Weekly Report... 3/12-3/16... We were on break!

We took a week off.

The kids watched movies and documentaries, played games, made paper creations, listened to more of The Phantom Tollbooth and Knight's Castle. Cyrus read The Lost Hero and Wizardology. Cassia and I read from Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. She read to me from Ready, Set, Read! They drew pictures, played with clay, wrestled, played with photo editing software at my mom's, and did all the million and one other things kids can think of during long, free, rainy days. Cassia even found some giant worms in the backyard after some of the heavier bursts of rain...



And what did I do while they did all this?

Planned. And started a new (side) job.

I planned the next 12 weeks - the remainder of our "school year"; I planned for summer, and next year. I wrote this post, and then updated it.

I ran all my plans by both M and the kids, and everyone is happy with them! The kids love ancient cultures, and are happy to explore some we haven't really covered before (Asia, India, Americas). I have designed our upcoming studies so that we still have plenty of freedom to adjust things, explore the rabbit trails, and integrate personal interests.

Then we headed out to the beach -- there is nothing like the coast on a rainy, stormy day!









It was a good week, but we're looking forward to digging into prehistory and very intriguing science next week!

A little brag...

I got the official letter today... here is a small excerpt:

Dear Ms. -------:
On behalf of the Graduate Committee and the Department of English, I am delighted to inform you that you have been accepted to the M.A. Program in English at --------- University for the fall semester 2012.

And so on, and so forth.

I did it! I made it into grad school! They have a two year outline for completing the program... I think it'll take me four.

I also met with an English professor at the local community/junior college today, and am now officially a reader for two of her classes (meaning I read and grade papers). She wants to keep me on for the fall semester as well, and wants me to possibly be her teacher's assistant for a remedial writing class! She also told me that I chose a good time to pursue this, as about 80-90% of the English professors in our county, and the surrounding ones, are looking at retirement in the next 3-5 years. A foot in the door, and the possibility of more!

What a good day!

Thursday Thoughts... Looking Down the Road...

UPDATED 3/16/2012

Next fall will be the start of sixth grade for Cyrus. I'm not sure how it is possible that it got here so darn quickly, but there it is... middle school staring me in the face. With that in mind, I know there is a body of knowledge I would like him to have by the time he reaches ninth grade, because at that point, he can, and wants to, start concurrent enrollment at the local community/junior college. Of course, he wants to start out with not-so-academic classes, like art and computer animation, which is fine - that's how I started too (well, the art part anyhow). In the meantime though, while I still want very much to support his explorations of his own interests, I feel responsible for making sure he has a good background knowledge. I've narrowed down or decided on definite options for most subjects, but could really use some helpful feedback on others!

Potential Line-up for 6th grade:
Language Arts:
I will simply allow him to continue writing as per the Brave Writer Lifestyle. He journals, writes stories, does occasional copywork, etc. I think I will start actually having him write a paper a month, and perhaps written narrations for science and/or history (they can be short!). I also plan to read Grammar Land to both kids over the next year. And he already reads like crazy, so I have no concerns there. I generally let him read what he wants, but occasionally I suggest a few books, some of which he loved, some he never got into.

Math:
Life of Fred Fractions and Decimals & Percents. With both books in a single year, it will still work out to about 2 lessons a week, so I may will have him continue in Math Mammoth (Blue Series), which he really likes, and we play math games too. I also read mathy books out loud to both kids.

Line-up for 4th grade:
Language Arts:
Cassia will continue working on phonics through Explode the Code and readers. She'll also follow along in the Brave Writer Lifestyle (with the exception of the papers), and Grammar Land.

Math:
Math will be Life of Fred's Elementary books, B (Butterflies) through at least E (Edgewood). We'll get to the rest of the elementary series the next year. We'll supplement with Math Mammoth, and she'll play math games, and listen in on mathy books.

Both kids:
History:
I have thought long and hard about this. Story of the World is good, but might be getting on the young side for Cyrus. I love A Little History of the World, but it misses out on a few things. I looked at vintage books, but many contain so many outdated ideas and phrases that I would then have to explain.
I wanted something I could simply read aloud from once or twice a week, leaving the kids plenty of time to follow their own interests, or to explore rabbit trails inspired by history readings.
and I now I am down to three very good-looking options:
Option 1. k12's Human Odyssey
Option 2. /World in Medieval & Early Modern Times.
Option 3. Stick with Story of the World.
Opinions please?
I chose Oxford University Press' World in Ancient Times. We're reading the prehistory one now, and will follow up with probably 4 volumes over the next year (Near Eastern, Egyptian, South Asian, and Chinese)

Science:
We love narrative science, and hands-on. so again two options though of course, we'll also continue exploring the kids' specific science interests!):
Option 1. Hakim's Story of Science set, and this science kit to make science set-up easier for myself.
Option 2:
We're going to use books like The Way We Work, The Way Things Work, and a variety of other titles as "spine" texts to explore different scientific areas, such as anatomy, earth science, physics, etc. Basically science unit studies. I might still read The Story of Science aloud, just to read.

Other:
We will keep reading good books together, including The Dangerous Book for Boys (and Daring Book for Girls), and doing projects from our Spiral Scout Handbooks, plus both kids have a lot of their own interests. I am considering adding in Spanish as a foreign language. I'm going to try harder to work in Outdoor Hour Challenges, as I do want the kids to be familiar with and understand their local environment. We'll continue listening to a wide variety of music, and we already do a lot of art-related projects.

Erin brought up a good point - geography. We'll probably continue with Richard Halliburton's books for a while, then see what happens!

Am I missing anything?

Monday Menu Plan and Frugal Notes...

We recently watched Forks Over Knives, yes, even the kids. It is a documentary I would highly recommend in today's world of fast food, bad school lunches, genetically modified foods, general poor health, and obesity. I then started listening to Dr. Fuhrman's book, Eat for Health on audio cd, and am waiting for Eat to Live to be available at the library. Like the documentary, Dr. Fuhrman recommends, very strongly, basing one's eating primarily on plant foods. Armed with my increasing knowledge, I am trying to make more of our meals just that, plant-based, though we do still eat meat, eggs, and dairy. Our eggs and (raw) milk come from a friend's farm, and so does much of the meat. I'd honestly rather eat less meat of higher quality than lots of cheap meat.

Anyhow, here's the run-down for this week...

Sunday: Pasta with roasted tomato marinara, though I had spaghetti squash instead of pasta. Mixed greens salad.

Monday: Tex-Mex Potatoes (recipe is about halfway down the page); green salad with orange and avocado.

Tuesday: Sloppy lentils over whole-grain buns; homemade broccoli slaw.

Wednesday: Asian-style salmon, with stir-fried veggies on the side: green beans, mushrooms, red bell pepper, and sweet onions.

Thursday: Asparagus Frittata; crudites (cucumber, carrot, sugar snap peas)

Friday: Potato-leek soup; whole-grain baguette with some yummy cheese, though I think I'll have salad instead of bread and cheese.

Saturday: St. Patrick's Day! So yes, we're having corned beef, cabbage, potatoes & carrots. I might even make a loaf of fresh Irish Soda Bread!

Other: I also made up a batch-and-a-half of this delicious roasted tomato-eggplant soup for my lunches this week. I went ahead and used my immersion blender in it rather than leaving it chunky.

Smoothies: The kids, M, and I are enjoying our daily smoothies. It is a great, tasty, and very easy, way to get extra fruits and veggies in. For M and the kids, I use frozen bananas, frozen mixed fruit, fresh baby spinach or other greens, raw milk, yogurt, a little raw honey, ground flax seed, and peanut butter. For myself, it's pretty much the same, only I use almond or coconut milk (the coconut milk in the carton, not the can!) and almond butter instead of dairy milk and peanut butter, and I skip the yogurt and honey. Yum!

Frugal Notes: I have noticed that it is definitely cheaper to shop for mainly fruits and veggies. This is the time of year that I start watching eBay very closely for sandals for the kids, since their feet just keep on growing! My advice for eBay shopping is simple, figure out how much you are willing to pay including shipping! Too many times I have heard complaints from people who think the price is great, until they add in the shipping. I always figure what I am willing to spend, subtract shipping from that, and then I have my maximum bid. My kids are always pretty well dressed thanks to careful shopping and my mom's sewing skills.

I'm also setting aside a few dollars here and there for myself. My clothes are getting baggier, and I eventually will need to buy some new ones, at least pants. I plan on shopping second-hand as much as possible for my new wardrobe. And many of my tops can be taken in - this will be a summer project for me, with the assistance of my mom.

Weight Loss Notes: Somehow last week was overly busy, and I didn't exercise like I should have. However, my weight held steady - phew! Back on the exercise bandwagon today!

Have a great week!