Category Archives: Homeschoooling

The Inventor

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Enoch (11) has always been mechanically minded. He was the type of toddler than was into everything. He's the type of kid who will expend more engery avoiding something he doesn't want to do, than it would actually involve to do said task. So I suppose I shouldn't be suprised by his latest invention.

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By the way, how cool is this triple bunk? I designed it and Chuck built it a few years back. 

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Anyway, Enoch rigged up this awesome light-turner-offer so he doesn't have to get out of bed (or argue with his brothers) about turning off the light.

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He's had it set up for several weeks.

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And it still functions perfectly.

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Enoch doesn't fit into the picture of sterotypical good student. But his brain is always active, always thinking of something. I think God has big things in store for this boy.

Survive-O-Pedia {Product Review

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The Survive-O-Pedia is our latest product that we are reviewing for Timberdoodle. I knew as soon as I saw this book it would be a hit with my kids. Seriously, what kid doesn't love to read about natural disasters, wild animal attacks and flash mobs?

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This books is full of photos, colorful artwork and small digestible chunks of information.

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I don't know any kid (or many adults) who don't love this type of book. The topics range from seriously life-saving (how and when to walk on ice and what to do it if you fall in) to slightly less likely disasters such as how to survive the Bermuda Triangle or a gorilla attack.

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I can almost guarantee that if you hand this book to your kids…

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…you living room will soon look something like this.

{I was given this product free of charge in exchange for an honest review. I have recieved no other compesation. I don't work for Timberdoodle…they haven't offered me a job yet.}

 

The Winner and Edible Cells

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The winner of the Lilla Rose give away is Anna who left this comment:

I love the Lilla Rose flexi. I see them on other blogs I follow and I've been wanting to try them out myself!

Anna please email me (bergerondozen@yahoo dot com) and I'll get you in touch with Linda. 

Thank you to everyone who participated!

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Don't be fooled by the photos- these were taken over a month ago. It's downright chilly now.

I have done a terrible job of planning activities for school so far this year. It's been bookwork heavy with very few fun projects sprinkled in. I plan to change that. I must change that. 

Here is one of the few fun projects we have done. Making edible cells. I honestly did very little prep, and the younger kids in particular would have learned a whole lot more if I would have planned better, but it was fun and making school and learning fun is an end in itself. 

Adalia, Judah and Tilly are all studying Biology this years so this was a great way to help them remember the parts of a cell. 

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The plans for this are here on the blog Spell Outloud. A great little blog if you are looking for some hands on projects or unit studies.

What are you up to these days? Please, inspire me. I need it.

 

The Seventh Week

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Instagram photo taken on my iPhone

An off hand comment by a friend this summer led me to decide to try something new this school year. Six weeks of school and one week "off". I put off in parentheses because it isn't exactly vacation week. It's a week to catch up on all those projects that get left undone during the school year, a week to re-evaluate how things are going and make changes as neccessary and a week to make six weeks worth of copies, weekly schedules and request books for our upcoming projects. 

Yesterday was day one of our first Seventh Week. We did a thourough cleaning of the living room (move furniture, vacuum cushions, return everything to where it belongs, etc). Tilly scrubbed our dining room floor, Adalia scrubbed our kitched floor and Enoch and I scrubbed the fridge (inside and out). 

Today we will tackle our utility closet, entryway and game closet. I also plan to start making copies for our next six weeks. One thing I can tell you is once again my little ones have been getting the short end of the stick when it comes to school time. I plan to have more projects and activities for them these next six weeks…maybe even a day or two a week dedicated to helping them. The older kids have been begging for more unit studies, so hopefully I will have time to get a bit organized in that department too.

I also hope to have a day or two of fun at the end of our Seventh Week with a special activity or two.

Any hot tips for you fellow homeschooling (or not homeschooling) moms?

House Swap or: the Large Family in an Average House

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Our house is 2,900 square feet. A nice size house. No matter how you look at it however, it requires some creativity to fit eleven children ranging in age from 1-15 and two adults to fit into the four bedrooms. With different personalities and special needs it's a bit like that logic game: you have a goat, a wolf and chicken and they have to cross the river in a raft one at a time…or whatever.

We have had all six girls (five since Keziah left) into the master bedroom of our house. It's worked pretty well over the years, but recently we realized that Adalia and Tilly needed some privacy…after going over every possible (and impossible) room configuration, we began a four room swap that has consumed all of my waking hours for the past week.

{Please excuse the following iPhone photos…I've been far too busy to take real pictures}

We decided to give Adalia and Tilly our room. So we moved all of our belongings down to the playroom:

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Then we (meaning Judah and Enoch of course) had to disassemble a set of bunk beds and reassemble them in the girls' new room.

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Yes, I realize that is actually a photo of Enoch of Chuck.

Next came rearranging the furniture in the little girls' room.

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Then came emptying Chuck's new office…and our new bedroom…this room happens to be 6.5 x 9 feet.

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Yes, it's a wee bit small…so small we had to ditch our futon frame so Chuck could build a custom bedframe to accomodate our bed.

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And may I pause for a moment to brag about how brilliant my husband is? He had no plan- except for the one in his head…he designed, bought the materials and assembled this in one day…

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It's cozy to be sure…I've affectionately dubbed it The Yellow Submarine…I am now debating between doing a Yellow Submarine theme in here…or painting it a robin's egg blue and going with the minimalist look…

And as a final step, I've been transforming our playroom into a Study Hall…

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This room is for my students ages 10 and up..a quiet place for them to study and do their schoolwork while the little one's hang out upstairs.

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This project is about 90% complete. We still need to set up a desk for Chuck and find a home for his office supplies…but so far it feels good.

And speaking of finding homes…I am purging my shelves of books and only keeping what actually fits in our space. This means my entryway if FULL of books free for the taking. Mostly kids books, all ones we love but no longer have room for. If you're interested in them (and local) send me an email.