Our Classroom Mascots

November 10, 2007

Reluctantly, we had to get rid of our previous cat that we had adopted. He was a male Tabby, Spike. We adopted him from a no-kill shelter. He had many issues that our family couldn't take anymore. We put the inevitable on hold. Praying about it and waiting for our daughter, Coco to give us the OK. He became more aggressive and neurotic. We finally had to explain to her that he needed to go. We explained to her that we tried to love him the best we could but he just wasn't willing to return the affection. God provided a great learning opportunity in this.

About three weeks later we adopted to kittens. Two brothers from a very affectionate home with a mother who loved and cared for them. They are so lovable and the difference is like night and day. Our daughter Coco says it was hard for our old cat, Spike because he was an abandoned kitten and lived at the shelter. The kittens we have now had a mother that cared for and loved them. She is so right. Here are few pictures of our two rascals...

More about our Mission Study

November 3, 2007

I'm actually posting this a week later. After the kids were sick two weeks ago I ended up getting a sinus infection. My head was so stuffy and it was quite painful. We still managed to do school even if it was from my bed. The kids enjoyed it and asked the following Monday if we were going to be doing that again. Here are some photos from our California study on missions and Halloween snapshots of the kids.


Here are the kids pumpkins that they carved. Baba had the most fun. He wanted to save all of his seeds to replant them for next year. Sadly, each year I keep forgetting to plant seeds in the summer. One year I did it with the kids our pumpkins were huge. Hopefully, this year I will make a better point to do this.






Here are the two boys in their costumes. Coco was too sick to join in the fun at church that night. I stayed home with her. We watched movies and ate candy. I was too cold that night for a young girl with a terrible cough. Baba's costume will come in handy when we study Lewis and Clark in a few weeks. I will have to save this costume for Baba's kids one day.

For our California Mission study I had the kids build a model in conjunction with a report. They chose San Juan Baptista Mission. I opted to get a package model from the craft store. I am so glad I decided to do this. Less stressful and with the kids being sick it was a quick project. Here are a few photos.

We added sand to the paint for the walls. It help give it more texture. Just the two older kids worked on this project.

Chip also wrote a report about the San Juan Bautista Mission. We added a board with pictures from our trip to the mission too. Coco wrote a report on Father Serra.

Next week we will be learning about the California Gold Rush. Here is a list of books:

- Mission San Juan Bautusta by Allison Draper

-Father Junipero Serra by Sarah Bowler

-How they Lived a Mission Padre by David Stienecker

-Nine for California by Sonia Levitin

Home with Sick Kids Today

Saturday October 27, 2007

Today is the second day we have had to take it easy. We were suppose to be out of town this weekend with friends to a cabin nearby. Sadly, we had to cancel yesterday. All of our three little ones are fighting sickness right now. A lot of it is due to the unhealthy air we have been breathing as a result from the widespread fires throughout Southern California. The smoke is thick and disgusting. Even though it is not black as in nearby San Diego we can still smell it here. All week we have had sinus headaches and watery eyes. Our two older kids have had high fevers. God willing this should pass soon as well as the terrible smokey air soon.

Here are some pictures from a field trip we went on Thursday. We went to a nearby California Mission, the San Gabriel. This is our third Mission our family has toured. This one was special because it was led by a docent in the company of friends.

The San Gabriel Mission was founded in 1771. It was the fourth Mission built along the California coast. For those that aren't familiar with the California Missions. California was once owned by Spain as well as many of our states today in the southwest. Spain had also owned what is today modern Mexico. Spanish explorers came here in search of valuable spices and later gold to bring back to Spain. Years later Spanish priests were sent here to convert native Indians to Catholicism and to teach them Spanish and Arts and Crafts. Missions were built with the Indians help for the Priests to travel as well as the trading of goods. There are 21 missions in all.

I wasn't able to get a picture of the inside of the church. The lighting was too poor. I did manage to get a picture of the baptistery. The copper bowl that is shown here was a gift from Spain in 1771. It is hand hammered and it is still used today. The small hole off to the right corner is where the holy water left from the baptistery is eventually drained through an underground aqueduct. Our docent mentioned that holy water must be properly disposed never just dumped out. The flooring is original as well. It is the same flooring once stepped upon by the friars and padres of long ago.

This is the tanning area located in the large courtyard. Traders and buyers traveled by ships from the east coast to the US to purchase leather and leather goods from the Missions of California.

There are four large cisterns in the courtyard that were used to make candles and soap. They have a total capacity of 2,686 gallons. At one time the San Gabriel Mission supplied soap and candles to most of the other missions.

After touring the courtyard, extensive historical museum our group ate lunch. My daughter, Coco complained that she wasn't feeling good. Little did I know that all the children would be sick in bed the next day. I hope all of you stay well during this cold season. May God bless you with a great week. Next week we will be building a California Mission model as well as learning about the Natural resources from our state.

The books we read this week are:

-The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman

- California from Exploration to Statehood by Edna Ziebold

-San Juan Bautista by Allison Draper

-G is for Golden by David Domeniconi

Learning the 50 States

We had a busy week with co-op and a field trip to a nearby pumpkin patch.

Here is a picture of the kids with their pumpkins. It was a nearby very small Heritage farm owned by the Historical Society. We got a ride around the farm on a wagon . We were expecting a hay ride but sadly there wasn't any to be found on our ride. The kids got to hold and see some adorable new baby chicks. They were just three days old. My daughter, Coco begged to take one home with us for a small price of $3.25. I explained that she would need to talk to Daddy about this one. After taking a walk around the farm the kids got to select and decorate a pumpkin to take home. It was a nice field trip for the fall season.

We also hosted co-op this week in our home. It was a small group. We normally have four families with 12 kids. One family has taken some time off and the other couldn't make it this week. Small is easier to manage but we can't wait to see our friends next week for our California Mission tour.

For co-op the kids learned where North America is located on a map. What oceans and other countries are nearby. They labeled the 50 states. Here is a picture of them labeling each one. Since this was an introduction if they needed help they got to look at a map in a book for help. We sang songs and the older kids then labeled the state capitals while the younger ones made sugar cookies in shape of the USA outline. We played more games to match each state to what they are famous for or what is found there. (One of the KONOS activities).

Here the kids are decorating their cookies. After the kids decorated and ate their cookies they worked on USA puzzles both large and small.

I think the kids had a lot of fun at co-op. It was hard for many because this is their first time hearing about the states. I'm sure as we get deeper into this study it will become much easier. My oldest, Chip is having fun with this unit already. He already knows where the 50 states are located on a map thanks to his love for Baseball. Now I am challenging with him learning the capital for each. Coco who is in second grade I will have her learn each of the 50 states and to locate them.

Here is a of the books we read this week:

-A is for America by David Scillian

- This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie

-Stories of our American Patriotic Songs by Lyons

Next week we begin a four week unit on California starting with the missions. I will post pictures next time our California Mission model the kids will be making. Have a great week! God's blessings to you!

States and Regions Week 1

It is a crisp Autumn day this morning. The air is clear and the weather is good. We had a small amount of rain late last night into this morning. Rain is a good thing for our dry state right now.

I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler temperatures this time of year. This week we began our next Konos unit of Cooperation: States and Regions. This shall be a good and challenging one for our family. All of us need help in Cooperation currently. We are still learning how to work as a team rather than as individuals.

Our first major project for this unit was to create a large map of the U.S. This was no small task. My hubby picked up a large 4 ft x 8ft board from the local lumber store. He found one that was all white on one side and was thin. Not your typical plywood variety. This was a big help for us since we didn't have to prep it. Next, my husband and Chip drew a grid on a copy of a USA map and transferred a larger grid onto the board.


The next day, was the difficult task of drawing each state onto the map using the grid as a guide. After a short time Chip got the hand of it. It was a bit too challenging for Coco. She helped with a few of them but became frustrated. I gave her the job of erasing and taking a rag to wipe of the eraser messes. This task took us two days to complete.

After each state was drawn out I went over it with a black sharpie. I only had one sharpie. Chip tried to help out but accidentally drew on a grid line instead of a penciled state line. As you see in the picture Illinois and Indiana are now divided into two. Sadly, I became frustrated and upset with Chip instead of brushing it off and saying to him that paint would hide it. I'm hoping I can better guard my tongue next time.

We spent the rest of the day on Thursday painting each state. This was a time consuming frustrating task. I don't know if any of you have painted a large project with little ones. They had paint everywhere. On themselves and all places around the board. They would step into the paint and track it from state to state. Just like little puppy mud prints all on a clean floor.

Then there was the challenge of the wind that we faced that day too. We were just about finished with our painting when a gust of wind blew a bunch of dirt and brown grass on to our map. Ugh!! We tried to cover up the mess with more paint.


Here are some final pictures of our map. The things we learned from this endeavor was we are not professional map makers. There will be plenty of messes with kids and paint. All of us need to relax, cooperate and have fun learning. Maybe we can put these new observations to the test next week as we label the mountains, rivers and states next week. Lord willing, we shall see.

Here are the list of books we read this week. Sadly, we spent most of time mapping and less time reading.

- Tulip Sees America by Cynthia Rylant

- The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller

Read portions of:

-The Klutz Wacky Atlas: Crazy stuff about the 50 States

- Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America by Lynne Chenney

Here is a messy paint face to leave you with this Saturday Autumn day with....

Frontier Unit Wrap Up Party

On Sunday September 30th we hosted our Frontier Harvest Party. I will share with you some of the highlights and happenings of our day.

Since the party was at 12:30 on a Sunday afternoon, wehad lunch right a way to fill those empty hungry tummies. We had fried chicken, potato salad, green salad, fruit, rolls and lemonade. After lunch, the kids did their presentations. Chip talked about the different homes that people lived in and shared a Bible verse from memory. Coco shared about the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Baba played a quick tune on his homemade fiddle.

Then it was time for watermelon spitting contest. I couldn't beleive it would be so difficult to find a watermelon with black seeds in it. Not that many stores carry seeded watermelons. Luckily, my Mom found one at a store. The kids did a great job spitting their seeds along the sidewalk. We kept track of the winner

After spitting seeds the kids tried their skills at jumprope. We timed to see who was the longest jumper. For the little ones who needed help we taught them how to skip rope. It was a hot California day. This didn't stop the kids from jumping though.

Once the winner was found in the jumprope contest, the kids participated in hoop rolling. Our driveway has some bumps in it from tree roots; this helped the hoops travel far.

After the hoops had rolled and the winner was marked down we had some yummy dessert. There was pumpkin and apple pie. Then it was time for a game of Blind Mans Bluff. I changed it to be "Prairie dog." The blind person was trying to locate their lost prairie dog. The blind man was alowed to say prairie dog and the kids would bark in response. No injuries were reported of stubed toes or scraped knees.

Once all the prairie dogs were located the kids had fun dunking their heads in the cool water for their chance to get an apple. This was messy, but cool fun. My daughter was so desperate to grab one that she just about climb into the tub to try. It was so hard for her and others who had missing front teeth. I had to teach them a trick to grip the apples stem.

Yummy Victory!!

Awards were handed out. Here is a
picture of our winners.

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Here are some group shots.... If you are a fellow homeschooler I hope you try this unit at home. The kids had so much fun at the wrap up party. It is a favorite around here to finish our units with a bang. It gives the kids a chance to show off what they have learned and for others to have some food and fun. The unit we begin next week is States and Regions. Lots of fun projects and food stuff to share with you in the weeks ahead. Take care and God's blessings to you on this fall day!

P.S. Clean up was a snap for the frontier folks that day. Two of my little ones wanted to climb into the metal tub for a quick cool bath. (Smile!)

Frontier Crafts

September 29th 2007

I can't believe that we have just finished our sixth week of school. My how time flies when you are having fun. Yes, we have our share of challenging days. We have been hit especially hard with them this past week. I have had to take time out to clip and prune problem areas that I have seen in myself and with my children. It is so easy for us to find fault or to see character defects in our children but when God sheds His light on us we begin to see ourselves as well. We have really working this week on our reactions. We have no control over how others may treat us but we do have control in how we respond.

This is our last week on the Konos unit Resourcefulness: Frontier Life. There just is so much to do in this unit that we could probably go on for another one but next week we will be out of town. We are tagging along with my hubby to Monterey for a work related conference. The kids and I will do some sight seeing and some mild school work.

This week our focus was frontier crafts. We made homemade soap, quilting, made a musical instrument and a Jumping Jack wooden doll. Here are some pictures and how to.

This is a simple craft we found in a book called A Pioneer Sampler by Barbara Greenwood. Take a large can. Use a hammer and nail to make one hole at the bottom of the can. Tie a string. Measure and cut. Secure with a knot at the can end and the other with a pencil. You are now ready to play your homemade fiddle.

The next craft I had my oldest son make. The idea came again from the book The Pioneer Sampler. We made patterns for a Jumping Jack doll on a piece of white scratch paper. Then we took those patterns and traced them on to a thin sheet of wood such as balsa wood. After each piece was cut. I helped my son drill a hole into each one. We then used a brad to attach each piece together. After each piece was put in it's proper place it looked like a jointed puppet. A short string was cut to attach the left/ right shoulders together and the same was done for both legs. A long string was attached to the upper and lower string. I will have to post another picture next time for all to see.

My daughter learned to make a nine patch. I had her trace nine pieces and cut them out using a 4 x4 cardboard square. I pinned and traced the sewing lines. She sewed them altogether. Here is her first finished square.

You can tell she loves the color purple.

We also made homemade soap this week. I was a bit lazy. I ended up buying a kit from Michael's craft store. The soaps were very easy to make and they even had stamps to make a design on each bar.

We had a fun and busy week again. Tomorrow we will host an old fashion Harvest Festival here at our home. The kids will be able to present the stuff they have learned and show off their projects too. We will also have food and games for the kids. I will post more later. I should have plenty more pictures to post. I'm looking forward to snapping some pix of the kids bobbing for apples.

The books we read this week are:

Dandelions by Eve Bunting

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Trouble River by Betsy Byars (Chip)

Kirsten goes to School-An American Girl Book (Coco)