Taking a break...

We are officially...

We'll start back up Monday, January 3rd. I received all our new coloring and activity books from Amazon, and the kids have thumbed through them with glee - I am thankful I have a scanner so I can make copies of desirable coloring pages for both of them.

Over the past week, we have painted wooden Nutcracker music boxes from the craft store, decorated our tree and house with lights, cleaned all the family areas of the home (bedrooms can wait until the week after Christmas!), read from A Christmas Carol and various Christmas stories - old favorites and a few new - continued with The Saturdays, and started on The Moon of the Winter Bird. We listened to our collection of classic Christmas songs. The kids made and decorated gingerbread cookies with my mom and sister, and in the upcoming week we're going to make little tins of fudge as gifts from the kids. We're enjoying the relaxation, even as we go from activity to activity, since recovering from last week's horrible bout with the flu.

I'm going to use this week to finish getting the house ready for Christmas Eve company, making fudge and other handmade trinkets, and then the week after I plan to get everything ready for a fresh start in homeschooling. We're going to study chemistry (since the kids are getting a really cool-looking chem kit for XMas) and early American history.

Until then, I wish you all...

Just some updated things...

We're starting back up with official homeschooling January 3rd, so I have updated our Current Curricular Choices and my American History booklist. I went ahead and ordered a few more craft/maps/etc. books, and a bunch of coloring books to go with our history studies. I also read through a number of posts on a couple of homeschooling message boards, and decided that if Cyrus is going to use Saxon Math, he could use a small whiteboard to do the problems on, rather than paper. I don't need page after page of his math work lying around! Cassia's Saxon Math 2 is in workbook format, so she'll continue with that. I am toying with the idea of making Saxon Math 5/4 worksheets on my computer, but Cyrus's eyes lit up at the whiteboard idea, and I already go through a lot of ink and paper, so probably not. He's currently debating Writing Tales and Intermediate Language Lessons - I told him the choice is all his!

In the meanwhile, we're reading Christmas stories, and enjoying the season. Our house is getting cleaner by the day (part of my deal with them for taking the rest of the month off from formal homeschooling), and we are reading through The Tarantula in My Purse for science. The kids are watching every Christmas movie they can get ahold of, and we are really looking forward to seeing Voyage of the Dawn Treader for my birthday next week! We finally got back ahold of Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets from our library and are enjoying that as well.

Plans for the next couple of weeks include:
Finishing cleaning
Baking gingerbread cookies, which the kids love to decorate
Making some gifts for relatives
Decorating the tree
Going ice skating
Reading more seasonal books
Participating in the pageant at church (yes, we recently started attending church)
Having relatives over on Christmas Eve
Enjoying a lazy Christmas Day all to ourselves

I am excited about the gifts we have chosen for the kids this year. Jessica, over at Foursquare Schoolhouse, has an excellent post on really listening to people, to find out what they really want, versus asking for lists, and so forth. I have tried to do that with my kids and husband this year, and can't wait to see if I was successful! I requested Christmas Eve off to reduce my own pressure load, and it was approved. We're closed Christmas Day at work, so I know I have at least those days off to enjoy my family.

Hope you're all having happy holidays as well!

Back to Charlotte Mason...

It turns out that we miss the routine of sitting down to "do school" more than we thought we would. I have been browsing through my collection of Charlotte Mason books late at night, and decided that Catherine Levison was right when she wrote that following the CM method allows plenty of time for children to explore their own interests, since lessons are kept short and sweet. My children also adore being read to, which fits right in. So next week we're going back to CM until we feel the need to unschool again! I also want to blend in some Oak Meadow (semi-Waldorf) approaches. I want to get some nice notebooks/main lesson books, like these.

My plans include:

Saxon Math or Math Mammoth for both - they can choose which each day as long as they do one or the other.

Writing Tales for Cyrus, maybe. We barely put a dent in this book last year, and he is perfectly willing to give it another go. He also like Intermediate Language Lessons, so I think I'll give him a choice, and/or we could do some language arts ala Oak Meadow. He reads, writes something about what he has read in a main lesson book, and adds a drawing... hmmmmm.

The Reading Lesson, guided reading, and some copywork (Oak Meadow) for Cassia. She is really showing some progress reading, and I want to keep the momentum going.

Reading through American history with books I am compiling from various living book history lists. We're starting with Leif the Lucky and the D'Aulaires Norse Myths. Then we'll move into other early explorers.

Weekly nature walks (with journals, or at least the camera and a journal later), along with living books on science. Since my last posting I have found a few good lists! I plan to start The Tarantula in My Purse, and then go from there.

For art studies and music, I am not yet sure...

In geography, we have started participating in a postcard exchange and got our first one yesterday, from Michigan. We'll keep a notebook with a state map printout and some basic info.

I'm thinking about a book of centuries, or something similar.

We're reading, for pleasure, The Saturdays, Little House in the Big Woods, and Cyrus is reading How to Train Your Dragon, book 1. I want to read aloud A Christmas Carol, and some other Christmassy books.

So there are my ramblings for the day!

On our reading list right now...

While we're not sitting down for "school" each day, we are learning about American history through cuddled-up reading time, which seems to be the way in which my children learn the most, more than worksheets, or paper crafts, and so forth. Some of our current books include:

The Look-It-Up Book of Explorers
Leif the Lucky
The D'Aulaires Book of Norse Myths
Pedro's Journal
Columbus

After we get through exploration, we'll move on to the colonists. A Book in Time has lots of good suggestions for books about that time period. We also watched This is America, Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers last night, which finally got Cassia interested in Pilgrims, etc. Cyrus watched the video tour of the first Thanksgiving a few days ago and got very interested then - he's been coming up with random facts for the last couple of days!

We're also learning about the human body. And we've watched a lot of MythBusters. Cyrus and I also watched Punkin' Chunkin'. We really wish they had shown more of the kids' division on the show, but it was still pretty interesting, though we were sorry our favorite contraption did not win. Anything named The Launchness Monster is pretty cool!

Cassia is showing more and more interest in reading. She asks to do reading lessons on the computer, and has me read pages of her favorite books over and over until she can "read" it back to me. I am so relieved... I read early, Cyrus read early, and it has been difficult waiting until she was ready... I can be very impatient!

Other than that, we're just puttering along. We read, we watch movies, we play games, the kids build contraptions out of anything they can get their hands on. I did ask them to start math back up soon, just a few lessons a week. They both opted for Saxon math again for now... we'll see how long it lasts! I'm still searching for the perfect science balance for them. We started to look at Aristotle Leads the Way but decided that would be better in another year or so. I'll figure it out eventually. What I need is a website like A Book in Time that has living science books rather than history. While they're not living books, I am considering ordering the e-book versions of Real Science 4 Kids pre-level and level 1 Chemistry, then Biology. The e-books are quite affordable, and I don't need the student lab book or teacher guide since I have a gazillion experiment books that I could easily correlate to the topics covered. I could read the pre-level to Cassia and Cyrus could read level 1, or I could read it with him.

Today we have Second Thanksgiving at my mom's house (we had ours here yesterday, and she had hers at her church). And I work for a few hours tonight. Tomorrow we're off to see the local junior college production of Willy Wonka, and are very much looking forward to it.

Wishing you all a...

And here are some free Thanksgiving resources for homeschooling/enrichment:

Virtual Tour of the First Thanksgiving (also has lesson plans, printables, etc.)

Thanksgiving Crafts Free e-Book

Thanksgiving Then and Now

Historic Recipes

Thanksgiving Printables

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

A (Two?) Week Review in Pictures...

It has been a busy couple of weeks... lots of learning from life!

Driving the RC police car around (yes, it has working lights and sirens)

Crafting paper bouquets from sparkly construction paper

Building a house all on his own (even I couldn't understand the directions)

Being my chef's assistant

More kitchen assistance

And they made brownies themselves (from a packaged mix, but still by themselves)

We checked out a cool museum exhibit called Mad Science

The art installations almost all had moving parts

We went to a glass fusing studio to make ornaments

The kids were impressed with how hot the kiln has to be to fuse the glass, and how long the process takes

We checked out the view from the Golden Gate Bridge after attending a children's symphony. At the symphony, they played one of my children's favorite pieces, Grieg's Hall of the Mountain King from the play Peer Gynt.

We went under the bridge too, where it was a little dark and mysterious, and very noisy

We also attended a homeschool day at another local museum. Here the kids are checking out worms.

Making plaster casts of animal prints

Listening to bird calls

Checking out leaves close-up

In addition to all this activity, we went roller skating with friends, and visited the library for a bilingual storytelling with music. We read from The Saturdays, read some Greek myths, and the kids curled up together in the big chair, laughing hysterically at a book about poop. Cyrus read about Thomas Edison, and continued reading from The Marvelous Land of Oz. I read to Cassia from the Blue Fairy Book. They watched a couple of videos on the human body, and played physics games on the computer-- Crayon Physics and Construction Fall. Cassia has been using Click'N Read Phonics for a few lessons, and is sounding out signs, words on trucks, etc... FINALLY!

We also got the house a lot cleaner, which gave me time to make homemade playdough. I've noticed I am much more motivated when my house is clean! We scented the playdough with Chinese 5 Spice, and Cassia colored it pale green with food coloring. As I type this, they're making various animals and geometric shapes with the dough.

We have a lot coming up in the next few weeks as well. Thanksgiving, of course. Plus we have tickets to see a full length stage production of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. A lovely friend is sending me Oak Meadow 2, on loan, to see if I can incoporate some of it for Cassia. I am searching out a copy of Oak Meadow 4 for Cyrus too, since I think he'd love the science and art, and probably the history too.

I'm in the process of finding, and making, more math games for them as well. The book Homeschool Your Child for Free has lots of good hands-on ideas. And I am trying to make good use of Freely Educate... we're going to take the virtual tour of the First Thanksgiving, and some virtual tours from the National Museum of American History. I also want us to get back to watching our free American history dvds. And we have a pile, or two, of library books to read through. We're officially almost unschooling through December, then in January will reassess and see where we're headed next!

Human anatomy...

My children are fixated on human anatomy, so much so that a friend who had lambs butchered recently saved us a heart for dissection purposes. I decided to put together a unit on anatomy that should take us up to the Christmas break at least!

Books
Basics
Blood and Guts
Eyewitness: Human Anatomy
The Way We Work
Your Skin Weighs More Than Your Brain & Other Freaky Facts
The Wonders Inside the Human Body

Digestion
The Quest to Digest
The Truth About Poop
Gee Whiz! It's All About Pee

Circulatory System
The Circulatory Story
Squirt! The Most Interesting Book You'll Ever Read About Blood

Skeleton (and Muscles)
The Bones Book (& Skeleton)
Muscles: Our Muscular System
Bones: Our Skeletal System

Cells
Enjoy Your Cells!
Germ Zappers
Have a Nice DNA!
Gene Machines

Crafts, Etc.
The Body Book: a hands-on craft book, the kids will create a multi-layered human anatomy model out of paper
Human Anatomy Coloring Book
Dissecting a lamb's heart
Magic School Bus: A Journey into the Human Body science kit
A Guided Tour of the Visible Human
Visible Body

Videos
All About the Human Body series
Bill Nye the Science Guy (selected titles, under "Human")

I'll let you know how it goes. Oh, I also reserved The Boys' Body Book for Cyrus, as he is getting older and has more questions! Makes me feel like he's getting too old too fast, but better that he get answers through me (or M) than elsewhere!

Wordless Wednesday... morning visitors

Another week in review...

We have had a good learning week, and most of it wasn't sit-down-at-the-table learning. Instead, I gave Cyrus and Cassia the freedom to choose, and I have to say, I am pretty impressed with what they've chosen. They would like homeschooling, at the moment, to focus on science and mythology. I'm good with that. Yes, I will still insist on math for both, reading lessons for Cassia, and writing for Cyrus. But, that's it. The rest is up to free choice. Obviously, I am not all about unschooling, and I don't know that I ever will be! But that is okay. I am learning to let go of those pesky "learning standards" the state has, and which I do not have to follow, being a private school.

Anyhow, what we did this week was this:
Language Arts & Literature, etc.:
We started reading A Wrinkle in Time, taking a break from The Borrowers series. I also checked out Gods & Goddesses of Ancient Egypt and the D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths, which we'll start in the upcoming week. Cyrus has started The Marvelous Land of Oz. Cassia and I are still reading our way through The Red Fairy Book, and she did some work on both Progressive Phonics and Starfall. She is going through a phase where she is copying words out of books, mainly fairy books, and then asking me what they say. I think this is pretty good practice for reading and writing!

Cyrus is fascinated by dragons. Some time ago, I taught him how to look up books on the computer at the library. This week I taught him, at his request, how to place books on hold. He found a couple of good books available right away (see the sidebar Amazon widget), and placed two more on hold. He and a friend are planning to search for dragons when they grow up, and are designing armor that will hold the dragon's "acidous" (acidic) saliva and venom at bay.

Math:
Again, more Go Fish, War, and Solitaire, including Clock Solitaire, which my mom taught them. They did a few pages from Math Mammoth, and I got a book called Marvelous Multiplication for Cyrus (at the library). His current goal is to learn enough about multiplication and division to start the Life of Fred series. I dug out my old, battered copy of Family Math and am browsing through it for Cassia-friendly games and activities.

Sciences:
We re-watched the Symphony of Science videos (which we love), and which inspired, at least in part, the current interest in science. I'm adding science videos to my Netflix queque... old Cosmos episodes with Carl Sagan (we watched the first one already), the Life series, and so on. We're going to start reading The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way and following interests from that.

History:
We started New World Explorers (by Homeschool in the Woods) but set it back aside to pursue deeper interests in science and mythology. I'm also looking at Liberty's Kids for them to watch, and they are planning to watch one episode a week of America: The Story of US.

Other:
We attended a 4H Business for Primaries (the younger crowd) meeting, where they learned about library systes, and what it would take to start a community library-- funds, a building (or at least a room), books, a check-out system, fine system, etc. Then we went to Park Day for the first time in a while which was really nice.

And today we went to the Farmer's Market. We drank homemade chai, and got lots of good, fresh veggies and fruit. We looked at beautiful yarn (hopefully I'll be knitting soonish), tasted smoked olive oil and fresh butter, smelled beeswax candles, talked to farmers, and ran into a friend. We planned a week's worth of menus and headed off to the grocery store to finish shopping. Right now, there is a beautiful fig tart baking in my oven, recipe courtesy of Deborah Madison's Local Flavors.

And since I'm freeing up our agenda in learning, I'm finding lots and lots of cool opportunities in our local homeschool community. A field trip to a California history museum, a potential history faire in which to participate, a chance to hear the San Francisco Symphony, another field trip to the local county museum, and to a wildlife preserve. Another trip is in the works to go walnut picking. Regular playdates at a friend's farm in on the calendar. Maybe some regular ice skating too!

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

Halloween 2010

M's Goofy Angry jack o' lantern

My raven/crow jack o' lantern

Cyrus's Spider pumpkin (he carved it entirely himself)

Cassia's Frankenstein (she actually carved about 75% herself)

Vampiress

A cross between the Grim Reaper and a Phantom

Trying out the first project in New World Explorers

What a week!

The week started out badly. I was at work Sunday evening, when I got an emergency call from M. The kids were watching The Karate Kid (new version), and Cyrus had a butter knife in one hand (for what reason I do not know). He was acting out some of the moves, and Cassia stepped up to him, and into the path of the butter knife. It missed her eye by a quarter of an inch, instead hitting the inner corner just at the side of the nose, slicing/impact cutting it to the bone. She bled copiously, and Cyrus hid in his room, crying deperately, and sure he had blinded his sister. Thankfully, we got the bleeding stopped, and the only marks now are a small linear scab and a colorful black eye. I can't imagine what would have happened if the knife had hit her eye! The kids did learn that butter knives are better kept in the kitchen.

Tuesday was another challenging day, as I taught my first 4H class in science. We covered states of matter, including density, air weight, etc., with over 20 small children. Talk about chaos! I have some ideas already for the next meeting (late November) to make things go more smoothly. Despite the hectic atmosphere, we had a lot of fun, and I left feeling like I was on Cloud Nine! Teaching science is indeed where I think I should be as a teacher (besides homeschooling, that is). I did get a lot of parent help, which was all that made the whole thing possible, since we had three stations with five projects going on simultaneously!

Besides all that, my semester is passing quickly. I have a Powerpoint presentation due on Wednesday, in conjunction with 2 other students who were supposed to have emailed me their notes/presentation points by today so that I could finish the Powerpoint itself. Do I have the notes? Nope. I also have a "midterm meeting" with one teacher on Monday that I am not looking forward to. I do have some issues with this particular professor, as she is not clear about expectations until after the fact, and there is a lot of homework each week. Uuuuggggghhhhh. M also had his midterm, and several assignments to complete by tomorrow night. I had another paper due in my child health and safety class, a short paper due Monday, and all the other bits and pieces I have to complete by Sunday midnight.

We're also dealing with health issues with Cyrus, who may have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The RN said there's no real cause, it just happens to some people. Anyhow, it means a lot of stomach (colon actually) pain and cramping. So we're currently treating it as the RN suggested, with probiotics, a fiber supplement, and peppermint/chamomile tea... we chose Tummy Mint from Celestial Seasonings. I had a friend recommend digestive enzymes as well. I'm still doing research on it, and trying to figure out where to go from here. He's had less pain in the last couple of days thankfully.

And then this week, our entire homeschool association board, including myself, resigned in one fell swoop. And announced it officially on Friday morning. The fallout has been better than expected. A few people did complain, one threatened to launch her own board, but most have been supportive. There were a lot of issues leading up to this move... lack of general participation in event planning and board meetings (by the group, not the board members), insurance liability, and so forth. The bottom line is that the group will continue on basically unchanged. They don't really need a board since the Yahoo! group presence is so strong. But, until we got through yesterday, there was a lot of tension and worry in what we were doing.

Homeschooling has kind of fallen by the wayside this week. Honestly, with everything else going on, I'm surprised we got anything done at all. We did read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (an illustrated, child-friendly version). We watched a history documentary on Halloween. The kids did the science projects on Tuesday, after helping me do all the prep work at home and the set-up at the 4H center. They've played Solitaire, Go Fish, and War most days. Cassia tried, and loved, her new ballet class, and Cyrus got back to fencing after a two week absence. They've watched episodes of Head Rush, and colored in their human anatomy coloring books. At this moment, Cyrus is restarting our project from The Body Book, and is planning to complete the entire project, which means we will have a super cool paper model of the human body. I guess it was a good week for child led learning if nothing else!

I am trying to get ahead for next week. I do want to try Time Travelers New World Explorers with the kids, so I got all the paper and other supplies to get going. I downloaded Math Mammoth's full curriculum worktexts to try versus the single subject downloads I already have. I have Viking resources ready at hand, since they were some of the first explorers we'll study, including a fantastic book on Viking crafts, a book of Norse mythology, and Leif the Lucky. I also have lots of gorgeous books on celestial bodies to aid in our space studies (the first part of Dr. Q's Earth science). Now I just have to do some printing and organizing.

We're definately ready for Halloween. We have made our jack o' lanterns, and the kids have their costumes ready. I do work tomorrow, but am off in time to take the kids out trick or treating. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance!

Some Pictures...

The top few pictures are from our recent beach trip, but this one is my "self portrait" from a college class.

Discussing homeschooling...

I am taking, for my credentialing, a class in Schools & Society that is actually pretty interesting! We've gotten to watch a really interesting documentary on the history of education in America, had some good discussions, and read some interesting books. Today, in our continued journey through methods of education, the professor wanted to discuss alternatoves such as charter schools and... you guessed it... homeschooling! She asked if anyone in the class knew anyone that had been homeschooled, and two thirds of the class raised their hands, including me. And of course, before I could stop myself, I blurted out that I do homeschool my kids. She immediately asked me if I would mind getting up and talking in front of the class about it, just sharing the whys and hows we do it. I did so, and found that by sharing, it opened up a great discussion. Turns out another woman, who I've chatted with a few times, homeschooled her kids too, since they were a military family and her daughter had been to 5 schools in 5 years. Her daughter, homeschooled from 5th grade on, went to a local community college at 16, graduated with an Associate's Degree at 19, and is working on a Bachelor's degree, double major, at a UC now.

Anyhow, it was kind of neat. My heart was pounding, as I am not the best public speaker, but the resulting class discussion was definately worthwhile. There was one other woman that had tried homeschooling her children too, but stopped after a year because she was worried about socialization (you can read more about my views on socialization here). We talked about methods, socialization (of course), legal stuff, and more.

And in other news, we currently have no vehicle, which is making life interesting. I was driving Cassia to her new ballet school for a trial lesson, and the engine started shaking every time the truck was at an idle. Suddenly, the temperature gauge shot waaaay up, and smoke started pouring from the exhaust pipe. SCARY! Ended up having it towed home, and no, I don't know yet what's wrong with it. I don't have the money to fix it at the moment either, though my BIL may help with that. In the meantime, lots of bike riding, walking, and buses. Which Cyrus loves. He's been trying, for a year or so now, to get us to have a car-free week. We're almost there! I did borrow my sister's car today to drive out to a friend's house for a homeschool group business meeting, but besides that I haven't driven in a couple of days. I don't miss it as much as I thought I would... yet. I know that time will come! We're are likely going to have to miss a 4H project this week, because it is being held out at the coast.

Other than that, all is well. I talked with a teacher this week and found out that once I have my multiple subject credential, it is only a matter of one more test and one more class to get a single subject as well. I also plan on taking a intensive two week course over the next summer that gives me a "foundational level science credential", allowing me to teach any basic science class for grades K-12. I could totally see myself teaching science (on a part-time basis), more so than teaching (full-time) in an elementary classroom. So that's my plan. I do want all the (three?) credentials because that gives me a better chance of employment in the future. And, for me, the multiple subject one is easier to get as I can do it online through the CalState TEACH program. No classes to attend! (Besides a couple per semester). I also want to take a few science classes, various disciplines but mostly biology, to brush up on things, but I can do that at the very local community/junior college.

I had truthfully gotten a bit down about my future, and all the education I still have looming on the horizon. I thought to get a single subject in science, with an emphasis on biology, that I had a LOT more school left than I really do. And as I mentioned above, having more than one form of credential makes me more employable. I am thrilled that I get to take some science classes, probably even only one a semester... I love science. I may even eventually get a Master's, but that's some way in the future! Anyhow, science teachers are becoming very in demand, so I feel good about that, and for the first time since last spring, I feel excited again!

Oh, and yes, we've been doing some homeschooling too. Bits and pieces here and there, but we're getting it done!

Learning...

Can you believe our first day of "school" was back in September, and we still haven't managed to nail down what historical time period we're focusing on?

As far as nature studies, I came across this great Cornell University opportunity on a mailing list. I plan to order our kit in the next few days. We have a couple of bird feeders, and an active local bird population. The kids are really excited about this!

I also decided we're not nearly focused enough for an "artist of the month" or "composer of the month". Instead I'm thinking quarterly? I hope to take the kids to see a nearby Van Gogh exhibit and I just came across a possible Beethoven resource.

As far as what we've done this last week...

Both kids love, love, love Math Mammoth. While Saxon works, they often complained and dreaded it. Cyrus loves that he can do it himself, as the instructions are written to the child. Cassia likes how clear her goals are with it.

Cyrus did the first lesson in Intermediate Language Lessons, and did well. His only trouble was in telling the story back to me (verbally, not written). He was afraid he needed to instantly memorize it, but once he got the idea that it was more a summary/retelling, he did well.

Cassia worked a lot on Starfall again this week. I gave her a list to work through, of all the letter sounds we're currently using in The Reading Lesson. When she focuses, I can see her building reading skills.

Both completed lesson/chapter 2 in Grammar Land, learning about "Little Article". We also read a bit about the Aztecs, Incans and Mayans. We made really neat boxes, out of playing cards, at 4H (arts and crafts), and participated in the regular community meeting there as well. Cyrus did very well with presenting our community service project, and they got their pins and stripes! They were beaming with pride, and I'm sure I was too!

Besides the official learning, we've been: cooking together; playing a lot of Monopoly, alternating the kids as bankers; playing War, Go Fish, and Solitaire (which my mom taught them); reading; finishing the Coraline audio book (we're getting in a hurry to start the second Harry Potter one); and the kids have spent a couple of hours every late afternoon/early evening riding bikes up and down the sidewalks and any empty driveways with the friendly boy across the street. Cassia was running at one point (she's still a bit unsure on her bike) and fell, grazing her chin. No tears, just a quick clean up and she was good to go! And today we went out to the coast to collect mussells for dinner. The tide wasn't as low as we hoped, but we climbed lots of rocks, got splashed, and just had a yummy meal back at home. Of course, losing my keys out there was NOT fun. Thankfully, we had come in two vehicles, so my good friend W drove me home to pick up the spare set, and then I drove back. Phew!

Tomorrow it is back to work--time and a third pay on Sundays--and back to homework. Hope you all have a good week! I'll share some beach pics later in the week, maybe for a Wordless Wednesday?

Musings...

I think, if you haven't already, that you should visit my friend Jessica's beautiful blog, and read her thought provoking essays under the Clarity tab (or by following my provided link!). She really sums up many of the feelings I have been having about homeschooling lately.

I'll make a confession... while I had loads of plans for this year, we haven't been getting to much of it... there are too many other things to do! But, I can't say I've noticed any downside to not doing it. My kids still seem to be thriving, and are enjoying the time to follow their own interests. In that light, I've deleted my curriculum page, and replaced it with a page on educational goals. I find that what we end up using does not always follow what I had planned, there are too many rabbit trails! For example, I had books all planned for Cyrus to read this year, but instead he picked up my very battered childhood copy of The Wizard of Oz, and read 6 chapters in the last two days. I can't tell him no, that's not the right book!

There are things we are using regularly right now that we're enjoying, and learning from. Among these are Grammar Land: Or Grammar in Fun for the Children of Schoolroom-Shire... and yes, after the first chapter both kids can tell you what a proper versus common noun means. And we're giving Math Mammoth a try, using the Blue Series so we can focus on particular topics. Right now they're on the couch together being fascinated by a pile of old ZooBooks my mom's neighbor (a former homeschooler!) gave them. We pile up in the chair-and-a-half a lot for reading... last night they really enjoyed Sir Cumference and the First Round Table. And they do enjoy Mr Q's Earth Science!

There are other topics I would like to explore with them... I recently came across the author David M. Carroll, and I could see us really enjoying some of his books. I would love to find a good, narrative version of American history for them... I keep considering Hakim's History of US, or Mara Pratt's (much older) American History Stories. But I am never quite satisfied with them. Any suggestions? I think the kids would enjoy the Story of Science (also Hakim). And I know we like A Little History of the World, so I may read that to them in another year. In addition to all the reading, Cyrus would love to try lapbooking. He has a number of books with flaps, envelopes, and so forth, and loves them. Making one for himself would be a great experience, so we'll definately give that a try, but instead of assigning a subject about which he is to make the lapbook, I plan to let him decide. Or maybe I'll finally put that copy of New World Explorers into use!

Other than all that, I am enjoying the last few days of my two week break from work. I can't say it will be easy going back either! I also came to the conclusion that although it will take an extra semester, I will apply for the online credentialing program. I can't see working, going to class a few days a week, homeschooling, AND volunteering 6 hours a week in a school (part of credentialing). That would be too much, even for me! ;) Instead, with the online credentialing, I only have to go to a class a couple of times a semester (maybe only once?), and the rest is self-paced to a point. I can do that!

Edited to add: Had a great moment recently. I filed our Private School Affidavit (one of the legal homeschooling options in California), and it felt fantastic! I'll admit, I felt nervous doing it... was I doing it right? Would they come after me for mistakes? But overall, it was a very good feeling. I did go back right before submitting it, to make one last change, changing my kids from second and fourth graders to ungraded elementary. I'm such a geek, to get so excited about doing something that a number of my friends have been doing for years!

Our vacation...

For our mini-vacation (4 days) we went to the Pinnacles National Monument, stopping by the Mission San Juan Bautista along the way... We had loads of fun camping, despite the yellow jackets and flies, and the heat. We saw tarantulas, condors, blue jays, squirrels, coyote scat, pigs' digging areas, cool volcanic rock formations, caves (we climbed all over the place in those) and more! The kids both earned Junior Ranger badges by completing workbooks back at camp. Because they completed all the activities, learning about local plants, Native Americans, geology, and wildlife, the ranger bumped both up a level, making them Condors instead of Coyotes!








Outside the old Mission church













Inside













Peering into the Mission kitchen














Back inside the church















On the trail













The rocks at Pinnacles














Inside the caves













Condors resting on the rocks (you can just barely see them on the middle rock)














A narrow passage along the trail



















Inside another cave












Finding our way through the depths














The resevoir














A furry friend (?)