It's Almost That Time Of Year! (And My New Cloffice!)

Next week is 4th of July, so that means one of my favorite times of the year is almost upon us! Although school won't resume for most families for another month or two, back-to-school supplies will start hitting the shelves in about 10 days! Woo Hoo!

Yes, we homeschool, and we try to do some sort of schooling year 'round, but who says we can't be excited by 10 cent notebooks and fabulously decorated folders of puppies and Spiderman? I mean, what other 80's kid used to drool over Trapper Keepers?

http://mentalfloss.com/article/52726/history-trapper-keeper

Personally, I love it! Not only the cheap prices, but the demarcation of a new year and a new do-over. It's like January 1st in homeschool land! 



This is when I get to look over the past year and see how I can correct any oversights in the coming one. I can review my priorities for each child, and also review my spaces/materials/curriculum to make sure that I'm providing the best learning environment for my students. Aaand since our main curriculum choice of Heart of Dakota is based on Charlotte Mason teaching methods, it means I get to review, and shop for, fantastic literature!!

We have had a record-setting summer thus far in terms of sunny days and warm temps. In coastal Alaska, that means that you spend every possible moment outside; hiking, berry picking, gardening, sightseeing, home repair-ing, etc. I am grateful to say that the residents of Wildwood Cottage have done just that! And now we're exhausted.

So, I am thrilled to be spending this gray, rainy day here:

Cheesy name, but I love the functionality!

I am going to camp out in my new 'cloffice' and revel in spreadsheets, book lists, and homeschooling blogs until my eyes cross, or until 3 year old Little Brother needs to go potty. Did I mention that we're in the throes of potty training? Man, I forgot how much my productivity goes down during potty training...

I will post more about my curriculum plans, hopes, and dreams later, but in the meantime, I would LOVE any recommendations or links to your favorite homeschooling treasures!

Blessings,
Hillary At Home

**PS-Don't forget to think of Operation Christmas Child when you pass by those bins of crayons and notebooks! Those make fantastic shoebox gifts!**

Homestead Holidays-Our Thanksgiving Week Plans

Yes, I should have posted this by last week to give you a heads' up in case you were tempted to gather some of these great materials for yourself. All I can say is "I'm sorry", and hopefully you can still work some of these treasures into your Thanksgiving festivities and schooling.  So, here is the day-by-day plan for the Thanksgiving unit our family is enjoying this week. I pray you will enjoy them, too!
(side note: I put an asterisk * next to all the freebies)

Monday 
Story: Cranberry Thanksgivin
* Make Cranberry Sauce
* Read Ch 2-8 in Stories of The Pilgrims by Margaret B. Humphrey (read free online!) while coloring
Thanksgiving themed color pages
* Read the poem "Thanksgiving" by Lizella Moorer
* Sing "We Gather Together"

Tuesday
Story: Samuel Eaton's Day and Sarah Morton's Day (compare/contrast)
Illustrate the booklet for the poem "We Thank Thee" (and read the poem aloud!) found in Scripture Adventures' Give Thanks  download
*Sing "Count Your Blessings"
*Read ch.15-20 of Stories of the Pilgrims
Make Pies for Thursday's Feast!

Wednesday
Story: Turk and Runt (a hilarious family favorite-especially if you use different voices for the characters)
*Make Rocking Turkey craft from this free Thanksgiving Activity Pack
*Sing "Over The River And Through The Woods"
*Read ch. 26-30 of Stories Of the Pilgrims
*Watch "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" (a little bit of education in the second half, but this is more about the family tradtion!)
More food prep for the feast!

Thursday
Eat, give thanks, and read ch. 32 of Stories of the Pilgrims. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Be thankful in all circumstances, 

for this is God's will for you 

who belong to Christ Jesus.

1 Thess 5:18 NLT

Blessings,

Hillary At Home

                 

Now You Can View Last Week's Webchat On Demand!

For those of you who missed the webchat last week, you can now view it here!

There is a bit of a time delay between the audio/visual, so I would recommend just turning off your monitor and listening if that annoys you like it does me :)  Don't worry, it's not all just me talking about my own ideas; there were a lot of great ideas and comments posted during the chat that I read aloud for all to hear.  It's about 30 minutes long, but the great thing about On Demand is that you can listen to it in increments-perfect for the busy homeschooling Mom and Dad! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh3joLYCJBc

Blessings to you and your homeschool,
Hillary At Home

Homestead Reminder! Live WebChat Tomorrow!!

Howdy everyone! Well, today we're bustling about like crazy because it's our twin babies' 8th birthday. (Seriously?! It truly does seem much shorter than 8 years. sigh.)  Anyway, in the midst of our celebrating, I wanted to take time out to remind you of the live webchat I am doing for the Homeschool Channel tomorrow.  You don't need anything special to participate; just a keyboard and good questions for suggestions (or a teachable spirit if you're looking for new ideas!).  I, on the other hand, have to try to get myself all purtied up. lol  The topic will be "Spring Cleaning Your Curriculum: What To Keep and How To Store It."

Just log on to the Homeschool Channel's main page, and look for the directions to the chat.  It will be at 11:30 am Alaska time/2:30 pm Central.  I hope to hear from you!
Blessings,
Hillary At Home

Homestead Review- "Frontier House"

I recently was able to check out a copy of "Frontier House" from our local library. For those of you who are not aware, this was a reality-type show that PBS produced for five months in 2001.  You can read more about it via wikipedia here, but the main premise is that 3 families of different backgrounds take a stab at re-creating a homestead during the year 1883.  They participate in a wagon train (only 2 days long) to get to Frontier Valley in gorgeous Montana, and then they must establish a homestead and prepare enough supplies to get them through a Montana winter. At the end of it all, their efforts are graded as to whether or not they were likely to have survived.

This was a fascinating (and I'll admit, addicting) show!  I learned so much about the homesteaders' life via these six episodes. These are the nitty gritty comparisons you don't get to see while reading Laura Ingalls books.  The families all get in touch with their survival skills, work ethic, and food chain during this time, and it's especially intriguing to see the transformation of the 21st century children and teenagers.

As much as I loved this show, and plan to show it to my children as part of our pioneering study, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it without some disclaimers.  I am afraid that even PBS puts in their fair share of  reality show drama. While a lot of it is fueled by the drive to survive in these tough circumstances, they do focus a lot of time on in-fighting and the demise of one of the marriages. It's really quite sad, and while it's not filmed in an uber-trashy format, I just don't feel comfortable with my younger children having to vicariously go through that tragedy.  Also, there are a couple of scenes where the adults and women address adult issues (mainly contraception practices and menstruation) that are interesting for grown adutls, but are not age appropriate for young ones.

SO, with all that, you will find, below,my episode-by-episode review that I recently shared with my friends.  While I do feel that this is a very valuable teaching tool that should not be overlooked, I want to give you a heads' up before diving in. With all viewing material, the best practice is for parents to watch it first as much as possible, but I am all too aware that there are times that you don't have that allowance and often just pop the disc in and hope for the best.  In that case, be sure to read my review below :)


Episode 1: Great intro and shows all their training for the project.  The only sketchy part is when you see all the adults sitting around the table with a dark background.  They will be discussing contraceptive practices of the era. It's interesting, but you may want to watch that on your own...Also, when you see all the ladies sitting around in a cabin, they will be discussing the sanitary practices for menstruation...

Episode 2: So interesting. Teaches about the wagon trains and the dangers of.

Episode 3 and 4: While the wedding is sweet, and it's neat to see the groom and his dad getting the cabin ready for the bride, it's full of in-fighting and drama with the other families. I will probably just skip these episodes or skip to the wedding part. It's too bad because these episodes are also full of the day-to-day living practices of the era. Unfortunately it just gets kind of catty and snarky.

Episode 5: Super neat! It's all about the kids and how they establish the one-room schoolhouse.  Definite 'must-watch' with the family!

Episode 6: The wrap-up. They have a harvest fare, and get ready for winter. They are graded on if they would've survived. Then it shows them after leaving 2 months later, and how they feel about the 21st century after having lived on the frontier. It's kind of sad that one marriage does end up separating, so I don't know if you'd want to show them the last family's review (the Glenn family).  However, it is really neat to see the children's changed perspectives in regards to material posessions and work.


Blessings to you and your homestead!
Hillary At Home

Live Webcast From My Homestead- Wednesday, May 11th!

Happy Wednesday to you!  I am excited and honored to be hosting a live web-chat next week on the Homeschool Channel !  The topic will be:
"Spring Cleaning Your Curriculum: Deciding What to Keep And How To Store It".  

Please plan to join in and share your ideas or questions in this area. I will not pretend to be an expert, but I think that it will be a great round-table (round-monitor?) discussion to gain help and inspiration!  Please help me get the word out by posting this in your homeschool groups, blog pages, facebook, etc.

Time:  May 11th at 2:30 central time and 11:30 Alaska time

How:  Go to the main page at the Homeschool Channel to be directed to the broadcast and chat.

I hope to chat with you soon!
Blessings,
Hillary At Home