Not Before 7 Teaches

Field Trip: Police Station

2011-12-22T04:00:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to the local Police Station with a group of homeschooling friends. The kids really enjoyed McGruff the crime dog.

We learned about the motorcycle “your parents were so nice to buy me”.

Then we each took a turn sitting on the motorcycle.

Then it was a look at the undercover police cars that “your mom and dad bought us this year” as well as “pay for the gasoline to drive”.

And while the policeman was talking, the boys began to congregate on the other side of the car. I have no idea what they were all talking about and looking at, but it was funny to me. They were examining the car and loving it.

The ONLY time we hope to find D (age 4 – on left) in a holding cell.

Then we learned where you get the “cheap” gas….you know, the one that the tax payers purchase

The kids had a great time. They immediately went home and made our bathroom into the “holding cell” and played “jail” all day!

Our First Science Center Trip

2011-10-10T04:00:00.000-07:00

Every year in September, the Maryland Science Center offers $2 admission for homeschool families. They also offer a variety of wonderful lab classes, IMAX movies and planetarium shows for $5. Needless to say, we find ourselves at the Maryland Science Center at least twice in September.

This was our first trip. I had all four kiddos with me on this trip.

Digging for dinosaur bones is always fun.

Our little crew of students hanging out in the dino tracks.

These gals were only a few months old when they met….*sigh

Ah…the excitement of the bed of nails.

The girls headed to class and I took the boys to the room for kids under 9. This is one of my kids favorite spots to play in the Science Center.

My favorite part of this trip was watching this fabulous 4 year old boy…

He was playing in the submarine area and had created an entire imaginary game. He was the ship look out and was watching the electric eels on the screen in front of him. He was set off the alarm and had gathered some other kids to set into action after his alarm.

He was having such a good time and was devastated when it was time to leave. I was so heart broken for him that I brought him back the following week, even though my original plan was to only return with the girls on our second trip.

And of course, a certain two year old likes to do what his big brother is doing…

Good fun. Great day. We love this trip every fall.

Field Trip: Williamsburg

2011-10-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

We started studying US History as a family this year and decided to take advantage of our fairly close proximity to Williamsburg, VA.

Every year in September, the colonial town of Williamsburg hosts special days for Homeschoolers, jam packed with excellent programs as well as DEEP discounts! We decided to take our two girls and head south for three days.

We had a great time. (as did the boys with grandparents)

First, a little background…we told the girls that we would order them some colonial costumes online that they could wear on our trip. K was so excited and couldn’t wait!

T (age 7) did exactly what T would do…and picked an Indian costume. And the folks in Williamsburg find an Indian in their village to be a pretty amusing sight.

Here are our colonist and Indian learning a few Colonial dances and games:

Then it was time to get some water for the garden:

There were great little activities for kids, like this one, all around the town.

A little lunch at the outdoor Tavern. And I HIGHLY recommend these souvenir mugs if you go to Williamsburg. They are $10 and you can have FREE refills during your entire stay. We used three cups for the 4 of us to provide enough drink options.

They will NOT fill it with water. But they will fill them with ice and you can find a water fountain or sink pretty easily.

Still part of England…

The tradesmen all around town were great. I do wish I had spent more time preparing the kids for the various trades and brainstorming some questions with them. We haven’t quite hit the 1700’s in our studies, so this was jumping ahead of ourselves a bit.

But with or without background knowledge to draw from, they enjoy this. I think their favorite was the wigmaker shop.

The local gentry women taught us about their typical days and leisure moments.

We took a class called, “Crack the Code” at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum. It was AMAZING and SO informative. The girls decoded and deciphered codes and ciphers using methods from the Revolutionary War.

We learned all about the Culper Spy Ring. It was fascinating! I wish that had been the kind of stuff I learned during my history classes, but it seemed absent from the textbooks.

The people of Williamsburg have updated their activities, making use of texting technology these days. We decided to try one of their RevQuests and met our mystery friend for our instructions. The Quests are great fun and make use of their own cipher book, so it was a lovely follow up to our Code Class.

But they require quite a bit of walking on a day we had a full schedule, so we only completed two of the three challenges.

Our next class was, “Life of a Soldier” and it was informative and a lot of fun for Eric and I. Our girls HATED it. They did NOT like getting screamed at by the Sergeant and didn’t think anything about this pretend soldier life was very fun.

Of course, in order to get those pictures, I stepped out of my line. I was REEMED out by the Sergeant. My girls found that quite hysterical and it eased their tension about the whole situation.

We were back at the DeWitt Wallace museum again for a tour and activity on Folk Art. The tour was informative, interesting, and fast paced enough for kids. Then we were able to make our own piece of folk art, also called “memory art” by the docent.

K wanted to capture the memory of her best friend, M, from home.

T wanted to capture the memory of our trip, picturing an Indian and Colonial girl…though she is holding it upside down.

And mommy captured our trip too, avoiding any attempt to draw people.

Then we played with some quilting pattern blocks and enjoyed the quilts on display.

My girls LOVED the Governor’s Palace, especially the gardens. They played in the little maze for a LONG time, enjoying some time to run around carefree!

And my budding photographers had some opportunity to practice their skills.

We ended our day and stay in Williamsburg with the Fife and Drum Parade.

And my I suggest that you take some time to walk to one of the earlier bus stops on your way out, like the one by the capitol or immediately after that. Otherwise every bus that passes you will be full. Folks do get off the bus at the shops (Market Square?), so that is another option if you want a ride outta there!

And our study of US History begins…

2011-09-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

Our tepee…

Our pueblo…

Our amazon.com order (though not the fireman…he just wanted to join in)…

Just a happy homeschool classroom!

(The outfits were purchased for our three day trek to Williamsburg and Jamestown…post to come soon!)

Family Field Trip: National Zoo, Washington DC

2011-09-24T18:15:00.001-07:00

We kicked off the school year with a family field trip to the National Zoo in Washington DC. Although I grew up in Maryland, I have NEVER been to the National Zoo.

It was AWESOME! Big. Lots of walking. All uphill.

But AWESOME!

The students were excited. Especially enthusiastic was the littlest one who was getting to miss his nap for this day!

And of course, Panda girl, my T was super enthusiastic that this zoo has Giant Panda Bears!

First, we saw the panda indoors. But since that wasn’t good enough, we promised her another check later in the day.

And thankfully, she got her wish!

The reptile and small mammal houses were absolutely amazing. I have to say that this zoo was really impressive!

I wish I could describe for you the gleeful squeals of one VERY TIRED C (age 2) as he watched these creatures. The creature was walking back and forth along the glass and C would watch in amusement…

jump back from the glass laughing…

squealing and giggling with delight…

It was a wonderful day! Everyone returned home thoroughly exhausted and full of stories to retell.

*HINT: Folks told me to park at the bottom and then walk all the way up to get started. Visit the animals on the way down, so at the end of the day you are at the bottom by the car. The only thing I would change is to have your hubby drop you and the kids off at the top, then park at the bottom, where he can run uphill to the top…because getting the kids to walk up that HUGE, LONG hill without stopping constantly wasn’t easy. But having the car at the bottom at the end of our long day was wonderful!

The craziness that is our homeschooling journey

2011-09-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Homeschoolers often join co-ops or tutorial programs for their children so that teaching duties can be shared. These groups basically involved paid tutors/teachers or cooperative groups of moms who sharing in the teaching of certain subjects.

Our first year of homeschooling we were involved in Classical Conversations and I was a paid tutor. We met once a week for a half day and it was great fun with an amazing group of women.

For various reasons we joined another group the following year and for two years remained with this co-op. My kids attended grade level classes for art, music, science, language arts, and PE. I worked in the nursery, taught 2nd grade language arts, helped with middle school research paper and drama, and taught 2nd grade science at various intervals during the two years there. This was another great group, but I began to think we needed something else.

Not knowing what to do because there wasn’t a co-op in existence that was everything I wanted, I began talking to some friends. Slowly, an idea began to form.

What if the 6 of us (6 families) with our 21 total children made a group that was EXACTLY what we wanted?

Conversations began and our small little group was born: King’s Table.

It isn’t a formal co-op that will grow and involve more moms. And it isn’t a tutorial because sadly, none of us are getting paid! But it is a group of 6 moms, invested in a creative, energetic education for their kids based on many of the principles laid out by Charlotte Mason.

Every Friday we meet for three 45 minute session, including art, music and science/nature study.

And where did we decide to meet?

My House.

This decision was exciting and overwhelming all at the same time. And it involved a few house projects this summer to get ready. This was good because it was about time to finish unpacking the boxes in the basement!

So the garage became the classroom for our 10 students in 3rd-7th grade. Shower tile makes a great white board and portable tables work well!

The basement “gymnastics” room was cleared out to transform into a music room for the K-2 class.

And an area in the basement, formerly filled with boxes, unused furniture, and a closet that needed to be knocked down, was transformed into a classroom for 6 eager K-2nd grade students to have science and art classes.

(No, we don’t have them all sit in a row like that…there are two tables in the room, but when I came down on the first day, this is how they had situated themselves and it was so darn cute)

So how is it working out after three weeks?

GREAT! AMAZING! Better than I could have hoped! It is EXACTLY what I wanted for my kids and the house situation is working out beautifully!

The 10 older students stay in the garage for all of their classes. Yes, the wall décor isn’t your typical set of “classroom motivational posters”, but racks of tools and bikes will have to do.

Four boys. Six girls.

Five third graders. 1 fourth grader. 2 fifth graders. 1 sixth grader. 1 seventh grader.

Eager to learn. Excited about education. And just plain fun kids!

Whether it is science topics, like meteorology…

Or Nature Walks outside…

or music class…

This group of students is wonderful! I love their enthusiasm for learning, the friendships they are developing, and their love for the outdoors!

Then there are our energetic students in the K-2 group who are down in the basement classroom. What a fun crew!

Six of them if D joins, five of them if he runs off to play. (non-kindergarteners have the choice). Three girls. Two or three boys.

Working on art projects…

Creating parts of their family weather station…

And not blinking an eye when we have to use the utility sink in the laundry room! Yep, they are a flexible and fun crew!

And what about the babies?

There are six little ones (when D joins this crew). One hasn’t attended our school yet, but has been able to nap at home for his AM nap while his daddy works. The other five are here and kickin’!

First they romp and roam in the former gymnastics room till the K-2 class kicks them out for music.

(Yes, excuse the ceiling. I could have cropped it out, but why. Houses don’t have to be perfect for GREAT things to happen in them!)

Then they move upstairs to the playroom for some fun.

Their final destination is a snack and a little show while the moms who are watching them can do some clean up. It is such fun watching how much they interact and enjoy each other. This little crew is heavy on girls, so the Barbie time is a BIG HIT!

Overall, my house is a delightful, energetic, organized group of potential chaos every Friday and we love it.

Our journey to Guatemala

2011-05-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

Guatemala was a special study for our group because it is the birth country of two of our friends! We had a great time learning about their birth country and concluded our study with a get together at their home.

We began with clay pots:

Soap carvings:

We got to have a bit of hands on experience with actual instruments and keepsakes from the Fauth Family’s trip to Guatemala.

BANG! BANG! BANG! We smashed out our own corn tortillas.

The girls gave a joint presentation on the historic city, Tikal.

Then it was time for some yummy eats with friends!

Another wonderful country study with friends.

Brazil with Kids

2011-05-13T18:26:00.001-07:00

The kids had a fun time at our Brazil get-together:

Presentations

Making masks for Carnival:

Creating mosaics with ONLY products that come from the rainforest.

Food! Chocolate, lots of chocolate because it comes from the rainforest! And lovely fruits.

Another fun journey with the kiddos and our friends.

Wordless Wednesday: Reading Class

2011-05-11T09:04:00.000-07:00

Field Trip: Science Center

2011-05-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

Our annual trip to the Science Center (back in February) was with a small group of friends. I arranged it this year and DEFINITELY prefer when someone else does! But it went well and we had a great time.

The kids love the exhibits and it is fun to see their excitement.

The rainforest exhibit is worth taking binoculars to, as well as the Australia exhibit! My kids have a great time with them.

Of course, you’ll notice the BIG purse I have to take so I can carry all of that stuff…(in the prior picture)

I do seriously LOVE being their teacher. Crazy as it is some days, there are other days I realize how fortunate we are!

This little guy LOVED the dolphin show!

And yes, I take numerous photos of the jellyfish.

But seriously, they have got to be the coolest display at the aquarium. I could watch them float for hours!

I believe I mentioned that these were good for the Australia exhibit as well.

And our traditional photo with our friends, Heriberto and Jose'. D (age 4) insisted that NO ONE help him climb up on the rock, so he is there struggling to get on.

It is hard being the littlest one in the crew. I remember back in the day when we had to put them all on the rock…but now the “big ones” can climb up.

Poor D. And it was complicated by the fact that we took this at the END of the day when he was so tired.

But we had a GREAT time and we’ll definitely be back next year!

Wordless Wednesday: Outdoor Education

2011-04-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday: Reading Class

2011-03-23T20:08:00.000-07:00

*sofa cushions propped up on croquet mallets

Walter’s Art Gallery Visit

2011-03-09T19:37:00.001-08:00

One Sunday afternoon, we decided it was time for D (age 4) to experience his first trip to the art gallery for an art activity. We hopped in the car and headed to the BMA.

Unfortunately, after finding parking and getting all the kids into the museum, I realized that I had read the schedule wrong and we arrived on the day of the family tour.

I knew that was not going to be a good choice for my four year old and his first experience at the museum, so we headed back to the car. I grabbed directions from the front desk on our way out so we headed to the OTHER art gallery downtown, The Walter’s Art Gallery.

Thankfully we made it with 45 minutes to spare in order to do the family fun activity of creating your own animal mask.

D joined right in, having a blast!

I love the variety of materials that the kids are given to use.

They also created matching tails. T had a great time with her tail!

The Walter’s Art Gallery has a wonderful play area outside of the family art/craft room. There were puppets, costumes, and books available. We had a great time playing different characters.

It was a great day and all THREE of the “olders” had a great time. It was such fun to see D join in on the “older” outings now!

Wordless Wednesday: Reading Class…at breakfast…

2011-01-05T04:00:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday: Reading Class

2010-12-29T04:00:00.000-08:00

K’s growing booklist 2010 – 112 books, 5 months

Also known as…

She’s her momma

Why mommy lives at the library

Someone please help me with more titles and authors!

My little learner

2010-12-27T11:06:00.001-08:00

Dear D (age 3),

I did not plan to do “school” with you this year. I believe most learning comes through play in the early years and was quite confident you would gain the knowledge you needed for kindergarten through the books we read each day and our daily life.

YOU have thrown a curveball into my “laid back” plans. Clearly, you desire more formal teaching so you had to begin it yourself.

Each day, for weeks, you sat at your desk and wrote every letter on the ABC write-on flashcards. Very quickly, you learned the name of every letter and how to write it.

“I am doing my school,” you would tell me.

Your sisters, excited to have a pupil, have taught you all sorts of things in the preschool they run. They read to you, play games with you, and even make crafts for you to complete.

Of course, I have had to change my way of thinking and include you in all of our Galloping the Globe activities. If they girls are making a book about daily life in Egypt, then you want to hop right in there with them.

And it is a joy to watch.

Admittedly, it has been hard to adjust to stimulating your mind with learning opportunities because I am still struggling to balance your sisters educational needs. Yet, each day we work it out one way or another and you continue to learn, grow, and get excited about the world around you.

It is a joy to have another “pupil” in our school. I love watching the excitement on your face as you write your name or copy words. You are such an enthusiastic learner and you bring that enthusiasm to our little homeschool.

I love you buddy and I can’t wait to watch your world continue to expand.

Love,

Mommy

Wordless Wednesday: Reading Class

2010-12-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday: Reading Class

2010-12-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

Studying South Africa

2010-12-08T04:00:00.000-08:00

Sickness hit. And many of our kids missed our South Africa get together. My T (age 6) was home sick, so I went ahead and left her brothers there as well. One of the other family had a house full of sickies, so she remained home with her 4 kiddos.

That left a small group of 5 compared to our normal group of 12 kiddos running around. It was kinda nice in some ways, though we missed our friends!

During our time together, we used an audio CD of music to learn some South African dances and games played by traditional South African tribes.

Then we prepared our snacks before we had to grill them. We cut wedges out of bananas and stuffed them with chocolate chips, craisins, pecans, and raisins. They were going to be grilled in their foil wraps for 10 minutes while we worked on crafts.

Our first activity was the creation of “Rainbow People”. We painted the various parts and then put them together with brads. This idea was swiped from this site. It’s a great idea and she has very detailed instructions as well as more decorated rainbow people.

We also made South African shields.

Fresh mango and papaya…

Fresh orange slices, bread, and our stuffed banana boats.

YUM!

Another great day of learning!

When creativity explodes…

2010-12-06T04:00:00.000-08:00

Sometimes creativity happens…

and dinnertime interferes.

But on causal “breakfast for dinner nights”, mom might be OK with letting the “spur of the moment” writer’s workshop continue…

in spite of the eggs being served…

because who wants to stop the flow of creativity?

So dinner might just look a little bit like a newsroom, with reporters working late.

Of course, I wish we were all eating carry-out during our overtime…

Artist Study

2010-12-04T04:00:00.000-08:00

We studied the artist, Mary Cassatt, these last 12 weeks. After doing 4 picture studies, we got together with some friends for a group picture study followed by an art activity.

We did a print making activity, to imitate the print making technique often used by Mary Cassatt.

First everyone painted their own “original” image.

Even my little D (age 3) was having a blast drawing the letter “I” over and over again!

Then we put a blank piece of paper on top, press down and pull up…VIOLA…a print.

(It will work better if the original is painted on a cookie sheet so that the paint isn’t absorbed, but with a group of 12 kids we didn’t attempt that because it will also be messier and harder to clean)

K’s print…

And T’s print…

It is always more fun to work in a group and we al had a great time!

Walter’s Art Gallery: Meeting Walter Wick

2010-12-03T19:25:00.001-08:00

We were so excited about the new Walter Wick display at the Walter’s Art Gallery downtown! (October 22, 2010) Walter Wick is the writer and illustrator of all of the “I Spy” books, which we love.

We took that day to head to the festival at the museum on the day that Walter Wick would be there to sign his books. We made it just in time and were able to get three of our books signed!

Then we created 3-D designs and looked at our drawings in 3-D.

Then it was time to see the Walter Wick display in the museum. Many of his photographs from pages of his well known books were blown up on display. It was so fun to try to “spy” the objects in the “big page”. (The objects were listed on the photo description)

It was an interactive display with mirrors set up for creations and peek holes to see how things were done.

One of the neatest things to see were the actual models that Walter Wick uses to photograph his pages. About 5 of the 3D designs were on display so you could see what he created first…

and then view the matching “book page”…

The 3D display…

The actual photograph in the book…

The girls had a great time trying to find the “I spy” objects in the 3D displays first and then locating them in the pictures. I really enjoyed that aspect as well.

Finally we attended the art making part of the festival. The girls had a great time with these box lids. Each girl was given one large shoebox size lid with three smaller lids, jewelry box size. Then, available for creation on the table, was a box of “junk”, including buttons, springs, wire, bottle caps, pipe cleaners, packing popcorn, etc.

Let the imaginations unfold…

Then the girls used a variety of materials to make, “Jolly Roger Windows”.

The day was an absolute blast! I can’t wait to go back to the Walters Art Gallery again. They did a wonderful job creating a day of art for the girls!

Wordless Wednesday: Reading Class

2010-12-01T16:00:00.000-08:00

Studying Nigeria

2010-11-25T04:00:00.000-08:00

At our get together time with our friends, I chose to read, Jungle Drums by Graeme Base while we made it through a transitional moment.

It was our FAVORITE African tale. My children loved the illustrations. It was a cute story with a great lesson. I will be adding this book to our permanent library!

T (age 6), who adored the book, “Jungle Drums,” wrote an excellent 5 page narration of the story complete with her own illustrations.

Kayleigh wrote her own presentation this time around, without any help or suggestions. She wrote a first person presentation as if she was a little girl from Uganda. (That was the information available in her book)

Next, we created Nigerian huts. These were the tops of soda bottles wrapped with masking tape and painted brown.

Then Mrs. Colette helped the kids put on a top with raffia.

Our second craft was an African mask made from newspaper and masking tape. After the kids created these basic shapes, we wrapped them in aluminum foil for masks. (These would be well created with paper mache as well)

Meanwhile…D and C could be found playing in the other room! Sometimes they participate, but after painting their huts, D was done this time!

Next we took advantage of the beautiful weather for some African playground games. Here the head of each line is trying to chase the tail of the other line.

A circle game. At the same time you both jump and put out a foot. If you put the same, the person in the center has to leave the center. If you put out a different one, the person in the center gets to stay and keeps going.

Classic Hopscotch

And now for an African snack which included a yam bake, plantains, and a cookie.

Another wonderful time of learning with friends!

Wordless Wednesday: Reading Class

2010-11-24T04:00:00.000-08:00

Africa is not a country

2010-11-08T03:00:00.000-08:00

The second continent we are studying this year is Africa. One of my main goals during this study is for my children to understand that Africa is not a country.

It is a continent of MANY countries, each with different people groups, unique features, amazing landscapes, and an individual history.

I found a book at the library called, “Africa is not a country”. Each page is a short story about the typical activities of the children living in that country. As we read the stories, we colored in that country on a large, blank map of Africa and added a label.

You can print maps of many continents and countries in various sizes at this site. You can print a single sheet outline map, which I printed for each girl, or a map as large as 8x8 computer pages. I chose to print a 3x3 map of Africa, which uses 9 sheets that you fit together like a puzzle.

It was perfect!

I printed the names of the individual countries for us to cut and paste onto our map.

We have really enjoyed this activity, especially me. My own education did not give me such a sense of the uniqueness of African countries as I hope my kids have been instilled with. I just always though of Africa as a single place. It has been enjoyable and educational to learn about each individual country.

We only touched a little bit on the very difficult history of various African countries, but I wanted the kids to have a general sense of colonialism and the current state of the independent nations.

The three individual countries we will spend some time studying are Nigeria, South America, and Egypt.

Field Trip: Larriland Farm

2010-11-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hayride. Pumpking picking. Maze.

Wordless Wednesday: Reading Class

2010-11-03T04:00:00.000-07:00

Irvine Nature Center

2010-11-01T18:57:00.001-07:00

I have been trying to implement the principles of Charlotte Mason a bit more this year. One of them includes incorporating more nature studies into our year.

What better way to enjoy nature than to head to the Irvine Nature Center for the morning with my kiddos. And of course, one of the blessings of homeschooling is having an amazing place like Irvine to ourselves for the morning because it is the middle of the week.

While the visitors center is amazing and my kids would have stayed there all morning, we headed outside to spend time on the nature trails for a bit.

There were areas on the trail that you could “hide” from the birds so that you could get a closer view while they visited the bird feeders. The kids enjoyed spotting their feathery friends!

We had an absolute blast on our trip. The evidence was so clear when we got home. The kids immediately got to work setting up their own Nature Center on the front porch.

Moments like these are my favorite part of homeschooling. Kids should have time to “play” out their learning experiences. A stimulating day at Irvine led naturally into an afternoon of creative play.

What a great day!

Wordless Wednesday: Reading Class

2010-10-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Thankful for Preschool

2010-10-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

This is Mrs. Karyn. She is amazing.

She is the preschool teacher at our co-op this year and has done an unbelievable job. The students have a daily calendar time, stories, various crafts, games, and all sorts of activities. She even did some cooking with them last week and hopes to attempt it again this coming week.

Her fulfillment of this position is WAY above the typical "call of duty" for the co-op preschool, but she tackles it weekly with her amazing energy!

I am particularly grateful because there wasn't anything at our co-op for D (age 3) last year. He was at an "in-between" age and made to stay with me in the nursery.

This year I have watched him flourish and blossom under the love, creative energy, and enthusiasm of Mrs. Karyn. He comes home singing his letters. he has learned most of their sounds, and he always has a creative craft to show us.

Even his father, who had to deliver him to school a bit late one day, couldn't believe how excited he was to go to school. D just hopped out of the car and was ready to take off! He LOVES co-op, which is quite the opposite of his poor little brother.

Here he is being the "Letter A" with his friends at school.

At home, we have a "Thankful Tree". The kids add leaves to it each day with something they are thankful for. Want to know what D's first leaf said?

Mrs. Karyn.

He is thankful for Mrs. Karyn. And I truly couldn't agree more.

A rough age

2010-10-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Dear C (age 14 months),

You will owe Grandmom BIG TIME when you are older. She has watched you ever Friday from 8:30 AM until 1:00 PM. You are her little buddy and she takes you on walks and to the mall. She feeds you lunch and many snacks, plays with you, and just loves on you!

And, WHY do you get all this attention?

Because you are absolutely miserable when mommy leaves you at co-op. You screamed basically the entire three hours one week and it about killed me. That is when I called in your Grandmom for reinforcement.

She came to co-op with us, hoping you would adjust to the nursery more easily if she was there.

This is you on that morning, terrified to let me go. I, on the other hand, enjoyed the snuggles for a few minutes.

Once I left, the screaming began. Horrible screaming. Until your Grandmom put you in the stroller and took you out of the building on a little walk.

You were finally calm for about a half hour...that is until she tried to take you back into the building.

You started screaming again as soon as you got to the front door.

And it pained your Grandmom's heart, so she got the car seat from me and took you home.

And she has been watching you on Friday mornings ever since.

Yes, my boy, you owe your Grandmom for this one day.

Big time.

Science Center Field Trip

2010-10-16T19:11:00.001-07:00

Once again, we kicked off the year with a trip to the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore. Each year the Science Center offers homeschool classes for $5 for the first three weeks of September. The class fee includes your admission to the science center that day, for moms and siblings as well! General admission, without a class, is $2 for homeschoolers during the three week period.

We ventured to the science center twice this year. The first round was just the girls and me. K (age 7) took a class and T wandered the science center with me. Then the three of us had a great time touring the place. I didnt take my camera on that trip because I didn't have the stroller.

The next trip was the entire family AND Grandma. The girls were signed up for a class with their friends and we spent time touring the museum together, focusing on the toddler room.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

And every year we come at least once with our dear friends, The Fauths. The first time, our 4 kids total sat in these footprints. Now, we fill up the footprints with our crew!

First Day of School 2010

2010-09-16T11:27:00.000-07:00

Book List Review

2010-05-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

We've been working through the 100 Children's Books list and having a great time!

We are working through the books order for the most part, but we have to skip around as we are waiting for some of the books to come in.

We decided to revisit books that we are already familiar with on the list. It's been great sharing so many old favorites with D (age 3). He absoltely loved, "Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom." We own the book, but the girls keep it in their room. It was a great reminder to pull out some favorites to share with him.

We have used the list as a starting point to read books that aren't on the list, but are written by the same authors. Of course, one of our favorite authors is Mo Willems. We grabbed, "Knuffle Bunny" in addition to, "Don't let that Pigeon Drive the Bus," as well as a bunch of his easy readers to revisit. David Shannon is another one of our favorite authors. We loved reading, "Duck on a Bike," again as well as some new ones we have never read by David Shannon. And we grabbed some extra Froggy books by Jonathan London too! My little three year old, D, has loved the Froggy stories.

The girls loved, "George and Martha"! We all got a good laugh reading the short stories in the first book. Another fun find was, "Abuela". This book mixes some Spanish vocabulary in the story. I loved the illustrations in this book as well.

It's not going to take too long to get through the list, but there are plenty of lists to choose from!

Graduation

2010-05-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our co-op ended with a ~~very long~~ lovely graduation night.

The entire K-5 crew learned how to sign the Lord's prayer and the 23rd Psalm, so they performed it for everyone.

Then it was time for each individual grade to have some time in the spotlight. First the class of kindergarteners, including my T, walked in for "graduation".

A local radio DJ (hubby to one of the wives) interviewed each kindergartener, asking what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Completely unprompted, my sweet little T (age 5) immediately responded, "a mommy".

K (age 7) recited a poem she wrote. Each second grader took a turn to recite.

Finally, a group photo of all of the hard working kiddos this year! It felt great to be done.

Great Britain

2010-05-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

Our study of Great Britain was fun!

It was around the time of St. Patrick's Day, so we enjoyed incorporating that into our study!

We spent a lot of time studying knights and castles. The girls had a great time creating a lapbook about knights and castles. In fact, both girls decided to talk about what they learned in their lapbooks when we gave our presentations.

We created some British officers at our get together:

Then each child made a family shield that represented them.

I love the joy of watching my girls learn together and help one another.

Next it was time for outdoor games. We had a great time with a game called, "Queenie, Queenie." The child in the middle had to guess who had the ball behind their back.

Of course, not everyone wanted to play...

But we continued on with our games, playing a game simliar to chinese jumprope, but with words about the United Kingdom.

Then, it was time for some food...

And just in case you were wondering, the littlest guy was part of the action as well!

Another great country study concluded!

100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know

2010-05-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

When I went to the library last week, I realized that I was directionless. Our curriculum usually drives my library visit choices, but we are finished history for the year. So I wasn't really sure where to head and what to randomly grab.

I know our favorites and some good books and authors, but suddenly my checkout list decreased from about 60 or more books to less than 20.

Then, just in time I found this list of 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know on the New York Public Library website. I printed it and decided we'd work through the list this month.

The list is below or you can see it on the site. I marked the ones that we have read before in bold. I was excited to realize that a lot of the books were part of our Galloping the Globe journey this year! It was neat to realize how many "random" books that we came across were on this list!

We'll let you know what we think as we go through the list!

1.ABUELA by Arthur Dorros,
2.ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY by Judith Viorst
3.ANANSI AND THE MOSS-COVERED ROCK by Eric A. Kimmel
4.ANDY AND THE LION by James Daugherty
5.BARK, GEORGE by Jules Feiffer
6.THE BOSSY GALLITO: A TRADITIONAL CUBAN FOLK TALE retold by Lucia M.Gonzalez; illustrated by Lulu Delacre
7.BREAD AND JAM FOR FRANCES by Russell Hoban; illustrated by Lillian Hoban
8.BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE? by Bill Martin, Jr.; illustrated by Eric Carle
9.BRUNO MUNARI’S ABC by Bruno Munari
10.BUZ by Richard Egielski
11.CAPS FOR SALE; A TALE OF A PEDDLER, SOME MONKEYS AND THEIR MONKEY BUSINESS by Esphyr Slobodkina
12.THE CARROT SEED by Ruth Krauss; illustrated by Crockett Johnson
13.A CHAIR FOR MY MOTHER by Vera B. Williams
14.CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault; illustrated by Lois Ehlert
15.CLICK, CLACK, MOO : COWS THAT TYPE / by Doreen Cronin
16.COME ALONG, DAISY! by Jane Simmons
17.CORDUROY by Don Freeman
18.CURIOUS GEORGE by H. A. Rey
19.DINOSAUR ROAR! by Paul Stickland and Henrietta
20.DON’T LET THAT PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS! by Mo Willems
21.DUCK ON A BIKE by David Shannon
22.FIRE TRUCK by Peter Sís
23.FREIGHT TRAIN by Donald Crews
24.FROGGY GETS DRESSED by Jonathan London
25.THE GARDENER by Sarah Stewart
26.GEORGE AND MARTHA by James Marshall27.GO AWAY, BIG GREEN MONSTER! by Ed Emberley
28.GOIN’ SOMEPLACE SPECIAL by Patricia McKissack
29.GOOD NIGHT, GORILLA by Peggy Rathmann
30.GOODNIGHT MOON by Margaret W. Brown; illustrated by Clement Hurd
31.GOSSIE by Dunrea Olivier
32.GRANDFATHER’S JOURNEY by Allen Say
33.HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON by Crockett Johnson
34.HARRY THE DIRTY DOG by Gene Zion ; illustrated by Margaret Graham
35.HENRY HIKES TO FITCHBURG by D. B. (Donald B.) Johnson
36.HORTON HATCHES THE EGG by Dr.Seuss,
37.HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY GOOD NIGHT? by Jane Yolen
38.I KISSED THE BABY! by Mary Murphy
39.IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE by Laura J. Numeroff
40.IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE: A YIDDISH FOLKTALE retold and illustrated by Margot Zemach
41.JOHN HENRY by Julius Lester; illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
42.JULIUS by Angela Johnson ; illustrated by Dav Pilkey
43.KITTEN’S FIRST FULL MOON by Kevin Henkes
44.LILLY’S PURPLE PLASTIC PURSE by Kevin Henkes
45.THE LINE-UP BOOK by Russo Marisabina
46.THE LITTLE RED HEN: AN OLD STORY by Margot Zemach
47.LON PO PO: A RED RIDING HOOD STORY FROM CHINA by Ed Young
48.LYLE, LYLE, CROCODILE by Bernard Waber
49.MABELA THE CLEVER by Margaret Read MacDonald
50.MACHINES AT WORK by Byron Barton
51.MADELINE by Ludwig Bemelmans
52.MAISY GOES SWIMMING by Lucy Cousins
53.MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS by Robert McCloskey
54.MAMA CAT HAS THREE KITTENS by Denise Fleming
55.THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS by Mordicai Gerstein
56.MARTHA SPEAKS by Susan Meddaugh
57.MIKE MULLIGAN AND HIS STEAM SHOVEL by Virginia L. Burton
58.MILLIONS OF CATS by Wanda Gág
59.MISS NELSON IS MISSING! by Harry Allard and James Marshall
60.MR. GUMPY’S OUTING by John Birmingham
61.MUFARO’S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS: AN AFRICAN TALE retold and illustrated by John Steptoe
62.MUNCHA! MUNCHA! MUNCHA! by Candace Fleming
63.MY FRIEND RABBIT by Eric Rohmann
64.THE NAPPING HOUSE by Audrey Wood
65.NO, DAVID! by David Shannon
66.OFF TO SCHOOL, BABY DUCK! by Amy Hest
67.OLD BLACK FLY by Jim Aylesworth
68.OLIVIA by Ian Falconer
69.OWEN by Kevin Henkes
70.PAPA, PLEASE GET THE MOON FOR ME by Eric Carle
71.PIERRE: A CAUTIONARY TALE by Maurice Sendak
72.THE POLAR EXPRESS by Chris Van Allsburg
73.PUSS IN BOOTS by Charles Perrault
74.THE RANDOM HOUSE BOOK OF MOTHER GOOSE: A TREASURY OF 386 TIMELESS NURSERY RHYMES by Arnold Lobel
75.ROUND TRIP by Ann Jonas
76.RUMPELSTILTSKIN by Paul O. Zelinsky
77.THE SNOWY DAY by Ezra Jack Keats
78.SPOTS, FEATHERS AND CURLY TAILS by Nancy Tafuri
79.THE STORY OF FERDINAND by Munro Leaf
80.THE STRAY DOG Marc, Simont
81.STREGA NONA by Tomie De Paola
82.SWIMMY by Leo Lionni
83.SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE by William Steig
84.THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT by Beatrix Potter
85.TAR BEACH by Faith Ringgold
86.TEN, NINE, EIGHT by Molly Bang
87.THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY by Simms Taback
88.THE THREE BEARS by Paul Galdone
89.TRASHY TOWN by Andrea Griffing Zimmerman
90.THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS BY A. WOLF by John Scieszka
91.TUESDAY by David Wiesner
92.UPTOWN by Collier Bryan
93.THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR by Eric Carle
94.THE WHEELS ON THE BUS adapted and illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
95.WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak
96.WHERE’S SPOT? by Eric Hill
97.WHISTLE FOR WILLIE by Ezra Jack Keats
98.THE WOLF’S CHICKEN STEW by Keiko Kasza
99.YOKO by Rosemary Wells
100.ZOMO THE RABBIT: A TRICKSTER TALE FROM WEST AFRICA retold and illustrated by Gerald McDermott

Our crazy Fridays

2010-05-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

This is Friday morning. For now.

Four children: 7, 5, 3 and 10 months

One stroller.

One pack and play for a napping baby.

Three backpacks.

Two lunch boxes.

Two diaper bags with food for the morning, diapers, bottles, and a ton of bibs.

One bag with mommy's lesson plan and teaching supplies.

This is every Friday morning. Arriving at co-op with everyone and everything in tow.

By 9 AM.

I had to capture it because it is now.

And one day I won't have to tote along so much.

Sometimes it is tough to cherish aspects of now. The lugging around all the "stuff" that comes with this stage is one of those aspects.

And I won't miss it.

And it is one of the big reasons I was ready for co-op to end. As much as we love it. I'll be glad to return in the fall when the pack and play doesn't have to return with me!

But I'll miss that precious baby who spent his mornings napping at co-op.

Studying France

2010-05-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

France was our final stop this year. Of course, we went on our week long trip to the beach, so we didn't do a whole lot at home for this study.

We did, however, go to visit France...at Epcot. While there, we talked about France, ate some yummy French food, and took in the sites. THAT was about the total of our study, other then some great books!

Thankfully, our friends planned us an amazing day of fun, so we learned more about France at our get together!

We painted noodles for necklaces, using the Italian colors.

We also built Effiel Towers out of pretzel sticks. The kids used chocolate frosting and had a yummy and lovely time with this idea!

Even little, C, got into it...but without the frosting.

Then we headed outside for the Tour de France. We lined them all up on various moving objects. Some can ride a bike without training wheels, some with, some preferred scooters, and finally there was little D who used his plasma car.

Then we brought 'em all in to eat their Effiel Towers, some cheese, and parfaits.

Another great study!

Our Study of Italy

2010-04-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been well over a year since we studied Italy, but in an effort to catch up, I am going to back blog a few posts like this one.

Our study of Italy led us to the most fabulous book EVER! It is a children's fairy tale called, Papa Gatto. We loved this book. The best part is when the prince asks the wonderful sister to marry him and she tells him that she can't do that because she hardly knows him!!! So the sister decides to live with Papa Gatto and the prince can visit her there so that they can get to know one another.

Awesome! Brilliant girl!

Our get together at the end of our study included lots of fun!

We started with presentations, as we usually do.

Then we began to work on our mosaic designs. This was going to take some time, but the kids loved it! They were a mosaic kit from the craft store with foam squares you had to put in the numbered boxes. It was a definite hit.

Our next activity was making masks for Carnival in Venice. The kids had a great time doing these as well.

Then somewhere along the line, I lost my photos, so the rest isn't pictured. But we had a great time once again!

Visiting Russia

2010-04-02T04:00:00.000-07:00

Russia.

Another country that didn’t excite me. But I had to dig in and find “something”. Because of course, what comes to my mind is the cold war, communism, and Stalin. I wasn’t diving into those topics with my 7 and 5 year old. LOL!

The first fun thing we discovered was Baba Yaga. She is a character that appears again and again in Russian stories. Sometimes she is mean witch and other times she is only misunderstood. In most books she lives in the woods in a house on chickenlegs. She is often seen flying around in a mortar and pestal looking for little children.

Oh we enjoyed Baba Yaga. We read a ton of books that included Baby Yaga. A few favorites were:

Baba Yaga retold by Katya Arnold

The Flying Witch by Jane Yolen

Baby Yaga and the Wise Doll retold by Hiawyn Oram

Babushka Baba Yaga by Patricia Polacco.

Then we focused on music and arts. We began with Tchaikovsky. Using, “The Story of Swan Lake” performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, we learned about the story behind the music. Then we listened to, “Tchaikovsky Discovers America,” from the Classical Kids Series. Of course, we watched many scenes from the Nutcracker as well. Later we returned to Tchaikovsky at our get together because I was having so much fun with his music! (I think he is my favorite classical musician now)

When we joined up with our friends for a day of fun, we began by painting eggs. (inspired by Rechenka’s Eggs by Patricia Polacco) Ukraine egg painting is an amazing art. There are some wonderful YouTube videos of the process. We simplified it to just wooden eggs.

The finished products:

To prepare for our next craft, Mrs. Michelle read the book, The Littlest Matryoshka, by Corinne Demas to the kids. They enjoyed this story SO MUCH and it really inspired them for the next activity.

We had planned to have them make these paper Matryoshka Dolls. We had no idea how much this story would inspire them to invest in this simple activity.

My girls LOVED this. They worked hard on making their little dolls. And then, after friends left, we printed about FIVE more sets for each of them. Oh my!

Sadly, I didn’t have any good shots of the next activities. Most of them involved music. We listened to the characters from Peter and the Wolf played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. (The girls and I had read it at home earlier in the week) The CD includes a section that introduces each character (instrument). The kids acted out each character as the instrument was “playing” it. We had a GREAT time. The story of Peter and the Wolf is a excellent way to introduce children to the orchestra and the “story” behind the music. (kids acting as Peter, skipping along, below)

Next, we acted out the “Overture of 1812” by Tchaikovsky. I explained a brief history of the battle between France and Russia during the War of 1812. (my dad is probably laughing his head off while reading that…history…not my thing) Then, thanks to THIS Wikipedia information, I had a lovely history lesson. Using the information, I played exerts of the music for the kids to listen to and act out the battle scenes.

*I think my favorite part of this was learning that the nation of Russia cried out to God in prayer. People were told by the government to gather in the churches and to pray for God to rescue them from Napoleon. Sounds of church bells are incorporated into the music. I loved teaching my kids about God’s hand in history this way. Because, if I am honest, I associate Russia with communism and the Cold War. I never considered the nation as one who would cry out to God collectively. This is why I LOVE homeschooling. My kids will see history as the story of ALL of God’s people, not just Americans and our history.

So to prepare for this event, I sat and listened to the Overture of 1812 in its entirety on the previous night so that I could mark down the sections to fast forward to. (My dad is probably laughing at that as well) But I gotta tell you. I am truly becoming a fan of classical music. It just takes an understanding of the music to appreciate it. I hope to pass that on to my kids as I learn!

Finally, we ended with food! The Russians LOVE fruit and honey, so we had some melon with honey and walnuts. Of course, there was beet soup with bread that some brave children tried.

Another GREAT study! K (age 7) still declares it as one of her favorites!

Studying Germany

2010-03-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

(all book titles mentioned are in the book carousel below if you need more information)

I’ll be honest, we studied Germany at the end of January into the beginning of February. I was less than enthusiastic about our studies in this country. Maybe it was bad timing because of the winter blahs. Maybe it was the dark history of the country. Who knows? But it was tough to get excited about this country.

We began with some basics about Germany. Then we talked a little bit about the Berlin Wall. Dr. Suess’s Butter Battle Book was helpful during this topic, providing some fun literature!

Next we did some reading and discussion of the holocaust, in a child appropriate manner. Willy and Max by Amy Littlesugar and Elisabeth by Claire Nivola were some of the titles we read during our discussion.

My enthusiasm returned when I began to realize what amazing musicians came from a country with such a dark history! We spent some time studying the life of J. S. Bach. We thoroughly enjoyed the classical kids CD, Mr. Bach comes to call. What an excellent series!

And of course, The Brothers Grimm, were born in Germany. I think we read just about every tale they wrote. It was fun to see the differences between the original stories and the Disney versions for so many of them. We also got as many versions as we could find at the library. The kids were really able to see how lasting these stories have been over time.

Some of our favorite adaptations were The Snoring Beauty by Bruce Hale (the humor was over their heads at time, but mom was laughing hysterically)and The Bootmaker and the Elves by Susan Lowell. The library is FULL of alternate versions. We could have spent months on just this topic.

We used our Literature Pockets to create a pocket for Little Red Riding Hood, a Grimm Tale. The kids had a fun time doing this and we have a lovely keepsake to show for it!

Every unit ends with our a get together with friends. This one was no different! Without a doubt, it is the highlight of our studies!

Kayleigh reported on her favorite Grimm Tale, The Frog Prince.

T (age 5) used the finger puppets from her literature pocket to act out the story of Little Red Riding Hood.

Next, it was Edelweiss hat making!

Then we created Zuckertute bags, AKA Shuletute bags, a German goodie bag for the first day of school. They are filled with all sorts of candy and school supplies!

Time for mommy to fill the bags…

And then seal them up with surprises inside! We gathered around to play a game with orchestra music. Flip over the instrument when you hear it played.

BINGO!

Time to eat! We had some delicious apple cake and soft pretzels.

Off we gallop to our next country…

The Frog Prince

2010-03-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

K (age 7) wrote a summary for, "The Frog Prince." It wasn't an assignment from me. She was a bit fascinated with the idea of a book report, so she just disappeared into the other room and came back with a "book report".

For a first written summary done completely on her own, I thought it was pretty good. I appears that Writing With Ease is working well for us this year!

Baltimore National Aquarium '10

2010-03-04T15:58:00.001-08:00

Dear D (age 3),

You came with us on our annual aquarium field trip this year.

I admit it. I was a bit hesitant about bringing you. I knew that you would tire more easily than the older kids. I also knew how much the older kids would learn at their ages and was worried you might distract mommy from them too much.

It’s not that we don’t love you dearly, but you are three years old. And that can be tough.

But here you are, part of the gang!

Of course, being part of a new co-op this year means that a lot more of our friends joined the fun as well! I am thankful there are little boys your age in our crew these days!

Everyone was having a great time together. And you were hanging in there with them!

It was great fun to watch everyone’s delight in finding particular fish or turtles.

But I admit it. I had the most fun watching you. And being with you. And talking to you.

You see, I was so concerned that you might throw a fit or get too tired that I forgot about the joy of a three year old. It was all new to you. And watching it through your eyes was something I am so glad I didn’t miss.

Everything was new to you. And everything was thrilling.

Oh my little boy. I am so so glad you came!

Of course, when we all sat down together at the dolphin show, your sisters leaned over to me…

Oh Mom. I think D is really going to like this!

Look at him. He is so excited mom!

Truly, it brought tears to my eyes. I am so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to experience moments like this with the three of you together. (and soon, little C will join in) I was instantly reminded me why I am so grateful that you all are home with me.

And yes, you did enjoy the dolphin show!

Then it was off to the jellyfish. They were mesmerizing. There are more pictures on mommy’s other blog.

Your oldest sister enjoyed the day. She loves to learn and to teach!

Your other sister enjoyed the day as well. She loves to look at things from a unique perspective. I am sure she will have lots to teach you as we move along in our studies.

And, of course, you were able to hang out with some other little guys who joined us. I have a feeling these friends will be in your life for quite a few years.

I am so thankful you were with us today D. You are a special part of our classroom and it is truly delightful to watch you grow in knowledge!

Love, Mommy

Stream of Consciousness...

2010-02-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

Because sometimes I forget that it isn't about building their resumes or having the smartest kid in the room...

I homeschool...

to find opportunities to practice compassion together every day

to foster meaningful friendships with their peers

to educate my children so that they see the world as God's see it

to help my children find their God given purpose in life

to make prayer, scripture memory, and time in the Word part of a day's natural rhythm

to model a lifestyle of worship before my children

to leave lots of margin in their lives for creative play, alone time, and exploring

to encourage them in hopes that they will love the process of learning

to strengthen family bonds

to foster meaningful and lasting friendships among siblings

to take vacations in April and September when it is empty and cheap

to create lasting memories of time together rather than apart

to practice and teach what it means to honor others above ourselves

to study and learn about topics together

to get outdoors as much as possible and enjoy God's amazing world

to deepen our family relationships

to train my children to evaluate all things through the Word of God

to teach them how to think so that they won't be told what to think by others

to help them know God in a personal way

to practice the fruits of the Spirit in a safe place

to allow them the opportunity to know baby C (7 months) well

in hopes that all of the knowledge we gain draws us closer to our Creator

and so that I have more time in each day and each week to acheive these goals, yet with a recognition of my full reliance on His work in their hearts and lives.

Keeping it in mind

2010-02-15T08:17:00.000-08:00

When things get tough homeschooling my little ones, there are two stories that return to my thoughts. These aren't necessarily the most uplifting thoughts, but they are two statements that help me maintain perspective.

One
A friend of mine met a woman at a birthday party. The woman had been homeschooled through high school, so my friend started asking her about it. This woman was not planning at all to homeschool her own children at all. Her reason?

I never want to be as stressed as I remember my own mother being.

OUCH!

That statement has stuck with me. I try to remember it on days when things are getting tough. A stressed out, frazzled mom is NOT what I want my children to remember from our days at home together.

And in a weird way, this sad statement helps me at those moments. I am able to pause in my mind, back up, and pray. I have to give the moment and the day over to God and release MY agenda, which is often the cause of the stress.

I continually pray that our family will build fun memories together. It doesn't matter to me that my children homeschool their own children. But, I want their memories of our time at home together will be fond ones that they will cherish. I pray our time will solidify and strengthen our relationships instead of damaging them.

And this little statement helps me remember to keep giving my agenda over to God and resting in His plan each day instead of stressing over mine.

Story Two
I have been overwhelmed this year. Homeschooling with a baby, three year old, 5 year old and 7 year old has been quite a challenge for me. I have made some effort to seek out other moms with 4 or more children for encouragement and advice.

Recently I visited a friends with four kids over the same age span. But her youngest is now kindergarten and the oldest is 5th grade. I wanted to see how she ran the day, kept herself organized, and how things were set up.

Our time was great and it was so nice to see how things might look in 5 years. But at some point I turned to her and admitted that having the baby and three year old was so tough. I asked, "What on earth did you do back then?"

She smiled. "Remember, that is when I gave up and sent them to school?"

At that time, she had gotten so frazzled about homeschooling and it had brought out so much anger and frustration that she and her husband agreed to send the children to school.

I didn't know her at that time. When we met, she had her oldest daughter at home with her and was in the processing of trying to "convince" her husband to let her homeschool them all again. After months of praying, attending a conference together, and a year with one at home, they brought all 4 home again. And she is having a great year.

But that story acknowledge for me just how tough this situation is. There will be other challenges later, but the challenges that I am facing right now are extremely frustrating at times.

Frustrating enough that some awesome homeschooling mommies that I know threw in the towel for awhile. And that is OK. God worked it out. But somehow, knowing that honest truth that she shared with me has made me feel less alone.

This story is another one that reminds me to stay focused on God and rest in Him. I can't let homeschooling consume my mind. And I certainly pray it won't have a negative impact on our family.

This story also reminds me that God works in ALL situations. I may find a time that I need a break and He leads our family down a different path for awhile. That doesn't mean that I can't go back to homeschooling if it is my desire.

Just two thoughts that sometimes help me get through tough spots.

They help me to remember to rest in Him and let some things go that need to be released for the JOY of homeschooling to be restored.

Studying Antarctica

2010-02-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

OH.MY.WORD.

We had a blast studying Antarctica and the Arctic.

Seriously. I think this was one of the most fun areas that we have studied so far. And yes, if you venture on this journey one day, be sure to do it while there are Arctic temperatures outside. It does add to the affect.

I admit that I was not looking forward our Arctic and Antarctic studies. I mean, there aren't any people, so there wasn't any clothing, food, or any type of culture to study! We haven't studied animals in any other countries because our science studies are covered at our co-op. But it seemed like the only thing to study in these areas.

Yep. We were left with animals and explorers. Ugh.

Or so I thought.

Turns out that we loved both topics completely. And both topics pointed us to God over and over again.

The animals in these areas were so fun to "meet"! We made a lot of use of National Geographic DVD's. Our favorite one (by FAR) was, "Really Wild Animals: Polar Prowl". The kids learned so much from this video and it was very well done. Our other favorite was The Blue Planet Seas of Life: Ocean Worlds, Frozen Seas. It appears to be discontinued by the manufacturer, but our library had it.

And yes, we watched a little bit of, "March of the Penguins," but it was a bit "slow" for the kids. I'll finish myself another time. The story of the penguins is amazing and speaks of the majesty of God's design in His creation over and over again.

We talked about food chains and food webs during our studies. And of course, we talked a lot about penguins, the clear favorite animal in this house!

It was really convenient that the local library hosted an activity hour called, "Penguins and Polar Bears" during our study! The girls had a great time at the library and enjoyed the topic so much more because they were knowledgeable about it from our studies.

The librarian gave a talk about these creatures and shared information with the children.

Yes, the girls remembered a lot of the information that we had learned.

Then we created a cotton ball polar bear and an "ice scene" with aluminum foil and colored creatures.

We spent our second week studying Sir Ernest Shackleton, an Antarctic Explorer. His story is amazing and inspiring. Truly God has a protective hand on him during his journey. Shackleton himself was an amazing example of servant leadership, so we talked a lot about his character as well.

The video, Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure, is well worth watching. And yes, I did cry. Some of it was intense, though visually it was tame enough for the kids to watch and listen to. The parts that gave me chills often were beyond their comprehension.

And, at the end of it all, was our get together with friends.

We began by making an Arctic food web. The paper plate represents the ice. The animals on top of the ice are on the top of the food chain. The animals under the ice are the ones that live in the water and are lower in the food chain. And of course, it is all held together by the energy from the sun.

(idea from Beyond Penguins website in Fall 2009 issue)

Next we talked about snow crystals. Snow crystals begin with a hexagonal shape, so we started with that as our base. Then everyone had a fun time creating their snow crystals.

Yes, my house was a busy place!

Next, we were off to the basement for the Antarctic Olympics! First, we were polar bears who had to crawl on all fours to get our (Swedish) Fish from the ice hole (plate).

Then we were penguins who had to pass our penguin egg (bean bag) gently from our feet to the person's feet in line behind us. No fair using hands and don't let it drop!

Finally, it was time to get dressed for our Arctic Adventure! We had a snow clothing relay race as everyone raced one at a time to put on their hat, scarf, and boots.

Then it was presentation time. K (age 7) gave a talk about penguins.

T (age 5) talked about the dangers of icebergs.

Then it was snack time. We had some boxed drinks (so they wouldn't go bad while exploring) as well as some explorer food. It was a lovely mix of foods that would not go bad if you were stuck on a boat in the Arctic. We also had some Italian Ice!

And yes, little C (6 months), was there! Of course, he was dressed for the wrong continent.

Another great continent study!

Sister Support

2010-01-26T17:19:00.000-08:00

K was having a rough time with her schoolwork. She was just plain frustrated.

There were tears. And there was a definite desire to just quit.

But she stuck with it.

And while she was working, her sister dropped off some encouraging words:

And then there were smiles.

Go Go Sisters.
Go Go Sisters.
They are the best.

Studying Israel

2010-01-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

For our study of Israel, we relied heavily on the Kids of Courage activity book. We slowly worked through it as we discussed stories of children in West Bank and Gaza.

The kids and I had a great time learning about the traditional celebrations of the Jewish People. We particularly enjoyed learning about the celebration of Purim. The kids thought it was a fun celebration.

Once again, the two moms who planned our get together out did themselves in every way!

When we arrived, each child was given a name tag with a Hebrew name and its meaning. The moms chose each name specifically thinking of that child.

My children:

K (age 7) - Orli - "My Light"
T (age 5) - Shira - "Song"
D (age 2) - Gur - "Lion Cub"
*we let little sleeping C go without a nametag

Next we had a guest speaker. The pastor at my friend's church, is a Messianic Jew. He brought a variety of things from his Jewish heritage to share with the children.

He blew on a shofar for them! The trumpet makes an amazing sound. It truly gives me the chills! We talked to the kids about how a trumpet will announce the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus, when He comes again!

We talked about the importance of a prayer shawl as well as a keepah, or yamucca. The Keepah is worn to remind the men that they are under the authority of God.

Once again, each child selected a topic in order to give a presentation to the group. Our presentations this time had a different twist. Each child chose their favorite Old Testament bible character. Both of my girls decided to dress as their character.

K (age 7) chose Deborah, the prophetess. Together, she and I acted out the interaction of Deborah and Barak, the commander of the Israelite army.

Here is Deborah sitting by her palm tree, sharing wisdom with God's people. One day she sent for Barak.

He arrived and she told him that God wants him to go deafeat Sisera. Barak said he would only go if Deborah joins him. The very brave Deborah went with him, but God punished him by giving the honor of killing Sisera to a woman, Jael. (who stabs him through the temple with a tent stake while he is sleeping)

Together, Deborah and Barak praise God for victory!

Next, we have Queen Esther...

I happen to think she is a very beautiful queen! T shared with the group the story of Queen Esther's bravery.

Then we rotated to different stations. The first station was the dreidel game. It was fun to learn how to play. I think the girls loved eating their chocolate coins later!

One of the activities in the Kids of Courage activity book suggested making a lightswitch cover that would remind us to pray for an area in Israel. Everytime we used the light for that room, we could pray that God's light would shine on that area.

The girls really enjoyed making these and they put them on switchplates that night with their daddy!

K wrote, "Pray for West Bank."

T wrote, "There is only one true God."

*NOTE. That day, as I napped on the sofa, K conducted a class for T. She helped her make paper ornaments, complete with a hole and ribbon to hang on the tree. I woke from my nap to find ornaments on our tree that said, "Pray for West Bank" and "Pray for Gaza". Precious! May God conintue to remind us to pray for His people as we use our lightswitches AND every year at Christmastime when I get out these ornaments.

Yes, the boys were around too. Mommy had shown up with NO diaper bag for my littlest guy. I dropped off the girls and dashed off to drive 15 minutes BACK HOME to get it. But we made it and he was fed! Having the littlest guy around makes it tough at times, but I have amazing friends who just pitch right in!

And truly, who could resist just loving all over him?

D loves to eat. He spent time playing in the basement and eating upstairs. He loves the fun and excitment all around, but isnt quite ready to jump in with the gang!

After crafts and games? We danced! We learned a Jewish traditional dance, the Hora. It is done in a circle and the girls enjoyed it!

And then we did what we love...we ate! Just look at this beautiful Hallah bread:

...which we were delighted to dip in honey. OK, so mom liked it in honey, but the girls ate it plain. They were still delighted!

A little hummus, pita, applesauce...even D came running to eat again. Though delighted isn't how he looks...so I gave him a graham cracker.

Another great end to the study of God's people!

Some of our literature picks:

Kids of Courage

2010-01-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

One of our main family goals this year has been learning to love and pray for God's people all over the world! A valuable resource has been the Kids of Courage website and magazines.

We have used the China, India, and Israel (Gaza and West Bank) activity books during our studies and they have been informative, age appropriate and memorable!

Each downloadable activity book/guide is a little different in its set up, but they share basic similarities. They have a brief history of the country, discussions about religion, stories of persecuted families and children, information about language, and activities to make your study of the country a memorable one.

The stories aren't "easy" to hear, but they are told in an age appropriate manner. The activities are fun and created to help you remember to pray for the persecuted church in that country.

I highly recommend these activity guides! We have made use of them to varying degrees whenever we can. My girls still talk about some of the stories we heard and remind me to pray for the people in these countries.

The books have clearly been an effective tool in achieving our family's goal.

Baltimore Museum of Art

2010-01-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

If you take some children to the art museum for a family fun activity, then they might want a pencil and paper to draw.

And if you teach those children clay techniques...

then they might ask for some clay.

And if you give those children some clay, then they will surely make some sculptures.

And when you get home, they'll probably take over the playroom with their own art museum.

And if you let them have the playroom, then they might take over the piano with their sculpture garden.

And if you let them create this museum, then they'll lay out some rules for your visit.

As you look at this museum all week, it'll probably inspire some more discussion and creation of art. So these children will probably beg to return to the museum.

And while there, if you let them view some masterpieces...

then they might want to create their own...

But I doubt it will stop there.

Because they might learn how Matisse "painted with paper" as he got older.

And they'll probably want to try their hand at that too.

And the whole lot of it will probably end up in your house, filling your mantle and covering your walls.

And probably framed in the basement.

Then you'll know, without a doubt, that you are raising artists.

(The Baltimore Museum of Art offers FREE kids art activities every Sunday from 2-4 PM. The schedule is is listed with a different topic each week. Admission to the museum is also free. I highly encourage anyone located in the area to take advantage of these amazing programs! You'll see us for Cezanne in April.)

Preschool

2010-01-06T18:27:00.000-08:00

One of the complicated parts of homeschooling at this stage is trying to have one on one teaching time with each of the girls. We used to get time during the first hour of D’s (age 2) nap. Unfortunately he has stopped napping and will only play in his crib for an hour.

This means that I have a choice between using that hour to do school with the girls OR putting the girls down for rest time at the same time so that I can rest. At this point, I need the rest time each day so everyone goes to their room for an hour, preferably when C (age 4 months) is napping as well.

Of course, this means that I lose the ability to do math and reading with the girls without distraction. Math is the subject that it is absolutely necessary for me to have some one on one time with K. T (age 5) requires some one on one attention for math and phonics.

I decided that the solution would be to assign one of them to be D’s playmate while I worked with the other. Then they would switch. In order for this to work, their assignment is to “play with D and KEEP HIM HAPPY”. I had to explain to T that this means that if she is playing with a car and he wants it, then she has to give it to him. Just for this time period each day.

I had no clue what a fun solution this would be! T and D had a great time playing cars together without any arguments. She was so proud that she kept him happy and it was clear that they had fun.

K took it upon herself (since she is just like her mommy) to run a preschool for D while I was teaching T. At the end of my 20 minutes with T, she has helped him make five bookmarks with stickers and they were working on shape puzzles. It was clear that they also had a blast together.

I know that every solution will have bad moments and rough days, but I think this is going to be a good thing. The solution will definitely serve its purpose for me, and I think the kids will grow in their relationships with some special one on one time as well!

Studying Japan

2009-12-29T18:47:00.001-08:00

We had a great time studying the country of Japan. Of course, we have been in Asia for awhile, so the unique looking language, difference in culture, and the eastern religions had been covered about as much as I planned to go over them. So while "in Japan", we decided to look at a few other things.

We began with origami. While origami might be the art of paper folding, it was the art of the pounding headache in this house. The girls gave in quickly and so did I on many of the projects. I was so determined to a get a few completed that I found myself folding paper in the middle of the floor one night JUST TO SAY I DID IT. Because I am nutty like that.

Then we moved on to volcanoes, specifically looking at Mt. Fuji. I branched out of my "norm" and we decided to make a volcano lapbook from homeschool share. I am not a lapbook person, but this one looked like the kind of thing you could come back to over and over to learn from. So we did it!

The girls had a great time making them. Of course, they had even more fun playing school with them for the rest of the week!

And we spent the week singing about volcanoes. I still find this song enter my mind sometimes and we all sing along. It is quite catchy and silly!

National Geographic had an excellent video on volcanoes at our library! We loved it! The best part was learning about a volcano is Japan that erupts over 400 times a year. (yes, that is often twice in one day) Families sit and watch the "volcano report" the way we might watch the weather report. They built ashmen (instead of snowmen) in the street and had to spend time shovelling ash the way we might shovel snow. It was quite fascinating!

Finally, we ended with another get together with our friends. This is always our favorite part!

T (age 5) gave a presentation on her favorite book during our study, "A pair of red clogs."

K (age 7) had really enjoyed learning about volcanoes, so she decided to use her lapbook to "teach the group" about volcanoes.

I have no idea where she gets this innate ability to teach...*wink

I am glad we have kept up with presentations this year. They have been a unique way for my children to grow.

Then comes craft time! The kids know that our get togethers mean they are going to probably get messy and make some fun stuff. And of course, it is so helpful to do this because I wouldn't get to these things at home most of the time.

Then there was food! Yummy edamame, noodles, and even homemade Miso Soup! YUM!

Truly, I am so thankful for this group! We have had such a fun year! This is a precious group of adventurous, creative, and fun women!

Last, but far from least, is the great literature we enjoyed! Below are some of our picks. My favorite find was the Eye Wonder: Volcano book! We have gotten hooked on the entire series of Eye Wonder books. They are the perfect reading level for my oldest daughter and we all enjoy the pictures.

Studying India

2009-11-15T13:11:00.003-08:00

Our next stop in Asia was the country of India. We had a great time learning about the people in the various states in India.

I think our favorite activity guide was this downloadable book from the Kids of Courage website. I bought it at a homeschool fair for a great price, but you can also download and print it for free!

We printed out the map of India in the beginning and discussed the country, one state at a time. The book includes information about each state as well as activities. One activity was making flowers out of tissue. The girls had a blast with this and we made flowers all morning while praying for the people of Arunachul Pradesh.

We completed Rangoli designs that can be printed at this site. We used colored rice to make the designs because they use rice powder in India.

Of course, each country ends with a get together with our fellow globe trotters!

In India, Diwali is a main Hindu festival that is celebrated with lights. We didn't talk a lot about the history behind the festival at home, but we did look at some of the amazing light displays that take place in India. It is truly beautiful. So our first activity was decorating small clay tea light holders. We added sequins, glitter, and beads.

Next we broke into two groups. The girls were able to dress up in an Indian Sari, or at least as close as we could get. Boy, they are hard to tie!

The next station was the baking of Indian Naan bread. The dough was prepared ahead of time, so the girls were able to roll it out and brush on the butter! Then we sprinkled it with poppy seeds.

While the bread was baking, our entire group gathered to listen to presenations. K (age 7) told the group a little bit about what she learned about monsoon season in India.

T (age 5) shared some information about the Taj Mahal.

Next, we were able to enjoy our bread. YUM!

The girls were so inspired by the fun day with our friends that they begged to eat on the floor that night. It wasn't my original plan, but we went ahead and moved dinner to the floor. Here we are eating flank, asparagus, and roasted red potatoes on the floor. Not really a traditional Indian meal, but we had fun!

We enjoyed a lot of great literature during the week, which you can see below. Our favorite (if we had to pick one) was "One Grain of Rice".

With each country, I have been able to find one tale that is similar to a tale we are familiar with. It has been fun to compare the two stories. This time we compared, "Puss in Boots" with "Jamil's Clever Cat".

Our Co-op: An update

2009-11-12T11:28:00.001-08:00

The co-op we joined this year is working out to be the perfect fit for our family.

Both girls love their PE, art and music classes! I love that they are able to participate in these activities with other children. After all, playing kickball with just the family isn't quite the same!

Every week when I walk in the gym there is new equipment being used. I have seen scarves, bowling equipment, scooter boards, balls, cones, bases, basketballs, and a ton more. The PE class looks like the girls are being exposed to so many activities and having a blast while doing it.

As a family we have studied the artwork of Claude Monet and Henri Matisse so far this year. It has been a relief to know that it isn't something I have to get done. They do plenty of wonderful art at their co-op, so anything we do at home is a bonus.

Their music class at co-op is the only music they participate in right now, and that is fine for our family. At some point, they will take piano lessons, but for now it is nice to have that subject lifted off of my daily requirements!

Their science classes have been a blast for both of them. I am so thrilled because our science really lacked any "POW" to it last year. Honestly, I had no idea what we were missing until we began science this year. It is by far their favorite subject! Best of all, I don't have to plan the lessons!

T (age 5) has learned so much about God's Creation. We have had a great time doing nature activities during the week when we follow up using her homework assignments. She has studied light and was able to see a dissected cow's eye in class, something her mommy wouldn't do at home for sure...LOL! She has also studied clouds, weather, senses, plants, trees, and rocks.

K (age 7) has taken a HUGE liking to Science this year and I truly believe it is because of this co-op! She is inspired by what she is learning! During her cave exploration unit, she and T made pretend spelunking hats (see picture) and wore them all of the time. We even built a huge "cave" in the basement to explore together. She has also studied the rain forest and volcanoes. Currently her class is studying the earth and rocks. Everything about her science class has captured her mind. We see it all day long in the way she plays.

I am so thankful that these co-op classes have inspired my girls to learn aboout God's amazing planet and His creation!

Both girls enjoy their Language Arts classes as well, though I have to admit that they take second place to science. K learns a different virtue each week. We look up bible verses and complete activities that relate to reading assignments. It has been wonderful for me to have some Language Arts activities already planned for me each week! T works on phonics skills and interacts with literature in class, but hasn't had homework for Language Arts this year.

Overall, I am quite sure we have found our home for a few years! It has been a perfect blend of fostering the joy of learning AND taking some of the burden of homeschool planning off of my plate!

China Study

2009-11-07T05:05:00.001-08:00

We began our Galloping the Globe unit with the study of Asia. Our first stop was China.

We had a blast talking about the Emperors, the Great Wall, and reading some wonderful literature.

The Pet Dragon: A Story about Adventure and Chinese Characters by Chrisoph Niemann was by far the kid's favorite book! The basic story is about a girl with a pet dragon. Her father kicks the dragon out and she goes searching for him. The wonderful part about this story is that the illustrations are done around Chinese Characters (their written language). You begin to "see" the word in the character because of the illustrations. It is amazing how many you learn by reading this book.

And of course, tracing paper is a lovely bonus if you want to write pages and pages of Chinese Characters...

While "in China" we read about missionaries, Eric Lidell, Gladys Alyward, and Hudson Taylor. What amazing stories of courage and God's calling.

After three wonderful weeks of studying China at home, we got together with our friends for a day of fun celebrating the end of our study.

The kids each gave a short presentation on something they enjoyed learning about during our study. K (age 6) talked about the Chinese Characters she learned and some history of the written language. She is working on using notecards this year and still making some eye contact.

T (age 5) shared information on the Great Wall of China using a picture that she drew of the Wall. At her age, she and I come up with three questions for her to answer for the group. I sit in the audience and ask the questions and she gives the answers. It has proven to be a gentle and effective way to introduce the skill of presenting.

Arts and crafts time was a hit! The kids made dancing dragons and Chinese lanterns.

Then we moved on to playing with Tangrams, which were invented in China. The girls enjoyed these immensely!

Finally, it was snack time. And what better way to eat it than with chopsticks! (Thank goodness gummy bears are sticky anyway!)

At the end of our time together, the dancing dragons inspired a marching parade, which ended outdoors with all of the kids gathered together.

We had a great time studying this country, praying for the people and learning a little about the history.

_________________________________________

Other literature books we loved:

Our First Day of Co-op

2009-11-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

We joined a different homeschool group this year. We moved on from Classical Conversations for two main reasons. One was financial and the other was the need to focus more on elementary school type learning. The Memory Work was great, but I found that I was skipping a lot because my kids were so young. The science projects were over their heads most of the time, even though they often had a "wow factor". I wanted to find a group that would take something off my plate and enhance learning at their level.

After talking to a friend, we joined a co-op that was a little farther away, but fit our needs perfectly! Our new co-op began in September and the first day was a hit!

The girls were ready and eager to go in the morning, even though it was a bit early for us to get out the door. (all four of us must be in the car by 8:30 AM)

The girls attend morning chapel from 9:00-9:15. They do general things like say the Pledge of Alligence and more involved activities, such as learning the Lord's Prayer in sign language.

Then the move on to PE. The kindergarten through second grade has gym class together, so my daughters are there at the same time. They played a get to know you game with movement. Each person introduced themselves and did an action with their name. The game continued to build as each person added on an action.

Then they each head to their own grade level classrooms. I put K (age 7) in the second grade classroom, even though she missed the cutoff according to the state. We felt like it was the right placement for her at this time. T (age 5) heads off to kindergarten.

They both have music class. The second grade is studying the orchestra and classical music. K did a lot of this last year, but not in nearly as much detail. T's kindergarten class joins the pre-K and first grade classes for music. They basically sing songs together and have fun.

Both girls have art class during the day. The art activities usually coordinate with their science lesson or language art story.

Each grade level also has a language arts class. K is studying, "The Children's Book of Virtues" for the first 11 weeks. T's class usually does kindergarten phonics games and other reading activities.

Finally, they both have science class. The science classes are amazingly in depth, including homework assignments. T is spending the first half of the year studying God's creation. K's class began by studying the rainforest.

At the end of the day, the girls come to the nursery to join their brothers and I. They were tired, but had a blast on their first day!

Wordless Wednesday: K's Co-op Homework

2009-11-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

Meditating on God's Word

2009-10-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, we gather our crayons, our bibles, and our Draw to Learn Psalms books and head outside.

Once we are all on a blanket, I open my bible and read from God's Word.

Psalm 1...

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

The girls begin to sketch in their books, drawing trees planted by streams of water.

And we take some time to consider the passage together.

What kind of fruit would be on that tree?
How can we be like that tree?
What fruit would grow on us?
What does God promise us?

And we continue drawing.

It seems so appropriate to me that as we began this task of drawing our Psalms that Psalm One would remind us the value of time spent meditating on God's Word.

K finishes first and we talk and play.

T takes another 15 minutes, at least. It appears that her streams of water have developed into waterfalls pouring down the page.

May the presence and Word of God be so plentiful in our lives as well!

Science Center

2009-10-25T11:37:00.001-07:00

Each September, our first field trip is usually to the Science Center. (last year) Free admission is offered to homeschoolers for three weeks! We could spend all day there, but the two year old isn't usually up for it...*wink

Thankfully, my father gladly joins us on one of our trips. This year, his help is the ONLY reason I was able go. And he is the reason that I was able to take some pictures on one of the trips. We even got a group shot, which makes it obvious why I love having help!

The best part of this situation is that my kids KNOW that Poppy comes with us when we go to the Science Center! In fact, as soon as I told them that we were meeting some friends there that day, their first response was, "...but what about Poppy?". I think it is wonderful that they wanted to make sure he'd be there even though their friends were coming!

It is such a blessing to have my parents close by and so willing to be involved with the kids. From a homeschooling perspective, this offers us such unique opportunities for the kids to have great memories with Grandmom and Poppy built into their schooldays! For that, I am so very grateful!

Apparently punishing her on a bed of nails isn't going to be much of a punishment...

Did I mention that it helps that Poppy is such a fun guy?

This is definitely one of the highlights of our school year!

Galloping the Globe

2009-10-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

It's about time to begin recording this school year!

We have been using Galloping the Globe to study the continent of Asia. We'll also do Antarctica and Europe this year. We picked these specific continents because Jolanthe did an extraordinary job of recording her journey through them last year, so we are relying on her as a great resource.

As we travel through the countries, I am trying to remember that THIS IS EXTRA! My oldest child is only in first grade, so our core goals revolve around math, reading, and writing. Our History and Geography studies are often the fun in our days and we love them! But I am trying to remember that a working knowledge of Asian geography is not a requirement for first graders and kindergartners.

Because there are days that I must just let some things go and not stress me out.

That being said, our goals are:

1. A basic geographic knowledge of the continent and countries. We'll talk about the countries, prominent physical features, well-know cities, and some historical sites and people.

2. A basic understanding of the culture, religion, and people in various countries in Asia and Europe. We talk about things such as housing, clothes, school, money, and language as we study the various people groups.

3. A literary experience from other countries. This is a very important one for me because my children are so young. A curriculum based in literature is so important at these ages! We have absolutely loved reading books from various countries that we would NEVER come across otherwise. As you begin searching for literature from specific places, it is amazing what you find! We have read and enjoyed fairy tales, folk tales, non-fiction, biographies, and fiction stories from all over Asia so far. It has been a great opportunity to dive into literature and we are loving it!

Of course, I pray that as we learn, we will develop a heart for the people of God's Kingdom all around the globe. I try to remember that singing the names of the countries of Asia might sound impressive for a first grader, but without a heart for the people living there, the knowledge only "puffeth up".

It's easy to "puff up" our kids with knowledge, but I pray that this year God will use our knowledge to draw us closer to Him and lead us to have a heart for His people!

So that is where we are with our historical and geographical journey this year! It's been a blast so far and I can't wait to record some this week!

A Homeschooling Day

2009-09-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

We were going to have an easy morning at home.

The lesson planner was full of direction, but the younger children weren't having the sort of day that was going to help us accomplish any of my well selected goals.

So I turned to the basket of books. Katie Meets the Impressionists was the first one I saw. I sat on the floor and began to read. Immediately two little girls were at my side. Afterall, who can resist a good book?

We joined Katie as she travelled through the works of Degas, Renoir, and Monet. After such an artistic adventure, we were inspired!

As I finished reading the last page, K (age 6) immediately yelled, "Let's paint!" T (age 5) agreed. D (age 2) chimed in with, "Yaaay! Let's paint green beans," and he dashed off to the kitchen.

Green beans? Huh?

The girls and I cracked up. But off went little D to the kitchen pantry where he grabbed the bag of dried lima beans. He was thinking of an activity we did months ago. We had painted some beans for a math game. Apparently, he enjoyed it and was ready to recreate the activity!

And so for the morning we became painters, imitating impressionist artists, though some of us just painted beans...

Soon, D's bean painting inspired some thoughts about bean planting. So off the girls went to gather dirt...

And they planted beans in a cup.

And they planted two beans in wet paper towels.

Meanwhile, D found his own form of entertainment.

Our painters, now turned scientists, made predictions about their bean plants.

But soon the blank stack of computer paper beckoned and they returned to their painting. A gallery was created...

Our scientist painters now became the museum docents, guiding mommy through the gallery.

Of course, not all of the students were participating...

But at the end day, mommy was reminded of the beauty of school at home. Learning doesn't have to be planned moment by moment. It happens as life unfolds. All it took on this particular day was a well chosen book. Little minds are easily inspired to interact with the world around them. And being here, at home, gave them the freedom to do so.

At their own pace. In their own way.

No artificial stops and starts. No right or wrong answers in their art. No reason not to let the moment take them outdoors. No limits on their desire to learn and explore.

Just creative genius at work. And all of us together on the journey.

Imagine A Night

2009-09-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

I love to walk through the library to check out the books that the librarians put out on display. Often they have picked out great books to display on the top of the shelves.

And sometimes we hit one that becomes an instant hit.

This summer we happened upon the book, Imagine a Night, by Rob Gonsalves. The book features his artwork and poetry. The artwork is indescribably AMAZING! Every person in this house enjoys looking at this book, including D (age 2).

The artwork is fabulous and the poetry is perfectly written to fit the mood of the paintings. We love to whisper as we say, "Imagine a night..."

My mother loved this book so much that she immediately bought a copy to have at her home. And we were so excited to discover that he has two more books:

Imagine a Place and Imagine a Day. We liked them just as much. There is no way I could pick a favorite. These books are amazing.

The best part for us? His artwork is displayed at a gallery within an hour from our home! We can't wait to go.

I HIGHLY recommend reading these!

Library

2009-09-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

I love the library. I max out my teacher card on a regular basis - 60 books. The overflow goes on my regular card, usually another 10-15 books. It is crazy to keep track of, but somehow we only lost one last year.

I can't help it. I just love a good book.

Of course, what I truly love about modern technology is the ability to request titles from anywhere in the county from my home computer so that they are delivered to my local branch. Then when I get there, they are all waiting for me at the front desk so I don't have to try to find the books that I need with kids in tow.

Beautiful.

I also renew them all online, saving me lots of time and late fees! But a book won't renew if someone has requested it, so sometimes I have to dash off and make a return last minute.

That situation occured with a book on Columbus this week. It wouldn't renew, so I took the book back to avoid the fine. We hadn't gotten the chance to read it, but we had read some other ones. So it wasn't a big deal.

One day later I got an email from the library informing me that the Columbus book I had requested was available now.

You know...the one I had just returned.

Apparently I am the reason I couldn't renew it.

Kicking off our Geography

2009-08-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Jolanthe's blog, four other homeschooling friends and I have created a Galloping the Globe study this year. We will be travelling to Asia, Antarctica, and Europe using a ton of Jolanthe's suggestions.

To kick off the year together, we had a "The Yellow Bus is Not For Us" first day of school party. Most of us had kids who wanted to go off on the bus with their friends, so we wanted to take some time and celebrate our freedom to play instead!

We can't wait to begin the year together, learning about God's people all around the globe.

First Day of School

2009-08-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

Our first day of school was actually August 2. Yes, I am behind on my blogging...

We decided to get a head start on the basics this year because I suspect there are going to be some interruptions as we adjust to the ever changing schedule of a new baby.

We kicked off day one with a scavenger hunt for our new school supplies in the morning. The kids LOVED this.

They were so eager to find their clues that I often had to remind them to grab their new supply!

D (age 2) loved finding his treasures along the way!

Soon the girls began to organize their new things.

It was their little brother who ~~demanded~~ suggested that they begin using the supplies. He was dying to paint!

So his sisters followed along.

Smiles all around!

It was a great way to kick off the morning. We then prayed together for our school year, our attitudes, and our relationships.

Then we called it a day!