Our "official" Christmas pic...

This was a lucky shot - the kids kept making horrible faces... don't mind the bit of red-eye (which fortunately I was able to edit out on the pics I printed for family members)

Getting ready for a new year...

I can't believe 2008 has gone by so quickly! And things are changing rapidly around here...

First bit of news, my dad has admitted that it is time for him to seek assistance with day-to-day activities. He had a stroke 8 years ago, and now in his 70's is finding things more and more difficult. It is hard for me, watching him age, and knowing that I don't have the time and ability to do much. We (my brother, sister and I) are working with him to get him settled into an assisted living facility, where he will have an apartment of his own, but will still have help with cooking and cleaning. There are activities he can participate in, plus he can keep subbing at the local high school. He'll still have a lot of freedom, but he won't be alone so much. We're planning on renting out his house while the market settles (and eventually goes up, we hope). It is a lot - going through his unstable finances with him, trying to make this as easy as possible, and so forth, but it is unfortunately necessary.

Christmas was good here, despite it being the day we realized my dad needs more help. The kids are still thoroughly enjoying all their gifts, and I have gotten the house well-cleaned, and still had some time to relax! The adults exchanged fewer gifts this year, and I liked that - it made things simpler, and less expensive. We had relatives over on Christmas Eve, and then had Christmas Day to just hang out in our pajamas, watch movies, unwrap gifts, and just enjoy a slow day.

Now we are getting ready for a new year. I am working on our budget, a la Dave Ramsey, and working on plans to keep up with both housework and homeschooling. My main goal for the year is to be more organized, as I definately function better when I have a plan of attack! There are numerous small goals that will help me get there, like planning menus each week and actually shopping with a grocery list, but the main goal is my overall focus. Notice I say goal, not resolution, because I never manage to keep resolutions.

Homeschooling-wise, we are getting ready to study Russia for a couple of weeks, then will move on to Europe and Great Britain or Asia (see sidebar for some of the books we'll be using in our Russian studies). We have just about finished up Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, and we plan on starting The Wind In The Willows in another week. I also plan to start the Read Naturally program (with some minor modifications) with the Elf - he'll do a "cold" read at the beginning of the week, chart the results, practice during the week, and do a "hot" read at the week's end, again charting the results, which will allow him to really see the results! Other than that, we'll continue working with fractions, which he is really enjoying, and continue with writing using Oak Meadow. For the Fairy, we're continuing with Oak Meadow and her much-loved Saxon Math. Our nature studies continue as planned also. I do plan to work in more art appreciation, music appreciation (using Classical Kids, Tchaikovsky Discovers America), and more reading in Story of the World.

So now you are all caught up on the nitty gritty details of our lives! Happy New Year's!

Christmassy stuff...

Here are some of the books we have read this month....

Great collection of holiday stories from around the world. Covers cultures ranging from Russian to Mexican to Syrian.

A good intro to Kwanzaa for young children. This book explains the basic tenents behind the holiday.

A very good intro to Hanukkah. This book shares the history of Hanukkah, the menorah, and more.

A great follow-up to the book above. This one is a funny look at celebrating Hanukkah, and now my kids are begging me to make latkes!

A funny/touching tale of a girl who loses her mother's diamond ring while making traditional Christmas tamales.







We loved this story, so much that we read 3 versions of it! Old Befana is thought to be a witch by her neighbors. She rides a broom and delivers gifts and cookies to children all over Italy.

This was a sweet tale of a crippled boy and a lonely Christmas tree. I liked it, but it brought tears to my eyes.

A funny tale of three French hens and a wily Brooklyn fox.

Anyone who loves Olivia like the Fairy does needs to have this book, where Olivia causes her familiar mayhem. And speaking of Olivia, Nickolodeon TV is releasing an animated Olivia series in January.

We love the tale of the Nutcracker, and Maurice Sendak is one of my all-time favorite illustrators. Gorgeous book!

This was another fun read - gave a good message about not needing to buy a lot of "stuff" at Christmas, and having fun with what you have on hand. Great illustrations too.

And of course, we will read How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Babar and Father Christmas, and The Night Before Christmas as well. All holiday favorites!

For our gifts of globally diverse Christmas cookies, we have chosen the following:

Chocolate chip cookies (American)

Springerle (German)

Merenges (Puerto Rican meringues)

Pebber Nodder (Danish spice cookies)

and

Almond Cookies (Chinese)

I know it comes out to a lot of cookies, and a lot of baking, so I purposefully chose easy recipes.

I'll be back after the holidays, so wishing you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noel, and more!

Where does time go?

Geesh...

Well, we are in the middle of a month of Christmas fun! Cleaning the house, planning which of many cookies to bake, attending 4H holiday parties, cooking class, maybe a library gingerbread decorating workshop, a recent field trip, a Solstice party to attend, needing to get a tree, shopping for a few gifts (we're really cutting back on shopping this year), and so on... and on... and on.

School-wise, we're reading about Christmas (and other winter holidays) around the world. the Fairy has decided she wants to become Jewish because she loves the menorah and the dreidel so much. the Elf wants to live in Germany, where Christmas is a month-long celebration. We have also read, so far, about Mexico and Italy. The cookies we are making (trying to narrow it down to 6 kinds) will be packaged in cookie tins, with little cards explaining where each came from - good gifts for the relatives!

In science, we have read about bird migration (How Do Birds Find Their Way? and Luck) and this week animal tracks (Big Tracks, Little Tracks and Moose Tracks!), which fits right in with the new unit started in the Elf's weekly science class. We need, over the next couple of days, to make some animal track castings, probably from our dog. We also read more about molecules and the kids are hoping to make some models or drawings of some simple molecules over the next week.

the Elf is now reading from Arthur's Loose Tooth, which is a level up from the reading he has been doing, and he's handling it quite well. I had a talk with him about his reluctance to read and write, and explained that the more he does it, the easier it will get, like anything else. He understood, and compared it to riding a bicycle. After we had the talk, he gave that evening's reading much more effort. We'll have to see how it goes with writing (any tips?)! the Fairy is continuing her alphabet work, but I have a problem. She's quite good with letter sounds, but doesn't seem to get the difference between a letter sound and a letter name. If I ask her what a letter is, 9 times out of 10, she just gives me the sound. Any practical advice?

the Fairy loves her math program. Seriously. I know lots of people say/think Saxon looks boring, repetative, etc., but it works well with both of mine. My only trouble with the Fairy is limiting it to the lesson I want to cover - she is eager to move ahead quickly. So I am making an effort to involve her in more math around the house and more math games. the Elf is progressing steadily through his combination of Saxon and Math Steps. I like using the Math Steps to supplement ideas from Saxon, as he completed much of Saxon 2 last year, and we are finishing it up sloooowly this year. It's pretty easy to do, because Math Steps is divided into units, each covering one part of second grade math, whereas Saxon integrates it all, so I just choose 4 different worksheets a week from Math Steps to focus on different parts of the week's Saxon lesson. We got a set of Cuisinare rods last week, and I am learning how to use them with the kids. It has drawn my attention to the fact that the Elf loves patterning and so I am looking at getting him a nice set of wooden pattern blocks. Speaking of blocks, I found these gorgeous architectural blocks, but they are a bit on the pricey side...

My semester is just about over - yaaay! Because I need the break! I have a final paper I need to finish (on the need for solitude in society/people), and then I start up fresh mid-January. I'll have to take a picture of the self-portrait mandala I did as soon as I can locate my camera!

On another note, how do you decide which extra classes your kids should take? We are financially limited, so I can only allow one extra class for each of my children, and they have a hard time deciding! the Elf is trying to choose from piano lessons, gymnastics and Taekwando, while the Fairy is having a hard time choosing between ballet and gymnastics. I don't know...

So how was your Thanksgiving?

Ours was nice and peaceful. We went to my mom's house to have dinner - she and my sister did most of the cooking, and I provided pies.... one pumpkin-hazelnut, and one apple-quince-mince pie from the beautiful cookbook Local Flavors. That pie was a lot of work, but it was good! I have never eaten mince pie before, or made one for that matter, so I am really glad it turned out well. We also read The Very First Thanksgiving Day, played games, talked about what we are thankful for, etc....

We're now gearing up for Christmas Around the World, which will take us through the next 3 weeks before our winter break. I have a few books from the library that I am still going through (will let you know what I think), but I did thumb through Christmas Crafts from around the World, and it looks promising. The crafts seem simple enough without being too easy or silly. Someone on one of the homeschooling boards I go to recommended this web site for Christmas cookie recipes from around the world. So it seems that we'll have a good full unit this month!

We're starting (tomorrow) to read Story of the World again too, just as a "story" book. After much thought, I decided to start at the beginning again, to refresh their memories. I figure if we read 2 chapters a week, we'll get through volumes one and two by the time we start a new academic year next fall. That will get us up to the Age of Exploration right in time for the Elf (and the Fairy) to dive into Native Americans, explorers, colonization, and so forth. Then I can read through volumes 3 and 4 over the next couple of years after that. I think that by doing this, even as we pursue other interests, the kids will get an idea of the flow of history.

My semester is winding down. I have two fairly major assignments left, and then nearly a month's break. In the spring, I'll be taking an additional class (have to finish my math off someday!), so I need to figure out a better schedule for homework... I'm a bit nervous about work too, as my store's manager is retiring early next month, and I have no idea what the new management will be like. Thankfully my schedule seems to actually be set in the computer, so hopefully there will be no changes to it. We'll see though - I have had Saturdays off cause a lot of dissention in the past.

In other news, our winter veggie garden is doing well. We have planted beets, carrots, various greens, snow peas, cauliflower and broccoli. I added some pansies to my front yard, planted spring bulbs (crocus and daffodils), and the Elf has taken over the chore of mowing the front lawn using our spiffy push-mower. That reminds me, I owe him two dollars for last week's efforts. We don't do allowances, but the kids can earn money going above and beyond with their chores. We got a "new" couch and chair-&-a-half for our family room yesterday, so the futon has moved into the kids room for the Elf. He is really happy to have the space to stretch out in bed, having now moved from a twin bed up to a full-sized one.

And that's it from our little corner of the world!

Our week in review...

Ooops. We didn't do much, honestly. It's just been one of those weeks, you know? I did read a lot to the kids, both books about South America and more of The Cricket in Times Square. the Elf read more in Danny and the Dinosaur. But somehow, time for sitting down and doing lessons seemed elusive... evasive. So I'll chalk this week up to unschooling!

I also had a lot of reading this week. For my class, I read Of Water and Spirit: Ritual, Magic & Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman, which was fascinating and enjoyable, especially after too many weeks of Freud. I also read Plenty and am now reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - both just for my own reasons. Both Plenty and AVM have really made me think about food differently. I do try in general to buy local, to support local businesses and local farmers, but I think I need to be more consistant with my efforts. I added an "Eat Locally" button to my sidebar, which helps find restaurants, farmer's markets and much more just by typing in a zip code! I realized too, in talking with my husband yesterday, that we are very fortunate to live where we do, as nearly every food we eat (except coffee, chocolate and a couple of other little things) can be grown locally. So while I can't say I'll go to the lengths of the authors whose books inspire me, I can try much harder to live more lightly on the planet.

Enough lecturing and rambling... it's a gorgeous day here and we need to get outside!

A stitch and other fun...

Last Sunday, we definately hit a milestone, or marker of some sort - the Fairy's first emergency room trip for an injury (she went to the ER once before when she had RSV at the age of 7 months). Anyhow, we have a lovely, waist-high (on me) chain link fence out in front. I was gardening, and she and the Elf were chasing each other. She slammed the metal gate, and it came back and slammed into her. Right through her upper lip...

So, off to the ER we went, as she was bleeding everywhere. the Elf came along, and brought his library book, Danny & the Dinosaur, in case we had a long wait. They saw her within 5 minutes of arriving though, and she was very brave! Thankfully, she only had to get one stitch, which can come out on Saturday. We also learned that unlike me, and her brother, she does not seem to have a penicillin allergy, though the pharmacist warned me it could show up in the future. After our hospital trip, the Elf announced he wants to be a "people doctor", while the Fairy is still set on being an "animal doctor". I can see lots of college financial aid in those futures!

Let's see, what else? We had a meeting with our resource teacher this week. the Elf read aloud from the aforementioned library book to her, and she declared it the best he has ever done! He has a huge tendancy to fidget so much while reading aloud that it distracts him from reading, so a while ago the resource teacher suggested giving him an object like one of those squeeze balls, or a balloon filled with flour, to fidget with. He chose a sand-filled lizard toy, and while I was skeptical, it really has helped with his distraction level.

And just for fun, here is a picture of our lovely red living room wall:

Don't mind the clutter!

4-H Projects

the Fairy's totem pole, with (in descending order) a werewolf, an owl and a dolphin.

the Elf's totem pole, with a leopard, a Dalmation, and a tiger. He even took the time to put tails on all the animals, which you can just see in this picture.

the Fairy's pinch pot, all painted up (she loved the gold craft paint).

the Elf's pinch pot, which he painted very carefully.

Wow, a weekly report 2 weeks in a row!

Sometimes I amaze even myself ;)

Here's this week's run-down....

Language Arts
the Elf is getting more confident with reading. We have been practicing a lot this week with the reader - it's really nice to cosy up together in our big chair and take turns reading aloud. He also worked in ETC (4 more pages), filled out a report on a rainforest animal, and worked on the book he is writing. We are enjoying the story of Paddy Muskrat, and the Elf wrote a few sentences about what we read this week (and drew a picture) in his MLB (main lesson book).

This week, the Fairy concentrated on the letter "H". We read The Tale of Two Bad Mice, and she did her uppercase and lowercase "H" drawings in her MLB. She did a printout from Starfall, and colored the Herb Twopence Fairy in a Flower Fairy Alphabet while I read the corresponding poem to her. We read The Big Honey Hunt and The Happy Hedgehog Band.

We also finished up Charlotte's Web at long, long, loooong last. I ended up reading the last 6 chapters straight through because the kids knew the end was coming (they've seen both versions of the movie). We all had tears when Charlotte died despite being forewarned. Now I need to pick a new "big" book! Edited to add: We just came back from the library, having picked "The Cricket in Times Square" as our new bedtime book.

Math
Math was surprisingly easy this week. the Elf buzzed through more addition and subtraction lessons, money problems, and more. the Fairy is right on track with her math lessons too. We also played Go Fish at least 3 times this week, which I count as math at least for the Fairy (matching numbers, counting how many cards and then pairs she has, etc.)

Social Studies & Science
We are still in South America. This week we read Mira & the Stone Tortoise, and two legends about the Peruvian god of thunder. While I read, the kids worked on maps of South America I printed up from Enchanted Learning. We also read some more about rainforests, and the kids finally did their animal report forms - an iguana and a tortoise. This weekend, we're doing tissue paper rainforest art.

Nature Studies
All about bats this week. We read Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats. We read StellaLuna and then watched the video, which the Fairy picked out from the library last week just coincidentally. The kids put wings on and pretended to be bats, trying to hang upside down of the back of the futon couch. As the first book contained instructions for building a bat house, the Elf has asked M to help him build one. They also watched the Magic School Bus episode on bats, which is one of their alltime favorite episodes!

Other
We went to another American Kids Crafts project at 4-H. You can view the finished creations here. They painted the pinch pots they had made before, and made totem poles. My kids are really enjoying the crafts so far! Of course, they also enjoyed going out for ice cream and then playing tag with the other kids in their project group afterwards.

Side Notes
In the grocery business, you get paid extra (time and third, though it used to be time and a half) to work on Sundays. And I always assumed that really boosted my paycheck a bit, so I have always worked as many Sundays as possible. Well, the last two weeks, I have not worked Sundays. I have had the entire weekend off instead (except that I spend a decent chunk of my Saturdays either in class or doing online homework), and having that time with my family has been really nice, but I was worried about the pay thing. Got my check for the first Sunday-pay-free week yesterday, and you know what? Only $15 difference between yesterday's check and the average check. I think I'll keep my Sundays off as long as they keep giving them to me!

Oh, and there's a reason I am not afraid to tear up the carpeting in the kids room - I've already had it peeled back to the middle of the room (can't help that curiosity), and the floor is very nice underneath. Of course, I've also peeled it back in the hall and livingroom, where it was apparently never sealed and finished, but will make a great subfloor for bamboo flooring at some point.

I also learned this week that we do function best if we do lessons in the morning, when we are all relatively fresh, but today I feel like I am coming down with M's nasty cold (no park day for us), so I think it'll be a slow day.

Just tweaking my blog...

I added my list of mostly free resources back into my sidebar - hopefully something on there will be useful to someone! I also added my Elementary Plans to my other blog. This is mainly for my own benefit, as it helps me keep track of potential resources.

Other than that, all is well in our household. We are finally painting the interior of our home - so far, we have done a deep red accent wall in the living room, which really makes the white and deep red fireplace stand out, and my BIL is picking up more paint today or tomorrow. The kids have definately settled on colors for their room: soft blue walls, white trim, and a deeper blue ceiling with the night sky stenciled on it in glow-in-the-dark paint (I plan on doing the stencil with white paint, then the glow-in-the-dark, so they can see the stars day and night). We're also tearing up the carpeting in their room, as there are lovely hardwood floors underneath. First, I plan on using the carpet as a giant drop-cloth for painting, then I'll rip it out! I am also having my mom, who was a professional landscape designer, help me with sketches for the front yard.

Schooling is going well too, but I'll save that for tomorrow!

Halloween Pics...

A fairy princess

Jack o'lanterns (the Elf's on far left, the Fairy's in the middle and mine on the right. the Elf completely designed and cut his own this year)

And a bloodthirsty vampire

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

This recipe came from Recipezaar, but since it called for one and a quarter cups of oil I altered it.

30 muffins

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup applesauce (or you can use more pumpkin, which I did & they came out great)
3 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

In large mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and oil until smooth.
Mix dry ingredients together and mix into pumpkin mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.
Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.
Bake at 400 F for 16-20 minutes.

Happy Halloween!

Hoping every one has a safe and
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

It has been a good week on the homeschooling front, meaning that we actually followed my basic plans for education! So here's my Weekly Report (though I honestly never say I do this on a weekly basis)...

Language Arts
the Elf:
This week the Elf read a silly story aloud. He then answered 4 comprehension questions and wrote his own ending for the story. He also drew a picture and wrote about Paddy Muskrat (Oak Meadow) in his main lesson book. He continued reading from Ben & Meg. He also started (4 pages) another unit in ETC 3, which we are almost finished with. Then I need to decide if we want to do ETC 4 or just stop with ETC for now!

the Fairy:
This week was the letter "G", so we read The Golden Goose (Oak Meadow version) and the Fairy drew the goose letter G's in her main lesson book. We also read Three Billy Goats Gruff, which is one of her favorite stories. She did 4 pages in HWOT and 4 in Go For The Code this week. She colored the Gorse Fairy in the Flower Fairies coloring book.

We are continuing to read from Charlotte's Web at bedtime on the evenings I am home.

Math
the Elf:
Did 2 lessons from MathSteps (addition and subtraction with #'s 11-20) and a lesson from Saxon Math 2. I also taught him a game called Circles & Stars, which he begs to play every day now. I'll have to scan and post one of his pages full of circles and dots ("stars") and multiplication.

the Fairy:
Conquered another 2 lessons in Saxon Math 1. She also loves playing Circles and Stars. We read a book called Count Your Way through Brazil, which was okay but not as great as some of the counting books we have read.

Social Studies & Science
We started our journey through South America with Brazil. We read about Brazil in our Children's Atlas, colored a map & flag page, and watched Families of Brazil. We also read two versions of a Brazilian legend - version 1 and version 2 (our preferred version), and a couple of books about families/children in Brazil. Tomorrow we are having black beans and rice (a Brazilian staple food), along with roasted pork and veggies for dinner, and I might make a Brazilian coffee cake for breakfast. Craft-wise, see rainforests below.

They watched the Magic School Bus Rainforest episode this week. We are planning on making tissue paper collages of rainforest animals - the Elf wants to make an iguana and the Fairy is interested in a jaguar or quetzel. We may do a project in the next week or two on rainforest strata, in which I will print out the forest page (from Enchanted Learning), and print out the animals, have the kids watercolor everything, and then place the animals in their respective rainforest habitats. We did a similar project last year for temperate woodlands, and they really enoyed it.

Nature Studies
All about pumpkins this week! We read From Seed to Pumpkin (part of the great Let's Read & Find Out science series). the Fairy made a jack o'lantern out of construction paper, while the Elf made a paper scarecrow to go with it. Today we made delicious pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and we'll be carving our jack o'lanterns this afternoon when M is home.

Other than that
We made some paper ghosts for our front window. We read a few other stories, went to a fall festival at the charter school (where they made apple juice and corn husk dollies), and spent a lot of time playing. We had one day where the Elf did not want to do any lessons and so gave me a hard time, but the other 3 days, he did very well. the Fairy did very well all week. I volunteered in the Fairy's classroom (arts, crafts, stories, songs) on Monday and we painted paper-mache skulls for Dia de los Muertos. I have found I really love working with kindergarteners!

I also wanted to highly recommend the following Halloween books... The Soup Bone and The Witch's Hat, both by Tony Johnston. I thought they were charming, just funny/silly enough without being over the top, and not too scary. The kids really enjoyed them too!

We're not doing anything academic today. The kids have their costumes ready (one vampire, one fairy princess, and I promise to post pics). We were going to go to Best Park Day with pumpkin muffins in hand, but it's been very rainy. We already trick-or-treated my dad, and later will go see my mom, maybe going around her neighborhood a little if the rain lets up. I do have a fun evening at home planned though - pizza, both the Addams Family movies, popcorn, hot apple cider, etc. I think that'll be okay in place of going door-to-door for candy.

Cruisin' along...

It hasn't been the busiest week here, but we're still not getting a lot done, school-wise that is. We've done a little math, a little reading, a couple of worksheets, a fun 4H cooking project (chips and "guacamoldy"). We did cook an African dinner, complete with injera and wat. We watched a couple of videos on Africa, and are getting ready to wrap up African studies, with the plan of visiting South America for the next 4 weeks.

Now that the week is coming to a close, I am getting ready for next week. I am trying to be more organized about homeschooling, in that I am making actual plans for the upcoming week, so here they are:

Language Arts
the Elf:
Read aloud another chapter (or two) from Ben and Meg (daily)
Do two drawings and corresponding copywork for The Tale of Paddy Muskrat (2x)
Two worksheet pages from HM Reading Anthologies (2x)

the Fairy:
Introduce story for letter "G" and do related drawings (1x)
Work in HWOT (1x)
Color page for G and read corresponding poem from Flower Fairies Alphabet (1x)
Do printouts on letter "G" (1x)

Math
the Elf:
Introduce the new unit on addition and subtraction (3x)
Saxon Math 2, lesson 104 (1x)

the Fairy:
Saxon Math 1, lessons 16-17 (4x)

Social Studies, both:
Introduce South America as a whole, and then introduce Brazil
Map and flag printout for Brazil
2-4 stories about Brazil
Watch "A Family in Brazil" educational film
Related art or cooking project

Science, both:
Introduce Chapter 3 in RS4K Chemistry (Molecules Meet)
For nature studies, we're focusing on pumpkins. I reserved this book at the library, we have to make jack o'lanterns, and I am planning on making (dairy-free) pumpkin muffins for a Halloween get-together on Friday. IF we have time, we may do an art project, like this one or this one.


So there you have it, a full week of learning fun! Now let's see how well I stick to it....

We made it to...

the new California Academy of Sciences last week. And WOW is the only word for it! M & I both took the day off to spend with our children, exploring everything from the animals of Africa, to the depths of the sea, to the wonders of a rainforest. So here are many pictures....

Waiting in the very, very long line outside, though it moved quickly at least.

Hanging out in front of T.Rex. the Elf loved the giant skeletons.

the Fairy checking out a Pine Marten. We spent a lot of time discussing endangered animals.

Really neat animal skulls (made me think of a friend's artwork).

Ahhh, the wonders of the underwater world....

A nice, bright fish!

Checking out the animals of Africa.

Standing before the lion display.

A giant flower model from the rainforest.

Under the rainforest in a "Flooded Forest" tank tunnel.

All in all, it was a very educational (and very fun) day. There is still a lot we haven't seen so we plan on heading back in a few months, when just maybe some of the extreme excitement has died down and there aren't giant crowds. Oh, and we recommend packing a picnic lunch to enjoy in Golden Gate Park, as the prices IN the Academy's dining hall are insane.

Just an update...

Let's see, what have we done this week?

We went to our first 4H project this week, where the kids made dream catchers and clay pinch pots (though the Elf's is more of a pinch tray/plate). Both kids had loads of fun doing this and the dream catchers are now proudly displayed above their beds, hopefully doing their job!

Here is the Elf's, which he made all by himself. He chose "Halloween" colors (orange, black & purple)

And this is the Fairy's. She had help with wrapping the outer edge and attaching feathers, but she did do all the center work herself.

the Fairy also got to hold a very adorable baby, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good she was at it. She was very calm and still, and she said the baby was "cuter than any doll ever". Now she says she wants maybe 5, no 6, or maybe 8 babies of her own someday. In between being a very busy "animal doctor" (her words) for her brother's farm...

Other than that, we have been busy with Oak Meadow, library trips, the beginnings of fall, and of course, cornstarch goo....

And just for fun, a couple of pics from another goo day, a year and a half or so ago...

Play dough recipe...

1 cup flour (plus more for kneading)
1 cup water
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 cup salt
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
Food coloring/unsweetened koolaid mix
Glitter if desired

Combine all ingredients except the coloring/koolaid & glitter in a pan. Whisk until fairly smooth and then heat over medium temperature, stirring constantly with a (wooden) spoon. When the dough becomes very hard to stir and starts coming away from the pan, pour/scrape out onto a sheet of floured wax paper, or onto a floured countertop. Allow to cool, then knead until smooth and elastic, adding in flour as needed. You can knead in a few drops of food coloring or the koolaid, and any glitter, at this point.

Store in plastic bags or in a tub with a tight-closing lid.

Simple joys...

Homemade play dough. I made a batch the other day, using this recipe, and it is a complete success with the kids! I have never actually made play dough before, as my MIL usually keeps us in stock, but since it's been a good 6 months or so since they had any, I decided to give it a go. At first I was worried - it looked lumpy and disgusting, but when it cooled enough for kneading, it became smooth and pliable quickly. I even bought (unsweetened) koolaid for the first time in my life, which added a lovely color and fragrance, though I would think I could add more natural colors and a drop or two of essential oils next time.

Watching the two of them play with the dough shows such a difference in their personalities. the Elf carefully scuplts cars and people, and the occasional animal, while the Fairy pretends it is food that she is cutting and preparing. All sorts of imaginative play! We also spent some time making their names with long "snakes" of play dough, and I can see how to work this in as part of the Fairy's letter learning. Right now they have each made a "gingerbread" person and are chanting "Pattycake, pattycake, baker man" while dancing their people together.

I think I'm crazy...

I have had an idea. And yes, it is crazy, at least a little. What if I were to go on after my bachelor's degree, and my teacher credentialing, to get a Master's Degree in Fine Arts? With that, I could teach art just about anywhere, including at the community college level, which would be awesome. And with the number of units I already have in art, I can get a Master's in a relatively short amount of time. At the rate I am going, this would mean that I will turn 42 (not 41 as I originally thought/posted) the year I finish. Not too bad. ;) Teaching art would make me happier than teaching in a regular school. Teaching art even in a regular school wouldn't be too bad, plus they pay significantly more for people who have both a B.A. and a M.F.A. I have always loved art. I sketch incessantly these days and dream of taking up painting. This way, I could have a steady income for something I love.

So there's my insane plan for you. M thinks it is a great idea. He thinks I would be very content teaching art part-time at the local community/junior college, which is my eventual goal. Of course, I have to now find a college that offers the M.F.A. and good financial aid (though I have one idea)....

In other news, the kids are over their colds! And we are now in the midst of studying Africa. I found a great book of short stories, Behind the Back of the Mountain, which the kids are really enjoying. We read A Family from South Africa, and they kids were impressed by two things: first, how little they owned, and how long the children spent in school (8 hours a day, 5 days a week). the Elf said he was especially glad not to be in school that much.

We haven't gotten much "school" work done this week though. My brother closed on the house he bought, so we are once again helping him, and my mom, move. Since my mom is somewhat disabled (back injuries from a car accident several years ago), my brother and I are doing all the work while my mom watches the kids, which can be a difficult job in itself!

And now I am off to read another lecture by Freud for this month's (college) workshop. Ah, the excitement!

Officially 4 weeks in...

One month down, more to go! Some parts are going better than I planned, some not at all (we haven't even opened Story of the World this fall). I finally have all my Oak Meadow stuff - the kids' IST ordered new copies of the 2nd grade readers and books, along with a new copy of the Kindergarten Fairy Tales. Gorgeous books. I was nervous about the readers when I opened them - pages of text (albeit a larger font) with very few black-&-white illustrations, but guess what? The Elf loves them! He's reading Ben & Meg to me, just a page a day right now, then we'll aim for 2 pages a day, and so on from there.

So, let's see, what did we accomplish this week? Besides both kids having the sniffles and sore throats...

Language Arts
the Elf read several pages of the aforementioned reader to me. He worked on a couple of worksheet pages from his new anthology set: one exercise was rewriting simple sentences into longer sentences, which he surprisingly enjoyed. We read aloud from Oak Meadow's Animal Stories and the Elf drew a picture to go with a few sentences I wrote down for him, which he copied into his main lesson book.

the Fairy worked on reviewing the letters A, B & C. She colored the corresponding pages in her new Flower Fairy alphabet coloring book. We read a beautiful book by Anita Lobel, called Alison's Zinnia. She completed another 3 pages in HWOT.

Math
the Elf is continuing to work through MathSteps. We have finished unit 1, as of today, which was mainly review work regarding fact families. Good practice & review for him. The next unit is Place Value through 100. Agin, it's a lot of review, but I am trying to make sure he has a good solid base before we move onwards and upwards in math.

the Fairy has reached her target for month one, having finished lessons 1-8, front and back, in Saxon Math 1.

Social Studies
We are wrapping up our Australian studies today with Dreamtime paintings from Global Art. I have a stack of books on South Africa ready to go for Monday. So far, studying world cultures has been a HUGE hit here!

Science
The kids are working today to finish animal fact pages about Australian animals. Over the last four weeks, in addition to learning about oceans, we have learned a great deal about Australian animals, plants and terrain. I am dropping additional science studies I had originally planned, as so much science can be interwoven with our social studies instead. We did read the first chapter in RS4K Chemistry this week - Atoms - and next week we'll start Friday Nature Studies.

Other
the Elf is continuing his self-guided exploration of trains, airplanes, and cars with library books and videos. the Fairy has developed a passion for Shirley Temple movies!

And there's our week in review.

Our Nature Studies...

List of topics we plan to cover for nature studies. Many are from Oak Meadow, some of of my own design. We'll use a lot of the Let's Read & Find Out science series, and some good fiction as a supplement.

Fall Quarter
Insects - Bugs Are Insects; Supplemental: watch Microcosmos; Project: using paper cutouts or other insects, do a classification project OR collect bugs from the backyard, examine them, and then let them go

Crickets - Chirping Crickets; Supplemental: A Pocketful of Cricket, Grasshopper on the Road; Project: Cricket chirper

Caterpillars, Butterflies - From Caterpillar to Butterfly; Supplemental: Butterflies on Carmen Street, Where Butterflies Grow; Project: Butterfly Life Cycle Mobile

Bees - Honey in the Hive; Supplemental: The Queen with Bees in her Hair, The Bee Tree; Project: Beeswax candles and/or Fingerprint Painting Bees

Ants - Ant Cities; Supplemental: Two Bad Ants, The Little Red Ant & the Great Big Crumb; Project: Egg Carton Ants

Spiders - Spinning Spiders; Supplemental: The Spider and the Fly, Diary of a Spider; Project: Sticky Spider Web

Farm Animals/Seasons - Sunshine Makes the Seasons; Supplemental: Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm, The Year at Maple Hill Farm Project: Wooden Farm Animals


Bats - Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats; Supplemental: Stellaluna, The Bat-Poet; Project: Origami Bats

Pumpkins - From Seed to Pumpkin; Supplemental: Apples and Pumpkins, Pumpkins - A Story for a Field; Project: Felt Pumpkins

Apples - How Do Apples Grow?; Supplemental: Johnny Appleseed, The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree; Project: Apple prints, apple printouts from Enchanted Learning

Leaf Changes - Why Do Leaves Change Color?; Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf; Leaf Man we ended up doing 2 weeks of leaf studies Leaf Man Craft, Pressed Leaves, Handprint Leaf Wreath (do this in autumn colors), salt dough leaf magnets

Winter Quarter
Bird Migration - How Do Birds Find Their Way?; Supplemental: Luck, The Journey: Stories of Migration; Project: Bird racers

Animal Tracks - Big Tracks, Little Tracks; Supplemental: Moose Tracks, Whose Footprint Is That?; Project: make animal track stamps using the potato stamp technique (here's a template for animal tracks), or find some tracks outside and do plaster-of-paris molds.

Animals during the Winter, Hibernation - Animals in Winter; Supplemental: Sleep Black Bear, Sleep, Don't Wake Up the Bear!; Project: (Toilet paper tube) cave with hibernating animal finger puppet

Weather - What Will the Weather Be?; Supplemental: Wild Weather Soup, On the Same Day in March; Project: Make your own "wild weather" soup (example: potatoes=hail, broth=rain, and so forth), or make a hand-illustrated book about different types of weather. Enchanted Learning has a lot of activity printouts too!

Wind - Feel the Wind; Supplemental: Willa & the Wind, Millicent & the Wind; Project: make a wind vane


Snow - Snow is Falling; Supplemental: Snow, The Snowy Day; Project: make a homemade snow globe, or ice hangings (we had fun making these, hanging them out first thing in the morning, and then watching them defrost).


Rain - Down Comes the Rain; Supplemental: Who Likes Rain?, Come On, Rain!; Project: Make a rain stick

Storms - Flash, Crash, Rumble & Roll; Supplemental: Thunder Cake, How the Cat Swallowed Thunder; Project: make Thunder Cake (recipe in book)

Water Cycle - Follow the Water; Supplemental: The Snowflake: A Water Cycle Story, A Drop of Water; Project: Craft water cycle bracelets; Recreate the water cycle in your own home, with a pan of water and a glass lid, so that kids can see the water evaporate, condense, and drop back down.

Geology - How Mountains Are Made; Supplemental: The Sun, the Wind, and the Rain, Mountain Dance; Project: make a mountain from sand; make a mountain scene similar to the one here though you don't need the fancy supplies

Rocks - Let's Go Rock Collecting; Supplemental: Everybody Needs a Rock, If You Find a Rock; Project: collect, sort and identify rocks from your local area (glue them to cardboard & label them); Collect small pebbles and fill a jar, then add water and a lid, or glue the pebbles to a picture frame.

Volcanoes - Volcanoes; Supplemental: Dear Katie, the Volcano is a Girl, Popoki's Incredible Adventures at the Volcano; Project: build a sandbox volcano!


Spring Quarter
Night/Day - What Makes Day & Night?; Supplemental: The Sound of Day, The Sound of Night; Project: Day & Night paper plate mobile

The Sun - The Sun, Our Nearest Star; Supplemental: Sun Bread ; Project: Make sun bread (see recipe in book) or make sun catchers

The Moon - The Moon Seems to Change; Supplemental: Catching the Moon; Project: Keep a moon chart for a month; make moon craters

Solar System - The Planets in Our Solar System; Supplemental: Babar Visits Another Planet; Project: Solar System coloring book or a solar system scavenger hunt

Stars - Shooting Stars; Supplemental: How the Stars Fell Into the Sky; Project: make a Magic Stars painting

More stars - The Big Dipper; Supplemental: Coyote Places the Stars; Project: Make a glitter galaxy or a Universe in a Jar

Life Cycle of a Seed - How a Seed Grows; Supplemental: The Apple Pip Princess; Project: make a seed mosaic
Trees - A Tree is a Plant; Supplemental: The Oak Inside the Acorn; Project: make a cotton ball tree

More Trees - Be a Friend to Trees; Supplemental: The Giving Tree; Project: make some leaf and bark rubbings

Bird Nests, Eggs - A Nest Full of Eggs; Supplemental: An Egg is Quiet; Project: make a paper plate bluebird nest

Baby birds, Chicks - Where Do Chicks Come From?; Supplemental: Egg to Bird; Project: make a baby chick collage or make eggshell mosaics

Frog Life Cycle - From Tadpole to Frog; Supplemental: Olly's Polliwogs; Project: make a paper bag frog puppet or try out the frog life cycle sequencing cards

Summer memories...

Homeschool Memoir #6... Summer Photo Essay. Here are some moments from our summer!

First day of ballet lessons

First day of art classes at charter school

Playing elves in the backyard

Love this smile! His teeth have come in since this (taken in June)

Petulant Elf Princess

Climbing rocks at the beach

My monkey girl (she climbs every rock she can, whether or not it is neccessary)

Nice smelly seaweed to poke

Looking for hermit crabs

No, I didn't let her bring the seaweed home