Literary Camp Wrapping Up

Literary camp is finished, but my girls' love for writing is just beginning. I have been so thrilled to see Haley and Maddie write (on their own) in their journals over the past two weeks. They have worked so hard on all their projects and actually say they LOVE to write now :) It was a huge success.

We are having a literary award night, in which we are awarding a trophy for the best parody, story from another point of view, imagery piece and metaphor. The kids are going to get dressed up and walk down the red carpet! I can't wait.

I have included a couple more of the girls' projects below.

Hunter is doing great in kindergarten. He's gotten smily faces every day and his teacher says he's very attentive. His homework last week was to read a simple book at home each night. I told him that his teacher had "special" homework for him since he could read. He had to write the book each night and take a test on in on Friday. His printing has improved greatly and he almost wrote the book perfectly for his teacher on Fri. He just missed one letter in the word "mouse." He must be going through a growth spurt because he's hungry 24 hrs. a day! School is also completely wearing him out. He went to bed at 6:30 Fri. night and slept 'till after 7 :)

Maddie's State Simile

Iowa
By Maddie Nuehring

Iowa is as fun as Six Flags.
The weather is as cold as trenches in the ocean.
The corn tastes as sweet as candy.
The cornfield is as big as the Sear’s Tower.
My grandma is as good as cheese pizza.


Haley's parody:
The Dragonfly and the Bees
By Haley Nuehring

Once there was a dragonfly struggling to fly in the downpour of rain. He was blue with silvery wings and black antennas. He was searching for his love, when he came upon an astonishing castle. The king saw the dragonfly and motioned him in. The dragonfly didn’t know it was the king so he just stated, “Hi sir!” nervously.
The king was a bee. Dragonflies had been fighting with bees ever since the beginning of time. The first thing the king did was ask the dragonfly what he was doing in the rain.
The dragonfly replied, “I was out looking for a girl I loved.”
The king called to the princess and she came in. The princess was love at first sight for the dragonfly.
He asked quietly, “Is she. . . Is she m-married?”
The king laughed and snorted, “No! She is a beauty to the eyes isn’t she? Tomorrow there will be a competition to see who gets to be the loving husband of this beautiful young lady. “
The dragonfly eagerly exclaimed, “Can I be in it too?”
The king bellowed, “Of course! First, let’s find a place for you to sleep.” The dragonfly yawned.
Sleepily he recited, “I am getting a little tired.” YAWN.
The king uttered, “You can sleep in the guest room. It is located next to the princess’ room. She will show you where.” He eagerly flew up the wide, spiral staircases.
When the princess showed the dragonfly to the guest room he asked, “How old are you?” She said she was going on 21. He smiled.
She murmured to herself, “How cute!” The dragonfly blushed and turned a color brighter and darker pink than ever. The next morning he followed his nose to the smell of sizzling bacon and burning toast.
He swept down the stairs in a lively fashion. Today was the contest for his love. He was good at many things. However, he did not know what kind of contest it would be. He filled himself with bacon and orange juice, then went and put on his best suit, tie and hat.
By the time he got ready and downstairs, participants had started to arrive. The dragonfly saw the king and the king beckoned for him. He would be explaining the rules to everybody now. “Rule # 1 is no stinging!” began the king. “Rule # 2: No cheating. Rule #3: See above.” He led everyone into the multipurpose room where the competition would take place. When he reached the room he felt faint. The competition had to do with swarms of bees. He hated bees with a capital H! Of course not the princess though, she was such a cute bee! (And smart).
The king explained that they would be looking fro the bee with the chili powder in his shoe. The dragonfly was very determined. He loved the princess and at that very moment decided he would win the princess’ heart. The king exclaimed, “On your mark, get set, and go!” He waved the shiny red flag.
The dragonfly could smell the chili powder immediately when he entered the room but didn’t know where it was coming from. He flew around the room sniffing for a spot where the scent got stronger. He kept searching and searching but it was very difficult for the dragonfly. He was about to give up when the smell got stronger. He followed the strong scent and came to a bee and yelled, “I won! I won #1 place! I won the hand in marriage.”
The king applauded and presented him with the gift he had always wanted. A wife.
He was so excited he was jumping up and down crying out, “I HAVE A WIFE!”
His soon-to-be wife flew to him at full speed cheering, “I knew you could do it!’ They hugged and were declared husband and wife. They lived in the castle the rest of their lives and they were as happy as could be. The king was glad that his daughter was so happy that he took them all out to dinner and they lived a happy life. Happily ever after!

Week Full of Learning

We started a literary camp with the Carpenters this week. I've been excited for this week to come for the entire summer! One of the reasons is that I have decided to make writing a focus this year. All my kids are weakest in this area. Writing is so important in the grand scheme of things. The kids are going to need to communicate well when they continue on in their education and lives.

I am VERY impressed with the hard work and excitement I have seen with all four children this week. None of them has been particularly interested in writing in the past, but they are all starting to feel successful and enjoy it. I have included some samples of poems that my girls have written. It's pretty exciting!

The Cafeteria is a Zoo, by Maddie (metaphor activity)

When you walk into a cafeteria it stinks like monkeys.

Kids screech like parrots.

Some kids sneak out of cafeteria like a snake.

People herd in like elephants and waddle out like penguins.

When you walk in you hear A ROAR


Cars, by Haley (personification activity)

Wheels exclaimed; I want to stay here for a while I am really dizzy.
Mirrors danced when the car hit rocks which made it hop.
The engine roared as the car kept going up the steep, rocky, dirt hill.
Headlights flashed in the dark, rainy, sky and they gave of a continuous blinking bright light.
The hood waved hi every time the car hit a bump PLUMP PLUMP

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Summer Fun and Learning

We're having a great summer of fun and learning! We had our third annual "Ice Cream Palooza" on Sunday for Father's Day. We invited the Carpenters over to join us. Tom said his tummy felt so sick when he left and that he would do it again. Zoe did the best of the kids in the contest. Maybe that just means she's had more flavors of ice cream than the others??? Or, could be that she has better deducting skills.

We are doing an Advertising "camp" this week with two other families. We call it camp because two of their friends are not homeschooled. Really, though, it's exactly what we do when we homeschool (aside from Aleks and piano). The kids have really enjoyed viewing commercials (oldies from when we were kids). I think their favorites were the Tootsie Pop and older McDonalds commercials including the piano recital.

We still have a few fun projects for them to complete. They've already created a new cereal box, made a print ad for "Burp Cola," and advertised a country they were trying to "sell." We are going to make a Public Service Announcement on Thursday and watch some favorite Superbowl Commercials. Finally, on Friday they are going to turn one of their ads into a commercial. Zoe, Haley and Aiden were talking about this project in the pool yesterday afternoon. I cannot wait to see their finished product. They have some awesome ideas!

My goal for the kids is to continue to foster their love for learning. I hope they can be this excited about our units five years from now! If they are, I will know our homeschooling is a success.

Finally, Time to Post

I looked at the date of my last post and was shocked! It's been way too long since I sat down to the computer to blog.

The kids have decided they'd like to stay home again full-time next year. We are busy making up the schedule and prioritizing our activities. Haley has decided to play in the homeschool band (the flute) instead of starting violin lessons back up. It saves me a 25-minute drive each way, as well as a lot of tuition $. I think she'll have a lot more fun in band as well, since there will be other students her age. She is taking Precalculus and Spanish at the Learning Center from 11:30-1:30 next year on Tuesdays, so band just fits in nicely from 1:30-2:00 (same place/same time).

All three kids want to play basketball next year. Maddie will also probably continue to play soccer in the fall. Other than that, we are keeping the schedule open.

We are switching JET days next year so that we go on the same days as the Carpenters. This way, we can plan units together. We just finished a Greek Mythology unit. The kids deciphered a code in Greek, read and summarized Greek myths, played games and finished up with a "Hera Talk Show." It was hilarious! (ended up like a kid version of the Jerry Springer Show) :)

Next year, we are learning a lot of exciting things with our Beyond the Page curriculum! Haley will be studying poetry, energy, tall tales, literary elements, immigration and much more!

Hunter and Maddie will be working on the same curriculum and will learn all about matter, movement, community, culture and many other topics!

I'm really excited to dig in! Of course, the kids would like summer to last a little longer. LOL

"Home" Schooling

The learning center canceled classes for the day so that families could travel to Jeff City to attend a homeschooling rally. Since many of my piano students are homeschooled, I have a light day of teaching today. Haley is also home for the day. Maddie goes to school for the entire day on Tuesdays. So. . . . .we have been at home all day today. It's amazing how much I've gotten done. (even sitting down to blog) I am really realizing that we need to cut back the running around. Lately, we have been doing a lot more "car" schooling than homeschooling!

Haley is busy working on past math tests to prepare for her regional competition on Saturday. She is very excited and hoping to make it to state. We'll see. . . only the top 3 kids get to go. She'll do well, regardless, and she's very well-prepared.

Hunter has decided he doesn't like math anymore. However, he is really going to town on the piano. So. . . .each day, I ask him if he'd rather do a few math problems OR practice the piano. I do this several times a day. He's been getting in LOTS of piano practice the past few weeks! He thinks he's pulling one over on me too, which is definitely okay :)

Last week was a lot of fun. We went to the symphony on Tuesday (Maddie played hooky from school)! The conductor was very animated and a great story-teller. Even Hunter and Aiden were engrossed most of the time! Afterwards, we enjoyed lunch at Fitz's. It was a fun day!

On Friday, we went to a theatre production about the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. It was very interesting! The kids studied her in mystery camp last summer, so it really solidified what they learned.

Field Trip to China

Hunter got four Scholastic News' workbooks in the mail yesterday. He read three of them to me yesterday, and was reading the final one this morning. The topic was "China." After hearing that pandas live in China, he wanted to take a trip! We talked about how we would get there. He thought that we could just take the car and leave. I showed him on a map where it was located and asked him what would happen if we drove. He decided then, that we should swim. LOL It's really amazing how excited the kids get about every topic we study! That's the beauty of doing integrated units.

The girls had their first basketball practice last night through Upward. They had a blast! Maddie was all smiles during the entire practice. Haley has decided that she doesn't need to play soccer anymore. . .basketball is so much better :)

INDEPENDENT LEARNING!!

I am trying out a new curriculum (thanks Rachel!) called Aleks. We were able to sign up for a free 1-month trial period for all kids. It's an online program, but the unique aspect of it is that there is not needless repitition. Once you master a concept, you go on. For my kids, this seems perfect. I signed Maddie up for 5th-grade math and Haley for Algebra II. The best part I see so far, though, is that the girls can completely work independently. I haven't needed to step in for more than a couple minutes. They are motivated and LOVE the program! Both girls started at 4:00 on Monday and worked for 4 hours, until bedtime. Then, the same on Tuesday. They are now reaching hour 11 on the program. The only time they stop is when they want to show me something "cool" they learned. I am loving it so far!! The only drawback I see is that I'm not sure if it EVER comes back to topics they have covered. I'm afraid that they may not completely have a skill mastered 2 months from now. We'll see! For now, I am LOVING the break from teaching :)

Math Break

After a conversation with Maddie's JET teacher, I have decided to take a short break from math with Haley next year. Oh, don't get me wrong: we WILL be doing math, just not structured "curriculum" math. She had an awesome idea to do a budget-based math course. Haley and Maddie will have to research several different popular professions and find out the average salary. They will then have to put a budget together for each person/family. They will have to research places to live/dine/shop/etc. Since both girls are already WAY ahead of schedule as far as math courses, I think it will be fun to take a break from the textbooks. Now, I have an entire semester to plan!!! I'm planning on incorporating simple/compound interest, balancing a checkbook, and other life skills. Haley will probably also review Algebra II next year (on a much slower pace).

The Kids Start to Blog!

I saw a great idea in Family Fun Magazine last week! We have decided to implement the idea into our homeschooling. The kids have started their own blog. They started by typing up a biography of themselves. I told them that they are free to blog whenever they wish about something that we're doing in school or for fun! Check it out! I have decided not to edit anything so that we can see the improvement in their writing over the years. . .

www.heatherskidsblog.blogspot.com