The Daily Quest

When we first brought E10 home from school midway through first grade (back in January, 2005), I used to do a Question of the Day with him. We had a really fun time schooling back then (of course we still do...but we are busier now!) and things were pretty easy going. R9 was in preschool, I-7 was 2 and I was pregnant with J4.

E10 loved the challenge of reading for information and bringing it back to me. We kept the questions in a wooden canister that he painted for the task. A few weeks ago I decided it would be fun to bring it back to our homeschool and purposed to get a new box going. I retooled the name too calling it- The Daily Quest.

Supplies at the ready

Finding just the right images to represent adventure and quest seeking

The three oldest kids had a side to decorate. J4 preferred just to play with the decoupage. He finished his Molly jar from May.

I did the lid- remember...you are never too old to create!

The finished product ready for adventure. The last side of the box has some cardboard letters on it that read QUEST.

So, how does it work? Each day I put a set of questions in the box that the kids have to work on together. Today's quest was about hurricanes. The kids had to work as a team to come up with the answers. What is a hurricane? What are two other names for hurricanes and where are they used? What is the difference between a tropical depression and a tropical storm?

You can be sure I have some guidelines in place to facilitate the team building process. They must:

• Answer the questions together using reference books and websites.
• Try to avoid just Googling the answer. Use websites such as National Geographic for Kids.
• Write down the answer
• Work together without arguing or hogging.
• Everyone must write at least a little.
• Everyone will contribute to the answer at dinner time. Make sure you include everyone.
• Discuss where you can find the answers and give assignments according to age and ability.
• Work as a team.

Ok...so they are a bit redundant. I'm alright with it. At the top of the page I put The Daily Quest with the date and then I have those rules in a box at the top followed by the day's Quest. I made a document just for ease.

The kids are excited. It's all in the marketing friends. All in the marketing.

Muffin Tin Monday

We had an extra guest for Muffin Tin Monday today. Dan was home with a head cold and he got to eat his lunch from a muffin tin. As guest of honor, he received the new tin- with an autumn theme.

This week's theme is Big Top Circus...so without further ado here is our "Circus of Muffin Tin Supplies"- those 50% coupons sure do come in handy. I think I'm about all set in the muffin tin department though Christmas is coming. And the heart shapes are calling. And there are the cups with legs I keep seeing on the other blogs...I haven't received my swap package yet. Maybe there will be a fun surprise inside.

Chicken sandwich, mandarin oranges, cucumbers, chips, and a small dessert.

Muffin Tin Monday is all about the fun. It's still fun! I am feeling the call to make some pumpkin muffins in that new tin. Mmmmm....

Making Math Journals

With the new school year upon us, it was time to get our new math journals up and running. E10 and R9 were the only two doing the journals last year so I had J4 and I-7 put one together and then we added to them all.

J4's journal cover- he's a good tracer though not so much interested in the correct letter formation just yet

I-7 decided on a geometric design for his cover

A look at our categories

The journals are broken down into:

• Responses- Life of Fred work will likely go here, student response to particular kinds of problems
  
• Challenges- brainteasers and other more challenging assignments
  
• Research- assignments to investigate a mathematician or concept and the results
  
• Notes- vocabulary, directions on concepts
  
• Hands On- could be games or activities for math practice
  
• Copywork- whatever might make a nice copywork assignment or vocabulary that sort of thing
  
• Fun Stuff- puzzles, games, etc
  
• 5-A-Day Problems- these are the Math on the Level daily review problems

Some of these may turn out to be redundant for us and if that's the case, we'll just pull a few categories. The high/low game went into the Hands On section.

We are excited about math this year. Wish I'd done this years ago!

TOS Crew Review: Web Design for Kids

Web Design for Kids (and Curious Adults!) is an instructional DVD on how to use html code to create a web page.

The host of the instructional time shows kids how to use Notepad and Internet Explorer, which are found on every Windows based computer, to make a fully functioning web page hand-coded in html.

Some of the topics covered in the DVD:

• basic html code
• adding pictures
• coloring letters and backgrounds
• making text move across the screen

Brian Richardson is a middle school computer literacy teacher and he does an outstanding job of teaching you how to use the code to produce webpages. The tutorial is easy to follow and tells you step by step how to make the page. My kids enjoyed getting started with it and it'll be fun to see if I can use it to add some new pictures to my blog.

Although Blogger uses widgets so that you don't need to know html, it would be nice to easily customize things on occasion. I do not have time in my life to learn html from a huge textbook, but this DVD is very straight forward and would be fun for your kids to learn some basic html code.

Pricing:

The regular price is $40.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling. Through the summer, the DVD is available for $19.99 plus the $3.00.

In addition, a portion of every purchase is given to one of these five charities- The Smile Train, Ronald McDonald House, Childrens Miracle Network, Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, and the American Foundation for the Blind.

If coding html and doing some web page design is something you have a vision for in your homeschool, then this product would be a great start in that direction.

Weather Station and Weather Watching

We have been studying weather with our Nim's Island unit. The kids and I had some meetings over a few days to discuss exactly what we wanted to measure, where, how and how often. We tried a weather station a few years ago that bombed out because of equipment failure. It was just not designed to go the distance as you'll see below.

This year we are piecing together our weather station down at our mailbox and the kids ambitiously decided to record the weather three times a day! Currently I'm working on the data chart to accommodate that vision. They want to track it daily long term which will be fun for math and science pursuits. I'm hoping to introduce forecasting and statistics over time. We recently did a math lesson using the Beaufort Wind Scale and median which I'll share in another post.

A glance at our weather calendar- it has evolved to a workable version this year. These little pocket charts were in the Target dollar aisle. LOVE them.

Ben Franklin was a weather scientist and this book has some ideas for building a weather station and experimenting with weather. We'll be using this book and a few other resources from the list below to make a weather station.

A few years ago we got this kit complete with weather station components and a spotter's guide to weather.

The kit contents- love this kit, but I wanted something that could stay outside all the time. If we are going to be weather reporters and find out about meterology, then we need a weather proof weather station. Am I right?

Magnetic Weather Station- this one is great for preschoolers! Instead of writing they can pick out the symbols and record the daily weather with magnets. I think this might be nice way for J4 to participate in the daily routine of checking our weather station.

Book List:

• Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons
• The Science Book of Weather by Neil Ardley- this is a nice one with pictures for experiments and weather instruments
• Weather: Mind Boggling Experiments You Can Turn into Science Fair Projects by Janice VanCleave
• Scholastic Atlas of Weather- great for a fact lover
• Weather Forecasting by Gail Gibbons
• The Kid's Book of Weather Forecasting by Mark Breen and Kathleen Friestad- great book for kids on building a weather station
• Exploring Weather: 30 Amazing Projects That Teach the Wonders of God's Creation by Stephanie Finke- found it on the public library book shelf. Wow.
• Weather! by Rebecca Rupp- experiments and weather log ideas
• Weather Maps by Ian Mahaney- symbols and different kinds of weather maps
• Weather Math: Math and My World by Kiernan Walsh- Weather charts and data analysis (awesome living math book)
• Hurricanes Have Eyes but Can't See and Other Amazing Facts about Wild Weather by Melvin and Gilda Berger- perfect for the fact finding sensationalist in the family. Whenever I even look at the book, I hear the voice over narrating a crazy weather video.
  

I'm excited to incorporate weather into our nature and unit studies throughout the year. They experience a bad storm which makes the story for Nim's Island so it's a good place to begin.

TOS Crew Review: Sense and Sensibility Patterns

I was excited to try out this e-class from Sense and Sensibility Patterns. With R9 being such a little seamstress I thought this would be a fun diversion for us. Jenny at Sense and Sensibility has created patterns for period womens and girls clothing from the regency through the swing eras including the Edwardian era.

The pattern and class we are taking is for a Girls Edwardian Apron.

This class will walk you through all of the steps to successfully create your garment, including the
following:

• Selecting material
• Taking correct measurements
• Creating master pattern pieces
• Cutting out the garment
• Assembling your garment, step-by-step

The idea is to use the pattern to make the apron using an e-class format which consists of pdfs with detailed pictures and accompanying audio. You must make the pattern yourself using the instructions making sure that your printer is calibrated to the right size printing first.

So far the instructions are easy to follow and I'm eager to continue making our own apron. There's even a pattern for adults if this one turns out well.

With summer and three camping trips and life in general, our good intentions to actually produce our own apron have come up short of the review deadline!

However, I will provide a peak at R9's fabric and notion selection and I promise some updates as we make progress.

I can say, without a doubt, that this is a terrific product if you enjoy the idea of sewing projects but have trouble with the details. I really do enjoy sewing, but most of my success thus far has been with pattern free items. I just like to make it up and see what happens! Mostly this is because then I can't fail by messing up a pattern and I have some issues when it comes to spatial orientation. That's putting it mildly. The visual and auditory accompaniment to this pattern is really nice especially for someone who is a novice and/or spatially challenged. Like me.

Pricing:

• The class with the e-pattern is $24.95
• Package pattern with cover is $12.95 plus shipping
• Pattern download is $7.95
• The class if you already have the pattern is $19.95
  

Finished front

Finished back

Summer Adventures...

We took our last planned trip to go camping this past weekend and we tried out a new State Park on Lake Ontario. Southwick Beach turned out to be pretty nice though I was highly skeptical given a previous disaster at a park not far south of there. Admit it Dan. It was bad.

Camp central- our faithful LLBean Dome #6 tent kept us dry through plenty of rain all summer. The vestibule out front is the best. The bikes have been a fun diversion for the kids too. Just one left to train on a two wheeler and he is ready bell and all.

Friday we took a drive and visited some other parks to see where else would be fun to visit. The fun shapes in the sand under the surface of the lake were the only interesting/positive thing about Westcott Beach. Blech.

The light at Cape Vincent at the entrance to the St. Lawrence Seaway from Lake Ontario. The building to the right is the fog horn building. You should see the horns on the side facing the water. Wow.

Cape Vincent had a little museum near the ferry to Canada (the only one operating on the entire border between the US and Canada) and R9 thought the old sewing machines were quite fun.

We visited the DEC fishery at Cape Vincent where we saw this handsome guy...

After stopping at three more parks along the St. Lawrence River, we decided NONE of them were worth it. Until we came to Wellesley Island. It was amazing. Below is the view from one of the campsites. We picked out several we are going to try for next season maybe. With our new kayak. I'm just sayin'.

This about says it all. We had left the continental US.

This is a silly picture from the really tall two lane suspension bridge over the river on the way back to the mainland. It really looks like a thousand islands...

We stopped at roadhouse chain in Watertown, NY and visited the beach at sunset. Check out the sunset from the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. Nice, huh?

Saturday after breakfast we took a hike on the nature trail through the marsh to the beach.

The bugs were bad, it was hot, but look! The trail literally ended at the water.

We took a welcome dip.

I don't want to say anything, but if you take a second glance you'll see fall in the air in upstate NY. In August. Dan can make fun of me all he wants. I know the truth. Summer weather takes a turn about mid-August and despite the hot temps this past weekend it is true. Fall is just about upon us.

Another fun trip was had by all. I'm sorry to say the 2.1 version of the Smokilater 5000 was not finished in the test market. But palette wood sure does burn hot!

I'm sorta hoping for a fall trip, but we'll see...Nashville is beginning to beckon (MOPS Int'l Convention) and we might not be able to fit it in.

Muffin Tin Monday

This week's theme: People and Faces!

R9 had the first day of sewing class today. While R9 is taking level 2/3 sewing class (and doing terrifically I might add...) the boys and I are having three hour adventures out in town while we wait.

We arrived home and then I remembered the faces theme...hey but on a positive note while out adventuring I found silicone diamond shaped cups for $5. Woohoo! Tools for the muffin tin trade.

Hey...there's a face there!

Check out our LEGO mold...not so easy for muffins/cupcakes but it holds home made bean and ham soup like a champ!

Did you notice that I finally found the party sticks? I have been on the hunt for those since I started...Wegmans...love that store. They came through!

You can check out Muffin Tin Monday at Her Cup Overfloweth and see some way better faces today I'm sure. But really...who can pull off MTM last minute like I can?

Finished Islands

I wanted to make sure and show off the finished Nim's Island salt dough maps. We painted them outside on our deck and since we had a neighbor join us I just gave her some paper to paint with. Hey did you notice? I found something I could do with the lids to those 48 workboxes...paint palettes.

E10's

I-7's

R9's

J4's - that's one CrAzY island!

There you have it. A finished product. These are always a nice time. Soon I will share the salt dough recipe and some other salt dough resources.

For now...we are off to our last planned camping trip of the season (though you never know when the perfect weekend will pop up to just take off). I'll be back to the blogging world on Sunday!

Math Chip Game: High/Low

I'm behind on sharing with you all how we used our chips last week. I took a game suggestion from the comments on my number chip post and went with it. We played two rounds. The first round the kids got to read their number and decided whether they wanted to keep it or put it back. If they chose a second number, they had to keep it whether they liked it or not. The first round they were looking for the highest number. The second round they were look for the lowest number. I let them choose five numbers for a complete round.

This was a great activity for my second grader, my fourth grader, and my sixth grader. When the rounds were over they had to add the numbers and find their total. I-7 got his first lesson in regrouping/carrying which he thought totally rocked.

That was just a little run at it. Next time I will have E10 do an average and R9 can get her first crack at averages. Everyone can find the median which we did the other day (more on that later).

Muffin Tin Monday

About three days late...the post that is not the MTM! There was no theme this week so I did a dipping center. I put out two tins of dips to use with carrots and chips and then we had strawberry smoothies. That adventure gets it's own post.

Check out Muffin Tin Monday at Her Cup Overfloweth...it's a meal served in a muffin tin and it makes me smile.

TOS Crew Review: Grapevine Studies

Grapevine Studies is a Bible study curriculum for ages 5 to Adult. It uses Biblical timelines from the stories combined with drawing stick figures to teach the Bible. As a TOS Crew reviewer I was able to choose from Old and New Testament Overviews, Esther, and the Birth of Jesus. I chose one New Testament overview and the Birth of Jesus.

I used the Birth of Jesus with my kids just to get a feel for what a study like this might be like during Advent.


Grapevine Products and Age Categories:

• Beginner Level: Birth of Jesus, Esther and Old and New Testament Overviews
  
• Level 1 (5-7 yrs old): Old and New Testament Overviews
• Level 2 (8-10 yrs old): Old and New Testament Overviews
• Level 3 (10-13 yrs old): Old and New Testament Overviews
• Level 4 (young teen): Old and New Testament Overviews and Bible resources
• Level 5 (teen to adult): Biblical Feast and Holy Days, Esther, Birth of Jesus, Old and New Testament Overviews at level 5
• Multi-age: Biblical Feasts and Holy Days, Birth of Jesus, Esther (multi age versions)

You can order a bound book or ebooks whichever suits your needs and there are student books available for purchase. Prices range from $7.95 for the Birth of Jesus ebook to $48 for multiple bound studies for the upper levels. Check the Grapevine site for pricing details.

When you start a study you begin by going over the timeline of the whole section ahead of you. For the birth of Jesus the first lesson is an overview of everything from the announcement to Mary through Herod and the Wiseman visiting the baby Jesus.

After that the lessons go in sections so that you'll cover part of each of the larger timelines over a series of days. The lesson consists of reading a section of the Bible and drawing stick figures to represent that portion of the story. When the lesson is over the students copy the figures and then answer review questions.

Along the way there are symbols for the teacher. One tells you that the students might want to look up a word and one tells you to look on the map for a location. This helps to draw out key points as you go along.

Memory verses are included as well as plenty of vocabulary and definitions of terms.

Pros:

• thorough study of the Bible stories
• drawing helps to solidify the information
• timeline is helpful to those unfamiliar with the story
• available in both e-book and bound book
• student booklets available for some studies
• teacher can target the specific ages of her children or have a multi-age approach depending on the study
• good approach for visual learners
• fun approach for students who know little about the stories
• reasonably priced
  

Cons:

• I didn't like the idea of the overview of the entire story/section during the first lesson. For kids who know the stories, this is really redundant (as I found out doing the birth of Jesus)
• not terribly interesting for kids who are well versed in Biblical knowledge

Overall I thought this was a good program. Next time I would go for the bound book just because it can be frustrating to work from a computer when you are doing the stick figures for the kids during a lesson (when a Bible verse is done you draw the figures on a white board which they copy). I would also have liked to have seen a student booklet. I think it would have been easier to keep the lessons all together and formatted rather than having a notebook that we make.

I do think it's a strange mix of ideologies. On the one hand, my kids knew many of the details so it seems this would be much better for kids not so familiar with the Bible. But then having to stick figure the 62 generations between Adam and Jesus is not for the faint of heart! So, it leaves me wondering. My E10 didn't respond well to it because when we did the overview it was clear that they knew most of the information down to the last detail. We are storytellers here and he is on a mission to read the whole Bible. He's also inherited the amazing skill of reading voraciously and remembering everything he reads!

I think the cues to look things up and map things along the way adds dimension to the study. I think this would be fantastic for more obscure Bible stories which illustrate a concept we want to emphasize with our kids. Esther is a great start. I hope there will be more individual character stories in the future.