Katie-girl went to a Seahawks game to sell programs to raise money for campfire...

Brother TJ discovered that if he helped sell those programs, HE would get to watch the Seahawks!


So, Dad was willing to take them both. They worked hard, had successful sales, then was able to watch the 2nd half of the game....

...and there goes the opening of the 2nd half kick return...

HE'S AT THE 50, the 45, the 35...

...HE'S AT THE 10...no one can catch this guy...

TOUCHDOWN! ~insert crazy crowd noise~

101 yard kick return

only to repeat a 99 yard kick return

for a secure WIN!

WOOT WOOT!!

umm, yes, we love our seahawks~ I'm a die hard fan since 1983, weathering the storms, and fanning those flames of VICTORY! =)

btw... Katie-notsomuchafan,lol, but she was quite the trooper!

LEARNING with the LITTLES...

The wonderful thing about having many kids is that your children always have someone to encourage them, help them, play with them...

Katie is my Circle Time helper. She leads us in songs and fingerplays. She reads stories, and enjoys working one on one when they need help w/ projects.

TJ is my Activity Director. =) I think he took our lessons about Native Indians in Early American History to a new hands-on level.

...and Baby, er youngest Brother loves the fun!!

Bryson also loves the contraptions Daddy creates for his marbles, only to tear it apart to start all over again. =) With his curiousity, determination, and persistance...maybe he will be an engineer or scientist when he grows up...

MARTYR MOM
VS
MEMORY-MAKING MOM

This is about me...

...the battle of parenting within me...

Daddy is gone during the week. This has been for some time now. This will continue for some time now...

~OK, I admit it, this mama misses the tag-team techniques of a 2 parent household!
*smile...count to ten...exhale...hug the child* and repeat and repeat and...

Martyr mom wants to keep the house tidy... it helps her brain think clearer
Memory-makin' mom dumps the pile of toys in the middle of the room, sits down and plays with her child(ren).

Martyr mom wants to cry over spilled juice.
Memory-makin' mom sprays soapy water down and has kids "ice-skate" in their socks.

Martyr mom wants to stay on the computer all day "talking to adults"
Memory-makin' mom digs up a craft or experiment idea, and seizes the moment.

Martyr mom wants to scream at her screaming littles.
Memory-makin' mom embraces the child and his meltdown.

Martyr mom wants to sleep in after staying up half the night with rambunctious children.
Memory-makin' mom gets up early to pray, then prepare breakfast for sleepy faces.

Martyr mom wants to finish her blog post =)
Memory-makin' mom helps with homework, changes a diaper, reads a story, fills a sippy cup, play referee, and answer multiple questions from an inquisitive child... and finish her post in tiny tidbits of moments with pondering thoughts mingling in her head.

Martyr mom wants to boo-hoo at dear hubby about her woe-is-me's
Memory-makin' mom will
have the kids
help tidy the house
on Friday
(as many hands make light work)
and
have ALL the kids
play outside
(gotta love those older kids ;^)
so that mama can finally take a decent shower for the week...
so that when DADDY gets home that night,
we can have
FAMILY FUN NIGHT.

l.i.f.e. Academy~

One of the perks to homeschooling...

You can study anywhere you want......

and how ever you want...

September's Goals:

~English~

All about NOUNS; common noun, proper nouns, abstract nouns, collective nouns, pronouns (personal pronouns- 1st, 2nd, & 3rd person pronouns, -nominative, possessive, & objective case) *phew* and rules of plurals.
~last month was prepositions; that was much easier =)
Homonyms- with long A sounds.

~Fine Arts~

Artist- Vincent Van Gogh
Painting- Cafe Terrace at Night

Composer- George F Handell
Musical piece- Water Music

Poetry- All Things Bright and Beautiful
Poet- Cecil Francis Alexander

~History~

Christopher Columbus

~Math~

Katie- times table 0,1, 2,3,5,10,11
review carrying (re-grouping) of large addition problems.
measuring

TJ- negative numbers, estimating, fractions
review times table

Nick- Celcius vs Fahrenheit, ratios, areas of solids, volumes of cylinders, cones, & pyramids.
refresh on fractions.

~Literature~

Katie- Farmer Boy with mom; Bobbsey Twin series
TJ- Call of the Wild
Nick- Swiss Family Robinson

~Science~

Matter in Motion-

Projectile possiblities; planning trajectories.
(aka Rockets)

Nature Studies-

End summer observation of wildlife.
Dissect a Bee Hive.


The last 3 photos are from our "Mentos" (aka projectile) experiment. We dropped 12 mentos in each container.
Sparkling Water, room temperature: 12 inches *not shown*
Sparkling Water, refrigerated: bubbles over barely
Dr. Pepper: 2 feet *not shown*
Diet Caffeine Free Coke: 10 ft

We all thought the Dr. Pepper would be the big hit, but apparently the lack of caffeine/sugar makes things more explosive? We knew the refrigerated one would be a bust, due to a experiment we did last year on what keeps your pop fizzy. =)

GIGANTIC MARSHMALLOWS!

Can anyone say "Sugar Rush"?

2 minutes after eating one, Bryson starts running about like he's performing for some old ancient pow wow....

5 minutes later...

...Andrew goes from giddy...

...to pouty...

...to downright falling apart!

~

I think next time we will offer apples instead!

~GENTLE
PARENTING~

That's what I call our parenting style.

We don't read parenting books.
* I did read one that was highly recommended;
it was disturbing to me.

Basically, we treat our children like individual people.

Attitude Adjustments:

Toddler Tantrums are met with understanding; they are frustrated...
I know how that feels; I, too, sometimes want to have a tantrum.

Disrespect or sarcasm is met with conversation;
be willing to discuss how you are feeling; I will always make time to listen.

Sibling bickering is met with guidance;
work it out or pray together.

Musical beds anyone?

We have a revolving door to our room. We live in a small house, we share rooms. I could say it is because we live in a small house, but it was that way when we lived in the big house. =)
Mama doesn't care where she sleeps, as long as she gets sleep. Our king-sized bed is still in storage (from The Move). We currently use a double-sized futon. Mom, Dad, and the dog...one little may show up by 2 a.m., the next may show up around 4. The first gets to crawl in w/ us... the second gets mommy to crawl in bed with them. Then, sometimes, I even head to the couch in the early morning hours for a quiet moment of sleep by myself...the dog usually follows.

The older kids sleep in their shared room in their own beds; randomly they will choose to sleep on the couches... I then don't sneak off to the couch myself, but appreciate that they will probably get up earlier than the normal.

It may be unusual; it is what we do.

Honesty:

We are very open with our children about ourselves. Ofcourse we use discretion related to an age of understanding.

I want my teens to know the 'why' to the warnings.

I highly recommend waiting to try alcohol until they are 21, and encourage them to have the option to not try it all...
there are why's to this.

Don't do drugs.
I share a few fun moments (honesty), and then share some ugly moments that did not make the fun times worth it... by far.

Stay abstinent til marriage.
No, God will not shoot a bolt of lightening at you,
yet I do believe there are extra blessings that we miss out on when we follow our own path rather than God's.

With our conservative values, we share the why's,
so that they may think clearly for themselves
and be equipped to make their own choices...
This also includes sharing the days when I was not so conservative.

Discipline:

I find our style a bit unconventional, but it works for us.
If interested, you can read more here.

Perfect parenting does not exist. We all make mistakes; we are human. Admitting when we are at fault gains trust. It then becomes natural for our children to come to us when mistakes are made by them~

nurturing the young, guiding the middle years, mentoring them when they become adults~

that is what parenting is.

LOVE is not a feeling; it is an action~

Do to others what you would have them do to you.
Matthew 7:12

HOMESCHOOL SHARING...

...how to stay organized.


We live in a small home with many people. So to stay organized helps my sanity. =)

Believe it or not, we actually have a small kitchen table in the same area (not pictured)

OUR STUDY ROOM
aka the dining area

We like to leave our computer in a open space. Privacy is not an option when using it....call it... accountability.

The desk can store many things. On the shelf below the computer is (left to right) Hooked on Phonics tapes, an oatmeal container that holds all our BoxTops that we are saving for a local school, Mom & Dad files, School files, reams of paper, and common curriculum we have used for 1-8th grade.

On top of the desk is Activity Trays (for playdough, painting, etc), Student Planners, and pencil/crayon boxes. The file box contains any Mon-Fri worksheets, along with a file per each student.

On the wall is a Message Center and a calendar. I do color code our family to write activities and appointments on our calendar. The big pictures are The Declaration of Independence and The United States Constitution. We are studying these in depth this year.

A Work Station:

We study a piece of art every month (along with a classical composer and a poem), memorize a Bible verse each week, and do daily journals. We like to use a calendar page that has journal prompts on it.


We keep our library books in a basket. This avoids the scramble to find random books on library day. If we had one or two kids, I suppose I would let the kids keep track of them on their own, but we have 5 homeschoolers...sanity is the key ;^)

Katie's desk stores our encyclopedias. She is endless about seeking knowledge.

She takes ballet; where did ballet come from?

Sees a hummingbird; why are they so tiny?

Found a frog; what kind is it?

Shoestrings; who invented it?

Revolutionary War; when was it?

Go read about it Miss Mikayla (katie), and tell me what you found out.
Many times she chooses to write a report on her findings.

The best technique we use for staying organized...

WORKBOXES!!

Andrew, Katie, TJ, and Nick all have one.

Simple put, they are just drawers that store their school work.

Older kids drawers contain:
LITERATURE
LANGUAGE ARTS

MATH

SCIENCE

FRENCH

HISTORY

Notebooks lay on top:
These store our studies on Fine Arts

We use spiral notebooks for most school work.
They are inexpensive ($ .10 each on a good sale).
By using spiral notebooks for each subject, I find it easier to log in their grades.

Andrew's drawer:
READING
LANGUAGE SKILLS
LEARNING GAMES
CRAFT PROJECT of the day
ACTIVITY TIME
(currently playdough and cookie cut outs are in there)

We are a month into our school year. I have not had to adjust much, the kids are staying focused, and most days things are running somewhat smoothly... as smoothly as a 2 yr old will let it. =)