Keys Atheneum: A Charlotte Mason Inspired Home School

Building

2012-01-27T02:10:00.001-05:00

Changed strategies again: oldest child is Builder, middle child is Ballerina, and youngest is Explorer. Let's see how long that lasts - hehe.

I've been building our years 4 and K. Ballerina is going to be starting K this Fall with me, and I'm excited. Builder will be in 4th (!) and his materials right now look somewhat like this:

Math Mammoth 4A and 4B
Intermediate Language Lessons
Galore Park Junior English Book 2
Writing With Ease 3 - Complete Writer
Sentence Composing for Elementary
Singapore MPH Science 3/4
BFSU 3-5/Elementary Science Education
History Odyssey: Early Modern
Science Smart- Geography Projects
Rosetta Stone Spanish and Spanish with Children Primer A
Poetry for Young People Series - Carroll and Longfellow

Feel free to comment - still want to add in Composer Study, Picture Study.

The Essence of Happiness

2012-01-21T16:38:00.001-05:00

While I was reading the Dalai Lama's condensed version of Happiness, I came across a few powerful realizations. First, I am responsible for my own happiness. Nobody else. Not even my spouse. Second, contentment has less to do with what you have than how you train yourself to be content with what you have. Being actively grateful is the antidote to feeling depressed. Another nugget of wisdom: the best use of your time? Serving others. At the least, go out of your way to avoid harming others.

Homeschooling is a service we offer our children, in addition to being their mother. I embrace and accept this servitude with dignity and joy. It is truly a privilege to be educating my children at home.

Indian Arts Festival

2012-01-09T23:31:00.001-05:00

On December 28 our family visited the Miccosukee Indian Arts Festival. It's about two hours away from where we live, but it was worth the drive. Son was excited to meet Native Americans for the first time. We had been learning about them in American History, and he was familiar with a few tribes, customs, headdresses, etc. Daughter 1 was excited too, but because she knew about Indians through the movie Peter Pan and her brother relaying his interpretation of what he learned.

At the festival we saw an interesting man dance with rings. Son was one of the volunteers on stage to perform the complicated dance with rings. I wasn't sure he would go, but I encouraged him nevertheless. He was game, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Next we perused the wares they had at the marketplace. Mostly handcrafted items, they were not cheap but well made and worth the price. Son knew he wanted a bow and arrow, and Daughter 1 a doll.

Next we went to see the alligator wrestling show. Son was impressed, and that's saying something. It was neat to watch.

The museum area was very nice too, with authentic pots, jewelry, and tops used a long time ago. It also housed a great replica of an alligator and the history of the Seminoles.

Next we attended another show, this time with representatives from different tribes across North America, including Canada. Two men were wearing elaborate costumes with headdresses.. When they performed the fancy dance, I was sure their knees would hurt. It was fun to watch. My two older kids both went on stage this time, my four-year-old dancing just the way they showed her. She loves the stage. I want to post some pictures, although I can't guarantee it.

After that, Son tried climbing up a greased pole (no such luck or skill), and we wandered around taking pictures with a wigwam, bearskin, and some other interesting items from the Native American way of life.

Son got his bow and arrow, and Daughter 1 her doll. Daddy, the girls and I greatly enjoyed the fry bread.. Mmm.. Reminded me of the Caribbean Johnny Cake.

Daughter 2 was mostly in her Ergo with Daddy, and liked to see all that there was to see.

It was a fun and educational trip, and our third field trip of the school year.

Science Fair Project Picked Out

2011-11-16T22:15:00.001-05:00

After reading Science Fair Success Secrets by Bill Haduch, Son knows he wants to bake a bunch of cookies for his science fair project. We are going to buy four types of flour each: one super cheap, one popular brand, the brand I always use (I love King Arthur), and one ultra expensive, imported brand (yet to be identified). Then Son is going to compare the cookies from each brand by texture, taste, and other variables. Which cookies will turn out the best? What is his hypothesis? My vote is on King Arthur - heehee. The science fair project is due on January 11, 2012. We won't be baking until after Christmas, despite Son's eagerness.

Weekly Report - November 7-10, 2011

2011-11-16T21:29:00.001-05:00

This week we started with American History Stories Volume II (henceforth shortened to AHS II). It is exciting to learn about the causes of the American Revolution for perhaps the first time. As I'm not from the United States, going this in depth into American History is new to me. At the same time, it's elementary level, so easy to understand. Son and I really like Mara Pratt's AHS. The narrative is written directly to the reader, and although it's written at the child's level of understanding, it's most definitely not dumbed down. We listened to chapters 1 through 4, ending with the efforts of the Daughters of Liberty. At this point I just have Son listen to the story, and we discuss. This week we were wrapping up Struggle for A Continent. As AHS continues, we read a corresponding story either from The American Story (TAS) by Jennifer Armstrong, an extra book like the Maestros one, or do something from The Complete Book of US History (TCBUSH.

In Writing Son is doing very well with WWE 2, getting not only faster, but more accurate. In addition, with the help of PLL and VIE 3, understanding the reasons for the punctuation marks and other grammatical terms. Did I mention how glad I am to have the workbook?

For school reading, Son has been reading Ginger Pye. He didn't get into it right away, but now he likes it. It's not as easy as The Magic Treehouse series or others, which he reads in less than an hour. I have him read meatier, harder material during school time, but intersperse it with lighter stuff, still good books. For fun, he's reading Elmer and The Dragon, which is again easy and light for fun. I'm careful not to kill his enjoyment of books by requiring only the more difficult material. He finished it within the week.

In Geography this week, Son started working on the Notebooking Pages Florida State Study. The idea is for him to work on one page each day about Florida. He researched facts such as the state flag, state flower, state bird, and tree, and wrote a few lines. He also colors the items. He's not so fond of coloring, but when I remind him that this is his Florida book, he doesn't balk and gets the work done better than he would have normally.

We started listening to Peter Pan, which has us all excited. No wonder people felt compelled to make this into a movie. What great prose. Definitely one to remember.

Son read Lear's Luminous Nose, did lots of measuring in Math (both inches and centimeters), found out some more about Benjamin Franklin in History by reading and watching a History Channel clip, tackled lessons 88 and 89 in PLL, practiced Spanish on Rosetta Stone, and got to know the artist Benjamin West and composer Brahms a bit better, and read about Abraham's unwavering faith through Catholic Faith Delivered.

In Science, he read much of a science fair project book to get ideas, and completed the section on Classifying Animals in Singapore MPH Science.

Weekly Report - October 31- November 4, 2011

2011-11-14T22:51:00.001-05:00

It was fun to start the week with Halloween! I printed out five fun worksheets from Enchanted Learning where Son could write and spell painlessly. After all, it can be tough to spell ghoul when you're eight. He continued reading Ginger Pye, and Struggle for A Continent by the Maestros. For Science, all I had him do was research and take notes on Florida's Venomous Snakes, an oral presentation assignment I gave him. On Friday he presented his information, and I was pleasantly surprised. He likes to perform, and even wore a safari hat for the part. I recorded his presentation on my Flip, but I cannot find the wire to connect to the computer as of yet.

On Friday we also went online on a website called Amusement Park Physics since Son was inspired by a Phineas and Ferb episode to build his own roller coaster. Turns out he likes the crazy, imaginary stunts better than the real engineering skills required to build a roller coaster. Oh well, you learn something new every day.

Writing With Ease 2 has been a blessing. Although I would ideally pick and choose passages for narrations and selections for copywork, but the reality is that I have a very busy, just mobile, 9-month-old scooting around at lightning speed. I have a preschooler who needs physical and emotional attention. I have an 8-year-old who is very mobile and energetic, talkative, needs emotional attention, and needs constant reminding to pay attention - plus weekly explanations why we need to do schoolwork. And he's always hungry. Thank you, Susan Wise Bauer! You make it easy to practice writing, and practice writing well, in small doses every day.

This week we finished Treasure Island. It was exciting, and Son can't wait to start Peter Pan. Librivox.org has been another blessing. Being so busy with the baby, I can't always read aloud to him. I do do it once a day, but Librivox saves me the trouble to do it multiple times a day.

Looking through my notes, I find we totally ditched English this week. No worries, next week we'll continue full steam ahead. Son likes English grammar thus far, and we're on schedule to finish PLL this school year before starting Intermediate Language Lessons (ILL) in 4th.

History ended this week with an explanation of how the colonies grew united, in preparation for the causes of the revolution next week. I like Mara Pratt's American History Stories - they are interesting, well-written stories for boys and girls. They also have an old-fashioned charm that befits the subject matter. Listening to the narrative (thank you again, Librivox) is like reaching into History and having a person from that period, or at least a hundred odd years ago, tell you about it in their words, and from an American point of view. This week we finished Volume I, and the following week we'll be starting the a new book, Volume II. This one will be about the American Revolution.

In Math, Son ended with measuring. I have to remember to make it a point to drill math facts in the car. Not only does he enjoy it, but he's much faster than he used to be.

2011-11-07T15:03:00.001-05:00

Weekly Report - October 24-28

I know I'm a bit late (ha!), but I wanted to include this weekly report before I posted last week's. I started changing my ways of recording the learning that happens at home. Writing notes seems to be quicker, and less painful. Having tried the time-consuming grid option, I was glad to see something that uses much less time and includes everything. I'm growing up in my homeschooling journey, it seems.

On Monday for History, Son narrated King Philip's War with great clarity and included names without any prompting. He normally has a harder time remembering names. Throughout the week, we discussed the French and Indian War, and learned about young George Washington's involvement. We started reading two-page spreads of the Maestro's Struggle for a Continent, in which Son is able to see the quest for power and wealth in connection with gaining a foothold in the new continent that was North America.

In Math, he practiced subtracting whole tens, rounding and estimating, and word problems. Math Mammoth is good for both of us. Ease of teaching, Son gets the concepts, multiple strategies, and we get the big picture. We're on 2B at the moment.

As he had requested to know more about Florida, we're reading Heinemann's Florida History in Geography. It seems like double History, but it keeps his interest and grounded in our state's affairs.

Son finished reading The Courage of Sarah Noble and narrated it accurately. Rather than start a whole other book close to the end of the week, I counted Roman Numerals and Magic Schoolbus- Exploring The Senses as Reading. He narrated both without prompting.

For fun, Son also completed an Enchanted Learning.com Pumpkin Mini Book. It was a little bit of Science, Reading, Spelling, History, and Writing.

English had us do PLL, Copywork and Prepositions, VIE Subjects and we also did Madlibs.

Treasure Island for Literature is exciting as all the action is happening right now. Son finished listening to Chapter 28, "Captain Silver" on Friday.

All in all, our week has been hued with the coming of fall. For our region of the United States, this means happily slightly cooler temperatures than hot. Welcome, fall! Stay here as long as you can.

Retooling

2011-10-26T23:48:00.000-04:00

I've been making some changes on this blog. I'm still hunting for the picture that would capture the wonder in our little school. Looking through hundreds of digital images, I feel a bit tired now and will go to bed. Next week I should be able to find one.

Incidentally, this is my 100th post! Woohoo! A perfect opportunity to do some retooling.

Do you like the new design?

2011-10-24T23:28:00.001-04:00

Some days I swear I learn more from the children than they learn from me. Want to go to the best growth process and therapy ever in your whole life? Have kids. They will teach you or spur you to learn about humility, compassion, living in the moment, how to relax, to take of yourself, how to heal past wounds.. if you are willing and open. Parenthood is certainly the best thing that ever happened to me. Is it like this for you? Please share your comments.

2011-10-24T22:52:00.000-04:00

Weekly Report - October 17-21

Last week we listened to Treasure Island again, chapters 21-25. Son and I are enthralled by the sudden action in the story. Before there was much dialogue and descriptive parts, by necessity, but now that the enemies are out of hiding, the plot thickens. I'm discovering that Literature can be a joy for me as well through listening. I like reading aloud to Son, but I do have a busy 8-month-old to care for who has a penchant for crinkling and tasting paper.

Still chugging along with place values for Math. I'm tempted to race ahead, I know that in Math and other disciplinary subjects, slow and steady wins the race. Son understands, but I want him to practice and have different problems thrown at him. I have started to (gulp) skip some problems, not many, but just enough so that it speeds us along without taking away from the practice and learning. When we do more than one page, I offer to write some answers down for him while he tells me what to write and how he got to the answer.

Spanish consisted of Rosetta Stone for 15 minutes at a time. He got 100% on most. I need to remember to set up the Homeschool aspects, the reports and such. His pronunciation is very good, and I like the fact that he enjoys it.

When we did English, we reviewed what a sentence is, statements, questions, exclamations, and commands. I find that Son seems to like grammar, and especially enjoys Lynne Truss books on the subject. A few weeks ago he asked me if he could get Eats, Shoots, and Leaves for Christmas! I'm planning on getting him the three-book collection. Now he's reading There's a Frog In My Throat! 440 Animal Sayings A Little Bird Told Me by Loreen Leedy and Pat Street. We continue with PLL as our main book, and VIE as a supplement and oral review and activities.

Now that we do Poetry, Composer Study, Picture Study, and Logic on Fridays we have deviated some from the truly CM schedule. Poetry ended being nonexistent this week.

I'm trying it out as I find out it takes upwards of 4 hours to complete our school, and with all the little interruptions (baby) sometimes it can take longer. I feel the need to simplify and cut it down to English, Writing, Reading, Spanish, History, Science, and Spanish. I like it and I don't like it. It's more efficient, and Fridays feel more relaxed, but at the same time it was nice to go back and forth between what CM called inspirational subjects and disciplinary subjects. However, this new schedule wins out for now. Son seems to focus better, and I strive to keep variety within the disciplinary subjects as well.

Natural Science consisted of some review material of our Singapore Science MPH 3/4 Diversity textbook through Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) "Taking The Challenge!". Son can handle them, although he does fly through the instructions too fast. I teach him to stop and read carefully. It's a process that I find will take some time. I am pleasantly surprised at the level of critical thinking he's capable of. We also started discussing the upcoming Science Fair in January. What a science fair is, and he read the Magic School Bus picture book on Science Fair. He also watched "Science Fair Panic!" 4-part video series by The Happy Scientist. Son also began his online research for his oral presentation on "Venomous Snakes of Florida".

I find that Spelling once a week is sufficient using Wheeler's Elementary Speller, and using Spelling City the other time. So far we only made it through the Wheeler's. Son never got to the computer.

In Geography, I gave Son a choice: would you like to continue going through the fifty states, or pause and camp on Florida for a while? He wanted to continue studying Florida, so Georgia was the last state he checked out before we started to hone in on Florida. This means that starting next week, or rather, this week, we'll be reading on Florida History and memorizing the capital, major lakes, state bird, motto, etc.

We did Lessons 85 and 86 in PLL for English. Son couldn't get over how funny "It is I" sounded. He argued that nobody should answer "it is I" because nobody would know who that is anyway. I think he has a point. It does sound more "natural", even if incorrect, to say, "It is me." However, Son said, he would want to say, "It is me, Son." Without your name it's crazy, after all. We had a chuckle.

Son was proud of himself, as nobody but one much older boy was able to knock him off his feet in Taekwondo sparring. He's practicing his forms, and has mastered the newest form. I reminded him that he needs to know all his forms up to and including the orange belt - from first through fourth. He has a tendency to think that if he's passed, he's done. The knowledge builds, like in math.

In Dance his teacher expressed that he was the best at the grand-jeté, but the worst at actual splits. Another student, the teacher's granddaughter and just over four years old, was just the opposite. Son just started ballet and tap, and he enjoys it, especially tap dancing. He will be performing for the first time this December, alongside his sister.

Son has convinced himself he can make millions playing Tennis. He's practicing hard, wants to work every day, and is getting better and better. He's the best in class, and his teachers see his dedication. His backhand is improving, and since Daddy bought him sneakers, he's been more agile on the court. We may need to splurge for private classes in the future if he continues this interest.

2011-10-16T23:51:00.000-04:00

Weekly Report

It all starts with Literature. Every day we listen to a chapter of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. He reads along in our little hardback copy. I explain the more difficult words and concepts to Son, and he is growing to enjoy this great story. Thank you, Librivox!
In English, I use a combination of Primary Language Lessons (PLL) by Emma Serl and Voyages in English (VIE) 3. I quite enjoy the logical, easy way VIE presents the subjects. We do this once or twice a week, mostly orally, and the rest of the time, twice to three times a week, PLL. It's working well, and I see improvement in both Son's writing and speech.

In Math we use Math Mammoth (MM) 2B. Son has a solid understanding of place values, and is practicing regrouping through a domino game the author, Maria, suggests. We like it, and I can't think of a more fun way to practice. We do basic addition drills in the car to solidify his math facts, and once a week he plays on my the Kids Math app on my iPhone. I think MM is a fantastic fit for both of us.

Poetry is a blast with Edward Lear's funny poems. Son enjoys his rollicking verses, and I have been introduced to an interesting man and form. We read one of his poems throughout the week, and on Fridays we dissect them for rhythm and meaning. Spelling we only worked on once a week this week, but next week I'm taking the words we have been working on and/or Son and been misspelling and giving him a test with Spelling City. Next week is Review Week for all lessons. We're reviewing the last six weeks of school and discussing what we have learned so far. Generally, we use Wheeler's Elementary Speller. Son is able to use that fairly independently.

Spanish continues to be fun and interactive with the tools at my disposal: Spanish for Children (grammar), Rosetta Stone (immersion and interaction), SpanishDict (immersion and interaction), games and stories on Headventureland, and practice with me a few times a week (I'm conversant). I'm working to up that amount to daily, even if it's ten minutes daily. I also encourage Son to say a few words in Spanish to a few of his closest Latino friends.

History consists of listening to Mara Pratt's American History Stories Volume I, and Son then proceeds to read the story as well. We discuss. If it's an important event or person, Son creates a fact card. On Fridays we may do a project (we use Interactive 3D Maps). Right now we're steeped in the Colonial Period, just finished "Religious Troubles". We're also reading from The New Americans: The Colonial Period, Children's Encyclopedia of US History, and (not this week, though) The Complete Book of US History.

Ah, Natural Science. It's one of Son's favorite subjects -- my favorite. We're doing Singapore Science My Pals Are Here! 3/4 Diversity. We're using the text, activity book, Homework, and HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills) book. I wield the Teachers Manual. I like this program. So far we learned a lot about diversity, the rainforest, plants, and this week we started with animals. On Saturday we went to the zoo to extend the learning and see how animals move. We will be visiting again very soon.

In Reading, Son is reading every day for thirty minutes, at least five of those minutes aloud. During Reading he reads assigned books, but outside of lessons he has books he reads for pure enjoyment. He chooses easy Magic Schoolhouse books for these with lots of pictures, and books about snakes. He likes the Magic Treehouse books as well. So far he has read Pocahontas by Bulla. He recently started The Courage of Sarah Noble, which we discuss with the aid of Progeny Press' Literature Guide. It's easy for him, but I wanted to digress a little, stop and enjoy, and truly work on reading comprehension and contextual vocabulary.

We use Writing with Ease by Susan Wise Bauer for our Writing curriculum. We do it four time a week: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It works like a charm with the addition of the workbook. We're on WWE 2. I simply do not have time to pick the literature. Ms. Bauer does it for me.

Logic is two-fold. We do Critical Thinking Press' Mindbenders 3-6 on Mondays, and on Wednesdays we do the same publisher's Moral Dilemmas, which in a non-judgmental way has me listening to how he would solve moral dilemmas. It really has him think about issues he has not and hasn't thought about encountering. I restrain myself from teaching it as a lesson in values, but instead have him soul-search and think through what he would do.

In Composer Study, we're reading about the life of Johannes Brahms. We learned about the 21 Hungarian Dances. We listened to the 5th, and recognized it at once. I recognized it from my youth and my mother whistling it, and Son (and Daughter!) from none other than the program Little Einsteins. Picture Study was learning more about the early American artist Benjamin West. He had just met with a few Indians who showed him how to make paint from bear grease and plant powder in different colors.

I have reworked our schedule to do only what I consider the basics (Literature, Reading, Math, History, Natural Science, and Writing) daily, with Geography twice weekly, Spanish shoot for daily but at least four times a week, and Logic twice a week. On Fridays we do a project, Composer Study, Picture Study, Poetry, Geography puzzle and videos. Daddy teaches Art some time during the weekend.

2011-10-10T23:34:00.000-04:00

One Fine Day

Oftentimes we as homeschoolers get caught up in doubt. More like tangled up, I would say. Am I doing enough? Is this what my child needs? Am I meeting his academic needs? Am I providing an enriching environment? Is it perfect?

Danger. Warning. There is no perfect. As one wise person quoted once, if don't want to make mistakes ever and want to be perfect, do nothing, be nothing. Mistakes are indeed opportunities to learn in the right setting. As Charlotte Mason quoted, education is a discipline, a life.

My 4-year-old daughter stayed home today from Montessori preschool as it was Columbus Day. She goes there every weekday for three hours. Quality teacher, nice materials, no qualms. I am bringing her back home for K, though.

On Columbus Day we do continue homeschooling, and briefly mentioned Columbus again. We had covered Columbus extensively at the end of second grade, and at the beginning of third grade we reviewed. This was just a few weeks ago.

Daughter's days are so structured at preschool, although I know not nearly as structured as non Montessori preschools. She engages in practical life, pre-reading activities, math activities, writing letters, worksheets, and nature study through the classroom raising tadpoles and fish. She seems happy there, but eager to see us again and leave with us, reluctant to wake up in the morning, exhausted at the end of the day (she also has ballet twice a week and piano once a week), and relieved on days off.

Today was one such day. I know she needed a break from the structure (she is, after all, only four). First we had breakfast together. Then she helped wash up, fed the dog, and I put her on Starfall.com to practice her letters while I was working with Son. I heard her listening to the nursery rhymes and singing along. When she was done with that, I gave her a coloring sheet and a connect-the-dots sheet on dolphins. She wrote her name and connected the dots while counting out loud. She colored the dolphin gray nearly all between the lines. While I was showing Son videos from California and Alaska, two states we are studying, she watched along with us. She helped Son for about ten minutes while he was working on the United States puzzle. She can point out Florida and California, the area where we live, and she can pick the U.S. out of a map of the world.

Then she joined him in conjugating some Spanish verbs in a free online game. Son explained it to her. He was happy she was home.

She asked me to put some beautiful music on. I put some Vivaldi and other classical music on, and she danced and practiced her ballet moves. Son joined her in showing me their grand jetés. They were clearly enjoying themselves, practicing some skills, and getting some exercise too. The girl can stretch well. It lifts up my heart when I look at her.

When I saw she was wandering a bit aimlessly, I gave her her Melissa and Doug wooden letter tiles so she could practice her spelling. She grabbed it from my hands, got excited, and spelled cat, man, and when I gave her her phonics book from school, spelled a couple of those words too, before she was done. She put everything away neatly.

After that we curled up on the couch and I read to them from the Betsy and Guilio Maestro history book The New Americans. The two page spread we read was about colonists and Indians starting to wage war against each other, and I could see that Daughter was interested and not sensitive, just sad for the ones who got hurt. Then I sent both of them out to observe and sketch animals in the backyard as part of Son's Science assignment. When they came back in, I read aloud an Edward Lear poem. I could see she enjoyed the nonsense rhyme. I picked up Biggest, Strongest, Fastest, a library book about animals I had checked out for Son, and she loved it.

She had told me a week or two ago that she wanted to be an animal doctor when she grew up. I'm stepping up the animal content at home, and making a mental note of having her attend the zoo program in the Summer if she continues with this interest. She certainly is compassionate and interested in (almost) all creatures. She does despise and fear cockroaches, though. I don't blame her.

I thought about our day. She didn't have structured activities in the sense of a preschool environment, but she sure learned a lot. It was all nearly effortless, as an extension of living our lives, as a next step in parenting. As I'm writing all this, even I was surprised at all the educational activities she was engaged in without too much directed learning on my part.

She also got to spend time with her mother, with her siblings, and enjoyed herself too. She felt loved, connected, and accepted, which counts in my book too.

Ah, after all that I forgot that she also participated in a discussion about etiquette and how to hold a fork properly. I had recently discovered that Son was holding the fork with his fist, and we're working on teaching him how to hold it correctly. Daughter knows how to hold a fork correctly, and was proud to be able to help instruct Son, four years her senior, in this. He was not too pleased, but a little less than graciously accepted the directions.

Well, here you go. Not one perfect day, but who wants perfect? I happily take one fine day. May we have many more to come.

2011-10-07T00:16:00.000-04:00

Field Trip - Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden - October 5, 2011

Here are a few photos from our recent trip to the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens in Coral Gables, Miami. It's a beautiful garden, and houses the largest variety of tropical plants in the United States. After having completed the Plants section of the Diversity section of Singapore Science My Pals Are Here Science 3/4, it was the perfect place to visit. Besides enjoying ourselves, I think all of us now have a deeper respect, admiration, and appreciation for the roles that plants play in our lives.

Enjoying the beauty of Fairchild Gardens

Boy taking pictures with my iPhone. I let him take pictures of any plants he was interested in.

My little girl sketching a flower

Inspecting leaves

Looking for insects around and underneath leaves

Fuchsia Orchid

White Orchid

Eucalyptus tree bark looks like it's painted

Altogether now.. A glass sculpture by famous artist Dale Chihuly in the background

The flower of the cannonball tree is pleasantly fragrant

2011-09-27T23:38:00.000-04:00

Educational Site

I recently discovered, through Singapore Science's Teacher's Manual, an amazing site for us homeschooling moms and all parents who want to be involved in our children's education. It's called Teacher's Domain. See for yourself what great quality videos, lesson plans and ideas you'll find and tell me about it here. Some gems? NOVA, Between the Lions, Nature, and American Experience. I don't get any benefit from this and I'm not at all affiliated with this site, except that I'm a new and enthusiastic user. The cherry on top? Sign up is free.

2011-09-24T14:11:00.000-04:00

Planning Field Trips

Whenever you think about planning field trips, you should first consider what you're studying or are about to study. Better yet, consider what your child/student is interested in. Let's use our upcoming field trip as an example: The Fairchild Botanical Gardens. We are studying plants in science (which I call affectionally Natural Science), using Singapore MPH 3/4: Diversity textbook as a spine. From there we have already started extending our lessons with the activity, the homework, and the higher order thinking skills books. I have the teacher's manual, which I use to broaden the learning experience. The lesson plans are very well done. We have several books about plants at home, which we use for reading and making the concepts stick.

After you have determined what it is you want to study, decide where you want to go to amplify the learning. In my case, it was a no-brainer, as the Singapore Science TM suggests visiting the Singapore Botanical Gardens. Where does my area have a Botanical Garden? The closest Botanical Garden is in Miami, the Fairchild Botanical Gardens. A quick look on the site tells me it's a beautiful place to visit.

Next up, try to find if the location you're contemplating has free admission days. That way you can secure a date that advantageous for the family. In our case, the drive up there already costs gas. We are about an hour and a half away from Miami. This doesn't count gas. Then you have food, drinks, and a possible souvenir to pay for. If you can save on admission, why not?

After you have secured a suitable date, you can go ahead and click on the Education department of the site. Virtually all parks, zoos, and museums have a section where teachers can go and either get information on visiting with their students, or actually get free resources. Do they have guides? Will you need one? Will it cost more? In our case, there are free activities and lesson plans for elementary students from K-5! The zoo has a similar section. You can print these out according to your student's level, and voila! You're good to go. Wait, not yet.

First you have to actually prepare your student for him to get the most out of your trip. For her to have an amazing experience, the pre-trip lesson plans (if they have any) are a great way to get your student excited and thinking about the theme. If there are no lesson plans on your location, you can determine which areas you are going to concentrate on (in our case the rainforest, tropical plants), and get books, free resources online, and plan away. Once you have it, go over it with your student, get him engaged and ready to learn. During the visit there are activities the students can do, which will keep them enthusiastic.

The last step before you leave would be to print out a map of the place, and have your student locate the areas which you have studied, and which are about to be visited. He can also locate restrooms, concession stands, and other such points of interest. Why not stop for ice cream afterwards? It goes without saying that as a the parent teacher, you know exactly where to go and where to park. You don't want to get lost and miss precious time.In addition, how much money you are willing and able to allocate for this trip.

If you have done your homework so to speak, by this time your student will be excited to go. Once there, she will see it as a familiar place, and be ready to interact with the exhibits and know what to do.

Lastly, there are sometimes post-visit lesson plans already drawn for you, or you can set up a field trip sheet where your student can report her experience and what she has learned in the process.

Have fun! Field trips should be educational and fun. If it's only educational, the learning won't stick. If it's only fun, there won't be much to write about.

To review, these are the following you would need to do to plan a successful field trip:

Determine what you're studying or what your child is interested in
Actually study and read the material before your field trip
Decide what place would be the best to expand the learning
Visit the website of the location you have chosen, and research free admission
Based on your findings, set a date
Dig for free resources (check Education or Community key words)
Print out any resources and use
Familiarize your child with the particular area within the location you're focusing on
Plan directions, meals, and the budget
Print out a map of the place, and have students lead the way (age appropriate)
During the visit, revisit the concepts, have students do activities/sheets, take pictures, narrate in a recorder, and/or sketch in a sketchbook
After your visit, review and document the learning- have students write a report, essay, create a scrapbook or online photo journal. Older students can write an entry on your blog.
Have FUN!

2011-09-18T18:42:00.000-04:00

Back to Homeschool!

The first week was our trial week. Does the morning routine work? Schedule? How long does it take Mama to prepare a morning snack and stuff it in a lunch box? After a few weeks of trying out, here's our schedule, each core subject taking around 20 minutes each (some days up to 30 minutes, depending on the interest and the subject). Poetry, Composer and Picture Study can take as little as 5 minutes.

MONDAYS and WEDNESDAYS

Literature

English

History

Math

Natural Science

Poetry

Geography M or Logic W

Spelling
Spanish
Reading

TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS

Literature

English
History
Math
Natural Science
Poetry
Spanish
Reading

FRIDAYS

Literature
English
Natural Science
Composer Study
Math
Poetry
History Project
Picture Study
Penmanship
Geography puzzle

So far this seems to be working great. Ds8 has Taekwondo three times a week, tennis twice a week, dance twice a week, and piano once a week. Dd4 is in a great Montessori VPK program for three hours daily, and has ballet twice a week and piano once a week. With a schedule like that, it took us a little while to figure out what days would be better for what. Having shorter days on Tuesdays and Thursdays took care of that, and dh picking up dd on Mondays and Wednesdays helps me to concentrate school on those two days. On Fridays we review, catch up, and do projects. Every day the focus is on reading, writing, and math. The other two subjects sandwiched in between are ds' favorites - History and Natural Science. These are the inspirational subjects Charlotte Mason spoke about. Ds also enjoys Picture Study, Composer Study, and Poetry.

We've already been to a NOT Back to School Party, and are enjoying the ample opportunities to socialize after several weeks of Summer's self-imposed hibernation.

2011-07-05T19:42:00.001-04:00

Planning Phase II

More use of the whiteboard

We have a big white board that hasn't been used as much as I had hoped. I'm going to teach using the whiteboard much more often, illustrating concepts and writing down ideas. Boy is visual, and I'm sure it will help him to see as well as hear it.

More organization

This lies with me. I have a confession to make - I have papers everywhere. I have a hole puncher, binders, but I still have papers everywhere. Next year? Use the hole puncher before school starts, and have notebooking pages acquired from Currclick hole punched, inserted in binders, and ready to go. At least my bookshelf is already in order. Take time on Sundays to review what's coming the next day, week. Have everything literally at arm's length before starting. Looking for materials or copying, printing pages is a huge time-waster.

Longer class sessions, going a bit deeper

Boy and I had this conversation. I asked him if he'd rather do History every day, in smaller chunks, or two days a week in bigger chunks. He asked for bigger chunks. I was surprised, but also with a renewed sense of enthusiasm. History is going to be twice a week, an hour each. This will mean listening to 2-3 chapters of Mara Pratt's American History Stories at a time. Projects will be relegated to afternoon projects, after extracurricular activities, up to half an hour each, so up to 3 hours of History a week. This exercise leads to the following point.

More input and active participation from the student

I will have more of these conversations with Boy and see what he comes up with. If I do History twice a week, I could do Natural Science for an hour each three times a week. Will plan on having activities/experiments built in to lessons. Boy has asked for independent assignments, and I will accommodate him through checklists.

2011-06-11T15:38:00.000-04:00

Planning Phase I

Although our school doesn't start until September, I've been bitten by the planning bug. There is so much to think about. Boy will be in what is traditionally considered third grade, and we're going to ramp it up.

More narrations

He's going to narrate more, both orally and written. I'm going to prepare passages for him, a la Charlotte Mason, so he has a chance to study it carefully. No more just "tell me about what you just read" or "tell me all you remember about this passage". This is going to be not only more organized, but systematic. I'm using the book When Children Love to Learn by Elaine Cooper to guide me in this process. If I get stuck, I always have CM's own writings to go back to.

Thoughtful copywork and dictations

We're not only going to pay attention to penmanship and punctuation as usual, but to grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and capitalization. I'm going to sit right next to him and instruct him, paying attention as he's writing. As for dictation, all the more challenging words and names are going to be written out on our whiteboard beforehand. He's going to study the passage first, then I will proceed to dictate to him, clause by clause, pausing at the commas. I'm going to borrow Writing With Ease: The Complete Writer text to see if I'll be needing more hand-holding, but with When Children Love to Learn and The Well Trained Mind I should have enough to work with when it comes to writing. I think.

Memory work

I have not done nearly as much in this area as I would have liked. Boy has hardly memorized anything this past year, and I think it's my fault. Memorization takes time, and frankly, I'm the check off the list and go do the next thing kind of person. There are memorization sections in Primary Language Lessons already, I will just take my time and go through these slower and just repeat. I will use Living Memory as my guide in what to choose for copywork so as to aid Boy in memorizing these. We will chant Math, Spelling, and Grammar rules, as well as Spanish conjugations.

More, deeper Spanish

Speaking of Spanish, we are going to take Spanish to the next level. Not only are we going to listen and watch Spanish or play on the computer with Muzzy, but we are going to learn basic grammar and practice Spanish half hour twice a week. I'm also going to strive to read to Boy in Spanish and have him practice reading.

History that continues to spark the imagination

Instead of SOTW, which we have enjoyed so far, we're going to listen to Mara Pratt's American History Stories on Librivox. We also have the books, our spines, which Boy will read for extra comprehension. We're going to enjoy the year doing 3D Interactive Maps and exploring the different Native American peoples and customs with Tools of Native Americans. We're going to delight in the stories and pictures of American Story: 100 True Tales of American History, and add living books to round out our studies. Boy is going to narrate orally and on paper and write down facts, including dates, in his notebooking pages. The Complete Book of US History will be on standby to give him written activities, mapwork, and additional information should he need it. An illustrative timeline will show him where we are in History. I'm excited, as this is my first year planning History without an actual curriculum.

More time-saving, efficient Science

We continue the excellent critical thinking and inquiry tradition with a new science curriculum this year: Singapore's My Pals Are Here! Science 3/4. After much thought, I decided to hold off on Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding 3-5 and focus on reviewing some concepts and building more writing into the program. As much as I love BFSU, and I still love BFSU, I haven't been able to do a good job of having Boy write much about his lessons. With a new baby in tow, I need something with built in writing (workbooks), but that doesn't stultify the mind or sacrifice the critical think I so crave in science especially. The plan is to continue with BFSU 3-5 after being done with the MPH books - Diversity, Cycles, Systems, Energy, and Interactions. I think I may try to combine BFSU with the workbooks of Singapore MPH 5/6.

..to be continued..

2011-06-09T21:13:00.000-04:00

Third Year Coming Together - History

The last three weeks I spent a great time with my mom, who lives in Aruba. She's been such an inspiration to me for her commitment and dedication to my development and education. She was always and continues to be a born teacher, and I strive to emulate her in this regard.

As she got wheeled away and I realized our time together this year was over, I knew I would have to focus on my plans for the coming Fall. So much has happened in the last month that it was a whirlwind, and to say I haven't had a lot of time to think about Fall is an understatement.

Finally, the time is here. Being all gung ho and trying to hold myself back 5 years ago when Boy was only two, I started putting hours into planning and got to Third Year (my fancy, Harry Potter inspired way of saying Third Grade). I can hardly believe Third Year is.. here. I'm grateful for all the work I put in before. All I had to do was tweak and change some to American History, as I choose to go that path instead of SOTW 3.

The reason I'm not going with SOTW 3 is so I can focus on (and learn!) American History. The following are the resources I'm going with for History:

American History Stories by Mara Pratt, Volumes I-IV (spine)
The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong (co-spine)
DK Smithsonian Children's Encyclopedia of American History

and lots of living books!

For projects and activities, we're doing

Interactive 3D Maps: American History

Complete Book of US History

Tools of Native Americans

The plan is to listen to Librivox' American History Stories (Volumes 1 and 2 are available I believe), then have Boy read the chapter as well. They are relatively short chapters that lend themselves well to digestion and narration. Afterwards, I will have Boy write down important names, dates, places, and events. We'll discuss and read the appropriate section in the Encyclopedia, and Boy can narrate orally. These are part of Day 1's activities.

Day 2 should consist of a corresponding American Story passage, Interactive 3D Maps project, an activity from Tools of Native Americans, and the corresponding section in Complete Book of US History. If no activity, Boy can write down his narration and/or do a dictation.

2011-06-07T01:22:00.000-04:00

Enjoyment

Over the the past three years that I've been homeschooling I've had many stresses, moments of doubt, guilt, and midnight worries. As human nature dictates, I've neglected to emphasize the glorious, the happy, the laughter, the hugs, the cuddles, the amazing realization of your child's understanding. You can see the door opening in their minds, their connections forming, the glee in their eyes, the pride of accomplishment. I wouldn't want to miss this. I like my job.

My job is to guide, teach, and prepare my children for life. Many days I feel like I'm not making any progress, but this is a marathon, not a sprint. I see glimpses of triumph, snatches of time that elucidate real thinking and character building. I talk to Boy's teachers and they all have only good things to say about him. I must be doing something right.

As I pour over my planning for next year, I realize that the goal of a worthy education is not only attainment and success, but enjoyment. If we don't enjoy the process, it's quickly forgotten and discarded. However, if we learn in an environment of trust, familiarity and love, you can bet the learning will stick and remain much longer and be processed at a deeper level.

As I struggle to tweak this and that for Boy, I see him as he is and accept him for who he is. Yes, he's an energetic boy who's easily distracted and frustrating to teach on some days, but he is who he is. It's my job to work with him and not against him. Yes, he needs to learn to sit and do his work, but it's my job to prepare the environment and make it easier for him to do so. My main job? Enjoy myself. The more I enjoy myself, the more I want to do this, and the better my children's education will be as a result.

2011-05-16T22:31:00.000-04:00

Science Choices

For Third Year I feel I have to scale down the planning. I decided to go with a textbook, critical thinking style science program instead of BFSU. As much as I love BFSU (Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding), I feel I need to take a break from major planning and focus on History, which I'm planning all this year by myself - no SOTW, would you believe it. I also have a baby I want to spend with instead :)

Which program am I going to use for Third Year? Singapore Science, My Pals Are Here 3/4. I have the textbooks, activity books, Homework and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) books. To have extra information, skills and answers at hand I'm also seriously considering the Teacher's Manual. It's $80, but I can buy it used for less. This program looks solid and rigorous, quite fun, and fulfills my most important requirement: it promotes scientific inquiry and critical thinking.

The other reason I'm not doing BFSU 2 is that it looks like BFSU jumps in difficulty, and I feel Boy has to solidify some knowledge before going to the next level. Singapore Science seems to cover, especially with its chapters on Diversity and Cycles, the material I would like for us to review and solidify.

I want to go back to BFSU (Volume 2 this time) after this coming experimental year of trying out Singapore Science. Boy will be in 4th Year by then, and more likely to be able to handle the BFSU 2 then.

What if Boy ends up liking Singapore and wants to forego BFSU? I say we can always try to combine and expand first, and if Boy is thriving with Singapore and doesn't care for BFSU after that, we can forge ahead with just Singapore. I still love BFSU and can and will use with my two daughters.

2011-05-03T23:33:00.001-04:00

New Baby!

I can't believe it, I have three children! I'm on cloud nine. This baby has been a blessing, a true gift from God. I'm so happy to have been given the opportunity to be a mother again, and I'm trying to enjoy every minute. She's a sweetheart, and loves to smile. We all love her! Girl 2 fit right into our lives and we can't imagine it any other way.

Homeschooling has been going smoothly for the most part, and Boy is progressing well, especially in his Math. Girl 1 is learning everything she needs to know through books, the computer, talking to Boy, me, and at ballet and piano.

We are continuing with the Middle Ages. We are at Chapter 29 of Story of the World. A bit behind schedule, but that's okay. We are continuing to school through July and taking off in August. We will be done with SOTW 2 before we start our Third Year (aah! Already!) with my own plan for American History. I will share this plan within the coming weeks. I'm excited and a bit nervous at the same time, as I've always had SOTW's AG to fall back on. The plan is to continue SOTW 3 in 4th.

We are finished with Giotto and Titian, and Boy was lucky enough to get to see some of their works at the Vatican Exhibit in Fort Lauderdale with Daddy.

Because of so many activities and just plain being busy, Science has been Rocks and Minerals since late February. Boy is learning a lot, and previously he had enjoyed Electricity very much. In fact, in using The Dangerous Book for Boys Electricity Kit he was able to build circuits with minimal help after Husband explained things to him.

We are strong in Reading, Writing, and Math. Boy is writing much more and getting used to it, also dictation. In Math he's doing well, understanding much of the arithmetic, but taking a while to understand clocks. In due time. I'm learning to take things easier without sacrificing quality. In due time.

2010-11-21T22:04:00.000-05:00

WEEKLY REPORT - Week 11 - November 15-19, 2010

If I could sum up our week in three words, I would say Clocks, Franks, and Flowers. Diva learned number 11 and letter K. Boy earned Cub Scouts belt loops in Reading and Writing, Horseback Riding, Bicycling, Nutrition, Flag Football, and Tennis. He got a prize too, and he was proud of his accomplishments.

ENGLISH

In PLL, Boy did more copywork, which helped him practice sentence structure, syntax, penmanship, and grammar.

PHONICS
We're done with reviewing Tanglewood Phonics! I still believe we should continue some, so I'm thinking of buying Simply Phonics Book 3 by Shoelace Books.

READING
We read pages 112 to 119 of Tales of King Arthur, and although it's disheartening to see Camelot torn apart by hatred and jealousy, it's still an exciting read. It's sad to see King Arthur pitted against Sir Lancelot.

LITERATURE
On day 2 I read to him from Favorite Medieval Tales. As we were covering the Franks in our History studies, I read to him The Song of Roland. It was a sad story about a man of courage who died saving his people, which makes it timeless. Boy took it well, and listened in rapt.

HISTORY
SOTW Chapter 11: On day 1 we listened to Clovis, the Ex-Barbarian, discussed it, and Boy answered review questions. The second day we listened to Four Tribes, One Empire. We discussed again, and narrated and did mapwork.

MATHEMATICS
New topic: Clocks! I have tried unsuccessfully to teach Boy clocks since he was three, but I think he's finally catching on. MM 1B p. 42-48 including computer games this week. Now Boy not only knows the time to the hour and half hour, but he's gaining an understanding of the concept of clocks, and how the minute hand goes around. I credit Maria Miller for doing a great job with explaining the concepts in a way children really understand. My Big Picture Boy really benefits from this.

GEOGRAPHY

No Geography this week. Waiting on Daddy to teach about surveying and finding your bearings. Too complicated now that I'm in my third trimester LOL

NATURAL SCIENCE
On day 1 we watched a Happy Scientist video (love him!). On day 2 we read Nature Smart and learned about Winter Wildflowers. On day 3 the kids went on a Nature Walk with Daddy and picked green flowers (I know, we didn't know that those were flowers). They came home and Boy sketched them and identified one, using the book Florida Keys Wildflowers as our guide. On day 4 Boy did the stickerbook again.

SPELLING
Boy finished Lesson 9 and went on to complete Lesson 10 in the remaining three days.

THEOLOGY
In Theology, I read Brothers Jealous of Joseph. I find Boy gets more of a background story and depth with these Bible stories. They are right up to his level of understanding.

POETRY
Every day, either I read aloud or Boy read the poem "Buck In The Snow" by Edna St. Vincent Millay. It is a poem about death and its sudden tragedy. It's also about the majesty of nature.

SPANISH
We did Spanish twice a week this week. The kids watched Muzzy disc 4-5 a few times in one day, and Boy learned a lot. He's using vocabulary from the program. I reinforce and talk to him in Spanish during Spanish lessons. Now if I can only find those written exercises.. ugh.

PICTURE STUDY
This week we continued to learn about Giotto di Bondone, and found that his depictions were leaning more and more towards realism and conveying emotion than ever as he progressed.

COMPOSER STUDY
We keep reading about Tchaikovsky, and learned that he used real cannons in his 1812 Overture. Boy enjoyed the piece tremendously (I searched it on YouTube). It was awesome! The Mike Venezia cartoon was hilarious.

ART
This week Daddy printed out a favorite character of the show Ben 10, cut it in pieces, and had Boy draw each piece separately so he could concentrate on the shapes. Diva did the same thing. As usual, she loves

2010-11-21T15:55:00.000-05:00

WEEKLY REPORT - Week 10 - November 8-12, 2010

This week we finished Pinocchio! It has taken us 10 weeks, and it was a great adventure. This week, on November 14, Boy passed his test and got promoted to Yellow Belt in taekwondo! He only started in September, and the only one to make it so early. As you can tell, I'm proud of him. This same weekend Diva finished her play. She did so well, and looked so cute. I'm on a cloud thinking about my kids! They really are cool little people.

ENGLISH

In PLL, we completed Lesson 16 where Boy did more copywork.

PHONICS
The rest of the copywork this week was devoted to Phonics rules. This is a good way to let them sink in.

READING
Tales of King Arthur is getting more intrigue into it with the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. I do feel sorry for the two, as at least in this version, it seems that their loyalty to their king is so great that they suppress their love and hold back. However, they can't help loving each other. I was thinking how much easier it is nowadays, with no impending blood bath, just a nasty divorce and Lancelot and Guinevere getting married. Hmm.. maybe a modern blood bath LOL

LITERATURE
Done with Pinocchio! He became a boy! He earned his way by working very hard and sustaining his parents. It is a dark story, but I think Boy was ready to hear it. Now we can use Pinocchio as an example. I love the shared experiences and memories with reading aloud and homeschooling in general. We were done with Pinocchio on day 2. We took a break from Literature on day 3, and on day 4, Daddy read the whole of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, a story set in our period that we're studying, the Middle Ages. It is also a dark tale, and Boy cried when he realized the children never saw their parents again. I had no idea it was written in verse, which I think makes it more sinister and memorable.

HISTORY
SOTW Chapter 10 this week was about the people of Australia and the Pacific Islands. I love that so far the SOTW chapter corresponds with the week of school. It satisfies the associative part of my brain. The first day we listened to Jim Weiss about The First People of Australia, and answered review questions. The second day we listened to The Long Journey of the Maori and did the coloring page. Boy also narrated and completed the mapwork. The third day we cuddled up to read the encyclopedia together, and both kids did fun activities with Daddy - they made boomerangs and Daddy painted the kids with Maori designs using red Halloween make-up. Although normally they're in black, we ran out of black paint during Halloween! With the brush, the designs came out nice! The kids are pictured on the top assuming the Maori warrior intimidation posture, complete with tongues out. They had a blast. On day 4, we read Peoples of the World to see real Aboriginals, Maori, and read a bit more about them from another perspective. Then we went on the computer and listened to the didgeridoo being played in different ways, and saw the Maoris dance.

MATHEMATICS
On days 1 and 2, Boy worked diligently on two Math Mammoth review worksheets. On days 3 and 4, Boy did more drill on the computer. On the same fourth day, Boy took the 1B Test Ch. 4, and he did well.

GEOGRAPHY

We read about the compass, and as Boy had experience with using a compass and knowing how it worked, we didn't build our own yet again.

NATURAL SCIENCE
On day 1 we read another section about wildflowers in Nature Smart, and watched a Happy Scientist video. On day 2 Boy read about four wildflowers and stuck the stickers corresponding to each wildflower. He has an understanding that wildflowers grow at different times of year, and I notice when we go on walks or even drives, he notices many more flowers, their shapes and colors.

SPELLING
On day 2 Boy worked on Lesson 9, pages 40 and 41, in Spectrum Spelling. On day 3 he did pages 41 and 42, and page 43 on day 4, where he wrote a few sentences.

THEOLOGY
In Theology, I read Jacob and Esau Friends Again. Boy really liked the fact that the brothers made up. By this time Joseph had already been born, and as Boy is very familiar with the story of Joseph, he's excited to see the history behind his birth.

POETRY
Every day, either I read aloud or Boy read the poem "Thursday" by Edna St. Vincent Millay.

SPANISH
In the span of three days, the kids both watched Muzzy's Vocabulary DVD, listened to the song CD, and played the interactive games.

PICTURE STUDY
This week we learned more about Giotto di Bondone, and observed closely parts of his fresco of St. Francis of Assisi.

COMPOSER STUDY
We keep reading about Tchaikovsky, and learned that he smuggled the newly invented celesta, which was an instrument like a small piano that produced a beautiful bell-like sound. We were excited to know that that is the instrument used in Diva's favorite classical piece, and a Tchaikovsky favorite, "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy." We listened to it again, Diva danced to it, and wondered in its magical sound. Boy enjoys Mike Venezia's cartoons and retains much.

ART
Continuing with Drawing With Children, the kids painted fishes.

2010-11-21T14:48:00.000-05:00

WEEKLY REPORT - Week 9 - November 1-5, 2010

I was so busy this week. Diva had a play she was in, which required hours sitting in rehearsal. She didn't have a speaking part, but had to simply get dressed in costume and look cute. At 3, she pulled it off :) She and the other little girl had a blast, and at the end Diva didn't want to get off the stage!

Boy was excited this week, as we discussed Korea in History, and he loves tae kwon do. As a result of learning taekwondo, he counts to ten in Korean, and learns the blocks in this language as well.

ENGLISH
We did some good copywork this week in PLL, and Boy did a good job filling in the correct answers as he was copying. He doesn't balk at the work, as I give him 2 or 3 sentences at a time. He gets to work on penmanship as well. Copywork and dictation are the strengths of this program, and I like for Boy, as he's 7, to have a good, yet gentle, introduction to grammar.

PHONICS
Lessons 20 and 21 of Tanglewood Phonics were covered this week, in which I did a lot of clear enunciation as we sounded out those phonemes.

READING

On Monday, Boy read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight from Mary Pope Osborne's Favorite Medieval Tales. He thoroughly enjoyed the story, and at 7, he's not the least bit bothered by the fact that Sir Gawain cut the Green Knight's head off. Especially as the Green Knight reattached it.

On Tuesday, it was back to Tales of King Arthur. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Boy read The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks, a Japanese story that matched our History studies.

LITERATURE
We are nearing the end of Pinocchio. I read aloud to him Chapters 29 through 33. Diva sometimes joins us, but she's more inclined to do her own thing.

HISTORY
SOTW Ch. 9 was East of China this week. We first learned about the Yamato Dynasty in Japan, and Boy did the review questions. The second day Boy did the coloring page and watched an amazing program on origami on Netflix with Daddy. The third day we listened to Three countries: China, Korea, Japan, and discussed the interactions between each. Boy also did the mapwork. The fourth day we read the encyclopedia on medieval China and Japan.

MATHEMATICS
Math Mammoth 1B: Place value, pages 35 and 36. We did very few pages this week, as I wanted Boy to really grasp and practice place value. The first two days he completed two busy worksheets, and the rest of the week he got the drill and practice he needed through the computer games Math Mammoth has listed. They are free online games! I notice Boy not only enjoys them, but gets some good practice too.

NATURAL SCIENCE
On day 1 we watched a Happy Scientist video related to flowers, put some wildflower stickers in his book and learned about two new wildflowers. On the second day I read him the Kingfisher Young Discoverers Book on Flowers, Trees, and Fruits and Boy played the Eye Spy on this page. The rest of the week we didn't do anything else for Natural Science, as frankly, being 26 weeks pregnant, I was too tired.

SPELLING
We did our required three pages in Spectrum Spelling Grade 2. Ho, hum. Boring. I'm not crazy about workbooks. Hopefully it's not just busywork and he'll remember these words a few months from now.

THEOLOGY
I read to him from the Bible again (365 Children's Bible Stories), this time the story of Jacob's Strange Wrestling Match.

POETRY
We read two poems this week: God's World, which is Edna St. Vincent Millay's homage to God and His beautiful world. The other was Beyond the Great Mountains, a gorgeously illustrated book about China, which included a pretty poem.

SPANISH
On the second day Boy did copywork in Spanish - that's it.

PICTURE STUDY
We continue looking at paintings of Giotto and learning about his life and times. Picture Study is one of Boy's favorite subjects.

COMPOSER STUDY
We were reading about Tchaikovsky, learning about the mysterious benefactor whom he dedicated one of his pieces to.

ART
More Drawing With Children exercises for the kids to practice.

2010-11-10T10:41:00.000-05:00

2010-11-03T11:09:00.001-04:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-01T13:37:00.001-04:00

Change of Names

Since I'm pregnant with another daughter, I'm not going to be referring to my children as Son and Daughter anymore. I've decided (at least for the time being -- hehe) to refer to my three children as follows:

Boy

Diva

BG, or Baby Girl

If anything changes, I will surely try and let you know. Now some time today or tomorrow off to upload those Halloween pictures!

2010-10-29T20:32:00.000-04:00

WEEKLY REPORT - Week 8 - October 25-29 Happy Halloween!

We only did four days of school this week, as it was Husband's birthday on Wednesday. It was fun to be able to give him all of us for the whole day. Almost the whole day, that is, as the kids still had taekwondo and ballet. Daughter 1 had a Halloween party at her ballet class, and Husband didn't want her to miss it. She had so much fun. Son is practicing for his yellow belt test coming up soon, so missing class would have been detrimental to him as well.

ENGLISH
We did themed Halloween word search and a word scramble printed off Enchanted Learning. Son enjoyed himself as well as learning inadvertently how to spell Halloween words like skull, pumpkin, ghost, etc. On Friday we did a lesson in PLL where he had to explain, in correct English, how to take care of pets.

PHONICS
We covered Lessons 18 and 19 in Tanglewood Phonics review.

READING
Tales of King Arthur continues as thrilling as ever, getting darker as Morgan Le Fay carries out her evil plan to have Arthur killed by his own sword. It's a challenging read for Son, but the plot is so exciting he hardly notices. He reads it aloud while I explain vocabulary pertinent to the story, but otherwise he's improving greatly. There are some big words in there for him! We started on page 67, and ended at page 79 this week.

LITERATURE
Instead of Pinocchio, we read The Legend of Saint Nicholas by Demi this week. We revisited the Byzantine Empire as well as explored the legends that have immortalized St. Nicholas into the Sinterklaas we cherish and celebrate each December 5-6. Even though I've been putting out my shoe for gifts for as long as I remember, I didn't know exactly how the legend came to be. The book was very interesting. Some of it was over Son's head (I had to explain what patron saint was even though we're Roman Catholic), but the beautiful drawings managed to hold Son's interest, especially the relevance.

HISTORY
We went to Early Medieval China this time, where we explored the Great Dynasties (Chapter 8 of SOTW2), specifically the Sui and the Tang Dynasties. Son was fascinated that gunpowder was accidentally discovered by Chinese scientists attempting to make gold. This is what he narrated. It's interesting what children take from the story. Son really likes narrating now. He even has titles for his narrations. I would like to include some of his narrations here when I get the chance. He also colored the Tang warrior page and did the mapwork.

MATHEMATICS
Not Son's favorite subject, as he has to think. I like it, as he has to think. Still practicing place value, albeit in more subtle ways, number charts and patterns, from p. 29-34 Math Mammoth 1B. He has these lightbulb moments where he sees the big picture. I like this program. It is everything I was looking for in Asian Math, except that it's a heck of a lot easier for me to teach. In addition, Son is learning gradually to take control of his own education as the directions are written to him.

NATURAL SCIENCE
Continuing with our theme of wildflowers, we did the experiment about insects and colors as mentioned in Kingfisher's Young Discoverers' Flowers, Trees, and Fruits. I cut out four squares out of cardboard, then four squares out of colored construction paper: one blue, one white, one yellow, and one red. Then I let Son and Daughter glue the construction paper squares onto the cardboard pieces. I helped Daughter fill empty bottle caps with sugar solution from a dropper. Son was able to do it himself. We placed each filled bottle cap on each colored square, and we set the squares on the outside porch to observe. We observed that the ants (the only insects we saw) went for the white one first, to our surprise, then the blue one, the yellow one, and the red one last. We think we're going to repeat the experiment and try this in another location, perhaps the backyard. Son also drew the parts of a flower (including stamen and stygma), and we went on a Nature Walk to find pink flowers. He sketched it in his sketchbook (as did Daughter in hers), and we identified the specimens we found as Blackbead (ubiquitous in the Florida Keys), but we could not find the second one, which was extremely tiny. It may not be pink after all. I suspect it's in the red/orange family, to be explored later. We found no other pink wildflowers. Son found one, but it was from the purple family from last week. We also were witness to the pollination process, I believe it was a cicada that was flying from one Blackbead to the other. Blackbead has a pleasant fragrance, but we found the plumeria (not a wildflower, or native if I'm not mistaken), has a beautiful fragrance. I do love plumeria, or frangipani, as it's more commonly called here. It reminds me of leis in the Hawaiian islands.

SPELLING
Son spelled short 'e' words this week, and completed his lesson in Spectrum Spelling. No dictation this week.

THEOLOGY
We read aloud The Trickster Tricked, as poor Jacob was tricked into working seven years to only marry Leah instead of his beloved Rachel. He still had to work another seven to marry Rachel! At least he became rich and successful, and Son was excited to learn of Joseph's birth. Rachel had finally conceived a son.

POETRY
Son finally recited Afternoon on a Hill by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Two weeks in the making, but Son got it down pat. This is the longest poem he's ever memorized. Three four-line stanzas.

SPANISH
Son watched Muzzy, copied a two sentences from the Muzzy Storybook and decided to copy "Me gusta Ben 10" as well, which means "I like Ben 10" (his favorite TV show that he only watches on DVD).

PICTURE STUDY
We continued reading about Giotto's life.

COMPOSER STUDY
In reading about Tchaikosvky, we find out how he incorporated folk songs into his music, and although he wasn't the only one to do it, that he had a flair of doing so.

ART
In keeping with the Drawing with Children, the children drew horses this time, not an easy feat and not bad first tries. Afterward, they wanted to do their respective heroes: Son drew Humongosaur (from Ben 10, what else? ;)), Daughter drew a princess.

2010-10-24T22:17:00.000-04:00

WEEKLY REPORT - Week 7 - October 18-22, 2010

Another busy week. Son has tae kwon do three times a week, Cub Scouts once a week, piano once a week, and religious education once a week. He wants to do basketball, but frankly, I think that's too much. Daughter A (formerly just Daughter, but I'm expecting another one :)) is also in ballet and swimming right now, which keeps me driving all week long. School went smoothly, as it's been going.

ENGLISH

Son did an oral reproduction of PLL's Lesson 7, which helped him internalize correct grammar and pauses and oral communication. In Lesson 8 he worked on his observation skills and communicating orally in a clear, correct way.

PHONICS

In Phonics we reviewed Lessons 16 and 17 of Tanglewood's Phonics Lessons.

READING

This week Son read Muhammed by Demi on the first day and told me about it, then he continued reading King Arthur's Tales aloud until Friday, when he read aloud The Story of Saint Patrick, which he enjoyed very much. It was a review of our History, but also an elaboration.

LITERATURE

The first day I read Pinocchio aloud, then the remaining days I read Marguerite Makes A Book aloud, which is a wonderful book about the art of illumination and paints a great picture of life in the Middle Ages. This topic also reviews and expands on our History lessons on monks and their painstaking art of creating books. I learned a lot too! I didn't know that beautiful medieval blue came from crushed lapis lazuli and that the green was from fresh parsley. We haven't done it yet, but we thought it would be cool to make green from egg white and fresh parsley for Daddy (aka the artist).

HISTORY

This week we continued into our Islamic studies and listened to Jim Weiss' rendition of SOTW: Volume 2, Chapter 7, telling us about Mohammed conquering Mecca. Son thought it was dishonest of Mohammed to rob the Mecca caravans just so Medina could have food. I agreed. Islam then becomes an empire after Mohammed dies, and Abu Bakr takes over, settling in the beautiful city of Baghdad. Baghdad becomes the capital of the Islamic Empire. We played the Mecca game, in which Son answered questions and Husband learnt a bit more than he already knew, Son did the map work and was thrilled when he heard Sinbad in the Valley of the Snakes. He also did some copywork on this chapter.

MATHEMATICS

On Monday, I gave him the Chapter 1 Test. He passed, missing only two out of more sloppiness than comprehension. I can see he understands the material, and I'm pleased with Math Mammoth. We continued practicing Place Value in 1B, and he managed to finish two pages in one day on Friday.

NATURAL SCIENCE

We had a blast this week! We started our topical studies after 6 weeks of BFSU, and the new topic is Wildflowers. I read to him from North American Wildlife, we explored the definition of wildflowers in discussion, Usborne Science Encyclopedia and copywork, and reviewed the Kingfisher's Young Discoverers' Series Flowers, Fruits and Trees about pollination. I do like this series very much for its clear and concise presentation of topics. By far the best part was going out on a nature walk and enjoying the sights and sounds of the neighborhood. It's October so not quite as hot as in the Summer, but still very warm. We were in search of blue or purple wildflowers. We finally found some way back, and the kids were so happy to put the flowers in their backpack. I was exhausted afterwards, but it was worth it. We got home, identified the flowers in the book Florida Keys Wildflowers, and sketched the flowers in our sketchbooks. Son has gotten a lot better after his drawing lessons with Husband, and the best part is that he enjoys drawing more now too. Next week we're looking for other color flowers!

SPELLING

This week Son worked on short "u" words in Spectrum Spelling Grade 2. On Thursday I gave him a test, and he scored 100%. We also practice Spelling during English, while doing Primary Language Lessons, especially during dictation.

THEOLOGY

I read "Jacob Has a Dream" from the 365 Bible aloud to Son, as we continue to build up the history behind Joseph. We are listening to "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", and singing to it, so it's perfect to relate our studies to that.

GEOGRAPHY

We discussed contour lines and how they denote height of hills and mountains.

MUSIC/COMPOSER STUDY

We continued reading about Tchaikovsky and how the Russian winters, with their cold but stark beauty, inspired him to compose Winter Dreams. We listened to it and Son did indeed visualize wintry scenes, including ice skaters. I felt cold :)

ART/PICTURE STUDY

We continued reading about Giotto and how tough it was to be an apprentice in Florence, Italy. He not only had to wash the floors, but clean up all the mess after the masters painted. He was Cimabue's apprentice.

ART/DRAWING

The kids practiced drawing parrots using their new-found skills in line drawing.

HEALTH & SAFETY

We discussed the benefits of fresh air and how your blood, heart and lungs need that fresh oxygen to have your body work at optimum levels.

POETRY

Son worked all week memorizing "Afternoon on a Hill" by Edna St. Vincent Millay. It's a beautiful poem about the wonder of nature on lovely afternoon.

SPANISH

The kids watched more Muzzy and practiced some vocabulary and words I'd written down on the board.

2010-10-24T21:30:00.001-04:00

WEEKLY REPORT - Week 6 - October 11-15, 2010

This week it was Columbus Day week. The first day, Monday October 11, it was a holiday for most of the country, but we chugged along as we learned about Christopher Columbus. This way we can take off whenever one of us gets sick, there are extenuating circumstances, etc. Keeps us well on schedule.

ENGLISH

Son worked on dictation on page 6 of PLL, which took all week. It was long, but I broke it up into three pieces. He learned spelling in the process. He seems to like the challenge.

PHONICS

Lessons 13 and 14 orally together. I like the connections he makes while reviewing phonics, especially when it comes to spelling.

READING

Using Living Books Curriculum's excellent Columbus Day Holiday helper, on Monday he read aloud James Baldwin's Columbus And The Egg, a very short story that helped illustrate Christopher Columbus' character. On the remaining days we continued with King Arthur's Tales, and wallowed in the world of knights, spells, and chivalry.

LITERATURE

For read-alouds, I used the Holiday Helper's The Mutiny, by A. De Lamartine on Monday, which made us feel as though we were right there with Columbus on his exciting and suspenseful journey that almost broke out into mutiny. The remaining days we went back to Pinocchio, who, to our dismay, still hasn't mastered the art of listening and obeying.

HISTORY

SOTW Chapter 6, The Rise of Islam. We discussed Mohammed and his vision in the cave, Son narrated, colored a page of a Bedouin, and did the Five Pillars of Islam activity.

MATH

We're on Math Mammoth 1B now, and focusing on Place Value. Son worked on sheets p. 18-24. He kept practicing first with his abacus, then without. He's got a good grasp of it. Mental note: more of the computer games. Why is this so hard for me to remember?

NATURAL SCIENCE

This week, using BFSU, we discussed Vertebrates and Invertebrates, and arthropods. Son looked up crabs (arthropods) and animals with no skeletons (worms) in his Kingfisher's Animal Encyclopedia.

SPELLING

Keep on going with Spectrum Spelling. We reviewed Lessons 1-5 this week, and in the process refreshed Son's memory. I'm not sure this program is working, but I'm trying it out for a few months to see. This is the only curriculum choice I'm not thrilled about.

ART

We did Picture Studies of Vve Turgis' and others' paintings, and Son pointed out Columbus, Queen Isabella, and King Ferdinand. I really like the selections by Living Books Curriculum.

MUSIC

We keep reading about Tchaikovsky and getting a good picture of the man behind the music.

POETRY

In Poetry, I just read him and we both enjoyed Holiday Helper's poems about Columbus: Columbus and The Things That Haven't Been Done Before was one that we liked.

THEOLOGY

I read Jacob and Rebekah tricked Isaac and Jacob Has to Flee from the 365 Children's Bible Stories. Son was shocked that Jacob had to leave home like that, and how he tricked his father.

GEOGRAPHY

Hills, mountains and reliefs were part of our geography studies this week in Maps and Mapping.

HEALTH & SAFETY

Husband showed and discussed food-borne illnesses and raw meat bacteria, and how to take precautions while cooking meats. Son realized there was more to cooking, and how we as adults had to be careful in the kitchen.

SPANISH

Son copied a line from the Muzzy storybook, and and watched the Muzzy video to practice his Spanish. I also talk to him and ask him questions in Spanish, and reviewed vocabulary.

COPYWORK

Besides Spanish, using the Holiday Helper again, Son copied some neat passages from Columbus' own journal. Husband was able to chime in and say that the Spanish kept meticulous diaries on their voyages too. Columbus was Italian, but he was an admiral on a Spanish fleet.

2010-10-14T22:47:00.000-04:00

WEEKLY REPORT - WEEK 5 - October 4-8, 2010

Week 5 I had to have my prenatal appointment in the middle of the week, but Husband came to the rescue! He not only watched the kids for me while I went, but taught them as well. I left detailed instructions. My due diligence in planning out lessons and experience the previous month have helped me to be basically open and go when it comes to my little homeschool. I'm very proud of the fact that Husband was able to pick up where I left off. Son liked it very much, and of course, as Dad is a novelty, he told me he preferred Dad to me as teacher. Oh well :)

ENGLISH
Lesson 7 in PLL was memorization, which Son somehow managed, but not as thoroughly as I'd like. He has many selections to memorize as it is. He would need to repeat it many times, and not just during the three times a week we have the lessons.

PHONICS
Reviewing Tanglewood Phonics, we covered ang, ong, ing and "qu" sounds. I emphasize to Son that knowing the sounds help in Spelling as well.

READING
Son really enjoys Tales of King Arthur, and I'm right there with him. I've never read the stories before, so I'm equally surprised and fascinated. I really do try not to read ahead. His vocabulary is increasing, and his ability in reading aloud is improving, too. We also discuss, and I geto to assess reading comprehension, all on the comfort of our couch.

LITERATURE
Pinocchio is such a rascal! He keeps not listening and getting in trouble. When will he learn? Very interesting book, and many life lessons revisited for me and hopefully absorbed by Son. There's plenty of material to discuss. Since there are so many chapters, I don't anticipate finishing this book until almost the end of the following six-week period, especially if we have a few historical fiction thrown in for good measure.

HISTORY
This week we covered chapter 5, which involved the Gupta Dynasty. We learned about Chandragupta, and what a dynasty is (a family who rules one region for many years).

SPANISH We continue studying numbers, where he counts and reads the numbers. He also practiced on his Muzzy computer interactive game.

NATURAL SCIENCE BFSU's Seasonal Changes and the Earth's Orbit was our topic for this week. Since we don't have a globe yet, Husband made a makeshift globe out of a balloon, and did the activity with Son and Daughter illustrating the months of the year and how rotation affects the seasons and temperature.

ART Children continued practicing with lines. This week Son and Daughter copied apples and other shapes, using Drawing with Children's templates.

MUSIC
Peter Tchaikovsky's biography keeps on moving along with him being very sensitive and going to law school solely because his parents want him to. His true love is music, however.

POETRY Son memorized "Wild Swans". We also discussed it so he was clear on its meaning. Edna St. Vincent Millay certainly has a knack for elevating the most mundane activities into art.

GEOGRAPHY We learned about keys and legends of maps in Maps and Mapping. Son already knew a little about this since he was used to helping us read maps at theme parks and doing the map activities in SOTW during History.

HEALTH & SAFETY This week Husband explained to him the importance of first aid and how to clean and dress a wound.

COPYWORK Copywork consisted of lines of poems and a thank you card to our Aunt Chris.

2010-10-04T20:53:00.000-04:00

WEEKLY REPORT - WEEK 4 - September 27 - October 1, 2010

Another good week. We are a tad behind in History (one SOTW chapter section), but I know we will make it up in a week or two. We missed last Tuesday in Week 3, but we're none the worse for it.

READING

Even though Tales of King Arthur (adapted by Felicity Brooks) is challenging for Son, the stories are so interesting that he perseveres. I'm right next to him as he reads aloud and learns the more elevated vocubulary. This is one of the books that Charlotte Mason would have said, "lifts you up by your boot straps". I'm glad to see Son working his way through a more difficult book without complaining. We finished the week with the chapter The Gathering of Knights, where the Round Table was introduced. I can't wait to read what happens next!

PENMANSHIP

I'm satisfied to report Son has been caring a bit more about his penmanship, and it shows in his overall work. I've been pleased with how he has risen to the challenge of significantly more writing this year. I like that in Getty-Dubay he does self-checking; it makes him feel responsible for his work.

COPYWORK

His penmanship is much improved, and he's faster than before. I made a mental note to have him double check his work after he's done, as sometimes he misses a letter here and there. He's been paying close attention to his punctuation, which I'm delighted with. It works much better when the copywork is either directly related to his work (e.g. the attributes of matter, to help him remember), his current poetry, or a chosen passage from literature or a line or two from one of our current poet's poems.

It was also a brilliant idea (thank you, Sue!) to get one of those composition books with primary lines and the top part of the page blank for the child to draw a picture. Son is proud of his copybook and almost always sketches a picture on the top too.

MATHEMATICS

Math Mammoth, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.. The week before we had taken a short detour to review money. This week we're back with MM 1B and Son is learning place values. We played quite a bit with the abacus, and it made math not such a chore for Son. He sees it really easily on the abacus, but needs practice on the worksheets. I just think it's a lack of confidence. He's certainly doing great, and I'm glad to see the variety of problems and not just row after row of the same, which was boring for him (MCP anyone?).

ENGLISH

Dictation is going well, and I hope Son remembers the words after he's visualized them before I erased them on the board. We're doing the Charlotte Mason way of dictation, and I like the hidden gems in its simplicity.

PHONICS

Reviewing Tanglewood Phonics -- we covered Lessons 7 and 8 this week. Short and long vowels, ch, sh, th.

NATURAL SCIENCE

BFSU is another program I am enjoying to teach, and it jives well with the relational way in which Son learns best. This week we did C-4 Concepts of Energy III, and Son learned the attributes of energy, and the difference between matter and energy. We also learned that the whole universe is composed of either matter or energy. To help him cement the facts, I had him do copywork on the attributes of matter.

HISTORY

On Monday we finished the previous chapter, Chapter 3 of SOTW2, Christianity Comes to Britain. The last section was Writing Books by Hand. Unfortunately, the ILL book, Marguerite Makes a Book, hadn't come in (still hasn't!), but I believe it's fresh enough in his memory that it will be useful by the time it comes. It looks like a charming book. Can't wait to dig into it. The rest of the week we covered Chapter 4, which is The Byzantine Empire. Son took a real interest in the art and times of the Eastern Roman Empire, and got really excited about Empress Theodora and her courage in saving her husband Justinian's throne. History is his favorite subject, but I am delighted the little man is volunteering for narrations and is enthusiastic about me recording them on the computer!

SPELLING

We have Spelling Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. On Tuesday I taught him what alphabetical order was, and we did a homemade excercise on that. Son is able to alphabetize with the first and second letters. Mental note: review once every 6 weeks. We also did Spectrum Spelling Lesson 4. It takes Son usually all three days to finish it, as there are four pages per lesson.

LITERATURE

Ah, Pinocchio and his faulty reasoning. I read aloud chapters 15 through 19. We both find it enjoyable, if not a bit frustrating that the wooden puppet doesn't see the mistakes he's about to make (but we do!). I like the discussions that come up. We're going to have nice memories of this book.

GEOGRAPHY

After having discussed map scales and I showed Son how and why scaling is used, Husband also jumped on the bandwagon and explained his side of things and did the activity in Maps and Mapping, which was basically drawing a book on a smaller scale.

POETRY

The whole week we read Edna St. Vincent Millay's bio to understand the person better. We read an excerpt of the poem Renascence (one of her most famous poems), and Ebb.

PICTURE STUDY

We continued reading about the life and times of Giotto. Son was very interested in "The Flight to Egypt", a painting about Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus fleeing to Egypt with circles on their heads (proclaiming they are holy/saintly). Son liked this painting very much, but he was a bit sad that the fresco showed cracking and peeling. I informed him that painting was more than 700 years old! He spontaneously replied he wanted to copy it so everyone could see it. I arranged this with Husband.

BIBLE

We reviewed the Ten Commandments. He remembered 6 out of 10 and could explain what they meant. We're revisiting when covering Moses.

COMPOSER STUDY

We're reading about Tchaikovsky. Son is able to name the three famous Tchaikovsky ballets: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker. He did see two of those - on TV and live.

HEALTH & SAFETY

We discussed good posture and how it affects your growth and could cause pain later on if our bodies are consistently not used correctly. I was able to use myself as an example, as I'm five months pregnant and visiting a chiropractor because of back pain related to carrying children in my arms on one side. My left foot was one inch longer than my right! Talk about being misaligned. He still doesn't like it, but makes an attempt at sitting up straighter on his chair and using the stool I provided him so his feet don't dangle when he writes at his desk.

SPANISH

We orally reviewed numbers in Spanish, and Son played Muzzy on the computer.

ART

Husband continued with Drawing With Children. The children are both able to see the elements of drawing everywhere, and were able to draw some birds using their knowledge. I am impressed. I had never seen Son draw birds that way. He was really looking at their shapes/lines.

2010-10-01T10:17:00.000-04:00

WEEKLY REPORT - WEEK 3, September 20-24, 2010

I'm a bit behind in my posting, but here's Week 3.

ENGLISH

We did Lessons 4-6, and Son, to my surprise, really enjoyed dictation. He liked the challenge of memorizing the spelling of the words, then writing the sentence including these words on his own. We use the Charlotte Mason method of dictation. He's doing well, especially considering it was his first ever try at doing this! Very happy with our gentle yet effective this method looks to be.

PHONICS

We reviewed Lesson 5 and 6 orally. We're reviewing Tanglewood Phonics, which is a free program you can download at the Tanglewoodeducation.com site.

READING

He finished reading Fantastic Mr. Fox the first day of this week, and a few days later we all watched the movie featuring George Clooney and Meryl Streep as the voices of the Mr. and Mrs. Fox. The only way I can describe this movie is quirky and cute. Our youngest enjoyed it the most. We all did, but she was riveted. Son contrasted the book and the film, and found that the original story was simple, as they added a lot to the movie.

LITERATURE

Chapters 11 through 14 this week. Son looks forward to Pinocchio every day, and I find myself intrigued as well. It's tempting to read ahead, but I want to share in the experience with him. The story has many twists and turns, which keeps him on the edge of his couch seat.

HISTORY

SOTW Ch. 3, Christianity Comes to Britain. We had so much fun this week, and Son really understands monks and monasteries. I have a much deeper understanding as well, and their role in recording and preserving the literary treasures. Husband and Son made a cross out of foam and tied it with a simple rope for him to wear around his neck, and we visited the Usborne Quicklinks (corresponding Internet pages to the Usborne World History Encyclopedia) and delved rather deeply into monastic daily life. We listened to Gregorian chants, saw ruins of old monasteries and monasteries still functioning today. He marveled at how strict their lives were (at least for the first few hundred years), and in took a quiz testing his knowledge. He learned about Gregory and the pretty children, and how Gregory told Augustine to spread the news of Christianity to all the Angles in Britain. I find it interesting how quickly and easily the Anglo Saxons converted to Christianity from paganism.

MATH

This week took a short break from Math Mammoth (after regular days), and focused on money. I printed off pages from Enchanted Learning and we reviewed pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters, and how to count and add them.

NATURAL SCIENCE

The focus this week was on human bones and the skeleton. For us it was a review, as we studied the Human Body last year. We revisited the joints, how they move and how in turn muscles move them. After reading his Kingfisher Human Body encyclopedia (four pages), Son rebuilt our miniature human skeleton and spent quite some time manipulating it.

SPELLING

Finished the writing part of Lesson 2, then went on to do all of Lesson 3. New set of words. This reminds me, I'm going to quiz him on both Lesson 3 and Lesson 4 next week.

THEOLOGY

We discussed the other five commandments: do not worship other gods, do not say God's name in vain, etc. It seemed pretty self-explanatory and easier to understand for Son than the last five commands.

GEOGRAPHY

I read Maps and Mapping Chapter 2 to Son, and he was able to give good directions from our house to Grandma's house and Publix (the local supermarket).

HEALTH & SAFETY

We discussed preventing accidents, e.g. seeing a toy on a flight of stairs (removing it), seeing a baby playing with something she can choke with, etc.

PICTURE STUDY

We are reading from Getting To Know The World's Greatest Artists, Giotto. We examined typical figures from the medieval times, which looked like flat cut-outs with mysterious eyes, without any continuation or backgrounds. We read that Giotto was the first painter to change all that.

ART

This week the kids practiced the five elements of drawing. Daughter participates in art as the program is for 3-9

POETRY

We continued with the biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay, and read about her childhood, and how her mother Cora made sure she had plenty of books and time to write her poetry. She started writing poetry at five! What a talented lady.

COPYWORK

This week Son copied from three of Millay's poems, a fact about bones, and History (about Augustine and the other monks to came to settle in Britain).

SINGING

We actually skipped this this week. We were thrown off by the change in plans, when Daughter had swimming lessons that Friday.

2010-09-18T21:34:00.000-04:00

Weekly Report (September 13-17)

This week has been good too! I feel like after two years and now going into our third year, we have arrived. We feel a lot more comfortable now with our routine, and the resources we use match both teacher and student.

ENGLISH

We did Lessons 2-4, and Son learned why and when we use "is" and "are". He also memorized the first part of a longer poem in PLL. This could take a while, as there are two relatively long stanzas.

PHONICS

We reviewed Lesson 2-4 orally. We're using Tanglewood Phonics, which two years ago gave him a good foundation for how to read, and now is helping him to spell.

READING

He read 9 chapters of Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl this week! The chapters are very short, he says, only two pages for a few of them. He enjoys this book. Maybe I could convince him to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory either this year or the next. He saw a clip from the movie (the one with the big kid being sucked into the chocolate tube), and he was traumatized, ha.

LITERATURE

Chapters 6 through 10 this week. Son looks forward to my reading aloud to him every day. I'm so glad I waited until this year to read Pinocchio to him. He is mature enough to see the consequences of Pinocchio's actions, and not to be fazed by some violence and death (e.g. reality of life).

HISTORY

SOTW Ch. 2, The Early Days of Britain. Son greatly enjoyed this chapter, and narrated Craith's encounter with the giant with amazing detail - almost one and a half pages long! We read the the Usborne History Encyclopedia's section on the Celts, and he narrated the story of Beowulf as well. I really like the book Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborne, which has an age-appropriate retelling of Beowulf.

MATH

More of fewer and how many more. Math Mammoth offers good explanations.

NATURAL SCIENCE

The focus this week was on mixtures, and coming to the conclusion that the air around us is a mixture of three gases: oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. We watched a video on the candle burning experiment and how it extinguishes with the release of carbon dioxide from baking soda and vinegar. On The Happy Scientist's video we watched online, putting a glass over the burning candle also extinguishes the flame eventually. We also discussed chemical reactions, and how burning is a chemical reaction. This is all Lesson A-7 in BFSU.

SPELLING

We do Spelling three times a week, and the first day Son passed the quiz of the word list in Spectrum Spelling's (Grade 2) Lesson 1. We were going to do Spelling the CM (Charlotte Mason) way, but it either was not getting done, or it was too time-consuming for me. Then I realized that Spelling the CM way was mainly through dictation, which didn't start formally until third grade, or as we like to call it, Third Year. I opted to do Spectrum Spelling, which is much easier and less time-consuming for me, and leave dictation until next year (start a bit in PLL, but not as a Spelling lesson perse. Still trying to decide about that.)

THEOLOGY

Using 365 Bible Stories, we focused on The Ten Commandments, especially: Do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not covet, do not kill, do not tell lies about other people.

GEOGRAPHY

Son read Maps and Mapping Chapter 1, and did the activity.

HEALTH & SAFETY

We discussed how to be safe in the garden, e.g. to never try to put any parts of plants in your mouth before asking your parents.

PICTURE STUDY

We are still reading from Getting To Know The World's Greatest Artists, Giotto. We haven't gotten to the actual life and works of Giotto yet, but the history and environment of his time. Son loves it, as it incidentally relates to our former and current history studies.

ART

Using Drawing With Children, and me as participant, Husband taught us the five elements of drawing as I practiced my elements.

POETRY

Son memorized Second Fig by Edna St. Vincent Millay, and recited it to us on Saturday. It's a two line poem, but he recited it very well, and using enunciation. No stuttering.

COPYWORK

Son copied a prayer he's learning for Religious Education as well as the poem Second Fig.

SINGING

We practiced "Happy Birthday" several times as we were going to a birthday party that Friday night.

2010-09-11T18:24:00.000-04:00

Weekly Report - First Week of Second Year!

September 6-10, 2010

It's funny, this year that I've been impeded by a dozen factors, including, but not limited to:

- nausea in my pregnancy

- severe indigestion for a week

- new puppy

- son's birthday party

- disorganized, messy house

my week has been has been the best ever so far! I have just worked consistently maybe an hour here or there, but didn't get done on as many things as I've hoped for. And voila! We're off to a wonderful start. Son is enthusiastic about his year, and it shows. He is doing a great job printing his letters and focusing on his work. I'm so thrilled, and crossing my fingers he will keep this up.

So much to do, so little time. I still have to update my materials on this page, let you know about my schedule, and post photos of last year's recap. I really want to do this, I swear :)

This week we have done:

ENGLISH (new lesson)

We're using Primary Language Lessons by Emma Serl and the Teacher's Guide. So far we've done Lesson 1, Picture Study on squirrels, and Lesson 2, copywork of a passage. Turns out the passage was too long, and I'm having Son finish it next week. It's okay. He took 45 minutes to write a collection of sentences! However, they are very neat. He did his best.

SPELLING (new lesson)

Using Spectrum Spelling Grade 2, we finished Lesson 1. However, I am not impressed so far. I'm giving it a month, and if I still don't think it suits us, I will go back to Natural Speller. The word lists are more challenging, but I was worried I wasn't going to follow through with setting up my own lessons. We'll see how it goes.

MATH

We're finishing Math Mammoth 1A. Son is reviewing concepts in first grade he wasn't fluent with. This week we covered Fact Families and More and Fewer. He's getting them much better now. I like how MM talks directly to him. The computer games are fun, too, although this week we just did the worksheets.

POETRY

We read two poems to do on Labor Day, one titled "Idleness and Mischief" and the other "I Meant To Do My Work Today". The rest of the week he memorized "First Fig" by Edna St. Vincent Millay. We still haven't had an official poetry recital and recorded it. We had a busy week. Tomorrow.

COPYWORK

Son worked a lot on his writing this week. I'm impressed by his neat penmanship, but I know he needs to improve his speed. He picked his own copywork from the Labor Day choices for the week, and "First Fig" he copied as well. He also copied his last name.

SINGING (new lesson)

On Friday I showed him the notes on the piano and how we sing high and low with the low and high Cs. Then we sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star together and worked on tone.

HISTORY

We started Story of the World: The Middle Ages! We are both excited. Son can't wait to learn about knights, castles and dragons. Week 1 was reviewing the fall of Rome and its consequences. We all enjoyed the book Rome Antics by David Macaulay.

ART

Husband taught the first lesson from Drawing With Children, which was more of an assessment and shape recognition exercise. Both kids participated, and did well. I got invited to participate in next week's exercise as well -- oh goody!

PICTURE STUDY

We studied and discussed the painting "Work" by Ford Madox Brown. Son was indignant at the inequality in classes in society.

SPANISH

We focused on conjugations. We did Yo soy, Tu eres, El es. I presented the lesson, Son practiced saying them, we practiced using them, he played Muzzy on the computer to practice them again, and he filled out a Muzzy worksheet. We'll keep using those throughout the year.

NATURAL SCIENCE

Time and The Earth's Turning was fun for both of us. We traced our shadows at 2:15, then at 5:25 and Son noted the difference and explained why. We also watched The Happy Scientist clips to expand on the lesson and Son explained what he learned orally and wrote in his notebook.

PENMANSHIP

Son is doing excellent in shaping his letters. The first exercise in Book C was just an assessment. Special time needs to be devoted to d, y, g and the top length of letters such as h and k.

What didn't we complete? Composer Study and Geography, as we started on Labor Day and instead of following our regular schedule, we did a special unit on this holiday generously donated by Sheila Carroll of Living Books Curriculum. I subscribe to her newsletters, which are always thoughtful, and her mini units fantastic. They include copywork, picture study, poems, some history and readings. She puts a lot of work into it, and gives it away. Thank you, Sheila! We had a great time doing the Labor Day helper, and we learned all about Mr. Goodyear's vulcanization of rubber.

2010-05-27T08:19:00.000-04:00

Finally Made a Decision about Math

After a few near sleepless nights, discussions with dh, reading, research and much deliberating on my part, I decided to buy Math Mammoth (MM). I got the Light Blue Series, the complete curriculum. I'm having ds review 1st grade math from now throughout the Summer. My goal is to be ready for 2A by October. By ready I mean, well-versed in the basics of addition and subtraction 1-20 and comfortable.

We got the download instead of the CD, as I could easily burn the whole program, 1A-6A, on a CD. The 20% discount on Kagi doesn't expire until June 1st. With this discount, I received a complete math curriculum from 1-6th grade for just a bit over $87! That's a steal, especially considering I can print out as many sheets as I like, and thus can use it for ds, myself and eventually dd.

Here are the benefits of this program:

- It's been described as like Singapore, but with better, simpler explanations

- MM is in worktext format, meaning the text and the workbook are in one book. No switching books back and forth

- Text is written directly to the student

- Really inexpensive at $109 for the complete download for worktexts 1A-6A

- Program includes resources such as game ideas, Internet math websites, create your own worksheets, answer keys, cumulative reviews, tests, and SoftPak for Windows, a math and sample language arts software (haven't tried it yet, I have a Mac at the moment)

- Answers the whys as well as the hows of math

- Combines conceptual math with games and drill for a three-pronged approach

-Different options to buy: download or CD, or print

- Downloads can print in color, and print is exclusively black and white to keep costs down

- The author, Maria Miller, is a Finnish born Mathematics teacher and combines Finnish and Asian math. Finland and Asia are ahead of the USA on all test scores in math (and incidentally, science, too).

- She answers questions promptly and courteously

Can you tell that I'm happy with my decision? I'm so excited about this program. I find no need for MEP as of now. Although it's free, the format is a bit confusing to ds, and as it's not colorful and has no explanations, it doesn't engage him. I have it as a back-up if or when I need more drills. However, with the worksheet generator MM provides, I may not even need that. That said, I'm using MM with Miquon. I like Miquon's discovery approach too much to drop it. I feel it enhances rather than burdens.

For the first time ds is excited about math, and actually said he likes math now! Wow! He really appreciates the explanations. He's a good reader, so Maria can talk to him. I'm right next to him, of course, and explain further.

My project on the side: As soon as I downloaded MM, I looked through it and determined I'm going to review and do the worksheets from 3A-6A to stay ahead and give myself a good foundation for algebra. I bought Foerster's Algebra. I won't get to it until a year or two from now, but at least I'll have a good grounding in my arithmetic first. I'm good at mental calculations, especially in addition and multiplication, but even I am learning some new tricks from working on MM. It's actually fun, something I hadn't thought I would hear myself say when it came to math.

I'm also reading Liping Ma's interesting book, Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics. So far I'm only on page 12, as I'm reading it carefully and try to understand everything well so I can be a good math teacher for my children.

All that said, I'm still intrigued by Japanese Math, although I have no room for it right now. I like the colorful graphics, but I don't know if I would like glossy paper. The mental math is comparable to MM anyway.. If I feel I need it down the road, I will sample it. However, I need more hand holding than Japanese Math can provide me at this time.

2010-05-26T12:29:00.001-04:00

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-12T15:31:00.000-04:00

In Praise of Story of the World Volume I: Ancient Times

I love this program. It's as simple as that. It's what ds and I look forward to every day (from Monday through Thursday that is), and it's what inspires us and motivates us. Can we have History first? his exuberant, hopeful voice echoes through the house first thing after breakfast. Of course I think to myself, save the best for last. Somehow we end up doing History in the middle, not all the way last, but not first either.

Susan Wise Bauer has written an engaging narrative for youngsters like ds who are just starting on this academic learning journey. She writes in a genial way, but that doesn't take away the serious connections, pathways and learning that take place between the lines. Furthermore, the Activity Guide is her masterpiece, where she combines quality reading lists with comprehension questions, encyclopedia pages linking to the subject, both fiction and nonfiction recommendations, mapwork activities, coloring pages, and projects that tie in and reinforce the learning. It's a complete history curriculum! I like the idea of incorporating reading, writing, researching and crafts all in one. Ds is having a blast and is engaged. We listen to the audio version, and ds follows along in the book. Next year I think he'll be ready to read on his own, but we have the audio at the ready to introduce and review.

A plus is that I am learning along with him! I loved history in high school and college, but in elementary it was so-so. To me, it was all a string of wars with no rhyme or reason. In my adulthood I realize I aim to see the big picture, the whys as well as the hows. SOTW 1 offers me this and more. More rabbit trails to explore, more literature, and a smile on my son's face. Thank you, Ms. Bauer!

2010-04-30T13:16:00.000-04:00

Weekly Reporter - Week 30 - April 26-30

This is a week where I've been more relaxed in my approach. We do get the work done, but not exactly like clockwork right after the other. I find ds is learning a lot anyway (gasp).

In History, we're listening to Chapter 30 in SOTW 1, about Ancient India. Ds colored a page of the Buddha in the Activity Guide, did the mapwork, went over the review questions, and we talked at length about the caste system. We also went online using the Usborne Quicklinks from the Internet-Linked Encyclopedia. Ds knows the symbols of the Buddha now: feet, wheel, tree with empty throne, a stupa, and a column with a lion on it. Ds just reminded me right now that another Buddhist symbol was a tower of fire. Tonight we're watching IMAX India from Netflix. I'd like him to see a scenes from the river Ganges, names after the goddess Ganga. It's sure to be stunningly beautiful, as India tends to be.

I spent the whole week obsessing about Math. Ds doesn't know his math facts forwards and backwards. In fact, I think we have quite a way to go. This is the reason I'm starting to doubt the current program I'm using -- MCP Math. I know that our supplemental program, Miquon, I'm going to make a bigger effort to sit next to him and teach, rather than just hand him a worksheet and tell him to use the rods with it. I explain until my tongue falls off (figuratively, of course) with MCP and he doesn't quite get it yet. Worse yet, he doesn't like math. Maybe it's just a maturity issue. I don't know. I'm confused, but with more research and help from the forum I'm on, I hope to make a decision I'm satisfied with before his second year starts. we backtracked, and I helped him with a few Miquon sheets, and we did one MEP sheet. It went okay. Maybe that's all I can hope for: okay. He does so well in other lessons, that I think that math stands out here.

Poetry has been intermittent here, and I don't mind. We get it done every week, but instead of every day it's been more like 2-3 days a week. We're reading Emily Dickinson's, and ds enjoys them, and is learning new vocabulary.

I enjoyed Music this week. I'd like to think ds did too. I think he did. I read from Mike Venezia's fun Discovering the World's Greatest Composers, where Mozart's opera Magic Flute was explained in some detail. I promptly requested the opera from Netflix (so many versions!), and we watched this last night. I was surprised at how interested ds was. I think it's the fantasy aspect, and the fact that he'd already had an introduction. Score!

Copywork is getting much better. Ds can write nicely, it's a matter of whether he wants to or not. Note to self: motivation needs to be a tad more subtle. I use selections from across our lessons, but I like to shake things up a bit and had him write a letter to his aunt in California last night.

Geography blends a bit into Natural Science. Ds learned about caves a few weeks ago, then the ocean, and next week it's the desert. I give him his own books to read. It's so nice that he's reading at a third grade level. I like Tanglewood Geography, it just a simple collection of 36 weeks of lesson plans that tell me what to do next, but leaves a lot of room for me to stretch out and be flexible.

Art Appreciation (Picture Study). I've hit a dead-end, as I don't know what else to do with Mary Cassatt lol. However, I asked dh to show me her paintings in his book, and he can trace one again, and study a few others.

Natural Science is going well. Our topic is weather and I've been learning right along with him. I find tornadoes and hurricanes awe-inspiring and terrifying at the same time, and concur with ds that I wouldn't want to be caught in either. We finish the six weeks with the Eyewitness Explorer: Weather DVD from Netflix. We read books on the couch, and today we spent close to an hour looking at tornado and hurricane footage on YouTube. I want to show him parts of Twister as well! I own that movie, I think it's great.

Health & Safety blended with Natural Science this week, as one topic to discuss was tornado and hurricane safety. Check! :)

Spanish is silent this week, as I contemplate what else to do for next year -- Muzzy?

Gave ds a Spelling quiz today, just telling him the words and having him write them down in a column, and he did all of them right. I'm using Natural Speller and its ideas of copying five time, writing sentences with each word, then quiz. Note to self: try to incorporate Charlotte Mason's imaging system. Will definitely do this as I move to dictation next year.

Theology has fallen to the wayside. I was reading the Bible to him, but I'm not doing that lately. We focused on Easter with Sheila Carroll's fabulous and free Easter unit. Ms. Carroll is from Living Books Curriculum, and I receive her terrific newsletters. If I weren't so set on planning everything, I would be using this curriculum. During the Summer I'm going to recount the story of Moses from SOTW 1 (we skipped it as so far, at least for dh and me, there is no conclusive evidence of Israelites having been in Egypt), talk about the plagues, watch The Prince of Egypt.. it's going to be fun. Ds is in CCD as well, which is Catholic Catechism, and he enjoys it.

Literature is hanging for the last day or two. We just finished Aesop's Fables and now I'm moving into The Mouse and the Motorcycle. We're still reading Detectives in Togas, which is wonderful. I had to read ahead!

Reading is thankfully no problem in this house. Ds reads much of his science, and he enjoys reading the magazine Ask as well. For school he's reading Stories From India, which meshes nicely with our History lessons. They are utterly enjoyable to him, as he spontaneously narrates whole stories to me. His narration skills are improving very much, and I'm happy to see that.

We're plodding along with Phonics. Ds just completes a page from the workbook three days a week. Not glamorous, but I see he's benefiting spelling-wise as well.

Today we're headed to the bank with Cub Scouts to see where money comes from. Ds is going to ask how money grows while sitting there.

2010-04-15T16:20:00.000-04:00

Look Math, Myself

I often get stuck in my head about things. Let me explain. I've been wrestling with math, as you can see from the post above. However, this may be all in my head. You see, I'm starting to realize that ds will complain some no matter what. As long as he's not crying every day about doing school and is utterly miserable, he just wants to play all day and exert no effort whatsoever. I'm okay with that now. I don't fight it tooth and nail, I don't get stressed or frustrated, I just accept it the way it is. School is not always fun, not always ideal (many times not ideal), and it's still good. Good enough. A concept that I struggle with above all, and need to come to terms in school as well as in life.

But I digress. Math is the one subject that sticks out to me, as it was the bane of my existence for a whole decade. When you're a kid, a decade seems like eternity. When ds struggles with math, I see myself struggling as a child and not understanding the concepts when I was gifted in everything else. It's hard when you're used to not making any effort and things come easily to you, but in that one subject my glaring imperfection shone like a beacon of failure.

When ds doesn't understand math concepts, I get a feeling akin to despair, as he's more important to me as I ever was to myself. I want to fix it -- and now! Is it the curriculum? Is it me? Surely it can't be.. him? Turns out he's a lot like me. He likes History, he loves reading, he doesn't like exerting too much effort.. Hmm.. Through teaching him and trying my hardest to accept him the way he is, I'm taking some tentative steps on the new journey to self-acceptance. Just starting on that road feels liberating, feels wonderful.

So I got stuck in my head that I need to use multiple programs to teach ds. One program can't be enough, right? Maybe he will love one of them! Unconsciously, I think, I may have benefited from seeing things from multiple angles.

My intellectual side comes to the rescue and says there are no panaceas. Ds will not automatically love and enjoy math every day, everything, because of one curriculum and never complain again. I know he will learn to accept it and enjoy parts of it, learn a lot and use it in real life. It's hard letting go of your goals. Keeping yourself in the middle between slacking and rigid perfectionism is a constant effort, but a worthy one.

I asked him, holding up the MCP Math book A and the Miquon Orange Book, "Which one do you like better?" To my surprise, he said the MCP Math. Huh?? "The one. . you.. complain about so much?" I stammered. Yes, I like that one better. We are sticking with MCP and doing Miquon as a supplement. We take a few steps forward and a few steps backward, but we're going forward. More Family Math games are forthcoming too. I will have MEP handy to print whenever I need to present things in a different way. I am at peace.

I hope with all my heart that one day he will look back and that he can feel that love and acceptance I have for him. I hope my anger, frustration and lesser qualities don't eclipse that great, steady, unconditional love that wells inside me when I look at him but never ebbs away.

2010-04-14T09:30:00.000-04:00

I'm baaaack!

I haven't posted since September 28? What a crime. A shame indeed. We've done sooo many interesting projects, read so many engaging books, went on field trips, played games, traveled and now we're here.. 28 weeks into our school year. I still have at least 8 weeks left, and I'm not going to let my previous absence deter me.

For the most part, things have been going well. However, ds has done much complaining overall, and we have listened to his complaints. He wanted more projects, we're working hard to offer him even more projects. Who would have thought my son liked hands on stuff? Hands on is not easy for me, but I'm starting to see its educational and emotional value, and enjoying the projects as well. We work on projects in History (SOTW-1), Natural Science (Young Discoverers Series books), and ds is in Cub Scouts, where he does work often on crafts and projects as well.

If I could sum up what ds enjoys doing, it would be reading and projects. This is why I'm seriously considering (but not sold yet) using WinterPromise's American Story I in Third Year. However, I love doing my own thing and planning my own books, as time-consuming as it can be. I may just get a few good project books and have a go without an actual curriculum. Don't fence me in is my motto.

I'm busy planning the following year, ds' Second Year (I prefer using Years as opposed to grades, a la Harry Potter). So far I have lots of juicy living books I can't wait to sink my teeth into and know ds will love (he loved the books selections in Ancient History and literature this year). Here are the sure materials I will be using:

Story of the World Volume 2 - The Middle Ages and Activity Guide (SOTW -1 is a big hit, for both ds and me)
Poetry for Young People Series: Edna Vincent Millay and Rudyard Kipling
The World's Greatest Artists Series (Mike Venezia): Giotto and Titian
The World's Greatest Composers Series (same author as above): Beethoven and Tchaikovsky
Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) K-2: 12 more threads
Primary Language Lessons by Emma Serl and Teacher's Guide put out by My Father's World
Natural Speller
Young Discoverers Series: Butterflies, Bugs and Worms (Insect studies this year)
Florida Wildflowers
Eyewitness Explorers Rocks and Minerals
English From the Roots Up

Items I'm still waffling about:

Spectrum Phonics 3rd Grade
Spectrum Spelling 3rd Grade
MCP Math Book B
Miquon Math
MEP Math (free curriculum online)

MCP Math is going okay. It just may be that ds just doesn't like math (like I did - oops!). However, I notice he gets into doing math hands-on, I just don't teach math hands-on very well. To me, MCP Math works as a teacher, as the teacher's guide is excellent and provides hand-holding for a teacher who's insecure about teaching math. It fits me to a T. However, I can see how ds would find it boring, and tedious. I'm not entirely sure it gets the job done either. I wonder if he would understand concepts better if he had another program. On the other hand, I don't want to be constantly switching programs and as a result, end up with gaps. I do supplement with Miquon, but I need to step up and read the Annotations beforehand instead of just handing him a sheet. Do the Miquon activities with him, pique his interest, spark his learning. I think with Miquon I can do this. I like Miquon, even if it is a bit baffling at times.

MEP Math. My newest discovery. I'd heard about it, but didn't even give it the time of day as I didn't have a working printer from the computer I normally use. That problem solved, and MEP Math is a very attractive alternative, or supplement. As much I don't like the idea of juggling too many math programs, MEP appeals to me, and I think will appeal to ds as well. A big part of the attraction is that it's free online, so I can test it out, print out as many pages as I see fit, and have a go at it. Not sure how it will work to actually teach, though. What I've seen so far has been intriguing, and the worksheets look very, very interesting and would appeal to my ds.

I'm having ds take the test first, and see where he is. I had him take the Singapore placement test, and I wasn't pleased with the results. He scored as if all our 28 weeks didn't matter at all. as if he could start all the way at the bottom of Singapore. Not pleased at all. This is the reason I'm thinking perhaps MCP is not working as I thought it did. But then I see glimpses of understanding, and I'm not sure anymore. It could be simply that he's not ready developmentally, emotionally, to do the subtraction or to really get a grasp on the subject. I should know this, having been there myself.

Thus far, I believe trying out MEP is not going to hurt, and may even be beneficial. I think continuing MCP could be a good foundation for ds, and adding in Living Math book selections once in a while doesn't hurt either. Ds really digs the I Love Math series so far. We also do occasional Family Math games, which is hard for me to do, actually. I don't know why. When I make the effort, we both have fun.

Would MCP, Miquon, AND MEP be too much? Or perhaps do 4 days of intense worksheet math, and Fridays do a Family Math game, Miquon Math? Can I replace MCP with MEP? Should I? These are questions that I don't see any definite answer to just yet.

2009-09-28T09:06:00.000-04:00

Weekly Report

This is a bit late, but I have a good reason.. my beloved Mac is excruciatingly slow with our Internet connection when both other computers work fine. So here I am, on Husband's laptop, otherwise no blog.

Last week is recapped as follows:

MATH
MCP - subtractions, vertical sums. Son seems to understand what he's doing, and doing well. He rarely misses one.
Miquon - patterns. Son did well completing a pattern, but had difficulty creating a pattern.

LITERATURE
I'm still plodding through Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, but I'm not enjoying reading it aloud. I don't mind quickly reading it but the language is not appealing to me. That said, Son likes the animal stories very much but not the human stories. He has difficulty with a few imperialism words and sayings, and British ramblings in the book. He needs help with his narrating. The latter do tend to drag a lot. Only one more story left, then I can pick up Little House in the Big Woods from the library and start reading that one aloud.

COPYWORK
This week I had Son write his Thank You notes for his birthday gifts, which worked out well. The last day he wrote: It is right to obey your mother and father. Hmm.. I wonder why.

PENMANSHIP
Son is moving nicely through Italic Handwriting. I like the font, and I have Son do it over if it's carelessly done. He seems to care more than most about his penmanship, so I use that as a good opportunity to teach him good habits. He still reverses his numbers and letters often.

PHONICS
Son does the one page in the workbook easily and painlessly for the most part, and this week was no exception. He did short "e" sounds and short "i" sounds. I was glad to see he was able to write a few sentences as part of his assignment. He needs help with spelling, of course, but I prefer he ask me how to write something than try to invent a new (and wrong) spelling.

READING
Son is doing well reading, but I'm close to encouraging him to the next level. He read a section from the nonfiction Living Long Ago, and the following books this week: Uncle Elephant, In a Nutshell, Snipp Snapp Snurr and the Red Shoes, and the Please and Thank You book. We're going to try slightly more challenging books that capture his interest, and I'm going to observe him to see if he's ready for The Littles (chapter book) maybe next week.

SPELLING
I started very easily with him -- first I let him see one word, then take a picture of this word and store it in his mind. Then I remove the word and he has to copy it from his mind. This has been working well. This past week I wrote down two words: river and flood. He was able to write both with perfect spelling. Maybe he's ready for three words this week.

NATURAL SCIENCE
We looked at tree stumps and rings, read about how to calculate the age of trees, Son drew tree rings and wrote the age next to it, we went on another walk where Son picked up twigs and berries for his twig and berry project in Nature Smart. We also were able to tell how twigs grow by the marks on them. Yesterday Husband and Son worked on the Twig and Berries wreath, which looked pretty. I should post a picture of it. It hangs in our home library/school room.

HISTORY
We listened to the SOTW 1 audio, this week was Egyptians Lived on the Nile (chapter two). Son narrated the first section with some difficulty, colored a page about Osiris and Set, did mapwork illustrating King Narmer's unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, cut out and colored Homeschool in the Woods' figures and pasted them in his Book of Centuries, and Husband read to him from the Usborne's World History Encyclopedia and they visited the quicklinks online. Son was excited and did his best coloring the picture, which showed me he liked the story of Set and Osiris. We listened to the audio CD a few more times.

GEOGRAPHY
We checked our rain gauge, recorded the observations and put them into a graph, looked at the map of the USA and Egypt's place in the world and discussed oceans and cities.

POETRY
This week Son memorized Rain, by Robert Louis Stevenson, a nice short poem. He has a tendency to stutter sometimes and I notice while he's reciting poems he doesn't stutter. He has memorized three short poems in three weeks. We're building up to longer ones as the weeks keep going by.

VIRTUES
We read the poem Try, Try Again from The Children's Book of Virtues and discussed the virtue of perseverance. Son promised to work on that for the week, and I can say he did well all week.

THEOLOGY
We read two bible stories -- both about Abraham. Son seems to like the stories. He gets religious education at the Catholic church, so we read the Bible at home to familiarize him with the stories. He's already read and reread his Children's Bible a few times, but these stories are more mature, more vivid, and beautifully illustrated. They're from The Children's Bible in 365 Stories.

HEALTH & SAFETY
We discussed personal grooming such as brushing hair, washing face, having clean hands and fingernails and dressed neatly. Son liked that, but doesn't have the habit yet of either washing his face or brushing his hair. Still working on reminding him of those things.

SPANISH
We're working on The Easy Spanish where we did the Me Llamo activity sheet and Chichi's personality profile. Son seems to enjoy it, and I reinforce the learning by asking him, Como te llamas? And he answers, "Me llamo (his name)" and so forth.

PICTURE STUDY
Son studied Madonna on the Rocks by Leonardo Da Vinci for five minutes and had to tell me what he remembered when I took it away. For the first time he didn't do badly, but I imagine his powers of observation increased as we progress with his picture studies.

COMPOSER STUDY
Son has been listening to Bach's music every morning he wakes up and to the organ works in the car. I got a video of Bach's organ works on Netflix, which he enjoys watching. Son really enjoys the music and recognizes Toccata in Fugue in D Minor. I read to him once a week from The World's Greatest Composers - Bach. The book is just right for this age, and just about at his reading level so he can follow along. He loves the cartoons (as does Husband!). Thank you, Mike Venezia, for making art engaging to children. We read a little bit at the time, so Son can absorb what is being said. I made a note of having him narrate next time as well.

MUSIC
Son takes piano lessons, but this is singing, dancing, etc. I have a background in both, and I'm having fun teaching him Silent Night in time for Christmas. We have fun with this one.

As for extracurricular activities, this week Son has done tennis, horseback riding, Boy Scouts and Religious Education. He has unstructured play outdoors twice (hot outside) this week and indoors daily.

And that's our week, folks!

2009-09-16T09:58:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-07T20:06:00.000-04:00

First Day, First Year

Son was so excited to be starting school yesterday. So was I! We woke up, had breakfast at his favorite place, and walking back home he saw a hermit crab. I caught it and we brought it home, read about hermit crabs and how to care for them and put him in a gallon-sized container. Besides lady bugs, butterflies, sow bugs and spiders this is Son's first "pet". He also scooped up lizard eggs a day or two before. Totally impromptu, but perfect for our first day of school.

First we did Virtues, which is basically reading a story or poem out of the Children's Book of Virtues and discuss. We read a poem about Little Fred going to bed promptly as told and how easy it was for everyone when he did that. Although Son didn't live up to his promise of going to bed promptly when night came, he has a goal to work towards al to the end of the week. We can keep working on that habit as needed.

After Virtues we did Math, which consisted of teaching the lesson of subtraction. Ds really got it and gave examples himself with counters (in this case markers). He did six sample problems then out of the workbook another 3 problems and he was done. Today we are going to work on three more for practice. We are using MCP Math and I don't want to frustrate him with too many problems, but have him see how useful math is and certainly have him practice.

We did Poetry focusing on Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses. We read The Whole Duty of Children. Son likes poetry, and is working on memorizing this during the week.

In Copywork he wrote down the first sentence in the aforementioned poem, which reads "A child should always say what's true". Not bad for our first day. Son felt compelled to squeeze all his letters on one line, but otherwise he didn't do a bad job. Not great either. I made a mental note to work on his penmanship as he hardly did any writing at all during the Summer.

Bach is our composer for the first half of the year. We read a bit about his times, the 17th century and the Baroque period. Then we listened to one or two pieces. He worked on Phonics while we listened to the last one. It was enjoyable, and Son was interested. He really likedthe music and Baroque architecture too.

Son completed a page in Spectrum Phonics finishing up words. He did flawlessly.

After that, Geography was exciting as we got to go outside and set up our rain gauge that Husband had previously fashioned out of a large soda bottle. We dug a shallow hole (Daughter was keen to help) and set our rain gauge in there so it wouldn't topple. At least we hope it won't. It's all a learning experience, eh? We also determined together what day each week we would check our rain gauge. We decided Monday was the best day.

We used Calculadder for our Math drill. I explained to Son what was expected and in two minutes he was supposed to fill out a whole page of numbers. He got to about half. That's OK, because today we try again. He has 16 tries. I'm confident he'll work on his speed without sacrificing relative neatness.

Ah, History. I've been excited about this for at least two years. We're doing Story of the World Volume I: Ancient Times. I read him half of a chapter. This is what he came up for his first narration:

Lesson: What is History?

We can tell our parents and grandfather then we know something and tell people it. That’s what we learned.

Historians learn about the past by reading the writing on the buildings and by reading letters.

He had trouble with the last sentence as he couldn't remember the word "monument", but I thought it was a good first start. I'm sure he will do much better as the year progresses and I'm not worried about it.

Reading is an easy subject for Son as he loves to read. I picked something a bit challenging for him, Robert McCloskey's Burt Dow Deep-Water Man. It's more difficult than I thought because it has some sailor terms even I'm not familiar with, but Son seems to enjoy it and understand it, so we're moving along. Since it's long I have him four pages at a time. He can't wait until today, he said yesterday to find out what happened. This is always a good sign.

In Literature I read to him aloud from Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories. I read the first story, How The Whale Got His Throat. I don't know how much Son understood but he asked a few questions that made me see he didn't understand some of the old terminology that I could grasp from the context. It is an old story, after all, but hence the more challenging for him to listen to and considered true literature. I'm working on reading with expression. Seems to make a big difference.

Our First Day was a success. Son did complain that it lasted a long time (a whopping total of 2 and a half hours compared to his Kindergarten an hour and a half), and asked me for a break in between. I told him I would institute a break from now on. I think a 10 to 15-minute break wouldn't hurt. Even adults have those kind of breaks in between conference sessions. When Husband came home, Son said his First Day was awesome.

Things to work on: distractibility, attentiveness. Varying the lessons a la Charlotte Mason is an excellent idea and keeps him interested.

2009-09-05T22:07:00.000-04:00

Story of the World Volume I: Supplementary Reading Schedule

For Kindergarten I didn't bother too much with schedules, as I just "did the next thing" for most and if not, well, flew by the seat of my pants. This year, however, it's schedule time. I have Story of the World Volume 1: The Ancients (SOTW1) and not as much scheduled it as put a sequence so I can just follow it. The Activity Guide is so helpful and comprehensive, I don't need much else except to tell my project manager (Husband) to get the necessary materials. Doing the sequence with the supplementary reading material this way leaves me with more freedom and flexibility, which is just the way I like it.

Here's my supplementary reading sequence for SOTW 1, with markings denoting whether the book is available in our local library system (KL) or if it's only available through Interlibrary Loan. This way I can plan ahead and request the books I need. The rest of the books I own. Following this is easy, and keeps me on track and makes me feel accomplished as a teaching Mama. I have it all pretty in a column format on my computer, but for some reason couldn't post it as an image. Here it is in copy-paste format:

SOTW 1: Chapter, Book Title

Ch. 1 The Earliest People Little Grunt and the Big Egg KL R

Ch. 2 Egyptians Lived on The Nile River Living Long Ago

Ch. 3 The First Writing Science in Ancient Mesopotamia

Ch. 4 The Old Kingdom of Egypt Mummies in the Morning (MTH)

Ch. 5 The First Sumerian Dictator Abou Hassan (Arabian Nights Story)

Ch. 6 The Jewish People The Coat of Many Colors KL

Ch. 7 Hammurabi and the Babylonians Abu Ali - Three Tales of the Middle East KL

Ch. 8 The Assyrians Gilgamesh the King

Ch. 9 The First Cities of India The Token Gift

Ch. 10 The Far East: Ancient China Day of the Dragon King (MTH)

Ch. 11 Ancient Africa Anansi and the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti KL

Ch. 12 The Middle Kingdom of Egypt Pharaohs and Pyramids KL

Ch. 13 The New Kingdom of Egypt Senefer, Young Genius in Old Egypt ILL

King Tut’s Mummy - Lost and Found R

Ch. 14 The Israelites Leave Egypt Bible Story: Moses

Ch 15 The Phoenicians The Phoenicians: Mysterious Sea People ILL

Ch. 16 The Return of Assyria The Seven Voyages of Sinbad (Arabian Nights Story)

Ch. 17 Babylon Takes Over Again! Camaralzaman and Badoud (Arabian Nights Story)

Ch. 18 Life in Early Crete Atlantis: The Legend of a Lost City KL

Ch. 19 The Early Greeks The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War

Ch. 20 Greece Gets Civilized Again The Librarian Who Measured the Earth KL

Ch. 21 The Medes and the Persians The Enchanted Horse (Arabian Nights Tale)

Ch. 22 Sparta and Athens The Twelve Labors of Hercules R

Ch. 23 The Greek Gods The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus Aliki KL

Ch. 24 The Wars of the Greeks Aesop’s Fables

Ch. 25 Alexander the Great The Great Alexander the Great KL

Ch. 26 The People of the Americas Maria and the Stars of Nazca ILL

Ch. 27 The Rise of Rome Romulus and Remus Anna Rockwell KL R

Detectives in Togas

Ch. 28 The Roman Empire Detectives in Togas

Ch. 29 Rome’s War with Carthage Detectives in Togas

Ch. 30 The Aryans of India Stories from India ILL

Ch. 31 The Mauryan Empire of India Stories from India ILL

Ch. 32 China: Writing and the Qin The Great Wall of China

Ancient China Treasure Chest

Ch. 33 Confucius The Empty Pot by Demi ILL

Ch. 34 The Rise of Julius Caesar Detectives in Togas

Ch. 35 Caesar The Hero Detectives in Togas

Ch. 36 The First Roman Prince Pompeii -- Buried Alive!

Ch. 37 The Beginning of Christianity The Bible: Jesus Born and Died

Ch. 38 End of Jewish Nation Annie’s Shabbat KL

Ch. 39 Rome and the Christians Vacation Under the Volcano (MTH)

Ch. 40 Rome Begins to Weaken The Beast of Lor ILL

Ch. 41 The Attacking Barbarians Living Long Ago

Ch. 42 The End of Rome Science in Ancient Rome

So far Son has enjoyed reading Little Grunt and the Big Egg. He needed help with a few words, but otherwise has done very well.

2009-09-05T21:40:00.000-04:00

Our Summer Vacation

It's been so long! We've all been so busy. We visited Aruba for two weeks to see family and for pleasure, and had a blast. Son and Daughter were exposed to Aruban culture, language and people, and it was great to see him interact with my family members, whom he had never met previously. The beach was gorgeous, I was so spoiled growing up there. The aquamarine waters, breeze and white, soft sands.. aahh. The waters are so clean too, especially compared to our neck of the woods. The kids also enjoyed the cave at Ayo and its Paleolithic markings, and Indian drawings in the Fontein cave. It was fun climbing the huge boulders at Casibari and Ayo, and see the whole island. The kids rolled around on the sand in the sand dunes and spent hours at the beach. We also saw a Cultural show at Fort Zoutman that brought me a lot of memories -- typical music, folklore and history. I can't believe I hadn't visited in almost seven years! I'll try to make it at least every two years from now on. Here are some beach pictures from our wonderful trip.

2009-06-30T10:34:00.000-04:00

Green Eggs and Ham

Son loves Dr. Seuss' classic Green Eggs and Ham. About two weeks ago I finally made green eggs and ham. We had delicious nitrate-free ham and I had green food dye in my drawer. All I did was squirt some green dye on the egg yolk and Son ate it. It would be more uniformly colored if I had scrambled it, but in the book it was made a la sunny side up. Here Son is smiling while eating his green eggs (which in the end he was distrustful of -- ha). On the other hand, he devoured his ham slices really fast. Why is the color green not easy to take when it comes to food for most people, especially kids?

2009-06-27T08:53:00.000-04:00

Favorites

As the year draws to a close for us, we've gone back to basics -- math, reading, copywork. We're also finishing up Science. I've been thinking about our favorites for this year. For me it would have to be:

Tanglewood's Really Reading Program (Son is a great reader!)

Let's Read and Find Out Science Books (love this series! Son reads these on his own now)

Miquon Math (adventures in math discovery)

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding K-2 (the name says it all)

MCP Math (solid presentation of concepts and TM teaches me to teach)

Poems to Read to the Very Young (ruined our old copy, bought a new one)

Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting (clear results)

I can't say enough about Tanglewood's Really Reading program. Son went from knowing all his letters and sounds to reading simple words within a few weeks after starting this simple program. Not bad for a free program, eh? In a few months he was reading really well, with intonations and everything. After he completed the program he was reading happily, and reading at a third grade level. I'm not sure where he is right now, but he sure is improving daily. He reads for an hour before bed, and that's not counting all the times in the middle of the day when he picks up a book and reads. I'm so happy. It makes my heart sing that he loves reading so much. I hope the love of books and reading will always stay firmly planted in his heart and mind.

2009-06-26T18:10:00.000-04:00

An Algebra Odyssey

As of late, I've been contemplating a lot. Yeah, and not blogging. Sorry! Our school year is actually one day away from being done, and we're going to visit Aruba in July! I'm excited. I haven't been in seven years, and my extended family don't even know my kids! What have I been contemplating? Life, revisiting my goals, looking at where I'm heading not only as a mother, but as a woman -- a person. All this in between all the stuff I have to do in "real life" with homeschooling, the kids, and managing time in general! Dh and I are probably done having children, and I would like to travel again. This time with the kids. We feel complete as a family, and there's so much to explore and learn!

That said, I started thinking about going back to school and getting my graduate degree in Psychology, most likely in the area of Developmental Psychology. I need a better math background than I currently have, including an undergraduate class in inferential statistics. This got me thinking. I have never taken statistics, but I've never been great at algebra. Okay, that's an understatement. So I thought, Why not review Algebra? I'm an adult now, a mom, and I think I can work through some algebra problems in my own time. I wouldn't want to take my GRE until I know I'm ready to attend university, which won't be until the kids are older. With my homeschooling schedule, probably quite a bit older. However, I have this time to work slowly towards my goals, and I better not waste it.

I borrowed Algebra The Easy Way from the Library and I'm looking through it. I finally got the rules of fractions down! So simple, but I guess they perplexed and confused me as a child. Besides mathematics, I also want to read some Great Books for my own pleasure and education. I was happy to discover I have read a number of great works already, but not enough in English. I created a list of works from Ancient Times through Modern Times from the excellent book The Well Trained Mind.

First work on my list? Homer's The Odyssey. I snagged a free copy at the library and off I am! Some time I need to write how much I enjoy doing Miquon with Son.

2009-05-23T16:18:00.000-04:00

Catching Up

I feel like I have to spend some time catching up, as we've been so busy lately. Not only schooling, but dealing with external circumstances like the car breaking down and Husband's digital camera needing a quick replacement. Everything is fine now, but whew. These seemingly little details can take a few days to get sorted out.

Two weeks ago Son, Daughter and I took a beautiful nature walk at our local botanical park. It was so quiet, and we spent time picking leaves and reading the identifications on the ones that were identified. I vowed to include more nature walks in our curriculum. When we came home we made leaf prints, which looked lovely. We're definitely doing more of these -- gifts, maybe?

Here are some pictures highlighting these past few weeks:

2009-05-01T20:50:00.000-04:00

Weekly Report

This week is the second week we're trying out alternating between MCP Math Level A and Miquon Math Orange Book. So far it has been great. Ds is actually more compliant, works faster and has more attention, and I love the fact that I explain and he works on a more traditional text and another day I just explain what he should do and he does discovery math for himself. I see him making connections too, and like the open-ended style of Miquon, whereas MCP reigns me in in a good way. I think both programs have much to offer and together they make a great team in helping ds to understand math.

We chug along with Spectrum Phonics. Nothing spectacular, but looks can be deceiving. Ds is gaining a better understanding of letter combinations and sounds, and is broadening his vocabulary. Just one simple page a day for four days gets the job done. He seems to like it too.

Ds is reading well, and reading often. Him reading makes my heart sing. The boy doesn't have to be told, cajoled.. he simply loves to read. I'm praying it will always stay this way. He reads his favorites over and over again. He even reads the picture books I'm supposed to be reading to him. No reading assignments are necessary. I'm really happy to have discovered Ambleside's first grade recommendation for readers. We are now on the Primer by Harriette Taylor Treadwell, and Son has already read The Little Red Hen and The Gingerbread Boy.

We took a long (two-hour!) nature walk on Friday as part of our Science, identifying trees and looking at barks and leaves at a nearby botanical park. Son collected an assortment of leaves that we're planning on making a simple craft with our book Nature Crafts today, which I'm trying to convince dh can count as Art. We're on Lesson B4-A in Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, Identification of Living Things. We went on the walk without knowing what we would find and didn't see any birds, but were pleasantly surprised to see many trees marked and leaves of wondrous shapes.

Poetry has been non-existent for weeks now as I can't find our poetry book! Argh. Incentive to be less messy. Hopefully. Son enjoys poetry.

Geography has been going slowly, but well. I want him to gain, at this age, an understanding of maps to prepare us both for Story of the World: The Ancients next year. Last week he made a rough map of the house. Today he's going to make a more accurate map (I bought graph paper for this) of either the house or his room.

Since we are through with the Getty-Dubay Italic workbook, I've printed out each letter from the free printables section from the site Our Los Banos and he's already done those. This week I had him working on copying a word at a time. I found out he could handle this after finding him copying words for fun, and writing "Scooby-Doo" and "fun" correctly from memory. I had the Italic handwriting desk strip laminated (finally!) so he can see the letters up close and focus on writing them correctly. He still reverses letters like "b" and "d" and his numerals, which I'm working on, but I know this is also normal for his age. I remember I used to put a dot in the middle of my "o"s when I was little. Go figure. I like using copywork for Penmanship so much next year I'm having Penmanship twice a week, to focus on letter positioning and shapes to practice, and copywork the rest of the three days.

Spanish has gone a lot better since I hit upon putting Blue's Clues in Spanish, watchingthe Spanish immersion DVD Cantemos and Husband found the missing computer program CD-ROM, yes! He asks me often now, "How do you say this in Spanish?" and I feel good about his interest and the knowledge he's accumulating. I also read him a short book occasionally in Spanish. I need to do this more often. Next year I'm planning on having Spanish twice week: once with his computer program (KidSpeak) more formally (it comes with a little book to do exercises with) and the other day I'm committing to reading him a story in Spanish from Mi Tesoro de Cinco Anos, a book in Spanish printed in Venezuela my Godmother gave me a few years ago. That was a mouthful.

Husband finished reading A Bear Called Paddington to Son for his Literature. Although Son enjoyed it, Husband tells me the chapters were long and it was difficult for Son to follow along as many of the expressions are very British. Perhaps I selected this one too early. Maybe we'll revisit in the future. He seemed to like it, though. I also decided to proceed with the selections in Peak with Books, which are excellent, but not worrying too much about the questions and activities. I wanted him to engage with the material, but not interfere too much. I've been reading Charlotte Mason's ideas again and want to follow it closer to the letter as everything in her method so far has been a blessing for us. As a result, I was going to have the picture book A Pig in a Pond read to him, and to my surprise Son picked it up and read it himself -- at least a dozen times! Next I requested Skip to My Lou, which is also a big hit here and he can read to himself. Next I have Beatrix Potter's incomparable A Tale of Peter Rabbit, which small size Daughter mistook for "her book" and walked around with it, pretending to read (making sounds while holding it open and looking at the letters) and looking at the pictures for a long time. Ah. Charlotte Mason is so right about living books. They edify not only the mind, but the spirit.

Although an extra-curricular activity, I have to comment on how well Son is doing on his piano lessons. His teacher, Ms. Jan, is zooming him through Alfred's Beginning Piano course and just started him on finger exercises. He's only been taking lessons for a few weeks now. He practices without me telling him to. I'm so proud.

Tennis is also going well, and Son has the strength to hit the ball far and over the net. Husband is a very good teacher. The man has so many talents. The more I know him, the more I admire him.

Today Son is going horse-back riding and we're excited. This is only his second lesson. And this, folks, wraps up our weekly report.

2009-04-29T23:32:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-22T22:39:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesdays

2009-04-15T00:30:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-13T17:12:00.000-04:00

Keys Atheneum's Extra-Curricular Activities

Is it already mid-April? My oh my it's been busy. We kicked off our extra-curricular activities this Spring. My rule: three activities max per child at a time. I want to expose each of my children to many different things so they can get to know them and pick one or two or three they want to specialize in. I had wanted Son to get into karate (self-control and self-defense -- what's not to like?), but he had other plans. Knowing he wouldn't apply himself and I would be wasting money, I listened to him. He wants to learn how to play the trumpet, play tennis and ride horses. Okay.

I want him to learn to play piano first, to learn the basics and about notes before he ventures off into piano. We already have a piano at home, and I think it's a good idea to start with piano. He agreed, as long as Ms. Jan is going to teach him. I can live with that. We all like Ms. Jan a lot and she has a knack for teaching kids music. Now I drop him off at a local church once a week on Tuesdays at 11 and pick him up half an hour later. He feels like a big boy, being dropped off.

Husband has stepped up to the plate to teach Son tennis lessons. Having had two years of lessons and being a good teacher, Son is excited to spend one-on-one Daddy and son time with him. He's doing wonderfully, serving and hitting over the net already. Not easy for his height. Sometimes Daughter and I come too, Daughter picks up the balls and I practice my serves.

I also arranged for Son to get riding lessons at a farm an hour away. We live near the water, with no stables nearby. At least it's only an hour away and we can make a trip out of it whenever we go. In the beginning the plan is to just go weekly until he gets the hang of it and thereafter to go once every two weeks. In July we're going to take a break from riding lessons and focus on swimming. We'll try with Daughter too. In September we'll resume horseback riding, take a break from tennis, keep on swimming a bit more until it gets cooler and keep on playing piano. Ideally I want him to play piano for at least three years. Thereafter he can decide to either continue with piano or learn to play the trumpet instead. In September he's also going to start CCD so I may want balance everything out so Son doesn't burn out. He will be starting First Grade after all (we call it First Year), and this is more important than the activities. I love the unscheduled hours too, where he can learn and discover. After all, this is one of the many reasons I'm homeschooling. I'm finding more as I'm actually homeschooling.

He's enjoying everything immensely. It was wonderful to see him so happy, grinning from ear to ear during his first riding lesson.

2009-03-31T12:52:00.000-04:00

Enrichment: Sunflowers

Last Friday we participated in our first enrichment program with a family we're friends with. First my friend read us a story about a little boy meeting Vincent Van Gogh titled Van Gogh and the Sunflowers. I loved the book. Son is not a very crafty person, but enjoyed creating the project with his friends. In the end we ended up with some knowledge about this impressionist painter and his paintings and a neat sunflower.

2009-03-26T13:19:00.000-04:00

Sponge Art

This Thursday I wasn't feeling so well so I wanted to organize activities that the kids could pretty much do on their own, with as little as possible supervision from me. After breaskfast and piano practice, I instituted sponge art. Yesterday my kind sister-in-law gave me a bag of shaped sponges in different colors. What a treasure. I knew the children would love creating and exploring shapes and colors with them.

Daughter got creative right away and started stamping away in blue with a ladybug, heart, and dog shapes. I took off her shirt and told Son to take off his shirt to minimize the inevitable mess. It wasn't so bad. They are pretty clean kids (unless you put Daughter near a dirt pile!).

I gave Son an assignment. Since we finished our K Math for this year already, I wanted to take a short break before we started on MCP Math Level A. Level A's first few chapters are all a repetition and practice of Kindergarten Math, so I know I'm not going too fast with him. I think we're going to vary with Miquon as well to make it more tactile and fun.

I told Son that he can pick any shape he likes and any color, but that he can make up his own problem, addition or subtraction. I wasn't going to be picky today. This is what he came up with:

4+4= (then he proceeded to stamp eight stars)

2+2= (stamped four dolphins)

5+5= (then he proceeded to stamp elephants all around the paper).

I try not to be too fussy with the reversing of numbers, but this is hard for me. I made him correct his number 2 (who looked like an S to me).

I christened it "Math Art" and after two pages of his Phonics workbook and a Level 3 Reader titled Kirby's Circus, we called it a day. Daddy can read a chapter of A Bear Called Paddington to him tonight. This is what a Mommy Sick Day at our house looks like. Not bad. Daughter learned about shapes and colors and Son reinforced his knowledge as well as practiced his math in a low-key way. Below is Son's piece:

2009-03-25T09:44:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-20T11:53:00.000-04:00

March Madness

Whenever there's a sale in March, it seems the operative catch phrase is "March Madness". Typically I don't find anything particularly maddening about March, especially in my tranquil woodsy area. However, madness certainly describes this week so far. We had St. Patrick's Day on Tuesday and Aruba Day on Wednesday and Mama was baking, cooking and still not done baking.

This is why sane people don't have any holidays back to back. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day by wearing green, going to the local library's Story Time (themed), and eating corned beef and cabbage at 9 o'clock at night (I never knew it took more than two hours to simmer). The kids are "a li'l bit Irish" like one of Son's old shirts used to say, and so we try to be as green as we possibly can.

On March 18 it was Aruba Day, the National Day of the Flag and National Anthem. Sounds cheesy, but in Papiamento it sounds respectable. The kids are half Aruban. Son copied the Coat of Arms and I explained to him the significance of each symbol: the hill means the Hooiberg, the tallest elevation in Aruba and where people can see the land from the ocean, the gear means industry and work, the clasped hands means friendship with all countries, the aloe signifies Aruba's first source of prosperity (now it's tourism), the white cross means faith in God, the laurel leaves portray peace, and the lion symbolizes power and generosity. Son also drew the flag. I was going to prepare a local food, but it was not to be that day. I'm going to be preparing pastechis this weekend -- possibly today. We're all somewhat sick and maybe contagious, so perhaps saying home is better anyway.

This weekend Husband's jewelry store is hosting "Treasure Fest", where treasure divers will be talking about their exploits and visitors can see genuine artifacts dated hundreds of years old. Next week we're headed to Tampa with Uncle to attend a wedding, and we may stay an extra day. I've also begun work on an international cookbook.

2009-03-15T00:57:00.000-04:00

Jumping Arithmetic

Son, typical five-year-old boy I hear, is jumpy. He wants to move, has the cliched ants in his pants. I never understood that term until I lived with Son. During lessons sometimes he gets restless, even though less so when I've done my part and have made sure he's had a wholesome, substantial breakfast and some exercise before lessons. So what do I do? First I did all the wrong things: I admonished him, nagged him, scolded him, even physically tried to stop him from moving.

Then it hit me: the boy needs to move. It's not that he's being defiant, he's not purposefully trying to undermine what I'm doing. He just needs to move. So on days like this I get creative. I either:

- put some music on and we all dance before lessons

- have him water the lawn or perform some other chore that uses a bit of that energy

- incorporate movement into the lessons

This led us to so much fun when I just grabbed some of our sidewalk chalk (which were previously untouched as.. alas, we have no sidewalk near our home) and announced: let's do jumping math! I didn't plan this, and as some of my best ideas, it was spur-of-the-moment and born out of a need. Our whole house is tiled, and from the kitchen to the laundry area we have a continuous line of tile. In each tile I wrote numbers, from 1-12 as we're working on arithmetic.

Then I told Son, who looked curious, eager and interested all at once, "I will tell you the sum, such as 4+3, and you will step onto 4 and jump three spaces ahead." I showed him the numbers. For subtraction, I simply told him e.g. 11-3 and he would jump those spaces. The only thing I had to do was keep track on on which tile he was and go from there. He started with 4+3 which would land him on 7, so my next sum for him would be 7+2, or 7-1 etc.

He loved it! He also burnt a lot of energy. I let him play as long as he wanted for our last math lesson, as I felt it was important for him to get down the math facts in a fun, non-pressured way. The key was that he was interested, he was learning, and he was getting exercise at the same time.

If you don't have tile but have a sidewalk or tiled porch or terrace, you can also do this. You can do this on almost any surface you can write on safely with chalk. You can even make your own squares, or don't make squares at all, simply a number line. I've made a mental note for the future to do negative numbers like this when that comes up.

2009-03-10T06:13:00.000-04:00

Two Months Later

It's hard to get back into a habit once you've fallen off the bandwagon for just a few short weeks. The few short weeks lingered well into a few short months. Whoops. I apologize.

We have been in fact, very busy. I noticed that my lifestyle includes healthy choices such as not smoking, not doing illicit drugs, being in a long-term monogamous relationship, eating pretty well and resting accordingly. The only missing link to a long life was exercise. More of a couch potato, I resolved to change my ways. My new goal for the year is to get fit.

Hence, I've been spending less time on the computer and more time in the outdoors. Husband helps me do regular walking, biking, playing tennis, and if anything else fails and we don't end up getting out of the house, as a last resort, Wii Fit. As soon as it gets warm enough, which won't be until 85 degrees or higher, I will go swimming as well. We also did a week of shoveling, which is what I call natural exercise.

As a result of a more active lifestyle, Son got more interested in biking. He's going much faster now and enjoys it. He's also taking tennis lessons from his Dad.

2009-01-17T10:08:00.000-05:00

Weekly Report, 2009 edition: January 16

We're glad to be schooling again. After a three-week vacation, I wasn't sure Son was going to be as enthusiastic as I was, but in fact, he enjoyed the whole week and has never been so diligent, fast and joyful. This makes me very excited, and next year for Christmas we may only take two weeks off instead of three.

Math

This week we reviewed a little bit and Son was counting again, one-to-one correspondence, which he does exceedingly well. I love the mental math portions in the Teacher's Manual. It starts his brain working for arithmetic, and it sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the day. On Wednesday we started formally with sums written in the proper form: Three and two more are five can also be written down to 3+2=5. I told him it tells a story without using too many words. He liked this a lot, and completed his simple sums without a lot of difficulty, although he's still counting back the ones more than five just to make sure, which is expected and normal at his age.

Reading

This week he read My New Boy, another good Level 2 reader from the Step Into Reading Series. He's doing so well, and he enjoys the stories very much. He also read "The Teeny Tiny Woman", borrowed by a friend, over Christmas vacation. My mom was impressed that he reads with good intonation and taught him to change voices as well. Proud Mama here!

Penmanship

We're continuing with Italic Handwriting. He's writing capital letters now and we finished on Friday with B, which is the first letter of his first name. He enjoys thinking of new words that start with the letter, drawing a picture and coloring it with the new plastic crayons he got from his grandmother. They draw well, have nice colors and are high quality.

Literature

This week we read The Velveteen Rabbit in two days. Son didn't like it, he cried when the toy bunny was discarded and put in the bag to be left outside. It was a bit too much for him. He wasn't too happy that he became real later either, because to him all that mattered was that he stay with the boy. Now I know for future reference to be careful and consider his sensitivity. We also read the rest of James Herriott's Treasury for Children, the story titled "The Christmas Day Kitten". He didn't particularly like the story too much, as there was a death involved, but in the end he thought it was okay. I liked both stories, and I like the fact that he was intently listening and following the story well, and struggling with the issues.

Phonics

Son enjoys completing the workbook exercises, one a day for four days. We just completed long "o". He had a hard time spelling "note" after seeing "boat". English can be tricky.

Unfortunately my copy of Poems To Read to the Very Young got permanently damaged. Old banana inadvertently kept it company for close to three weeks -- yuck! It must have been my toddler sneaking it in. In any case, we had to make a quick substitution, and luckily Husband gave me this book, A Family of Poems, for Christmas. It's a collection of children's poems by Caroline Kennedy. This week we read and memorized a short little poem: "Farewell Like A Bee" by Basho.

Farewell like a bee!

Reluctant to leave the deeps

of a peony

Natural Science

This week we tackled BFSU's C-2 Thread: Sound, Vibrations and Energy. First I showed him a large rubber band between my fingers and had him hear me strum it with one finger close to his ear. When I left it as wide as I could, making it large, it made a low sound. I told him that was a low pitch. When I made it small by pulling it tight, it produced a high pitch. Then I had him do it and we took out the Daughter's xylophone, played the guitar and talked about vibrations. Subsequently we watched a video by Professor Krampf which showed a simple experiment on vibration involving a rubberband, a spoon and some thread called the Bullroarer. We had fun, and Son learned that it's the movement we see back and forth that produces the sound we hear in our ears and the faster the movement goes, the louder the sound and the slower it goes the softer the sound.

Geography

We reviewed the earth's crust, core, magma and plates. Then we proceeded with the plates moving and the creation of mountains. We got two paper plates and slid them down and over each other, then pushed together to simulate what likely happened when India slammed into Asia and created Mount Everest. Son liked that and he likes to say, "Mount Everest. The tallest mountain in the world."

Spanish

I read a series of toddler books called Yok Yok to him, all in Spanish. He greatly enjoys them and Husband read to him (in Spanish!) all week. He learned new words such as conejo, nuez and arbol.

Art

UPDATE: Husband showed Son a picture of a lion. Then he put it upside down and asked Son to copy the lion, line by line, upside down. This is teaching Son about lines and details as opposed to the big picture. I remember doing this in my art class back in middle school.

2009-01-16T12:08:00.000-05:00

Back From the Holidays

Whew.. has it been that long already? I can't believe I haven't blogged since December 11th, more than a month ago. I'm very proud of our blog visitors, because 149 out of 167 people knew where or what Aruba was. Nobody voted a language, a lake or food, or a city. Forgive me, but I couldn't help but chuckle when I see that 2 people voted "Yes, and it's not listed". I wonder if there's a store, restaurant or the like called Aruba. Very likely.

It seems that almost everyone knew it is an island, and 10 people voted An Island in the South Pacific. I can see that. "Aruba" sounds exotic. 2 people voted An Island Off the Coast of West Africa. In fact, the language spoken in Aruba, Papiamento, sounds similar to a language spoken in West Africa, specifically Ivory Coast. Hence the idea of including West Africa in the poll.

I want to come up with more polls in the future. It's fun. I also have quite a few posts I want to work on, but simply have been out of the routine. Now I'm catching up. This last month Son has grown another a hundredth of an inch, knows how to tie his belt and read Level Two readers. Daughter has grown another inch, and is climbing ladders and eating very well with a spoon, thank you very much. It's amazing what a difference a month makes.

2008-12-12T10:30:00.000-05:00

Weekly Report December 14, 2008

This week we've been more concerned with getting ready for my mom to come over (cleaning up, getting her room ready, and just plain being excited -- hehe) than school. However, we managed to get everything done, which was nothing short of a miracle.

Math

This week we did more exercises in one half, one third and one fourths and reviewed concepts in money and 1-20. We played fun math games which underscored how important play is at this age. We played a dice game, War with number cards from 1-20 and we built trains and towers with Cuisenaire rods. I've been using MCP's teacher's manual faithfully, and I love the mental math exercises before we start. We're definitely going to add more games in the future, including dominoes. I'm reading and learning much from Miquon's First Grade Diary, a treasure trove of ideas and implementation tips for Miquon.

Reading

This week Son read Quick, Quack, Quick!, a Level 2 reader by Step Into Reading. We have reading time scheduled right after Phonics, but he enjoys reading so much he just reads whenever and I don't have to worry about him in this respect. He reads all day. I'm so pleased with his progress and more importantly, his enthusiasm.

Penmanship

We're doing capital letters with Italic Handwriting. This week we worked on E, T and F. I'm encouraging him to take his time instead of rushing through, and he takes pride in showing me his best letter. E, T and F were all beautiful.

Literature

We're still reading James Herriott's Treasury for Children. This week we read Oscar, Cat About Town and Smudge The Lamb. I really liked the story about the sociable cat.

Phonics

Plugging along with Spectrum Phonics Grade 1. Typical workbook. I use it for organization and to make sure I'm covering everything. Son feels successful with it, and as a bonus he learns new vocabulary and how to spell certain things. He also gets to apply his penmanship, although he prefers to copy the serif font of the workbook.

Poetry

Although he likes The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson, he has a hard time memorizing this one. I see that the rhythm helps, but he has trouble with the word "pleasantest" which shouldn't be a surprise as it's not often encountered in our day-to-day conversation LOL

Natural Science

We accomplished a lot in a short time this week. First we reviewed the concepts previously learned about solids, liquids and gases. The attributes of which are that they take up space and have weight. After that, I told him that each part is made out of little particles. We set out to prove that. I set up a little station on the dining table with various materials: a large bamboo cutting board with a meat mallet and a shell, a white paper with a bit of dirt on it, Daughter's diaper spray bottle (with mostly water in it, mixed with a bit of soap and tiny amounts of tea tree and lavender oil), a paper towel, some toilet paper squares, a glass of water with some hand soap in it.

Son had so much fun smashing the shell (I had him wear sunglasses as I couldn't find the goggles LOL) into small pieces. I also had him rip the toilet paper squares into pieces. Daughter was especially proficient at this. He moved the dirt and noted the tiny particles of dirt on the white paper, and since he liked smashing so much, I had him smash an O (Cheerio) as well. He proceeded to spray the water from the diaper spray bottle onto his hand, which he saw has tiny particles of liquid. Then I told him to spray it on the table, where you could see the little parts of liquid as well. He enjoyed this too. He also sprayed on the paper towel where he could see the water coming together again as a greater whole. Then he blew bubbles into the glass of soapy water. I believe this was his favorite part of the day. He blew bubbles large and small, and was able to see how little bubbles (particles of air) formed larger bubbles and to see how they rose and took up space.

Geography

Son was really interested in the earth's plate tectonics, magma and core. We ran to his dictionary (no success) and then to the Scholastic's Science Dictionary where we found pictures and descriptions of the crust, plate, mantle, outer core and inner core of the earth. What I found interesting was that it said that most likely the center of the earth (the core) is made out of solid iron or nickel. Hmmm.. Note to self: get video on the center of the earth. Son was likely extra interested because he saw parts of the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth starring Brendan Fraser.

Spanish

Ugh. This has been really a pain. I really like the computer language program KidSpeak for kids this age (Kindergarten-First) but Son's computer hasn't been working. I tried to use it on my Mac but it's giving me problems. As a result, I'm improvising with a Spanish book I'm reading to Son and Daughter on colors. Son knows his colors in Spanish. Next week if we still don't have the program set up, we'll move on with the book (items, food, clothes, etc.).

Art

Nothing formal, but Daddy did drawing activities with Son and they worked on a few framing projects.

2008-12-11T03:59:00.000-05:00

Adding Fun to Math

Although Son and I are doing quite nicely with our math program, MCP Math Level K (Modern Curriculum Press Mathematics, Kindergarten Level), I felt we needed to shake things up a bit. We needed to add something fun. Games, activities, anything. I don't want math to be drudgery in Kindergarten. In fact, from all my reading and research, I gleaned that concrete examples and real-life experiences provide the best learning environment for a child his age (5). So began the quest for fun and games.

Now mind you, I'm great at researching, planning, obtaining, and scheduling our materials for the year. I even made flash cards and number cards. However, after almost three months, they were safely out of reach of daughter's clutches, but unfortunately ours as well. As a child who did not enjoy math in elementary school, it wasn't too easy to equate math with fun. Well, I am determined not to let that fact deter me from creating an enjoyable, practical experience for my kids. The matter of "how" still eluded me.

At first I thought I may need a change of curriculum. However, Son is doing so well and I feel confident in my ability to teach MCP and I like how the program is laid out. I had spent hours upon hours researching all the math programs out there before deciding on this one. Trust in yourself is one of the most important lessons any homeschooler learns, especially a newbie like me. No, we like MCP. MCP stays, likely all the way until 6th year (which is when the program ends). Then I thought about supplementation. Well, I knew I was going to be supplementing MCP Math Level A with Miquon's Orange Book next year. I don't have any experience with Miquon, but I have researched and concluded that it's a discovery approach to math, which would complement MCP's solid mastery approach perfectly.

On the boards I've been frequenting, a tantalizing math program was being touted as the next "It" curriculum -- Math on the Level (henceforth referred to as MOTL). I usually don't fall for slick words (pictures yes, I admit it), but I had to admit, this program was very intriguing. MOTL seemed to be just what I needed: real-life math applications, thorough scope and sequence, freedom to tailor it to your child's needs and level (hence, the name, Math on the Level), fun and games, a mastery approach with built-in review, which in turn incorporates some spiral into this too. What was really of high interest to me was that this program seemed to do for Math what Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) does for Science. And I love BFSU. I love the freedom to choose threads that are relevant to us, the scientific thinking it encourages, how it makes me understand science better and see its beauty and interconnectedness, reading living books. This book certainly warrants a post of its own.

However, with MOTL, I thought, can I really do this in Math? Is this a confidence issue or the fact that it's so expensive up-front is holding me back? It turned out to be a combination of both. BFSU is so inexpensive I didn't think twice about trying it out. I could always sell it if I don't like it, I reasoned. MOTL is not expensive in the long run, as everything is non-consumable (can be used with multiple children) and the scope and sequence goes from K-8. In the end it's actually a bargain, but.. BUT. The cost is up-front. You pay for the whole program, hundreds of dollars, without knowing if it will work for you. I know you could sell it, and I recommend people do this if they are sure they like the program, but I wasn't sure. The deciding factor for me wasn't actually the cost, but teacher prep and involvement. Although I love my children and enjoy being involved in their education, too much teacher prep is not something I would like to do on a daily/weekly basis (especially since I already have a little bit of this for BFSU, which I do gladly), and I have as a goal a more self-teaching model in mind for my children as they mature and get older. In addition, I already have one spine text and workbook (MCP), a supplement (Miquon) and a third lined up online (Living Math.net -- wonderful resource for living math books), what did I need another Math for? Besides, I was getting away from my true quest: more fun and games in math, vs. a new program.

Hmm.. After much deliberation for a few weeks, in which I read as much as I could on the MOTL curriculum, read reviews on blogs, other websites, checked out the online samples no less than five times, and joining the MOTL Yahoo! group, I decided to stick with what I had and instead focus on getting math games. Which ones? How do I start? My brain doesn't naturally think mathematically. In pictures, yes. In words, a big yes. Numbers? Nuh-uh.

I decided to ask for help at my favorite homeschooling forum, The Well Trained Mind (WTM). What math games and activities are your favorites? I asked. I received an amazing amount of responses. Thank you, ladies! Many, many people recommended RightStart Math Games. RightStart is a math curriculum which extensively uses manipulatives and games, but it also includes a kit you can purchase separately with games. I looked into it, and it looks nice, but I wasn't ready to plunk more money down if I couldn't do it in the most frugal way possible. I still had it in the back of my mind if nothing else panned out, but I had other choices.

Family Math, for instance. Aaaaaaahh.. how could I have forgotten? I had read of this book probably a few years back now, and I put in my huge, overflowing, crowded mental filing system, where it got misfiled apparently. I remember it sounded really good to me. Check. I requested it through my library's Interlibrary Loan (ILL). I still haven't received it.

In the meantime another WTM forum member kindly gave me a free link with a list of great math games to play with your Kindergartner. See, this is what I mean by frugal -- free :) I gladly pay for certain things, but in this case I only need some fun, please. Thanks, Tonia!

During all this, I received the copy of Miquon's First Grade Diary through my library's ILL, a diary of the author of the Miquon program who recorded one year, in the 1960s, of her first graders' experience with the progressive methods of her program. I found myself getting hooked with this book. Fascinating. I never thought, in a thousand years, that I would find a book about math so interesting. I'm still reading it, lingering and lo and behold, an unexpected source of inspiration and games! Turns out the program I'm going to be supplementing with next year, Miquon, has many fun and games built in and explained, but apparently only in this First Grade Diary and Notes to Teachers, not as much in the official teacher's manual, Lab Annotations. Needless to say, I will be purchasing both the First Grade Diary as well as the Notes to Teachers. Each is about five dollars new (I know!), but I can also get them used, as I did my copy of Lab Annotations (pristine condition -- free!), from the WTM board. I will just keep checking. If not, I'll splurge and spend the whole $10.

Back to First Grade Diary: I wanted to try out one of the games right away. There are pictures, which I'm much better with than following wordy instructions. The picture above shows Son and his pleased expression playing our first fun math game: matching up the number of Purely Os (the organic equivalent to Cheerios) with the dots on the dice. So simple. Why didn't I think of that? It was fun, and I upped the ante by asking him to match not only the number of dots, but also the positioning of the dice when they fell. He looks so proud matching up, eh? By the way, the long greenish thing behind him is his trusted companion, Pet the Snake, a stuffed animal Rhinoceros Snake. Adding has never been so much fun at our house. I'm looking forward to playing more games and using more manipulatives.

2008-12-10T10:07:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-06T13:42:00.001-05:00

Keys Atheneum Weekly Report

This week we've been really busy. Husband has been working increasingly (holidays), I've been getting ready for my mom to come over (less than two weeks -- yay!) and the children have been off and on with a cold of sorts. It seems everyone I talk to has something. We also attended the Islamorada Holiday Festival yesterday. No snow this year, however. Son was excited to see snow again, but the truck broke down in Homestead and all that snow was melting.. Yes, we live in a warm climate that never gets snow. It's fun to play with snow in weather that doesn't support snow. We took pictures with Santa, which I'm going to post next week -- hopefully.

Math

I introduced concepts of one-half, one fourth and one third and dividing into equal vs. non equal parts. Son was very knowledgeable about this (undoubtedly from experience sharing with Mama -- hehe) and completed each sheet perfectly. We're using MCP Math Level K.

Poetry

Mix a Pancake by Christina G. Rossetti. We're using Poems to Read to the Very Young.

Phonics

We completed Tanglewood's Really Reading phonics program and I filled out and showed Son the certificate at the back of the book. Now we're exclusively using Spectrum Phonics Grade 1 until the end of the school year (end of May).

Penmanship

He's done all the lowercase letters and numerals, and now we're reversing the order of the book. He just did number 9 on Friday (yesterday).

Reading

This week Son read Me Too! by Mercer Mayer and Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman (this one with help. He's doing great, and picks up books to read without me asking him to read aloud.

Art

The week before Son decorated Christmas ornaments, coloring sketches Husband drew on them, Son's choice. This week Husband had him looking at Leonardo Da Vinci art in his book and discussing his art and life a bit in preparation for tomorrow's art class.

Literature

I read aloud a few stories from James Herriott's Treasury for Children: Bonnie's Big Day, Blossom Comes Home and The Market Square Dog. He likes the stories, especially the latter.

Geography

I read about the earth's rotation around the sun from My World and Globe and demonstrated with the globe and flashlight. We also talked about time zones and how the seasons come to be because of the increased or decreased light from the sun. Every day since he says when it's day time: "Now it's nighttime in Asia" and at night he says, "Mama, it's daytime in Asia" :)

Natural Science

After Son gathered materials from outdoors and we sorted them, we discussed what makes something living or biological, natural nonliving or human-made. He seemed to have a good idea of what was nonliving and he knew that his toys and stuffed animals were and that they are human-made. We sorted leaves (fresh or otherwise), pieces of bark, seeds, and an insect in the living/biological category. He has some difficulty in understanding that an apple was living, but after some explanation (it grows, it dies) he understood. I love Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU)! I can see Son making the connections and thinking about the concepts in his daily life.

Piano

We did half notes. We clapped to beats and Son played a simple song and I sang along with him. He did great! The only thing I had to remind him is to keep his fingers curved. I'm using Alfred's Piano Prep Course to teach him.

2008-12-03T11:50:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-29T11:44:00.000-05:00

Day of Planting

On Tuesday we went to our friend Summer's house and helped her plant seeds for her vegetable garden. It was beautiful day, mid 70s, sunny day. The children were happy to play right away. My friend has four children, and they get along great with Son and Daughter. One of her boys is Son's age and her little girl is only two months behind Daughter's age. Her other two are older, and delightful as well. After playing and some lunch, we went to work.

First my friend's eldest son divided the bed of dirt into sections. Each was going to be a vegetable. I helped with the cucumbers. I dug a fairly deep trench with the hoe, about 3 inches, and scattered the seeds every few inches apart. I hope they'll have cucumbers, as I'm not known for my green thumb. Cross my fingers!

Son proceeded to plant spinach seeds. My friend showed him how to dig a shallower trench, and Son planted the seeds. As soon as he was done it was off to play with his new friend, though. At five what is more fun than playing with a new friend?

My friend's two oldest were diligently working on the garden and Daughter decided to help too. She helped plant sweet potatoes with my friend showing her how to dig in the earth, drop in the cut sweet potato piece and put dirt back over it. She was so serious and concentrated. She knew she was doing something important. Hopefully she'll like sweet potatoes now!

We had a great time in the beautiful outdoors with our friends. This has inspired me to finally start a few plants of our own. I have Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots on my Christmas Wish List. I have a feeling we will all benefit from being closer to nature and eating our own home-grown vegetables and herbs -- yummy!

2008-11-26T14:21:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-25T08:23:00.000-05:00

Field Trip 1: Florida Keys Electrical Cooperative

Our local playgroup, Keys Kids Playgroup, always has fantastic field trips planned. It's for children from 0 to 6, and I've always taken son to these since he was little. However, now that he's five, I find he listens and understands a whole lot more and can ask intelligent questions. It's marvelous seeing him grow and change.

Yesterday we visited the Florida Keys Electrical Cooperative, our local power company. I was so excited as son and I just covered the four forms of energy in BFSU's C-1 Thread Concepts of Energy. This was perfect! It was our first formal field trip of the year. Before this we visited the Wild Bird Center and Zoo, but I didn't require a field trip report. The kids watched a short video on the dangers of electricity and how to keep safe with Cato the Cat. They found out that electricity has a negative and a positive side to it. They also learned about avoiding electrical outlets when wet.

Son learned a lot about the dangers of power lines, and how to avoid them. Here in Florida we are especially likely to encounter downed power lines after a storm. It's important to know to avoid these and to call the electrical company as soon as possible. The employees have a neat little Keys town with a man and woman and real functioning power lines, and they show how the people can get electrocuted by showing the electricity running through their bodies. We learned that water conducts electricity and our bodies are made up of 75% water. That means that we are very much at risk for getting electrocuted and need to go indoors in case of lightning. Here is one guy showing how a person gets electrocuted by touching a ladder to the power line (the orange shows the electricity, its sounded like tzztt... really cool):

The highlight of the trip was when the kids got to see a cherry picker go way, way up. The kids especially enjoyed being allowed to honk the horn of the cherry picker truck multiple times. Loud, but fun.

Mom learned a thing or two as well. I didn't know that the only thing from keeping these guys from getting electrocuted in the truck is the polyethylene bucket within the fiberglass cherry picker bucket. If this plastic bucket gets punctured the guy would easily get electrocuted. Ouch! It takes approximately five years to get the training necessary to do this job, and ten years to get proficient at it. And apparently it's pretty good money.

The people at the FL Keys Cooperative were so friendly and great hosts to our group: the kids got an array of snacks and drinks to choose from, such as gold fish, graham crackers, apple juice, punch and water. At the end they received a packet with crayons, an activity book about electrical safety, some Christmas pencils and Christmas-themed erasers -- very cute. Thank you, Florida Keys Electrical Cooperative!

When husband came home, son was telling him all about what he learned, including "don't get a kite that's stuck on the power lines" and "don't ever, ever throw a rock at the power lines". When we got home we filled out our Field Trip Report. I asked him the questions, he told me his answers and I wrote them down. He liked his field trip and his favorite part? "All of it," he says.

It was a fun day and we learned a lot. Next year when we add another layer to son's scientific understanding we'll be glad to visit again.

2008-11-23T21:10:00.000-05:00

Christmas Festival

Yesterday all of us went to the local Christmas Festival. It was a lot of fun. Son is old enough to enjoy himself with the rides, and I was so happy to go on the rides with him. I even went into a big bounce house. It's fun reliving your childhood. After that son tested his strength, shot some hoops, and little daughter played two simple games that won her prizes. She loved listening to the music and running around on the field. Husband and I were overjoyed to see our kids so happy and carefree. They loved spending time with the two of us at a special event like this. Son met Santa too, and got hugs from both him and Mrs. Santa/Mama Claus. He was so star struck he was speechless and a bit shy. I thought it was cute.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week! I feel like I have so much to do, and I'm not even hosting it. Husband is making Jambalaya and his self-created Volcano Cake, and I'm making Deviled Eggs and Roasted Butternut Squash (with thyme and blue cheese). Yummy! I could have made dessert too, but many people are on a diet, and Husband is already bringing a very rich one. Christmas Eve I'll bring something else, but don't ask me yet as I don't know.

2008-11-14T15:54:00.000-05:00

Homeschool Math

For encouragement, great strategies, curricula and resources stop by and check out Homeschool Math. It is a site but also has a blog which contains all the information you would need in order to decide on math curricula. I have used the website often, and come away with more insight, especially from someone who's not usually math oriented.

For me, the whole site and its author Maria Miller, convey to me, "You can do this."

To vote for the Homeschool Math blog at the Homeschool Blog awards, click here. It's in the Business/Curriculum category.

If you get a chance, you can also vote for my friend's blog, Trivium Academy. Her blog is nominated for at least Best Blog Design. I think her blog is not only beautiful, but also incredibly rich in content. Check it out!

By the way, I use MCP Math Level K and supplement with Living Math books.

2008-11-12T13:45:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-01T10:33:00.000-04:00

Hope Everyone Had a Merry Scary Halloween!

We sure did. This was the most fun Halloween we ever had. Son is old enough (five) to enjoy it and really understand the trick or treating process. We went trick or treating in a neighborhood about twenty minutes away from our house, where husband's aunt lives. Every year her house is our home base from where we start our trekking. We stop for conversation, pictures, refreshments and snacks before taking off.

Son was Superman, husband was Ponce de Leon the Spanish conquistador, I was a witch and daughter my black cat. I love toddlers in costume! They are some one of the most adorable sights of early childhood. Here are some pictures. Tomorrow we're attending a costume party in honor of a little friend who turns one. Happy Birthday, Zeffie! It's nice to be able to reuse the costumes.

2008-10-21T09:53:00.000-04:00

Outside!

-Never be indoors when you can rightly be without -- Charlotte Mason

After a long, hot and humid summer, we're so happy that it's October! For the previous months we would gingerly go outside, or go to parks later in the day, and son would complain it was too hot or simply get red-faced and fussy. In our neck of the woods October means getting outside and savoring the cooler breeze, the warm but not too warm temperatures (mid 70s, aah) and watching all the creatures small and smaller fly, slither and crawl.

First Daddy took us to our local Bird Center, where we saw pelicans, ibises, owls, cormorants and spoonbills. I picked up a book on land birds as we'll be studying birds next year. The children were wading in the water, looking for shells and minnows.

We spied a blue crab and a nurse shark further away in the water. We had such a good time.

Our youngest is fascinated by birds.

Next week it's Halloween! We all like to dress up and do some trick or treating around neighborhoods. Perhaps I'll write about that next time or our soiree at our local Pumpkin Patch. The colors, the

fragrances, the temperature dropping a little bit, the mood -- it's Fall, everyone! Can you tell it's my favorite time of year?

2008-10-12T19:30:00.000-04:00

Our Lesson on Solids, Liquids and Gases

As daughter has been out of sorts for a few days, we didn't school on Thursday. Son and I are spending two leisurely weeks on Solids, Liquids and Gases, Thread A-2 of the excellent Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding by Dr. Bernard Nebel. Fridays are my days of Science, Geography and Spanish.

First we did the game of sorting each item into three different boxes: solids, liquid or gases. Son was good at this game, and was able to identify many items correctly. For air/gas, I had son fill up a balloon with air and was sure to point out that the air that he blew out was inside the balloon. We talked about the actual words: solid, liquid and gas and the general qualities of each. We also poured some water into a container and put it into the freezer. An hour later and it turned into ice -- solid.

Gas was a bit more difficult to understand, as anticipated, because you usually can't see it. I showed him how I sprayed some perfume (a liquid) and the liquid dispersed into the air and we were able to smell it in the air. This meant that some of the liquid turned into air particles that mixed into the air around us.

We also talked about how our bodies are made up of solids, liquids and gases. He was able to think for himself which parts were each: bones are solid, blood was liquid and for gas he came up with farts -- haha :) I was proud of him.

During the week we read the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out-Science's Solids, Liquids and Gases. The Let's Read and Find Out Science is an excellent series of books with simple, but interesting explanations on the world around us. I highly recommend this too.

We'll be doing an experiment this week further exploring the concept.

2008-10-06T14:22:00.000-04:00

Our Art Lessons -- The First Month

I must say, I'm very pleased with son's art lessons this first month. So far this has been the progression of his once weekly art lessons with his handsome art teacher (Dad -- hehe):

Week 1 Cave painting with fingerpaints

Week 2 African tribal mask

Week 3 Make up Egyptian deity in Crayon Resist

Week 4 Make Mayan stella in clay

Each week husband (who happens to be an artist) talks about the period, history and culture of the peoples. He also shows him pictures, maps and art of the period and culture. For the Egyptian deity, son came up with an Elephant god. Each project is fun, and son looks forward to it every week.

In the process, he's getting a good idea about chronological history while looking at maps and pictures, and learning about different cultures. This is great! I would like for him to whet his appetite for history, the world and cultures.

Here is son rolling out the clay dough on a square plastic storage cover (to keep it square):

First he cuts out figures to represent the characters on his story with cookie cutters:

And here he is putting on the designs to make his relief a story:

Son is carving out designs with plastic knife to mimic ancient Mayan writings:

Finally, here they are laying out the stella to dry out in the hot sun:

Here's the final product! Santa riding a dinosaur and a rocketship pumpkin in the background. The way he tells it is this: He arrives with a rocket ship on a planet with Santa riding a dinosaur. There's a pumpkin there because it's almost Halloween.

2008-10-04T14:23:00.000-04:00

Colds

We have been hit by colds lately. First it was dh, then son. A few weeks later daughter gets roseola. It's nothing serious, just a three-day fever and rash that disappears after three days, but I didn't get sleep for a week! Consequently, I came down with a cold and son caught it too. He's better than I am. I just feel really tired.

I'm so glad we're homeschooling. If we miss school, say, in the morning, we can always do some in the afternoon or even read a book or two in the evening when Daddy's home. The flexibility is precious. Son would have had to miss at least 2 whole days of school, but instead we just did "lighter" days where he focused on his math, reading and phonics. He is only doing Kindergarten after all. He also likes to play Spanish on the computer with the Spanish immersion program, KidSpeak.

Next week hopefully things will be back to normal and this head cold will just be a distant memory. Off to rest some more and drink my fluids.

2008-09-30T18:29:00.001-04:00

Great Link of the Month

OurLosBanos.com is a cool website with lots of homeschooling information, free printables, and even some free curriculum. The author has been homeschooling for 16 years and shares her ideas, reviews, 395 free printables (I know!), and other links of interest. I highly recommend it. I don't bookmark every single link I see, but this one is worth holding on to even if it's just for the copywork pages, available in a variety of fonts, including our Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting. She has a whole science curriculum for the little ones available too.

2008-09-22T01:56:00.000-04:00

Our New (Tweaked) Kindergarten Schedule

Now that we're starting Week 3 this week, I have a good idea of our schedule and what needed tweaking. We're not going to follow Theology rigorously, but just have a short discussion of no more than 5-10 minutes.

Monday-Thursday

Calendar

Mathematics

Poetry

Penmanship

Wednesday

Piano Lessons 4 PM

Friday

Calendar

Theology

Science

BREAK

Geography

Spanish

Soccer at 6 or 7 PM

Nature walks 2X

Read Bible stories before bed 1X

Extras during the week: Unstructured play indoors and outdoors, chores, board games, Mind Benders (critical thinking exercises)

2008-09-19T10:31:00.000-04:00

The American Story

I know I'm early, but ever the planner, I was looking around long and fairly hard for a spine to use for American History. For those of you who have never heard of a spine, a spine is the "backbone" of a unit of study. From there you can always flesh out the program with living books and activities. Many times the spine is a textbook, but in a Charlotte Mason homeshool, the ideal would be a living history narrative. Perusing the Well Trained Mind forums, I knew I would have a few to look through and review.

The few are: This Country of Ours, The Rainbook Book of American History, Escher's Story of the USA series, Joy Hakim's Story of US series, Betsy and Guilio Maestro's first three American History books, and American Story: 100 True Tales of American History.

So far I've just glanced through Joy Hakim's books and read a few paragraphs from number 2 (I had a thinking five-year-old and a busy one-year-old loose in the library). It's well-written and interesting, but the pages look too busy for son. He gets distracted by clutter, as do I. It also seems geared more towards older students, and I would recommend it for middle school and up.

The American Story: 100 True Tales of American History by Jennifer Armstrong and Roger Roth is a large, beautifully illustrated and interesting book. It's a collection of short nonfiction stories and legends of American History. I was impressed by it as soon as I saw its heft, beauty and breadth of topics. It's chronologically presented by year, from 1565 to the year 2000.

The stories are engaging, and I find myself wanting to read the whole book. I love the fact that it's factual but in narrative form. I love the illustrations. I love the big size. Needless to say, this is the book we're going to be using as our spine for American History for the early grades. It's everything I've been looking for.

The curriculum Winterpromise uses this as its spine together with the Maestros' Trilogy on American History. Since I'm planning on using almost all the same resources, including its living books, I may just go with Winterpromise for that particular year (possibly 3rd grade).

I may. However, I do really like my independence as well. We'll just have to wait and see. II'm also attracted to the idea of trying out a pre-packaged curriculum -- even if it's just once.

2008-09-16T11:34:00.000-04:00

Our First Day of School

I was nervous and excited. Son was just excited. I had been planning for months now, and today it was finally here. Our First Day of School.

We woke up, I made him a good breakfast and gave him vitamins, and we started off at the dining table. There I showed him the day of the week, the month, the whole date. We reviewed the days of the week and I told him September is his birthday month and it has 30 days. We have a daily calendar we flip and also a monthly one where he crosses off the previous day.

After Calendar, which only takes roughly five minutes, we start working on Math. I've made it short and sweet, with completing only one page of our MCP Math Level K book. I'd rather explain concepts well before moving on to the next. We also make use of manipulatives when necessary. This day we used the abacus and real nickels to explain money and its value.

After Math, we read Susan Blue, a short poem in Poems to Read to the Very Young. Son loves poems. We read it three times. The third time he repeated after me. By the end of the week, he would have it memorized.

After poetry, we worked on shapes from the Italic Handwriting Book A. We work on them until he's got nice shapes of good form and then we have our 15-minute break.

During the break son can go to the bathroom, have a quick snack, drink some water and play with his little sister. I try to impress upon him the importance of getting everything done before school starts again. I also try to give daughter some focused attention too at this time.

After break, he plunged right into phonics. I use a combination of Tanglewood's Really Reading program (on this day) and Spectrum Phonics. Son is particularly skillful at this, and wows me with his knowledge. Hmm, I think. Perhaps I have underestimated him. He's on the brink of reading right now, already reading many simple three-letter words. Not bad for a boy who just turned five years old. Needless to say, I'm proud of him!

When we're through with our phonics page, we read a simple book. We're halfway through our Now I'm Reading! for Beginning Readers by Nora Gaydos. They're fun, and engaging for son. In the beginning there are visual cues, which will gradually be phased out as he keeps recognizing words. He reads aloud for at least five minutes, then begs to read more. My rule is: read until he gets tired. As soon as I see signs of fatigue or disinterest, we move on. I want him to enjoy reading, and so far he does.

Last but not least, we do our Literature (read-aloud). Our first day it was Good Morning, Chick by Mirra Ginsburg. Son loved it (as did daughter). We read on the couch, nice and cozy. I do the Peak with Books literature curriculum and I pick activities to do throughout the week. I love this gentle introduction to literature for young ones. What I like even more is the flexibility of it.

Our first day was idyllic. No complaining, no dawdling, no sour faces and exemplary obedience. We got off to a wonderful start. Now if only all days were like this!

2008-09-09T15:51:00.000-04:00

Laying the Foundation for Narration

Since son only just turned five, we're not doing formal narrations. Charlotte Mason recommended in her Home Education tome to not start narrations until the child was six. I try to listen with intent to what he has to say. I have ample opportunity to practice, as son has many things to say. His imagination is fertile, I want to nurture it and keep it this way. This is what I tell myself when I'm preparing dinner with fussy one-year-old daughter on my hip and son is chatting a mile a minute.

We're using a gentle, literature-based Kindergarten curriculum called Peak with Books which incorporates finger-plays, songs, poems, other books and kid and mom-friendly activities around wonderful children's literature selections. It's not until I've been using this program in a relaxed manner for a while that I hit upon the fact that finger-plays and having him tell me of his own accord about the book and activities are excellent pre-narration preparation.

When he memorizes finger-plays, he makes connections in his head and has to organize the material in his brain. As he demonstrates the finger plays, he shows me how much he knows about the subject. I don't require any telling, but sometimes I remark what I found interesting about the book and he'll flood me with a stream of his own opinions and observations.

Lots of unstructured play indoors and outdoors, introduction to and appreciation of art and music, nature walks and living books all pave the road towards planting the seed of narration. I consider finger-plays to be the preschool and Kindergarten equivalent of grappling with the material and synthesizing it towards higher order thinking.

2008-09-04T18:55:00.001-04:00

Curricula

I pieced together our K curriculum for this year. Pulling from different sources suggests we're eclectic, but in reality all our methods are Charlotte Mason. Since son is only in Kindergarten, we won't be formally doing narrations yet, but nature walks, living books, short lessons, music and art are all de rigeur over here. Son is a brandnew 5.

These are the curriculum materials we're using this year:

Reading:

Tanglewood's Really Reading Program

Math:

MCP Mathematics K, 1994 ed.

Phonics:

Spectrum Phonics Grade 1

Penmanship/Copywork:

Getty-Dubay's Italic Handwriting Book A

Literature:

Peak with Books

Natural Science:

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding

Poetry:

Poems to Read to the Very Young

Art:

Miscellaneous materials, as Dad is the art teacher

Music Appreciation:

Exposure to great music, movement and classical radio station

Piano Lessons:

Alfred's Basic Piano Library: Prep Course Level A

It's not that expensive to put together, as all the books required in the Peak with Books curriculum I obtain from the library if I don't already own the item. A few I have to obtain through Interlibrary Loan. A little planning goes a long way in ensuring success. I will be reporting how my first week (next week) is going.

I was planning on starting this Monday, but with Hurricane Ike grazing too close by I may delay a few days and start on Wednesday and make up during the weekend. I believe we're supposed to have mandatory evacuations tomorrow (sigh). We'll just have to see.