A product rave...

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.

Bug 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 Bug 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!

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...

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 Cricket 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.

Cricket 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!

Bug 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.

Cricket 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 Cricket would enjoy. This book is one I really loved as a child, and I think she'll like it too. Bug, 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. Cricket 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 Bug 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 Cricket 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...

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 Cricket 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...

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 Cricket'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...

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...

Bug 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.

Cricket 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?

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 Cricket to sit down for it, but I just chalk that up to her being Cricket. 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! Cricket 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 Bug 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...

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 Bug is off to his first ever sleepover, and Cricket 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 Bug double checked the math. We read Pigs in the Pantry, and Cricket compared quantities of ingredients while Bug 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. Cricket also helped with actual measuring this week as she helped me cook dinner every night.

Language Arts
Bug 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.

Cricket 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. Cricket 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. Cricket 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!

Bug 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
Cassiaricket 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. Cricket and Bug 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. Cricket 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. Cricket's will be The Caterpillar by Christina Rossetti in honor of our caterpillar, Bug 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, Bug will be working on Art and Mythology badges, and Cricket 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...

We are, yes once again, shifting gears a little bit. Bug 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.

Cricket 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 Bug time to delve into and really enjoy Ancient Greece and its mythology, and then Rome... maybe a Norse block as well. And Cricket'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. Cricket 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. Bug really wants to make a complete lapbook at some point, and I think Cricket 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...

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 Bug:

• 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 Cricket 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 Cricket:

• 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 Bug 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:

• Sum Swamp Addition & Subtraction Game
• Pizza Fractions
• Payday

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 Bug, and Apples for Cricket... 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!