A Year in Review

Homeschooling "seems" to be an easier way to school. There are times I could flog myself for saying that! But for the most part hanging out on the couches reading a good book together doesn't seem all that hard. Of course, it's not all couch-work. We do have our share of desk-work, but when I consider that there are no couches in traditional classrooms I have one good reason to count my homeschooling blessings. Or at least the kids do. ;)

There is also the issue of time spent. No homeschooling family has escaped the question of how we can get by with so few hours compared to traditional schooling. The simple answer is that it takes less time to teach a couple of children to their precise level of learning, than it does to teach 25 children to one or two levels.

However, at the end of the school year I am always torn between feeling like throwing a party for the freedom of summer!!!! and stressing, because I hope we have accomplished enough this particular year.

Friday was our last day of school, and in light of my fear - did we get enough done? - I decided make a list this year. What did we accomplish anyway? I keep a record book for each of our 180 days, but I've never gone back and made one complete list at the end.

So here goes - my list for our little homeschool for the 2008-2009 school year:

BIBLE
Old Testament - Genesis, Daniel Ch 1-6
New Testament - Acts, John

HISTORY
This Country of Ours by HE Marshall, Chapters 29 - 63 (1636 to 1782)
George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster
Poor Richard by James Daugherty
Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober
Phoebe the Spy by Judith Berry Griffin
Corresponded history readings with a time line
Current Events Daily

GEOGRAPHY
Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling
Pictures of the Day
Weekly Map Drills

SCIENCE
Exploring Creation With Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day by Jeannie Fulbright
Nature Study

MATH
Horizons

LANGUAGE ARTS

Poetry
Various Poetry readings daily

Literature
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
short works:
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving
Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb

Grammar
Lizzie: Simply Grammar

Writing
Understanding Writing, Level 4 and 5 (Descriptive writing, narrative writing, summaries, outlines.)

Memorization
The Kind Moon by Sarah Teasdale
Preamble to the Constitution
Paul Revere's Ride (first 3 stanzas)
Psalm 1
Little Things by Julie Fletcher Carney
Psalm 23

Copywork / Handwriting
Daily Copywork
Lizzie and Mary: Cursive Instruction

Phonics
Mitchell: TATRAS, Explode the Code
Mary: HeadSprout
Gracie: started Learn to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, Explode the Code

Dictation
Weekly From Copywork

FINE ARTS

Art Appreciation
Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) Florentine Renaissance
Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) German Romantic
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) Dutch Post-Impressionist

Composer Study
Johann Sebastain Bach (1730) (Baroque)
Franz Liszt (1855) (Early Romantic)
Gustav Mahler (1895) (Late Romantic)

Handicrafts
Wire Sculpture
Basket Weaving
Knitting
Mini Scrapbook
Soap Making
Homemade Bows and Arrows
Cooking: Cheese Making, dough making
Marshmallow Guns

Folksong
The Drinking Gourd
My Grandfather's Clock
The Old Oaken Bucket

Hymns
Shout to the North
All the Way My Savior Leads Me (Fanny Crosby)
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (by Bach)
Jesus Shall Reign (Isaac Watts)
A Mighty Fortress is our God (by Martin Luther) Day by Day (Karolina W. Sandell-Berg)
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

PE
120 minutes/week Mitchell: Baseball
Ronnie, Lizzie and Britany: Soccer

FIELD TRIPS
Western NC Nature Reserve
Williamsburg, VA
Yorktown, VA
Jamestown, VA
WCQR 88.3 Christian Radio Station
Hands On Museum Squid Dissection and Hissing Cockroach Program
Appalachian Caverns
Tri-Cities Airport
Intercity Ballet presentation of the Nutcracker
National Gingerbread House Competition
Production of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"
Symphony
McCain Presidential Campaign Rally
Food City Grocery Store
Rocky Mount Living History Museum
Appalachian museum
Blueberry Picking
Bays Mountain Nature Preserve
Lizzie and Ronnie: Niagara Falls

EXTRA READING

Ronnie:
Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
The Return of the Indian by Lynne Reid Banks
The Secret of the Indian by Lynne Reid Banks

Lizzie:
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois
Sarah Whitcher's story by Elizabeth Yates
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield
And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? by Jean Fritz and Margot Tomes

Britany:
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician's Nephew
The Last Battle
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Mitchell:
Little Britches series by Ralph Moody:
Little Britches
Man of the Family
Mary Emma & Company
The Fields of Home
Shaking the Nickel Bush
Dry Divide
The Home Ranch
Horse of a Different Color
The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit
Flushed by by Carl Hiaasen
Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale


...it turns out, we accomplish a lot! :) Big Smiles! Now I can celebrate freely!

Story Time

by Lizzie

During story time we all do different activities. Each day we pick a new activity to do. We have a lot of choices. Britany and I normally prefer to color or stamp. Sometimes the little girls will play a computer game so they won't distract us, but it doesn't always work. Ronnie and Mary prefer to just sit and listen. Mitchell does unique things with wire and sometimes paper. It's really fun, but we do have to pay attention.

Gracie (above) and Alli (below) playing the Zoboomafoo Creature Quest ABC Animal Adventure.

Teacher's pet. ;)

Mary thinks the best thing about homeschooling is learning while on the couch. :)

Mitchell wire sculpting.

The little girls are drinking tea. Frequently in the winter we make a hot tea to drink during story time.

Natural Tunnel State Park

We started out our visit to the Natural Tunnel State Park by having a picnic lunch with friends.

Then we headed down the trail to the creek.
The ranger showed us how to find creatures in the creek.

Then we looked at what we collected.

After that we walked down the path to the Natural Tunnel. The railroad put tracks right through it.

On the other side of the canyon the railroad blasted a hole because they couldn't turn so sharp.

Then we road the chair lift up to the top again.

Lastly, we went to see the block house replica and view a short video about how settlers used block houses to protect themselves when they moved West.

It was a very fun day!

White's Mill

Ronnie - We went to White's Mill in Abington, Virginia for a field trip. We went on a hike and were shown the river and mill pond that used to power the mill. When we got back from the hike, we went inside of the mill and saw all of the milling equipment. The stones that were in the flour mill weighed over 1000 pounds and were imported from France at around 1790. We learned a lot about milling on that field trip and it was really fun.

We took a short hike up to the mill pond where we ate our lunch and visited with friends.

The mill pond is up behind Alli. The dam has broken, so the creek runs right through it.

This picture shows the broken part of the dam. Previously the water was diverted from the mill pond down a side creek to power the mill.

The little kids really enjoyed the creek. The saw lots of little black snails.

Lizzie, Alli, Mary and Gracie sitting on the front porch of the mill.

From inside the building you can look down over the mill wheel.

Mr. Price showed us three different milling machines that have been used at that mill over the last 200 years.

This picture above shows how the building was constructed.

Above is Braden standing in front of the gears that propel the old mill.

We bought some corn meal that was ground there and made corn bread the next afternoon. Our favorite!

Cheese and Pizza Making at Coop

Lizzie - At coop we made mozzarella cheese out of whole milk. Each ingredient had a special job to do. The citrus was used to make the cheese stretchy, and the rennet was use to turn the milk into cheese. We mixed it all up into the pan of milk, which smelt bad and gave it its whitish color. When we kneaded it it changed from a bumpy texture to a glossy rubber look and feeling. Then we kneaded in salt for its flavor. When we tasted it, it was very yummy.

The temperature had to reach 90 - 100 degrees before we added the rennet.

After sitting for a few minutes, the milk clumped up into curds and whey.

We strained off the whey, heated the curds and strained off more whey. We did that several times to get out all of the moisture.

The we kneaded and stretched the cheese until it became glossy.

Mitchell - At coop we made pizza dough by mixing flour, water, oil, yeast and salt. We mixed it up and set it on the counter to rise. When it was done rising, we spread it out in a little circle with our hands. Then we put tomato sauce on it and some home made cheese and we put it in the oven for a couple minutes. When we took it out the cheese was melted and the dough was cooked. We ate it and it was very good.

Mixing our dough.

Alli shaping her pizza crust.

Britany and Keegan putting sauce on her pizza crust.

We made about 45 mini pizzas that day, including homemade pizza dough, homemade sauce and homemade mozzarella cheese. We were exhausted! (At least mom was.)