Dawn K Homeschool

Way to go! You passed the The History of the United States II: 1865 to the Present CLEP Test We are so proud of you!

Here are some of the new $1.00 and $2.00 stamps from A.C. Moore. They are all Studio G. Some of the stamps were bought at the request of my seven-year old. I really like the stamp with the trees and the one with the bracket! I thought the ornaments were cute and funky too.

Nathan has been drawing again. This time, he has been copying pages from Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide (Spiderwick Chronicles). He is totally immersed in this fairy world these days.

I met my fabulous friend, Cecilia , tonight for coffee, and we chattered away for 3 hours! When I got home, my husband had warmed up all of the leftovers I mentioned we were having -- AND -- get this: made biscuits -- from scratch -- for the first time!

The boys spent the last couple of days cutting out all of these letters so that they could act out the Leap Frog phonics DVDs. It has been a long time since they watched them, but regained an interest in them. So, today, they created lots of words with the letters -- acting out the movie as they went along. Their creativity is so refreshing. I have this video series to thank for Ben learning how to read. I was having such a hard time getting him to recognize just the first three letters, but in two weeks, he knew all of the letters and their sounds. Amazing. I recommend this series to everyone I can! Of course, they're both reading just fine now -- but these videos are still a favorite.

I always know what's next in line for the school day, but I wanted something to check off to make sure we covered everything between interruptions and such. So, I quickly typed this up today and used it for the first time. There's such satisfaction (for a person like myself) to check off a list! As you can see, this is for the things we do every day. I didn't bother listing those other things.

http://treasureoilerdesignz.blogspot.com/ I love every card on this blog. You really should check it out!

For one week, you can download this free unit study: http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=201&products_id=24454&it=1&filters=0_0&manufacturers_id=201 Through this unit study, you will discover the world of rocks and minerals. Topics explored in this unit are the three types of rocks, plus minerals, volcanoes, metals, and the layers of the earth. Also you will learn about natural wonders made of rock, such as the Grand Canyon, and man made structures in the rock, such as Mount Rushmore.

Just email me your address, and I will mail this ASAP. Thanks for playing!

Leave a comment on any of my blog posts before 11:59 PM EST Sunday night , and I will randomly choose one person to receive this educational program. I will announce a winner around midnight. This version is compatible up to Windows 98 (perhaps more, I just personally don't know).

I just had to share this oldie but goodie. It really is a bird watcher's journal which allows your child (or you) to color some commonly seen birds and answer questions. It also asks questions which help one to become a more keen observer. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/schoolyard/T_Resouces/ColoringBook.pdf For a fancier (but not free) bird journal for kids, I recommend: http://www.amazon.com/Bird-Log-Kids-Journal-Experiences/dp/1885061552/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224983833&sr=1-1 You actually have to write in each bird you see and draw it yourself. Of course, you could print out a picture or use a science coloring book like Peterson's Field Guide Coloring Book for Birds: http://www.amazon.com/Birds-Peterson-Field-Guide-Coloring/dp/0395325218/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224984040&sr=1-2 .

Take the Quiz here!

Here are the beginnings of Nathan's version of The Scrambled States of America. So far, he has completed nine of the pages. I sure do love that creative boy! Note: He ran out of room for the Eastern states as he was not tracing this but rather drawing.

The first two cards were made using one 6x6 scrap paper and pink cards which I trimmed to make miniature cards. I used some K & Company 3-dimensional stickers and scrap ribbon. Easy! This card was made to use a piece of scrap felt border I acquired somehow. I sewed a piece of trim and added a felt sticker to keep with the texture theme.

I end up with so very many drawings and other works of art from the boys. What do you do with these things? Right now, they end up in a huge plastic storage box in the garage. I really must do something about this growing mound. I have such a hard time getting rid of anything they make. So, here is a map Ben traced with a lightbox -- straight out of the Winnie the Pooh book. I thought he did a great job, even considering it was a tracing. He began this project drawing -- not tracing -- but his varied too much from the original and caused him great distress.

asking me to wash his stuffed hippo, Joe.

I thought the names he came up with are so cute!

This post is to show you how many cards you can make with such a small amount of patterned paper. I started with two scrap 6x6 sheets of Sweetwater paper. I made a total of 4 cards with this paper. When I was finished, I made one more card with the same color palette but sans patterned paper. Let me also recommend some of my favorite products in this post. Cuttlebug Embossing Folders: If you have not bought any Cuttlebug Embossing folders, you are really missing out on a great, versatile product which also happens to be inexpensive! You can buy many of them on sale at your local A C Moore or Michael's and at http://www.joanns.com/ . You can see them here: http://www.provocraft.com/products/catalog.php?cl=cuttlebug& scl =Embossing I use mine in my original, red Sizzix ! Stampin ' Up! So Many Sayings set: This is one of the most used sets I own. You get 34 sentiments and graphic borders in this set! Here are the Ebay listings: http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_ trksid ...

Okay. We read Mary Poppins -- long after I had already seen the movie countless times. I have to say, it was a strange book -- strikingly different than the movie. Overall, I have to admit I like the movie more (with the exception of the male-bashing and feminist overtones). So, this leads me to our next read-aloud -- The Brave Little Toaster . How many of you have seen this lame Disney movie? (it is Disney, is it not?) Totally uninspiring in my opinion, but I saw the book on the library shelf the other day and just KNEW it was going to be a quaint little book that would leave me saying to the boys the old adage: "You know the book is always better than the movie." Don't waste your time. I waded through a ridiculously lengthy romantic scene between a daisy and the toaster. (eye-roll) Then, I was reading along and came to a word I pronounced as "polish" with a short "o." I then realized the word was capitalized and was shocked to discover that in the ...

and came across this one of Ben with our cat Maggie. I just thought it was so cute!

My friend's daughter is celebrating her 4th birthday ballerina style. Here is the invitation I made for the guests.

First, I'd love to show you the card my son, Ben, made. He loves making cards! He designs them on his own and picks out all products without any help from me. He chooses his own color scheme and does his own stamping. The only thing I help him with is tying bows! I did notice that he remembered a video we watched together on the Paper Crafts magazine website on using this Sizzix cake die with various colored cardstock. He LOVES watching craft videos with me and looking at Stampin' Up! catalogs and such. What a cutie! Here is a slideshow of the cards I created in the last couple of days.

To bring closure to our amphibian unit, I had the boys make these frog lapbooks! You can get the free patterns and instructions from: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/Frog_Lapbook.php Another free frog lapbook can be found here: http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks/frogs.htm Ben's Lapbook Nathan's Lapbook