FREE Virtual Dissections for the Squeamish and Cadaver Dissection Videos for the Not-So-Squeamish

Frog (one of my favorites; interactive; professional; photos of actual frog organs made with recycled frogs from schools)

Frog, Squid and Owl Pellet (interactive; click on demos)

Salmon Dissection Game (interactive illustrations)

Eye Parts Dissection (interactive illustrations; one of my favorites)

Cat Dissection (Beware: real photos of cat dissection; non-interactive; my boys were interested in this, but I found it gross. I talked to my boys about how medical schools now make the 1st year anatomy students meet the families of the cadaver so that they will be respectful. They are wanting to be physicians like their dad, grandpa, 2 uncles and their aunt.)

For the more advanced student, the university of Wisconsin has made available videos of the dissection of cadavers rendered for anatomy and physiology students. If you are squeamish or offended by this science, do not click the link: Cadaver Dissection Videos The videos are done in a manner that maintains integrity, but they are graphic.

It makes me think, when I see the intricacies of the body of animals and especially humans, of the scripture in Psalm 139, that confidently and rightly proclaims that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made"

The Sound of Music

Brenton Brown has this incredible site where he provides, not only .pdf's of his music, but up close video clips that show how he plays the chords on his guitar to his music.

Paul Baloche provides lead sheets, listen and play, lyrics and chords, piano and band charts, and even some video clips for some incredible songs.

WorshipTogether.com is another excellent resource that you don't want to miss out on.

METRONOME ONLINE is a really useful site if you have children learning to play the guitar or piano, or really any instrument. Of course, they would have to be near a computer for it to be useful. :-)

Talking Hands

HERE is an American Sign Language site that I thought you all would enjoy. It provides video clips for each sign.

Homeschool and Spam

This morning we have our end-of-the-semester Homeschool party. The kids can dress-up, they do an art project and we "eat what they ate" all according to the theme we are studying. (This semester is "Flight and Space Exploration")
Every class meeting we begin with prayer, singing songs and then they learn to sign a song each semester. This time they are learning "How Great Thou Art." (One of my favorites to sign). Then the kids do presentations. The goal for presentations is to try to stick with the theme. That doesn't always happen, but that's okay. The kids can get up and sing a song, recite scripture that they memorized, play an instrument, do a book report, etc. Then they go to their classes.
This is the immersion method of learning in which the kids attention for that semester in these classes is totally focused on one particular theme in every subject. It is quite fun! Civil War Era is next and we are looking at studying the "Reformation Era."
So... besides having some people over to continue spraying insulation in an unfinished room this morning... that is what I will be spending my morning doing. This afternoon is packed with activities as well.

I will be monitoring the comments through this time. Why and what do I mean? When I am unable to keep up with this blog, I tend to come back to a bunch of comments from people who do not like my posts on complementarianism... and I also come back to a bunch of spam posts trying to promote things like viagra. You can still leave comments. But, I will have to approve them when I get back from this busy day.

In the meantime, go to Kim's post where she writes,

This is not to say that following the biblical pattern for an excellent wife is easy. It is not easy. It demands all of our dependence upon God. We can't do it on our own, because we are not programmed for selfless behaviour. The only way we can do it is through the power of Christ.

Monday Madness: Waxing and Waning Edible Moon Phases

My church Homeschool group studies semester themes. This past semesters theme was Space and Flight Exploration. Every field trip and class, whether it be history, art, science and even P.E., was centered around that theme. For example, our P.E. class was "Flight Training." They did obstacle courses, they were timed while having to put flashlights together and use tongs to move "moon rocks" from one bucket to another while wearing oversized gloves and a helmet with a face mask. On one of the science days, we studied moon phases. Below is a pic of an edible one I had my class make. It was quite fun... a little messy.... but worth it. The blue cupcake is "Earth" and the "moons" are oreo cookies that have the icing scraped off with a jar lid to show what the moon looks like in certain phases. Everything was "glued" down to the paper plate with icing. (next semesters theme is the "Civil War" and you can see our event schedule HERE)

I'm not going to be popular in Oklahoma...

We lived in Oklahoma before we came to Arkansas. The homeschool laws are... well, there aren't any. This is not even good for those who actually do an excellent job of homeschooling their children. Why? Well, because I was talking to a young lady that is close to our family that has been homeschooled all her life. She said she wished that she would have done more testing because of her experience with the ACT. Since she was not exposed to alot of state testing, she was overwhelmed by the ACT. Now this is a smart young lady. So is her friend that made straight A's throughout homeschooling... but could barely, after many attempts, make a 20 on the ACT. The college she was trying to get into thought that her parents must have falsified her grades because of her ACT scores...

Continue reading "I'm not going to be popular in Oklahoma..." »

"Mom, You're Talking Too Loud."

This is a continuation of I Can't Hear You, Mom.

After we brought Brandon home to get him "caught up" I realized I REALLY LIKE HOMESCHOOLING and so did my son. My oldest boy, Josh, asked us one evening if he could start homeschooling. (This is when we only had the 2 older boys.) We decided to keep him in school until the end of the first semester so that I could get Brandon caught up. So the second semester came around... you know... the one in which we were supposed to bring Brandon back to the school after getting him caught up. Instead, we began to homeschool our older son, also. Did I ever picture myself homeschooling? ha.

Continue reading ""Mom, You're Talking Too Loud."" »

"I Can't Hear You, Mom."

(This is based on a magazine article I wrote for a homeschool magazine.)

I knew there was something not right about my son. He seemed to hear me... most of the time.
We put him in a public school for kindergarten. They did hearing tests and he passed... so it couldn't be his hearing, right? They put him in the A.D.D. category, but he was not a hyper child. He seemed to want to learn so badly. He could sit still and it appeared that he was concentrating very hard. Something wasn't right.

Within a couple of weeks the teacher pulled me aside and said, "He is pronouncing his consonants like a deaf child. And he is behind. You need to get his hearing checked."

Continue reading ""I Can't Hear You, Mom."" »

What we have been up to...

Hanging out with N.L. White. The young lady that helps me preschool the little ones twice a week.

From my oldest boys quizzing on Titus. (Now we are memorizing Philippians) ...to hanging out at the library with books, blocks and fish... to participating in a homeschool lesson on freedom where we were talking about the plagues in Egypt... we have been having fun! And this is not all we have been up to. This is just a glimpse of the indoor stuff. I'll share outdoor stuff later. (and yes, we homeschool through the summer)

Holy Privilege... or Drudgery

In Elisabeth Elliot's, The Shaping of a Christian Family she writes of finding joy in your work.
Here is the story of 3 women washing clothes:

A passerby asked each of the women what she was doing...

"Washing clothes." was the first answer.

"A bit of household drudgery," was the second.

"I'm mothering 3 young children who someday will fill important and useful spheres in life, and washday is a part of my grand task in caring for these souls who shall live forever."was the third.

I cannot sit here and write that I have always had such an attitude while doing "monotonous" chores. If I could rewrite, using some of Elisabeth Elliot's words, the response of mother #3, it would go something like this:

I am a wife to a man I respect, a mother to 6 children I love and I plead that I am, God-willing, doing this here laundry for the glory of God. For I long to see it not as drudgery, but as a grand task and holy privilege, ordained by God.

The richest heritage I can leave my children is a Godly example.

SO HOW DO I DO LAUNDRY FOR SIX CHILDREN:

I have color-coded my baskets for each group of "persons" with colored sticky dots that I have put on the handles of the white baskets. I have also labeled each basket with an indelible pen. This allows my small children to not only learn their colors, but also "play the sorting game."
Mind you, that does not work when they get old enough to learn that it isn't a game, but by then they have learned responsibilty for the care of their own laundry.

For example:
1. My older boys share a room. Their basket is labeled "Boys" with a red dot.
2. The twins share a room. Their basket is labeled "Twins" with a yellow dot.
3. The girls share a room. Their basket is labeled "Girls with a pink dot.
4. My husband has his own basket labeled "Dad" with a blue dot.
5. And mine is labeled "mom" without a dot. (I ran out of colors)

When we first learned how to sort laundry, I would tell them by color, which basket to put that particular item of clothing in. Now they have the colors memorized and some are reading, so I drop a huge pile on the floor and they sort them quite well on their own. (I have 4 pre-schoolers that LOVE to do this... I have video taped them telling me how much fun it is, so when it isn't so much fun anymore, I can get out the nifty recording and haunt them with it.)

When all of the laundry is clean and sorted, they put it away. They know where everything goes, so my assistance is becoming less and less.
Do they put it away perfectly?
About as perfectly as they make their bed and fold towels.
Does it really matter?
No.
They did it themselves for the most part and I try not to go back and "fix" what they have worked hard at doing...