Wordless Wednesday... Derby Bout!

Some professional shots from Cricket's first bout!

And she loved it... can't wait to do it again!

Monday Musings... Memorial Day...

First of, hope you all have a 

As for our plans, we're barbequing today. The Girl is going to play around with some phonics games, and The Boy will practice piano. I'm cleaning house! A friend is coming over to fix the brakes on the car, in exchange for which we will feed him. And we're gearing up for the week ahead - laundry, baths, etc. I am hoping it will be warm enough today for the kids to play in the pool.
Hope you are all having a good (and safe) holiday weekend!

A Couple of Good Links...

I thought I would share a couple of blog posts/articles that have helped clarify my own thinking lately...

About Those Dreaded Gaps

and

What You "Should" Know

Enjoy!

Weekly Report... Celebrating!

Another year "completed", more or less... So we headed out for an afternoon of fun and relaxation with my mom and sister, along with a fantastic picnic, plenty of sunshine, and a quiet riverside beach.

They collected many rocks, some of which The Boy sent skipping merrily across the water; watched ducklings with fascination; and discovered that swimming downstream with the current is much easier (and faster) than swimming against the current!

Other than that, we are enjoying reading Children of Green Knowe, The Ordinary Princess, Treasure Island, and Swallows & Amazons. We have watched From Time to Time, another episode of America: The Story of US, Microcosmos, and now The Tale of Despereaux, among other things.

The Boy has been busy with building models and designing cars (birthday gifts), as well as finishing The Basilisk's Lair (Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist), and starting The Son of Neptune.

The Girl is still my personal assistant in the kitchen. she's also spending a lot of time lately creating with clay. She may not draw as well as her brother, but her sculptures are really good! She's enjoying her short break from reading practice... we'll start back up with that next week.

I am for the most part satisfied with what we/they have learned over the last year, and am excited about the next one! Don't forget to drop by Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for more weekly reports!

Thursday Thoughts... On Summer Break...

Since we started out the week with no school, we've decided to start our summer break NOW. We're relaxing entirely this week and next, and then we'll start our "summer school" officially.

So what are we up to while relaxing? The kids have been playing in our pool nearly every day, although yesterday was just too windy and a tad chilly. So instead we watched a movie...

Which was actually quite good! I always get nervous about books made into movies, especially books that I loved as a child. Watching this movie also led us to start reading one of my all time favorite books...


 
We also watched episode four of America: The Story of US, regarding the division occurring between the North and South just prior to the Civil War. Watching it led to a very interesting conversation about slavery, factory workers, and general living conditions at those times.


Settle something for me... are my kids too young for Gone With the Wind (the movie)? I read and watched it in 5th grade, but M insists they are too young.

Okay, yeah, after reading my comments and thinking some more about it, they are probably too young. Maybe we'll just read this instead.Or even just leave it alone for now, since they have the basic idea down from the documentary...

Today, we are off to a riverside beach with my mom and sister, to celebrate the end of another year. How do you celebrate the end of each year? Any plans for Memorial Day? I know our plans include avoiding crowds, so no beach on Monday... maybe redwoods instead!

Eleven years...

Eleven years have passed since I first beheld my amazing son... 

 Eleven years of goofy smiles, great big hugs, and lots of love.

HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY WISHES TO MY BOY!

Weekly Report... Field Trip & Flowers...

It is always good when the week starts with a field trip! We went to the Living History Day at the Petaluma Adobe... a recreation of rancho life in the 1840's. One of my personal favorites as far as time periods go.

Here is a Now and Then kind of picture. The shot on the left is from the previous time we did this... a few years ago. My kids look so small in that picture next to the bust of General Vallejo!

Of course, even before we went up the path to the building, The Boy found something he liked! 

 

Crossing the "troll" bridge

And our first glimpse of where we were headed...

Once we got there, we ran into friends almost immediately! We filled out our "passports", and started off with candle making.











It took quite a number of trips around the giant pot to complete the candles. The Boy and I made skinnier candles than The Girl and my mom.

 We checked out all the various things you can make from cow hair, horn, and so forth...

The kids tried their hand at weaving on a loom...

And dancing! Now they'll be ready for the Fandango in October.

Spinning was fascinating! The lady doing it made it look so easy.

And finally, we tried our hand at basket making, with decent results. The kids now want me to buy more basket making supplies at the craft store, so that they can practice for next year.

And just for good measure, a small collection of other photos from the day.

You might ask what else we did this week!

 

We had a moth hatch from a pupae we dug up out in our front garden. We set it free (The Boy named it Jake by the way)!

And speaking of the front garden...

We have blueberries and poppies...

And columbine with a bee...

And my new blue columbine!

Not to mention lavender, foxglove, lobelia, sweet alyssum, and geraniums!

We also did some "schooly" stuff. We did some Math Mammoth-- The Boy worked on decimals and fractions, The Girl worked on fractions, and an addition/subtraction review.

The Boy also worked on spelling, and this week voluntarily wrote sentences that were over ten words long each, for the most part! He started reading Grimm's Grimmest Fairy Tales, and is really enjoying it!

The Girl read from both Phonics Pathways, and Reading Pathways. She unfortunately did a fairly poor job on a reading assessment (I found it at Sonlight), and while we won't be doing another one of those for some time, I am hoping that this will be the thing that gives her more reason to really focus on her phonics work.

I started reading Twig to The Girl, and Swallows & Amazons to The Boy.

We read more of String, Straightedge & Shadow, as well as The Magic of Reality, A Thousand Years of Pirates, Treasure Island (we are LOVING this book!), and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

We've decided to go ahead and start wrapping up for the year. We'll take a week (and a half) off after finishing up a few things (see below), and then start up our summer studies.

To be completed before we can call it done:
Finish our study of geometry
 Watch the remaining episodes of America: The Story of US
Finish reading The Magic of Reality and Giants of Science: Darwin
Read the remainder of A Thousand Years of Pirates, and Treasure Island

I'm going to start printing out activity pages, etc., from this fun-looking math freebie I got for summer use.

The Boy is excited that we're going to make good use of our summer with Totally Irresponsible Science! It really is a great book, and I'm betting we'll get through most, if not all, of the 64 experiments before summer is over.

I have put the first of my California history read aloud books on hold at the library. And we're planning out some great field trips. The kids are very excited about seeing history, not just hearing about it!

Hope everyone else had a good week! As always, head over to Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for more weekly wrap-ups!

I'll stop whining now...

Thank you for the kind replies to my post yesterday! After talking it over with M, and the kids,  doing a lot of soul searching, weighing all the options, etc., I have finalized my decision. Remember this sample weekly schedule? It allots ONE hour for actual history a week. For that one hour, I am going with an overview of world history.

The rest of the time? Well, there's an hour (or more!) for literature each day. And with that hour, and then some, we can explore RABBIT TRAILS! (Thank you Jessica... you're right on the money. If I "schedule" anything/everything, we'll definitely get "off track").

I think it is the best of both worlds--they will get their exposure to chronological history, and fascinating cultures, AND they will get to explore their interests.

Phew! Thanks for sticking with me through all my ups and downs!

Monday Musings... Would you...

I am bouncing around a couple of ideas in my head regarding history, and would love some feedback on my craziness!

Idea 1: Start at the beginning with ancient history (looking at Human Odyssey Vol. 1 or World in Ancient Times). Go through history chronologically, then tackle American history (looking at the Concise Editions of A History of US, or American Odyssey)... maybe 4 years total.

Idea 2: Using the same resources as above, and doing American history September through December, world history from January through May/June. Repeat for a few years until we get through it all.

Idea 3: Just read through something shorter, like A Little History of the World this upcoming year, and then decide where to head with studies after that. At least the kids will be familiar with the overall flow of history!

A Great Giveaway...

 Everyday Snapshots is hosting a great art giveaway - head on over and check it out!

7 Quick Takes Friday (i.e. a weekly report of sorts)...

Trying something new today, rather than my more standard weekly report.

1.

Got informed today that yes, I will get a student grant for for Master's program. Phew! I really dislike the idea of any more debt (known as student loans), so this was wonderful news. Now I just need to get a head start on my immense reading list!

2.

We're very much enjoying a plethora of books this week...

3.

 Our garden is growing by leaps and bounds. I added another three heirloom tomato plants, and some more squash. We're anticipating a bountiful harvest! All the outdoor time is good for us, mentally and physically. In the front yard, my lavender plants are all in bloom, my dahlias are coming up, and I'm finally seeing honey bees everywhere - they seem late this year.

4.

After a lot of thought, and discussion, we have decided that if circumstances (money) permit, we're going to go back to Teaching Textbooks for math. I want to make sure I am not leaving gaps in math anywhere, and this is a program both kids like. I'm trying very hard to streamline and simplify for next fall, so that we have time for all the fun things, and still a solid education.

5.

Geometry is a big hit around here! I hated it in high school, was afraid of it actually, so it is important to me that my children not be frightened of it too. They spent maybe an hour on Tuesday just sketching geometry in nature. The book String, Straightedge & Shadow is fascinating - I can't recommend it enough!

6.

Cassia continues to adore roller derby! And it is such good exercise for her! She's going to skate in her first official bout in a few weeks, and is very excited.

In reading, she's making some good progress. I am loving the combination of Phonics Pathways and Reading Pathways, and in fact am coming to realize that part of the problem may have been tracking issues. Both these books build tracking skills incrementally, and her reading is getting smoother and more fluid with all this practice.

7.
In other news, I have passed the 40 pound mark in my weight loss journey! While I have had a few ups and downs, overall my eating has really improved, and I feel so much better.  Budget-wise, we're doing well. M got a raise (yaaaay!), and we're cautious about spending. Household-wise, I really need to get back on top of all the daily housework. It is not looking good right now, and when the house is messy, we're grumpier, and get less done in general.

Hope you all had a good week! Check out more 7 Quick Takes Fridays here, and more weekly reports here.