God makes learning so much fun. Our science curriculum, Considering God's Creation is taking us on an expedition through space. Tonight at dinner Daniel uttered his desire to travel in space for the first time to this praying mother's ears. This video, provided by Fox News, documents well the recent mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis as well as future endeavors of N.A.S.A. They fill in with a great amount of detail on fuel weights, miles per hour, and the like. It truly is fascinating. Somehow, they're even able to capture a sense of the power exerted by the shuttle and it's rockets during the takeoff process. Take about 10 minutes and enjoy!

Our school goes year around. We began in June this year, and have already had two exciting breaks, one in August (TN and AK) , and one in October (our annual camping trip with Mary Lee,) and one right now, in fact! If you're curious about the curriculum we're using this year I've listed it on the side.

Daniel is supposed to be in first grade, but because homeschooling is such a beautiful thing (and it is!) we began him at Grade 1 level last year. While he is able to handle 2nd grade material this year, we find that skills such as penmanship are still very 1st gradeish. In addition, we felt like we could take our time finishing up 1st grade materials from last year, and so there is some carryover.

Bethany is in 4th grade. We are firming up her math skills before really tackling 4th grade math. So, Saxon 3 is our primary math, but we supplement with an older Bob Jones 4th grade textbook. Also, one day a week I use a grade 4 MCP Math workbook, as it just approaces Math from a different perspective. It has a lot of word problems and some really challenging mental math. Bethany is much better at Math than she thinks she is. When we tackled fractions, and when I was teaching U.S. Customary Measurement I taught Bethany and Daniel together.

Then there are the shared subjects as well as our many Read-Alouds:

We just finished, The Family Under the Bridge. Before that, A Door In the Wall. We love those night time reading sessions.

We love to do Science together. Our primary Science is Considering God's Creation. It has a lot of hands on projects, and is very Bible centered. Last year we used Apologia primarily, and will still use it this year along side CGC.

History is a carryover from last year, and we're really enjoying that. Beautiful Feet chooses some excellent literature, so we decided not to hurry.

In January, we plan to begin a countries and cultures study using several resources but first on our list each day is Bible, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Lest I forget: We love to read daily out of Every Day Graces by Karen Santorum. It usually fits well during lunch.

Our days are full & the list tells it all. Even though we are beginning our 5th official year in homeschooling, I am STILL an organizer in training. By God's grace and for His pleasure I am always striving higher in this area as it just seems to make things go better in all areas including homeschooling. Hope you enjoyed this explanation of what we're doing.

We're still in the process of completing Beautiful Feet's primary edition of Early American History. Though we began this study at the beginning of last year, it's been worth taking our time in going through their great selection of literature.

During our study of George Washington, I was able to find this commentary-styled audio story. It's always nice to find a new way to get the great stories across.

We're enjoying a leisurly stroll through the remaining portion of our history curriculum from Beautiful Feet Books, Early American History. We just completed the life of Benjamin Franklin and events such as the Stamp Act and the Boston Tea Party. I decided we needed to change things around just a bit, and stage a re-enactment. King George III was hot under the collar when he discovered how many crates of tea were dumped into the harbor to the tune of what I am told would be 1 million dollars worth of tea at today's value. I think he had other plans for the tea and especially the dough that would come from selling the tea.

Now, if you were from Boston, the word party would sound like.... what I think this picture looks like!
Go ahead and guess.You guessed the word _ _ _ _ _ ( Please fill in the blank. Remember, this is SCHOOL!) You're right! Daniel looks like he's having a good time - at the party!

Yes, we had a Boston Tea Party. The best part was setting it up. The kids gathered their favorite animals and people and we placed them around the tub. We forgot to dress up like Indians, but we did rip open some gallon tea bags to toss in the tub.

May I go ahead and confess they both were permitted to drink tea out of the bathtub? I know, "Yulk!" My thoughts exactly. Trust me, I discouraged it, but their persistance paid off. Honestly, they had a blast and I did too.

If anyone is reading this, you may pray for me, teacher Mom in choosing a math curriculum. There are reasons we're not using some, and the reasons seem to be varied making it difficult to choose what we should use. I think I'll be making a trip to the Resource Center on Wednesday to do some parousing!