Posted in School Life
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This is our first year attending a homeschool co-op. I was against the idea initially, thinking about the extra time it would take from my week, but my husband thought it sounded like a good thing. So I did some investigative work, trying to find a group that meets our needs. I wanted something that would supplement our curriculum, not dictate it. I found a co-op, thanks to the recommendation from a friend, that does just this. It offers multiple choices per each time period. I was able to give my oldest daughter opportunies for art, music and cooking, while the younger ones enjoy a variety of standard sessions with their own age groups. All this for a very reasonable price! The kids all love co-op! Even my two-year-old gets excited when we discuss going to co-op, though I think he is more eager to wear his very own back pack than to stay in the nursery ;-) Four-year-old Audrey asks every morning if today is co-op. Anna is making friends (okay, Anna makes friends everywhere, so this is no surprise!). And Claire is excited to have actual homework. Did I mention she's a bit goofy? LOL This Saturday, our co-op had it annual Harvest Festival. It was held at a member's beautiful property. First, there was a candy hunt through the woods:
Then the kids played games. There was a three-legged race...
spin your head on a baseball bat (after finding all that candy in the woods!)....
balancing an egg on a spoon....
blowing up then sitting on a balloon....
and running back to the team....
And some gleeful rejoicing when their team won...
Later, we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over a campfire.
The kids had never experienced a bonfire before, so they were thrilled! Even Drew can't wait until next year's Harvest Party! All-in-all, a co-op has been a good thing! I guess that's why God gave me a husband who will push me out of my comfort zone every now and then :-) |
Posted in School Life
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We are studying birds in science this year, using Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day.
This week, our focus was on eggs. The kids have been learning a lot and they have been having fun doing it! They especially enjoyed this experiment:
Have you ever tried to squeeze an egg before? I have to admit, we were dubious at first. We didn't trust that it would work, so we began squeezing over the sink, gently closing our hands around the eggs. But as we progressed, we began to realize that these eggs really were durable! As long as you apply equal pressure, you cannot break an egg when squeezing. And trust me, we squeezed hard! Who knew? |
Posted in School Life
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Our local homeschool support group's yearly kick-off picnic was this past weekend. We haven't been to this event before, even after two years in the area, so we were excited to see so many other homeschoolers and enjoy ourselves. The first thing the kids saw was the horses!
Claire and Anna couldn't wait to ride the horses....
Audrey didn't want anything to do with the horses at first. So she and Drew found other ways to entertain themselves.
Well, eventually she decided that the horses must not be so bad, after all, seeing as so many other children were lining up to ride them. She mustered her courage, swallowed her fears, and got up in the saddle.
Not to be out-done, Drew didn't even look back at me as he took the cowboy's hand and allowed himself to be lifted unto a horse. Who needs a Mom when there's a horse???
Good food, good friends, good fun. What else do you need?
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I just love when something we've studied suddenly becomes reality for one of the kids, when they make connections between what we've read in a book and what they experience in real life! Anna had one such moment this evening. The kids were outside, enjoying these wonderful autumn temperatures after a long, hot summer. Anna came running inside after awhile, as excited as she is on Christmas morning: "Mom! Mom! I just saw a bird riding a thermal! I was watching it fly and its wings were flapping, then it just started to soar on the thermal! Just like in our book!"
We've been studying birds this year, fully enjoying "Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day" by Jeannie Fulbright. I know they've enjoyed their study of birds. I just didn't realize how much of what we read is really sticking. I guess I shouldn't second-guess our educational philosophy, eh? Sometimes the kids even think of things on their own out of our lessons. Take, for instance, their desire to test the quills of several goose and duck feathers we collected by our pond.
Frankly, the quills of these feathers didn't make good pens. Either that, or paint doesn't work as well as ink! But that didn't keep the girls from enjoying the experiment, anyway.
Yesterday, as I pulled out "Just So Stories" for Anna's literature reading, Anna leaned toward me and said in a conspiratorial tone, "I used to listen in when you read these stories to Claire and the one about the camel was my favorite--Humph!" I just thought that was so cute, how she thought she was getting away with something back when Claire went through these books. And how wonderful that she enjoyed them enough to remember them and get excited about reading the story again! Count this as yet another testimonial as to why I love and will continue to use the Ambleside Online curriculum! |
Posted in School Life
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Following a long-established (well, this is only our second year doing this) tradition, here is our first day of school photo:
We began our new school year last Wednesday. Yes, I know that was four school days ago. I'm very behind on my blogging. Sigh. I have tons of photos downloaded and blog entries written in my head about them, but little time to sit down and actually blog. Ah well. The kids seem to be enjoying the school year so far. Well, Daddy called after we finished classes the first day and I was appalled to overhear Claire's end of the conversation: "Yeah, we had school today. It was pretty boring." Gads! They had seemed to enjoy everything we read at the time -- they had lapped up Shakespeare, especially. If nothing else, she could have said something good about A Midsummer Night's Dream! I felt better at dinner, though, when happy reports flew across the table of what they had learned that day. Whew! A successful day at the end! This is Anna's first year as a real student using the AmblesideOnline curriculum. She is very happy to be "official" and enjoys our school time together. Claire gets excited when we bring out her old books. "Oh -- Paddle-to-the-Sea! I loved that one!" or "Just So Stories were my favorites! Can we read the one about the rhinoceros today?" These are statements I hear from Claire all the time now. Anna announced today at dinner that reading was her favorite subject. Funny, since two weeks before school started, I asked her to read something for me and she appeared to struggle. I was disappointed, believing that all our efforts last year were in vain. I don't mind that my children are late readers, but she had seemed to do so well last year, and we took the summer off not by choice but by necessity, so I took this regression hard. So I took out her reading book on the first day and she read through the first story (The Little Red Hen) without stumbling once. Little stinker. She can read. She apparently just didn't feel like reading when I asked her before. Claire seems to be enjoying herself as well. Her favorite subjects so far are Health and Shakespeare. It looks like it's going to be a good year. Audrey and Drew keep each other occupied while I work with Claire and Anna, so in that respect it's already much better than last year. We are spending quite a bit more time on school work than last year, partly because I have two official students this year and partly (gasp!) because we're actually completing everything scheduled. I'm amazed everytime I realize we've checked off every item. That never happened last year. Drew has been a very good baby, but he certainly did make school last year difficult. Thank goodness for a bit of maturity! That's my rambling first-day-of-school post. I'll try to post more often from here on out :-) |
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Our homeschool group sponsored its annual activity at a local water park a couple of weeks ago (I'm obviously behind on my blogging!). The kids look forward to this event all year. My four-year-old asked me for weeks, beginning with the warmer weather, when we would go to the water park again. Obviously, the event made a big impression on her last year! The park is only sold out to half capacity, and open only to fellow homeschoolers, so the lines are short and the company good :-) Here are some pictures of the fun the kids had!
Audrey loved everything about the park.....she even rode down the big slide with me! She especially loved the water spouts.
Drew had lots of fun, too!
Claire met a "long lost friend" at the park and was excited to get reacquainted with Noelani.
Did I mention that Audrey really enjoyed herself?
Anna had so much fun that she only slowed down for this one picture. Then I had to put away the camera or risk serious water damage! Audrey has been asking since the ride home when we're going back. It's going to be a long year until the next event! |
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My husband is a yard sale junkie. That's usually a good thing, but never as good as yesterday! Wow! He brought home two large boxes full of books.......which he got ABSOLUTELY FREE! And even better, these books were unabridged classics. And even better yet, 27 of these titles are books that are on the Ambleside Online curriculum booklist! I was like a kid in a candy store as I was cataloging these books yesterday! You can't even imagine what a great time I had checking off books that we now own....and marveling at all the money we'd saved!
So I'm truly counting my blessings today, in spite of many trials. (I couldn't find the Bing Crosby version of this song on Playlist, but I hope you enjoy the one playing now.) |
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This is supposed to be a homeschool blog. Specifically, a Charlotte Mason homeschool blog. Even more specifically, an Ambleside Online Charlotte Mason homeschool blog. But summer has obviously distracted me, and what was once 75% homeschool/25% personal has become 0% homeschool/100% personal ;-) So I decided to get back to blogging about our homeschool journey. This is a small first step:
Here is Anna cleaning out the aquarium. We moved our tadpoles into this aquarium several weeks ago, creating a very nice habitat for them. Two weeks ago, we released the frogs back to the duck pond. I didn't get any pictures of that.....not sure where my head was. Watching the metamorphosis of these tadpoles was a wonderful science education for everyone in the house, from Daddy all the way down to little Drew. I'm sure we'll do it again next spring! Under the category of handicrafts, Claire and Anna enjoyed an impromtu sewing project a couple of weeks ago. They took some old rags, needle and thread and created some Barbie clothes. Here is Claire's proud creation:
I was impressed! Besides these, Claire is continuing math through the summer, getting "caught up" after our switch to Math-U-See a couple of months ago. We are also continuing history, so that we can start on schedule next month, when Claire will begin 5th grade (and Ambleside Online's Year 3) and Anna will begin 1st grade (and Ambleside Online's Year 1). I'll post more of our schedule and the books we'll be using on another day. For now, I'll post two fun books I've recently acquired to supplement our homeschool studies. I found both at Sam's Club. I don't have time (or patience with kids in tow) to browse large bookstores, so I enjoy the selection Sam's Club offers me. About a month ago, we found a bird book that even two-year-old Drew loves. The Backyard Birdsong Guide is part field guide, part audiobook and is truly a wonderful book! You can actually see the picture of a bird and listen to its song. I've discovered that we have more birds in our neighborhood than I normally see, thanks to this handy audio field guide! We are still having a lot of fun with this supplement, even a month later, and I'm sure we'll be using it often in the months and years to come. Yesterday, we found Then Sings My Soul, a book of "150 of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories." We learn one hymn a month throughout the year (this month's hymn is "The Sweet By and By," which is why that will show up on our current PlayList), and I'm thrilled to have found this book! It has a devotional-type history for each hymn. I'm always trying to find some historical information to go with each new hymn, and this book has just that. It also includes music and words to the hymns and a CD containing the music to several of them. I think this will be a good supplement to our hymn study for years to come! All right, then. Now I feel like I can justify keeping a homeschool blog ;-) |
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"Mom? Can I do another page of math now?" Those words, uttered last week by my oldest daughter, were music to my ears! Math had become such a challenge. I was fighting tears, boredom, frustration, every single day. The spiral program we were using was not working. After months of researching different programs, I finally settled on Math-U-See. I was attracted by the mastery concept (the spiral approach frustrated my daughter) and I especially liked that Math-U-See came with a teaching DVD. We watch this DVD together. Usually, I don't have to do anything else with this daughter. It's like giving me a break! My 6yo daughter is doing very well with this program also. It's been a wonderful transition! How often can you switch your curriculum and go from hating math to loving it? From math being the most dreaded subject to it being the favorite subject? Yes, I'm one happy homeschooling mom right now!
Plus the blocks are just fun!
Can I count this as geography, too? |
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We are getting ready to plant a butterfly garden in one corner of our yard, so six-year-old Anna and I were looking at a gardening site for kids on-line. Anna read this sentence all by herself, with no complaints:
To have a successful butterfly and hummingbird garden, consider several things before planting:
She was very proud of herself and I think I was even more proud of her! Not bad for someone just learning to sound out words, still stumbling over beginning readers and Dick & Jane.
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I was visiting various friends on-line when I stumbled upon Michelle's blog. She kindly took time out from visiting with guests from abroad and taking treks to the beach to post about this contest: Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE! This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian. This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.
To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff!
So there you go! Check it out and see if you could win this new program. I know I'd love to win! |
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The flurries started as we left church last night. All four kids had a blast trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues! We woke up this morning to a Winter Wonderland!
Well, Winter Wonderland being a relative term.....but this Michigan native has no intention of making light of two inches of snow in South Carolina. Hey, we just spent four years in Florida.....two inches of snow is the best thing since Christmas for my kids! We even built their very first snowman:
For those who are paying close attention, Anna is indeed wearing "inside" clothes. She had already gotten cold and wet and so went inside to warm up.....but she came running out to pose with Frosty! We even learned about "yellow snow" thanks to Coco our dog!
As an aside, Drew is dressed in his warmest clothes.....not exactly what you'll find up north, but hey! He was nicely layered, if a bit colorful! Now everyone is inside, drinking hot chocolate and thinking about going out again as their neighborhood friends venture out. Apparently, the public schools have a snow day today. My kids will still be doing some school work......they have such a mean homeschool mommy! |
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I had the opportunity to attend our local homeschool support group tonight. Due to my husband's work schedule, that doesn't happen often. So it was indeed a blessing to me. The topic tonight was our favorite free on-line homeschool sites. Since I had it ready and prepared, I thought I'd also share it here. Maybe someone else can find something listed that will help them as well :-) If you have a favorite site, leave a comment on my blog.....I'd love to check it out! These are a few of my favorite things: The free on-line, Charlotte Mason curriculum we use. Most of the books used in this curriculum can be found on-line. Wonderful books, wonderful curriculum! http://www.amblesideonline.org/ Find the classics on-line at Project Gutenberg.....over 20,000 free books Find classic audio books free at Librivox: http://librivox.org/ Pilgrim’s Progress video version (this has been a great supplement to reading the book). http://www.answersingenesis.org/kids/videos Make your own word puzzles.....just type in your spelling list and this site generates crossword puzzles, word searches, and other fun games! http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/ Solve jigsaw puzzles. This is my kids’ favorite site (and let’s face it, I’ve Calvary Chapel Bible reading schedule and coloring pages. I have been using these coloring pages for our Bible time. http://children.calvarychapel.com/site/curriculum_n.htm Find any nursery rhyme here, with the words printed out and a midi of the tune. http://smart-central.com/ Here are some on-line hymnals, which give words and music for the great hymns: http://www.ehymnal.com/, http://schaefer-family.com/hymns.htm (this site also gives a history of the hymn); http://www.cyberhymnal.org/ (this site also gives a short history of the hymn) Stories about and selections from some of the great composers. http://www.classicsforkids.com/ Geography – great for learning about the USA and finding states on themap. Our favorite game is States 3 (expert). http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm Sign language – free on-line program. My kids have learned a lot from this site! http://www.lifeprint.com/ Trade books that you don’t need anymore for ones you do need. I have gotten so many wonderful books this way! www.paperbackswap.com Living Books for the Ears....weekly free downloads of classic radio programs from years gone by. http://www.homeschoolradioshows.com/ Enjoy! |
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I've had a huge "DUH!" moment in the last several weeks: You can get many of the books needed for school at the PUBLIC LIBRARY! We needed "Abraham Lincoln" by the D'Aulairs recently. I didn't have the time or funds to order the book, so on a whim I searched the library's website and, lo and behold!, they had what I needed.....and it was available! We've renewed it once already, and we're almost finished with it. The kids love it! Often, resources are recommended on the Ambleside (www.AmblesideOnline.org) lists for a composer or music or some other subject. I've put many of these on my "wish list". Well, last night, I decided to search the LIBRARY for a book on Leonardo Da Vinci that was recommended this week. They had it, and it was available. I put a HOLD on the book. We went in today for our regular library visit and the book was there, waiting for me at the desk! I didn't even have to search the shelves for it! Five minutes on the computer saved me much time and hassle looking for books myself on those many shelves....or even going from one library to another. Forgive me if you've already discovered this wonderful resource! I don't know why it took me so long to discover the many benefits of my public library! My next trick will be utulizing Inter-Library loan, for those books out of the Greenville system. (It obviously doesn't take much to excite me, does it?) LOL |
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We started reading the book "The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew" as a read aloud a couple nights ago. We got to the first illustration in the story and eight-year-old Claire was clearly disappointed. "That's not how I thought Polly looked," she said. Then she consoled herself, saying, "Well, I'm going to continue to imagine her my way, not this way." Five-year-old Anna was very surprised. "I thought they were peppers," she admitted, bewildered to see an illustration of a child and an old woman. I'm laughing now just remembering that. Anna thought we were reading a story about peppers....and why not? We read about rabbits ("Peter Rabbit and Friends") and Pooh bear and other such creatures. Why wouldn't the five little Peppers be actual peppers? I wonder if she envisioned green or red peppers?
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Claire (our eight-year-old) has been learning to read since she was five or six, but she has always been a reluctant reader. We've dutifully read with her every school day, sometimes through tears on her part, sometimes through feigned patience on my part, often through different types of readers and curriculum.
In my heart of hearts, I always knew (hoped!) that someday reading would just "click" for her. I hoped and prayed that she would develop a love of reading, not the dread she harbored.
Today was that day! She brought a book to me at reading time and began reading it to me, without prompting. She just took off, reading easily, barely stumbling over new words. Then she went back to the bookshelf, pulled off another book, and stood (she was too excited and interested to sit!) and read to me. She read the next book to her baby brother.
She told me those words that I have been waiting for years to hear:
"Mommy, reading is fun!"
She read two more books to me tonight before bed and read one to her Daddy. She can't wait until tomorrow to read the rest of another book she started tonight.
Today, reading finally "clicked" for my daughter! I was so proud as I watched her excitement! Moments like this make educating my children at home worth any sacrifice. |
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lose her temper while reading a literature selection.
Yet that's how our morning ended today.
The morning began with a fussy baby, so we started school late. Things were going fairly well at first, but I had to keep correcting the girls, reminding them not to do things. Sit still. Don't climb on the chairs. Don't sit on the table. Don't knock books on the floor. Don't step on the books on the floor. Trying to get the two-year-old to not interrupt so that we could hear the lessons. Trying to keep the two-year-old and four-year-old from arguing so that I can teach the eight-year-old. Trying to hold the 13-week-old while dealing with everything else. Telling the four-year-old again that we just had a snack and she can wait until lunch in a half hour. Stop jumping off the dining room chairs...
Then I just lost it. I couldn't handle one more interruption.
Of course, no one else interrupted after that. No one came near me until lunch.
In my fantasy, we have a calm, quiet, peaceful school day. Everything goes perfectly. We are all smiles. The girls are interested in every word I say. The baby sits in his seat and gurgles and coos the whole time we're learning. Isn't that how other families' school days go? No other mom ever just slams a book shut and says (okay, yells), "Too bad. You don't get to hear the end of the story." On days like today, I'm convinced that everyone else does it perfectly and I alone fall so very short.
I just have to remember that most days go well...even in the midst of chaos.
But I definitely need to work harder on habit training! |
