my printer for all 3 of my Latin students.

The DVD lesson set was worth the hunt on eBay (I rarely pay full price, but I would for this set).  Mrs. Leigh is positive and encouraging in her instructions.  She is also an easy speaker to listen to.  She is not perfect and polished, there are some blunders and stumbles, but they are easy to ignore.

I also chose to invest in the Pronunciation CD and we listen to their Latin prayers and repetition lessons in the van.  Repetition is KEY to learning new languages and it will help you to learn Latin along with the kids.  Believe me, my children already get a kick out of using Latin words and phrases that I have to ask for the translation of.

Here is a sample of what the DVD lessons look like.  Though it's an example of Latin Christiana I, the level above what I am promoting, this is a repeat of a lesson we just did last week for Prima Latina.

Homeschool Humor

I really enjoy Tim Hawkins's humor.  This is a pretty old video now, but still enjoyable.

TOG for free!!

I am really enjoying Tapestry of Grace for our core curriculum, I just can't stress that enough!  The kids are really getting into their reading and dive in to each culture we focus on!!

But get this!!!  They are offering a full year of their curriculum for free.  By clicking on the TOG link you can 'purchase' the free ticket through their store for your chance to win.  If you place my name, Kay, in the comment section and my email address tettelestai (at) gmail (dot) com, and we both could win!!!  How very cool is that???

I hope your year is going well and I pray that you are still finding wind for your sails each and every morning ;-)

Weekly Review Jan 13

In our homeschool this week…

We studied Joshua's leadership and the conquest of Canaan this week.  Our very own Joshua was quite excited about all his grand accomplishments.  It was a lighter reading week, so we had some life lessons at the local GoodWill and a couple consignment shops.  I also started getting our fall list of books ready and I get the kids involved while we are making these lists.  I hope it helps them 'own' their education a bit.

I am inspired by…

I have to share this blog post!!  This delightful mother of 6 has created a system for getting her kiddos to pick up!!  Go check her out at Madsens Memories.  I can't wait to implement this!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

We have two children with December birthdays and they never get parties in that month.  Tonight my oldest is having his birthday party.  I am excited, he rarely gets to spend time with these friends because none of them are home schooled.  He is quite excited as well.  The house looks amazing, I just hope I don't bomb his cake.  He asked me for a battle scene from Star Wars, Lego version.  Yipes, right?? I know!!

What is working/not working for us...

This week we had one of those moments with the girl child.  She looked me in the eye and told me that school was lame and stupid.  I put her to work on her math and called Daddy.  I relayed the story to him and reacted "She just doesn't get that not having an education will funnel her into a janitorial job, or house cleaning."  Hubby wisely responded, "Do it."

So I sat down with daughter, explained to her the importance of education, why we are doing things this way, and gave her the option to sit down and happily do  her work....or she could choose to experience a day in the life of a janitor.  My daughter chose janitor.

6 1/2 hours later I had shining bathrooms, clean floors, walls and doors that were clean, and a very tired girl.  She told me around 4pm that she hated cleaning more than school    and the rest of our week went very well.  I am going to blog more about this whole thing because there were so many more complex emotions involved with this particular day.  This version was short and sweet.

Questions/thoughts I have…

Do you have a challenging child at home?  I have always struggled with my daughter.  Our personalities are quite opposite except for one things... stubbornness.  A friend of mine suggested some things to help me appreciate my daughter:

1. noticing her efforts when she is trying in a positive way.
2. Verbally praising her when she is behaving well or doing things I admire.
3. Writing down the things I do appreciate about her where I can reference them on the bad days.

Do you guys have anything to add?  How do you manage a challenging child?

Things I’m working on…

We will be doing our Pinewood Derby cars soon. This year we are going to make them 'for real' instead of getting a kit last-minute. We have a friend with tools who can help us do some cutting and such. I found a great article concerning tips and such for making cars go fast ;-) You can check them out here at Monthly Test Drive.

I’m praying for…

For my middle sister and her pregnancy.  She is just 4 weeks away from her first-born, a boy.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Source: witanddelight.tumblr.com via Mary on Pinterest

Google Chrome for Homeschoolers!

Have you guys checked out Chrome yet?  Google Chrome is what I use for my internet browser and I love the educational game apps they have available.  

Kindle Cloud Reader- my hubby has an kindle and thanks to this app, I can read the things he has purchased without needing the Kindle here me!

Typing Club- a typing skills program, it helps hone skills.  It actually has pictures and typing basics, easily used for typing basics and learning skills!

Study Stack- there are tons of flashcards for several subjects!  I plan on having the kids do  math flashcards in this fun way ;-)

USA Maps- map games focused on the US

Music Notation Training- musical notes drills, both bass and treble clef available.

Go check them out!!  Another thing I really appreciate about these apps is that I don't have to download anything into my actual computer.  I really like that ;-)

American Civil War

Civil War

Please place your post under the geographic location of the battlefield or historic sight.

North

South

Know Your Scripture

This morning I ran across a blog post that inspired me!  She listed her Top Ten scriptures from last year.  You know, the ones that get you through the tough times, or the ones that bring you in alignment with God's Will, or the ones that remind you that you are not alone in the desert.  Please check them out over at Edwards Granddaughter.

James 4:7,8

Numbers 23:19, 20

II Peter 3: 8, 9

Psalm 91: 9-11

Hebrews 8:12

Romans 8:28

Deuteronomy 4:29

Psalm 34:18

Hebrews 13:5

Matthew 28:20

Come again!

If you are just stopping by, thank you!  Please note, this is a blog transfer in process.  I am moving a blog over from WP and the importing is taking quite a bit of work.  Thank you so much for your patience!!

Renaissance/Enlightenment

Here you can post things from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment.

• The Early Renaissance 
• The first part of this video has an excellent history of the beginning of the Renaissance. Beware, the art contains full nudity and by the end of the video there is quite a bit of dark medieval art that is displayed 
• Renaissance worksheets
• This site contains reproducible worksheets are fantastic study guides and activities for children while they are studying the Renaissance

Beginning 2012

Happy New Year!!!  We had a slow start to our school year, how about you guys?  We had the energy and desire to do some clearing out and clutter killing... so I went with it :-)

In my life this week...

We have had computer problems for weeks now.  I had to unplug the newest school computer and do some hard thinking while plugging in the dinosaur to record grades and such.  I learned the hard lesson of needing to save photos and school grades to a disk.  God was gracious and allowed me to find the System Recovery on the newer computer, ask me about it... it's a life saver!!

In our homeschool this week...

We are working on our second week of Ancient Greece.  I found it a great parentheses for our Christmas break.  We left off Greece and began again with Greece.  I will be doing something like that again for other breaks.  The familiar themes were good stepping-stones this week.

I will tell you also that studying Ancient Greece is pretty hard for my kids because of the artwork and sculptures of their day.  With Tapestry of Grace, you repeat years and I may have to adapt the reading material for my teenage boy.  It is history, he needs to understand their culture, however there are other things like purity that I want to teach him as well.  Any advice from the mother's of teens would be appreciated. Do you let your teenagers view such things and just deal with whatever happens, or do  you censor a bit to limit what is viewed?

Our PE this week was a lot of fun and I wish we had pictures, but we were all just having too much fun.  I found at the library Dancing Basics 101 video.  So I brought them home and the instructors were so good, my 11yr old was happily dancing me around our living room.  It was precious!!![gallery columns="1"]

What's working/not working for us...

The computer is working now, YAY!!!  But what is not working is having an 18 month active boy.  There is really nothing to do about it except for attempt to keep him occupied and happy.  But seriously, he is the 5th, he has never known how to play by himself and I have a pre-schooler learning to read.  I feel a bit worn out at the end of the day.  I know you guys get that ;-)

I'm cooking...

This stinking awesome dip!!  It was sort of an accident but it turned out amazing!
I used:
2 pkg cream cheese
2 cooked chicken breast, chopped
1/4 cup or so blue cheese dressing
Frank's Wings Sauce to taste (I used half the bottle)

I used my food processor to chop up the cooked chicken, I placed the chicken in a skillet and tossed in the hot sauce over medium heat.  Once blended well I melted the cream cheese over the chicken mixture.  Once they were blended in I added some blue cheese dressing.  I poured this mixture into a small crock pot and served it with pita chips for our Church's New Year's eve party.  Needless to say I didn't bring any home ;-)

I'm grateful for...

January 1st was my 15th anniversary.  I am very thankful for my husband.  I really got a good one and the perfect complement for me!!!

I'm praying for...

A family in SC who are friend's of my friend.  Their young son was just found to have cancer on his kidneys.  It's a nightmare I really don't ever want to live through.

A quote to share...

"A people that value its privileges above its principles soon loses both"
Dwight D. Eisenhower

1800's

North America

Northeast (USA)

Central Atlantic (USA)

Southeast (USA)

North Central (USA)

Midwest Prairie (USA)

Southern Central (USA)

Southwest (USA)

Pacific North West (USA)

Canada

Alaska

Hawaii

Colonial Era

Please let me know if you would like more spaces or labels for your history hunting.

Europe

North America

Central America

Middle Ages

Here are some helpful links that I have discovered while we have studied the middle ages:

• Free and printable timelines
• The Celts and Romans 
• This has an interactive map and short easy units to read
• Iron Age Celts
• Fun interactive games of the Celtic village and life
• Does have images of dead people in cartoon format
• Viking games
• game contains stick figure violence
• Viking village videos
• Interactive kids castle

*Please email me if you would like this organized by country or region.

Middle Ages

Ancient World

Follow this link to find helpful and free printable timelines.

Asia

Fertile Crescent

Egypt

Greece

Europe

Americas