Personal Experiences Meme

Got this one from Alicia. It's pretty easy. Just copy and paste and hightlight the ones you have done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis (I leave this kind of thing to Mary Evelyn.)
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (from the beach)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (Been there, but it was being renovated and we couldn't get to the top.)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (No, but Jason does a great "Born to Be Wild." He's not your typical CPA.)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (no thanks, Jason does this enough for the both of us)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen (Not a soup kitchen, but my BIL's homesless ministry a few times)
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (Just once and I was mortified.)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (wow...that's a little humbling to admit)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Homeschool Blog Awards Meme - Something New

Well, this should be an easy post. This week's meme from The Homeschool Blog Awards is called something new. We are to share what new product we are using in our homeschools this year (and where to get it and why we chose it and how we are liking it so far, etc.). My challenge will be to share WHICH new thing!

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The most obvious new thing in our school this year is Exploring Countries and Cultures from My Father's World. And in summary...we love it! I chose it out of a desire for a little more structure, a little more of a Biblical emphasis, the desire to teach Rachel and Mary Evelyn together, everything is included in the schedule, and the history is taught chronologically. I like that My Father's World combines the best of Charlotte Mason's methods with the best of what classical education offers. I have already said a lot about MFW in previous posts, so if you are interested in it for yourself you can go here.

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I am going to also mention our new co-op. It is called Enrich and it is for users of the My Father's World curriculum. We met yesterday for the first time and my kids had a ball! I was the teacher for Betsie's class and as I type she is eating breakfast holding the crafts we made. Rachel and Mary Evelyn had a great time too. Not something you can buy, but new for us and I think a wonderful addition to our school. Plus it only meets once a month, which means we'll still be enjoying it 8 or 9 months from now! LOL!

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I won't go into tons of details but I will also say that I am glad we made the switch to Teaching Textbooks math for Rachel and Right Start math for Mary Evelyn. Math is not the evil around here that it once was. Yay!

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One last thing: we will start using The Learnables very soon for Spanish. We just got this in the mail last week. I haven't had a chance to even look at it, but that will be another new addition to our school. I have always wanted to add foreign language and The Learnables was much cheaper than my first choice and can be done independently on the computer. I'll let you know how it goes and if they learn anything or not!

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Let me know of you do this meme so I can see what's new with you!

Heart of the Matter Friday Meme: Your Children's Learning Styles

You may (or most likely may not!) have noticed that I added a new picture to my sidebar: Heart of the Matter online homeschooling magazine. I just discovered this magazine a couple of weeks ago and have enjoyed browsing their articles and features. Each Friday they do a meme (don't ask me to define that.) for us homeschoolers so we can share with each other concerning all sorts of schooling/parenting/homemaking issues. Today's meme is about our children's learning styles.

I hesitated doing this meme because I have never really been able to figure out learning styles! With me, it's more of a , "hmmmm....that didn't work!" process. One of our children had some occupational therapy done last year and the OT told us her learning style seemed to be auditory...I still don't see it.

So everything from here forward about my kids is speculation. Does it count that I am not totally satisfied with being unsure? I have reserved a few good books by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias from my library. (I think I have read one of these before or at least a part of it.) The first book is called The Way They Learn. If I finish the book this time, I'll be sure and review it later.

Most people agree that the main learning styles are visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic. Since I have never been certain which category most describes my girls, I try to hit them all. Here are a few examples:

Auditory: We read book to the girls and they listen to lots of books on CD. We also use songs to learn things. It was a song that taught my girls the continents and Mary Evelyn some basic math facts. And of course, every kid learns the alphabet with a song!

Visual: Visual learners remember what they see. We learn a Bible verse each week. We do say it often (auditory) but we also look at it a lot too. Our map work is visual as well.

Kinesthetic: Kinesthetic/tactile learners need to DO something or TOUCH something to learn. Mary Evelyn's math curriculum is a very hands on program with a lot of manipulatives and games. I have seen her grasp the concepts MUCH better with this curriculum versus our former program (which was a traditional workbook program).

Hopefully I will learn more about my own kids by reading the book I mentioned. Here is an article that some might find helpful as well. So while I could not give definitive answers about my own children's learning styles, I am thankful that the meme sent me researching a little more. If you would like to see what others are saying about learning styles, go here for links to the others who have blogged about it.