President File Folder Game

This is a game I made up to teach my Grammar Level son the order of the presidents.  I purchased Debra's President Notebooking Pages. (Instead of making the President cards that TOG suggests, my children are notebooking the presidents, btw.)

As for the game....

Debra has included some nifty bookmarks in her Presidents package.  I printed out the first 25 of them and cut each in half.  The top half is the name of the president and a picture.  The bottom half states the number and the dates served, along with a presidential seal.  

Next I took a manila file folder.  I glued the Presidents "notebooking" cover to the front of the folder.  Then I opened the folder and laid out all the bottoms of the bookmarks, the ones with just the number and dates.  You can do this however you want, but I laid out the first 12 (in 3 rows of 4) on the left side and the 2nd 12 on the right side.  #25, William McKinley had to go on the back.  I glued/taped these down to the folder.

Next, I laminated all the tops of the bookmarks.

Then, I found two envelopes and stuck them on the back of the folder (under William McKinley....I actually just laid him sideways, but you might not have to do that.)

I added these game directions to the front:

Game #1:  Using the answer cards as a guide, match all the presidents with his correct number and years of office.

Game #2:  After completing #1, put back all but the first 10 presidents and try to match them without using the answer cards.  As you get better and better, do this with the next 10 and so on until you know them all.

Next, I took the file folder to Office Max and had the whole thing laminated. (My laminator is too small for file folders.)  Make sure they open up the folder and lay it flat through the machine.  Keep the envelopes closed though.

Back at home, I slit open the envelopes.  In one I placed all the tops of the president bookmarks....the parts with the names/faces.  In the other, I placed the answer cards.

Answer cards:  I printed out another set of the bookmarks.  Without cutting them up, I mini-sized them so that the "card" was small enough to fit into the envelope.  (So these cards have 5 presidents on each one...so there are 5 cards to go with the 25 presidents.)  Then I laminated them and placed them in the other envelope on the back of the game.  

I have a laminator that I bought at Sams last year.  If you don't have one, you can just take the smaller items with you to the office store and have it all done at once. 

Let me know if you have any questions.  I guess I need to get busy and make the game for the remaining presidents for Year 4 :-)

TOG Print or DE?

One of the frequently asked questions on the Tapestry Yahoo groups is which format of TOG is preferred:  Print or DE (Digital Edition.)  In print, the whole year is shipped printed and ready to be put into your own binders.  In DE, the entire year is either available for download onto your computer or is shipped to you on a cd.  (See a great format and price analysis here:  http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/2010prices/)  question is then, which is better?

This is such a tough question.  I have used the print version for 6 years.  I like pulling out my binders and turning to whatever page I need at any given time.  I did try DE for 2 units last year so that I could get to know that process a little better and be able to help others with either format.  I did like having DE along with my printed copy.  I liked being able to print out just the TN's and discussion script that I needed each week, mark them all up and then toss them when I was finished.   (With my printed version, I use page protectors on the weeks that I teach and mark them all up with sharpies.)  . Here's the thing though; I am a part of a co-op so I only teach about 8-9 weeks out of the year.  If I had to teach every week, I think I would stick with the print version, because I wouldn't want to print out everything each week. (Although, I do have a laptop now and would consider downloading the DE to that and just take the laptop with me...hmmmm....)

I also LOVED being able to print the Reading Assignment pages with the click of a button.  I would just print out one sheet for each child and highlight their assignments.  It was so easy!!  (Saved time too)

Another benefit about DE is the awesome interface that comes with it now.  From one page, you can plan out your entire week with any supplements you have purchased like Map Aids, Writing Aids, etc.  I think this feature has the potential of cutting planning time in half.  I haven't actually used it yet though except for playing around with the trial version over the summer.

These are basically the pros and cons of each format according to how we use Tapestry.  For me, the printed version offers a savings in ink and paper.  The DE offers a savings in time.  In my opinion, owning BOTH would be ideal.  However, I personally could make either version work for us.  The curriculum is exactly the same and that is ultimately what we really need.

Currently, Tapestry of Grace is running their best sale EVER off printed versions of Years 1 and 2.  The sale runs until the end of January so NOW is the time to stock up.  Click HERE for the sale.

“TOG” Workbooks

First of all, let me say that I went FOUR years without workbooks.  In those years, I simply printed out SAP’s for the week and handed them to my children on Monday for them to put in their binders.  Sometimes I would print them out a unit at a time, sometimes not.  Workbooks have come about because I saw them here and fell in love with the idea of having all the pages bound and in one spot.

Our first year of workbooks was last year.  I printed and bound whole UNITS of History, Literature, Geography and Timline pages for each child and organized them by week.  This is the system that is explained on Karen’s website above.  These books were too thick to be bound with my Proclick (see info below).  Instead I took them to Office Max and paid a dollar or two to get the spiral binding.  With that kind of binding, I could not add pages throughout the unit, but I had printed out everything so the books were complete.  I even copied the Reading Assignment pages as well as the writing assignment pages.  These books took me about 2 days a unit to compile.  For the last 2 units, I had purchased TOG DE (Digital Edition) which saved me lots of time in printing out the various pages.  My Rhetoric son at the time LOVED his workbook!  It was perfect for him because everything was in one spot (and he only had to keep up with one book for most of his TOG work.)

This year, I wanted to try something different.  I have found that in our school now, we work much more efficiently when everything is broken down into smaller pieces.  So, I decided to make individual TOG Subject workbooks.  I printed out everything for the WHOLE YEAR for each subject and then bound them each in their own “subject book”.  Here is a picture of them…

I designed the covers in Print Shop and laminated them with a $30 machine I found at Sams.  Each of the books was thin enough to bind with my ProClick (see purchase info below.)  This is also a great way incorporate TOG into Workboxes.  (I promise to post about Workboxes in the future!)  Another benefit is the ease of adding and removing pages.  This feature came in handy when we decided to move Callie up to Dialectic Literature.  Callie also makes a timeline page each week with Timeline Creator and we punch that page to add it into her History workbook.

For the President books, I am giving each of my children a page or two from Notebookingpages.com's President Pages as we learn about each president.  I then add their pages to their Presidents' book.  (I did not print all these out beforehand because my children like to choose which pages they want for each president.)

We have probably had the best year so far in keeping up with our TOG work.  I am not sure this is because of the workbooks, although they certainly help.  Another contributing factor could be that I do not have high schoolers at home anymore J.

This gadget is worth its weight in gold...

Photography

A 12 year old took this picture...

A 9 year old took this one...

TOG Unit Celebration

Our co-op is going through Year 3 in Tapestry of Grace this year. Each year, we try to fit in a big Unit Celebration before we all get busy for the holidays. Year 3 in Tapestry covers the 1800's and Unit 1 (there are 4 units in the year) finishes with a mini-3-week study of South America. For our celebration, each of the families chose a South American country to represent. We did our best to turn the back lanai (patio) of a local church into the Amazon Jungle!

Can you believe this thing? Lisa, one of the co-op moms, and her children BUILT this "paper mache" Moai representing Easter Island. I just have to say that we have some pretty talented families in our co-op! We used it in one of our games: toss the hula hoop over the Moai.

The highlight of the evening was a maze which one of the families "built" in a classroom. It wasn't as easy to get through as you would think.

All of us gathering together to pray and devote our evening of celebration to God.

I love this! One of our moms, Kim, made a little sling for her "baby".

Another family made these passports for all the students. The passports were "issued" upon arrival and then "stamped" with each country's flag as the "traveler" visited each country's table.

Our family presented the country of Ecuador along with the Galapagos Islands.

Callie constructed this 3D map of the Galapagos Islands:

The three of us in our Ecuadorian attire (Dad was sick and couldn't come)

Our cookie map of Ecuador! This was also our contribution to dessert. Good thing we got a picture...

Our 2009 Graduate

Congratulations Austin!!

An American Musical Celebration

Our Friday homeschool co-op, G3-Giving God Glory, worked all year on a Musical.  Our older students actually wrote a script to go along with 11 songs that were picked from the top 25 American musicals.  Starting in February, we used our co-op art time to rehearse the numbers and start putting together the skits.  The moms worked together to come up with costumes, props and backgrounds.  It truly was a combined effort of all the G3 families.  The slideshow below is just a hint at what the whole production turned out to be.  One of our cast members even took the opportunity to share the gospel inbetween scenes.  I've singled out some shots of Callie, AJ and Austin.  Harry is working behind the scenes making sure things run smoothly backstage and I enjoyed the show from the audience.  Special thanks to Kathryn who sat in the FIRST row cheering on her brothers and sister...and also took most of these pictures!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Progressive Dinner-TOG Unit 2 & 3 Celebration

   Our Tapestry Co-op decided to celebrate Units 2 and 3 together in February by holding a Progressive Dinner. The idea was to create an Exploration of various geographical locations studied in the two units, throwing in some games, skits, reviews and even stories.  Read on…

   Our first stop was in the Far East.  The Youngs transformed their carport into an oriental garden, complete with homemade lanterns!  Upon arrival, we all tested our spice knowledge with a game of guessing spices.  We feasted on gyoza, fried noodles, and hot tea while watching a remarkable skit about Marco Polo.  What a delightful way to begin our journey!

   Next, we were handed maps to South America for the “Exploration/Reformation” part of our journey!  Our compasses pointed the way to the Smith house where we were greeted by none other than Martin Luther.  (Apparently he had gotten on the wrong boat.)  After nailing the 95 Thesis to the front door of our home, we all proceeded through the door singing A Mighty Fortress is Our God.  After our meal, we settled into a somewhat friendly game of Jeopardy as we reviewed the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.  The winning team received small bars of gold nuggets (aka Hershey’s chocolate.)  We were soon feasting on homemade tacos, chips and salsa—Ole’! 

  Our next stop was charted on a beautiful handmade map.  We soon found ourselves crossing the wide ocean (aka H2—one of Hawaii’s three freeways) to the New World!  However, as our “ship” pulled into the harbor, we faced a surprise attack from the local natives, who quickly carted off all our precious cargo (the children!!)  Sadly, we continued our search to find the perfect landing spot in hopes that the natives would turn friendly and return our charges.  The Poulos house proved to be a fine location.  Before taking possession of the location, and after welcoming back our children and their now friendly captors, we took a moment to measure out the actual dimensions of the Mayflower.  Then we all stood in the “boat” to see what it would have been like to travel in such confinement.  We were all amazed at the fortitude these new Americans must have had. 

   After praying to God in thankfulness of all we have been blessed with, we were welcomed into the New World with more feasting!  There were aromatic pies, moist bread pudding, apple cider, and many more sweet treats waiting for us near the warm hearth.  The night was cool (even for Hawaii), and we all enjoyed huddling in blankets around the campfire listening to some of the men tell their stories.  Uncle Mike told a hair raising story about a recent trek to a neighboring island (aka The Big Island.)  We were all wide eyed as he told us of his encounter with hot red lava!!.  Soon, the friendly natives shared with us their secret of popping corn and we once again marveled at how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends and a mighty, loving God. 

   Our Unit 2 & 3 Progressive Dinner & Celebration was an event that we will all remember for a long time.  As usual, all the moms and dads were in awe of the talent and knowledge of all our children as they shared what they had learned over the last few months.  After our Medieval Feast in the fall, the moms were not ready to hold another huge more formal event, so this dinner proved perfect in bringing us all together to celebrate with very little effort.  We had about 8 or 9 families and just divided ourselves among the three stops to prepare.  Many of us wore costumes (with Lisa P. changing for each stop!)  I think the most enjoyable part of the whole evening for the Smiths was sitting around the campfire at the end of the night.  The whole evening was remarkable!

Medieval Feast

We have a fantastic group of families who are studying the same time period in history as we are. We are all using Tapestry of Grace, Year 2 which covers the time period between the Fall of Rome and the writing of the United States Constitution. We spent the first 10 weeks of the year covering the Medieval period, otherwise known as the dark ages. Since it is the beginning of the year, and motivation is still very high in many homeschooling families, a group of us decided to put together a Medieval Feast. Eight families came together to plan menus, organize games, provide entertainment and design a castle for one night of feasting and fun. I'm sure we all made memories that will last a long time in our children's hearts and minds! Following is a slide show of the event...

12/27/09: oops! Looks like Moblyng has dropped my slide show. I'll try to get some pictures uploaded again.

Visit www.moblyng.com to make your own!

His first SUIT!!

Yesterday was Austin's first Speech and Debate Tournament! It was a long day. We're so proud of him for all his hard work in giving countless speeches and going through 3 round of debate. Here he is in his NEW SUIT (Can you tell I am BEAMING?) along with his debate partner, Jordan. Way to go guys!! (They won 2 of the 3 rounds!)

Catching Up

Okay, brace yourself for a six month update in a 5 minutes post! I'll do this mostly with pictures. I think that's mostly what you all want to see anyway!!

First of all, we moved in June. Please email me at kingdomprep@gmail.com if you do not have our new address! Here is the view from our upstairs balcony, looking toward Pearl Harbor. It's hard to believe God blessed us with such a beautiful home with a fantastic view!! I'll post a pic of our home once we get it decorated for Christmas.

MEXICO! Kat and Austin went on a Mission Trip to Mexico in July. It was an incredible experience for both of them! Here are some pics from that Spirit filled trip:

Austin made some wonderful little friends on this trip. He still talks about the children from the orphanages.

The group's major mission was to take VBS programs to the remote villages near Puerto. This picture was taken during one of those programs (Austin is up at the top, clapping his hands):

The group also presented a skit in the churches and open markets. The skit portrayed a young woman succombing temptations and ultimately coming to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. God used this skit to touch many hearts in Mexico (Kathryn played the young woman, bottom center; and Austin was one of the "temptations", top left.)

KAHOOLAWE: Kat and Austin were very busy over the summer. Three days after they returned from Mexico, there were off to participate in the Kaloolawe Restoration Project. I can't find the disc with the pictures at this time but will try to add a few to the blog when I locate it. Harry went with them and they all came back with great memories. The island is basically uninhabited and the group of 20 basically had it to themselve. The did about 6 hours of restoration work each day and used the remainder of the time to explore the beauty of the island. It was a trip of a lifetime as one can only visit this Hawaiian island if invited!

Camping at Bellows in August:

Kat, Austin and their friend Ross visited the studios of a the NBC station thanks to their producer friend, Tommy. (Arkeo is a local Christian Rock band of whom Kat, Austin and Ross are their biggest fans!)

For Callie's 10th birthday in October, Kathryn and I treated her to a "Girl's Day Out"! Callie had her hair cut first (and decided to donate her locks to Locks of Love), then Kathryn surprised her with a trip to Claire's to get her ears pierced. But that's not all! We also had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and then took Callie on a shopping spree for a new outfit!! I think she was quite blessed that day.

In our school this year, we have gone back to the Ancients in our study of History. We spent some time learning about Jewish Feast and traditions. A few other families who are also studying this time period came to our house one night to have a Seder, which is the Jewish Feast of Passover. It was an incredible time of learning about the Jewish AND Christian Faith. The fellowship was great too!

This is James. He is an Army soldier who we have sort of adopted into our family. Here he is with A.J. at a Blue Angel Air Show we attended in November. After I took this picture, James told me "send this to my mom!" I guess I still need to do that! Anyway, you all can be praying for James, he will be deployed for Iraq soon. We sure will miss him!

For A.J.'s 7th birthday, he wanted a Superhero Party! We had 8 other boys over dressed as their favorite Superhero. They had a blast playing games fit for their characters. At the end of the party, they even surprised us by rounding up a group of burglers (aka Austin's group of air soft friends) with silly string!

Well, that just about makes us current. I should do better now at keeping our blog updated more frequently. Part of the problem was that I just let it go so long I didn't know how to catch up! I'll leave you with a picture of our Cockateil. His name is Kuali, which is Hawaiian for Morning Glory. Aloha!

Congrats Kat!!

She did it! Well....WE did it. As of Friday, May 25th, 2007, our first born, Kathryn, is officially graduated from high school! We are so proud of her. When you have a chance, please enjoy the 17 minute video that Austin and his friend Jay produced to show at her party on Friday night and also to share with family and friends on the mainland who didn't get to come. Let me know if you can't view it on your computer and would like me to send you a hard copy in the mail.

Wow! We have been incredibly busy these last few months. Part of what has kept me from blogging is knowing how much I would need to write to just catch up on what we have done! The events that stand out are Callie's Baptism in April (in the waters just off the North Shore of Oahu) and a tea party we hosted at our home with Nan Taylor for Callie's Keepers club (kind of like a Girl Scouts club.) We participated in a Science Fair and also Presentation Night, events sponsored by our home school support group, Kamahale. Of course, we were also busy wrapping up our school year. Harry was dissappointed to find out he did not make the list for Master Chief this year; however we are content continually place his career in God's hands.



Then there was Kathryn's party. When we first started planning the party, we thought it would be a small get together. After all, we haven't lived here long enough to get to know THAT many people! Little did we know how much of a response we would have, not only from people willing to come and celebrate with Kathryn, but also from people who were willing and eager to help plan and prepare for the special night. I wasn't able to count the number of people here on Friday night, but I think it was probably between 100-150. Our church let us use a huge 20 x 30 tarp for our back yard as well as lots of tables and chairs and a projection machine. Harry strung up tons of Christmas lights so we would have enough light as well as a dozen or so tiki torches. Our friends Pati and Bob (check out their website for their really cool local business) served us relentlessly! They really know how to throw a party....and on a budget too! Harry smoked meat all week, and the guests at the party raved over his bbq skills. We even had a game going in the pool area involving about 100 rubber duckies. It was called "Catch a Duck" where players caught a duck out of the pool with a net and then won a prize. It was such a wonderful night. Most importantly, Kathryn enjoyed the evening. She had so much fun greeting people, receiving leis, hanging out with her friends, smiling, eating and then swimming in the pool as the night went on. Actually, it seems everyone-young and old-enjoyed themselves. On Saturday, I was talking with Stacey and she told me that she had been praying for Kathryn and the party all day on Friday. I truly believe that God blessed our efforts to provide a great celebration for Kathryn because of her prayers and the prayers of others on the mainland who couldn't come but could pray instead. So, thank you all!

What's to come for the summer? Well, I can tell you what we are planning, God willing. Kathryn and Austin are planning to go on a mission trip to Mexico. I think Kathryn has emailed all the info for this trip to many of you. If not, you can email her at ckatdesign@gmail.com to find out how you can support and pray for the two of them and this awesome opportunity God is preparing them for. While they are gone (July 9-26), the rest of the family will be moving. Don't get your hopes up-we're staying on island. Our landlords were approved for retirement earlier than they expected and are moving back to Oahu. Of course, they are wanting to live in their home, so we are praying for God to provide us another home. We have loved living here and are soaking up as much of the great yard and cool pool before we move in July! If the Lord lays it on your heart, please pray for another home for us. We are all in faith that He will provide. We do have a few options already on the table, but are praying for direction.

Finally, I want to thank you all for your prayers, cards and gifts for Kathryn. It means so much to all of us when she hears from friends and family "back home". Even though she is well loved and supported here, I know she longs to be with the ones she loves in Texas, West Virginia and Georgia. When she hears from you all, she knows that you are just as proud and excited about what God is doing in her life as we are. So, THANK YOU!!!


Thanks for taking a few moments to catch up on our lives. Again, if you have another 17 minutes, go check out the video of Kat's Life!! We love and miss you all!!

Bird Watching

Callie, A.J. and I are taking "Zoology" this year. This particular course is on the Flying Objects of the 5th day. We are spending these first weeks learning all about birds. Some of the activities suggested in the course involve setting up bird feeders, baths and houses. We've put out the feeders so far. It is so much fun to sit in our den and watch all our new feathered friends visit our yard! We bought a Hawaii Bird Guide and are checking off the birds we see. The bird in this picture is a Java Sparrow. Although we think they are strikingly handsome, the birds are regarded as a serious agricultural pest in Hawaii, a threat to rice fields and other crops. Click on the "Bird Watching" title above to see more info and a good close-up picture of the Java Sparrow.

I'll try to get pictures of other birds that visit and post them too. Oh, and a special thanks to Richie and Kellie for the porch swing feeder. It is the favored feeder in our yard!

Callie at the Homeschool Beach Day 

A.J. and his new friend at the Homeschool beach day 

Kat meeting new friends at a Homeschool Beach Day Picnic