Summer Field Trips and Camps Change Lives

Half-way Through Summer

June is almost over. G3 was in Utah for grandparent's camp. All kids and the Mom survived church VBS.  G2 is off to Bible camp.  G1 heads to Tennessee next week for a service opportunity with our church group.  G3MOM is packed and ready for a trip to Teach Them Diligently via an entry paid by 2:1 Conference.  I then continue on to serve in an English camp in Montevideo, Uruguay.

At some point in early July and before the end of the World Cup on Sunday, July 13, I need to fly stand-by on the Other airline back to the Chicagoland area.  I will then have 2 weeks to complete the first quarter planning before our school year begins.  That'd be year 8 here on the homefront.

Below are the subjects we aim to pursue.  We'll continue notebooking through Physics from our Elemental Science work four years ago with the Noeo Logos teaching plans.  We add quizes, timelines, literature studies and hands-on activities to our SOTW4: Modern Age (1850-present day) binder.  We get to add grammar in the form of Editor in Chief program.  G2 and G3 will begin Student Writing Intensive level B and G1 will perfect this writing program with in depth research along the Excellence in Writing format.  Each student will continue in their Saxon math challenges.  Our 3Gs really enjoyed the soft pastel art lessons from Nana at HodgePodge Art and will continue those until January.  We've decided to start the third pass through each of the world's nation flags with the same continent and the same questions to answer.   G1 will continue his French studies with French in Action for the first 13 lessons this school year as a goal using the website, text and workbook.  G2 and G3 will review their First Start French materials from Memoria Press and aim to finish the entire book for the school year.  G2 is determined to continue studying German (still working on the materials for this goal), and will tackle the Greek materials from Memoria Press as well. Finally, each has their own Latin goal. G1 will continue with Logic study in The Thinking Toolbox,  and G2/G3 will work through The Fallacy Detective. 

Bible & Health

G2 Math EIC IEW

G3 Math EIC IEW

G1 Math EIC IEW

SOTW4

Art Music Appre

Flags- Geography

noeo science-Physics 3

Band

G1 French ForLang, Latin, Logic

G2 Greek German French Latin Logic

G3 French Latin Logic

All three will continue studying music with band.  There are plans for G1's participation in an elementary Turkish class, but nothing is finalized yet. His goal is to be able to communicate for survival in an summer student exchange next year.  The Turkish may help him as well as his French.  Our Bible studies will follow a Community Bible Study format through the "Return to Jerusalem" syllabus.

Guest Post by G3: My Summer Camp Experience

Three of us boys from our church got to go to Bible camp near Peoria Saturday June 22. It was my first time at camp.  For our schedule in the morning we had flagpole (I liked going to the flagpole early), then breakfast, then cabin clean up after.  After that we had Bible hour.  Bible hour was fun because if I did the study I got a York candy bar for reward.  Then we went to our cabins, and then we looked at our paper to see if we passed cabin clean up.  We had break or time alone with God for Bible.  We went to lunch.  The food was good, because there wasn’t any foods there that I didn’t like – and I’m a very picky eater.   Games were next, but I did not like that time.  I didn't like it that much because during games I ended up in the infirmary.  There was a nurse-mom there and I saw her 4 times.  She was very nice and cool.  There were lots of games.  Many games included water and mud.  There was running games and it was very hot.  Ultimate Frisbee and kickball were the games that caused me to get hurt.  I’m sorta competitive. 

My favorite parts about camp were that my cabin leader was amazing, AND I enjoyed the horseback ride. It was fun. I promised my mom I would go on a horseback ride because she seemed to think it was one of the most important parts of the week.  She grew up riding horses almost every week, so she misses it and thinks it’s more important than spelling.  One of the leaders for the horseback riding people told us we could go down a hill.  So, when I went down the hill, it was very muddy.  Some went down the hill; the horses almost fell all the way down the hill.  The good thing was that I didn't fall down the hill, and I was thankful.  I didn't do paintball though because my mom forgot to sign the form.  Actually, I didn't know we had to sign it, so I will probably do paintball next year.  They also had a pool with one Not-so-springy diving board, but it was still fun though because I had friends there to play with.  When we had chapel (in the evening), the pastor who taught chapel was amazing.  The theme for the week at camp was our identity in Christ, and who we really are.  So we studied the life of Christ. 

I would like to go back to this camp after I try the other summer camp in Wisconsin that my brother went to last year.  There aren’t girls at the Wisconsin camp like there are at the Illinois camp that I attended with my brother and friend from church.  It was weird to be unplugged and I don’t even have a cell phone.  We couldn’t check the Blackhawks hockey match for the Stanley Cup because there weren’t even any cell phone towers to get a signal!  Can you imagine?!

Goodbye July Already?

Highlights:
We watched fireworks in early July from our roof.
We shared our first smores from the firepit :-)
The Gramma and Cousin came to visit.
G3 traveled to Utah (Tetons and Yellowstone!)
G1 camped in Wisconsin.
Then, G1 traveled to Utah (Nevada? stop)
G3 camped in Michigan.
G2 enjoyed a social life of her dreams and lots of mommy/girl time including duct tape crafts, reading time, watering the garden, pool time and other craft classes.

We enjoyed cool weather here and lots of school planning time.  The school room was re-organized, cleaned and painted by the Mommy and G2. Such a good thing.

An Empty Nest Morning: A Surreal Place

 



G1 is on a camp-cation;
G2 is on stay-cation overnite elsewhere;
G3 is in Grandcamp.  And I'm here gazing upon this brilliant reminder.

Marching Band Experience for G1

Summer Blooms

 

Summer Week of Camp for All 3Gs

This bloomed just for my birthday :-)

 

 

Gs1and3 are off to AWANA Honor Camp for the week. They promised to try the horse trail rides.
G2 gets to practice her culinary skills with young, old friends in Kansas.

All five of us survived Daycamp, Marching Band and one for babysitter training last week.

 

Memories of Summer Reading

G#3: I read/listened to Wind and the Willows (which was 5 hours), Operation Mincemeat, 4 or 5 Encyclopedia Browns , and other stuff I can't remember. In Wind and the Willows, toad, mole, Rattie, badger, and more were characters.  Encyclopedia Brown is himself.

G#2:  I read about Deadrie, and it was ok. I also read some other things I can’t remember.  One of the authors was named Jennifer L. Holm.  I like her now, and most of my books I read now are her booksJ. Some of the books are called Turtle in Paradise ( #1 that I read,) Boston Jane, An Adventure (#2 that I read), Penny From Heaven (#3 that I read) and another Boston Jane, (it is a seriesJ!) Wilderness Days (#4 that I am reading).

G#1:  I read the Star Wars Clone Wars novel. This story is about Anakin and getting his Padawan, Ahsoka tano.  The Star Wars story was in Christophsis and in Tantooine.  In the end, The baby Hutt was returned to Jabba the Hutt.  Yes. It was not the best ending but I guess it had to happen.

And I started to read a Poirot book from Agatha Christie, because I like the tv show, that I will have to finish sometime.  And the Poirot was about the murder of a very stuck-up and some-what rich man.  The Poirot story takes place in London, England.

If you could study one thing all year long...

G#1 is at AWANA camp, but G#2 says she'd study art or math. G#3 says he'd stick with spelling or math.
Don't be deceived, I'm not deleting science or history for either. But, is there a way to teach  either with math, spelling or art? Yep, & I'm almost ready to start their 6th year of home education. Very soon.

Science is EASY in Summertime

I've mentioned that these 3Gs studied science and history TOGETHER during the grammar stage even though they are 16 months apart in age.  That means many times they were able to divide and conquer my attentions, divert me from the topic, and in order to manage the "classroom," I followed many of their RABBIT TRAILS. I didn't take elementary teacher training. The secondary methods I learned were very different from what was necessary when dealing with these three, young, bright children.  So, many of the topics in our first/second grade study of earth science and astronomy were not covered at all.  They picked up the concepts through osmosis and acquaintance with other lessons, but simple experiments that many others might do just didn't happen when there were so many other topics to cover. Plus, I was a little obsessed with their sitting at desks.  Their little bodies just didn't sit well for long enough duration to watch the vinegar dissolve the seashells. Even today as we watched the seashells dissolve, there were many other events taking place concurrently. 

My 3Gs are traveling and involved in many activities this summer. Each is being blessed by an individual's week with the Utah grandparents.  There was vbs at our church for a week and drama camp at another church for a week.  There was an experience for one to do a culinary camp and another to do an art camp with friends.  There are visits with friends, library reading time and swim time. There is an opportunity to visit the Iowa grandparents for a county fair experience.  Rarely are all three children here together during the summer.  I wanted to do a little school during the summer which included math practice and science interactions.  My goal was to work through simple Janice VanCleave Earth Science and Astronomy experiments as far as possible because there won't be time to try any of these during the school year with Elemental Science's Logic Stage ESA.  I LOVE Earth Science and Astronomy. I'm delighted with how it relates to other studies and how the topics are ever present in daily life.  I endure discussions of my three tween children in order to persevere for science experiments.  It's so worth it when they share what they saw with each other as one travels away.  They will refer back to some of these experiments we are attempting even if it's not all 101 ideas from the book.  And, it isn't torture to do a simple experience with household materials for a few minutes each day that may even be individual work causing more pride in their own work.

Are you trying any school this summer? Are you in a hurry to start the next school year?

Friday Homeschool Soccer

It's Peru and Besiktas Istanbul Club right out there with all the other home schooled kids each Friday afternoon in the SUMMER!

Camp Out & Reading Roman Mysteries

First night in a tent by themselves AND reading various Roman Mysteries before twilight.

Chicago Scottish Highland Games Visit

It was a beautiful day in Chicagoland for a father's day weekend celebration of heritage. G#2 has the Scottish flag painted on her cheek and all of us were listening to a story being read about Hamish McHaggis and the Ghost of Glamis. I'd bought another of the Hamish stories for a niece's Christmas present last year and now it was fun to have the story read to us.

The festival had all the bells and whistles of a typical highland games including Piping and Drumming competition, Caber Toss, Hammer Throw, the Sheaf Toss, the Clachnert, Highland Dance competition, Rugby, soccer, Dogs of Scotland, mini golf, crafts, British Car Show, and musical performances on the Celtic Rock Stage.  I only wished I was allowed to help judge the shortbread contest.  We ate shepherd's pie and fish/chips. It was a brilliant way to end a busy week of travel and VBS events!

BTW, G#3 did get to SLC and will enjoy his week with extended family and plenty of pool and outdoor fun!

Quarry Visits and Fishing Nearby

Best part of the quarry visit was the bus ride!  Not only did one of the Gs catch a fish, another one caught a fish the next day. Busy summer days and vacation Bible school keep us hopping.

Summer Delites

20 hours of driving I80 to I29 to I35 and back on I80 for visits with family and friends, and PAPA KENO's pizza.

AND Oklahoma Joe's BBQ, but you'll have to check that out for yourselves, b/c it's worth it.

Summer CRAZy schedule is begun!  And the kitchen is undergoing changes finally... Oh, follow me on twitter either at the bottom of this page or at twitter as g3mom

I just finished my summer book list ...

After following the bizarre Ahab through "Moby Dick," I picked up "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin." It was free to listen to on Librivox.org. The wisdom through life experiences of Mr. Franklin was an excellent companion to my kids studying about Revolutionary War period of USA history.  So, it must be time to move on to something new. I'm previewing "Librivox: Hurlbut's Story of the Bible Part One by Hurlbut, Jesse Lyman."  I've read a few other books for entertainment and encouragement, but those don't follow this thread of historical enrichment.

However, Industrialization is the next topic in history for my kids and we'll read aloud "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" by Virginia Lee Burton. This child's story goes along with the SOTW3 Chapter 27 and 31 as well as Our Island Country chapter 96, which we will listen to, complete comprehension questions and maps.  All of which I'd love to finish shortly.

Then move onto the story of the Voyage of Discovery about President Jefferson, Sacagewea, Lewis and Clark which takes us west along this growing country setting us up for SOTW4.

Summer of History

My plans to work through math and foreign languages along with history didn't work out. BUT, we are finishing SOTW3 with a summer study of American Colonies and Revolutionary War. We listened to "This Country of Ours", "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" (for the mommy), "Our Island Story" (pertenent USA chapters) from Librivox.org for free. We were able to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Then recently we visited the Freedom Trail in Boston.

In the later city, the USS Constitution was a hit! I was able to find Liberty's Kids videos at 40% off and we're watching them while waiting in Chicagoland for the next field trip. My kids are doing a valiant job coloring the Dover pages from Colonial and Revolutionary War books. We're reading dozens of books about the Revolutionary War. Lastly, our G2 is enjoying the Felicity books from the American Girl series about Colonial Williamsburg.(Pictures of 3 generations at Old North Church)


Stand-by travel is never free or easy, but useful while home educating these little people over the summer!

Lion by the Tail

Independence Day!

Church, brunch there and then sailing with the Daddy! Soon, Fireworks nearby