Goals and snowballs

Ok so I am not quite up to speed on getting these entries done but I am getting much better.I know that yesterday I was supposed to put on our weekly goals.  Then today was supposed to be "Tasty Tuesday".  I thought that I would do a little combo. 

I will start with the "Tasty Tuesday".  We have been busy around here so I have not had much time to have some yummy treats made up.  I did get one made up today though.  I LOVE Pinterest and found this treat.  It is called Pineapple Coconut snowballs.  They are super easy to make and really yummy.  Check it out.

Now for the goals...
Myself --since Christmas we have been fighting off illness and exhaustion.  Because of that we kind of fell behind on cleaning up all of the holiday and project supplies.  I have been working on my room this week so the goal is to get it completed by the weekend.  I am always working on the kids school schedule.  Those boys of mine are always hungry to learn new things and in fun ways, so it keeps me busy on that front.  On the craft front  I have a couple of projects in the works.  Then again I always have something in the Works.  LOL

Sam -- We are working on more independent learning with Sam.  So his goals are ongoing.  We are working with him on his time management skills, so he has a new day planner.  He is still working on how to figure out how to set it up.  He is working on learning about Monet and his art.  This week he is trying to get his research paper about Lincoln done.  Plus working on the Human body and Math lessons. 

Gabe-- Oh Little Gabe he is ever the hand full.  The main goal with him is to get a little focused and not have to be on his case so much about getting the work done.  He is covering all his basic subjects as usual.  He is looking forward to Friday when we have these two little cuties joining us for a day of school.  It should be a lot of fun.

Science with Dad

Rob is a very hands on father.  With his schedule though it is diffuclt to be there for all of it, when he is though he makes sure it counts.  Recently the kids got a treat that dad helped them with some school work.  He helped Sam with some science lessons on water pressure.

The first part was to fill a container with water and put one hole in it to see how far the pressure made the water come out.

The second part was to take another container and put three holes in it to see if the pressure would make a difference on any of the holes.

They were checking the distance here. (a yard stick was laying on the ground so they could see the difference in lengths)

Well Gabe could not stay away any longer.  He wanted in on his brothers science (LOVES water).

Well dad made sure he was included.  Gabe loved this by the way he kept saying "again again" 

So that is what happens when all three of my guys get together and do some science.

Randomness

I had severel photos that I thought were interesting just not enough of them to make a post on their own so I decided to do this random post. 

First up Sam's Sentence cups.  I wrote different sentences on the cups that might be properly written.  He had to tell me if they were written correctly on not.  If they were not then he had to tell me a way to fix the sentences.  Once he did that he used his catapult to knock them over. 

Can you find Gabe?  This is the inside cover of one of our science books.  He thought that it was hilarious.

We have played lots of games.  One of our favorites right now is Guess who mix and mash.  This one was my person and Gabe kept telling me that he could see the resemblence.  Such a nice kid I have here. LOL

We have gone on walks around the neighborhod enjoying the wonderful nature that we even find here in the city.

Playing lots of music.  Gabe really gets into it, LOL.

Sam learned how to make a syphon on his own that worked.  He was so proud of it.

 Recently we started going back to the main branch of our library because they are opened on sundays and it is better for our schedule.  We had not been there in a long time because one of the reasons is that they were closed a year for renevations.  So when we went back we were greated with this amazing mural in the lobby.  The book of Einstein was Sam's favorite.

(taken by Gabe)

Of course we spent time capturing memories.

Some Simple School Project Tutorials.....

Ok so as homeschoolers we are always on the look out for new fun ideas to learn with, who of us is not looking.  The boys do the worksheets but they always want to do some active fun things. (really who can blame them)  So I thought that I would share a couple of ideas with you that I put together recently for them and show you how easy they were to make if you want to make some too. 

The first idea is something that I made for both of the boys.  Landmark blocks, I first saw the idea for it on pinterest and it linked me over here.  I thought that it was such a wonderful idea that I had to do it.  My boys love learning about the world, so much so I had to find away to make it challenging for them.  Check it out to see how I made it a little more challenging...

First gather the size of blocks that you want it to be.  These are just some old megablocks that are for ages one and up.

Once you have done that find a picture that you want to use (This is the Australian Capital building, one of the ways that I made it more challenging.  Sam knows alot of landmarks so I had to start using capital buildings)  I just printed this picture from the internet.  Once printed I used mod podge to glue it down.  Then I put a layer over the top to seal it down.

After the dried I cut them all apart.  (They are actually 2 sided to give even more of a challenge).

The problem that I have found with mod podge (which I love using very much) is that even after it dries it can still be sticky.  An easy way to fix this is spray down your pieces with clear spray paint, problem solved.

The finished blocks.  They were very easy to make and the boys love them.  Our only problem now is that we need more because the kids want some with art work and animals from around the world.  We have already used them to do grammar.  So many ideas, what will you make with them.

To give Sam a little more challenge with them I made these cards.  On the front side I wrote the country names.

The back have the pictures and info about the location. 

I placed them out like this for him and he then assembled the buildings.  Once assembled he put with what country he thought it went to.  Once he finished he flipped them over to check if he was right or not.

The next project I did was for Gabe.  It was a lesson for him to work on word families.  I have seen this idea all over the internet so I can not remeber where I originally found it sorry. 

I used a bunch of paint cards that I got from wal-mart awhile ago.

I painted word families on each card.

Then I made a chart with the alphabet and some common groups of Letters.

He then takes and runs it along the to find different words.

See they are easy to make projects and they cost me absolutly nothing. 

Coming soon

I know I disappeared for a week but I promise I am back with lots of pictures to share.  As you see we have been hard at work.  No major thing going on just our basic fun.  I will explain this photo soon too!  Till then have a good one.

How the rest of our week went!

Well my boys truly love homeschooling.  I mean most kids would right?  However for the few years that we have been doing it, it has not been easy.  With all the good moments there was just as much bad moments too.  I think though, fingers crossed, we might have actually found our groove.  My biggest problem was getting them to get all of their work done on time.  They would be so far behind.  Our schedule is 3 weeks on 1 week off, and that week off they would always spend it catching up.  About 4 months ago something clicked in them and they started getting things done daily, never falling behind any more.  I really hope that I did not just jinx us with that statement.  Oh well we will see.  Now on to the rest of our week....

Plenty of silent reading time.  Sam does plenty on his own that we do not have to put it in his schedule.  Gabe though we have to assign him something.  Then when he is done we have to ask follow up questions to make sure he got it.  As you see though we are not completly mean.  I wish that my work consisted of me curling up on the couch and reading. 

There was some sewing going on.  Sam is hiding behind the blanket because he is trying to make something for his brother's upcoming birthday.  It was the only way that he could think to hide it from him.  I can not show you a completed picture until after Gabe's birthday to make sure that he does not see it.  Gabe did make a sewing project though that I can share.  Sam's favorite country to learn about is Italy so Gabe sewed the flag for a pillow. 

Photo taken by Sam

They boys did start on the water science this week.  Along with the worksheets they have had lots of fun experiments.  Gabe is doing a taste test of regular water to see if there was any flavor. 

Sam, using an eye dropper had to figure out the size of one drop of water.  The photo below Sam is trying to build different styles of boats to see what one can hold the most before sinking.

There was plenty of pictures being taken all around.  The boys recieved this camera in the mail this week as a free gift for one of the mailing clubs that we are in.  It is not the top of the line camera but it is perfect for them to play around with, and hey it was free!

There was baking of course.  Sam recieved a donut maker for christmas and loves making his own donuts.  He brought some of these into the girls in ballet class.  He is smart, The only boy in the class and he brings in homebaked goods to the girls.  I think I am going to have some problems keeping those girls away.  Gabe did do some cooking this week to, but I am going to share that tomorrow.  Make sure to come back for that. 

Playing with play-doh. Great way to build up the muscles that are needed to write with.

We practiced grammar by playing a game of lego grammar.  Momma won, but Sam was really close behind.  Gabe, ahh he still needs ome work on that.  He will get it though.

Lots of Just Dance 3 for gym class.  The keep trying to beat mom and dad's score.  Good luck boys, you will get there.

Of course there was lots of lessons on the iPad.  Gabe is working on an art lesson here.

Sam was working on his money lapbook.  Did you know that Antartica has its own currency?  He was pretty excited to find that out.  The money is really pretty to, yup there was penguins on it.

We played monoply crazy cash with Gabe.  That kid kicked my butt.  He is a little Donald Trump in the making.  He loved it that I kept calling him money bags.  He laughed so hard that he was having problems breathing.

Look how proud he was that he was beating me.  Funny little kid he is.

Have a great day.  Check back tomorrow for a cooking with the kids (Gabe recipe)

School time

We took a little bit of an extended break around here because of the holidays.  The boys did a bit of unschooling during that time but were missing the structured lessons that I give them.  Needless to say they were pleased to get back into the routine this week.  On Monday they started their lessons before 8, they were a little eager to get going.  LOL. 

They started practicing music on the iPad.  We got the Dr. Seuss band for an app and is fantastic.  The kids are having alot of fun with it (Husband is too!)  If you see right below Gabe's hand there is a line of circles that has all the notes on it.  They can play their own songs or songs that are offered on there.  If you do not have this app I highly recommend it.  It cost only a couple of dollars.

Practiced penmanship by writing out postcards to family.

Worked on a short story (He was hiding from his brother so he could concentrate)

Built with legos as a life skill.  Gabe worked on it as a way to follow directions.  Sam actually worked on rewriting the directions so that there would be no pictures as a way of giving clear directions.

We started in with water science.  Of course we had to start with the sink or float experiment.    Sam stayed at the counter to write in the results while Gabe waited eagerly at the tub to drop in the item.

There was also some arts and crafts.  With Story of the world the boys learned about the conquistodors and made mask of them.  Sam is in the top picture and Gabe is right below.  If you look closely at Gabe's he is sticking his tounge out, always trying to be funny!

So that is what we have been up to so far this week.  Hope that the rest of the week goes smothly as the begining.. 

Make sure to check out the Mathblaster Giveaway, there is only a few more days to sign up for it.