Some Books for the Afternoon Basket, 2014-2015

Literature 
(the kids really wanted to focus on Tolkien, and influences on his writing, this year, so most of this list is reflective of that)
The Princess and the Goblin
The Marvelous Land of the Snergs
The Hobbit
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Beowulf: Dragonslayer (or perhaps Beowulf: A New Telling)
King Arthur stories, either this version or this 
The Story of Siegfried
The Questing Knights of the Faerie Queen

Time permitting we will read The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Kalevala: Tales of Magic & Adventure

Geography
We're going to finish The Complete Book of Marvels (2nd half, "The Orient"), and then perhaps another book by Halliburton, or a really good book on Marco Polo, or ???

History  
Interest led for the main part, though I may read a chapter aloud each week from A Little History of the World for general exposure.

Nature Studies & the Sciences
Swampwalker's Journal: A Wetlands Year... other nature-related titles to be determined
A Briefer History of Time... other titles to be determined, depending on time

Mathematics
We'll be reading String, Straightedge & Shadow and finishing The Man Who Counted this year

Shakespeare
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare

Books for The Girl
For her reading work, I would like her to choose volumes from the Classic Starts series, then she may tackle the original Oz series
Together, I hope to read (some will be bedtime reading):
Dr. Dolittle's Puddleby Adventures
All Creatures Great and Small
My Life with the Chimpanzees
Hitty: Her First 100 Years
Gudgekin the Thistle Girl & Other Tales
The King of the Hummingbirds & Other Tales
The Girl Who Could Fly
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate 

Books for The Boy
Some assigned reading, some suggestions, and some I will read also so that we can discuss them. I'm assigning at least 6 or 7 of the following titles, so anything marked with a * is definitely on the to-be-read list, while others are still undecided. He's interested mainly in dystopian/Steampunk/sci-fi literature right now, so the following list keeps that in mind:
*The Phantom Tollbooth
*Lord of the Flies
Ender's Game
Watership Down
*Dodger
The Giver
*A Wrinkle in Time (plus others in the series as desired)
*The Time Machine
Animal Farm
War of the Worlds
The Westing Game

And maybe, as time/interest allows:
The Wizard of Quarks
Alice in Quantumland
Scrooge's Cryptic Carol

[Memorial] Monday Musings...

Memorial Thoughts...

Grandpa, with one of my cousins

My maternal grandfather trained as a fighter pilot between the World Wars. There's a very handsome picture of him somewhere in a family album, with his aviator helmet and a long scarf. But, despite his training, when war actually came, he couldn't do it. He couldn't fight and kill people. He registered as a conscientious objector instead, which was first recognized as an option during WWII. And yes, he served his country all the same, as a cook for a war orphanage in the Philippines. I am incredibly proud of him for that -- being a co was not a popular option in that time period or place.

My other Grandpa

My paternal grandfather was not in combat either. He worked on Mare Island, lining the inside of submarines with handcrafted wood paneling and inlays. He was a woodworker all his life, and built a dollhouse for me when I turned seven, which naturally I still have.

Outside My Window...
We have temperatures in the 80s and 90s lately, thankfully cooling down at night a bit. Sunny, clear skies for the most part, although sometimes lately we have had gorgeous piles of billowing white clouds on the horizon. We have a squirrel or two that moved into the neighbor's elm tree, and that chuckle away manically every afternoon. And yesterday we saw a mother turkey with her baby on our way to derby practice -- what a cute little fluff ball the baby was!

In My Kitchen...
I'm slowly collecting and trying out recipes to go with what we are growing in the garden, such as these delicious enchiladas, which will make good use of the zucchini when it is in. We're grilling a lot lately too. And we're eating a lot of tomatoes -- sandwiches, salads, just plain tomatoes.

In the Garden...
Everything is growing well! Our tomato and pepper plants have doubled in size. There are blossoms on the strawberries already, and we're picking cherries every day. The watermelon, squash, and cucumbers are coming back nicely from a dreaded slug attack. The green beans are sprouting, and I still need to get my mesclun planted, now that I've decided where it is going. The hydrangeas are starting to bloom too! And I still have plenty of artichokes coming in.

In Our Homeschooling...
I'm trying to wrap things up for the year, at least by the end of June. The Boy is working with decimals and integers, The Girl with multiplication and division, alongside some geometry. I'm trying to have The Girl finish Reading Pathways before we stop for a summer break. And The Boy and I are working on writing better paragraphs.

Watching and Reading...
We have fallen behind on Cosmos, what with all the car repairs, etc. going on lately. And we had misplaced A Wind in the Willows, which I later found in The Girl's room (she liked the pictures), so I need to finish that up. We're about a third of the way through A Little History of the World, but at a chapter or two a day, we'll finish it up relatively soon.

Planning...
I'm working slowly on plans for next year. Sort of Charlotte Mason meets interest-led. I have The Girl pretty well figured out for sixth grade, but The Boy is proving to be more of a challenge, which is funny because it is usually the other way around! I'm also planning on some light, "fun" learning activities for summer break.

What are some of your favorite summertime read alouds?

Plans for the Week...
Today we're planning an early evening family bike ride and picnic, as fencing practice is off for the holiday. The Girl has derby practice again later in the week, and there is a game on Saturday, though we're not sure yet if she's on the roster or not. The Boy will have practice at least Wednesday, and maybe Friday if he isn't too tired from Park Day. Nothing too out of the ordinary!

Lucky Thirteen...

As of today, 4:07 am if you want to be exact, I am the mother of a teenager! Thirteen years, gone by so quickly, with so many ups and downs, challenges and victories, so many milestones along the way.

My Boy, you are a delight to have around. You are funny, easygoing, my fellow bookworm and artist, dedicated to your passions, generous and thoughtful. I couldn't ask for more! I love your wicked sense of humor, the joy you have in the little things, the fact that you are always willing to stop what you're doing to look at a tree, or a sunset. I can see the man you are becoming, and I feel honored to be a part of that journey.

Countdown...

I can feel homeschooling slowing down as we enter the final stretch of our academic year. There are some things I want to finish up before we stop, around mid-the end of June, so in no particular order, I'd like...

The Boy to finish the sections on decimals, and fractions in Zaccaro's Challenge Math, and do work in Integers from Math Mammoth.

The Girl to finish up Knowing Mathematics, although we're subbing a combo of worksheets from Math Mammoth and Multiplication Facts in 7 Days (more like 14 or so!) instead of the multiplication chapters in Knowing Mathematics. Maybe I should print out some triangular math facts flashcards too... hmmm. It seems strange to have a child that likes flashcards, but there you have it!


I'd like to finish reading through A Little History of the World for an overview, in preparation for strictly interest-led history next year. I also want to finish watching Mankind: The Story of All of Us, and then re-watch America: The Story of Us, with the kids. Maybe read through a brief book on American history?

Finish The Wind in the Willows, and read The Princess and the Goblin OR The Marvelous Land of the Snergs.

I think I might take The Boy through a review of paragraphs and then the 5 paragraph essay with Create Better Writers' instructions.

I have a stack of leveled readers for The Girl to finish working through, and I'll have her finish running through Reading Pathways to continue fluency work.

And I'd really like to finish reading Dr. Art's Guide to Science, since it gives such a good overview.

And that's it. That's ALL I have scheduled/planned right now. Is your school year winding down too?

Monday Musings...

Outside My Window...
We had a spot of rain last week, but generally the weather is clear and quite warm. Lots to look at in the garden, both front and back!

In My House & Garden...
We've got about a million green cherries on the tree this year. I need to buy a cherry pitter so that we can pit and freeze any "extras". Our veggie garden is in at last, and going well - we have tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peppers, radishes, carrots, green beans, and watermelon. I'm planting more herbs and some Mesclun very shortly. I'm aching all over from digging through our very hard soil, but got lots of help from the kids, and figure it was good exercise! I was also given a few asparagus plants and a lot of Douglas Iris by a friend, so I need to get those in. The olive tree is in full (and messy) bloom, and it looks like we'll have plenty of peaches. I actually even cleaned the living room yesterday! (I've been sadly neglecting housework)

In My Kitchen...
I've been loving the fresh artichokes from my front yard lately. And M caught two wild trout this weekend, so we had those yesterday. There's more grilling going on these days, with the fish last night, and hamburgers today, then the kids and I are on our own for dinners the remainder of the week, as M will be at work. Probably an omelet night, as we have plenty of eggs, and ???

Currently Considering...
The kids want to return to a more traditional school calendar, which I guess they got used to during our early charter school years, so it looks like we might have a long summer after all! I'm thinking too about work, and what I want to do, or don't want to do, as the case may be. I'm thinking I might enjoy working in a bookstore for a while. I've got 6th grade for The Girl all planned (I think... science and history are still flexible), and we're both looking forward to it, so now I have to finish planning 8th grade for The Boy! I'm also planning out some very light summer "school" (Everyday History of Somewhere, Family Math games, maybe something on science, hopefully some field trips).

In Our Homeschool...
Continuing to work with The Girl on getting her multiplication tables solid. The Boy will continue working on fractions and decimals this week. I want The Boy to continue working on outlining, and The Girl on narrations. There hasn't been a huge amount of interest in the Hogswarts classes as yet, but we'll see.

Reading & Watching...
We might set aside Human Odyssey again for a while, and read a few Landmark books to wrap up the year, starting with Sequoyah: Leader of the Cherokees. I've also decided it is high time we start using the All About books I have, so we'll start with All About the Stars, and I have some of these gorgeous books on hand as well. I am hoping to wrap up A Wind in the Willows soon. We'll watch more Cosmos, and probably more of the series We Shall Remain, which we started last week after another episode of Mankind: The Story of All of Us got us thinking about Native Americans. The Boy will be reading from The Wizard of Quarks, and I'd like to finish Caddie Woodlawn with The Girl.

Plans This Week...
Going to a May birthdays celebration with my dad at his assisted living facility. Besides that, nothing out of the ordinary!

Have a good week!

Two Post Tuesday... Feeling a Little Better...

I'm sorry for my grumpiness today. It turned out I was getting a [minor] migraine when I wrote that. I left work, came home, downed some medication and slept for an hour. The headache is still there, flirting around the edges of my mind, but is SO much more manageable. After I woke up, I ate a big sandwich, and felt better.

Then we got the mail. And The Boy got this:

A gold medal, and the Athena Award of Excellence for his participation in the National Mythology Exam! Last year he got a silver medal, so he was super excited when he opened the envelope this time and saw that gold peeking out!

Now we're watching Cosmos, which will be followed up with some reading, math, and perhaps poetry.

Wearing Out...

This is how I feel lately. And it doesn't seem it'll change anytime soon.

Work: I don't know yet if I am really being laid off or not. I did send out a job application this morning, so we'll see. M's work is still fluctuating too. I am tired of the worry.

My dad: He had some testing done last week at his doctor's request, and is now being referred to a specialist for something to do with his kidneys. I am spending a lot of time driving him to and fro.

The car: Speaking of driving, the car is running hot these days. I did take it in, and they checked the whole cooling system, and came up with nothing. So I can't figure out why it is running hot, but I don't like being worried about overheating all the time.

Homeschooling: Constantly being shoved to the back burner right now, which so isn't right.

School: I am only 4 pages into a 12-15 page paper due by 5 on Friday. I am so tired of being in school at the moment, so I can't wait to be done and free from it for the summer.

So yes, I am cranky. And tired. The stress is manifesting itself as a lot of headaches and heartburn. And a cold sore. And M is stressed, which makes him quick to get angry.

I am wondering if I should just call it quits on homeschooling for the time being, but then, we're not where I wanted us to be at the end of our school year. They both have a ways to go in math, and The Girl needs more reading work. And I feel like I am running out of time, since they're both in "middle school".

I think I am just burnt out. And I am sorry for whining, but needed to get it out somewhere.