Quarter 2 - Changes

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As our our 1st Quarter break comes to a close, I've started working on our Knowledge House Academy 2008-2009 yearbook! I've reviewed all of the fun things we've done "for school" and "life-in-general" learning. I've made a photo collage (with Picasa) to showcase our adventures and at the end of the year, I'll have them printed and bound at our local Office Max.

Check out our 1st Quarter!

Now, I'm preparing for our 2nd Quarter. We started the year basically doing the "school at home" type of homeschool with eclectic resources. Textbooks were the basis of our learning and we're all very bored with it. "Do this lesson. Read this chapter." Very mundane! We want to get out & explore the world. Move. Learn by doing, not reading about it!

So, this quarter, we're going to start doing Unit Studies and Botany! I've seen several fellow homeschooler's that use them and it looks so fun! It almost makes me want to go to their house to learn! We're going to add in extra language (like the 8 Parts of Speech Song), and we'll still have our French lessons. But it's a whole new way of thinking on our part.

I made a list of what Unit Studies I'd like to do for the remainder of the year (coinciding with their Course of Study). Then I thought, What if I don't cover everything? What if I don't do good enough? These questions and more have gone through my mind. So what did I do? I prayed.

Our first unit study will be Apples/Johnny Appleseed. As I've rested and caught up on some reading, I noticed several apple-themed articles in different magazines that I subscribe to. A few of the articles were great apple recipes, including how to make homemade caramel apples! YUM! Then, we received (from our neighbor) all of those apple slices, and I've gotten some emails (not related to the Unit Study) about Johnny Appleseed and apple-themed projects. This is a sign! God obviously is answering my prayers and letting us know it's His will to continue!

So keep us in your prayers are we start fresh in our 2nd Quarter of the school year. And if you have any Unit Study related material, websites, project ideas that you'd like you share, PLEASE do!