Enjoying the Winter Olympics

Anyone else enjoying the Winter Olympics 2014?

I am sad to say that I've not been able to watch as much as I'd like this year, but we are catching a bit (and my awesome sister is dvr-ing some of it for me since we don't have cable).

We are also enjoying doing some unit studying on the Olympics as well and I thought I share a little about that today.

If you do a search on Pinterest for the Winter Olympics 2014 you'll find quite a lot of great resources! I wanted to share a few that we are personally using:

We aren't stopping our regular schedule and strictly focusing on the Olympics (although that does sound like a lot of fun!), but we are doing an activity here and there along with a little watching. I want it to be fun and not drudgery--and sometimes too many unit study worksheets can feel like drudgery.

We also enjoyed watching Cool Runnings with the kiddos last night. The kids got a kick out of the story of the first Jamaican bobsled team! And I'd forgotten just how choked up the ending made me--I'm such a sap! :) Jamaica has a special place in my heart though and it makes me love that movie more.

I'd love to hear about any special things you've done with your family to celebrate the Winter Olympics~leave me a comment and tell me!

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Arkansas' Crimson Clover

One of my favorite things about Spring is the crimson clover that grows along the highways and interstates here in Arkansas. I say Arkansas because this is where I first grew to love it. We actually saw some in Mississippi on our way here and I saw it in our town in Alabama for the first time this year. But it spreads like that, each year it grows and looks even more beautiful. I'm not sure who decided to plant it in the medians of the interstates , but it was genius! It seeds itself and just comes back more lush the next year. I always want to take pictures, but of course it's almost always in the median of a very busy interstate~which is a little dangerous for photography. However, the other day I found the perfect patch of it on the side of a not-too-busy highway, so Vince obliged me and pulled over:) Isn't it beautiful? I just had to share it with you...

One Way I Refresh During the Summer as a Homeschool Mom

As our homeschool takes some time off this summer, my mind almost never stops thinking of and planning ahead for the upcoming school year. This is probably because I'm Type A and an obsessive planner...lol Whatever the reason, I do enjoy this season of planning. But I also need to be refreshed as a homeschool mom. Homeschooling can be incredibly exhausting and all-consuming. It's not easy and it's a lot of responsibility. And I take that very seriously when I am researching curriculum and planning toward the next school year. So also taking some time to rejuvenate and refocus myself is very important. How do I do this? Each summer I take some time to read something inspiring and motivating that speaks to me as a homeschool mom. Some of my fave reads from past years--that I have nearby on my shelf and refer to often--are Educating the Wholehearted Child, The Well-Trained Mind, The Charlotte Mason Companion, A T...

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