Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Wednesday Recap

School - yes! We are on track to finish school next week.

The new dentist does NOT think I need a crown or root canal. He wasn't sure WHY the now retired dentist was "watching it" or thought I'd need either of the above. I have an appointment to have the chipped filling removed and a new one placed.

I picked up my ob/gyn records...memories. ::snort:: BTW this will be our FIRST military move where I am NOT pregnant.

I picked up Stacia's records at the pediatrician....she had the suspected kidney problems and tests at birth. I'm praying that seeing the docs' view that it's not significant will be enough and that she will not need another dye test to prove she is fine. You could pray about that. Honestly, having dye shot inside for a 3 yo would be traumatic. At least for this one.

I picked up all my mammogram films.

I continued to learn helpful Japanese phrases as I drove around town.

We worked on lapbooks, cleaned house...and oops....I forgot about dinner until Mike called to say he'd be a bit later than he already was. LOL

This little girl suggested I use "girl duct tape" in the lapbook...Photobucket

Dinner? We went to Arbys - Arielle's choice. A lady there took me aside and told me that I had a "Sweet Spirit". She said that she could tell I "really loved the Lord". COOL. I told her I did and that she had made my day. I was surprised as I'd forgotten to have everyone pray...for the life of me I don't know what caught her eye...but it blessed me that something did.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

Random Misawa Trivia

Photobucket

I believe this is a 100 Yen store.....Which would be roughly $1.13 store....according to the numbers the base is giving out. Note the vehicle (I CHOSE this photo because of that VAN....I do think we will find a car big enough for all of us).

What's significant about Japan having 100 Yen stores? Besides the fact that my children love Dollar Stores.....I had asked on the Misawa Home Educators list about an office supply store. Several wrote to tell me that there isn't an Office Supply store. The BX carries a few things but is often out of stock. The 100 Yen store carries a few things. In fact two told me of a time in the recent past when there was NO NOTEBOOK paper to be had in the area. I have been advised to bring what I have with me.....

BUT several have also told me that you can order from Office Depot online. Free shipping if your order is over $50. I thought that was a LOT, but I could save up and place a big order.

Today I ran to buy laminating "stuff", spring folders etc.....and THIS totaled $103.00.

Photobucket

I guess it won't be too hard to total $50....the problem, of course, is that I won't be able to run out to buy what I need "spur of the moment". I'm also wondering how they ship it.

I'm hearing priority will take 7 - 10 days, standard 2 - 4 weeks, and media months and months....

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

Resurrection Lapbook

This is not done, but I wanted to post it so that anyone else who wants to make use of some of the games can do so. I googled "Resurrection Lapbook", "Easter Lapbook", "Passover Lapbook". I wanted something fun for Stacia to work on while we work on our Passover Lapbook. I wanted this book to be durable and so I laminated many of the "moving parts" of the book.

THANK you to Arielle and Nolan who spent time this afternoon cutting out game pieces, eggs, laminating etc. It's all ready for us to enjoy and for Stacia to color.

Front Cover....Plain and simple...the BIG thing is that I finally figured out how to keep these things closed - Velcro. I've been looking for magnets.
Photobucket

First Extension - Easter Bingo
Photobucket
I made 3 extras so that the kids can play.

Flip side of Bingo Extension - Empty Tomb
Photobucket
This is a favorite.

Main section - Resurrection Eggs
Photobucket
I was excited to find these. They go along with our Resurrection Eggs. You can print them as black/white or colored. I didn't want TOO much coloring for Stacia to do.

2nd Extension - Salvation booklet, Life of Jesus Booklet & a coloring sheet
Photobucket

Flip Side - Bingo Pieces & and an Easter Memory Game
Photobucket

This was another totally "free" lapbook.

I originally found the idea of using eggs at Just Call me Jamin's blog....not my son...This is a wonderful blog with a lot of samples of lapbooks. I plan to visit often!!!!

I got the templates for the Eggs and the cover at LapbookLessons.com. The link may not work, as you do need to sign up, but the templates are cute and free.

The He is Risen craft, the memory games and more coloring sheets can be found at Christian Preschool Printables. I printed more than we could use. The Salvation Minibook also came from here.

I haven't a clue what DLTK stands for...but their selection of crafts, coloring pages and Minibooks are awesome. The Life of Jesus Minibook came from DLTK.

I'm so uncreative. I LOVE that there are so many free, resources available on the Internet. I'm pretty good at copying a template. ::snort::

You can see more of our lapbooks at Our Lapbooks Page.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

Language Programs...

AGAIN!

We've used Rosetta Stone for years. It was THE homeschool program when Bre and Krista were young and we needed to X the box for foreign language. We've done Chinese, German and Spanish.

I bet you think this post is about Japanese again? Don't you? NO.....

I'm perplexed. All of our 4 older children have used Rosetta Stone. ALL have taken two years to do level 1 and were awarded 2 credits. (We have version 1 and version 2). Jared is currently working on German. He asked me today if he should just take 1/4 credit for level 1 of German. I was SURE it was usually worth 2 credits and wondered why the strange question. He's about 1/2 way done with level 1. He's spent less than 20 hours on it. Twenty hours does NOT add up to 1 high school credit. He's done the workbooks. His scores are high 90's and 100's. I knew that RS had a new homeschool version out and I began to suspect that our German was the "new one" and must be worth 1 credit instead of 2 credits for level 1. I just got off the phone with RS. We have version 2. They INSIST that level 1 is worth either 1 COLLEGE credit or 2 HIGH SCHOOL credits. This has proven true by counting hours with the older kids...but good grief. Jared's done a credit worth of German in less than 20 hours. I suspect this man child has an aptitude for language. I'm going to call NARHS. I am certain Louise will tell me to award him the credit regardless of the hours....I am still perplexed. HOW has he done what the others pulled their hair out over in less than 20 hours?

Just to tie this in with Japan ::snort:: Jared has been talking about learning German and Japanese and I've been telling him, "NO, that's impossible"....I'm starting to think it may be possible for him.

Japanese - Lisa (homeschool Mom) and a "knowledgeable gentleman" (Linquist by trade) have both told me that Rosetta Stone is not a great program for Japanese. I purchased for $10 the first 10 lessons of Pimsleur and we're learning to understand and speak Japanese. Mr. "knowledgeable gentleman" recommends Pimsleur to learn how to speak and understand languages (any of them). I then discovered this program is FREE at the base library - I don't feel bad about purchasing the intro program. I can load it to an MP3 player, I can leave it with the older kids to learn before they visit etc. I think THIS is what we'll do until we get to Japan. It's true that Pimsleur doesn't teach writing or reading....but we plan to take lessons with Japanese teachers in Japan. This will get us going. Plan made...sort of. I'm still wrestling with buying either Tell Me More or Pimsleur NOW so that it can be shipped to me before we move. ::snort::

Really....I'm writing all this to avoid facing the fact that I HAVE TO SEE THE DENTIST TODAY....and I don't want a crown, a root canal or any such thing....thank you very much.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

New Map

We loved the map we had a year ago. It was a blast to watch various countries "sign in"....alas, after a year the map reset. That was a bummer. ::snort::

I saw a new map on, my friend, Dorothy's blog. Please consider scrolling down in the sidebar until you see the little bravenet map icon and adding a pin for your location. (It's below the "Sites of Interest" and before the Feedjit box). The cool thing about this map is you can leave a little note too. I don't think it will reset in a year.... now off to the gym.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.