Second Semester

All good things must come to an end and it's time for this break to be over. I'm getting us all ready for second semester this weekend. After a late night New Year's Eve, followed by another later night for the Sugar Bowl (way to go Buckeyes!), I'm feeling behind but there's still tomorrow.

Girls: Not much changes for them at home or at Veritas. Bobo switches from Government to Economics, but other than that they'll continue on in Latin, History, and Science there (and Math for Elbow). Both girls will carry on with Literature at home; Bobo and I will continue to slog through Saxon's Algebra 2 as well. Bobo did a study of Twain in the Fall for our American Lit class, reading some of his short stories and Huckleberry Finn.  We're moving on to Steinbeck after break. I'd assumed we'd start with Of Mice and Men, but after reading it again this weekend I'm switching to The Red Pony.  After that she'll tackle The Grapes of Wrath.

Boys: We've ditched our library days for the time being. It was great to get our year started, but Right Hand Man grew a little weary of wandering aimlessly between the bookshelves while we tried to work. Toddzilla also prefers the comforts of home (which include things like wearing pajamas, playing Legos as a break, listening to music on his iPod during math... it's a pretty hard gig to give up).  Happily he likes division. Reading, not so much (unless it's the sports page). He tolerated Sounder before break. His current reading of Hatchet seems to actually interest him. Crockett likes the Frog and Toad books as well as his reader, Busy Times. The Patriot is coming along in the Kindergarten Hooked on Phonics "books." Our "I did it!" chart is literally tearing apart as we've peeled off the previous user's achievement stickers four times by now.  We're supplementing My Father's World history (Creation to the Greeks) with Story of the World: Ancients. 

Late Mid-Year Roundup

March always feels like the beginning of the end for all things academic. There's lots left to do, of course, but considering many of our co-op classes finish at the end of April - the end really is in sight.

This has been one of our most successful years to date, which has been a pleasant surprise. A baby always complicates the schedule  - with lots of holding-on-the-hip teaching, talking over baby babble (which is surprisingly loud), and dealing with extra mama tiredness. Right Hand Man has been our worst sleeper by far so my Keurig has quickly become my new best friend.

Hubby has taken over the phonics work with Crockett, our current kindergartener. While it's a joy to see an emerging reader beam with the satisfaction a new skill, it's a major chore getting there! The painstaking work of sounding out every.single.letter is hard enough on it's own, doing it within a busy household can do me in faster than anything else. A few evenings a week Hubby and Crockett head up to our bedroom and work through the phonics books in peace and quiet. Then they wrestle. Win-win.

Here's where we are:

Bobo: Lesson 70 in Saxon Algebra 1/2. Still taking our time in First Form Latin. We're near the end (finally) but I think I'll stretch it out and not begin Second Form until next year. Her Literature class has probably been her favorite this year (Notable Youth of Purposeful Discussion). The book list: Call of the Wild, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Devil's Arithmetic, Number the Stars, Where the Red Fern Grows, and The Giver. Each week they post answers to comprehension questions on an online forum; they meet monthly to discuss the current book and hand in their final essays. Life Science and American History (first semester was Ohio History) - both taught by dads in the group. Halfway through with Vocabulary from the Classical Roots (A). Art class. She's working hard right now preparing for the annual National Piano Playing Auditions, again doing an International Program which involves gazillions of memorized pieces (10). She recently took her last belt test in Tae Kwon Do before her Black Belt so the training for that begins in earnest now. Her first ever basketball season ended Sunday. She loved it and wants to play again next year. Working one evening a week in our church's nursery and participating in the middle school youth ministry.

Elbow: Lesson 70 in Saxon 6/5. Reading and loving the Raiders from the Sea series. Taking a break from Latin - will begin First Form next fall (Finished Latina Christiana I and I prefer the format of First Form so I didn't want to start her on LC II). Working on writing skills with various grammar, journaling, essay writing etc. Violin - Suzuki Book 3. AWANA. Her big love is gymnastics. Tae Kwon Do. Also in the American History, Life Science, and Art classes with her sister.

Nothing like a baby brother to keep you motivated to finish your math!

Toddzilla: Almost halfway done with Saxon Math 3, finishing Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day with our co-op, beginning cursive, Pathway Readers (so excited to do Sonlight American History next year so he can read all those great books!), dictation, typing, Spelling Workout B (almost done). Art class. Tae Kwon Do. Minecraft (sigh).

Valentine's Party at the Boys' Science Group

Crockett: Hooked on Phonics with Hubby, Saxon Math 1, Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day, Handwriting Without Tears, Art Class. Skylanders on the iPad. Also, captain of the boy's playgroup (keeping them out of our way during work time)

The Patriot and Right Hand Man: Either driving us crazy or making us laugh. So, so sweet together.

Up next: our baby turns one this week!

Another Year

We've started another school year around here and it's been one of our better beginnings. We're still inching toward a full schedule, so it's a bit early to say all is well, but the plans seem to be working out. Here's a basic outline of what we've got going on:

Bobo: Saxon Algebra 1/2, finishing First Form Latin, Ohio History (outside class), Living Science (outside class), Notable Youth of Purposeful Dialogue (outside course focusing on 20th century literature), Spelling Workout G, and Vocabulary from the Classical Roots. Piano, church youth group, Tae Kwon Do, Basketball.

Elbow: Saxon Math 6/5, various review texts for Latin, Ohio History, Living Science, Great Girl Books (not sure what I called this when I planned it for Bobo - but it's a year spent on important girl reads: Beautiful Girlhood, Pollyanna, Heidi, you get the idea...) Daily Diary Dash writing exercises, and Spelling Workout E. Violin, AWANA, Tae Kwon Do, gymnastics.

Toddzilla: almost done with Saxon Math 2, hitting Prima Latina here and there, Flying Creatures of the 5th Day, Pathway Readers, Dictation from McGuffey, Spelling Workout B.  Football, Tae Kwon Do, AWANA.

Crockett: Kindergarten! This is a bit more complicated than I had anticipated with everything else going on around here. We pull out his books when we can, right now he's more than happy being included in the science group for Flying Creatures of the 5th Day and working on writing his letters etc. He's also taken a very fond liking to ABCmouse on the computer, something I would have never allowed my girls to start with. How things change! AWANA, Tae Kwon Do.

The Patriot and Right Hand Man are doing their part by providing comic relief (the former) and napping on schedule (the latter).

Working on a flying experiment for science

His first science project. He reported on a woodpecker's habitat.

Keeping baby happy, while wearing football jersey (a must!)
He had a huge game on Sunday, scoring 2 touchdowns,
running in 2 extra points, and getting tons of "tackles."
Needless to say, he's still on cloud nine!

Semester Wrap Up

Our little homeschool is on vacation! A quick review for my records, after some pictures from the girls' end of semester science party:

Bobo: just finished some short essays on The Hobbit, about halfway through Spelling Workout F, on a break from her studies in Logic (I'm not liking the curriculum and will probably start a different one in the new year), just over halfway through Saxon Math 7/6, and poised to start unit III in First Form Latin when we resume in 2012. The science group we're a part of has decided to continue Earth Science all year long, rather than switch to Chemistry for Kids second semester. This seems like a good fit since the text we're using is huge and covers a ton of material in great depth. The girls are learning to seriously study for the tests in this class. It's fun to see them up in their room at bedtime, flashcards in hand, quizzing each other about salinity and density and cloud formation. All of which I know very little about... I'm so happy someone else is teaching this!

Elbow: currently reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (which I repeatedly refer to as Cry The Beloved Country - a book I read long ago. This drives her insane: "Mom! You assigned me this book and you don't even know what it's called!"), about halfway through Spelling Workout D, working through Can-Do Cursive, almost at the halfway point in Saxon Math 5/4, and right in the middle of Latina Christiana I.  Science - same as above for Bobo.

Toddzilla: On lesson 30 in Saxon Math 2, halfway through More Days Go By for reading, at the end of Spelling Workout A, in the middle of Printing Power, and taking our time in Prima Latina. My little football fanatic does not quite understand why he's reciting Latin vocabulary and prayers. Admittedly a bit difficult to explain at this point. Alas, we continue. Part of his school day also includes listening to audio books - current favorites are Adventures in Odyssey and the Magic Tree House series.

And in the biggest news of all: I'm not changing diapers for the first time in over eleven years! Granted, the break will be short-lived with our baby due in March, but hey - I'll take what I can get! The Patriot has made two huge moves this week - out of diapers and out of the nursery. I've got all three boys in one bedroom and they're loving it!

Way to go big guy!

From the School Room: Week 7

Notes from the trenches...

Still loving that we moved our family bible time to first thing in the morning. Lots of great, bleary eyed, pajama clad discussions. The best way to start the day.

At lunch we're memorizing Scripture passages all together. They all have their AWANA verses every week, but this has been something fun to do as a group. So far we've done Psalm 1 and I Corinthians 13:4-8, 13.

Bobo is almost done with Famous Men of the Middle Ages. She's been taking notes and doing some sketches along with her reading. When she's done, she's going to pick one of the famous men to write her first research paper on. I think I'm going to use Sonlight's packet, "How to Write a Research Paper" to get us started.

Elbow just finished Tale of Despereaux and has begun The Railway Children. Some of her reading list this year comes from Ambleside online, some are my picks.

Toddzilla is reading the Pathway readers out loud to me. We love Rachel, Peter, Andrew, and Miriam!

The girls' science group has changed to a seminar format this year- eight girls, one lecturer - with some experiments and field trips thrown in. As they study Earth Science they're also getting quite an education on taking notes and tests. Toddzilla's science has been pretty much non-existent. I'm working with another mom on getting our boys in some hands-on classes at our science museum and a few field trips to our amazing metro parks and nature centers.

Latin: We're in three different curriculums right now, a little hard to manage but do-able. (Especially since now I've been through the first two more than once). Toddzilla is using Prima Latina, Elbow Latina Christiana I, and Bobo First Form Latin. First Form has been a perfect jump. It's definitely more intense, but we're moving at a slow pace.

All three are using Spelling Workout and Saxon Math again; Elbow and Toddzilla are in various Handwriting Without Tears workbooks.

New for Bobo this year is Critical Thinking: Book I.  I'm not in love with this curriculum by any means. It's not well explained, and I prefer books that the student can basically open and go. I rarely even buy a teacher's manual. (Of course, my oldest student just turned 11 so we're not in waters too deep yet). Even with the teacher's manual, it's difficult to understand what's expected. The targeted age range is 7-12th grade, so it may be a bit higher than she's ready for. The Well Trained Mind recommends it for sixth grade and thus far those grade guidelines have served us well. We'll see how far we take this one.

For My Records: Mid Year Report

Math: Bobo is about half way through Saxon 5/4. Elbow is in the last quarter of Saxon 2. Toddzilla, just because he sometimes asks to "do math," has done about 20 lessons in Saxon 1. I only take this out if he asks though, because I'd rather wait to start this until next fall. I continue to love Saxon Math for it's thoroughness and repetitive practice.

Latin: I was hoping to be half done with Latina Christiana I, but we're a little shy of that. I'm intrigued that the Highlands Latin School - of Memoria Press fame - goes right from LC I to it's new book First Form Latin, rather than first doing LC II. We'll figure that out when we get closer.

History: Still working our way through Sonlight Core 4 American History. I think Bobo's read more historical fiction this year alone (including the summer) than I ever did. My goal for the year is to have the girls memorize the presidents, the states and capitals, the Preamble to the Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address. They've done everything but the Gettysburg Address, so that's up for the new year. We're well past the Civil War now, but I'd still like to get that accomplished.

Science: Just finished chapter eight in Apologia's Zoology 3. Up this week is a horse back riding trip with out science group, in conjunction with the study of horses and horse care. We'll start the Botany book - in the same series - this spring.

Language Arts: Plugging away in Spelling Workout for both girls but I'm not overly convinced it's useful. Bobo will finish Writing Tales I this week and move on to volume II. We haven't been doing a formal grammar, because they're getting quite a bit from Latin, Writing Tales, and copy work/dictation (And, of course, SchoolHouse Rock!) My plan is to start the grade appropriate Rod and Staff books next year for both girls. Bobo is almost done with an online typing course and will continue to practice by typing her final drafts of science reports and Writing Tales assignments. This is still a very slow endeavor! Both girls continue to read out loud for me from their McGuffey readers - Elbow each school day, Bobo less often.

Scenes.

math

making pizza dough

gnawing on the result of said pizza dough

dinner prep

Bobo walked by and said, "Is that for us or a new mom?"

Hmmm. Maybe I don't make casseroles enough.

Summer School

A few notes about summer learning around here:

• Bobo started Saxon 5/4 last week, which I'm loving because it becomes self-teaching at this point. She reads her lesson, learns the new concepts, and then works through the practice problems. It's still all review, so I'm not ready to comment on how this will be for the long haul.
• Toddzilla is enjoying our current history read-a-loud, Johnny Tremain. I think he likes staying up as late as the girls more than anything - but hey, he's listening. Elbow is now reading The Courage of Sarah Noble; Bobo is on The Skippack School.
• We started making a book of presidents today. I'm printing out a head shot of each president, then the girls are copying the lyrics of this song onto the president's page. We did five presidents today because they got excited about it and Crockett was taking an extra long nap.

• Crockett "reads" Bob books in his spare time.

• The girls dressed up in their finery and sang the presidents song for Hubby upon his arrival home from work.

ICT and other fun stuff of summer

Around here, the ice cream truck is only referred to in code (ICT) so as to avoid severe spasmodic screaming and door banging (by the current 2 year old). Not that the thing doesn't make it's presence known all by itself, but still. I have a love-hate relationship with our daily ICT. Yes, it's daily. Most days, I cringe when I hear her coming because it's always right when we sit down to dinner or right when we're bringing everyone in for bed. Yes, it's twice daily.

But on days like today, when we've been sitting in the orthodontist's office (all younger children in tow) and then in a hot car delivering meals, I welcome the ICT with a smile and a shout of "ice cream for dinner!" That's always a huge hit. (Note: I'm on the receiving end of the bringing a meal tradition far more than on the giving side. I write it here only to assuage my guilt remind myself, some day down the road, that I actually did cook for other people once in a very long while).

We're plugging happily along with our summer math lessons and history readers. I'm loving all this early American stuff because I managed to pass the Higher Level International Baccalaureate history exam in high school (and it was my best score) and major in History at an Ivy League college without studying the overall history of the US. At least not in depth. The IB curriculum focused on "the Americas" and we read books by Howard Zinn and Carl Degler. I wouldn't call that a "fair and balanced" approach. In college, for some reason I focused on British history. So I'm learning a lot of this for the first time myself. We just finished The Witch of Blackbird Pond tonight - next up is Johnny Tremain. Bobo's reading The Skippack School and Elbow is poised to finish Squanto.

The Patriot is being baptized this Sunday by his dear, old dad. Pictures will be forthcoming I'm sure...

Oh so humbling

Home education provides so many opportunities to see how much information you've forgotten over a lifetime. I told Bobo recently that water boils at 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and didn't even flinch when her next question asked: what is a normal body temperature for humans? "So our blood boils when we have a fever?" Oops.

Today she needed to list all the perfect squares up to 100. Are you kidding me? She's eight. Down to google we went. I'm sure I could have figured it out on my own (?!), but why not teach her how to do a little research as well?

Saxon Break

We've been on break from Saxon 2 for a few weeks. Bobo (1st grade) was getting the work done, but I could tell she wasn't understanding certain concepts. I decided to buy some fun (in color!) first grade math books at Barnes and Noble.

I'm so glad we did! She breezes through most of it, but it's been interesting to see that the different page layouts, ever-changing directions, and just general unfamiliarity of it all have been a challenge for her. Saxon is laid out the same almost every day: math facts drill page, lesson page. The lesson page rarely changes in format, so she doesn't really even need to read any directions anymore.

Our "fun" break has forced her to do things differently, learn concepts in a new way, and actually read the directions. All pretty important stuff if you ask me. I think we'll periodically switch things up a bit like this - with math especially - to ensure she's really getting it.

Saxon, Speech, and Sippy Cups

Bobo is on break from Saxon 2 for a bit. We're over half way done with the book, and it's getting to be a little too much for her (she's in first grade). I bought her some fun looking first grade math review books during Barnes and Nobles' Educator Week. She thinks they're fun and totes them around, even working on them in bed before she falls asleep. I planned on doing these for about a month before settling back into Saxon, but she'll probably finish them by next.

Elbow is starting speech therapy to work on her S, R, and L sounds. We had to do this with our oldest too for a few months. Our speech therapist lays part of the blame on sippy cups. (My daughters carried around their cups -- sipping throughout the day -- like their mom carried around her coffee. Oops). Anyway, some think sippy cups force the tongue to protrude too much and cause speech problems. Who knew?

Needless to say, Toddzilla doesn't use sippy cups and thus far doesn't seem to have any problems. I know my control group is small, but the data speaks for itself!

A Few Weeks Into the School Year...

The View from Here:

• We are loving Prima Latina. We surprised Dad today and picked him up for lunch. With no prompting from us, the three oldest busted out the Sanctus before digging into their Happy Meals. Not sure there's anything sweeter - or more strange, judging by the looks given by the other playplace diners - than that.







• I continue to like Saxon Math. It's straightforward, very repetitive, and slow moving. Because Bobo is doing Saxon 2 in first grade, we need it to be all of the above. Elbow, who is doing Pre-K/K, is using the Singapore Earlybird books just because she wants to do math like her sister. Next year I will start her on Saxon 1.







• Going through Story of the World: The Ancients for the second time is just as fun as it was the first go around. The girls like that the coloring pages have been changed a little, and I am constantly amazed that they remember minute details about the older version pages. I'm getting more out of it this time because we're using a time line. The Well-Trained Mind recommends doing this for the logic stage, rather than during the grammar years, but it really helps all of us retain the chapters we've read. I'm using small pictures - either from the actual book or from the computer - and pasting them right on the time line. The visual is indispensible!







• Copywork is new for Elbow and quite exciting. Bobo is not as enthusiastic as she once was (she used to bring it to church to show people), but we plod along and will move on to cursive after she finishes Copybook III.







• I've always loved using McGuffey for oral reading. Still do. The selections are a good length and the old-fashioned 'preachiness' is perfect for my 'by the book' reader.







• We're not making great progress in Exploring Creation through Zoology. I still love the Apologia books, I just never had a two year old BOY at the table before. Working on phonics with Elbow also cuts into the schedule - obvioulsy - quite a bit. We did Exploring Creation through Astronomy last year and really stuck to a weekly schedule. Bobo made a notebook. This year we're taking a more relaxed approach with science. We've been looking up bugs and birds that are of interest to us, or reading a little now and then. I may go back to a more systematic approach soon - not sure.






• We just finished a study of Bach. We read Bach: The Boy from Thuringia, listened to Mr. Bach Comes to Call and the Music Masters Bach CD many times. We narrated and did coloring pages for our book of composers. Next up is Handel.






• We're still looking at prints of Van Gogh for our picture study. No artist details at all; just enjoying some paintings. (Well, I shouldn't say no details at all. It's hard to neglect the cutting off the ear story when the children see pictures of the bandaged head in the art books).






• I'm not satisfied with Spelling Workout B. Let me re-phrase: I'm not convinced it's doing anything for Bobo. Granted, we don't do it as we should (with pre-test, going over words each day). It's a lot of busy work with little bang for the buck. I don't think she retains much of it. We're going to drop Spelling for a while and just work on words she constantly mis-spells in other contexts. We'll pick it up again in a few months.




• Bobo is in her second year of piano lessons. Elbow wants to play the violin; I'm trying to hold her off until she's six. So far, it's not working. She petitioned her Sunday School teacher last weekend for names of teachers and where to get a violin. Her teacher (who has 3 accomplished string players in her brood) was oh-so-eager to oblige. Great. Toddzilla wants to play the banjo - always has. This could get interesting. And expensive.

A Day in Our Life

"What do you do with the little ones, while you're doing school?"

That question often tops the FAQs of homeschoolers. In our home, we generally begin the morning's lessons at the onset of the baby's morning nap. Because he wakes up around six-thirty, he's usually ready for a nap by eight-thirty or nine.

The girls get busy with their math books (one in Saxon 2, the other is having fun with the Singapore Early Bird series). My two year old son likes to be right there in the action, so he has a few toys saved specifically for this time. Legos, wiki stix, calendar magnets... For the most part, it doesn't matter what it is, it just has to be able to be put in a dump truck and moved from place to place. In the winter, I put a few bags of cornmeal in a big, low sided rubbermaid box and let him move his trucks around in it. He can't get enough of this. I save it for winter, though, because he has a perfectily good sandbox outside for the milder months. We need all the diversions we can get to weather the North Dakota winters, which generally last all year.

Latin is done during this more mom intense time too. I save copywork, oral reading, and spelling for between snack time and lunch. This tends to be a boisterous time around our household and my oldest can do this on her own. I often listen to her read from McGufffey while mixing up baby cereal, looking at my calendar, or tending to the toddler's needs.

After lunch, we have a much needed "quiet time." The baby takes a long nap, the older ones watch a video (the only screen time allowed throughout the day) and I have a quiet cup of coffee. It's pure bliss!

Since the weather has been beautiful around here, we've been taking our afternoon lessons outside. We spread a blanket in the backyard and let the baby flounce around. My two year old either plays on the playset, drives around in his Cozy Coup, or opens and closes the rings on his history binder. I made copies of the coloring pages from Story of the World for him too this year so that he could scribble a little and feel a part of the game. He actually gets into it. His favorite page so far is the farmer and his shaduf. We rotate between history and science during this afternoon time.

We also do a fair amount of "pegging" -- tying one thing on to another. We read from The Golden Children's Bible during morning snack, we listen to our current composer during play time, we often narrate our daily learnings over dinner.

I love the rhythm of it all... Having babies and toddlers around certainly adds a different spice to the atmosphere but a much needed dose of reality as well. When does anyone truly get to work uninterrupted at anything? Life has interruptions, very often they're the best part of the day!

Beginning to Plan!

I'm so excited to be planning for next year! I've been re-reading The Well Trained Mind, Real Learning and A Charlotte Mason Companion. So many ideas to think about. We've been keeping up with math all summer and doing a little Mozart and Monet. Other than that it's been vacationing at the lake, VBS, entertaining company, and playing at the pool.

Most of what my first grader will be doing is a continuation of last year: finishing Spelling Workout B, Copybook III, and McGuffey's 3rd Eclectic Reader. We'll be starting Apologia's Botany book and Prima Latina. We'll also be going back and starting Story of the World all over again (we've read volumes 1-3 as read alouds because my daughters couldn't get enough!).

My pre-K/K second daughter will be reinforcing her letters, starting phonics and playing with numbers. She wants to be doing what her sister's doing, so we may even do Saxon K, though we skipped it with my oldest.

My desire to start planning is surely fueled by the current 'school supply sale' season! There's something very renewing and re-charging about bran' spankin' new markers, notebooks, and folders. A fresh start!