Changed By Love

Kelsey sold her first product on EBay. She had to figure out how much to ask for it and whether to put it up for auction or Buy it Now. Gary helped her with it, but she had her own ideas about how she wanted to do it. She said putting it up for auction was risky and she preferred to list it as a Buy it Now. She sold a Kirby game for the Wii. We accidentally got our wires crossed and ended up buying two copies of the same game. So she and Morgan put their heads together and came up with an idea to sell one of them and then buy another game they wanted. It cost more than the Kirby game so they put their money together and paid me the difference and then ordered the game that they wanted. They are wheeler dealers!

Here they are at the post office. She wanted to make sure the customer was happy so she wrote a little card thanking him for buying from her. Of course she drew Kirby and some cute little designs on it, too. She printed out a mailing label and learned about shipping packages at the post office, too. We made sure we took it to the post office the very next day after the buyer paid for it. She was very prompt and courteous. I think her buyer will be very happy with her service.

I actually broke down and bought workbooks for the middle kids. Several of them are copywork books, so they count as Charlotte Mason materials. I got copywork books from www.characterwritingworksheets.com which is comprised of character-building quotes written in Italic, which is the type of handwriting I prefer to teach my kids. They also make them for D’Nealian and for Handwriting Without Tears. The ones I got are geared to 3-6 grades, but I got them for the twins (more or less 3rd grade) and one for Morgan (12 years old) and Kelsey (13 years old). They have quotes by Presidents, authors, poets, and other great thinkers. If you get the whole series you’ll cover 17 character traits in each book and 51 traits all together.

I got other copywork books for Kelsey and Morgan from Queen Homeschool Supplies. Copywork for Girls and Copywork for Boys.

This is a sample of Kelsey’s work:

If you click on the pictures, you can enlarge them and see her handwriting better. I really like how Italic looks, and the curve of the letters is a more natural movement for little fingers.

I have never bought Spelling books before, because I prefer a more natural approach to Spelling. But you do what you have to do. We are in a holding pattern and are not able to unpack all of our boxes. Life is not normal, so we are using workbooks to help us through this transition time. I had to use workbooks when we were on the road between Ohio and Arizona, then to Colorado and finally ending up in Kansas City, Missouri. God has had us on a very interesting journey! I don’t know about the kids, but I’m sure learning Geography better than I knew it before!

I want a home in the country so badly so that nature will be easily accessible and Nature Study will happen every day without effort.

Anyway, back to the workbooks.

The kids are actually enjoying them. Garrett loves his new Spelling book. At least, he did the first day the new books arrived. We got Spelling Workout by Modern Curriculum Press, and it has the Language Arts skills that they need to cover, like proofreading and writing a paragraph. I really like the Phonics books by Modern Curriculum Press. I have used Explode the Code books, and I liked them, too. Right now, I’m trying to use what I already have, as much as possible, and what I can find!

I have Math books from School Zone that I just bought from Toys R Us for the twins. They are learning the basic math facts and operations from them. I’m learning from Katherine Loop at Christian Perspective that “Math is actually an incredible testimony to God’s faithfulness.” You can find her blog here that talks about Biblical Math. I have read parts of her book, Revealing Arithmetic, but it’s packed in a box, and I haven’t found it. I’m trying not to open every box, because I’m pretty sure we’ll be moving again soon, to our own house in the country!

Her perspective on Math has been helping me to realize that our ways of writing the symbols that represent the operations we do with numbers are just man-made ways that we have all agreed on to represent certain actions and concepts. For example, we use the + sign to represent addition. That symbol is not something that is the only way to represent addition. It is just the one we have agreed on. Other cultures use different symbols. It helps me to realize that I need to explain to my children that this is how we have decided to show what we’re doing when we combine two groups or are adding to a certain number of objects. The wonderful thing that we should impress on our children is that Math shows how God holds the universe together in such a way that we can devise laws that are always true. We can use symbols to represent operations and actions with numbers that are consistent and always work because of God’s power and faithfulness!

So I’m not so concerned about what books we use. I’m more concerned about helping them to understand concepts, helping them work with number in their heads and making sure they memorize the facts they need to know to be able to manipulate numbers easily. Patrick and Anna are using Math-U-See. Kelsey is using Math Mammoth. And Morgan is using Teaching Textbooks. The twins used Cuisenaire Rods last year. I plan to get them out again and do more with them. And, as I’ve written in other posts, they are using Pattern Blocks. We haven’t delved into Math concepts with the Pattern Blocks yet, but I do have a book that will help us with that. It’s just called The Pattern Block Book by Didax.

I ordered most of these workbooks from Rainbow Resources. They have really good prices, a huge selection, and great service.

The younger girls are using workbooks, Pattern Blocks, Letter of the Week from Confessions of a Homeschooler, coloring pages and worksheets that I find online, etc. Yesterday, we did finger plays and activities from Homepreschooling by Susan Lemons. I found it on the Facebook group by that name. We talked about the name of the season we’re in. What things really do FALL during the FALL season. There are several things, not just leaves. We sliced an apple and ate it after doing several apple finger plays. Then we colored leaves.

I see what they need to learn, and I find some way of teaching it. That’s it.

The internet makes that so easy to do! Confessions of Homeschooler is extremely helpful. She gives lots of free printables. And 1+1+1=1 also gives good preschool printables for free.

Garrett wanted to get some Toy Story card games at Family Dollar last night. They cost $1 for two games, Go Fish and War. I know that there is some math in them, so I got them.

Here are Kelsey and Morgan playing War.

I’m told that the game lasted for hours.

I’ve linked this post to Its a Wrap at Hammock Tracks:

And at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers:

And at Big Family Friday:

Pattern blocks are still very popular. Patrick made the first design above. I found these other patterns on my table. I don’t know who made them. Maybe elves.

Abby and Shawn had a picnic. In the living room. Shawn is such an amazing big brother.

We read Rees Howells:Intercessor. We are almost done with the book. We have been astonished by the way God spoke to him and led him to intercede specifically for certain amounts of money and for large estates that God wanted him to buy for Him so that He could establish a Bible college and a children’s home and school for missionaries’ children, and for God’s intervention in world events. His prayers were answered at the last minute, but they were answered every time. He prayed until he climbed up in faith, which sometimes took hours, then he knew when he had the victory and he rejoiced that it was done. All he had to do after that was wait for it to materialize. And it always did when he had God’s word on something. He wouldn’t pray about something until he knew what God’s will was in the matter.

Patrick went to train with Aaron Tuesday and Wednesday morning. He had this to say on Facebook:

“My day started with only a 30g protein bar, an Energy Fury, and little less than two hours of sleep. (Also I am still fighting off a mild sickness) Followed by running a mile and a half (with a recovering leg tendon) to my MA Teachers house; he led me through USMC’s basic PT test, followed by unarmed combat, staff, and escrima sticks for several hours. Finally I ran that 1.5 miles back home. Then I went out to catch some sun while I practiced Bo staff. After that, I went to the gym to hit the weights and practice form. We closed it down at 10:00 PM. And that was my day.”

He is working so hard. We’re not sure what he’s training for exactly, but he’s going to be ready for it.

Shawn and Patrick went to a Mongolian Barbeque with Aaron on Wednesday. That was a fun, cross-cultural experience for them. They liked the food. They got to choose which foods and sauces they wanted and then the chef stir-fried everything for them.

The youngest four have been excited to re-discover Math Blaster and Jumpstart online and have been playing it on the computer this week. It has been difficult to schedule time on the computer even though we have four of them online. We also have lots of playing of Webkinz now that Emma and Abby each have new Webkinz pets. They actually play on Webkinz Jr.

Anna is at the home of her friend from church trying on her poodle skirt and learning a 50’s dance for a surprise party for a special person at church. I can’t wait to see her in her poodle skirt!

I took the “Middles” to Family Dollar to get some candy as a reward for finishing their school work.

This weekend will be spiritually enriching. Shawn and Katie will be going to a Messianic synagogue with our friend, Lisa. Then they will go with her to a self-defense class that she is going to do a presentation for. It will involve teaching Hindus self-defense! And Shawn is going to be her simulated mugger.

While they are doing that, Gary, Patrick, Morgan, and Garrett will be at a Men’s Breakfast at church. We have been told that the speaker is very good and witty and should be able to keep even Garrett’s attention. He’s excited because he wants to drink coffee.

We are praying together at 6:00 every night. We are pressing in for our own home, our own land, a farm. We also have others who are praying with us at that time for us to enter our Promised Land and for them to enter theirs, too. We pray for them and they pray for us.

I linked this post at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers Weekly Wrap-up