Lasso The Moon

How to Print Everything in Full Color without stressing about Ink!

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We are halfway through our third homeschool year, and although there are some challenges--mainly trying to just find time for everything--it is one of the best decisions I've made in my life.

There are so many amazing printable resources online--many of them free--that you could probably teach for years without buying a single book! But we quickly realized we were running into a minor problem.  How can we print all those cool resources, organizers, worksheets--even the free ones--without going broke?  Ink is SO EXPENSIVE!  In fact, printer ink is one of the most expensive liquids on the planet.  It's how printer companies make their money.  And the high cost tends to make teachers and homeschool moms like me a little stressed out about what we have the freedom to print.  There were a lot of grayscale pages printed those first couple years!

That has all changed now.  About a month ago we bought a new printer that was eligible for HP Instant Ink. 

When you sign up for instant ink, your printer is hooked up over the internet to HP, and they monitor your ink levels and the number of pages that you print.  The great thing about this service is that you decide how many pages you want to print, and pay PER PAGE, not per ink cartridge.  For example, I signed up for the 100-page-a-month plan, so I pay $5 a month for up to 100 pages, no matter how saturated the pages are! It was such a good deal, it was worth it to us to buy a new printer.

Also, since HP monitors my ink levels, they send a replacement cartridge before I even run out.  Shipping cost is included.  I will never run out of ink in the middle of a project again.  Y'all, I'm obsessed with this idea!

It gets a little better, too.  Even though I signed up for the 100-page plan, HP gave us a 3-month trial for free, and the trial is for up to 300 pages a month!  I have been a full-color-printing maniac. 

I have printed a business organizer, two recipe binders, and lots of full-color masterpieces for the art class that I teach.  That first month, I was LOOKING for more things to print, instead of being intimidated by my printer and ink situation. It was liberating!

I know this system isn't for everyone, but for those who print a lot from home, it's gonna change your life! I'm going to save at least half of what I spent on ink last year, even with buying a new printer! If you're interested in checking HP Instant ink out for yourself, use our reference link, and HP will give you AND me an extra month of free ink! 

Click here to check it out!

The printer we got is all-in-one, prints beautifully, and is REALLY affordable--well under $100.

HP Envy 4520 Wireless All-in-One Photo Printer with Mobile Printing, Instant Ink ready

And take it from me, you're gonna want to stock up on paper--we ran out in the first month!

 

 

Welcome to Space Club

 For science this year we are using Apologia Astronomy . Apologia uses a system called notebooking, where the kids retell the information they've learned and add it to a notebook for future reference. I love this, because it combines several different learning styles into one lesson. My sister Abby B, and my friend Abby P also are doing Astronomy this year, so we decided to get together for a collaborative group of astronomers once or twice a month. We call it Space Club. 

 

Our first meeting was mostly just for the purposes of kicking off the year, and to let the young explorers get to know each other. So mostly, it was about playing in the inflatable pool in my backyard. It was also a little bit about eating space food and making a spacey art project.

 

Abby B made these rockets from strawberries, marshmallows, and cantaloupe. Her advice is to use under-ripe melon for the flames, and a flat skewer for the stick, to help keep everything from sliding immediately off of the stick.  Also, it helped to stick a littlee more marshmallow under the mellon.  It kinda looks like smoke.  We got the idea here.

 

Abby P brought some hilarious mini UFO's and cheese cut into star shapes. 

 

She also made this excellent meteor of a snack. It's chocolate cereal, butter, and marshmallows. We cut off meteorite chunks and ate them up. I minutes there was nothing left but a crater where the food had been.

 

The project was one that a I found on this website. There weren't any directions, so I just made them up.  

 

What you need:

black construction paper 9x12

white cardstock

white printer paper

crayons or oil pastels

glue stick

a black and white photo about 6.5 inches square – we printed ours (fast print) on regular printer paper.

 1. Take a profile photo of your space person. This is not easy with kids for some reason, so we had a second person stand to the side and tell them to think of getting a giant birthday cake. The faces were pretty much what we wanted. 

2. On the printer paper, draw 8 or 9 circles to represent the planets. They do not have to be to scale, and they do not have to have rings, unless you want to include them. There really don't even have to be the right number of them. Add a few big stars in there if you feel like it. Then, have your little artist color in the circles and shapes with crayon or oil pastel.

3. Cut out your space helmet. I would have loved to include a template for you, but my internet is down at the moment, and I'm typing this at McDonald's. Sorry. Print out a quick-print copy of your child's profile in black and white. Make sure it fits in the opening you made for the helmet.

4. Glue down helmet, portrait, and planets. If they are still not finished, ask them to add some stars or comets in the background.  Add some decorations to that helmet too!

 

Oh my goodness I love these.  

For the rest of the afternoon, we learned what baby Landon had to say about the solar system, although he talked so fast none of us could really understand him.

 

And we played with this Inflatable Solar System. 

Next time at Space Club, we hope to make some kind of official space club t-shirt, and we'll be doing experiments with the sun. Stay tuned!

ps. If you know any great space puns, we could use some more ideas for our t-shirts.

Geography :: Maps and Globes

Our first two weeks of school are under our belt, and we are having so much fun!

Since we are following My Father's Word: Exploring Countries and Cultures for the main portion of our curriculum, the first couple of weeks were all about learning about maps and globes--their history, and how to use them.

To show how much for accurate a round globe is than a flat map, we drew the basic continent shapes onto a mandarin orange.  Then we carefully peeled the orange to watch how the shapes and sizes of the land would have to be distorted to fit onto a rectangular map. 

During one of our morning walks, we walked down one side of our street, and then the other, counting houses on each side.  Later, we laid out a large sheet of paper, drew a street down the middle, and stamped the correct number of houses on each side of the street.  We used directions during the whole project, and made sure to include a compass rose on the street map.

The first time Esther (3) saw me stamp a house onto the paper, she came out of her seat with excitement.  I guess she'd never seen a stamp before!  She was equally involved in this project with the big kids.

On a different day, I drew out several streets in our city, and had the kids help me remember where the places were that we frequently visit.

I really wish there weren't quite so many fast food places on this map.

We added grandma's house, the zoo, the library, and several Sonic locations.  Then they took turns giving each other directions (north, south, etc) to the next place, while the driver "drove" a matchbox car around the town.  If you are unsure about how the streets line up in your town, take a look at google maps to help you out.

After we had practiced driving around our map for a little while, we hung it up at baby level, and let the little ones play with it.  We also continued to play the directions game as we drove around (mostly to Sonic) throughout the week.

Here are some of our favorite library books about maps and globes:

 

This one is so helpful and beautiful that I will probably end up buying it, so we have it for the whole year.

And of course this one is just plain fun!

::

What I have learned from our first weeks of homeschooling:

:: The little kids want to be way more involved than I expected.  And not always in a quiet, calm way.  This is not necessarily a bad thing--it's just going to take a little extra planning.  With all the extra time I have now.  Heh.

:: I thought I was patient.  But this teaching-multiple-grades-with-toddlers-in-the-h0use thing is taking me to whole new depths.  And because I did not just wake up with the new level of patience required by my new role, I have also discovered a whole new level of humility.  I have said, "I'm sorry" a lot these past couple of weeks.  But I think our bond is that much stronger for it.

:: Speaking of bonds, can I just say how absolutely in love with my children I am falling.  I had been missing so much.  They are hilarious.  They think of the craziest things to say at the most ridiculous times. They are wildly inappropriate with the potty humor, which I'm sure they get from their dad...

And they are smart--I mean really smart.  I can actually watch them taking in new information and retaining it.  I have so much respect and admiration for their processes.  I can't wait to see it again every morning.

He's Got the Whole World in His Mouth

So, do you want to know how our first week of homeschooling went?

So.

Great.

I mean, besides the fact that we decided to rip out part of the bathroom the night before the first day...

And besides the fact that the youngest of the potty-trained children continually had to be re-trained to use a different toilet than she was used to...

And that she had more accidents than a new puppy...  And than one of them happened while she was on the top bunk...  And it dripped rained down on her baby brother's head...

And besides the fact that at one point I was yelling out information about the prime meridian, because the big kids could not hear me over their berserk teething toddler brother...

 Besides all that, it was totally one of the greatest weeks ever in my life.

Because things happened like this.

That's our model of the earth, drawn on a mandarin orange.

Which naturally inspired a round of "He's Got the Whole World In His Mouth."

Of course, Essie had to make her own little "Erf". (Earth)

And that kind of thing kept happening all week.  The little ones saw the big ones having fun learning, and they couldn't help but join in.

Here they are reading a fun Dr Seuss book about maps.

 

Making a map of our street with rubber stamps.

And driving cars on our map of the neighborhood.

On Friday, after Emma and Ethan took their spelling tests, Esther insisted that she take one too.

And even though I could barely lift my head off the pillow on Saturday morning, just from sheer exhaustion, I cannot wait to do it all again this week.

First Day of School - 2014

Our first day of Homeschool.

I know that Emma looks really grown up here. I don't want to talk about it.

Ethan's deer-in-the-headlights look is gradually improving over the years.

 

Tips for taking your own photo-within-a-photo:

:: Get a frame that you love.

:: Hang the picture in an easy-to-access place in your home.  Then when the "first day of whatever" sneaks up on you, like it does on me every year, you can just grab the photo off the wall.

:: Send the photo to your processor the same day. (And pick it up and frame it!)

:: Store the previous year's photo behind the others inside the frame.  That way there's no need to file or store them somewhere else.

:: Don't stress out if you didn't get the first year (or years) on camera.  I have a feeling we won't be able to see much detail in those first few years pretty soon!

Homeschool Curriculum Choices 2014

The countdown is on.  School starts in two days, and butterflies have started swarming inside my guts.

I have no idea what's got me so freaked out.  I love learning, I love teaching, and I love my kids.  What's to worry about? I don't know.  Best to not dissect the issue right?  Better just to shove all those nervous feelings back down.  Get a hold of yourself woman!

Ah. Deep breath.

Since deciding to homeschool, a previously-suppressed part of my personality has emerged. I am now that dorky-curriculum woman.  I have been obsessed with researching, trying out, reading reviews, asking around about which curriculum to use.  I have discovered that I am not a big-box-curriculum kind of girl.  I am picking and choosing, combining lots of different elements to make up our school year.  And each time a book comes in the mail, I turn into that person. I call my sister or my mom, call the kids over to check it out, call Donnie at work to tell him how excited I am that the new science text or Bible lessons are here. It's out of control. I'm starting to annoy myself. So now that everything is here. I'm going to share it all with you. So that you can be annoyed excited along with us.

GEOGRAPHY/HISTORY

In complete opposition to traditional school requirements, we are not basing this year on a core of language and math. After 4 years in school, I think they could use a little break from the testable subjects. Instead, our core is geography.  We are using My Father's World, Exploring Countries and Cultures. 

It was recommended by a friend, and when I read the description on their website--that you could teach the whole family at once from the same text--I broke down into tears.  This was what we needed.  My Father's World (MFW) takes you through a 5-year cycle of history, starting with world geography, and the whole family follows the path of the oldest child.  We can all learn together, personalizing assignments according to each child's skill level.

SCIENCE

Although MFW does include science, I found a separate one that I could not resist.  I've never been a great lover of science, but I can't wait to jump into Apologia Astronomy . 

The kids will keep a comprehensive notebook that will hold all of their information in colorful, hands-on lessons.  On top of that, my sister and another friend have decided to use this same science this year.  So we'll be getting together for group projects every couple weeks or so. We started with astronomy, because it is the first in the series, which follows the six days of creation.

BIBLE
I ordered a separate Bible curriculum, even though My Father's World is pretty heavy into it. With MFW, we'll be learning about missionaries and God's heart for the nations around the world.

But then I found the Bible Study Guide.  So for two days a week, we are going to do these fun, interactive, funny worksheets.  When I showed Emma one of the lessons, she looked surprised.  "You mean we actually get to learn about the Bible in school?  Last year I wasn't even supposed to talk about God."  Yes, baby. This year is going to be different.

 

MATH

I said we weren't basing our year on math skills, but that doesn't mean we're letting go of math completely.  But we are doing math like I have never seen it done before.  Life of Fred --learning math in story form.

Many homeschool moms who do Life of Fred will supplement with worksheets and drills, because each chapter is very fun, and only has 5-8 problems to work at the end.  But after reading the information on their website, I feel confident that this program will give them the conceptual understanding of math that they need to move forward.  If I feel like they need practice work, I can always find printables online, or a workbook at the store.  This year Ethan (2nd grade) will be going through the first four or five books, while Emma (4th grade) will work through all thirteen of their elementary-level books in preparation for fractions next year.  Actually, Emma has already started, and even though the problems in the first book (Apples) were too basic to challenge her, she thought the story was hilarious, and kept begging to do another lesson.  A math book that kids beg to read? Yes.

LANGUAGE

Reading, grammar, spelling, and composition are my strongest area personally, so it's the area where I'm using the least amount of structured curriculum.  I found a great list of spelling words on K12reader.com, as well as some grammar worksheets for Ethan.  But for now, unless I find that just-right method of teaching, we'll be using our other subjects as the basis for language skills.  Each child will be required to read 30-40 minutes a day, but it will be fun reading.  I've noticed that kids who read interesting books have a better grasp on what is interesting when they go to write something. Also, the more kids read, the better spellers they are.  Reading is huge.

We'll also be writing one formal book report per month, and writing at least one letter (remember snail mail?) each week.  I'll have them rough draft, edit, and final draft the letters.

ART

Are you surprised that I'm most excited about art?  At first, it seemed too much to add yet another subject to the list.  But while I was thinking about it, I realized that I wanted to teach them the art masters--great famous artists throughout history, from all over the world...when the idea hit me that we should let our geography outline dictate which artists we study each week.  Since we are starting with America, for example, we will be studying 3 great American artists: Jasper Johns, Georgia O'Keefe, and Alexander Calder.  There is so much information on pinterest, that coming up with a new lesson each week should be no problem at all.  We'll be sharing some of our art projects, so you can do them yourself at home.

Well, that about covers it I think.  We are also doing PE, Memory, Poetry, and a fun class called "Domestic Engineering", but I'll wait and tell you about those subjects later. 

I promise in the near future to branch out from homeschool-based blog posts, but since I've felt so helped by other's curriculum choices, I thought it would be nice to reciprocate.  I'll keep you updated about what works for us, and what doesn't.

I have linked to many of the websites that offer our books (some are affiliates), but we were able to find many of them used or in online auctions.  Apologia and Life of Fred were at our local Mardel, where you can use a coupon.

Happy 1st week of school, everyone!

Pirate Supply Shops and Banana Pianos - 7 Inspiring Ted Talks on Education

Do you watch Ted Talks? 

I didn't until a friend shared one on facebook, and then I was hooked.  If you can find a good one, it might change your life and how you see the world. (And maybe alter your place in it.)

Even though all of these are about education, most of them are not about homeschooling, and every one of them is either hilarious or amazing.  I don't have time to watch boring people talk, and neither do you.  I hope you'll watch some of these and tell me what you think.

Dave Eggers : My Wish : Once Upon a School (I think this one is my favorite.  I want to be friends with this guy.)

This makes me daydream about the future of my family and the possible impact we could have on our community.

 Sugata Mitra's experiments in child-driven learning are shocking and wonderful. 

What could it mean for the future of kids everywhere, if they had access to all the information they need?  What can this mean for my kids?

 Ken Robinson: How Schools Kill Creativity

 At one point, this was the most-watched TED talk of all time;  it might still be.  So much of this had been on my heart already, but I didn't know how to put it into words. 

This is his follow-up: Bring on the Learning Revolution

His imagery of strip-mining our children's minds is profound.

Logan LaPlante: Hackschooling Makes Me Happy His mom pulled him out of traditional school after watching Ken Robinson's talk above.

He's so comfortable in front of this crowd!  I love that he spends one whole school day each week outside.  For the whole day.

Gever Tully: Life Lessons Through Tinkering

At Tulley's camp, kids use real tools to make amazing things.  Maybe my kids need a "tinkering" class this year.

Jay Silver: Hack a Banana, Make a Keyboard

Of all the school subjects, science is my weakest.  But this guy's talk makes me want to go invent something!

::

Go ahead and watch some of these, and see if they don't shake the way you see education.  

Is there a TED talk that changed you for the better?  Share it with me!

Taking a LEAP

I'm just going to come out and say it.  Some of you already know.  And I'm so excited that I can't stand it any longer. 

We are homeschooling this year.

HOMESCHOOLING!!

I have to say that this was one of the toughest decisions we've had to make in a while.  I mean, we LOVED our school.  We loved the teachers, we loved the other students.  We love that our kids are both awesome readers.  We loved that the school was only a couple blocks away.  We loved that our kids made close friends with all types of other kids, from all types of backgrounds.  The list could go on and on.

So why in the WORLD are we homeschooling?

It all comes down to one thing.  TIME.

Every year I get really antsy around the beginning of August, because I hate the idea of giving my kids back.  As soon as school, homework, and earlier bedtime starts up, I get about 1 1/2 hours per day with them.  And that's on a good day.  For Donnie, time with them gets even more rare.  As a youth pastor, he works several nights a week, many weekends, and takes Thursdays as his day off.  Any time he has at home is precious, and for much of it, our school-age children are away from home.  That just doesn't work for us anymore.

So, homeschooling seems to be the answer.

And I am FREAKING OUT with excitement.  I'm sure that if any of you are still reading, you've noticed that I took some time off from the blog this year.  I talked about it a little bit here.  I had felt a nagging in my spirit that things were off-balance in my life.  That I was looking for fulfillment in places that didn't work with the rest of my life.  I felt the Lord continually calling me back to the home, and I noticed that He kept closing doors to things (even GOOD things) that didn't directly benefit my home, children, or husband.  To tell you the truth, I didn't like it.  I felt confined, felt my talents were left unused, felt almost without purpose.  But still, I could not shake the feeling that God wanted me to cut off any endeavor that did not directly relate to my family.

I think this might be why. 

Suddenly, I find myself completely free from outside influences--completely free to devote all of my energy, talents, and resources to teaching my kids.  All of those assets that I thought were going to waste?  They are about to be used up on my kids.  My hands shake and my eyes well up at the thought of it.  That God has been gently nudging me to this point, even though I had no idea where we were going. 

So, what does that mean for the blog??

Well, I think it means I'm back.  It might look a little different than before, but I'm so excited to share the journey that we're taking on this year. 

And I'm a little bit scared to death!