Switching it up...

In her book, The Well Trained Mind, Susan Wise Bauer asks the question: How do I know if my child truly understands what she is learning in math? The answer: Give her a page from a different math curriculum and see if she can do it. Switching curriculum, or occasionally supplementing one, can lead to a wider understanding of the subject because the information is presented in a different manor, and the student is exposed to a variety of viewpoints. You get a clearer picture of what you are learning, and sometimes fill in the holes. It also allows you, as the teacher, see any weak spots and provides the opportunity to strengthen them.

By the time January hits, our homeschool is usually ready for a change. The excitement of the Holidays are over, and it's back to business as usual. I hate business as usual. It boars me and makes me restless. I need change on a regular basis, and thankfully so do my kids. So, January is a great time to start new subjects, or just change curriculum for some subjects. I add some things and take some things away. I refresh our homeschool.

This year, for Mayah my 2nd grader, I am adding cursive and switching her math from Math-U-See to Abeka. She actually LIKES routine, and I can't change things too much for her or she gets insecure. That fine and I work with it.

For Ian, my 5th grader, I am adding to his writing curriculum (supplementing it with Abeka's Language B), changing his Logic program, and adding drawing classes. I am also raising my expectations in certain areas, such as his handwriting and spelling. I am requiring him to make outlines and write short essays that demonstrate his understanding in certain subjects, such as history and literature (the two are one and the same in our homeschool).

We are also going to purposely peruse New Years Resolutions this year. I want them to learn how to focus on a goal of personal achievement and find satisfaction in accomplishing those goals. We are going to lean how to set a goal, decide on the steps needed to achieve that goal, and practice the art of self discipline for the purpose of advancement. I acknowledge that this task requires that I set the example and I will be doing my best to model behavior that provides direction and accountability for my kids.

It seems that I am a bit of a self abuser. I always seem to go into weight-loss mode right before a major holiday. Like now, for instance. I woke up 2 days ago and decided that I absolutely had to lose 10 lbs before Christmas. Maybe it's my way of controlling myself when I would be otherwise free to indulge to my hearts content- which would be very bad.

I can't seem to get off the gain-lose-gain-lose roller coaster, and the sad part is that I know how to lose weight and keep it off, I just can't bring myself to do it! I don't need a magic pill to make me skinny, I need a magic pill to keep me skinny once I get there myself! Ugh!

I found this really fun site that has educational songs for government. Smart Songs also have videos on YouTube. The kids love it, and we bought 2 of the songs to put on their mp3 players; The Presidents, and Political Parties . Ian is half way through memorizing the list of presidents, and I was looking for a way to motivate and help him out.

Oh dear. I do believe I may have entered some very dangerous territory.

You see, my darling husband purchased for my enjoyment an e-reader: The Nook (Barns&Noble) is one of the latest to come out.

Do you realize what this means? It means that my book purchases will no longer be limited by my ability to find space for them on my mercilessly crammed bookcases. This will either be a wonderful blessing, or it may bankrupt us as the whole wonderful world of ebooks wraps me in a warm compulsive embrace.

Since the Nook has yet to be released ( I anxiously await Nov 30) I cannot truthfully say what this will do to my finances, or my obsessive book purchasing habits. Let's not even talk about how I can download ebooks from the library...

AHHH, that feels better.

Do you ever feel like throwing away everything in your house and starting over? Well, that is the point at which I had gotten yesterday. I was overwhelmed with all the STUFF cluttering my closets and living space. So yesterday, I spent the day cleaning out my house, and I have to say, I did a pretty darn thorough job. I took out 6 bags of garbage (4 of which came from Ian's room!) and I have a load of stuff for the thrift store that will fill my entire car. Why do we collect so much stuff??

15 Signs You Might Be A Bookaholic.

I found this on another website, and thought it was funny. I listed my favorites, and the ones that I may or may not be guilty of...

• You're packing for a romantic weekend away with significant other and you give more thought to which books to take than to which nightgown is your sexiest.

• Before you buy a purse you make sure a paperback will fit inside.

• Your significant other mutters about life in prison not being much of a deterrent to you since you'd be quite content sitting in your cell reading all day.

• You call in sick so you can finish reading a book.

• When you move you have more boxes labeled "books" than anything else.

• You have to constantly invest in new bookshelves.

• Your kids holler from the other room with something they consider a dire emergency, and you say, "Wait until I finish this page!"

• You have no idea what's on television anymore (except for Psych) because the boob tube has become just another piece of furniture.

• You tend to buy frozen, microwavable foods that practically cook themselves so that you don't lose any precious reading time for such an unimportant thing as feeding your family.

• You valiantly try to teach your kids "independence," which means you want them to do more household chores (so you can have more reading time).

• It's 2am and you think "just another chapter" and do the same thing at 3am when you know you have to get up in 4 hours and work.

• You try reading and walking at the same time. (Works on a treadmill!!)

• You start fabricating excuses as to why you can't go out with your friends when you're in the middle of a great book.

• You start thinking of the characters as real people.

• Your eyesight goes from 20-20 to legally blind because of reading in poor light.

Charlie's Latest Adventure

My poor beagle Charlie has done it again. He has gotten himself into a world of trouble by allowing his insatiable appetite lead him astray.

The other night, we arrived home from the YMCA, and were preparing a late dinner. The house was chaotic with dinner preparations, excited dogs, and overstimulated children. Mayah was assigned the task of feeding the dogs their dinner while I got our own evening meal ready, and nobody was paying attention to Charlie, who had designs on Sara Beth's dinner, as well as his own. Sara Beth was, at this point, far more interested in greeting her pack than consuming the tasty morsels of dried dog food that was placed in front of her, but Charlie had no such compulsions.

After finishing his own bowl of nutrition, he assumed that Sara Beth had let her guard down, and was in the process of helping himself to seconds- courtesy of Sara's distraction. When Sara realized that her bowl was being robbed at a frantic rate by her rival Charlie, she took offence and set about the task of teaching that rascal a lesson. I am not quite sure if Charlie was protesting the method of Sara's remonstrances- which consisted of a strong set of teeth clamped securely around his neck- or being deprived of his second meal of the evening, but he set to howling and yelping as only a woeful beagle can. The outcome of their little argument was a wound to Charlie's ear that sliced it neatly up the middle. The wound needed to be promptly addresses, as Charlie felt that it would be helpful to shake his head and splatter blood all over the house.

The whole family set off on a field trip to the emergency vet 20 minutes away at 10:00 at night.

Arriving, Charlie insisted on bleeding all over the vet's office while searching out any scraps of food that some other careless pet may or may not have left behind. He spent an uncomfortable night there, getting shaved, stitched and bandaged while Sara Beth was gifted with what she saw as a whole night of having her pack to herself.

The next morning, after paying an atrocious vet bill and receiving instructions for medicating and caring for a wounded rascal, I brought Charlie home . I refused to feel a disproportionate amount of sympathy for this dog, who, through greed and selfishness, single handedly drained the funds we had set aside to go camping in September.

He now wears the "Cone of Shame" as you can see from the picture, and we have made the decision to invest in pet insurance. I am hoping his stitches will be ready to come off in a few days because keeping his head wrapped in bandages has become a full time job, when you consider that Charlie's entire existence right now seems to revolve around determinedly removing said bandages.

Oh, and to avoid future situations of this nature, the dogs are now leased and fed in separate rooms at mealtime.

First time for everything.

We joined the YMCA this weekend, and today JP and I worked out together. It was the first time in our marriage that we lifted weights together, and it was so much fun- for me. I have been working out in gyms for the last 6 or 7 years. Poor JP has not . In addition to that, I spent most of my teenage years working with trainers on the various military bases we lived on, or I had my big brother as a workout buddy (who did a stint as a pseudo-body builder). So I had fun, but I wonder if I will be able to convince JP to come back to the weight room with me on Wednesday. :)

Our course of study for the year.

So, here is our curriculum plan for the year (it looks like a lot, but we don't do every subject every day, and we have a 4 day school week):

Ian- 5th grade Course of Study:

• Classic Writing- Aesop book A

• History- Ancients (5000BC- AD400) Core text- Story of the World V.1, DK History of the World, Usborne Encyclopedia of World History.

• Math- Teaching Textbooks level 4

• Latin- Latina Christiana 1

• Spelling- Spelling Workout book E

• Art- Charlotte Mason method of studying art, Drawing with Children

• Memory Work- first 10 emperors of Rome, 10 Commandments, Major battles of the ancient world, Presidents from Andrew Jackson- Obama, grammar rules, the second part of the introduction of the Declaration of Independence

• Music- guitar lessons

• Logic- Mind Benders, Logic Anyone?

• Worldview/Current Events- God's World News

• Health- Health, Hygiene, and Nutrition

• PE- Dance class at co-op, Fencing, Swim and Gym at YMCA, Basketball

Mayah's 2nd grade Course of Study:

• Grammar- First Language Lessons level 2

• Writing- Writing with Ease level 1

• Spelling- Spelling Workout B

• Math- Math U See

• Phonics- Phonics Pathways, Explode the Code

• History- Story of the World V. 1

• Science- Earth Science (I made up my own curriculum)

• Music- Piano lessons, General Music class at co-op

• Art- Charlotte Mason method of studying art, Drawing with Children

• Latin- Latina Christiana 1

• Memory Work- same as Ian except different poems
  

• Geography- co-op class

• Health- Health, Nutrition, and Hygene

• PE- gymnastics, Swim and Gym at YMCA, cheerleading
  

Here it comes!

It's August. That means it's planning time for our homeschool. This year, I am using the Homeschool Tracker software, and so far I like it. I paid $49 for all the special features that don't come with the free edition. It is taking me some time to learn the program, but I see it as a time investment. The idea is that I will be using the same software for the next few years, so it can only get easier, right? It also comes with tutorial videos for "techno-tards" like me.

I have the curriculum and the schedule all planned out, and boy, am I ambitious this year!!! Last year was pretty low-key, and so this year I feel like I must cram the schedule full. In addition to our at-home academic studies, Mayah will be taking gymnastics, piano and 2 co-op classes. Ian will be taking guitar lessons, fencing and perhaps join the Young Marine program in our area. He will also take 2 co-op classes.

Following the Classical approach, Ian is entering the Logic Phase this year, and his work-load will become more intense. More writing, more reading and he begins critical thinking which will lead to formal logic in a few years. He has completed (my mandatory) 2 years of piano, so his instrument of choice is guitar. He is entering a second year of Latin study, and will be a bit more intensive in his study of current events/world view using God's World News. Fencing lessons are a delight to him, and he will continue them as long as his interest holds.

Mayah is, of course, still in the Grammar Phase. Getting her to a fluent reading level is our focuse this year. She is taking her second year of piano, second year of Latin, and second year of gymnastics (she can do competition if she wants to, but I don't think she will).

Over the past 4 years, Ian and I have made it through the 4 volumes of Story of the World (Ancients, Middle Ages, Early Modern, and Modern) so we are back at Ancients, and Mayah will be joining our history study this year. We'll start with Creation and go through the fall of Rome. I am excited because Ian can handle a heavier work load, and, since we are already familiar with the basic story, we can focus of the causes of so many wars and events. Mayah will get to do fun activities and games and read favorite mythology stories with us, in addition to learning the basic story of ancient times.

The kids try to pretend they aren't interested in the upcoming school year, but I see them poking through all the books I have spread out. The Art and History, and Science books have been thoroughly thumbed through. They won't admit it, but they are excited too.

July Vacation Plans

We are getting to head off to Tennessee in a few days. The kids are so excited to see their grandparents after 2 years. JP and I are going to St.Croix for a week as well, leaving the kids with my parents. July will be a full month of travling and family!

On top of everything, both kids will be getting baptised when we go camping with my family. My father agreed to baptise them, and I think it will be a nice memory for all of us. So, I guess he is going to just dunk them in the lake, and then we will celebrate. I bought them both new bibles as gifts, and will write the date in them. I hope the kids remember it and treasure the memory.

Homeschool Convention

I went to the WHO Homeschool Convention this weekend, and had a great time with my friend Colleen. We had two full days of shopping and seminars and came home tired and overflowing with great ideas.

Happily, I didn't really need to buy much curriculum this year, so I am able to keep the cost down this time around. I was able to find what I hope to be the perfect math curriculum for Ian. We have been using Math U See since the second grade and were ready to try something new. He is struggling in that subject, so I did some research and found Teaching Textbooks. It is a software based program, but also uses a workbook. I am hoping this pulls him out of the "I hate math" slump.

I now have next year planned as far as curriculum goes, and I am working out the daily schedule.

My one last task is to find homeschool planning software. We have outgrown the paper notebook lesson planners, and I enjoyed using the free online planner (http://home-school-inc.com) until the website grew sluggish towards the end of the school year. So, I am going to invest in a good quality software program to do our daily planning. I found that the children really liked having their daily assignments printed out for them each day. It gave them ownership of their assignments and made them a bit more independent in their work. It is also really nice for record keeping.

We are leaving for TN in a few weeks, so I am putting off some of the planning until we get back.

Aahh, the irony...

For the last 2 years, we have worked dilligently on "Memory  Work".  

Ian has memorized 7 poems, all the books of the Bible, the Pledge of Allegiance, the introduction to the Declaration of Independence, the first 16 presidents,  the Preamble to the Constitution, and the first 4 verses of Psalm 20.

In just this year, Mayah has memorized the Pledge of Allegiance, all the books of the Bible, 

7 poems, the definitions of a noun, verb and pronoun (as well as the list of all 22 pronouns), the definition of a sentence and all 4 types of sentences, her address,  and the first 4 verses of Psalm 20.

They have also memorized 4 prayers in Latin and hundreds of Latin vocabulary words.

Who do they choose to quote on a regular basis?  Sponge Bob Square Pants.

The latest edition of The Well Trained Mind is out- I just got it in the mail- just in case you care. I for one am excited. I am all agog to begin planning out next school year. It's the best part of homeschooling, don't you know.

God is unceremoniously dropping little nuggets of ideas on me every few days concerning what to do next year. I am trying to write them all down in an orderly fashion, and keep track of them all.

I have discovered that as my oldest advances, I become more and more apprehensive about my decision to homeschool. I am starting to think, "Hey, this is getting serious. I am actually going to have to teach him something that I don't really know much about. What if I royally screw him up? I could ruin his entire future if I forget to teach something important!" (and so on and so forth) The younger years are fun and games, arts and crafts and songs. I can do that. But formal logic? Geometry? ALGEBRA and PHYSICS?! How am I going to make up rhyming songs to teach those?

He is staying home next year, not going to Akoloutheo Academy, which turns out to be a great thing, but, OMG, I am a little freaked out about having a 5th grader!

My little girl had a stumbled out of her room last night as I was going to bed. She was mumbling something about a bad dream as I ushered her back to her chambers and tucked her in. Apparently, a giant bee had been chasing her around the house in her dreams and scared her.

After soothing her by rubbing her tummy, she sleepily informed me that she couldn't possibly get back to sleep without listening to High School Musical 3. It was my regretful duty to inform her that the only thing we owned baring the logo of High School Musical 3 was the pair of pink fuzzy PJ's and matching robe that were tucked in her dresser.

As her eyes drooped further, she darkly informed me that I might want to keep an eye out for any large menacing insects that might be flying around the house threatening family members.

Girls Weekend.

I just got back from a very fun weekend in Chicago where my sisters and I did some girl bonding. We got a tattoo, drank beer and jello-shooters, played poker, and analyzed our parents to pieces (one sister is getting her major in psychology at Wheaton). We took 1001 pictures and did quite a lot of shopping as well.

My sweet husband was quite willing to be home with the kids for 5 days. In the course of those days, both kids got sick, the car broke down and he cleaned out the garage. Needless to say, he stayed quite busy. I almost think the worst part for him was figuring out how to get a comb through our daughter's waist-length hair after her bath. He took it all in stride and never make me feel guilty for being gone, and never called me in a panic begging me to come home. What a guy.

Family Update

It's been awhile, I know. Sorry...

So here is the latest in the family- My dear husband just bought another motorcycle. Apparently he has some ambition for buying old things and fixing them up. He will try to resell this one for a bit of profit. Note: he still has not finished the first one. He is enjoying himself immensely, and since snowboarding season is effectively over, this should keep him out of my hair.

Also, I am going to Chicago this week to see my sisters. We are getting tattoos! We decided to get the same tattoo with minor differences. It's a sister bonding thing, and I am very excited.

I am attempting to get Ian into a homeschool academy for next year. He would go 2 days a week and do the rest of his work at home. It is a very small school and dosen't have many openings, so the chances are not to good but I have peace leaving it in the Lord's hands. Of course, I do have a back-up plan if he doesn't go and have already researched curriculum for next year. Mayah will be home with me, regardless of where Ian goes next year and I am looking forward to doing 2nd grade with her.

JP and I will be going on vacation this summer- sans children. They are spending a week at "Grandparents Camp" in Tennessee while we sit in a cruise ship, or warm tropical beach. I am sooo looking forward to that! Not quite sure yet where exactly we are going, but be assured it will involve sunshine and relaxing.

So, other than making exciting plans for the next few months, things have been relativley quiet around here. Homeschooling is going great- we have accomplished so much this year buy staying focused academically and not participating in many co-ops and extra curricular activities. JP's job is stable and he is enjoying what he does. I am happy at home with the children and- as ever- burried in mounds of books. It tickles me to see Ian following in my bookworm footsteps. On some mornings he wakes up early just so he can lay in bed and read for a few hours before he has to get up and start school. I do the same thing :)

My son has always hated writing. I mean, he LOATHES it. Imagine my surprise when we had this conversation this morning.

Me: "Finish your history, and then we will be done with school today. We have to leave in half an hour to go bowling."

Son: " But I want to write in my journal today."

*shocked blinking*

Me: "Ok, well we might not have time."

Son: "Can I write in my journal when we get home?"

*still blinking in shock*

Me: " Of course. If you finish your history quickly, you'll have time before we leave."

Son: "OK!"

I believe the reason he likes writing in his "journal" is because of the topic on which he writes. He likes to draw pictures of battle scenes from history (French Revolution, American Revolution, Civil War, etc.) and then write descriptive narrations of what might be occuring on the battle field.

Who would have thought it?

It's a sad state of affairs when I can't do the dishes because I am out of dishwasher detergent. What? Wash them by hand, you say? Perish the thought!!!

To Finish Or Not To Finish..,.

At the beginning of each school year, I sit down and write out all of my goals for the year. I make lists of the subjects and curriculum we will use, and I also list the extracurricular things we plan to do. I also write out the goals for my kids concerning their character and behavior training.

In December or January, I review all of this and adjust things as I see fit. Sometimes I switch curriculum, sometimes I drop or add a subject and I also evaluate our schedule. Are we doing too much... too little? It also helps to evaluate where we are in each subject and figure out how much we have to accomplish in the remaining year.

There are some subjects that we just never finish- like math and history. I have never gotten to the end of the book before the end of the year. If you are one of those who feels like you have to finish the book, let me give you my perspective.

#1- Public schools never finish the book.

#2 We as homeschoolers should be striving for mastery- not just completion. We should not be pushing our kids to "just get it done". We should be taking the time to make sure they know each subject well and can demonstrate a thorough understanding of each subject. Otherwise, why bother teaching it?

#3- When we push kids to hard, they balk and loose their joy of learning. We should be "lighting the fire, not filling the bucket".

#4- Curriculum should be a tool that you use, it should not be your crutch. You should be using your curriculum to aid the education of your kids. You should not rely on it so heavily that it does all of your thinking and planning. (I know that most curriculum is designed to do just that- it plans and organizes the subject for you, but you should be able to be flexible with it: add stuff in, take stuff out, skip this lesson, do this lesson later... you get the idea).


Ok, so what do I do when we get to the end of the year and we still have 10 chapters left in our history book? It's simple- we just stop, and pick up next year where we left off. Before I start volume 4 of Story of the World, we finish volume 3 from last year. It makes life so much easier, believe me. I don't stress over what we are missing, I don't rush them through a topic that they are enjoying just so we can keep our momentum. ( My son is totally digging the Civil War right now- we spent an hour today just discussing his opinions on the value of human life and whether or not it was right for someone to own someone else).


My ultimate goals are to teach my children HOW to think, not WHAT to think and to teach them how to learn. First through twelfth grade is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to a life long love of learning. In the end, I don't want my kids to grow up and get a job. I want them to have a full and exciting life that includes financial independence and spiritual and emotional growth. I want them to know why they believe what they believe and how to eloquently express those beliefs to others. If I do my job right, they will be able to do that even if they don't finish their math book by June of this year.

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.
- Dr. Seuss

My husband has taken up 2 new hobbies this week: snowboarding and motorcycle riding (perhaps I should say "motorcycle fixing"). As I write, he is on his way to pick up his new bike. Well, it's not precisely new, of course. That would be way too easy. No, he likes to have "projects" in the garage at all times. So, he is picking up said project and will be using it as an excuse to get my bathroom dirty with grease and dirt. I think he likes to enrage me by making sure he leaves black grease smudges on the tub and walls. Snowboarding is easier to clean up after, as it involves, well, nothing. He is dry by the time he gets home.

Some of JP's work-mates want to get bikes too, but they all live in apartments and have nowhere to work on them. So my husband magnanimously volunteered his garage. It could very well be that by the end of the month, I will have several men traipsing through my bathroom with dirty hands.

I've discovered audio books from my library. I just download them and put them on my Clix (my MP3 player) and take it to the gym. Believe me when I say that it's a lot easier to listen to CS Lewis and Francis Schaeffer than read them on an elliptical. I avoid the headache.

I hate down-time, so I feel compelled to put my 30-45 minutes huffing on the elliptical to good use. I can't stand watching most of the shows on TV, so I usually read. Now I have a free unlimited source of audio books. Yay!

Go Green!!!

The King County Library system generously provides bags in which it's patrons can tote their books. Being environmentally conscientious, the library is proud to be "Choosing Green" and therefore the bags provided are %100 biodegradable, compostable. Hurrah.

Unfortunately, the bags are about as sturdy as a wet paper sack. Unless you are just carrying 1 or 2 books, they are worthless. The question that begs to be asked is, if I only had 1 or 2 books, why would I need a bag? And what self-respecting homeschool mom would be caught dead leaving the library with just ONE or TWO books?! The minimum must be 10 at least!! I never have less than 40 books piled in my basket at home.

We got our son a rapier for Christmas. He was thrilled, having been obsessed with swords since he was 3 and we took him to see Peter Pan (2) at the movies. We thought he would have impaled his sister by now, but he holds the thing reverently and only takes it out to gaze at it in awe. Unbeknown to him, this is the first of many swords he will receive. We plan to give him a sword every Christmas until he tells us to stop.

He has quite a collection of toy swords- his grandpa is very indulgent and makes him a new wooden sword every time we visit- but it's not just sword fighting he loves. He spends hours pouring over books about how their made, studying the history and technology of weapons. He draws them, builds them, and dreams up new designs.

I love this about my son- this whole-hearted love of something that excites him and makes his eyes sparkle every time he talks about it. He can tell you the history of each kind of sword- rapiers, cutlasses, sabers etc. He knows how they are designed and for what purpose it serves. He can tell you the technique that the sword fighter would use to fight and how another sword would be used in defense. Like I said, he loves swords (he likes guns and other projectile weapons, too).

Nate the Great

My brother plays the drums, and he posted a video of himself on You Tube playing a little diddy. I thought some of you would be as tickled as me to see it:

n8tr0n playing drums


(By the way, Charlie is fine. The vet said perhaps it was a back problem. not food.)