homeschoolwithaview

Native American Unit Study

2011-10-22T15:53:00.000-05:00

Last year, when I started planning for this year's history focus, I knew I wanted to do an overview of American History and familiarize my children with the United States map. I was too cheap to purchase a curriculum when I knew I could put something together for myself. Unfortunately, I had no idea how long doing something like that could take! I spent some time putting together a 4-week unit on Native Americans and soon after was gifted the Adventures in My Father's World curriculum!!!! We did go ahead with my unit on Native Americans and had a LOT of fun, so I thought I would share some of our favorites from the unit. It is a perfect fit for leading into Adventures, which we are starting this Monday! (I am so excited!)

Read Alouds we used for naptime and evening reads:

Night Bird

Kaya: An American Girl
Children of the Longhouse by Joseph Bruchac

Handwriting and Art: we used Draw Write Now book 3. I let Logan choose a page to do each week. He spent about 10 minutes each day either drawing, copying sentences, or coloring.

Mapwork: The books we read lent themselves to quite a bit of mapwork. Occasionally I photocopied maps of the US to color in as we read. We also kept a laminated map of the US out in our study area so we could use dry-erase markers to trace the movement of different tribes or the buffalo or to draw in rivers, etc.

We also did several activities out of the Native Americans book from the Evan-Moor History Pocket series. I also used this book to give the kids an overview of several of the tribes we studied. They give a nice summary as well as pictures to color for their portfolio.

Literature Focus: we focused on the terms "myth" and "legend". There are many Native American stories that offer opportunities to demonstrate these terms. We read Genesis one at the beginning of our unit and drew pictures of what God created each day. Then we read the following myths and legends from Native American folklore and compared them to the truth of God's word:

The Creation by Joseph Bruchac
Grandmother Spider Steals the Sun
The Legend of the Grand Canyon
The Indian Cinderella

Week One: Introduction to Native American as the original inhabitants of North America.

Books:

The Discovery of the Americas by Giulio Maestro - pages 3-7. We did some map work with this.
Many Nations: An Alphabet of Native Americans by Joseph Bruchac

Great Chief Want-More-Wampum

Geography From A to Z by Jack Knowlton - we looked up the definitions for the words glacier, strait, and peninsula and then used the sand table, water, and ice to demonstrate the possible ways people may have arrived on the North American continent.

Week Two: The Seminole and Iroquios Tribes

Books:

Good Hunting, Blue Sky by Peggy Parish - This is an easy reader that I had Logan read aloud to me.
The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong. Pages 4-5 give a nice introduction to the Iroquois tribe.
Little Runner of the Longhouse by Betty Baker -another easy reader Logan read to me.

Activities:

One day we made wampum beads (History Pockets page 82). I wanted to make a little store for the kids to purchase items from with their beads, but never did pull it off. The kids enjoyed making the beads though and creating a shopping list for them (History Pockets page 83).
We made longhouses
and a canoe.

Making hominy

Our Native American legend for this week was Grandmother Spider Steals the Sun. After reading it, we then painted little pebbles to look like the sun and attached magnets to the back. We placed these on the refrigerator as a reminder that God is the only true creator and the light of the world.

Week Three: Sioux Indians

Books:

The Sioux: Nomadic Buffalo Hunters by Rachel Koestler-Grack. I picked a few pages here and there from the book to read each day.
Where the Buffaloes Begin
Grandfather Buffalo by Jim Arnosky
A Mare for Young Wolf by Janice Shefelman - another easy reader.

Activities:

We made a tipi.
Had a snack of beef jerky and dried berries.

Making a Sugar Cube Igloo

Went on a "buffalo hunt". This was simply an obstacle course I created in the yard and labeled as grasslands, mountains, and creeks. The kids had to climb over the little tykes climber and slide down the slide, jump over the kitchen stools, run through the woods in our yard, do it all backwards, and run back to start. This translated into a game the kids spent the whole afternoon playing!

Week Four-The Inuit

Books:

The Inuit: Ivory Carvers of the far North by Rachel A. Koestler-Grack. I picked a few pages to read each day.
Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captured the World

Activities:

We made "ivory carvings" using soap bars and dull paring knives and

"Carving Ivory"

a sugar cube igloo.

The little unit was a month of fun. One of the things I loved the most about it was how well it lent itself to further independent exploration. The kids spent many afternoons creating Native American costumes out of paper bags and chasing buffalo and enemy tribes through the back yard. They built longhouses out of lincoln logs and created elaborate stories with the little plastic Indians we bought at the dollar store. They made tipis out of sheets and filled them with books they checked out of the library.

Just a side note: As chance would have it, we stumbled upon a recreated Native American village while hiking through Whitefish Dunes State Park on our vacation to Door County, Wisconsin. Our vacation was smack-dab in the middle of our Native American unit and the basic little village provided Logan and Sierra with great fun!

Embrace the Toddler In Your Midst

2011-09-15T14:26:00.001-05:00

She is a pure delight - our resident toddler. But our greatest distraction from school work. As we progress through a new school year, I've been finding a few things that work to keep her distracted.

When using math manipulatives: share. Nothing makes Vayla happier than snapping together her own colorful unifix cubes and filling plastic cups with colorful counting bears.
During handwriting lessons I have found that she is easily entertained with a few washable, dry-erase markers. They come easily off of her white, plastic high chair tray, so we dump a few onto her tray and let her create beautiful art work. Before lunch, the colorful scribbles disappear with the wipe of a damp cloth.
During a painting project this week, she so wanted to join in the fun. I gave her a piece of red construction paper, cup of water, and paint brush. She loved brushing the water onto the paper, her face, and clothes. And even more, she loved it when the older kids finished up there projects and came over to "help" with her watery art project.
Baby Phy. Ed.: while working one-on-one with one older child, I'll set the other one to do a phy. ed. class with the toddler. They dance, push her up and down the driveway in her stroller, climb on the plastic climber in the front yard, or roll balls back and forth. The older kids feel important when I tell them they are the coach for the day and she loves the activities with and older sibling.
Pull out a bin. I keep a couple of lidded containers ready to bring out in an emergency. They containg plastic animals or blocks or board books, etc.

And the toddlers nap is over, which means my blogging time is over. I'd love to hear some of your ideas that work well!

10 Things I've Learned During the First Week of School

2011-09-01T16:25:00.000-05:00

Looking forward to another
great school year with these two!

After our month-long summer break, the first week back at homeschooling has reminded me of several things:

Always begin with family devotions. Praying for big and small concerns allows the kids to voice concerns that may distract them and for them to know the peace that comes with entrusting the Almighty with things they can do nothing about. Discussions around the Biblical topic of the day also often speak directly to situations that arise later in the day and the Holy Spirit is already at work in little hearts, gently prompting them in the right direction.
Be flexible; what works for me probably won't work for them. Just because I think my very organized schedule and goal sheet will save the school year, doesn't mean it will work for my free-spirited, independent daughter. Logan would much prefer to sit in my lap all day and have me help him through his school work, while Sierra would be happier with a big stack of worksheets and learning games to do on her own. Alpha Phonics did amazing things for Logan, but Sierra hates it. The beauty of homeschooling is that we can accommodate many of these differences in personality and learning styles.

Ejnoy the toddler in your midst

Enjoy the toddler in your midst. Math can be done during nap time, but there are so few years of my little bundle of energy running through or math manipulatives screaming, "Huggy Bru-Bru" (That would be "Hug, Brother" in baby language.) .
Don't sign them up for kindergarten just because of a few bad days. And we had a BAD day this week! And I really thought, "Oh, thank God school hasn't started yet. I can still get her into the all-day program down the street." But I was able to step back, change a few things, and the next day was amazingly productive and happy. I'm pretty sure she learned more in one day than I ever taught a classroom full of squirmy five year olds in a week during my kindergarten teaching days.
In the midst of chaos, take time to hear that still, small voice. My five-year-old has taken to throwing daily temper tantrums, often 2 or 3 times a day. Time-outs, spankings, and extra chores haven't seemed to effect any change. During the third all-out temper tantrum of the week, I sent her to the car to calm down. In desperation, I shut myself in the bathroom and said a rather panicked prayer: "God, I don't know how to stop these fits! And I can't live with them day after day!" And in the moment of silence that followed, I remembered hearing Dr. Ray Guarendi talk about "black outs", where the offending child basically looses privileges until the desired changes are made. Now THIS is speaking my child's language. I put a movie, her favorite CD, and a little paper with the words "computer time" written on it inside a Ziploc bag. I took it out to the car where she was still sobbing and refusing to look at me and explained that she would not be allowed to watch movies, listen to her favorite CD, or use the computer until she earned back the privilege. For every day that she went without throwing a fit, she could choose one thing out of the bag. And every time the fit throwing reared its ugly head, one more thing would be put in the bag. I mentioned things she loves like going to children's church (she would have to sit through the service with me), playing with her cousin, and Barbies. To my surprise, she looked up with clear eyes and a big smile. "So if I'm really good today I can get out my CD and then tomorrow I'll get my movie and stuff like that until I get it all out of the bag." I nodded in surprise. Then she said, "You know, Mom, that's a really good idea. I think that will really help me!" Three days later and she's earning back her privileges and hasn't lost it even once!

Why read about American History
when you can DO American History?

Field trips are worth a stack of books.

Petting horses at the living history museum.

A good read-aloud is worth a day of lectures.
Manipulatives and messes generally mean learning is going on and should not be viewed as a bother.
Real life counts as "school time". Make brownies instead of doing the measuring worksheet. We recently invited an elderly lady from our church over for dinner. Her stories about the post-great-depression era America were far more informative and memorable than any 6 week unit study on the subject. Be willing to listen and answer questions. Include children in grown-up conversations when appropriate. Read the newspaper and other grown-up things aloud. I'm convinced that a days worth of conversations, especially in the younger years, is worth far more than a mornings worth of worksheets.
And last of all I have been reminded of how glad I am that I won't have to put my kids on the bus next Tuesday morning. I am so blessed to have the means and opportunity to spend my days watching them learn and grow. What a wonderful, exciting adventure we have embarked on!!!

Re-organized toy/school room!

2011-08-26T23:26:00.000-05:00

Previous bookshelf in the toy room

All summer I have been planning a total reorganization of our toy room to make it into more of a homeschooling/play area with at least some sense of organization to it. Most of our school things were spread out between the toy room, the "office" (basically a dumping ground for all things without a place), and the end of the dining room table. It was fatiguing just trying to find anything - let alone plan a lesson!

Of course, the impending beginning of the school year finally set me in motion and I snapped out of the undecided/planning stage to the I'm-really-going-to-do-it phase.

My sons lego collection was an eyesore!

I started the process with a thorough sorting. Luckily, VBS came along just at the right time and I was able to bag up and give away bags and boxes of "treasures" without tears and pleadings of, "I know I never play with it because it's so special I just leave it in the bottom of the heap so it doesn't get hurt!" (Ummm, you got it at McDonalds two years ago and the little lever thingy that was supposed to be really cool never did work.) You know the drill. It's torturous! I also got rid of a LOT of books (we do live 5 minutes from an amazing library, after all) and piles of workbooks (you know that ones you pick up here and there for 25 cents or 2 dollars that you never use because the internet and printer are so much more convenient). It felt so good to purge!

Then I cleared out two shelves in the office for school books and only put up out our core books. No more digging through piles and rows that don't even pertain to our current studies. I took a bookshelf out of the office and moved it into the basement to store books I will use in the future but don't need cluturing my thoughts and space this year.

With that done, I cleared out the toy room (that made quite a mess in the rest of the house for awhile!), went to IKEA, and came home armed to organize. Here is the final result!

The IKEA Expedit system and Target ITSO bins.

This is our main storage shelf. The bottom three rows are mostly frequently played-with toys and books. The bins hide legos, playmobiles, easy readers, musical instruments, and Barbies. The upper shelves hold school stuff (math manipulatives, etc.) Each of the kids have a cubby (second row down) where I plan to keep their daily work and school supplies. I tried the workbox system, but it was too tedious for all of us - even though I LOVED the idea. My plan for this year is to have a daily goal sheet for the kids to mark off as they go. All the books, worksheets, games, etc. that they need to complete their daily tasks should fit on their individual shelves.

"Baby Vayla's Shelf" - where the baby/toddler toys go.

"Play House" corner and the edge of our open toy-storage bins.
These bins mostly hold play-acting things (the Detective Bin, Scientist Bin,
Carpenter Bin, etc.) We also have a suspension rod in one corner for hanging
dress-up clothes on. I didn't get a good picture of that part of the room.

The Reading Corner. It really is rather cozy despite it's dreary appearance in the
picture. The bench was a freebie beside-the-road find and opens up for more
dress-up storage. I want to find a way to display art work on this wall.
Any suggestions???

And there it is! Now I just have to print off those lesson plans and we'll be ready for an easy start on Monday (just Math and reading before heading off to a celebratory lunch with friends!).

Where's Mary Poppins When You Need Her?

2011-07-07T16:05:00.001-05:00

As I browsed through my email this afternoon, my two oldest children were lying on the living room floor watching Mary Poppins. She is one of their "favorite people in the world" and they have often discussed the idea that if I were ever unable to take care of them for a week or two Mary Poppins would be their first pick for a nanny. Despite her stern demeanor and no-nonsense approach to childish indiscretions, they appreciate the order she brings to the Banks' home and the change brought to the children's behavior through her tough love.

As they laughed at the antics of Bert and the Banks children, I clicked open a document from our local park district giving me some forms to fill out for an outdoor class my children will be attending later this summer.
As I printed the forms and began filling out some information about Sierra, I was dismayed to come across the page entitled Program Behavior Policy.
The page started out promisingly enough. "In the event that a child's behavior becomes excessive and inappropriate, the following behavior plan will be implemented." The email went on to list several actions that would be considered inappropriate behavior: running off, not participating, verbal abuse aimed at others, physically harming others, tantrums lasting more than 15 minutes, etc. Keep in mind that this class is not for 2 year olds. These are actions forbidden to 5-8 year olds. So, yes, I would assume that such misdemeanors would be grounds for some sort of disciplinary action.

Oh, but wait. My bad! How dare I assume that such outbursts be labeled as naughty or needing any sort of disciplinary action?! The email went on to assure me that if the child does not follow the previous guidelines they will be gently removed from the program and a parent/guardian will be called to pick them up early. "This is NOT a disciplinary measure and will not be conveyed in that way to the child. The child obviously is having a difficulty that day, and to remain in our program that day would be a negative experience for him or her." Poor little Johnny. It could only be a difficult day that would cause such troubling behavior from all of our fragile little angels and, heaven forbid, the poor little guy be made to endure such torture as a time out or being forced to finish the class. Perhaps an ice cream cone and a nice afternoon at the county fair with Mom would help cheer the little guy up.

The following page asked for some personal information about each child in order to provide a "positive program experience for your child..."

Question # 1: When upset, my child responds best to....
Question # 2: My child may be frightened by....
Question #3: Is there anything else you would like us to know about your child?

I'm so tempted to respond with the following:

Answer # 1: .....a spanking.
Answer # 2: ....the the idea that you might call me to come pick them up for negative behavior. There will be no ice cream or county fairs on the way home!
Answer # 3: They thrive on disciplinary measures.

No, I don't really want a stranger spanking my children. And, yes, a child can definitely act out on difficult days. My own little angel has been known to give in to major meltdowns at inappropriate times due to missed naps or delayed lunches. However, a gentle reprimand or brief removal from the situation can work wonders.

Just ask Mary Poppins. Oh, and sorry kids, doesn't look like you'll be getting Mary Poppins as camp counselor this year. Better luck next summer.

Running a Rather Unpopular Race

2011-06-17T10:48:00.001-05:00

The other day, while distractedly typing in the web address for my favorite search engine, I accidentally hit a few wrong letters and - BAM - my screen was full of very large, very uncovered breasts. Horrified, I closed down the computer.

Later than evening, my husband and I were listening to talk show host Jason Lewis discuss the sexual indiscretions of a now-popular political figure and a newly-popular porn star. The radio conversation was addressing the idea that 40 years ago, when my husband and I were just starting our growing up years, both of these figures would have run for cover and hid in a hole for the next decade, disgraced and embarrassed. Now the discussions are their affairs often take a humorous tone or are simply shrugged off as the norm for the day. They are sensationalized and popularized.

After the Jason Lewis Show was over, Jerry and I continued our discussion on how accessible and normal depravation is today. As a teen ager, he rarely stumbled upon porn, and if he did it was a secretive, covert event that left him trembling with the fear of being found out. And, yet today, my 6 year old son could easily have been exposed to his first taste of pornography while at home, in broad daylight, sitting on my lap!

I left our conversation that night feeling discouraged and overwhelmed with the job of parenting a boy. I fervently pray that hegrows up to be a godly young man who treats women with respect and views them through the lense of a gentleman, but society seems out to thwart my goals at every turn.

My discouragement was furthered the next day during a Bible Study at my church. We ladies are reading through a book called Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild by Mary A. Kassian. I came into the discussion feeling a bit smug. The chapter being discussed was on where modern women receive counsel from. The hours the typical female spends watching TV, reading glossy tantalizing magazines, and purusing the internet are staggering. My smuggness was attributed to the fact that I honestly could not think of 5 movies or TV shows I had watched during the previous month (in fact, in the previous year!) and my list of magazines read over the past month included The Economist, Family Fun, and Parenting. Throw a little Star Tribune in there and I felt like I had a pretty impressive, somewhat-scholarly list going. But as the discussion continued, we were asked whether or not any of the above directly or indirectly characterized sex outside of marriage as normal or desirable, characterized homosexuality as normal or desirable, cast men in a negative light, teach that a woman's worth is tied to her paycheque or physical beauty, encourage immodesty.... Ummmm, that would be yes, yes, yes, and yes.  The promotion and normalization of sin everywhere!

And even more discouraging, my conservative views on what we allow on the media screens in our home are considered overboard even by my church friends. I am not amired for the hard-nosed stand I take and that is fine. We are all held accountable for our own convictions, and yet it is daunting to realize that so much depravity is the norm. So much depravity is acceptable to us as Christians because it is presented in a kid-friendly form or it's not overert or because the overall moral of the story is worth the normalization of sin.

As these combinations of events roll through my mind and I sit here putting my thoughts "on paper" in a rather rambling, disjointed sort of a post, I am fighting the discouragement that comes with attempting to raise godly children in a society that finds morality and Christian views as outdated and unattainable, even among church-attending Christians.  And, yet, my resolve is strengthened. I must refuse to allow the little things to creep in. I must stay away from the slippery slope of okaying the activites that are sanctioned by Christian friends, even those whose walk with Christ I admire and hope to emulate. I have to be okay with the raised eyebrows and off-handed comments tossed my way by well-meaning friends and relatives who are convinced my children are missing out on all the wonderful things pop-culture has to offer us. I have to be okay with raising out-of-the norm children. Most importantly, I have to keep my eyes on Jesus and the end goal!

My chidlren's current favorite song is a song I grew up singing as a child in the Philippines.  It is not an English song, but they always want me to sing it first in Cebuano then interpret it into English.  My ackward English version goes something like this:

Run the race of life,
run it strong and proud.
Leave your sin behind;
Look ahead to the prize!
Many people are watching to see if you will finish.
Don't let them see you grow cold!
Run the race of life,
run it strong and proud,
'til you reach the throne of God!

Remember Someone Forgotten for Memorial Day

2011-05-27T17:03:00.001-05:00

Up the street from us there is an old, run down house. Peeling paint, cracked sidewalk, and a rusted out car on the law complete the forlorn look of the place. A tattered black POW/MIA flag flutters from a makeshift flag pole and a pot of faded plastic flowers hangs year 'round from a branch in the yard's only tree. In the summer dandelions and tall grasses grow knee high and in the winter snow piles high around the house, smooth and fluffy except for a few footprints between the house and driveway.

The first time I saw the house, a little shiver went down my spine. It looked so forgotten and unhappy. At night it looked downright creepy. Through an open window I could see the single bulb of a shadeless lamp spreading a feeble light around a room piled high with boxes, stacks of papers, and seemingly useless debris. I wondered what kind of a person could live in such a house.

We soon found out. My first impression of Mr. Van (not his real name) was that he seemed as forlorn and unkempt as his house. But over time he simply became our neighbor - part of the quirkiness that makes up a neighborhood. I even grew to appreciate the silly jokes he would tell us as we walked past his house toward the park, but I often picked up my pace a bit, hoping to avoid the rambling conversations that could go on for the better part of an hour. Over time we learned that he was a Vietnam Vet who lives alone and has very strong opinions about pretty much everything. Beyond that, however, I took very little time to get to know our lonely neighbor.

Then last November, Veteran's Day rolled around. As I searched about desperately at the last minute for some way to teach the children an appreciation for those who serve our country in the armed forces, Mr. Van came to mind. He seemed like a convenient way to pull off an easy "service project". We pulled out the eggs, flour, and sugar; mashed some bananas, and threw together a hasty loaf of banana bread. Just before we headed out the door to teach my children a lesson on thankfulness and patriotism, I grabbed a little 3x5 card and wrote, in red, white, and blue marker, "Thank you for your service to our country. May God bless you and may God bless the USA". And I signed our names to it.

Fast forward six months: The winter seemed to be letting go a little bit, and the kids and I were venturing out to the park. Because I tend to hole up in the house as much as possible during the Minnesota winters, I had not seen Mr. Van for many months and had completely forgotten about the Veteran's Day gift. As we passed his house that day, I heard a door slam and someone calling, "Excuse me! Excuse me! You're Mrs. Jerome, right?"

Mr. Van, a cane in one hand and a 3X5 card in the other, came hurrying down the walk, waving the card enthusiastically. "I just wanted to say thank you," he said, and handed me the 3X5 card. It was the same one I had hastily written six months earlier. It was bent, smudged, and water spotted. "I take that card down to the VFW and the Veteran's hospital every time I go down there. Nobody's ever done this for us before - written us a thank you. No one thanks us. Those guys down there say I'm so lucky. They've never had anything like this before. I take this in there - some of them can't see, or walk. They can't think too clearly sometimes. But I tell them, I tell them somebody does remember us. Someone is thankful. This card has been all over the Veteran's hospital downtown. You'll never know how happy those boys are to see a card like this. I've got a frame inside and I'm going to hang this on my wall someday."

The more Mr. Van talked, the worse I felt. That little card wasn't even really about him. I hadn't even thought about how it might affect him. It really was a purely selfish act. I just needed a service project for my kids and he seemed to be an easy fit. "Here you go, Mister. A little something for you so I can go home and pat myself on the back, feeling pretty smug about being able to write 'service project' in the social studies column of my homeschool lesson plans." Of course, I didn't really say that to him, but that would have been the honest thing. I felt like a lout standing there smiling, nodding, and saying appropriate sounding things like, "I'm glad you liked it," and, "Thanks for passing our gratitude on to the guys down at the VFW".

"I have a little something for you," Mr. Van said toward the end of the conversation. "It's right over here". He hobbled over to the one beautiful thing in his yard - a row of orange-red tulips. Pulling up a fistful of them, he held the bouquet out to me. "For you; for the wonderful gift you gave all of us old forgotten warriors". He pointed up to the POW/MIA flag, flapping lazily in the wind. "Say some prayers for those of us who haven't made it home yet".

Placing the tulips in a vase at home, tears came to my eyes as I asked God to forgive me for not caring. For walking past all the un-beautiful people of the world and not realizing how little it takes to touch a life. For gossiping about the hurting rather than using that time to do a little something to brighten their day. For forgetting the forgotten.

Today we pulled out the eggs, flour, and sugar. We mashed some bananas and while the banana bread baked, the kids and some of their friends created lovely, childish art to paste onto little, folded-paper cards. I typed up a little message of heart-felt thanks for the veterans of our community, printed out a stack of them, and the children pasted them into their colorful creations. Tonight when I take the bread and cards for Mr. Van to distribute to his friends at the VA hospital it is going to be with a truly grateful heart and genuine appreciation for his service to our country.

This Memorial Day, do a little more than just kick off the summer. Remember someone forgotten. As cliche' as it sounds, the truth is that it takes very little to touch a life. After all, my life truly was changed by a little note on a 3X5 card and a handful of tulips.

Learning Amidst the Chaos (Part 1)

2011-05-03T19:42:00.000-05:00

The past three weeks have not been particularly great for getting "formal" school work done, but there have been so many wonderful learning opportunities to be had that I am once again reminded, in so many ways, how fortunate our family is to be able to school our children at home.

The middle of April found me planning to attend the Minnesota homeschool conference in Duluth. I had arranged child care, planned out my workshop schedule, and made my shopping list. Then my husband decided we needed a family vacation and this would be a good time for it. So, I took a deep breath, booked our room at the very-fun Edgewater Resort and Waterpark in Duluth, and rearranged my schedule to include family time and a couple of breaks so Jerry could attend some workshops he thought looked interesting. I began making a packing list: swim suits, winter boots, hot dogs for lunches, etc. We would be leaving in a week.

Then Jerry came home and announced that he had taken an extra week off of work and was hoping we could drive on down to Arkansas to see his parents after the conference. Another deep breath and another packing list: swim suits, winter boots, hot dogs, shorts and t-shirts... Lesson one for me: flexibility. Lesson one for the kids: making schedules based on information they got from the resort's website. They, of course, were worried about fitting in all the fun things a resort has to offer that we don't have here at home (fruit loops and waffles at the daily on-site breakfast, swimming, tv watching, and pizza).

Lesson two for all of us: basic geometry - Packing the Car. Five people, one Ford Focus, and a week away presents puzzling challenges. I managed to get it all in...even all the baby paraphernalia (pac-n-play, booster seat, and stroller). Needless to say, my shopping list was cut way down. Not a lot of room for extra books at this point.

Lesson three: calendars and subtraction. Simple process of counting down the days. This offers a whole array a wonderful math opportunities and we took them all...marking off days on the calendar, counting down the days until our departure, then counting down the hours. This was the most excruciating part. We were packed and ready to go at noon on the appointed departure day. Kids were strapped in the car. Dear, very laid-back husband suddently remembered he needed to transfer money into the checking account, print out a tax form for the renters, eat lunch.... Kids back out of the car. Another hour-by-hour countdown. Pulled out of town at 5. Lesson four: patience.

Lesson five: exposure to The Great Lakes. I never cease to thrill at my first sight of Lake Superior and the port city of Duluth! Conversations about ships, barges, harbors, damns, bridges, and the great lakes were worth a trunk load of books.

The homeschool conference was just what a needed! I really felt God directed my path as I chose the work shops to attend and browsed the used curriculum sales and perused the vendors' tables. I had specifically prayed for a spirit of contentment as I headed over to the conference center and was blessed with a total answer to my prayers. I spent a total of $30 on math curriculum for next year. This included second grade Singapore (I'm missing the teacher's manual for 2A, but I think I can pull it off without it) and a second-hand Family Math book. We're loving the Family Math book. Wish I had the guts to use it on it's own until about 3rd grade or so, but the left-over classroom teacher in me is still a little too rigid for that. A Grandma's Attic book, music book, and geography book finished out my purchases. Biggest splurge throughout the conference: Blokus (aka intro. to geometry).

My dear husband was very generous with child care during the conference and spent most of the time entertaining, feeding, and coraling the kids. After assuring me that he REALLY could watch the kids, clean up the hotel room, and pack the car all at the same time, I was sent off to enjoy the last day of the conference on my own. What fun! When Jerry showed up two hours late to pick me up from the conference center, he looked pretty exhausted. Hubby's lesson learned: child care isn't as easy as it looks.

So, who needs formal education after all? We're all still learning and the most important lessons aren't in the textbooks anyway.

It's Six O' Clock: the True Story of a Day in My Life

2011-03-09T14:38:00.001-06:00

It's six o' clock and Dad's almost home:

The baby attempted to completely unload the clean laundry basket.

The local chemist is hard at work on a top-secret potient.

Brilliant minds work at this table. Think Dad will be impressed with our completed bean sticks for learning place value?

The baby emptied the kleenex box.

Playing outside was lots of fun, but the fire place was so inviting. "We'll hang up our coats after we have some hot chocolate, okay, Mom?" Was that really two hours ago? Where does the time go?

I was going to vacuum....really, I was.

Breakfast, lunch and snacks....oh, my!

Someone decided to move into the living room, packed ALL their clothes into a laundry basket, sat on top of it all, and asked their brother to push them down the stairs. Mom was so relieved that there was no blood or broken bones she forgot to have the mess cleaned up.

Oh, well. At least there's chili in the crockpot....if we can only find a place to put our bowls so we can eat it.

Some Fun Things We've Done Recently - Feb. 21, 2011

2011-02-21T18:13:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted anything along these lines for awhile because my creativity with hands-on projects has been put on hold for a bit now that the baby has learned to crawl. Our fun stuff has turned into reading lots of books and coloring or drawing pictures to put in our portfolios and playing lots of games.

We've read so many fun books recently, it would be impossible to list them all here, so I've tried to pick our top 10:

Janice VanCleave's Play and Find Out About the Human Body: Easy Experiments for Young Children - this one has a lot of fun things to do, mostly with stuff you'll find around the house, that demonstrate how different parts of the body function. It's perfect for the human-body unit I'm doing with my four year old and six year old for science.
Janice VanCleave's Play and Find Out about Math: Easy Activities for Young Children - Another Janice VanCleave favorite that gives me a simple, hands-on way for teaching early math to my four year old.
Human Body (Ripley Twists)-Ripley's Believe It or Not about the human body. Great, fun go-along for our current science unit. We got to looking at it during dinner last night and even my husband and I were fascinated.
Domino Addition-Did this in place of an addition worksheet. So much more fun!
Math-terpieces-Ditto number 4. My son, an aspiring artist, really enjoyed this one.
The M&M's Brand Counting Book-What's more fun than eating m and m's during math?
The Fantastic Journey of Pieter Bruegel-Pieter Bruegel has some paintings that my kids find interesting, so we checked out this book from the library. In it, the author imagines what events may have inspired Bruegel's art work. It is perfect for a geography study on Europe.
Let's Go Rock Collecting (Let'S-Read-And-Find-Out Science. Stage 2)-Logan, my six year old, has taken up an interest in rocks, crystals, and gems so we pulled this book off the bookshelf. I followed it up with a surprise gift: a rock and crystal excavation kit. He spent several hours this afternoon chipping away at the plaster discovering "jewels".
History for Little Pilgrims continues to be a favorite at our house. We're going through it very slowly and enjoying learning about history by following the spread of christianity. This was a subject where I had planned to do lots of hands-on stuff and extra read alouds, but we've pretty much gone to reading a section, doing some map work, and coloring or drawing a picture to put in their portfolios. Fortunately my kids love crayons on paper, so this has worked out well.
In the Picture: Get Looking! Get Thinking!-Lucy Micklethwait is a favorite at our house and this book has not disappointed us. We've used it for our picture studies over the past couple of weeks. Not only are there fun details to look for in the pictures, but Micklethwait wrote some open-ended questions that allow for interesting dialogue and imagination.

Anything look good? If anyone happens across this top-ten post of mine and loves teaching through books like I do, I would love to hear some of your suggestions.

What's in Our CD Player - Feb. 21, 2011

2011-02-21T15:22:00.000-06:00

Here are some of the CD's that have been a favorite at our house over the past week or two:

These two Cd's are part of the Classical Kids collection and are two of the most-listened-to CD's at our house. Fun stories and classical music introduce kids to the composer's music and give some background information on their lives.

This one keeps the whole family entertained. We've had the flu go through our house, and this was a favorite for passing the time while recovering on the couch.

Another sick-day pick. Although the holidays are long over, we keep this CD around because it is wonderful for relaxing to on a snowy day.

Mom's pick for a sick day. I love the music and it inevitably puts the kids to sleep.

Just for fun! I generally find nonsense lyrics annoying, but this one has such great, catchy tunes I can't help but like it. The kids love this CD and often check it out of the library for road trips because it is so much fun to sing along to...and Mom and Dad can't help but join in!

Changes for the New Year

2011-01-31T23:26:00.001-06:00

After not really blogging for what seems like a LONG time, I feel as if I should come up with something profound. But when it comes down to it, when I read homeschooling blogs, I don't necessarily look for profound. I simply enjoy hearing what everyone is doing. So, if you are looking for words of wit and wisdom read no further. For the rest of you...

The new year brought some changes to our homeschool. I LOVE the clean-slate feeling of a new year, and the two weeks we took off for the holidays gave me a chance to re-evaluate the year so far. Here are a few of the new things we have added to our days:

Draw Write Now Book 1 - This is a BIG hit so far. Logan was finding handwriting tedious and I was finding that my "homemade" handwriting course was not creating any sort of love for writing in my little boy. Draw Write Now has changed his outlook. I only let him work on his creations for 10 minutes a day, three days a week and it always leaves him begging for more time. The drawing improves his small motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Logan is also a collector of information and will spend hours tediously copying interesting facts from eyewitness books, etc., so the bits of factual writing in the Draw Write Now book are right down his alley as well. Big, big hit at our house!

A Reason for Handwriting Book K - This for my four-year-old who asked me to get her a handwriting book because she wanted to learn how to write her letters. When I said, no, she was too young for a handwriting curriculum, she said, "Fine! I'll teach myself." She drummed up a copy of the alphabet, grabbed a dry erase marker, and started copying oddly formed letters onto the kitchen counter. I gave in. I like this book for its simple repition and the fact that every other page is a picture to color. She is happy to do her page a day and has given up on her self-made alphabet lessons.

The Verbal Math Lesson by Michael Levin and Charan Langton - Nancy Bjorkman of a twin-cities area homeschool store suggested this book to me when I decribed Logan's learning style. I borrowed the book from the library, but will be looking for my own copy soon. It is perfect for adding to our current math studies and doesn't involve rows of addition and subtraction problems, a sure way to send my worksheet phobic son into the depths of despair. I like the mental math component of doing things orally and my son loves the snuggle-on-the-couch time. Again we use the timer. Ten minutes and then we move on to some paper and pencil math or a math story, game, or activity for another 15 minutes or so.

Earlybird Math (Book A) - This for my four-year-old who has insisted that she is old enough to "do school". I certainly wasn't planning on a math curriculum for her either, but when she started ripping pages out of her brothers The Complete Book of Math for grades 1 and 2, I gave in.

Explode the Code (Book 1) - See a pattern here? Yep, wasn't going to start it 'til the fall.... We're adding in some BOB books and easy readers because she already knows how to read (how, I have NO idea), so it seems pointless not too. "I love reading!" she says almost daily, jumping up and down on the couch with her readers. Our reading curriculum for her during the first half of the year was an alphabet notebook (homeschoolshare.com) and a book called Wow! I'm Reading. Very relaxed and lots of hands-on fun. I guess it worked.

Human Body Unit - This I am very excited about. We are using lots of hands-on activities, online and library movies, books, books, books, and a couple of really colorful encyclopedias. I'll write a seperate post once we get a little further into it.

Under the Tagalong Tree by Gilbert Beers - our newest devotional book. It is a favorite from my childhood and I love that my kids are enjoying it just as much as I did. Bible stories and true-to-life adventures of Mini and Maxi Muffins are alternated throughout the book and a few thought-provocing questions at the end of each story give the kids - and me - something to think about and work on throughout the day.

Things we have dropped: a lot of our extensive, creative, crafty kind of stuff. I just can't pull off as much with a crawling, climbing baby in the house. The kids miss it, but I've promised we'll do more in the future. We've also dumped our "music class", which was a lot of fun, but made Mondays seem a little long. I just try to keep a variety of music in the CD player and we listen to the Classical Kids CDs which are a music curriculum in and of themselves.

I've also tried to be intentional about not allowing the school day to go more than two hours, at the most. And that includes baby interuptions. My main goals this year are exposure to a variety of ideas and concepts and cultivating a love of learning. I have found that much more than two hours lends itself to fatigue and dissinterest.

Writing this bog has made me realize once again what a blessing it is to be able to change things up based on your child's interests and abilities.

Oh, how I love homeschooling!

Back Online

2011-01-26T14:54:00.000-06:00

Dear Computer,

I missed you when your hard drive crashed. Life just isn't as much fun without my email, facebook, or blog to write. I missed my cyber friends and their blogs. I missed printing out worksheets from online and I missed being able to order library books online. I'm so glad your back, up, and running.

I didn't, however, miss my kids often bemoaning the fact that they used their weekly computer time early on in the week and didn't have any left over. I didn't miss the movies we watch on you since our dvd player broke. I didn't even miss the news, which I read on MSNBC due to the fact that we have no tv. In fact, I rather enjoyed being completely clueless over the holidays. One could almost pretend that life revolved only around the happy family times we enjoyed and that the rest of the world really didn't affect us.

Your arrival is met with mixed feelings. All in all, though, I'm glad you're back. If only I didn't have to tell the kids....

Sincerely,
A Reluctant Fan

Thanksgiving Break and the (Sort-Of, but Not Really) Case for Unschooling

2010-11-27T16:12:00.000-06:00

Dentist appointments, well-child visits, and cleaning out closets all seem to get pushed aside in the busyness of life. So, we (sort of) called off school for two weeks, scheduled doctor visits, let the kids run wild and free, and I tried to get caught up on domestic duties. And, I have once again, been forced to give heed to that little voice in the back of my head that occasionally whispers the idea that perhaps unschooling is not as bad as I have made it out to be.

As a former classroom teacher with a passion for education, organization, and neat rows of on-task children, I find the mere mention of "unschooling" to send shivers down my spine and lectures on depriving your children of life's basic needs pouring out of my mouth. But, with a copy of The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook by Raymond and Dorothy Moore on my nightstand (more about that later, hopefully) and two weeks to observe my children spontaneously educating themselves, I have had to admit that I can see how the concept could be potentially doable.

Now, lest I sound too enthusiastic about the whole "no formal education before the age of 12" idea, let me insert here that I think my children are able to pursue educational activities because some forms of formal education have been a part of their lives for a year or two now. I don't know a lot about unschooling, but I don't think my children would have chosen the same activities had they not been made to sit down to their Singapore Math, Alpha Phonics, and Explode the Code.

Having a gotten through that rather lengthy prelude, here are some of the activities we pursued over the past couple of weeks:

I stocked up on Thanksgiving read-alouds from the library and we spent lots of time on the couch with the following titles:

Hard-Tack Biscuits

These books gave us a pretty good understanding of what happened prior to and soon after the arrival of the Pilgrims. They also presented a variety of looks into the Pilgrims' voyage on board the Mayflower and the difficult years following the Mayflower's arrival in the new world. I had selected several of the activities out of the Colonial Kids: An Activity Guide to Life in the New World (A Kid's Guide series) book, but in the end the stories themselves provided my children with enough information to create their own follow-up activities. We did make the hard-tack biscuits out of just flour and water as well as candied orange peels, both activities suggested in the Colonial Kids book. The biscuits were supposed to give the kids a look at how awful it would be to eat such tasteless food for weeks on end; they, however, devoured them with molasses and couldn't figure out what the big deal was. "We could definitely live on these for a couple of months," my six-year-old declared. So much for that idea! The orange peel candy was also a big hit and a good go-along with the science lesson on crystals we did at co-op the previous week.

Map Work

We also, rather spontaneously, made a compass out of a cork, a nail, and a magnet, which amazed both my son and me. This activity prompted a map lesson and Logan happily spent the next half hour mapping out the Mayflower's journey on the laminated map we keep on the dining room table. He decorated the Atlantic with waves, sharks, and storms and "sailed" his ship through the perils to the relative safety of Plymouth Harbor. When I came back to check on his progress, he had created a rather impressive retelling of the Pilgrim's transatlantic travels. (And a location-appropriate drawing of the Great Wall of China, but that's beside the point.)

The rest of the week was spent acting out the stories (sometimes scaring us with their cries of, "Daddy, stop him!", during their rendition of Pocahontas attempting to save the life of John Smith.), building Lincoln Log forts and cabins, and creating involved musicals with their Playmobile characters (my personal favorite because of a rather lengthy song, sung to the tune of Anatevka (Fiddler on the Roof), about their good-byes to England and their nervous excitement over the new world). Paintings, drawings, and coloring pages rounded out their self-imposed Thanksgiving studies.

I still can't bring myself to toss out the lesson planning sheets, workbooks, and daily schedule, but perhaps another time I'll step back, evaluate the days events, and count it as a school day after all. Then we'll be that much closer to summer vacation and the warm, lovely weeks of free play (or should I say, "unschooling").

A Backpacking Analogy

2010-11-14T15:38:00.000-06:00

I was standing at the top of the stairs, baby hanging from one hip, a basket of laundry hanging from the other. Downstairs my six year old was sobbing over a math worksheet gone awry while my four year old lay on the toy-room floor screaming, "I don't care if you never let me out of here. I'm NOT going to clean this mess up!" The crockpot was on, but only half of dinner's ingredients had made their way into the pot and, at close to noon, I still hadn't brushed my teeth.

I hate this! The thought just kind of fell into my brain from out of nowhere. It sounded familiar. In fact, the whole scene had a sort of de-ja-vu feel about it. Only, in my memory, the load I carried was different: a forty-pound pack hanging off my back instead of baby and laundry hanging from my arms. And I was perched precariously on a rocky ledge instead of bracing myself against the banister on the upstairs landing.

They called it The Drainpipe. Ten miles into a fifteen-mile hike on the third day of a week-long hiking trip, and I found myself half way up a narrow, steep climb, hanging exhausted about ten feet off the ground with another 15 or so left to climb. "C'mon," I tried to cheer myself on, "it's not like it's Mount Everest!" But all I could come up with was, "I hate this!"

Backpacking was a passion of mine as a single, adventurous young adult and I would have told you on any given day that I absolutely loved it. It's the same thing I would tell you, should you ask me about this parenting journey I now find myself on. But on every single backpacking trip I was ever on, there was always that moment: the one where I could not come up with one single reason as to why I ever thought strapping excessive amounts of weight onto my shoulders and walking for days seemed like a good idea.

On this particular trip, it was The Drainpipe that got to me. But half way up a precipice one does not have many options for a change of plans, so I climbed on. The last of The Drainpipe only brought me to another long scramble upward, this one plagued with brambles and bushes that scraped my hands and snagged at my Columbia hiking pants. Then suddenly the ground evened out, the brambles and shrubs thinned and disappeared and I found myself in a clearing. A clearing at the top of the world. There was sunshine and fresh air and below my feet miles of forests, rivers, and, way off in the distance, the unending blue waters of Lake Superior and I fell in love with the journey all over again. Already the exhausting climb was fading from my memory as I dropped my pack and stretched out on an over-sized boulder. Tears, bloodied palms, blistered feet - I'd do it all over again for that view, for that euphoric feeling of accomplishment and overcoming.

In that parallel moment, at the top of the stairs, I was blessed with the reminder that perseverance brings great rewards. Anger, despair, and quitting are not options with rewards. Taking a deep breath and focusing on the next step upward - that is where gains are made. Focusing on where I want to go and intentionally taking a step toward the goal is what it takes to know that feeling of a job well done. Where are my priorities at this moment?

I dropped the laundry basket. That can wait. The baby seemed to sense my tension fade away and grabbed my face with both her little hands, babbling a happy babble into my face before laying her head on my shoulder and falling fast asleep. Downstairs I rummaged through the children's bookcase. William J. Bennett's Children's Book of Virtues had the perfect story for this teachable moment. I took the two crying children onto my lap on the couch and we read Someone Sees You. The sobbing turned to hiccups by the time the story was over and, as I closed the book, they were ready to talk about how Jesus must feel when He looks down on us in our moments of anger, disobedience, and discouragement. We all agreed that we had not spent that morning working toward our ultimate goal of this life's climb: the goal of bringing glory to God.

They returned to their tasks with smiles on their faces and renewed focus, but not before wrapping wiry arms around my neck and middle and exclaiming, "You are the best mom ever!" as I tickled their knees and we all tumbled to the floor in a big happy "hug pile".

Sleepless nights, 18-hour work days, unending piles of laundry - I'll do it every day for moments like this one! And, when it seems like all chaos has broke loose, may I have the ability to look toward the ultimate goal - that flat boulder at the top of the world - when my children will walk through life hand-in-hand with Jesus until He calls them home to say, "Well done, my good and faithful servants!"

What's in Our CD Player

2010-11-13T15:06:00.000-06:00

Smart Symphonies: a little something for the baby from Enfamil with the claim that the chosen classical music pieces will "stimulate your baby's brain development". Not sure about the brain development thing, but it is calming and my older kids enjoy trying to beat each other to identifying the composer of each piece.
The Power of One by Israel Houghton: recommended by a friend, but not particularly my style of music. The kids love it though and it gets them dancing and acting goofy in the living when it is too cold or late to go outside.
Spanish Bop: Put out by Children's Music World, this collection entertains the kids with Spanish and English versions of songs. Although Spanish is not one of our official "classes" this year, I try to keep some Spanish CDs and storybooks around as an informal introduction to the language.
Mr. Bach Comes to Call: a title in the classical kids collection that includes lots of factual information about Mr. Bach told in a fictional story that my kids LOVE. It also includes portions of several of Bach's popular pieces. My kids are big fans of anything in the Classical Kids collection.
Offerings by Third Day: a little something for Mom when all chaos breaks loose and I just need to throw back my head, sing, and remember that my hope is in Him!

Some Fun Things We've Done Recently (11/8/2010)

2010-11-13T14:19:00.002-06:00

Here are a few of the fun things we managed to fit in this week amidst our regular Explode the Code, beginning readers, math workbook, etc. (Not that those things aren't fun, they just aren't as much fun to write about.)

Math activities: Read 1,2,3 Sassafrass by Stuart J. Murphy and played some card games that involved organizing numbers from the greatest to smallest and smallest to greatest. Later that day, on a 30 minute car ride, we played a game where I called out two random numbers and the kids had to tell me which one was bigger. We made up silly sentences like, "Would you rather have 12 chocolate bunnies on Easter or 22 chocolate bunnies?" or "Would you rather have 16 ride tickets for the state fair midway or 89 ride tickets?", etc. Another day we dyed a variety of pasta shapes by mixing them with 1/2 cup of vinegar and 10 or so drops of food coloring. When they were dry enough to play with, we sorted them according to shape, color, size, etc.
As we have continued reading History for Little Pilgrims by Michael McHugh, we have come to the chapters portraying the events of the very early church, soon after Jesus left the earth and promised the Holy Spirit to his disciples. The story of Polycarp gave us the perfect opportunity to discuss the fact that there are still Christians around the world who are martyred for their faith. We made place mats for the table to remind us to pray for the persecuted church. I took construction paper and wrote on it, "We pray for people everywhere to learn about Jesus." The children then cut pictures of various people out of old National Geographic magazines and we glued them to the construction paper and labeled the pictures with where each person was from. We have a large laminated world map on our dining room table, so at lunch time we choose one person, locate their country on the map, and pray for that part of the world. I had also hoped to make cards with a simple gospel message on the inside to mail to friends, but we will have save that project for another time.
For music class on Monday, we learned about the concept of quarter, half, and whole notes. We spent some time beating out various beats with our hands. Then we got distracted by watching YouTube videos of Julie Andrews singing Do a Deer, instead of creating a "kitchen band", as I had anticipated, and marching around the house beating out rhythms on pot lids, spoons, etc.
Thursday was my favorite day this week. Once a month the children and I try to make it to the Bible study my pastor does at the nursing home on Thursdays. I really want my children to learn to interact with people outside of their peer group and to have opportunities to brighten the days of people around them. Thursday our chosen "day brightener" was bringing banana bread to the residents. I think they liked the bread, but mostly they love to exclaim over the baby and dig around in their pockets and hand bags for things to play with the older two with. Since it was Veteran's Day, one of the residents, a World War II vet, wore a large medal of some sort that completely captivated the imagination of my six-year-old son. Later that afternoon, we wrapped up a second loaf of the banana bread and walked up the street to the dilapidated home of a lonely Vietnam Vet who lives near us. It was a simple loaf of bread and a simple note thanking him and petitioning God to bless those who serve our country in the armed forces, but the simple act brought the man to tears. This was such a humbling reminder of how easy it is to bless those around us, especially those who are normally overlooked and forgotten.
For art class on Friday, we made patchwork pumpkins. I started the project off by creating a variety of "patchwork squares" with permanent markers on a couple of pumpkins. The children and I then colored in the squares using a variety of colored permanent markers. Once that was done, we covered the original black lines with glitter. I did this with Elmer's glue and glitter and made a HUGE mess. Should we ever do this project again, I will definitely use those nifty little glitter-glue pens you can buy in the craft section of Target.

The Finished Project


Sierra decorates a pumpkin.

Some Fun Things We've Done Recently (11/1/2010)

2010-11-08T14:12:00.001-06:00

One of the things Logan enjoyed doing this week was sorting the vowels out of our bucket of letters. This is my child who benefits from a lot of review, and we have been taking a break from our Alpha Phonics studies to solidify some of the basics. In this activity, I wrote one vowel in the bottom of each of 5 muffin liners. He then sorted the vowels accordingly and dumped the consonants into the empty holes of the muffin tin.


mathwire.com is one of our favorite go-to web sites when we need a little fun added into our math routine. The Pumpkin Jumble Game in the October portion of the site gave us some practice with shapes and patterns and also some graphing fun as we tracked the numbers we rolled with our dice on a separate graph. Another activity we enjoyed from mathwire last week was the Jack-O-Lantern picture my son created from plotting coordinates onto a graph. I knew the Jack-O-Lantern activity was tailor made for Logan when I saw it and he spent two glorious math periods working on his project, which he was extremely proud of in the end. This would not, however, be a project for a six year old who does not enjoy somewhat detailed, tedious activities. (I will probably NOT be doing this one with Sierra anytime soon!)

Sierra LOVES to "read". While she knows her letter sounds, she is still impatiently working on getting down the idea of blending. I have been working through the book Wow! I'm Reading ( Wow! I'm Reading!: Fun Activities to Make Reading Happen (Williamson Little Hands Series) and was fortunate enough to come across this little sentence-making activity for her. We started out by cutting pictures of things she likes out of magazines and gluing them onto 3x5 cards and labeling them. I then wrote her sight words that she knows (words like I, and, the, like, see, etc.) onto separate 3x5 cards. Using the word cards and the picture cars together she can make sentences like "I like jello" or "I see a horse and a doll." As you can see from her smile, she finds great satisfaction in her new-found ability to write and read sentences!

For a fall science project this week, we read Fletcher and the Falling Leaves, a cute story about a little fox who worries about his favorite tree losing its leaves in the fall. We then drew pictures of trees in each of the seasons and decorated them appropriately: spring and summer with lots of green and bright colors, fall with fall leaves we gathered from outside and glued on, and winter with lots of silver and blue glitter to recreate the sparkling frost-encrusted tree at the end of the story. The kids had a lot of fun working together in their tree "masterpieces".

Logan's mapping activity this week turned into a full-scale neighborhood for his hotwheel cars to race through. It was a big hit until it was destroyed by those of us walking through and eating in the dining room. Next time we'll have to find a more out-of-the-way spot to create such large projects.


In the beauty department, our resident fasionista somewhere discovered the idea of these sponge curlers. (Certainly not from me. I have a life-long distaste for them stemming from the time my mother made me sleep with them in my hair when I was four or five years old.) Sierra, of course, found the discomfort quite bearable with the promise of wonderful curly hair in the morning.

Some other fun things we did this week:

Took a field trip to Underwater World at the Mall of America. Expensive, but well worth it. Sharks inches from your head, a room full of illuminated jellyfish with their strange movements, and starfish to touch. And then, of course, we had to hit LegoLand and the American Girl Doll store. For lunch at the food court: McDonald's for Sierra who thoroughly enjoyed her meal and REALLY spicy Thai food for the rest of us who pretended to enjoy our meal amidst sweat and multiple glasses of water.

Another highlight: during "recess" one beautiful fall morning, the kids and I went out to play soccer. Our elderly, but very spry, neighbor came out to join us. I loved watching my kids interact with her and felt good all over again about our choice to homeschool.

Every day feels like a good day to homeschool. Somedays I feel overwhelmed and under-qualified, but at the end of the day, when I look at them sleeping in their beds, I am so glad I had the whole day with them!

The Case for Rebellion

2010-11-05T15:54:00.002-05:00

THE CASE FOR REBELLION

While driving home from the grocery store today, I had was listening to Dennis Prager (pragerradio.com). He is a favorite talk show host of mine and always seems to give me something interesting to think about. Today was his "Ask Me Anything" hour and someone called in with the question of why teens and college students do not revolt against the "system" like they did in the 60's. After all, isn't that what kids this age are supposed to do? It turns out that, yes, this is what they are supposed to to do, and, according to Prager, this is a good thing. I found his answer insightful.

His answer was something along these lines: A child will rebel against the "system" (professors, parents, etc.) only if they uphold values that promote morality and wisdom. Many young people in high school and universities find themselves surrounded by those on the left, people who tell them exactly what they want to hear. They are encouraged to see themselves as entitled, relatively good, and free to express themselves at will. Not a lot to argue against there. Young people in the 60's, however, found themselves up against those who still promoted morals and the idea that honoring your parents, going to church, and obeying the ten commandments were laws to be abided by.

Dennis Prager went on to say the privilege of having something to rebel against gives a young person on the verge of adulthood something off of which to launch themselves into their futures. Like a boat, he explained. A boat attempting to launch off of an unanchored dock would find itself in a difficult position. However, a well-anchored dock gives that same boat the ability to launch. As parents, we need to be the anchored dock. Watching our children go through a rebellious stage cannot be an easy thing, but it probably lets us, as parents, know that we have done something right. A kid who can't wait to leave home is not going to be the pot-smoking, 20-something adult who lives in the basement while Mom launders his underwear.

During my journey as a parent, I have sometimes found it hard to be the anchored mom. I have been surprised by the lack of support I have received for making my children obey, for not giving in to their tears, and for making them apologize for their wrong doings. Although I often receive complements on how well-behaved my children are, when I attempt to discipline them people generally jump in and try to ease their consequences. ( "Oh, that's okay. She doesn't need to say thank you. Go ahead and let her keep the cookie.") When other mothers give in to their child's tears and pleas for the package of Oreo's and leave with a happy child while I drag my sobbing, disappointed offspring from the store, it seems perhaps the less-rigid approach would be the more pleasant way of parenting.

Then I encounter those teenagers who are not given the chance to rebel. These are the kids whose parents constantly defend their child's deviant behavior with the excuse that "kids will be kids" while the children continue to make unwise choices that will affect their futures in negative ways (drug addictions, teen pregnancies, dishonesty, obesity, etc.). As these children attempt to "launch" they often find themselves unable to gain the foothold they need to do so.

Prager's boat analogy made a lot of sense to me today. When it may seem easier to be my child's friend rather than anchored parent, I will try to remember that I need to be the solid launching point. My children need to be confronted with the idea that they are sinners around whom the world does not revolve and the ten commandments are still relevant for today. I may not be the most popular mom on the block in years to come, but I pray that I will be the mother my children need to propel them into a productive and independent adulthood.

Some Fun Things We've Done Recently

2010-10-26T23:03:00.001-05:00

Finishing up another Soccer Season

Play in the Leaves

Made Masks with Auntie and Cousins - perfect for and aspiring ballerina

Dressing Up the Baby Like a Pumpkin

Drawing the Solar System

Science with Candy - What happens when you soak it in water, vinegar, or add baking soda? What about throwing it in the oven? Which ones dissolve faster? This experiment went on and on!

A Typical School Day At Our House

2010-10-19T23:52:00.001-05:00

From the start I said I wanted to homeschool because little children, especially boys, are not made for school. I wanted a different approach for my children that allowed them to explore subjects through good books and hands-on projects. But I still found myself very drawn to the idea of a schedule to be followed and certain subjects to be covered on a daily rotation. It was the school teacher in me that didn't easily go away.

There are so many things that come into conflict with a schedule on a daily basis: The baby, a sick friend who needs a meal, an unexpected visitor, and my husband who abhors schedules and loves to play soccer and Legos. I have long ago thrown away the neat little grid I used to keep posted on the fridge and have learned to take a deep breath when things start unraveling. It is in those moments I am able to realize that living life is an education for a 6 year old. First grade isn't all about completing the work book. Building a solid relationship with his father is important too. Showing kindness to a neighbor in need is a life-long lesson with rewards that go far beyond chapter 10 in the history book. As the years progress, we will have to continue to step up our school-time requirements, but for now I have stripped back my expectations to a bare minimum and then allowed myself a measure of delighted surprise when we get through "the basics" and are able to move on to a subject or two that I would not necessarily consider to be essential during the younger years.

Rather than creating a schedule for each day, I have started listing things in order of priority. It generally goes something like this:

Daily devotions and Bible memory.
Daily chores.
Loan's first grade lessons: reading, handwriting, and math.
Sierra's kindergarten lessons: letter for the day, a page in her kindergarten workbook, and math.
Group work: calendar, graphing the weather, number for the day, and First Language Lessons.
History on Monday and Tuesday; Science on Thursday.
Music on Monday, Art on Tuesday, Spanish on Wednesday, Nature Walk on Thursday.

If we get through the first four items on the list on a given day, I feel okay about what we have accomplished. If we get through number five, I feel very good about what we have done. Numbers 6&7 are frosting on the cake. The children love these lessons, and putting them at the end of the day doesn't make pushing school into the afternoon feel like drudgery. And if we don't get to history or science or one of the other subjects during our "school time" I can usually pull a bedtime story or game off the shelf that fits the class description in some form or the other.

Being able to let go of my natural affection for schedules and my desire to finish the WHOLE list has really made our days a lot more pleasant, not to mention a more pleasant relationship with my fun-loving husband. As I watch him gleefully roll in a pile of leaves with the oldest two, I feel a true joy in knowing that we are blessed to have the best hours of the day to spend not only educating our children, but truly teaching them how to live life to the fullest.

Apple Week

2010-10-19T23:08:00.001-05:00

We're right in the middle of fall and apple season is in full swing. This past week we took some time to celebrate the season with some good books, apple snacks, and art projects.

Books we read:

Snacks we had:

Apples with caramel dip: This was snack and reading lesson combined. I created a scavenger hunt for the kids and included as many of their sight words as possible. I created cards that said things like "Go to the bath tub." Or "What will Dad wear today? Look in his closet." After a few of these cards, they discovered the one that led them to take four apples out of the fridge. A note in the fridge had them wash the apples, and they found the caramel dip in the sink. The final clue sent them to me for the recipe. They sliced apples into 8ths, added a tablespoon of caramel to each, and spooned on a few walnut pieces.
Apple crisp: a simple recipe allowed us some simple math lessons. We also managed to slip in a health lesson by discussing cleanliness in the kitchen and the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.
Apples faces: We spread apple halves with peanut butter and the kids went to town creating faces with dried fruit.
Our final snack was one Logan had seen in a magazine awhile back. He has been so excited for this. We made them with a cake mix, red frosting, tootsie rolls, and green tootsie rolls rolled out and cut into triangles for leaves.

Projects we did:

Collected leaves and made leaf collages.
Made homemade cards by stamping apple halves onto cardstock.
Colored pictures of leaves.

History for Little Pilgrims (Part 1): Our Journey so Far

2010-09-20T17:32:00.000-05:00

For history this year I decided on a little text called History of Little Pilgrims put out by Christian Liberty Press. It is a nice introduction to the concept of history and makes it very clear that history is all a part of God's great plan. We are starting out very slowly with this book, reading a section or two twice a week and adding in extra reading and projects as we meander along.

We have yet to leave the Old Testament portion of the book, but are getting a solid introduction to where history all began.

So far, we have:

Taken an in-depth look at the definition of history. The text does a nice job of introducing the concept of history by bringing it right down to the child's level. We made a little scrapbook of important events so far in our lives. The children drew pictures of things like their birth, asking Jesus into their hearts, learning to ride a bike, etc. We then put them in chronological order as well as we could. We also took a look at old picture albums and discussed them as "history books".
Made a basic family tree.
Used flannel figures and a fleece blanket to tell and re-tell the story of creation, the fall, and Adam and Eve's banishment from the garden. At this point, we also discussed God's plan of redemption and made necklaces along the lines of a "wordless book". (Black bead = my heart was black with sin; Red bead = The blood of Jesus has washed me....; White bead = white as snow; Yellow bead = someday I'll walk the streets of gold; Green Bead=I will read my Bible and prayer in order to continue growing in Christ.)

4. Built a ziggurat. This really drove home the point that Abraham was leaving a
     civilized city to go wander in the dessert. Ur was well-developed and had
     a thriving economy. Large brick buildings were evidence of the stability
   Abraham and his family were leaving behind. We created our ziggurat by
     stacking and gluing together boxes wrapped in brown paper. We then painted
     the boxes with a combination of brown paint and cornmeal. This gave it a
     rough, homemade-brick look we hoped was authentic. Ladders, etc. were
     created with Popsicle sticks, twigs, and hot glue. I wish I had been creative
     enough to make a playhouse-sized building out of refrigerator and stove boxes
     but, with a new baby in tow, I've had to scale back my ambitions a bit this
     year.

5. Made clay tablets to remind us of the ten
     commandments. A simple salt, flour, and water
    dough allowed us to create "tablets" in which we
    attempted to carve the numbers 1-10 in Hebrew.


I am so glad to have this opportunity to present Old Testament stories as not just stories but as fact and as important parts of history. It is my hope that these little projects and discussion opportunities create an impression on my children that will solidify in their minds the truth that all history is based on the Bible.

Bloopers

2010-09-08T23:16:00.001-05:00

Our first week of homeschooling this year was a fabulous one, despite the bloopers. These, I think will be the things that make the year memorable.

Blooper #1: The Noun Box.

We are using First Language Lessons by Jessie Wise. I really wanted to use Learning Language Arts through Literature but the frugalista in me found the $10 half.com copy of First Language Lessons too hard to pass up. TWO years of language for $10.... I figured I could spruce it up where needed.

The sprucing up started so well. We memorized the definition of a noun and set out to make noun boxes. I mixed some homemade clay, we rolled it out, and used cookie cutters to create people (gingerbread men), places (Christmas trees for a forest), things, and ideas (hearts for "love"). We would let the clay dry, decorate shoe boxes, put our lovely clay nouns inside, and bring out our fabulous creations for future lessons. The clay was to dry overnight. It didn't. Two days later it was still soggy. (Could have something to do with the fact that I LOVE heat and hadn't turned on the air conditioner despite the hot and humid summer days.) So, when we were throwing a pizza in the oven, I thought, "Let's just put in the nouns as well." NOT such a great idea:

So, ummmm, maybe we'll just do a notebooking page.

Blooper #2: Binoculars, Backpacks, and a Tutu

My goal is to do a nature walk once a week this school year. I love stuff like this - getting the kids outdoors and learning by touching, looking, and gathering. I figured we'd do a laid back walk the first week and told the kids we were going to be explorers and find things to explore on the bike path that runs through our town.

I gave the kids a list of things to put in their backpacks, and they excitedly ran about collecting binoculars, magnifying glasses, a camera, jars for bugs, notebooks, colored pencils, and water bottles. They were so excited. At the last minute, I realized my four-year-old had on a pink tutu. It's kind of like her uniform. We have three tutus and a sparkly pink leotard. She just rotates through them.

"You should probably put on some other clothes," I suggested. "Your tutu might get dirty."

"But, Mom, I want to look beautiful for our walk." Her lower lip trembled.

Oh, well. It wasn't like we were going to be digging in the mud. "Fine. Just put on a pair of shorts with it."

She put on pink shorts and a tiara. We were set.

It was a beautiful summer day made even better by the fact that my husband was able to join us for the walk. I assigned the kids the task of gathering or sighting at least five things a piece for us to observe. And then disaster #1 struck. Sierra realized that in order to get onto the trail we had to go through a narrow hedge of bushes that might possibly snag her tutu. After giving her the choice to sit in the car with me or carry on with the adventure, she bravely gritted her teeth and stepped daintily through to the trail.

Five minutes later she had to pee. Dad offered to take her off into the woods since I had the baby in the front pack. She was a bit wary about the proposition since her last forage into the woods to pee had ended up in a really bad case of poison ivy in places unmentionable here. And the danger to her tutu was even greater off the trail. If only she knew what was to come. Somehow my dear husband did not manage to get the tutu out of the line of fire, and it got covered in pee. Tragedy had truly struck at this point. She refused to come out of the woods topless and sat howling in frustration among what I could only hope was NOT more poison ivy. The passersbyers were all treated to a faceless voice screaming, "I'm naked in here! I won't come out. And now my tutu is ripped, torn, ruined!" (She heard the line "ripped, torn, ruined" in a Nate the Great book and has since taken it as her own lament in circumstances of utter tragedy and ruin.) My son generously stripped off his shirt and crashed through the brambles to offer it to her. "It doesn't match my shorts!!!!" she screamed.

My patience had run out by this point and my husband and son both looked equally crestfallen at the prospect of adventures cut short. I decided I had better step in. "Put on Logan's shirt and get out here." It was my best "do-it-now-or-else" voice.

"No!"

"Is that really the answer you want to give me? Because if I have to come in there and get you out you will NOT like the consequences!"

It worked. Thankfully. I had no idea what I would do if I had to go in after her. Sobbing she put on her brother's yellow shirt and exited, her hair a mess, tiara askew, and face a muddy mixture of tears and dirt. She refused to walk further with her mismatched clothes, so we girls made our way back to the car while the guys finished their adventure.

There were no great science lessons learned or fabulous collectibles to display, but we did get outside and, hey, our nature walks can only get better from here on out!

Homeschooling at the Fair

2010-09-07T22:36:00.000-05:00

I wasn't going to call it an official school day, but it turned out to be better than I could ever have done at home.

Literature Link: we read A Fabulous Fair Alphabet by Debra Frasier on the way to the fair.
Science: an entertaining and informative bubble demonstration where the "performer" entertained us with bubbles made of air, helium, propane, etc. We watched them float, burst, and burn.
Science lessons also took place in the Miracle of Birth Barn and the Cargill sponsored Little Farmhands exhibit.
Lots of language arts lessons took place at the early literacy corner, where we made alphabetical lists of things we saw at the fair, practiced handwriting and spelling with a variety of fun literacy activities, and narrated the day's events.
Social Studies: chatting with the national guard members at their booth, discussing the various jobs people hold at the fair, and working together to read the map of the fair grounds.
Health and Nutrition: okay, I guess corn dogs on a stick don't really count....
Art: making fans, coloring pictures, observing all sorts of art in the arts and crafts building......

All in all, it was a very productive and educational day at the fair!