Established Work

Bad Days

2011-07-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

Today was tough.

I don't like to admit it often but being a mom is just plain hard work and some days I'd just rather not.

God is working though, to teach me obedience on bad days. Days where I'm frustrated and discouraged and where the enemy (Satan) is seeking to destroy me.

I sat back at the end of today and realized that instead of giving in to my bad feelings and taking my anger out on other (my kids). Somehow (by God's grace), I don't think my children even knew that I was having a "bad day". We read books, played games, went swimming, ate cookie dough, had pizza, didn't do chores and I didn't "lose" it all over any of them.

It made me stop and think...and then God stuck this post-it note in my brain.

Can you have a "bad day" and keep it a secret from your family? Do your children and husband really need to know that it's been a tough day? Can I take my pity party and lay it at my Father's feet and be content not to let anyone else know?

"Be confident of this very thing,

that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ,..."

Philippians 1:6

Handmaking Christmas

2010-12-10T09:25:00.000-08:00

With the emergence of Dollar stores in the past few years it is very tempting to load up on a bunch of cheapo toys and gadgets to give for niece and nephew gifts but something in me fights against doing that. So I'm going to pull out my long dormant crafty side and whip out some super cute gifts. I also wanted an excuse to buy fabric so that my kids will have some on hand to mess around with.

Here's what I will be working on:

Felt Brown Bag Lunch

Art Tote

Child's Apron

I also have been throwing around different ideas for my sister and sister-in-laws but have settled on this super easy and cheap gift.
P.S. if you fall in the above category don't look at this link:)

Question Jar

And if I'm a good homeschooling mom!?! I will have my kids join me for some easy sewing lessons:)

Weekly Wrap-up: The Outdoors Version

2010-04-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

On the 1st day of Spring it snowed......
On the last week of March it was summer.....

Not sure what happened to Spring but maybe we'll see it yet.

The temps read in the low 80's most of this week so we did light schooling in order to enjoy some extra outdoor free time. You never know how long it will last so I like to take advantage of the sun and warmth when able.

We are winding down our 2nd term of our school schedule and will be missing our beloved Little Duke but I'm excited to begin reading the Merry Adventures of Robin Hood!
In our History book "Our Island Story" we have been reading about the battles in the Hundred Year's War, this is written from a British perspective so Ali and Tom have been cheering on the English army in the battles with the French. I will be interested to see how they will react when in term 3 we will be a French perspective through Joan of Arc's eyes.

We are still focusing on Living Math through books I've snagged at our Library.
Our favorite this last week being "Math for All Seasons". Ali and Tom had already looked through it but we had a good time solving the riddles and looking for faster ways to figure the problems out.

We also picked up some math drills again this week and continue doing mental math informally. Next term I will use Ray's arithmetic more fully and we will add Miquon Math back into our routines.

Wes wanted to do his school so we pulled out the Cuisenaire Alphabet book for him to try. He is a hand-on learner and really enjoyed working these pages.

Pleased with his work on the "A" page.

Our Cecropia Cocoon in a jar....waiting to see if it will transform into the moth.

To close out our week we had a Fool's Day meal. All enjoyed the time and it will be a tradition to carry on for many years to come.

Priorites of a Home School

2010-03-23T08:55:00.000-07:00

I have just finished reading a delightful and insightful article written by Charlotte Mason for the 3rd volume of The Parents' Review (1892-93) called "The Home School".

I am going to do my best to narrate back what I remember from my reading......and I'm seriously fighting the urge to grab the paper and re-read it (that would so be cheating!)

Miss Mason was writing for those parents that were homeschooling their children using the curriculum provided by her school. She felt that no parent should be ashamed or disappointed if their children were unable to attend a public or private school because she was convinced that on the whole the Home School was the best teaching and training ground for children provided the parents took a serious and active role in educating their children.

I was vastly encouraged when when she stated that it is nothing for a teacher to organize and teach a class of 20 or so children of the same age and grade but a much more difficult task to teach and organize a class of 3 children in 3 different grades.....Amen sister!

Miss Mason takes great pains to enumerate on the benefits of both education and experience for the teacher. She tells us that experience is not necessarily the best teacher in all matters because so often bad habits are trained through experience when this could have been avoided through better education.
She is quick to point out though that the experience of learning is quite a different thing and when one has a teachable spirit there are very few doors that aren't able to be opened.

Next she lays out the very basic priorities that should be included in every Home School.

Most importantly is the learning of the Bible. She places the importance of learning the stories from the bible for not only moral and language learning but mostly of spiritual training. The system used in her schools was for a short portion of the scriptures to be read and then to be narrated back word for word as possible by the student. She encourages the teacher or parent after the narration to feel free to ask a few questions if this will help the understanding of the student but to never consider the answers as narration. She also encourages the teacher to add any historical notes or insights that will be a help to the student.
She very specifically points out that there should be NO written narrations by children under the age of 10 siting that it is too easy for the child to put out poor work because they are not capably ready to write good composition before this time.
I was convicted by her statement that it is much easier for a teacher to set the student to write a narration because that then frees up her time for other things but that the more difficult task is for the teacher/parent to require a spoken narration from the student because it takes her time and attention.
(for a simple bible reading plan see my Scribd documents in the side bar)

Next in importance is the learning of History. She encourages the learning of Greek and Roman history and details some of the benefits of children learning from Plutarch's Lives.

She also encourages all teachers to put much effort into Natural History, not just in reading about areas of Natural History but to get in touch with Nature.
It is very important she says for children to keep tadpoles and caterpillars and other creatures to learn first hand about them. What is read in books should be a side benefit of learning Natural History not the whole of the education.

Physical Education and drills rank high in Miss Mason's list as well and she encourages teacher/parents to not just have their children go through the motions of the drills (Swedish) but to make sure that the children are using and training their muscles in the work.

Lastly, she encourages all parents to take the brave step into the world of foreign languages. I appreciate how she breaks down the learning to just 40 lines of a french tale for 1 term as a manageable amount. Miss Mason shows of the high esteem she has for children by affirming her belief that the students will surprise the teacher/parent by how much is learned and retained by consistent work in this area.

As a closing reminder Miss Mason clarifies that these schooling priorities should never consume a child's whole day. She reminds teacher/parents that 5 of the 13 waking hours of the child should be spent in free play and 3 of those say between the hours of 2 and 5 pm should be spent out-of-doors. Short lessons as always are an important essential and she places importance on not nagging or badgering or humiliating the student who does not complete the work set before them in the proper amount of time. There is nothing like personal experience for the child to learn to value time and do the work allotted for that specific time.

I hope you were encouraged and educated a little by my narration but I would highly recommened that you read the real article yourself.
You can find it here in the Parents' Review articles posted under Volume 3, title The Home School.

Weekly Wrap-Up: Mud & Bugs Week 20

2010-03-14T18:07:00.000-07:00

It's still wet. And muddy.

It's supposed to be APRIL showers not March!

But it is getting greener and since I banned carpet from my main living areas in our house years ago I really don't need to complain. The crawling baby complicates things but at least my floors get mopped a whole bunch more than normal.

This week we got caught up......almost. One scheduled chapter in An Island Story got left behind but it's short so we should be able to get it in this next week.

Mr. Dad has every other Friday off of work right now and this past week was a free Friday week so we did a light school day and then visited the Insect Zoo nearby. Originally we were supposed to visit the zoo back in December after finishing Term 1 and a 12 week insect focus, but it just didn't happen. Better late than never though.

Is there anything cooler than huge insects that freak your sister out!

Ali found an insect that didn't "freak" her out.

Up close and personal

Hungry anyone??

Weaver Ant Eggs, preserved Grasshoppers, preserved Silk worms, preserved Mole Crickets

Yes, these are for eating!

Of course, we can't have an insect zoo without some mind-numbing insect movie!!!! Heaven forbid the children actually learn without being glued to a tv.

Playing pretend adventures with large bugs.

Willy loved the dark room with the flashlights and spiders!

Sadie was just happy to be on the floor.

My favorite was the walking stick displays. They are in there.....can you see them?

Wes liked this snake that one of the employees kept at the zoo.

We finished listening to Burgess Animal Book this week much to the delight of Tom, and Ali's disappointment:)
We also made it through all of the long chapters in The Little Duke so were able to get current with those readings as well. Tom and Ali have struggled off and on with narrating from this book but as we have worked to slow down on it we have really enjoyed the adventures of the Little Duke (Richard of Normandy). I think we will miss him but next in line is Joan of Arc so the middle age adventures are sure to continue.

This week I did well with getting math done daily and moving forward in that and incorporated a couple of living math books during Circle/Morning Time which created a lot of discussion for the rest of the week.
By the way do you know what a googol is? I didn't until we read On Beyond a Million.

Along those lines there is a great group on yahoo for living math and in the files is a looooong list of living math books that are sure to please both parent and child. We have read several and will be working our way through the list for quite awhile.

I'm working to set up and use a workbox type system this next week and concentrate on the habits of attention and obedience during school time for all of the kids. Hopefully I'll be able to report some progress or success along these lines next week.

Thoughtfulness

2010-03-09T15:50:00.000-08:00

In a thinking mode lately and seeking and praying for direction and guidance.

Do I switch to workboxes?

Should I start Wes with Kindergarten work?

How do I fit in everything I feel we are missing?

Mostly, I'm fighting to keep my focus. To not be distracted by what others are doing and what works for them, but prioritizing what our goals are and how to meet them.

Praying:
His priorities become mine
I do not waste my time on frivolous ways

Reading:
Magnanimity Newsletter
PNEU articles
For the Children's Sake
School Education

Weekly Wrap-up of Week 19

2010-03-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

We've had a long, short, crazy, normal week around here.
I'm sure you know what I mean:)

We spent a long weekend at my parents house and visiting family and arrived home late afternoon Monday but since I had made a quick trip to the library before we left I was stocked up with good audio books to listen to while driving. We caught up on our chapters in Wind in the Willows and hubby especially enjoyed the chapter on Mr. Toad.

Unfortunately a trip like that pretty much wipes me out and the rest of the week I've been trying to catch up on sleep, laundry and dishes and trying to get the smoke smell removed from my poor oven after a seriously gone wrong oven clean involving lots and lots of choking smoke filling our house and necessitating a removal of all children for a few hours. (note to self...do NOT clean the oven in the winter, do NOT spill cream into your oven)

So let's see.....we finished reading Tree in the Trail last week and started reading Seabird this week. I printed off a couple notebooking pages and we kind of sort of filled them out. I definitely need to plan this ahead so it doesn't take so much time and let the kids do the research on their own or frankly I just need to forget this extra step.

Due to tiredness and lack of motivation we didn't get much of the foundational subjects accomplished, like math, phonics and copywork but just keeping up with reading our books was enough.
Thankfully the weather has been wonderful all week so we've gone for a few walks and the kids have spent tons of time digging, running, climbing and playing in the yard. A blissful break from the cold although it has included plenty of mud.

On Thursday Mr. Dad loaded the upper 5 kiddos and took them on a "mommy needs a break" trip to a local park. This is more of a nature park that runs along a couple of creeks so of course they had a muddy enjoyable time:) They did explore around and found horse, dog, and coyote tracks and received an impromptu lesson on following and identifying tracks and of course told it all back to me in various forms after returning home. I was especially impressed with Wes (5yo) who drew a picture of the horse tracks.

All in all....we made it! The week is over and it's on to the next thing...until Monday.

I'm rethinking our book schedule and will probably be cutting Pilgrim's Progress out since we will be covering it again next year. I may look into using Pilgrims Progress told to the Children or just take the audio version that we have along with us on some trips. I get the most complaints from this book but I know good and well that they do really enjoy it. I think it would work better for a longer listening period than restricting how much we listen to to keep on schedule. Maybe I'll just slip it in during Quiet Time one of these days:)

February Flab

2010-02-16T18:58:00.000-08:00

Anybody else feel the need to trim things up a bit?

Yes, my waistline is in dire need of this but mostly I'm talking in school/home terms.
Somehow my bookshelves have multiplied and even though I have 5 boxes of packed away books in my basement my 2 bookshelves are overflowing!

I'm sure it has nothing to do with my inability to pass by my libraries used book corner......seriously, can you pass up a 50 cent copy of a favorite or needed book? I can't.

Thankfully, after much prayer and thinking God inspired me and I was able to rearrange our livingroom so that I can squeeze in a couple more bookshelves.
Now just need to actually get those shelves......have to talk to hubby about this one:)

I'm hoping to organize my shelves kind of like a library does...not dewey decimal but more along the lines of a shelf for each year in Ambleside. We'll see what I actually manage to get done.

Here are some different ideas for how other moms have organized their "space".

Our Homeschool Space @ Gaze Into the Heavens

Our Classroom @ Sunshine and Lemonade

Avoiding February Homeschool Burnout before it happens @ Like Mother, Like Daughter

Organizing Children's Books A Category Simple Method @ The Tranquil Parent

Organizing Part Two: The Bookshelves @ Everyday Snapshots Explores Homeschooling

Bookshelf Organization @ Higher Up and Further In

Organizing our Homeschool @ Color me Orange

How you Organize your Home Library @ Mental Floss

Not to beLabor the point, but... @ The Pioneer Woman

(I could probably keep going all night just to avoid exercising but, for my children's sake I had better knock this off!)

How do you keep it all together?
Do you wing it?
Do you have a "school room"?
Are you drowning?
Does your space flow well?

Slowing Down

2010-02-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

Recently due to some narrating issues that we were having I've had to slow our school progress down a bit.

Granted, this is not easy for me to do.
I'm the kind of gal that likes to check things off of the list....any list. In fact I will make lists of things that I've done just so I can check them off!
I know some of you can relate.

So when I look at the weekly schedule laid out for my kiddos on Ambleside it does not even compute with me that we have a choice NOT to do a certain book or to go at our own pace through other books.

Since this is our second year in using Ambleside I have been able to let a few book choices go but I start to get really worried and anxious if we fall behind in our weekly readings. So you can imagine my dismay upon doing some research and reading into helping my oldest son, Tom, better his narrations when I found one of the best methods would be to SLOW DOWN.

Not just slow the speed of my reading....but literally to take smaller sections of the books and require more narrations.
I wasn't sure how this would work out since we have struggled all year to keep up (adorable baby distractions and the like).

But on the encouragement of a veteran CM'er and her own experiences with narrating I jumped in with both feet.
We started with the last few pages we were reading from "Wind in the Willows" and I took it sentence by sentence reminding both Tom and Ali often to listen to the "first part" of the sentence to be able to "tell back".

I think that last page & a half took us about a 1/2 an hour. But by the end of it Tom was already doing better and was listening and narrating from the "first part" of the sentence rather that just telling back the last portion of what I had read.
Ali, who doesn't usually struggle with narrating unless out of laziness, was a bit frustrated at the slow going initially but gradually caught on and has also been giving better narrations.

We continued this for the rest of the week, sentence by sentence readings with the twins taking turns in narrating back to me specifically listening to the "first part" of the reading. Towards the end of the week I was able to do 2 sentences at a time and Tom has done a much better job of cohesively retelling them in his own words. I have also noticed that in the beginning both of the kids would try narrating back to me word for word what I read, but after encouraging them to use their own words they have been able to take a portion of the reading and tell it back in their own words but with greater detail than if I had given them a larger reading.

I am encouraged though still slightly fretful over the slow progress we will most likely make. I have had to continually remind myself that it would be a pointless journey through these "living" books if my children were unable to train their minds to the habit of attention.

"A vigorous effort of will should enable us at any time to fix our thoughts. Yes; but a vigorous self-compelling will is the flower of a developed character; and while the child has no character to speak of, but only natural disposition, who is to keep humming-tops out of a geography lesson, or a doll's sofa out of a French verb? Here is the secret of the weariness of the home schoolroom––the children are thinking all the time about something else than their lessons; or rather, they are at the mercy of the thousand fancies that flit through their brains, each in the train of the last. "Oh, Miss Smith," said a little girl to her governess, "there are so many things more interesting than lessons to think about!"

Where is the harm? In this: not merely that the children are wasting time, though that is a pity; but that they are forming a desultory habit of mind, and reducing their own capacity for mental effort."

Home Education pg 139

In the wonderful issues of the online newsletter Magnanimity published by Karen Glass, she has an article that has been a breath of fresh air to me entitled "The Still Progress of Growth".
In it she points out that we need to view our children's growth and education like a tree growing. We may not see with our eyes any growth but we do not always know what is going on under the surface. Roots are being pushed deeper, limbs become denser, sap is rising to produce more fruit.
Our children are the same way. Being able to check off of a list that we have read a particular chapter is fine, but if I have not taken the time to slow down and train habits of attention and listening so that they may order their thoughts. Then I have not necessarily made "progress".

"Is there not some confusion of ideas about this fetish of progress? Do we not confound progress with

movement, action, assuming that where these are there is necessarily
advance? Whereas much of our activity is like the waves of the sea, going
always and arriving never. What we desire is the still progress of growth
that comes of root striking downwards and fruit urging upwards. And this
progress in character and conduct is not attained through conditions of
environment or influence but only through the growth of ideas, received with
conscious intellectual effort."
A Philosophy of Education, p. 297.

To read the newsletter Magnanimity - join here.
To read the article The Still Progress of Growth join the yahoo group and find Volume 1, Issue 2.

How to Keep School going all week

2010-02-11T08:11:00.000-08:00

Still working on this one!
This year we've been using a 5-day week schedule but I'm seeing the need to revamp it and change to a 4-day schedule. It seems we end up doing 4 days anyway and at least 1 day is a catch-up or errand day.
Also recently my husbands work schedule has changed so that every other Friday he has the day off and obviously it would be nice to be more free from a schedule when he is home.

It is extremely helpful to be able to make cd's of the books we are reading from librivox and take with us if we are traveling. Someday here I will get another mp3 player or maybe (Lord willing) even an ipod! I'm always leery of purchasing higher priced electronics just because of the destructive nature of children......especially mine, but I'm really missing the help of my old mp3 player in getting all of the kids readings done.

If you have and ipod or mp3 player available to you I would highly suggest using it for your kids school readings. I found that my oldest son, who often has difficulties attending to my reading with other noise and distractions going on around him, could narrate back more of a story he had listened to on the mp3 player because the other noise was eliminated.

Don't be discouraged if your schedule seems to need constant revamping and reworking....I have realized that this is just life and our job is to remain fluid in it. Be purposeful in your school time but don't fret the small stuff.

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival - February 16th, 2010

2010-02-10T12:45:00.000-08:00

Welcome to a Presidential edition of the
Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival!

Charlotte Mason Educating

Habit Formation: What about our own Habits @ Habits for a Happy Home

Slowing Down @ Established Work

Habit Formation: Habit of Attention @ The One Thing

Charlotte Mason Methods and Non-Traditional Learning @ Epi Kardia

"Science of Relations"...and a happy dance moment! @ Bugs, Knights, and Turkeys in the Yard

Plants of Renown @ Sage Parnassus

"I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man." - George Washington

Literature

Shakespeare @ Sunny Scholars

Introduction to Biblical Poetry @ Life Nurturing Education

The Importance of Reading Aloud @ Seasons of Learning

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."
Ronald Reagan

The Great Outdoors

The Beginnings of a Robin Study @ Handbook of Nature Study

February Nature Notables @ In the Sparrows Nest

"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

The Arts

Hymn @ Sunny Scholars

Great Reproductions: Another Helpful Lesson in Art Copywork @ Harmony Art Mom

"Patience and perseverance have a magical affect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." - John Quincy Adams

Hands On

Handicraft/Life Skills Challenge: Olympic Edition @ The One Thing

"Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them." Abraham Lincoln

Extras

Little Bear's Birthday Soup @ God Made, Home Grown

Masterly Inactivity: Wisely Passive Techniques to Get Kids to Eat > Taking a Detour: One good way to neutralize a kid’s food resistance @ Sacred Appetite

"There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live." - John Adams

Thanks to all for the wonderful, insightful, encouraging and informative contributions!

Don't forget to submit your Charlotte Mason articles to The Holistic Homeschooler who will be hosting our next Carnival on March 2nd.

Narration Encouragement

2010-02-03T10:52:00.000-08:00

We sailed through our first term this year with loads of great and thorough narrating especially from my oldest son who has always struggled with language arts stuff. I was pleased and excited and really felt that we had made it....problems solved, they knew what to do and had acquired the habit of attention for narrating purposes.
Then we had a long Christmas break and ever since starting our 2nd term narrating has been a HUGE struggle. Some for Ali but mostly for Tom, sigh.

So I've been trying to evaluate what has changed and what might need to be changed to help the poor kid out.
First, I remember that I used a narration jar for most of the 1st term and both kids really enjoyed that, so I finally made up more questions this morning and restocked our narration jar.
Second, because I've been frustrated and Tom has been unwilling I've found myself falling into the habit of quizzing, goading and just plain nagging him. Bad mom!!

Teachers become so inured to this practice of goading their pupils' thoughts along prescribed channels, that information not given within the limits they choose to place seems illogical and discursive.

Today, blessedly, I received a very informative and inspiring email from yahoo group AmbleLore. Seriously if you aren't part of this group you simply must join. I don't get to read it that often but when I have read it has been an excellent addition to my education as an educator.

Go, right now and join this group and then look for the message titled On Narration. You won't regret it, even if narration is not a struggle right now this author gives incentive for you and your children to take it to a new level.

You can also visit my scribd docs and find the narrations cards that I just made today (copied from several sources) for our narration jar.

A Broad Education - The Arts

2010-01-29T12:42:00.000-08:00

When children have begun regular lessons (that is, as soon as they are six), this sort of study of pictures should not be left to chance, but they should take one artist after another, term by term, and study quietly some half-dozen reproductions of his work in the course of the term.

Charlotte Mason - Home Education pg. 309

Something wonderful has happened in our home over the past year or so and I can't help but lay my personal thanks to Charlotte Mason and her ideas on "short lessons". Instead of sticking to only the basics of school subjects I have been able to open broad doors to a very liberal education for my children starting at a young age.
Left to myself I would never have felt able to tackle such subjects as literature, world history, art, classical music and composers, poetry and handicrafts. But being bolstered and instructed by an experienced educator (Miss Mason) we have boldly entered into each of these subjects.

"the lessons are short, seldom more than twenty minutes in length for children under eight..."

I have talked with other home school mom's who wish to add many of these border subjects to their child's school routine but are too overloaded with current schedules or unsure of how to proceed that they simply don't even try. Frankly had I not read Miss Mason's work I would have been in the same boat. It seems as though we as home school moms feel that we must cover all or not at all, we tend to overdue all subjects especially those that are not considered basics. Normally I would have approached art study or composer study thinking that we needed to read several books on the artist or composer and hear or study all of their works. Miss Mason's protocol for art and music study would have seemed very simplistic.
Thankfully, I was willing to try and have been overwhelmingly pleased with the results. Not only do we have the time (5-15 minutes, once a week) to study paintings and listen to musical selections we have also learned from narrating our impressions to each other and each of my school age children has enjoyed learning more about a particular artist or composer on their own.

The art training of children should proceed on two lines. The six-year-old child should begin both to express himself and to appreciate, and his appreciation should be well in advance of his power to express what he sees or imagines.
Charlotte Mason - Home Education pg. 307

If you are using Ambleside Online's composer rotation then at some point you will want to listen to Jean Sibelius's Symphony no. 1. I can't say that I've heard this symphony before or for that matter much at all by Sibelius but I am happy to say that it is a very good piece and we all enjoyed listening to it as well as watching the orchestra perform it.

You can read more about the symphony here and more about Jean Sibelius here.

If you are looking for an avenue for your kiddos to learn more about the symphony and the various musical instruments then I would highly recommend the games found at Carnegie Hall Listening Adventures. My children have really enjoyed playing the games and have learned a large amount about instruments and the symphony. They can each name the instruments by sight although we are still working on being able to name them by sound.

FREE Eugene Field Resource

2010-01-19T11:55:00.000-08:00

If you are using Ambleside Online curriculum and in Year 2 or looking ahead to using Year 2 then you will want to download these resources.

Available today through Homeschool Radio Shows and audio biography of Eugene Field and an ebook of poems from Mr. Field.

Don't miss it!

When Life gets in the way of blogging

2010-01-17T19:19:00.000-08:00

Okay so really it's the other way around but since the holidays are past and we are on the tale end of doing some remodeling and school is back under way I might get a chance to drop in here and post some stuff.
We took the entire month of December off from formal school and while it was really very nice and needed it was a bit too long. I stopped thinking in school terms. Not the worst thing in the world but kind of makes starting up again a bit sluggish. The plan was to start school the first week in January but I realized after returning from my parents house that I hadn't planned the first week out much less the entire term and so I spent the week planning and organizing.
It was worth the effort as this last week (our first in term 2) went by smoothly, not easily just smoothly:)
So far so good but we are already behind in 1 history book ( The Little Duke) so we will be reading a bit from it every day to keep up. I've found that this year I've had to spread our readings out over an hour or so but have to keep rotating books because I can't stay awake while reading in the afternoon much longer than 15 minutes. Such is life with a baby.
I'd like to add in some extra studies this term but it just may not happen, and that's okay too.

Narration Gathering

2009-11-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I just need a one-stop shop for all the ideas that I find around the internet. So in order to facilitate my being able to find what I need when I need it and to hopefully help some of you out as well I'm gathering all the links and articles that have helped me with narration.

I'll also post these in the side-bar.

We use narration daily instead of tests or review or questioning. After I finish reading a portion of whatever book we are working through I pass around our Narration Jar and let the kids each pick a question. Some questions aren't always appropriate for what we have read so it's not a hard and fast thing.
Each child must narrate. I don't require long answers but "I don't remember" or "I don't know" are not passing grade:) If a child balks or can't seem to come up with anything I either move on to the next child (I have 2 in 2nd grade-twins) or I may ask a few general questions to help stir their memory. I have often found it helpful to narrate to them what I remember. Sometimes I have one of the children ask a question and each of us has to answer it.
I have found that using the narration jar and questions gets better co-operation and more enthusiasm than me just asking "what do you remember".
I haven't been really good and consistent about writing down narrations but I am making a better effort towards that end.

In case you are wondering, out of the 3 children old enough to give me narrations my son (8) by far gives me a shorter narration than my girls, but he has made tremendous progress. Tom didn't begin talking until he was 3 and spent a couple years in speech therapy, but after just one year of narrating his speech was brought up to his age level and now in our third year of narrating he is able to remember and narrate more than the last sentence!

It has been my experience that shorter portions of harder or highly detailed books makes narration much more doable for my kids. Pictures of what we are reading about are sometimes helpful as well.
My daughters both enjoy drawing their narrations while my son does not. Ali and Emi can narrate after longer passages while Tom does better with shorter ones.
The slower I read the better.

Anyways, I hope this helps and encourages you. If you are struggling or feeling like this isn't working please don't give up.
Relax and try again tomorrow.

NARRATION WHY AND HOW:

The art of Narrating
Narration Reminders from Jimmie's Collage
Narration and the Narration Cube
Articles on Narrating from Lindafay
Narration Jar from A Dusty Frame
Narration Ideas from Simply Charlotte Mason
Parents' Review Article at AmblesideOnline
Narration Bookmarks at Gentle Art of Chaos (I love these!)

Narration Starters

Week 9 Wrap-Up

2009-11-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

Combine sick baby, potty-training toddler and time change in the same week and to be honest school takes a bit of a back burner. We were able to get some done every day but not all. Thankfully I'm really too tired to worry about it and since we did keep up with our weekly reading schedule I won't fret about what wasn't finished.

The weather this past week has been simply amazing! Sunny and warm, so we have spent many, many hours outside playing. We have 2 large sycamore trees in our backyard and their leaves are simply huge so make wonderfully large leaf piles to jump into. We have yet to make it to the local arboretum for some exploring since Sadie was born but maybe it will happen this next week.

Ali and Tom are getting the hang of Miquon Math and seem to be enjoying the format of the books. Emi is exhibiting more staying power with her math and phonics and is still making rapid reading progress.

We enjoyed listening to the newly purchased Pilgrim's Progress mp3 cd for our weekly reading and I think the kids will be able to get a bit more from it than before.

We spent a few hours at a local city park one afternoon as well.

Nothing exciting or extremely note-worthy at least that my sleep-deprived brain can remember:)

First Things First

2009-11-04T19:57:00.000-08:00

It's taken me awhile to implement and I'm still pretty new at this but thanks to some encouragement we have begun a new practice in our home.

After Breakfast....
Before kitchen chores....
Before Circle Time....

Each child gathers their bible from the "bible shelf" in the livingroom and returns to our table. We open to the portion of scripture we are reading through (James right now) and then 1 by 1 we make our way verse by verse.
Most days we cover about 8 verses or so, 2 per reader, although while we were reading the Psalms we usually read a whole Psalm. After we read and after I've explained any hard words, we open up our journals to write. So far I'm keeping this pretty relaxed, just gently encouraging each one to listen for His voice, for a rhema. Some children do record, others simply talk it out, I always write my own thoughts in my journal.
When we finish in our journals I open up a tiny notebook that has become our family's prayer journal. I've been taking George Mueller's advice and recording the dates that we begin praying for things so that as the answers come we can record that as well. I ask for prayer requests and we read over the ones from the past days and update as needed. I also use prayer updates provided by Voice of the Martyrs so that every day our focus goes beyond our little house to the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world.
Usually all of the children are eager to pray and then I close our time together with a prayer.

A few weeks ago I would have thought this daily habit something impossible to begin or keep and frankly what would have been the point...aren't they too young to understand...to hear? But thankfully my heavenly Father knows best.
My first inkling of change came on Sunday morning at church. Honestly, it's been a dry few months in my own spiritual life. But this Sunday was different, I came excited, I came feeling full, I came thirsting more. I was not coming to receive but I felt like I was coming to give! Why? What changed?
God and I had met, had spoken, had communicated in those after breakfast times in His Word with slow beginning readers, ornery little boy antics, and fussy baby snuggles.

And then today, we read about being doers of the Word and not hearers only and discussed bridling our tongues and being slow to anger. Wouldn't you know that each of us was given a chance to be obedient in these areas and to encourage each other with scripture!

I encourage anyone who reads this to make being in God's word a priority over chores, school and housework it is a thing worth doing, of lasting value.

Seeing what we are Reading - Burgess Animal Book

2009-11-04T13:35:00.000-08:00

In following year 2 of Ambleside we have been reading the Burgess Animal Book for Children. Well, okay, we've been listening to it thanks to Librivox.
I wanted the kids to be able to picture the animals that we have been reading about so I went searching and found a great picture album put together by Lindafay on shutterfly. The only problem was that I had to search through the whole thing to find the correct pictures and I kind of wanted something a bit more detailed.
So I created my own album.
I'm not quite finished yet but so far I'm liking how it's working. I've made an album for each of the chapters in the book with the same title so that I can just click on the chapter we are listening to and look at the pictures of those animals. I've also tried to listen to each chapter with the kids and make sure that the pictures I have chosen correspond well with the description Mother Nature provides for us in the book.
Check it out and see what you think.

Burgess Animal Book Pics

Week 4

2009-09-29T13:52:00.001-07:00

So I'm a bit late posting this but I guess, better late than never.

Last week was a bit rough, mostly my fault for staying up too late for several nights (C. S. Lewis Space trilogy is just too good!) and not resting during the day. But we made it through with only a little bit of reading to catch up on.

Our fav thing of the week was finally getting the timeline up on our hallway wall. Everyone has enjoyed looking at the pics and dates and can't wait for Fridays when we put any new ones up.

I had 1 set of timeline figures from Homeschool in the Woods (yellow lines) and then copied that format and made the rest of the dates myself. I used different colors for each of the different time periods and followed the measurement guidelines given by Terri at Knowledge Quest.

I spent some time before school started going through each book for Year 2 from Ambleside and made my own timeline cards. Most of the info was taken from Wikipedia and didn't take long at all. Someday when I figure it out I'll make it available as a download.

Everyone enjoyed browsing through new library books and we've been reading some of them during circle time.

Emi worked on her reading skills using Bob Books. She is making progress but I'm finding it interesting meeting her needs. She is a very quick learner which means she gets bored easy. She is also a young 1st grader so some things take a bit longer for her to get figured out simply because she lacks the patience to learn it. I did find some great resources for reading practice and phonics work here and for the most part they have engaged her a lot better and spurred her on to try harder. I'm also planning on ordering this adorable reader for her to gain more confidence with.

We've been using Tanglewoods Corebook Health & Safety guide for a weekly focus and this past week was Tooth Care. We read some books from the library and talked a bit about keeping our teeth healthy and then of course we all had to practice it.

Over the past weekend I had a crisis about math study and was concerned that I was focusing too hard on drill work and not enough on math concepts, so I spent some time re-reading what Charlotte Mason had to say on the subject and then going over the links given on Ambleside Online. I decided that I just needed to strive for better balance than I was giving so am currently trying a rotation during the week using Calculadders, Math-It and Quarter Mile Math for drill work; Miquon Math and Family Math for mathematical concepts and Ray's Arithmetic for well, arithmetic. So far it's working o.k. I just can't quite check out of teaching like I'd kind of like to do:)

Don't forget to check out more great posts HERE!

Week 3

2009-09-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

Week 3 has come to a close, mostly. I'm still in the process of getting our wall timeline put together, I have the people printed out and ready to mount and finally today got the date strips printed out so maybe tomorrow or next week we will actually get all of it posted on the wall.
Since I'm new to posting our weekly wrap-ups I didn't grab the camera until today so my pics are fairly limited.

Highlights:
Seeing our monarch chrysalis turn into a butterfly!
Playing battleship for math lesson.

We are starting to get into somewhat of a routine around here although not as consistent as I would like. This week we ran late everyday but it still worked out well and I felt more relaxed by spreading out the lessons than trying to cram them all in during the morning hours.
Ali and Tom are doing well with their "daily vitamins" i.e. Calculadders, but we've had to start back at the beginning using Math-it. I'm not using a textbook for math until they have their addition facts down cold and are able to quickly add large numbers. I plan on using the shortcut adding methods suggested in "How Stevie Learned his Math".

Gathered around for circle time

I'm still working on streamlining Circle time and making it more enhancing for the younger kids and will hopefully have things in better order next week.

Egg-citing Levitation experiment......it worked!

Experimenting with different density liquids

It took a bit of help but they did get the concept of battleship and were really enjoying themselves until they bumped their boards and lost the pegs.

Copywork using Italic Handwriting from Penny Gardner

New Experiences in Nature Study 2

2009-09-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

The miraculous happened this morning!
While breakfast was being made one of the children noticed that the chrysalis had changed color and was now almost black. I knew this meant that the butterfly would emerge soon but I wasn't prepared for how soon.
Ali noticed it first, the butterfly sitting outside of the chrysalis, we immediately took it outside to the porch where it could be in the sun and removed the cheesecloth lid. I was a bit worried at first because its wings were so small, in fact they were only half the size of the butterflies body. But it did not take very long before they began to lengthen and spread out as the butterfly shook them.
We spent a lot of the next 2 hours or so watching it grow and move. It would unroll its tongue out and move its legs and continued to shake its wings. After awhile it just sat very, very still and I explained to the kids (who kept wanting to poke it) that butterflies rest with their wings closed.
About 2.5 hours after it emerged and while Ali and Will were watching it took off in flight.

New Experiences in Nature Study

2009-09-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

This term in school we are studying insects as suggested in the Ambleside Online rotation. Initially I had planned on using Apologia's "Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day" but felt that it was a bit too much to handle for me as a teacher this year. Instead I downloaded Barb's "Outdoor Hour Challenges" for insects and plan on using them. I also spent some time reading portions of the Handbook of Nature Study to familiarize myself with what insects we should look out for and some places to find them.
As I was browsing through the butterfly section I read how you could find Monarch Caterpillars on milkweed plants especially in the month of September, so on Monday, our nature study day, we walked to the end of our block where I knew there were several uncut milkweed plants. It took us a bit of looking and poking around but just before we were ready to give up we spotted a caterpillar sitting on a leaf.

The kids quickly ran back home and got a jar and some scissors so that we could take it home. Luckily I thought to grab an extra top from another milkweed plant to stick in the big jar at home because this would come in handy very soon.
We brought "stripey" home, put him and a couple stalks of milkweed into a gallon size glass jar, spread some cheesecloth across the top and then waited.....and waited......and waited.
I thought we had killed him somehow when after 24 hours he hadn't so much as moved a muscle, but lo and behold he was in the process of shedding skin. We were able to observe the tail-end of it and then stood in amazement over the next few days as we watched this little caterpillar eat, and eat, and eat and eat.
The boys would try to race the caterpillar at supper time to see if they could eat as much as fast as the caterpillar did; my husband and I would laugh as we watched it's little head tick back and forth while it ate reminding us of a typewriter and my girls got completely grossed out as the bottom of the jar filled with caterpillar droppings!
Once everyday I would boil some water on the stove to add some humidity to the air (not that it was needed much) because we were instructed not to let the air get too dry. We also replenished the food supply a couple of times and cleaned out the droppings as well.
On Saturday I took it out to clean the jar and add fresh milkweed but noticed that the caterpillar was hanging upside down and it's back-end was attached to the stem. I decided to leave it and just see what would happen. Sure enough later on it let go of the stem and just hung so I assumed that it would be changing into a chrysalis soon.
We missed the transformation because it happened while we were at church but you can see how it happens here.

Can you imagine the excitement when we came home and saw no longer a two inch upside down caterpillar but a tiny little jade chrysalis?

Now we wait. According to HNS it will take about 12 days to mature into a butterfly, but the changes to the chrysalis each day are absolutely amazing!

"The monarch chrysalis is, I maintain, the most beautiful gem in Nature's jewel csket; it is an oblong jewel of jade, darker at the upper end and shading to the most exquisite whitish green below; outlining this lower paler portion are shining flecks of gold."
HNS page 307-308

Home Education Food for Thought

2009-06-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some great blog articles that I have run across that keep me energized and focused.

How to Nurture Geniuses

Pros and Cons to Homeschooling - Why We do it

Exposing the Seven Major Blindspots of Homeschoolers

Homeschooling Heresies

Squidoo lenses that excite me

2009-06-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

Make your Own Notebooking Pages

Creating Geography Treasure Boxes

Using Drawing with Children

Native American Crafts & Activities

I have found notebooking resources for the book Seabird and Pagoo which we will be using in Year 2 of Ambleside Online this next year but I am wanting to try one for the Tree in the Trail book as well. I haven't found any notebooking pages for that book yet so I will be attempting to make my own in the next few weeks.
I really like the idea of the geography treasure boxes as well. My little sis will be a short-term missionary in Kenya next year so I will be incorporating a unit study style of learning for our family while she is away. I'm planning on focusing on Africa as a whole and then zeroing in on Kenya. It should work out nice since we will be reading about David Livingstone as well.

Baby is Here!

2009-05-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

We have been blessed with the early arrival of an adorable baby girl!
You can read more at this blog.

Finishing up School

2009-05-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

Officially we are done with school!
Last week was rough and distracting so we didn't do a great job of getting stuff done. I plan on continuing copywork, phonics, and reading lessons throughout the summer and need to make out a rough schedule for that so that it actually gets done:)
We do have 1 more Shakespeare play to read but other than that we have competed all of the reading for Year 1 from Ambleside. We also finished up our read-aloud Pinnochio which we all enjoyed thoroughly. Next on the list will probably be Little House on the Prairie.
For this summer I'll have the kids join a summer reading program through the library and I'm going to try to get us out of the house to various free nature locations.

I have been contemplating how to go about implementing our schedule this next year and am leaning towards a 12 weeks on 4 weeks off schedule. This would have us taking off December, April and August and continuing with school through the other 9 months of the year. I think I'm just going to have to try it to see whether or not it works for our family. I like the idea of it I just know that July can be an incredibly busy month for us with 4 birthdays and swimming lessons etc.
At least I have a few months to decide:)

Utilizing Yahoo Groups for your CM Homeschool

2009-05-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

I am continually amazed at the amount and wealth of information that is available through the internet these days! While I have not even begun to tap all of the resources listed through Ambleside Online I have found even another outlet of amazing information through YahooGroups.

I highly recommend searching out these groups as well as using the Yahoo search tool to find other groups you might be interested in. I found several just by typing in "Charlotte Mason" and "Ambleside".

Here is a list of the groups that I have joined:

AmbleLore

Ambleside_Online_Curriculum

Ambleside_Year0

Ambleside_Year1

AmblesideOnline

AO_HEO_Schedules

AOArtPrints

AOCopywork

AOLessonPlans

AONarration

AO_Timeline

CharlotteMasonKindergarten

Charlotte_Mason_Friends_in_(your state)

cmason

CMcurricula

CMforMomsofMany

CMseries

understandingcharlotte

This may seem like a lot but not every group has a ton of activity and I always opt for the daily digest emails so that my inbox does not become too overloaded. I usually just scan the titles of each digest and if I'm interested in a particular post I click on that link. Also, I rarely post on these, mostly just glean information from others and utilize the files sections. The FILES are where I have found many wonderful treasures. Not every group will have files to access but a lot of them do and they are well worth your time to investigate.

Spelling Made Easy in the Early Years

2009-04-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest from the start here, spelling has never been a problem for me. I have siblings who struggle with it but honestly until I read Charlotte's writings on spelling I could never figure out what their problem was. As I've studied teaching approaches and learning styles I have figured out that my learning style (60% visual and 40% auditory) plays a large part in why I don't struggle with spelling and why others do. The more of a visual learner you are the less trouble you will likely have because you automatically "see" the words and remember them.

But the fact is, the gift of spelling depends upon the power the eye possesses to 'take' (in a photographic sense) a detailed picture of a word; and this is a power and habit which must be cultivated in children from the first. CM vol 1 pg 241

Of course as a teacher though, the last thing that I wanted was for it to be a problem for any of my children, so I have always been interested in the various programs and curriculum that tout complete success in this area. And while most of them seem to be on the right track and do probably accomplish the end goal I had a hard time swallowing the amount of money and time most of them required. Having a large family with children close in age has forced me to look at all things in the view of "how much time will it take?", "how much does it cost?" and "how simple is it?". Upon reading Miss Mason's spelling methods and instructions my criteria questions were answered satisfactorily. Not only is her method a logical approach to spelling success it is very easy to implement, takes very little time, cost nearly nothing and the results can be seen quickly.

Transcription (copywork) should be an introduction to spelling. Children should be encouraged to look at the word, see a picture of it with their eyes shut, and then write from memory. CM vol 1 pg 238

A Fertile Cause of Bad Spelling.––The common practise is for the teacher to dictate a passage, clause by clause, repeating each clause, perhaps, three of our times under a fire of questions from the writers. Every line has errors in spelling, one, two, three, perhaps. The conscientious teacher draws her pencil under these errors, or solemnly underlines them with red ink. The children correct in various fashions; sometimes they change books, and each corrects the errors of another, copying the word from the book or from the blackboard. A few benighted teachers still cause children to copy their own error along with the correction, which last is written three or four times, learned, and spelt to the teacher. The latter is astonished at the pure perversity which causes the same errors to be repeated again and again, notwithstanding all these painstaking efforts. CM vol 1 pg 240-241

The plan that Miss Mason lays out is very simple and this is how we have put it into practice in our home.

During phonics lesson there are always words that the child needs to write, I pick 2-3 of these words and after the child reads the word I ask them to look at the word closely and take a picture of it in their mind. I generally try to block out the other surrounding words to help them to focus better as well. Once they have the picture in their head I ask them to close their eyes and see it and then write it on their paper. I keep a very close watch on each letter they write and if I see them starting to write the wrong letter I stop them and have them re-take a picture of the word. At no time are they allowed to misspell the word.

I also implement spelling practice during the child's reading practice time. After they have completed their reading I pick out 2-3 words and have them take a picture in their mind. Instead of writing this word out though, I have them spell it out loud to me. Again I stop them immediately if a mistake is made and have them re-look at the word for another picture.

At first some of my kids were frustrated and didn't want to try, but after some encouragement and starting with 3-4 letter words they began to gain more confidence and have gradually increased their abilities.

When they have read 'cat,' they must be encouraged to see the word with their eyes shut, and the same habit will enable them to image 'Thermopylae.' This picturing of words upon the retina appears to be to be the only royal road to spelling; an error once made and corrected leads to fearful doubt for the rest of one's life, as to which was the wrong way and which is the right. CM vol 1 pg 241

Once the eye sees a misspelt word, that image remains; and if there is also the image of the word rightly spelt, we are perplexed as to which is which. CM vol 1 pg 241

A mistake that I made in the beginning was to allow the child to say the letters under their breath and then close their eyes and spell. This is not the way to train their eyes to see the word and should not be allowed to take place. I have also not put into practice these very easy steps for most of first grade and I do regret putting it aside for other topics. Kindergarten is a great place to start having the child practice seeing the words they are beginning to read and will give them a cause for much celebrating upon their success:)

Spelling must not be lost sight of in the children's other studies, though they should not be teased to spell. It is well to write a difficult proper name, for example, on the blackboard in the course of history or geography readings, rubbing the word out when the children say they can see it. The whole secret of spelling lies in the habit of visualising words from memory, and children must be trained to visualise in the course of their reading. They enjoy this way of learning to spell. CM vol 1 pg 243

Miss Mason also lays out how to continue increasing the child's ability and practice of spelling through dictation. She advocates not starting this until the child is 8-9 years old or 2nd to 3rd grade. I think the timing of this may depend a lot the child's maturity level but I would say that most children are capable of much more than we as their mothers ask of them. I will not comment much on dictation as we are just finishing up first grade right now, but as I learn more and begin using it I hope to share how it is working in our house.

Steps of a Dictation Lesson.––Dictation lessons, conducted in some such way as the following, usually result in good spelling. A child of eight or nine prepares a paragraph, older children a page, or two or three pages. The child prepares by himself, by looking at the word he is not sure of, and then seeing it with his eyes shut. Before he begins, the teacher asks what words he thinks will need his attention. He generally knows, but the teacher may point out any word likely to be a cause of stumbling. He lets his teacher know when he is ready. The teacher asks if there are any words he is not sure of. These she puts, one by one, on the blackboard, letting the child look till he has a picture, and then rubbing the word out. If anyone is still doubtful he should be called to put the word he is not sure of on the board, the teacher watching to rub out the word when a wrong letter begins to appear, and again helping the child to get a mental picture. Then the teacher gives out the dictation, clause by clause, each clause repeated once. She dictates with a view to the pointing, which the children are expected to put in as they write; but they must not be told 'comma,' 'semicolon,' etc. After the sort of preparation I have described, which takes ten minutes or less, there is rarely an error in spelling. If there be, it is well worth while for the teacher to be on the watch with slips of stamp-paper to put over the wrong word, that its image may be erased as far as possible. At the end of the lesson, the child should again study the wrong word in his book until he says he is sure of, and should write it correctly on the stamp-paper.

A lesson of this kind secures the hearty co-operation of children, who feel they take their due part in it; and it also prepares them for the second condition of good spelling, which is––much reading combined with the habit of imaging the words as they are read.

Illiterate spelling is usually a sign of sparse reading; but, sometimes, of hasty reading without the habit of seeing the words that are skimmed over. CM vol 1 pg 242-243

First Grade - Copywork/Handwriting/Transcription

2009-04-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

After a recent conversation it was brought to my attention that maybe I don't include enough handwriting, creative writing or spelling practice in my 1st graders curriculum.

While at first this comment rather bugged me; after some reflection and thought I decided to use it as an opportunity to analyze whether or not I was meeting my goals for my children in this area. And whether or not I was following the guidelines laid out by Charlotte Mason.

So after a bit of reading and research and thinking I have come up with the following. I feel this is a fair representation of Charlotte's guides and is workable for most 1st graders.

First off if you have read CM's "Home Education" you will notice that there is no mention of copywork in her writings, that is simply because she called it "transcription". You can reference her writings on transcription and handwriting here. (scroll down the page to parts X & XI)

"The earliest practice in writing proper for children of seven or eight should be, not letter writing or dictation, but transcription, slow and beautiful work..." CM vol. 1 pg. 238

First Grade Goals

Short Lessons, no longer than 10 -15 minutes

Learn 1 letter daily, gradually working up to short words and then sentences.

Avoid careless, sloppy work

I can only offer a few hints on the teaching of writing, though much might be said. First, let the child accomplish something perfectly in every lesson––a stroke, a pothook, a letter. Let the writing lesson be short; it should not last more than five or ten minutes. Ease in writing comes by practice; but that must be secured later. In the meantime, the thing to be avoided is the habit of careless work––humpy 'm's, angular o's. CM vol.1 pg. 233

Why you may ask should writing lessons be so short? After all doesn't a child need more practice to get better? And won't he surely forget what he has learned if his lessons do not encompass more than just 1 letter a day?
If you have observed a child of this age writing you will notice that the more that they write the more careless their letters become.
Unknowingly I experimented with this very principle this year while teaching Ali & Tom. Since they had learned their letters in Kindergarten using a workbook, I figured it would be too laborious for them to backtrack and relearn to write their letters in a perfect hand. And everybody said that they should be doing "copywork" for this first year. So we delved into transcribing short sentences accomplishing a couple per week. But I did not expect perfect work and therefore did not get it. It did not matter how short the sentence or how long it was as if they were incapable of turning out beautiful work. I also did not notice any change in their penmanship during other projects and this was very discouraging because if I truly believed what Charlotte said then I was not expecting enough from my children.
So we made a break.
I purchased Penny Gardner's Italic Handwriting and we started over from the beginning. I probably did not need to go back this far but it has proved to be worth it.
Some days they only turn out 1 letter perfectly, other days 1 word and some days several words of perfect handwriting. We have not added sentences yet but I am confident that as long as we continue through the perfect forming of each letter that by the start of next year they will be more than ready to produce the quality of penmanship that I desire.

"Of the further stages, little need be said. Secure that the child begins by making perfect letters and is never allowed to make faulty ones, and the rest he will do for himself; as for 'a good hand,' do not hurry him; his 'handwriting' will come by-and-by out of the character that is in him; but, as a child, he cannot be said, strictly speaking, to have character." CM vol. 1 pg. 234

As they have trained their eyes to look for perfect work I have noticed a difference in their handwriting during phonics lessons and in their nature notebooks. I do not expect perfect work outside of copywork but for their nature notebooks I ask them to write as nicely as they can.
I have found the best approach in training their eyes to "see" perfect work is to ask them if they think their work is "perfect". Nine times out of ten the will reply honestly and will correct their work if needed, the rest of the time I will point out how their letter differs from the original and then work on getting them to see what needs to change.
I should say as well that right now our writing lessons are not longer than about 5 minutes, but as Tom & Ali have become more accustomed to writing perfectly they have been able to accomplish a bit more each lesson. In the beginning though it was a major struggle for them to accomplish 1 letter perfectly.
I think it is wise for us moms to remember that in the case of copywork consistency and diligence in careful, beautiful copywork are much more important than having your child fill in pages of handwriting practice sheets.

Time & Energy

2009-04-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had some thoughts rattling around in your head that you really want to get posted but whenever you have a few minutes your brain just kind of shuts down?

That's how I've been feeling lately.

So for those who read this blog someday in the hopefully near future I'll actually have the time, energy and brain power all put together at the same time to jot down some thoughts I've been having.

But for now I'll just have to keep reading and researching so that I'll have my sources in order when the time comes.

And for those who are interested I'm rapidly nearing the end of pregnancy so that my be part of my brain power problem.

What a Nature Walk looks like for us

2009-04-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since we have gotten over to the arboretum.
Combine sporadic weather with a tired distracted pregnant mama and some things just don't happen. The problem is that this is one that should happen more often!
I can't say nature walks are all that refreshing for me right now but the kids have so much fun hiking the trails and running around those wide open spaces that I just simply must make going a priority.
I have set aside Fridays as a break from schoolwork and a day to catch up and go on outings, but I've ranked cleaning the house as much higher a priority than taking the kids out. Not good.
So here's a pledge to do better and to blog about our nature time to help keep me accountable.

Eating lunch before our hike. We sat in the Oak circle this time.

At the start of our hike. Wesley really enjoyed all of the bridges on this trail, 6 in all!

Waiting for slow-poke mom to catch up.

A surprise along the way.

Tom wanting a close up of his flower.

And that's all folks! We had a good time and enjoyed the exercise and change of scenery. This mama's bladder doesn't hold out for more than a couple of hours right now but it's worth the effort.

Geography and Paddle-to-the-Sea

2009-03-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

Could there possibly be a better choice for Year 1 students but this book Paddle to the Sea?

Tom, Ali and I have enjoyed reading through this book very much and have learned a lot about the great lakes in the process.
My DH grew up around the great lakes so the kids enjoy asking him questions about each lake that he has seen or been to. For instance we had just read about Lake Erie and where telling DH what we had learned and he was able to add that he had swam in that lake and that it was a murky lake.
We've used mostly maps for learning about the areas that Paddle drifts through and this has worked very well. I have a large U.S. map on our livingroom wall that we refer to for the big picture of where paddle was and is in each adventure.

I also printed out a couple of outline maps for the kids to color in. This map gives a nice view of all the lakes and surrounding states without any state or city names, while this map helps them to locate each state and lake by its name. As we read each chapter I have them color in any new area that we learn about and then we discuss the states that surround each lake and how to tell the difference on a map between each lake.

Another fun tool especially for Tom has been following Paddle's adventures on Google Earth. This has been fun to get a bird's eye view of the areas that Paddle floats through. We have also googled searched the Soo locks and various other landmarks to help with picturing the areas.
And for a grand finale of our geography lessons for the year we will be watching the movie of Paddle-to-the-Sea on youtube. The kids are bummed that I won't let them watch it now but I want them to use their own imaginations of what they think things looked like for Paddle before they see a movie of it. But since the movie is live action and not a cartoon it should be very enlightening to watch.

We are also working on a plan to visit the great lakes possibly next year.

Anyway enjoy your reading and if you've found other helpful links in your research please post them in the comments.

Term 3 Artist Study

2009-03-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

For most of this year we have been using Harmony Fine Arts Grade 1 curriculum for our music and art appreciation and while I love this well put together curriculum I found that there were too many artists for my kids to get a good grasp on and I wasn't getting any of the wonderful extra activities in. So I decided to simplify a bit and go ahead and follow the Art rotation laid out on AmblesideOnline.

Now if you have not gone through AmblesideOnline with a fine toothpick comb yet, then please find an area and start clicking on all of those delightful links that have been provided. I just clicked on a few on the Art Schedule page and am really excited about using them.

In the past a member provided the art prints each term at a low cost but she is not able to do that anymore so you will need to find a way to get them yourself. I would highly recommend joining the AO Art yahoo group because you can download the terms artist pictures and those of past years. While you could print them out yourself at home I have found a cheap alternative that I wanted to share.

Since we have a fedex/kinkos store in the town that I frequent I got online yesterday and registered on their website and then placed an order to have the Van Gogh pictures printed out by them. This was unbelievably easy and took a matter of 10 minutes or so. I chose cardstock glossy paper and full-color copies to be made from the file that I had downloaded from the yahoo group and had uploaded to the kinkos site. And they have a promotion going right now for users to receive 20% off of a printing order so my total cost for having 7 pages printed was under $7!!!

Today I had errands to run in town and dropped by the store to pick up my prints. I was very happy with the results and can't wait to put them in use. I will be putting each print as we view it into a binder with page protectors. I also plan to keep my eyes open at garage sales for some nice 8 x 10 frames so that I can hang a few of our favorites up throughout the house.

Seriously, do you ever wonder what we would do without the internet!

Our First Crochet Lesson

2009-03-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

Today I sat down with both Tom and Ali to begin teaching them crochet.
I followed Charlotte's advice and kept our lesson short (10-15 min.) so that neither of us would get frustrated. I also gave them each a lesson separately so that I could focus individually.

I followed the advice given here on teaching the basics to children and started by showing (visual) them how to make a slip knot and describing each step along the way. Then I let them try it out. It took a few tries and some extra showing but both of them got it and were able to make a nice slip knot.

Next I showed them the crochet hook and explained the different sizes and how they are lettered or numbered. It is best to start with as large a hook as possible and large yarn but all I had on hand was a size J hook and some wool yarn. Neither Tom or Ali seemed to be bothered by the sizes but if I can locate my size P or Q hook we may try that. I also showed the 2 different ways that the hook can be held (knife or pencil method) but they both automatically grabbed it and held it like I do (knife method).

Initially I started out from the slip knot and demonstrated a few chain stitches. I explained how we wanted to make "fat worms" not "hungry worms" and then showed how this was accomplished. After watching a few stitches being made I handed it over to them to try. After a little bit we found that it worked best for me to direct their hands as we made more stitches. This reduced frustration and correction so that they were able to make several stitches.
Most of our time was spent in proper hand position, holding the yarn and proper yarn tension. But all in all I think it went o.k.

I do think that I will also throughout the week be teaching each of them as well as Emi to finger knit. Working with yarn in this way will take some of the unfamiliarity away and they will be able to get results sooner. Finger knitting is what I first learned to do and spent many years making yards of rope.

You can watch a very good video of instruction for finger knitting here and here and a cute video of a different method here. You can also find some great projects to make using the rope made from finger knitting.

More helpful articles:

How to teach your child to crochet

Teach your child how to crochet

Teaching kids to crochet and/or knit

You can also find more info from my first post here.

Handiwork - Teaching crocheting

2009-03-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest, I have neglected to focus on any handiwork diligently for the first 2 terms and so I find myself not having accomplished anything in this area for our 3rd term!
I had hoped to have Ali and Tom proficient in at least 1 area of handiwork by now, but there is no time like the present.
I have decided that crocheting is a good place to start, mostly because I'm still not a very accomplished knitter and because I have tons of yarn and crochet hooks.
Also I found these adorable patterns on Lion Brand yarn's website which I think will be a great motivation once they learn the basics of crochet. (you will need to register with this site to access the patterns)

I did a quick google search and came across this great website for teaching children how to crochet. This gives me a great starting point and their instructions are very user friendly and geared toward children.
So coming this next week I will be starting with the Slip knot and Chain stitch.
If you would like some pictures to show your kids or to help out you can find them at these sites:

Teaching Crochet to the Young

The Slip Stitch

Free Crochet Video Tutorial

And no post here would be quite complete without directing our thoughts back to Charlotte's ideas and thoughts on the subject of Handicrafts.

Ambleside articles on Handicrafts

"The points to be borne in mind in children's handicrafts are: (a) that they should not be employed in making futilities such as pea and stick work, paper mats, and the like; (b) that they should be taught slowly and carefully what they are to do; (c) that slipshod work should not allowed; (d) and that, therefore, the children's work should be kept well within their compass."

CM Vol. 1, pg. 315-316

Year 1, Term 2 EXAM WEEK

2009-03-02T18:54:00.000-08:00

This past week was the end of our 2nd term and the first exam week that we've done. At first I was rather intimidated by the idea of an exam time and frankly a bit scared that it would reveal that my kids have in fact learned nothing, but after this 2nd term I've gotten past those fears and forged ahead to try our hands at this thing.

I got ideas for questions from the exam questions listed at Ambleside and from Jacci's post about exams.

I can't say that I was super creative but I tried to cover all the subjects and get a good feel for what has been retained and understood, and what will need a bit more work.

The subjects of art study and composer/music study I will be slowing up a bit and focusing on just 1 of each this 3rd term. Alissa was able to recall some but Tom was pretty baffled.

It was interesting to see how the gender differences came out with both Tom and Ali. Ali was very descriptive with the stories but struggled on the math end and Tom wizzed through the math but struggled with recalling more than the basics from our readings. I'm not really sure how I'll address this on a daily level other than to keep gently pushing Tom for more descriptive narrations. It may also help for me to become consistent with recording their narrations on the computer or giving them other alternatives to oral narrations i.e. acting out, drawing etc.

All in all I am satisfied with how our first exam week has gone. We didn't get all the questions finished so will be tying them up this week. One thing that I did struggle with was that our schedule fell apart and at the end of the week I was exhausted, the house was a disaster and I had accomplished absolutely nothing in the way of extra cleaning and organizing projects. I think it would work much better to maintain the same daily school schedule but just insert the exam questions instead of the usual school work. I guess I've got 12 weeks to figure that one out!

I made up 2 sets of questions, one for each child, and kept them in Microsoft Word and then typed their answers in the proper places. I will be printing them out and filing them away as soon as we get them all finished. I think we only have a couple left.

Without further ado, here are the questions:

Bible Lessons

1. Tell me about Moses & the Ten Commandments

2. Tell me about Joseph & His brothers

Writing

1. There is Power in the Blood

Nature History

1. Describe 2 birds & what you have noticed about them.

2. Describe the nicest walk you have had this term? What did you find?

Geography

1. Draw the shape of Lake Superior or Lake Michigan.
2. Tell something about Britain. Where is it?

Number

1. Answer questions on pages 38, 39 & 40.
2. Do math question sheet.

(these were tests from Ray's Arithmetic parents guide)

Picture Talk

1. Describe the picture you liked the most from this term.

Tales

1. Tell about an Aesop tale that you liked.

History

1. Tell the story of King Arthur

2. Tell me about the Giant’s Dance

Reading

1. Read a passage for dad.

Music

1. What piece did you like best from this term’s music you have heard? Why?

The Reading Mother

2009-02-28T18:18:00.000-08:00

I had a Mother who read to me,

Sagas of pirates, who scoured the sea,

Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth,

"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath.

I had a Mother who read me lays,

Of ancient and gallant and golden days;

Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,

Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales,

Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,

True to his trust till his tragic death,

Faithfulness lent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things,

That wholesome life to the boy heart brings

Stories that stir with an upward touch,

Oh, that each mother of boys were such.

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be--

I had a Mother who read to me!

By: Strickland Gillilan

"Today a reader,

Tomorrow a leader."

~ Margaret Fuller ~

When I was about eight, I decided that the most wonderful thing, next to a human being, was a book. ~ Margaret Walker ~

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~Anna Quindlen ~

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. ~ Lady Mary Wortley Montagu ~

There is no substitute for books in the life of a child. ~ Mary Ellen Chase ~

A room without books is like a body without a soul. ~ Marcus T. Cicero ~

Never judge a book by its movie. ~ J. W. Eagan ~

When you have mastered numbers, you will in fact no longer be

reading numbers, any more than you read words when reading books

you will be reading meanings. ~ Harold S. Geneen ~

Books are not men and yet they stay alive.

~ Stephen Vincent Benet ~

Books are not made for furniture,

but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.

~ Henry Ward Beecher ~

A book is good company.

It is full of conversation without loquacity.

It comes to your longing with full instruction,

but pursues you never. ~ Henry Ward Beecher ~

Kindergarten, Year 0 and Charlotte Mason

2009-02-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

What to do, what to do? That is the question.
I've been reading, researching, thinking, praying and meditating about my daughter Emi and what kind of curriculum I should follow for her this next year. She is 5.5 right now and will turn 6 shortly before we start our next school year, so technically she would be Kindergarten age, but she has already completed the majority of Kindergarten requirements that a public school would teach her and has been through all of the books suggested in Year 0 on Ambleside. On the other hand I don't really feel comfortable throwing Year 1 work at her because I don't feel that she has the maturity to handle all of it. And the thought of having 2 in Year 2 and 1 in Year 1 next year with a new baby is not overly appealing.
So after much debating I think I have hit upon a curriculum that will be challenging to her but not discouraging and definitely doable for me.
I also am confident that this is what Miss Mason would have suggested as well.....wait a minute, I guess she already did!

First she has given us an entire book full of ideas (Home Education) and she also compiled a list of attainments that help bring into focus specific goals for a Kindergarten child. (You can find this list and other ideas for implementing at Ambleside under curriculum Year 0.)

And then she set out this excellent list of guidelines to help us along the way. Here is how I will be putting it into practice for Emi in our home. I will be starting her first term in a couple of weeks officially since that's when Tom and Ali will be starting Term 3 of Year 1.

I have added supplemental reading from Charlotte Mason's Home Education book for extra support, help and encouragement for anyone interested.

A FORMIDABLE LIST OF ATTAINMENTS FOR A CHILD OF SIX

1. To recite, beautifully, 6 easy poems and hymns

Pretty basic here, I'm letting her pick out the poems and we a hymn or two everyday so we may work on being able to recite some as well.

Spread out through a year this would mean 2 poems and 2 hymns each term so nothing too overwhelming.

vol. 1, pg. 222-224

2. To recite, perfectly and beautifully, a parable & a psalm

Miss Mason encourages memorizing out of the book of Mark and I have picked out Mark 4:1-9 and Psalm 1 for Emi.

vol. 1, pg. 222-224

3. To add & subtract numbers up to 10, with dominoes or counters

Emi has been learning these just from using manipulatives and such so this isn't a big deal we will just focus more on it. I will be starting her slowly in Ray's Arithmetic and she joins Ali and Tom in our Family Math games.

vol. 1, pg.253-264

4. To read - what and how much, will depend on what we are told of the child

We have already begun this using a mixture of CM methods, Reading Reflex and Ruth Beechick. She is progressing well although not fast enough to suit her eagerness so I will be stepping this up to being daily work instead of sporadically.

vol. 1, pg. 199-222

5. To copy in print-hand from a book

Right now we are working on one letter at a time concentrating on producing perfect work. Later we will start with short copywork pieces. I will be using Penny Gardner's Italics Beautiful Handwriting as a guide.

vol. 1, pg. 159-160 & pg. 233-240

6. To know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows

We will continue to talk and use compass terms while out of doors, she will also be keeping a weather/nature calendar throughout the year. I will be purchasing a compass for all of the kids to experiment with and learn how to use, I was also thinking of making a wind sock together and posting on on of the fence posts.

vol. 1, pg. 74-77

7. To describe the boundaries of their own home

Pretty self-explanatory here but I'll be re-reading what Charlotte had to say about this.

vol. 1, pg. 77

8. To describe any lake, river, pond, island etc. within easy reach

Make weekly trips to the aboretum, and other local nature sites and trails.

vol.1, pg. 48-50

9. to tell quite accurately (however shortly) 3 stories from Bible history, 3 from early American, and 3 from early Roman history

I will be reading to her from some different history books although I haven't quite nailed down which ones but will probably be On the Shores of the Great Sea by M.B. Sygne.

vol. 1, pg. 279-295

10. to be able to describe 3 walks and 3 views

Continue to take walks and use the approaches to increasing attentiveness that Miss Mason talks about.

vol. 1, pg. 45-48

11. to mount in a scrap book a dozen common wildflowers, with leaves (one every week); to name these, describe them in their own words, and say where they found them

vol. 1, pg. 51-56 & pg. 62-65

12. to do the same with leaves and flowers of 6 forest trees

13. to know 6 birds by song, color and shape

We have been making bird lapbooks recently which has allowed each child to focus on learning more information about their favorite backyard birds. We also keep our bird feeders filled and watch and discuss the birds that come every morning. Emi is very good at picking up and imitating bird songs so I will continue to expose her to individual songs and we will be keeping an attentive ear while outside.

vol. 1, pg. 59-62 & 89-92

14. to send in certain Kindergarten or other handiwork, as directed

I'll be starting her on some plastic canvas work and then moving on to crosstitch, knitting, and hand sewing over time.

vol. 1, pg. 315-316

15. to tell three stories about their own "pets" - rabbit, dog or catThis one should be interesting considering that we have no pets right now! My husband and I have agreed that a large family in a small house living in town can do without pets, but I might have to reconsider this and see if we can come up with a compromise:) I'm thinking of ordering an ant farm kit and we might look into a fish tank.

16. to name 20 common objects in French, and say a dozen little sentences

For our family we have decided to pursue learning Spanish instead of French. I do not learn foreign languages very easily and well so that will help me to be more patient as we learn together.

We have lyric language cd & dvd in spanish and will be purchasing Rosetta Stone for all of us to use.

vol. 1, pg. 80-81 & 301-307

17. to sing one hymn, one French song, and one English song

We will be following the Ambleside hymn list and adding in some other folk songs as well as some French or Spanish songs.

vol. 1, pg. 133 & 314-315

18. to keep a caterpillar and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observationsWe may end up purchasing this as a kit but hopefully we will catch one this fall!

vol. 1, pg. 59-61

As you can see there is little to no book work mostly just enjoyable fun learning time with some minor direction.

You can read more about what Miss Mason thought about Kindergarten here.

Also here are some great blog posts concerning this list and Kindergarten.

Piney Woods Homeschool

Ancient Paths Homeschool

Sunflower Faith

Understanding Charlotte

Higher Up and Further In

Home-made Living

One Day at a Time....

Delighting in the Days

President's Day or Month!

2009-02-15T18:09:00.000-08:00

I laughingly call my oldest son Tom our unit study leader because of his yearly intense focus on various subjects. Last year it was the solar system and the year before that it was something else (which I can't currently remember). Right now his focus is money and presidents, specifically Abraham Lincoln!

I believe he became interested in the presidents through observing the coins that he has been earning in his household chores by commission. And since pennies are a bit more common to see he took up an interest in Abe Lincoln. Imagine his joy then when upon looking at the February calender he realized that not only would we be observing Lincoln's birthday but that of George Washington's too. And since we had just finished reading the D'Aulaire book about George Washington and had read the D'Aulaire book about Abraham Lincoln last summer, things began to click.

So we have been riding the adventure that Tom's studies takes us on. Tomorrow we will do a few activities such as drawing a log cabin and rubbing a quarter and a penny but mostly we have been reading "living" history books about both men. I was blessed to find a book about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln that was published by Random House back in the 1950's at a local used bookstore and then have added several books from the library. And for Ali I brought home "Welcome to Kirsten's World" which is during the Lincoln years and "Welcome to Felicity's World" from the Washington years.

I have also picked up several books about presidents in general so that the kids could explore other presidents as well. I plan on pursuing this adventure as long as the interest and curiosity is alive in Tom's heart:)

All the kids enjoyed the short videos that we found at the History Channel about various presidents as well. Tom's only complaint is that we can't go to youtube or something to see "real" videos of Abraham Lincoln!

The blessing for us has been that because of Charlotte Mason's advocacy of "short lessons" we have plenty of time to engage in and learn about other interests!

Winter Outdoor Time

2009-02-11T19:05:00.000-08:00

It is infinitely well worth of the mother's while to take some pains every day to secure, in the first place, that her children spend hours daily amongst rural and natural objects; and, in the second place, to infuse into them, or rather to cherish in them, the love of investigation. "I say it deliberately," says Kingsley, "as a student of society and of history: power will pass more and more into the hands of scientific men. They will rule, and they will act––cautiously, we may hope, and modestly, and charitably––because in learning true knowledge they will have learnt also their own ignorance, and the vastness, the complexity, the mystery of Nature. But they will also be able to rule, they will be able to act, because they have taken the trouble to learn the facts and the laws of Nature."

CM Vol. 1, pg. 71

Even though we have had our share of bone-chilling cold this winter, the moisture level has been very low. And while we haven't gotten outside nearly as much as we should have (I don't like being cold!) We have had some fun. Here's just a few pics of our outdoors time in the last couple of months.

On our way the bridge and creek

Emi and Ali getting up close

On the way up or down

Wes and Will dropping rocks

Thomas wanting to go across the crik.

Mothers and Teachers should know about Nature. - The mother cannot devote herself too much to this kind of reading, not only that she may read tit-bits to her children about matters they have come across, but that she may be able to answer their queries and direct their observations. And not only the mother, but any woman, who is likely ever

to spend an hour or two in the society of children, should make herself mistress of this sort of information; the children will adore her for knowing what they want to know, and who knows but she may give its bent for life to some young mind designed to do great things for the world. CM Vol. 1 pg.64-65

Our "find" on the way home. We cut off a small branch to research when we got home and thanks to the book "Discover Nature in Winter" we found out that this is a bagworm moth.

"Bagworm moths spend the winter as eggs in cocoonlike sacks that dangle from evergreen shrubs and trees by silken threads. Collect a few bags and open them. The cocoon of a female bagworm will hold hundreds of yellow eggs. The larvae that make the bags are not easily seen; they live in the ground, where they thrive on grass or roots."

Discover Nature in Winter pg. 137-138

We got to go trail hiking at our visit to the nearby aboretum. We didn't see a whole bunch of birds mostly because the kids were too excited to be very quiet:)

Hiking the whole 1 mile wasn't possible on this day because Will tuckered out and mom was pretty much done for too! I do need to figure out something for bathroom use though, not for the kids because they can go in the grass if necessary but for this pregnant mom's squashed bladder!

Before our hike we had a nice picnic lunch and then snacked with a friendly bee after our hike.

Meals out of Doors.––People who live in the country know the value of fresh air very well, and their children live out of doors, with intervals within for sleeping and eating. As to the latter, even country people do not make full use of their opportunities. On fine days when it is warm enough to sit out with wraps, why should not tea and breakfast, everything but a hot dinner, be served out of doors? For we are an overwrought generation, running to nerves as a cabbage runs to seed; and every hour spent in the open is a clear gain, tending to the increase of brain power and bodily vigour, and to the lengthening of life itself. They who know what it is to have fevered skin and throbbing brain deliciously soothed by the cool touch of the air are inclined to make a new rule of life, Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.

Besides, the gain of an hour or two in the open air, there is this to be considered: meals taken al fresco are usually joyous, and there is nothing like gladness for converting meat and drink into healthy

blood and tissue. All the time, too, the children are storing up memories of a happy childhood. Fifty years hence they will see the shadows of the boughs making patterns on the white tablecloth; and sunshine, children's laughter, hum of bees, and scent of flowers are being bottled up for after refreshment. CM Vol 1.pg.42-43

Starting out - the weather this day was in the upper 60's!

Possibilities of a Day in the Open.––I make a point, says a judicious mother, of sending my children out, weather permitting, for an hour in the winter, and two hours a day in the summer months. That is well; but it is not enough. In the first place, do not send them; if it is anyway possible, take them; for, although the children should be left much to themselves, there is a great deal to be done and a great deal to be prevented during these long hours in the open air. And long hours they should be; not two, but four, five, or six hours they should have on every tolerably fine day, from April till October. Impossible! Says an overwrought mother who sees her way to no more for her children than a daily hour or so on the pavements of the neighbouring London squares. Let me repeat, that I venture to suggest, not what is practicable in any household, but what seems to me absolutely best for the children; and that, in the faith that mothers work wonders once they are convinced that wonders are demanded of them. A journey of twenty minutes by rail or omnibus, and a luncheon basket, will make a day in the country possible to most town dwellers; and if one day, why not many, even every suitable day? CM Vol. 1 pg. 44-45

Will taking a break and exploring a stump.

Intimacy with Nature makes for Personal Well-being.––But to enable them to swim with the stream is the least of the benefits this early training should confer on the children; a love of Nature, implanted so early that it will seem to them hereafter to have been born in them, will enrich their lives with pure interests, absorbing pursuits, health, and good humour. "I have seen," says the same writer, "the young man of fierce passions and uncontrollable daring expend healthily that energy which threatened daily to plunge him into recklessness, if not into sin, upon hunting out and collecting, through rock and bog, snow and tempest, every bird and egg of the neighbouring forest . . . I have seen the young London beauty, amid all the excitement and temptation of luxury and flattery, with her heart pure, and her mind occupied in a boudoir full of shells and fossils, flowers and seaweeds, keeping herself unspotted from the world, by considering the lilies of the fields of the field, how they grow." CM Vol. 1, pg. 71-72

My Favorite Charlotte Mason Resources

2009-02-04T19:11:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of the many different resources that I go to for help, information, encouragement and guidance in implementing Charlotte Mason's educational philosophies in our homeschool.

WEBSITES & BLOGS

Ambleside Online

Higher Up and Further In Blog

Understanding Charlotte Blog

Simply Charlotte Mason

In the Sparrow's Nest Blog

Handbook of Nature Study Blog

Hearts and Trees Blog

In the Heart of my Home Blog

Penny Gardner

A Charlotte Mason Education

Dominion Family Blog

BOOKS & EBOOKS

Real Learning by Elizabeth Foss

Charlotte Mason Study Guide by Penny Gardner

Laying Down the Rails by Sonya Shafer

For the Children's Sake/For the Family's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

The Original Homeschooling Series by Charlotte Mason

When Children Love to Learn by Elaine Cooper

A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola

A Pocketful of Pinecones by Karen Andreola

Education is..... by Sonya Shafer FREE

Masterly Inactivity by Soyna Shafer FREE

Education the Wholehearted Child by Clay & Sally Clarkson

Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt

Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock

SCHOOL HELPS

LibriVox Recordings - Free downloadable audio books

Project Gutenberg - Free downloadable books

E-Nature - America's Wildlife Resource

Paddle-to-the-Sea with Google Earth

Outline Maps to print

Seterra - Free geography game

There are also many great yahoo groups that correspond with Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online if you are wanting to know how other women work this educational approach in their own homes I would highly recommend finding these groups on yahoo.

If you go to Ambleside Online and click on the "Introduction to Ambleside Online" you will find several resources and links available.

Also a great way to meet other CM moms and be inspired is to join the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival!

Don't forget to go on over to Kim's Blog to check out other resources.

Drop in for a Visit

2009-02-04T19:09:00.000-08:00

A "typical" day in our house.

Well, I tried to journal just one days worth of homeschooling to put here but it was one of THOSE days around here today:) So instead I'll run down the basic gist of how 70% of our days go.

To give a bit of background I have 5 children; 3 boys (Tom-7yo, Wes-4yo, Will-2yo) and 2 girls (Ali-7yo, Emi-5yo). We are using Ambleside Online as a curriculum guide and Tom and Ali are in Year 1. I posted our daily school schedule at the end of this post so you have an idea of how our day goes school wise.

My children have always been early birds but since moving them all into 1 room I have trained them to not come out (except for bathroom use) until 7 a.m. so generally that's when our day begins. I am working to instill the habit (again) of early rising in myself so have made it my goal to get up at 6 a.m. in order to have my quiet time and preparation for the day.

Our Morning Routine goes something like this:

Everyone Dressed

Beds Made

Free Play til Breakfast (Emi is my breakfast helper)

After breakfast we move onto Chore Time:

Kitchen Chores

Room Chores-the older 4 children each have a room assigned to them to clean everyday.

By now in our morning it is about 10ish so we are ready to start our school. I gather all of the kids into the livingroom for our Morning School session. We spend the next 1-1 1/2 hours in this room moving through most of our reading assignments and other group activities. I do require that all of the children stay in this room and for our bible reading, poetry, and preschool readings the 3 non-schoolers must be seated on the couch sitting quietly, after that we move onto the schoolers reading assignments and the younger 3 are free to play quietly in the room.

Morning School Session:

Say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

Sing weekly hymn and folksong assignment

Read preschool bible story

Read daily poetry selection

Read Beatrix Potter story to preschoolers

Read Bible story (OT) or New Testament passage (Tom, Ali and I are reading through Mark using their new KJV bibles. We alternate days with OT stories and NT reading.)

Read Scripture and/or poetry memory selection

Read daily school assignments (this one is flexible and sometimes doesn't get accomplished until later in the day.

Now this may seem like a lot of reading but there are plenty of breaks and diversions throughout and we are very flexible with the order of this list and on some days only accomplish a couple of them.

By now it's time to prepare lunch so we break up in order for me to make lunch and the kiddos to get in some more free play time. Tom is my lunch helper.

After lunch we do our kitchen chores again and then I take a bit of a break before naptime and the rest of school.

Here is what our afternoon generally looks like although not one day is exactly the same as another.

Will down for a nap

Quiet Time for kids (each child picks a few toys and books and goes to their assigned room for an hour of quiet, alone play) Computer or Nap time for mom.

Disciplinary Studies - Math, Copywork, Reading Lesson, Assigned readings

Computer Time for kids (Each child is allowed 15 mintues of computer play time)

Read Aloud/Laundry Folding (I am still working on consistently doing this in our afternoon.)

Quick Clean livingroom, kitchen and hallway floors

That's pretty much it for our day. Some days some of these things get bumped til after daddy gets home but on most days we finish before he comes.

Our evenings are relaxed and full of play and interaction and before bedtime I sit back down with the kids and we read a couple of chapters in our current read-aloud selection.

Thanks for stopping by for a quick and brief visit.

My school schedule was inspired by Lindafay at Higher up and Further In. Previously I had a much more complicated and detailed schedule that was similar to Sonlight's layout. I am loving how simple this format is and how easy it makes my life. I keep this in a binder along with a printout of the weekly schedule from Ambleside. We are in the last few weeks of our 2nd term so I'll be making up a new schedule soon and will be tweaking it a bit.

Thoughts on Poetry part 2

2009-01-31T19:13:00.000-08:00

"Recitation and committing to memory are not necessarily the same thing, and it is well to store a child's memory with a good deal of poetry, learnt without labour." CM Vol. 1, pg. 224

I certainly haven't been as consistent as I had hoped to be since my last post on this topic but we have made progress regardless.

Emily memorized her poem after only 3 readings and the fun part is that the other kids did memorized hers right along with her. Tom is very close to having his completed and Alissa has conquered the first part of hers as well as Tom and Emily's. I've even noticed that I am memorizing these poems right along with them!

A couple of things that I have noticed while we have "not" been memorizing is that often in the beginning they don't get all of the correct words in but they are able to "tell back" the main gist of the poem. Alissa does not understand most of the words in her poem but she has only asked me about a few of them for explanations, but she can relate what the poem is talking about using her own words and those of the poem.

Also, since my kids are still not complete independent readers I do read all of the poems aloud to them so everyone is memorizing each other's poems. So far this has not confused them in the least and I'll just have to keep tabs on how well they can remember their own poems and not confuse it with the other poems. If I see this becoming a problem I will either have to read their poems to them separately or we'll just all work on one poem at a time together.

I have decided that for our scripture memory we will all be working on one passage at a time. Since I have been rather neglectful of this I am committing to start on Psalm 1 this coming Monday.

Another item that I hadn't of thought of practicing until reading Jacci's post was to have them recite properly. Emily has done a good job with expression but tends to rush it a bit.

"I hope that my readers will train their children in the art of recitation; in the coming days, more even than in our own will it behove every educated man and woman to be able to speak effectively in public; and, in learning to recite you learn to speak." CM Vol. 1, pg. 224

I do have a video clip of Emily's recitation but I haven't had time to figure out how to post it.

Thoughts on Poetry Memorization part 1

Handicrafts for the kids

2009-01-29T11:12:00.000-08:00

I was so thrilled to find this wonderful CM blog full of handicraft ideas and kits that I had to order a couple for the twins and I was not disappointed.

Alissa and Thomas each made their own fleece hats with the materials provided in the "winter themed kit" and had a blast. They did sewing and cutting themselves and it only took an afternoon to make them. We are also working on the weather lapbook that was included and considering it's our first lapbook experience it is going very well.

Here are the kids modeling their new winter hats. Emily & Wesley simply had to be in the picture too:)

Check out Hearts & Trees blog!

How I found Charlotte Mason and Why we use it

2009-01-28T19:15:00.000-08:00

It all started back when we first got married, except I didn't know it at the time. We were given the book "For the Family's Sake" by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay and while it looked interesting I just never got around to reading it until the year that I was nursing my 5th baby William. I usually go through a boat-load of books while nursing and this book happened to be one that I picked up. Not only does she give lots of good advice she also leads you into a general, approachable understanding about Charlotte Mason and her educational philosophies.

Also around that same time the Spring 2007 issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine showed up and as I perused it I ran across an article where a mom , Ali Telfer, shared how they were using this FREE curriculum called Ambleside Online and how much they were enjoying it, so this intrigued me as well, I mean who can pass up FREE.

I don't know if I had heard of Charlotte Mason persay but I did know that somehow Karen Andreola was "into" that kind of education. Honestly I thought it was an unschooling approach which I was not interested in simply because of my personality.

After reading several chapters in "For the Family's Sake", and doing some internet research I borrowed the book "Pocketful of Pinecones" from my library and that is probably what finally lit my fire. Each of these bits of information that I had come across not only heightened my curiosity but touched something deep within me that needed answers.

I spent a lot of time researching on the internet and then ordered a used set of the "The Original Homeschooling Series" by Charlotte Mason. At this point I was reading everything that I could get my hands on and when those books showed up I devoured the first volume in short order, some of it actually bringing me to tears!

As I read I couldn't help but think back on my own schooling years (all homeschooled) and realize that those times when I learned the most and remembered the most all came from reading living books and being left alone in nature. I knew that that was exactly what I wanted for my children and the idea of a broad education not only excited me as a teacher but as a person.

I have always had a huge appetite for knowledge and have never ceased to educate myself continually throughout my years out of school although only a few months were spent in college. I knew that at the heart of my goals for my children would be that they would never lose that eager curiosity and longing to know more. I saw the steps to keep this flame lit in their lives given to me through Charlotte's writings.

I also was searching for the kind of education that would not stifle my oldest son, Thomas's, unique personality. Thomas did not speak more than a few words until he was 3 years old and had every indication that he was somewhere on the autism spectrum. We had him in speech therapy and I had radically changed his diet but I knew that it would probably be a life-long effort to teach him. Since language was his main issue I needed tools to use in schooling at home that would increase his vocabulary and his ability to express himself. Enter Narration! This has been an answer to prayers, not an easy one mind you but very effective in Tom's life.

We started using narration (a technique his speech therapist was using as well) during his Preschool and Kindergarten years and while it was a huge struggle at first and I would often become very frustrated we were able to see the benefits when we returned to speech therapy after a years absence. For financial reasons we were unable to continue speech therapy during his Kindergarten year but I used as many CM principles as I could, especially narrating. When we returned to his therapy his advisor was completely astounded by the progress he had made. Literally she saw a completely different boy than the previous year had shown. His vocabulary had gone from being 2-3 years behind his age to being in a normal range, his understanding of reading material was at a normal range etc. Everything that we had thought would never be possible for him or he would struggle with was gone! We continued his therapy only until they had finished evaluating where he was at and it was decided that he no longer needed their help. One of the greatest compliments that I received was from his advisor who had been very concerned about us homeschooling him; she said as we left that she had no doubt that he would succeed and catch up completely because he was being homeschooled! Praise the Lord! She also wanted to know if I had a teaching degree. Nope just Charlotte Mason.

To make a long story short I can say most emphatically that a Charlotte Mason style education is a perfect fit for our family. I continue to read and learn more and have never ceased to be inspired by her writings and wisdom for our school and for me as a mom.

Everyday is an adventure and because of the wisdom that Charlotte so willing shared as an educator to parents and her hearts desire to see parents teaching their children I do not feel lost and unsure about the direction to take in education my own children . She has given us a tried and true method to follow and taken the guess work out of providing our children with a broad and complete education that will enhance the rest of their lives.

P.S. Go on over to Homesteaders Heart for more about homeschooling the Charlotte Mason way.

Our HomeSchool Room

2009-01-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

Just a few weeks into the beginning of the 2008/2009 school year I realized that we needed a place for all of our school stuff to call home. At first I had everything in our livingroom but it became almost an impossibility to keep organized and picked up so after much deliberation I moved the boys out of the smallest of the 3 bedrooms we have and put them in the larger bedroom with the girls. Then spent several weeks cleaning, repainting and moving everything in.

Having a separate room in our 1100 sq. ft. home has been a huge blessing. It's not that we do our school in here all of the time but it is all kept in here:) Since first moving in to it I have added another bookshelf, and rearraged a few things but the general feel of it stays the same. As you can see it is also the toy room and the clothes closet for everyone but William.

With the new baby coming I have petitioned my husband and in-laws to put a room into our unfinished basement so I think that will be our project in February. Nothing fancy but very functional.

The kids' BEDroom.

Thoughts on Poetry Memorization

2009-01-19T10:57:00.000-08:00

"...it is well to store a child's memory with a good deal of poetry, learnt without labour."

Charlotte Mason vol. 1, pg.224

Thanks to the encouragement from Jacci and her post on poetry I have added it to our schooling for the rest of this school year.

First I accessed the word documents provided through the yahoo group that Jacci started and printed them off for easy reference. Next I read each of them to Alissa and Thomas and let them pick which one they wanted to memorize.

Alissa (age 7) chose the Tiger, Tiger poem by William Blake and Thomas (age 7) chose The Moon's the North Wind's Cookie by Vachel Lindsay. I also picked a few selections from our Favorite Poems Old and New book for Emily (age 5.5) to choose from, she ended up picking The Little Turtle also by Vachel Lindsay.

Initially we have simply read through them a few times and then started working on the first couple of lines in each poem which they have memorized with ease, even to the point of memorizing eachother's poems.

But then I directed my self back to Home Education the 1st book in Charlotte Mason's series and here is what I gleaned.

The poem should be read through to the child in the beginning.

The next day while the child is occupied with an activity or play, read it again

Read again during an odd or unexpected time throughout each and every day following.

By the weeks end the child will have heard 6 or more readings according to the length of the poem and in the end should be able to say the poem which they have not learned.

"The child must not try to recollect or to say the verse over to himself, but, as far as may be, present an open mind to receive an impression of interest. Half a dozen repetitions should give children possession of such poems as 'Dolly and Dick', 'Do you ask what the birds say?' 'Little lamb, who made thee?' and the like. The gains of such a method of learning are, that the edge of the child's enjoyment is not taken off by weariful verse by verse repetitions, and, also, that the habit of making mental images is unconsciously formed." CM vol. 1, pg. 225

"Let the child lie fallow till he is six, and then, in this matter of memorising, as in others, attempt only a little, and let the poems the child learns be simple and within the range of his own thought and imagination. At the same time, when there is so much noble poetry within a child's compass, the pity of it, that he should be allowed to learn twaddle!" CM vol. 1 pg. 226

Ways that I plan on accomplishing this even though I have 3 different children working on 3 different poems.

While washing dishes and doing kitchen chores I will choose 1 to read

While eating a meal I will choose a different one to read

While they are brushing teeth and getting ready for bed I will choose a different one to read

I will also keep them in a handy location so that I can catch those odd and unexpected times to give a reading.

I'll check back in at the end of the week hopefully to see what kind of progress we have made .

In the Groove

2009-01-14T11:01:00.000-08:00

What a nice week it has been so far.

After the craziness and distraction (all good) that December brings it is so nice to just stay home and be home and work in our home.

We seem to have hit on a pretty good routine for school and daily life right now so the days clip along at a pretty good rate and we are covering all of our bases while having a bit of fun.

With the new baby coming in just a short 20 weeks I feel the need to correct some training and disciplining problems that have cropped up and been growing with each of the children. So I have put that at the top of my list for each and everyday.

I have also been impressed to use this time in training the daily habit of picking up the house. Alissa, Thomas, Emily and Wesley are each assigned a room to take care of for a duration of 12 weeks. They have 4 chores that must be accomplished in their "room" each morning without fail. I have been spending this week making sure that they are completing these chores properly and weaning them off of my help during their 30-minute clean time.
I also use these as commission chores for which they do get paid a small amount for each chore accomplished.

I have also been trying to catch up in the kitchen after being down for the count for several days due to a bad cold. Normally I would dump my kids in front of some movies so that I could get this done, but we are on a bit of a media fast at the moment so I have asked them to help me out by adding an extra 15 minutes after meal clean up chores are done. They have blessedly cooperated and after doing this 4 different times I only have a couple of nasty pans to wash and a couple piles of clutter to get cleaned up.

It is such a mistake to think that are children are not only capable of doing many tasks around the house but very detrimental not to train and include them in on these things. The kids and I do have a good time working together and have become quite the cleaning team:) Hopefully by the time the baby comes these habits will be instilled as well as cheerful working attitudes so that the transition will be a bit less bumpy.

Goals & Ideas for this Next Year

2009-01-11T11:05:00.000-08:00

Just as I've been reviewing the past year I've also been looking ahead to this next year.

Are my goals being met?
What are my goals and have they changed?
What do I need to do to meet these goals?

So I guess to start with I should outline what my goals are for my children in their education and daily life.

To have a good foundational knowledge and understanding of scripture to help guide and direct them to a closer walk with God.

To example to them and lead them past a knowledge in God to a daily vibrant spiritual relationship with our Savior.

To example to them and lead them in daily worship & prayer.

To work alongside them in memorizing scripture & poetry.

To instill the daily habits necessary for maintaining an organized, clean home.

To train them in consistent and instant obedience.

To create in them a love for knowledge and learning through vibrant characters and stories contained in "living" books.

To provide opportunities for growing and developing a love for all of God's creation

To instill the daily habit of music practice and learning.

To open their world through reading about and praying for missionaries around the world.

I'm sure there is more but these provide me with a good foundation to move forward from. Most all of these are a work in progress at the moment or something that I will be implementing over the next few months.

Next, I need to explore how I will be implementing these in our lives. Many of these goals require self-denial and diligence on my part which is still a struggle unfortunately!

But now that I've written them down I can move ahead to working on them. I have in mind to use a Habit List to help keep me on track and mindful of our progress.

How we do Artist and Picture Study

2009-01-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

For Year 1 we have been using Harmony Fine Arts grade 1 curriculum. It has worked very well for us and been an inexpensive and fun addition to our school.
The Harmony Fine Arts curriculum is laid out to give you 1 composer and 1 artist to study during a 4 week time period. Also listed are which pictures to view each week and where to find them on the internet. This is a huge time saver and makes it very easy to implement into our lives.

ARTIST STUDY

On Friday we gather around the computer and read a short biography about the focus artist, then I load the picture to study on the computer and enlarge it so we see the whole thing (we do have a larger screen and this does help). Alissa and Thomas and I spend a few minutes studying the picture and then I turn the screen off and they narrate to me what the remember and what their impressions were, I generally join in on this since it's fun to hear the different impressions that each of us get from one picture.

Next I turn the screen back on and we talk about the different layers of the painting (foreground, background etc.) we also discuss how it was painted and maybe what the artist was thinking when he painted it.

Each of the kids have enjoyed this and their impressions are always very unique and interesting.

I also set the picture as the computer wallpaper so that we can enjoy it for the rest of the week!

COMPOSER STUDY

For the composer study at the beginning of the month we read the biography of the target composer and then put in the cd to listen to his music. I try to pick out 1 or 2 songs to focus on and discuss so that they are familiar with specific pieces. Also I try to find a few piano pieces of that particular composer to play for the kids throughout the month.

OTHER IDEAS

I also check our library for any kids picture books that can accompany either the artist or composer we are studying. There are usually quite a few books of the most famous composers i.e. Mozart, Beethoven, Bach.

When we were studying about Mozart I found a college theatrical production of the Magic Flute on youtube and amazingly the children watched most of it and enjoyed it immensly. I've also found video performances of Vivaldi pieces to familiarize Alissa and Thomas with the instruments they were hearing.

When I remember I try and find a clipart picture of the composer and artist to paste into our Book of Centuries. I haven't accomplished this every month but will be trying to get back to doing that.

Reviewing Year 1

2009-01-10T11:07:00.000-08:00

With the 1^st Term and most of the 2^nd Term of 1^st grade under our belts, I’ve been looking back and reevaluating what has worked and what hasn’t; what I like and what I don’t.

What I Like:

Ambleside Online curriculum has been a huge blessing and has eased my fears and uncertainties during this first year. With few exceptions every book and idea has been wonderful and we have truly enjoyed ourselves. That being said I did make the decision to not read through “Trial and Triumph”. While I found it fascinating the kids were a bit bored and I feel the need to pre-read this one in its entirety before reading to the kids.

Ray’s Arithmetic is awesome. Easy, concise and cheapJ I felt the need to go with a more hands-on oral math program partly from Charlotte’s direction but mostly from seeing where my son Thomas needed help. Thomas has a very sharp and quick memory and after going through much of the CLP Math K I didn’t feel that he had a real grasp on what he was doing so by making him do the majority of his work orally I am in no doubt as to what he does know and what he needs work on. I have also added Math-It to our daily arithmetic lessons and have seen great results from it as well. I used Math-it as a child and loved it and so far my kids have had the same response. My mom has been giving away most all of her homeschooling books since she has graduated the last child so I was blessed to receive her Math-it program!

Reading Reflex, I really can’t say enough about this book and program. I love it, the kids love it and their progress has been very rapid. I can’t wait to test them at the end of the year and see what grade level they are reading at! I have also started Emily on it and she is able to read a few of the first Bob Books.

Language Lessons for Little Ones from Queen Homeschool has been a blessing to us as well. I was initially skeptical of this series because after all wasn’t it just “bookwork” and possible “twaddle”? It most definitely is not! I am using for Emily since I felt she needed school just for her and have found it to be a perfect fit. Emily is 5.5 but in preschool because of a summer birthday even though academically she could be in Kindergarten I do not feel a need to rush things with her. Her favorite lessons in the book so far are the picture studies, but we did enjoy the poem from last lesson and the ensuing discussion. At first I was going to “save” this book and not let her write in it so that I could use it for Wesley next year as well, but he is such a different learning style and personality than her that I don’t know if he would care for it anyway.

Harmony Fine Arts-at first I was a bit disappointed that I had paid $20 for a few printed off sheets of paper for this “program” but the actual doing of it has been anything but disappointing. The layout is easy and precise and you know exactly what to do when, which in my world is a HUGE deal. We have not done this as consistently as I had planned and even though I bought the material needed for Option 2 of the 1^st grade program we have mostly just done Option 1. But the kids have learned so much! And I will be able to use this for each child to come. Their favorite is the composer study and listening to the music. So far Beethoven has won hands down as the best composer and Alissa is very upset to be moving on to a new composer and in retaliation for the offense puts on the Beethoven cd programs it to Fur Elise and refuses to admit there is another song that can compete, lol. They are able to recognize about 1 or 2 songs from each composer study and when possible I dig out some of my old music and play them a few pieces from that particular composer. For the art study we view the pictures online and then after narrating about them I set that picture for the wallpaper background on our computer so that everyone can enjoy it a bit longer.

What I don't Like

Structured preschool programs! I’ve tried a few and after a few weeks throw it out because it simply is not pleasurable. Maybe it’s my type A personality or maybe it’s the amount of littles to teach but I have not found anything that fits our family well. And then when I’m feeling guilty about not doing anything “structured” I open up volume 1 of Home Education and all my fears and distresses are relieved! I know from the depths of my being that what Charlotte speaks is true and it works. I have given up the fight and I am going to “let my children alone to just be children”.

Now I would say that is a pretty good start on Year 1 when the Likes outweigh the Dislikes.