Report Cards for Homeschoolers

It's report card time!
Both of my boys, who attend public school, brought home their report cards or progress reports the other day and couldn't wait to show it to their grandma so she could pay up or reward them for their good grades. 
Since my youngest child Katie is still home schooled I have never really seen the need for a report card as I'm the teacher so I already know what her grades are and how well she is doing.
But she begs to differ with me. 
"The boys get to take their report cards to grandma and I don't!", she says.
*Now let me say that she too has always been rewarded for her grades. She just never had an actual paper report card to hand them. I've just always told them how she was doing.*

Anyways, to end the argument I went online and found a few places that offer free printable report cards and used those to make her one on some heavy card stock that I had. 

I added up all her grades in each subject and averaged them out.

On the backside, there is a place for comments. In that area I placed a few comments from the certified teacher that reviews our work.

Now Katie has her own report card. Every nine weeks she too can walk over to Grandma & Pap's, along with the boys, and show them how well she is doing with an actual report card in her hand.  

If you homeschool and would like to make your own report card then check these sights out.

JUST MOMMIES is where I found the cover and back page.

DONNA YOUNG is where the inside course grading area was found.
Both sites have a few different types of report cards that you can choose. Just browse until you find what suits you.

Another Block and the Start of School

Oh, where did the summer go??

It's back to school time here....the boys went back to public school last Thursday and Katie & I began homeschooling as of this morning.

So this past week I have been soaking up the last remaining free time that the summer gives me. I can't say that I've done anything wonderful but I have enjoyed it.

I did finish my block 8 from the Promises and Borders Quilt.

This one was fun to stitch. I love the little blue birdie, heart and bow as well as the wispy leaf tree!

I also managed to get a few good books in. 

This weekend was busy with work as Dad replaced the siding on one of his buildings. 

Out with the old vinyl siding and in with the new metal. 

                                                   Do you see that chair & umbrella?
                                   That was the supervisor's seat and guess who that was?? :o)
                                                     Well somebody's gotta do it!
So that's what I've been up to. 
I now need to spend a few hours on the computer catching up with my favorite blogs as I am a week behind in reading them so if I haven't been around lately to comment I will be soon!
Have a great evening!

Leaping into Lapbooking

         

Over the holiday break I spent some time researching new ideas and activities to use in our homeschooling ~ something to add a little pizazz to our usual routine.
I found several ideas but one that I really liked was lapbooking.
I had never heard of it before but after visiting many homeschooling blogs and seeing how they used them I was hooked.
What a great way to involve kids into a "hands on" learning experience. They may not be creating an experiment with their hands (depending on the subject matter) but they are creating a collage of a lesson learned. Their interest is captured by allowing them to plan, decorate and place each piece of material. 
It reminds me of the science fair projects that we had to do as students in jr. high but on a smaller scale.
Now that I think of it my older children have never been assigned a project like that in public school and they probably don't even know what a science fair even is! :0(

Anyways if you homeschool and would like to know more about lapbooking then here are a few links to get you started.
To learn how to create them using file folders then visit

                                    A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks

For ideas, free lapbooks and notebooking pages visit

                                     Dynamic 2 Moms Free Lapbooks

                             or visit their blog HERE.

The photo at the top of this post is our very first lapbook. It's all about teeth. We will be building onto that lapbook as we discuss lessons on the layers of skin, our eyes, ears and more.
We are also beginning another lapbook for History.
It's going to be about the colonial life of the Pilgrims and how the Indians helped them. I'll post it when we get it finished.

Back to the Books

                                 Homework!

It's been a slow moving week for me...hence the lack of posting.
It's so hard to jump back in to schooling or work (with both feet) after enjoying a full week off but we DID.

My lesson planner looks pretty sparse this week as we eased our way back in but next week it's full throttle...lots to do before the next little mini vacation at Christmas.

As I put together lessons for next week I realized that we are halfway through our reading program for the year. Yippee!
I wish that were the case for all of Katie's subjects but sadly it's not. Oh, and just because the book may end it doesn't mean that the lessons end. (just in case you are wondering Katie. :o)

 
Still working on a few Christmas gifts and beginning to make a list of the food and cookies that I will be making for the approaching holiday.

Shopping a little here and there and checking that list to see whose been naughty or nice!

Well that's all that is happening in my world.
I'm off here to go catch up on more laundry and maybe a bit of sewing.
Have a great day!

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that I'm planning a holiday giveaway so be sure to stop back soon. I hope to post it within the next day or two.

Grow Your Own Salt Crystals ~ Science Project

We've been studying rocks, minerals and gems for Science class the past few weeks. (Gage's 5th grade studies)
Our Abeka textbook included the directions on how to grow your own crystrals so we thought that we would give it a try.
First we gathered all the needed supplies.

-An old glass dish * I used an old pie pan*
-liquid bluing (found in the laundry detergent section at the grocery store
-clear ammonia
-water
-table salt
-a small brick
-a 1 c. measuring cup
-a tablespoon
-an old cup or paper cup
-hammer
-food coloring (optional)

Take hammer and brick outside and pound into smaller pieces.
Thoroughly wet each piece of brick by running under cold water.
Shake the excess water off of them and then place them in glass dish.

In paper cup, mix 6 tbsp. water, 6 tbsp. bluing and 1 tbsp. ammonia.
Pour mixture over the bricks so that all pieces are coated.

Sprinkle 6 tbsp. salt over the brick pieces.

You can now add a few drops of food coloring if you choose.

                    (Can you see the drop of food coloring?)
Place dish in a well ventilated location where it will not be disturbed. ( I left ours on the kitchen counter. However, if you have little ones around you will need to keep this up and out of their reach for safety purposes.)
We were amazed each day to see the new growth.

You can read more about these and get an explanation of how they grow by visiting MRS. STEWART'S BLUING.


On the homefront:
It's been a warm but windy day. The winds began picking up late this afternoon and at one point Katie came running inside. Stuff was blowing everywhere, the electric lines were swaying up and down and I could hear things being scooted across the back porch. I went to check on things and when I returned I looked out the front window to see a piece of my Dad's roofing all curled up and the plywood exposed. Needless to say we all got soaked as we hurried to fix it before the wind tore anymore of it loose. It's a temporary fix but it will do until tomorrow.
Lots of downed power lines and trees in the area. Mom & Dad have no power, yet we do. (They live right across the street from us.) We must be on two separate lines but it's kind of nice that way. If one of us loses power- the other usually still has it. Mom just brought their dinner over to warm it up in our oven and the power company is working on the problem so hopefully they will have electric soon. The temps. are going to take a nosedive later tonight & go back down into the 30's so everyone will need the electric to turn their furnaces back on. 
Well, that's all I've got for today.
Hope you all had a great day!
And to Misty - Hope you had a great Birthday!

Last Leg of the Prison Tour

Front Door to Prison

Here are the final pictures from our tour.
These were all taken inside the "museum room" which is where all the interesting memorabilia from the prison has been gathered for viewing.

This a just a small glimpse of the items that inmates would take and hide to later reconstruct into weapons. (Click on pictures to enlarge.)

This is a sample of a rope and mask along with the list of inmates that were sentenced to death by hanging.

In later years "Old Sparky" was used to electrocute those sentenced to death. Our tour guide told us that this chair was made by one of the inmates.
(Both of the above pictures are just chilling to even think about!)

These are newspaper clippings about Charles Manson, who grew up just a little north of here.
I didn't know this until our tour but his Mother and Uncle actually served sentences here in the prison.
The letter shown is his letter to the warden asking to be transferred from a prison in California to the WV Prison so that he could be closer to his family.

Needless to say his request was denied.
I found THIS website that has a better photo of the letter as well as their translation of it.

This is what a typical cell looked like.
There was a bed with blanket, a toilet & sink, bible, prison clothing and a can of tobacco is shown however, I would think that a person could only achieve that if they worked for it.
Our tour didn't include much of the Administration Building, Psychiatric Ward, Basement area or The Sugar Shack.
However, the prison offers ghost hunting camp-outs and I was able to find a site that has pictures of many of those places. If you care to see and read more you can go HERE.
Well that's all for my tour.
I'll be MIA tomorrow as it is the day of my trip to Amish Country in the Sugarcreek/Berlin area of Ohio.
Hopefully, I will have more pics to share as well as some goodies to show you.

Prison Tour Part 2

If you haven't taken the time to visit the link that I included yesterday then I will tell you that this prison was built in the late 1800's and has housed as many as 2,000 prisoners at one time. The living conditions in this prison were once considered good but as time passed by those conditions worsened which aggrevated prisoners to the point that they attempted and succeeded in many riots, prison breaks and murders thus earning the facility a rank in the Top Ten Most Violent Correctional Facilities in the U.S.

I'll begin today with the North Wagon Gate.

This large side entrance was built by the prisoners and led the way to the interior yards of the prison. Many shops were located in this area. At one time the prisoners worked within these walls doing various jobs. There was a carpentry shop, paint shop, wagon shop, a blacksmith, tailor, bakery, hospital and brickyard. I can remember when the inmates made our WV license plates behind those walls.

In the early years, before the electric chair was used, those sentenced to death were brought to the wagon gate to be hung from the top floor.

This is the northern watchtower where a guard would stand duty.

Back inside to the main entrance we go.
It's not a good picture but it was the best that I could get.

This is the wheel room at the front entrance to the prison.

Many of the rooms in this area are in ruins with ceilings full of holes, chipped paint on the walls etc.

Heading to the southern end of the prison we were lead to another block of cells, looking the same as those on the north side.

Looking out into the southern courtyard at the lil' Chapel.

My husband standing in front of the Chapel.

Two Southern Courtyard Views
Well I think that is enough photos for one post so I'll finish the tour tomorrow.
Hope you all are enjoying the last day of this weekend.

Doing Time in WV's Big House

Nah, not really!
Just there for a tour.

We recently toured the Old WV State Penitentiary and I thought I would share some of the pictures.

This huge castle-like stone structure complete with turrets and battlements sits in the southern end of our little town.

As a little girl, I can remember sitting across the street from the prison eating ice cream at the Marshall Dairy. While there we could watch the prison trustees mowing the front lawns of the prison while other prisoners could be seen standing at the barred windows looking out.
It always made me wonder what life was like on the other side of those walls.
Now, some twenty years later I am able to tour the prison and get a small glimpse of what that life may have been like.

In 1995 the prison doors were closed as newer facilities were built that could provide bigger and more adequate cells, healthier living conditions and better security. The aging prison now serves our community as a tourist attraction as well as a training center.
Every year a 4 day Mock Riot takes place within these walls. For those four days, Moundsville buzzes with law enforcement teams from all across the U.S. that come to train, demonstrate and compete in the mock riot.
If you would like to know a little more history of the old place then you can read a bit more detail here.
WV State Penitentiary

Now on to my photo tour!

Visitation Room - Inmate (Cory) on one side of glass where a guard would watch and listen in on conversations while the visitor would sit on the othe side of glass.

Several paintings on the walls that were done by prisoners.

Mess Hall~ grab a tray at the window and sit down to eat.

Kitchen

Mess Hall painting by prisoner

                   Row after row of cells

                      Typical 5X7 cell

           Some preferred a splash of color

                Showers in the North Hall

I've got lots more to show so I'll have to divide it up into about three seperate posts so I'll be back with more tomorrow.