Africa lapbook

We finished our African Animals lapbook today.  Here are pictures of Alex's finished project.

 

 Also wanted to share, yesterday Nicolas decided to make his own flag (a product of reading The Finest Horse in Town and studying how to draw a moving flag.)  He decided rather than draw one, he wanted to make one.  Now, this is normal for both boys to be drawing flags and leaving them all over my house :)  But this time, he didn't want paper.  He wanted a piece of fabric.  I just happened to have some extra white in the closet.  After coloring on the colors, he went outside to find a stick (not difficult with the winds we have had).  Then he went to the garage to get a shovel to dig himself a hole to put his stick into.  It is now flying out front beside the front steps.  He's very proud of it.

Horse Lapbook

We finished our lapbook yesterday, so I am posting pictures of Nicolas's.  I will show you pictures of Alex's next lapbook.  Since they both look basically the same, I decided not to post pictures of both of the same unit.  We are watching a movie today called "The Saddle Club" that I got from the library.  It is all about horses.  Lots of different emotions in this movie!  Also, we read Jan Brett's Fritz and the Beautiful Horses yesterday.

Our Horse Study

During co-op, we read Paul Revere's Ride by Longfellow and this week The Finest Horse in Town.  Last week, in trying to keep with the horse theme, I decided to read and study Mrs. Mack by Patricia Polacco.  VERY GOOD BOOK!  We didn't do a lapbook on any of the books, but instead did a horses lapbook.  When it's completed, I will post pictures.  I wasn't sure how in-depth I was going to get because I didn't know how interested the boys would be in horses.  Turns out they were very interested!  So I had to add more components to the lapbook as the week progressed. 

We went to a co-op family's house that owns a couple horses.  The boys loved being able to feed and touch the horse.  They are ready to try to ride one.  I'm not sure if we can make that happen in the near future, but I have an idea in the works.  If it pans out, I will have pictures later :)  We all have learned many new things about horses this week.  They haven't asked if we can get a horse yet, but if my idea come about and they get to ride one, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that question next.  Just what we need, is another pet (already 8 hamsters, 2 cats and a fish.)

Anyway, here are pictures of them feeding the horse.

It's Pumpkin Time!

This weekend was the Sweetser Pumpkin Walk.  This is the first year the boys were in the costume parade. 

The "Peyton Manning" in the middle of my 2 little "Jedi's" is their cousin.  There were a lot of kids in the parade, and some very clever little costumes.  We didn't put much thought into ours this year since we will be in Tennesse over Halloween this year.  I'm not sure we will do any trick-or-treating this year.

Both boys participated in the Pumpkin Walk also, submitting their own carved pumpkins.  Alex won an Honorable Mention for his tombstone pumpkin.  I was surprised.  I kept encouraging him to do something more unique, but he insisted that was what he wanted to do.  Nicolas drew his own ghost, but I had to help him carve it. 

 

Last 2 field trips

Aren't field trips great?!?  We get a break from the sitting down portion of school, but our kids are still learning something.  Since it is fire safety awareness month, we visited the fire station.  Alex is a cub scout.  One of his requirements was to draw a plan to leave our house should it be on fire.  We had already talked about it last year, but it's so good to review it every year.  Both boys remembered our meeting place, by the neighbor's house.  Our house is small, so we only have a front door and a back door.  We talked about when we would use which door and what would happen if they could not come downstairs to get out.  (Sit by the window and wait for the fire department.  Go ahead and unlock the window, but DON'T OPEN IT until they are there.)  While at the fire station, one of the firemen put on his uniform, complete with mask and air tank.  Some kids would be scare of the "monster", but it was good for the kids to see what a fireman would look like when they came into the house to rescue them.

After a lunch at the park, we went to the pumpkin patch.  It was such a beautiful day!  We were able to take off our jackets and enjoy the sunshine.  Played some games, went on a hayride, had a scavenger hunt, and then everyone got to pick out a small pumpkin.  Here are what the boys picked out:

 

 

MIssissenewa 1812

I've lived in Grant County my entire life.  The re-enactment of the Battle of Mississenewa during the War of 1812 between the Miami indians and the Americans has been a yearly event for my family.  I grew up with 3 miles of the battlefield.  We have gone down the river by canoe into the Battle re-enactment in past years.  We drove/walked this year.  Even being an "experienced" guest, I didn't know some of the history of the battle until this year.  This year we talked about Indians in school for 2 weeks before the re-enactment weekend. 

We listened to an Indian tell stories.  He's a very good storyteller. 

 

First time

Well, this is my first personal blog.  I'm not sure of my vision yet - what will I share, what will be my focus.  The boys saw another blog and wanted one with their pictures on the internet. 

I will start with an introduction.  My2SMALLboys are Alex (8-3rd grade) and Nicolas (6-K).  We began homeschooling when Alex was in Kindergarten.  Our church has a preschool, so both boys attended there for 2 years.  This is my first year schooling both boys at the same time and it has been a challenge to keep Nicolas busy while Alex is doing harder work.  It's also been a challenge to explain to Alex that he is older, therefore will have more work and that his work will be harder.

A little about Alex.  He is a very strong willed child.  He doesn't like to be wrong and gets very stressed about making mistakes in his schoolwork, or not completing a timed-math test.  We have tried to remedy that some by being more flexible with tests.  I even bought the Quarter Mile software as a fun way to complete the timed testing, but he stresses about that too!  Alex is in Cub Scouts beginning his third year.  He really enjoys it - the camping, the fishing, the games.  Alex plays the guitar - picking it up very quickly, showing his natural musical ability.  Alex loves to play baseball, and has completed his 4th year in Coaches Pitch. 

Nicolas is a complete opposite.  He is very laid back (most of the time).  He completes his work without argument (most of the time), and loves that he is learning to read.  He can also be strong-willed when it comes to an interuption in his play to do something less desirable (like chores).  Nicolas just got a drum set for his birthday and would like to take lessons to play.   We will soon have our own family band!  Nicolas is also somewhat of a perfectionist, especially in his playing.  He like to build, but everything has to be just so.  Nicolas is looking forward to being in scout next year.  Nicolas began his first year of baseball (Coaches Pitch) this past summer.  We're not sure if he enjoys it enough to continue.  He would like to play soccer, so we may have to see about that come spring.

More about the rest of our family later.