(Another math book, that is)

This time it is Kaira who finished off the last lesson and took the triumphal march to the dumpster.  (They love this tradition.) 

Having disposed of the math book, we celebrated with our usual student-teacher lunch on the town. 

She was so excited she could barely stay in her chair.  (Of course, this is Kaira--who has a hard time sitting in her chair regardless.)
 

After lunch we lingered to walk the sidewalks downtown and  see the flowers in bloom.  Such a lovely afternoon!

Kaira just brought this to me.  They've been having so much fun with our Haiku adventure.  This one makes me smile. 

All around the ground

Like a little noisy train,

Kieran chugs, chugs, chugs.

-Kaira

We've been reading, studying and trying our hands at writing Haiku this week.  After years of my teaching the girls to write in complete sentences, they find it counter intuitive to elevate image over conventional prose syntax.  Haiku is a great  exercise in painting word pictures and seeing things from a different angle.
  

We talked about the 5, 7, 5 rule and counting syllables being a more western adaptation, and a bit stilted.  Evidently Japanese sound-bits (um... not the technical term...I don't remember what they are really called...) are shorter than our syllables, and many serious Haiku writers shun the 17 syllable form they consider the bane of classroom Haiku.  Still, we did some 5, 7, 5 rhythms.  They give nice cadence--and structure can sometimes free creativity rather than bind it. 

Here's a few of their first attempts.  (It should be fun to watch them grow through the summer!):

Harp sweet and peaceful,

Like birds chirping with the wind

making my heart dance.

-Kaira

Spring dandelion

Beauty, reflecting the sun;

My sister Kendra.

-Kaira

 Stars Twinkling

In sky so deep, so dark

Is God's Creation.

-Kendra

I used some of the teaching tips from The Haiku Handbook and we thoroughly enjoyed reading Haiku on Your Shoe together.  Haiku on Your Shoe is a charming story about friendship, cultures, and how God melts the ice barriers to bind hearts together.  (Images below link to the books.)

And just for fun: Kieran amid the dandelions:

After I read aloud Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride, we enjoyed listening to this NPR clip.  Historian Jane Triber (I know nothing about her outside this broadcast) reads the poem, then discusses the liberties Longfellow took in departure from the historical facts.  The girls enjoyed this immensely and want to listen again. 

While in the "online audio" mode, we also enjoyed Patrick Henry's famous speach at Kids Learn Out Loud.  This speech is free, but take the time to add it to your cart.  The cost is $ 0.00.  There isn't a catch, and you can easily click to not even get email mailings.  If you don't add it to your cart, but just do the sample you only get part of the speech, which isn't at all satisfactory.  If you download from the cart you get the whole thing free, clear up to his famous concluding declaration, "I know not what course others may take; but as for me,  give me liberty of give me death."  Naturally the children want to hear this one again too.  Sure!  Why not?

Ken's been on afternoon shift more than midnights or days lately, and I've somehow resisted reworking our schedule.  Perhaps I wasn't trusting the shift to "stay put."  I'm sure he'll bounce shifts a bit, but it looks like it is going to be his default shift for the present. 

This printed sheet seldom gets looked at after a week or so, because it just becomes our routine and is usually pretty close to what we've fallen into naturally.  Still, it helps so much to have it on paper somewhere. 

Ah, beautiful!  It feels good to have things readjusted!

Today Kaira was excitedly anticipating our end-of-unit activities which will wrap up 8 weeks of Tapestry of Grace.

She chattered eagerly about making parkin, cornhusk dolls, a talking feather, maple sugar candy, hardtack, and a host of other things we’ve been planning.  Oddly, Kendra didn’t seem to share her enthusiasm.    With an Eyore-look she said,  "I don’t want to get to the end of the unit.   It will be all gone!   I like reading so many books and learning the people."

Her mood soon brightened.  Kaira--motioning to the next thick binder up on the shelf--reassured her, "After this unit we get to do the next unit!  And after that another!   We just get richer and richer!"

We tease Kaira that for math and handwriting (two subjects that must be done at the table) we might resort to duct tape to keep her in her chair.

Fortunately for her, not all her work is true seat-work. Supplemental reading for our history studies can be done wherever she chooses. "Where she chooses" is usually half in--and half out--of bed. As her bed is the top of a triple high bunk-bed, this ends up being an interesting position.

Really, we do have comfy chairs in the livingroom, love seats in the study, and even a little child-sized rocker in the girl’s room. For that matter she’d be welcome to get entirely up on the bed.

Ever since Kaira and Kendra finished  First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind (Levels 1&2), I’ve been quagmired in a swamp of indecision, searching for a nonexistent blend of Classical and Charlotte Mason.  I've determined that there simply isn’t a curriculum that does both to my specifications.

After scrutinizing Rod and Staff, First Language Lessons Level 3, Primary Language Lessons, Jenkins, and a few others, I’ve reached a verdict! Drumroll....

The winner is.... Language Lessons For the Elementary Child (By Sandi Queen). (Just to complicate things, I might insert Karen Andreola's Simply Grammar , which compliments Queen's workbooks beautifully.  I'm thinking it will fit well in between the two Elementary level books.)  These materials have a lovely "kindling" quality that awakens awareness to the art of language, making them a  graceful balance to my unadorned and somewhat austere teaching tendencies that lose the art of language in the study of its anatomy.  Combined with our other copywork (and the writing incorporated with our history studies) it should harmonize well!

While it isn’t the exact blend I was seeking, I suspect it will ultimately be better for us than what I might think is perfect. At least I’m no longer quagmired.  (And I think the children will really enjoy this approach!)

Kaira's been on a math kick. My general rule is "no more than three math lessons a day." More than that and I think she'd sacrifice absorption. (And we like to encourage a balance.)

Still, that ceiling of 3 math assignments has been frustrating to her lately.  She kept asking, "May I please do one more math assignment?"   I finally found a solution, and gave her permission to do "review math" after she's finished her Calvert assignments for the day.  She's having a grand time going through Singapore just one symester back from her present Calvert level.

Interesting child. 

Kendra inquired about why I was laminating the "wives of Henry the VIII" paper dolls.  I distractedly pointed at a slender paper neck and answered,  "Because I don’t want them to tear;  They could lose heads."

After a long pause, Kendra replied, "But they did lose their heads, Mommy." 

When the New Year dawns, we prepare to set Sail! We are going to "Sail to the New World" with Tapestry of Grace! (Actually we will spend most of January bridging over with the royalty and explorers of the Renaissance, so won’t we be true Tapestry users for a month or so.)

Years ago I’d looked at Tapestry at a friends home, and loved the concept. The design of the original, "Classic" release confused me though. I decided it would be more worthwhile when I had children in several trivium stages.  I filed it in the back of my mind, thinking, "I could see this being a great fit when my oldest is 11."

Well, my oldest is barely 8, but several things have come together. It seems that what I’ve kinda put together on my own is really quite similar to Tapestry! It is a less polished, less thorough, less organized, stab at the same means and goals, with more preparation and work on my part.

Basically though, I’ve been reinventing the wheel and doing Tapestry the hard way. This was confirmed by four different friends–two online and two local, who chuckled and said that it seemed to them I was pretty much doing Tapestry of Grace all along!

So, because their redesign releases are perfectly in step with our history progress, I’m going to jump aboard, right at the point we are in our history studies. For the next month or so we’ll move into the explorers and late renaissance, then we’ll Sail to the New World, with Tapestry of Grace, and jump into the middle of TOG’s "Year Two" What began as a history "blitz" has really been more of a stroll. It seems that zipping through is just too hard to do with so many wonderful flowers to stop and smell along the way.

Tapestry has enough flex to work with my eclecticisms. The spine is optional, and I can choose the spine that best fits us. They suggest certain "living books" but in most cases I can use most any book on the same subject. One picture Biography on Queen Lizzy will work as well as another! I’m thinking it will be a wonderful balance of giving me assistance and structure while still letting me do it "my way."

If the blog’s been a bit quiet it is because I’ve been spending much of my computer time (and brain power) studying out Tapestry. I love the way it interconnects so many disciplines--history, art, literature, Bible, and philosophy, so that we all learn together as a family.  

Testing acids and bases:

Lab Assistant shaking the solution. 

A friend on a message board suggested we ask our children if they know what season it is in the southern hemisphere.  I asked them all separately: Kaira and Kendra both thought for a moment and answered, "Spring".   Very good... now to ask Keianna...

Keegan and Keianna don't even understand hemispheres, but Keianna knows about quite a few other countries, so I asked her, "What season is it in Brazil."  With confident assurance she replied, "Cinnamon!"  I didn't even try asking Keegan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other schoolish news: For handwriting today I printed out a question/answer page for Kaira.  I left blank lines after each question for her to write her answers in complete sentences.  Some of her responses were rather.. unique.   Her life goals could maybe use some work, me thinks?

What is your name?

My name is Kaira.

What is your favorite vegetable?
My favorite vegetable is corn. 

What country do you most wish to visit?

Whatever country is most mysterious.

What can you do well?
I can yell, "Boom" well.

What do you want to learn to do better?
I would like to find more ways to scare Kendra.

Why do you think the sky is blue?

Without the sun there would not be colors.  There are color waves.  I guess that blue is the color wave that goes in the sky.

Kaira is working hard to polish her repertoire for her book recital in a few weeks!  On one of her songs, Kendra will accompany her on Keyboard. 

Here they are switching roles! 

(Ribbons in Kaira's hair and decorating the basket are courtesy of Beth.  Thanks, Beth!)

I love the expression on Kaira's face in this picture!

To add a bit more interest, on one of her beginning songs, Cuckoo, she plays it first the "normal" way, then with her hands crossed.  The right hand will still play the melody while the left plays alberti bass (broken cords). The only difference is that playing the arpeggios an octave higher than the melody lend the piece a music box effect.  Even though each hand  plays the same thing it normally would, somehow crossing the hands does cross the brain.  I tried it, and it is really quite a challenge; Good brain exercise! 

(For observant readers who notice the different outfit, this photo was from yesterday)

Nikki asked recently what the smaller ones do while I do school and other time consuming things with the olders.  It varies, really.  Some of the time I'm doing things with the toddlers while the older girls work independently.  Sometimes the big girls take turns working with me--Kaira meets with me for instruction while Kendra keeps the youngers company, and vice versa.  Part of the time we are all together, with the younger ones playing quietly at my feet. 

Here,while Kaira and Kendra practice Keegan, Keianna and Kieran play just a few feet from the piano.  They are used to the routine and run for their '"piano toys" as soon as I call everyone for the big girls' joint practice time.