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!

Big Kids can Lapbook Too

Reading homeschooling blogs has brought about a fascination with lapbooking. It's an idea I love. So I wanted to make one. The first one I made was about rocks and minerals. I used something we were studying in school at the time to make it easier so I could focus more on just making my first lapbook. It was so much fun! After that I used an online guide to make one about Halloween.
I've shown these to most of my friends and it makes me sad that they don't understand why I did them if they weren't for school. I wish more people my age realized that learning can actually be fun! That's one of the things I hate most about public schools is that they take the fun out of learning.
Anyways, enough of that. Here are my lapbooks!



Details: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenniferannifer/tags/geologylapbook/




To help keep the folder closed I put velcro circles on the backs of pictures.

Details: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenniferannifer/tags/halloweenlapbook/


This is the guide I used (and tweaked) for the Halloween lapbook: http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks/halloween.htm

My next project is going to be to start a 50 States notebook instead of the lapbook on just Illinois I was planning to do (I was going to use this). This way I can have facts about every state and a good use for all the souvenirs and knick-knacks I always end up with!

Brand-New

After years of blogging in various places off and on I decided I want a new blog. As the name implies it will be academic-related topics. Academic doesn't just mean school to me though. It also means music and vacations and reading and all the other every day occurrences that help us learn. As in introduction, here is an overview of the things I'm sure to talk about a lot:

Music: I have taken lessons in piano for a number of years now. I think I have the greatest piano teacher. Instead of being strict and formally he lets me choose what to learn and doesn't scold or chide about anything. I also take flute lessons; I started playing about a year ago. My favorite instrument though is my prim. A prim is a type of tambura, a traditional Croatian string instrument. I play in an adult and a junior group that are both part of the Croatian Fraternal Union. Each group performs in a big festival every year. In both groups we play traditional songs and sing as well. In the junior group we also do traditional dances and wear traditional costumes for festivals.

School: I am a junior in high school at a very poor public school. My school does have a lot of electives which I love, but we are on the state financial watch list so that may not last long. I don't like public education. I plan to try to convince my mom (who doesn't like homeschooling) to let me homeschool myself for my senior year. My dad has no problem with the idea of homeschooling. He doesn't want me to go to college for a degree either; he encourages me to go into business for myself instead.

Homeschooling: I read nearly everything I can about homeschooling. I love the idea and sometimes get anxious to have kids and begin homeschooling them.

Work: I have an after school job at a chiropractor's office. I do miscellaneous things like filing and cleaning.

Business: A few years ago I started attending real estate classes and seminars with my dad; I can now say with confidence that I know more about real estate investing than most adults. I have plans to own real estate when I am older, but the market is horrible right now. Since I turned 17 I have also began going to meetings and trainings with my dad for Pre-Paid Legal. Pre-Paid Legal is network marketing, but not in the traditional sense. Since I'm not old enough to be a member yet my dad has set up a corporation I can use that I will get full ownership of when I'm older.

Of course there will be more, but I think this will suffice as an introduction.