News from Kaber's Clan

Hi, this is Kimberly from All About {my} Boys- reporting in the Homeschooled Hooligans' Blog!

A few things.

first, here is the code for our wonderful new button Danielle made:

<br /> <a href="http://homeschooledhooligans.blogspot.com/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ0xf7GHoJKMzdMBZGn3B1TekXXn5ySMhvtzfZxA12uT8mEi90DG0tpDxPhDzdqWdnZ5vtuOMsdQKveTA24p25NB3c_Aq6aF-aFl2c2bl5G8tn_TK_jv-VqUWPS4kuYRwrmL3WwdMjwhex/s1600/Image3.jpg" width="135" height="135" target="_blank" /></a> <br />

Second: Just wanted to let you all know our J-Term is going along well! We are doing Forensic Sciences as a group and then Ki and & are learning about Theater/Acting and Connor and Gavin are doing Computer Programming. They all seem to REALLY enjoy it! Check out my blog for more posts about J-Term.

This week we processed a crime scene (complete with bullets, "blood", a "victim", fingerprints, and more), we took impressions for comparison, analyzed Mystery Powders, and more!

Gavin tried to register for a college class, but all the ones he wanted were full. He's on a waiting list.

Here is what we did with shoe prints and Crime-Cast!

SHOE PRINTS1. I cleared out an area of dirt in the garden next to the Orange Tree.
2. I put on an older shoe and stepped in the dirt, leaving a print.3. I called the CSI crew out to take a cast of the clue. Ki mixed the Cast Material.4. Connor Poured it.


5. We waited 30 minutes and Ki lifted it out of the ground.

5.5 We went inside, learned a few Acronyms ( ICPO, ATF, CIA, LAPD, etc)- the boys each researched 2 of them online and wrote a few sentences. Ki researches NCIS (as he likes that TV show)6. The cast dried inside the house over night and today C&K cleaned the dirt off of it.




7. Connor quickly found the match, though he looked at all the shoes, he was easily able to distinguish the non-matches.

MYTHOLOGY lesson plans

Ki asked to study Mythology for the month of May. I wrote up a basic Lesson Ideas/Plan. I will need to add a few more things (esp for Week 2). You can see the plans here: MYTHOLOGY LESSON PLANS FOR KI it's long and has lots of links to info online.

May Term should be very good. Astronomy-Mythology-Drawing/Sketching-Creative Writing

C.W. will be 3 days a week. I need something for the other 2 days. Gavin's will be Sewing. I think Connor's will be Science. Not sure what Ki's will be- maybe just reading.

YEAH!! The boys will each get a Syllabus. Ki loves that (SO DO I!!)

*J-TERM* Review/Wrap-Up (we had fun!)

I am pleased with the way J-term went. Gavin did a lot of computer programming. Connor did a lot of robot building type stuff. They wrote a report. Gavin did a few modules of Physics. Connor sewed a few things and has a few more things planned to sew. He learned so adjust a pattern, take measurements, operate the sewing machine, sew, applique, and more. Same with Ki.
Ki did very well with his cooking. He learned techniques, terms, history and more.

Ki took a class at a culinary school and has a big gourmet meal planned. we are finishing up some sewing projects and Ki is working on his culinary this week, too, to get him ready for his big dinner.

I have decided that the phrase 'when things slow down' has no place in my vocabulary. things will not slow down. not for at least 10 years I bet.

I am already making plans for MAY-TERM. like J-term, but in MAY! I have decided they will each have one required class.

and now I need to eat more and do something in the laundry and plant some seeds and make a grocery list and clean my bathroom and help C&K sew and give G a physics test.

tonight- AVATAR 3-D

Homeschool is MMMMmmm YUM!! (J-Term Day 14)

MMMMmmm. Just thinking about the food Ki has planned to make! I love that he is taking culinary class; which always sounds like colon when I say it. I just can get it to come through the vocal chords at the correct frequency I guess.

Today we talked about his menu for the gourmet dinner. So far he has:
Tomato soup with croutons. (I wonder if we can make asiago croutons like Panera does for their soup)
Fruit Salad’ like a waldorf, but no mayo and more fruit- gonna talk to him about some specifics still
Almond Crusted Chicken
Sautéed Broccoli with lemon and garlic- and fancy cut mushroom tops.
Death-By-Chocolate Cake
Then the following week he’s making a King Cake for a partial Mardi Gras Party. And he’s going to make atole (special Mexican drink they serve at their version of Mari gras )

I’m glad I’m taking those fitness classes and riding my bike more.
Today we read about the King Cake, Mardi Gras , the tradition, and history. Ki loved it. It was both culinary history and church history at the same time!
Gavin did some work on binary code and taught a little class on tricks to decoding binary. It is starting to become oh so very, very clear now as too why he had such trouble with reading. His brain is programmed to use binary and letters were just way to confusing. I should have started him with reading binary when he was 5 instead of real words with letters.
Ki typed out and printed an invitation for his gourmet dinner. I taught him to resize font to make it fit specific measurements so he could print on vellum and attach it to a pretty note card.

When it rains- it floods

“Help me! I’m MELTING!!!!!” the witch screamed as she was doused with water.

This scene comes to mind when thinking about our Wednesday. Not the being a witch part but the day melting away from the rains. The day started fine enough. Then the rains made the street flood and we called off school in favor of a FLOOD DAY; which is similar to a snow day but you don’t need gloves and don’t have a risk of frostbite.

Due to my soreness of throat, the boys took turns reading from Prov 19 and from Story of the World. In SOTW they were reading about a man named Salidin. Ki called him Salad Man.

Then it was off too the dentist with Gavin. The plan was to come home and do a little school after lunch but as we drove through puddles left by the torrential rains we turned into our street to be met with a miniature flood.
This was followed by Hooping & Hollering about the wonderful weather development, finding the motorized boats they made & air soft guns and calling it a Flood Day.

see connor's motorized boat he made for J-term -->

Another Great J-Term Day

I am so tired from today's lessons. This is how school should be. It should wear us all out! It's such a feeling of accomplishment to be totally used up after the school day.


Today the boys got mixed up on morning chores. Connor did Ki’s chores and that threw off Ki. But we got it on track.

We started Home Room (Reading together at the start of the day) at 9:30 today. I read Proverbs 11 and G & C took turns reading Story of the World while I cleaned a bit in the kitchen. Then Gavin went off to do His J-Term Stuff while I did Sewing Class with C & K. This week’s Lesson Goals are making gathers, sewing pockets, hemming by hand, and maybe some more appliqué practice.

I showed my tailors-in-training the picture of the gathered, half apron on the front of the pattern envelope. (that’s ‘ahn’-ve-lope’ for those that wondered). I showed them the 2 fabrics I am using and the appliqué I put on the pocket. Then we went to the fabric store and they picked their fabrics. At home they put their fabric in the washing machine to pre-wash while they drew design ideas for their apron and for their Class Project. They both are designing cloaks for their big class projection.

I went out back to hang laundry and plant some green onion seed in the planters I prepared last night.
Ki finished his designs first. I had him practice some culinary skills while Connor finished his. Ki tried different knives on a cucumber. He practiced Slicing & Dicing. Half of the cucumber was sliced and half was a diced and julienned. I had ulterior motives for Slice & Dice Class. I wanted cucumber sandwiches for lunch. I bought one of those small Party Loaves of Pumpernickel. The ones that are about 2 inch square slices. They were yummy sandwiches.

Lunch Time Chat was Amtgard Symbols and Doctor Who. Is he a Zombie..Undead? or not - because he starts the regeneration process when he knows he’s dying(before he is dead so he never really fully dies) . I started my apron so I would have one finished pocked attached to show them then they would watch as I did the 2nd pocket. After that they did their pockets & appliqué. I am glad I have 2 machines, even if only 1 can do appliqué.

The boys had a very productive sewing day! It was a long sewing day! We finished our sewing day at 2:30 today.
We just did one Life of Fred lesson today.
Tomorrow..Culinary Arts & Sewing!! I’m tired just thinking about it!

I decided that I will have different wake up times on different days. 8AM on M/W/F and 7AM on T/Th. That should work. In fact, I’m fine if we all sleep-in on Fridays. But Tues/Thursdays need me up early.

J-Term Days 4 & 5 (Kimberly)

JTerm Day 4/5
Day 4 was spent in Santa Barbara. We went to the planetarium, walked through the museum rooms, had a picnic, drove home, grabbed karate clothes and snacks, drove back to base, had critical Thinking Class, karate class, Fit Class and then dropped the boys off at church, did some grocery shopping, washed dishes, and fell asleep. Kelly did a lot of the driving! She gave us a ride from Base to the planetarium then took us home to grab stuff and back to base.
DAY 5
I read 2 chapters in Proverbs, because we were out of the house so much yesterday I didn’t read Proverbs 7 to them. Then Gavin and Connor took turns reading in Story Of the World about Samurai.

Robotics- Brian has the boys doing computer programming all morning. They are working together and helping each other. Connor can’t wait till after lunch so he can sew.
Culinary Arts. Ki reviewed some sign language. Then we looked up some terms and wrote them on cards. Ki worked on his menu for the gourmet meal later this month. We read about a well stocked pantry and printed out a list. Ki took a break from the reading/writing stuff and practiced garnish cuts on cucumbers. I guess that made him hungry, so he had lunch out in the back yard. Then he took the printed list and went through out pantry/cupboards. He crossed off what he have and not need. What was left uncrossed was our shopping list so we can have a well stocked kitchen/pantry.
Gavin made friend rice for lunch. It’s his latest self-cooked-lunch obsession. Rice, corn, peas, (sometimes carrots- not today), and egg; with soy sauce of course.
I went and played Gavin’s computer game he’s designing and programming.
Ki wanted to do sewing before math, so we (C,K,me) went up and got a start on that. Connor cut out an odd, random shape to practice his appliquéing. Ki finished his bag. He went with a drawstring bad instead of a bag with a handle. I let him use my new BabyLock. All appliquéing has to be done on the B BabyLock because my old Kenmore doesn’t zig as well as it zags and the tension gets all out of whack, resulting in a bundle of thread and fabric.
Connor did well with his appliquéing. He tried different settings and did corners and rounded edges and openings and tight wiggles. He went over it with a different color so he could see if he improved.

Ki finished his drawstring bag.
After Sewing Class was Life of Fred Class. The last episode left us hanging as Fred, who is only 5 ½ years old & 37 #s, was being rushed to the hospital because he dropped a 13 # knife (18”) into his foot. Today we found him at the hospital waiting 35 minutes for the doctor to fix the hole in his foot. Let me say once again how much I love that we have found Life of Fred for Ki’s math.
Connor went back up to do more sewing. Today was Math for Ki and Sewing for Connor but since Ki missed sewing yesterday he did a little of both.

Ki'S POUCH ---->








CONNOR'S GREEN POUCH and HIS PRACTICE FABRIC

J-Term Day 3 (Kimberly)

Oh My! Riding a bike for 50 minutes and then going to Fit Class all in the same day has made a very tired teacher. The teacher slept in as did her students. They had nothing planned out of the house. (no where to be at 10AM or 3PM)- so it was a good day for sleeping in.

Connor was already reading his Robotics info for the day and Gavin was going over his physics practice questions when the teacher arrived. Ki was still in bed, but awake. She called them to breakfast and had a cup of tea.

She talked to Gavin about his physics test and gave him some info to go along with his practice problems, Connor was working on the robotics his Computer Teacher left for him to do, and Ki was ready for Culinary Arts.

Morning Culinary Arts:

Ki read his syllabus for the day then learned a few sign language words to go with his course. Then he got his index cards out along with the 5 colored pencils he uses systematically to take notes. His first task was to read about foods from the Bible. This is the site he used: http://christianity.about.com/od/biblefactsandlists/qt/foodsofthebible.htm He was shown how to use www.biblegateway.com to look up verses and change between translations. He liked looking up the verses that went with each food he recorded. He liked seeing how foods were sometimes called different things in different translations. (Matt 23:23 was given for anise, cumin, dill and mint- no 1 translation had all 4, they would only have 3. Some would have anise, cumin, and dill and some would have anise, cumin, and mint.)He also found a verse that our pastor talked about a few weeks ago. He was excited about that. (the pastor never really said/quoted the verse but talked about what was said in it and Ki recognized it).

Then he wrote an email to his youth pastor about having a dinner sign up at church. He is going to make a gourmet dinner at the end of the month and needs to invite 4-6 people. Yesterday he thought about different people (friends kids, adults, from different groups etc) and he decided he wanted to invite people from his youth group and have a sign up.

His teacher noticed he spelled culinary wrong even though he was copying it from the syllabus. She had him practice it and he decided he wanted to try in cursive so he practiced writing in cursive a bit.

*** I love homeschooling. I love taking what my child LOVES , cooking, and using that as a means to learn other things. Bible Verses, History, Foreign Languages, Cursive/writing, math, etc ***

Ki took a break and watered the yard to help his dad’s new grass seeds grow. He took a little walk and checked on his Sunflowers. His teacher planted a few things and arranged her mini-greenhouse to a better location. He also checked out what his brothers were looking up in their robotics class.

After his break he moved on to the next tasks on his syllabus. He found a tool online he thought was neat, drew a picture and wrote a bit about it. He choose the Citrus Zester. HIs teacher found a video of a chef showing how to use one, so he watched that and got some ideas for his gourmet meal. Then he found a garnish he wants to practice. He wants to make Bell Pepper Grogs. They can be found at this link (scroll down until you find them). http://www.hemmy.net/2007/06/04/vegetable-and-fruit-artwork/


He is eating his mistakes right now; another benefit of having cooking as a hobby!

J-Term Day 2

What a busy day. Day 2 and still hasn’t had a day at home the whole school day to get it all done 'on schedule'. Today I read Proverbs 5, but not Story of the World. I had to once again convince Connor that he had to actually read and do what his dad wrote down for him BEFORE he runs off to spend the day in the shed salvaging parts from old CD Players and building mini-robots. He did make a cute Beam Bot yesterday though.

After the Reading Time, Ki and I started his culinary class while G&C read their robotics and solved their electrical circuit problem. Ki & I read about Ancient Cooking History, prehistoric cooking techniques, and the earliest recorded recipes. (Mesopotamia circa 1,000,000 BC). Then we started Ki's Index Card Box. He made 3 labels; TimeLine, Tools, Techniques. He wrote a few history things for timeline and we wrote a few early cooking techniques. (Salt curing, drying, smoking, pickling, etc). He added them to the appropriate sections. Them he walked to the store to buy flour and made the Mesopotamian Bread recipe. After a short break I set him up with some YouTube videos on garnishing food techniques and a website with tools and techniques. He made 2 technique cards (garnish ideas he wants to try) and 2 Tool Cards.

I rode my bike to the church. I had to stop halfway there for a couple bites of a banana. I was getting light headed. I met with Lisa from church about organizing an event for maybe the last weekend in January or the 1st Sunday in Feb. It should be fun! On the way home I stopped at Albertson's for Whole Wheat Flour, per Ki's request. He wants to try the ancient bread w/ whole wheat flour so it will be a little more authentic.

Ki got caught up in YouTube videos while I was away so he wasn't finished with Culinary Art. While he was finishing I got the sewing room ready for class and planted a few seeds. Then I recorded what seeds I planted on my Planting Log.

Sewing Class.....ah, what can I say about Sewing Class...... Connor is doing great. Ki had a big ol' meltdown halfway through. Ki had to start over. He had planned a Belt Favor for Amtgard. We went with a plain pouch with an appliqué. We had to leave before they were done to get to Karate on time. But my On Time was 30 minutes different than what time the instructor started class. I went to the Class for Miss Fits and had a nice little workout and a splitting headache.

Gavin went over his physics with Brian. He was stuck on the tracing a ray in a mirror stuff. Brian went over some robotics with G&C.

Ki bakes his Mesopotamia bread and practiced a couple Chocolate Garnish Techniques.

J-Term Day 1 (Jan 4)

J-Term: DAY 1
No Morning Chores for the boys. Ki made Grands Biscuits for breakfast. I don’t buy those things, but on holidays (usually Christmas & Whatever break we take in Spring & Summer) Brian buys them. Grands & the Cinnamon rolls in the Pop-Open canister. I figure it’s a good arrangement. I don’t like Ki having those (esp the Cinnamon ones) during school weeks because he needs to avoid Artificial- but it is a Dad Makes Breakfast Thing usually- and that is a good bonding/memory thing for the boys- so having it as a Holiday/Special treat is fine. And Brian forgot to make the Grands Biscuits with dinner last week and Ki found them this morning. They should be low enough is artificial (probably just some art. Butter flavor) that Ki will be fine for today’s school.

SCHOOL: Started at 9 today. I hope to get started at 8:30 the rest of the month- most of the time.

9:00 AM- Read from the Bible. Reading Proverb of the Day with the boys this month. And read a little in Story of the World. Then we talked a bit about how we will run J-Term this month. I gave C & K their Index Card Cases for Sewing Class and Ki his for Culinary Arts. Gavin went off to do Computer Programming while C,K, & I started Sewing Class. I handed them the syllabus and showed them the appliqué pouch I made. We talked about different ideas for a pouch and then they had to draw 2 ideas on index cards. Connor wants to make a pouch for Amtgard Thrown weapons and Ki wants to make a belt favor pouch for Amtgard.
I cut 2 plastic bottles for plants while they did that.

When they had their designs drawn, we went to the fabric store. They looked around for what seemed like forever before they found the right solid green and the perfect solid brown and the shade of solid yellow that they liked. They had the lady cut it and talked to the cashier. She was very glad and impressed to see boys happily/willingly learn to sew!
At home they started the prewash with salt 9to help keep the dye from bleeding- which is mainly for multi-colored fabrics, but it won’t hurt to get them in the habit. Then it was break time. I planted some carrots in some mini-greenhouses and they played. Gavin had a snack of course.

After the break I had my Tiny Tailors get out their Sewing Note cards and write/draw how they thought the pouches should be made; what shape/size to cut the fabrics, how to put them together, how to make the pouch and handles etc. Being able to visualize what needs to be done to get the desired result is very important in sewing and in many other aspects of life. I planted an onion)
When they were done with that they we ready to dry their fabrics.
Now they have a couple index cards for their design. They date them and keep them in their index card holder.

LUNCH!!!! I had a quick lunch then rode my bike to Trader Joe’s for a few grocery items.
Classes change after lunch but I had C&K iron their now dry fabric after lunch (before switching to the next class)

Math isn’t really a fun topic about which too blog, so I’ll just share that Ki is reading Life of Fred for math and he actually looks forward to and asks if it is math time yet now! It’s great for non-math kkids that love stories and storytelling!
Brian sent G&C an email with links and assignments for their robotics/computer programming today.
- - - - - - - - ---- - - - -
- Gavin and Connor,
-
-
- During J-Term we will need to cover some basics like mechanics, wiring, soldering, and programming. We will be using Lego Mindstorms to cover some of the basics of mechanics and programming. Wiring and soldering skills will be practiced in the shed.
-
-
-
-
- ASSIGNMENT for Monday (4 Jan). When I get home we will spend 45 minutes discussing the items below.
-
- Read the attached PowerPoint file. It can also be found at
- www.robofest.net/resc/robo101forRobofest.ppt
-
-
- Watch
- 60 Second video on how to do binary quickly
-
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdFmSlFojIw&feature=player_embedded
- Read the sections on HISTORY, QUALITY, and DEBUGGING
-
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_programming
-
- Check out the list of computer programming languages - We don't need to learn them all :) We will be learning BASIC and PYTHON at first.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programming_languages
-
-
- Read the section on "What is a Hacker"
- http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html#what_is
-
-
-
- For fun - links to check out .....
-
- In the future (possible this spring) we will purchase some robot kits - see links below.
-
- sample basic robot using PICAXE robot platform
- http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5734178030844828508#
-
- balancing robot
- http://www.instructables.com/id/Balancing_Robot/
-
-
- Where to buy.
-
- http://www.robotshop.us/starting.html
-
- http://letsmakerobots.com/node?page=0%2C1
-
- http://www.robotgear.com.au/Category.aspx/Category/38
-
-
-
- Dad

Meet the Terrills "Hi from California!"

Hi, all. Kristy asked me to join her Home School Blog and since I like to blog about our fun homeschooling adventures I joined her! I figure I'll juster post my home school blogs to here and my own home school blog.

My name is Kimberly. We homeschooled for 7 years in Ohio and we are on our second year homeschooling in California. My boys are Ki (13) Connor (15 in 3 weeks) and Gavin (16). Ki has never been to public school. Connor went for Kindergarten and Gavin did kindergarten and 1st grade there. We plan to homeschool totally through high school. We are a bit on the Unschool Side of homeschool spectrum. The boys get to choose their classes and how they want to learn things (just not IF they want to learn) They read when they were ready (some as early as 4 some as late as 5th grade) and same with math (G was ready and asking for algebra type math in Kindergarten. Ki is 13 and still is taking his leisurely stroll through beginning multiplication and some fraction facts. We don't go by grade level or do testing (well thee older 2 have some end of chapter tests for the science they choose) no spelling lists, no curriculum other than what we want to learn right now (not dependant upon what they have learned or 'what is next' according to the books).

In January we do J-Term. a month of just 2 classes- one in the morning and one in the afternoon. they get to choose. Ki asked for sewing and Culinary Arts. Connor also wanted Sewing and he is doing Robotics/Computer Programming along with Gavin. Gavin's 2nd class is Physics. (yes, HIS idea and it is what he asked to do last year for J-Term, too)

So join us in reading about our J-Term Adventures!
Posts by me will have my name as a label (on the bottom).