Exquisite Bits of Nature

"The average dairy farmer gets up at dawn because he has to go to work in the cow yard.  I get up at dawn, too. But it is because I want to find some leaf, hung with dew; or a spider web which the dew has made into the most delicate ropes of pearls...I take my camera with me, get down on my knees in the wet grass, and photograph these exquisite bits of nature. Because I do this I can show these lovely things to people who never would have seen them without my help.  They will get their daily quart of milk, all right.  Other farmers will attend to that. But I think I am giving them something which is just as important."

          --W.A. Bentley

October in Retrospective: Travel, School, Soccer, Sewing and November Plans

The last month has absolutely flown past!  I have not kept a journal at all, but we've been doing school and living life. Last week we took a 'fall break'--it was a week sandwiched between trips out of town!

But now the traveling is done, soccer is done, the Halloween sewing is done, so we're settling back into normal life.

Our initial second-grade schedule has definitely morphed as the fall has progressed. I've changed our initial plans, of course! In fact, I am not using my checklist at all!  Some of the AO books have been interesting to us and some have not.  My primary goal is to foster a love of learning and my secondary goal is to keep this whole process enjoyable for everyone.  To that end, the books we're enjoying at the moment:

*Old Mother West Wind (our morning read-aloud)
*Little House on the Prairie (this is our bedtime read-aloud now)
*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (I'd never read this book or seen the movie--we're just starting in on it as a family read-aloud)
*various picture books from the library
*Story of the World on CD
*Jim Weiss' reading of Midsummer Night's Dream

Our days right now basically involve the sweet little routine of short formal morning lessons: a little bit of handwriting, some low-pressure math, and reading aloud/phonics (right now we're reading Little Bear), followed by piano practice.  Everything else mostly springs organically from what we're into: reading books, gardening, projects the children want to pursue, some memory work, music......

This month I would like to--
*write a letter or two to a couple of veterans for Veterans' Day
*try to find a few good books to look at on Thanksgiving, the Mayflower, the Pilgrims, Native Americans
*possibly finish up our Delta science kit.....
....academically, I think that's it.  I am going to do my Christmas shopping and keep renovating the bathroom!

I'm trying to take an Internet break, too!

Autumn Plans

I have dropped the ball on the Journal of Days for the past three weeks!  We devoted almost an entire week to caregiving (September 23-26), although we did spend three and a half hours in a waiting room and discussed anesthesia, worked on math flash cards, read James Herriott, did Explode the Code...in other words, portable school.  That Monday we did regular school, Tuesday was 'portable school' and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were all dedicated to caregiving.

The other two weeks were more typical, with piano practice, read-alouds, math flash cards, working through a science kit, handwriting, chores, and many other activities filling our days. I simply have not taken the time to sit and write about any of it!  Life-school is such a great thing, too.....the children learn about chrysanthemums, transplanting peonies, pet care, et cetera. 

The only day I actually recorded was  September 15--here's what we did!

Monday, September 15:  Finn slept in until 8:45 or so; I wrote while Annie sat on my lap.  We had a quick breakfast and an abbreviated morning time before chores and piano.  The children sat at the table enchanted by Bruce Corville's illustrated version of Midsummer Night's Dream.  "When can we act this out?" I figured I'd strike while the iron is hot, so I told them after our initial, formal schoolwork we could start on Midsummer. Piano practice, a page of Miquon, a quick phonics review lesson and Frog and Toad story, and a little handwriting began the day.  We did a spelling lesson, and seeing as how Finn knows how to spell the words already--I tested him--we're on to the next lesson on Wednesday! More sentences v. phrases in grammar, and then he narrated "Damon and Pythias" and we read his health lesson.  The rest of the day was spent swinging outside (for about 1.5 hours!) and drawing backdrops and choosing Playmobil characters for Midsummer Night's Dream.  At bedtime we read about Bach as part of Finn's piano homework.

*********************************

I've been revising our year as we go.  I always do this!  I find it fascinating that I spend so much time at the start of the year planning in great detail only to change directions, tweak, drop, add and adjust throughout the year.  Right now I am planning some school based on topics Finn has been asking about lately.  For October we will (in addition to the normal skills subjects and poetry, music, art)-

*continue some read-alouds that we've been enjoying, such as Old Mother West Wind and the Little House books, and finishing James Herriott's stories
*finish Midsummer Night's Dream
*read about squirrels
*learn about New York City (anyone have any great resources on this to toss at me?  I'm figuring it out....)
*read a little bit about how and why the leaves change color in autumn
*discuss Columbus Day (Finn already read a book on Columbus this fall and one of our Classical Conversation history sentences was about him; I want to discuss him a bit more)
*read a book on the Boston Tea Party 
*finish our readings on India!!
*I'd also like to read a little bit about the origins of Halloween, but I am not sure I will get around to this.  We hope to celebrate All Saints' Day, too. 

In November I hope to add in:
*additional read-alouds
*writing letters to a few veterans for Veterans' Day
*specific readings about Thanksgiving, the Mayflower, the Pilgrims, the Native Americans, etc.
*begin readings on another country (I haven't decided which just yet)
....& I am not sure what else! I will fill in near the end of October when I get a feel for what Finn is interested in doing.

For December I hope to concentrate our readings more on Advent and Christmas-related things (St. Nicholas Day!), and maybe throw a little Civil War history in there since we will be in Charleston at New Year's.  Of course, December is also quite busy with the wonderful and homey aspects of the holidays--baking delicious foods, decorating the house, wrapping gifts and enjoying the end of the year together.  I adore Advent and Christmas and my adoration of this season only gets more intense every year.

I also want to work a bit here and there on specific skills. Tying shoes, making phone calls, telling time, playing store (learning about coins and money!) are all things we are doing in tiny bites.

For Additional Scrutiny

Our first two weeks of school have gone very well.  I have noticed several areas that need additional tweaking or scrutiny from me, and I'm tweaking and scrutinizing this weekend:

*afternoon chores. Morning chores run like a well-oiled machine, but when 5:00 rolls around, I have a hard time pulling the children from their play (play is SO important!) to do their chores.  The afternoon chores also entail tidying up the spaces where they are usually making creative messes, so it's doubly difficult.  I haven't decided on a solution here yet.

*piano practice! Last week I'd save piano for the afternoon, but see point #1 above--I hated pulling Finn away from his important play to practice.  Then we'd end up practicing after dinner...not ideal.  So this week I took my husband's advice and shifted our practice--after breakfast, morning time and chores we do piano (on the days we're home--Monday, Wednesday and Friday).  We don't do piano on Thursdays right now. On Tuesdays we practice in the evening.  Saturday and Sunday practice can occur either after breakfast or in the afternoon--they are flexible days. I think I've figured this out!

*my bedtime. I am trying to get to bed earlier!

*Spelling is annoying, but I haven't decided what to do about it yet.  I'm going to give it a few more weeks!

*exercise. I made up our schedules and realized later that I had not built any exercise time into them. I've since revised them so I think I've got it figured out--but I haven't implemented the new routine yet.  My husband has also just cut a 5'-wide path around the exterior of the pasture--a 0.6-mile track all the way around.  So going out and doing a few laps is very appealing as the weather cools....

Some things in the schedule are naturally shifting or dropping as well, most notably the KONOS ideas I had for Annie in the afternoons.  Play is just too important.....so we are shelving the already-simple plans I had for now.  We haven't started Among the People yet--perhaps we will next week, but I'm not in a big rush.

On the whole, I think this year is starting off well.  I am busy busy busy, but having a schedule for each day helps tremendously.

Journal of Days, September 8-12

Monday, September 8:  After morning time and chores Finn whipped through a few pages of Explode the Code to finish the book. On to the next one! Math equations, spelling lesson, read-aloud Frog and Toad,  a little handwriting.  We read aloud from Our Island Story; Finn gives beautiful narrations.  We read a few other picture books as well, primarily focused on India.  Bedtime story continues to be Little House in the Big Woods.

Tuesday, September 9: We didn't do any formal schoolwork; instead, we did piano lesson, piano practice, chores, art lesson, visiting a friend in a nursing home, natural foods store, and farmers' market. I think visiting friends in nursing homes is like a history lesson, though!

Wednesday, September 10: We did our morning time.  Our piano tuner came and spent 5 hours tuning.  My son dearly loves the piano tuner and his helper, and so Finn spent the entire time in the adjacent room listening to the tuning process and creating a very long "preschool workbook" for Annie.  He did many pages of matching, tracing shapes, etc for her to do.  It was very sweet. At the same time, Annie and I worked upstairs at making a big pot of soup and pan of gingerbread for our visitors.  We served them the warm food and a little dish of cheeses and peanuts for lunch, then sat and visited and told stories about relatives who were at Pearl Harbor, interesting genealogical finds, and music in general. Finn read aloud at some point during the day, and I may have done some math with him--I don't remember!

Thursday, September 11: Homeschool group until 1pm.  Finn's presentation was the animated movie he made with his daddy a few weekends ago. After that we hit the library and the bulk foods store, then came home.  The children got deeply involved in playing with toy animals outside.  When I took a snack out to them with a stack of books, Finn patiently (and, if I do say so, beautifully) narrated an Aesop's Fable, finished Albion and Brutus, and listened to me read a little from an Usborne Science book. A few pages into the science book he said "could I go play now?"  Play, that hallmark of childhood.  Seeing as how he'd spent all morning in his class, I couldn't blame him!  Freedom until soccer practice.

Friday, September 12: We had our morning time together after excellent gluten-free waffles.  Everyone loves Old Mother West Wind, but I think I might love it best of all.  So charming.  Finn practice piano for 20 minutes or so and then we started school.  He sailed through the phonics lessons (two of them); I guess I will continue with phonics even though he's basically becoming a confident reader!  Then he read a Frog and Toad story to me, no problems there--they're easy for him now. Then we did most of a Miquon math page.  I have not figured out how to do 2-3 pages each day without wearing Finn out.  One page, maybe two, is definitely our limit. After that--half a page of Handwriting without Tears, finishing up our spelling lesson, and we learned about what a sentence is--a complete thought.  I made up hilarious sentences and non-sentences and put them on the whiteboard.  Finn's favorite was the tricky "The tooth fairy is a purple dinosaur who lives under the sea."  Tricky because yes, it was a sentence, but it is nonsense!

The entire time I was working with Finn I was also working with Annie.  She was working through an Usborne sticker book, matching words to stickers (with my help; she can't read yet).  Then I gave her a puzzle to do.  She seems to love 'school' and sails through everything so quickly that I am going to have to start thinking up fresh things for her to do!

This afternoon it's free time for the little people and housework for the grown-up.  The Polly of tomorrow will thank me for getting plenty done today--refrigerator, I'm talking about you!

Notes: 
Spelling.  Oh, spelling.  We're one lesson down.  I can't figure out why the book publisher chose the words it chose.  Right alongside 'hat' and 'cap' and 'yes' (easy for Finn) are 'sick' and 'rain' and 'word' (challenging but not impossible). Is there a method to this madness? I keep feeling tempted to shelve spelling altogether for another year; it seems sort of banal and pointless until a child is very fluent at reading.  And Finn toler-hates it--a phrase I just coined, and a perfect description of his attitude.

This weekend my father is coming to visit, we have a soccer game, we'll practice piano, and Finn is urging me to help him build the 443-piece 3D puzzle of the White House he got at the library on Thursday.  Yikes!

We are Real

My Pollyanna personality tends to always focus on the positives of every situation; it's how I was raised.  I am an eternal optimist.  My parents both strove to raise optimistic and positive children and I think they were successful.

As a result most of what I post is pretty optimistic!  But that does not mean that every day homeschooling is easy.  There are challenges!  Some days flow smoothly, but some days are rocky and difficult.  There are toddler tantrums, preschoolers getting in my bizness, reluctant pupils, lolligagging, bickering and petulance, resistance, et cetera.  I just don't write about those days because of my bright-side-of-life attitude and because I don't want to over-focus on the negatives.  Life *is* hard, but that *is* life.

If something isn't working during schooltime, I try to be proactive, to think about it and troubleshoot, problem-solve and be creative about how to resolve the issue.  If a book isn't working for us, I shelve it--there's always next year (this happened last year with This Country of Ours--reading it was torture! so I saved it).  I also utilize some audio-resources; for instance, I hate reading Just So Stories.  I enjoy their humor and the elegance of Kipling's language, but reading them to my not-quite-comprehending-them-and-auditory-processing-challenged 6 year old was *not* working for me.  Fortunately, Jim Weiss has a wonderful recording of Just So Stories.  I shelved the whole thing last year and picked back up with it this year--letting Weiss do the work.  We'll see how that goes!

My house is not always neat, even though I work diligently at housekeeping; my children don't always behave (although they are good children, they are Very Real Children); *I* don't always behave, even though I wish I did (I'm Very Real), et cetera. This is life and the more mature I get the less I am bothered by the fact that I am living a very real life!  I'm grateful for all the opportunities real life provides for growth, faith, and depending on the One who orchestrates the whole thing. 

I think of our memory verse for this week: "Be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

And: "I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances....I can do all this through Him who gives me strength."  -Philippians 4:11, 13

If something isn't working with school, the best thing to do is to regroup, say a prayer, think about how to solve the problem, maintain optimism, and be okay with being real!

Journal of Days, September 2-5

Now that we are back in school-mode, I will try to post a weekly Journal.  This is as much for me as it is for anyone else, but I think that a journal is so helpful because it describes the atmosphere of a day more than seeing a straight lesson plan, and shows how a real day works. 

Monday was Labor Day, and our last day of 'summer.'  We spent the day with my son's best friend--he came over and played all day.  So much fun.

Tuesday, September 2: Finn did two pages of Explode the Code independently.  We did our Morning Time*, which included the first chapter of Old Mother West Wind--which we are liking!), then everyone completed their new morning chores. A certain amount of maternal guidance is necessary as we get into the swing of new chores, but they went very well.  Finn is so helpful. Finn had his first piano lesson!  Back at home he did a page of Calculadders and read a Frog and Toad story to me.  Then we had art and listened to Just So Stories on the way (Finn is unimpressed).  We ran our Tuesday errands in the city and then had free time, chores and piano practice before falling into bed. A successful first day!

Wednesday, September 3: We had our Morning Time after breakfast and Finn narrated an Aesop's fable beautifully. After chores he did 3 pages of Explode the Code on his own before we started school in the schoolroom.  We did Handwriting Without Tears, some basic math review (the small dry erase board is a big help--it's *fun*), and our first spelling lesson.  I worked with Annie on some preschool activities in her preschool book--she sat *on* the table, not *at* it, thankyouverymuch.  I read "The Sword of Damocles" to Finn and he narrated it; he read a Frog and Toad story to me.  We then read two tales from India. We finished by noon and by 2:00 I'd fed everyone lunch, cleaned the kitchen thoroughly, cleaned the bathroom and vacuumed the main floor....I love days at home!  The children played all afternoon; I traced a new pattern to sew, did some organizing and also exercised. Piano practice and afternoon chores rounded out the day. Our bedtime story right now is Little House in the Big Woods. I. was. tired.

Thursday, September 4: First day back at Classical Conversations, our homeschool group.  Fun was had by all.  After CC we visited Lowe's to inspect faucets, Walmart, the chiropractor and the post office.  A couple of hours of freetime at home preceded soccer and piano practice.  Little House in the Big Woods at bedtime!

Friday, September 5: We skipped Morning Time due to a late-night with Annie giving me a late start--I was awake at 7:40 but didn't get up until 8:00.  Instead we did chores and I drank coffee, Finn did 2 pages of Explode the Code, and then Annie did preschool on one side of me while Finn did his school on the other.  We did some gentle math together (just concepts using c-rods and the dry erase board), a phonics lesson (from OPGTR, which included a read-aloud), a tiny bit of handwriting from HWOT, and some spelling. Then I let the children play for a few minutes before we did a Health lesson and read from Our Island Story (Albion and Brutus). I played Mozart at lunchtime and we did an abbreviated Morning Time: Bible story, poetry, and memory work.  Piano practice and hymn-singing rounded out the day ("For the Beauty"--one of my favorites!).  The rest of the day the children spent playing while I alternated relaxing and cleaning. I was tired due to 5 hours of sleep and a busy, productive week--and was ready to 'lay low' for an afternoon.

After examining Lamb's Shakespeare more closely, I have decided to table it for the time being; I'm going to purchase Jim Weiss' reading of "Midsummer Night's Dream" and start there before we read and narrate! I'm figuring out ways to make Shakespeare as accessible and enjoyable as possible for a fairly young child.

As an aside, Annie started the "About Three" preschool workbook from Rod and Staff on Wednesday.  She didn't do any pages in it on Thursday.  On Friday she completed page 29...and there are only 32 pages in the book.  So.  She's blazing through the thing...that's my Annie!

I am so grateful to be able to homeschool my children. I love it.

*The setup for Morning Time chez Trinity this year is as follows:
-opening prayer
-Bible story
-Poetry (we're still loving Robert Louis Stevenson)
-Lessons in Responsibility, Aesop's or Life of Fred, depending on the day
-Memory work
-Popsicle stick prayers
-Read-aloud (right now we're reading aloud Old Mother West Wind--one chapter per day)

Easing Gently into a New Year

Our school year begins on Tuesday.  Next week Finn has his first-ever piano lesson, we have our first Classical Conversations class of the new year, and our first soccer game of the year (my husband is the coach). My best friend is also moving to a different state on Tuesday/Wednesday (and her son is Finn's best friend), and my grandfather just broke his hand and foot and is in a wheelchair.  I think the week will be highly emotional, busy as we get into the groove of new activities, and will entail at least one or two visits to my grandmother and/or grandfather.

In order to be kind and gentle to myself and everyone else, we are easing into the school year.  I want to have time next week to focus on relationships (goodbyes to our friends, and pie-baking and cheer-bringing to my grandparents). 

Next week we'll:

*put people above to-do lists

*have our first piano lesson

*get into the routine of art, piano, soccer practice, soccer game, and homeschool group

*get into the routine of practicing piano *every day*

*gently start back up with some Miquon math work 

*focus on learning to efficiently do our new morning chores (I'm adding a few for Finn this year)

*give grace to everyone! 

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." --Galatians 6:9

An Impromptu Yard Bouquet

Annie and I collected this one over the weekend: crepe myrtle, hosta leaves and a prolific pasture weed--in a jelly jar. 

My Second Grade Checklist

A few people wanted to see the school checklist I described recently--so I am posting bits and pieces of it here.  I get a little anxious at posting things like this for several reasons: 1) a checklist is not real life, it's just a guide; 2) I follow nothing slavishly; 3) your way is probably the best way for you.....

The most important question to ask before developing a system is--what's the point?  For me, the point is primarily teaching math and reading (and not much more, not at this age!), and secondarily introducing our children to beauty through good stories, music, pictures, and ideas.  A longer-term point for me is helping my children become the people God made them to be.  To that end I try to teach to the child I have, not the child I once was.  That means if something doesn't work for us, I change it. 

My checklist is one that I created after looking carefully at the Year One Ambleside Online checklist.  I created my own table in a Word document, changed some things to suit my needs, shrunk it to one page, and color-coded it so that I will know which days of the week I'd like to do which things. No lesson-planning!

The full page has a 12-week schedule; here's a sampling of the first few weeks.  The readings do roughly follow the original at Ambleside but I did some rearranging, adding and subtracting of books in order to meet our own needs.  For Ambleside's full, original term-by-term checklist you'll need to skip over to it on their site. This is just my own version.

The top section contains the readings.  We read from some books weekly, some every other week, and some only once or twice a term. 

The second section contains the daily-ish skills work.  This is the heart of our homeschooling in terms of my priorities. Math, reading, handwriting, piano. If I only check these off on any given week, I'm a happy camper because these are the foundation of our schooling.  

Finally I grouped together 'weekly subjects'--topics we will cover once or twice a week.  "Art" and "Piano" are actual lessons taught by someone else.  The other things are basically activities or readings that we will fit into our lives pretty organically (music, pictures, nature, handicrafts).  The "konos" section is just for a few preschool activities I've chosen for Annie, who is 3.  Health, Responsibility and Geography are just readings we do casually and discuss. All of this is easy, not formal, not schoolish, and--most importantly--not stressful for me. 

School fits into the morning hours for us--after morning chores (which are essential!). I do not do school in the afternoons--there are walks to take, swings to swing, meals to cook, games to play.   The exceptions to this are handicrafts, nature study and some Konos with my preschooler--just fun stuff. We do schoolwork four days a week; one day a week we have our homeschool group and I only schedule in nature study for that day.  

The most important thing is just to make a checklist that works *for you*!

Staying Happy at Home: My Ten Essentials

I'm an affirmed and unapologetic homebody, but this has not always been the case. I've always longed to be home, but there was a season in my life when I ran away from home a lot--frankly, I didn't know *how* to be at home.  When I was at home I distracted myself, and I had a hard time putting forth the initiative to actually create the home I wanted to have.  I don't mean the physical act of decorating, exactly; I mean nuts-and-bolts--functional routines and ambiance. I never learned this when I was growing up, and I entered adulthood with a deep desire to create a home but no actual skills!  When we were first married I had no idea how to hardboil an egg, and I was bemused to the point of giving up when I thought about how to clean regularly.  The routines I eventually began to create and follow were deeply informed by Cheryl Mendelson, in whose debt I will always remain.

Unfortunately housekeeping gets a bad rep as drudge work; I grew up with the idea of a homemaker as an oppressed and pitiful soul who whiled her life away on the most mundane tasks--even though I loved the idea of cleaning and organizing.  Somewhere along the line my attitude was rehabilitated, probably because I began to want to create a home for my family that mimicked the love my own childhood home had...but with more order and passing-on of skills.  I began to see the inherent dignity and value in domestic work.

As this summer has passed my thoughts have centered somewhat on home routines and particularly how to stay happy while engaging in home-based learning.  I created a list of 'ten essentials' that I wish to do each day: 

1. Cook good food and stay on top of the kitchen.  Every day we have to eat, so kitchen work is essential.  I've opted to have a good attitude about all the kitchen work (because cooking is not my favorite thing).  

2. Don't ever stop the laundry. If the laundry train halts for four days, we are in crisis mode!  I can take a day off when we go places, run errands, etc.  but in general in our household of four people, a busy kitchen, a man who does a lot of running/exercising, country life (messy!)--I do laundry each day.  I do take Sundays off. 

3. Figure out the daily housekeeping tasks that make things pleasant and make me happy, and try to do them.  For me: making the beds, keeping the main rooms and our bedroom tidy (the main room gets cluttered during the day, but my children do their tidying before bed and all is well), and keeping the main bathroom fresh are the absolute essentials. When everyone is in bed, I want to sit down in the living room and rest in a tidy room. If I want a hot bath at night, I don't want to feel grossed-out by the bathroom!  

4. Learn with my children.  Don't just administer learning to them; partner with them.  Come alongside and figure out concepts or learn something new together.  It is more fun for everyone that way--and also more effective. 

5. Play with and/or read to my children each day. 

6. GO OUTSIDE.  Even if it's just to read a book or walk around the yard.  Even if it's just to pull some weeds or check the garden.  Kick the soccer ball to a child, take a walk, eat a snack. Fresh air is a cure-all. 

7. Make something that lasts.  (In other words: dinner doesn't count. It doesn't last.) I like to write something or sew something. 

8. Stretching.  Weird?  Maybe.  But I have noticed that stretching (in the form of yoga or pilates--or just stretching) helps me stay happy.  

9. Rest. The days when I feel the most strung-out are, not coincidentally, the days when I've not rested enough.  I like to stay very busy, and I'm amazed at how refreshing it is to have a cup of tea and a little reading for 20 minutes in the afternoon, or how much better I feel if I stretch out for a 10-minute catnap.  Carving out a couple of short rest periods every day, instead of racing to the bedtime finish-line and then collapsing, makes my day so much better. 

10.  Pausing.  I try to pause frequently to just observe a child's smile or look out the window to see what the sunlight is doing or check in with myself to see how I'm feeling.  Pausing for a moment keeps me focused in the moment.  I like that. 

On the nonessential list are: major projects, most cleaning tasks, a lot of 'extra' obligations, tons of exercise (sigh. I love exercise), large chunks of time spent reading for pleasure, watching movies, surfing the Internet, learning new skills, shopping, etc. These are all enjoyable, but during this season of life they take a backseat.  Do I still watch movies, clean, exercise, read books, surf the 'net? Yes! But they are not priorities, and definitely not daily essentials during this season of life. 

That's how I stay happy at home!  

Summertime

Our summer break has been great so far and *very busy*.  On Mondays we have swim lesson, and we stay at the pool to swim and lunch--yesterday we were there for four hours!  Tuesdays we have an art lesson and then errands to run in the city.  Wednesdays we like to go to a library program in the afternoon.  That leaves Thursdays and Fridays for other things--and they fill up quickly with visits with friends, spending the day at the little local private lake, and many other activities. Between all that and meals/laundry, the days are flying past us!

In the tidbits of time I can grab I've painted the trimwork in our master bathroom (we ripped everything out and are redoing it--I'm almost done with the trim, and last week I visited the cabinetmaker to order the new vanity), finished my second grade planning, reorganized our schoolroom, rearranged several bookshelves of books, created a mostly-done schedule for next year, tweaked my housekeeping routines and created some checklists to make life go more smoothly.  I will share a few of these projects soon; I love peeking at how other people organize their lives and I find it helpful, so in the spirit of communal helps I'll do some sharing.

I'm also trying to do some reading, but I'm discovering that winter is a better time for reading.  In my mind I'd while away the summer hours with a book while my children play outside, but in reality I'm too busy washing siding, pulling weeds, etc!  But I try to read for myself for at least half an hour a day, and I try to read to my children for 30-60 minutes.  I read to them much more during the school year, but we are going to make hay while the sun shines this summer!

One thing I will share is a few ideas on what to do with children in the summertime.  I have heard many parents say that they don't know what to do with their children on summer break.  My children are 7 and 3, and I do not organize their free time for them.  If I sense restlessness, I will pull out the baby pool, but otherwise I expect them to entertain themselves with minimal involvement from me.  Here's how they spend their free time:

*sidewalk chalk
*drawing (Finn is an artist and loves to spend hours drawing every day)
*baby pool + swimsuits + water toys
*building train tracks and roads in the basement/schoolroom or playing with the dollhouse or other toys downstairs
*doing random things
*looking at books (Finn is an emerging reader, so he enjoys books)
*creating things out of modeling clay or play-dough
*"crafting"-I will pull out the craft bin and let them have at it in the schoolroom
*sometimes helping us with various chores (Finn helps take care of the vegetable garden, he has his own chores, and I sometimes recruit him for weeding help in the flower beds)
*free outdoor play

I do read to them regularly and sometimes play with them (either toys or games, or make-believe--for instance, last week Finn opened a shop that sells marbled playdough creations, so he'd make some, I'd come buy some, and then I'd organize bookshelves until the next batch got made, etc.). They love to play store with me, too!

We live in the country, so we don't have 'neighborhood kids', although across the road live two little girls who are 5 & 4.  They are sweethearts and our children play together once every couple of weeks.

Those are the primary things they choose to do during free time.  I think boredom and unstructured time are good for children, as it forces them to be creative and come up with things to do!  My children do not watch any television, but I do let them watch a video a couple days a week while I exercise (usually Thomas the Train or LeapFrog), and they typically watch an episode of Blue Planet or Planet Earth once a week.  We also don't have any video games or do any computer-entertainment.  When I had a newborn and a 3 year old and it was the dead of winter....my 3 year old watched 1-2 hours of Thomas videos most days(!)  So I'm not a legalist on this point--but we're in a season of life when we just don't need much screen time.  So we avoid it.

I will say this: only children are a different ballgame.  The only child doesn't have the diversion of a sibling, so that changes the dynamic of the day!

Parenting without Scolding

Shinichi Suzuki, on retraining a bad attitude in a child--

"Scolding does no good and should be avoided....the whole household would do no more grumbling but that we all would have to display better manners and conduct in our daily life. 'If we create such an environment, Koji [the child who had a bad attitude and had been scolded] will, without noticing it, become a good child, and his life will not be harmfully distorted by scolding.'"

This is certainly good food for thought in assessing parenting and the atmosphere we create in our homes.  Are manners and good conduct hopelessly old-fashioned, or do they serve a purpose?  I submit that in a home where people do try to display manners and good conduct to each other, the children absorb this by osmosis.  That is not to say it doesn't take years of polite correction to get a child to practice good manners, but that all the scolding and training in the world is useless unless we as parents are willing to 'walk the walk' in our daily lives.  I also believe that I should correct my children with a kind, gentle attitude, and not by yelling, scolding or acting harsh (easier said than done sometimes, right?  We are all human....) and I try to do this each day. The more practice I get the more naturally it comes to be able to correct and guide my children without losing my own cool...and *they* notice this and take it to heart.

One of my little mottoes is to treat your guests like family and your family like guests.  This fits in nicely with that and provides inspiration to continue trying to live that out in our family life!

Once again, Shinichi Suzuki's advice goes beyond the music lesson!

Second Grade Plans

The plans have been laid!

They are ambitious and exciting, and it will take us a month or two to see whether changes will need to be made. I do not hesitate to make changes--I did last year!  Most of our books are drawn from Ambleside Online's Year 1 program.  Last year most of my first grade books were based on Lindafay's curriculum at Higher Up Further In.  Ambleside and HUFI are both Charlotte Mason curricula, but I felt that HUFI was a better fit for Finn last year, as the Ambleside readings are quite challenging.

Caveat: this sounds like a lot of work.  However, the readings are staggered.  For instance, we never read Parables from Nature *and* Shakespeare in the same week.  An Island Story is read every other week.  The poem is just read at breakfast. The natural history selections are ready every other week or so. D'Aulaire books are only read for a few weeks in each 12-week term. So although the comprehensive booklist looks like a lot, it is not! And the composer study, folksongs, hymns, and picture study just fit organically into our week--listening at lunch or other times, looking at pictures every so often.  Nothing onerous and nothing requiring advance preparation on my part.

We will do all our work between 9:30am-noon, except for some afternoon 'fun' activities (piano, art, nature walks, etc). If it is not done by noon it will wait until another day!

So this year our booklist includes:

Literature
*Primarily drawn from Ambleside's Year One literature list; but I'm eliminating The Blue Fairy Book and using Grimm's Fairy Tales instead.  We'll also alternate Among the People (Dillingham) and Parables from Nature (Getty).  The latter are supposed to be extremely challenging, so I'm allowing at least two weeks for each story. I am also not using the Nesbit Shakespeare, as recommended by AO, but instead  we will use Tales from Shakespeare (Lamb). I am so fortunate to have a very old copy of this book. When I was 10 years old my grandmother gave me four books that had belonged to her late husband, my grandfather, when he was a child. Lamb's Shakespeare is one of them! Shakespeare can be confusing to read (it is supposed to be watched, after all!), so I plan to read through the book slowly and assign characters to toys so we can act the story out as we go. I also won't be reading Just So Stories--Jim Weiss will!

Natural History
*We will finish up our James Herriott treasury pretty early on, and then will read from the Burgess Book of Birds -- a very old book that I purchased used a few years ago.

History
*Exactly the plan from AO Year One. We will also listen to The Story of the World on CD, just for fun.  If we do one term of the AO selections and I'm dissatisfied, I'll make changes.

In addition to his, we'll be doing composer study, picture study, folk songs, and hymns.  These are all easy to do and do not require much work at all on my part.  Look, listen, sing, enjoy.

Our skills work will continue--short lessons in math, phonics, and handwriting. I will continue with the resources I used last year, although we will implement Handwriting without Tears a couple of days a week to assist and copywork the other days.  I have a good list of 'easy readers' that Finn will be using, including Frog and Toad stories, Little Bear, and a big stack of leveled readers (2 & 3) I bought from Amazon that are all American history-related.  We are cycling through American history in our homeschool group this year, and I thought this would be a seamless, easy way to introduce some American history stories. I will post a list of those sometime!

I purchased simple grammar and spelling resources.  I'm torn on whether this is important at this age (I think not) but am basically giving a nod to the standardized testing we are required to do each year.  I will use these resources as guides in alternating weeks.  I'll just do the lessons orally with Finn, using the dry erase board and never the student textbook! I also bought a basic map book (from Scholastic, I think) to work on map skills and we do a lot of informal geography by looking at maps and the globe.

We are following Ambleside's suggestions for Bible stories and I have my own little system for scripture memory work.  I've also got a little character book we're going to read once a week.

Charlotte Mason advocates 'handicrafts' but these are not typical useless kid-crafts.  They are useful skills to learn!  We did a little soap carving last year and will do that again, plus painting Christmas ornaments, candle-dipping, flower-pressing and making a few 'market bags' out of tee shirts.

And of course there's nature study! And read-alouds: I have a list of read-alouds that I will be reading to the children throughout the year--usually at breakfast, or after lunch, or at bedtime. I do not schedule these in with our formal 'school' readings.

Finn will also take art and--new this year, and a little daunting!!!--piano lessons.

We attend a homeschool group once a week that provides fun social interaction, timeline/memory work, science/art/music basics, and a weekly presentation! I don't do any work for this other than attending it one morning a week, and I encourage Finn to practice his presentation in advance.

Finally, I planned a KONOS 8-week unit (very, very simple) on Orderliness. If that goes well, we will probably do one unit in the winter or spring.  I mentioned my approach here.

I bought Annie a few preschool workbooks from Rod & Staff.  We'll see where that goes!

September 2, we are ready for you!

Planning Year Two

Our break has been a rich blessing for me, let me tell you.  I'm bathroom-painting, friends-hosting, pool-going, tea-drinking, band-listening....and lesson-planning.

After nearly 6 hours of work today I've finally settled on our basic outline for next year, created a chart/checklist for our first term, and found enough room in our schedule (I hope!) to implement all these great plans.

I'm a traditionalist--we won't start school until the day after Labor Day, although we'll pick up on some light summer work in a couple of weeks.

The primary sources I've used in my planning this year are:

*Ambleside Online
*Charlotte Mason Help
*KONOS Unit Studies Curriculum (I bought a used copy of Volume 1 from a local lady)

The approach I've cobbled together for the upcoming year is primarily based on Ambleside's Year 1 (we did a few of those books last year; last year I relied more heavily on Charlotte Mason Help's curriculum suggestions).  Ambleside's curriculum is not for the faint of heart, so the "years" don't necessarily correspond to traditional grades.  We are going to try some of the more difficult selections for Year 1 and see how we do--taking it slow and steady!

I've also planned an 8-week unit study for the first 8 weeks of school. I'll then take a break and may pick back up with another unit study in early 2015.  I decided to try out KONOS because it contains a vast array of activity choices for children of varying ages.  This will allow Annie and Finn to work two days a week on similar hands-on learning activities. I'm planning to do KONOS on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. I have purposefully chosen simple activities that use household objects and that don't look stressful to implement.  I'm excited--this is more 'fun' than 'school' and I think both of my children will enjoy it.

Back to summer break.....did I mention late-sleeping, fruit-eating, vegetable-harvesting.......?

A Break!

We are taking a break from school.

No one is more surprised by this than I am, but my husband suggested it.  "Take a month off," he urged. "You need a break as much as anyone else."

I do? Right! I do!

Actually Finn may be the most surprised of all. "A break?" he asked incredulously, eyeing me as though I'd lost my mind.  Then a smile.  "Okay!" Then he ran off to do what he's been doing for three days, which is play with sister-create costumes for playmobil characters-draw-go to sculpting class-run around outside-work on building a trail at his little lake-etc.

I am going to see how the pace of this break goes, how I feel; I'm considering a full month off of anything formal, but still doing reading aloud and math games.  After a month, we may pick back up, or I may do a modified summer school.  I made a list on the dry erase board of what I think that would entail:

*Math via games and maybe Khan Academy
*no formal phonics, just reading aloud and working together through readers
*lots of literature reading aloud!

And, of course, art: a few weeks of sculpting followed by a few weeks of pen-and-ink.

We also plan to do library programs, possibly a program for Annie at the art museum, and some field trips.

I could see us doing this modified schedule through August, then settling into a more formal routine in the fall.

What do I do with a break?  I almost immediately decided not to tackle the many painting projects that need to be done here (baseboards, one room of trimwork, shutters, etc.) We're outsourcing that! So I think my primary goals will be to stain our new playground set, help my husband finish our master bathroom (it is currently ripped out), and do some purging and reorganizing in the schoolroom and in the children's rooms.  That seems like plenty!

Journal of Days, 6/9-6/13

We took Monday off.  I desperately needed to get groceries, make some food and start laundering. I also started a nutritional cleanse and was just headachey and tired, and there was some anxiety over an issue with a relative.  I spent an hour or so in bed trying to recover. And I went to bed EARLY.  Taking to my bed and keeping things low-key helped; I recovered!

Tuesday, June 10

Finn woke with a cough and fever, but seemed to feel okay.  So we did a little school. He did two pages in Explode the Code, 15 minutes of math work (I created problems on the whiteboard and let him solve for the unknown--he did very well), and he read part of a Frog and Toad story.  He was wiped out by that point so we called it a day.  The rest of the day was spent on a short walk, doing some quiet outdoor playing, resting after lunch, and I even let the children watch a short movie!

Wednesday, June 11, Thursday, June 12, and Friday June 13
Finn was pitiful with a fever and cough, so we opted out of schooling.  Annie fell ill over the weekend, but I think they're all better now! 

I am trying to determine what our summer will look like.  I feel the need to do some changing, but I don't want to take the entire summer off...particularly from skills work.  I'm mulling this over and trying to determine what will fit nicely with our summer plans and my own needs. We'll see!

Journal of Days, June 2-6

Monday, June 2
Two pages of Miquon (two pages of balancing equations and reminding ourselves to be patient with each other).  Finn finished up a lesson in Explode the Code by knocking out four pages; I insisted on good handwriting, so I counted that as handwriting.  We then introduced China as our new cultures study. Finn already knew where it is on the map, so we got down to business by reading applicable portions of Material World, Where Children Sleep and Hungry Planet.  Next time I am going to pre-read and take notes; I didn't want to read the entire portions of the books, but there were some interesting, relevant facts and it takes to long for me to skim them while the children are sitting there ready for their 'story.'  I must remember to do that!  Anyhow, we were interested in the Chinese food and noted in particular that one family, who suffered poverty and hunger in the past, and who live in the country, eat beautifully now with abundant rice, vegetables and meats. We spent a couple of hours outside--mostly sitting on my aunt and uncle's patio--I read a book and talked to my cousin, who was digging a trench for a water line, and the children played with toys my aunt keeps on the porch for them. Bedtime story: The Boxcar Children (The Woodshed Mystery).

Tuesday, June 3
This morning we did 3 pages of Miquon, including a game that the 3 year old played with us.  Then we did some reading (reviewing the -ie sound as in piece) and I gave Finn 2 words and told him to write two sentences.  The words were field and who. Then he read two Mouse Tales aloud to me and I read a chapter of CHOW--the chapter on the Spartans.  Finn drew a picture narration of it featuring the Spartan boys getting trained to be soldiers.  We decided life in Sparta would not have been for us, as we are more Athenian in our love of art and beauty. We do admire the Spartans for their discipline, however, and agreed that a balance of discipline and pleasure is best.  Finn's art lesson was in the afternoon, followed by errand-running (farmers' market, office supply store, fetching betta drops from the pet store, etc).  We listened to Beatrix Potter stories on our way around the city.  Finn's particular request today was "Ginger and Pickles."  I tried to get out of listening to the "Tale of Mr Tod" but he wanted to hear it. I get so anxious every time....although I know it ends well.

Wednesday, June 4
We did Miquon and ETC. We read about India, just for fun (Finn's request). Woodshed Mystery at bedtime.

Thursday, June 5
We did some Miquon, which felt a little painful.  I did some weeding and Finn worked on building his lake. Later in the day he narrated an Aesop's fable, we read Emily, read several more fables, read one chapter life of Fred (more math!), read Demi's The Empty Pot (twice). Took a walk. Much anticipation for weekend guests.....

I notice Finn engaging more and more with books in his spare time, especially Material World.

Friday, June 6
Weekend guests are here!  Resistance is futile!  We worked on a page of Miquon.  Finn was having some issues with balancing equations, so I backed off the worksheet and spent time just working with him on simple equations on the dry erase board.  Stuff like 2+4 = 9-X.  This seemed to click, which made us both happy.  He gets it, but the execution of a problem sometimes feels overwhelming to him.  I wrote a story for him to read to me using OPGTR lesson, and then he read a Frog and Toad story aloud to me (very well, I might add).  Then I set him loose to play and enjoy his last day being 6 years old! We did take a walk in the afternoon together and enjoyed some beautiful weather.

The weekend was full and so busy.  Houseguests, five hours at a winery celebrating dear friends' anniversary, Finn's birthday party that evening, church and potluck on Sunday, then friends' potluck on Sunday evening (with live music, no less!).  I have some laundering, cleaning and grocerying to do on Monday, and we are also attending an event in the evening, so I'm planning to stick with the basics!

Journal of Days, May 27-30

Tuesday, May 27, 2014
(Monday was Memorial Day--we finished up standardized testing!)
Finn finished up his art homework and then did 4 pages of Explode the Code (I assigned 2, but he forged ahead).  We did 2 pages of Miquon together.  He read aloud from Mouse Tales, narrated an Aesop's Fable, and I read a little bit of Little House in the Big Woods. The children did a lot of playing with their hand-carved nativity set--a lady in our church found it at a thrift store and, knowing my children's adoration of nativities, she gave that to them!!  They coupled it with our wonderful resurrection set and played and played and played. Finn had art in the afternoon.  We visited the Farmers' Market and fetched a stack of books from the library....I've been gearing up for our next cultures study. In lieu of books on CD, we listened to Mennonite a capella hymns during our errand-running--so restorative.

Wednesday, May 28
We did a couple of pages of Miquon math, including Finn creating his own lab sheets to give to Daddy.  We did a lesson from the OPGTR.  Our morning Bible reading turned into a big discussion on Moses and how he was a bit scared, a bit reluctant when God called him, and how he found the courage and strength to do what he was asked to do....and how that applies to our lives!  We read one chapter of Winnie the Pooh.  Finn narrated an Aesop's Fable that he read himself!!!!! this was major, major! He is starting to read more and more--I'm so pleased.  Then we read a few more fables for fun.  Finn read a story from Mouse Tales and then I read two more.

Thursday, May 29
We had a fun day out attending a huge local book sale. I racked up.  Then we had Thai food and ice cream--treats!  Back at home in the afternoon we read a few of the many books I'd found, including Emily (ill. by Barbara Cooney), Tomten (Lindgren), and Madeline. Finn and I also read a book on building bridges, tunnels and other structures that he'd chosen at the book sale.  I enjoyed that one!

Friday, May 30
I had planned on a regular day, but my husband surprised me by staying home from work and sending me on a spa-lunch out-afternoon movie day.  Bliss.  He took the children to the zoo and out to lunch and then to a local festival with delicious ethnic foods--which he brought home for our dinner.  Very thoughtful and such a surprise!!

Over the weekend Finn spent a lot of time gardening.  He helped pull weeds, clear the garden, and continue planting.  Yesterday we went on a family hike and enjoyed hearing a great horned owl call; after the hike we went to dinner at a favorite local restaurant and enjoyed the outdoor venue and live music.  (Back at home the fireflies were glittering in the fields--thousands of them.  GORGEOUS.) This evening Finn gave me a tour of the garden--and he really knows what the plants are! On Sunday afternoon he and I played Muggins' Knock-Out game, which I'd bought at the book sale--it was SO fun!  So that was mathematical!  And tonight we all watched an episode of Cosmos together, because that's what we like to do on Sunday evenings.  It's a nice way to wrap up a day of worship, rest and wonder.

Journal of Days, May 20-26

We took Monday the 19th off so that I could finish recovering from traveling and a busy Sunday. We walked outside, pulled weeds, worked on the lake/dam in the side yard (of course!), et cetera. Very relaxing. The children did watch an episode of The Blue Planet at some point.....

Tuesday, May 20
We did Miquon math and Explode the Code in the morning, and I dovetailed handwriting into the ETC work.  Art class in the afternoon, followed by the natural foods store, co-op, and visiting and playing with a younger friend. In the car as we ran our errands we listened to my children's favorite: The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter.  Oh Ginger and Pickles, how we love you.

Wednesday, May 21
Finn was feeling sick this morning, so it didn't look like we'd be able to do school. However, after a couple of hours of saying he was nauseated, he bounced back and was dancing around the house.  So we did school!  Miquon first (addition).  Then I reviewed some phonics work with him and had him read two Mouse Tales to me aloud.  After that we read two Aesop's Fables (he narrated one back to me) and read about the Phoenicians in our history book.  We do picture narrations for history--one index card per chapter--so he drew a boat (they were great sailors who built ships with cedar of Lebanon trees) with letters on the side (they invented the precursor to our modern alphabet) with a man on board wearing purple (they used snails to create a rich purple dye for linen and wool, and they sold it as they sailed).  Finally I had him copy a sentence for handwriting: "The Phoenician boys learned their alpha beta." In the car on the way to spend the afternoon with a friend we listened to The Story of the World chapters on the Phoenicians. Bedtime story: Beatrix Potter.  "The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse, PLEASE MOMMY!" begged the three-year old. Okay!

Thursday, May 22
We started with Miquon--three pages.  Then three pages of Explode the Code. After that Finn read one of the Mouse Tales to us aloud, and then I read a section of Little House in the Big Woods and had Finn narrate it back to me.  We read the next chapter in Life of Fred and did the problems, and Finn finished up the day with copywork (a sentence from Little House).  The afternoon included a sunshiney walk and the children's choice of DVD: Andre Rieu in Vienna.  (I forced them to choose a movie by design: it was time for me to shovel out and organize Finn's room, and it is virtually impossible to do it with my sweet and lovely 3 year old nearby).

Friday, May 23: We had a day off and out! I had a chiropractor appointment.  We met friends at our local Cuban restaurant for lunch (practiced a little Espanol). Then Finn had a makeup art class. I spent the afternoon recovering from a raging headache and preparing for a poetry-reading date night.  We did listen to Beatrix Potter in the car.  I wanted an easy day because for the next three days, we did standardized testing. I administered one section per day.  Finn and I celebrated yesterday when he finished the last section!! Hallelujah!

Finn also finished building his lake and dam on Saturday (with Daddy).  The children went on a nature-y hike with Daddy on Monday (Memorial Day).....while the schoolmarm bought some shirts for herself at the thrift store and purchase a new pair of sandals (TOMS)....and got a manicure and pedicure. Very nice.

Schoolroom Organization

I enjoy learning how people organize their spaces, and this is particularly true for schoolrooms. So here's how I did ours.  It is very simple and it works for me!

Our schoolroom area is a finished basement.  The basement looked like this for many years--lots of exposed studs and insulation. (The single window is now a double window, pictured later in the post.)

Now we have walls!  

In the living area we have a little space for music--the piano, toy instruments, and a guitar reside here. Our other two guitars are in another part of this room. A basket to the left of the piano (you can't see it well in this photo) stores piano lesson books.  The cross-stitch above the piano is one my grandmother did years ago.  The large abalone shell underneath it was my mother's.  The piano is a behemoth antique with real ivory keys; I learned on it when I was a child. 

The photos on the wall near the guitar are black and whites of my father--because he's a music lover and a guitar player. 

Directly across from the music area is the pantry.  I use a shoe storage organizer to corral all the many, many different office supplies we own--from binder clips to staples, from push pins to Sharpees, from scissors to post-it notes, from tape to glue...it's all here.  Each section is labeled in yellow so that we know where things go. 

My inside-the-pantry shot was very blurry, so I'm omitting it.  The top two shelves of the pantry contain acrylic paints, science kit materials, ribbon and gift cards, melty beads, craft supplies bin, and a bin with colored pencils, pastels, and stamps. Having the craft items in one place is so, so helpful.

To the right of the pantry is the stairwell that leads upstairs. Portrait is by a sweet and dear family friend.

And to the right of the stairwell is my mother's childhood rolltop desk.  A silver compote, Native American pottery my husband brought to me from Colorado, and a geode we purchased in Oregon sit on top.  The watercolor is by another friend. 

To the left of the piano we have a bookcase.  This was made by my husband's grandfather!  The bins on the top of the bookcase contain all the books we use for the current schoolyear.  This makes it very easy for me to just grab what we need each day and go. On the second shelf we have two baskets that hold DVD cases.  The purple bin holds the small selection of VHS tapes that we still own, and to the right of that are a few music collection cases. The second shelf contains some 'boxed set' movies, a big black CD case, my special round picnic basket, a small wooden container with the few cassette tapes I have left, and a few books. On the bottom we have bins holding scratch and blank paper--easily accessible for my young artist. (The little high chair you can sort of see to the right was made by my grandfather for my mom and her brothers. It is beautiful!)

Our schoolroom is an aqua color. I love the built-in cabinetry.  I still can't believe we were able to do this--I'm very grateful.

The schoolroom walls are aqua, as this blurry and dark photo shows.  We have a very large dry erase board mounted on one wall (thanks to my brother-in-law, who owns a dry erase board manufacturing company).  My husband found old school pull-down maps of our state and the world on ebay and installed them above the board.  My desk, not pictured, is below the dry erase board--it is exactly as wide as the board.  Our history picture narrations are currently at the top of the board, but I hope to put up a corkboard in the adjoining laundry area for those soon. 

To the left of my desk is the filing cabinet.  Why did I not close those drawers?  Anyhow--the top of the cabinet contains photos, some of my favorite little trinket-type items (mostly from Finland), and pewter cups of pencils and pens......and a few things that remind me of my late, great mother, who was a public schoolteacher. 

A pink magnetic basket on the side of the file cabinet holds my dry erase markers.  The rest of the side of the cabinet is for a penmanship chart, three inspirational notes, a sticker chart for my eldest, my son's soccer photo from last year and a beautiful photo my sister brought me from Prague. 

(Also, the plates on the wall were painted by my mother and are intentionally crooked! One was cracked, and I feared putting too much tension on the crack. So I just hung them askew! Why not!)

I like binders.  Here's my collection. On the top shelf there's a financial course for children packet, the flash cards box, a Delta Science in a Nutshell kit and my beloved label maker in the purple bin.  The next shelf holds my binders: everything from my husband's CNC router building instructions to my home management binder to the binders I use for school. To the right are some old primers. 

The cabinets below the bookcases are maybe my favorite thing ever.  

There's the toy cabinet.....

The photo album/scrapbook cabinet.....

The games cabinet.....

The cabinet containing bins with index cards, CDs, labels, photos, scrapbook paper, and stationery......

The cabinet with the paperstuffs: binder of sheet protectors, pile of legal pads, pile of composition notebooks, pile of spiral notebooks.  Below this we have construction paper...and our old yearbooks!

The last cabinet on the wall contains the printer, power strip, printer paper and various related accessories (in the big clear bin). 

I keep a big basket of board books on the floor. I can't stand to part with any of these treasures. 

In front of the double window we have our former dining table--a farm-style table I bought for a song at a consignment store several years ago.  The basket in the middle contains softback picture books. We have a globe, a bunch of books piled up on the left for flower-pressing purposes, and a random bunny as well....

A side view of the table--littered with papers, The Story of the World on CD, and pencils.  Someone is also checking out his nature journal......

 The desk looks out to the patio, crabapple tree and under-construction playground.....as well as great-grandma's house on the hill.

 To the left of the window is our nature shelf.  The reticulated giraffe print is one that we carried around for years--a gift from my father-in-law to my husband--and that I loathed.  I finally decided to try it out on the wall and lo and behold--it fits right into the schoolroom.  Go figure!

In this photo the nature table contains items of winter: found rocks, feathers and yes, a squirrel's tail.  Just don't even ask about that--Squirrel Nutkin is still feeling violated, I'm sure. A dormant orchid waits patiently to rebloom.

That's how we organize our schoolroom.  I keep things as simple and uncomplicated as possible. I like to use what I already have and I feel very content with my little system.  We are so grateful for what we have and for the little tools (like that over-the-door organizer!) that help keep things organized!

Removing Stubborn Dry Erase Ink

Everyone in the universe probably knows this already, but this map (from our Classical Conversations class) was like this for A WHOLE YEAR.  I didn't know what to do to clean it off--water didn't work, dry erase spray didn't work--and frankly I was too busy to be bothered, but I couldn't stand the idea of throwing it out. Someone who was 2.5 at the time did this lovely handiwork.....

Finally I googled it.  The suggestion was nail polish remover with acetone--which I have magically sitting in my bathroom closet.  It worked beautifully. I was so pleased.  Now we can use this dry erase map in our schooling--it doesn't look like the earth is being destroyed by hurricanes, tornadoes and hail storms anymore.

So satisfying. 

Journal of Days, May 5-16

I *completely* forgot to record anything from the week before last except for one day--Monday, I think!  Oops!  On Monday, April 28: Miquon--finished the book!  Did a lesson from our phonics book (The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading).  Read aloud 2 Mouse Tales.  Read Pippi Longstocking (2 chapters).  Looked at Thailand facts on Time for Kids website, then watched a short video on shark tagging and another one on tornadoes. Done for that day!

There was also a day that week that Finn decided he was going to do a ton of his Explode the Code book. I think he did something like 10-12 pages (almost 2 full lessons) before I stopped him and moved us on to something else!

Monday, May 5
Two pages of Miquon.  Reviewed -ea- sounds. Then I made up a story using those sounds and had Finn read it. After that  I put "eat" and "seat" in the corner of white board and had Finn write 2 sentences (using his own spelling) using those words.  "I will eat ice cream, yum yum yum. I will reed in mi seat."   He finished watching a numbers video with little sister, then we read two chapters of Pippi Longstocking, read the next chapter in Child's History of the World (and then we talked about it at length, and Finn illustrated it on an index card--I like "picture narrations" for this age).  Finn narrated one Aesop's Fable and then the children begged to read more, so we spent some time flipping around reading Aesop today. We spent the afternoon enjoying the company of a friend who came over to play; Finn also worked on building the lake and dam he is designing in our flower bed.  Bedtime story: Mr. Popper's Penguins. An easy, quiet day.

Tuesday, May 6
Two pages of Miquon. A little confused about how his mother knows that if I have 20,000 prs of socks I have an even number of socks....we'll get there!  Two pages of Explode the Code. Played at the park with friends for an hour (recess?). Art lesson, then the rest of the afternoon spent at farmers' market, Fresh Market and local Mennonite market! Lots of time in the car meant listening to the entire Disc 1 of The Story of the World....more than once. Fortunately Finn got in some good quality time working on his dam while I made dinner. He also decided to make a golden apple, inspired by the Greek tale of the origins of the Trojan War.* Bedtime story: ditto Monday.

Wednesday, May 7
Today we attended the schools of dam-building outside and planting liriope, lilies and columbine.  Gardening!  Lots of configuring, designing and trying to figure out how to use scrap wood to create a good dam for his lake. 

Thursday, May 8
No formal school today, as we enjoyed a full-day field trip (left the house at 8:15, home around 4:15) to a different city to see a performance of Mary Poppins. The set was great, there was confetti blasting out of a cannon at the end (those in the know will know what this means to Finn--he's a confetti maniac), and the children were enchanted for three straight hours (with one 15-minute intermission).  So fun!  Back at home Finn worked very hard on creating his own set--he's also an obsessed, interested set-designer and has designed backdrops for fairy movies, the Swan Lake ballet, and many variations of Andre Rieu's orchestra.  He also worked on making confetti--an ongoing project.  We also read copious quantities of Beatrix Potter--my 3 year old daughter Annie is addicted. Bedtime story: we finished Mr. Popper's Penguins! 

Friday, May 9
Three pages Miquon.  Worked on phonics (I create my own lessons at times). Finn had to write 2 sentences using the words "clean" and "great".    We started reading The Little House in the Big Woods. (Finn was really impressed by the smokehouse idea. "Wow, that was smart!") We read two chapters of Life of Fred: Butterflies, we sang our hymns and learned the next verse of our current hymn ("For the Beauty of the Earth").

On Monday the 12th we left home and traveled to Charleston, South Carolina for the week.  My father and stepmother live there and we wanted to get some sunshine.  So we swam in the pool, went to the beach twice, celebrated my father's birthday and spent a lot of quality time together.  We also did school while we were there--but just Miquon and Explode the Code.  Very simple, basic and easy.

We are back at it now!

*The Golden Apple was supposed to go to the most beautiful goddess.  I can't wait to see whether Finn decides his mother is The Most Beautiful Goddess.  Stay tuned. {UPDATE: He says his sister should get it.  You know....I agree.}