Homeschooling & Daily Living on Vacation?

We're heading out in a matter of days now to Georgia to visit Danny's family. Whenever we travel, I always pack more clothes than I need, more books than I could read in a life time, and take along more food than any sensible person should snack on during normal travel. This particular trip is unique because we'll be gone for almost 6 weeks. This is an official experiment to see if we'd like to do this annually. Danny is a pilot, so he'll commute in and out of Atlanta. HELP!!! Somebody. Anybody?

I decided to put together a daily plan for the children. Nothing like a clear set of guidelines to live by. Remember, the lines are our friends! Here's hoping for a plan for them and sanity for me. Each child will have a laminated card that looks like this:

MY DAILY PLAN

MORNING TIME
READ MY BIBLE
· MAKE MY BED
· BRUSH MY TEETH
· COMB/BRUSH HAIR
· PUT AWAY PAJAMAS
· PUT ON CLEAN CLOTHES
· PUT DIRTY CLOTHES IN CLOTHES BAG
· PICK UP TOYS & BOOKS


THROUGH THE DAY
· USE MY GOOD MANNERS & PLAY HABITS
· SHARE
· COMPLIMENT & ENCOURAGE
· PRAY
· OFFER TO HELP AROUND THE HOUSE
· SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL MEALS & ALL FAVORS

SCHOOL WORK
· GEORGIA HISTORY
· MATH
· LANGUAGE ARTS PAGE
· COPY WORK/VACATION JOURNAL

EVENING
· DAILY BATH & HYGIENE (TEETH/HAIR ETC.)
· BATHROOM IS CLEANED UP
· REASONABLE BEDTIME
· READING QUIET TIME

Mark set a little too high? Perhaps, but I don't think I can handle that much time away with zero structure. We'll be staying with family members, and knowing their lifestyles and ways vary from what may be our normal, this could go from being an apple to an elephant; one clearly being easier to eat than the other! Even as our plans for this initial trip are being re-shaped daily (another post for another time) I suspect even this plan will reshape itself as we go along. I wonder if the children will go for this???

Beautiful Georgia

Beautiful Georgia. You were made by the Father in Heaven. God has plans for you. This is the verse we pray for you: " He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, and it's leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. " Psalm 1:3

Here is the State Song: "Georgia on My Mind." Other facts are listed below the video.


Other facts about Georgia:

State Bird: Brown Thrasher
State Tree: Live Oak
State Flower: Cherokee Rose
State Vegetable: Vidalia Onion
State Wildflower: Azalea

When Danny and I got married, I had live Azalea bushes brought in as our only plants. I wanted pure white flowers. They were blooming during April. Until today, I did not know that the Azalea was Georgia's state wildflower. Danny is from Georgia! This is another sweet confirmation from my Father that Danny is the only Georgia boy for me!

Silly Songs with Momma

" Bathmat, Jelly Dollars!!! Dollars!!! Bathmat Jelly Dollars!!!! Jelly Dollars, Jelly, Jelly, Dollars." Bathmat Jelly Dollars!!!" And so it went. We sang with our best opera voices. Will you remember this? Why did we make this silly song? All of this just to remember my grocery list! What a friend you are to keep me entertained with all of this fun! I love you, my son.

This is tonight's entry from "My Son..." , the private blog I have set up as my online journal for Daniel. I have one for Bethany called, "The PrincessPapers." I thought tonight's entry from "My Son..." would be fun to share. We needed 3 things from Walmart so we made up this silly song. Dollars? No, they cannot be purchased at Wallyworld, but you can ask for dollar bills in change so that said children's allowances can be paid in
$1's.

Georgia History Week of 5/9/11

This week in Exploring Georgia we plan to cover lessons #4 through #7. We'll be learning about the Symbols of Georgia (did you know that Georgia has had 5 state flags?), the location, size, and weather of Georgia, and the land and waters of Georgia.

Our projects this week are: a salt-dough map of the state of Georgia. There are a few different methods for making salt dough maps, and since this project will be the first I've made, I decided I would check out a few different resources on the how-to's of salt dough map making. Some suggest letting the dough dry before painting. In this video they take another approach.
The video teaches you to roll out the dough and then put the map on top and cut out the dough accordingly. I like that approach better than putting the dough on the map and spreading it out.

Here is a blogpost from Teacups in the Garden on another method. I like the way she teaches labeling the map.

The other project we'll tackle is charting the weather for the various portions of the state of Georgia. Just this week, Bethany's Saxon Math lesson was on graphing, so this will be the perfect project to reinforce a useful skill.

I am enjoying Notgrass Company's Exploring Georgia. Their lessons are practical, doable, and Biblical. What a wonderful introduction to a state that holds so much of the Wright Family's history.

Exploring Georgia

Today we begin our study of the state of Georgia, called Exploring Georgia, by Notgrass Company. Exploring Georgia is a state study comprised of 75 lessons that include a Teacher's Manual and a spiral-bound Student Notebook. The notebooks are page after page of matching, coloring pages, map excercises, places for copywork, writing excercises about all things Georgia! See, we're headed to Georgia for about a month toward the end of May, and I couldn't think of anything more fun than finding a curriculum to help us make the most of our time there.

The beauty of homeschooling is that nothing has to be wasted.It reminds me of being a Christian in that Christ intends and desires to teach us through all of our experiences.

Today's lesson was essentially the reading of a long list of words describing Georgia: its features, landmarks, well-known businesses and people, and the like. The children are taking their knowledge and putting it to work doing a word search. I love word searches. THEY love word searches. There's something about looking for these specific words that will help them remember some of the facts about Georgia.

Our scripture for the day is Psalm 24:1, "The earth is the Lords, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it."

This week we'll finish: Lesson 2 "The People of Georgia" (Genesis 1:27) and Lesson 3 "Meet Four Georgia Families" (Psalm 68:6).

The Beauty of a List

Lists. Lists are mental bookshelves. Lists give one a sense of accomplishment. Lists are filing cabinets. Lists are my friend! I began the day making a list of homeschooling projects that need to be completed for this year. Here is what is on that list:

Complete our Science Notebooks from our Chemistry Co-Op
Compile our 2010-2011 Portfolios
Finish that one last meeting for our Chemistry Co-Op

Mind you, this is but a partial list, but it was motivating and mentally helpful for me to put down what I know needs finishing at this point.

Then I started on a second list. It is a combo of family things/homeschooling items that we accomplished this last year. I like this list better because it's longer. In the context of a relocation that occured over the summer and into the fall, it helps me feel that our year was not a total loss. (I have a homeschooling planner that I keep as well that I frequently look back on for the same reason. It's easy to feel like things are just half-done, and that can be so discouraging.) Looking at the full part of the glass is a lot more fun, and it takes the punch out the enemy as the Lord reminds me: "Kathy, this has been a good year. You've done well." I want my Heavenly Father's approval more than anything, and these are some of the things He's reminded me of:

Field Trips to the following:

Tandy Leather Factor
Capitol Museum in Phoenix
Herpetological Society
Play: "Prince and the Pauper"
Out of Africa Wildlife Park
Ostrich Farm

We began using our local library on a regular basis.

Bethany took two co-op classes through a local co-op: History of Arizona, and Intro. to Literature: Chronicles of Narnia. This was really good for her. Instruction from others is a good thing, and she met some children that were not in our Homeschooling group.

Roller Skating Lessons:
We live a 1/2 mile from a really good roller rink. I signed us up for roller skating lessons, and the children are loving it. They even learned how to skate backwards!

Here are some more things we did that are significant for various reasons:

We planted a garden.

Bethany taught herself how to weave.

The children participated in a Soccer League & a Field Hockey League.

We had a science co-op with another family in our homeschooling group. Chemistry is fun!

We went to a play, "Robin Hood," as a family. We talked about how live performances are more fun and challenging to the actors.

We went on our annual family camping trip with Mary Lee: nothing like really good traditions

We added in a great Art curriclum this year.

We participated in our homeschooling group's art show with our own projects.

Bethany went to a sleep over. She also had a friend spend the night recently.

Bethany taught herself how to roller blade.

Big friends and Little friends: our much larger yard and more centrally located home added to our desire and ability to host big and little people for fun times throughout the year. Socialization in homeschooling: the least of our problems!

Ordered our Exploring Georgia curriculum to help us enjoy and make the most of our extended stay in the Atlanta area this summer. On your mark, adventure set, go!

This list is far from exhaustive but marks a few things we've done and are doing. It really has been a good year!

Happy Resurrection Sunday

I love combining worship and art. I'm so glad that death couldn't keep Him.

Lord, give to me a bigger view of You, the Victor over sin, death, and the grave. May I follow that Christ, being You, with eternity in sight. I want to run to win.