Journey Through Motherhood

Aug. 17, 2009

This Year's Books

With 3 weeks until we officially begin 'school', I thought I'd share what we're using this year.

One of our main subjects of study will be Canadian History and Geography.
About half way through last year, I felt the need to cover it. My oldest is 12 and in all of our History studies, we'd never covered our own country.

I was fortunate to find books from Northwoods Press on sale(as is my usual confirmation from God that He is leading in the decisions I make for our curriculum) that I will use as a backbone and I've been collecting books to add to our studies,(used & new) for the last few months.

Here is what our Canadian History & Geography collection looks like so far:

(I still hope to add to it. There a some historical fiction novels that I'm hunting for.)

These are the books we're using for Science:

For the first time the kids will be doing different subjects in Science.
Chickadee wanted to study birds and so we are using Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day by Apologia. I found a lapbook(on sale!) from Knowledge Box Central to go along with her studies.
I ordered Science 6 from Sonlight for Raven(and miracle of miracles, found 4 of the books I needed, cheaper used!!

). It's the Introduction to Biology, Chemistry and Physics and includes lots of experiments, which is right up his alley. His younger brother(Kingfisher) is going to 'audit' this course with him and they will do the experiments together. My hope is that by Raven explaining the experiments to someone else(who will be excited to learn this stuff!) it will cement the concepts in his own mind.

Kingfisher will also study dinosaurs with his younger brother(Skylark) who is just beginning Kindergarten.

Here are our Language Arts books:

I bought something new for Language Arts this year; Learning Language Arts Through Literature I wanted something that would appeal to my son(Raven) who gets very overwhelmed by workbooks. Most of the novels that are covered we have read or at least own and there are little mini projects to go along with them that keep the interest up. From what I've heard, this is a 'gentle' language arts program, which is exactly what I wanted!

Another new endeavor is that we're switching to Getty-Dubay italic handwriting. Over the course of last year I really noticed that my children's penmanship needed improvement. I had looked at Getty-Dubay when we first began homeschooling, but for some reason I thought printing should be taught the way I learned(ball & stick).
This program makes so much more sense for us, especially with a daughter whi is interested in calligraphy and a son who struggles with 'loopy' handwriting.

These are our Math books(most of them, some are still on order):

Again we're trying a new curriculum; Teaching Textbooks I totally hadn't planned on something different for Math, but I saw this booth at our homeschool convention in June. It appealed to me because the kids get a CD Rom tutorial and it keeps track of their progress. With six kids, I need that!

I found this little series for Spanish:

I have another one from the same publisher on order for French called Ecoutez Parlez. My kids often change their minds about what language they'd like to persue(German & Mandarin have been mentioned in the past), but French & Spanish seem to be the common decision.

And last, but definitely not least here are some of our Bible resources:

I found a New Testament lapbook at Homeschool in the Woods that I though would make a neat project this year.

Also, I plan to use Harmony Art Mom, Art Projects for Kids & Handbook of Nature Study as inspiration for our fine arts and nature study.

Phew! Thanks for sticking with me during this extra long post!
I like to keep most of our new books out of sight until we start school.
Somehow, I think it makes it more exciting!

September 8th is our projected day to dig into all of these books.
Until then we have a few more parks & beaches to see!

Jun. 9, 2009

Planet Earth

We receieved this DVD series as a Christmas gift from my parents. We have been slowly working our way through watching it. Sometimes on a wet afternnoon(which hasn't happened lately!) or a Friday evening, we'll make popcorn and cozy up.

It is an amazing series! The footage is incredible!
Every time we watch an episode, I am in awe of God's marvelous creation!
It gives nature study a whole new meaning!

If you get the chance to see it, do! I highly recommend it!

Feb. 6, 2009

Learning at Our House

For this week's Show and Tell, I thought I'd share what we've been doing in our homeschool lately. Here is what learning at our house has looked like:

son's lapbook on spiders

pop-up Towers of London that my sons made, a project from Story of the World Vol.2

flags for The War of the Roses that dd made,

and we've just started a unit study on Africa,
this is dd's title page,

And although we have a lovely little corner decked out for 'school',

...learning takes place anywhere:

language arts in the living room,

math on the hearth,

Thanks for stopping by today!
To join the Show & Tell fun visit Raising 4 Godly Men.

Jan. 29, 2009

Reason #78

This morning I went to see how my son was progressing with his morning routine. I was about to remind him to get on with his school work. I found him like this...

...deeply engrossed in a book about sunken WW2 U-boats. I did not ask him to read this, it has nothing to do with what we are learning in school, but how could I complain? Currently we're learning about the Tudors of England in our history timeline. Did it matter that he was at WW2?
I think not.
History is history. He was still learning and this was of his own volition.
Just one of the many reasons that I love homeschooling!

Another of those 'many reasons': If the kids ask for pancakes for lunch(like they did today), we can do that!

Nov. 27, 2008

A Photo Walk

A few weeks ago, we went on a 'photo walk' organized by a mom from our support group. We met at a park where she gave a short talk on photography and then the kids were free to take pictures. With all of the Fall foliage, nature was the primary focus(no pun intended!). However, there were other subjects of interest too, like the garbage can lid that Chickadee captured that I thought looked like a face!

These aren't all of the pictures we took, just some favourites. The ones above were taken by me and Chickadee took the ones below. The picture of my son running with his backpack was taken by my other son. It looks better blown up because you can see the blurred effect evoking movement.

Thanks for stopping by and 'Happy Thanksgiving!' to all of my American friends.

Nov. 6, 2008

Reason #207

A, Apples, B, Boat

There are many reasons why I love homeschooling, and every once in a while I get an 'ah-ha' moment. It's a moment of confirmation and I know we're doing OK.

The other morning I had one of those moments. I sat at the breakfast table listening to Chickadee and Raven quizzing each other on parts of the digestive system. I realized how much they were learning without much help from me. I was so glad. Not only are they excited about what they're studying, they're learning independently and remembering it in their everyday life.

That's one thing that happens in homeschooling. Learning becomes part of life, not something that only happens between 9am and 3pm and is then filed away in a box never to be opened again.
I have a new quote on my blog at the bottom right of my sidebar. It says "Education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself." -John Dewey.
That is the way it should be!

By the way, my kids are doing the Science5 program from Sonlight and it's all about human biology. I'm learning lots too, like the fact that fresh urine contains no bacteria and they drink it in South America!!

I've also learned what causes diarrhea-and all of this at the dinner table no less!!

Stack of Old Hardcover Books

This year I made up a booklist containing 22 novels. Chickadee and Raven can pick any book from the list to read, in any order as long as they read them all. When they have finished a book, there is a list of activities that they then can also choose from. The activities include ideas like writing a postcard from the perspective of the main character or drawing a poster advertising the book etc. They have to do one of these for each of the books.
We started this on Monday and Chickadee is already on her 3rd book. I think I'll have to add to the booklist by Christmas!!

And last but not least:
You know you're a homeschool mom when:
You're sweeping the floor and notice something dark and gray, with eight legs in the corner. Instead of screaming and running for cover(a perfectly logical thing to do!), you catch it and then call your kids over to study it! Not only that, but you take a picture and put it on your blog!!!

Aug. 27, 2008

Homeschool Memoirs

I'm taking part in this new meme this week as I was going to share our curriculum plans anyhow.

One thing I am going to change a little bit this year is how I schedule.
Last year I think I put too much emphasis on a schedule and I want to allow more time for 'delight-directed' learning this year.

I have been reading Robin Sampson's book The Heart of Wisdom over the Summer and I love her definition of delight directed learning.

I used to think it was just letting the child pick what they wanted to do and when. Now I've realized that I can still pick the topics, but let them choose how they will do the learning; drawing a picture, writing a story, researching it etc. It will be a different style for each age and interest.

Having said that, we will still have our daily routine to follow, but I'm going to divide the day into blocks of time. They must be doing school-related activities during these times(like from 10-12am and 1-3pm). They will have a weekly list of all the work they need to accomplish in that week and I'll be checking it on Fridays. They can choose, for the most part, what subject they do and when. Some things will require my input and those subjects we will do all together.

When I say 'they', I am mostly referring to my oldest two, who are 11 and 9 yrs old. My 7 yr old is not reading independently yet and so I'll need to direct him more.

I'm also expecting my 6th baby(in 5 weeks!!) and so I know that things are going to get a little crazy for a while. That's why I need to turn some of the responsibility over to them.

I also plan to spend more time reading to my 2yr old and 4yr old. I can do this when I'm br*astfeeding. We do a lot of read alouds already, but I need choose things that will interest the 'little ones'.

Wow, this seems like it will be a lengthy post. I hope you stay with me!!

I'll move on to our curriculum.

Math: We made a switch last year, from Math-U-See to a Canadian curriculum called JUMP Math. I made the switch because it makes things even more simplified, which my dd needed.

Language Arts: I use a few different things here. I like Explode the Code, but my oldest is now done with it. I also use Wordly Wise and Language Power. This year we're going to use a book called Story Starters by Karen Andreola. It just came today and so I've barely had a chance to look at it! My dd is keen on writing and I hope it inspires my son. He has a great imagination, but hates to hold a pencil!!
I have also purchased Phonics Pathways to use with my 7yr old and his reading.

Spelling: I started using Sequential Spelling last year and really like it. It's very visual and we will continue with it.

Penmanship: I have been using A Reason For Handwriting and it has worked well for us. This year though, I've purchased a series of copywork books by Sandi Queen.
I hope it inspires their intellect.

Also, I'm actually looking for a calligraphy book for my dd. I looked at the Getty Dubay one(Italic Letters) and it seemed to busy. So, if you can recommend a calligraphy book, that would be great!!

Science: My two older children will be doing Science 5 from Sonlight. It covers mostly the human body, something we haven't done much of yet.
I think I'll let my 7yr old piggy-back on what they're doing.

History: We have been using Story of the World Vol.2 by Susan Wise Bauer and we will continue with it. The kids really like it!

Geography: We started using A Child's Geography by Anne Voskamp last year and I absolutely loved it!! We didn't quite finish, and so we will continue with it.

Then, I want to do a unit study on Africa.

I have purchased Africa, A Land of Hope by Donna Ward(it also just came today!) and I'm looking forward to diving in to that!

Fine Arts: Again, I started using Artistic Pursuits last year and will continue with it. It's a great art curriculum.
I want to study more composers this year. We've done it in the past, but last year it was lacking.

Second Language: I'm still figuring out what we're doing here! My kids all seem interested in different languages!!
One thing we are starting that is new this year is Latin, using Latina Christiana.

Phew! I'm exhausted just typing all of this out! I'm kind of excited, but also wondering how we are going to make it through it all!!

One significant verse that has come to me this Summer is:

"Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young-
a place near your altar,
O Lord Almighty, my King and my God."
Psalm 84:3

I need to be in constant prayer over the choices I make in homeschooling our children. God knows what is best for my kids!!

Happy Homeschooling!

Colored Pencils

For more of these posts or to sign up visit: Homeschool Blog Awards.

Jun. 19, 2008

Nature Walk

Yesterday we took a field trip to the Serpentine Wildlife Area for a nature walk. The area is mainly a bird sanctuary.
These are a couple of my favourite pictures.
You will have to visit my nature study blog
to see the rest!

Jun. 18, 2008

Flat Traveler

We have recently been a part of a 'flat traveler' exchange. This was the first time I'd ever done anything like this and so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was not disappointed and it was very exciting to get our 'traveler' back last week with his little package of goodies!

This is our traveler. He's a Canadian Goose that my dd drew and we had him laminated.

We sent him all the way over the Atlantic Ocean to a family in Northern Ireland. Here is the package that he was returned with:

It was so exciting for the kids to see what was inside! They even sent treats! They put lots of work into filling our little 'travel log' as well as making their own book filled with postcards and interesting information about Northern Ireland.

One of my favourite items was a sachet made from Irish Linen. It was beautiful and I could feel the quality in the linen. My mom was born in Northern Ireland and so to have something like that was special.
Here it is with a sample of the flax and linen thread from the Thomas Ferguson Irish Linen factory:

We are still working on getting our package together to send back. It sure is a neat thing for the kids to do and I would do it again!

(I stand corrected. It is not a Canadian Goose, but a Canada Goose! Thanks R!)

Mar. 8, 2008

A Homeschool Moment

My dd has always struggled with spelling. She would ask how to spell a word and then the very next day get it wrong again. I was always unsure at how to teach it. All I knew was the way I had been taught spelling in school; you're given a list of words to memorize for a test at the end of the week.
Well, knowing that my dd is a visual learner, I decided to give Sequential Spelling a try.

Their approach is very visual, grouping the words in such a way that patterns are easily visible. Also, a new list is given every day, in each lesson and the child corrects their own work seeing any mistakes right away. I wondered how this would work, having no test to study for, but as it turns out, it is very effective.

My dd came to me the other day and said that the spelling we had been doing was helping her to know how to spell words! Yay! That's what it's all about! It's so exciting when they are excited about it too and able to realize that they're actually putting something to use.

Nov. 6, 2007

Their Own Kingdoms

We have been working through Story of the World Vol. 2 by Susan Wise Bauer.
One of the suggested activities is to make up your own kingdom.
This is what my kids came up with:

Chickadee named hers "Jade Kingdom"

Raven called his "The May",

and Kingfisher named his kingdom "Scotland Yard".
(That prompted the question "Why do they call it 'Scotland Yard' when it's in England?".
My answer: "Well, I don't know, but we'll find out!")

Today is a busy day and so that is all I have to share, but I'll be sure to let you know what we find out about Scotland Yard!!
Blessings!

Oct. 31, 2007

Reason #153

There are so many reasons that I love homeschooling. The other day I was wondering if there were actually any 'cons'. I couldn't come up with any except that my house might be little cleaner if 3 of my kids were absent all day. That definitely does not out weigh the 'pros'!!

Sometimes I wonder if my children are learning anything and then something like this happens:
We have been reading through the book of Exodus. I was inspired by another homeschool mom who wanted her children to have read through the entire Bible, so they read a chapter a day. We are doing the same. We started in Genesis and are working our way through. Every day that we do 'school', we read a chapter.

I have posted before that my 3rd child, Kingfisher is an active one. He would not survive in public school because he cannot sit still to save his life!! He would be the class clown, constantly goofing off and talking to those around him. Although I know that learning to sit still is something he will need to master as he grows, the beauty of homeschooling is being able to work with how each of my children are made.

We do a lot of reading aloud and I do allow the kids to stay busy while I read. As long as they are quiet and listening, their hands can be busy with something. Well, sometimes Kingfisher is so active that I really do wonder if he's paying attention.

The part of exodus we're reading is all about the tabernacle. It can be quite boring to listen to I'm sure as so many of the verses sound repetitive.
Well, Kingfisher was playing with blocks and he was so excited to show me what he had made.

It was this:

His own model tabernacle!
He has been listening!! And not only that, it piqued his interest enough to spread into his play. That excites me so much and confirms in my heart that I am doing the right thing!
Blessings!

Oct. 23, 2007

Nature Study

Autumn just lends itself to nature study, don't you think?
When I was a kid, I thought Autumn was depressing. Everything turned brown and dead looking and it rained a lot. (We do get our fair share of rain!) But so much is going on in nature that I never knew back then. I tell ya, I'm learning more as a homeschool mom than I ever did as a 'public school' student!

I love Autumn and I love showing my kids all the wonderful things about it. This is our Father's world indeed!

Yesterday we went to the pumpkin patch. It was pouring rain, but we donned our boots and my handy plastic stroller cover and went exploring. This particular 'patch' is an actual working farm with a dairy, apple orchard, Christmas trees and of course, pumpkins. There were lots of animals to see; llamas, goats, bunnies, chickens, clydesdales, and big oxen. Oh yeah, and sows with the most adorable piglets!
There were lots of groups of children from day care centers and pre schools. They all wore little identifying vests and moved about in herds. At times it felt hectic when they all gathered around the animals, but it was nice to be able to linger and explore on our own. I did not take any photos as it was raining, but in spite of the rain we had a great day.

Today, naturally, the sun has come out, and as much as I want to 'hit the books' after our field trip yesterday, I feel a nature walk coming on!!

Oct. 18, 2007

Tea Time

We finally did it! Tea Time is something I've wanted to do as part of our homeschool for quite some time. This year I wanted to make it happen. So I did.
I have many reasons for having Tea Time. Not only do I enjoy a cup of afternoon tea, but I also wanted this to be a training time. I bought a copy of Uncommon Courtesy for Kids by Gregg and Joshua Harris. I'm using it as a guide to go through proper manners training for my kids.
Our first day went well. Even my 'rowdy' boys seemed to appreciate the atmosphere.
It's amazing what a lace tablecloth will do!
I didn't use my tea cups because they are still packed, so we settled for mugs. I made a tea that I thought the kids would like, and they did except for Kingfisher. He said it tasted like coloured water.

I find this amusing because it is Hubby's exact sentiments about tea!!
I'll try something different next time. I also hope to have some home made goodies instead of store bought.
Once we're through with the manners book, I night move on to composer studies(I had Mozart in the background) or Bible memory.
Thanks for stopping by!

Oct. 12, 2007

The Reveal!!

It is Show and Tell Friday with Canadagirl.
Check out her blog for more!

I have waited so long to be able to share this.

It has become my pride and joy. I am trying not to be vain (LOL!) about it.

For so long we've done school at our kitchen table, had boxes stacked in corners and books stored in every nook & cranny, that to have our very own schoolroom, is a dream come true!
I know that having a schoolroom isn't the key to being a successful homeschooler, and I know that learning can happen anywhere(and it often occurs in our van!)
but it is just so nice to have a place to put everything!
So without further adeiu,
I present to you
Our Schoolroom
Ta da!

I apologize that most of these pictures will be small, but if I made them to be the next size up, they would overlap my sidebar.
Anyhow, this is the view(above) when you walk in. It is located off of our family/playroom.

This is the view(above) to the right. Located on the white shelf are hands-on materials, manipulatives etc. I consider the desk to be 'where I sit', but I actually don't sit at it very often. I have to admit that I tidied the top of it for the photo.

It also has a nice view of the clouds.

Below, is a little further to the right and the blue foam chair is one of the few 'reading spots' in our home. Beside 'my desk',on the right, is a bin for all of our library books.

These photos can be bigger because they're vertical.

Continuing in a circle to the right is my beloved bookshelf.
These are not all of the books in our house, but they are most of our school books.
The top two shelves are some of my personal books that I didn't have room for on other shelves in the house.
Three shelves down on the left contains the main books that I 'teach' from or 'refer' to.
Reference books and encyclopedias are on the bottom and three shelves up from the bottom on the right are mostly novels that the kids can help themselves to when they need a book to read. Well, most of these books they can help themselves to, except the ones that are mine and up high.

Continuing to the right, are more shelves. You can never have enough!

This is where I keep most of our craft and art supplies, up high out of the reach of little ones! Some scrapbook supplies is on the top shelf and the black bags at the bottom are also my scrapbook stuff. There are also a few games and puzzles, but they will get moved once our family/playroom gets organized. We still have about 3 boxes of games and puzzles that have yet to be unpacked!

Continuing on is another view of our 'seat work' area. The cart in the corner, which you can barely see, has drawers. Each child has their own drawers to keep workbooks, notebooks, and artwork in.

As you can see, I like posters. I'm a visual person and I like having lots to look at.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed my little tour.
Special thanks goes to

Hubby

, for all his hard work in getting it ready for me to move in!
I still have some tweaking to do, so does he, but it's joy to be in already.
Thanks for stopping by!

Aug. 27, 2007

New Books!

I've just received "A Child's Geography" and "A Child's Geography Vol.2", by Ann Voskamp and Tonia Peckover.

They look absolutely wonderful. I ordered them sight unseen. My only research had been online. As I opened them up they looked just as wonderful as I thought they'd be. I can't wait to to use them. I hope my kids are as excited! I hope to at least get through the first one this year and then move on to volume 2. It focuses on the Holy Land. Check them out at: www.achildsgeography.com

I love to get new books, but old ones can be just as fun!

My hubby did some work on a house that belonged to a homeschooling family. Their children are in their teens and they were getting rid of some of their old(some is actually new!) school stuff. She,the mom, knew that we homeschooled and asked my hubby if we would be interested in it. I was pretty excited when he called and said he was bringing home some homeschool books. When he showed up with eight boxes it was like Christmas in August for me!

What a blessing! Most of it we will use and I'm going to pass on the rest to my homeschool friends and our support group library.

Well, the work on getting our schoolroom organized slow, but steady. Hopefully it will be ready by next week when I plan to start.
In the meantime, I'm working on schedules and sorting out what it is that everybody is going to be working on this year. I'll post it when I've got it figured out.
Blessings!

Feb. 12, 2007

Tidbits

So much to blog about, so little time!
I'll just share some recent goings on:

My two wee ones have a cold. It's especially hard with the 5mos old. She's been in and out of a low grade fever all weekend and wouldn't sleep unless she was held. It made for tiring weekend for me. She seems more herself today, but still has a cough.

We had a funeral for a little bird today. The kids found it dead in the backyard. I think it was a Black-capped Chickadee, although part of it's head was, well, missing. So I dug a hole and we burried it in the bush. I said a prayer(I even began to feel emotional! ) and my dd made a little grave marker.

My 8yrds is hooked on Google Maps. He discovered it a little while ago when we were looking for directions for something. He's been cruising the globe ever since. He's found the pyramids in Egypt, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, our house, and much more. Now, whenever we're discussing a place or if he reads about something, he has to go and look it up on Google Maps. It's great for a geography lesson!

I have a great idea if you have a kid who is distracted easily during school. We don't have the luxury of having a separate school school room and so seat work is done at the kitchen table. My 9yrdd gets distracted very easily. To help her concentrate she sometimes wears industrial headphones! It helps to block out any background noise.
My hubby also wears them when there's a fussy baby and he's got to get to sleep!

Something I've been wanting to include in our homeschool is Afternoon Tea Time. I've been reading about it at some other blogs,(I'll post a link at the end, for some reason it wont let me here.) and I really like the idea.
I already have a collection of tea cups that I need to use more often. I like a cup of tea in the afternoon as it is and it'd be a good chance to teach proper manners by creating a formal atmoshpere. I hope to include some kind of short devotional or poetry reading and I don't think we'd be able to do it every day, but maybe two days a week and maybe I'll coincide it with baking day. I'll let you know how it goes when I do it. I'm still taking mental notes on how I want to implement it.

Well, those are my rambling thoughts for the day,
Blessings!

This is one of the blogs where I've read about Tea Time:
Grace Like Rain

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