Smooth Sailing...

Image courtesy of Creating Daily

Homeschooling is in fact going so smoothly right now that I am a bit worried.

Fred

 After having flip-flopped between math programs, we've happily welcomed Fred back into our lives. The Girl is nearly done with Farming, so I have ordered Goldfish. She's worked on set theory, multiplication, addition and subtraction review, geometry, cardinality, collinear points, and much more. She's going through a chapter a day, so I think by the end of our school year, we'll be through not only Goldfish, but also Honey, Ice Cream, and probably Jelly Beans. Then she can tackle the "Intermediate Series" next fall. I am selling each book as she finishes with it, though I am not selling The Boy's, since The Girl will be using them later down the line.

The Boy just finished his second "Bridge" in Fractions. There is a bridge at the end of every 5 chapters, a cumulative test on previous work. He nailed it on the first try! He's working on long division, fractions, multiplication, circumference and radius, area, and so forth. He'll wrap this book up in time to finish of Decimals & Percents this year too, then we'll jump into pre-algebra in the fall. I have not decided yet whether we will use Elementary Physics at all... I have heard a lot of negative reviews, and since it was only added into the pre-algebra sequence recently, I am not sure it is necessary. If we do use it, I think I will place it after the other pre-algebra books, rather than before.

Language arts are going very, very well. The Boy is doing a great job with Writing With Skill, so I guess I am going to have to shell out the money and buy the actual book! I do have 8 more weeks before I hit that point really, with the beta sample. He's worked so far on summarizing and one level outlines.

The Girl is doing fantastic fluency/review work with Reading Pathways, and I have been picking and choosing writing exercises for her from both Primary and Intermediate Language Lessons. She likes the picture studies, and the copywork, and we've touched on a fair amount of grammar as well.

We started Figuratively Speaking yesterday, learning about connotations and denotations. We did most of the work orally, though I did have The Boy do one set of the exercises in the workbook on his own. Next week, I plan to add in some supplemental reading from him, taking a few selections from this awesome resource. I think I'll just have him read through some of the suggested American Tall Tales for chapter 2.

Our Afternoon Basket reading has been a pleasure the last couple of weeks! We've traveled to the Blue Grotto and Athens in The Complete Book of Marvels; laughed at the mathematical trickery/wisdom in The Man Who Counted; learned about orbits, ellipses, and comets in The Magic of Reality (I'm hoping to live to be at least 89, so I can see Halley's Comet a second time!); and we revisited our ancestors in The Human Odyssey. We do need to work Harry Stottlemeier's Discovery back in there, as it is a delightful introduction to logic and philosophy. Homer Price is just sheer fun!

Independent studies are going along nicely as well. The Boy has gotten through a few of the video lectures from the first week of his Coursera studies in physics, and likes the professor and his explanations a lot! He's been studying quite a bit for the National Mythology Exam, which I plan to proctor the first week of March. And of course he reads... a lot. Fences twice a week. And he's working on a series of car drawings, using the grid method for proper scale.

The Girl and I are happily reading a few books together, mainly The Quest for the Tree Kangaroo (Scientists in the Field series), Enchantment of the World: Australia (while she waits for the one on Papua New Guinea to arrive at the library), and Caddie Woodlawn. She's re-watched all the Royal Diaries adaptations, alongside the Dear America series. She baked an apple crisp last night, with very minimal supervision from her dad, while The Boy and I were at his fencing class.

And, around the house, I was inspired by Kim's meal planning, so I am working on a similar set-up for all three meals. So far, I have breakfasts pretty well completed. My mom does a monthly menu -- comes up with 30 days worth of dinners, and then chooses week-by-week, sometimes day-by-day, what she'll serve, and in a similar vein, I am working on at least a couple of weeks worth of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners!

I can only hope it continues to go this well!

Monday Musings...

So nice to have a three day weekend!

Outside My Window...
We're still waiting for rain. It has been getting colder, lots of frost every morning. I looked at some extended forecasts online, and supposedly we'll have "scattered showers' at the end of the month.

In My Garden...
We spent the weekend dealing with internet issues, and cleaning the house, so we did not yet get around to the dormant pruning. We'll have to get to that next weekend! M and I are also working on raised bed plans, which we hope to put in by the end of March.

In My Kitchen...
I managed to come in under budget the last couple of weeks as far as groceries go! I'm able to do that by doing this, well... mostly, anyway. Some things I am cooking this week include chickpeas with tomato and greens; Thai pork with peanut sauce (crockpot dish, so very easy!); a roasted chicken -- the leftovers will make great quesadillas; and black beans with orange and cumin. I'm trying to make the lighter meals on the days The Boy has fencing, since we head over there right after eating.

In Our Homeschooling...
The Boy is studying for the NME currently. I printed out the bibliography for him, and he's using that to schedule his studies. He's also starting a course this week in basic physics, through Coursera. He is starting a week late, but I think he'll catch right up. I told him the quizzes and such are optional for him right now, so it will be interesting to see if he chooses to take them. He'll continue with Writing With Skill, and Life of Fred as well.

The Girl and I plan to finish up reading about tree kangaroos this week, and to learn a bit about Australia. I think we might try making these mini pavlovas too! And I want to get her started on some work from The Amateur Zoologist. She's doing well with Intermediate Language Lessons and Life of Fred, so we'll keep going with those, plus, of course, continued review/fluency work with Reading Pathways.

Other Bits & Pieces...
I am nearly done with both my own scarf and the one I am making for The Girl. I've been reading through some of Sarah Addison Allen's books recently, and have really enjoyed them. Of course I now have plenty of reading to do for my class, so it was especially nice to get in some fun, free reading. I've been watching Downton Abbey, of course! The kids have been on a Looney Tunes kick for a few days, and it has been fun to see them enjoying cartoons I grew up with. Plus, the episodes lead to some great discussions about physics (or the suspension of the properties of physics), and classical music.

And A Couple of Pictures...
We went outside early yesterday morning, to find turkeys roosting in our neighbor's tree! I somehow did not ever realize turkeys roosted like that...

Have a fantastic week!

Tightwad Tuesday...

The kids and I have been watching Extreme Cheapskates, and can I just say... are these people crazy? Yes, I absolutely believe in being frugal, but you won't catch me collecting dryer lint at the laundromat, feeding my kids expired food (or shopping at any grocery store called "Dirty Don's"), and you certainly won't find me peeing in a jar.

So, having clarified that a little, what are some of your favorite frugal tips?

The Girl really wants to make a batch of homemade laundry soap (which she saw on 17 Kids & Counting), and I already make most of my own household cleaners. I am trying to decide which soap to use for the laundry soap... Fels Naptha, Zote, or Dr. Bronner's? I've read pros and cons on all of them. I think I am leaning toward the Dr. Bronner's, as it is a natural product, and I am not sure about the others. Plus I like some of the scents!

And we eat a lot of veggies and fruit, especially in season produce; buy bulk goods when we can; keep the heaters off most of the time; etc., but I am sure there are things we haven't thought of yet.

Any tips on saving money? What are your frugal habits? (And please, if it involves flushing only once a week, or eating goat heads, I'd prefer not to know)

Monday Musings...

Outside My Window...
It is sunny and mild this morning, and is supposed to stay that way all week, with temperatures in the high 60s to low 70s. I am seriously hoping for some rain soon! I drove M out to a local reservoir for some fishing this weekend, and I have never seen the water so low. We may be looking at a fairly serious drought this year if the weather doesn't cooperate.

In The Garden...
We haven't done much lately. Next weekend though is slated for dormant pruning -- the olive tree, the apple tree, the roses, and anything else we notice that needs some TLC. We're also planning out some new raised beds with the scrap lumber a friend gave us, and I am working on a chart of what we can plant and when. I am determined to make the veggie garden pay off this year, and to get the kids more involved!

In The Kitchen...
Still trying to keep to our budget food-wise, which isn't always easy with current prices (and how finicky we are about quality). I also need to work on cooking ahead (or quick meals) for Mondays, Wednesdays, and possibly Thursdays, as The Boy has fencing two of those nights, and I have class the other one. I say "possibly Thursdays" because if M gets the job he's trying for this week, the kids will spend Thursday nights with their Nonna, and so I won't be cooking that night. Anyhow, I am trying to meal plan more carefully, make good use of bulk goods, and so forth.

In Our Homeschooling...
I decided to trial run Writing With Skill, level 1 this week, with The Boy. Way, way back, when it was being beta tested, I got the first ten weeks of both the instructor and student books for free, so I think we'll give it a go. Having graded oodles of college essays now, I can see very clearly where I want The Boy (and someday The Girl) to go with writing, and I think WWS might help. The Girl will, in the meantime, do some writing with Intermediate Language Lessons.

Both kids have also asked if they can "PLEASE do some science NOW" instead of waiting until the next block, so I am shifting our schedule around a bit. I downloaded ACS's Middle School Chemistry, and we'll be trying for two sessions with it this week.

What I Am Working On...
Still working on scarves for The Girl and myself. The ones I made for The Boy and M get a lot of good use, I am happy to say! I am also working out budgetary plans and goals, which is a bit difficult when we don't know about an income for M. If the job interview tomorrow does not go well (which we very much hope it does go well), at least he has another interview with the EDD coming up, to see if he can reestablish unemployment benefits until he can find something.

General Plans for the Week...
Two fencing classes, a January birthdays celebration at our park day, the job interview for M, and I am determined to fix the master bathroom shower this week, much the same way I fixed the one in the kids' bathroom.

And For Fun...
Here is this morning's sunrise, as seen from my backyard! Not the best quality picture ever, but I was in a hurry...

Have a good week!

Week 1, 2014... A Light But Good Week

We're easing back in after having December off from formal homeschooling, and I have to say that for a whole month (plus) off, it seemed to disappear in the twinkle of an eye! Regardless, we got back to work this week, and it was good!

We started out the week with a trip to the coast. The weather was so warm, we were down to t-shirts and tank tops for over an hour before it began to cool off again!

There was some splashing around...

Lovely views...

Wet sand to play with... 

Shells and shell bits to collect...

Some general watching of the waves...

 Some good father-daughter time...

A glorious sunset...

 

Then tranquility...

And finally, time to say goodbye to the ocean...

In math, we have set Saxon aside, at least for the moment. The Boy picked back up with Life of Fred Fractions, and tried out some Zaccaro Challenge Math, which being about astronomy/light years/etc., required calculator use, something he is not used to. It is a skill I think he should learn, so we worked on that together. The Girl tried out Zaccaro Primary Challenge Math, going through levels one and two for the first couple of chapters. We started on division (with 10s) as part of this, and so we'll be working on that skill more next week. Next week I would like to work in a day of math games/activities, perhaps something from the Family Math books I have, or from The Book of Perfectly Perilous Math!

In language arts, The Girl worked through a review of short vowel words in Reading Pathways. Truthfully, much of the book is review work at this point, but she needs the work in fluency. She did some free writing on her own. The Boy read a couple of passages from A Christmas Carol in Write With the Best, and then used Write Source 2000 to review parts of speech. Next week, I'll add back in Hot Fudge Monday and perhaps some Brave Writer exercises.

From the Afternoon Basket, we started learning about philosophy with Harry Stottlemeier's Discovery, and a lot about Pompeii with The Complete Book of Marvels. We also read about the periodic table, atomic weight, and more, in The Magic of Reality. The kids were so fascinated with Pompeii that we ended up watching a documentary -- Pompeii, Back From the Dead -- as well (I recommend it!), and then last night discussion about atomic weight led to a great conversation about early alchemists! Hopefully, next week we'll add in mathematical reading, with The Man Who Counted.

For our Block Study, we read a couple of chapters from The Ancient Greek World, and started reading through the D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths. Next week, we'll add in Black Ships Before Troy, which is waiting for me at the library! We might add in some documentaries, and maybe a movie or two as well. I'd like to do some art, and a project or two during the next few weeks. And, I would like to get through more of The Ancient Greek World next week.

As for art, I did post a couple of Matisse's pieces on the fridge, but we didn't do any art projects, so that is a definite "must" for the upcoming Sunday. I did put a copy of the sound recording of Peter and the Wolf on hold at the library, for our music studies. Naturally, the kids have heard it before, and seen the film version, but it is always fun to listen to!

As for everything else, the kids continue to enjoy their Christmas gifts of bicycles and scooters. They biked down to the local park this week, and rode around for a while (I walked). Today, they are off to their park day with friends, and scooters. The Boy returned to fencing this week, and has his first "senior" in-house tournament tomorrow. The Girl is on the fence about an activity at the moment... she's not sure if she wants to return to roller derby right now, nor is she sure about karate, so we've put that on the back burner for the moment. I start back to school on Monday Thursday evening, with a class in British American lit/feminist theory, and M has a job interview next week as well (keep your fingers crossed!), so we have a lot going on! As far as independent studies, The Girl and I read about life in Siberia in Faces Magazine, and she watched a documentary on sea creatures. The Boy read a bit about aircraft history in Flight, and I've "assigned" him the task of watching one episode of Carl Sagan's Cosmos each week. There was quite a lot of building with Keva planks this week (one of last year's Christmas gifts!), plenty of drawing, and a good bit of Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, as well as the last bit of Percy Jackson & the Battle of the Labyrinth, which reminds me, I need to put the next [audio] book in that series on hold. Next week, I hope to get in some more of A Wrinkle in Time as well.

I hope you all had a good week, and that you have a great weekend!

Art Studies, January...

Self-Portrait

My selection for the month is Henri Matisse, focusing mainly on his cut paperwork. I'll be putting a piece or two up on the fridge each week, for the kids to study as they please! Here are some of the works I have chosen (and again, thanks to Mark Harden's Artchives for the images!)

Icarus

The Snail

Blue Nude

Le Gerbe

We'll do a project or two with our own cut-work sometime this month, in addition to other projects, while listening to our composer of the month, Sergei Prokofiev.

Getting Ready....

Back to work and back to homeschooling next week! Wow, my time off has flown by!

So, in homeschooling, we're sticking with blocks, but adding back in the Afternoon Basket. I'm trying to structure our days with an eye to establishing a sense of daily rhythm, something along the lines below...

Sundays:
Afternoon Basket selection
Art project while listening to music

Mondays through Thursdays:
Afternoon Basket selection
Math
Language Arts (I'm working on organizing my thoughts/approach here)
Block Study/Independent Studies

I think starting each day with some reading will get the kids grounded and ready to go. And maybe this way we will finally finish The Magic of Reality! It will also allow us to return to reading Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels, which we love, and I can introduce the kids to philosophy. I think scheduling in art time on Sundays will work well too.

On another note, did you make New Year's resolutions this year? I have two... keep the house clean, and organize our finances better. No diet resolutions, unless you count the anti-diet approach as a resolution!

Hope your holidays went well!