Posted by Cindy on May 19, 2008
I just wanted to share a few odds and ends this afternoon.
Yesterday was Mahayla’s piano recital. She did such a lovely job! I’m afraid her talent is stronger than her desire right now , though. We’re taking a break over the summer to see if she might “get her want to fixed” before the fall. (That’s a phrase Steve’s grandma uses when she thinks people need to stop complaining! 
Here’s what my two free birds have been doing EVERY SINGLE DAY since school’s been out.
Here’s what I’ve been doing today. Can’t tell what it is? It’s our poor schoolroom!! I had the urge to reorganize the whole space (again), and this is what it looked like after a couple hours’ work. Actually, this is what it will probably look like for days! LOL
If it doesn’t rain tomorrow, we’re going to the pond with our Creation Club! It should be a great day. I’ll post about it soon. I’m also working on posts about our summer activity box and summer nature station. Have a great week!
Posted by Cindy on May 17, 2008
School is officially out for the summer, but that won’t stop us from taking advantage of many great learning opportunities! This week we visited our local water treatment plant and the neighboring electric generation plant.
If you’ve ever read
The Magic School Bus At The Waterworks, then you’ve visited our water treatment plant!
I was amazed at how closely the book and the local process were alike.
We are standing on the pumping station overlooking the creek where the water comes from.
After learning that the water is first cleaned with (many 
) chemicals, we were taken out to the settling basins. The two basins on either side are full of water with alum. Alum essentially grabs the dirties from the water and gets heavy enough to sink to the bottom of the basin. The middle section is the cleaner water then being pulled out and into an indoor filter room.
If you look closely, you can see the alum – little white specks.
This is a picure of the alum basin and the clean water running off to the right. Can you see the difference in cleanliness already?
Inside, the site manager showed us a model of what happens in the filter basins. Water brought in from outside goes through the many layers of charcoal, earth materials and rocks to finish the cleaning process. (I have a science experiment based on this model that we’re going to do next week.)
Finally, you can see the clearest water yet that comes out of the filter process. Here, more chemicals are added (like flouride) before the water is sent out into the world and into your faucet.
Right next door to the water treatment plant is the electric generation plant. You won’t hear much explanation about this part of the trip – partly because I got busy talking and missed part of the presentation and partly because I really haven’t a clue about the ins and outs of electricity. Thank the Lord for people who do understand it, though. I sure appreciate my lights and other electrical conveniences!
Posted by Cindy on May 16, 2008
Our children have been part of a Bible Bowl team this year. As skeptical as I am about children competing over God’s Word, they really have learned inside and out the material that was covered this year. Since the group has decided to take a break next year, I wanted to be sure to grab some pictures from their last meet.
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Filed Under: Bible
Posted by Cindy on May 14, 2008
I’ve been asked before if I keep all my children’s work from year to year. My answer – mercy, no! Here’s a peek into how I wrap up our school year.
Throughout the year, all of the children’s work goes into subject folders or notebooks. For example, when a math lesson is completed and checked, it gets filed in the math folder. All maps, worksheets and projects from our Around the World studies went into a folder for that study. All stories, newsletters, spelling tests, grammar sheets, etc were filed in the language arts notebook.
At the end of the year, we go through each folder and pull out 3-10 of the best samples for an end of the year portfolio. Each of the subjects is then put together in one folder that shows a sampling of our learning from the year. All other worksheets and such are pitched. Yep, thrown in the garbage! Gasp, you say? How can I get rid of all of it and not worry about having to prove our schooling? When I taught in the public school system, a similar system of “a few best pieces” was the practice for each child’s cumulative folder. If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me! I couldn’t possibly keep each and every piece of work we do from year to year. I’d have crates stacked to the ceiling!
100+ of math from the year….
Turns into about 10 pages of math to keep…..
Along with the folder of sample work (math, writing, spelling, grammar, maps, etc.), I will keep ALL unit notebooks and lapbooks. These are things I do want to keep intact and on file from year to year. Why these? They represent the memories and fun of our homeschooling. Much effort and time was put into documenting our learning in these and, honestly, I want to look back (and have the kids look back) on these just like we might look back through a photo album.
This is Mahayla’s final “portfolio” for the year. It’s about 2 1/2 – 3″ high.
I also keep a folder full of art and any writing journals, field trip journals or nature journals that have been completed. (If these haven’t been filled in entirely, I’ll just let the kids continue using them next year.)
I also keep a small folder of awards, school pictures, program bulletins, ticket stubs and such – as well as the report card. This folder is almost like a scrapbook of achievements and events from the year.
Finally, I stack and bundle each child’s keepsakes and place them in a tub. My lesson plan book – which also includes the beginning of the year goal sheets, a list of curriculum used and any correspondence papers from the board of education – slides into the tub right alongside the bundles.
Here are both children’s stacks from this school year, with my lesson plan book and other important documents on top.
Now I have a nice set of memories from the year, as well as a solid bit of “proof” for homeschooling should I ever need it.
I’d love to see how you wrap up your year. Let me know if you post about it on your blog.
Posted by Cindy on May 13, 2008
Look what we found in a deep, moist, straw, mud and manure area on our farm!
They’re called Peziza vesiculosa, aka “dung cup”. They are quite large and VERY interesting. In my opinion, all fungi are interesting. Worthy of some serious nature study, don’t you think?
