Journalism Class.....Rocks!!!

Meagan had such a blast being involved with this class. She started out the year looking like...

As the year went by and the MANY deadlines came and went, she ended the year looking like this...

She had such a good time with the kids in class and they all joke about the deadlines and the sleepless nights etc... it was great!!

Two examples of their newspaper can be found HERE and HERE.  By the end of the year, the last paper they did, they decided to make it as fun as they could so they made a joke paper, which can be found HERE.

-Sarah   

Let's do some hard things!!!

Meagan had a class last semester called, "Do hard things". In it, she was pushed out of her comfort zone to help serve and love others. She decided not to take it the second semester, but anyone who took it could help out with some of the service they did in the new semester. Meagan chose to help out at The Ronald McDonald house, and make breakfast for families living there while their son/daughter/siblings were in the hospital.

They chose to wake up early on their day to sleep in (Saturday) and cook. Meagan said she really enjoyed it and loved talking to people and helping out whereever she could.

I am so proud of the young woman she is becoming. You amaze me Meagan and always remember, "Never give up... Never surrender!!"

-Sarah   

Spring Clogging Recital 2016

Meagan has been studying clogging now for 2 years and I have to say, in that time, she has gotten INCREDIBLY good at it.  She seems to have a real knack for dance and a rhythm that runs through her blood.  She is truly happy when she is dancing, and the smile on her face shows it clearly.

Each group (the beginners and intermediate) did two performances and the adults (less the instructor who was expecting at the time) did another.  Here is a picture of the kids' groups with the instructor and her assistant for the semester. 

As is customary for an arts performance, there were flowers all around.  (P.S., my wife thinks of EVERYTHING.  2 years and I still can't remember that little detail...)

I am so grateful that we have had the opportunity thus far in Lubbock to have her study dance with such a capable teacher who really enjoys working with kids.  The opportunity to watch Meagan grow in this way has truly been a joy for Sarah and I and we look forward to many more years of such growth and happiness.

- Josh                   

Japan-a-mania

Meagan has been turning into quite the artist.  She must get it from her mom's side of the family, because it SURE isn't from mine.  I mess up stick figures.

Anyway, taking a page from some of my friends and a few of hers, she has been getting into a few Anime show series'.  In doing so, she has developed something of an obsession with the art styles of Japanese animation (both print and screen).  Below is a sampling of some of the things she has been working on.

It's gotten to where she actually wants to move to Japan for a couple of years to study that art style. To prepare, she is going to be using Rosetta Stone to start learning Japanese this year for her Freshman language requirement.  She's even managed to convince her Aunt Elizabeth to go with her in a couple of years (she's going to be applying to get a job soon to save money for a passport and a trip there).  

I love the passion that she is developing in going after what she wants.  I can only hope that as parents, we can continue to help teach her how to find and go after (and want) the things that are best for her long-term.  But I guess that is just one of the many typical "parent worries" when one's child is growing up faster than you think they should...

- Josh              

Love of Tennis

Meagan has found her calling in a few ways, and one of those ways is tennis. Practices and matches are the highlight of her week. She enjoys it so much, and works on her technique any chance she can. She is on the high school team this year and works hard to make her coach and teammates proud.

Getting action shots with my phone is extremely hard.

 

Whether it is singles or doubles she puts forth her best effort everytime.

 

We have been so proud of her determination and perseverance. This last Thanksgiving she had the chance to play with her aunt Elizabeth, and after they played she commented that she wasn't afraid of her fast balls this time, and that she had a blast learning from her. Elizabeth commented on how much she has improved since the last time they played in June. Even though tennis takes a chunk out of our week for practices and matches, I am so grateful she has this in her life. I am also amazed at the unity this team has. They are always there for you and whether you did great or made tons of mistakes, her teammates are always there to uplift her and encourage her. I love her tennis team.

- Sarah      

Who'da Thunk....

In writing, this year, I decided to do a program that included history in the process. We are learning about U.S. history, and have been researching Native Americans and the early explorers. On this particular week, the kids were challenged to write a poem about what the explorers felt when they came ashore after the long trip on the boat. To my surprise, Jacob really surpassed all expectations and made and incredible poem. 

The American Explorers

Their hair flowed with the wind as they approached land,

Their eyes twinkled in great hopes of settlement,

Their mouths blabbered trying to fathom the excitement at hand,

And their arms flailed as they yelled in excitement.

They remembered the reason they came.

They hope the Indians are friendly.

They are the great English explorers. 

-Jacob                          

Meagan chose to take on the view of the Native Americans and what they felt or thought.

 Native Americans

Legs kneel down, descending as they peek suspiciously.

Their bodies trembling, and in tremor ever so fearfully.

Their eyes swiftly searching for signs of onslaught.

Their mouths utter a silent gasp.

They then grasp a weapon imperative for stability.

All they dreamed of was amity.

They are Native Americans, who wanted to be left in peace. 

-Meagan                       

I thought they both did a fabulous job, and love seeing the progress they are making. I think we have some poets on our hands.

-Sarah

Finally a reader!!

Jacob is finally an avid reader!! YAY!! He had always disliked reading until we started homeschooling. We gave him so many other options to choose from for reading and it worked! It used to be like pulling teeth, but now he loves to sit and read for fun.

For a long while, he would only read non-fiction but slowly, bit by bit, we got him to read other things, and now he is reading anything that sounds funny or he is interested in. I finally have to "keep" him in books, just like his father and his sister. Way to go Jacob! I am so proud of you and all your hard work!! 

-Sarah

I'm bugging out...

While watching Meagan at her tennis match, Jacob happened to see an ant trying to carry off a dead bug carcass. He got super excited, and we began watching this ant try its mightiest to carry off food for his home. We spent the next 20 minutes watching Mr. Ant, and began talking about ants in general. We talked about how he could carry something much bigger and heavier than him. We talked about how ants live and what they eat and the various different jobs that each ant has. He was fascinated, and so was I, just talking and exploring life. One of the best things about homeschooling is just that: talking and experiencing life and learning all about it.

After all of this, I found a documentary on ants called Ants: Nature's Secret Power (In case you want to watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-gIx7LXcQM). They watched it and wrote a paper on what they had seen. When asked what they thought of it, Jacob said, "So cool!" Meagan on the other hand said, "It was so gross.....yuck!" I guess you can't please everyone.

-Sarah 

Gardening fun!!

So this summer, since we are finally in a house, I really wanted to have a garden. I knew it would be small, but you have to start somewhere. We decided to plant red potatoes, peas, carrots, and sunflowers.

Now I am terrible about remembering to take pictures, so I didn't get any of the actual plants (which were all in containers since that is what I had to work with). They all grew really well, and it was hard to keep the kids from the vegis that grew (especially the peas - the kids ate the pods before I could stop them, they were quite sneaky some days), but we had enough to make one meal out of the surviving vegetables.  So for our first harvest of the season, we chose to make pot roast.

Our favorite kind of potato is red. They really have the best flavor.

 

I will admit that waiting for the carrots to grow big is hard. So we excavated these ones early because I LOVE carrots straight from the ground.

 

Dinner was really really good that day. Knowing that we, as a family, grew half of what we ate made it even more special to us, but it really was a very tasty meal. I can not wait 'till next spring when we can start our garden again. We learned a bit and learned how to fix the problems that may come up for next time. Also, we are hoping to expand our container garden and add more delicious goodness to it. (P.S. - gardening in Texas is harder than I thought)

-Sarah

Unit Study: Patience

The next Unit Study we did was on Patience.  First we learned about Photosynthesis, and the Oxygen-Carbon Dioxide Cycle of Plants.  

For their exam, the extra credit question was to write the chemical reaction for Photosynthesis.  Jacob got it exactly correct.  Apparently, he takes after his father, who has always been good at that sort of thing (He also understood it and could explain it all perfectly).

We looked at a leaf under a microscope (the one we got for Christmas) and were able to see the different parts of the leaf up close.  We also wrote papers on plant protection and how plants use different methods to attract or keep away bugs.  We watched a documentary on Neflix (also available on YouTube) called "What Plants Talk About" and it was VERY interesting.  It talks about how plants help each other to survive and how plants actually can talk to each other in ways.  There is a forest where the forest is so dense that the sun never reaches the ground, so in order for seedlings to grow, the "mother" plants share their glucose so that their seedlings can actually grow.  The whole system works together to help each other flourish.

Next, we discussed a section on cooking and talked about yeast.  We made bread and pretzels.  

Naturally, Meagan made hers with flair!  If you don't know what this is, don't feel bad.  It's the cutie mark for Rainbow Dash, one of the ponies from My Little Pony.

The pretzels were cheesy garlic and the bread was honey bread.  The pretzels were made with the supervision and assistance of a master chef (One of Sarah's best friends), but the bread was made with Meagan teaching Jacob since Sarah had already taught Meagan.  This gave her a chance to be the "teacher" for a change.

We also did an experiment where we captured the Carbon Dioxide gas that is emitted from yeast as it reacts with sugar and used it to inflate a balloon.

Then we started talking about molds, fungus, and bacteria.  We have a friend who has Celiac's disease.  We discussed how any kind of gluten reacts differently in her body than in that of a healthy human body.  We talked about Alexander Fleming and the discovery of penicillin.  We talked about the different kinds of microorganisms.  First we talked about bacteria and how it is essential in our bodies. They help break down food, release nutrients, and recycle dead plants and animals into useful chemical compounds for living plants and animals.  Without them, we would not be able to effectively digest food.  One of the things that I learned (and Josh too) is that E. Coli can already be found in the human intestinal tract.  The danger is not in the bacteria but in the location.  It is only a problem when it leaves the intestines and enters another part of the body (for instance, the stomach or blood).  Bacteria form the majority of the biomass found on earth, which means that the total mass of all the bacteria found on earth is greater than the total mass of any other single species.  Next, we talked about fungi (yeast falls under this category).  Next, we talked about protozoans.  They live in water.  They can produce their own food (which makes them a plant) or they can consume other food sources (which makes them an animal).  Jacob describes this as being a "planimal".  Last, we talked about algae (of which seaweed is one type).

We were going to go into human development, but we started going to a new co-op (see the post on that HERE) and picked up where they were.  Because of that, these unit study style posts are going to shift in their format/frequency/content a little bit.  Change, though, is often a good thing, and we're hoping that this is no exception.

- Sarah                         

A new homeschool Co-op

My sister has been trying to tell me how cool Latter-Day Learning is and I finally listened. The other great thing about this curriculum is that a bunch of local LDS friends get together twice a week to help our kids learn together. I decided to try it out and the kids thought it was a great fit.

Our first time joining was for a field trip to the planetarium (Jacob was so thrilled). These are not all of the kids but some of them. All the moms take turns teaching, and each of us teach a specific topic. Next year I will be teaching science to the older kids. We try and split them the best we can according to their developmental stages. The great thing too is that two of the families live two doors down from each other and so one house is used for the younger and the other house is used for the older. It really is set up the perfect way. There are about seven families that come, with more coming next year.

We have been attending for a few weeks now and really enjoy seeing friends and learning more not only about history, science, literature, and geography but about the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

-Sarah   

Tennis Rules

Meagan has always wanted to play tennis. While still in public school, she had the opportunity to play tennis for her P.E. class. She LOVED it. So over the summer, we put her in a tennis camp. This year with the homeschool sports program she is able to not only practice tennis but to play games with other kids who play as well (homeschooled as well as non-homeschooled kids).

Now she can't wait til her aunts or uncles who play come to visit or we visit them.

Happy Feet

Meagan has been clogging now since September.  There was a two-month break and then she started up again in February.  We managed to convince her to participate in the talent show that the homeschool group we attend put on.  She has some incredible, natural talent that she needs to share with others.  And share she did.  She did a FANTASTIC job and everyone was very impressed.  Her teacher even came to watch her.

We are SO impressed with the talent she has developed.  We are even more pleased with how happy music and dancing seems to make her.  Way to go, Meagan!  We love you so much!

- Josh                      

Attentiveness Unit Study

Our next unit for Homeschooling has been Attentiveness.  The theme is paying attention to detail and observing the world around us.  For the first section in this unit, we studied the ear.  The kids discovered the parts of the ear, and how they work to help the brain interpret sound waves.  Inside your ear, you have short hairs and long hairs.  Shorter hairs pick up the high pitched sounds because the amplitude of the wave is able to reach them better, and the taller hairs pick up the lower pitched sounds with their reduced wavelength.  Sound is directed by the cartilage in the outer ear into the ear canal where it strikes the ear drum vibrating it at the frequency of the instigating sound wave.  The ear drum, in turn, causes the hammer, anvil, and stapes to vibrate at that frequency.  These vibrate the air in the cochlea at that same frequency.  It is there that the hairs of different lengths pick up the frequency and transmit through the auditory nerves to the brain.

We talked about causes of deafness and then we talked about Helen Keller and watched the Miracle Worker which the kids really enjoyed.  We played different memory games to help with concentration.  For their writing assignment for deafness, we had them make up an advertisement for hearing aids so that they had to investigate how hearing aids worked so that they could convince people to buy them.

We discussed Alexander Graham Bell and his contribution of the invention of the telephone.  We discussed sonar and how ships and bats use sound to navigate obstacles.  We discussed the story of the Greek Nymph Echo which deals with how we hear echoes.  Then we began a discussion of musical instruments and orchestra and went to our friend Ellie's house.  She pulled apart her piano, violin, and marimba and we discussed the different parts of each and what they did.  We discussed different percussion instruments as well.  Then we talked about orchestras and how and why they are set up in a specific way.

We talked about rhythm and tempo in music as well as music dynamics.  Throughout this whole portion of the unit, we introduced them to different, well-known classical symphonies and talked about different composers.  Meagan's favorite of the new music she had never heard previously was "1812 Overture" by Tchaikovsky, and Jacob's was "Bolera" by Ravel.

The next section we covered was the eye.  The kids learned the parts of the eye and how they function to help the brain interpret light waves.  The rods on the sides of an eye see only black and white, and the cones in front see colors.  Jacob really enjoyed finding the blind spot in each eye and how the iris reacts to changes in light intensity.  For Meagan's writing project, we discussed myopia (near-sightedness, or the inability to see objects that are far away) and hyperopia (far-sightedness, or the inability to see objects that are close).  For Jacob's writing project, he compared the eye location of several types of animals and the pros and cons of each.  We talked about glaucoma, cataracts, and night-blindness.

For the last section, we discussed tracking.  We talked about Lewis and Clark's journey with Sacajawea (or the Corps of Discovery Expedition) to survey the land purchased by Thomas Jefferson known as the Louisiana Purchase.  We discussed the Louisiana purchase, and why it was made.  We talked about who it was purchased from and what we hoped to gain.  We talked about the Mormon Pioneers that crossed the Great Plains to Salt Lake City.  We plotted them on the map of the continental US with string. 

We discussed how these explorers and pioneers survived during their treks.  We called in the wilderness expert (Grandpa Stumm) and talked with him about bears.  He talked about how you hunt them & how bears live.  We had them each make a fictional "Explorer's Journal"

Jacob's journal is called "My Research About the Mokele Mbembe".  It is the lore of the last living dinosaur and is from the Congo.  He wrote about trying to find out the truth of the legend.  Meagan's is called "The Ghost of Union Bay" and is the legend of a haunted island and her attempt to discover why it is haunted.

We discussed a little bit about the War of 1812 and why it happened.  We discussed England's trade embargo of our goods via shipping, the impressment of merchant sailors into the Royal English Navy, their support of the Indian tribes against American expansion, and the American interest in annexing British territory.  We discussed the Star Spangled Banner and it's origin in Fort McHenry and Francis Scott Key's observations there.

Meagan's favorite things this unit were the memory games and guessing the orchestral piece from hearing a part of it.  Jacob's was studying the eye and how it works.

Next up: Patience.  Stay tuned for gardening, growth, and more!

- Josh & Sarah                        

Classification Unit

As part of our organization trait unit study, we did a section on animal, plant, and rock classification.  The first part of the unit was on animals.  For one of the activities, King Phillip Came Over For Good Spaghetti.  No, we do not personally know any regents, however, this one can be used as a mnemonic device to remember the classification parts of all animals (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species).  We learned about the 5 characteristics that an animal must have to be classified:

1. Must have many cells
2. Cannot make it's own food
3. Must have eukaryotic cells (they have a true nucleus)
4. It must move about
5. It must digest food

We went deeper and talked about the 9 different Phyla of animals

1. Porifera (sponges)
2. Cnidarians (jellyfish, coral, anemonea)
3. Platyhelminthes (flatworms)
4. Nematoda (roundworms)
5. Annelida (segmented worms)
6. Mollusca (clams, oyster, squid)
7. Arthropoda (insects, spider, lobster)
8. Echinodermata (starfish, sand dollar)
9. Chordata (vetrabrea)

Then we talked about all the different areas and aspects of each of those 9 Phyla. We talked about how they were different from each other.  We talked about specific animals and fish.  We would look at pictures or go on walks and look for animals and the kids would classify them.  We discussed how the animal classification system came to be with it's origin in Aristotle, through LaMarck, and finally to our current system started by Linnaeus.  We even classified stuffed animals.

For plant classification, we started with flowers and what each of the different parts were and the 5 sections of a tree which are:

1. Heartwood
2. Sapwood
3. Cambium
4. Phloem (Inner Bark)
5. Outer Bark

This is a poster that I made to help the kids review that material.

We talked about vascular v. non-vascular (water distribution systems) and gymnosperms (no flower) v. angiosperms (flower).  Then we went into leaves and their classification.  There are three types of leaf edges:

1. Lobed
2. Serrated
3. Smooth (or Entire)

There are also two types of leaves (simple and compound).  Then we talked about how there are two types of veins a leaf can have: parallel (moncot) and palmate (dicot).


Then we went to the Lubbock Memorial Arboretum and collected plant specimens.  Once home, the kids created posters displaying their specimens and the classification characteristics of each specimen.

I had never thought the kids would be excited to learn such things, but on one of our later trips to the Public Library for more source material, the kids were pointing out the leaves on the trees in the Library yard and talking about their characteristics, completely un-coaxed by me.  It impressed me how I didn't have to quiz them, they were applying the learning all on their own.  It's not much, but it was one of those moments you look for as a teacher to tell whether your students are "getting it".

For the rocks portion of our study, we talked about igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks and the difference between rocks and minerals.  We discussed mineral properties which are:

• Luster
• Streak
• Hardness
• Cleavage

We discussed Mohs hardness scale.  We went into the layers of the earth's crust and finally the rock cycle (shown below).

Luckily, we have a son who likes to collect rocks, so I was able to go into his collection and pull out samples to use to teach with and for the kids to examine and classify.

With me being the perfectionist that I am, I wanted to make sure that they were indeed learning the concepts that I was presenting so when I tested them, I did so several grade levels above where they are in order to see if they had picked up the advanced concepts that we had discussed.  The kids both exceeded all expectations.

We also incorporated other subjects into our study.  For example, during the plant unit, I had the kids write a persuasive letter to a deciduous tree to try and convince it to not lose it's leaves in the winter.  We also did a celery experiment where we put a celery stalk in water with food dye and watched the progress as the celery "drank" the colored water and how it changed.  In our rock unit, the kids did an oral presentation about a specific type of rock, and Meagan created a song to help us learn about rose quartz.  In the animals unit, the kids wrote a fictional story about animals.

The kids learned a lot of information, and even now (a month later), they still seem to retain much of that information.  I truly believe that it is due to the hands-on approach we are taking with their schooling rather than just learning from books and paper.  They get out and actively engage with the world around them and it helps them to remember and appropriately apply the information that they have learned.  Even though they still frustrate me with the frequency which they are unable to focus to my standards, I am incredibly proud of them and the work they are doing.

- Sarah                                

Apple Orchard

The Walles' have been in Lubbock, TX now, for 5 years.  We love it here.  However, there ARE things we miss about other places that we've lived that are not (in general) to be found here.  One of these, for me, is going to the orchards in the fall to pick fresh apples.  In my humble opinion, nothing beats an apple straight off the tree.  Imagine my surprise, when we found out through one of the home schooling networks that we frequent, that there was an apple orchard here in town (well, just outside) that agreed to do a day for home schooling families.  For $5, each of the kids and adults got a bag that they could fill up with apples off the tree, and to taste-test apple cider and fresh local honey.  Early in the afternoon, we trekked out with our friends, Nicole, Cheyenne, & Aushania to check this place out.

Once in the orchard, we stopped for some pictures.  Jacob, Meagan, and one of Meagan's bestest buddies, Cheyenne loved spending time together.

Meagan, Jacob, and their schoolteacher (that's me, if you couldn't guess).

Nicole, Cheyenne, and Aushania finding some shade.

Waiting in line for hay rides can be so exhausting, so Jacob, Meagan, Cheyenne, and Aushania are taking a break.  Life is so tough...

The hay ride was really crowded, so I gave the camera to Meagan to take some pictures of her, Jacob, and Cheyenne.  Trust Meagan to make them fit in to the internet "selfie" craze that seems to be so contagious lately...

I thought this was too good of a shot to pass up.

Also had to get some shots with this pond.  It is such a COOL decoration.

The cider tasting came in the form of tiny paper cups.  Enough for a sip, but not nearly enough to satisfy.  And Jacob, was DEFINITELY not satisfied.  He kept going back for more.  Meagan...not so much.  Both of them however, enjoyed the honey, which was apparently, "cotton honey".  Prior to moving here, we had no idea that this was even a "thing".

All in all, it was an OK day.  I don't think we'll do it again because they didn't really talk much about anything on the tour of the orchard (and we were looking forward to the learning as much as the tasting).  But it was still a great opportunity to get out of the house as a family, and experience something new that this area has to offer.  Looking forward to our next adventure!

- Sarah              

Corn Maze Fun

This year we had the opportunity to go to a corn maze on home-school day at the local corn maze. We invited some friends to join us and had a blast walking the maze.

The weather that day was crazy. It was the coldest day this fall and the wind went wild. That didn't stop us one bit.

At the beginning you had some options to choose from in the forms of quizzes to help lead you through the maze. Meagan and her good friend Emma decided to go out on their own and the rest of us went a different route. For our clues, to help us through, we chose movie trivia. Every time you came to a corn cob with a number on it you would go to that question and it would tell you which way to go. So either you chose wisely or you were lead astray.

For example: Finish the lyrics from The Wizard of Oz's "Somewhere over the rainbow": Where trouble melts like.......?

A. lemon drops (turn left)

B. snow (turn right)

C. rain (walk backwards to the beginning)

Since Meagan and Emma went off together Jacob came with us and the little ones. Here he is holding Cheyenne's hand walking with her. The two of them were talking (well mostly Jacob) but Cheyenne was agreeing like she knew exactly what he was saying. It really was the cutest thing ever and he did it all on his own.

I really do love this boy. He can make anyone feel like they are the greatest thing in the world. He has such compassion in him.

Here is the half way point bridge. You can go up and look around and see all of the maze.

We also got to go on a hay ride to the pumpkin patch.

They had a ton of pumpkins to choose from. You went out and picked the one you wanted and brought it to the driver and he would write how much it was on the bottom of it. Well, he was so smitten by Cheyenne, he gave her one for free.

All in all we really had a blast. I know Meagan was so happy to have a friend come along. I was too. 

-Sarah