Thursday, April 30, 2009

April 30, 2009 (Thursday): A regular day again

Mom School
Pray/National Anthem
Song: Beautiful Savior
Theology: Read the last three chapters (The Spirit World, Judgement and Exaltation) and finished Gospel Principles.
Book of Mormon Stories: Read about the brother of Jared, Ether and Moroni-finished the Book of Mormon stories. Moving on to Church History.
Friend Articles
Biography/American History: Studied and talked about The Oregon Trail.
Literature: Read 3 chapters from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (an abridged version).
Memorization: 12 apostles
Family History: Read several pages about my grandpa's WWII adventures.
Music: Rhythm poem
Geography: India, China, and the Westward expansion of the west (Oregon Trail)
Science: Read two chapters and finished Our Father's World. (Our bodies and senses)
PE/Creative Play: Played in the desert. The kids have love Horatio Hornblower. While they were in the desert they played they were Horatio and cohorts seeking to attack the Spanish forts along the coastline. It was very funny watching them sneak around with their swords and peer over the hills. And watching them run when they "set off" gunpowder. They also enjoyed lots of jumping on the trampoline.
Chores.


Olivia
Religion: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon.
Music: Practiced singing.
Geography: Did a geography lesson from Evan-Moor 5.
Math: Did a Saxon Math lesson.
Language Arts: Nouns from Easy Grammar
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Vociferous
Vocabulary/Language Usage: Did a root words lesson.
Reading/American History: Read for several hours about early American History from a couple of books.
Life Skills: Peanut Butter Cookies
Computers/Typing: Typed some lists up for Activity Days.
PE: Went on a walk with me.
Clubs: Olivia had a 4-H meeting.

Jared
Religion: Read a chapter in the Doctrine and Covenants Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Math: Did a Saxon Math lesson.
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages from Explode the Code
Work/PE: He picked rock with some other kids out at a local farm for over four hours.

Luke
Religion: Read a chapter in The Book of Mormon Reader.
Geography: Did a Geography lesson from Evan-Moor 2.
Math: Did a Saxon Math lesson.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Creative Writing: Worked on his story on the computer.

Caleb
Math: Skip Counting
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 2 pages of Explode the Code
Language Arts: Sight words practice
Reading: Read a phonics reader to me and read a McGuffy lesson to me.

Family (in the evening):
Family Scriptures: John 14
Watched American Idol.

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, read a conference talk, spell drill, word of the day, and finished Elantris.
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, went to work, and listened to Robinson Crusoe.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

April 29, 2009 (Wed) More Testing

Another long day. We were all up early to get to "town" for testing. The kids did amazing! I'm so proud of them. On our way home we dropped Olivia off for scholar school. She stayed with friends until the evening when Alex came and picked her up. I came home and dropped the kids off at home with a babysitter. Then I went to the temple. By the time the day was over we were really tired. Wah! Moving on...

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

April 28, 2009 (Tuesday) State Testing

What a long day! Today was day one of state testing for Olivia and Jared. They did excellent. I am so proud of them. We have to leave early tomorrow (7:15) to get there in time, but we'll be done a lot earlier. (1 PM) Caleb stayed at his friends while we were gone. Luke went coupon shopping with me. See my family blog posts for the details here. Alex worked in the temple and went to work. The kids listened to lots of Story of the World vol 2 while we drove and drove.

Tomorrow will be even more nuts. I'm going to bed...

Monday, April 27, 2009

April 27, 2009 (Monday): Horatio

Mom School
Pray/Pledge
Song: Beautiful Savior
Theology: Chapter 44: The Millennium from Gospel Principles
Book of Mormon Stories: Mormon dies
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Read a chapter from A Child's Story of America about Texas and the Alamo. (Davy Crockett, General Travis, Sam Houston and Santa Anna)
World History/Literature: Read 2 chapters and finished The Ulysses and the Trojan War by Usborne. They loved this book!
Memorization: 12 apostles, books of the Old and New Testament and books of the Book of Mormon.
Family History/WW II: We read several more chapters in my grandfather's book "Memories of a Flying Tiger," about his WWII experiences in China.
Music/Character: Rythm poem about making good choices.
Science: Read a chapter in Our Father's World about animals. New words: hibernate, forage, and migrate.
Movie/Literature: Watched an episode of Horatio Hornblower. The kids have loved this series and watched a couple over the weekend. This is based on the old classics of the same name.
PE: Lots of trampoline jumping.
Chores.

Olivia
Religion: Read a chapter in The Book of Mormon.
Family History: Prepared a power point on the importance of doing family history.
Social Studies: Memorizing the states and capitals-up to 35.
Music: Practiced the piano.
Science: Reviewed a multitude of science vocabulary words for her state testing tomorrow and Wednesday.
Testing/Computers: Did some practice tests on the computer for the state testing tomorrow.
Math: Lesson 132 from Saxon 6/5
Writing/Research: Started writing a talk for church. (Our family is speaking on Mother's Day for Sacrament Meeting).
Research: Learned about Thoreau.
Writing/Oral Presentation: Wrote a report on Thoreau she will give orally for her scholar class on Wednesday.
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Rudimentary
Literature: Read Emerson's essay: Self-Reliance and answered 35 questions from the text.
World History: Listened to Story of World vol. 2 on audio.

Jared
Religion: Read a chapter from the Doctrine and Covenants Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson and had a piano lesson.
Computer/Testing: Did several practice tests on the computer for his state testing this week.
Math: Did a Saxon Math 5/4 lesson.
Logic: Did a Sudoku puzzle.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Literature: Listened to Journey to the Center of the Earth on audio.

Luke
Religion: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon Reader.
Geography: Did a lesson from Evan-Moor 2.
Math: Did two Saxon Math 2 lessons.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code.
Creative Writing: Working on his story for a while.
Literature: Listened to Journey to the Center of the Earth on audio.

Caleb
Math: Right Start math lesson (telling time)
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 4 pages of Explode the Code.
Reading: Read a phonics reader, read a McGuffy Primer lesson to me and I drilled him on his sight words.
Literature: Listened to Journey to the Center of the Earth on audio.

Family Home Evening:
Song: Give Said the Little Stream
Testimonies: Alex, Deanna, Olivia, Luke and Caleb
Article of Faith: 3rd
Character: Saying thank you, excuse me, I'm sorry and I forgive you
Proclamation: Read and discussed the 2nd paragraph.
Lesson: We went over a conference talk and we talked about sustaining our leaders. (We are getting a new Bishop on Sunday). "Respect and Reverence" by Sister Liffereth (Caleb)
Activity: (Alex ended up having to help a family move at the last minute so our activity and visiting the elderly was axed tonight).
Treats: Cookies (Jared)

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, spell drill, word of the day, read a conference talk, read a lesson from the Joseph Smith manual, practiced the piano, studied for a lesson on Sunday I'm giving, and read Elantris for 1 hour.
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, studied for his seminary lessons he's teaching at the end of the week, went to work, and finished Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Friday, April 24, 2009

April 24, 2009 (Friday): Indian Attack!

Mom School
Pray/National Anthem
Song: I Lived in Heaven
Theology: Chapter 43: Second Coming from Gospel Principles
Book of Mormon Stories: Christ blesses the Nephites
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Discussed Native Americans. We looked at several adult books that had photographs and drawings of Indian life. We also learned some Indian sign language. The kids ended up playing "Indian" for a lot of the day. They went to sleep with paint on their face.
Literature/World History: Read 3 chapters from Ulysses and the Trojan War by Usborne. They are absolutely loving this book.
Memorization: 12 apostles
Family History/World War II: Read several more pages from "Memories of a Flying Tiger" about my grandpa's WWII adventures in China as a bomber. This has been VERY interesting to us.
Language Arts: A Lime, A Mime and A Pool of Slime: More About Nouns by Brian P. Cleary
Science: Read a chapter in Our Father's World (insects).
Science Experiment: We now have 20+ snails now and they are still alive. The kids find them fascinating to watch.
Creative Play: Today they held a jousting tournament. They played their Indian Wars, swung like monkeys from ropes and played with Lego's. What a fun day if you are 8.
Chores


Olivia
Religion: Read a chapter in The Book of Mormon.
Music: Practiced her voice lesson.
Geography: Did an Evan-Moor 5 lesson.
Math: Saxon Math - 2 lessons
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Grammar lesson -nouns
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Pithy
Vocabulary/Language Usage: Classical Root word test
Art: Creating with dandelions, paper, glue guns,... just creating

Jared
Religion: Read a chapter in The Doctrine and Covenants Reader.
Math: Saxon math lesson
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code 5

Luke
Geography: Did an Evan-Moor 2 lesson.
Math: Did 2 math lessons.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code 4

Caleb
Math: Skip Counting
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code 3
Language Arts: Sight words/drill
Reading: Read a phonics reader and a McGuffy Primer lesson to me.

Family (in the evening):
Played the Wii together.
Alex and the kids put up the trampoline.
Alex and the kids changed the oil in the car.
Put up "the big screen" (a projector) and watched a couple of Horatio Hornblower movies together.

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, conference talks, spell drill, word of the day, researched about Sophocles and fifth century Athens for several hours, and wrote a report on all that I learned for my scholar class tomorrow.
Alex: Scriptures, Read a chapter in The Law by Bastiat, read a chapter in a biography of Hyrum Smith, word of the day, went to work, finished Artemis Fowl #2, and started Journey to the Center of the Earth.

I got another A!!

Yes, my final has been graded and I earned another A from BYU. (I took a Geography class). Yeah!!!! Here's hoping all this lifelong learning Alex and I are modeling rubs off onto the kids!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

April 23, 2009 (Thursday): Scout Banquet

Mom School
Pray/Pledge
Song: Families Can Be Together Forever
Theology: Chapter 42: Gathering of Israel from Gospel Principles
Book of Mormon Stories: Christ comes to the Americas.
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Read 8 chapters and finished Crazy Horse.
Memorization: 12 apostles and the books of The Old Testament
Family History: Read several more pages about grandpa Hancock's experiences in WWII as a bomber in China.
Music: Rhythm poem
Science: Read a chapter in Our Father's World (Plants)
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.

Olivia
Religion: Read several chapters in The Book of Mormon.
Social Studies: Working on the states and the capitals. Up to 32 states now.
Science: Studied some science vocab for the ISAT.
Math: Saxon Math lesson
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Easy Grammar lesson: nouns
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Onerous
Vocabulary/Language Usage: Classical Root words lesson
Writing: Did an Editor in Chief lesson.
Life Skills: Babysitting, homemade frosting
Computers/Typing: Blogging and Goodreads

Jared
Religion: Read a chapter in the Doctrine and Covenants Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Math: Did a Saxon math lesson.
Math Drill: Math ISAT test drill
Language Arts: ISAT test drill and did a Mad Libs paper.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Creative Play: Lego's

Luke
Religion: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon Reader.
Geography: Did a geography lesson from Evan-Moor.
Math: 2 lessons in Saxon math
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Free Reading: Read a chapter in Prince Caspian by CS Lewis.
Creative Play: Lego's

Caleb
Math: Right Start Math Lesson (Telling Time)
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 2 pages of Explode the Code
Free Reading: Read independently for an hour.
Reading: Read a phonics read and a McGuffy Reader to me.
Creative Play: Lego's

Family (in the evening):
Scout Banquet-long evening, late night

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, word of the day, practiced the piano and lots of laundry.
Alex: Scriptures, read a chapter in The Law by Bastiat, read a chapter in a biography of Hyrum Smith, word of the day, went to work and listened to Artemis Fowl #2.

Luke's conversation

Luke called me into is room because he wanted to read to me something in the book he was reading. He's reading Prince Caspian by CS Lewis right now. He said listen to this... I don't remember the exact words but it was something about somebody fighting and Lucy made a reference to the War of the Roses. With that mention Luke busted up laughing. I didn't think he really understood what they were talking about. I asked him if knew what the War of the Roses was. He said, "Oh, yeah. That was the civil war fought in England. One family was divided because they couldn't agree who should be the king." I just smiled and said your right. I had know idea he knew that.

It's nice to know my kids are learning....I didn't know what the War of the Roses was until I was an adult.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

April 22, 2009 (Wednesday): Hustle

Today, Alex spent the morning with the kids while I was at the temple. Then we went out of town to Olivia's scholar class. We raced back home to have our monthly women's book club. This month it was at my house. (Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare) Then we went back to get Olivia. Then we came home in the nick of time for scouts. Today they made bird houses and it was extra long. It went from 3-6! Whew! Then the kids and I ate dinner while we watched last nights taped copy of American Idol. Alex came home just in time and off I went to Young Women's. They boys came up a little while later and set up for the scout banquet tomorrow. Like I say every Wednesday-what a ride Wednesdays are for our family!!!

Olivia: Read scriptures, math lesson, math game, spelling drill, grammar lesson, vocabulary word of the day, read in the McGuffy reader, classical roots language test, geography lesson, finished her paper for scholar school, went to scholar school and discussed The Red Badge of Courage for the last time, made Swedish Pancakes, made spaghetti and did some blogging.

Jared: Read scriptures, math lessons, spelling drill, grammar lesson, phonics lesson, piano practice, math game, scouts and made Swedish Pancakes.

Luke: Read scriptures, math lesson, spelling drill, phonics lesson, geography lesson and scouts.

Caleb: Math game, spelling drill, phonics lesson, read a phonics reader, and read McGuffy reader.

Family (in the evening):
Watched American Idol together.
Olivia spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's.
Alex and the boys helped set up for the Blue and Gold Scout Banquet for tomorrow.

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, spell drill, word of the day, went to the temple, practiced the piano, attended a women's book club, ordered seeds for our garden, helped at scouts, went to Young Women's, and practiced the organ.
Alex: Scriptures, read in Rule #1, word of the day, spends a couple minutes everyday on his stock accounts researching, went to work, and listened to Artemis Fowl #2.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

April 21, 2009 (Tuesday): Summer weather

Today we enjoyed the summer weather. They enjoyed it so much that they have sunburned faces. Last week at this time we had a winter storm warning. It's hard to decide if I should get out the Christmas decorations or get out the swim suits. The kids did play outside most of the day. Their 2 and 4 year old cousins were here this morning to play. Great fun. Good thing in a normal day for us we do what most public school kids do in a week! We had a great day. My kids love being home schooled!

Olivia: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon, Saxon Math lesson, 1 spell drill, 1 Mad Libs paper for grammar, had her voice lesson, wrote some blog posts, worked on her scholar paper, an hour of Story of the World vol. 2 for World History, finished The Red Badge of Courage, and babysat her cousins for some life skills practice.

Jared: Read a chapter in The New Testament Reader, 2 math lessons, 1 spell drill, 1 Mad Libs paper for grammar, 5 pages of Explode the Code for handwriting and phonics, read in a Star Wars book, played legos, an hour of Story of the World vol. 2 for World History, put up part of the trampoline by himself and lots of playing outside.

Luke: Read a chapter in The Book of Mormon Reader, 2 math lessons, 1 spell drill, 1 geography lesson, 5 pages of Explode the Code for handwriting and phonics, read in Prince Caspian by CS Lewis, an hour of Story of the World vol. 2 for World History, played legos and lots of playing outside.

Caleb: Right Start math lesson, 1 spell drill, 2 pages of Explode the Code for handwriting and phonics, read on phonics reader, read a McGuffy lesson, an hour of Story of the World vol. 2 for World History, legos and he was outside the most.

Family (in the evening):
PE: Swimming at the river again for an hour and a half.
Family Scripture study: John 12

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, word of the day, piano practice, gave a piano lesson, did a lot of researching and learning about couponing-I bought my first coupons and organized my first trip for next week, and read Self-Reliance by Emerson.
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, worked in the temple, finished Brisinger, and finished Oedipus the King by Sophocles, went to work and started Artemis Fowl #2.

Monday, April 20, 2009

April 20, 2009 (Monday): Swimming

Mom School
Pray/Pledge
Song : My Eternal Family
Theology: Chapter 41: The Signs of the Second Coming from Gospel Principles
Book of Mormon Stories: Christ comes to the Americas
Friend Article
Biography/American History: 4 chapters from Crazy Horse: Young Indian Chief
World History/Literature: 1 chapter from Greek Myths: Ulysses and the Trojan War by Usborne
Memorization: Books of the Old Testament and The 12 Apostles
Family History/American History: Read 10 pages in grandpa Hancock's book Memories of A Flying Tiger about his experiences in World War 2.
Music: Rhythm Poem
Science: Read a chapter in Our Father's World. (about the seasons)
Science Experiment: We have a new pet snail that Caleb pulled from the river.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Chores

Olivia
Religion: Read a chapter in The Book of Mormon.
Social Studies: First 30 states and capitals memorizing.
Math: Lesson 136 from Saxon Math 6/5.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Verbs from Easy Grammar
Research/Writing: Researching and writing a paper about the Civil War for her scholar class.
Language Arts: Did an Editor in Chief lesson.
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- INSIPID
Vocabulary/Language Usage: Did a classical root words lesson.
Literature: Read The Red Badge of Courage for over an hour.
Life Skills: Homemade white layered cake
Computers/Typing: Blogging, research...

Jared
Religion: Read a chapter in The Doctrine and Covenants Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson and had piano lessons.
Geography: 7 continents
Math: Singapore 3B lesson
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code 5
Reading: Read a Star Wars book for over a half an hour.
Creative Play: Lots of hours of Lego's

Luke
Religion: Read 3 chapters in The Book of Mormon.
Geography: Did a geography lesson in Evan-Moor 2.
Math: Did 2 Saxon Math 2 lessons.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code 4
Reading: 1 chapter of Prince Caspian.
Creative Play: Lots of Lego's

Caleb
Math: Right Start Math lesson (odd/even number, 10, 100, 1,000 place value)
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 2 pages of Explode the Code 3
Language Arts: Sight Words drill
Reading: Read me one phonics reader and 3 McGuffy Primer lessons.
Creative Play: Lego's (He plays with the Lego's but not near as much as the older boys).

Family Home Evening:
Song: I Hope They Call Me On A Mission
Talent: Headstands (Alex)
Article of Faith: 3rd
Strength of Youth: Letter from The First Presidency
Character: Uncommon Courtesy-6 rules of behavior
Proclamation Reading: 1st paragraph
Testimonies: Alex, Deanna, Olivia, Jared, Luke and Caleb
Lesson: WORK by Alex and Luke
Activity: Swimming in the river in the desert! Yes, it was cold. See family post here.
Refreshments: Homemade white-layered cake (Olivia)

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, spell drill, word of the day, research about Shakespeare for a book club I'm leading this week, research about Sophocles for a paper I'm writing, piano playing (I have a recital piece in June and another time to substitute on the organ in 2 weeks), read for an hour in The Westing Game, placed another Usborne order, made dinner for a lonely man and his son (haha-my dad and brother, my mom was helping my sister) and wrote a blog post for another homeschooling blog I'm a contributor on.
Alex: Scriptures, read a chapter in The Law by Bastiat, reading in Oedipus the King by Sophocles, word of the day, worked on my broken $400 vacuum, went to work, and listened to Brisingr.

Friday, April 17, 2009

April 17, 2009 (Friday) Eye Doctor Day

Olivia: Math, voice practice, vocabulary word of the day, went to work with dad, blogging (writing), lots of filing at dad's office, read her scriptures and had an eye doctor appointment.

Jared: Math, spelling, piano lesson practice, Explode the Code (phonics/handwriting), Mad Libs (parts of speech), finished The New Testament Reader, started the Doctrine and Covenants Reader and had an eye doctor appointment.

Luke: Explode the Code, spelling, creative writing-working on his story, read Prince Caspian for an hour, went to work with dad and had an eye doctor appointment.

Caleb: Right Start Math lesson, read independently, read a phonics reader to me, read a lesson from The McGuffy primer to me, spell drill, Explode the Code and had an eye doctor appointment.

Deanna: Scriptures, journal, spell drill, word of the day, read for an hour, studied about Sophocles for an oral and written report I have to do and TOOK A NAP!!!!

Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, and went to work.

Family (in the evening): Went out to dinner and had Mexican, played in the desert/walked, the kids pitched one of the tents in the living room and slept in it.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

April 16, 2009 (Thursday): Dejunking

Mom School
Pray/National Anthem
Song: I Am A Child of God
Theology: Chapter 40: Family History from Gospel Principles
Book of Mormon Stories: Samuel the Lamanite
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Started and read one chapter from Crazy Horse: Young Indian Chief from the Childhood of Famous American series.
Literature/World History: Read 2 chapters from Greek Myths: Ulysses and the Trojan War by Usborne.
Character: D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners by Marc Brown
Memorization: 12 Apostles
Family History: Read a couple of pages from my grandfather's biography "Memories of a Flying Tiger" about his World War II experiences. The kids are loving this!
Music: Rhythm poem
Math: Math Fables: Lessons That Count by Greg Tang
Science: Read two chapters in Our Father's World by Michael McHugh.
PE: Played and ran around in the desert.
Chores

Olivia
Religion: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon.
Social Studies: Memorizing the states and capitals. Working on the first 25.
Art: Made salt dough and shaped it.
Math: Did lesson 136 in Saxon 6/5.
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day
Free Reading: Finished the Land of Elyon #3. Read in Leven Thumps for a while.
Writing: Book review on Goodreads.
Music: Practiced her voice lesson.
Life Skills: Cleaned/dejunked her bedroom.

Jared
Religion: Read a chapter in The New Testament Reader.
World History: Listened to Story of the World Vol. 2 for two hours.
Creative Play: Lots of Lego's today.
Life Skills: Cleaned/dejunked the playroom with me.

Luke
Religion: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon Reader.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Logic: Played chess with Jared.
Creative Writing: Lots of story writing on the computer.
Creative Play: Lot's of Lego's.
World History: 1 hour of Story of the World vol 2.
Life Skills: Cleaned/dejunked the playroom with me.

Caleb
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics: Played a Happy Phonics game.
Phonics/Computer: Explode the Code online.
Creative Play: Lego's
World History: 1 hour of Story of the World vol 2.
Life Skills: Cleaned/dejunked the playroom with me.

Evening:
Family Scriptures: John 10

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Dejunked the playroom and the library room-big project, read Oedipus Rex, and answered the questions for the book.
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, went to work (Ogden to close a tax office for the season), and listened to the entire book The Red Badge of Courage.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

April 15, 2009 (Wednesday): It snowed again!

Today I went to the temple early (during the snowstorm/winter weather advisory) and took my BYU Geography test. Therefore we did not have mom school, but the kids did their individual things with dad. In the afternoon Olivia had her scholar class. Then we had scouts and activity days. Tonight we had a stake youth fireside that we (our ward) were in charge of and a stake meeting before that. Wednesday's tend to be nuts...

Olivia: She didn't feel very good this morning. (So says her father and herself). She read for two hours in Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo. She worked on her scholar report and questions. They are doing The Red Badge of Courage now. She also did a spell drill. She had activity days. She practiced her voice lesson.

Jared: Math, spelling, Explode the Code, Mad Libs paper and Scouts.

Luke: Math, geography, spelling, Explode the Code and Scouts.

Caleb: Math, spelling, Explode the Code, played a phonics game, read a phonics reader and read a McGuffy lesson.

Deanna: Scriptures, word of the day, went to the temple, took my BYU Geography final, sat on in the 2 hour scholar class, practiced the organ, was a den mother at scouts, went to a stake meeting, and played the organ at the stake youth fireside.

Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, stayed with the kids this morning, went to work, and listened to Brisingr.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

April 14, 2009 (Tuesday): Just another day...

Mom School
Pray/PledgeSong : God Be With You Till We Meet Again
Theology: Chapter 37: Eternal Marriage from Gospel Principles
Bible History: The Very First Easter by Paul L. Maier
Friend Article
Biography/American History: The Shoshoni, A New True Book and A Picture Book of Sacagawea by David A. Alder
Literature/World History: 1 chapter from Greek Myths: Ulysses and the Trojan War by Usborne
Memorization: Books of the Old and New Testament, Books of The Book of Mormon, 12 apostles, and the Latter-day Prophets.
Family History: Read several pages of Memories of a Flying Tiger. This Family History book recounts the story of my grandfather fighting the Japanese in China as a "Flying Tiger."
Music: Rhythm poem (and all the memorization-minus the 12 apostles- with the piano)
Geography: India and China
Science: Finished Science and Technology by Capella
Language Arts: We read Alfie the Apostrophe by Moira Rose DonohueScience/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Chores

Olivia
Religion: Read a chapter of the Book of Mormon.
Music: Had her voice lesson.
Social Studies: Memorizing the first 25 states and capitalsGeography: Did a geography lesson from Evan-Moor. Played an electronic geography game.
Math: Lesson 135 from Saxon Math 6/5.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Review from Easy Grammar lesson.
Writing: Brainstorming for her paper tomorrow for scholar school.
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Bellicose
Free Reading: Read Leven Thumps for 1 1/2 hours.
Literature: Read Red Badge of Courage for 1 hour.
Life Skills: Homemade tacos
Computers/Typing: Played some games on the American Girls website for fun.
PE: Lots of dancing in the living room with music. Lots of twirling her dresses. She's still a little girl sometimes! : )

Jared
Religion: Read a chapter from The New Testament Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Math: Did a Singapore 3B lesson.
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Language Arts: Mad Libs paper
Creative Play: Prepared a scavenger hunt.
Geography: Played an electronic geography game.
Art: Mask Making

Luke
Religion: Read a chapter from The Book of Mormon Reader.
Geography: Did a Evan-Moor geography lesson. Played an electronic geography game.
Math: Did 3 pages from Saxon Math 2.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 6 pages of Explode the Code
Creative Writing: Lots of computer time writing/typing a story.
Language Arts: Using a dictionary(s) for his story.


Caleb
Art: Mask making
Math: Did a Right Start Math lesson.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 3 pages of Explode the Code
Phonics: Played a Happy Phonics game.
Reading: Read a phonics reader and 1 McGuffy Primer lesson to me.

Family (in the evening):
Alex worked late and I went to another town/ward's enrichment meeting.
The kids stayed at home with a babysitter.

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, word of the day, played the geography game (see link on side of blog) several times for another way to study for my test, studied for my BYU Geography test for four hours, gave a piano lesson and went to an enrichment meeting.
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, worked in the temple, went to work, and listened to Brisingr.

Monday, April 13, 2009

April 13, 2009 (Monday): Moving on to Native Americans

Mom School
Pray/Pledge
Song: God Be With You Till We Meet Again
Theology: Chapter 36: Responsibilities of Family Members from Gospel Principles
Book of Mormon Stories: 2,000 Stripling Warriors and Lehi & Nephi Preach
Friend Article
American History: We have moved on to the Native American Indians for a week or two and then we will dive into the Civil War. Today we discussed Indians in general. We used several encyclopedias we checked out from the town library. Luke liked practicing the sign language that was in one of them.
Literature/World History: Read 2 chapters from Greek Myths: Ulysses and the Trojan War by Usborne.
Language Arts: I taught them about Thesaurus and how to use them. We practiced on several words. We also talked about synonyms and antonyms. The Children's Thesaurus that I recently bought from Hastings for cheap is The Harcourt Brace Student Thesaurus. It's a great children's Thesaurus.
Memorization: 12 apostles and the Latter-day prophets
Family History/World War II: Read several pages of Memories of a Flying Tiger. This Family History book recounts ths story of my grandfather fighting the Japanese in China as a "Flying Tiger."
Science: Gravity and Magnets from Science and Technology: Learn How Things Work by Capella
Math: Read Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi: A Math Adventure by Cindy Neuschwander
Chores

Olivia
Religion: Read a chapter from the Book of Mormon.
Math: Lesson 134 from Saxon 6/5.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Prepositions review from Easy Grammar.
Writing: Did an Editor in Chief lesson.
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Dour
Vocabulary/Language Usage: Did a root words lesson.
Free Reading: Read The Land of Elyon #3 for 30 min.
Literature: Read The Red Badge of Courage for 30 min.
Life Skills: Snickerdoodles
Science: Invented an automatic cat food feeder from household items.
Creative Play/Simulations: Held "court" today and Olivia was the judge. The case was whether Jared did in fact steal some of Caleb's Easter candy. The boys each had to submit in writing their side of the case. They also had to orally present their case. In the end the verdict was for the defendant as there was no evidence other than the 6 year old's accusation.
Art: Coloring on paper plates to make faces.

Jared
Religion: Read a chapter in the New Testament Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson and had a piano lesson.
Math: Did a Singapore 3B lesson.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Had a lesson on verbs, adverbs, adjectives and nouns. Then did a Mad Libs page. He loved this!
Handwriting: Did a cursive writing lesson.
Science: Played with Snap Circuits, Jr.
Life Skills: Prepared a family home evening lesson.
Creative Play: See Olivia's explanation.
World History: Story of the World vol 2 30 min

Luke
Religion: Read a chapter in The Book of Mormon Reader.
Geography: Did a geography lesson from Evan-Moor.
Math: Did 3 pages of Saxon Math 2.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 7 pages of Explode the Code and finished Book 3.
Creative Writing: More creative writing on the computer.
Language Arts: Using a dictionary.
Free Reading: Read for 15 min in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Science: Played with Snap Circuits, Jr.
World History: Story of the World vol 2 1 hour and 30 min

Caleb
Math: Did a Right Start Math lesson.
Math Drill: Played Sum Swap with Alex.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 2 pages of Explode the Code.
Reading: Read a phonics reader and two McGuffy lessons to me. Alex also read to him for a while.
Science: Played with Snap Circuits, Jr.
Creative Play: See Creative play under Olivia.
Art: Coloring on paper plates to make faces.
World History: Story of the World vol 2 30 min

Family Home Evening:
Songs: Give Said the Little Stream and I Love to See the Temple
Visiting: Visited two families. (One a widow and another who are empty-nesters and have been sick).
Article of Faith: 3rd
Character: "Courtesy" from Uncommon Courtesy. Started it over again.
Strength of Youth: Press Forward With Faith. Finished book again, will start it over again.
Talent: Caleb
Testimonies: Dad, Mom, Luke and Caleb
Lesson: Faith by Jared. Also included excerpts from this talk by Elder Pearson.
Game: Scavenger Hunt and Craft Project by Olivia
Treats: Snicker doodles

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, word of the day, studied for my BYU Geography final for three hours.
Alex: Scriptures, read a chapter from The Law by Bastiat, word of the day, went to work, and listened to Brisingr.

Friday, April 10, 2009

April 10, 2009 (Friday) Easter Egg time

Mom School
Pray and National Anthem
Song: I Lived in Heaven
Theology: Chapter 36: An Eternal Family from Gospel Principles
Book of Mormon Stories: Captain Moroni Raises the Title of Liberty
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Discussed the Lewis and Clark Expedition at length. We used a book that is a calender of what happened each day of their journey. We read many of the entries.
Literature: Read 2 1/2 chapters of The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (I decided not to finish this with the kids. They weren't interested in it. Olivia will finish it on her own).
Fairy Tales/Fables: Read "The Emperor's New Clothes," "Cinderella," and "The Swan Princess" from Usborne's Fairy Tales.
Character/Music: Rythmn poem about making good choices.
Memorization: 12 apostles
Family History: Several pages from my grandfather's book, "Memories of a Flying Tiger" about his experiences in WW II.
Geography: India and the culture. Detailed examples from the family history book we are reading.
Science: Sound from Capella's Technology book.
Art: Dying Easter eggs.
Chores


Olivia
Music: Practiced her voice lesson. Her voice teacher didn't show up.
Geography: Did a geography lesson from Evan-Moor 5.
Social Studies: Memorizing the states and capitals. Working on the first 25.
Math: Redid lesson 123 from Saxon 6/5.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Easy Grammar lesson.
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Vex
Vocabulary/Language Usage: Took a classical roots test.
Free Reading: Read the Land of Elyon #3.
Literature: Read for 30 min in The Red Badge of Courage.
Life Skills: Prepared the dye for egg coloring without any help.
Field Trip: Went with her cousins to a professional rodeo in Pocatello. Big fun for the cowgirl.


Jared
Religion: Read a chapter from the New Testament Reader.
Music: Practiced his voice lesson.
Math: Did a Singapore 3B lesson.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code 5

Luke
Geography: Did a geography lesson from Evan-Moor 2.
Math: Did 3 Saxon Math 2 lessons.
Spelling: 3 spell drills
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages in Explode the Code 3
Creative Writing: Worked some more on his story on the computer. He spends a lot of time on this every day.

Caleb
Math: Did a Right Start Math lesson.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 3 pages of Explode the Code 3
Free Reading: Read/looked out the The Usborne Fairy Tale book. "Reading" several stories. I'm sure he did read some of it, but I know he couldn't read all of it.
Reading: Read a phonics reader and 2 McGuffy Primer lessons.

Family (in the evening):
-We swapped kids with the cousins. Olivia went to the rodeo with them and their 10 year old boy stayed with us overnight.
-Alex and I went on a date to the temple.
-The kids enjoyed a night with their favorite babysitter.

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, conference talks, worked on my lesson for Sunday, spell drill, word of the day, researched William Shakespeare (for the book club I have next week), researched Sophocles for a paper I was assigned by my mentor, read The Red Badge of Courage, enjoyed my date at the temple with Alex.
Alex: Scriptures, read a chapter of The Law by Bastiat, word of the day, went to work, listened to Brisingr and also enjoyed our date to the temple. : )

Thursday, April 9, 2009

April 9, 2009 (Thur): Lazy Day of Reading

Mom School
Pray, Pledge
Song: My Eternal Family
Theology: Chapter 35: Obedience from Gospel Principles
Book of Mormon Stories: The Zoramites and the Rameampton
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Read 1 1/2 chapters and finished Sacagawea from the Childhood of Famous American series.
Fairy Tales/Fables: Read Little Red Riding Hood, The Frog Princess, and the Elves and Shoemaker by Usborne
Memorization: The books of the Old and New Testament, the books of the Book of Mormon, the Latter-day prophets and the modern 12 apostles.
Family History: Read a couple of pages from Memories of a Flying Tiger by Leonard Hancock (my grandfather)-about his experiences in China as a gunner during WWII.
Music: Rhythm Poem (and the memorization songs are on sung with the piano)
Geography: Sudan, Nile River, Oman, Pakistan, India and the Taj Mahal (grandpa's trip to China for WW II in a B-25 bomber). Finished the Usborne's Children's Picture Atlas book. (map reading, mountains, glaciers, rivers, deserts...)
Science: Light from a book technology book by Capella
Chores
Went to the library. (local town library)
Movie: Matilda

Olivia
Religion: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon.
Music: Practiced her voice lesson.
Math: Lesson 123 from Saxon 6/5
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Language Arts: Verbs from Easy Grammar
Writing: Editing lesson from Editor in Chief
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Tenacious
Vocabulary/Language Usage: Classical roots lesson
Free Reading: Read for several hours in The Land of Elyon #3.
Writing/Computers: Wrote a blog post on Tjed youth.
Mentor Reading: Read several books to Caleb. They were puzzle books by Usborne. You read a story and then answer the questions/puzzles/riddles at the end of the story.
Life Skills: Blender Whole-wheat pancakes

Jared
Religion: Read a chapter in The New Testament Reader.
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Literature: Read several fairy tales by Usborne including The Emperor's New Clothes and Beauty and the Beast. He also read a chapter from The Silver Chair by CS Lewis (a Narnia book)
World History/Art: Read The Dragon Painter (about China) by Usborne
Math: Did a Singapore 3B lesson.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Creative Play/PE: Played outside for several hours digging out under the deck. Lots of bow and arrow shooting also.

Luke
Religion: Read a chapter from The Book of Mormon Reader.
Math: Did a math lesson from Saxon 2
Math Drill: Played War with Caleb.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code.
Creative Writing: Worked on his story on the computer for a while.
Reading: Read for over and hour and finished Magic Tree House: Knights of Dawn.
Creative Play/PE: Played outside for several hours digging out under the deck. Lots of bow and arrow shooting also.

Caleb
Math: Skip counting by 2's, 5's, 10's, addition equations, and even and odd numbers-Right Start Math lesson.
Math Drill: Played War with Luke. And played Sum Swamp.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: Did 4 pages of Explode the Code.
Reading: Read a phonics reader and 2 McGuffy Primer lessons to me. Olivia also read several books to him.
Creative Play/PE: Played outside for several hours digging out under the deck. Lots of bow and arrow shooting also.

Family (in the evening):
Read scriptures as a family-John 7
Alex had a Bishopric meeting and then an appointment after that.
Watched Three Musketeers.
The kids always go to sleep listening to Story of the World vol 1 or 2 on CD.

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, spell drill, word of the day, worked on my lesson for Sunday, studied for two hours for my BYU Geography final, read The Specials by Scott Westerfeld.
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, went to work, listened to Brisingr, and went to a Bishopric Meeting.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

April 8, 2009 (Wednesday): Walden's done!

Today Alex ended up being home this morning, so we didn't have mom school. It was nice to see our daddy! I'm noticing that I regularly forget to put down several things the kids did each day. At least you can get an idea of their day. I think I forgot several things from today. The main thing with today was that it seemed like we were all over the place.

Olivia: Wrote and finished (lots of rough drafts) her paper for Walden. She's finished with Walden! (They are reading The Red Badge of Courage next). She also prepared her quote. She attended her scholar class about Walden. She also played tennis at the park with a home school friend. She started a brain candy book, The Land of Elyon #3. She also read her scriptures.

Jared: Read his scriptures, practiced the piano, did a math lesson, 5 pages of phonics, read in The Silver Chair (Narnia) by CS Lewis, and went to scouts.

Luke: Did a math lesson, did a spell drill, read several chapters of a Magic Tree House book, geography lesson and went to scouts.

Caleb: Did several pages of phonics, read several phonics readers, did a spell drill, and played with his cousins.

Deanna: Scriptures, attended Olivia's class on Walden, was a den leader at scouts, practiced my Greek alphabet, went to Young Women's, and read and finished The Pretties after Young Women.

Alex: Scriptures, went to a conference in the afternoon for work, listed to Brisingr, read several chapters from Rule #1 and had a late appointment today after I had mutual.

Evening: Read scriptures together. While I was a mutual the kids and Alex played Phase 10 and the Wii together.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

April 7, 2009 (Tuesday): It's 75 degrees!

Mom School
Pray/Pledge
Song: My Eternal Family
Theology: Chapter 34: Developing Your Talents from Gospel Principles
Book of Mormon Stories: Kohrior the Anti-Christ
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Read 1/2 chapter in Sacajawea: American Pathfinder by Flora Warren Seymour from the Childhood of Famous Americans series.
Character: Had an intense discussion about choices and attitudes.
Fairy Tales: Read Sleeping Beauty and The Emperor and the Nightingale by Usborne Fairy Tales.
Memorization: 12 apostles and the latter-day prophets of the LDS church and Books of the New Testament.
Music: Rhythm Poem, lots of clapping. I'm not sure we're making progress with the boys yet.
Family History (WWII History): Read a couple of pages from Memories of a Flying Tiger by Leonard Hancock (my grandfather)-about his experiences in China as a gunner during WWII.
Geography: Brazil, Ascension, Ivory Coast and Nigeria (from grandpa's flight to China). Read several pages from Children's Picture Atlas by Usborne.
World History: Read a chapter from Usborne's Greek Myths: Ulysses and the Trojan War.
Health: Sugar/Sugary Drinks from Eat Well and Keep Moving by Lillian Cheung
Science: Elements and Compounds from Capella's Technology Book
PE: Rode horses and played outside with our cousins on the farm for several hours. Lots and lots of horses, dirt, 4-Wheelers, dogs and lots of fun!! It was 75 degrees and some of us have sunburns.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Chores


Olivia
Religion: Read 1 chapter in The Book of Mormon.
Music: Practiced the piano and voice.
Math: Did lesson 122 in Saxon 6/5
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Debauched
Vocabulary/Language Arts: She spent time reviewing vocabulary words from science, language arts and social studies for her ISAT test in a couple of weeks.
Literature: Finished Walden and brainstormed for her final paper on it.
Geography/Social Studies: Memorizing the states and capitals. Knows the first 22.
Game: Yahtzee


Jared
Religion: Read a chapter in the New Testament Reader.
Math: Did a lesson from Singapore 3B.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Music: Practiced his piano lesson.
Art: Spent a lot of time drawing and coloring again! Thank you Usborne art books!
Computers: Played several learning games on the computer. (math/language arts...)


Luke
Religion: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon Reader
Math: Saxon Math 2 - two lessons
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Reading: He can't find his book. The story of his life.
Testing: Took a practice test for the state testing requirements. (My kids really do choose to do these things).
Creative Writing: Worked on his story some more. Yesterday there was a disaster and his 4 page single-spaced paper was deleted some how. Talk about a sad little boy. So he started it over.
Art: Drew and colored pictures.
Geography: 1 workbook lesson/Hawaii
Creative Play: Lots more hammering and sawing again outside.


Caleb
Caleb takes twice as long to do half the things that the other kids do. I'm not sure why he's so slow. It takes him an hour to do his phonics everyday. He just sits there and does one page after another. I keep telling him he can stop, but he has in his mind that he's going to do X-many pages on a certain day. Any of the other kids have their phonics done in minutes. Usually the other three kids eat lunch around noon. Caleb rarely gets to lunch until 1 P.M. He's always very happy. Says he's not done and that he doesn't want to break for lunch. He eats really slow too. ???? I guess he's just methodical. Why rush? He's the opposite of me. How many things can I get done in a minute? How many things can I be doing at the same time?
Math: Right Start Math game.
Phonics/Handwriting: 11 pages of Explode the Code
Reading: Read a phonics reader to me
Game: Yahtzee

Family (in the evening):
Alex worked late.I had a Stake Young Women's Camp meeting. So the kids were able to have their favorite babysitter over.
Later we all watched American Idol.

To Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, conference talks, journal, working on a lesson for church on Sunday, spell drill, word of the day, studied for my Geography final, Greek alphabet, went to a meeting for my church job, wrote a blog post for TJED Trenches and hung out with my best friend for several hours.
Alex: Scriptures, word of the day, worked in the temple, attended his professional organization meeting (how do you say that?), went to work, fixed my laptop (it's so slow) and listened to Brisingr.

Monday, April 6, 2009

April 6, 2009 (Monday): Lots of Read a loud time.

Mom School
Pray/Pledge
Song: My Eternal Family
Theology: Chapter 33: Missionary Work from Gospel Principles
Book of Mormon Stories: Anti-Lehi-Nephi's bury their weapons
Friend Article
Biography/American History: Read 2 chapters in Sacajawea: American Pathfinder by Flora Warren Seymour from the Childhood of Famous Americans series.
Fairy Tales: Read several stories and finished Usborne's Myths and Legends.
Fantasy: Read 8 chapters and finished Fablehaven #4.
Read-a-loud: Read 2 chapters and finished Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Memorization: 12 apostles of the LDS church and Books of the Old Testament
Music: Rhythm Poem, lots of clapping. I'm not sure we're making progress with the boys yet.
Family History (WWII History): Read a couple of pages from Memories of a Flying Tiger by Leonard Hancock (my grandfather)-about his experiences in China as a gunner during WWII.
Geography: Florida, Hispaniola and Trinidad/Tobago (from grandpa's flight to China)
Health:Healthy Fats from Eat Well and Keep Moving by Lillian Cheung
Science: Matter from Capella's Technology Book
PE: Played/ran around in the desert for an hour. It's so nice to get outside again! The desert is our favorite place to go. We run around on the dirt hills and play in the river. The kids also played outside a lot this afternoon.
Science/Pet Care: Jared and Olivia each have a hamster that they are responsible for. They also take turns caring for our dog, cat and sea monkeys.
Chores

Olivia
Religion: Read 1 chapter in The Book of Mormon
Math: Did lesson 121 in Saxon 6/5
Vocabulary: Peterson's Word of the Day- Rebuke
Vocabulary/Language Arts: She spent a lot of time reviewing vocabulary words from science, language arts and social studies for her ISAT test in a couple of weeks. She used the dictionary to look up multiple words she didn't know.
Geography/Social Studies: Memorizing the states and capitals. Knows the first 20.
Life Skills: No-bake cookies
Science: Collected things in the desert and she's doing stuff with them outside. Soaking, chopping, identifying... ???
Testing: Took an ISAT practice test on the computer.

Jared
Religion: Read a chapter in the New Testament Reader.
Math: Did a lesson from Singapore 3B.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Reading: 30 min of The Silver Chair by CS Lewis.
Music: Practiced the piano and had piano lessons.
Creative Play: Two hours of Lego's.

Luke
Religion: Read a chapter in the Book of Mormon Reader
Math: Saxon Math 2 - one lesson
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 5 pages of Explode the Code
Reading: Read Prince Caspian for 30 min.
Geography: 1 workbook lesson
Creative Play: 2 hours of Lego's. He also hammered and sawed until he finished his crossbow outside.

Caleb
Math: Played War with Olivia.
Spelling: 1 spell drill
Phonics/Handwriting: 4 pages of Explode the Code and finished book 2.
Reading: Read a phonics reader to me and read 2 stories from The McGuffy Primer.
Creative Play: Played with Lego's for two hours.

Family Home Evening:
I decided I needed to include everything we really do for family home evening. We've had this schedule below for years and years. Family Home begins at dinner and doesn't end until bedtime in our house. We believe family home evening lasts the EVENING not for just the lesson.
Prayer: Jared
Song: Give Said the Little Stream
Talent: Luke
Testimonies: Dad, Mom, Olivia and Caleb tonight (it's whoever wants to)
Character: Uncommon Courtesy lesson.
Articles of Faith: #3
For the Strength of Youth: Service to Others
Service: Visited 2 families.
Lesson: By Olivia. Based on the conference talk "Return to Virtue" by Sister Dalton.
Game: Yahtzee
Prayer: Alex

Show Parent Core/Love of Learner/Scholar here are some things we modeled to the children today...
Deanna: Scriptures, journal, conference talks, word of the day, lots of laundry, walked for 45 min, several Goodreads reviews, and worked on saying the Greek alphabet super fast.
Alex: Scriptures, read a chapter from Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing in Only 15 Minutes a Week by Phil Town, read a chapter from The Law by Bastiat, word of the day, went to work, and listened to Brisingr.

Friday, April 3, 2009

April 3, 2009 (Friday): Showtime!


Play practice started at 9 AM! We practiced lots, preformed two live shows and collapsed in bed at 8 PM. It was a very long time, but we had a blast! The kids did so well! The play was "The Little Mermaid" in case I didn't mention that in a previous post. It's not like the Disney version at all. Luke and Caleb were dancing "cowboy" seahorses, Jared was a seasider and Olivia was a scout (they did all kinds of funny things). We're so proud of them, they did great!
At the beginning of the week the kids weren't to sure if they wanted to participate, but they agreed. They remembered that they had had a lot of fun last year doing it. Today they were very happy they did it. I'm so glad I played the piano for it. They had asked me to last year, but I was in charge of the Scholastic Book Fair at the School all that week and so I couldn't. Soooo, this year I wanted to make up for it. I'm always telling the kids to "do hard things." And my number one motto in parenting is, "I won't ask the kids to do anything I'm not willing to do myself." Needless to say I'm involved a lot. But, I believe that's powerful parenting. That's why I do everything I do. I also always tell them with 1. passion and 2. practice you can accomplish anything. So I try to live my parenting tips....

We had a two hour break this afternoon between shows and came home and ate homemade dinner made just for me by my dear sister who new we had been running all week. Sisters are great! We also read four more chapters of Fablehaven.

We finished the night off with some taped American Idol. What a great week!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

April 2, 2009 (Thur): Practice makes perfect!

Today we spent the day having a wonderful core phase day. The kids read their scriptures. In the morning the kids read lots of books. The boys worked on science projects and had great fun. Caleb worked on some Explode the Code.

Luke continued to write a way on his story. I wonder how many 8 year old boys wake up early because they are so excited to get to the computer to work on their latest story? I have to kick him off at the end of the day too. He's learning to use a dictionary and knows the word processor program down solid.

In the midst of some very happy kids I practiced the piano the entire day (for the play). We had another killer round of 4 1/2 hours of play practice. At the end of the day we read scriptures and read four more chapters of Fablehaven. So good! We need to find some more high action, fun books the kids like. This 525 page book is going to end to soon!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

April 1, 2009 (Wed) Practice makes perfect!

Today I needed to practiced the piano for the 'big show' on Friday. I practiced for over 5 hours today. Sooooo, the kids had free reading this morning while I played and played. Luke worked on his story for quiet a while also. He did finish King Arthur. He loved it! The kids enjoyed reading all our Usborne books. Jared read a lot out of the Greek Myths book.

Right after an early lunch we headed to a neighboring town for Olivia's scholar class for Walden. I was able to stay and participate with the class this time. The mentor likes the mom's to stay when they can. Olivia was well prepared. She had her quote and presented it. She stated why she picked it. She had all her questions answered. Olivia also presented her oral report about simplicity. I thought she did great. I'm so proud of her. I can't believe a 10 year can read and understand Walden. I guess it just goes to show that kids can understand more than we think.

After that we hurried home for 4 1/2 hours of play practice. (Read into that more piano practicing). After that I hurried to Young Women's. Alex played games with the kids and read scriptures. Alex is such a good dad. The kids were so bumbed we didn't get to Fablehaven. It was too late by the time I got home though...