Almost There...

2014 is almost here! I am totally ready for a new year to start, and hopefully a better one. While 2013 wasn't really bad or anything like that, we do need some changes around here.

Tonight we usher in a fresh start. I hope we all make the most of it!

Wishing You & Yours...

I'll be back in 2014 (maybe before, maybe not) with plenty of holiday pictures to share! And some updates to our homeschooling adventures. See you then!

Christmas Movies...

We got our Christmas tree, a small one, set up yesterday, and it is finally beginning to feel like Christmas around the house! I'm compiling our annual to-watch list, since I will be on vacation from both work and school as of this afternoon.

There are some movies we watch every year....

           

Yes, we watch (at least) TWO versions of A Christmas Carol. Alistair Sim is amazing as Scrooge -- an absolute classic -- and I have a longtime crush on Patrick Stewart. And yes, we only watch the Boris Karloff version of The Grinch, thank you very much! Scrooged was new to the kids last year, and they seemed to really enjoy the more modern take on a familiar story.

Other Christmas movies we enjoy...

        and   

Though I must say, we much prefer the first Santa Clause movie over the other two.

This year, I am thinking of adding in a classic or two...

   and maybe   

What about you? What are your favorite holiday movies?

The Girl's Cake...

The Girl loves cooking and baking, so this week she made a variation on an applesauce spice cake recipe (Moosewood), turning it into an Applesauce Honey Spice Cake that is absolutely delicious! It came out moist, and not too sweet. So here's her recipe!

Applesauce Honey Spice Cake

Ingredients:
* 2 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 2 tsp baking powder
* 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
* 1/2 tsp nutmeg (or to taste)
* 1/2 tsp ground cloves (or to taste)
* 1 tsp. vanilla
* 1/2 c butter, softened
* 1 1/4 cups honey
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a bundt pan (other pans would work well too, such as an 8x8x2 baking dish).
Cream together the butter and honey until well mixed and fluffy. Add in the vanilla, and then the eggs, and finally the applesauce, mixing well. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the applesauce mixture.
Pour the batter into the pan and level out. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a knife or skewer inserted near the middle comes out clean.
Makes 12-16 servings.

Optional drizzle topping:
1/2 cup apple juice
A sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves
2 Tbsp. honey

Place ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until reduced to a near syrupy state. Drizzle over the top of the finished cake before serving.

Enjoy!

On Vacation...

When I originally planned out our school year, I planned December as a month off. Then I thought we should go for at least a couple of weeks, and then yesterday, I decided Plan A really was the best plan for this time of year, so yes, we are on vacation until January! (Although, we are going to finish reading through The Magic of Reality this month)

And I like the time off because it gives me to review where we've been so far, and where we are going.

What's Working...

I love that our days are simple. Math, writing (The Boy), reading (The Girl), and then our focus point/block study. And yes, that's it, unless you count the reading aloud I do as well. The kids have time to play outside, to draw pictures, play board or card games, to watch random documentaries, or not-so-random documentaries, and things of that sort.

What's Not Working...

While we are loving The Magic of Reality, I think it isn't really quite focused enough for a block study, since it covers so much scientific territory! And it is hard to really plan a lot of hands-on things to go with it, or maybe not hard exactly, but again, with so much going on, it is hard to choose wisely when it comes to hands-on.

Math is going quite well, but I need to be more diligent about having The Boy write every day.

What I'm Planning...

I'm thinking about our next block study, which will focus on Greek mythology and some Greek history (book one, book two, book 3, or book 4? Yes, I own far too many books on Greek history), just in time for the National Mythology Exams! I know I want to work in Rosemary Sutcliff's books Black Ships Before Troy and The Wanderings of Odysseus, specifically the versions illustrated by Alan Lee.

OR, we may well go back to unschooling. Both kids have requested this. The Girl wants dinosaurs, not Greek mythology so much, and The Boy wants Greek mythology, and not dinosaurs so much.

The Girl has asked for a break from Reading Horizons--she says she is tired of spending time in front of the computer, so I think we'll take a break from that, and work through Reading Pathways again for a while. It is really good for review and building fluency.

And What We're Doing...

Besides reading aloud from The Magic of Reality and A Wrinkle in Time, we'll be watching a handful of Dickens movies, since I am really hoping to take the kids to the Dickens Faire again this year. We'll be making cookies and fudge to give away; getting professional photographs done of the kids for the two relatives that really like that sort of thing; celebrating the Solstice; decorating a Christmas tree; and getting the house generally ready (steam cleaned and decorated, etc.) for our annual Christmas Eve celebration with family. We'll be watching Christmas movies; making a few gifts; and generally spend time enjoying the month!

I'm glad to be done with another semester, and M finishes up next week. And then I don't go back until mid-January!

Can I please ask anyone who reads this to keep their fingers crossed for us? M is trying very hard to find employment, as all federal unemployment extensions (of which he is on one) are being stopped completely as of December 28th. We're trying to stay calm!

Wishing Everyone...

A Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday Musings... What We've Been Up To...

I know I've been pretty much missing in action on my blog lately! We've been fairly busy, with homeschooling and life in general. So here's a combo Monday Musings and What We've Been Up To post!

Outside My Window...
We had a couple of days of good heavy rain last week, followed by high winds. A tree came down at work, and another at M's school - thankfully no major damage in either location. I had to take my wind-chimes down during the worst of it! Today is clear, sunny, and cold. I know 55 degrees is not considered cold in many regions, but here it is!

In My House...
We're prepping the house for the holiday season this week. We're still getting rid of stuff too! Today my goal is to go through the box of free homeschooling materials I was given three or four years ago, and just get rid of as much as possible, unless it is something I really, really think we will use! But as it has now been sitting under The Girl's desk for all that time, virtually untouched, I think most, if not all of it, can go.

In My Kitchen...
I'm trying really hard to stick to a grocery budget. And with prices these days, and being fairly picky about the foods we eat, it is not easy. We'll be eating Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's after all, and I get to bring desserts!

In Our Homeschooling...
We're taking this week off, and then picking back up where we left off for the first 2-3 weeks of December. Here's a quick wrap-up of what we've been doing. There's been math most days (Saxon). The Girl is practicing her reading with Old Mother West Wind (which according to the Lexile level is at her grade level, a first for her!) -- she does most of the reading, though I help her with the rough spots. She's been writing funny little cards and leaving them around the house for us to find too. The Boy is working on a descriptive paragraph, from Write With the Best, and he's been making many pages of diagrams for a future project he and a friend are working on. Together, we've been very much enjoying The Magic of Reality, and all the rabbit trails we've found! We watched Walking With Cavemen, and listened to an amazing 15 year old, self-taught polyglot on YouTube when Dawkins talked about the evolution of languages. We read a bit of The Early Human World, and The Girl surprised me when she searched through the Walking With Beasts series for "the episode with the austrolopithecus in it. I know I've seen it!" (And yes, she found it.) And we enjoyed an art project. I am extremely happy with homeschooling these days!

Bits & Pieces...
The Boy's toe has healed enough that he will be trying out the Teen/Adult fencing class tonight! And I think I might take the kids to see the second Percy Jackson movie tomorrow afternoon while M is at school. The Boy says he wants "to see how badly they messed it up", since the first didn't follow a lot of the book's storyline, though it was still an enjoyable enough film. I've almost finished The Boy's scarf, so I went ahead and started The Girl's as well. I'm going to be taking apart the very first scarf I made, which was for myself, to remake it, as I'd like it narrower and longer.

Have a good week!

Art Projects...

We finally got back to art! I chose a simple project from the New Augsburg Drawing Book, using warm tones for one version of the picture, and cool for the other. The kids (and I) really enjoyed this project, and will be doing more from these books (free on Google!)

Here is The Girl's piece - sorry it is a little blurry!

As you can see, The Boy decided to combine the color drawing with some work in perspective!

 And yes, I made one too. I had fun layering the crayon!

There are plenty more projects in the book I linked above. The author describes the exercises as "painting with crayons", and you only use eight colors, ever... black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple --- the basic 8-pack of Crayola. We used art paper for this, with a heavier texture than regular paper.

Wishing My Husband A...

EIGHTEEN years today! Marriage may not always be a smooth ride. It may not always be easy. But it is very definitely worth the effort, and I hope we have many more anniversaries to come!

Monday Musings

Outside My Window...
We're expecting rain this week, though right now it is chilly and sunny. The leaves are falling off the apple tree, and the cherry tree is almost completely bare. Time to cut the hydrangeas and a few other plants back to near ground-level!

In My Yard...
The Girl helped me out a lot yesterday. We "winterized" the chicken hutch, cleaning it all out, rearranging the roosts, putting a new "roof" in place (okay, a big sheet of plywood), and we dug a small drainage ditch to help reduce the amount of puddling when it rains. The Girl then cleaned the guinea pig cages, and we moved them from their semi-sunny, semi-shady spot on the back patio to the garage for the winter, where they will have more warmth, and protection from the rain.

In My Home...
Would you believe we are still getting rid of stuff? I guess years of being almost a packrat takes a while to undo. I am just so sick of so much stuff everywhere! And I finally have M and the kids fully on board. If it is outgrown, or a baby book, or a baby toy, or something that was given to us that we don't really care for, etc., etc., it has got to go. Yes, we're keeping some things as keepsakes, but not very much, only the really special items!

In My Kitchen...
I love getting three meals from one roast chicken! We had roast chicken and yummy veggies one night, chicken pot pie (made by M) another, and tonight we're having chicken soup. I made the broth pretty much this way (no feet or gizzards though), and it made the entire house smell absolutely fantastic yesterday!

Crafty Stuff...

A rare picture of the elusive M!

I finished M's scarf and started one for The Boy. I'm already about halfway through. M bought me a new sketchbook and some pencils, to encourage me to get back into drawing. After an accident at the park (details below), I am also putting together natural car and house first aid kits, so I want to make this all-natural substitute for Neosporin. And I want to get started soon on some goodies to give away at Christmas... I just have to decide what to make!

In Our Homeschooling...
I am trying to decide if maybe The Magic of Reality, wonderful book though it is, is too broad a focus for a block study. There are just so many tangents and points of interest... I don't know. Maybe something smaller, like The World in a Drop of Water would be easier to actually implement? We're reading from The Magic of Reality, but we're not really doing anything with it, you know what I mean? Hmm... I also challenged The Boy to work on another photo project or two, and I have an art project from The New Augsburg Drawing Book in mind. I also want The Boy to practice guitar at least a few times this week, and maybe M will have The Girl's guitar ready soon too!

So, the Accident...
At our Friday park days, there are a couple of moms I like to go for a quick walk and talk with, while other moms, who prefer to hang out and chat, keep an eye on the kids. We took off on our little loop, and before we got very far, my cell phone started ringing. It was J, The Boy's best buddy, letting me know there had been a " terrible scootering accident". We all immediately headed back, and there was my boy, sitting on the ground, gripping his foot, surrounded by concerned friends. He and his buddy somehow crashed into each other (something about someone's wheel getting stuck in the mud next to the paved trail, and the other unable to stop in time), and through The Boy's shoe, half his big toe nail got torn off. There was blood everywhere, and he was sobbing. Luckily, we have very well-prepped mamas, and they doctored him up in no time. Arnica tablets under the tongue every 15 minutes for pain and swelling, lots of fresh water rinsing, application of yarrow powder and bandaging. The Boy was totally bummed because he then missed an in-house fencing tournament on Saturday, AND he won't be able to try out the teen/adult fencing classes until it has healed a bit more -- there is a lot of toe use in fencing! However, he is healing beautifully now. This whole incident has made me aware that I need to be better prepared, not just assume my friends will cover things when there is an accident.

Hope you all have a good week!

Art on the Fridge...

Artist for November: Jan Vermeer

I decided to put up two pieces of Vermeer's work this week, just to look at when getting some juice, or even walking past the refrigerator. I have a book to read too, when we get around to it. A special thanks to Mark Harden's Artchive for having so much artwork right there at the click of a mouse!

Next week, I have another couple of pieces to put up. I am not requiring any particular response... I simply want my kids exposed to great art!

Focus on Sciences... Week 1...

It was our first week of focusing primarily on one subject (besides the daily basics of math and writing/reading), and I think it went quite well!

The Main Focus This Week

In it this week, we read about DNA, Gregor Mendel, Darwin, evolution and natural selection, the time it takes light to travel, Watson and Crick, and much more. There are so many possible jumping off points in this text!

We also read and watched...

No hands on projects quite yet, but we'll get there! We did have some fantastic discussions as we read, and I hope these in-depth talks continue!

The Basics This Week

Ummm... yeah. Once again, Fred has been set aside in favor of the old classic Saxon Math. Neither kid felt they're getting enough practice with Fred, so that's that. We did play a rousing round of Totally Tut, which The Boy loved (he won) and The Girl was so-so about (as she didn't win). I personally think it is a great game as it really encourages, requires in fact, some good mathematical thinking.

The Boy worked on free writing this week, and we'll be getting back to Write With the Best next week. The Girl read out loud every day, and wrote letters to everyone in the house.

And The Rest of It

It was collage and painting week for The Girl, who spent a fair amount of time cutting up old magazines, and painting...

The Boy worked on scooter repair this week, completely dismantling an old scooter, meticulously cleaning every part of it, and then he will be reassembling over the next week. He and his best buddy have also been "hired" to repair (his friend) and repaint (The Boy) another friend's scooter.

We watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind for this week's movie night, and the kids loved it! I'll gladly take recommendations for other good movies.

We read some more of the third Harry Potter book, The Girl and I read more of the Story of Dr. Dolittle, and The Boy read everything from car repair manuals to Calvin and Hobbes.

Coming Up

More of The Magic of Reality. We may add in some biographical reading about Darwin. I've decided to adapt a friend's art of the week approach, and choose an artist of the month. Each week, I'll place a [new] printout of the artist's work on the fridge for the kids to study or not. This month I think we'll study Vermeer.

More Bill Nye videos for sure. Some hands-on art. Saxon Math, daily writing and reading. We'll start either A Wrinkle in Time, or The Hobbit, after the kids choose. Maybe a science project at long last!

Have a good week!

Tuesday Tidbits... 55 Reasons to Homeschool...

I borrowed this from the HomeSchool Association of California, who were kind enough to send this in an email to me this morning. I thought about bolding the reasons that really resonate with me, but then realized that would be pretty much the whole thing! Do you share these same reasons, or is it something they left off?

55 Reasons to Homeschool

The following are the results of a survey by the National Home Education Network.

1. Spend more time together as a family.
2. Spend more time with children when they are rested and fresh rather than tired and cranky from school.
3. Avoid having to struggle to get children to do the tedious busywork that is so often sent home as homework.
4. Allow children time to learn subjects not usually taught in their school.
5. Allow children to have time for more in-depth study than what is allowed in school.
6. Allow children to learn at their own pace, not too slow or too fast.
7. Allow children to work at a level that is appropriate to their own developmental stage. Skills and concepts can be introduced at the right time for that child.
8. Provide long, uninterrupted blocks of time for writing, reading, playing, thinking, or working so that the child is able to engage in sophisticated, complex activities and thought processes.
9. Encourage concentration and focus - which are discouraged in crowded classrooms with too many distractions.
10. Encourage the child to develop the ability to pace her/himself - this is prevented in a classroom where the schedule is designed to keep every child busy all the time.
11. Spend a lot of time out-of-doors. This is more healthy than spending most weekdays indoors in a crowded, and often overheated, classroom.
12. Spending more time out-of-doors results in feeling more in touch with the changing of the seasons and with the small and often overlooked miracles of nature.
13. Children learn to help more with household chores, developing a sense of personal responsibility.
14. Children learn life skills, such as cooking, in a natural way, by spending time with adults who are engaged in those activities.
15. More time spent on household responsibilities strengthens family bonds because people become more committed to things they have invested in (in this case, by working for the family).
16. Time is available for more nonacademic pursuits such as art or music. This leads to a richer, happier life.
17. Children will not feel like passive recipients of subject matter selected by their teachers. They will learn to design their own education and take responsibility for it.
18. Children will realize that learning can take place in a large variety of ways.
19. Children will learn to seek out assistance from many alternative sources, rather than relying on a classroom teacher to provide all the answers.
20. A more relaxed, less hectic lifestyle is possible when families do not feel the necessity to supplement school during after-school and week-end hours.
21. Busywork can be avoided.
22. Learning can be more efficient since methods can be used that suit a child's particular learning style.
23. Children will avoid being forced to work in "cooperative learning groups" which include children who have very uncooperative attitudes.
24. Children can learn to work for internal satisfaction rather than for external rewards.
25. Children will not be motivated to "take the easy way out" by doing just enough work to satisfy their teacher. They will learn to be their own judge of the quality of their own work.
26. Children will be more willing to take risks and be creative since they do not have to worry about being embarrassed in front of peers.
27. Children will be more confident since they are not subject to constant fear of criticism from teachers.
28. Peer pressure will be reduced. There will be less pressure to grow up as quickly in terms of clothing styles, music, language, interest in the opposite sex.
29. Social interactions will be by choice and based on common interests.
30. Friends can be more varied, not just with the child's chronological age peer group who happen to go to the same school.
31. Field trips can be taken on a much more frequent basis.
32. Field trips can be much more enjoyable and more productive when not done with a large school group which usually involves moving too quickly and dealing with too many distractions.
33. Field trips can be directly tied into the child's own curriculum.
34. Volunteer service activities can be included in the family's regular schedule. Community service can be of tremendous importance in a child's development and can be a great learning experience.
35. Scheduling can be flexible, allowing travel during less expensive and less crowded off-peak times. This can allow for more travel than otherwise, which is a wonderful learning experience.
36. Children will be less likely to compare their own knowledge or intelligence with other children and will be less likely to become either conceited or feel inferior.
37. Religious and special family days can be planned and celebrated.
38. More time will be spent with people (friends and family) who really love and care about the children. Children will bond more with siblings and parents since they will spend more time together playing, working, and helping each other.
39. Feedback on children's work will be immediate and appropriate. They won't have to wait for a teacher to grade and return their work later to find out if they understood it.
40. Feedback can be much more useful than just marking answers incorrect or giving grades.
41. Testing is optional. Time doesn't have to be spent on testing or preparing for testing unless the parent and/or child desires it.
42. Observation and discussion are ongoing at home and additional assessment methods are often redundant. Testing, if used, is best used to indicate areas for further work.
43. Grading is usually unnecessary and learning is seen as motivating in and of itself. Understanding and knowledge are the rewards for studying, rather than grades (or stickers, or teacher's approval, etc.).
44. Children can be consistently guided in a family's values and can learn them by seeing and participating in parents' daily lives.
45. Children will learn to devote their energy and time to activities that THEY think are worthwhile.
46. Children will be able to learn about their ethnicities in a manner that will not demean. Children will be able to understand multiculturalism in its true sense and not from the pseudo-multicultural materials presented in schools which tend to depict others from a dominant culture perspective.
47. Children will not learn to "fit into society," but will, instead, value morality and love more than status and money.
48. Children do not have to wait until they are grown to begin to seriously explore their passions; they can start living now.
49. Children's education can be more complete than what schools offer.
50. Children who are "different" in any way can avoid being subjected to the constant and merciless teasing, taunting, and bullying which so often occurs in school.
51. Children with special needs will be encouraged to reach their full potential and not be limited by the use of "cookie cutter" educational methods used in schools.
52. Low standards or expectations of school personnel will not influence or limit children's ability to learn and excel.
53. Children will be safer from gangs, drugs, and guns.
54. Parents will decide what is important for the children to learn, rather than a government bureaucracy.
55. Family will not be forced to work within school's traditional hours if it does not fit well with their job schedules and sleep needs.

Monday Musings... Refocusing...

Outside My Window...
It has been really nice lately - crisp, and chilly, with slightly warmer afternoons. I am loving the time change, because it is no longer dark when I go out to feed the chickens in the mornings! Leaves fall every time the wind blows, and everywhere I look I see scarlet and gold.

In My House...
M is going for a job interview today, for a line cook position. They seem willing to work around the last several weeks of his school schedule, so I am keeping my fingers crossed! I'm working with the kids on taking on more responsibilities around the house. No chore charts, just helping out and working together as a family. We're still purging stuff too!

In My Kitchen...
I made up, on Friday, a big pot of a family favorite-- Taco Bean Soup. It has been great for lunches over the weekend too! There's nothing like an afternoon outside at the park with friends, and then coming home to hot, delicious soup simmering away in the crockpot. I haven't quite decided on this week's soup, but I know we're going to try a semi-Morracan twist on our usual pasta/spaghetti squash with ragout, by using ground lamb, red wine, cumin, and cinnamon in the sauce. I'm hoping it will turn out well!

In Our Homeschooling...
Altering the block scheduling already! My friend Jessica asked me if I thought we'd benefit from longer blocks focused on one subject, rather than bouncing around from day to day. So we're about to try one... 3-4 weeks based on sciences, with The Magic of Reality as our backbone. In the meantime, we are dropping all the history, philosophy, geography, etc., etc., etc., that I have been trying to squeeze in, though we'll still have daily math and reading/writing.

Crafting...
I'm already halfway done with M's scarf, and it is looking good, if I do say so myself! Knitting is very calming for me, and I am really enjoying it. I have two more scarves to go after this one, and then I think I might try a hat! I'm also jotting down crafty ideas for Christmas gifts, so if you have any homemade favorites, pass them on please!

And Just a Side Note...

I got nominated for a blog award! The category is Best Nitty Gritty Homeschooler. If you don't mind, I'd appreciate some votes, though it is an honor just being nominated!

It's Halloween!!

Hope you all have a fun, happy, and safe holiday!

Wordy Wednesday... Midweek Update...

On Monday, I wrote about a new (to me anyway) scheduling plan. And in theory, it still looks really good.

But...

I chose possibly the worst week to try it out!

Monday

Monday actually worked out fairly well. I stayed home from work (thank you, Sunday's mild food poisoning), so we had plenty of time. We read a math story, did Life of Fred, and The Boy did a lesson from Zaccaro's Primary Challenge Math as well. We did a fun free write from Brave Writer, the one I posted about last week actually, and the kids loved it! I'll make sure to transcribe their work later in the week. The Girl read two pyramids from Reading Pathways to me as well.

Then we moved on to geography. They drew a map of the Nile for their cartography books, and we read about Strabo and Eratosthenes (Mapping the World With Art). We read about St. Peter's in Rome in The Complete Book of Marvels, and watched Anthony Bourdain eat his way through that same city before making pasta for dinner ourselves!

However, for our next geography "block", I want to offer a little more freedom. Do they want to play a geography game? Watch a documentary? Draw a map or make a salt dough one? Choose a place in the world to really learn about?

Tuesday

I totally forgot I had to take my dad to a doctor's appointment after work. And then I have a class myself at 5, so time was very short. We did math, and The Girl read to me.

Today

We have fencing at 5, and before that we need to finish getting our Halloween stuff together. We'll still have time for math, reading (The Girl), The Boy's paragraph assignment (Write With the Best), and for art, we're carving Jack O' Lanterns. Not quite what I envisioned for an art Wednesday!

Tomorrow

We're meeting friends for a few hours of afternoon fun before heading out with M for trick or treating. I've promised the kids that if they do the candy buy-back many dentists around here offer, I'll buy them a little Unreal Candy to try out instead. They actually just love the activity of trick or treating, and we always head to an amazing street in nearby Petaluma, where people go all out to decorate their houses and yards... it's not really about the (junky) candy that they get doing it. So it is a win-win situation -- they get the fun of Halloween night, a couple of dollars or so for candy, and some yummy treats!

But you'll notice, that does not leave time for anything remotely homeschool-y. Ooops.

Other Thoughts on the Blocks

The Girl asked me "when do we get to do a math block?" Since I own Family Math, and the second book, we could do some great hands-on learning. And I'd love to do a day with language arts games and activities. So now I'm thinking rotating blocks every two weeks?

Geography; language arts; math; history; art; music; science; and ??? Or maybe just listen to a chapter of Story of the World each day and then...

Monday: Geography
Tuesday: Alternating math and language arts focus
Wednesday: art and music
Thursdays: science

I don't know, but I think we'll figure it out!

Monday Musings... Trying Something A Little Different...

I've been very inspired lately by my good friend Jessica, and the way she is approaching homeschooling this year with her son. So I thought I would try a variation on her approach this week, to see if learning in modified "blocks" might work well for us.

We'll still be doing daily math, though I want to add in some stuff there too... for example, I would love to have the kids make these...

And I have a math video from the library that looks good.

So then what I am changing are the other subjects. I think that besides math, and maybe some writing, we'll focus on just one subject each day. So here's the lineup for this week!

Monday: Geography
Tuesday: History
Wednesday: The arts
Thursday: Sciences

The only other thing we will do every day is read from our main book of the moment, which currently happens to be The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

So on today's agenda:
A lesson from Mapping the World with Art (and maybe an activity!)

A chapter from Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels
A documentary of choice - something like Wild Africa, Wild China, or even an Anthony Bourdain No Reservations episode!

One thing I like about this idea is that it'll give us time to get to the stuff we're not getting to regularly. We'll see how it works!

Weekly Report... Storm Chasers & Crafts...

Overall I would say it was a pretty good week! We got some quality work done, cleaned the family room, and generally enjoyed things.

The Boy, deeply involved in National Geographic

 The Boy started his week by devouring the cover story from the latest issue of National Geographic. He has long been a fan of the Storm Chasers TV show, and was horrified by the death of one earlier this year, so when he saw the cover of NG, he grabbed it right away. By the way, the National Geographic magazine is a great teaching tool for older kids!

In writing this week, he worked on a couple of things: a descriptive paragraph (about his pinhole camera model) from Write With the Best (this also had a pre-writing assignment connected with it); and some creative dialog for animations on his computer. He also cranked out a couple of lessons in Life of Fred, in which he showed me that he finally has mastered the idea of division. I have found that both kids love checking their own answers in the Fred books, so I think from here on out I will let them check it themselves. If they come across something they did wrong, I can help them go through it then.

The Boy also built a telescope from his Milestones in Science kit this week, and it was... well, okay. It is a cardboard model, so we weren't really expecting a lot from it. Makes me wonder though if there is a kit for a real telescope that he could put together, nothing too fancy. And there was a fair amount of art, both on paper and the computer. Plus a few Top Gear and Mythbusters episodes, and several more chapters of Quozl.

The Girl, working hard on a hot glue project

The Girl has been quite busy crafting this week with her hot glue gun, craft sticks, matboard, and an old bead set. She built a little fairy house along with various other items. She also worked with clay again this week, making funny little sculptures of people and animals.

She did two lessons from Serl's Language Lessons this week (you can read more about that here), which we have decide to set aside. Life of Fred was a blast for her this week -- she worked on missing factors, identifying parts of a matrix, addition, and subtraction. We read a few more chapters of The Story of Dr. Dolittle, and she watched an episode of Wild Africa, alongside a couple of episodes of Blue Planet. We may start reading All About Dinosaurs again (we only ever read the first chapter), and she wants to do a frog dissection soon.

She read out loud to me each day, and her fluency is really improving. I'm using Reading Pathways again with her at the moment to practice this skill, and I must say it is a fantastic resource for fluency!

And she sprained her wrist, so she will not be skating in this weekend's roller derby bout. We aren't sure about the derby sleepover either. I need to email her coaches and ask if she can still attend that.

Family Learning

We started, finally, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow this week. What a great book! I was a little nervous at first that some of the (archaic) language might be a bit much, but there have been no complaints. We also started the third Harry Potter book this week. This week's poem was Poe's The Raven, and so the kids have been going around saying "Nevermore" quite a lot. We listened to three more chapters in Story of the World, all about the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians. We read some of Dr. Art's Guide to Science, then decided we'd really rather be reading The Magic of Reality right now. We read about St. Bernard dogs and the monastery they are named for in The Complete Book of Marvels, which included a little reading about Hannibal and his crossing of the Alps on elephants, as the author of the Complete Book..., Richard Halliburton, did the same thing!

Tonight's movie... The Corpse Bride!

Weekend Agenda

M will be out fishing all day tomorrow, so the kids and I will have the house to ourselves. The Boy has fencing practice; The Girl may or may not be doing a derby sleepover; I need to stop at the library for holds; I have some more cleaning I want to do; and I have papers to grade. I'd like to fit in another Halloween-related movie or two, and plan out next week's writing for the kids, a la Brave Writer (mostly).

Any plans for the weekend?