Wednesday, August 28, 2019

First Week Back to Books 2019-2020



Every year I try to celebrate our first week "Back to Books" with special treats.  We technically school year round, but take a few months off from set curriculum.  There's just always so much going on with 4H, that it's hard to keep up.  I was literally struggling to get into the mood to start this year.  The summer was exhausting.  And I haven't recovered from everything we had to do.  As the kids get older, there are so many more things that I need to keep track of and make sure they are progressing toward adulthood.  Even though Joey has graduated, there are still meetings and areas we have to continue to work on.

This year, I started with a special menu and surprise of some new school supplies



Breakfast:  coffee cake topped with cinnamon doughnuts.  A true diabetic nightmare.  I made as small of a cake as possible.


Lunch was chicken bacon ranch quesadillas w/ fruit and milk.  I was in a hurry because of our sunflower field trip and taking my mom to the dr.  But I planned a special dinner....

Dinner - School pizza on trays

I'm having a hard time....We have another senior...another senior?!?!!


I took the girl's pictures at the sunflower patch with their grade signs.



That morning, I took the girls and a few of their friends to a local sunflower patch.  Sunflowers are my favorite flower.  But I wasn't even prepared for how beautiful this was!!



They got to cut their own mason jar vases full.


Their vases resting while they went to take more pictures and run in the sunflower patch.



When we got home, we had to run grandma to the dr.  But when we got home, Caty stopped at the library for her reading certificate from the summer reading program.  It turns out that Caty was the top reader of all 3 library branches for our system!!!  She reported 140 hours, but I know it was much more than that.


For geography this week, we are visiting Alabama.  We love Aerial America, so we watched the episode on Alabama.  Then we found a series called State Plate on Amazon.  This cooking show focuses on each state in the union.  We enjoyed it.  The next day we re-created the recipes we saw.

Some other books we used this week.



 Alabama Gulf coast seafood dip.


Fried Green Tomatoes


Alabama White BBQ Sauce


I invented my own fried green tomato salad....this was so yummy.  The tartness of the tomatoes made me feel like I was eating an Olive Garden salad.  SOOOO GOOD!!!


Brayden and I went rounds about his schoolwork, on the very first day.  I told him I would pull all the power plugs on his consoles if he didn't get his work done.  It's going to be a long senior year trying to finish what he needs to complete.


Lydia had two softball games this week.  I got to do the scoreboard one game.  This is fun and a great way to keep me focused on the game.


On Wednesday we were supposed to go to a local quarry to swim.  When I planned the trip, the website showed them open.  My friend that was going with us discovered the hours change on Tuesday.  So frustrating that they chose to close during the week and only open on weekends.  So we had an impromptu beach party at the house.  The kids played and swam for hours.  We had lunch.  My friend and I worked on planning for school....lol.  It was quiet and it worked for us!!!

Caty working on her math.  We had a two steps back scenario with her, and she is working hard on her multiplication again.


Lydia had a couple zoo shifts this week.  So that meant some van-schooling starting already.  Audiobooks to the rescue!!  Their history book is on audio.  We did a lot of discussions about the topics.


 Caty and I were working at the kitchen island one morning while Joe was having a meeting in the living room.  We do not have a set place, we can school almost wherever if we have internet.


One of Caty's books this year is Kitchen science.  She gets to do 1-2 recipes a week.  I am kind of letting her choose at the moment.  This week she chose the Pretzels...shocker there.  They are one of her favorites.



These were a hit!


Two games this week!  Busy softball week!  But we have such a short season.


We had a friend staying with us and so we took her to Cedar Point.  I think the kids are finally done with Cedar Point for a year!





Lydia had to work the next morning, so Joe and I took advantage of her short shift.  We had a mom-dad date at Dave & Busters while waiting for her!


Then we took the kids to the batting cages and ride in go karts!  It was a fun time.








We survived our first week "Back to Books".  Now to find our new groove.  You all know how that is.  It takes a few weeks to find what is going to work for schedules.  Our co-op starts in another week and Caty's Japanese classes and fall sports start also.  We will definitely be kept on our toes.

Hope everyone had a great first week!!

Linking up with other homeschool families at Homeschool Coffee Break!

Homeschool Coffee Break



Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Britfield & the Lost Crown Chapter Book Review




We recently had the opportunity to review the Britfield & the Lost Crown written by C.R. Stewart and published by Britfield & The Lost Crown.  Caty has been enjoying following the adventures of Tom & Sarah.  



Britfield & the Lost Crown is set in a more modern time period that is written to create a real-world connection for kids ages middle school through young adult.  Britfield & the Lost Crown is the first in a five part chapter book series.  The author has created a world that is realistic and really encourages students with accurate history, geography, architecture and culture all built around an edge-of-your-seat adventure.  

We received the printed novel.  It was trade paper back sized and well constructed.  It traveled very well in her backpack when we were out and about the last few weeks.  Britfield & the Lost Crown is also available in ebook download and audiobook from Audible.



The story starts out with Tom and Sarah living at Weatherly Orphanage.  This is located in England.  Weatherly Orphanage is not a great place for the kids.  They are provided with little food and overworked.  They are not allowed to have a childhood.  It's every kids dream to escape.

One day, Tom is given the hope that his parents may still be alive.  This motivates Tom to run away from Weatherly Orphanage with his friend Sarah, in hopes of finding out who he really is.

This adventure and new life chapter takes Tom and Sarah all over England.  They are faced with challenges that scare them, and yet they overcome them!  Can you imagine the fun and fear that you could have while being on the run in a hot air balloon?

Who really is Tom?  Is he part of the royal family line?  Or is his parents famous professors?  Who are his parents and why did they leave him?  So much that Tom thought he knew is changing and he has a whole new life to find.  With his best friend at his side, will he be able to discover who he is?

Britfield & the Lost Crown also has a study guide that you can purchase along with your title.  It contains vocabulary, comprehension questions, research skills, journal topics, and historical and geographical topics for you to discuss with your child or have them write reports on.  




Caty has been enjoying Britfield & the Lost Crown.  She's not quite up to their recommended age level, but almost there.  She says the story is very exciting.  So far we have not printed or written in the study guide yet, but I have been using the vocabulary and comprehension sections with her verbally.  She is understanding that knowing what the vocabulary words mean is super important to be able to really immerse herself in the story.  The Learn More With Technology sections in the study guide are excellent.  If she were a little older, I would definitely include those questions in her work.  They really encourage good research and critical thinking skills.

I thought that Britfield & the Lost Crown is well written and very easy to read.  It could easily be a read aloud with your family, or just assigned reading for a literature study unit.  With the study guide, you would definitely be able to turn Britfield & the Lost Crown into a full literature unit to cover together.

Caty and I cannot wait to continue the series and watch those promised movies when they come out!!

Several members  of the Homeschool Review Crew were given the opportunity to review Britfield & the Lost Crown.  Click on the banner below to read how they felt about this book.

Britfield & the Lost Crown  {Reviews}

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