English Word Wheels

Today in English (Rod and Staff, unit 2, review lesson), my 2nd grader was supposed to make 2 word wheels--we adapted these to use lapbook type templates with a cover using a brad. You can find a wheel book template here or just make it up yourself like we did. We used cereal boxes instead of cardstock. Our first one, nouns, is labeled "God made" and has pictures that she cut out from magazines (we opted for just 4 sections)--plants, animals, fruit, vegetables. The second one, verbs, is labeled "Children"--cook, sleep, grow, eat. You can do any variety of these, but those are the pictures we found. I labeled the back of each wheel 'verbs' or 'nouns'. and we can keep these for future use. She had a blast making them, and although I usually see these little projects as a waste, it helped her to review verbs and nouns and come up with the actions to match the pictures, etc.
Want to add extra math to the project? Use a compass and make sure to measure each section, drawing lines with a ruler, talk about fractions and geometry, spacial reasoning, cutting skills, etc. If you aren't centered, you get a lopsided wheel (oops!!).

Walgreen's trip 3/10

Made a quick stop at Walgreen's to pick up some of those Huggies diaper deal.

Bought:
large bag Huggies wipes $5.99
size 1 Huggies diapers $10
size 2 Huggies diapers $10
2 glade Sense and Sprays $7.99/1
3 $5 MQ Huggies ($15)
1 BOGO Glade MQ ($7.99)
Walgreen's ESQ Glade $4 ($8)
made $.01 overage on Glade--i hope to find the $4/1 MQ to use on another trip
Paid OOP $10.98 + tax, received $10 RR = $.98

Dillons trip 3/3/09

I got to visit a new dillons (to me) in Pittsburg, KS since I took my 3yo dd to the dentist yesterday (she did awesome by the way!! Had to be numbed for a filling and she did GREAT!).
Anyway--they only had 5count cinnamon rolls that were 10/$10 and eligible for the catalina, so here is what I got!

First Transaction
3 Pillsbury cinnamon rolls $1/1 = $3
2 $.30/1 MQ, dbld to $.60/1 = ($1.20)
1 $.35/1 MQ, dbld = ($.70)
WITH TAX OOP = $1.25, received $1.50 catalina, overage $.25

Second Transaction
2 liter Dr. Pepper $1.59
Ocean Spray Lite Drink $1.98
Ocean Spray Drink $1.98
Kroger natural sour cream $1
Kroger Colby block cheese $1.88
Kroger bag shredded cheese $1.88
Kroger 24oz frozen fries $1.99
Kroger waffle pretzels $1
apples $1/lb ($4.25)
2 Pillsbury Toaster Strudels $2.49
Gilette Shampoo $4.29
= $26.82

EQs
Gilette $2.00
2 Toaster Strudels $.50 = ($1.00)
MQs
$3.50 (leftover catalina)
$1.50 (catalina from 1st transaction)
$1/1 Ocean Spray lite
$2/1 Gilette shampoo
$1.59/1 FREE Dr. Pepper mailer
2 $.35/1 toaster strudels, dbld = ($1.40)

WITH TAX, OOP = $14.74

I saved almost 50%! Plus I scored a LOT of mqs from different blinkies around the store, including the last 2 $1.50/1 GoodNights!! Although Pittsburg doesn't have the self checkout that Joplin does, the cashier (Mollie) was very nice, quick, and overall GOOD!!!

Diaper cakes!

Life Starring Ellie and Eve is having a giveaway of one of these adorable diaper cakes!!

Don't need one for yourself? Come on! You know someone who does!!

She also has a very cute "Maternity in March" section you should check out--even if it's just for a laugh or 2 (like the worst ways to tell your dh you're expecting or top 10 best things to say to a pregnant woman).

Huggies jumbo pack diapers $2.33/pack

Print your $5 and $3 Huggies Qs here, then head over to Common Sense with Money to find out why you should hold onto the Qs until next week (3/8) to use at Walgreens.....make sure to print 2 of each Q, you'll want to use at least 3 to get the best deal possible!!!
Don't wait to print your Qs though, they could be gone soon!!!!

Huggies Jumbo Packs $10
Buy 3, use 2 $5 MQ, 1 $3 MQ
OOP = $17, receive $10 RR, spent $7/3 or $2.33/1

My goal? Find 2 other people with an extra $3 MQ and repeat deal with 3 $3 MQ...
= $3.67/1, an avg with transaction #1 of $2.99/1.....
I may very well stock up on itty bitty baby diapers if I can justify storing them for 7+ months :) But I have one using GoodNights, 1 using nighttime training pants, 1 in diapers and 1 on the way--whatever I can do to save!!!!

trivium education

The trivium is, of course, 3 (tri). The 3 basics of classical education--no, not the 3 Rs of reading, writing, and 'rithmetic--but 3 stages of learning

1. grammar
2. logic
3. rhetoric.

Logic is concerned with the thing as-it-is-known,Grammar is concerned with the
thing-as-it-is-symbolized, andRhetoric is concerned with the thing-as-it-is-communicated. [1]

The trivium is supposed to prepare you for the quadrivium, or higher education......

1. arithemetic
2. geometry
3. music
4. astronomy

From Wikipedia:

Morris Kline classifies the four elements of the quadrivium as pure (arithmetic), stationary (geometry), moving (astronomy) and applied (music) number.[1]
This schema is sometimes referred to as classical education, but it is more accurately a development of the 12th and 13th centuries with recovered classical elements, rather than an organic growth from the educational systems of antiquity. The term continues to be used by the classical education movement.[citation needed]

In classical education, it seems that the belief is kids begin learning in the "grammar" stage, moving on to "logical" and the asking and discovering of WHY around the 5th grade, then the high school "rhetoric" years. Read more about classical education here or:

http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/trivium.html
http://www.triviumpursuit.com/

Taken from Trivium Pursuit:

Ten things to do with Children before age 10
1. Reading & Writing
Intensive Phonics; Copywork; start English Language Notebook
2. Oral Narration
Daily
3. Memorization
Bible; poetry; passages of literature; Greek and/or Hebrew alphabet
4. Hearing & Listening
Read aloud 2 hours per day from a variety of fiction and nonfiction; start History Notebook; timeline
5. Family Worship
Family Bible study morning and evening using grammar level questions
6. Arts & Crafts
Provide the time, space, and materials; develop creativity
7. Field Trips & Library
Start learning elementary library research; investigate the world
8. Work & Service
Schedule for chores; visit nursing home, etc.
9. Discipline
First-time obedience
10. Play & Exploration
Develop the imagination

So--do we follow these? No, but I find them interesting and it's something I'm looking into. We bought the boxed curriculum and then found it to be too much. Yet I'm not disciplined enough to just fly by the seat of my pants and make up my own unit studies, etc. I really like the Trivium Pursuit e-newsletter and agree with the Classical Education I've heard so much about. It's OK if your 8year old can't multiply or even add/subtract or read--the classical educators seem to believe it's OK--they'll get it! Keep reinforcing ideas and then, around age 10 or so (logic stage), they'll just GET it! No pressure before then at all--relax, read, enjoy, play......what novel ideas :)

Homeschool Freebie of the day

http://www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/

Todays resource might be great for upcoming science fair projects!! It's from NASA......

Our homeschool group is planning a science fair in March--it is a small scale version of the public school science fairs--not so much pressure, just a way to showcase what we are working on in science! All ages are welcome--from itty bitty to high school! It can be experimental or non-experimental and we just need something to show and something to say.....my hopes this spring? If we can kick science into gear, it'll be astronomy/solar system/space........but we'll see!!