50 States Notebook

I mentioned before that instead of just a lapbook about Illinois I decided to make a notebook so I can include all the states. Well, here is the start of it!
I got out a shoebox and gathered up things to possibly include: post cards, brochures, plane tickets, stickers, small souvenirs.

Here is the cover. It's construction paper, a few state mazes, and then the title.


For no real reason other than it was the first postcard I pulled out, I decided to start with Georgia. This first page has basic facts and a pocket for a postcard.


I've also started pages for famous Georgians and Georgian cotton. I think Florida may be my next state since I have a lot of things to include (my grandma has a summer home there we use).

Karate!

My dad knows a man who used to have a karate studio before he moved up here. Right now he's looking for a studio while he uses the basement of the church his brother-in-law is the pastor of. Today my mom, grandma, and I all took a self-defense class there. I was talking to the sensei afterwards and he suggested I try karate. I've thought about it before and so now I'm signed up for an introductory lesson on Tuesday. I'm pretty excited! The sensei, his, wife and other people from the school I met today were all very nice and helpful.

I'm going to go here. They teach Shuri-Ryu Karate. I really like how they try to make it a family thing. A lot of martial arts studios around here focus mostly on competitions. Here they don't admonish competition, but it's at the bottom of the list of values.

Bookplates!

I stayed home sick from school today. After a while of not being able to sleep any longer I was getting bored and decided to play around in photoshop since I haven't in a while. I finally made bookplates like I've been planning to. I don't like how the "to:" is so close to the flower, but I like it! I've only printed a few sheets of them out so far though. Printing enough for all 200+ books I have would take a little too much ink. =P

Wow!

Jimmie at One Child Policy Homeschool gave me my first blog award! Thank you so much!
It just so happens that the blog list I have on here is ten blogs long! Perfect! Some of these aren't homeschool/education blogs, but they're blogs I read regardless. That means I nominate:

Barefoot Meandering
Bits and Bobbins
Just Call Me Jamin!
LaPaz Home Learning
LiebeMarlene
Nurtured by Love
One Child Policy Homeschool
Peer Into Our World
Pink-Flamingo.Org
The Cheeky Lotus

The Well-Trained Mind

I finished reading The Well-Trained Mind. I read it in exactly one week! There are parts of classical education I like, but I still think I lean more towards unschooling. I want to read about as many different schools of education as I can: Montessori, Mason, Waldorf, etc. I think it's all fascinating. I like reading these kinds of books now because I can read them fast or skim through sections and it doesn't matter because at this point I'm just reading for fun and for general ideas.

A funny thing happened in school this week. I had The Well-Trained Mind out on my desk (since it's so large and doesn't fit well in my school bag) and my Law teacher said, "I can't believe you're reading that." I asked why and apparently he's read parts of it!