...and after...

Posted on Monday, June 5, 2006 at 10:09

The bathrooms taps are in now, as are the new shut-off valves for all the bathrooms and laundry, the toilet no longer drains constantly, while the bathtub drains when you want it to.  The new water softener is a also in, and put in correctly, unlike last time, when it burned out because the installer put it in so it had to drain upwards. (before we bought the house...) Here is one of the bathrooms, all new looking and such.

Before:


I guess we should have cleaned off those counters.

And After:


OOHHH Shiny!! I like shiny.  Notice the nice clean countertops too? 

Money, Money, Money

Posted on Monday, June 5, 2006 at 12:50

The subject of the week is money.  How did it start?  What is it's history?  What's it made out of?  Making it, saving it, spending it are all topics for study.  In addition to learning about money, we are building money lapbooks.

Some books we're using:
The Ultimate Kids Money Book by Neale S. Godfrey
The Story of Money by Betsy Maestro, Ill. by Giulio Maestro
The Coin Counting Book by Rozanne Lanczak Williams
Follow the Money by Loreen Leedy
Lemons and Lemonade by Nancy Loewen, Ill by Brian Jensen
Pass the Buck by Michael Dahl, Ill. by Brandon Reibleling
The Kids' Allowance Book by Amy Nathan, Ill. by Debbie Palen
Money Math by Kieran Walsh
The Young Zillionaire's Guide to Buying Goods and Services by Tom Ridgway
The Young Zillionaire's Guide to Supply and Demand by David Seidman

Easy Readers on Money:
Making Money by Abby Jackson
Money Math by Susan Ring
What is Money by Mary Firestone
Earning Money by Natalie Rosinsky
Saving Money by Mary Firestone
Saving Money by Natalie Rosinsky
Keeping Money Safe by Jason Cooper
Spending Money by Natalie Rosinsky
Around the World Money by Jason Cooper
Spending Money by Mary Firestone

On the web:
http://www.usmint.gov/kids/flashIndex.cfm - Uses games and fun facts to explain coins
http://www.bep.treas.gov/kids/start.html - Uses games and fun facts to explain paper money
http://heartlandbank.com/discovery/activity.html - some nice worksheets and activities to explain money
www.enchantedlearning.com - for some really nice printables on money.  You may need a membership to get the really nice ones.
www.learningpage.com - has some very nice money worksheets. Membership is free.

http://www.atozkidsstuff.com/money.html - for more resources, and poetry for copywork

Before and After

Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 at 09:28

We're spending far more money than we feel comfortable with to get some major plumbing issues handled in our house.  The problem with plumbing, is that when it is all done, there is very little "show" for it.  Even though it is necessary for the health of our home, and is really pricey, it sometimes feels as if we are just burying the money in a field somewhere.  Therefore, here is one of the visible things from the plumbing adventure:  The kitchen sink faucet, which had been very ugly, leaky, filled with mineral deposits from our very hard water, and did I mention ugly?

Before:


And now after:


Never mind the fact that the sink needs a good scrub and polish.  I think the new taps are a wonderful, visible update.  If only the rest were so obvious.

Friday Feast Time!

Posted on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 09:28

Here's your Friday Feast. Dig In, and be sure to comment up on your blog!

Appetizer--What was your first job? I worked detasseling corn for a seed corn company in Wisconsin.

Soup--Name some of the things you collect.  I am a voracious collector of books.  I also like to bead, so my stash is growing and growing.  And don't tell anyone, but I also collect snow globes.  I say they're "for the kids." 

Salad--Name a recent fad that you just don't 'get'. I don't get the whole I-Pod/Blackberry/Cel-phone that doubles as a radio thing.  The whole little hand held electronic gadgetty trend just makes me go "hmmmm..."

Main Course--Describe the worst weather situation you have ever been in. On the beach in Florida on vacation during a tropical storm.  My parents finally gave in and decided to get a hotel.  What were they thinking camping on the beach anyway?

Dessert--Which shoe do you put on first? Usually the right, unless I put the left on already.

Raining on their parade - and a game.

Posted on Friday, May 19, 2006 at 11:57

It's 10:55 a.m., and the kids are in the basement organizing a parade.  They all have capes and an instrument to bang, blow, or whistle. 

I really "should" be getting them back up here to practice their "real" instruments, do their reading, complete their math, and read another chapter on Ancient China.  But I hear their happy voices, and I know that the reading, math, instruments and China can wait.  Why rain on their parade? 

- - - - - - - -

For people who enjoy games for drilling skills, here's one on place value:

"Name that Place"

What you need:
10 index cards
1 six-sided die
10 counters
paper and pencil for scorekeeping
stopwatch or clock with a second hand

This game we adapted from the book "Fabulous Fractions" but changed for our kids.

1.  Make 10 cards with the following numbers:
31,562.4
26,413.05
15,240.36
60,132.54
123.456
3,645.12
2,654.013
4,231.056
6,054.321
12,304.56

(Obviously you can make up your own numbers to suit the skill level of your student, but be sure that you have all the digits 1-6 in each number)

2.  One player is the time-keeper/point awarder, this can rotate.

3.  Player 2 rolls the die, what ever number comes up is "their" number for the round.

4.  Player 2 has 1 minute to go through the cards one at a time and names the place value where his number appears  on each card.  For each one right he earns a counter.  When one minute is up, count the counters and that's how many points he earned for the turn.  The play then goes to the next player.

5.  Added rules: The first place value that comes out of their mouth is the one you go with.  (this is for certain people who would just name them sequentially for each card).
If the place value is mumbled, and you can't tell "thousands" from "thousanths" no point is awarded. 

Hope you enjoy!

Tadpoles and Owies

Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 08:36

Went out for our Thursday walk and bike ride (I walk and push the stroller with 2 in it, PianoFingers and Lady Viola ride their bikes).   My friend Mary and I have this agreement that we will do this every Thursday that it is nice, so that we can get our excercise and the kids can get theirs as well. 

It started out pretty harried, I was waiting for some chocolate white chocolate chip cookies to come out of the oven before we could go, but at the last minute there was a scramble for shoes, picnic lunch, getting the bikes and stroller in the van, and of course all the kids buckled and what not.  Then PianoFinger's shoes woudn't go on.  So back into the house we go to get other shoes.  I banged my head HARD against a shelf and saw stars for a while.  Whew!

Even after we got there, it took a few starts to finally get the kids riding and Mary and I walking at a decent clip.   It's been a few weeks, thanks to the rain, since we've been out and I was feeling it quickly!  Somewhere along the way PianoFingers fell.  She was mud from toe to head, and pretty scraped up.  After cleaning her up as best we could, we were off again.  Shortly after that Lady Viola fell as well.  Time to clean her up and get her back on her bike.

For a while we were doing alright, then, with the kids up ahead, Mary and I discovered a great place to find some tadpoles.  We also looked and found some great big snails.  Next week we're bringing nets and cups!  How funny that the Moms are finding the tadpoles and snails and the kids are gone with the wind.

So after 3 1/2 miles or so we collapsed, and picnicked and ate our homemade cookies.

First Entry - New Blog

Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2006 at 05:35

Well, here is the first entry of my new blog.  Let me introduce myself and the rest of the crew.  There's me, Sharon J, a 38 yo sahm of 4. 
There's DH, for now I'll call him Mr. W, (for Wonderful), he is fully supporting the journey into homeschooling.  He is a teriffic provider, a great dad, and a wonderful husband.  Sorry, there's just one, no twin, and I got him first!!

Now for the kids;  PianoFingers is 9, LadyViola is 6, Princess is 4, and Pickle is almost 2.

I hope to document our journey into homeschooling here and ask some questions too.