Weekly Review 17th - 21st August

This week started out fairly slow with Stephen leaving and the children adjusting to this again, while on the tail end of the colds.
Of course with Moran's seizure and hospital visit we really didn't get a start until Wednesday.

They were especially keen to start the Spiderwick study and did a good amount of work on this.
However the weekly testing items were not followed up at all except for the poetry which is a part of the Spiderwick study as well.
There is a fair bit of writing and English work in this and so we are not following Voyages in Literature or others like it.

The only one to follow maths up at all was Saxon and I really need to get better at getting this done with the children.

We did manage to go on a couple of Nature walks and gatherings and had a lovely time with this.

The children also did and impromptu play with filming after dressing up and having definite characters and a plot. They then filmed this on Saxons camera. If only we could buy a video camera I am sure they could produce some great action.

Rogan finished reading the Littles today and was very proud of himself. I need to think up a way to get him to read more, he certainly is able it just doesn't grab him yet. He really would rather do craft and writing stories to illustrate. He did a lot of the spiderwick study himself.

The little ones were fairly independent and after speaking to the doctor I am re thinking our approach to Moran and to Myffwyn also.

Reading aloud was not very well done this week either and I think it was just a week that started off not well and didn't progress past average at all.

I have reminded the children that all Assigned reading must be completed by the end of the month. They tend to get slack and read other books instead.

The Squires Page Series has been read a lot this week by the older girls along with Lucky Luke and other library books.

I am working out plans for the Little Women Study-- at this stage called Orchard House Circle and think I should do one for Saxon especially something along the lines of Rangers for the King perhaps.

We are also contemplating a return to Shakespeare using some of the new resources and reading aloud for the plays after reading Lamb or Nesbit.
We have enough reading people to do this quite successfully and think we will do this once a week and call it Fancy....Shakespeare!

The girls have along with Rogan been posting on their blogs fairly often as well. I still think this is a great way for them to improve their english in all manner of ways.

Some people have been working on Christmas presents as well.

Blessings,

Weekly Review 10th - 14th August

Well I do need to start even though last week wasn't a good one for actually recording acheivements.

All the children were sick with the cold and some with throwing up as well.
We pretty much ditched any formal plans and the children when they were able read a lot of their assigned reading and anything else they felt like reading, when and if they felt up to it
Some had the cough quite badly and were under the weather for most of the week.
We seem to be at the end with most but a couple are still lingering and I hope they will be back on deck on Monday to start the new plans.

We had been to the library last week and have a box full of interesting library books so these have been passed around too.

Sometimes we played some 'parlor games' and cards as well.
As Stephen was home as well and he was sick too, we also spent time just being together.
Stephen did start the first Spiderwick book as an introduction to the Spiderwick Study we will start next week.

If I can keep this simple I may actually keep a record of what we do instesd of trying to write out a daily achievement list, which has never been finished due to my running out of time and energy for recording about mid week.

Blessings,

Geography Plans for Africa

♥♥ AFRICA

At the end of this study you should have a general understanding of the Contenant of Africa: Including it's geographical layout, the people, the animals and other natural wonders.
You should also be able to identify some of the Church's African Saints and what they did and where they came from

♥ Chapter books to read:
* With Kitchener in the Soudan
* At Aboukir and Acre
* By Sheer Pluck
* A Chapter of Adventures
* With Roberts in preoria
* The March to Coomassie
* With Buller in Natal
* Ther Cat of Bubastes
* The Young Colonists
* The Dash for Khartoum............All the above are by G. A. Henty.* The Royal Diaries: Cleopatra VII...Kristiana Gregory
* The Royal Diaries: Nzingha... Patricia McKissac* God King... Joanne Williamson
* Shadow Hawk... Andre Norton
* Beau Geste... P.C. Wren

♥ Information Books
* KINGFISHER : Land and it's People
* Operation World...Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk-- 2001 edition
* Junior Geography...A.J. Herbertson and O.J.R. Howarth
* Grasslands... Jenny Vaughan
* We live in South Africas...Preben Kristensen & Fiona Cameron
* Deserts...Nicola Barber
* Nigeria... the land and it's people...Richard Synge
* A Family from South Africa...Jen Green
* Africa: An Eyewitness book... Yvonne Ayo
* The life of Meat Eaters... Dr Maurice Burton


♥Folk Tales:
- Use the Oak Meadow folk tale book and read through
- this can be read to the little ones as part of your time with them.
- the little ones can draw a narration from each Folk tale and create a book while dictating to an older person the text.
- Listen to the on-line Folk Tales
- more folktales
- and again
- and the other one I have to find the link for
- Favourite African Folk tales

♥ National Geographic Pictures of the World Card Game

♥ Movies...
* George of the Jungle
* King Solomans Mines

♥ Make a passport with your information for traveling around the world
- have a map or Africa on the first page after information about yourself and then colour in the countries as you travel to them
- on the next pages record the vital information about each country you 'visit':

* Flag of the Country visited
* Name of Country
* Name the countries that border you country:
* Name the surrounding Oceans/Seas:
* Capital of Country:
* Pinpoint your country's: Latitiude and Longitude
* Major Language Spoken:
* Major Religion:
* What is the Currency?
* Type of Government:
* Chief Crops:
* Major Industries:
* What is this Country most famous/infamous for?

♥ Country Studies:- choose 6-8 countries to 'travel' to including
* Nigeria (Father Felix is from here, he may be able to help wiyh information)
- 5 others of your choice

* Use the above information from your passport to help you write about each of your selected countries.

♥ Online Fun
* Map Game
* Africa Quiz
* Africa Capitals Quiz
* World Quizzes
* Geography Knowledge
* African Geography : There are many themes here to choose from-
- work your way through these as you choose
* Latitude and Longitude Game

♥ Mapping:
- Draw a map of Africa:
- the capital cities
- neighbouring oceans and countries.
- rivers and mountains
- anything else meaningful
* Use continent Maps( We have a felt one)

♥ Languages to Learn
* World Languages :
* More Languages
Choose the specific African ones

♥ National Anthems
* African countries

♥ African Wildlife
- choose 6 animals and learn more about them :
- record infornatin in book including pictures and the information below....
- common name
- classification information
- physical characteristics
- habits
- food
- predators

* You may use the resources below or any of the texts we have:
* African Wildlife Foundation -
* African Fauna
* Online African jigsaw puzzles

* Printable African book for little ones
* African animals to label for younger ones

* African animal colouring pictures for younger ones
* Pre school African syllable matching

♥ Animals and their Habitat:
-Create an illustration of an African habitat
-label what aspects of the habitat provides food, water, and shelter for the animals that live there.

♥ Music:
- research the musical instruments
using illustrations and written information
- research African folksongs and spiritual songs
- learn one of the songs you research

♥ African cooking:
- research and prepare and cook an entire African meal
- resources online can be found

♥ Saints of Africa:
- List of African Saints from Archdiocese of Newark
- Another list from Catholic Online
* Use the above lists to:
- Read about some of the Saints of Africa
- Write a short narration of at least 100 words minimum on 4 Saints of your choice
- make a list of the other Saints you have read about

* Create maping on the Saints:
- Mark various Saints' home country
- Shade in the countries where the primary religion is Christian.
- Shade in the countries where the primary religion is Islam.
- Shade in the countries where African traditional religions, folk religion or syncretism are practised alongside Christianity or Islam.
- Shade in at least five countries that are currently or have recently been in civil unrest.

♥ Research the National Monuments of Africa:
- find at least 3 and narrate and draw 1 page on each of them
eg ; one, two three
or find others if you wish

♥ Cultural Aspects of Africa:
- Choose one aspect of African Culture this may be; art, dance, history, religion, daily lives that interests you and record that information
- this can be done in illustration or writing or both
- Use Global Art: Activities, Projects, and Inventions from Around the World. p 13 -24
- complete 2 or more of these, or use the book as a guide to create your own project

♥♥♥

Spiderwick Themed Study

♥ These are the Ideas we brainstormed last week ☺ for our Spiderwick study

♥♥Resources♥♥

♥The Spiderwick books:
- 1) The Field Guide
- 2) The Seeing Stone
- 3) Lucinda's Secret
- 4) The Ironwood Tree
- 5) The Wrath of Mulgarath
- Care and Feeding of Sprites
- Arthur Spiderrwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You
- The Chronicles of Spiderwick: A grand Tour of the Enchanted World, Navigated by Thimbletack

♥ Other books related to the Study:
- How to draw and Paint Fairies...Linda Ravenscroft
- Blue skies, Green Days
- The Burgess Big Book of Flowers (if we can get it)
- The Fairy Series ... Margaret Tarrant
- the Flower Fairy Collection... Cecily Mary Barker
- The Gnome Series books and the Large Gnome Book... Rein Poortuliet and Wil Huggen
- The Rainbow Goblins...
- Fairy House books...
- Shirley Barber books
- Puck the Gnome...
- Catkin...
- Gnomes and Gardens...Nigel Suckling
- The Story of the Root Children, Butterfly Children, Wind Children, Snow Children and the Princess in the Forest... Sybille Von Olfers
- My Side of the Mountain...Jean Craig George
- One Small Square Series
- Fairy Tales: Grim, Anderson, Lang and from other lands
- Naturalist Biographies and works

♥ Read and provide a report on these books

♥ For Independent Reading:
- 5 Children and it
- The Amulet
- The Phoenix and the Carpet
- The Enchanted Castle...... all by E. Nesbit

♥ Beyond Spiderwick
- The Nixie's Song
- A Giant Problem

♥ The Spiderwick Chronicles DVD

♥ Find out about various Fairy Folk from different countries.
- narrate and illustrate

♥ Research Fencing:
- History of
- modern times
- basic moves

♥ Make your own field guide

♥ Collect your own Insect collection

♥ Make an acrostic from Spiderwick and Chronicles

♥ Make up your own quiz

♥ Make snap cards

♥ Make Spiderwick quiz cards

♥ Write a story using fairy folk complete with illustrations

♥ Do a puppet show: Create your own backdrop, scenery, props and puppets.
-Write a script for the puppet show.

♥ Learn Fairy poems and rhymes

♥ Leave milk out for a Brownie

♥ Make a lifesize troll or Goblin and then use it for target practise and fencing practise( like the "buster you have made before"

♥ Geometry: do the various geometry exercise from the maths books( check with me which I would like you to do)

♥ Form drawing: work through the books we have working up to the difficult Celtic knot ones.

♥ Make a "Fairy Folk" activity book for the younger children: include things like
- colouring pages
- mazes
- dot to dot
- spot the differences
- word searches
- crosswords etc.

♥ copy the Spiderwick map

♥ make a fairy treasure chest
- fill with fairy treasure

♥ From our own property - draw map and assign fairy folk to each area

♥ What fairy folk are you? Create characteristics for each type

♥ Make Characters from felt, wood, felted and sewn or other means

♥ Beeswax Theatre Use Evolgia as an example.

♥ Research dumbwaiters and build a miniature one

♥ Research and grow your own mushrooms
- visit mushroom farm down the road
- Also identification of the mushrooms that grow on our property
- Draw and identify from Mushroom and toadstool book

♥ Research recycling; what is recycled, what happens to it, how is it reused etc


♥ Botany: (using the resources from the weekly botany Studies)
- Herbs and their uses
- Herbs in medicine
- Herbs in cooking

♥ Botany books:(still in progress with books)
- Handbook of Nature Study: Anna Botsford Comstock
- Shanleya's Quest... Thomas J. Elpel
- Botany in a Day...Thomas J. Elpel
- Exploring Creation with Botany...Fulbright
- Nature Journaling...Clare Walker Leslie
- The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady... Edith Holden
- The Edwardian Lady... Edith Holden
- Painting Nature in Pen and Inkwith Watercolour... Claudia Nice
- The Sierra Club Guide to Sketching in Nature...Cathy Johnson
- A Kids Herb Book...Leslie Tierra
- Australian and New Zealand Concise Book of Herbs.... Henry B. Cryan
- Christopherus Unit Study: Botony... Donna Simmons
- Montessori for Everyone: Lifecycle of Pumpkin, Apple and Spring Matching Cards
♥ Paint 5 paintings with Fairy folk in them

♥ Look at old houses in Victorian times and the secret passages etc.
- were they all similar in different parts of the wold eg, Britain. USA and Australia
- draw and design an old house with secret passages and attics etc.

♥ Look at the Fairy Houses books
- what are the materials used , can you draw a design of one or more of them.

♥ Make Fairy Houses and the small items for a fairy house.

♥ Read the fairy tale books we have, eg Grimms, Hans Christian Anderson, Tales form Italy etc and the Andrew Lang tales books
- make a list of the ones you read and a short summary of the Fairy tale

♥ List what would be in a fairy folk survival kit
- then make a miniature one that a small doll or "fairy folk" you have made can use

♥ "Fairy Medicine"

♥ Draw different types of fairy's using the sketching guides we have: Particularly-
how to draw and paint Fairies
- use the different techniques so you cover a broad varieties of mediums.

♥ Make a Dragon out of any material and write about it.
- Find out about dragon lore from various sources.
- draw and label different dragons from around the world (use Autumn's calender for this)

♥ Grow different types of tomatoes- do this at the start of the study so you can harvest and use your own tomatoes for the tomato sauce you make

♥ Make tomato Sauce

♥ Learn about Honey
- Magic tree house book
- Read honey books
- visit bee Farm
- Watch -The Bee Movie: How true is this to actual Honey production
- how has honey production changed over the years
- how have bee hives changed
- make a miniature bee Hive



♥ Create your own Fantasy world and make up characters with specific names and roles eg. Albania
- write and illustrate providing a map as well

♥ Research Famous Naturalists- Provide a written and illustrated account of their lives:
- Matthew Flinders
- Amy Mack
- May Gibbs
- Beatrix Potter
- Cecily Mary Barker
- Ernest Thompson Seton
- Henry David Thoreau
- Sterling North
- Thornton Burgess
- Gene Stratton Porter
- Edith Holden
- William Barton
- James Audubon
- Clare Walker Leslie
- any other naturalists you can find

♥ Plan your ideal garden: either vegetable or flowers of mixture and find out about the plants.

♥ Press flowers and herbs
- use these in various decorative plans eg, book marks, to decorate theme pages in your study.

♥ DVD's
- The Spiderwick Chronicles
- Shrek 1, 2, 3,
- Fairytale: a True Story
- Peter Pan- various versions
- The Lord of the Rings series
- Eragon

♥ Nature DVD's
- Beatrix Potter
- Tasha Tudor

♥ Audio Tapes:
- The Secret of the Unicorn
- Beatrix Potter
- Shirley Barber
- Ernest Thompson Seton Downloads from Gutenberg

♥ A Spiderwick Theme Party

♥ Do some of the work pages from Below

♥ Other Great Ideas
-This is from Therese at Lapaz Home learning

Tony DiTerlizzi's Blog for information about the books

-Great Activity pages on the Spiderwick home page.
♥♥♥

Cheap or Free Resources

I saw at Hill Top Farm where I got this copy from and I want to save it for future reference and the best place is here where I can reference it.

Homeschool: Free or cheap homeschool ideas ...
I saw this (via Elizabeth's sharing) on Two Thirds Unschooling and it looks like a great list/resource. Before looking at this list and spending hours (and tons of money) printing out everything you see: PLEASE, PLEASE use discretion ... sometimes it's cheaper to find a hard-copy of these resources, or some of the information on these pages is erroneous or doesn't agree with your world-view. Please use discretion. If there are any sites that you know of that are free or inexpensive, please let me know and I'll add them. In this economy (especially if you dh work for the Catholic Church) free or cheap is a real bonus!

Early Learning:
1. Starfall - Teaches alphabet and early reading skills. www.starfall.com
2. Brightly Beaming Resources - Letter of the week, sound of the week, science of the week, etc. This is a good all-around site for early learning.http://www.letteroftheweek.com/
3. Rhyme a weekhttp://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/g....htm#This_Week
4. Enchanted Learning - Not really free, but a lot can be accessed without paying (membership is $20 donation/year per family)http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html
Whole Curriculum:
1. Ambleside Online - Charlotte Mason. Wonderful resource that includes lots of info and is really a full curriculum option. Great booklist!http://amblesideonline.org/index.shtml
2. An Old-Fashioned Education - Another really complete option. LOTS of stuff to look at and use here!http://oldfashionededucation.com/
3. Puritans' Home School - I have heard good things, but have never used this. VERY religious site, but it does appear pretty complete.http://www.puritans.net/curriculum/
4. Core Knowledge lesson plans - Tons of lesson plans on lots of subjects from PK-8. I have not used this, but it looks really good.http://www.coreknowledge.org/CK/resr...sons/index.htm
5. About.com Homeschooling section (not really a whole curriculum, but TONS of stuff)http://homeschooling.about.com/
6. Tanglewood Educationhttp://www.tanglewoodeducation.com/
7. The Baltimore Projecthttp://www.cstone.net/~bcp/BCPIntro2.htm
8. PASS Materials (FL)http://www.pass.leon.k12.fl.us/default.aspx
9. Paula's Archiveshttp://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/
10. EdSITEmenthttp://www.edsitement.neh.gov/
11. Mater Amabilis (Catholic Charlotte Mason Curriculum)http://materamabilis.org/
Unit Studies:
1. Homeschool Share - Lots and lots and LOTS of projects and unit studies. http://www.homeschoolshare.com/
2. A Journey Through Learning Inventor unit study and lapbook. Click on Free products http://ajourneythroughlearning.com/
3. H.I.P. Pocket Change. Several Lesson Plans revolving around money
http://www.usmint.gov/kids/teachers/lessonPlans/
4. Homeschool Helperhttp://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/units.htm
5. Oceanographyhttp://www.currclick.com/product_inf...roducts_id=243
6. SCORE Cyberguideshttp://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyberguide.html
7. Eyeshttp://www.aaofoundation.org/what/heritage/
8. Birds Notebooking pageshttp://www.currclick.com/product_inf...ers=0_0&free=1
9. Nature Studyhttp://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/
10. Canadahttp://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/canadaunit.htm
Math:
1. Ray's Arithmetic - 1885 math book on google books. Thorough and "back to basics". (click on the icon on the page and scroll down to read/print)http://books.google.com/books?id=eop...age&q=&f=false
2. CSMP materials - K-6http://ceure.buffalostate.edu/~csmp/...ram/index.html
3. First Lessons in Arithmetic - 1878 math texthttp://www.donpotter.net/math.htm
4. NC public school math program K-2http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/mat...s_k2_resou.php
5. Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching (UK) - AKA MEPhttp://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm
6. Living Math History (lessons on right)http://livingmath.net/LessonPlans/C1...S/Default.aspx
7. Pearson Scott Foresman K-5http://pgcounty.scottforesman.com/
8. Geogebra (Algebra and Geometry)http://www.geogebra.org/cms/
9. Oakes Mathhttp://dorioakes.bravehost.com/Math.html
10. Eduplace printable workbooks
http://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_1.htmlhttp://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_2.htmlhttp://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_3.htmlhttp://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_4.htmlhttp://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_2.htmlhttp://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_3.htmlhttp://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_4.html http://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_5.htmlhttp://www.eduplace.com/math/hmm/practice/lp_6.htmland activities that coordinate with this programhttp://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmm/
11. Middle/High school mathhttp://go.hrw.com/gopages/ma-msm.html
12. McDougal Littell Math Coursehttp://www.classzone.com/cz/books/ms...e.htm?state=MNhttp://www.classzone.com/cz/books/ms...e.htm?state=MNhttp://www.classzone.com/cz/books/ms...e.htm?state=MNhttp://www.classzone.com/cz/books/pr...e.htm?state=MNhttp://www.classzone.com/cz/books/al...e.htm?state=MNhttp://www.classzone.com/cz/books/ge...e.htm?state=MNhttp://www.classzone.com/cz/books/al...e.htm?state=MN
13. Missouri Schools program (including TM/answers)http://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/msma...e/index.php/mohttp://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/msma...e/index.php/mohttp://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/msma...e/index.php/mohttp://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/prea.../index.php4/mohttp://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/alge.../index.php4/mo
14. Glencoe Workbookshttp://www.glencoe.com/sites/georgia...workbooks.html
15. Public Schools of NC math program http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/mat...s_k2_resou.php
Math Drill:
1. Math Magician Gameshttp://resources.oswego.org/games/ma...cathymath.html
2. Printable math worksheetshttp://www.mathfactcafe.com/
3. Math U See (online)http://mathusee.com/drill.html
4. Math worksheets to create and print (some portions pay)http://themathworksheetsite.com/
5. Timez Attack (multiplication video game - way cool) - basic is freehttp://www.bigbrainz.com/indexd.php
6. Harcourt activities http://harcourtschool.com/menus/math2002/na/gr1.htmlhttp://harcourtschool.com/menus/math2002/na/gr2.htmlhttp://harcourtschool.com/menus/math2002/na/gr3.htmlhttp://harcourtschool.com/menus/math2002/na/gr4.htmlhttp://harcourtschool.com/menus/math2002/na/gr5.htmlhttp://harcourtschool.com/menus/math2002/na/gr6.html
7. Learn to play chess (I guess this is math...haha)http://chesskids.com/
Phonics:
1. Word Masteryhttp://donpotter.net/PDF/Word%20Mastery%20-%20Typed.pdf
2. Starfall (learn to read online)http://www.starfall.com/
3. Blend Phonicshttp://www.donpotter.net/Blend%20Phonics.htm
4. Sadler-Oxfordhttp://www.sadlier-oxford.com/phonics/student.cfm
5. Progressive Phonicshttp://www.progressivephonics.com/
6. Society for Quality Education http://www.societyforqualityeducatio...stairway2.html/
Literature/Reading Guides and Units:
1. Novel Study Guides for the Classroom Teacherhttp://www.nt.net/~torino/novels3.html
2. Reading Units by Gay Millerhttp://www.mce.k12tn.net/units/units_with_books.htm
3. Garden of Praisehttp://www.gardenofpraise.com/lesson.htm
4. Glencoe Literature Guideshttp://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/
5. Literature Activity Guides by Nancy Polette - These are samples, but are in depth enough to test if your child understood the story.http://www.nancypolette.com/litguides.asp
6. SCORE Cyberguides (California schools)http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/SCORE/cyberguide.html
7. Dangerous Journey (Pilgrim's Progress for kids version) study guidehttps://www.visionvideo.com/pdf/DangJourney.pdf
8. Course in nature study: for grades one and two - Detroit Public Schoolshttp://books.google.com/books?id=i8EOAAAAMAAJ
9. Nature-study: a manual for teachers and students http://books.google.com/books?id=C4EWAAAAIAAJ
10. Readquarium (mostly games)http://www.gamequarium.com/readquarium/index.html
11. Harcourt GuidesGrade 1http://harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_1.html
Grade 2http://harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_2.html
Grade 3http://harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_3.html
Grade 4http://harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_4.html
Grade 5http://harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_5.html
Grade 6http://harcourtschool.com/menus/trophies/grade_6.html
12. National Park Servicehttp://www.nps.gov/history/
Free Books:
1. Classical Education Libraryhttp://www.classical-education.net/
2. Kids4Classicshttp://www.kids4classics.com/
3. Project Gutenberghttp://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/
4. Online Library of Libertyhttp://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php...icxt&Itemid=29
5. Google Bookshttp://books.google.com/books
6. The Baldwin Projecthttp://www.mainlesson.com/main/displ...icle=christmas
7. Planet eBookhttp://www.planetebook.com/
8. 19th Century Schoolbookshttp://digital.library.pitt.edu/nietz/
9. Librivox - Free online audiobookshttp://librivox.org/
10. Storynory - Free online audiobookshttp://storynory.com/
11. Free Books onlinehttp://www.wowio.com/
12. Magic Keyshttp://www.magickeys.com/books/
13. Fun Brainhttp://www.funbrain.com/brain/Readin...dingBrain.html
14. Interactive Story Bookshttp://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch...nlinestory.htm/
15. Stories about American Heroeshttp://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi
Art:
1. Dick Blick Lessonshttp://www.dickblick.com/lessonplans/
2. Meet the Mastershttp://www.getinvolvedineducation.co...ram-manual.pdf/
3. A Lifetime of Colorhttp://www.alifetimeofcolor.com/main.taf?p=1
4. Teach Art at Homehttp://www.teachartathome.com/FreeProjectCurrent.html
Teacher helps (planning/support):
1. Donna Young - Tons of planning stuff, including some things like handwriting masters.donnayoung.org
2. Homeschool Inc. - Online planning software (very versatile)http://home-school-inc.com/
3. Homeschool Tracker (planning software - basic free, full pay)http://homeschooltracker.com/
4. Online Lesson Planner, Scheduler, and Trackerhttp://www.homeschoolskedtrack.com/H...isplayLogin.do
5. Super Teacher Worksheets. Lots of well done worksheets for all subject areas. Grade level 1st-4thhttp://www.superteacherworksheets.com/index.html
6. Free Formshttp://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/forms.html
7. Freebie of the dayhttp://www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/
8. Currclick. They feature a free product once a week to download. It usually changes Monday afternoonshttp://www.currclick.com/index.php
9. Freely educate. Lots of great links herehttp://www.freelyeducate.com/
10. Hoagies Gifted. Tons of Free high school curriculum linkshttp://www.hoagiesgifted.org/online_hs.htm
11. Education Worldhttp://educationworld.com/
12. Internet Activities to coordinate with each grade and subjecthttp://www.gsc.amdsb.ca/
13. Scholastichttp://www2.scholastic.com/browse/learn.jsp
14. Softschoolshttp://www.softschools.com/
15. Videos (creationist site -- have not used)http://www.answersingenesis.org/kids/videos
16. Worksheetshttp://www.worksheetworks.com/miscel...rganizers.html
17. Charlotte Mason stuff (not all free)http://simplycharlottemason.com/
18. FossWeb by Delta Education. Click on the subject, then teacher resources. You will then have to click on Teacher Prep videos for the lessons. Everything else on the page supports the lessons. There are games, worksheets, and many additional resources listedhttp://www.fossweb.com/modules3-6/index.html
19. Higher Up and Further In bloghttp://higherupandfurtherin.blogspot.com/
20. Pioneer Woman bloghttp://thepioneerwoman.com/
21. Well-Trained Mindwelltrainedmind.com/forums/
22. Teacher Tubehttp://www.teachertube.com/
Science:
1. Engineering for kids ages 8 and up. Single subject lesson plans. Nicely done and easy to understandhttp://www.welltrainedmind.com/forum...ree+curriculum
2. Earth Awareness Curriculum for Middle Schoolershttp://cygnus-group.com/use-less-stuff/NSTA.html
3. Life Science Curriculumhttp://www.eequalsmcq.com/Thank%20yo...%20Science.htm
4. Otter’s Sciencehttp://www.guesthollow.com/homeschoo...ence_main.html
5. K-12 Sciencehttp://www.msnucleus.org/curriculum/curriculum.html
6. Take a Cloud Walk (Cloud unit)http://www.takeawalk.com/cloud-walk/
7. Science plans for 6th grade based on the "Prentice-Hall Life Science" bookhttp://www.smithlifescience.com/
8. Hands-On Technology Programhttp://www.galaxy.net/~k12/
9. NASA for educatorshttp://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html
10. Science Songshttp://www.acme.com/jef/singing_science/
11. Invitations to Science Inquiryhttp://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/eri...0/1e/27/27.pdf
12. Science Videoshttp://www.teachersdomain.org/
13. Animal Unitshttp://www.scribd.com/people/documen...06/folder/1072
14. Animal Activity Packshttp://www.kidszoo.org/education/zaps.htm
15. Videos that demonstrate experiments for every element on the periodic tablehttp://www.periodicvideos.com/
16. Click on the element and then on the microphone to hear about the elementhttp://www.webelements.com/
17. Inventor's Timelinehttp://inventors.about.com/od/timeli...Nineteenth.htm
18. BODIES, the exhibition ~ includes educator guides for various grade levels from Carnegie Science Center. Even if you aren't interested in the exhibit or pictures of the preserved bodies, there is good info in the guides that can be used for lessons:http://wheresciencehappens.org/bodiesguide.htm
Computer Science:
1. Blender 3D animation creationhttp://www.blender.org/
2. Computer Programming Coursehttp://www.alice.org/index.php
3. Computer Training Courseshttp://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/
4. Computer Animating and Designhttp://scratch.mit.edu/
Typing:
1. Online typing Coursehttp://www.goodtyping.com/
2. Dance Mat Typinghttp://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/
3. Touch Typing (Online)http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/
4. Kiran's Typing Tutorhttp://www.kiranreddys.com/products/typing.html
5. Learn2Typehttp://www.learn2type.com/
Foreign Language:
1. BBC Languageshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/
2. Elementary/Middle School beginning Spanish. The first book listed is a free download.http://nflrc.iastate.edu/pubs/units/unitsList.html
3. Greek and Latinhttp://www.textkit.com/
4. FSI Language Courseshttp://fsi-language-courses.com/default.aspx
5. Live Mocha - This is a social site, so you may want to monitor your kids closely on this one.http://www.livemocha.com/
6. OFS (Online free spanish)http://www.onlinefreespanish.com/
7. Spanish Unlimitedhttp://www.spanishunlimited.com/
8. Latin Resourceshttp://www.cdacademy.com/class/2007/...-games-online/http://www.gettingstartedwithlatin.com/http://hungryfrog.com/classics.htmlhttp://homeschool.online.program.lat...lyfishfun.com/http://www.memoriapress.com/help/Latin.htm
9. French Resourceshttp://www.poissonrouge.com/http://lexiquefle.free.fr/learn-french.htm
10. Boca Beth (Spanish)http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...rch_type=&aq=f
11. Salsa (Spanish)http://www.gpb.org/salsa/term/episodes
12. Mommy Teach Me Spanishhttp://www.youtube.com/results?searc...rch_type=&aq=f
13. In the Beginning Greekhttp://www.inthebeginning.org/
Home Economics/Life Skills:
1. Future Christian Homemakers (Have not used or looked into this)http://www.futurechristianhomemakers...sonsindex.html/3
2. Notebooking Pageshttp://www.notebookingpages.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=76&products_id=223&zenid=8aa27600566a8377555bc3631269ff94
3. Health and Nutrition:1. http://www.nutritionexplorations.org/educators/lessons-main.asp
Virtual Field Trips:
1. Take a field Triphttp://www.uen.org/tours/fieldtrips2.shtml
2. Meet Me at the Cornerhttp://www.meetmeatthecorner.org/
High School/College (have not used these or looked closely at them):
1. HippoCampus Free Courseshttp://www.hippocampus.org/
2. Mixed Courses in many subjectshttp://www.free-ed.net/free-ed/
3. Printable Courses in all subject areas. Not sure who funds this one, but I like how the curriculum is laid outhttp://www.pass.leon.k12.fl.us/Speci...t%20Areas.aspx
4. University of Berkley Courses. Tons of Free Courses available herehttp://webcast.berkeley.edu/
5. Yale University Open Courses. Nicely done and easy to access IMOhttp://oyc.yale.edu/
6. University of Washington free courseshttp://www.outreach.washington.edu/openuw/
7. M.I.T. open Courseware. Tons of completely free courses in many subjectshttp://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/courses/courses/index.htm




Blessings,

Enjoying the Journey Through August

FAITH:

♥ The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ♥
- 2nd Our Lady of the Angels
- 4th St Dominic
- 5th Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome (Our Lady of the Snows)
- 6th Transfiguration of Our Lord
- 8th Blessed Mary McKillop
- 8th St JohnMary Vianny( The Cure Of Ars)
- 9th St Theresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
- 11th St Philomena
- 12th St Clare of Assisi
- 14th St Maximillian Kolbe
- 14th Vigil of the Assumption
- 15th Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- 16th St Joachim
- 17th St Hyacinth of Poland
- 18th St Helena
- 21st St Pius X
- 21st Our Lady of Knock
- 22nd Feast of the Queenship of Mary
- 24th Our Lady, Health of the Sick
- 24th St Bartholomew the Apostle
- 26th Our Lady of Czestochowa
- 27th St Monica
- 28th St Augustine
- 29th Beheading of John the Baptist
- 30th St Rose of Lima

♥ HOMEMAKING:
- make sure we have a heap of hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows and our favourite Snowflake cookies.
- make a night of baked potatoes with the works
- try different citrus fruits that are in season
- dry some orange slices for Christmas prepartions
- make some old fashioned 'candies' from books
- have a back to back film feast of our favourite trilogy movies
- start looking at what we need to o for Spring Cleaning ie. washing all the blankets and quilts
- make some Gingerbread cookies( we usually only have these for Christmas so will have to do them quite different.)
-Make Snowmen out of Marshmallow- have a contest to see who makes the best one
- watch my Tasha Tudor DVD's for inspiration and relaxation
- make and wear Aprons of different styles
- make little pinafore aprons for little girls
- check the spring summer clothes and make a list of any future needed purchases
- make a list of books needed for Christmas studies and other Lesson studies
- make the little girls Mob Caps
- make Arwen a Sunbonnet

♥ CRAFTS:
-Continue to make silk puppets for story telling(Me)
-Make some wooden painted or felt saints
-Make Shadow puppets
-Make silhouettes
-Build a bird house for birds to nest in for spring
-Make some new items for Month of Immaculate Heart of Mary.
-Make some 'mantel letters' for Bookcase display.
-Freshen up the notice board as it looks tired.
-Make the Seasons Round Exchange Projects for sending off
-Make Catkin children on branch
- make fences and railings for young ones play
- make plywood doll houses that string together as rooms
- make wooden dolls for Arwen, carved from branches
- make a large horse type animal for outside for playing on
- continue with making of Christmas presents
- start to make crib figures for Christmas and work on thes over the next few months
- make awnings for playstand
- make a folding play house or camp for little ones
- embroidery workshop

♥ NATURE:
- watch for the migrating birds coming and going.
- observe the changing daily patterns of the Wallabies, possums, water birds, ducks, rabbits, and other small birds we see regularly.
-Choose one Small square and see how nature varies within over a period of 3 weeks

♥ GOALS:
- Make sure Breakfast is started on time with everyone together and the Devotional Readings and Saint for the Day.
- To have Lesson time start on time each day.
- Continue early rising for early night routine
- Have Night time routine down pat: Dinner, clean up, teeth , prepare little ones if not done earlier, Bible Story, Rosary, Night Time Read aloud. Then off to bed for Eden down for Private reading time. Prayers individually and My Good night Prayers with them.
Older children free time (or help get 3 youngest to sleep, not Arwen, if needed) and work on Assignments or free time for personal activities or Reading.
- keep my desk tidy
- have all my lesson plans completed and computer areas tidy
- plan an exercise programme that actually is achievable for all(me included)
- set up an obsticle course for children to navigate when ever they want

♥ RITUALS:
- have as many read alouds by the fire as possible
- change the liturgical bookcase to the Immaculate Heart theme.
- change the seasons table and areas to reflect a new look for this last month of winter.
- check liturgical colours for Mr Pine and Altar daily and change them -- rotate whose 'job' this can be.
- continue with 15 minute cleaning jobs and daily chore list
- keep the 5 min tidy up happening
♥ LEARNING:
-Finish Indian Study as it isn't progressing well
- Plan together and start a Spiderwick Literature Themed Study
- continue with Africa in Geography(from lesson plans that aren't published yet)
- continue reading at Lunch time--current book The Heroic Messenger
- do circle time EVERY day with little ones
- encourage Rogan's reading
- captivate Moran and Myffwyn's interest in learnign to read.
- prepare Rogan for First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion
- have a story telling night with people coming in character, based upon the Medieval ritual of feasting with the bard telling stories.
- adapt Shakespeare Plans to suit our needs
- adapt Liturature for The Young Lady to our needs for the older girls
- especially celebrate St Rose's feast day as this is one of Autumn's confirmation saints.
- also on the 8th as the Cure of Ars is one of our family favourite saints and Saxon is especially looking to him for Confirmation.
- look at the twoPolar regions and compare the two; discover what animals live on each
- make an igloo out of sugar cubles
♥ SPECIAL DAYS:
- 9th Nanny's Birthday
- 13th Stephen's Birthday
- 14th Hans Christian Anderson's Birthday
- 28th Kynan's Birthday

-28th Tasha Tudor Day(we will do this on the 29th)
- More details for this to be sorted out in lesson plans BEFORE the day arrives

Have a most enjoyable and Blessed month ♥
Blessings,