...how does your garden grow?

The gardens are finally planted and everything seems to be growing.  We are about 2 weeks behind here in the Midwest due to a cold wet spring.

RileyAnn was a huge help to me this year.  She's been planting, hoeing, and weeding. She picked some radishes over the weekend.  After the long winter, fresh garden produce is such a treat!! 

Though it's hard to tell from the photos, we have about 30 tomato plants this year.  We have caged them since the photos were taken.  There are six varieties.  I'd like to try my hand at making ketchup this year, along with our usual juice, sauce, and salsa. 

Our hosta bed is absolutely lush this spring!  I did have trouble with slugs last year, not to mention the drought.  I am intending to get some pine needle mulch.  I read this deters slugs and other pests that plague hostas. 

The flowering crab tree we planted two years ago made it through winter.  The first year we planted it, a young whitetail buck came up and ate all the buds and leaves.  And then with the drought last year, I can't believe it's still alive.....God is good!!

The hay fields look good.  Though with the heavy rains this past week, some were laid down.  The weatherman has rain in the forecast everyday throughout this week too.  The harvest is slow this year.

Thursdays of Thanks....

Sheep sheared, Celebrating 70 years of aunt's life, seeing cousins, A boy's fish in the utility sink, A baby's healthy wellness check and one year of life, Call from tutor center, Rhubarb.....

A Year's Worth of Baby.....

Our baby is one year old today....my how time does fly,
Seems like only yesterday, but a whole year's gone by.

Smiles at three months
Then five sitting up at once.

You love the shower and your swing,
Standing by the window watching birds sing. 

Then it's crawling for the books and running away with remote,
Helping daddy fix the faucet and climbing like a goat.

Dear Levi, as I watch you sleep
I pray God will look over you and always safely keep. 

 

 

Sheep Shearing 2013

Saturday was sheep shearing day.  Angel and Riley corralled the sheep.  Then The Farmer assisted them in shearing.  It went smoothly other than the mud from the inch of rain that fell during the night before. 

 Even Levi got in on the action :)

Posey and Pearl snuggled in the grass waiting for their momma....

Here are the girls freshly shorn waiting for the gate to open.... 

Ahhh....free at last!!

I just love how they walk in a line....

Nature Journal....

RileyAnn loves nature!!  Recently, she wanted to make a nature journal for summer nature study.  We searched the web for notebooking pages she liked.  However, she couldn't find exactly what she was looking for so we decided to create our own. 

I created the above page based on her description.  We printed 30 copies.  Then we used photos we had taken of various scenes in nature to create the cover.  We used our ProClick Binding Machine to punch it and put it all together.  She was very tickled with the results.  

Here are some of her past nature entries when she was using just a lined spiral notebook.  She doesn't care for the totally lined paper.  Many of the notebooking pages we found on the web were very busy.  She prefers a more simply designed page that she can decorate herself. 






 

Also, here is a link to Nature Portfolio Throughout the Year that she created, as well as some of her past Animal Drawings she completed while Galloping the Globe.  

Do you keep a nature journal?  I'd love to see it!  Let's inspire each other.....

Thursdays of Thanks....

Generations; Drinking milk; Baby wearing sister's apron as a cape; Sprouting seeds; Dad's safe return from Canada; Tomatoes planted; Sunshine.....

High School Science - Anatomy

Well, here I am planning high school science again.  This time for 12th grade.  We sludged through Apologia General Science, Physical Science, and Biology before scrapping Apologia Chemistry last year and putting together my own course.  You can read more about that here.  This fall, Angel wants to study anatomy and we are going to use the Advanced Pre-Med Study by Master Books.

According to their website, the course description is as follows....

Get the science basics in this exciting premed study! Explore medical history as you discover the intricate design of the human body. Learn about germs as you unlock the code of life with a solid overview of the scope and application of medical and scientific knowledge. From genetics to bones to surgeries, discover a powerful array of sciences and advances!
1 Year Curriculum
10^th - 12^th Grade
1 Credit
Package Includes:

• Building Blocks in Life Science by Gary Parker
  
• The Genesis of Germs by Alan Gillen
  
• Body by Design by Alan Gillen
  
• Exploring the History of Medicine by John Hudson Tiner
  
• Lesson Plan

I spoke with a rep from the company last week and they were absolutely wonderful about e-mailing us sample lesson plans and lab ideas.   Though these books have been around for a bit, it sounds like some of the course offerings with lesson plans are fairly new and they are working on updating the plans according to customer feedback, particularly the inclusion of labs.  Angel has 3 years of lab science so this is not a huge concern for us.  However, the new lesson plan with labs will be printed in the next couple of weeks and the company rep agreed to hold our order until that time to ensure that we have the most up to date plan. 

In researching different high school anatomy courses, we looked at Apologia Advanced Biology - Human Body and The Precepts of Anatomy & Physiology.  However, both looked rather dry.  Angel read Exploring the World of Chemistry by John Hudson Tiner this year as part of her chemistry study and really enjoyed it.  She was interested in pursuing more books along that line.  We're going to give Advanced Pre-Med Studies a try and I will post feedback here at a later time.

Some other courses offered by Master Books are ....

Junior High/Middle School Level

Intro to Meteorology & Astronomy
Intro to Oceanography & Ecology
Intro to Speleology & Paleontology
Concepts fo Medicine & Biology
Concepts of Mathematics & Physics
Concepts of Earth Science & Chemistry
The Science of Life: Biology
Basic Pre-Med
Intro to Astronomy
Geology & Biblical History
Intro to Archaeology & Geology


High School Level

Survey of Science History & Concepts
Survey of Science Specialties
Natural Science
Paleontology: Living Fossils
Life Science
Survey of Astronomy
Advanced Pre-Med Studies


I'd love to hear feedback if you've used any of the Master Books in your homeschool or are planning to use them in the future.

Spring Lambs

The lambs are all here!!  Sugar produced 2 ewes (Posey and Pearl) and Wobbles 1 ewe (Pansy).  We are thankful they didn't have any trouble.  This will more than likely be Wobbles last time lambing.  She's getting quite old.  She was part of the original flock we bought when RileyAnn was just 2 years old....oh my!...where does time go!  

Thursdays of Thanks....

Apple tree blossoms; Lilacs in bloom; Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue all the days of my life.; Celebrating 90 years of mother-in-law's life; Bearded Irises; Softball season; Getting grandma settled in new home....

All Star Books - List 2

We are adding to our favorite book list.  You can view the original list here.  The original list includes books we read from preschool to 2nd grade.  The following is a list of some of the books we read during 2nd and 3rd grade.  However, most of them could be read any time prior to 3rd grade, particularly the picture books.  We read many picture books during our Galloping the Globe study.  You may also notice Five in a Row and Sonlight titles.  I've only listed the "great books" and I've highlighted our absolute favorites....


Chapter Books

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransom 
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
The Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins 
The Little Riders by Margaretha Shemin
The Lamplighter by Maria S. Cummins
The Lion in the Box by Marguerite deAngeli
The Lost Colony of Roanoke by Jean Fritz
The Corn Raid: A Story of the Jamestown Settlement by James Lincoln Collier
Peter and the Pilgrims by Louise A. Vernon
The Apprentice by Pilar Molina Llorente
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett 
Dangerous Journey by Oliver Hunkin
Cabin on Trouble Creek by Jean Van Leeuwen
The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson 
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski 
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe 
The Burgess Animal Book for Children by Thornton Burgess 
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Stop the Train by Geraldine McCaughrean
Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan 




Picture Books

Another Celebrated Dancing Bear by Gladys Scheffrin-Falk
The Grizzly Bear Family Book by Michio Hoshino
A Florentine Merchant by Giovanni Caselli
Audubon: Painter of Birds in the Wild Frontier by Jennifer Armstrong
Mr. Gumpy's Motor Car by John Burningham
Beatrix Potter: The Country Artist by David R. Collins
The Barn Owl (Animal Lives) by Sally Tagholm and Bert Kitchen
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter
The Giraffe that Walked to Paris by Nancy Milton
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Linnea in Monet's Garden by Christina Björk, Lena Anderson and Joan Sandin
The Glorious Flight by Louis Bleriot
Mirette on a High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
Anno's Italy by Mitsumasa Anno
Papa Piccolo by Carol Talley and Itoko Maeno
A Boy Named Giotto by Paolo Guarnieri, Bimba Landmann and Jonathan Galassi 
Clown of God by Tomie dePaola
Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei by Peter Sís
Michelangelo's Surprise by Tony Parillo
Book of Animal Tracks and Wildlife Signs by James Arnosky
The Duchess Bakes a Cake by Virginia Kahl
A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert
Rabbit (Animal Lives) by Sally Tagholm and Bert Kitchen 
The Flower Hunter: William Bartram, America's First Naturalist by Deborah Kogan Ray 
The Squirrel by Margaret Lane and Kenneth Lilly 
Deer Growing Up in the Wild (Young Explorers) by Judith E. Rinard
The Boy Who Held Back the Sea by Thomas Locker
The Hole in the Dike by Norma Green
Coyote Raid in Cactus Canyon by Jim Arnosky
Anno's Spain by Mitsumasa Anno
Sea of Ice: Wreck of the Endurance by Monica Kulling 
The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown and Leonard Weisgard 
Where Are You Going, Manyoni? by Catherine Stock
The Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke
From the Good Mountain: How Gutenberg Changed the World by James Rumford
You Wouldn't Want to Sail in the Spanish Armada by John Malam, David Salariya and David Antram
Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Don Quixote and the  Windmills by Eric A. Kimmel 
Sir Cumfirence and All the King's Tens: A Math Adventure by Cindy Neuschwander
Bill and Pete go Down the Nile by Tomie dePaola 
The Pumpkin Runner by Marsha Diane Arnold
Koala Lou by Mem Fox
The Rattlebang Picnic by Margaret Mahay
The Great Man Eating Shark by Margaret Mahay

Dangerous Journey - The Story of Pilgrim's Progress

                 Wow, what an awesome allegory!!  I must confess, I have never read Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.   So when we read about Bunyan in The Mystery of History Volume III, I did some research and found Dangerous Journey by Oliver Hunkin.

This is a great introductory version of Pilgrim's Progress for younger students and rookie's like myself.  I immediately felt empathy toward Christian and the burden he carried.  I imagined myself in many of the scenes as I travel through this life.  The pictures are a bit graphic, particularly the battle with Apollyon and in "The Valley of the Shadow of Death".   I wondered if they would bother Riley and Ruben, but they were so engrossed in the story that it didn't seem to be an issue and if anything the pictures may have solidified the tone of the story.  For those who've not read Pilgrim's Progress, I will not give away the ending.

Angel has read the Pilgrim's Progress in Modern English recommended by My Father's World.  However, she stated she had a difficult time understanding it and reading Dangerous Journey aloud really brought it all to life.  Immediately upon finishing Dangerous Journey, RileyAnn found a copy of Pilgrim's Progress on our shelves and started reading it.  I too plan to read the full version. We recommend it!!