Explorations in Learning

Mathematical musings...

2012-02-01T09:03:00.000-08:00

Last week it was science, this week it is math.

First, I did decide what to do for science, and actually, I have to thank Charlotte Mason in the City for this post, specifically where she mentions going slowly and adding in other, shorter books to reinforce ideas. Right now we're giving that approach a try with The Magic of Reality. In chapter one, Gregor Mendel is mentioned, along with Francis and Crick, and DNA, then eventually Darwin and evolution. Based on this, I am adding in a book on Mendel, books on cells and DNA, a great book on evolution, books on Darwin, etc. You get the picture, I am sure. Top that off with a few documentaries/science videos, and hands-on projects, and there you go! I think this will work out pretty well.

Anyhow, back to math. With Cyrus getting older, I worry about gaps in math. Originally, we started out with Saxon Math, then moved to Math Mammoth, then to Teaching Textbooks, and then back to Math Mammoth. I am a bit concerned that with all this skipping about merrily from program to program, he may now be behind in some areas, whereas he started out ahead of the game, doing Saxon 1 in kindergarten, Saxon 2 in first grade, and so on. I am now trying to figure out what to do with him in the fall in regards to math. Return to Saxon, which is a bit dry, but gets the job done? Keep going with Math Mammoth? Try Teaching Textbooks again? Go with Life of Fred (Fractions and Decimals & Percents)? Try something else?

I want my children to understand math, to see how it applies to real life, and to not be scared of it the way I was growing up. I always assumed I was bad at math until I hit college. I would like my kids to feel comfortable with it! So how do I rebuild his relationship with math, and get him to really progress? He doesn't seem to mind math right now, and he seems to grasp new concepts well enough... I just feel we're doing more of a hit or miss kind of approach lately. I feel unorganized in math, and want to develop a better approach.

Ideas?

Weekly Wrap-up... 1/23-1/27...

2012-01-27T08:58:00.000-08:00

A better week than the last!
In Language Arts...
Cyrus is reading through his beloved Percy Jackson series yet again. I also assigned a book, Homer Price, and Cyrus read 2 chapters.

Cyrus worked on copywork, choosing Shel Silverstein's "Recipe For A Hippopotamus Sandwich", which he will also attempt to memorize. We did spelling in context this week rather than something formal and separate. After a lot of reading, I think I'll stick with Ambleside Online's recommendations for language arts, mixed with Brave Writer suggestions, so I'd like to move Cyrus into doing written narrations. In February, we plan on starting his first major writing project, the topic of which shall be dragons!

Cassia worked hard on phonics this week. She picked back up her daily lessons over at ClickN' Read, getting 95-100% on the 4 lessons done, and read aloud every day from a leveled reader. The ClickN' Read Phonics program is based on the same methods as Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and seems quite thorough. She likes the computer visuals more than the book. After she finishes this program, I plan to move her into Funnix Level 2. Funnix, by the way, will be free for download during the first few days of February! I also hope at that point that I can make use of the lovely Elson Readers I have stashed away.

In Math...
We are continuing with Math Mammoth at the moment. Cyrus worked on a review in multiplication, and division, while Cassia was introduced to beginning multiplication. I love how straightforward and simple the Math Mammoth workbooks are! Cassia took to her new topic like a duck to water. Cyrus enjoyed finding patterns in multiplication, between the 2's, 4's, and 8's, then 3's, 6's, 9's and 12's.

We had some fun in math too, watching a video I hadn't seen since childhood...

After watching this, the kids spent a while playing pool on Cool Math Games, and drawing various geometric shapes. Cyrus asked about the "square roots" Donald Duck mentioned, so I started teaching him about squaring (and cubing) numbers, and then how that relates to square roots. This tied in nicely with his multiplication review as well! Then, the relationship between music and math came in handy at his piano lesson as well.

In History and Science...
We started exploring the Cambrian period, learning about fossils, early animal life, and so on. The kids watched a video...

And we read/browsed through a few books...

We'll be making these super-cute trilobite cookies this weekend, but, hands-down, the best part of history/science this week was the fossil kit...

Otherwise in science, we're going to start fresh with The Magic of Reality next week.

We read the first few pages of this book, and really liked it, but then set it aside to try BFSU again, which, as much as I want it to work, it doesn't for us. My children (and I) prefer to dig deeply into a topic, rather than going from one to another. I do plan to keep my digital copies of BFSU Volumes I and II for reference materials, and suggestions of topics to peruse. In the meantime, we're going back to reading living books, supplemented with shorter books, hands-on activities, and videos/documentaries.

Cyrus also read the first three chapters of Great Inventors and Their Inventions on my Kindle. This is an Ambleside Online recommendation for year 5, and Cyrus was caught up by it right away (well that, and getting to use the Kindle!) I looked in the Kindle store and found most of the science-y books AO recommends for free! Free, and vintage, is always exciting to me!

Again we didn't get to the outdoor hour challenge, but will try again next week.

Over at their Nonna's house in the mornings, the kids have been watching 1900 House, so that when I go to pick them up, they are full of fantastic narrations for me about what they saw that day!

In Art and Music...
Cyrus moved up a level in piano, and is now learning proper use of the pedals in music. He really loves the song he was assigned this week, which is great because then he's eager to practice! I am thinking of having Cassia maybe take lessons too, if she has any interest.

We listened to some more music from Franz Schubert, our Composer of the Month. And we meant to, but didn't, get around to an art project based on Wassily Kadinsky's Squares with Concentric Circles, so I think he'll remain our Artist of the Month for another month!

In Literature...
We are about halfway through The Hobbit, and almost done listening to Half Magic. One thing we very much appreciate about Half Magic is that they used more than one actor to do the audio book, so all the children have distinctive voices. Unfortunately, our library does not have an audio version of Magic by the Lake (the second book after Half Magic), so I think I'll do that as a read aloud after The Hobbit. And for our next audio book, I have The Phantom Tollbooth on hold - I imagine David Hyde Pierce will make a fantastic narrator for that particular story! We also read a few folk tales and fairy stories this week, as usual, and I read aloud several pieces of poetry from Walter de la Mare, Robert Frost, and Emily Dickinson.

In Other News...
We had a good play day with friends Thursday, which involved a lot of trampoline time. And Park Day Friday, with a clear, cold, sunny sky.

Friday night, M was gone at a friend's (so that they could take off early for a fishing Saturday), so the kids and I watched Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation. And Saturday is Library day, plus a little make-up work since we didn't get anything much done on Thursday.

And that's our week! Drop by Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers to read about other people's homeschooling adventures!

Scientific musings...

2012-01-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

With yesterday's post still fresh in mind, I started thinking about science, and various routes we could take. I have history figured out, and math, language arts (I think), etc., but a decision for science eludes me. I have come up with three paths, and cannot, for the life of me, decide which to follow! Though I can say we'll definitely continue with nature studies.

Path 1:
Elementary Science Education (second volume of BFSU), supplemented with living books, videos, and hands-on.
Pros: I own the book already, and have the sequence I would follow all mapped out. For supplemental books, there is my own collection of books, and the library, while for videos we have Netflix and again the library. This book, like the first volume, covers the 4 threads of science - life, earth, physical, and chemistry, intertwining them and allowing kids to make connections between them.
Cons: Practical application can be tricky, and switching between threads sometimes goes against continuing interests. I have to be organized to make this work!

Path 2:
Using The Story of Science series and Milestones in Science to compliment our history studies. I could easily add in extra literature, biographies, and videos/documentaries.
Pros: Again, I already own the first volume of the Story of Science (along with the student Quest Guide)! So that would get us through the first year... and I have access to tons of supplemental stuff.
Cons: How science-y is this? Would it be enough actual science, or is it too heavy on history? And I would have to buy the science kit mentioned above.

Path 3:
Using David Macaulay's books - and a few others - as the basis for a series of unit studies on different scientific topics: The Way We Work (anatomy); The Way Things Work (physics); The Way Life Works (NOT a Macaulay book , but still good - life science); and then books for chemistry, earth science, and astronomy... have to research those.
Pros: I own some of these books already, and a ton of extra resources to compliment them. We'd be able to explore each topic in depth, and I would allow the kids to choose which topics we study.
Cons: Finding some good resources (earth, chemistry, etc.) might not always be easy. There might be some areas we miss out on by doing a unit study approach. And yes, I would have to be fairly organized to make this work, plus there's always the chance that the kids will get bored with a topic before we finish it.

So obviously I have some more thinking to do!

Usually...

2012-01-24T12:51:00.000-08:00

Usually, this is the time of year that I start drooling over what to buy for next year. Usually, I have magazines dog-eared and ink-stained, websites bookmarked with wish lists galore. But this year, another few moms and I have been chatting on a message board about not buying. That's the thing with homeschooling - somehow we end up with loads of materials that, by and large, go unused. We started brainstorming about what-if's. What if we simply used what we already have? Do we need more? Do we need the newest-shiniest-"most organized"- this-year's-must-have?

We're studying pre-history right now, without a planned curriculum, without a guide, just using books, videos, discussion, and projects, and we are learning, and enjoying ourselves! I would like to start ancient history in the fall, for which I have plenty of materials, without buying another guide, another how-to.

Instead of spending money on more books, more guides, and the like, I could instead buy a membership to the science museum (we have a really good one just an hour away). I could buy those cool science kits I have been eyeballing for years. I could get more art supplies. There are many things I can of to do with money if it is not going on more books, more curriculum packages, which inevitably end up on a shelf... well, at least the curriculum guides do because we're not good at following those.

There are a couple of things I am thinking about... a good Latin program for Cyrus, another Life of Fred book or two. But I don't need English programs, or spelling guides, or history texts.

I think my goal for fall is to make good use of what I have on hand, and we'll see how that goes!

Weekly Wrap-Up: Sick week 1/16-1/20...

2012-01-20T08:14:00.001-08:00

It has been a sick week here, and really not very productive. Cassia had this the prior weekend - high fever, a nasty cough, sore throat, and exhaustion - then M got it, and finally Cyrus. Poor Cyrus has been miserable all week. Thankfully, the worst seems to have passed. He still sounds creaky and gravelly-voiced, but he's doing better.

We got half a math page from each child this week. Cassia did practice her reading, and I continued reading from The Hobbit to them, along with American folk and tall tales from a couple of library books. We did a little copywork, with Cyrus working on a Walter de la Mare poem, and Cassia a winter poem by "Anonymous". Cyrus did read all of Cabin Fever in one long afternoon, but other than that, it has been a week of movies, blankets, and hot tea. Oh, they did watch a few episodes of Walking With Prehistoric Beasts!

Next week, we'll work on incorporating our new approach to language arts, and we'll delve into fossils and the Cambrian era in history. I am looking forward to the kids checking out this kit, and we get to make these fun cookies! In science we'll be exploring gravity, and in math we'll finish up our measurement unit with a couple of funny and informative books, while at the same time working our way through some more Math Mammoth.

I'm looking forward to another nice quiet weekend at home, with lots of rain! Don't forget to drop by Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for more weekly wrap-ups!

Dropping the writing curriculum...

2012-01-17T09:13:00.001-08:00

While I love the premise of Igniting Your Writing, and I think the writing assignments are pretty solid, it just isn't quite hitting the spot for us. Instead, I have been drooling over the Brave Writer Lifestyle. I signed up for the yahoo group with reminders right away, and have been reading them in my inbox, thinking "someday, I should implement these ideas!" Well, I think someday is here. It seems to me a very Charlotte Mason-ish approach, which I love.

Here is a quote from the Brave Writer site that I found quite enlightening--as I am a public school product, I always think more is better when it comes to writing, and it worries me that Cyrus doesn't write a lot. But this helps...

"A mother asked us at Brave Writer if she was doing enough writing with her child. She told us that her son wrote in his journal on Monday, wrote a poem on Tuesday, crafted a short three paragraph essay on Wednesday, sent a thank you note to his grandmother on Thursday and polished a written narration on Friday. Was that enough writing for her 11 year old? she sincerely wondered. We responded, “That’s more writing than anyone should do in a week!”"

Less is more apparently. According to my email this morning, I should have him do some good copywork once a week. Just once. And there are other approaches to literary awareness, such as poetry tea time, and movies. Yes, movies. And art appreciation, nature journaling, listening to stories... all of it enriches a child's linguistic skills, which in turn leads to better writing.

So, how will I do this? I have a loose schedule in mind, and plan to incorporate more ideas from the daily emails as we go. For now, with Cyrus, I have planned:
Monday Copywork
Tuesday Poetry Tea Time
Wednesday Art appreciation (may include narration, written or verbal)
Thursday Nature Journal
and Fridays, when we get to them (we tend to "do school" 4 days a week), free writing, or movie time.

Of course, he'll continue with spelling and our grammar lessons. Next month, I'll start the writing project phase of the Brave Writer Lifestyle. And the month after that, maybe some Shakespeare, and eventually dictation.

For Cassia (and Cyrus), I can immediately incorporate language games, one-on-one time, and read alouds, which we do already. Cassia can do copywork as well.

It will be interesting to see what this approach does for Cyrus's writing! At least he will continue to develop his vocabulary, listen to good stories, develop a comprehension of literature, and I think both kids will enjoy once-a-week tea time!

Week in Review, 1/9-1/13...

2012-01-13T09:54:00.000-08:00

We are finally "back in school" and had a good week to start off with!

Language Arts...

Cyrus worked on spelling, using The Natural Speller and a homemade worksheet. I have decided, to save myself time and effort, that we'll simply use the same format on binder paper in the future. I had him alphabetize the words on day one, write them each twice on day two, and write sentences for them on days three and four, with day five being test day.

He worked on a lesson in Igniting Your Writing, and did some free writing about cars, a major passion in his life. He also did some copywork from Treasure Island, and did a beautiful job! There were a couple of minor mistakes on the first try, so I had him go back and correct them.

He continued to read from the Percy Jackson series, and is eagerly awaiting another Jeff Kinney book, Cabin Fever, which we ordered just this week. I imagine that the day it arrives, we'll have a hard time getting him to sleep at all!

Cassia and I focused on reading, which will remain the focus of her language arts for the time being. She read from The Bug in the Jug Wants a Hug, and made word families based off of her reading, and reviewed several stories in The Reading Lesson. She completed a lesson in Explode the Code, aced her spelling test (also in ETC), and started a new unit (review).

Math...
For our "regular" math, we used mostly Math Mammoth this week, with a little Developmental Mathematics thrown in at Cassia's request. Cyrus focused on understanding division, and did a worksheet on converting measurements and estimating. Cassia worked on adding hundreds and tens, as well as some measurement work, and another 100 chart (good practice).

For our other, living math, we read Measuring Penny and made these really cool GallonBots, which are now hanging in my kitchen. Cassia helped measure ingredients for cooking, and Cyrus estimated our grocery bill, adding in each item as we shopped.

History...
This was the week of the Big Bang! We read a little in Voyages Through Time: The Beginning and then we read Big Bang. We watched Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking (episode 3 to be specific)... and we talked a lot about space, emptiness, planets, suns, the earth, and so on. Next week we're studying the formation of the earth, and then we'll move into fossils and archeology.

Science...
Well, we started out with a unit in life sciences from The Lab of Mr. Q, but it just didn't really suit us. I figured we were getting plenty of science with history this week, so I dropped it. Instead, I have decided on a return to Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. I have gone through my flow chart, crossed off all the topics we're familiar with, combined others, etc. I really like the looks of the second volume for next fall, so we're using this to gear up for that! I got a great idea from a message board to incorporate notebooking with BFSU, which is to put in dividers labeled with the four threads in the book, then add narrations, drawings, lab sheets, etc. to those sections as we go - a fun weekend project for me to set it up!

Nature Studies...
We're reading a very informative, and delightful, book called The Moon of the Moles. The illustrations are lovely, and both kids are enjoying the story as well. We'll probably wrap this up next week, and then start The Moon of the Owls. We're also reading from The Tarantula in My Purse, which is simply hilarious!

Next week I really hope to get into the swing of Outdoor Hour Challenges again. I signed up for the free newsletter, so we get a challenge emailed to us weekly. I think we might be able to do that on Thursdays, since that afternoon is clear from anything else at the moment.

Other...
We listened to some Schubert. We made a casserole for a sick friend and her family. We had a blast, as always, at our park day. We continued reading from The Hobbit and I read from The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy Tale Detectives to Cassia (I think Cyrus was listening in as well)...

No fancy weekend plans, just a nice quiet time at home. I have three days off which is quite nice! Don't forget to go over and check out more homeschool weekly wrap-ups at

Wishing everyone a...

2011-12-31T19:34:00.000-08:00

I am looking forward to starting a new year! We've decided on one more week of vacation (gotta love homeschooling flexibility) to give our library time to re-open and all our holds to come in. Plus, we have a lot going on with friends this week!

Yes, I have resolutions for the New Year, although I prefer to think of them as goals.

1. Keep up with the diet and exercise I've been doing. Today, I haven't been too careful, but it is a once-a-year holiday! Back to South Beach tomorrow. I did do my exercise though - I'm using the Couch Potato to 5K program, and just re-started this week. I'm roughly 17 pounds down since Thanksgiving, which is the absolute best I have done in years! I find that the whole family is eating more healthfully with me watching everything so closely.

2. Keep the housework up. I tend to live in what the FlyLady calls C.H.A.O.S. - "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome", so before Christmas, I cleaned like a maniac! My goal now is twofold: keep it clean, and then tackle another part of deep cleaning once a week.

3. Focus on saving money and paying down debts, which means actually sticking to the budget. We're trying to follow Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace plan in 2012.

4. Getting, and keeping, homeschooling more organized. Since we're trying a more structured format once again, and I work, we have outside commitments, etc., organization is key. I'd like to have a weekly plan, know where all the supplies are, know where all the library books are, and things of that nature. This goal actually ties in nicely to the housekeeping goal.

5. Focusing more on Cassia's reading. We're having her assessed for some issues sometime in January/February. Maybe this will help with her reading, maybe not. Either way, I want to dedicate myself more fully to getting her really reading.

I figure these five goals will lead to a lot of other good things. For example, just 17 pounds lighter, and I have a ton more energy, enough that I played baseball with M and the kids for an hour and a half this week. Having more energy means I can do more. Healthier me also seems to equal healthier family! Having the house cleaner means I can organize it better, which in turn means we will know where that exact art supply is, and I will have time (and the place) to make homemade play dough, or these cool trilobite cookies! Financial peace will allow us to build more of a savings account, and getting more and more out of debt all the time is a great feeling. We can also teach our kids financial responsibility. With homeschooling more organized, we'll be more likely to follow through with it, and we may even get to all the fun projects I am always planning! And if Cassia could really read, I think she'd enjoy it a lot more, plus it would just make so many things so much easier.

I think my goals are pretty realistic. I don't plan to lose a million pounds, do a triathlon, re-make my entire home, or get Cassia up to a college reading level in 2012. Nor so I plan to be completely debt-free, or have a gigantic savings account. Of course, all that is a bit exaggerated, but then I have tended to exaggerate my goals in the past!

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?

And a lovely Christmas was had by all...

2011-12-26T11:37:00.001-08:00

The kids are happy with all their gifts, I am happy with mine, M loves his. We had family over for a delicious meal, we went to see insane Christmas lights....

We read stories, watched a few Christmas movies, ate leftovers. And now back to real life! I am happily planning next week's homeschooling, since I have decided a loose plan is better than no plan. The house is still surprisingly clean, although there are scraps of wrapping paper lingering about, and a few dishes to catch up on. After two days of indulgence, I am back in the saddle with my diet too - sauteed kale and a baked egg for breakfast, a London Broil marinating in the fridge for dinner - and am trying to convince everyone that we need to go for a walk around the local lake this afternoon. I do have to go grocery shopping, but I don't plan on going to any other stores. Oh, and there is laundry to do... all the getting-ready-for-the-week stuff!

How were your holidays? Do you have to head back to normality tomorrow too?

Yule Gifts...

2011-12-23T10:29:00.001-08:00

Happiness is a new book

Naturally, the new book is very absorbing. Believe me, I know from experience!

And Matryoshka dolls are very absorbing too!

The hug I got from Cassia, and the squeal of sheer joy? Priceless. (Oh, this shows most of the dolls... there is an even smaller one!)

It was a lovely Solstice... fire going in the fireplace, roasted pork tenderloin and a fantastic salad (salad made by Cyrus), and we finished up the evening with me reading aloud from The 24 Days Before Christmas before bed (L'Engle is one of my all-time favorite authors). Today we're off for a wonderful winter celebration at our favorite Park Day. Good friends, good food, good times. This weekend, we have family coming over tomorrow, and then Sunday is just for us! I won't be back on my blog between now and then, so I'm

Blessed Yule!

2011-12-22T09:47:00.000-08:00

The Shortest Day

By Susan Cooper

http://www.thelostland.com/index.htm

And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.

Rethinking and Restructuring...

2011-12-20T08:34:00.000-08:00

It seems that a good break of a couple of weeks or so is a perfect time to reflect on what we have done thus far in our academic year, and to look ahead at what we would like to accomplish in the remaining weeks before summer - I am not the only one doing this, as I was in fact inspired by a friend to rethink! For counting purposes, we've completed 16 weeks, and have 20 left to go, more or less.

My thoughts...

Cyrus:
In language arts, I am happy with The Sentence Family, and I like Igniting Your Writing very much. However, we need more consistency with IYW! I also need to be more consistent with spelling... The Natural Speller is a great resource, and I need to take more advantage of that. I am debating if I should use Spelling City... I am reluctant to add to his computer time, or if I should simply work with him on paper each week in this subject.

Mathematically, I think we need a little more consistency too. We've hit a block in Life of Fred, while we brush up on division skills. I'd really like to be more organized with the living math approach. I am thinking maybe a Monday Library/Living Book math day, Tuesday and Thursday worksheet/workbook days, and Wednesday for LOF or perhaps Murderous Maths, then Fridays for Family Math.

He's doing well with studying for the National Mythology exam, so I have no concerns there.

I think he's ready for a little more challenging work when it comes to history and science. He is very much intrigued by prehistory, so I think we'll start off January with ~~The Early Human World.~~ the Big Bang, evolution, and a bit of earth science (fossils and all), maybe dusting off an older book/video list, then move into The Early Human World and archeology. I'd eventually love to work with him right through the entire Oxford World in Ancient Times set, since it covers civilizations we have barely touched on, like Ancient China and India, South Asia, and more. I would really love to start using The Story of Science at some point too. Science and history all tied together! We could even tie in our living math with something like this program.

Yes, I am trying semi-organized history and science again. I can't help it!

Cassia:
We're still making slow progress with reading, but I have a feeling that something is about to happen with this. She finally said, just yesterday "I want to be able to read"... something I have been waiting for the past 3 years to hear! So again, consistency (that seems to be my word of the moment, doesn't it?) After the holidays, we'll be moving to the second level in her box of leveled readers, at long, long last. So daily practice. And daily practice with Word Families, and/or Explode the Code.

Mathematically, she's doing well. She even took her Developmental Mathematics book with her to bed the other night, crazy girl! I think she'd thrive with the more organized approach I mentioned above. And I want to do more LOF with her, since there are a number of the elementary level books, and she does well with them.

We're still covering world cultures to some degree, but I'd like to bring her in on the science and history studies I am considering. I am considering the best way to do this, since I think some of the materials Cyrus and I will be using might be above her head a little. Hmmmm... any suggestions? I'm reluctant to use Story of the World, but it might be the best option, along with supplemental library books. It is just that the Oxford books will offer so much more depth than SOTW does. Maybe just supplemental books for Cassia? I don't know.

So there you have it... my rethinking and restructuring. It will be interesting to see what the new year brings!

An award!

2011-12-19T09:23:00.000-08:00

I am thrilled to get the Versatile Blogger Award, so thank you Pam over at Everyday Snapshots! Now, in accordance with the rules, here are 7 things about me, and then 7 blogs (new to me) that I'd like to nominate also.

1. We don't have cable, so I watch TV through Netflix. I had heard a lot about the show Glee when I still worked at a grocery store, and was constantly bombarded by magazine headlines, but never watched it. Now I've finished season 1, and I'm hooked! My other "embarrassing" show is Grey's Anatomy, which I watch online each week.

2. In winter, my fingers are always cold. Through a co-worker, I discovered these lovelies, and now my hands stay remarkably warm! I wear them all the time. It is honestly an addiction.

3. I am a terrible housekeeper. I am a great cook, and I think a very good mother, but housekeeping? It tends to fall by the wayside far too often. I am one of those people that rushes around cleaning like a mad fiend when people are coming over. And I dislike it very much. I wish I were a better housekeeper, and I strive to be... I just get so busy with other stuff.

4. Coffee is my all time favorite beverage, with tea coming in at a near second. I love coffee... the way it smells, the way it tastes... I drink it strong, with no sweeteners, just a dash of half and half. I am loving a couple of new-to-me teas that I discovered though.. both from Stash - the Meyer Lemon (so, so delicious with a little stevia!), and the Licorice Spice, which is like dessert in a cup (without having to add any sweeteners).

5. One of my favorite things about the holidays are all the pretty, twinkly lights. I love Christmas lights (my favorite term for them is fairy lights). The kids and I love to get in the car with a thermos of hot chocolate for them, and a travel mug of tea for me (sometimes coffee) and just drive around to look at all the pretty lights.

6. I've been on a fairly strict diet for just over three weeks. No grains, no gluten, almost no dairy, very limited fat, and very limited eggs. Partly to clean out my system, but as a side benefit, I'm losing weight. 16 pounds right now to be exact. I plan to start incorporating more foods at the end of the week, now that my system seems pretty well cleaned out. That way I can see what my trigger foods are - those that make me gain weight, or simply not feel as well as I should. For some reason, this diet is easier than I thought, and I'm sticking to it better than I have to any diet in years! I feel tons better too.

7. I go through phases where I don't read a lot, and then I read heavily, like a book a day. I am one of those people who can't set a good book down. I would rather read sometimes than sleep, although I usually regret that in the morning.

And now for the seven blogs...

1. The Firefly Files - while it hasn't been updated in a while, it is truly a lovely blog, and is new to me!
2. Sage Parnassus - I like the tone of this blog, and the variety of resources used, plus it is very pretty!
3. A Small Tribe - fantastic photography (and more)!
4. Fairly Odd Mother - I like her humor, and her honesty in writing.
5. Freeflowing Ways - I like the relaxed approach, and all the lovely photos.
6. Almost Unschoolers - I like this blog because of all the hands-on, and well, because we're almost unschoolers!
and finally,
7. I Capture the Rowhouse - an eclectic blog that is fun to read!

Dickens Faire 2011...

2011-12-18T11:59:00.001-08:00

A delightful time was had by all! The kids, M, and I think we might go again next year, in full costume, for even more fun!

And I got a lovely birthday gift, compliments of M...

Weekly Wrap-up of Sorts: 12/12-12/16...

2011-12-16T09:26:00.000-08:00

It has been a lovely week. Each day we are up early, since I work mornings, and so we get to see amazing sunrises like the one in this picture from my phone. I feel blessed to live in such a beautiful area! It has also been a cold week--frosty ground; icy car; kids layered up in mittens, scarves, and jackets for their morning car ride to their Nonna's house.

What have we been up to this week? Well, Cyrus has been reading away. He's now reading Redwall, which I think he'll really enjoy, and he is about to start The Early Human World, which I think we'll read together. He was looking through an old book of my dad's about prehistory, and I remembered we had The Early Human World tucked away in the bookcase, so I think it is time to bring it out! I know he'll be excited about his upcoming gift books: The Throne of Fire for Yule, and the Percy Jackson set for Christmas. Yes, we celebrate both holidays... the more the merrier!

Cassia and I are enjoying her books as well. We read some more in Erik and Britta, we read Peter and Lotta's Christmas, and we read a very interesting and clever book of poetry, Mirror Mirror. Each poem is read twice, once from beginning to end, then with all the lines reversed.

Together at bedtime, we have been very much enjoying this book...

It is well written (naturally... I mean look at who the author is!), and full of loveliness and goodness without being saccharine. I am sorry we're almost done, especially since I haven't yet chosen our next book, although I'm thinking maybe The Squire's Tale? Any suggestions?

Besides all the reading, we're getting ready for the holidays. I did most of the shopping already, primarily online, though tonight M and I are going out, sans children, to pick up a few last gifts. The kids made their gifts for their dad and I this week... tie dye shirts! We have an awesome friend that set up a park tie day afternoon. I'll have to post pictures. The kids did a shirt each for themselves, and then did a shirt each for us. We also need to finish cleaning the house, which, being that we're home so much and using everything, always looks cluttered. And we want to make gingerbread cookies. We're watching Christmassy movies and things, like The Simpsons Christmas Special, How The Grinch Stole Christmas (the Boris Karloff version), a few versions of The Christmas Carol with this one being the favorite, and more. Cyrus had another piano lesson this week, and is on the last two songs in his third book! He has gotten a lot better about practicing lately too.

I feel really good about my decision to drop any formal science and history studies. I'd rather read to the kids, or have them watch a documentary on a topic they're really interested in than try to have them follow someone else's dictates. This week, they've been watching a series of science videos that's pretty fun: The Science of Disney Imagineering. And we're learning a lot about the Victorian age, gearing up for this weekend's trip to the Dickens Faire - very exciting! I remember loving it as a child, and am hoping they'll enjoy it as much as I did. Both are dressing up for it, so I'll be sure to get some good pictures.

Let me see, what else did we do? Well, Cassia read another reader to me, the last one at this level and then she moves up. I am having her read them each 4-5 times during the week to build fluency. We did some math-- hands-on measuring after reading Measuring Penny, and a bunch of pages in their Developmental Math books. The kids basically have four points each to hit daily... Cyrus needs to read (never a problem!), do some math, write, and practice piano. Cassia has phonics work, reading, handwriting, and math. Everything else, and there's a lot of everything else, is gravy! We haven't made much progress with our Spiral Scouts projects lately, so I am planning to really ramp that up after the holidays. We're also planning a New Year's camping trip with a friend. It'll be very cold, but what better way to start a new year than on a mountain, outdoors?

Hope you all had a good week too!

A Bi-Weekly Wrap-Up: 11/28-12/9...

2011-12-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

It has been a good, and fairly full, couple of weeks. I decided to stop pretending that we were (or are for that matter) going to do organized history and science studies, so we have felt more relaxed. With just reading, writing, and math as basics, they have found plenty else to occupy themselves! I did adjust my Curriculum Page to reflect reality.

Here they are working together to disassemble a wireless router (yes, an old one)

I think they worked on this for an hour or so, carefully sorting each piece into a divided plastic tray. Although they never did get it apart all the way!

There has been math. This week we used Life of Fred and Developmental Mathematics. I like the simple and clear layout of the latter, as do the kids.

Here Cyrus is working out a Life of Fred set of equations. He had to find the number of seconds in an hour, a day, a year, and 31 years, which, in case you're curious, is nearly one billion!

We started using The Sentence Family. That's Cyrus's work above, with great sentences like "I ate three green beans today." (declarative) and "Did the aardvark ever dance the polka?" (interrogative)

And Cassia wrote things like "I have a dog." (declarative), and "Do you know where the train station is?" (interrogative). I did notice that her sentences focus more on the story and the artwork, while Cyrus seems to write fairly random things.

Cassia drew some leaves on the whiteboard, outlining real leaves and then detailing them.

And of course we read a lot!

Besides all that, Cyrus is still working on learning computer animation. He also formed a Greek Mythology Club at our Park Day, complete with little booklets that he handed out with Cassia's help. Cassia has been a constant helper in the kitchen, and we're enjoying learning about Sweden as our country of the month. Both wrote letters to Santa, Cyrus worked on spelling, and Cassia read another reader to me.

We have one more week before winter break... some more math, some more reading and writing, more phonics for Cassia, and of course more fun!

Don't forget to go check out other homeschooling blogs at the...

A reason to clean...

2011-12-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we were cleaning the family room, getting prepped for the holidays and company. Under Cassia's desk, there is a large box, where I had stored a miscellany of books that I had scored a few years ago in a Craigslist deal. I bought several bags of books when another mom stopped homeschooling, sorted through them, sold a few things, donated a bunch, and put these away for someday use. Anyhow, Cyrus asked me if we could go through the box, to "see if there's anything exciting in there", so sort through it we did, and I found all kinds of books I had stocked away, books that were ahead of them then, but perfect now.

Among other finds, we came across:

Several levels of Developmental Mathematics
A nice, simple little grammar guide/workbook called Practice Exercises in Basic English
Several grade levels of a guide/workbook called Science Made Simple
Top Secret Guides to about ten different countries, which will be handy for Cassia's world culture studies
A McGraw Hill middle-high school workbook on biology

So I started thinking about how we could use some of these resources. I really like the simple, one-topic approach of Developmental Mathematics, so I may have the kids do a page or two a week to boost their basic skills. With the biology book, I'm going to use it as a reference guide to enhance our nature studies. As for Science Made Simple, again, a guide to various topics, and maybe a few hands-on experiments, a worksheet here and there. I think I might hand off the English book to Cyrus and see what he gets out of it.

Lesson learned? If you have boxes of books "waiting", go ahead and go through them! I did put some of it back for upcoming years too, so we'll have another treasure hunt through the box in a year or two.

A product rave...

2011-11-30T08:37:00.000-08:00

I can't tell you how much we are enjoying these books! I feel very good about moving into math where I am more involved with the kids than math that they do with a computer.

Cyrus and I did lesson 2 in LOF: Fractions yesterday. It was a lesson on billions, with Fred trying to calculate how long it would take him to list a billion reasons against buying a bike at one reason per second. While Cyrus has done multiplication, it has never been at this scale. He first found the number of seconds per hour, then per day, then per year, and then the total number of seconds in 31 years, which, in case you are wondering, is still just shy of a billion. It was only 5 problems, but they were a challenge! I had him do them on graph paper for easier number placement. When I get a chance, I'll scan the page and you can see all of his painstaking work, which he got 100% on! We also learned about onomatopoetic words, the word "onomatopoetic" not being any too easy to pronounce repeatedly, but still an awesome word at 7 syllables!

This is such a different math program. Such a different approach. I really wish they had had math like this when I was a kid! The story lines are funny, yet informative. I like how math is woven in throughout. And 5 problems is a good amount to see if they understood the ideas in each chapter.

Today math will be something different. Maybe Math Mammoth, or a library book followed by activities. We'll just have to see what strikes us!

Win a Kindle!

2011-11-26T11:57:00.001-08:00

Freely Educate is giving away a Kindle. There are four ways to enter the contest, with a November 28th deadline. Go check it out!

Win a Kindle!

A good Thanksgiving, and now back to reality...

2011-11-25T19:47:00.001-08:00

It is nice having a long weekend, although today (Friday), I keep feeling as though it is Monday tomorrow, and that I need to do all my Sunday evening laundry, etc. Thankfully, I still have two full days to go!

We had a very pleasant Thanksgiving. It was just the four of us, and a very close family friend (more like family, an honorary uncle as a matter of fact), so it was relaxed, especially with a day and a half ahead of time to prepare! I made the pies on Tuesday and Wednesday, though Cassia and I starting the mince filling on Monday and cooked it down in the crockpot.

After trading in a couple of mince pies, I ended up with one mince, one pumpkin, and a delicious caramelized apple-cinnamon custard tart.

Cassia was my assistant all the way through. She chopped apples, measured flour and butter, ran the mixer, rolled out the pie crusts, and much, much more.

Here she is making succotash. She did it on her own with only a few verbal instructions from me, and it was delicious!

Cyrus kept himself busy making aluminum foil "castings" of various Hot Wheels, and then crash testing them. At least it kept him out of the way! He did help clean though.

And here is M carving the very tasty (organic) turkey that graced our table.

So we relaxed, watched movies, ate, did dishes, ate, played a game or two, ate... you get the picture! And I thought about our upcoming three weeks of homeschooling before Christmas break, and what I would like to accomplish. The week off, with no day-to-day planned learning helped give me some distance and get over my grass-is-greener syndrome... phew! I am making a few small changes, but nothing so drastic as I had originally thought. I am feeling mighty organized with all the new binders and dividers I bought! I have some things printed out, a stack of library books at hand, and a tidy, ready-to-go lesson plan for the three weeks. Not anything planned out in little time slots, or anything that organized mind you, but rather a set of expectations for the upcoming weeks. A list of tangible goals. And the reassurance that we are following our particular path.

Cassia and I did decide though to slow down her study of world cultures so that we have more time to explore each one. I thought we'd start taking a month per country, since this is a study we can do indefinitely. I think we're starting with Sweden, since they have lovely winter holiday traditions that Cassia would enjoy. This book is one I really loved as a child, and I think she'll like it too. Cyrus, in the meantime, has begged off American history for now. Instead, he and I are focusing on Egyptian history and mythology, then we'll move on to Ancient Greece before he takes the National Mythology Exam. Cassia says she'll be more than happy to listen in! She really seems to have very little interest in history in general, so if I can get her to listen in, all for the better.

I have been making progress with the kids in using more math on a day-to-day basis. I ask Cyrus at random to multiply things, or add up groceries while we're shopping, figure out how much x many pounds will count at $x per pound... and Cassia is doing fractions and measuring regularly in the kitchen while helping me cook. I've gotten in the habit of giving her 1/2, 1/3, or 1/4 cup measuring cups, and then having her figure out how many she needs to equal the amount needed in the recipe. She's getting really fast at it!

Okay, have to go. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Jumping on the Menu Monday bandwagon... and more...

2011-11-21T10:56:00.000-08:00

Menu Plan Monday

Now that I don't work at a grocery store, I try to shop only once a week, so menu planning is key! This week we'll be lucky enough to have two Thanksgivings, one at my mom's house, and one at home. Here's what we'll be having this week...

Monday
Beef & 2-bean chili with salsa, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, and tortilla chips

Tuesday
Pasta with a good marinara sauce; garlic bread; salad

Wednesday
Thanksgiving #1 at my mom's

Thursday
Thanksgiving at home - turkey; cornbread stuffing; homemade cranberry sauce; mashed potatoes & gravy; green beans with brown butter and chopped hazelnuts; succotash; a big green salad; pumpkin pie; apple-quince-mince pie

Friday
Leftovers cleverly disguised as open face hot turkey sandwiches with gravy; salad of some sort

Saturday
I am thinking we'll need a break from turkey, so Cassia and I will be cooking a dinner to reflect our country of the week - Poland. We're making perogi to be served with chives, sour cream, and bacon. The side dish will be beets and cucumbers with vinegar (almost pickled!)

Sunday
I have some leftover wild rice, so I thought I would make roasted squash/veg and wild rice, and serve it with some homemade bread, probably rye since we all like that one. I had found a recipe for the soup on a blog recently, but now I can't for the life of me figure out whose blog it was!

On another note, we're looking at making some fun ornaments in early December for our Christmas tree/home. We do have store-bought ornaments, but homemade ones are special, and fun. Some options...

Glittered, Wax-dipped Pinecones
I really like these toadstool ornaments
Trying to think of an icing lid substitute for these lovely felted ornaments
Felt Shooting Stars
And I have a book with instructions for straw star ornaments like these
And cinnamon dough bird ornaments

Most of these don't look that difficult, though some might be time consuming. I don't know that we'll get a chance to make them all, but even a few homemade ornaments would be nice!

The week of Thanksgiving...

2011-11-19T12:29:00.000-08:00

We're officially taking a week off from homeschooling, but what does that mean? It means reading, crafts, games, and a chance for me to plan for the three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas Break!

Books I plan to read this upcoming week include:
Three Young Pilgrims (partly because I own it)
More of Oliver Twist
The Leaf Man and Why Do Leaves Change Color?
Start reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Multiple selections from Cassia's library pile!

Crafts:
I'd like to make Leaf Men/Women, inspired by The Leaf Man book mentioned above
And we'd like to make Nature Collage Suncatchers inspired by Jessica and Ben, which incidentally means we'll have to go for a good nature walk! I also have a book of nature crafts on loan from a good friend, and plan on digging through that for more ideas.

And on a side note, today is my sixteenth wedding anniversary! We're having a lovely dinner with this (including the wild rice side dish), and then a pear-gingerbread upside-down cake. And we have a movie to watch, since it is one we haven't seen yet.

Weekly Report 11/14-11/18, changing over...

2011-11-18T08:55:00.000-08:00

It has been an interesting and eye-opening week. First, I discovered math journaling, which is simply fantastic! Then I read The Christopherus Waldorf Curriculum Overview from cover to cover, and it was lovely. I have come to realize, through my research and in-depth conversations with everyone in the house, that while we're chugging along just fine, we're not experiencing the joy of homeschooling as we used to (I also re-read some of my earliest blog posts, and we had so much fun!), and when there is a lack of joy, there is a lack of real interest. So I am making every effort to switch to a richer, more hands-on, homeschooling style with more living books, even for math! And I want my blog to have more pictures again, so for the next Weekly Report, you can expect a few changes. On a side note, I realized in reading the Waldorf book that according to their principles, my kids are ahead a grade! While I certainly don't plan on dropping them back, I feel more relaxed with where we are in things.

Alright, having said all that, here's this week in review, which for the most part, actually followed my desires for our homeschooling...

Cyrus has been working on writing his novel on the computer, and he wrote a quite funny fable based on the style of fables in Squids Will Be Squids. He built more 3D models on the computer and then demolished them, watching how and pieces fall, and how falling/loose pieces affect the integrity of the whole. He did 2 chapters in Life of Fred Fractions, giggling like a maniac the entire time. He finished re-reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and moved on to The Red Pyramid. He studied Greek and Egyptian mythology, using select titles from the Ologies series and the D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths. He worked in writing in hieroglyphics using the Egyptology Code-Writing Kit. He worked on shading geometric shapes for art. I also read to him from The Magic of Reality - a wonderful and accessible science book by Richard Dawkins.

Cassia worked in The Reading Lesson this week. She is getting steadily more fluent, and is picking up on blends and letter combinations like "ee" and "ea" quickly. She also completed two chapters in Life of Fred Apples, and made up more problems for herself. She helped with cooking, and got hands-on lessons in fractions and measurement as a result. We read from Understood Betsy, and Russian Folk Tales. And we read Pippo the Fool, Uncle Blue's New Boat, and Pelle's New Suit. She did a little needle felting, drew a few pictures, and helped fold laundry. She also watched, twice, a video called Families of Russia.

Together, we learned about John Cabot from A First Book in American History. We read some more from the Nurse Matilda stories. We ate a delicious Russian meal, with baked fish, potatoes, mushrooms, and dill. We visited the Russian Orthodox Church near our home during their Christmas Bazaar, and tried piroshkis. We also visited the church itself, which was full of gorgeous art and many, many icons. We listened to a story told in alternating Russian and English. We cuddled up on the couch and watched movies a couple of evenings this week as well. I am really enjoying my afternoons and evenings at home with my new job!

Today we are hoping to go to the park, but with a fifty percent chance of rain, who knows? If it does rain, we'll bump tomorrow's planned library trip up to today.

Next week, we're simply focusing on getting ready for Thanksgiving. I have a multitude of pies to bake, including the family favorite, an apple-quince mince pie from Local Flavors. We celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom on Thursday, and then a second celebration at home with other relatives (my dad, my MIL, etc.) on Friday. I plan to spend the weekend cleaning, then I work Monday and Tuesday, make pies on Wednesday, and enjoy the rest of the week! I'm planning on a week off from any official homeschooling, though we know the learning never stops, and I am sure I will be reading aloud a lot!

Don't forget to drop by The Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers!

Is my head in the sand?

2011-11-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

Seriously, with all the research I have done on various homeschooling methods, how did I not know about Math Journaling? A few links in case you are unfamiliar with it as well...

Why Math Journals?
Math Journals & Other Math Ideas for Primary Teachers
Blog, She Wrote's fantastic math journal posts
Math Notebooking

Okay, you probably get the idea by this time.

We've been using Teaching Textbooks, and yes, it works. And, until recently, both kids liked it. I have been having some trouble getting Cassia to sit down for it, but I just chalk that up to her being Cassia. Then, last week, we didn't do any TT. And yesterday, I got Life of Fred Apples and Fractions in the mail. It was as if TT didn't even exist! Cassia sat down with me, and we went through the first two chapters of LOF Apples. Then she spent half an hour making up additional problems for herself, telling me "Look Mommy, I am good at math!", while Cyrus and I got through the first chapter in LOF Fractions. It was marvelous! There were giggles galore, and lots of problem solving. Once they were in bed, and I had my hot cup of tea ready, I snuggled down in my bed and flipped through Family Math, which I have owned for years and never made use of (ducking head in shame). So many cool math ideas!

So now I am thinking... math journaling! Math journals, using LOF, Family Math, and other fun living math books as jumping off points. It is definitely worth a try. We don't use any other textbooks - math has been our last sticking point, and I would like to encourage real-life, applicable, hands-on, creative mathematical thinking! I'd highly suggest reading through Blog, She Wrote's wonderful math journal posts to see living math in action. I love too that she is able to make similar math activities work across a range of ages. I'll hold onto TT in the meantime just in case, but truthfully, it was getting that I kind of resented the program for taking away that time with my kids... And as a backup for more problem sets, I do own the entire Math Mammoth Blue series (topical downloads).

Weekly report, 11/7-11/11: And the rain is coming down...

2011-11-11T10:31:00.000-08:00

And down and down. It is pouring here, of course, because Fridays are generally Park Days. So much for that! Instead, our plans involve finishing Dinotopia at long last, with a big bowl of popcorn. And then Cyrus is off to his first ever sleepover, and Cassia and I will go see Puss in Boots.

It has been an unschooly kind of week. We are 10 weeks into our school year (eeek!) and still making adjustments. But then, I am not so sure adjusting ever ends in homeschooling. Next week we'll be back up to speed in math and language arts, etc.

What We Have Done...

Math
The kids played Sum Swamp, and Payday. We read Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday, and Cyrus double checked the math. We read Pigs in the Pantry, and Cassia compared quantities of ingredients while Cyrus figured out how many cups of beans there were in the cans used, and how much excess the father pig had compared to the recipe. Cassia also helped with actual measuring this week as she helped me cook dinner every night.

Language Arts
Cyrus is writing a story on the computer, working on it right now as a matter of fact. I just taught him how to use the spell checker, and he noticed that he has a tendency to spell the same words, or similar ones, wrong over and over, usually more simple ones! He also continued re-reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

Cassia read two Nora Gaydos Now I'm Reading books to me this week, and read the words she could in a Frog and Toad story. She sounded out the word "wonderful", which was indeed wonderful! We spent a lot of time reading this week.

World Cultures & Mythology
We started our study of world cultures this week, with Hungary. Cassia and I enjoyed reading A Song for Lena, A Family in Hungary, and a couple of stories from an Eastern European book of fairy tales. Cassia made, with very little help, a delicious Hungarian Goulash for dinner last night, which she served with mashed potatoes and a super yummy cucumber salad. Next week we're off to Russia!

Cyrus started reading about Greek mythology this week. He picked up a copy of the D'Aulaires' Greek Myths at the library. I am going to have him make a Main Lesson Book on mythology starting next week. I'm also ordering the study packets from the American Classical League.

Sciences
Cassia has been assisting her dad daily in the greenhouse where he keeps his bonsai collection. She helped transplant one little tree, and trim a couple of others, as well as watering, etc. She is learning a lot about plants and seems to have a real affinity for gardening. This is great because we are in the midst of planning out a real vegetable garden , raised beds and all, for next spring. I placed on hold at the library a few books on gardening - some for me, and a couple for the kids. Oh, and I ordered this catalog.

We also brought home a caterpillar from the farm where we get our milk. Cassia and Cyrus made it a habitat in a jar, and this week it cocooned itself! So cool! We think it will hatch into a tiger moth.

The kids watched another episode of Walking With Dinosaurs and have been comparing what they actually know about dinosaurs to the movie Dinotopia.

Literature
We continued reading from the Nurse Matilda stories this week. Cassia and I also started Understood Betsy, which I think she will really enjoy. I decided they need more poetry, so I am going to have them each memorize a poem. Cassia's will be The Caterpillar by Christina Rossetti in honor of our caterpillar, Cyrus will learn something from A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein, and I have decided to memorize The Morns Are Getting Meeker Than They Were by Emily Dickinson.

Other, and Spiral Scouts
In regards to my post on incorporating more Waldorf, I think I have figured out how. I plan to continue with American history, using Time Travelers and lapbooking, along with good books, but then for mythology, cultural studies, and gardening/botany, we'll use main lesson books. We're going to set up a nature table, and during our Charlotte Mason-inspired nature walks, we can collect things for the table. may felt a few fairies and the like for it.

We also decided on our Spiral Scouts projects for the time being! Both kids will work on their Gold Stars and Super Me (both more or less required), and then they will both do Cooking and Gardening badges. Additionally, Cyrus will be working on Art and Mythology badges, and Cassia will work on Fiber Arts. We can also log hiking and camping times to our Hiking and Camping badges. There are literally over a hundred choices in badges, so I am glad they will be at this level - Spiral Scouts - until they are 14, when they can go up a level, to PathFinders. I'm sure we'll add in more badges here and there as their interests broaden, but I think this is plenty to work on now. We're aiming to get the required ones out of the way by Yule, then start the others in all earnestness after the winter holidays. The badges actually require a lot of learning and work, as you can see from the Gardening Badge sample here.

And there's our week! Hope you had a good one too.

Shifting gears a bit... or maybe a lot...

2011-11-09T08:56:00.001-08:00

We are, yes once again, shifting gears a little bit. Cyrus reiterated this week his desire to study for the ACL's National Mythology Exam, so he'll be focusing on mythology once or twice a week, and at all odd hours here and there! I went ahead and ordered the study packets for him so we have a good general idea of exactly what to study.

Cassia and I finally launched her children around the world study with Hungary last night, reading A Song for Lena, which was a lovely story with beautiful soft watercolor illustrations. We'll also read from a book of Eastern European fairy tales this week, and A Family in Hungary.

I have been perusing Waldorf blogs again, and want to start incorporating more Waldorf methods in our home. At first, I simply thought Oak Meadow, and promptly tormented myself in trying to find older (and therefore cheaper) versions. After a week though, I realized it is not the week-by-week lesson plans that I really want... it is the feeling of the lessons, with Main Lesson Books, main lesson blocks, storytelling, art, handicrafts, etc. I think there is a way I can use my own curriculum choices that reflects these aspects of Waldorf. I also really want more seasonality in our schedule. I may be getting a copy of the Christopherus Waldorf Curriculum Overview for Homeschoolers, which is a book that allows for personalized curriculum choices within a Waldorf context. I'll get a book or two on seasonal crafts and projects as well.

All of this ties in beautifully with Spiral Scouts, by the way. The kids are deciding on projects that include cooking (which in turn involves multicultural aspects), mythology, art, gardening, sculpture, recycling, etc.

So where am I going with all this rambling? I think we're going to try Main Lesson Books, though I'll probably do these as binders with good quality paper. I'd like more art and rhythm in our days. Main Lesson Books would also make beautiful keepsakes! I have plans to set up, once again, a nature table in our home. We had one before and loved it, but then kittens played havoc with it, and we haven't had one in over a year. I think too we might try main lesson blocks, allowing Cyrus time to delve into and really enjoy Ancient Greece and its mythology, and then Rome... maybe a Norse block as well. And Cassia's world culture studies are easily divisible into blocks, the current one being Eastern Europe. Sciences could involve a gardening block in the spring when we finally will be putting in raised beds and a real vegetable garden. I'd also like both of them to get some hands-on carpentry skills at some point. Cassia was doing well with crocheting and I think I might teach her to knit as well.

Along another line of thought, I'm also looking at moving from A First Book of American History to Time Travelers from Homeschool in the Woods, which are excellent cd-roms with all kinds of printables and projects as well as short lessons. Cyrus really wants to make a complete lapbook at some point, and I think Cassia will like many of the Colonial projects. IF we go this route, we'll be wrapping up explorers over the next couple of weeks, and then we'll move into Colonial times. My only goal at this point would be to get up through the American Revolution by the end of the academic year, with lots of time for rabbit trails along the way!

We'll see what happens!

Relaxing a bit...

2011-11-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

We're taking a week off from "formal" math and writing, I think, but I do have plans! Basically the idea is to switch things up a bit and try different approaches.

Ideas for Cyrus:

Going through Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday and checking the math as he goes
Some work from Math Appeal
Playing Totally Tut (which unfortunately I don't think Cassia is quite ready to play)
Various math puzzles and pictograms from all the "Dollar Days" eBooks I bought from Scholastic
Mad Libs
I put his spelling words on Spelling City so he could play games
Writing and illustrating his own fable since we're reading Squids Will Be Squids - yes, he'll have to do a rough draft and then a final draft after I help him correct spelling and punctuation
We're going to start The Sentence Family, and learn about Mr. Declarative

And for Cassia:

We'll read Pigs in the Pantry and then I'll have her double a recipe since she loves cooking
Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland (which Cyrus will probably listen to as well)
Tangrams (good geometry practice!)
Probably some Scholastic printables as well
A word family grab bag and matching game (homemade)
Spelling City with word families and/or words from Explode the Code
Various interactive phonics games

For both:

I think it will be a good week. Gives us a break from the general Teaching Textbooks/Primary & Intermediate Language Lessons thing. We also will be studying dinosaurs and Explorers this week, with good books and some nice hands-on. I did go ahead and order Life of Fred Fractions for Cyrus, and Apples for Cassia... can't wait until they get here!

Oh, we're also starting up a gentle study of other countries/cultures. Our first country is Hungary. I have Fairy Tales of Eastern Europe on hand, A Family in Hungary from the library, and a good recipe for Hungarian goulash. The following week we're "going" to Poland, and then off to Russia!

Hope the upcoming week is a good one for you all!

Before midnight gets here and it is too late...

2011-10-31T21:41:00.000-07:00

Week 8: 10/24-10/28... Pumpkins to Acrobats to Bugs...

2011-10-28T19:52:00.001-07:00

We started our week with a trip to a nearly Pumpkin Patch/Fall Festival. There the kids got to pet goats...

And really cute little donkeys...

Hold some starfish...

Pose as a farmer...

Pose in front of a mountain lion...

And of course, pick out some pumpkins...

There were also live birds (a barn owl and a red tailed hawk), all kinds of insects, snakes and lizards, a Native American village, a hay-bale maze, and the hayride out to the pumpkins! Not to mention crafts, music, and so forth.

Other than that...

Language Arts
Cassia read two Nora Gaydos books this week, worked on two lessons from her word families book, did 8 pages in Explode the Code, and did 2 lessons in Primary Language Lessons, focusing on observation and a picture study! Her reading is coming along nicely, at long, loooooooong last. Phew! I have also noticed an improvement in her handwriting.

Cyrus did three lessons in Intermediate Language Lessons, mostly learning about proper use of is/are and was/were, as well as I/her/him/hers/his/ours/us. He did work a bit in his Spectrum Spelling book, but has asked to switch back to a combo of Natural Speller and Spelling City next week, so I'll set up his word lists there on Sunday. He also made a couple of entries in his journal.

Both kids also wrote short poems for free entry to an insect event (see Science below).

Math
Both took and passed their quizzes this week, Cyrus with 100% and Cassia with 95%, which she only got because on the last question she was looking over her shoulder talking to the dog and clicked on the wrong button! They both completed another 2 lessons as well. I decided to go ahead and order Life of Fred: Fractions for Cyrus as a supplement/fun math book, and am still debating which of the elementary level books to get for Cassia. I think the author recommends just starting at the beginning for any kid under 4th grade... I'll have to double check his website.

History
We started reading from Year of Columbus: 1492 this week, and really enjoyed it. We also looked up images of the artwork mentioned, specifically da Vinchi's Last Supper and Michaelangelo's Pieta. We talked about Copernicus and what people thought about the shape and size of the world at that time. We've decided also to start some "social studies" again, focusing on world cultures, and finally putting into use my plans for Cassia for the year, since she is less involved in history than Cyrus. I think since we don't do tons of history, she could do both, and Cyrus can start integrating more mythology into his history studies. I also ordered a copy of Social Studies Through Children's Literature, which looks intriguing. Our library has Science Through Children's Literature though, so I placed that on hold.

Science
We learned a lot about farm animals this week, since we went to a friend's farm on Thursday. This was in addition to all we learned on Sunday about insects and snakes! At the farm, we got to hold one-week old-chicks, see a big cow that was a tiny little calf just such a short time ago! Cassia actually helped bottle-feed it as a calf. We learned about a few different breeds of chicken, and in the car on the way home, we discussed family versus factory farms, proper chicken care, and vegetable gardening. Tomorrow, we are off to an insect-fest hosted at the local university!

Geography
We started reading from Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels this week. The first chapter is about the Bay Bridge, stretching 8 miles from San Francisco to the East Bay. The kids were recently on that bridge when we drove across it on our way home from Disneyland, so they could picture the bridge quite well. Mr. Halliburton's descriptions are awesome, and I think we will really enjoy this book! I had a hard time setting it down when skimming through it before reading aloud. Even M came to listen in on this reading, and really enjoyed it.

Literature
Family reading this week was mainly Nurse Matilda, which sets the kids off in riots of laughter. Cyrus is still re-reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and The Children of Green Knowe, as well as Calvin & Hobbes. I read from Squids Will Be Squids to the kids several days this week, and I read from All of a Kind Family Downtown to Cassia.

Other
Cyrus continued working on computer animation and physics. Cassia continued to be the cook's assistant for most dinners. We also went to a show at the local center for the arts... The Golden Dragon Acrobats! It was awe-inspiring, and we had a great time.

And that's really about it! Have a good weekend... I think we will!

Wordless Wednesday...

2011-10-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

Through the car window (hence the water droplets) on my way to work.

Homeschool Resource Meme

2011-10-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

Saw this on another blog, and she said to play along if I liked, so here we are!

1. One homeschooling book you have enjoyed.
The Relaxed Homeschool by Mary Hood. This is my go-to book when I am feeling that we might not be doing enough, or I find myself overplanning.

2. One resource you wouldn't be without.
The library! We can put books on hold from three counties, check out movies and audio books... if I didn't have the library we'd be broke from homeschooling alone!

3. One resource you wish you had never bought.
Hard one. I think I have learned something about what works and what doesn't from every purchase I have made, and I have managed to resell the things that didn't work.

4. One resource you enjoyed last year.
Explode the Code. It is straightforward, easy to use, and works! Besides, the kids like the humor in it.

5. One resource you will be using next year.
Teaching Textbooks. It is a great program for us this year, so we'll definitely be continuing with it.

6. One resource you would like to buy.
A really good microscope, specifically this one: Ultimate Binocular Microscope for Home Use. However, the price is well beyond my range, so I think we'll stick with the very good one that we already have.

7. One resource you wish existed.
An inexpensive machine that would correctly print and bind ebooks right here at home.

8. One homeschool catalog you enjoy reading.
Home Science Tools and Acorn Naturalists. Don't make me choose between the two!

9. One homeschooling website you use regularly.
Well Trained Mind, specifically the forums. There are so many people on there with so many different approaches! While I don't follow the WTM approach, I still get a lot out of the forums.

10. Tag other homeschoolers.
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
Our Homeschool Journey
Two Kid Schoolhouse
Wild Roots

Week 7: 10/17-10/21, with PICTURES!

2011-10-21T09:56:00.000-07:00

It has been a good week as far as schooling goes.

Language Arts
Cyrus wrote a short story for Intermediate Language Lessons, both a first and second/final draft, after completing a picture study the day before. He wrote some dialog for an animation program that he plays around with. We worked on spelling, though not from his spelling book, he read aloud a little to me (I like him to do this occasionally as it helps me see his comprehension levels). He also did a couple of pages in Word Roots.

Cassia worked through another 3 lessons in Easy Lessons for Teaching Word Families. She finished a lesson in Explode the Code, read a Nora Gaydos book to me with very little trouble, and is working on Green Eggs & Ham. I threw in a few blends during her word family work, and she can sound them out quite well!

Math
Both worked in Teaching Textbooks, completing another 3 lessons apiece. Cyrus got 100% on all lessons, and Cassia got over 90% on all lessons. Her occasional mistakes have to do more with carelessness than a lack of understanding. I am thinking of adding back in some Math Mammoth work, since I own all the topical series, and could easily tie this in to reinforce their Teaching Textbook lessons. Maybe send just a single page with them daily to my mom's house? At the very least, I plan to add in living math books again. I am still considering Life of Fred as a supplement too. I think both kids, especially Cyrus, would enjoy the books.

Science
I went ahead and did science with them individually this week. With Cyrus, we cuddled up in the big chair and started reading The Way We Work. He then drew and labeled a picture of a cell, and then wrote definitions for the labels. With Cassia, we cuddled up, again in the big chair, and we read about chickens in Clara Dillingham Pierson's Among the Night People. Cassia drew a picture of a chicken, a chick and some eggs, and added a sentence, carefully copied down.

A close-up of the cell drawing since it doesn't show too well in the picture above. I just like his happy face in that one!

History
We finished reading the D'Aulaire's Columbus, which was a lovely book. We read a little more in A First Book in American History, and I used the globe to show the kids where Italy, Portugal and Spain are. We have started reading You Wouldn't Want to Sail with Christopher Columbus as well. Both kids colored maps of the Mediterranean area where Columbus was born and grew up.

Literature
We are reading a compilation of the Nurse Matilda (aka Nanny McPhee) books at bedtime. So far, we have counted 31 children in the Brown family! The book is absolutely delightful so far. Cyrus is simultaneously re-reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and has started The Children of Green Knowe. Cassia and I read Apples to Oregon, The Firebird, and another two chapters in All of a Kind Family Downtown. We also read the poem October's Bright Blue Weather by Helen Hunt Jackson. The kids really liked it, so I hope to read more poetry next week.

Other
Cyrus is working hard on shading in art, and is teaching himself, from a book, to draw facial features as well. He had his piano lesson this week, in which he did fairly well, but we are working hard to make sure he practices daily, which gives me time to really focus on Cassia's reading lessons.

Cassia has been helping daily in the kitchen. She loves to measure things, chop things up (yes, I let her use knives), stir and whisk things... she makes a great kitchen assistant.

Weekend Plans
Now that I have full weekends off from work, we can do fun stuff! This weekend we're headed off to a fall festival/pumpkin patch... oh and the library. We're looking forward to both!

Today's Reading Lesson...

2011-10-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

I've been working with Cassia regularly on Easy Lessons for Teaching Word Families. We do this on a whiteboard, using one color of ink for the word family, and another for the starting letter(s). She loves this, and reads the words easily for the most part, even when I throw in blends, like the "cl" in "clock" today.

I also picked up Green Eggs and Ham at the library, and today we sat down and read through it together. She knows parts of it by memory, so she was able to "read" those parts. I sat down afterwards and made a word bank that I then printed in large font on card stock. I plan to cut these apart and go through 5 a day, in the fashion recommended in Home Education. For this, I will use the whiteboard too. I'll put a word on the board, go over it with her until she's comfortable with it, then ask her to find it in the pile of words for that day. Once she has all 5 down, she can play with them, making sentences, etc. The next day, we can review the words we covered the day before, then introduce 5 more. I am hoping that in 10 days, with this method, she will be able to read the entire book comfortably, since there are only 50 words in the entire book, including "a" and "I". This book was a benchmark in our home before, when I was teaching Cyrus to read. After he could read Green Eggs and Ham fluently, he was easily able to move on to other books, such as his beloved Calvin and Hobbes. I think Cassia may just move on to other beginner books, but believe me, this will be a major milestone in our house!

I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and it is so exciting!

Wordless Wednesday... Gone Fishing...

2011-10-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

Since I already wrote a wordy post below, here's a not-wordy one.

Balance Part 4...

2011-10-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

I am learning now how to balance my new job, homeschooling, housework, college, and other demands on my time. It isn't easy. Most days, we do get the basics done... I work and am learning the ins and outs of my new position, I get the dishes and laundry done (though not always put away), there is good food on the table, and we get through math, reading, and writing, and we do read bedtime stories most nights. However, we're barely touching on history and science, there is a lot more housework and yard work I would like to have done... I feel most days as if I am running from one thing to the next.

My solution? Scheduling. Yes, actually having and following a [loose] schedule. I need to make sure I set aside time for housework, for cooking, for homeschooling, for myself. That means I am not answering calls, or checking emails, or looking at facebook updates in the afternoons. Instead, after I get home with the kids, they can check on the pets and fill their food/water bowls. I can do a quick load of dishes and a half hour of cleaning. We can settle in and get more than the basics done. A break midway through homeschooling gives them time to stretch and get their blood moving, and me a chance to do another quick chore or two. Then back to homeschooling, finishing up in time for me to make dinner, and for them to do a few chores before having some play time. Sometime we have time to take a brisk walk, something I would do on a regular basis. They have a bedtime that is fairly early... I read to them, they brush their teeth, and head off to bed. Then I have time with M, and time to read - my time. This is how it needs to be if I am to actually get anything beyond the basics done.

We did figure out, more or less, science. Cyrus is very, very interested in human anatomy. Cassia is a little interested in that, but more in nature studies. So we will do both. Cassia can go along with Cyrus in anatomy studies, and Cyrus can listen in on The Burgess Bird Book for Children, but they don't have to as long as they are doing one or the other. I also changed up our history a little... we were reading each week from both A Little History of the World (ancient times) and A First Book in American History, but I have decided that for this year and the next few (I hope), we'll do American history up to winter (Christmas) break, and then world history the second part of the year. This allows for more rabbit trails along the way!

So what have we done this week so far? Cyrus is acing math. Parts of it challenge him... I can see him concentrating, though parts of it are easy. Cassia scored one low score in math, I think more from a lack of attention than anything else, so I had her go back and re-do everything she missed. Besides that, she is doing well. I put some living math books on hold at the library- Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland for Cassia, since she's learning about angles, along with Pigs in the Pantry for fun, and then The Grapes of Math along with Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday (which many people don't think of as a math book, but it can be!) for Cyrus. While Teaching Textbooks is working very well for us, I would like them to think about math in different ways!

Cyrus has been writing dialog on a computer animation program, and has done some work in Intermediate Language Lessons. We need to fit spelling in on a regular basis, though he is asking me more and more how things are spelled. Cassia worked in Explode the Code a bit, and has been reading to me from her Nora Gaydos' books. Next week I plan to tackle Green Eggs and Ham with her. Cyrus in the meantime, is re-reading his Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and has started Children of Green Knowe, one of my favorite childhood books.

Besides that, Cassia has been helping me with cooking, and Cyrus has spent a lot of time drawing. He is learning about shading, both from a book and from me, and is doing beautifully with it. We're really enjoying the Nurse Matilda (aka Nanny McPhee) book at bedtime.

Back to balance, I think we are all still settling in the groove of our new schedule around my new job. Trying to achieve balance is a constant act... never really an accomplishment that one is done with. I wrote about balance before, and much of what I wrote then hold true now. I still love the idea of a "harmoniously integrated whole", and am determined that someday we shall live that at least a little at a time. I do think too that there is a balance between schooling and unschooling, hence the multiple sciences and the rabbit trails.

Some days, it is like being on a tightrope, others a walk in the park.

Scientific musings....

2011-10-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

I am just not thrilled with our science right now. Mostly in that it isn't happening. It isn't happening because once again, I just can't make up my mind!

Options I am considering:
1. Unit studies, starting with anatomy
2. Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding
3. Continuing with The Story Book of Science

Each of these has its pros and cons. Option 1 is something my kids are really interested in, so getting them to do it wouldn't be hard. And I have the materials on hand. But, I want them to understand and have some familiarity with many fields of science, not just one. Of course, we could and would study another field after this one, but then it would take quite some time (years?) to cover the various disciplines. Option 2 covers many different interwoven threads. Cons? It takes some time to set up, as I need supplemental materials due to different learning levels, and making sure I have everything on hand. On the other hand, I love the interconnectedness of it, the fact that the program assumes kids can learn some pretty intense concepts, and the fact that if we switched to this program, with the three eBooks I now own, we'd be covered for the next 3-4 years. Option 3 is, well, easy. I read, they narrate, we occasionally add in other books.

Hmmmm... I am finally happy with everything else we are doing. We are doing well with history; loving Primary and Intermediate Language Lessons for language arts; Cassia's supplementary phonics work is going really, really well; and math is great... it is just the d@rn science that is throwing me for a loop! We are kind of doing nature studies, but that doesn't feel quite meaty enough for me... or the kids. They do love it, but they want more!

What would you do?

Reading... and rambling...

2011-10-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

I have been reading that is. Since our Disneyland adventure, and settling back into a routine (with the new job and all), I have been devouring Charlotte Mason's Home Education. Somehow, although it may be considered "old fashioned", it totally strikes a chord within me.

One of the problems I have always had with a CM education is the formation of good habits - Waldorf methods are also big on establishing a sense of rhythm/routine. Since my schedule as a grocery clerk changed on a weekly basis, I have been unable to develop a firm bedtime for myself, or the children, a regular homeschooling schedule, etc. When you work from 7 am to 3 pm one day, and 5 pm to 11 pm the next, habit/rhythm/routine can be a difficult thing. But, in just our first week on a real schedule, I am already noticing differences. The kids are up at 7 every morning now, instead of some time between eight and ten thirty. Of course this is because they have to get up to spend the morning at my mom's, doing arts and crafts, baking, sewing, and more, but then bedtime is so much easier! Now we have a regular time to get up, a regular time for dinner, a regular time for bed... next week I'll tackle regular times for housework and homeschooling!

I also plan to start enforcing chores again, and be more regular with making sure Cyrus is doing his piano practice. I find I am sliding into habits too... I read at bedtime instead of collapsing in front of the TV. I am drinking herbal tea while reading instead of mindlessly munching who knows what while glued to the tube. I do brisk walking on my break at work, and next week we'll start walking or maybe the Couch Potato to 5K running program 3 late afternoons a week (if walking, we'll aim for every day). I have tried that running program before by myself, but now I'll be doing it with the kids. In just 3 days, I have lost 2 pounds. I am also not absolutely exhausted at 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Amazing what regular sleep can do!

Anyhow, back to Home Education... so much of it fits effortlessly with what we are already doing. I'd like to add in picture studies beyond what they do in Primary and Intermediate Language Lessons, and I would like to add geography. Miss Mason recommended reading good travel books for this subject, and in my research I found this... Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels. I am getting it through the library first, before investing in it! But from the reviews I have read, it sounds like an exciting (and yes, somewhat outdated) introduction to world geography. For grammar, which I hope to add in after winter break, I am looking at combining The Sentence Family with Grammar-Land. Beyond that, Charlotte Mason methods call for reading good "living" books (which we do plenty of), a wholesome diet and plenty of fresh air, hands-on math, immersion in nature, regular activity, hands-on real crafts, and a sense of respect, as children are people too.

I have made my decision about 4H. I feel that my kids and I need some time at home, days where, besides my work, we don't have to go places and do things. I hope to reserve most afternoons for homeschooling and family life. We will be continuing with Spiral Scouts - I spoke to our circle leader today, and we're going to meet once every 6 or 8 weeks for an awards ceremony, rather than monthly. The rest of the time, we will be choosing and doing the projects on our own, which is fine with me! Another mom at Park Day today was telling me that she feels children need more time at home than out with other kids. They don't need to be involved in too many outside activities/classes, which is how I am feeling these days too. They certainly don't need to be insulated from the world but they don't need daily outings either! I'm likely stepping on someone's toes saying that, but then I am relatively sure at least a few people agree with me.

I especially focused on reading more about CM reading methods, and am going to work more with Cassia on these. We've been making good use of the whiteboard lately, with a book of word families at our side, and a multitude of dry erase markers in various colors. Cassia is retaining all the word families we cover, even when I throw in "challenge" words... for example, we worked on "cash", "bash", "mash" and "rash", so I added "crash" and "smash", which she was able to read as well. I know phonics are not, per se, part of the CM method, but using them in conjunction with her methods is working. She did do work with word families as well, giving specific examples in the book.

I started out my year with lots of solid seeming plans for homeschooling. As usual, I am finding that they shift as we go, the flexibility being one of the beauties of homeschooling. I am still not solid on science... should I go with BFSU or the human anatomy that fascinates my kids in addition to our nature studies? I figure at least this year we're doing more than we did last year!

Back from vacation... Weekly Reports week 6A & 6B

2011-10-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

Give you one guess where we went!

Best vacation we have had in years. We spent three days at Disneyland (the California one). It was a first for both the kids and myself, although M had been there a number of times before. We stayed in a nice motel, ate out a lot, enjoyed a couple of shows, watched a parade, rode every ride we could (Cyrus loves roller coasters!), met a few favorite characters, and generally had an absolutely fantastic time! The drive there and back was semi-torturous, but so worthwhile really!

Now we're back to real life. I had work yesterday and today, at my new job. So far, I love it! We didn't get to schooling yesterday, but Cyrus did have his first piano lesson in two weeks. He didn't do too well, due to a lack of practice, but we'll remedy that before next Wednesday. Today we have a basic day of homeschooling in the works - math, writing/phonics/reading, maybe finish up Columbus...

We may be dropping out of 4H this year. I had planned for my mom to take them to project meetings while I'm at work, but she's having some health issues that preclude driving at the moment. I am a little more than halfway upset, and a little less than halfway glad to have the extra time back. We'll see what happens.

I also need to contact our Spiral Scouts leaders and figure out what is going on with that. If we can move our once monthly meeting to an afternoon, or weekend morning, then we could definitely keep up with that!

Next week we'll be fully back to normal, and have a full load of homeschooling planned. Right now we're adjusting to being back home, and to my new schedule. We do love seeing the sunrise every morning so far, and the kids are falling asleep more easily at night. I love being home to cook a nice dinner, and read bedtime stories. I keep finding myself mentally planning meals that can be prepped and/or cooked ahead of time though!

BFSU Flowcharts....

2011-10-05T14:59:00.001-07:00

I am putting these up since I am getting a lot of requests for them. Just click on the links and enjoy!

BFSU Volume I

BFSU Volume II

Trying again...

2011-10-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

While we sprinkle in lots of science here and there, we aren't following anything systematic. Then I was cleaning out my computer files, and came across my e-book copies of Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding I and II, which then led me to my meticulously crafted flow chart for said books, complete with supplemental book and video listings.

Symbolically speaking, since none of this is actually in print on actual paper, I dusted off those plans, put a few things on hold at the library, and am gearing up to give it a try. We'll go with level 1 at least to begin with, since I want to make sure the kids have a very good understanding of the basics before we move on to the complexities of level 2. Yes, I realize book 1 is labeled "K-2", but it is very meaty... and adding in readings from the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia will definitely get it up to Cyrus's level. For Cassia, we'll stick to library books, many from the wonderful Let's Read and Find Out Science series, some others. And for videos, we largely depend on Bill Nye the Science Guy.

My rough plan is to do the reading, watch the video, and do a hands-on project which the kids will then log in their science notebooks through art and/or words. I'll let you know how it goes!

A quick Weekly Report... 9/26-9/30...

2011-09-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

This has been an interesting week. We did get a good amount of work done, plus we are facing a big change in the way things work around here!

Language Arts
Cyrus began keeping his journal again this week, at long last. He read a lot, from several books-- The Sign of the Beaver, a couple from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and The Magician's Nephew; he worked in Intermediate Language Lessons, reading and analyzing poetry; and he asked me all week for spelling tips. I bought a Spectrum Spelling workbook for him to try out starting next week.

Cassia worked through 2 full lessons from Easy Lessons for Teaching Word Families. I wrote them on a white-board, using a different color of pen for the word family and beginning parts, so she could see the word family and not try to sound it out each time. She did "ap", "an", "at", and "ash" (on "ash" I also underlined the "sh" so she would remember that it was only one sound). This approach worked really, really well, and she read all four word lists with very little trouble! She also re-read a little from Hop on Pop. We're going to start using Explode the Code again on Monday. We'll also review the word families we covered (and do a few more), which I am going to have her copy down in a folded-paper booklet I made just for that purpose.

We read more in Tatterhood & Other Tales - I highly recommend this book! And we read a bit more of The Wind in the Willows.

Math
Still traveling through math with Teaching Textbooks. It did get a little more challenging this week for Cyrus, who learned about estimating, though he still scored 95-100% on each lesson. Cassia's hasn't gotten too much more challenging yet... she's working on the idea of a number plus itself, plus one more, or the whole thing as a subtraction problem. I have noticed that in the problem sets, TT seems to be more of a spiral approach than mastery, which I really think is beneficial, as it builds in constant review. We also reviewed unit prices at the grocery store, and fractions while cooking. many of Cassia's word problems have to do with cooking, which is rapidly becoming one of her favorite hobbies. I love it when the kids can see that math applies to real life!

History
Cyrus read more in The Sign of the Beaver, which has led to all kinds of interest in herbalism, Native Americans, and survival skills. Cassia and I finished All of a Kind Family and started All of a Kind Family Downtown. She's fascinated by Jewish history now, and turn-of-the-century city life.

We watched a video on Columbus this week, from Schlessinger Films, and read the first two chapters in A First Book in American History. The kids loved the tone of the book, as did I, and they loved the little black-and-white illustrations on each page. We also discussed civil rights and Rosa Parks, after a discussion on Halloween costumes (Cassia wants to be a southern belle, and so we were talking about plantations and slavery, hence the civics discussion).

Science
We started our birding project with 4H today. We made sock feeders, and smeared a peanut butter mixture on pinecones. We learned about several common species of local birds, proper feeding setups and care, migration, etc. I am waiting for The Burgess Bird Book for Children to arrive in the mail - Cassia will like it even if Cyrus doesn't - and this weekend we are hoping to set up a bird station with feeders, the birdbath, and so forth. We plan to hang a pair of binoculars by the backdoor as well. And we dug out our copy of the Peterson First Guide to North American Birds.

Other
Cyrus decided to work his way through The Everything Book of Drawing, and he's been working more on computer animation. Cassia has been adding birds and bugs to her nature journal at all hours of the day and helping cook nearly every meal.

And the big news...
I am leaving my grocery store job, effective as of two weeks from now, one of which is an already-approved vacation week! In fact, I gave notice (written) last night. Why? Because, after two interviews and a lot of nail biting, I landed a part-time secretarial job at the local Office of Education! I'll be working regular, morning hours five days a week. The pay is a tiny bit higher too. This will make it easier for me to schedule other activities, for M to schedule his work hours since he'll no longer have to rush home to take over the kids so I can dash off to another late evening at work... I'll be home to cook dinners, and read bedtime stories more than twice a week. My mom has offered to care for the kids in the mornings, and we do better with homeschooling in the afternoons anyhow. I'll probably be starting in a week and a half, after our fun family vacation.

Next week, I only have three days of schooling planned, due to the aforementioned vacation weekend. I won't be posting a weekly report either, you'll just have to wait for all the vacation photos!

Guess that wasn't that "quick" of a weekly report either!

Fun Stuff...

2011-09-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

Cyrus is building a paper world, all with free downloads from Made by Joel.

We didn't do anything remotely homeschooly yesterday, since I worked from 6 am to 1 pm, then took a nap, then tried to go to class. Thankfully the class was cancelled for the day, so I ended up with a lovely evening at home. So now we're gearing up for the week... I thought we'd just have fun with homeschooling for a while, so I put a bunch of books on hold for Cassia at the library (and Cyrus can listen in) that have to do with apples, pumpkins, etc. Kind of autumn things. This will obviously be an apple week!

Additionally, all the books I put on hold about Columbus are ready for pick-up, so I thought we would start on those.

It should be a good week, full of stories, oh and this science kit, which we are finally going to use...

Week Four, 9/19-9/23...

2011-09-23T10:59:00.001-07:00

First....

HAPPY FALL!

This is my favorite season of the year. The crunchy, colorful leaves; clear, cool blue skies after the morning fog lifts; anticipation of all the family holidays; yummy soups and stews; apples and pears....

It has been a good week. I wrote yesterday about some of what we've been up to, and here's a little more.

Language Arts
Cyrus worked mainly in Intermediate Language Lessons this week. He also worked on spelling, using a printable resource I downloaded from Scholastic's Teacher Express (they have great dollar deals on e-books a few times a year). He worked a little more on the book he is writing, and he's thinking about doing a NaNoWriMo challenge in November. He started reading The Magician's Nephew for fun. Oh, and he's reading a book of Shel Silverstein's poetry.

Cassia worked on memorizing more phonogram sounds from All About Spelling this week - we are getting ready to wrap up this part. She read to me from a Nora Gaydos book, and did a couple of lessons in Primary Language Lessons. I read a couple more chapters from All of a Kind Family to her. She is really enjoying this book, so I am glad I have the sequels on hand. It was one of my favorite series when I was a kid. We also read another story or two from Tatterhood & Other Tales, which Cyrus is enjoying too!

We read another chapter from The Wind in the Willows, and listened to a bit more of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in the car. We're debating which audio book(s) to listen to on our upcoming Disneyland trip.

Math
Teaching Textbooks again this week, in addition to Sum Swamp (an addition/subtraction board game). Both kids had chapter tests and scored 100%. Cyrus said he does notice it is getting more challenging, but he is still doing very well. TT3 is helping Cassia finally memorize the months of the year, since it asks a lot of "what month comes before/after x".

History
Cassia and I are reading from The Birchbark House. She is anxious for the American Girl books to come in at the library - I have discovered that this may be the best way to get her interested in history! We're starting with a few books on Kaya, and then we'll go to whichever strikes her fancy next (I am thinking it will be Kirsten, the pioneer one).

Cyrus is reading The Sign of the Beaver. When he finishes it, he plans to watch the film to see what differences there are.

Science
We read from The Story Book of Science, starting a section on trees. To complement that, we looked at pictures in this gorgeous book...

We also spent some time outside with the telescope this week, star-gazing. I checked out from the library the book Once Upon a Starry Night: A Book of Constellations for further gazing pleasure and education.

Other
Cyrus is teaching himself artistic techniques using Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. And he's teaching himself computer animation through a series of online tutorials for a program called "Blender".

Cassia decided she wanted to learn more about cooking, so she learned how to make turkey-3-bean-chili from scratch this week, even chopping onions up with our huge chef's knife!

Today we get to spend the afternoon celebrating autumn with friends. I had better give Cyrus his spelling test so we can get going!

ETA: Cyrus got 100% on his first spelling test!

Right now...

2011-09-22T14:58:00.001-07:00

Since abandoning, again, our history plans, and incidentally science plans, oh and artist and composer studies, the kids are showing more interest in things. I have noticed this before, and then somehow I forget.

So, right now, what are they interested in?

Well, Cyrus is interested in computer animation, Native Americans, mythology, cars, aircraft, robotics, and drawing.

Cassia is interested in Native Americans, sculpture, butterflies/insects, frogs, fairy & folk tales, and stars.

So what have we been doing this week?

Teaching Textbooks
Primary and Intermediate Language Lessons
All About Spelling
A printable spelling program from scholastic (for Cyrus)
Reading. Cassia and I are really enjoying Tatterhood & Other Tales, and Cyrus has started The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, as well as The Sign of the Beaver.
We've started reading about trees in The Story Book of Science, and to go along with it, we looked through Meetings with Remarkable Trees.

It has been a good week so far!

Making changes...

2011-09-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

Making changes is part of what homeschooling is all about, at least in my mind. Changes allow us to pursue things differently, to take new paths and explore new rabbit trails.

The first change is just for Cassia, from Modern Curriculum Press' "Plaid" Phonics and Spelling Workout to All About Spelling. Why the change? Well, while we like the looks of the MCP books, they just didn't keep Cassia's attention long enough to learn anything from. When she is asked to basically just read and write, she gets bored quickly. Yes, chances are she has some learning issues, but since I am not having her diagnosed at this point, it is really only a suspicion (very high functioning Asperger's seems most likely). All About Spelling offers a multisensory approach... kinesthetic, visual, and auditory. I like how easy the program is to implement. Even though we have just started, I have read the whole teacher's manual, and it is all very clearly laid out.

I plan to have her keep using Primary Language Lessons as well, two to three times a week. We do this primarily as oral exercises, although I have her do copywork as well.

Our other change is, once again, history. While we are really enjoying reading A Little History of the World, our overall history seems a bit... well, lackluster. I have been thinking about the fact that we didn't really do much last year (basically unschooling that didn't work for us), and I had really wanted to cover American history. I reviewed the Core Knowledge sequence I had downloaded some time back, and my extensive notes on it, and thought we'd switch gears for a while, covering American history from pre-Columbus through colonial times between now and Christmas break. After Christmas break, we'll switch back to world history, covering ancient Mesopotamia through ancient Greece, and including units on ancient India and China, unless the kids want to stick with American history. I have a ton of resources for American history, from 3D map printouts to craft books, and much, much more. To make it appeal to Cassia, I am using the American Girls books, and to appeal to Cyrus, select titles from the My Name is America series, and homemade lapbooks. I'll continue to read good books aloud to both kids as we go. I'm thinking we'll approach it as literature-based unit studies... starting with The Birchbark House, then a good book each on Columbus, and Pilgrims/colonialism.

For science right now, we're going to continue with The Story Book of Science, with occasional other books added in, and some hands-on stuff. We also have 4H projects like Flight Dynamics, a biweekly kitchen chemistry lesson at a friend's house, and starting this week, monthly experiments from Totally Irresponsible Science. And wherever I can tie science into our history studies, I will.

In other news, I have been having a hard time deciding on my path through graduate school. After much discussion with M, I have decided to take some time off from formal academics after this semester. I may take a pottery class, or painting, but nothing that requires numerous essays and papers. I need to refocus, and decide where I want to go. And speaking of changing my path, I have a job interview on Tuesday for a job I would really like to do in place of the job I have now. We'll see how it all turns out!

Week Three... 9/12-9/16...

2011-09-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

Another busy week! I swear, I don't know where all the time is going. Anyhow, we got a decent amount done, though as always I am aiming for more next week.

Language Arts

Cyrus has started writing a book. It has something to do with robots, cats, transformations, etc. He is writing it on the computer. He also worked in both Intermediate Language Lessons and Igniting Your Writing, and did a couple of pages in Word Roots. He read through a few library books, including the book behind one of his favorite movies, Zathura. And of course his beloved Calvin and Hobbes.

Cassia worked on reading from Hop on Pop. She also started her first lesson in All About Spelling! After reading through much of the teacher's guide in the last two days, I think this program will be amazing for us. She nailed 15 of the phonogram cards, including all the sounds of "a", so I will be working with her through next week on the rest. We also worked on a couple of lessons from Primary Language Lessons. I read a couple of folk tales to her this week as well, our favorite for the week being Doña Flor: A Tall Tale about a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart.

As a family, we read from Tales of Ancient Egypt and more from The Wind in the Willows. We also listened to another chapter of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in the car.

Math

Teaching Textbooks is fantastic - I simply cannot say enough good about this program! The kids are doing math independently, and getting 95-100% on every lesson! Cassia had her first quiz this week, and got 100%. They each did three lessons this week - next week we'll aim for four or even five!

History

We continued reading from A Little History of the World this week, starting the first chapter on Egypt. We are really enjoying this book! The writing is friendly and informative without being condescending, an issue we have had with other books. Cyrus read in his Egyptology books and shared some facts about pyramids/tombs with us. We also worked on a map of that region from Knowledge Quest.

Science

No formal science this week, although I may read to them today from The Story Book of Science. Cyrus is, at this moment, checking out a great new science website, put together by National Geographic, NASA, NOAA, and more. You should definitely check it out! JASON. You can register as a teacher too, and add students, etc. Oh, and it is free. Cyrus is looking at the anatomy section, and it is pretty awesome.

Other

We had our first 4H club meeting where Cyrus got to fill his Vice Presidential role.

Before the meeting

Speaking from his notes. He did quite well!

We also signed up for our projects for the year, among them: birding, book club, flight dynamics, intermediate cooking, art, a two-day kite workshop, historical crafts, and a couple of other things I can't remember offhand. Keep in mind that most of these projects meet at most once a month!

We haven't done anything lately for Spiral Scouts. I am not sure what is going on with this, except that the other family in our group has been very busy with a major project due by late September. Maybe after that we'll get back into the swing of things! I hope next week to start work on individual life timelines.

Other than that, we're gearing up for a big Disneyland trip... our first! And we're enjoying slightly cooler, almost fall-like weather. The evenings are cool enough now for soups and stews, so my crockpot is back in full use. I have been reading Nourishing Traditions (on my Kindle for PC), so I've been making a lot of broths and freezing them for future use. This is my favorite time of year, so I am happy to see leaves changing color, geese flying overhead at dusk, haybales dotting the fields... is it turning into fall where you live?

Week Two, 9/2/11-9/5/11...

2011-09-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

We had plumbing issues this week. The kitchen sink (a lovely big double one) starting backing up. M took everything apart, we plunged, and so forth and so on, with no success. Then we noticed that the sink next to the washing machine and through which the washing machine drains, was also backing up. So M took the sink out, and snaked the exit pipe from that. Finally, some success!

Why am I talking about plumbing instead of homeschooling? Well, two days of washing dishes in the bathtub, and the displeasure of thinking about the local laundromat, and we had some interruptions in homeschooling! Still, we managed a few things...

Cyrus
Did another couple of lessons in Teaching Textbooks. He is loving this program! Nothing lower than 95% yet, which happened when he clicked the wrong button. He doesn't used the hints much and hasn't needed, yet, to have the program go over any problems with him. Still mainly review work, and I have noticed that his understanding of place value is far better.

He also worked a bit in Igniting Your Writing, combing short choppy sentences into longer ones. I think I might use a bit of the approach I used with Cassia with Cyrus. Type up the sentence bits in large, clear font, cut it apart, and let him re-sequence, then write from there. Not that he didn't do a good job - on the contrary, he did quite well, but I think this would tap into his creativity a bit more. At the moment, he is also working on writing a story about robots. I found it funny that he couldn't spell "person" correctly, but knew how to spell "simulation"!

Cassia
Also did a couple of lessons in Teaching Textbooks, and is doing quite well. She loves the helper animals and all the cheering on she gets. She also hasn't yet scored under 95%, and secretly... I think the program is helping her reading too!

She read from Dr. Suess this week, starting with Hop on Pop. She loved the sheer silliness of it. I may have her focus a lot on this next week, doing some copy work, rearranging rhymes, etc., while we wait for All About Spelling (AAS). She also spent some time with an old favorite, Starfall, to review sounds in preparation for AAS. She is asking about words more frequently, and can spell many things from dictation now. I am starting to breathe a little easier in regards to her lack of reading... phew!

Both kids...
On Monday, we took it easy, as it was, after all, a holiday. So we read about Labor Day, thanks to Living Books Curriculum, which was as educating for me as it was for the children! We also read Melisande, a mathematical fairy tale from one of our favorite authors, E. Nesbit. Cyrus saw the problem with the princess's wish immediately - he remembered reading One Grain of Rice - and Cassia caught all the allusions to other fairy tales.

Tuesday, we headed out for the first Executive Board meeting for 4H. Cyrus, being Vice President of our club, needed to be present to learn more about his duties. He took some notes, and participated in the conversation, while Cassia played with another little girl.

Besides that, all the days have kind of blurred together. Wednesday evening, we noticed the plumbing issues cropping up. Thursday we were in the midst of that, so much so that we postponed our first piano lessons, and Friday we missed Park Day. Oh, we did go to the library on Wednesday, for the first time in ages (library fines), and we were glad to see our favorite librarians still at the helm. We started listening to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on audio disc, and the kids are thrilled it is read by Jim Dale. He is an awesome story teller/narrator!

Next week we hope to be "back on task" with history and science, as well as the basics. We have decided that perhaps we'll start on a unit of American history when we finish up with the Egyptians, and at the same time we'll switch from anatomy to oceanography/marine science. That's a while in the future, so I am not stressing about it right now, although I am getting impatient to see our new American history book! Or, we may do both histories concurrently. I'm thinking one day a week for American history, two for Ancient, and one for cultural studies - I'll let the kids choose a country a month to learn about and then use this list.

Before I go, we also found a neat resource this week, SpanishDict dot com. The kids and I are going through the free Spanish lessons! I like the clearness of the speaker, and the way the program is put together. Go check it out!

Week One... 8/29-9/2

2011-09-03T00:02:00.000-07:00

I never managed to get around to updating my post yesterday, but don't worry -- I will elaborate here. Overall, it has been a great week! We started out the week following basically a classical education outline. You can read about Monday in more detail here. It was a good day, yet by midweek, we found ourselves shifting again!

Math...
Each of the kids did lessons 1-3 in Teaching Textbooks (3 and 5.) I love, love, love this program. It is simple, clear, straightforward, and easy for the kids to follow.

Besides, shouldn't every child look this happy when doing math?

Language Arts...
Cyrus did the first part of the first lesson in Igniting Your Writing, which he really likes. He did 3 pages in Word Roots Beginnings, a few Mad Libs, and Lesson 1 in Intermediate Language Lessons, as well as a poem in cursive (copywork.) We decided that in future weeks, he can alternate Igniting Your Writing and Intermediate Language Lessons.

Cassia worked in MCP's Spelling Workout, and on Starfall. She read a reader from the Nora Gaydos series, listened to several stories, and on Thursday (by which point we were veering from our original plans), she worked on sequencing the poem she had done the day before for handwriting.

Yes, she is wearing headphones in this picture! Listening to (classical) music seemed to help her focus. This project took her about 20 minutes, at the end of which, she glued the individual words to a piece of construction paper to keep. I think this is something we can do again, and that will help with her reading.

Science...
We had a good variety in science this week. Monday, they drew pictures of magnified cells. Tuesday... well, I don't think we did anything! Wednesday, we went to a friend's house for a kitchen chemistry lesson and learned about macro-nutrients while tenderizing meat with various substances--tenderizer, mashed papaya, a mallet, a fork stabbed into the meat many times, vinegar, and salt. Of course there was a control piece of meat too, with nothing done to it. Thursday, we went on our first nature walk and sketched. We plan to finish up the sketches, label and color them, and add them to our nature journals. Friday (today), we read about plant lice and the way in which ants milk them in The Story Book of Science by Jean-Henri Fabre.

Cyrus also read a bit in The Story of Science, by Joy Hakim. (Yes, he is wearing a fedora and a vampire cape)

History...
On Monday we read a page from the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. Cyrus entered dates on a timeline and did a couple of summary sentences, while Cassia gave a narration. Both kids started making History Pockets. Thursday, we read from A Little History of the World by E. H. Gombrich. We read the first chapter, about what history is, and a chapter about Neanderthals, the Stone Age, first farmers, and the Bronze Age. The kids want to copy their narrations from this into blank books and add illustrations. They also want to make brown paper bag "cave paintings". I think we might stick with this form of history rather than the outlining and summarizing! Add in a few hands on projects and living books, and history is a delight. We're also going to read one chapter a week from a book called A First Book of American History by Edward Eggleston.

Other...
Check out this painting by Cyrus! It is one of my favorites so far.

We also played with friends; played in the pool; went to Park Day; read stories (The Wind in the Willows, Little Grey Rabbit stories, and The Adventures of Molly Whuppie); watched Mars Needs Moms (which we really enjoyed); and found out that Cyrus will be the new vice president for our 4H club! Very exciting news for him.

And that is our week. We're looking forward to the next one!

Experimenting...

2011-09-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

We've been going with a classical style of education overall this week, but today I am going to approach some of our lessons a little differently. For example, in history, instead of reading from the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, I think we'll read from The Book of the Ancient World (D. Mills) , the kids will narrate (while I take really fast notes), then enter the narrations into their binders along with illustrations... sort of a take on Waldorf Main Lesson Books meets Charlotte Mason. For science today, instead of defining words and outlining from a science encyclopedia, I think we'll head out to the local wetlands and the kids will have a chance to try out nature journaling.

I'll update later, and let you know how the shift goes!

First Day!

2011-08-29T14:41:00.001-07:00

It has been a good, and productive day overall... everything we did was a big hit! We started the day a little late, with delicious smoothies and muffins, then went from there...

Math - They tried out Teaching Textbooks with great success

Language Arts - Cyrus loves his new writing program, and he did a page in Word Roots. Cassia worked in Spelling Workout (SWO) and on Starfall. I am not starting MCP Phonics until we hit lesson 6 in SWO since it is at that point that the lessons match up.

Science - They sketched pictures of onion cells at 100x and 400x. Cyrus filled out his experiment page as well.

History - I read aloud from the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. Cyrus worked on his timeline, and both started making their History Pockets for ancient civilizations.

Literature - We finished chapter 5 in The Wind in the Willows.

Both kids said they are glad to be back to "real homeschooling." We'll see how long the joy lasts!

Wrapping up summer...

2011-08-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

It has been a lovely week. I am so glad I took this week off from work to focus on relaxing before the hectic pace of fall.

Sunday...
We attended an airshow, all of us. It is so nice when M gets to go along on our adventures with us! We came back a bit pink from the sun, with tired feet from hours of walking, and sore necks, from so much time spent looking up at the sky. It was a fantastic afternoon! Then we watched Star Wars... you know, the original one, with Luke, and Han Solo, etc. One of our all-time favorite family movies!

Monday...
We went to the beach and met up with a bunch of friends. I walked along, barefoot in the sand, collecting an odd seashell here and there, while Cyrus constructed sand forts against the tide, and Cassia splashed in the water. I got in some great chatty mama time, the kids had a blast with friends, and we returned home full of sand, and a bit worn out!

Tuesday...
A nice day at home. We were invited to a park day, but decided we needed an us day. We lazed around. We read stories, played card games, and we all played in the pool.

Wednesday...
Play date with friends we hadn't seen in quite a while. The kids were beyond thrilled to see their friends again, especially Cyrus. R is his best friend ever - they have been true friends since the first day they met, and I was so happy to see that bond renewed. R's mom and I have promised ourselves, and the kids, that we will make way more effort to get them together more often. I got to hang out with R's mom, which is always nice. We chatted, she gave me fresh kale and chard from the garden, the girls played dress-up, and all had a good time!

After that, I went to my first class. I think it will be an interesting semester. It is a class that teaches us about literary criticism, and how to apply various forms of analysis/criticism to differing works of literature... prep work for the Master's program if I choose to follow that path.

Thursday...
We headed out to Morton's Warm Springs for a hot afternoon of fun, meeting up with a few families from our Friday Park Days. We spent hours in the pool, splashing, swimming, and just having loads of fun! Cyrus learned to do in-the-water handstands and somersaults, and he can dive down to the bottom of the pool now. Cassia, who insisted on a floatie thing when we went just two months ago spent a lot of time swimming. Dog paddle and underwater! With no flotation device! I am so proud of the kids and their newfound swimming skills, and am now much more comfortable with them in water. We returned home happy, worn out, and feeling fantastic.

Friday...
Park Day! I spent the morning doing chores and errands, then we headed out to the park. I got more mom chat time, and the kids saw their friends from every other activity this week. It was a relaxing, casual afternoon... just what we needed to wrap up a fantastic summer week.

Today...
My last day of vacation as I return to work tomorrow. We're hanging out at home today, nothing special on the agenda, except a family friend coming over for dinner. I want to read a bit in the sunshine, weed and deadhead the front garden for a while in the evening, and just relax.

How are you spending the last days of summer?

Egypt Books....

2011-08-26T21:56:00.000-07:00

Books on Egypt to supplement our History Odyssey studies...

History: Ancient Egypt
Books
The Book of the Ancient World
Tales of Ancient Egypt
Egyptology: Search for the Tomb of Osiris (for Cyrus)
The Egyptology Handbook (mostly for Cyrus)
Egyptology Code-Writing Kit (mostly for Cyrus)
The Egyptian Cinderella (for Cassia)
The Winged Cat (mostly for Cassia)
The Egypt Game (Cyrus)
Maybe: Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos
Maybe: The Red Pyramid

Video
Egypt: Engineering an Empire
National Geographic: Egypt: Quest for Eternity
National Geographic: Egypt: Secrets of the Pharaohs
Egyptian Secrets of the Afterlife
Additional selections from Netflix Streaming

Crafts, etc.
120 Step-by-Step History Projects
We'll build a model of the Nile River, with nearby pyramids, growing grass, etc.
Map work with Map Trek: Ancient World

Get ready, get set...

2011-08-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

Almost "GO" time! We are just about ready to begin a fresh academic year. To help ease back into things, I ordered a special gift for each of the kids...

I think these little gifts will help us start off right!

Besides ordering gifts, I have been going through our resources and generating a very loose lesson plan... mostly a plan to go through each lesson as we get to it.... but I have been thumbing through Igniting Your Writing (level 1) and breaking the lessons down into small chunks. There is actually a lot more there than I thought at first glance! I have been able to divide each lesson (Start It Up and Intermediate parts of the lesson) into at least 4 chunks, sometimes more. While I think the program will be a great fit for Cyrus, as the activities are fun and build on themselves, I am breaking it down so he doesn't get overwhelmed - he is a reluctant writer to say the least.

With Cassia, I went through that last minute planning panic again already. I was convinced I had to buy All About Spelling immediately. Even though we don't have any money for this right now. I posted about it on message boards, thought about it, entered two free giveaways (didn't win either), and while I still like the looks of the program, I don't think I need it. All I need with Cassia is consistency (duh.) She likes the look of her (very inexpensive) MCP "Plaid" Phonics so much that she has done work in it of her own accord. And she brought out The Reading Lesson and was re-reading the first stories to herself, and then me. Maybe, just maybe, she is moving past her self-imposed moratorium on reading? Anyhow, I would still love AAS, but not right now.

I also installed Teaching Textbooks on the computer, got all our history books together, and ordered Map Trek: Ancient World from Knowledge Quest. While I don't love downloadable books ( I like holding books in my hands.... the feel of the paper, the weight of the book, illustrations, etc.), I like downloadable, printable items, like worksheets, maps, and that sort of thing. Speaking of which, I need to print off the student pages for our first week of biology, and read through the parent guide. We need a new light bulb for the microscope, and I ordered the program so last minute that I haven't ordered scientific supplies yet, but the author very kindly includes links to online microscope work!

On the table for next week... math, writing/phonics/reading, biology, and history. We'll add in everything else--composer and artist studies, art lessons, The Sentence Family, etc.--bit by bit after the first couple of weeks. That way we're not overwhelmed.

Until then, I'm outta here! We have lots of fun activities still this week, and this evening I have my first class of the semester.

Flyovers...

2011-08-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

Today we visited the annual Wings Over Wine Country Air Show. The kids sat in cockpits, checked out a helicopter up close, visited the car show section, watched flyovers, and stopped to ooh and ahh over all the gorgeous planes! Sunny but not too hot, and we remembered ear plugs for the particularly noisy moments. We've gone a couple of times before, but I think this year the kids being a bit older really helped their enjoyment level!

Cyrus noticed some kids in full camouflage, walking the perimeter of the air field, while we were there... so I looked at their badges when I got a chance: Civil Air Patrol. When we got home, Cyrus asked me to look them up, and now he really, really wants to join in a year and a half when he's old enough...

From their website: "While there are many youth oriented programs in America today, CAP's cadet program is unique in that it uses aviation as a cornerstone. Thousands of young people from 12 years through age 21 are introduced to aviation through CAP's cadet program. The program allows young people to progress at their own pace through a 16-step program including aerospace education, leadership training, physical fitness and moral leadership. Cadets compete for academic scholarships to further their studies in fields such as engineering, science, aircraft mechanics, aerospace medicine, meteorology, as well as many others."

And they work well with homeschool families: Homeschooled Cadets

Something to think about!

Projects and more...

2011-08-20T23:32:00.000-07:00

Cassia

With her beloved rabbit Daisy

Working in her notebook full of interesting sketches, symbols, letters, and more

A page from the notebook

A butterfly in watercolor

A sculpture of an odd little man

Cyrus

The paper laptop I mentioned in a previous post

It opens up...

And has all the (paper) hardware!

Working on an aluminum mold of a Hot Wheels car

A truly awesome paper car

A hand sculpture

An acrylic painting

And a sketch of his artist's model

Ahhh... a week off...

2011-08-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

From work, that is. A week to enjoy summer, get organized for fall homeschooling, have my first college class of the semester, and so on, and so forth.

We have loose plans... a beach trip Monday, date night for M and I after my class on Wednesday, an awesome pool trip on Thursday, and our favorite Park Day on Friday. Maybe a playdate with some friends we haven't seen in a while. And I have plans for getting back into the Couch Potato to 5K running program, getting fully prepped for homeschooling, and daily deep household cleaning.

Today though is a lazy day. A day to decide on phonics, go through teacher's guides, make up a list of supplies still needed, finish paperwork for my college financial aid, read blogs, and that sort of thing. I should probably do a bit of tidying ;)

Cyrus has a new fascination lately, 3D paper crafts. He found this web site, and I think we print something from it nearly every day. My supply of cardstock is nearly exhausted! I am sloooowly getting together a list of historical paper crafts. And am coming up with projects for history studies, like a model of the Nile River, complete with pyramids, that we can flood and seed... I'm thinking wheatgrass seeds would be an easy one. And henna tattoos when we do ancient India. I did order the book 120 Step-by-Step History Projects. Anyhow, back to the original topic here, I figure with his passion for all things 3D and paper, I might as well take advantage of it! I'll have to get some pictures up... he's made a paper laptop (with motherboard, etc. inside), cars, robots, a TV with rabbit-ear antennae, and more.

Cassia found her MCP Phonics and Spelling books already, and has done work in both of her own accord. She even brought out flashcards I had made and had me go through them with her. Over the next week or so, I plan to have her play around on Starfall to go over the letters she has trouble with. I am planning to order All About Spelling Level 1 for her (Cyrus can use it too if he likes), but have to wait until I have a bit more money. I think the mastery, multisensory approach will work well.

Other bits and pieces from this week...
Charlotte's Web (live action movie)
Lots of watermelon
A simple and delicious new favorite smoothie (Silk's Dark Chocolate Almond Milk, peanut butter, and frozen bananas)
Finished Winnie the Pooh and started The Wind in the Willows
Several games of Old Maid, War, and Go Fish
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Playing in our backyard pool
Numerous art and paper projects all over the house
Lots of time curled up with cats
Homemade popsicles
Pink Panther cartoons and Fractured Fairy Tales

I am looking forward to a week of being able to focus on everything except work!

Awesome Giveaway....

2011-08-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

Freely Educate (one of my favorite sites by the way) is hosting an amazing giveaway for All About Spelling. All About Spelling is truthfully a program I would love to own, but it always been a bit out of reach, price-wise.

Anyhow, click on the picture below to find out how to enter the contest!

Thinking...

2011-08-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

I keep reading that much of our history studies (history studies in general) focus on "Western Civilization", which is true for the most part. Then I read this post on Small World at Home about how much Sarah (the blog author) loves Sonlight's Core F, which focuses on Eastern civilizations. And it got me thinking that perhaps, after we read about Egypt-Greece-Rome, we ought to read about those Eastern civilizations... Asia (including India), the Middle East, and more of Africa than simply Egypt. I can't buy a Sonlight program, and it's not secular so that wouldn't be suiting, but I could certainly put something together using some of their book recommendations along with other bits and pieces. I wouldn't mind a year'ish of the Far and Middle East! And Cassia has a fascination with all things India... are there any narrative-style histories of the Far/Middle East? I know there is Suzanne Strauss Art's Story of Ancient China, or Chinese History Stories, but then for India?

Or we could easily put off Rome for now, and work in some studies on Ancient China and India. Lots of things to consider, but since I am not really scheduling out the year, we have lots of flexibility. Instead of scheduling, we're just taking it as it goes for history. Everything else just falls into place - Teaching Textbooks only has so many lessons, as do the writing and phonics programs we'll be using, and then Elemental Science is all scheduled for us!

Anyhow, just rambling, and thinking aloud with my fingertips. I threw my upper back out last night, so I'm not doing loads of energetic stuff right now, giving me far too much time to browse book selections! How is your week going?

Moseying along...

2011-08-16T12:36:00.001-07:00

While it may not seem we are up to much these days, we've been managing to do some pretty interesting things! For example, we had a field trip to the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. It was an awesome tour! We toured much of the facility, saw all the interesting lab equipment, looked at various objects through a high powered microscope, took a short hike up Mount Burdell (next time we'll make it to the top), made ice cream with liquid nitrogen, and best of all, the kids got to feed stem cells! Yes, they got to participate in actual scientific research... they donned sterile gloves, which were then further sterilized; sucked the old food (full of cell waste) out of the petri dishes; and injected fresh food into the dishes, all the while being careful to keep everything within the sterile feeding area. These cells will be made into brain cells for Parkinson's research. Totally cool!

We also finally saw the final Harry Potter movie. I am not ashamed to say there was more than one tear shed during the film. Now we are just waiting for October, when JK Rowling's Pottermore site will be up.

In addition, the kids have been on a painting spree, and there has been a lot of swimming. They have very distinct tan lines now. And park days, the most recent at the beach with M in attendance for once.

We decided to go ahead and wait until the 29th to officially start back up. I ordered a few more odds and ends, and am on vacation from work next week, so we want to really enjoy that week with all the summer fun we can have. I do have classes starting up that week, but only one morning.

In other news, I have actually started applying for jobs again... I do have one currently, but the variable hours and constant threats of layoffs are getting to us as a family. I have a very good lead on an excellent job that I would more than love to have, working with a former coworker. It is a secretarial position, with regular, part-time hours, no weekends, and a few weeks off in the summer. Oh, and good pay! I also have feelers out for a couple of similar positions just in case. We'll see where the world leads me next.

Looking Forward...

2011-08-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

I had scheduled us to start afresh August 29th. However, since I am on vacation from work the week before (and starting back to college), Cassia asked if they could start the same week I do, and so we have a new start date of August 22! Our books are starting to pour in... math over the last couple of weeks, Cyrus's writing and spelling/vocabulary programs yesterday, and all the rest over the next week. I've been looking through everything as it comes in, and I am delighted with it all! Of course, there is always that tiny seed of doubt in the back of my mind... should be using something else? Studying something else?

Still, I am excited about and looking forward to being in Ancient Egypt -- and the surrounding areas -- for a while. I looked, and looked, and looked a bit more, for a suitable text for this. Something I could read aloud, that both children would enjoy, that would be thorough without being overwhelming. Neither child likes Story of the World (they find it a bit condescending truthfully), and I wanted something a little more challenging. I thought of Gombrich's A Little History of the World, which is a truly delightful narrative, but though I love it, it is too brief. Finally, I found a book from I think the 1920's: Dorothy Mills' Book of the Ancient World. I read aloud a section from Google books. The kids were enthralled! M and I were impressed! I plan to follow it with the Ancient Greeks book by the same author. I ordered my copy from Memoria Press, which supposedly added in additional maps and illustrations. I did not order the student text or any of that, just the main book.

The Well Trained Mind recommends outlining, timeline-keeping, and more for a student Cyrus's age. I already have the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, and so am considering this. I may also have both kids keep some sort of a Book of Centuries. And I know Cyrus would love Horrible Histories: Awful Egyptians for a little bit of additional education.

Overall, I didn't end up buying that much this year, since I went through everything we owned and found that I already had a lot of things we could use this year. And what I did buy I can reuse (or sell) in the future. Teaching Textbooks 5 will eventually be handed down to Cassia. I am thrilled to think that after next year, I will only have to buy one math text a year! By the way, I love what I have seen in Teaching Textbooks so far. I love the grade book, the clarity of the lectures, the student help, everything! and the kids have looked at the workbooks and are happy too. The first portion of the year will be review, but I am a firm believer that more review in math, not less, is a good thing.

Now there is only one part of our plan that is up in the air... additional science for Cyrus. As a family, we'll be doing nature studies, which I think is plenty for Cassia, but Cyrus has specifically requested more science for himself. I bought the History of Science from Beautiful Feet some time back (just the guide and some materials, not the books which I can get at the library), and have since then purchased Aristotle Leads the Way and the Student Quest Guide. I plan to have him look at both programs, and I will continue to look at both. Side note: if he did BF's History of Science, he would do only the section on ancients this year to go with history. Any opinions? This is a child who will sit and read voraciously from the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia, so I am thinking the Hakim book may be very suitable.

After an awesome lab trip yesterday, in which the kids actually got to feed stem cells, I have decided on a science program for both... Elemental Science Biology (Logic Stage.) I love the samples, and it will be a very solid program. The author even gives a full layout of how to add in a child not yet old enough for the full program (Cassia) so I am very excited! We'll blend Aristotle Leads the Way into our history readings, and we'll still try for some nature studies, but this biology program will be our scientific backbone.

In the meantime, we are watching the rest of America: The Story of US, to give everyone a sense of the flow of American history. We finished The Search for Delicious (great book!) and now are reading the original Winnie-the-Pooh, my old and battered childhood copy. Cyrus got ahead of his reading list for the year already, and is a third of the way through The Egypt Game. And we're playing lots of games, the kids swim a lot, we're eating loads of fresh tomatoes from the garden, and just enjoying life!

Flowers, fruit, and curtains...

2011-08-09T11:00:00.001-07:00

My white dahlias

The yarrow has come back nicely

Cassia's fairy foxgloves

The lavender bushes are probably four feet across right now

Loads of fresh strawberries this year

A melon blossom

A baby Meyer lemon

My white marigolds (though I would call them more ivory than white)

Our state flower, of which we have plenty

Cyrus's dahlias are in full bloom

The hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers

As are the abultilon

Someday this will be a lemon too

And last but not least, my lovely new living room curtains! I need to take them down and iron them, but had to see how they looked. The old ones, that came with the house, were brown kind-of-tweedy-wanna-be looking stuff.

Not Back-to-School Blog Hop

2011-08-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

Come on over to Heart of the Matter and join in the blog hop fun! It is always intriguing (at least for me) to see what other people are planning for the upcoming year - this week's topic. Next week School Rooms (or maybe the lack thereof) will be the focus, then kid pictures, and finally Day-in-the-Life. So come on over and join the fun!

A general update, July 24-30...

2011-07-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

Another busy-at-work week, so homeschooling suffered a little. Next week is practically back to normal as far as my hours go - what a relief! The extra money for extra hours is nice, but I really, really dislike being away from home that much.

This week we...

Read more of The Search for Delicious. I highly recommend this book. It is delightful, intriguing, a little suspenseful without being scary, and the kids and I are very much enjoying it.

Had a chemistry lesson with a friend! Jenny has a book on teaching chemistry in the kitchen and so we are doing chemistry classes at her house. We learned about calories this week, and the kids, both hers and mine, took a lot of delight in burning various foods to determine calories. We're looking forward to more lessons!

The kids swam a lot this week, played on a trampoline, decided they want Taekwondo lessons in the fall, drew pictures, played card games, watched a couple of movies, did their chores, played at the park, and had a great time at my mom's.

Right now I am in the process of compiling a short list of some books I think Cyrus might like this upcoming year: Stuart Little, Abel's Island, The Magician's Elephant, The Phantom Tollbooth, and a few others. I am also working on books to share with Cassia, among them Pippi Longstocking, Charlotte's Web, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Ordinary Princess, and The Girl Who Could Fly. Just because Cassia can't read these yet herself does not mean she's not ready to enjoy them!

I am also reading more in Home Education. And have come to the conclusion that while Charlotte Mason is definitely a big part of our homeschooling approach, I would truly classify us as eclectic. To me, building a curriculum - that is, a course of study - for my children is like puzzle building... a piece here, a piece or two there, and soon the whole thing comes together!

Reading...

2011-07-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

I just got, and have been thumbing through Home Education by Charlotte Mason. I was, and am, particularly interested in the section on reading. I have decided to go ahead and try the approach outlined with Cassia - I'll let you know if it works. So here is the process as I understand it... just a quick note: I am using this with The Elson Readers Primer...

Pre-work: I typed up the entire first story in a large simple font to be cut apart word by word. I already have alphabet "tiles" I made on card stock.

Step 1: I introduce one word by writing it on a whiteboard and reading it.

Step 2: Cassia studies the word until she is comfortable enough to make it with her letter tiles, without looking at the whiteboard.

Step 3: Cassia finds the word in her pile of cut-apart words. She also finds the word on the page in the book itself.

Step 4: We repeat the entire process with the rest of the words in the first sentence, and then she can read the whole sentence to me.

Step 5ish: As we go, she puts the cut-up words into a column, and then toward the end of the lesson, she can play with them, picking out sentences I dictate, or making sentences of her own.

Step 6: The next day, we review the first sentence (or two) that we learned the day before, then follow the whole process again for the next line or two. We can also introduce spelling the second day, by using one of the word families present in the story and our letter cards (and the whiteboard so she can see the word first.)

Supposedly, this process takes very little actual time. It will be an interesting trial at least! There's more to it than that, but I think this is a good starting place.

An afternoon at the coast...

2011-07-23T17:45:00.001-07:00

Weekly Report 7/18-7/22...

2011-07-22T15:36:00.000-07:00

This week will be both a regular, weekly wrap-up and a participating entry for Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers' Annual Curriculum Special Edition. First, curriculum, which I have all picked out, and am happy and excited about! To make it simple, here is a link to the page I already have set up...

2011-2012 Plans

Now, a more regular weekly wrap-up...

This was a busy week for me at work, as I picked up additional hours, so we didn't do a whole lot of sit-down learning. What we did do was:

Card games
Piano practice & a lesson
Reading practice (Cassia)
I read aloud from The Search for Delicious
We talked about fractions, and the kids did mental addition with fractions
We started watching Walking with Cavemen
We watched a documentary on food and food politics in the USA... it is called What's On Your Plate? and was put together in large part by two 11 year olds, who decided to research food systems in New York. This led to a lot of interesting discussions about food, nutrients, gardening, farming, corporations, and more
Art - drawings, a couple of paintings, collages, etc.
They built a house from cardboard boxes at their Nonna's house
We had our second Spiral Scouts meeting today. The kids presented a drawing each, of their five favorite things (part of the work toward an award), and we began learning about using compasses/orienteering for another award. When we got home, their uniforms had arrived (I ordered the dark green polo shirts and a khaki skirt for Cassia from a school uniform place. Thankfully, Cyrus already has khaki pants!) so now they are "breaking them in"

Not an eventful week, but a decent one!

4H thoughts...

2011-07-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

We've decided to go ahead and enroll in 4H once more. We've been with our homeschool club off and on for a few years now, and I like the idea of continuity. That and a friend asked me to stay in the club! I think I may even lead a project, this time focused on art. I am thinking of using the lovely Usborne Art Treasury as the main source... since this will ensure we do the projects ourselves! Maybe I could add in a story for each artist from this list. M wants to help me run a two-day project sometime next spring in kite building and flying that I think would be a blast!

I have told the kids we will limit the number of projects they are in. It also helps that they didn't run for any offices this year since we were not sure we'd be able to return. Instead, we can simply attend the meetings, choose and enjoy projects, and help with clean-up as much as possible! Looking at the calendar, it seems that there are going to be some good projects in the works, helping replace the idea of the charter school for hands-on stuff. It looks like our club is smaller this year too, which has both good and bad points.

To be done this week...
We're getting ready for our second Spiral Scouts meeting. Cassia needs to finish decorating her canvas bags toward her recycling badge. Cyrus needs to work on a piece of art (representing our circle) for an art award. Both need to make a piece of art representing five favorite things, for another badge. I am looking at uniform bits and pieces.

Cyrus has only two songs for piano practice this week, but has been given the task of memorizing one.

Cassia and I will continue to work on phonics and reading this week.

I am working on a spreadsheet correlating extra resources with the lessons (primarily history and science) from the Core Knowledge sequence. I am only planning out one unit at a time.

I also want to practice making spring rolls for our Around the World potluck the following week. And we want to finish watching our documentaries on China.

In reading, Cyrus is making his way through the second Harry Potter book, and Wizardology. For our read-aloud, we have decided to hold off on the rest of The Red Pyramid until we study Egypt, and so have started The Search for Delicious, which we're really enjoying!

That should be enough to keep us busy for a week!

Various bits and pieces...

2011-07-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

I asked the kids this week what THEY want in homeschooling. What subjects do they want more of? I asked this because we saw the list of classes offered at our old charter school , and Cyrus said maybe he'd like to go back. I have mixed emotions about this... I can understand why my art-and-science guy would want hands-on science and art classes. And that my daughter would enjoy the garden club and ceramics classes offered to her. But at the same time, it makes me feel like... well, that we're lacking in our private school (one of the legal routes here in California.) And it made me wonder if I can address those gaps without going back to the charter school? Since we likely won't be doing 4H this year, I wonder too about the fact that they'll be spending more time with me, and less time with other kids. Of course, part of me says that's not a problem!

And then there is Cassia's reading issue. If we went back to the charter school, I am about 99% sure that they would want her tested and put into special ed for reading. I don't think either she or I want that. I think at the heart of her reading issue is what she so baldly stated a month or two ago, that she doesn't want to read. She has no real interest in it. And no testing or special classes would change that. I did give her a reading test a couple of days ago, and truthfully, she did better than I expected, scoring at a mid first grade level. This means we're making progress! I hope to get her up to a solid second grade level by the end of summer. The Nora Gaydos leveled readers appeal to her, and I've dropped all gimmicky computer instruction in favor of an old standby. Oh, but I do let her play on Starfall, for letter reinforcement.

So with all that, I went back over my plans for fall, and you know what? For once, I didn't change a thing. Not one thing! I think I have all the bases covered for their interests, which are by the way as follows...
Cyrus: Art, science with hands-on stuff, history (because it is pretty cool), and strangely enough, math. Yes, math.
Cassia: nature, stories, and art, and hands-on projects

At Park Day last week, some of the other moms were talking about approaches to homeschooling. They unschool. Every one of them, as far as I know, unless I am missing something. One mom, new to our group, asked if anyone uses curriculum, and yes, I raised my hand. And I explained that my kids both said, independently of one another, that in unschooling for the main part this last year, they felt that they didn't learn enough. They want lessons, books, projects, and more. What followed this proclamation? Dead silence. For at least 20 seconds, and when it is suddenly that quiet, it seems forever!

I have no problem with the theories of unschooling. In fact, I think overall, Cyrus would be a pretty good unschooler. Cassia on the other hand would sit on the couch and watch TV all day if I let her. However, I chose homeschooling as that. Home schooling. And I think my kids are proud of themselves when they get to a new level in math, or happy when they get to create a project that reflects our history education. I'm not saying that unschoolers don't do any of that - I know they do. But unschooling just doesn't work for us. And now I am a freak, but then, I've always been one anyway!

I showed (and read aloud) my proposed units of study for fall. I told the kids what I had to fill in the gaps they felt. And they both said they love the plans! They have missed unit studies (which is how I am dividing up the history and science in the Core Knowledge sequence), and both loved the looks of the Phonics of Drawing (especially Cyrus) so I think it will be a very good year indeed. Except I have to figure out ceramics at home ;)

A backyard visitor...

2011-07-09T13:38:00.001-07:00

I have a thing for dragonflies, I always have, so this was more than welcome visitor. Isn't s/he gorgeous?

There was more to this post, but I think for now we'll just stick with the dragonfly!

Weekly Wrap-Up... 6/27 - 7/1

2011-07-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh, summer vacation. Anyhow, here's a brief rundown of our week.

Monday:
Beach Day! After the kids did their chores, with the spiffy new wipe-off chore charts I made to remind them, we went out to the coast to meet with some friends. It was an overcast day, but not too cold. They had loads of fun playing in the sand, collecting bits of shell and driftwood, and getting a bit wet. Cyrus helped another kid build a pretty solid and impressive sand fort with a moat, while Cassia crusted herself in sand while getting thoroughly soaked in the waves.

Once home again, we started reading an old book called Our California Home. It covers California's history in a story format, and was published by the Department of Education back in the early 1930's. So far, it is quite delightful, much more so than the modern textbooks put of by the same DOE, and the kids and I are enjoying it. I also had Cassia review one of the Nora Gaydos books. We also finished watching The Fellowship of the Ring. These are the "extended" versions, so each movie (2 discs) is taking us two evenings to watch.

Tuesday:
Nature decided to do my watering for me, and it rained quite a bit. The kids headed off to my mom's for a morning of crafts, art, and general fun while I headed off to a local homeschool group meeting. We're in the process of becoming a nonprofit, so we ratified bylaws, elected a board, and formed committees. Naturally, since I never seem to have quite enough going on, I signed up for two committees - field trips, and community outreach. I also picked up a few new freebies from the Free Table. It was a great meeting, full of positive energy.

Back at home, I had the kids do a few chores, Cyrus practiced piano, and Cassia and I "read" some of her favorite poems. Then, I brought out a surprise for them, and they made their own egg tempera paints! I don't think we used quite enough pigment, so the paint, when dried, was on the light side, though we did notice the lovely glaze the egg yolks impart. The instructions for the project also covered the historical use of egg tempera paint, so I shared that with them as they mixed.

Cyrus's abstract painting

Cassia's work, also an abstract

In the evening, we started watching The Two Towers. We talked a bit about world wars, and how war influenced Tolkien's writings. The kids also noted some similarities between Tolkien's Middle Earth and Lewis' Narnia.

Wednesday:
Started out the day again with chores, then errands, and then Cyrus had his piano lesson while Cassia played with the piano teacher's daughters. I read some more in Pocketful of Pinecones (yes, I am re-reading it while waiting for the 2nd book), and listened to the music. After that, we took a short walk, and purchased The Sentence Family from the author himself, who also gave a tour of the lovely property of the little school, church, and living complex. I barely made it home before I had the book open to peruse. This looks like it will be a great addition to homeschooling!

In the evening I worked, and the kids went to my mom's for an overnight, since I also had work scheduled very early the following morning.

Thursday:
After work (I got off very early in the afternoon), we headed home for some relaxation and reading. We read a bit more in Our California Home, and All of a Kind Family. We played Uno, the kids watched an episode of Meerkat Manor, and then we headed off to buy a pool! We spent the early evening setting it up, with the kids helping every step of the way, and then of course the kids tested it out. We finished up the evening with the second part of The Two Towers.

Today:
As I type this, I am watching the kids play in the pool. They already watched an episode of The Addams Family, and did a couple of chores. Other plans for the day include the kids making dinner (Cyrus has a Sloppy Joe recipe we all love, and Cassia makes homemade coleslaw dressing easily), some more reading, a bot of phonics work for Cassia, multiplication review for Cyrus, and then I have work. We opted not to go to Park Day today because a) the new pool is so much fun and it is getting hot, and b) I hate hurrying them away from Park Day to go to work. have watering to do, and laundry to fold.

And there's our week!

Ahhh... a fresh, and sunny start to the week...

2011-06-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

And I have today, and tomorrow, off from work. Short shifts Wednesday through Friday, which still allows me plenty of time to be with the kids, and the husband, and enjoy summer. Possible plans for the week include a beach trip with friends; a homeschool association meeting, which I'll talk more about momentarily; park day of course; gardening; housecleaning; Spiral Scout projects to start working on; and so forth.

Some time ago, I was a board member for the local homeschool association to which I belong. I held a couple of positions... field trip coordinator (so much fun!), Webmaster... but then it got hard. Our insurance didn't cover what we thought it did, one member of the group caused so much trouble we had to refund her membership and ask her to look elsewhere, no one except the board ever showed up to the open meetings, a splinter group formed, and life got in the way for some of the board. We, by consensus, dissolved the board. Looking back on it, I am not so sure that we made the right decision, although it felt right at the time.

Now, we have a group of determined volunteers who have stepped up to the plate, done the research and all the work, and are helping our little group get nonprofit status, which makes it much better for the insurance part. Tomorrow's meeting is the adoption and ratification of the new bylaws, the formation of committees, the birthday of our new group! (I am really hoping there is a field trip committee that I can help with) I am excited about this. Most of the women heading this are friends of mine, and the ones that aren't I just don't really know yet, although I am sure I have met them. This to me is definitely a fresh start, and a strong one!

We had our first Spiral Scouts meeting last week, and came away from it feeling like we have found our home in scouting. We made our Circle, discussed individual and group projects, selected some to work on before the meeting next month (and for some time after that since they are pretty complex) There are several levels of awards to work on... awards, badges, and spirals/stars. I had Cassia and Cyrus choose one from each category. Cyrus chose projects primarily related to art, and Cassia was excited to see that cooking is a badge project! When we got home after park day in the evening, I went over all the paper work with M, who really liked what he saw as well. Each project has requirements that have to be met, and then several other options to choose from. For an example, check out the sample of the gardening badge work here. My kids are both at the Spiral Scout level, so you can see this isn't just easy work! We signed all the paperwork, which has been sent off, paid our dues, and are now eagerly awaiting our activity books.

What I like, in addition to the actual level of learning that will take place with these projects, is that there are so many to choose from, and a lot that align with our interests. For example, several have multicultural aspects, which interests Cassia, and there is even a mythology award for Cyrus to work on maybe in the fall!

And now for a couple of book reviews. First, for Cindie, is Waldorf Education: A Family Guide. This is a series of essays, by teachers, parents, etc. It is a good introduction to Waldorf education for those thinking of adapting it in their homeschool lives, or those thinking of placing their children in a Waldorf school. I especially liked the essays on different temperaments, and colors, daily rhythms, and the lovely birthday story from one parent. However, while the book is a good introduction, it is just that, and introduction. I enjoyed reading it, but it left me wanting more. How do I know which temperament my child has? How could I apply color in their daily lives that reflects where they are in their life journey? It did do a good job of covering the general ideas, and giving the background of Waldorf education, and I enjoyed reading it, so I would recommend it.

And then Pocketful of Pinecones, a book I have seen recommended over and over again in regards to Charlotte Mason and nature study. While my spiritual leanings differ from the author and the main character she created, and the book does reference those leanings a lot, I could not put this book down! The characters were realistic and appealing, as was the fact that the main character, the mother, had both a boy and a girl, like I do. However, I think she was a good deal more patient than I tend to be! I have read some of Charlotte Mason's original writings, and while they are extremely informative, and should be read by anyone wanting to follow her methods, they can also be a little tough going. This book, written as a diary, was easy to read, and full of Mason's ideals. Practical and applicable. There are nature study recommendations, thoughtful questions at the end of each chapter, and a plethora of books for nature studies recommended in the appendix. And there are cross references to Mason's original works. I felt really inspired by this book, and can't wait to read Lessons at Blackberry Inn. My children will absolutely be keeping nature journals this year!

In other news, we've been re-watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the Harry Potter movies, getting ourselves ready for the final HP installment in July. Watching LoTR has made me want to read The Hobbit to the kids at some point over the next year. Oh, and we want to finish listening to Jim Dale's marvelous reading of the HP books. M and I were discussing Shakespeare the other night (we both love Much Ado About Nothing), and the kids were intrigued, so I am researching children's versions of Shakespeare's stories... Nesbit, Lamb, Garfield, other? Recommendations? Until now, I have tried to tie our read alouds to other studies, but I really think we can enjoy books without always doing that.

I'm doing it again, aren't I?

2011-06-23T18:54:00.000-07:00

Overplanning that is. Every year I promise myself I will back off on the planning, since we always seem to have a hard time completing all of it (looking at our book lists, gee I wonder why...) Anyhow, the original plan was to focus on the basics and let everything else follow. Instead, I am finding myself spending far too much time planning it all out, week-by-week... 36 weeks worth.

So for now, I am stopping planning. No more planning. I need to stop, re-focus, and remember that exploring the rabbit trails is one of the main reasons we homeschool in the first place! Yes, Cyrus wants to study mythology, and Cassia wants to study children and animals around the world. That doesn't mean I need a spreadsheet detailing every book to read, video to watch, and activity to perform. And planning a whole year at a time is daunting, because our interests do change (I know mine do!), so eventually I end up setting aside everything I worked so hard on in the first place.

I will keep my book lists, as they are extremely handy for future reference... but I think I'll drop the scheduling and see where our passions take us.

And today is...

2011-06-21T13:11:00.001-07:00

Officially the first day of summer!

HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE!

Resources for an around the world study...

2011-06-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

Cassia has asked, and asked, to study children around the world, spurred on by her beloved copy of Children Just Like Me. Looking at the table of contents, I noticed there are 36 children/countries profiled, and we have 36 weeks planned in our next academic year... couldn't fit more perfectly! So here are some of the resources I am looking at using, although there will probably be additions and subtractions based on our week-to-week needs and desires.

Main text:
Children Just Like Me

Geography:
Children's Atlas of the World
National Geographic's MapMaker (great outline maps)
Crayola's Geography Coloring Pages (flags and small maps)
Enchanted Learning also offers geography pages that may be worthwhile

Cinderella Stories:
Domitila (Mexican)
Adelaida (Cuban)
Smoky Mountain Rose (American, Appalachian)
Little Gold Star (Spanish American)
Perrault's Cinderella (French)
The Orphan (Greek)
Egyptian Cinderella (Egyptian)
The Turkey Girl (Zuni)
Persian Cinderella (Persian)
Yeh-Shen (Chinese)
Korean Cinderella (Korean)
Angkat (Cambodian)
Anklet for a Princess (Indian)
The Golden Sandal (Middle Eastern)
The Way Meat Loves Salt (Jewish)
Abadeha (Philippine)
Tam and Cam (Vietnamese)
Cendrillon (Caribbean)
The Salmon Princess (Alaskan)

Story Collections:
Around the World in 80 Tales
Tatterhood & Other Tales
Golden Tales
American Tall Tales
The Golden Phoenix & Other French-Canadian Fairy Tales
Scandinavian Folk & Fairy Tales
Fairy Tales of Eastern Europe
Russian Folk Tales
Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault
The Girl Who Married a Lion & Other Tales from Africa
Asian Children's Favorite Stories
Stories from the Billabong

Series:
Various titles from the Families Around the World series, such as A Family in China, A Family in Egypt, etc.
Families of the World dvd series
Enchantment of the World

Geography Stories:
52 Days by Camel: My Sahara Adventure
Jungle Islands: My South Sea Adventure
By Truck to the North: My Arctic Adventure

Crafts, Coloring Books, Animals, and Food:
Janice VanCleave's Science Around the World
Global Art
Kids Around the World Create!
The Kids' Multicultural Cookbook
Kids Around the World Cook!
Multicultural Arts & Crafts from KinderArt
The Multicultural Cooking Network
Around the World Coloring BookHouses & Homes Around the World, goes well with Traditional Houses from Around the World Coloring Book
Holidays Around the World Coloring Book
Expedition Earth Animals (a great, free, downloadable animals around the world study. Not secular, but so easy to adjust!)

Weekly Wrap-Up... Summer Week 3

2011-06-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

It has been a good week, but it went by so quickly! We had a lovely swim party this week, where Cyrus taught himself to swim under water (he could already do the dog paddle) and today we are all about parks. Right now they are off at the park with their Nonna, learning about baseball.

Cyrus read a lot in the first Harry Potter book this week. He is on a break from Rick Riordan books at the moment. He has also dipped back into his Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, following our meeting and signing with author Jeff Kinney. He completed a jet model this week, and played Wizard 101 on the computer. He also had his piano lesson, and is working diligently to capture his own tunes in writing with Noteflight (now if I could just get him to practice his assigned pieces a little more!) In addition, he worked some more on learning computer animation with Pivot Stickfigure Animator.

Cassia did a couple of ClickN'Kids Phonics lessons this week, and read another Nora Gaydos Now I'm Reading book. She spent a little too much time watching tween shows from Australia on our Netflix, so I'm nipping that in the bud for next week.

We played one of our new games... Sum Swamp, and had lots of fun with it. We also played Uno. We read more of Peter and the Starcatchers, and a couple of chapters from All of a Kind Family. We listened to a lot of classical music on the radio, and watched another couple of episodes of Wild China. We watched A Wrinkle in Time and talked about what was different from the book... in the end, we all agreed we liked the book more than the film.

There has also been time for playing outside, watering the garden, watching birds, and eating watermelon. And playing on the Wii Fit when it is too hot to go out much. There's been doll-and-stuffed animal play, a couple of little crafts, and of course our water dragon to tend to (okay, Cyrus's water dragon) as well as the snakes, cats, and dogs. And time to mess around with my plans for next year - I'm trying to loosen up where I said I would!

Next week, I hope to be a little more organized with more follow-through. I have made new wipe-off "chore" (for lack of a better word) charts for the kids, so that I don't have to constantly remind them of each little thing, but instead can say "Go check your chart", and have set down rules about computer and TV time. I realized - duh - that if Cassia did a lesson a day on the ClickN'Kids site, she'd make it a good way through the 100 lessons by the end of summer. And I want time to try Totally Tut and Pizza Fractions. And time to read more stories, get ready for our monthly Eating Around the World potluck, and Spiral Scouts!

Wordless Wednesday... Swim Party!

2011-06-15T12:08:00.001-07:00

If you have never made ice cream in a bag, you should try it!

It is especially fun when you partner up with someone and toss the bag back and forth.

Meeting an author...

2011-06-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

Today we met author Jeff Kinney, creator of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid phenomenon! A local museum was hosting the (free) event, so off we went. First, he gave a little talk about how he got where he is, that originally he wanted to make comic strips for newspapers, but no one would publish his work. Gradually, through the internet, he made his way along, and wrote Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Cyrus was one of the lucky children in the audience chosen to ask him a question, and he asked something along the lines "Was he [Jeff Kinney] anything like his main character, Greg, when growing up?" I thought it was a good question, and Jeff answered in the affirmative. He also talked about being a kid, and shared some stories. Then we headed off to the line for the book signing, stopping to throw some snowballs along the way...

After about an hour in line, we got up to the sign for the event...

Inside, the kids got to chat briefly with Jeff, who then gave them personalized autographs...

And smiled for the camera...

Since we were at the museum anyhow, we decided to check out some of the exhibits...

All in all, a good day, and totally worth the time in line. The kids are honored they got to meet a writer (and artist) in person.

Another book list... Mythology...

2011-06-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

Since Cyrus is deeply interested in (classical) mythology, I am putting together a list of potential resources. Excellence through Classics has recommendations here, but some of the books we have already read and we'd like to find some new sources. If you have any suggestions for mythology titles, for a strong reader, let me know! This is all prep work for the National Mythology Exam (NME)...

General:
Mythology
NME Packets - We're looking at the packets for the Olympian Gods, Underworld, and Norse Gods.

Egyptian Lore:
Egyptian Myths
Egyptology
The Egyptology Handbook: A Course in Wonders of Egypt
Egyptology Code-Writing Kit
Tales of Ancient Egypt

Greek & Roman:
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths (main text for the NME)
Favorite Greek Myths
The Mythology Handbook: A Course in Ancient Greek Myths
Heroes, Gods, & Monsters of the Greek Myths
Myths and Legends
Roman Myths & Legends
Tales from the Odyssey (Black Ships Before Troy and The Wanderings of Odysseus might work well too)

Norse (so he can take the Norse Sub-test):
D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths
Favorite Norse Myths
The Children of Odin: The Book of Northern Myths
Tales of the Norse Gods (Oxford Myths & Legends)
The Curse of the Ring (Oxford Myths & Legends)

Others to Consider for Fun:
The Ramayana for Children
Tales from India
Tales of Ancient Persia
One Thousand and One Arabian Nights

Meet Athena...

2011-06-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

Cyrus got this water dragon as a birthday present last month. After reading through a number of sites, we've (pretty much) determined that she's a female. We expect her to grow quite a bit in the years to come! Cyrus feeds her daily with greens, strawberries, and lovely, wiggly mealworms. Isn't she cute?

Blackberry Cornmeal Muffins

2011-06-05T12:17:00.001-07:00

These taste like summer to me! I used frozen (defrosted) blackberries, probably twice as much as the recipe calls for, but then you get more (and fruitier) muffins!

Blackberry Corn Muffins
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I actually use whole wheat pastry flour)
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 whole large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) melted butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 to 1 cup (or more!) blackberries

Preheat oven to 375F. Line muffin tin with paper cups, or grease. Whisk the flour with the cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. In another (medium) bowl, lightly whisk the egg and egg yolk, then whisk in buttermilk, butter, and vanilla.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then gently fold in blackberries. Divide batter into muffin tin, sprinkle with sugar, and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. makes 12-16 muffins, depending on how many blackberries you use.

Coffee Cake with Raspberries & Hazelnut Crumble

2011-06-05T12:14:00.001-07:00

Here is a delicious recipe for coffee cake. I found the original online, and then altered it to suit my needs. This is definitely more of an occasional treat, with all the butter and sugar, but so yummy I had to share!

Coffee Cake with Raspberries & Hazelnut Crumble
Batter
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups raw sugar
2 eggs
1 cup plain (nonfat) Greek yogurt
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup flax seed meal (optional, you can use an additional 1/4 cup of the flour instead)
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp sea salt

Topping
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts

Filling
1 1/2-2 cups raspberries (if frozen, thaw and drain first)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 pan and set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs, mix well, then add in Greek yogurt. Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring until well mixed.
Spread half the mixture in the baking pan, top with a layer of raspberries, then the remaining batter.
Mix together, in another bowl, the topping ingredients. When well mixed, spread over the top of the coffee cake.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Best served slightly warm!

Feeling better...

2011-06-04T13:36:00.001-07:00

I have made my final selections for next year, with the help of the children themselves. While we drooled over Oak Meadow, I thought back about the times I have tried to use it, unsuccessfully. It simply is not the best fit for my family. Having said that though, I plan to borrow ideas from it, mainly the Main Lesson Book approach to completing lessons. Phew... a huge sigh of relief! Now I can get down to the nitty-gritty of planning it all out, since both kids have said a weekly guide (also borrowed from Oak Meadow) would be helpful. I did just buy Waldorf Education: A Family Guide, to aid me in incorporating more Waldorf ideas into our homeschooling.

First Week of Vacation Wrap-up...

2011-06-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

We basically had a lazy week, not a lot going on in the world of learning, but that doesn't mean we didn't do anything at all!

We read more in Peter & the Starcatchers. The book is well written, and right now, very suspenseful. I really enjoy reading this one!

We watched some more Meerkat Manor and Journey Into Amazing Caves.

We also watched an old classic, which spawned a lot of interesting discussion, H.G. Wells' Time Machine. I've seen the remake, and frankly prefer the original.

Other than that, we've played Crayon Physics and Sorry, as well as Uno. Cyrus had another piano lesson, and we are working on his practicing more regularly. And he started working on composing music with a program called Note Flight.We baked cookies, worked in the garden (when it wasn't raining), cleaned more of the house, watched a family friend change the oil in the car (always interesting for the kids), and started listening to Your Story Hour. We listened to the episode about Thomas Alva Edison. The kids really liked the radio-story format, and are eager to listen to the next one.

ETA: I forgot painting! Cyrus worked on some modern art in acrylics....

And Cassia did a landscape in watercolors... the black dots along the hill top are sheep, by the way, and there are white ones too if you look closely enough...

Next week, we'll start up our light summer session. And perhaps I will finish agonizing over choices for next year. Part of the problem is that there is a dichotomy - part of me wants the freedom of a very loose plan (mostly the basics) and part of me thinks I would make life easier for myself if I had something to follow. We'll just have to wait and see which part of me wins!