Temples, Tombs, Hieroglyphs

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This year for history I decided to use Train Up A Child's: World History Course.  This world history course is a literature base course. Luckily for me most of the books needed can be borrowed from my library.  Currently we are studying Ancient Egypt and working our way through the book: Temples Tombs, & Hieroglyphs.



This is a bit of a slow read for us, slower then I would like, but we are making progress and working our way through it.  In the course of reading we learned a little bit about James Henry Breasted. Breasted is one of the first American Egyptian Archaeologist that made a lasting impression on Egyptology, his work is still used today.

Web-princess took a special interest because she learned he was born here. I learned Thursday night that his remains were actually buried here too. So Friday morning we took an impromptu trip to the cemetery to hunt down Breasted's grave marker.   -- what makes his grave marker even more unique is that it's made from a block of granite from Egypt.  I think this is the closet she'll or even I will get from touching something from Egypt.

Smiling and standing next to Breasted's headstone.

It's always nice when a bit of what you are talking about can come "alive". Sure it was just a tombstone. However, it connected us personally to this archaeologist that we are talking about and his discoveries and work.

Under this granite block from Assuan, Egypt lie the ashes of James Henry Breasted

How has your homeschooling going? Any impromptu trips? impromptu activities?

Labor Day: Weekly Update

All is quiet ---

Actually is has been nice. We have had a break in the heat. Thank God. The AC has been off and windows have been opened now for the 5th day in a row. Even though tomorrow like today is suppose to get up in the 80s we might be good to keep the AC off. Mainly, because we have one of those whole house/Attic fans and the nightly temps have been in the high 50s/low 60s. We turn that fan on at night and it's instant breeze throughout the whole house. In the morning we turn it off, it stays off during the day, and our home stays on the cooler side. Just when it starts to get uncomfortable, the sun has gone down and the outside temps have started to cool off so we turn it back on.  If the night time stays on the warm side like 70s it doesn't do as good of a job cooling the house the whole day -- so with the project forecast we most likely turn the AC back on on Tuesday or Wednesday. Time will tell.



Despite the pleasant weather I haven't been able to enjoy it -- totally -- I have been dealing with a nasty head congestion, cold.  This prevent Web-Princess from doing all of her work on Friday. She did most, but not all. She, even though it's high school, still needs my help time to time. Some things like Spelling Power I have to do simply with her. It can't get done otherwise.



Other things she prefers my help. For example when it comes to biology she reads her text orally to me. This is mainly because reading is still an issue for her! NOTHING like it use to be. She can read but some words still trip her up -- so reading orally to me is to help her make sure she's reading properly. It also gives her the opportunity to ask me questions right then and there if she doesn't understand something.  (We made the most process with her reading when we starting sight phonics.)

She did what she could and what wasn't done will be moved to Tuesday. I'm counting Friday as a half day of school. We are taking tomorrow off for Labor Day. At least she had some school and me being sick didn't mean no school day. When she (and Superstar) were younger mom being sick meant no school at all! -- so glad those days are behind us and she can do a lot of the the work, even if I'm down and out, by herself.

I'm still feeling nasty. The head congestion alone is enough to bug anyone -- add vomiting, ear aches, -- it's not pleasant. I still have to make all of my lesson plans for this week. I will do that tomorrow even if I'm still feeling like crud so Web-Princess will have what she needs for this coming week. Hopefully, regardless of how I feel I will be well enough to help her for those areas she needs help.

This Tuesday will start week 3 for us! (3rd week, but not 3rd full week. Our first week we only did school on Wed to Friday). I can't believe 3 weeks in already.

We have been doing:

• English
• Algebra
• Biology
• World History
• PE/Health

I will be adding some Bible/Religion to the list. I just don't know what yet.  What I was going to use has proven to be beyond what Web-Princess can handle. So I have been looking for an alternative but haven't found anything I'm happy with. Do you have any suggestion for Bible/Religion for High School/9th grade (from a Catholic prospective of course)?


Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click on a link and purchase something. See our full disclosure policy for more details.

Reading! Libraries are awesome.

Good librarians make a huge difference. Over the years I have relied on the children's librarian to be a big help to me. She has always been willing to pull books for us, give us suggestions, and really has been helpful.

Recently, I asked her again for her help. Superstar needed more books to read. I everyday as part of their schooling make them read at least one hour. This one hour is in addition to what needs to be read for course work and can be whatever they want. (That way it's more enjoyable for them). Superstar was stumped on what to get next and I was at a lost of what to suggest to him. So I did what I always do, I went to the Children's librarian! She told me, nicely, that I needed to start talking to the young adult librarian. -- Well he has been crossing back and forth between both sections, but it was clear that as awesome as the Children's librarian has been to us, it was time to graduate to the next librarian.

So this morning we just did that and can I just say I am thankful that the Young Adult Librarian is just helpful. She pulled many books for Superstar. She had him read the first couple of pages, asked him questions, and within 10 minutes we didn't have one, but we had two books the boy wanted to bring home and read more!

Are your librarians awesome? What books are your teens reading?

Glasses ARE making a difference.

It's amazing what some glasses can do for your child!  She still struggles with some reading, because she's lacking some basics skills, but she grasping and getting the information so much faster now. I really think it's helping her that she can see! She was just on the boarder line of needing glasses and we went with it, because we could also get them to be prism to correct for convergence insufficiency.

I so wished we went with this passive route several years ago when we learned she had convergence insufficiency. She's even doing math work with no fuss.  For the last several years I've had to deal with I don't understand it and had to work through her whining over the work. Looking back I think she was this way, because she couldn't see properly.

When she got her glasses on she said without my glasses things are 'normal'; with my glasses things are super clear and just pop-out at you!  I had to explain to her that super clear and pop-out at you IS normal!

She even this last week has been, are you ready for it, doing WORD problems WITHOUT my help!! For the last several years I've have had to sit next to her while she reads the word problems and correct the mistakes she was making.  This week she just did it without having to have me sit next to her while she read them to me! Can I just as that's awesome! She said for the some: I didn't know the person's name so I just skipped that part, but I understood and read the rest of the word problem just fine. That is a HUGE improvement for us. I really can't share how that's an improvement.


We've always have done spelling, math, reading, writing, and all the other subject required by my state, but this year I'm going to make spelling, writing, and reading more of a priority and  focus. We still will be doing all of subjects we just will be doing more language arts then in years prior.  I was given the first level of All About Spelling so I'm looking forward to giving that ago. I also have a list of books I'm going have the kid read this year in addition to reading to mommy and other free reading materials.

In years passed I've done history with a text book. This year I'm going to approach it with literature. I'm looking forward to that as well.  How have things been going with you? Are you doing anything new this school year?

Convergence Insufficiency

Convergence Insufficiency is a topic I haven't talked about in a LONG time! It's never really gone away for my daughter and here we are 3 years later and we still have reading issues. Reading issues that I'm sure are associated with this vision issue.

We tried various methods over the years and various phonics, hands on programs to help improve her reading. We have seen IMPROVEMENT but nothing that we really have been totally please with.
Today, I took the kids in for the annual vision exams and it turns out both kids are farsighted and need reading glasses. We decided NOT to get glasses for our son, only because the prescription is for a very small correction. He's not having issues with reading at this time so we decided to hold off. The script is good for an year, so if we notice issues within this year we can get it filled then.

Our daughter's prescription is for a slight correction as well, but she also getting  prism lenses to help correct the convergence insufficiency.  We'll have her new glasses next week so I'm hoping that she'll noticed a difference while reading and we'll notice a difference as well.

When we got home we told my husband about everything and answered Web-princesses questions about her classes. She took about a book she's been reading and said "So the glasses are going to help me see, read, better. I can see, read, the words on the page just fine." We told her she will notice the difference when she gets her glasses. It's going to be interesting to see how she reacts to them once they are here.

CAT scores

Well a few weeks ago I gave my kids a CAT test. I mainly gave them this test because my husband requested it. I used Seton Testing Services so each test cost $25 and I was able to administer the test myself.  Seton Testing Services sent me the booklets, detail instructions, and scanable answer sheet for the kids to fill out. I had to send all the materials back to them. They scored the test and sent me the results.

In the mail today I received the results. Superstar scored average on everything but math. For math he scored above average.Web-Princess scores were average except on those areas that required reading.  Those areas she scored below average. I totally expected this from her because of her struggles in reading over the years. We have seen improvement, but I know that improvement is still below 'grade' level.

As their teacher I already had an idea of where they would fall, I didn't need these test to tell me that. I gave the kids the test because my husband wanted them done. He wanted something to show where the kids are with their schooling.

I know that many within the homeschool community don't care for standardize testing, because they can at time don't show a child's true measure of knowledge. This is especially true if the child does not test well. Some people know matter how bright they are never do well on test.

Thankfully I live in state that does NOT require me to use standardize testing. This was done purely for our own knowledge.

How the new routine/schedule is working!

Back in January I mention how I was going to reshape our day. So that I 'school' superstar in the morning and web-princess in the afternoon. Well after some trail and error I found a routine that seems to be working for everyone.

This routine allows me to focus on one child at a time. In the morning Superstar does Math, Spelling, and English. I'm there to help him with those subjects, but I also do some house work, or little projects that need to be done, but can be easily put to the side if Superstar needs help.  While Superstar is working on those subjects Web-princess does some reading, wii fit, and piano practice.

After these things are done we do science and history together then break for lunch. After lunch it's Web-princess' turn to do Math, Spelling and English while Superstar does some reading, wii fit, and piano practice. This allows us to be done around 3:00 pm which good because Superstar has made some friends via scouts and they are home by 3:30 pm and at least twice a week are calling here asking if Superstar can play.

After dinner I've put in their time to read their McGuffy Reader lessons with mom. I think this works best, because it does allow us to be done by 3:00 pm and if daddy wants he can read the lessons with them.

It took us a while to figure it out, but so far so good!

Green Eggs & Ham

Little Man, my nephew, is going to be here for a few more days then he goes back to my mom's for her 2 months with him. Note For Newer Readers: My sister is serving in Iraq so her son, whose 3, has been living with us for some of the time and living with my mom for some of the time. It's on a 2 months rotation. She's been gone since Christmas 2010 and we hope she'll be home by this coming Christmas.

Seeing he's going back soon one of the many things the kids wanted us to do before he went back was to have green eggs and ham for dinner. So that's what I made tonight! To make the eggs green I added food coloring and spinach. Don't they look YUMMY?

Our Green Egg and Ham dinner!

It's okay if you say NO they don't look yummy, because honestly I didn't even want to eat them at first! However, I sucked it up and ate. Really they didn't taste bad it was just getting pass the visual.  Little Man had a hard time getting pass the visual too. He begged me to make them and now that I had he didn't want to eat!  So what did we do? Well we played the story for him. I found a clip on Youtube and played it!

Boy did that make a difference! Playing this clip 4 times in a row sure changed my little nephews tune about eating the green eggs and ham! Now that dinner is over he's chanting the story. I would not eat them here or there, not in car, not anywhere....

Not only did Little Man ate his meal but he covered his eyes just like the guy in the movie!! LOL

2011-2012 School Year: What to use?

I still have several months before I'll wrap up our current school year. I had plan to go all the way to the end of July. We are going to give our hand at all year schooling. However, spring is clearly in the air, because homeschool social sites, such as The Homeschool Lounge, are buzzing with discussions about what to use for next year for science, history, language arts, etc.

Even though I have several more months left I to have been looking at what to use for next year. I have my math and history covered. I have some of my language arts covered like: grammar, spelling and literature.

I HAVE to figure out what I want to use for science. I also need to do something about my children's handwriting and I need to do something to encourage writing.  The grammar workbooks are great for the basics of grammar, but I need to do something that will get them to write paragraphs, reports, or something along those lines.

Fine Arts are a requirement in my state and I think I have that covered okay. Although I think we are at the point were we would like our kids to learn and instrument, but I'm not sure what instrument to encourage or that will even be in our budget. If you have any suggestions that will be great!

Summer Reading = Ice Hogs Game

Our local library like many local libraries across the nation had a summer reading program. For participating and doing the summer reading program our children earned FREE tickets to an Ice Hogs Game. Hubby and I had to pay for our tickets to go with them, but the kids did earn their FREE tickets by reading over the summer. So last night we went to an Ice Hogs Game!

On the way there I took out the camera and took some snap shots. I got told right away from the children "Oh no it's the Mamarazzi!" "The Mamarazzi is WORST then the Paparazzi. Hide don't take the picture." Thus the reason of the hands up look.

Of course we all started to laugh and my husband kept asking in between laughter how do you know about the paparazzi, but I don't think his question ever got answer.

Being the Mamarazzi does that mean I take to many pictures of my kids? Are you a Mamarazzi? If so perhaps we can have a support group! LOL!! "It's the Mamarazzi!"

The Ice Hogs lost (5-0) but we still had a good time. At the first break they were throwing free T-shirts into the audience and we got one! Hubby was the one who caught it! Hammy, the teams mascot also came our way, but I wasn't able to get his picture when he stopped and waved at us.  We didn't get home until after 11 pm last night!

Thankfully there was no CCD (Religious Education) this morning. That allowed us to sleep in so we can go to Mass tonight.  Next Sunday Superstar, the 2nd Sunday of Advent, Superstar will be serving as an Alter Server. This will be his first Mass as an Alter Server.

Solitude

Lately Web-princess has been seeking some solitude and frankly I don't know what to make of it. I find her often in her room alone with a nose in a book or playing quietly with her toys. Even yesterday with Grandpa here she hung out in her room alone.

She seem happy and last night when we asked her why she didn't want to join the family in the living room. We got I much rather be alone in my room where it's quiet so I can read, draw, etc.

On one hand I'm glad that she has taken an interest in reading. I doubt because of her reading abilities that she is truly reading the books she's has stuck her nose in, but she trying and seems content looking at the page and doing her best to make out the words.

Last night after hours of being alone in her room she emerged with a book and ask if I would read it to her. I said yes, so we went into my room, snuggled on my bed and read. She insisted that she turn the pages and was truly following along, because at one point I repeated the same line 3-4 times and she said mom it said this. She read the line I was on and the line right after it, fluently and just fine. I was a bit surprise she read that well, because we still struggle with words and her lexile score is 200. For her age/grade level she should have at least a lexile score of 500.

So we have a way to go. I know we do, but at the same time April of 2010 her score was below 100. So we have made HUGE progress the last few months. For that I'm thankful. We have been doing a lot of mommy read, books on tape, and following along as the tape or mommy read. We have been playing phonics games and she has been reading to mommy or daddy.  The phonics games we play are card games so she has the physicals cards to manipulate. That helps her the most!

We even have been playing scrabble too. Although the traditional scrabble is a bit hard for the kids, because spelling is still weak spot for them. So we have been thinking about getting scrabble slam or scrabble flash. Do any of you have these scrabble games? Are they any fun? Do you think they would help with spelling/reading? Do you think the kids would enjoy either of them better then traditional scrabble?

E-Readers

I've been eying some e-readers for a while now! Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook to name a few. They are, right now, out of my price range but I still have been eying. Then last night it hit me my Palm Z22 which I've had for the last 3 years (Hubby bought it for me when we decided to start homeschooling) has an e-reader on it.

I from the beginning was under the impression that I could only use the material found on palm's site, materials that had to be paid for. Well I just realized last night that I can use free application called Stanza (desktop version) to convert pdf, txt, (and I believe doc) files into pdb files. Pdb files is what my Palm Z22 e-reader can read! I have already used Stanza to convert .pdf and .txt files to pdb files.

My memory space on the Palm Z22 is limited so I can only have one book @ a time. However I'm overjoyed to learn I had this feature the whole time. Reading isn't horrible on it; it's doable. I have no idea if the Palm Z22 is still available normal retail or not, but I've seen models sell on e-bay for as little as $10. When we bought the Palm Z22 new 3 years ago it was just under $100.

Finding materials to convert is not hard...there are tons of free books out there from sources like Google books and Project Gutenberg.

On unrelated note: Web-Princess's Testing  is going to be done on August 20th.

Freaky Fun: Summer Reading

Today was "Freaky Fun" day at our local library. We are participating in our library's summer reading program and on Thursdays they are having special activities to do in conjunction with the summer reading program. Todays activities were sponsor by our local children's museum.

The kids got to make slim, make a pig's lung inflate and deflate. They got to make rattle snake eggs, witness  some optical illusions, play with bugs, and watch a chemical reaction between ammonia and PH paper.  It was a good hour at the library. In addition to the fun, seeing that it is Dairy Month, a local 4-H group was there raffling off a cooler of dairy items. To enter I just had to write my name on a piece of paper and be at the library at the time of the raffle.

The kids and I were in the back room making slim. We just finished up and decided to go see who won the raffle. As we were leaving the back room, Maryanne our children's librarian, said. "Nikki, Nikki _________."  To which I replied "Yes?". (It's a good thing I have a good relationship with the children's librarian).  Maryanne "You won the cooler of dairy!, I'll let them know you are still in the building!"

Maryanne was a few steps in front of us, but got there to tell them I was still in the building. They then presented me with the cooler and took our pictures for the local newspaper. They took Superstar's and Web-princess's name as well seeing they were in the picture with me.

So we won the dairy cooler which contained:

1. 6- 6oz of Yoplait Yogurt
2. 6- 3oz of Danimal Smoothies (Strawberry-Kiwi)
3. 8oz of strawberry cream cheese (Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
4. 1 lb container of Sour Cream
5. 1 lb container of  Cottage Cheese
6. 8oz container of land-o-lakes light butter spread
7. 7oz package of Kraft shredded "Mexican" cheese
8. 7oz package of Kraft shredded mozzarella cheese

The kids were thrilled to have won! They especially love the danimal smoothies. We don't get them often, but the kids do enjoy it when I'm able to "treat" them with some danimal smoothies. Web-princess was over the moon with being able to win some cottage cheese! Cottage Cheese is her favorite food and it's already gone! The kids (and I) ate it up for snack when we got home.

I have to run to the store either tonight or tomorrow. I can use the sour cream and Mexican cheese for tacos. If I get some bagels we can use up the cream cheese. (Not much else I can do with  strawberry cream cheese). Not exactly sure what to do with the shredded mozzarella cheese? Do you have any suggestions?

Pizza Hut Book-It for 2010-2011

Posting about Barnes and Nobles Summer Reading program earlier reminded me that enrollment for Pizza Hut Book-It 2010-2011 is NOW Open.

In addition I have also noticed that several of the bowling allies, for Kids Bowl Free, are now open for registration. There are still some that have not open up yet, So don't be too surprise if the bowling alley of your choice is still not open for registration.

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program

If your child reads 8 books they will earn 1 free book from Barnes & Noble. Please see Barnes & Nobles 2010 Summer Reading Program for more details.

Lexile: Reading Assessments

The state of Illinois is just one of the many states that is using Lexile as means to assess a child's reading level. Lexile is now apart of the I-SAT.

Learning this today made me wonder what is Lexile? Well the following 6 minute video will answer that!



So now that I know what Lexile is how do I find out what my child's Lexile score is? The only "affordable" resource I found for homeschoolers is Total Reader for those children 3rd-12th grade. (If you know of another resource to find out what your child's Lexile score is please share)

Total Reader is a web-based reading assessment program that gives out Lexile scores. It cost $39.95 for ONE child for ONE year. If you have more then one then you automaticaly get 10% off for each child. You can add up to 6 children. Once you have a Total Reader account you have unlimited access to the program. The more the child uses the program the more accurate is the Lexile score.

There was standard testing options that were comparable in price, however I felt it was best to use something that allowed us to gauge reading levels over time vs. a one time test.

Once you know your child's Lexile score you can use Total Readers recommended reading list or you can use Lexile.com book finder to help find books in your child's reading level.

Personally, I liked the Lexile.com book finder because not only does it filter books based on Lexile Score, but it's possible to filter the selection by topics and age range too. I can see the advantage of using that to select materials for your child.

• First go to Lexile.com find books on the topic you want in your child's lexile range.
• Second take that list of books to your local library (or look on your library's online catalog) to see if they have the book.
• Third, check those books out!

I was browsing my library's online catalog, comparing what my library has to offer against the list I got from Lexile.com. Honestly, there are books that I never would have even consider for my kids. Why? Because they are located, shelved, in an area that I assumed to be younger then my children's reading level and/or are shelved in an area that I assumed to be above my children's reading level.

In addition it's possible to buy books at barnes and nobles website based on Lexile score. At the very least the whole idea of using Lexile score is interesting!

Multisensory Reading Approach

As many of you know few months ago in the midst of dealing with Superstar's ITW Web-Princess was diagnosis with convergence insufficiency. We have been given some at home therapy options, but I also have to find a way to reach her in regards to reading. Knowing what is wrong and the therapy to strengthen her muscles is only 1/2 of the battle. The other 1/2 is find ways to teach her and bridge that gap.

Can I just say the children librarian we have is AWESOME? I feel so bless to be able to go in and just talk to her. I shared with her what was going on and I how I'm thinking about taking on an Multisensory Reading Approach with Web-princess. It's the same approach that is often taken with children that have dyslexia.

I know that convergence insufficiency is not dyslexia, but after some research I feel that the multisensory approach would be good for Web-Princess. That way she is learning from her other senses when it comes to reading and not just her vision. I was sharing this with the librarian and she could see the benefit as well and was helping me put together somethings. It's so awesome to have a lady that can just walk around the library and pull books without the use of the catalog. She knows what's in the children section like the back of her hand.

I also recently learned about "Sound Out Chapter Books". To my delight 6 of the titles were listed in the online card catalog, but they did NOT show a library and they did NOT have a call number. I showed this to the beloved librarian. She thought it was odd and did some looking on HER computer.

She learned that they were at the library a few towns away and that they were bought by that library through a Project Read Grant. She was confident that we could do inter-library exchange on project read material so she put a request on some of the books for me.  (Although there is still a question if it would actually go through because they are project read material.)

I'm hoping that we can get the books. I'm hoping the fact they are chapter books will be a big boost to Web-princess's ego! Not only that but because they are still decodable books I'm confident that they won't be above her reading abilities. I told our librarian that I'm interested in these because with Web-Princess being almost 8 I need to move pass "Mat sat." "Mat sat on a hat". I need to give her material that will have some more substance and story line to it, but not be above her abilities.

What's really cool is when we were looking up the books the librarian said when they get here (assuming the request is granted) I would like to look at them and learn more about the series and also get your input on them.  That made me excited! Perhaps our library will get some or different titles then the other library has.... (wishful thinking, but it was delight to see the librarian's interest in this books)

I still have a lot to learn about the Multisensory Reading Approach. If you are using this type of approach with your children Please share!! What are you doing? What are you using? How long per day? I would really love to hear from you!!  I'm still learning about this approach because it's not familiar to me; so any input, advice, ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Sunday Snippets-Catholic Carnival

I have 2 post this week that are my favorites:

Planting Socks: The Results This post is about how we planted socks to watch them grow. Okay so socks don't really grow, but when you go walking.....

Summer Reading: FREE book This post is about how ANY child 1st-6th grade can participate in Barnes and Nobles Summer Reading program. If they do they can "earn" a free book. Also it has the information that HOMESCHOOLERS need to to sign up for Pizza-Hut's Fall book-it program. The fall program allows homeschool children to read x amount of books (amount set by the teacher) per month to "earn" a coupon for a FREE pizza hut personal pan pizza. It's jut like the program that many school do, but this is for homeschoolers. If you are a homeschooler and you want your child to do the fall program then you need to resister NOW! Registration ends sometime in July. So do it today before you forget!

For more Sunday Snippets from other bloggers then check out Sunday Snippets-A Catholic Carnival @ This That and the Other Thing

Summer Reading: FREE book

Hello readers!

Just learned that Barnes and Noble is having a summer reading program open to children in 1st-6th grade. If your child reads 8 books they will get 1 free book. The free book is limited to the selection of books on the list. I've looked over everything and as far as I CAN TELL it's open to homeschoolers! So grab some books and start reading.

Also don't forget to register your child up for 2009-2010 Pizza Hut Book-It. That program doesn't start until October 2009, but you need to register early for it. So register today! It's FREE to register and they will mail you everything you need (including the coupons) in September.

A post worth reading

I came across a post today entitled "What I Love About Catholicism: The Lack of Artifice" from True Confessions of a Prodigal Daughter. I think it's worth reading!