Dawn K Homeschool

I bought some dollar stamps from A C Moore to add to the bean treasure box for the boys. For those of you who don't know what this is, let me explain. A good friend, Gina, told me about a reward program she used with her children where they racked up points for accomplishing certain tasks and then redeemed them at the family "store" which was comprised of little things here and there that she had bought with the children in mind. So with this inspiration, I began a similar reward program with the younger boys. When the boys perform their morning work, put their dishes away and perform other chores without being told, they earn a bean (for each activity). Each boy has a jar which contains beans they earn. On a designated day, I open up the "bean treasure box" which contains inexpensive items I've purchased. Items include: stickers, foam art, dollar rubber stamps, candy, and other items I know they'd love. I recently found some cute pirate craft items at M...

This past Sunday was such a special day for the homechurch fellowship we are a part of. We gathered at one of the family's home for singing, teaching on baptism, baptisms of several children and feasting and fellowship. For me, the most exciting part was having Nathan baptized -- by John even! It was also great having my parents join us; they had heard so much about the families we meet with and I was glad they were able to see where we go almost every Sunday. John and I had prayed for and hoped for a homechurch while checking out all sorts of churches. There really is nothing quite like it. We really are very thankful to have such a unique and biblical gathering time. These are some of the things I appreciate about it: All of the men have a responsibility in the teaching of others -- not just one person. The burden is shared this way, and it keeps the men in the scripture. The children join in the meeting. This allows the meeting to become a natural thing for them and a place in w...

These are some online and print resources for studying animal classification: Online Resources: http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/lsps07.sci.life.oate.animalclass/ http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/class.html http://www.science-teachers.com/taxonomy_flashcards.htm http://www.softschools.com/science/living_things/animals/animals.jsp http://www.everythingesl.net/lessons/animalstwo.php http://www.nclark.net/Classification http://www.glencoe.com/sec/science/activities/bdol/dragdrop/BDOL17.html?iRef=17&iChapter=17&book=bio2000 http://www.teachnet.ie/farmnet/Puzzles/classificationmatch.htm http://www.pbs.org/kcet/shapeoflife/resources/activity4.pdf http://www.quia.com/cm/1130.html?AP_rand=917773692 http://www.quia.com/rr/11806.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/w/x/wxm15/Online/Taxonomy/taxonomy_lec01.htm http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/Science/Animals/Animals.htm http://www.cstone.net/~bcp/3/3SSci.htm Print Resources: Introduction to Biology: A Study by John Holz...

I just adore lapbooks ! I attended a lapbooking workshop hosted by Tammy of Tobin's Lab ( http://www.tobinslab.com/ ) at a HEAV conference a few years ago. It was a blast! The concept is a natural extension of scrapbooking , so perhaps that's why I am so drawn to it. If you ever have an opportunity to take a class led by her, do it! I still have the lapbook we made in her class. They offer many resources for lapbooking including Tammy's own creations and also the ever-so-popular Dinah Zike's resources. I confess, I have not made lapbooks with the boys yet, but I plan to do a couple this year. I think it will work perfectly with the invertebrate study we are doing. I may, alternatively, buy one of those large cardboard project displays that the craft store sells and we can each contribute to that. It's the same concept, though it will look more like a science fair display. We could create a separate lapbook for each group of invertebrates we study and affix th...

Well, we finally visited the Mariner's Museum http://www.mariner.org/ ! Aaron and I were supposed to visit a few years ago when he was studying the Age of Exploration, but it just didn't happen. We spent most of our time at the "Ironclad Evidence" exhibit, the "Nelson Touch" exhibit and the USS Monitor Center. The boys loved the interactive video games -- especially designing a seaworthy ship and sea combat simulation. We also watched a fascinating video reenactment of the Battle of Hampton Roads in the "Battle Theater." You can learn more the Monitor in this interactive tour: http://www.monitorcenter.org/ . Aaron was able to learn more about Lord Horatio Nelson -- he is currently writing a history research paper about a national hero of Great Britain, and he chose Nelson. While touring the living quarters of the sailors, Nathan determined his favorite room was the apothecary. A docent was quite impressed that he knew what an apothecary was! When ...

These are sample pictures from my Story of the World Timeline Book. The first is the cover; the other two are sample pages: Let me first give so much credit to a gracious lady from the Well Trained Mind forum who created these wonderful timeline and memory card resources. You can obtain these from the following link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hannah_hs_helps/ Now, here are the details for the timeline book: I bought a Watercolor pad, 15x11, Strathmore brand from A C Moore with a 40% coupon for less than $6.00. I chose Watercolor paper because the paper was so much thicker than any of the drawing or sketch book paper (140 lbs). I figured with all of the turning and touching, I wanted it to hold up well. This pad comes with 12 pages, so really 24 sections. Here is a picture of it: http://www.strathmoreartist.com/fineArt_watercolor.php Since far more is known about time periods as they get closer to the present, I spaced my older time periods out differently than the closer. My book o...