Yellow-Footed Tortoise

The skin and scales of the yellow-footed tortoise are black, brown and yellow. This tortoise is found in South America. These tortoises are widely used around the world for trade. They make sounds like a baby cooing and they each have their own special body language. This tortoise will eat grasses, fallen fruit, plants, snails and worms.

We did some online research together and I cut/pasted some information into a Word Doc.  Then I double spaced it and had him use a highlighter to mark his keywords.  We quickly made a simple outline with those words.  The outline prompted him to fill in the details himself rather than just copying the information from online word-for-word.  I acted as his scribe (to help with the "young boy's don't like writing issues) and then typed it up for him (editing nothing).  He is very happy with the end product and I'm excited to see his growth.

Once again I'm using a curriculum that people think you can't use until children are much older and we are enjoying great success with it.  You just have to adapt it to meet your needs and be willing to find the essence rather than implementing it "by the letter".

Yeah!  Happy day in our homeschool. 

Pickles is organizing a book about South American plants and animals this week so we'll get to practice our skills some more this week.

I've been gone for awhile because it seemed like I was running to obstacles whenever I logged on to blog.  First it was picture issues (sizing, saving, and locating) and then I was struggling to edit an existing post.  I just decided to walk away and focus on life.  So, here I am with no fun picture but I'm at least able to get in to post something new. 

It is hard to believe but we are about to begin our fifth week of school.  Wow!  The time is flying by already and it has been relatively "bump-free".  I am so glad that we started school early this year.  We have a good pace going and things are just gearing-up for the fall.  I'm hoping we can move into the fall activities without much additional stress on our routine. 

Pickles is enjoying learning all about the Middle Ages.  This week he has been devouring the Jim Weiss CD we purchased about King Arthur.  I think he has listend to it at least fifteen times.  He had a bit of a fever last week and was fighting a bit of a cough but we forged ahead to complete some school.  Later he made me laugh when he said, "School is fun even when you're sick!".  He did have a dose of tylenol and seemed improved at that moment but still it was cute. 

He also seems to have taken to the Institute for Excellence in Writing techniques that I've been grafting into our day.  We are mainly employing the Key Word Outline model this year as a method to complete our history narratives.  I've been typing up our selection for the week (something from the Core History reading in TOG Y2) and having Pickles use a highlighter to choose the key words.  The next day we reread, make our outline and retell the selection from memory.  Sometimes I will join in and try to retell it too.  He thinks this is funny because I'm not usually as good at it as he is.  Pickles has an amazing memory!

Pumpkin is also really enjoying her first year of preschool.  She has a late fall birthday so we've decided to wait to do her Kindergarten year.  She'll do two years of preschool and then start Kindergarten in 2011.  She desparately wants to learn to read but I just don't think she's ready for the process of blending the letter sounds into words.  We'll see as the year goes on but I'm really happy with the things we are using now.  We are working through this for Language and this for Reasoning/Mathematics.  I've found these resources to be just the right amount of challenge, fun and comfort for her.  I think she will do great this year.  I'm so excited to she her growing-up!  She is learning so much more "outside" of the books this year and we are praying that her heart would continue to be moulded by the loving hands of our Great God. 

Well, that is our school update for the time being.  Things are moving along and seem to be going well.  I praise God for the insight and wisdom God blessed us with during the planning and preparation process for this year.  I've found myself very thankful for the time we spent in prayer and planning because it is already reaping benefits of time, structure, and purposeful days.

I've struggle all this school year with feeling like Pumpkin was getting shortchanged in our schooling focus.  There were days that I didn't even have time to read her stories and it wasn't because I was "doing too much".  It just seemed like I was getting caught up in too much "drama".    I needed some structure to help me get refocused when life-with-little-ones seemed to throw us off track.  We take lots of breaks during the day for character training, potty-training, baby care, doctor visits, crisis squelching, etc.  It seemed like we were getting Pickles through his school day but Pumpkin was getting lost and Pickles was forming poor school habits (asking momma for help ALL the time, not being able to work for a few minutes by  himself, etc).

Our struggles seemed insurmountable to me at times.  I had actually kind of resolved myself to the fact that it was just going to be this way for EVER while we have small children.  I, however, am a deep believer in living in the now and not wishing for the "next phase" of family life.  I also try to teach my children to be useful and helpful members of our family "in-the-current-family-phase".  So, if we have a young sibling then we all learn how to adjust our lives for that little one.  We live life together rather than putting up ever imaginable thing that could cause a problem or adjust the schedule so that the baby is always asleep while the older children do things.  But that can make life a bit like my one and only experience of driving a stick-shift car....stop-start-stop-start-jerk-go-etc. 

I was earnestly praying for God to direct me to a new inspiration or idea to creatively solve the issues in our homeschool.  He did by leading me to workboxes!

I first heard about workboxes when a friend suggested I check it out to help Pickles who struggles with some mild Sensory Processing issues.  At the time I filed the info away and moved on with our school schedule.  A couple of months later, as I shared our struggles with her again, she mentioned the concept again and this time I spent some time researching it.  I don't often buy things for school on an impluse but I did order the entire shabang from Sue Patrick's website.  I bought the book and the start-up kit.  I knew, intuitively, that this is what we needed.  It was the best money I've ever spent for our schooling. 

I honestly feel like I have my sanity back.  No, my laundry still doesn't get put away on time and I still struggle to get to cleaning the house but our school days are much smoother and 100X more productive.  We are also finishing 80% of our school in the morning and still having time for a play break before lunch.  Oh and my Pickles is learning to do things on his own, the quality of his work is improving, and he doesn't complain about doing school (school in general...we struggle with "my hand is going to fall off" ). 

One of the most enjoyable blessings has been doing fun preschool things with Pumpkin.  We've been writing in cornmeal, singing songs, reading stories from Core A (Sonlight), painting, learning to draw with basic shapes, working on letter and number recognition.  It has been a great joy to snuggle with her and see her heart responding to the time together.  Another great benefit is how she is learning to work independently from the start.  She has six boxes a day and at least half are ones she does on her own.  (Momma claps her hands and says "yea").

Here are some photos and basic info on how we are using the system....

This is the shelf that Pickles uses.  He typically has 8-10 boxes a day.  We move through the first 2/3 in the morning and do our history reading, read-aloud, and projects in the afternoon.

These are Pumpkin's workboxes.  She has 6 boxes a day and finishes all of them in the morning.

Examples of Preschool boxes....HWOT work, number recognition game, Critical Thinking worksheets

A Tapestry of Grace box....Pickles has to label the map for this week.  He is LG so we use clear address labels to mark our maps.

This is an example of our "mobile" workboxes.  We have a school room but on this day momma had several "kitchen" chores to do.  So, I loaded the boxes with things that would be easy to implement and had them work at the kitchen island.  Worked like a charm!  Then we stacked up the finished work and set it by the stairs.

Pumpkin showing you how COOL you can look as you do workboxes!

I hope you enjoyed seeing how we are being blessed by an effective organizational idea for homeschooling.  If you want to learn more please visit Sue Patrick's website.  Thank you Sue.  We LOVE workboxes!

I bought Sue Patrick's book about using Workboxes and it has transformed our learning times.  We've been using workboxes for almost a month now and it has been such a blessing to all of us, momma included. 

I really encourage you to get Sue's book (buy, borrow, or check-it-out) to understand the purpose and structure of the program.  If you want to learn more about how to set-up your own workbox system please be considerate and get your information from the source rather than combing the web and trying to piece it together.  I believe Sue deserves compensation for her time, energy, and creativity that she shares in her book.  That is why I purchased the book and starter sets for Pickles and Pumpkin. 

I was concerned about....

1.  Finding time to teach Pumpkin.  Pickles is a very distractible learner and it seemed that all my time was spent "directing" him to what he should be doing, or trying to refocus the attention off of him or giving him instruction.  It really was feeling that my day was all about one child and it drove me crazy.

2.  Helping Pickles to learn to do things on his own....ie, Math, Copywork, etc.

3.  Help me remember what comes next....in a busy house with three littles it is easy for momma to say, "Oh, I don't remember what we were doing because I just took a call from the doctor.  Hmmm, guess were done with school."  Now we know what comes next.

4.  Teach the kiddos using several different methods.  I don't like to be a "lecture" mom and now I can add in "fun" learning things without feeling like it takes all day.  Let me explain....before I would struggle with a hands-on project, movement activity, or something like that because it seemed to interupt me right when I was getting in the groove of teaching or helping Pumpkin.  Now, it is simply something I delegate to Pickles (he's getting more freedom in this process) or it is something that I've already planned to use my time for...so it fits in.

5.  Something to help break up Pickles day so he isn't sitting all the time....(remember the highly distractible learner).  Now he can do different things without it being dependent on me all of the time.  He is learning how to direct his own energy.  I find that he pays more attention to his work because he knows something else worthwhile is coming up. 

I do admit that it was a splurge or impluse buy but in my gut I knew it was what we needed.  I've been praying for direction or inspiration to address several frustrating issues that had risen this year in our homeschool. 

I was inspired by Molly at Countercultural School to share a reason we love homeschooling.  I, too, love the way you can "do school" wherever you go. 

My reason to homeschool is simple....IT ISN'T BORING!  It  has been a challenge to find things that interest Pickles but are appropriate for him to learn.  We struggle with the gap between his ability and his maturity but with homeschooling we can bridge it beautifully!

Learning from REAL books and putting our own thoughts on paper.

Pickles copying a map of Ancient Greece (purely his idea and he worked hard on it)

A "free time" drawing of Alexander the Great's Army

Painting our Greek Pottery

As a former Early Childhood Educator and now a mom I've always held the opinion that little ones can learn about BIG things as well as older children.  I think that is why I love Charlotte Mason and Classical Education so much.  You share the world with your children and they learn that grown-ups are still learning too!  What an example we are to our children when we show them that learning never stops. 

Pumpkin was sick last night so we are taking it easy today.  We didn't get up till 8 (that's REALLY late for my kiddos) and watched a lot of "Curious George" this morning (taped off PBS).  We've been on a school break this week so taken it slow today is fine. 

I could tell the children's attention spans were waning and we had already read books, watched a video and they had played downstairs.  What to do that doesn't make a mess or be too active for a potentially upset tummy.  Ah ha!  Dominoes!

I got out my bread board (turned it over to the non food side) and let the kiddos build away.  The neat part was when they were putting away....Pumpkin kept "counting, 4, 5, 7, etc".  This was driving Pickles crazy because she wasn't "doing it right".  I told him that he needed to encourage her to try so she could learn how to do it and that he could help her by modeling showing her how to do it.  So, they put away the dominoes with him leading the counting and Pumpkin echoing him. 

I love it when life leads to learning!  I fully believe that is how God intended for us to discover things.

Here are a few photos from our playtime.

I don't like alarmist views and I try to not to jump on the lynch-wagon...usually.  Yet, I'm finding myself increasingly in prayer for our homeschool families in California and across the nation (myself included). 

My prayers have been:

-that all Christian parents would understand the depth of what is happening.  The undertones of the current sentiments in California could impact all Believing parents.

-that God would be glorified through our actions as Believers and Homeschoolers

-that God would continue to bless us with freedome to choose how to educate our children

-for our leaders to make unbiased decisions based on truth

Here is an interesting read:  Overt Hostility toward Homeschooling by Albert Mohler

Ds finished a school project this morning!!!  We have been working through the Evan-Moor titled Literature Pockets: Nursery Rhymes since last spring.  We usually try to do one on Friday.  I'm trying to make Friday more of a "project" type of day.  (I'm envisioning Friday to be Science Experiment day, sometime down the road.) 

Ds has really enjoyed this book and I'm planning to move on to the Folk and Fairy Tales title next.  The projects have been simple and have really helped to give him practice with his scissor skills.  I've also been able to do some of the easier projects with dd so she doesn't feel left out when the scissors, crayons, and gluesticks are out.  I just do most of the cutting for her while ds is working on his project. 

We look forward to using more of the "pockets" titles in the future too!

Big thanks go out to my friend G for introducing me to Math U See! 

We just started lesson 22 of the Primer and I was amazed as I watched my 4.5 year old son solve for unknowns.  I began the year thinking we would try it and if he didn't do well we'd just put it up for awhile.  Well, the hardest part of the entire year has been getting him to color in the book when the directions ask you too.  (He hates coloring things in).  He has really done well with it and most of all he seems to really understand what he is doing. 

We'll be sticking with Math U See for next year, too!  I might add in the Singapore EarlyBird books for the summer, we'll see though. 

Just wanted to say Thanks to my dear friend and share our journey!

Well, we are getting a BIG Snowstorm here in the midwest!  My dh has been as happy as a clam with all our snowfall this winter.  He really missed the snow when we lived in the South.

As a former teacher I find myself a bit in a quandry when there are "snow days".  Do we take the day off?  My selfish heart would love to take a day off and stay in my pjs with my knitting all day.  Well, I figure I still have to train my children, make them meals, and do chores so we might as well accomplish something while we are housebound.  We will take off lots of "lovely spring days", due to the weather of course, when the parks start to thaw out.    So, in the end we will make  up for our working through the snowy days. 

My observation about today was quite comforting though.  We completely turned our normal routinue upside down due to the weather.  I found myself in need of some staple groceries and so we ventured out to the store after breakfast rather than after table time like usual.  I wanted to be home before the weather hit us.  I thought for sure this would upset the whole day.  I praise God it didn't. 

We made it safely to the store and home.  Then we had school at the kitchen counter instead of the table (sometimes a recipe for disaster) while momma put the groceries away and baked up some banana bread.  DS did great with all his copywork, handwriting, DEL, and Explode the Code.  He can pretty much do those on his own.  When I saw he had a new lesson in Math I knew it would require me sitting down with him.  So, we put math aside for a bit. 

As things hummed along nicely I was struck by the idea that the freedom to "live life" while doing school is one of the things I love so much about homeschooling.  I have always felt strongly about helping children to learn to love learning but I didn't feel like I was able to really do that in the institutional school setting and sometimes didn't even understand how to.  I see now with my own children that as learning happens in the context of everyday living they learn be inquisitive and thoughtful.  Yes, we will have times of memorizing, drilling and evaluating some things (ABCs, Math Facts, etc) but I pray that such things are only to serve the greater method of learning which is experiencing, discussing, doing, and trying. 

I guess you could say I had a realization about our homeschool journey, vision, and direction this morning!  I need these moments to help me refocus on what is most important and to encourage me to stay-the-course. 

Oh! You ask about the banana bread...I think I forgot to put sugar in the second loaf because I was giving directions while baking.  I do think the other loaf turned out fine though.  Hehehehehe

I am the good shephed;

the good shepherd lays down His life

for the sheep. 

John 10:11

I just put tape on a "poster" that ds made.  It had a yellow animal drawn on it and said "Lion" and on the bottom "L iz fur Lion".  These are the times that I get the warm-fuzzy feelings inside. 

I smile inside because ds asked a little while ago if we have "school-time" today.  I said no because we are going to storytime at the library.  He answered with a yeah but then proceeds to get all the drawing supplies out and make several animal posters complete with animal names.  I love it when children begin to use the things they are learning in their lives. 

Ds has gone from not wanting to practice writing letters to labeling everything he does.  I've been so pleased with the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.  Ds doesn't struggle with reversals (except J).  I've never seen a child who didn't struggle (at some level) with reversing the letters.  I attribute it to the curriculum becase ds is not (until recently) a big drawer or writer.  He did well with the PreK activities from Handwriting Without Tears though and I am pleased as punch at his current progress.

Now at some point we'll work on the phonics/spelling aspect of his writing but for now it is great to see him enjoying writing!

 www.hwtears.com

Check out their website!

We completed our first lap book! 

What is a lap book?  Well, it is a way to display what you have learned.  I'm just learning how to incorparate them into our learning time but it seems like a perfect fit for us.  Basically, a lap book is a file folder that has been re-folded to look like a shutter on a window.  Then you open it up and inside are little books/pockets/snippets that provide a snapshot of the things you've learned on a topic.  My favorite part is having the child revisit the book or share the book with someone else...they just keep on learning and learning from it. 

Our first lap book was on rhyming.  I had noticed that Hayden kept telling me words rhymed because they began with the same sound.  At about the same time I had come across lap books in my homeschool research.  I thought the concept sounded great and since I was going to pull together some lessons on rhymes I decided to try to put them together in a lap book.  It was fun and he understands the concept of rhyming very well. 

It was fun to share with Daddy the day we finished it!  Now on to Birds...our next lap book.  I'll share when we finish in a few weeks.

Well, today began a new chapter in my little man's life.  Pickles (ds, Hayden) read his first book today!  We have been slowly working through Phonics Pathways this fall and he loves it.  So, I got out the Bob Books and he, slowly, went through the first title.  He is pretty excited for Daddy to get home so that he can read to Daddy. 

I never thought I'd be potty training and teaching him to read at the same time!  I have been reminded lately that we are truly unique and  yet bound together as the body of Christ.  I pray diligently that I may be a good steward of the little ones entrusted to my care and nurturing.  So, as we embark upon the printed world I pray that we conquer the potty, too.  In the end the goal is that my children will know Christ and be presented mature in Him...they'll get the potty....someday (hummmm)!

I'm new to the world of blogging but I've been out reading my way around the web for awhile.  I hope to keep my friends and family from all around the nation/world in touch with our little slice of the globe here.  My husband and I have two little ones, Hayden who is 3 and Kathryn who is almost 1.  I was previously an Early Childhood Educator who said she'd never homeschool (God speaks, we listen and learn to never speak in absolutes).  We feel like we have been homeschooling our children since they were born.  Our view of education is very wholistic since children are constantly learning and no more faster than during the first few years. 

Off to be productive...naptime is only so long and momma needs to drink at the well of God's Word.