At the Beach ~ Day 1

We just returned from vacation and I can’t help wanting to reminisce just a little bit…

We headed out bright and early {actually it was dark and early } to drive down to the beach.

It was a beautiful day for a drive…even a long one.  Thank goodness for plentiful rest areas that are perfect for stretching little legs {and big ones!}.

We arrived in record time and the beach beckoned…

The kiddos could not resist trying out the water...

which was awfully warm for October!

We’re ready to start our week at the beach .

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars ~ A recipe

On my last post I mentioned making some oatmeal cranberry chocolate chip cookie bars and every commenter so far has asked for the recipe…so I thought I’d share it .

It’s basically the recipe found on the Quaker Oats oatmeal container and on this page with a few of my own substitutions.  Here’s my own version of the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick), softened
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar {I use turbinado or raw sugar}
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour {I use a mix of white and fresh-ground wheat flour}
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 3 cups old fashioned, uncooked oats
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.  Beat butter and sugars until creamy.  Add in eggs and vanilla.  Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well.  Add oats, cranberries and chocolate chips and mix well.

Press dough onto bottom of ungreased 9x13-inch baking pan.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. 

I’d show you a picture of the finished product…but they didn’t last long around here…maybe I’ll remember to take a picture the next time I make these yummy cookie bars .

Homeschool Mother’s Journal ~ October 14, 2011

In my life this week…The cold that wreaked havoc with my school schedule last week descended upon dh and I over the weekend.  And poor little ds4 developed a hacking cough that this mama did not like.  Thankfully he’s feeling much better, the cough was nothing serious…it just sounded bad to his mama’s ears .

In our homeschool this week…Despite the fact that the teacher was under the weather {me}…school continued.  It was just a small cold, nothing to really complain about…but I still did .  We completed four days of school  {just like I planned} and we are now caught up and ready to go on to the next week in our curriculum.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…baseball practice, the apple orchard for more apples to cook up, and the bank to deposit our yard sale proceeds .

My favorite thing this week was…an unplanned drawing session that was inspired by the poem we studied this week.  In our Bigger Hearts curriculum we study a different poem each week, taking time to learn about couplets and stanzas and different poetic devices.  This week we studied the following poem:

Each in His Own Tongue

by William Herbert Carruth

A haze on the far horizon,

The infinite tender sky,

The rich, ripe tint of the cornfields,

And the wild geese flying high-

And all over upland and lowland

The charm of the goldenrod-

Some of us call it autumn,

And others call it God.

I have never heard/read this particular poem, and I am so glad that HOD introduced me and my kiddos to it…we all loved it!

Day 4 of our poetry study had the kiddos learning about imagery and they were supposed to draw the images that came to mind as I read the poem aloud to them.  What was probably supposed to be a brief 10-minute lesson turned into a 30-minute drawing session with a bit of classical music thrown in . 

All three kiddos really got into their illustrations…even ds4.  After I read the poem aloud a few times so they could develop the imagery, I put our Best of Vivaldi: The Four Seasons CD into the CD player and played “Autumn”.  It made perfect background music for their drawing session.

What’s working/not working for us…Our Heart of Dakota curriculum…I am still in love with it!

I’m reading…a bunch of freebies on my Kindle . 

I’m cooking…Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies {yummy!} and more apple goodness {mostly applesauce for the freezer}.

I’m grateful for…the overall good health of my family.

Giveaway Winners

The winners of my two recent giveaways are:

Carlito C. Caterpillar Game Card set ~ commenter #1, Karyn

Cooper and Me ~ commenter #3, Amanda

 

Both winners have been notified .

Cooper and Me {children’s book} ~ A Review & Giveaway

Cooper and Me is a sweet picture book about a little girl’s fears about her first day of school.  Cooper and Me was illustrated by 11-year old Alexa Peters and co-written by Alexa & her mother Monique Peters.
The character of Cooper is based on Alexa’s real life dog, Cooper, a labrador retriever.  And the book Cooper and Me was based on Alexa’s own personal experience with her first day of school. 

Alexa’s illustrations are vibrant and colorful and the I love the rhyming text.  Even though I am an adult…I have to admit, I love books that have rhyming text.  Rhyming words are just plain fun to read, in my opinion . 

In this story, the little girl is having first day of school jitters.  Since my kiddos have always been homeschooled they have never been fearful about this particular experience.  However, they have dealt with fears associated with embarking on a new experience, such as the first day in a new Sunday School class.

So even though they can’t exactly identify with what the main character in Cooper and Me is experiencing, they can sympathize because they have had “first time” jitters too.
I think Cooper and Me would be a fun read for any kiddo, whether they are  looking forward to {or not looking forward to } the first day of school, or  getting ready to experience a “first time” that they’re not too sure about. 

More Information
Cooper and Me is the first book in the Cooper and Me series.  This sweet picture book and the others in the series are available for purchase on the Cooper and Me website for $12.99/each.
The website also features a number of other fun and useful resources for kiddos and parents, including coloring pages that match each book in the Cooper and Me series and helpful reading guides for parents to use with each book.

Giveaway Information

I have been given one copy of this delightful hardcover picture book to give away to my readers.  If you are interested in receiving your own copy of Cooper and Me simply leave a comment on this post.
I will randomly choose one comment {using random.org} on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 10am EST.  Please be sure to leave a valid email address so I can contact you if you win. 

"Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Homeschool Mother’s Journal ~ October 7, 2011

In my life this week…The sun came back into town, yay!  But sickness also visited our home, boo!  Thankfully it’s just a cold, yay!  But the first day of a cold is spent on the couch in our house because the drainage leads to stomach upset in my kiddos…not sure why, but that’s how it works around here. 

Thankfully it seems that the worst is behind us and we can now look forward to enjoying the sunshine that’s predicted in our area for the next couple of days.

In our homeschool this week…I had planned to get three days of school in because we really needed one day of rest after our busy, busy weekend and we had a yard sale planned for Friday.  Only one day got done.  Two days were sick days for two different kiddos. 

I am inspired by…the sunshine .  I get so much more accomplished when the sun is shining, and my outlook is so much better.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…We made it to one baseball game before ds9 got sick.  He’s feeling much better so he should be able to make it to his Saturday AM ballgame. 

My favorite thing this week was…The sunshine and hanging laundry on the line after weeks of too-wet-to-hang-clothes-out weather. 

I’m cooking…two batches of apple sauce and two batches of apple crisp and now it’s time to head back to the orchard to pick up more apples .

I’m grateful for…Being a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom .  Dh and I didn’t have to stress over who was going to stay home with the sick kiddo when we woke up two days this week to sick kiddos.  

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

 I haven’t taken out my camera in a while, so I’m gonna post a picture from a while back .  A couple weeks ago the kiddos found this critter hanging out on our porch.  Dh did an online search and found that this guy was a bit far from home.  I wonder how he got this far north?

September 2011 Wrap-Up

 

It’s the beginning of October, we’ve actually been “back-to-school" since July 18th and this is my first wrap-up of the school year.  Needless to say, I’m not very good about getting wrap-ups done .  My goal is to do a monthly wrap-up ‘cause the weekly ones just come due too quickly!

So here’s the run-down of what we’ve accomplished since July…

Ds9 {4th Grade}

Math ~ He switched to Teaching Textbooks this year.  We loved our old math curriculum {Christian Light Math} and dd7 is still using it, but I wanted a math curriculum that ds9 could do independently since dd7 & ds4 need a lot of my time this year.  Ds9 is currently on lesson #29  of Teaching Textbooks Math 4…and he is loving it so far {well, at least as much as a 9-year old boy who’d rather be playing baseball could love math }.

Writing ~ We’ve also switched to a new writing curriculum this year.  Once again, we loved what we were using before but it was time to ramp it up a bit…so this year ds9 started using IEW Student Writing Intensive A.  I am not in a rush, so he is moving slowly through it.  He is currently on lesson #3 {each lesson takes 10 days to complete}. 

Ds9 was not excited when I told him it was time to add writing in to our homeschool day {we stagger subjects when we start back to school}…but he was pleasantly surprised at how much he enjoyed Mr. Pudewa’s DVD lessons .

Spelling ~ Ds9 is on Lesson #5 of Rod & Staff Spelling {no curriculum change for this subject}.  He is also completing dictation passages from our HOD curriculum about 3 days per week.

Grammar ~  Ds9 is using First Language Lessons 4 this year for grammar.  So far it’s been mostly review of information he learned in FLL3 last year.

Reading ~ I had a fourth grade reading list all planned out for ds9…but I switched our main history curriculum two weeks before we were supposed to begin so his reading list has changed {I’m coordinating reading with what we are studying in history this year}. 

So far he has read Pocahontas and the Strangers and Pedro’s Journal.  He is currently reading Almost Home.

Dd7 {2nd Grade}

Math ~  Dd7 is finishing up Christian Light Math Grade 1 and will be moving into either CLE Math Grade 2 or Singapore 2A when she’s done. 

I have to say that  I have been amazed at what the summer break has done for my little girl’s math skills.  I know they say that breaks often lead to forgotten information, but in dd7’s case, I think the break gave her time to mature a bit.

Writing ~ This kiddo loves to write.  She fills pages and pages of paper with stories and pictures and is always asking for the stapler or tape so she can keep her stories together. 

This past spring I came across a couple reviews for WriteShop Primary and it sounded like a fun writing program…one that would indulge my dd’s passion for writing.  So even though I don’t usually start a formal writing program this early in the game…I thought I’d give this creative curriculum a try.

We’re not in a rush to complete this curriculum so we’re taking it pretty slow…makin’ it fun for dd7 and I. 

Spelling ~ Dd7 is using Heart of Dakota’s spelling program which is included in our Bigger Heart’s guide. 

Grammar ~  Even though I love, love, love First Language Lessons {I have used the first 3 levels with ds9}, I decided to switch to Rod & Staff grammar this year.  It comes highly recommended by Heart of Dakota {our new history, science and more curriculum}. 

I really needed to free up some time so I could work more one-on-one with ds4 so I began looking for some subjects that dd7 could do at least partially independently.  We are almost finished with unit one and so far I have been very pleased with the switch.  Unlike FLL this is a grammar curriculum that dd7 can do semi-independently.  We do about 2/3 of each lesson orally {together} and then I choose a couple of problems for dd to complete independently.

Reading ~ This year I am using Heart of Dakota’s emerging reader plan from our Bigger Hearts for His Glory guide.  Dd7 is currently about 200 pages into The Beginner’s Bible .  Heart of Dakota’s plan has her reading about 2 short chapters every day {she reads them aloud to me}, and then orally answering a few questions to check for comprehension. 

Family Subjects

Our new Heart of Dakota curriculum Bigger Hearts for His Glory contains integrated lesson plans for History, Bible Study, Poetry, Read Alouds, Geography, Art, Vocabulary, Science and more.

Bible ~ This year we are learning about character qualities while studying the book of Proverbs.  So far the kiddos and I have spent time learning about persistence, humility, boldness and trustworthiness while memorizing five passages from Proverbs.

History ~ The kiddos and I are using a biographical approach to study American History this year using Heart of Dakota’s Bigger Hearts for His Glory.  So far we have been using A First Book in American History as our main history text and we have studied the lives of Columbus, John Smith, and Pocahontas.

One of our HOD geography activities was making a graham cracker map of the world .

Science ~ We’ve been learning about seashore life by reading through One Small Square: Seashore and doing experiments that go along with what we’re studying. 

One of our science experiments asked the kiddos to use different tools {representing different birds’ beaks} to pick up “food” from the seashore.

Read Alouds ~ We just finished up reading a biography about Phillis Wheatley, Phillis Wheatley: Young Revolutionary Poet.  Our next read-aloud is A Lion to Guard Us, which we plan to start this week.  We also just started a new missionary read-aloud: Spy for the Night Riders.

 

Wow…this turned into quite a long post.  Maybe next time I ought not wait so long to do a wrap-up post .  And I didn’t even mention what I’m doing with ds4!