It's That Time!

We're starting up this Sunday, even though silly me forgot the library was closed today for the holiday weekend, and ours are never open Sunday/Monday. I have fresh supplies on hand... crayons, coloring pencils, loads of paper, tape, glue sticks, etc., and enough books, etc. to get through until I can make it to the library on Tuesday.

I wrote a one-month guideline (sounds better than "schedule", no?)-- it is only for the basics, with everything else being more free-flowing.

I'm super-excited -- I think this will be a really good year!

Thursday Thoughts... Scheduling...

While I dislike having to follow a schedule, I think, at least in my case, that it is almost necessary. The children have activities they would like to be involved in this year, I have classes one afternoon/evening a week, and work five mornings a week, and so forth and so on. I have thought a lot about different approaches, different schedules, and I think we can work with this...

Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays:
Lunchtime documentary/educational show
Afternoon Basket (literature, social studies, history, living math & science, etc.)
Math
Language Arts
Science, at least a couple of times a week
Rotating special focus: geography; art; music; nature studies; fun science projects; history-related projects; cooking... you know, all the extras we never get to!
Additionally, Mondays will have track and roller derby; Wednesdays track and possibly piano

Tuesdays:
Lunchtime documentary/educational show
And then, just math-related reading, and basic language arts, plus a story or two (I have school this day)

I think this will work. I am purposefully trying to keep it very simple. Less is more, right?

Monday Musings... Let the Countdown Begin!

We'll be ready, I think, to start up next week, full steam ahead! Due to college, track, roller derby, work, etc., we have an "odd" schedule...
Sundays and Mondays will be fairly full homeschooling days
Tuesday will be a basics day (icing on the cake if we get to more!)
Wednesday and Thursday will be like Sundays and Mondays

So, what am I up to this week?

I did menu plan, and shopped accordingly (patting myself on the back). There will be some cooking ahead, and M will have to throw a casserole in the oven when I'm at school myself, but he's always okay with that.

I finally convinced myself, after looking at these Book of Centuries samples, and re-reading a few emails and blog comments, that I can let go of the bulk of history and science planning, and just go with my What If approach. What will we be starting with? Well, at the moment we are finishing a Landmark book that The Boy requested - The Wright Brothers - so The Girl gets a turn next. She is very interested in Sacajawea, so I found a vintage book that looks intriguing... Winged Moccasins: The Story of Sacajawea. Who knows where this will lead? If it peters out after the Sacajawea story, then The Boy is hoping to get through The Early Days of Automobiles! And Cassia mentioned something about ancient Egypt, giving us an excuse to use a unit from Builders of the Old World at some point. For science, we have a new microscope that everyone, M and I included, are dying to play with, so I thought we'd start out our year with The World in a Drop of Water, and Adventures with Freshwater Animals. I'll be having the kids each keep a science notebook this year.

I've got a few documentaries lined up that look good too. And we'll be reading about Leeuwenhoek and the microscope.

Other than that, I've got a line-up of great books from the 12 month guideline in A Picture Perfect Childhood. I finally found a reasonably priced copy of The Complete Book of Marvels for geography. I've got a list of good books I would like to read this year. Math, language arts... all my packages are trickling in, and I am starting to feel pretty good about this year! I have to say, the free 2 day shipping with Amazon Prime is a lifesaver this year, since some of my choices were rather last minute.

Also on the agenda...
~ Trying to get a routine down for housework
~ Weeding and deadheading the front yard
~ Putting together my Afternoon Basket for next week, which means a trip to the library as soon as some more holds are in
~ Getting some basic supplies: heavier weight paper than I have, some more glue sticks, new pencils and erasers, and so forth
~ Homework.. my own, that is. Just reading this week. I've been assigned The True History of the Kelly Gang (fairly fun reading, definitely interesting) for one class, and am working on several parts of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (a wee bit more challenging, I must admit) for another class.

And I think that's it! Hope you all  

Weekly Report... Airshow & More!

I realized I forgot, in all my angst, to post any pictures from the airshow we attended at the beginning of the week, so here you go...

We had a good time, as usual. Definitely not as hot this year as it was last year, which was a relief!

We also read a little more of Landmark Books: The Wright Brothers, finished off Smoky House (which we enjoyed very much), and started The Marvelous Land of Oz.

The kids worked with clay and origami a lot this week, as well as some pastels.

They watched a lot of Mythbusters episodes, the first episode of The Flame Trees of Thika, and Between the Folds (hence the origami).

I started college - graduate school to be precise - this week as well. I was really happy to see someone I knew in my classes, another transplant from Liberal Studies to English! My writing class is not too intensive-looking, though I do still have the monster list to work through by the end of next summer, when I am supposed to pass a one hour oral examination - yikes!

I've gotten about 90% of the materials I have ordered for homeschooling. We're planning to start "officially" the first week of September. And yes, I have a history winner! I finally narrowed it down to a few choices, which I presented to The Boy, since he's my main concern with history, etc., at the moment. I also took to heart the wise words of a friend before approaching The Boy, realizing we do not do well following a rote formula, or a set pattern for what we will study. And equally wise words from another friend, who reassured me that no matter our choice, we'll be fine. Long story short, we will be using any number of vintage books for history over the next year, with the choice of book/topic alternating between the children, but all based off of the Core Knowledge Sequence (solves my worries about "gaps"). We will be doing a Book of Centuries so that they can see how it all fits together. Science has also been at the forefront of my mind... I am not sure how the kids will fare with an entire year of biology. I am thinking of using the Core Knowledge Sequence and BFSU for once a week readings, some hands-on, and interesting discussions, and then having one-two days a week where we can explore other interests, like dissection, which happens to be the main reason the kids agreed to biology!

See? All that stress for nothing!

Other than that, I am working on menu planning again. This is going to be absolutely essential, with college, and with The Boy trying out cross-country track this fall. He has to be at practice two evenings a week, and Saturday mornings, one evening of which immediately precedes The Girl's roller derby practice. M and I have split up the parent volunteer time for track, with M taking Mondays (so I can feed The Girl and get her ready for her practice), and I will have Wednesdays and Saturday mornings. So I've brought out my crock-pot again, and a few crock-pot cookbooks, plus I am re-exploring this site. And when I menu plan, there is the side benefit of keeping within my budget!

And M got all his apparatus removed...

He's now working hard on stretching the muscles back out, and building strength in his now puny arm....

Anyhow, it was a decent week. Nothing terribly exciting, besides the airshow, but nothing traumatic either!

Thursday Thoughts... Dratted History >:(

I have firmly decided on math, language arts, a literature study, and science. I have books in place, a schedule of library books to reserve (for the lit study), all my spiffy new science supplies... everything is falling into place, except history. Somehow I really feel really blocked on this subject this year. I am torn between wanting to go a bit more on the classical side, and wanting to allow my kids more freedom in what they study. The Boy has about three years left before he hits "high school" age, and I want to make sure he is prepared both for high school, and eventually college. I have managed to narrow it down to about
fourfive options... now if I can just choose one!

Option 1: K12's Human Odyssey - I like this because it is like an advanced version of SOTW. There are three volumes covering prehistoric to modern times, and then they also have an American Odyssey that looks really good. IF we use this, and I stick with Elemental Science, I would have the next four to five years covered, AND I think it would give the kids an excellent foundation. However, what if they get bored, and stop learning? And I'm not ever sure about such long-term planning.

Option 2: Oxford University Press' World in Ancient Times, and World in Medieval/Early Modern Times. I do love these books, and how in-depth they are. I like the idea that we could focus on one cultural region for a while rather than jumping around. However, they only go through early modern times, and then I would have to find something else entirely! Now, someone did make a schedule for combining options 1 and 2, and I am considering that, but at the same time, that might be a lot to get through! Of course, if I stretch out Human Odyssey volumes 1-3 over 4 years, we could even work in some historical fiction and really soak it all in... hmmmm....

Option 3: Kind of a take-off on option 2. Choose a few volumes of the OUP books, and use those as a basis for unit studies... maybe (all Ancient) Greece, Rome, China, and South Asia (India). I also have a plethora of books that would go along well with these, such as Famous Men of Greece, etc. Then, the following year, we could pick up with some more of the books, such as The Ancient American World...

Option 4: To use the Core Knowledge sequence, at an increased rate (2 grades per year roughly). I like that this would cover both world and American history, but am not sure how the increased pace would work. I would want to start more or less at the beginning, rather than jumping into it "at grade level" because they would miss so much.

Option 4: Allow them to follow interests. The good side of this would be that they would have a vested interest in what they are learning. However, I worry about gaps and especially, follow-through. I had thought of using Option 1 once a week, and then allowing for other studies the rest of the week, which could be related to the weekly [K12] reading, OR something else that they are interested in.

Of course, I have plenty of other resources on hand, such as A Little History of the World, Builders of the Old World, Horrible Histories, and The Rainbow Book of American History.

Monday Musings... Another Week...

I'm a bit apprehensive this week, since I am starting grad school tomorrow! In the meantime, I am creating a menu plan for the week, writing a grocery list, and getting some nitty-gritty details down for our official homeschool year, which starts in only two weeks! And I'll admit, I'm reading through a lot of "junk" fiction (you know, what Charlotte Mason would call "twaddle") before I have to tackle this list.

On the agenda for the week...
* Roller derby for Cassia
* Getting piano lessons set up for September
* Back to menu planning and more careful grocery shopping
* Waiting on books and science supplies to arrive
* Making sure over the next couple of weeks that I have everything in place for homeschooling this fall - books in the book basket, appropriate things placed on hold at the library, etc.
* Maybe: swimming with friends again
* Getting all the apparatus removed from M's arm!!! (tomorrow!)
* Cleaning, sorting, decluttering
* Finishing up the very last chapter of Smoky House, then starting The Marvelous Land of Oz for bedtime reading
* Keep working on establishing routine!

Should be a good week, albeit a fairly busy one! I hope everyone else has a good week too!

Weekly Report... Where Did the Week Go?

I cannot believe it is Friday already! Another week has flown by, and I know I didn't quite get through my goals for the week...

~ Establishing a routine.... About halfway there
~ Getting my project/experiment book basket set up
~ Switching out some books in my Afternoon Basket
~ Finish cleaning the kitchenand get the living room done (I am deep cleaning one room at a time)
~ Go swimming at a pool with friends!
~ Try to get out hiking again over the weekend, or maybe even mid-week
~ Get geared up for the big airshow that happens around here next weekend!

Well, not too bad, since we did make progress this week! Additionally, we:
~ read from The Wright Brothers
~ finished reading both Smoky House and Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great
~ watched some nature documentaries
~ ate lots of tomatoes and zucchini from our garden
~ had The Boy give The Girl an art lesson
~ decided where to start in history in a couple of weeks!

I also shopped this week, which I generally loathe doing. I had to finally buy some new pants, at M's insistence, having gone from a size 18 at my heaviest to a size 10 now. As a "reward", I also got the bulk of our homeschool shopping done for the year... a new math book for The Girl, some fun history supplements, and a bunch of science equipment from Home Science Tools. We're really looking forward to trying out biology this fall! I consider this purchase a great investment...

Pretty spiffy, isn't it? I'm hoping it will at least get us through the next few years of science - it should!

Anyhow, it has been a good week, though it really went too fast. Next week, we'll work more on adding in subjects/establishing our fall routine, and having some end-of-summer fun naturally. I think more swimming and some blackberry picking are tentatively on the agenda.

Hope you all had a good week too!

Thursday Thoughts...

I've been drooling over the World in Ancient Times set from Oxford University Press... debating whether to go through all of them, or select volumes, and what order... but today, the kids solved that one for me We've been listening to Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and both The Boy and The Girl are very interested in the mythology, story background, etc.

So we'll start with ancient Greece! We've done quite a lot in the past with prehistory, Egyptian and Mesopotamian studies, so I think this will be a good follow-up to those. I'll be adding in a lot of mythology stories, in part because The Boy really wants to take the National Mythology Exam this year. I do plan to add in a good version of the Iliad, Odyssey, and all that.

I'd like to follow that up with studies of ancient China, India (a country The Girl is fascinated by), and Rome. Maybe one each quarter of our year? We'll have to see how Greece goes first.

So, if you know of some fabulous resources for ancient Greece, please share!

Wordless Wednesday... Post-Swim Art Lessons

The Girl asked The Boy for some art lessons, so he worked with her (very patiently and sweetly!) on a single vanishing point perspective.

(I mentioned the post-swim because The Girl has huge wet patches on her shirt from her braids, and they look a bit odd if you don't know what they are!)

Monday Bits & Pieces...

Not as smooth a title as Monday Musings, but oh well! It feels more bits and pieces today.

Yesterday, we headed out to a free mini-workshop offered by Lowe's. The kids got to construct a dragon (the dragon in the Shrek movies) from a simple kit. Hammers were involved, so it was fun!

I'm back at work this week, regular hours, more or less. My boss and I did adjust my schedule a bit, so I work 5 hours on Mondays, and 4 hours a day the rest of the week. I will have an occasional longer day here and there, as my target is 1000 hours per year. Since M is home, the kids are only heading off to my mom's house a couple of days a week right now. Things are definitely a bit different when I have work... and I am going to try from today on to establish a good rhythm to our days, perhaps something like this:

~ When I/we get home, I will have the kids do a couple of chores each while I make lunch.
~ While we eat, we can watch a documentary.
~ Everyone clears up their dishes, and then we settle in for some reading from the Afternoon Basket (which yes, I am putting into full use this week. I decided to add it another subject or two a week over the next couple of weeks rather than starting up out of nowhere in September.)
~ Then, they can play while I get my workout and some housework out of the way, before tackling dinner, etc.

I'd like to establish this routine now, and get everyone into the groove soon, since next week I go back to school myself, and September is drawing near!

This week's agenda:

~ Establishing a routine
~ Getting my project/experiment book basket set up
~ Switching out some books in my Afternoon Basket
~ Finish cleaning the kitchen, and get the living room done (I am deep cleaning one room at a time)
~ Go swimming at a pool with friends!
~ Try to get out hiking again over the weekend, or maybe even mid-week
~ Get geared up for the big airshow that happens around here next weekend!

It should be a good week. And just for fun, here is a recipe for the recent family favorite...

Quinoa Salad

Quinoa:
Rinse 1 cup quinoa well. Add to 2 cups boiling water, bring back to a full boil, then cover and simmer about 15 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Put quinoa in a bowl, and chill.

Once the quinoa is chilled, add the following:
About 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved, or larger tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup fresh salsa
About 3/4 cup cooked corn kernels (I like grilling corn for this recipe)
1 avocado, cut into small cubes
A good handful of chopped cilantro
A squeeze of lemon juice
About 1 Tbsp. good olive oil
A few dashes cumin, salt, and pepper

Mix well, return to fridge until nice and cold. You can serve this by itself, with meat or shrimp or black beans, over mixed salad greens, etc. Yum!

Hope everyone has a good week!

Update to Yesterday's Drama...

My mom just texted me, and said she was not trying to ignore me yesterday... her phone was dead and she neglected to plug it in. Anyhow, she also said that she will always love me, and everyone needs to find their own path.

I am so, so relieved.

And I finally solved my history and science dilemmas. Once a week, I'll "expose" them to history and science through K12's Human Odyssey and Dr. Nebel's Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. The rest of the time?
Well, we'll just be going child/interest-led in these areas, with history books like these, and living books for science. I will be "requiring" one science documentary, of their choice, and one history documentary, again of their choice, during each week. I'm making a secondary book basket that will have all our project/experiment books in it, ready for curious minds, and hoping for some good hands-on this year!

For history, the rest of the time, we are going interest-led, using vintage books, documentaries and movies, literature, and so forth. For science, we're going to finally, really give Elemental Science's Biology (logic stage) a good try. The kids are quite excited about it! And with this approach, I can still use this wonderful schedule (switching their Fridays to our Sundays).

I feel tons better today. And thank you all SO much for your kind words yesterday. You all gave me the courage to stick to my guns, and the knowledge that I am not alone in this. It means the world to me.

I just don't know...

Yesterday was a very bad day. Let me give you a little background first...
Some years back, my sister started attending a church. She found she was happy there, and after a while, my mom started going too. They love their church, and kept inviting me. I finally went, I liked it pretty well, and so I started going, with my family. However, I never felt quite at home, and there are some things about the religion itself that I do not agree with. And so I decided I wanted to take a break. To figure out what MY desires in all this were. And I took the chicken route, and emailed them.

In hindsight, that was a terrible way to approach it.

They are angry with me. My sister is constantly sending me messages through various platforms to convince me that I am mistaken. My mother thinks I lied to her about ever liking the church in the first place. Meanwhile, I am depressed and afraid. I love my mom and sister, and this is the closest we have been in years. I don't want to lose that.

I did go over and talk to them in person yesterday. And left more confused than ever. Half the time I was there, they acted just as always before... chatting about this or that, and then the other half of the time, they accused me of lying, and tried to defend their faith.

I am glad they have found a spiritual home. Now I am afraid though that if I choose something different, I shut myself off from them. I told them of this fear, to which they have not directly responded. And now my husband is furious with them, and me, because I am so upset over all this. And I feel guilty (yes, I know I shouldn't, except for the way in which I approached this), but I am very good at feeling guilty.

And I still can't make up my bleeping mind about history and science, with less than a month to go before I planned on starting our next year. All the confusion and emotions whirling around in my mind aren't helping.

Here's what I have on hand - yes, I own ALL this stuff! And our background...

History:
We have never really done chronological history, but have studied bits and pieces of a number of eras. I can't decide, with The Boy in sixth grade already, if we need something more coherent, or if we can just keep following interests. The kids and M are no help with this, since they are "good with whatever" I choose.

1. K12's Human Odyssey, volume 1
2. The first couple of Famous Men of... books
3. Builders of the Old World
4. The Rainbow Book of American History
5. The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia
6. The first couple of units from the Time Travelers series from Homeschool in the Woods
7. The Core Knowledge What Your X Grader Needs to Know books 
8. Several volumes of the World in Ancient Times from Oxford University Press
9. Probably some other stuff I am forgetting about.

Science:
Same kind of background, same issues. Should The Boy, at this age, be studying one branch of science at a time? Or a more varied approach?

1. Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding
2. Elemental Science's Logic Stage Biology
3. A number of living books like The World in a Drop of Water, The Story Book of Science, etc.
4. Lots and lots of hands-on experiment/project books
5. The Story of Science along with the Student Activity Guide
6. 6. The Handbook of Nature Study
7. Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry and Biology (both Level 1) 
8. The Core Knowledge What Your X Grader Needs to Know books 

I run my brain in circles around all this. One day, I think we should start more rigorous science (biology for example), and chronological history, so that the kids are familiar with the flow of history. The next day, I think we should just follow their interests, of which The Boy has many, and The Girl... well, not quite so much. I know I'll figure it out... eventually.

I just hope things get better from here.

Excursions: Six Flags!

Last spring, the kids participated in the Read to Succeed program offered by Six Flags. They each earned a free admission ticket to the park, so yesterday we headed out for a day of fun! We ended up footsore and sunburned, but it was a great day!

Watching penguin antics

I love giraffes!

The most gigantic snow cones ever! Even with only two of them, all four of us couldn't finish them off!

Lots of rides and animal shows, lots of sun, and people, and favorite Looney Tunes characters! We also learned a lot about animal conservation - each animal show was preceded with an informative talk about the importance of the animal in the show. The kids also got to pet, feed, and play tug-of-war with an elephant! (The elephant won)

Monday Musings... What Do You Think?

Just looking for feedback on my current plans for upcoming history and science. I still need to nail down a few details, but I think this will allow for a good mix of books, hands-on, and freedom to explore interests.

My plan at the moment for science and history is as follows - I will be requiring them to do A-D each week in each category:

History (still torn on the "spine", down to four choices - Core Knowledge books OR the Rainbow Book of American History OR Builders of the Old World OR K12's Human Odyssey Volume 1). [Note: We'll be watching CNN Student News most days, and reading various "picture" books related to important dates/famous people/events/etc., as well.]

A: A reading (selected by me) to expose them to history topics.

B: A documentary or movie of choice

C: A project of choice. I have this handy-dandy book to help with that., OR they can draw a picture and write something, which I may require anyhow. If it is a simple project, we couold get it done in a day. If not, they can spread it out over a couple of weeks or so.

D: A story to go with history they are interested in. Could be historical fiction, or a vintage book. Just a chapter or two each week.

Science (BFSU, OR Real Science 4 Kids, OR Elemental Science's Biology for Logic Stage)

A: A reading (selected by me) to expose them to science topics. If we go with BFSU, I'll read a library book aloud to both, and then ds11 will read through a corresponding entry in the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia.

B: A documentary of choice

C: An experiment of choice. I have lots of experiment books on hand. dd9 will have to draw/label a picture of experiments, and ds11 will be keeping a lab book.

D: Nature walk and journaling. Plus regular reading from living nature books.


**What I am visualizing is something like this...**

Day 1: 20 minutes approx. EACH reading from history and science

Day 2: A science project to be done. A history documentary during lunch, or an evening movie.

Day 3: Start work on a history project, or timeline work, or drawing. A science documentary during lunch.

Day 4: A few chapters from a book of their choice for history, and a nature walk with journaling. 

EDITED TO ADD: I love, love, love the look of This Week in History! Thank you Eddie (over at The Usual Mayhem)! I am thinking that it would dovetail very nicely with book suggestions from A Picture Perfect Childhood.

Excursions...

Samuel P. Taylor State Park

 Some creekside explorations

 And lovely flowers

A special bond

Checking out rock formations

And giant tree trunks

View from the top of one ridge

Another lovely afternoon out hiking. I'm so glad this is a hobby/activity we have started up again!