Preparations

Yesterday afternoon we visited the local office shop and printed all of Grace's materials on glossy card stock to get prepared for the art festival next weekend. Once we started printing Grace started getting really excited about it. Not much "school" happened yesterday. I counted yesterday as life learning. We attended a funeral in the morning for a beloved church member who went to be with the Lord on Sunday. After the funeral we ate lunch out . Next the print shop where she learned how to run the color copier and how to shrink her images for another art project. The remainder of the afternoon and evening she spent drawing.

Chicken Updates

Well, first things first, the babies came out of the nursery today with their first taste of freedom. They loved every minute of it. Three nights ago they started roosting like proper grown up chickens. I have lost track of time but I think we are at 16 - 18 weeks old. We will be away from the home over the next three days a lot so they will need to be content in the nursery and on Sunday I will start letting them out on a daily basis.

Today also found Scott tearing down the old nursery. He had much help from the flock. The base of the nursery was built with many rocks. There favorite past time is having Scott turn over the rocks so they can search for bugs and worms.

One of the Buffs has gone broody, now I must decide if she gets to sit on eggs or not. The main problem is that the other birds will jump right into the nest with her and lay their eggs. I would need to mark all of the sitting eggs with a sharpie and check really well every day, otherwise more eggs will be added all the time.

Blogging Through the Alphabet - I is for Ink

We use a lot of ink around this house. All types of ink. I print all kinds of books, pdfs, etc. with ink in our printer. Luckily we were blessed with a huge printer and loads of toner cartridge refills about a year ago. Each toner cartridge will print close to 15,000 pages. With all the materials I need to print for the TOS Review Crew it has truly been a blessing. 

As many of my readers know, we have two artists in the family. My husband is a man of many talents. Pen and ink is his first true love in art. The rocks in the above picture is one of the main stays of his work, along with mixed media sculpture and collage work. Here recently he has added another ink to his portfolio. The intricate detailed work that he can do with pen and ink has led him to begin apprenticing to become a tattoo artist. Scott has always been interested in seeing where he can take his art to impact other people. Especially those that do not have faith. Many times you will find scripture or scriptural meanings in his work and he wishes to transfer that to tattoo work as well.

Last but not least is Grace. She also uses a lot of ink on a daily basis. Her choice if ink is copic markers and black pens of all sorts. We only have 1 1/2 more weeks before her for art festival. Next week will be taken up with preparing for the festival.

I am linking up with Ben and Me for Blogging Through the Alphabet.

Random Stuff From the Past Few Days

Grace created this for me for Mothers Day. This is her rendition of herself, right down to her purple glasses and favorite boots.

Now that the weather is warming up a bit the flowers are bursting with color. 

I passed these on the road while walking one day. 

One of my newest passions is finding recipes on Pinterest and trying them out. Today Grace woke up sick with a cold. I took the morning to create some recipes while she was sleeping. Above is a no bake energy ball make with peanut butter, butterscotch chips, maple syrup, honey, whole wheat,  and oats. Hubby says they taste real good.

TOS Review - College Prep Genius - High School Prep Genius

Jean Burk is the author and owner of College Prep Genius. College Prep Genius was developed because a homeschooling mother needed to find a way for her children to go to college without a hefty price tag by scoring high on the PSAT and SAT.  Now she has created a product, High School Prep Genius, that answers all the questions that parents and students have about preparing to go to college through the high school years. We were asked to read and review, High School Prep Genius through the TOS Review Crew.

High School Prep Genius came to us as a softcover book of 437 pages. This book currently retails for $29.95. The author recommend 9th - 12th grade students use this book along with their parents to prepare for college. Parents with children in the 7th and 8th grade would also benefit from reading High School Prep Genius to prepare their minds for what is ahead. 

Jean Burk's thoughts on writing this book came from seeing students need more guidance through high school than just passing the PSAT and SAT with flying colors. Any type of student  (public, private, or homeschool) can benefit from the information in this book. Ms. Burk's daughter, Judah, coauthored this book with her. I particularly agreed with something Judah said in the very beginning of the book, "The purpose of education is not simply making good grades. It is to gain knowledge about the world and practical applications of such knowledge." The author does recommend that the parent and student read the student parts together for more understanding and discussion. Below is a list of how the chapters are sectioned:

Chapters 1 -6 Personal Success

Chapters 7 - 12 Academic Success

Chapters 13 - 18 Future Success

The beginning of the book includes a section on how to create a College and Career Notebook. This is created to keep track of all records, etc. needed throughout the high school years to help apply for scholarships and college. The following chapters deal with each individual grade, 7th - 12th. What the student needs to research, do, create, and think about for each academic year of school. Once completing the sections mentioned the parent and student will delve into the chapters dealing with Personal, Academic, and Future Success. The back of the book contains appendices of information: Transcripts, talent searches, books to read, reducing test anxiety, and terminology. Each chapter has the topical information presented, questions to help the student apply the information, guide for parents, and parent's homework.

How We Used the Book and What We Thought

Grace is currently finishing 8th grade and in her young adult mind does not plan to attend college after finishing high school. We also plan to do a GAP year between 8th and 9th grade for a variety of reasons. All of this played in to how we are using High School Prep Genius. I, the parent, read the book in its entirety first. My first reaction is its a great book with loads of helpful information. My second reaction was it scared me to death about what we need to accomplish in high school in case Grace changes her mind about going to college. After I got over the fear, I started reading/sharing one chapter a week with Grace. So far she has learned what is expected in her 9th grade year of high school, how to create a high school/career notebook, and some personal development. I really liked sharing the personal development chapter with Grace, especially the "What Would You Do" questions. I appreciated the guided responses which aligned pretty much with what I would advise. I plan to continue reading one chapter a week with Grace until we finish the book. Once Grace reaches 10th grade or older I will give her the book again to read on her own, especially if she changes her plans about attending college. High School Prep Genius is well worth the price of $29.95 and seems very applicable to all families with middle and high school students.

Please visit TOS Review Crew to read other reviews about High School Prep Genius.

Weekly Wrap Up and Homeschool Review

What We Discussed or Studied

Herb Study - Violets

Spanish

Middle East, Israel, and Jordan

1980s 

White House

Agriculture in California

Order of Operations

Integers

Exercise

Bike

Walk

Zumba

What We Are Reading

Book of Matthew

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (Finished)

Yellow Star

Classes Attended

Essay Writing

Drama (Multiple Practices)

Review We Are Working On

High School Prep Genius

Making Math Real

See The Light

Lets Make a Web Page

Spanish For You

Geography by Memoria Press

I have to admit that school was lacking a bit this week due to three performances of Aladdin and all that involved. On Wednesday I posted a review of Spanish For You. Currently it is one of Grace's favorite things we do. We hope to continue it throughout the summer and into the next year. I think I am learning just as much as she is. During the daytime this week Grace spent a lot of time with puppy playing crazy games.

All of our school work is starting to wind down for the year. There are a few things that we will work on during the summer, such as: reviews from TOS Review Crew, Spanish, Math, and Herb Study.

I am linking up with Weekly Wrap Up and Homeschool Review.

Homeschooling High School - Blogging Through The Alphabet

The thought of teaching high school strikes fear into many homeschooling parents. How will I teach the subjects I don't know or didn't study myself? These thoughts have been floating around in my head for a couple of years. I think I have finally come to a point though, were I am not fearful anymore. I really don't think that I will do any worse than if my child went to a brick and mortar school and was taught by a "certified" teacher. If I need to send her to a class here and there that is fine. She does enjoy the time with other students and teachers. But it will never be more than a class or two a year.

This discussion leads me in to what we have planned for the next year which was to be Grace's 9th grade year, her first year of high school. Grace has a late birthday and will not turn 14 until next month. We have decided to do high school in five years instead of four. Many high school students will take a gap year after their senior year before going on to college. Our gap year will be in between 8th and 9th grade. Mainly this stems from the fact that she is not really ready for high school level science or math. History, English, etc. are fine and we may go ahead and start some high school level work in those areas. So technically we may be talking about 8 1/2 grade, if there was such a thing. Also we really enjoy learning whatever comes our way plus whatever is sent to us from the TOS Review Crew. I always hover a line between wanting to be an unschooler/interest led and just a very relaxed homeschooler. Sometimes I think I spend to much time trying to put a label on us and trying to fit into certain categories of homeschooling.

The bottom line is I know she is learning. She has strengths and weaknesses just like everyone else in this world of ours. This week she has gotten so many compliments on her performance as the Genie in Aladdin. What a talent she has in acting and art. Why should she feel bad about the things she is not good at? Like math. It is such a struggle for her. When she becomes an adult she is not going to pick something in the science or math field for work or school. She will pick a career/job where she can be creative. I think the bottom line for us is that high school will be a maturing period or learning. What we learn is just going to depend on what works and what she needs as she starts to discover herself.

I am linking up with Ben and Me for Blogging Through the Alphabet. Come over and join up.