Wishing Everyone...

A Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday Musings... What We've Been Up To...

I know I've been pretty much missing in action on my blog lately! We've been fairly busy, with homeschooling and life in general. So here's a combo Monday Musings and What We've Been Up To post!

Outside My Window...
We had a couple of days of good heavy rain last week, followed by high winds. A tree came down at work, and another at M's school - thankfully no major damage in either location. I had to take my wind-chimes down during the worst of it! Today is clear, sunny, and cold. I know 55 degrees is not considered cold in many regions, but here it is!

In My House...
We're prepping the house for the holiday season this week. We're still getting rid of stuff too! Today my goal is to go through the box of free homeschooling materials I was given three or four years ago, and just get rid of as much as possible, unless it is something I really, really think we will use! But as it has now been sitting under The Girl's desk for all that time, virtually untouched, I think most, if not all of it, can go.

In My Kitchen...
I'm trying really hard to stick to a grocery budget. And with prices these days, and being fairly picky about the foods we eat, it is not easy. We'll be eating Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's after all, and I get to bring desserts!

In Our Homeschooling...
We're taking this week off, and then picking back up where we left off for the first 2-3 weeks of December. Here's a quick wrap-up of what we've been doing. There's been math most days (Saxon). The Girl is practicing her reading with Old Mother West Wind (which according to the Lexile level is at her grade level, a first for her!) -- she does most of the reading, though I help her with the rough spots. She's been writing funny little cards and leaving them around the house for us to find too. The Boy is working on a descriptive paragraph, from Write With the Best, and he's been making many pages of diagrams for a future project he and a friend are working on. Together, we've been very much enjoying The Magic of Reality, and all the rabbit trails we've found! We watched Walking With Cavemen, and listened to an amazing 15 year old, self-taught polyglot on YouTube when Dawkins talked about the evolution of languages. We read a bit of The Early Human World, and The Girl surprised me when she searched through the Walking With Beasts series for "the episode with the austrolopithecus in it. I know I've seen it!" (And yes, she found it.) And we enjoyed an art project. I am extremely happy with homeschooling these days!

Bits & Pieces...
The Boy's toe has healed enough that he will be trying out the Teen/Adult fencing class tonight! And I think I might take the kids to see the second Percy Jackson movie tomorrow afternoon while M is at school. The Boy says he wants "to see how badly they messed it up", since the first didn't follow a lot of the book's storyline, though it was still an enjoyable enough film. I've almost finished The Boy's scarf, so I went ahead and started The Girl's as well. I'm going to be taking apart the very first scarf I made, which was for myself, to remake it, as I'd like it narrower and longer.

Have a good week!

Art Projects...

We finally got back to art! I chose a simple project from the New Augsburg Drawing Book, using warm tones for one version of the picture, and cool for the other. The kids (and I) really enjoyed this project, and will be doing more from these books (free on Google!)

Here is The Girl's piece - sorry it is a little blurry!

As you can see, The Boy decided to combine the color drawing with some work in perspective!

 And yes, I made one too. I had fun layering the crayon!

There are plenty more projects in the book I linked above. The author describes the exercises as "painting with crayons", and you only use eight colors, ever... black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple --- the basic 8-pack of Crayola. We used art paper for this, with a heavier texture than regular paper.

Wishing My Husband A...

EIGHTEEN years today! Marriage may not always be a smooth ride. It may not always be easy. But it is very definitely worth the effort, and I hope we have many more anniversaries to come!

Monday Musings

Outside My Window...
We're expecting rain this week, though right now it is chilly and sunny. The leaves are falling off the apple tree, and the cherry tree is almost completely bare. Time to cut the hydrangeas and a few other plants back to near ground-level!

In My Yard...
The Girl helped me out a lot yesterday. We "winterized" the chicken hutch, cleaning it all out, rearranging the roosts, putting a new "roof" in place (okay, a big sheet of plywood), and we dug a small drainage ditch to help reduce the amount of puddling when it rains. The Girl then cleaned the guinea pig cages, and we moved them from their semi-sunny, semi-shady spot on the back patio to the garage for the winter, where they will have more warmth, and protection from the rain.

In My Home...
Would you believe we are still getting rid of stuff? I guess years of being almost a packrat takes a while to undo. I am just so sick of so much stuff everywhere! And I finally have M and the kids fully on board. If it is outgrown, or a baby book, or a baby toy, or something that was given to us that we don't really care for, etc., etc., it has got to go. Yes, we're keeping some things as keepsakes, but not very much, only the really special items!

In My Kitchen...
I love getting three meals from one roast chicken! We had roast chicken and yummy veggies one night, chicken pot pie (made by M) another, and tonight we're having chicken soup. I made the broth pretty much this way (no feet or gizzards though), and it made the entire house smell absolutely fantastic yesterday!

Crafty Stuff...

A rare picture of the elusive M!

I finished M's scarf and started one for The Boy. I'm already about halfway through. M bought me a new sketchbook and some pencils, to encourage me to get back into drawing. After an accident at the park (details below), I am also putting together natural car and house first aid kits, so I want to make this all-natural substitute for Neosporin. And I want to get started soon on some goodies to give away at Christmas... I just have to decide what to make!

In Our Homeschooling...
I am trying to decide if maybe The Magic of Reality, wonderful book though it is, is too broad a focus for a block study. There are just so many tangents and points of interest... I don't know. Maybe something smaller, like The World in a Drop of Water would be easier to actually implement? We're reading from The Magic of Reality, but we're not really doing anything with it, you know what I mean? Hmm... I also challenged The Boy to work on another photo project or two, and I have an art project from The New Augsburg Drawing Book in mind. I also want The Boy to practice guitar at least a few times this week, and maybe M will have The Girl's guitar ready soon too!

So, the Accident...
At our Friday park days, there are a couple of moms I like to go for a quick walk and talk with, while other moms, who prefer to hang out and chat, keep an eye on the kids. We took off on our little loop, and before we got very far, my cell phone started ringing. It was J, The Boy's best buddy, letting me know there had been a " terrible scootering accident". We all immediately headed back, and there was my boy, sitting on the ground, gripping his foot, surrounded by concerned friends. He and his buddy somehow crashed into each other (something about someone's wheel getting stuck in the mud next to the paved trail, and the other unable to stop in time), and through The Boy's shoe, half his big toe nail got torn off. There was blood everywhere, and he was sobbing. Luckily, we have very well-prepped mamas, and they doctored him up in no time. Arnica tablets under the tongue every 15 minutes for pain and swelling, lots of fresh water rinsing, application of yarrow powder and bandaging. The Boy was totally bummed because he then missed an in-house fencing tournament on Saturday, AND he won't be able to try out the teen/adult fencing classes until it has healed a bit more -- there is a lot of toe use in fencing! However, he is healing beautifully now. This whole incident has made me aware that I need to be better prepared, not just assume my friends will cover things when there is an accident.

Hope you all have a good week!

Art on the Fridge...

Artist for November: Jan Vermeer

I decided to put up two pieces of Vermeer's work this week, just to look at when getting some juice, or even walking past the refrigerator. I have a book to read too, when we get around to it. A special thanks to Mark Harden's Artchive for having so much artwork right there at the click of a mouse!

Next week, I have another couple of pieces to put up. I am not requiring any particular response... I simply want my kids exposed to great art!

Focus on Sciences... Week 1...

It was our first week of focusing primarily on one subject (besides the daily basics of math and writing/reading), and I think it went quite well!

The Main Focus This Week

In it this week, we read about DNA, Gregor Mendel, Darwin, evolution and natural selection, the time it takes light to travel, Watson and Crick, and much more. There are so many possible jumping off points in this text!

We also read and watched...

No hands on projects quite yet, but we'll get there! We did have some fantastic discussions as we read, and I hope these in-depth talks continue!

The Basics This Week

Ummm... yeah. Once again, Fred has been set aside in favor of the old classic Saxon Math. Neither kid felt they're getting enough practice with Fred, so that's that. We did play a rousing round of Totally Tut, which The Boy loved (he won) and The Girl was so-so about (as she didn't win). I personally think it is a great game as it really encourages, requires in fact, some good mathematical thinking.

The Boy worked on free writing this week, and we'll be getting back to Write With the Best next week. The Girl read out loud every day, and wrote letters to everyone in the house.

And The Rest of It

It was collage and painting week for The Girl, who spent a fair amount of time cutting up old magazines, and painting...

The Boy worked on scooter repair this week, completely dismantling an old scooter, meticulously cleaning every part of it, and then he will be reassembling over the next week. He and his best buddy have also been "hired" to repair (his friend) and repaint (The Boy) another friend's scooter.

We watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind for this week's movie night, and the kids loved it! I'll gladly take recommendations for other good movies.

We read some more of the third Harry Potter book, The Girl and I read more of the Story of Dr. Dolittle, and The Boy read everything from car repair manuals to Calvin and Hobbes.

Coming Up

More of The Magic of Reality. We may add in some biographical reading about Darwin. I've decided to adapt a friend's art of the week approach, and choose an artist of the month. Each week, I'll place a [new] printout of the artist's work on the fridge for the kids to study or not. This month I think we'll study Vermeer.

More Bill Nye videos for sure. Some hands-on art. Saxon Math, daily writing and reading. We'll start either A Wrinkle in Time, or The Hobbit, after the kids choose. Maybe a science project at long last!

Have a good week!

Tuesday Tidbits... 55 Reasons to Homeschool...

I borrowed this from the HomeSchool Association of California, who were kind enough to send this in an email to me this morning. I thought about bolding the reasons that really resonate with me, but then realized that would be pretty much the whole thing! Do you share these same reasons, or is it something they left off?

55 Reasons to Homeschool

The following are the results of a survey by the National Home Education Network.

1. Spend more time together as a family.
2. Spend more time with children when they are rested and fresh rather than tired and cranky from school.
3. Avoid having to struggle to get children to do the tedious busywork that is so often sent home as homework.
4. Allow children time to learn subjects not usually taught in their school.
5. Allow children to have time for more in-depth study than what is allowed in school.
6. Allow children to learn at their own pace, not too slow or too fast.
7. Allow children to work at a level that is appropriate to their own developmental stage. Skills and concepts can be introduced at the right time for that child.
8. Provide long, uninterrupted blocks of time for writing, reading, playing, thinking, or working so that the child is able to engage in sophisticated, complex activities and thought processes.
9. Encourage concentration and focus - which are discouraged in crowded classrooms with too many distractions.
10. Encourage the child to develop the ability to pace her/himself - this is prevented in a classroom where the schedule is designed to keep every child busy all the time.
11. Spend a lot of time out-of-doors. This is more healthy than spending most weekdays indoors in a crowded, and often overheated, classroom.
12. Spending more time out-of-doors results in feeling more in touch with the changing of the seasons and with the small and often overlooked miracles of nature.
13. Children learn to help more with household chores, developing a sense of personal responsibility.
14. Children learn life skills, such as cooking, in a natural way, by spending time with adults who are engaged in those activities.
15. More time spent on household responsibilities strengthens family bonds because people become more committed to things they have invested in (in this case, by working for the family).
16. Time is available for more nonacademic pursuits such as art or music. This leads to a richer, happier life.
17. Children will not feel like passive recipients of subject matter selected by their teachers. They will learn to design their own education and take responsibility for it.
18. Children will realize that learning can take place in a large variety of ways.
19. Children will learn to seek out assistance from many alternative sources, rather than relying on a classroom teacher to provide all the answers.
20. A more relaxed, less hectic lifestyle is possible when families do not feel the necessity to supplement school during after-school and week-end hours.
21. Busywork can be avoided.
22. Learning can be more efficient since methods can be used that suit a child's particular learning style.
23. Children will avoid being forced to work in "cooperative learning groups" which include children who have very uncooperative attitudes.
24. Children can learn to work for internal satisfaction rather than for external rewards.
25. Children will not be motivated to "take the easy way out" by doing just enough work to satisfy their teacher. They will learn to be their own judge of the quality of their own work.
26. Children will be more willing to take risks and be creative since they do not have to worry about being embarrassed in front of peers.
27. Children will be more confident since they are not subject to constant fear of criticism from teachers.
28. Peer pressure will be reduced. There will be less pressure to grow up as quickly in terms of clothing styles, music, language, interest in the opposite sex.
29. Social interactions will be by choice and based on common interests.
30. Friends can be more varied, not just with the child's chronological age peer group who happen to go to the same school.
31. Field trips can be taken on a much more frequent basis.
32. Field trips can be much more enjoyable and more productive when not done with a large school group which usually involves moving too quickly and dealing with too many distractions.
33. Field trips can be directly tied into the child's own curriculum.
34. Volunteer service activities can be included in the family's regular schedule. Community service can be of tremendous importance in a child's development and can be a great learning experience.
35. Scheduling can be flexible, allowing travel during less expensive and less crowded off-peak times. This can allow for more travel than otherwise, which is a wonderful learning experience.
36. Children will be less likely to compare their own knowledge or intelligence with other children and will be less likely to become either conceited or feel inferior.
37. Religious and special family days can be planned and celebrated.
38. More time will be spent with people (friends and family) who really love and care about the children. Children will bond more with siblings and parents since they will spend more time together playing, working, and helping each other.
39. Feedback on children's work will be immediate and appropriate. They won't have to wait for a teacher to grade and return their work later to find out if they understood it.
40. Feedback can be much more useful than just marking answers incorrect or giving grades.
41. Testing is optional. Time doesn't have to be spent on testing or preparing for testing unless the parent and/or child desires it.
42. Observation and discussion are ongoing at home and additional assessment methods are often redundant. Testing, if used, is best used to indicate areas for further work.
43. Grading is usually unnecessary and learning is seen as motivating in and of itself. Understanding and knowledge are the rewards for studying, rather than grades (or stickers, or teacher's approval, etc.).
44. Children can be consistently guided in a family's values and can learn them by seeing and participating in parents' daily lives.
45. Children will learn to devote their energy and time to activities that THEY think are worthwhile.
46. Children will be able to learn about their ethnicities in a manner that will not demean. Children will be able to understand multiculturalism in its true sense and not from the pseudo-multicultural materials presented in schools which tend to depict others from a dominant culture perspective.
47. Children will not learn to "fit into society," but will, instead, value morality and love more than status and money.
48. Children do not have to wait until they are grown to begin to seriously explore their passions; they can start living now.
49. Children's education can be more complete than what schools offer.
50. Children who are "different" in any way can avoid being subjected to the constant and merciless teasing, taunting, and bullying which so often occurs in school.
51. Children with special needs will be encouraged to reach their full potential and not be limited by the use of "cookie cutter" educational methods used in schools.
52. Low standards or expectations of school personnel will not influence or limit children's ability to learn and excel.
53. Children will be safer from gangs, drugs, and guns.
54. Parents will decide what is important for the children to learn, rather than a government bureaucracy.
55. Family will not be forced to work within school's traditional hours if it does not fit well with their job schedules and sleep needs.

Monday Musings... Refocusing...

Outside My Window...
It has been really nice lately - crisp, and chilly, with slightly warmer afternoons. I am loving the time change, because it is no longer dark when I go out to feed the chickens in the mornings! Leaves fall every time the wind blows, and everywhere I look I see scarlet and gold.

In My House...
M is going for a job interview today, for a line cook position. They seem willing to work around the last several weeks of his school schedule, so I am keeping my fingers crossed! I'm working with the kids on taking on more responsibilities around the house. No chore charts, just helping out and working together as a family. We're still purging stuff too!

In My Kitchen...
I made up, on Friday, a big pot of a family favorite-- Taco Bean Soup. It has been great for lunches over the weekend too! There's nothing like an afternoon outside at the park with friends, and then coming home to hot, delicious soup simmering away in the crockpot. I haven't quite decided on this week's soup, but I know we're going to try a semi-Morracan twist on our usual pasta/spaghetti squash with ragout, by using ground lamb, red wine, cumin, and cinnamon in the sauce. I'm hoping it will turn out well!

In Our Homeschooling...
Altering the block scheduling already! My friend Jessica asked me if I thought we'd benefit from longer blocks focused on one subject, rather than bouncing around from day to day. So we're about to try one... 3-4 weeks based on sciences, with The Magic of Reality as our backbone. In the meantime, we are dropping all the history, philosophy, geography, etc., etc., etc., that I have been trying to squeeze in, though we'll still have daily math and reading/writing.

Crafting...
I'm already halfway done with M's scarf, and it is looking good, if I do say so myself! Knitting is very calming for me, and I am really enjoying it. I have two more scarves to go after this one, and then I think I might try a hat! I'm also jotting down crafty ideas for Christmas gifts, so if you have any homemade favorites, pass them on please!

And Just a Side Note...

I got nominated for a blog award! The category is Best Nitty Gritty Homeschooler. If you don't mind, I'd appreciate some votes, though it is an honor just being nominated!