It's official!

We are officially on Christmas vacation!!! Yay!!  We tied up some loose ends this week.  We completed our study of China.  We finished reading a biography about Eric Liddell.  The movie Chariot's of Fire was based on his life.  He was a fantastic runner, but more importantly he was a missionary to China.  We will start our new Bible study in January.  Justin and Megan only have two more chapters in the math book to complete.  The new book is on it's way.  We had a great time making gingerbread houses today.

Justin and Megan hard at work!

Justin's gingerbread house.

Megan's gingerbread house.  Here's a close up of the deer in the front yard.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

5 more days!!!

Yay!!! Only five more days until Christmas vacation.  We are all ready for a break!  I hope to tie up some loose ends this week.  We'll finish China and be ready to move on to Mongolia when we return.  We finished the book we were reading for Bible, so I'll be ordering the next book in the series to start when we return.  By the end of next week, we'll finish chapter 28 in math with only two more chapters to go.  I'll be ordering the next book over the Holidays.  We have a few more Christmas projects to work on this week and that's it!  Christmas break here we come!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Ooops!

I completely forgot to update the blog before Thanksgiving and I almost forgot about it this week also.  I'm taking an online class to keep my certification up-to-date and it's taking a lot of time.  Thankfully, it will be over this Tuesday.  Yeah!  (but first I have to complete my final project...yuck!) 

We're still in China.  I hope to finish up before we go on Christmas break.  Justin and Megan made a sketch of a Chinese pagoda.

We have been working on some Christmas crafts and other projects for the Holidays.  I can't tell you exactly what we're doing because it will ruin the surprise!  We have two more weeks until we take some time off for Christmas.  It's hard to believe that about half of the year is over. 









We are enjoying our study of China.  This week we went to China Chef and ate Chinese food.  We had Sesame Chicken, Pork fried rice, and an eggroll.

The fortunes inside our fortune cookies were..."A journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step."  and "If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before."  (Had to laugh at that last one.)  Megan and Justin completed several art projects.  They made Tangram puzzles and cutting paper patterns.  Both were more difficult than you would think.

I found a website that would give you a Chinese name.  Megan's Chinese name is Ran Muguang and she was born in the year of the snake.  Justin's Chinese name is Ran Jiaoxu and he was born in the year of the dragon. 

Megan brought her team's tournament trophy to show us.  We are very proud of her!

Short week!  Hooray!  We're all glad to have a little break.  Despite the fact that we had a short week, we still managed to get some work done.  On Tuesday, Megan told us about her trip to Tennessee.  She visited a state park and had fun hiking and looking for rocks.  She also went to a museum.



We continue with our unit on China.  We started using a new book "Geography Through Art".

Today Megan and Justin made a sketch of the Great Wall of China. 

Did you know that the Great Wall is 4,000 miles long?  WOW!  We are enjoying our study of China. 

Congratulations!

Hooray for Megan!  She made the All-Stars soccer team for the 9-10 year old division!  Not too bad for a "first timer"!!

As a service project, Megan and Justin each prepared a box for Operation Christmas child.  On Thursday, we went to the Dollar Store and Wal-Mart and had a great time shopping for the children.  We bought toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, crayons, markers, candy and some other small toys.  We topped the boxes off with "Happy Meal" toys that I have been saving over the years.  Megan prepared a box for a 2-4 year old little girl.

Justin prepared a box for a 10-14 year old boy.  I printed out a tag for our boxes, so I hope we can track them. 

We will be starting a very long unit on China next week.  Today, we made Chinese dragons and read Yeh Shen (a Chinese version of Cinderella).  We also watched a segment of "Wild China" on Netflix. 

Ordinary days

I'll call this post "ordinary days" because that's what we had this week.  Sorry no pictures.  Let's see...I'll try to go subject by subject and give a short summary of what we are doing.  For Bible, we're using a book by Apologia called Who is God? .  We are on lesson 8 "Will God meet all my needs?"  It offers a Biblical worldview of God and truth.  There are only 10 lessons in this book, so I will need to order book two soon.  For math, we are using Math-U-See Delta which is a study of division.  Justin and Megan are on chapter 24.  There are only 30 chapters, so we will need the next book soon.  (epsilon-fractions)  For grammar, we are using a program called "Easy Grammar".  Right now, we are learning about verbs.  This is the first year I have used this program and I haven't decided if I like it or not.  I use a curriculum by Sonlight for science and history.  The Human Body is the focus for science.  Right now, we have been reading about hair and nails.  Sonlight is a history based literature program, so alot of our day revolves around history.  This year is actually more of a culture study than history.  We are learning about different countries, cultures, and religions of the Eastern Hempisphere.  Right now, the focus is North and South Korea.  Throughout the week, we also cram in some independent reading, writing, typing, art, and music. 

Have a great week, everyone!

Ok, I'll hurry up with the academic stuff to get to the fun stuff.  We did a lot of reading this week and math and grammar and science and history and writing and typing etc.  Now to the fun stuff!  On Friday, we had the opportunity to spend the day in God's wonderful creation!  Oh, and as a bonus, Angie (Megan's mom) was able to go with us!  They met at our house at about 9:30am and we headed to Willard Farms.  We arrived at the farm at around 10am.  Megan and Justin took off to the playground!  I took a few pictures, but they really do not do the place justice.  You cannot understand the magnitude of the giant mountain slides or the big trampoline. 

I should have backed up so you could see just how big this thing is!  It's HUGE!!  It's like a giant balloon buried in the ground.

Justin and Megan are on top of the giant mountain that contains two slides.  Again, I should have back up, so you can see how tall this thing is!  There are two very large drainage pipes buried inside this mountain that were made into slides.

WHEE!! You can tell by the look on her face that she was having a blast!!

Justin said that this was his favorite activity at the farm.  We might have to take Papa to see it, so he can make something similar at Summer Home. : )

Justin and Megan riding on the cow train.  After the playground, we went through the corn maze.  Sorry no pictures.  We had fun looking for clues to find out who had kidnapped Farmer Joe.  It was the pigs!!!  Bad piggies!!  After the corn maze, we enjoyed a burger and fries!  YUM!  We all were quite fascinated by the large bottles of coke.

After lunch, Megan and Justin had to hit the playground one more time.  Angie and I enjoyed sitting out in the sunshine.  The weather could not have been better. 

This face was a clue that it was time to go home!  LOL  Yep, he was D.O.N.E. at this point.  We all had a great day!

The weeks continue to fly by.  I have yet figured out how to speed up time, slow it down, or add more to the day!  Wouldn't that be nice!  We're moving right along with all of our subjects.  In math, we are conquering the daunting task of long division.  In grammar, we are learning about verbs.  In science, we are learning about muscles.  We are in the country of Japan right now.  We are reading The Master Puppeteer which is about Bunraku, Japanese puppetry.  We are also reading about Commodore Perry who helped to open up trade/communication between Japan and the US.  On Friday, we enjoyed Origami.  It is a lot more difficult than it seems.  We used this book.

Justin and Megan looked through the book and picked what they wanted to make.  Megan made a dog and a swan.

She made several more and put faces on the dog.  They all turned out really cute.  Justin decided to make a boat. 

He wanted to try it out in the water, but Megan and I talked him out of it. LOL  I made a crane.  It took FOREVER!!  I was inspired by a book Justin read, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.  It is a true story about a little girl that was living in Hiroshima during WWII.  She was only 2 years old at the time and was exposed to the radiation.  When she was 10 or 11, she was diagnosed with cancer.  A friend told her that if she could make 1000 paper cranes, maybe she would be well.  She only made about 600 and something before her death at the age of 12.  So sad!   

Next week, I look forward to our trip to Willard Farms!  Can't wait!

We finished up with Antarctica and moved on to Japan.  For art, we made Japanese fans.  Below are a few pictures of Justin and Megan's creations. 

We are reading The Master Puppeteer and Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun. We FINALLY finished prepositions and are moving on to verbs.  For science, we made Mr. Bones and labeled the bones. 

After much anticipation, the shelves finally arrived for our library.  It has taken me two days to put the shelves together.  Now, I'm having fun organizing all of the books.  I still have some work to do, but it is mostly done!

The Rembert library and resource room is open for business! 

Wow!  It's hard to believe it is already October.  We are all looking forward to some cooler weather.  We completed another busy week.  We will finish up Antarctica this week and move on to Japan.  We are reading a book about Commodore Perry.  We finally finished Island of the Blue Dolphins and are now reading The Master Puppeteer.  In science, we are learning about the skeletal system. 

                                        I know the skull is missing.  It's a long story...trust me. 

We continue to enjoy our days together.  I am so thankful we are able to stay at home and learn together. 

Another great week D-O-N-E!!  We are still making our way through the body systems.  This week we learned about the circulatory system.  In history, we continued our travels in New Zealand.  It's a beautiful island!  We finished our week with a tour of the Sumter Airport.  We were allowed to actually sit inside a corporate jet!

                                      Justin and Megan inside the hangar at the Sumter Airport.

Megan inside the jet.  It is owned by Thompson Industrial.  The kids thought it was great that there was a "potty" on the plane.  I am actually sitting on the "potty" while taking this picture!  It was a regular seat, but doubles as a toilet. 

                                                                Justin inside the jet.

It's hard to believe it's already the middle of September.  This year is flying by!  We kept busy with the usual stuff this week.  We're in New Zealand now.  We watched Island of the Blue Dolphins.  It was an OLD movie.  Made in 1964 and it was only available in VHS.  It was borrowed from the library in Marlboro County.  We had to huddle around Justin's 19 inch tv to watch it because he has the only "contraption" that will play VHS tapes.  BUT we loved it!  It was great!  Justin and Megan worked on clay masterpieces.  They will paint them next week. 

                     Here they are just getting started.  They found the clay rather hard to work with.

Justin decided he needed a little more leverage.  Did I mention that the clay was rather hard?

Megan's masterpiece.  A dog.

Justin's masterpiece.

Next week, we go on our first official field trip with our homeschool group.  We are going on a tour of the Sumter Airport.  No, seriously, we have an airport.  : )