An Intentional Life: homeschool, real food, traveling and more!

2015 Homeschool Curriculum

2014-06-17T11:39:00.001-04:00

It's curriculum sharing time again! We follow the calendar year rather than the public school year simply because it's easier for me to manage our portfolio in a single year rather than trying to split it across two half years. But...this is the time of year when the curriculum discussion is being held on blogs and facebook pages around the world, and it gives me the opporutnity to prepare well in advance for the upcoming year.

In 2015 we will be following the Ambleside Online curriculum and *attempting* to follow their suggested schedules as well. Thus far we have simply used their curriculum as a guideline and have pieced together other things, but I think I've finally learned that it doesn't really matter what "curriculum" you use, the key is picking something and sticking with it. For us, Ambleside seems to be the right choice.

While I tend to be very eclectic and identify strongly with virtually all the different styles of homeschooling and educational philosophies, the one that most resonates with us is the Charlotte Mason method. Her ideas that small children (especially little boys!) need to be outside most of the day are so true. Children were meant to explore nature, discover how things work on their own and see books as treasures to be discovered. Her ideas that lessons should be short and varied work perfect for little boys and I love using literature as the foundation for a well-rounded education (as people have done since the beginning). Learning spelling and handwriting by copying beautiful poems and passages not only helps my children memorize better, but also eliminates dull lessons and endless worksheets. I am still learning many of the ideas of Charlotte Mason and hope to make my way through her entire series (though probably not all in one year!)

I love the literature selections recommended by Ambleside, they are beautiful classics most of which I was deprived of ever having read before, and am immensely enjoying experiencing them with my children. I love that the selections are not dumbed down in any way and though they were written for children a hundred years ago I think many adults today would struggle with the complexity of the language. Reading this level of literature from the age of six will prepare my children to read the other great works without being intimidated in the least.

Here are what my boys will be studying in 2015 (or as soon as they finish their current reading lists...) With our upcoming move to Virginia we will be making several trips to the Smithsonian museums and are excited to see many of the works of art studied this year which are on display at the National Gallery, we also plan to visit many of the nearby historical sites.

Ethan, Year 3, age 8

Ambleside Curriculum Year 3 (Bible, History, Biographies, Geography, Natural History, Copywork, Poetry, Literature, Composer and Artist study)
Math: Math U See Gamma, Singapore Math 2B & 3A, Life of Fred
English: Rod & Staff Grade 3
German: Jo-Jo Sprachbuch & Arbeitsheft 3, PetraLingua
Piano Lessons

Joshua Year 2, age 6 going on 7

Ambleside Curriculum Year 2 (Bible, History, Biographies, Geography, Natural History, Copywork, Poetry, Literature, Composer and Artist study)
Math: Math U See Alpha, Singapore Math 1B, Life of Fred
English: Rod & Staff Grade 2
German: 1 Schuljahr Übungsheft mit Lösungsheft, PetraLingua
Piano Lessons

Grant Year 0, age 5

I have also updated my Free Homeschool Planner for 2015 and added a few pages specific to organizing the Ambleside Online curriculum.

In case you're wondering why I have so many math books listed up there...here's the skinny on math in this household. My boys loved Math U See at first...but they were very quickly bored to tears. The same thing over and over and over again. I understand that's the idea behind mastery, but we were skipping multiple chapters at a time. It was just too repetitive. We purchased Singapore to try out and my boys instantly loved it. Simple short lessons with a variety of exercises (we don't call them problems in this house). And of course, Life of Fred is just awesome.

Then, I started having them work on Singapore twice a week, Math U See twice a week and LOF once a week. Every time my boys have a MUS day, they say they love it! They just hated the boredom of every. single. day. But I'm a "math needs to be done every single day" kind of girl, so this is what is working for us. I love the combination of visual explanation using pattern blocks with the story exercises and variety of Singapore. And of course, LOF as already established, is awesome. So no more tears!

Homeschooling 101- Choosing a curriculum {for beginners}

2014-02-15T10:16:00.002-05:00

The the number one question I get from friends on my Facebook page is "I want to homeschool...but how do I choose a curriculum?"

Homeschooling can be so overwhelming simply because there are SO many choices! We are so fortunate to have such incredible resources and to be able to accommodate the learning styles of our children, but it can be difficult to navigate the sea of choices out there. While I'm no expert, I can share with you a bit of my journey.

School at Home

I think most of us start out in a similar manner (at least those of us who were public schooled). We begin, of course, the only way we know how- by replicating the public school classroom. We set up a cute little room with tables or desks, put up a few alphabet and shape charts, a weather chart, adorable (maybe handmade) calendar with pictures of all the holidays and of course a flag.

Our kids are super excited to start "school" as they climb into their little desk. However, after about 15 minutes (or maybe 5) they start to get wiggly. They may even try to get out of their desk (gasp!) or answer questions without raising their hand (oh my!) After a week or two of frustration trying to keep those little pupils in line (after all if we don't teach them to sit still or raise their hand, they will never be able to function in polite society) we get frustrated and think maybe we just aren't cut out to homeschool! Maybe we're incapable of teaching our children.

But MAYBE, we've simply approached it the wrong way.

Home Schooling

There is schooling at home and then there is home schooling. One takes the mundane public classroom, textbooks and workbooks and turns the (semi)peaceful walls of our home into a children's torture chamber, the other has the potential to turn the walls of our home into an institute of learning where children are free to explore, discover and create.

Sounds great, right? But how do we go from rigid routine and teacher-led learning to having children who ENJOY learning and who WANT to "do school"?

Well, I'm no expert, after all my oldest child is only seven and a half, but in those 7 1/2 years I have run the homeschooling gamut with him from structured public school type learning to a bit of unschooling and almost everything in between. He still complains about doing math- worksheets- not real math, and my almost-six-year-old complains about having to write anything down, but they LOVE to read. I mean love to read. They would rather read than just about anything else. If I ask if they want to watch a movie or read a book with me- they choose reading. If I ask them if they want a candy bar or a new book, they'll choose the book every time. It is awesome!

I have dozens (ok, maybe hundreds) of books throughout our home- we have shelves in the living room, "school" room, office, bedrooms, stacked on the coffee table, entry table, bathroom window sill, even in the car. We got rid of our tv and now spend our evenings reading instead of watching the news. When they get to choose what to do with their time, 9 times out of 10 I find them curled up with a book. They let their dinner get cold as they read the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History together, my 7 year old takes 50 Famous Stories Retold with him to the bathroom and my 5 year old reads a Magic Tree House book on our way home from a trip to the Black Forest while his two brothers watch a Wild Kratts DVD.

Living Books

This is the essence of the Charlotte Mason method of learning. She suggests that children are not empty minds with which to program with facts and information, but they are gifts from God with natural curiosity and a strong desire to learn if we simply give them good books and then get out of their way. It has been a very difficult journey for me to learn to let go and give my children the freedom to learn on their own without me controlling every part of their day. In fact I still try to do many things that look like "school" and I get resistance most of the way. However, if I put a science or history book (LIVING book, NOT textbook) on the table and leave it- they will pick it up, devour it and are so excited to tell me everything they learned. I am pretty sure my 7 year old knows more about world history than most high school graduates and you know what? He remembers! Because it meant something to him. It was a story that was exciting to him and history SHOULD be exciting don't you think?

This is just one example of my experience with the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling and why I strongly promote the idea of reading books as the main "curriculum". This method can get expensive if you are like me and must OWN every amazing book you read (and not the kindle edition), however if you make best friends with your local librarian it doesn't have to cost a dime.

Selecting a Method

There is also a notion that once you choose a "method" you must stick with it and follow it to a T. I don't subscribe to this idea. I consider myself very eclectic- I like a lot of ideas from many methods and consider them quite compatible in bits and pieces. For example I love the Charlotte Mason method of living books and learning grammar through literature, but I don't apply CM in purist form across all our subjects, I like the unschooling ideas of letting children take the lead on what they are learning but I also like to have some control- so I try and be flexible enough to drop what we're doing and follow their lead when appropriate. I love many things about the classical method of homeschooling but don't believe children need formal grammar lessons until much older, I do, however, have them memorize poetry and scriptures at a young age. I love the Thomas Jefferson Education book lists and ideas about reading the classics, but I also incorporate more structured academics. The point being, just because a method speaks to you does not mean you have to follow it precisely.

You know your children better than anyone else and you know what works best for them. If something is not working, change direction, try something else. There are no rules in homeschooling, except one- don't kill the love of learning!

Curriculum Choices

Now that I've laid out some ideas, what you really need are the practical how-to's like actually choosing a curriculum. Using books is fine and well but if you don't even know what books to begin with it can be overwhelming. Below I've listed a few articles to get you started as well as a few of my favorite homeschooling books.

I can't emphasize enough the importance of reading and educating yourself on the different ideas and methods. If you just jump in (like I did) you will end up changing over and over again which can become very discouraging. If you take the time up front to detox from the public school mindset (you and your children) and figure out the goals for your children it will be much easier to find appropriate curriculum.

I really love this site that discusses many of the different styles and philosophies of homeschooling and recommends the most common curriculum choices based on each http://www.lds-nha.org/homeschooling-philosophies

For those who just want to homeschool to get out of the public school system and into the homeschooling thing as quick as possible or just don't want the hassle of picking and choosing what to learn, a boxed curriculum will be your best friend. The lessons will be planned out and you can easily follow their schedules without worrying about what to learn next. There is a HUGE list of these options at http://www.homeschoolreviews.com/reviews/curriculum/default.aspx?id=142

While you may be tempted to go with the state-funded k12 program, I would not recommend this as a long-term solution. I think this type of a program can be very discouraging to the parent and child with all it's busywork and it only alleviates the social problems of the public school system, not the academic ones.

For those who are interested in a living literature approach, I recommend a few websites- the first is Ambleside Online http://www.amblesideonline.org/. Let me warn you, this site can be very overwhelming at first but it is full of invaluable information if you keep with it. I like to click on the Booklists by year which gives me a lot of age-appropriate whole or living books. I also recommend Simply Charlotte Mason http://simplycharlottemason.com/ they have a free curriculum guide, suggested schedules as well as a lot of Charlotte Mason inspired curriculum.

I like to browse both sites then pick and choose the books I want for each subject and I love the flexibility this gives me. Although it can be a lot of work initially, I find it makes for a great learning atmosphere day-to-day as my children are educated through exciting books. If something doesn't work for us, we can set it aside it and try something else. For the nitty-gritty on how Charlotte Mason approached different academic subjects, check out this excellent resource http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com

Plan it out

Whether or not you choose a boxed curriculum or a DIY smorgasbord, you will need to do some planning. Every home is run differently and there are a wide range of planners out there. I have created this planner for my family and offer it to you for free- you can modify it anyway you like, just please don't redistribute it.

Start with goals. List each child's name and what you want them to accomplish this year, not just subjects to study, but things to learn, places to travel and talents to develop. Don't forget to make a list for yourself!

Research books, curriculum and other resources to go with each goal. There are countless places to find reviews. I first go to the company website and view the samples online, next I try to find a non-biased review. Please bear in mind that many of the blogs with reviews are doing so because they have been given the product free in return for their review. While I believe they do give honest reviews, I have discovered that it's much easier to rave about something that cost nothing than something that really hurt your wallet but you can't live without. I personally love Cathy Duff reviews- she is very detailed and gives the pro's and con's as she sees them, http://cathyduffyreviews.com. Also, check out Pinterest, there are a lot of great resources there, here is a link to my Pinterest page.

Now that you've got a good list of WHAT to study, you need to decide HOW to study. Follow your chosen homeschool philosophy to determine the general ideas but when it comes to the daily schedule and routine, that's completely dependent on your individual circumstances. If you have a baby in the house your routine will have to be much more flexible than if you are homeschooling teenagers. Realize that as long as your children are reading (or read to) and exploring they are learning. The time for strict academic studying is not during these early years, let them be little, let them play, that is how children were designed to learn. For my little guys I set them up with a bunch of blocks or drawing pads and read to them while they play. I find that they retain much more information when their hands are moving. I also have a mini trampoline next to our kitchen table so they can jump during school time when they need to get their wiggles out. If you have boys, you'll be surprised at how much more they learn when they are moving!

Relax!

The most difficult part of homeschooling (the one I still struggle with daily) is learning to let go. Realize that we cannot do everything every day but what we can do is enough. You may feel discouraged when you read homeschool blogs about overly productive days- but remember, they are sharing the BEST of their day, and you shouldn't compare that to your worst. Never forget why you homeschool. Is it so your kid can be the smartest? So they can enter college at age 12? So they can be a billionaire some day? Or maybe it is so they can feel loved, accepted, confident, well-rounded contributing members to society? Whatever your reasons, don't forget them and never let curriculum get in the way or get between the relationship you have (or want to have) with your children.

One of my favorite quotes from the More Charlotte Mason Education book by Catherine Levison is where she talks about visiting the local public school just to make sure she's giving her kids the best education she can. After this experience she exclaims "If I can't do a better job with both hands tied behind my back and drunk then there's something wrong with me."

Remember that even if every day doesn't look like "school" they are still learning more than they would in public school. They are learning real-world experiences, developing character and figuring out who they are and who they want to become. YOU are in charge of your school and if it's not working for you or your kids, it's time to make a change.

Educate Yourself

Here are just a few of my favorite resources. Do some reading, get some ideas, try a few things and figure out what works best for your family situation and the learning styles of your children. This is best done before you've started homeschooling, but don't be afraid to ditch already purchased curriculum or let your kids have a detox break while you figure things out.

And remember, God has sent you these children and He loves and cares about them more than anyone else and there is nothing He can't teach you or them. Seek divine inspiration when selecting your curriculum, setting goals and executing your daily schedule. If you're not currently a praying person, you may have to become one in order to survive homeschooling! It has been a great comfort to me when the going gets tough, to know that this is what God wants for my children at this time.

Simply Charlotte Mason free eBook
http://simplycharlottemason.com/store/getting-started/

How to Homeschool from Simple Homeschool
http://simplehomeschool.net/how-to-homeschool

Getting Started Homeschooling from Confessions of a Homeschooler
http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2011/09/getting-started-homeschooling.html

Dumbing us Down, Mark Gatto
https://www.johntaylorgatto.com/bookstore/dumbdnblum1.htm

More Charlotte Mason Education: A Homeschooling Manual by Catherine Levison

http://www.charlottemasoneducation.com/catherine.html

A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning by Karen Andreola

http://www.homeschoolhighlights.com/books/companion.shtml

Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay & Sally Clarkson

http://www.wholeheart.org/store-2/#ecwid:category=1117037&mode=product&product=4605086

The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer & Jessie Wise

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/about/

A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver deMille

http://store.tjed.org/product/books/thomas-jefferson-education/paperback

Homeschool Blogs I love

The Unlikely Homeschool

Ordinary, Happily Ever After

From The Mrs

Our Busy Homeschool

Homegrown Learners

Navigating by Joy

The Marathon Mom

Teach Beside Me

Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Chocolate on My Cranium

The Things I Love

2014 Homeschool Curriculum

2014-01-17T06:43:00.003-05:00

We've been primarily focusing this last year on European history and studying things based on our travels. We will continue to do this through the summer when we will transition to American history as we prepare to move back to the states and have opportunities to travel to historic sites in the Eastern U.S.

I've become kind of a curriculum junkie lately, so we're trying out a few new things this year and will hopefully be able to settle on those that work best for my kids.

I'm experimenting with different math programs as my kids have become bored with Math U See. I still think it's a pretty solid program and has great explanations but for daily use they are bored with the repetition. I have seen some interesting things about Waldorf methods and would like to learn more about the artistic side of math. We are also experimenting with Singapore math to alleviate some of the boredom associated with the mastery concepts of MUS. As a teacher I don't like all the jumping around with spiral math, but as a student I understand how tedious repetition can be.

So while this may look like a LOT of books, we won't be completing them all in one year and some we may end up ditching altogether. Others I just set out for their reading at leisure but are not formally assigned. Our daily work usually includes 4 morning subjects and 3 afternoon subjects (including art, piano, music...)

Ethan, age 7, 2nd grade

History/Geography

Story of the World II

Famous Men of Rome

Pompeii Buried Alive

Which Way USA/Top Secret Adventures

Stories of America

Mathematics main texts:

Additional math resources:

Sir Cumference series

Nothin' but the Facts

Bedtime Math

Family Math

Language Arts

Rod & Staff Grade 2 English

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare

Science

Burgess Bird Book

Burgess Animal Book

Handbook of Nature Study

Usborne Spotter's guides

Wild Animals I have Known

Jack's Insects

Nature Notebooks

Magic School Bus Science Kits

Art/Music

Stories of Great Composers

Classical Kids: Beethoven Lives Upstairs, Mr. Bach Comes to Call, Hallelujah Handel, Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery

Form Drawing for Beginners

Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists: Michelangelo, Giotto, Boticelli, Da Vinci

Leonardo and the Flying Boy

Read aloud's

Little House Series

Understood Betsy

Dinotopia

Arabian Nights

Other

Typing Instructor

2-3 weeks in Italy (Venice, Florence, Rome, Pisa, Pompeii, possibly Greece & Turkey)

Piano Lessons

PetraLingua German

Italian for Kids

Joshua, age 5 (almost 6) Kindergarten

The only changes are his Math and English texts and he does not do Typing Instructor.

Singapore 1a

Queens Language Lessons for the Very Young

Grant, age 4

I don't really think a formal pre-school is necessary for kids with older siblings. They learn letters, colors, numbers, shapes, etc. just by living each day. Grant already knows the basic preschool and kindergarten things but he won't join us in "school" until he's 5. For now, he plays with baby while I help his older brothers. I have many things for him to play quietly with during this time also pattern blocks, abc tiles, wikki sticks, lacing cards, puzzles, etc. When he turns 6 at the end of October, I will start working with him using the printable books on Starfall.com as well as Usborne Phonics Readers and some hands-on math.

2014 Free {customizable} homeschool planner

2013-12-13T07:40:00.000-05:00

*Updated planner available HERE.

You may download a free copy from my facebook page, An
Intentional Life. Simply click on the Free Homeschool Planner tab. If you already "like" An Intentional Life, you will be provided with the download link. If not, just click the "like" button to gain access! Once redirected, simply right click the file and select Download.

*Note, you can preview the two PDF files, however if you try to preview the Word document, it will give an error message, you'll have to download it to gain access to the editable file.

I have switched to follow the calendar year verses the public school year simply because it is easier for record keeping and organizing the artwork and photos by using a single year rather than half of one year and half of another. But, if you still follow the public school year, no worries!

This new version was created with Microsoft Word and you may now download the original document and modify to suit your personal needs. As always, this is for personal use only, you may not resell or republish this doc.

My favorite feature is a visual daily schedule as well as visual daily schoolwork so my little guys can take responsibility for their stuff. It has worked wonders for us, and I hope it will help you as well!

Devotionals and priorities...parting thoughts...

2013-07-19T16:22:00.002-04:00

The time has come for me to say goodbye to this blog. It has been a great source of personal journaling and connection with family and friends. I have also met several incredible ladies through blogging and am so grateful for all I have learned and continue to learn from them.

I've reached that point in my life, however, where something's gotta give. It's impossible for me to be the mother I want to be, homeschool my three energetic boys, care for a new baby girl, cook healthy meals three times a day, keep a clean house, serve in my church, date my husband, have a growing relationship with Christ, mow the yard, weed my garden, grocery shop, fold laundry, scrapbook, travel, AND try to document it all through this blog. This season of motherhood will pass much to quickly and I don't want to look back and read about it, I want to look back and remember it and know that I gave my children my very best.

I recently read a fabulous ebook called The UnWired Mom - Choosing to Live Free in an Internet Addicted World, by Sarah Mae and it was exactly what I needed to help me take this step. I have been wanting to do this for a while now but kept feeling like I had to keep it up. But every time I take a vacation and am gone for a week or two, I just love being unplugged! I loved the introduction to The UnWired Mom, she says: "An UnWired Mom is a woman of purpose who is not a slave to anything, including the online world. She lives full and whole and aware in the everyday, choosing to engage in the reality around her instead of escaping to the Internet. She can work in and enjoy the online space without having it consumer her; she shows up for her own in-the-flesh-life.

This kindle book is only $4.99 and I highly recommend it for anyone who spends more than an hour online a day. It is a good reminder of what's really important in life and what you may miss out on if you spend your time checking emails, facebook, blogging etc. instead of with your children.

I still intend to post updates on facebook (it's much easier to add photos and things there) and want to close out my blog by sharing with you some other fabulous blog sites that I highly recommend and that will help you through any homeschool questions you will have.

My first and favorite blog is The Unlikely Homeschool. A friend recently recommended her site to me and after perusing it for several days (literally) I think I would be hard pressed to find a more useful homeschool site. Her style of homeschooling matches so precisely how I envision things running (yet so often fail to execute!) and she has some incredibly inspired ideas. I highly recommend everything on her site. I started pinning a few things here and there and ended up pinning about half her articles ;) Everything from videos on how to schedule your entire homeschool year, how to organize your day, how to keep little ones occupied while you're schooling, how to give allowances, and all of this is done with a focus on Christ and a prayerful purpose. In short, any future post I could ever think of writing, has already been written by her!

Here are several other wonderful homeschooling blogs that I love:

Charlotte Mason Help

Ordinary, Happily Ever After

Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

The Marathon Mom

Chocolate on My Cranium
Homegrown Learners
Navigating by Joy

Devotionals
I highly recommend perusing The Unlikely Homeschool blog, and want to share with you just one last thing I have implemented from her ideas. We have been doing devotionals for a while now but I just started doing something that has really changed the atmosphere of our home. Personal devotionals. I thought my kids were too young for this, but after reading this wonderful article by The Unlikely Homeschool, I learned that there's no such thing as too young.

We have just finished reading the Children's Book of Virtues and are now starting The Story Hour Library Developing Character for our family story. We also read one story (they usually beg for more) from the Bible Stories or Book of Mormon Stories each day. I have also chosen one primary/religious song to work on per week and we try to practice them each day.

What we've added to our devotional is personal study. After reading Jamie's wonderful post about devotionals for kids, I gathered up all our religious books into one box and after our family study, they take about 15 minutes and read or look through the books in the box. This gives me time to do my personal scripture study which I have had a really hard time fitting in lately. It has made the biggest difference in the past few weeks and it's so rewarding to study early in the morning rather than trying to cram it in before bed.

In parting, if I could list three things I've learned from homeschooling (I'm still learning a ton every day!)

1) Be flexible, keep your options open and be willing to change with the needs of you and your child.
2) Don't give up! Keep trying new things until you find something that works for you! If something isn't working there's nothing wrong with you or your child- you just need to keep trying things until you find your groove.
3) Try not to compare. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and you should never compare your weaknesses to another's strengths. Homeschooling is a calling and who God calls, He qualifies.

Thanks for all your comments and support and hope to still chat with you on facebook!

And just for fun, I'll leave you with some pics of my little 5 month old cutie ;)

Chores- training little helpers

2013-07-18T11:40:00.001-04:00

For the last few years I have hired wonderful teenagers to help me clean house because I was too overwhelmed with my small children to keep on top of it all. Since we have been in Germany I have not found anyone who lives close enough to help me and have been forced to go it alone.

I found that keeping everything picked up took so much time and these little boys could make messes faster than I could clean up, I knew I had to either teach them to help or hire outside help. After reading several helpful blog postings like Operation Chore Training, The Unlikely Homeschool and Confessions of a Homeschooler, as well as some great advice from my facebook friends I finally got my little guys trained and my house has been clean every day for more than a month now! Really!

I took these pictures to show you what my house looked like when I woke up in the morning even though we have four house guests. It might not be spotless, but it doesn't make me cringe when I walk into the room either!

So, here's how I applied the information from the above sites to my three littles (6, 5 and 3)... We have four bathrooms, but we rarely use the basement one, so each boy has been assigned a bathroom as their responsibility to keep clean. Every day. (Thank you Megan for this idea!) They deep clean them on Monday's and Saturdays, and the other days just make sure there isn't anything on the floor.

Each boy also has daily kitchen duty. One helps with breakfast, one with lunch and one with dinner. This includes setting the table as well as helping me load the dishwasher, washing counters and sweeping. It is amazing how much faster it goes with a little help, even from a 5 year old. The 3 year old might not be trained up as well yet, but we're working on it.

In addition to bathrooms and kitchen, they are responsible for making their bed every morning before breakfast and cleaning their room every day before dinner. They each have one additional responsibility- one boy is in charge of straightening the living room and emptying the bio can (mandatory composing here in Germany), one is responsible for the entry way and another for straightening the shoes. On laundry day, they help fold and put away their own clothes.

It took a few days to train them and I do have to inspect, but it has made a world of difference in my stress level! Now, when I say "chore time!" they know what to do. In fact, my six year old does his chores without me even asking. If you would have asked me a month ago if that was possible I would have laughed out loud.

Here's a break down of what we do EACH DAY.

In the morning before coming to breakfast they make their bed.

My 5 year old helps me clean up breakfast and then everyone does chores, which means each boy goes to their bathroom and makes sure there is nothing on the floor and the towels are hung up. If there is anything dirty, they need to clean it otherwise they can wait until our deep cleaning days. My six year old straightens the living room which means nothing on the floor or coffee table (other than school books) and pillows straightened. My 5 year old picks up the office and 3 year old cleans the entryway/straightens shoes.

My 3 year old helps with lunch cleanup. Before dinner all boys go make sure their room is clean and check their bathrooms and other areas to make sure they still look nice. My 6 year old helps with dinner cleanup and recycling.

They each have a reward chart (the older two have Melissa and Doug charts, the youngest has Confessions of a Homeschooler charts). They must completely EVERYTHING on their chart in order to earn a ticket for the day. If they have extra good behavior during the day they can earn Best Bee-havior rewards which earn them extra tickets.

Tickets are used to buy activities (bubbles, playdough, computer time, movies, art projects, special time with mom/dad, etc...many ideas came from the book Teaching Your Children Joy) or can be used to buy real things- each ticket is worth 25 cents. So far this system is working really well for us and I'm so grateful for all the wonderful resources out there because I could never come up with these ideas on my own!

Activity cards make it easy to "spend" tickets...download Word doc

If you have kids who are a bit older I would recommend an allowance system similar to this one over at The Unlikely Homeschool.

Our {current} homeschool schedule...a day in the life...

2013-07-17T14:31:00.001-04:00

I am a big scheduler. I love to write out everything I need to do and manage it all in little blocks of time. But sticking to that schedule? Well...that's another story. As my family changes, the house, state or country we live in changes I have to adjust our schedule to accommodate and am constantly trying to figure out what will work best for us. I've finally figured out a routine that works for the current phase we are in. It may change six months from now, but as of today it is working fabulously!

Through trial and error and with a new baby I have to nurse every two hours (STILL), it does not make practical sense to have a separate homeschool room. I have converted the room we were using into a room simply for crafts. The remainder of our schooling will be done in the dining and living areas of our home.

I have this little cube shelf moved into the dining room that stores all our school supplies for math and language arts as well as activities to keep little hands busy while I read.

I keep this box with literature books next to my side of the couch so I can easily grab something while I'm feeding baby.

And this devotional box on the other side of the couch, easily accessible yet out of the way. (More on this soon!)

Our books are readily available yet our house doesn't look like a school. And, with our new chore system, it really is this clean every single day (except the Sabbath when we rest from chores but not from making messes!)

I have our schedule written with dry erase marker on our refrigerator so I know what should be happening when and have charts for each of my boys so they know what is expected of them every day. Three weeks going so far and I feel like things are running as smoothly as I could ever hope for, especially given current circumstances!

Here is a basic guideline for our day:

7:00 am mom exercise (ha, ha, ha), shower/dress, etc., if kids get up they can play until breakfast is ready

8:00 am breakfast (kids must dress and make their bed before they come to the table), cleanup, devotional
9:00 am chores, brush teeth
10:00 math, language arts/reading
12:00 lunch, cleanup, outside time
1:00 story of the world, nature study/science (alternating days)
2:00 quiet time (usually consists of reading or building)
3:00 art/music
4:00 free time
5:00 chores (bedrooms, straighten bathrooms, pickup living room/entry), mom prep dinner
6:00 dinner, cleanup
8:00 jammies, brush teeth, stories (honestly, we NEVER get them to bed before ten in the summer, but it's something to aim for!)

I am definitely flexible with this schedule- sometimes we wake early and end up finishing the math/lang arts portion of our school by 10am! Other days we don't finish until noon. I am trying to keep the before noon schedule pretty solid but the after noon schedule definitely has room for adjustment based on weather, our moods, and what things may come up.

As you can tell from this schedule there isn't a whole lot of free time (like there is for any mom, right?) Thus after enjoying several week long "unplugged" vacations, enlightening conversations with friends, and reading an awesome wake-up-call book, I will be closing this blog.

Never fear though! Before I go, I will share with you some details about devotionals and chores that have literally transformed our household over the past month and leave you with a few fabulous websites that will answer any and every question you may have about homeschooling and help you find balance and order in this busy life you've been blessed with!

*I will still share photos of our travels, our stinking cute kids as well as share all those political, homeschool and real food articles I just know you love (lol)! So if you want to stay connected, just like An Intentional Life on facebook and be sure to hover over the "liked" button and select "show in news feed" or you won't automatically see my updates.

Prague City

2013-07-15T10:00:00.000-04:00

We enjoyed our trip into the beautiful city of Prague, the castle on the hill had the most amazing views...

We LOVED the food here. The street food was amazing. We loved these spiral potatoes, the humongously (pretend it's a word) long crepes filled with homemade jam and the dumplings, but the best things were the spiral cinnamon rolls cooked over charcoal and rolled in cinnamon and nuts- soooo yummy!

We took the hop on hop off tour and river cruise. Parking is not as easy as in other large cities because any parking space with a blue box around it (almost all city center parking) is for locals only. We managed to find a great parking place directly across from the Grand Palace, there is also parking right by the river cruise.

Prague, Medieval Knight Show

2013-07-13T15:13:00.001-04:00

We visited Prague over the fourth of July weekend and had a great time. It was definitely an adventure since we don't speak a word of Czech (other than hello= Ahoj). They are part of the EU but you must still use Czech crowns in most places and 20 crowns is equivalent to 1 dollar. While most people in the city speak English or German, few people in the suburbs or country do.

The boys are getting a bit tired of city visiting cities so we thought they'd enjoy a knight tournament. It was about an hour outside of Prague (click here for the website) and it was very well done. The show runs from 2-4pm and was well worth the drive.

Definitely descendants of Dinosaurs...

The bird trainer threw this feather to Grant, he was ecstatic!

Let the battle begin...

Random girl from the crowd...you could never do this in America...

We just love the campgrounds in Europe, they are made for children. The Camping Oase, just 20 minutes outside Prague city was no exception. There were two large playgrounds, a zipline, mini pedal cars, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, several large sand boxes, building blocks, and entire building full of toys- train sets, large building blocks, etc... What really sold me on this campsite though was the statement on their website "We strive to promote a calm, family-orinted campsite. Those who wish to be loud after 10:00 p.m. would be advised to find another place to stay. Pleasant, quiet nights are important to our guest."

Week in review (last week, that is...)

2013-07-03T10:10:00.000-04:00

Here are a few moments from last week. This week we're in Prague. Happy Independence Day!

Ethan made these oatmeal cookies all by himself. He had a hard time measuring the vanilla and ended up with several tablespoons, but they still tasted great!

I just love these blue eyes and his adorable freckles. He says "my sprinkles are orange!"

And this little engineer/inventor never takes a break.

We did a little finger painting, as always getting more on ourselves than on the paper...

Daddy survived an expedition up Mount Blanc in France. The boys had fun trying on his gear.

Ethan's school did a presentation on Africa and he got to beat on his drum and wear the mask he made.

I just love these dimpled hands and curled piggies! I can't believe my little girl is 5 months old!

I couldn't resist this outtake...just look at that tongue!

Guest Post: Homeschooling multiple children!

2013-06-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

I'm so excited for this article by Courtney over at Ordinary, Happily Ever After. I have been following her blog for several years now and she doesn't know this, but I was first drawn in by a political article she wrote. I was truly impressed by how well written it was- intelligent, articulate, and right on point. She inspired me to be more involved in educating myself about issues rather than just hiding behind the "I'm just a mother" shield. She seems to be able to write exactly what I am thinking but cannot put to words.

Now that I have a new baby, the thought of teaching four children over the next 18 years is extremely overwhelming. She was the first person I went to to ask HOW can I homeschool more than one child when they are all at different levels??? As a veteran homeschooling mother of five, she has some great words of wisdom. Take it away Courtney!

First of all I want to say a big THANK YOU to Cari for asking me to write today! I've been a fan of hers for a while and now I feel like I'm playin' with the big dogs :)

As a homeschooling mom, one of the questions am often asked (after the obligatory "Oh, I could never do that" comment) is, "How do you teach so many different ages/grades at the same time?" In a five minute conversation it's difficult to convey what homeschooling even IS, let alone how I manage to juggle the educational needs of each of my five children and myself. More often than not I give them my rehearsed answer of how I do A, B, and C; and while I'm sure they can sort of understand what I'm saying, they don't really get it. I'm assuming though, that if you are reading this you are interested in more than the 10 second sound byte. So here it goes...

Educating several children with varying ages/grades/abilities in addition to running a home and having a new baby or toddler (which seems to be a never ending stage of life) requires just two things thing.

The Right Environment
Flexibility

That's it. You don't need fancy planners, timers, detailed schedules, expensive curriculum, or exciting new gadgets. Sure, those things can be helpful if they work for you, but they are secondary, not necessary.

Today I'm going to focus on Flexibility. For or more information on creating the right environment, take a look at my article on creating A House Of Learning on my blog.

Flexibility

After your first child is born you learn very quickly that things aren't going to turn out exactly like you had planned. As a veteran parent you now know that perfect children don't exist, patience comes in limited quantities, and it doesn't matter how often you brush your 3 year old daughter's hair and how carefully you pick out her outfit, she will always look homeless the minute you walk out in public.

Homeschooling is no different. You have to be able to roll with the punches. New babies, sleepless nights, potty training, vomit, doctor's appointments, power outages (I survived Hurricane Sandy), moving... expect the unexpected. Being in a perpetual state of "pregnant, newborn and/or toddler" means that I almost never have my "perfect generic day from heaven" Fortunately if you have set up a house of learning then rolling with the punches doesn't have to mean that school has to come to a screeching halt.

Pregnancy/Newborn

Whenever I find out that I am pregnant I always reevaluate my school year. I can usually count on about 12 weeks of morning sickness followed by "I can be super-mom as long as you don't ask me to lift anything". Regardless of the time of year, we use my morning sickness time as a kind of "summer vacation". We cut way back on the formal schooling. Family learning during that time is basically limited to reading out loud, the 3 R's, Home Ec. (aka, how to keep a house clean and "Lucy, how would you like to learn how to make dinner?"... FYI, my kids generally fail on keeping the house clean once they realize they need to clean up multiple times in the same day.), and we also throw in some embryology because there is just no better time to teach that then when Mom is pregnant :) We follow the same formula after the baby is born. Once I'm ready to start adding more subjects I start by simply reading a book to them, then I just let The Spirit guide.

Babies aren't easy. People talk about "easy" babies and "hard" babies, but you know what? All babies are HARD, some are just slightly less difficult than others! In fact, all kids are hard! And that's ok. Homeschooling with an infant is not easy! For me, the best thing is to just accept that it is hard and deal with it. I read out loud while I nurse and I let my older children entertain the baby while I help the younger ones with their lessons. We are finally seeing a light now that Henry is seven months old and is taking predictable naps. But, before that I used swings, bouncers, binkies, slings, playpens... dude! I do whatever works and I don't care what people think!

**Ok, another confession time... I know I said that we use the 3 R's, but really I only use two. Reading and Arithmetic. I have always made paper and pencil available to my kids whenever they want. This means for a lot of stray pencil marks on furniture and a lot of wasted paper but it also means that when I'm cleaning up my house I find countless essays, poems, newspaper articles, letters, and stories written by my children. I don't know if they love to write because I allow them unfettered access to those things or the other way around, but when I find those papers all over my floor I gather them up, put a name and a date at the top and file it away. Writing... done.**

Toddlers/Preschoolers

I believe that most toddlers and preschoolers don't need anything beyond whatever is needed to keep them happy and whatever they need to feel included. At that age they are learning obedience, how to talk, reason, think, right from wrong, how to use the potty, and how things work in your family. That's PLENTY for now. Just by being an active member of the family they will learn their colors, shapes, etc. You don't need to push it. The only reason why I do any formal schooling with Jack (currently 3 years old) is because he has a speech delay, even then it’s only five minutes or so a couple times a week.

I like to keep coloring books, puzzles, pattern blocks, legos, and other "educational" toys around but that is only so that he can play quietly with the "special" toys during school. He wants to feel included so we have these things for when he needs five or so minutes of extra attention.

Ages 5ish to 8ish

Spencer is five and for his kindergarten year he had two subjects: Reading and Math. I started him on a phonics program and a kindergarten math program. I don't try and finish all of the lessons in one year and I only go as fast as he can handle. At five years old a ten minute lesson is long enough. If he doesn't grasp the concept by then, I take a break for a few days and then come back to it. Usually the second or third time around he will get it.

At this age, reading out loud very best thing you can do. Read books about animals or scientists. Read books about artists and musicians. Go and visit farms, child friendly museums and zoos. Unless you need documentation for your state’s or country’s regulations, then I wouldn’t even bother writing anything down. Take pictures of their lego creations and keep their drawings and letters. Keep it simple. Keep it fun. It's ok to take it slow at this age. They are still so little.

Ages 8ish to 11ish

Just before Lucy turned eight years old it was like someone flipped a switch in her. One day she was whiny and needy, the next she was pleasant and helpful. I could not believe the difference. Seemingly overnight she had matured and all of a sudden she was "ready". She was ready for her schooling to go into more depth. You will know when your child is ready and when they are you can start to teach them how to study things on their own. It's been three years since then and I am absolutely amazed at how she loves to learn! Lucy started her fifth grade math last week because she "just love[s] fractions!" and she practices piano for several hours a day. I know that her self-motivated and proactive character is just part of her little spirit and all I need to do is point her in the right direction.

Emma is another story. She's not very self-motivated and would rather spend the day playing with toys than reading a book. That's why I said 8-ish. She'll do it and she may even do it happily but she won't do it on her own. It's taking her a little bit longer to find the spark that will light her fire but she will. Until then I just have to keep encouraging her and showing her how exciting learning can be.

12ish and up

The beauty of it all is that if you have created a home where education is a way of life, by the time your children reach high school they are ready to take control over their own education! Some kids may need a bit more guidance and encouragement than others, but you won't need to hold their hand. At that point you are simply there to provide support and guidance (and to make sure they get to the SAT in time).

Putting It All Together

You know what your children's individual educational needs are, but it's not always easy to put it all together. So how do I teach five kids from ages 1 year to 10 years old? Every subject is a little bit different but I have found that most can be taught to everyone at the same time (the glaring exceptions are phonics and math). I almost always start with a story. If I'm lucky I can get a picture book and a few other age appropriate books about the subject at the library (if not I just use another good picture book with a good moral and story). The picture book gets everyone's attention and once I finish it the younger boys usually drop off the couch to play with legos on the floor. Next there is usually another story, a more detailed explanation, an experiment, or a related movie.

The boys (ages 3 and 5) are always allowed participate as much or as little as they want but I try to at least keep them in the room. If it's an especially good lesson and we take longer than what we can expect a 3 or 5 year old to stay quiet for (about an hour) then sometimes I will pull out a forgotten toy for them to play with in another part of the house. All this time Henry (the baby) is either nursing, sleeping, playing quietly on the floor, or being held. My goal is to keep him happy, quiet and safe.

When I see Emma's eyes start to glaze over I usually hand her whatever book she is reading on her own (she's working through The Magic Tree House series) and send her off to read. At that point I focus on just Lucy. We keep going we start to get bored with the subject, my voice starts to hurt or it's time for a meal. When appropriate and available I may give Lucy and Emma some worksheets (crossword puzzles or word searches are favorites) or writing assignments like letters to Grandma (which I check for spelling and grammar mistakes before sending it off). Math would usually be done about this time as well.

We aim for one extra subject a day and I keep flexible lesson plans. This doesn't sound like much, but the reality is that all subjects are related to each other. If you are teaching with passion and allow yourself to be led by the stories and your children's questions you will end up teaching so much more than just one subject. I have started with history and a story about Napoleon in the morning, then been able to cover geography, science, strategy, and math... all without leaving the topic of Napoleon's life. Tangents in a homeschool aren't a waste of time. They are what make learning fun and interesting.

Teaching several different grades at once is not a new concept but the one-room schoolhouse phased out existence during the first half of the 20th century (though rumor has it there are a few are still scattered here and there). A homeschool isn't a one-room schoolhouse, but as parents we can take heart in knowing that the dynamic of teaching multiple ages at a time worked then and it still works now.

Thank you again to Cari for allowing me to take over her blog. For the other half of homeschooling multiple children head over to Ordinary Happily Ever After :)

Bern, Switzerland LDS Temple Pictures

2013-06-25T16:48:00.004-04:00

To download these images of the Bern, Switzerland LDS Temple free for personal or church use, please visit http://freeldstemplepictures.com

The protectors

2013-06-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

The little princess at four months old, and her protectors. Just look at those chubby little legs!

Maison Cailler chocolate factory & Gruyère factory and castle tours

2013-06-18T15:00:00.000-04:00

This day was definitely the highlight of our trip. I was excited to take the boys on a tour of the cheese and chocolate factory but did not anticipate how awesome it would really be. First of all, the way to reach these towns from Interlaken was through a seasonal mountain pass (very narrow and winding!) which had THE most amazing views.

This was taken with my iPhone, yes it really is THAT green here

Grandma bought Livvy her first doll, so precious!

The Maison Cailler chocolate factory was amazing. It was on my "if we have time" list and I am so glad we had time. The tour is a completely automated sound and lights experience where you move from room to room while they talk about the history of chocolate making and how the company came to be.

After the auto-tour you get to smell the different kinds of cocoa beans (yummmy)

Then watch the chocolate machines in action.

The boys got a kick out of this robotic arm that moves super fast,
vacuum sucks the chocolate and drops it in the wrapper

Here they could push different buttons to see videos about each production process.

And the tasting room- the best of all. Look at all that chocolate. YUM.

These two were the best...

The circle ones with white swirls on top- dark chocolate truffles- Y.U.M.

And the taste testers at work. How do I apply?

And of course, the playground, surrounded by giant candy bars...You can literally smell the chocolate outside. It's a little glimpse of heaven. If you go near Interlaken, you must make the visit here, it will be well worth your time.

Right around the corner is the Gruyère cheese factory. Our GPS couldn't locate the address, just use the address for Chateaux de Gruyères. The cheese factory wasn't near as impressive as the chocolate factory (I compare it to the Cabot factory tour in Vermont- which was awesome btw), but it's worth a walk through.

The best part of the tour was the cheese sample they give you. You get to try the same cheese aged 6 months, 8 months and 10 months. The difference was very interesting both taste and texture.

Lastly, we went up to the Chateaux.

Olivia was the perfect traveler until today when she decided she had had enough. She screamed the entire way back to Interlaken and half the way home the next day. As soon as she got out of her seat she was happy and smiling and screamed the moment she was put back in. Poor baby.

These photographs of beautiful Switzerland (as well as many other scenic photographs) are now available for purchase here.

Interlaken, Brienz wood carvers, Jungfraujoch and Paragliding

2013-06-15T10:00:00.000-04:00

Switzerland has moved up on my list of most amazing places on earth. I had been to Zurich several years ago but it gave me no preparation for the beauty I would behold driving across the country. Unfortunately the drive from Zurich to Interlaken is a series of tunnels with just a few glimpses of the countryside, however those few glimpses are completely breathtaking. I wish I could have taken photos of the first tunnel we came out of, it was the kind of scenery movies are made of, incredible mountain cliffs and green valleys. I'm convinced that a person could drive every day for a month in Switzerland and see something totally magnificent each day.

The town of Interlaken is small but has a nice pedestrian area (until a tour bus offloads a bunch of tourists- then it's the last place you want to be).

We absolutely loved where we stayed in Interlaken. The Lazy Rancho campground is by far the best in the area and one of the nicest we have ever stayed at. It is the perfect place for large families and especially for small children to run and play. They have trailer houses for rent which have one large bed in one room and a three beds in the other room (the boys were so excited to sleep in a bunkbed), a bathroom, kitchen, dining/living area with tv, and eating area on the porch. It is a nice quiet community with quite a few permanent residents. The manager is Swiss-American and speaks perfect English, fluent German, Spanish and probably a few other languages as well. The store is well stocked and you can order fresh bread to be delivered every morning. For campers they have two bathroom facilities (the cleanest I've ever seen), laundry area, full kitchen (pay stove), kids play/game/tv room, and a great playground. There is a bus stop down the street and you can use public transportation for free (we drove everywhere though).

If you are headed to Interlaken with small children, this is definitely the place to stay.

This chubba bubba is four months old now! The primary difference between her and the boys is her adorable chubby chunker thighs and her high pitched squeals. She "sings" all day long and if I don't feed her right when she asks, she will let me know all about it. She is a very social little girl and loves to be the center of attention.

Just down the road were goats and cows each wearing a different bell making beautiful music. It is seriously the most peaceful relaxing place. Well, as peaceful and relaxing as it can be with four children ;)

Just a twenty minute drive from Interlaken is the town of Brienz. It is a typical Swiss village with beautiful wooden houses. Anthony's mom discovered that every wooden balcony has a different design and it was fun seeing all the styles. We visited this woodcarvers school and got to see some truly amazing things carved out of wood. Very reasonably priced clocks too. I got a cute little nativity and cheese board.

And for the geologists, on the outskirts of town there is this super cool recumbent fold.

I had read review after review that the Jungfraujoch aka Top of Europe was the most amazing of all the sights in Europe. Unfortunately they don't recommend newborns go up to that altitude, so baby and I stayed home while the others ventured out. They said it was well worth it. Adult roundtrip tickets are around $200, children above 6 can get a Switzerland JR rail card for 30 CHF (good for 1 year) and children under 6 always ride free.

Anthony had a fun adventure of paragliding. If I weren't nursing every two hours I totally would have done it to. We loved this place so we just might go back and if we do I'm definitely gonna do it. He said it was awesome until the end when they did some g-force spirals.

Zurich, Switzerland a taste of local culture

2013-06-14T15:30:00.000-04:00

We had so much fun in Zurich. There really aren't many tourist sites and that's what made it so fun. We took a few pictures of the churches and the beautiful river then wandered through the town to see what locals do.

This dude was beheaded for imposing high taxes...now that's an idea...

Largest clock face in Europe

I have no idea who the guy they've painted about is, but it sure is a cool building...

With a little luck we found the locals. Now this is culture. Hanging out in a beautiful park that overlooks the city. Playing chess and bocce ball. A peaceful demonstration with a bunch of hippies playing music. Hard to beat.

Measuring the distance...it's a serious sport around here...

So we decided to join in the fun. They might not remember the churches or monuments but I bet they won't soon forget playing chess in the park.

Even Grandma and Grandpa joined in!

Door to Großmünster depicts major scenes from the Bible

Random tree that grew around this fence

Ben & Jerry's trying to make it in Europe. Giving away free samples- huge crowd out here for hours...

We drove around the lake and happened to discover this awesome campsite (we might have to come back!) They have these cool platform tents with big beds inside. And situated right on the lake with the most amazing views.

http://www.fischers-fritz.ch/en/home.html

Neuschwanstein Castle and Iron Kids Switzerland

2013-06-13T10:45:00.001-04:00

The castle of all castles, Neuschwanstein. This is my third visit here and they've made a lot of changes. You can buy tickets in advance thus no waiting in long lines. As with most attractions in Europe, kids are free. Beware there are a lot of stairs in the tour and to get to the castle is a very steep walk. The carriage ride (9 euro round trip) does NOT take you all the way to the top but instead drops you off at the steepest part. (My inlaws thought we were trying to send them to an early demise with the steep climb and the winding four floor hike inside the castle.)

This bridge is a nice little hike from the castle and is the best place to get dramatic photographs the castle...
we were too tired, so all you get are these boring photos ;)

This is the view from the windows on the fourth floor...absolutely breathtaking...

Then we headed to Switzerland (also known as land of the gazillion tunnels) for the Rapperswil-Jona Switzerland Ironman. The swim part of the boys race was cancelled due to freezing cold weather and buckets of rain. Even our campground reservation got cancelled due to snow (which was a bummer since it was on an amazingly beautiful lake, but the boys had fun watching the jets take off from the Zurich airport at the Holiday Inn Express instead).

This is what we do for homeschool physical education. Joshua finished second in his age group and gender.

The regular ironman swim was also cancelled and Anthony got about half way done with the run and the race had to be stopped because of a mudslide. The first ironman cancellation ever. So we spent a fun day in Zurich instead...

And it's been too long since I shared a picture of this little cutie ;)

Part 2: Salzburg, Austria

2013-06-11T16:29:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure which was more enjoyable, touring around Salzburg or the beautiful drive there. Here are some photos I took from the car on the drive over.

I'd been to Salzburg before and knew the sites were pretty spread out, so we decided to take the hop on hop off tour. For four small children and two grandparents, it was definitely the right choice. The boys were excited to see the statue of Mozart since we'd been studying his life and listening to his music over the past few months. They got really excited when the headset on the tour played selections from the Magic Flute.

On our way back to Garmisch we stopped at the coolest McDonald's I've ever been to. The first thing you see when you walk up is the gym- there are stationary bikes and a hoops to burn off a few of the calories you are about to consume.

There are plenty of fun things for kids inside too from regular kiddie games to computers. Burgers were nowhere near as tasty as in the Netherlands, but the desserts at the McCafe made up for it.

And in case you're wondering about us eating at McDonald's with my conversion to "real food"... we definitely break the rules on vacation, it's just too much work to try and pack healthy things from home every day. Also we like to visit McDonald's in every country we visit (we have some memorable experiences at McD in Beijing and Moscow) and since our McD stock is paying for our children's future college, we like to check up on them every now and again to make sure it's still a good investment. They are well and thriving in Europe!

Garmish and Nördlingen {and photographs for sale}

2013-06-08T11:13:00.002-04:00

My husband's parents came to visit us for several weeks and we hit the road on another trip to one of our favorite places- Garmisch-Partenkirchen. On our way we visited the medieval town of Nördlingen which sits near the impact point of a meteorite that hit the earth 15 million years ago. The boys climbed the treacherously old steps to the top of the cathedral for a bird's eye view of the town.

Unfortunately it rained the entire week at Garmisch- except for two beautiful days. The boys got in a lot of swimming and although baby is too little for the pool we got her dressed for the occasion.

We did a little hiking around this beautiful lake.

We found a leech sliming it's way through the forest and even got to peek inside a bobsled. It was such a glorious day we entertained ideas of getting out of the army and being homeless for a year while we just camped from one beautiful place to the next. Then of course it poured buckets the next few days and squashed that idea. On the next beautiful day the idea was resurrected again, only this time we'd be homeless in a big american rv instead of tent ;)

Next stop Salzburg! Also I am now offering my scenic photographs for sale on my temple website http://freeldstemplepictures.com under the Fun Stuff tab! Click on Scenic Artwork and you may download the image for a minimal fee, print and frame in your home! Please contact me for commercial use. Here is a small sampling of the images available.

Organizing a homeschool schedule

2013-06-07T16:00:00.000-04:00

Once you know what you want to study and you have a growing number of books filling up your table (or kindle/amazon queue) you have to figure out what to do with them. For me, it's easiest to digest all these books when I break them up by term. I divide the year into seasons then choose which books to study during each season. The fun literature books I usually save for our bedtime and leisure reading. The others I try to rotate once or twice a week. Before I had my fourth child I was pretty good about planning out what we would do each day, now I just keep a box full of the books we use next to me on the couch and I grab whatever I'm feeling in the mood for. I make sure we work from at least three books a day, anything after that is a bonus.

Here is a breakdown of our reading schedule for next year (for details on each book, see our 2013-2014 curriculum)

Fall:
Story of the World
MUS and Life of Fred
Apologia Science
Reading (Joshua): Ordinary Parents Guide and Usborne reading books
We're traveling through Italy and Greece so we will be reading 5-6 books specifically on that subject
Artist's study: DaVinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Boticelli, visit the Uffizi and Accademia galleries
Red Fairy Book
Understood Betsy

Winter:
Story of the World
MUS and Life of Fred
Apologia Science
History of Germany
Our Island Story (in preparation for a trip to England)
The Little Duke
A Wonder Book
Otto of the Silver Hand
Composer study: Handel

Spring:
Story of the World
MUS and Life of Fred
Apologia Science
Beautiful stories from Shakespeare
Heroes of Modern Europe
The King of the Golden River
Robin Hood
Composer Study: Bach

Summer:
Story of the World
Viking Tales
Handbook of Nature Study
Five Children and It
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
Composer Study: Beethoven

Once I know what I need to work on during that period, I can easily divide it up by week and day. I use the above free homeschool planner to organize my week. I laminate the schedule so I can easily modify it. With three children and a new baby, flexibility is the key to sanity in our household! How do you organize it all?

Did you know?

2013-06-03T15:30:00.000-04:00

Alexander Graham Bell

Thomas Edison

Albert Einstein

Benjamin Franklin

Patrick Henry

Eli Whitney

Orville & Wilbur Wright

John Adams

Thomas Jefferson

George Wythe

Alexander Hamilton

George Washington

Abraham Lincoln

Theodore Roosevelt

Louisa May Alcott

Robert Frost

C.S. Lewis

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Leonardo da Vinci

Claude Monet

Isaac Newton

Johann Sebastian Bach

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Winston Churchill

What do these well-known people all have in common? Besides creative genius or exceptional leadership...

Each received a large part, if not all, of their education at home. That's right folks, these people were homeschooled! Through reading, discovering and exploring. There are many, many more people who have left their mark in the world and were educated in their own home. (There is a great list of famous homeschoolers at http://www.famoushomeschoolers.net )

Whenever you feel challenged or discouraged, just take a peek at these names and realize the potential those little people in your home have if you only give them the tools to unleash it! Many of these incredibly intelligent people were poor public school students and felt like failures, yet thrived when allowed to pursue knowledge in their own way and time.

Food in Germany

2013-05-31T16:00:00.000-04:00

I just have to say that after living in Europe, I feel really sorry for Americans (and for the food I will have to go home to). European food is so much tastier and healthier.

In Germany (and throughout Europe) we have basically the same food. Boxes of packaged food, freezers of frozen food, sugary sweets and salty snacks. But what's the difference? The food here tastes better AND it's not loaded with near as much junk. Sure there are some things that include glucose syrup and some preservatives, but they ban genetically modified foods, dangerous artificial colors and flavors and most grocery items include less than ten ingredients. And surprise surprise, all big name American food companies sell their stuff in the store here- only it's reformulated to be more natural and does not include all the preservatives, artificial colors, flavors and most importantly GMOs. How did we let these giant corporations sneak into our grocery stores and fill the shelves with science rather than food?

Apparently it IS possible to make processed food that has less than 30 ingredients. For example, pick up any loaf of bread or frozen rolls in your grocery store (or the worst offender- tortillas) and look at the ingredient list. Then take a look at these refrigerator/freezer rolls that sell for around 1 euro a bag. Bake for 15-20 minutes and they come out crusty on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. So yummy and look at that, only a handful of ingredients.

Ingredients: Flour, water, sourdough, yeast, rye flour, salt, sugar, barley malt extract and gluten

Europeans eat full fat butter, delicious crème fraîche, white bread, chocolate, the best ice cream, cheese and yogurt on earth, and yet it's very rare to see an obese European. I've seen one since we've been here (I never saw any on my three previous visits to Europe). Perhaps a stocky or stout person now and again, but obesity, type two diabetes and other diet related diseases aren't as prevalent here as they are in the States.

I eat way more processed food and white bread than I ever have before simply because the ingredients are so much more natural and fresh than I can ever get back home (and I cannot get over the crunch of fresh bakery bread). They do still use pesticides on produce however the most dangerous chemicals used in the U.S. are banned here. There is a tiny organic store in our city and a few stores carry "bio" products (organic) however the selection is tiny and produce is not very appealing. So unfortunately we aren't able to buy much organic produce but it is still a heck of a lot better than the choices at home. The grocery stores here don't even refrigerate ANY of their produce, so you know it didn't travel far to get there- and it looks so much fresher than the produce in American grocery stores. Also, there are farmers markets everywhere.

Every village has at least one bakery, ours is right across the street from the school so Ethan can stop by on his way home to pick us up fresh rolls. They have donuts (berliner's) and some cookies and such, but the sweets here are not sweet compared to what we're used to. They just don't saturate things in sugar here. The donuts are basically white rolls filled with real jam and sprinkled with powdered sugar. It's quite refreshing because you can actually taste what you're eating rather than just binging on sugar and when I make sweets with half the sugar or using whole wheat, my boys gobble them up because they're not used to super sweet treats.

We also have a meat truck that comes through our neighborhood twice a week selling fresh meats of all kinds. I rarely buy any meat from the commissary since it's all USDA approved. I try to only buy local meats. Of course I can't guarantee they are fresher or "organic", but I think it's pretty darn close.

Produce and dairy is pretty inexpensive here and my husband loves Aldi because you can get rolls for 13 cents each. It's like a vending machine bakery, you push a button and warm crusty rolls pop out. They also have 1 euro jars of jam that he loves. There is no comparison to European yogurt or ice cream, it is so amazing. I refuse to buy any ice cream at the commissary because it's just so substandard. I love the creamy melt-in-your-mouth ice cream and tangy flavors of gelato. And don't even get me started on the chocolate!

This is my new favorite indulgence. It has better ingredients than any non-organic snack you'll find in the states, and tastes heavenly. It is going to be so hard to leave this place!

Joshua's German School

2013-05-27T15:30:00.000-04:00

Joshua heading off to his "private German school"...

The two kindergartens in our village are completely full, so I asked my landlord if she knew anyone who taught private German lessons. I really wanted Joshua to be able to have more exposure to the language. Lo and behold, she is a retired school teacher and since her two boys are grown up and her husband passed away, she misses little children. Joshua has been going to her house for lessons twice a week and just loves it. He feels so grown up being able to put on his backpack and walk all by himself.

He even incorporates his silly sense of humor into the lessons. Below his a banana for a mouth and you can see he tried to write the word banana. This is so much better than sending him to kindergarten, and I am so happy he has this opportunity!

Nature Study, the Charlotte Mason way

2013-05-24T16:00:00.000-04:00

We don't take school off during the summer, but our primary focus is on literature and nature study. We do math as much as they want to, I don't put pressure on them to complete things. One of our favorite discoveries here is a nature park on the military base. It has a dozen or so of these signs with great information about local species of plants, animals, birds, etc. and has them in both German and English.

I've never seen little boys so excited to learn about nature. They run from sign to sign and want to explore everything. We identify the species on the boards and search for them in the park, draw pictures in our nature notebooks (3 ring binders with blank paper and a crayon pouch) and then look for them around our home. We plan to visit this park 3-4 times a month and each time choose a new board to study.

Of course we also spend some time at the playground! It's not Thanksgiving Point...but it's still neat ;)
Do you have any fun educational preserves like this where you live?

First sewing lessons

2013-05-20T18:00:00.000-04:00

My in-laws are in town for the next few weeks. We are so excited to see them. We're headed for a two week trip to Garmisch, Austria and Switzerland. I have a few scheduled posts while I'm gone and I'll share some pictures of our trip on facebook from time to time.

The other day Ethan's button came off his shorts and provided us with the perfect opportunity to learn to sew on a button! It took a few tries for his needle to find the button hole, but he was so proud of himself when he finally got it.