Lighting A Fire

Some Charlotte Mason Resources

2011-05-03T07:55:00.000-07:00

I thought that I might do a couple of blog posts where I share some of my favourite resources. This one is all about Charlotte Mason related things.

Ambleside Online
This is a comprehensive (and wonderful) set of links- the CM books, a whole curriculum and lots of resources written by CM fans!
Mater Amabilis
A Catholic CM course.
Handbook of Nature Study
A Nature study blog- fantastic resource and well worth following.
Simply Charlotte Mason
A site with lots of CM related resources AND a curriculum and planner. Worth looking at.
Reading Your Way Through History
A CM style living history curriculum
Secular CM
a secular Cm site.
MacBeth's Opinion
Lots of book suggestions for living books.
Charlotte Mason Help
Lots of useful links.
Charlotte Mason Education
Catherine Levison's site
Penny Gardner
Penny Gardner's Site.

Books
The Original Homeschooling Series by Charlotte Mason
A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
A Charlotte Mason Education by Catherine Levison
More Charlotte Mason Education by Catherine Levison
When Children Love to Learn edited by Elaine Cooper
A Charlotte Mason Study Guide by Penny Gardner

Blogs
There are SO many blogs out there that I will surely forget some. Instead I shall link you to a thoughtful mother's Squidoo about CM blogs.
And of course you should check out my sidebar links- one day I might make a CM section too ;)
And some others you might enjoy:
Ambling with Charlotte
Distinctly Different
Golden Acorn Homeschool
The Science of Relations
Charlotte Mason and Home Education

Groups
Ambleside Online
There are MANY subsidiary groups for AO, but if you like Ambleside, you should join this group and any others that apply to you :)
Living Math
Catholic CM
Cmason

Nose back to the Grindstone

2011-01-04T14:08:00.000-08:00

After spending so little time on school since our October visit to England, we are back to the grindstone. Only with changes.
As each new year arrives, I consider it time to evaluate what we are doing as a homeschool, and make any necessary changes. I know I am not alone!

Today, however, marked some biggies.
First off, I made a strict schedule for Rebel. This covers his entire waking life, from getting up to going to bed. I have a feeling it is necessary, because he is one that thrives off of such routines. M'Lady doesn't have such a schedule (yet) because she is not so needful of it, although I would venture to say she likes it just as well as he does.

I also ditched the creative writing curriculum we were using. Although I love Classical Writing and think it is a great curriculum, this is one of those instances where the child in question just did not do well with it at all. I am pretty sure most of his issues are sheer laziness. But be that as it may, it doesn't mean that it is the right one for us. Instead, I will eventually start him on something else. I am hoping to use the Institute for Excellence in Writing's Teaching Writing: Structure and Style. I think it will be an interesting change.

I am thinking of putting a time limit on how long each lesson takes. Yes, this comes after a 4 hour mathematics lesson....

Rebel is not the only one who had some changes made. M'Lady had her reading book switched around. Many years ago I bought Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for Rebel. It bombed big time with him and I set it back on the shelf and used The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading instead. This time I started with Ordinary Parent's Guide... M'Lady was forever complaining that it was too boring/too hard or something else... Today I decided to switch to 100 Easy Lessons. And it worked. She definitely preferred the structure of that lesson to the OPG. Apparently the kids are polar opposites.

The biggest change though, would be something fun. You can see it here in the picture I took just in case there was a yarn along last week (there was not).

See that there? The thing on top of the book? THAT is a Nook Color. My Christmas present and new e-reader. Oh how I love that thing.
I discovered, quite luckily, how to put Project Gutenberg e-books on it. There are two ways- you can download to your Nook, or you can download to your hard drive and import it into your Nook Library.
So why did it make it into this post? BECAUSE it is the perfect homeschool tool. Not only can you quietly browse the web/email etc. while schooling, but you can also use it for the numerous e-texts you might use say, in the Ambleside Online curriculum.
We actually use several e-texts, and I am grateful to have a readable screen and less to print... plus it is a pretty good motivator for reading :) In fact Rebel, read the entire history chapter I set for him today- so well, that he picked up on something the author left out of the story (namely WHAT Cardinal Wolsey had predicted). I am satisfied that he read the text today ;)

Advent with Children

2010-12-01T06:30:00.000-08:00

The kids got to open their advent calendar today :)

I made the advent pockets a few years ago...

Sorry about the image quality- it is dark and rainy here today. Not much in the way of good lighting ;)
Inside the pocket...

... were goodies. I picked up these chocolates from England while I was there. They are GOOD ;)

AND they are cute too :)

After that, hanging the tag seems a little... well... anticlimatic I guess :) Never mind -the kids didn't seem to!

Music in Classical Education

2010-08-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

Music is one of those subjects that is, rather unfortunately, overlooked by most people. It formed a large part of life in previous centuries, and was given a very honourable place by the ancients- and more. In fact, Thomas Jefferson himself placed a great deal of import on the learning of music, forcing his children to practise for hours each day.

So how can we incorporate music into our modern homeschools?
We should have very little difficulty, after all, we are blessed with the most amazing capabilities to reproduce and listen to music any time we feel like it. In fact, as I type this, my computer is also playing a selection of music.
So find below an adequate outline of study, designed along the lines of a classical education!
(I shouldn't hesitate to say that yes, music was part of the quadrivium of studies, BUT I suspect that in that case it was very much the compositional and performance arts that were practised, the foundational blocks having been laid long before).

Music Theory:
All music study should begin with the basics of music theory. a quick trip to the local music stores will supply you with a multitude of books you can follow along with if you absolutely must :)
Children should be familiar with written music and the application of it to an instrument. There is no reason it has to be a complicated instrument like a guitar, violin or piano (although any child who expressed the desire to learn should not be held back from this either)- a simple recorder is more than sufficient. In fact, the recorder can be a very pleasing instrument to learn, since it is quickly mastered.

www.8notes.com has a wonderful selection of music theory lessons. In fact, I thought it very well done and highly recommend it. If you are not American, then there is a good possibility that your own nomenclature may differ- I know I learned all the English note names when I learned to read music, and my mind does not readily translate to the American terms. That being said, I really think there is no real issue with learning the names of a different country unless you are planning to follow through with some kind of examination process (such as the grade music system in England). I have been told by other sources, that getting the music 'grades' in England is not absolutely necessary if you follow the performance circuit instead, but that involves having a super teacher who knows how! (My sister is currently doing this so I can probably get more information should you need it- just email me ;))
8notes also has a selection of composer biographies and some sheet music.
As a memory aid, you can use the flashcards at Linkware Graphics to learn the note names and some other common musical notations.

Music theory of course, would not be complete without learning a little about each of the eras of music. There is a nice, and somewhat simple, timeline you can view here at Dr. Estrella's Abridged Dictionary of Composers. It is by no means a comprehensive one, but it has a great outline of the dates in question.

It seems to me that memorizing the eras might in fact be a good idea. not to mention some of the terms used in studying music. To that end I made up some flashcards to help with that :) You fold them on the centre line and either glue together or laminate (or both). All the information was found online.
You can drill these as a standard part of your memory work cycle.

Work your way chronologically through the musical eras reading up on the big name composers as you come to them. There are a number of wonderful children's books about the biggest names out there, or you could use the aforementioned 8notes site.

Ideally, you would trawl through the centuries, listening to the composers as you come to them, using the composer's work to illustrate the music definitions you are learning.
Here is a site with a nice overview of music history. If I eventually find a great book to help your travel through the centuries (think as a spine) I'll keep you posted.

Back to School- with adjustments!

2010-08-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

It's back to school time at our house.
Nothing special. Just a slow adjustment period to doing lessons. Sometimes while waiting for books to arrive.
Usually with the kids being rather reluctant to actually work.
I have had the plans set up now for a few weeks.
I find that I need to have everything planned out for accountability purposes- after all, if it is planned there on the page, I can hardly claim to not know what I need to do now, can I?
As with everything planned like that, it means that adjustments have to be made.
So I started with mathematics. Daily mathematics is easy to instigate- especially since Rebel is using Teaching Textbooks. He is using TT7- which is about 6th grade level, and has been since earlier this year. This level is self-grading (what a great concept- I wish the future levels were too!!) and the program is geared towards the homeschooler. It is well organized and features a great amount of in-depth instruction- well worth the money!
M'lady has to make do with Singapore Mathematics :) Not that I dislike it, we have used it for years. It is just not quite as exciting for her as TT is for him!
This week I added in the reading subjects. And languages. I wasn't going to add in the languages (Latin and Greek) just yet, but he insisted. That's just fine with me ;)
Some of our reading is lacking- because, well the books are not yet here, or I have to get them from the library for now! But this is the one area that already needs adjusting.
We have started reading The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. It is an interesting read, Franklin was an entertaining writer. But the language of Franklin's time is different, and it is a rather harder read than I had expected. My 20 pages a week (20 pages in the e-reader that is) would seem to be something I cannot accomplish in one, 1-hour lesson. So we'll be reading my issued amount across the week.
I have also planned something new for the year.
If you look on my front page, you will have noticed that on my Goodreads widget, I have just finished reading "The Core" by Leigh Bortins. (If you are reading in a blog reader, it is on my main blog page).
One thing I really took away from this book, was the desire (even, should I say, need) to do some memory work. I am still in the planning stages of this, but I think I might well follow Leigh's Classical Conversations progress. I do not want to do the coop itself (although I can see many good reasons to do it), but I would like to take away some of the suggestions from it! Thus the reason for the memory work. I will also add in some Shakespeare and Art. Yes, I have absolutely NO excuse for not doing more art with the kids!
Our biggest adjustment is moving into the kitchen to do the work. I have for years allowed the kids to sit on the floor to work. This year I have decided to stay in teh kitchen and be the old cliche homeschoolers working around the kitchen table. It makes my kids focus more- and it stops them making too much of a mess in the kitchen and the living room :)

Any way I look at it, I still have some tweaking to do. Hopefully I'll be back later with some progress!!

The Reluctant Reader

2010-04-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

When I first had my children, I could never have conceived of the idea that I would have a child who was not anxious to read. I remember I could not wait to read, and as soon as I was able, I read everything I could!
I read Pride and Prejudice at the age of 8. I did not really understand it, but I read it anyway!
So I was very surprised when my son turned out to be the most reluctant of readers. I blame my husband. He is not the most avid of readers, he does not care for fiction and my son both takes after him and likes to emulate him.
It is not that my son is not a good reader- he is a good reader. He just doesn't like to read. He'd far rather play while listening to an audio book. I suspect he is typical of many boys- reading means they have to pause and refrain from doing something else... of course it is o.k. when it is his idea to read. Which for my son, usually means in the middle of another lesson, or instead of cleaning his room, or instead of going to sleep...
So how can you encourage the reluctant reader?
In the beginning, I started with the graphic novel and comic books. Tintin can encourage the most reluctant reader to want to read a book, and Asterix works really well for history :) Marvel and DC comics are good (though you should pre-read them) and the newer Japanese Manga books can be great. Those can cause a little confusion at first since they are often printed backwards, but they are a lot of fun.
Next I found his weakness. Weaknesses are not something that my son cannot do, but rather something he was very interested in. In his case it was Lego Blocks. I found a book on Lego blocks and building with them that really encouraged him.
Then I discovered 'silly' books. Silly books don't have to be 'twaddle' (although some definitely are), but they have to be books that appeal to the humour of a child. In my son's case, this was the Horrible Histories, Horrible Geography and Horrible Science books. Horrible Books always draw his attention because they are just plain 'interesting', and written to appeal- and he still likes to read them.
Stories of children having adventures appeal too. The reluctant reader can relate to them. My son liked The Magic Tree House books and later, as he grew older and kind of outgrew the Magic Treehouse, they were replaced by The Hardy Boys, The Famous Five and The Secret Seven.
The Magic Tree House books were wonderful, because they were so short he would finish a book in no time. For the older elementary grades, the Hardy Boys have interesting adventures, and the Famous Five and Secret Seven books are stories about children his age having adventures. That is almost always guaranteed to appeal! He is a third generation reader of the Famous Five by the way- both my Mum and I read them and loved them ;)
The most recent addition to his reportoire would be the Redwall books. I read these as a child his age, and I knew he'd like them. My husband had seen the show and thought he'd like them, so we were non-plussed when he refused point blank to read them. I kept the book around and would make him read a little every so often, but he still complained.
Then struck the latest of my 'tricks'. I suggested that perhaps by reading this book he'd be better read than a local child he is somewhat antagonistic towards- because surely they had not read it. He was encouraged to start reading it. Then he started to argue. So his punishment was one more chapter each time he argued. He stopped after 5 chapters were assigned, started furiously reading- and read 7 chapters. He was pleased with himself for reading the extra chapters ("that'll show you Mummy") but had ended up hooked, so the next few days he was reading the book as often as he could sneak an extra chapter! I don't particularly recommend this method unless it is strictly necessary!

Nowdays he is just as difficult to please. He doesn't want to read the books assigned for literature (too boring/badly written) or history ("I'm not interested in reading about that"). His excuses are just that- excuses. He is being lazy, and it is difficult to ascertain the point where laziness and true dislike meet. A true dislike is something that needs to be addressed, so typically when he comes up with a complaint, I ask questions to see why he is not enjoying it.
So recently he was complaining about a King Arthur book I had assigned for Literature.
"Why don't you like the book?" I asked, as he complained. After all, it's Knights and Castles and battles- surely those appeal to a boy? Not to mention even his Dad told him he didn't understand why he wouldn't read it. (Dad is the ultimate authority here- anything Dad likes, Rebel usually likes it too).
"It's boring," he said. "They do stupid things!" I asked for clarification. He could give me none, so I said that was obviously not the problem.
He then complained that the book was written like a comic book- a complaint I really didn't get because he loves comic books! I assumed this meant that he just did not care for the style of writing. So I switched to a different re-telling. Apparently that suits him better- I chose to get an audio version or Howard Pyle's retelling, where the style of writing is somewhat archaic so I made him listen and read along with it (I used an e-text for this, apparently e-texts are popular with him).
Afterwards I asked him, "So what do you think of that version then?"
"It is better written and it is funnier too..." came the response. Success!

His similar complaint of a history book turned out to be sheer laziness. In that instance I just got an audio version for him to read along with...
That is another good reluctant reader trick. Following along with a book helps them to focus and seems (to them) to be less work. It also frees you up to work with another child ;)

In essence, the reality of dealing with a reluctant reader is persistence and determination. You have to patiently figure out what your reluctant reader likes and tailor the reading to suit. You have to wait and try different techniques, different books and work hard.
And you have to never fail to try and make your reluctant reader, a book lover.
My brother was once a reluctant reader. I used to work so hard to encourage him to read different books (yes I started young LOL). I wouldn't say he is a bibliophile like myself now- but he reads books of his own choosing and has things he enjoys reading... so perseverance works. On brothers- and hopefully sons too!

A Homeschooling Tool...

2010-04-28T07:47:00.001-07:00

I have noticed that, among the homeschool community, the iPod - particularly the iPod Touch (iTouch) is a popular and versatile tool. You will see it mentioned at Melissa Wiley's blog, and Elizabeth Foss's blog (check her 'on my iPod'), and Mary from Evlogia's blog...
One might be forgiven for thinking I have followed a crowd here- but it is not true. My iTouch predates most of theirs ;) I got my iTouch years ago- for myself. It had nothing to do with schooling. It had everything to do with the ability to check email without having to turn on my machine, and listen to Podcasts when cooking or cleaning.

Later I discovered how useful it was to give M'Lady audiobooks to listen to as she was drawing or colouring. She would sit beautifully still for them. Storynory became a family favourite then.
When I discovered Librivox, I knew the iTouch had been given a new life- you know audiobooks are a great way to entertain kids in the car? And if your husband prefers music, well the iTouch can become a lifesaver!
And then the are the educational apps- training for multiplication and other mathematical skills, science, reading... These 'games' can entertain children anywhere. Especially when you are waiting!

You can download e-books to the iTouch- although I have yet to find an app that allows me to upload .pdf e-books to read :/ This allows you to NOT have to buy every classic book you will use in schooling- no, you can download them to the Kindle app, or the B&N eReader App, or the Stanza app.

You can listen to language podcasts or religious podcasts or lectures from universities...

There are various art apps too... for painting and drawing on the iTouch.
The list goes on and on.

So I wondered... what would be my ideal selection of things to do on the iTouch?

1. I'd love to see some kind of mathematics program on there- you know, something like Teaching Textbooks- only for first graders. It would be awfully nice to have something like that!
2. The ability to see 'flash' things on there- I could then watch certain TV shows without interrupting or disturbing the kids- or they each other! I could also access most websites no problem then!
3. An app for downloading and reading pdf files. Something like an e-reader, but with the ability to see a few pictures :)
4. A print feature. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to print from an iTouch?

Of course, since iTouch is far from perfect, there are many things I could ask for to improve it, but I think we are in a new generation of 'electronic schooling' devices- and the iTouch is leading the fray... it will be interesting to see where this leads us!

Letters of Grace

2010-04-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

For those who really loved the alphabet path over at Serendipity, you will be overjoyed to learn that Mary from Evlogia, Anna and Matushka Emily have produced an Orthodox Christian centered version called Letters of Grace. Mary was one of the people who started Serendipity with Elizabeth Foss before life got in the way, and the Letters of Grace curriculum is beautiful. Even better, it is written at several different ability levels- so even if your child is a little old for the Alphabet Path, she might not be too old to follow along with Letters of Grace!!

Please, go enjoy the hard work of these wonderful ladies!

Pardon My Dust

2010-03-31T13:49:00.001-07:00

And any multiple posts that might appear. You can probably see (if you are at the site) that I am in the middle of redoing all my blogs- blogger activated a fairly nifty new template tool through their 'draft' blogger section, and I have been playing with it. You can see the results on all of my blogs- AND the results of my learning a lot about my photo-editing software :)

St. Patrick

2010-03-17T08:44:00.001-07:00

I know a lot of you like to celebrate St. Patrick's day, so I made a colouring page (couldn't find one I liked online...)
If you would like to use it, you can get it here.

You can also see a smaller version of it below :)

In other news, perhaps you'd like some good links for St. Patrick?

Irish Recipes from author Susan Wittig Albert
Free StoryNory Story about St. Patrick.
Taste of Home Recipes

DNA and Science

2009-11-23T08:17:00.001-08:00

Sometimes, life takes you (and the kids) off at a tangent. Most homeschoolers refer to them as 'rabbit trails' and delight in the love of learning it shows the kids enjoying!
Well we experienced a 'rabbit trail' recently.
It started with a Science Magazine- on the cover was a picture of a DNA model, built from Lego blocks. Considering Rebel's love of Lego, I showed him the article.
Next thing you know, he wants to build a Lego DNA helix- and we're off into DNA land :)

If you have lots of Lego Tecnic blocks, you'll be able to manage this mini DNA helix.
Perhaps you don't have the right parts? How about a paper model instead?
This article tells you how to do it- with paper chain like DNA models...
This is a whole activity sheet with a paper DNA model.
The Japanese are really into the whole making things out of paper- so paper DNA models are no different :)

There are many others out there too :) You might be thrilled to learn that K'nex has a DNA model you can build, and a few other sites have their own variants on that theme too...
and then there are the books. The wonderful 4 Real Community helped with suggestions- these are the ones I managed to find and read for myself :)

Have a Nice DNA by Fran Balkwill and Mic Rolph (2002) This book is not 'Young Earth' friendly, other books by the author may cover topics like stem cells and cloning, and the 4 Realers have warned against them.
Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas by Cheryl Bardoe Not strictly DNA, but all about genetics.
The Stuff of Life: A Graphic guide to genetics and DNA by Mark Schultz, illustrated by Zander and Kevin Cannon. This is a graphic novel style guide to DNA- it is incredibly detailed and well written BUT does discuss such things as cloning, stem cells and evolution, although I think the way it is handled is less controversial than many other books- I would not go so far as to say that it was using a Pro-Life viewpoint either- just a neutral one. :) It IS a young adult read, and so is best given to kids who have been taught 'the facts of life' since that features prominently in the book. The suggested reading at the end does include controversial books too. This is definitely a parental advisory book- read it for yourself first ;)

Do be careful what you find to read on DNA with the kids- there are so many different levels of reading, and so many different philosophical viewpoints.

Hope you find these links helpful!

Next Step: SELF Education

2009-11-05T12:29:00.000-08:00

Susan Wise Bauer has a wonderful article in the latest Memoria Press Catalogue- all about how we, as homeschooling parents, have a duty to keep educating ourselves, that we might always have the ability to answer the questions of our children.
And then there was this blog post. Between the two, I was even more convicted to start educating myself some more.
Then there was the talk with parents and siblings who are doing yet more degree courses (the distance learning options are better in the UK than they are here in the USA), and the sudden realisation today that because I read the ancient classics to the kids, I KNOW what some of the old classical music pieces out there were written about - and I knew that, for a homeschooling mother, education truly does become a passion :).

So in my sidebar, you will see some of my reading. I am not planning on putting in my relaxing novels. There are too many of those and too many of them would be objectionable to someone or other (different tastes for different people of course LOL) SO instead I am putting in the fun reads I *would* recommend to others, or books I think *might* be interesting to others, or books that I know others are reading and might want to discuss :) And then I have also added the self education stuff too - not sure I will do it quite like AO does (the thought of stretching How to Read a Book over several years does not thrill me LOL).

All my self-education I will tag as 'Motherculture', and I hope that many of you will consider joining me in the Odyssey of my mind ;)

Tweaking Ambleside

2009-10-22T17:11:00.000-07:00

I have long admired Ambleside Online's curriculum- considering it is free, and considering a vast majority of the books recommended are available online, it is a huge and very useful resource.
Mater Amabilis (a Catholic CM curriculum online) is likewise a lovely resource, free of charge, but so many of the books on it are hard to come by and usually NOT free, that I usually end up using Ambleside instead :/
So I have been working on making some tweaks to Ambleside to make it just a little more Catholic friendly.(

1. Ambleside uses the KJV of the bible, which really does show a lyrical command of the English language. You might choose to read the KJV with apocrypha, but you'll have to remember not all of the viewpoints of the KJV are conversant with Catholic Doctrine. Instead, use the Douay-Rheims version of the Bible, which is a 16th/17th century edition of the Bible, revised (for easier reading) by Bishop Challoner in the 18th century (although that does depend on the version you are reading ;)).

2. Ambleside recommends Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula for the Church History aspect of Bible study. It is a well written book, that is true, but it is so blatantly anti-Catholic I can't stomach reading any of it to the kids- not even the early chapters! A judicious review of Trial and Triumph will show you that it is a series of small biographical stories of Saints and Martyrs throughout the eras of the church- right up until around the 16th century, when it becomes a listing of reformation characters and founders. For the Catholic, a series of Saintly biographies might be used in its place.

Since Trial and Triump (T&T) is used throughout the first 6 years of Ambleside, I think we have a great deal of leeway in our choices.

Option 1: We use a book of Saint Biographies, not unlike that of T&T, and a book like John Mason Neil's A History of the Church from the Day of Pentecost to the Council of Chalcedon.

Neil's book goes up to A.D. 451, so even though he was Anglican, it is still quite usable by Catholics (and Orthodox) alike :) There is a follow-up book, called Stories of Church History, which might be a good choice to follow on from the original- I have just never seen it OR the Table of Contents, so I cannot say. He does have two other children's books online at google books too :)

Two Beautiful Saint Biographies you might like to use: Saints Lives and Illuminations by Ruth Sanderson and More Saints Lives and Illuminations by Ruth Sanderson

Once Upon a Time Saints by Ethel Pochocki, More Once Upon a Time Saints by Ethel Pochocki and Around the Year Once upon a Time Saints by Ethel Pochocki

The Loyola Treasury of Saints: From the Time of Jesus to the Present Day by David Self (this is not strictly ALL saints, but might be worth getting anyway- it is probably the most like T&T a Catholic book will get).

Patron Saints by Eliza Allen Starr is available free online, and has 20 Saint biographies in it :)

Option 2: You might like to use individual saint biographies, including picture books and chapter books (according to age and preference).

Books by Tomie de Paola you might like to use – some correspond to the Saints below, some are interesting religious books others are religious fables:

Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland – Saint Patrick, Francis, The Poor Man of Assisi – Saint Francis, The Lady of Guadalupe – Saint Juan Diego, The Holy Twins: Benedict and Scholastica – Saint Benedict (author Katherine Norris), Christopher, the holy giant picture book – Saint Christopher, Pascual and the Kitchen Angels – St. Pascual, Mary the Mother of Jesus, The Miracles of Jesus, The Parables of Jesus, The Legend of the Poinsettia, The Night of Las Posadas.

Books by other authors you might like to use:

Mother Teresa by Demi, The Legend of Saint Nicholas by Demi

St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges, St. Jerome and the Lion by Margaret Hodges, The Legend of Saint Christopher by Margaret Hodges

Brigid's Cloak by Bryce Milligan

The Miracle of Saint Nicholas by Gloria Whelan

Augustine Came to Kent by Barbara Willard

The Vision Book Series is a series of biographies of Catholic personages of interest. These chapter books would be a good choice to read in the place of T&T.

You may also find books from the Living History Library Series and the Landmark Books Series which are biographies of saints.

Option 3: You can read through the list of saints below. I have put them in chronological order, and attached a biography (or two or three) - some of which are actually books. All the links are free to read online. There are slightly more than T&T has, but you can leave out a few or add in more to create a more pleasing arrangement of readings. You can also use this list in conjunction with the books in option 2 above :)

Chronological saints

Great Musical Giveaway

2009-10-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

Well my friend Jill shared this link, and I think it is a great giveaway :)

Win a free Joshua Bell CD at Freely Educate!

Joshua Bell is a truly gifted Violin player, and I am sure this would be a bonus in any homeschooling household!

Next Steps

2009-10-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

So now we are tweaking Latin. Apparently Latin has become an onerous chore!

Looking back, we figured that Latin became a chore when I changed from Latina Christiana to a higher level Latin. None of the others (Latin book 1 and Henle) seem to have gelled with him.

Today I set Rebel the task of trying out the two Latin programs I have as alternatives for him to try. Galore Park's Latin Prep and Memoria Press' First Form Latin, both look promising. I admit I have a weakness for Galore Park's one, but Rebel really likes the idea that FFL is a continuation Latina Christiana.

Truth be told, I happen to think most of the rebellion against the Latin is the fact that for Henle he has to WRITE and for Latin Book 1 it just wasn't as much fun as LC had been!

We'll see!

In other news, I am hoping that M'Lady will be able to have a reading lesson today- fingers crossed ;)

The New Regime

2009-10-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

Part 1 of the shake-ups occurred the other day- when I arbitrarily decided DS could skip some of the composition book he was doing- mainly because I thought his style was advanced enough already. Instead we will focus this week on the grammar that the book holds and try and get through that.

DS is actually very good at the grammar- most of the concepts are new to both of us (courtesy of a fairly modern education for me) and he tends to 'get it' a lost faster than I do :) He was motivated enough to work through quite a bit today!!

Having studied the Ambleside Online curriculum again, I am adapting some of it. Which started out with a little poetry for the kids. They have always liked to begin the day with poetry- I need to do it some more. I might add in some memorisation then too- another of their favourite things. The kids love to recite poetry at odd moments, and I am frequently surprised at their remembering some of them!

Although I shouldn't be. Just yesterday the kids were quoting Inspector Lewis for me.

"Shakespeare! Shakespeare? I am sick of bloody Shakespeare!"

Actually the original one came out as "Spakespeare" but cute none the less. And amazing. They were not actually watching Lewis- just walking through the room LOL!

I intend to add in a few of the literary suggestions soon and mingle them with our Latin and grammar studies we already do ;)

Next up, changes for M'Lady!

School Report

2009-10-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason, the three of us have found ourselves at an uninspired low.

DD doesn't want to do any work.

DS doesn't want to do Latin or composition.

I don't feel like doing anything!!

That means it is shake up time. I need to trawl the blogs for inspiration, and reorganise and rearrange.

First things first- the Rebel himself.

We have allowed ourselves to get bogged down in certain subjects. For example- composition. Classical Writing is a wonderful program, but someone is living up to his name and just not co-operating. It occurred to me today to look forward at what we need to do- and I took the bull by the horns and declared that we'd skip the rest of the lessons except the last one. It's a composition program- and he was writing with all the extensions required in the final writing project.

We'll start poetry next week, and I'll order the Homer Student Workbook A and Instructor's Guide.

Next, literature. OK I have really let the issue slide here- Elizabeth's lesson inspired me the other day, and I realised- narrations do not need to be written. So for Religious studies, Literature and history, I need to realign.

In fact, I need to actually assign history! I keep forgetting it :-o

With DD, the inspiration needs to be different. I need to trawl the blogs and look for ideas- a few more hands on ideas at that :) Maybe some fun reading ideas and some seasonal busywork to do while I am helping Rebel.

For me- I realised I needed a little more mental stimulation- I have been letting my brain atrophy ;) Time to challenge myself to learn some more!!

It's been a while

2009-09-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

Since I last blogged here.
Not that I have not been homeschooling- because I have :) I guess that is why it has been a while! I do try to keep the main blog updated- with artwork LOL.
Now we are onto new things- 5th grade for DS and K for DD- which is quite hard work, because a certain 10 yo is easily distracted by a very vocal 5 yo!

We finished the Alphabet Path with DD, and I think she is beginning to get to the point of being ready to use some of the Math Gnomes. We are loosely doing Serendipity Geography for now, and I try to make them work :)

Successes this year: Literature. They both love it.
Not so successful: Grammar and Composition. DS is rebelling against it. If only he would hurry up with it, we could take a break and do poetry- but he needs to finish the contents of Classical Writing Aesop first!
Oh- and they both love memory work- go figure!

And now for something a little different- I ran across this in one of my art searches:
The Little Botanist

Enjoy!

Updates

2009-03-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

I just updated the geography posts with mapwork :) I included a link to a website with some blackline maps- pick the appropriate ones :)

Books for Boys

2009-03-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

I am starting this running list of books for boys because it is just a subject that keeps coming up! Please, feel free to make suggestions to go on this list :)
They are arranged by reading ABILITY not appropriateness. I will star any that might be questionable and add comments as to why.
I'm only listing the LISTS of books, because links change too much, and I am only going to subdivide into categories if the list gets long :)

Preschool

Grades 1-3

Grades 4-6
The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon
Robin Hood.
King Arthur * watch which version you get... Lancelot has an adulterous affair with Queen Guinevere in most of the adult versions, most children's versions tone it down some :)
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene
Rascal by Sterling North
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George and all her other works... see the list here.
YWAM Hero Books listed here
Heroes of History Listed Here.

Grades 7-9
Deptford Mice.
The Redwall Series* by Brian Jacques his website here is a good one. Be warned, some characters die in the books- always appropriately (sometimes in battle) but can be upsetting for the fainter hearted readers :)
The G.A. Henty Books*, list here. Some of these are found online- they are Christian, and very Anti-Catholic, but for those who aren't Catholic, I am told they are very good :)

Grades 10-12

Cross-Level Reads
Fairy tales. Get one of the huge books of them, this is a cross level reading book- read aloud to the younger ones and allow to be read to self as they get older :)

Non-Fiction and Project Books
American Boys Handy Book
Boy Scout Handbook
The Boy Mechanic
Dangerous Book for Boys

Awesome Idea

2009-03-16T17:08:00.001-07:00

Well you can tell I like my kids to get outside... and THIS idea is so great!
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article5308533.ece

You have to read this ;)

3-Part Cards for Biomes

2009-03-06T14:40:00.000-08:00

In my text, I mentioned using 3 part cards for remembering and learning the biomes. I figured I should also let you see my cards :)
Unfortunately, google docs wont let me publish it HERE but you can easily email me to get the cards....
Contact information in the right hand sidebar under the 'about me and my blogs' link.

Geography Book Ch. 2

2009-03-06T13:59:00.000-08:00

N.B. there are actually pictures to go with all the map/equator stuff, but I do not own the copyright to them. Eventually I hope I will get around to producing my own pictures for your enjoyment, for now, a quick search with google images will help you to find visual stimulation for the kids. You can also use my links to find the same information.

As always, use at your own risk, all writings are copyrighted to me and if you want to ask questions my contact information can be found at my main blog or somewhere in the links to the sides :D

Chapter 2: Continents, Oceans and Biomes

Chances are, that once the Alien You has filed a report on the structure of the Earth, that you will be told to look at the surface of the Earth- after all this is where all the life is present.

Out of your view-screen, you would be able to see that the earth is ¾ covered with water, the other ¼ is land. You would be able to see 3 large bodies of water and 6 large bodies of land, but listening to Earth communications you would hear that the humans consider there to be 5 oceans and 7 continents.

The continents are called, Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America.

You would not be sure which one was which, so you would have to refer to a human map.

Alien You would probably be a little confused as to why there are lines dividing some of these places in half, but you'd get the idea of where the continents started and stopped from it.

Next you'd try to find out the oceans. You would find out that they are called the Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans. Again, you'd consult a human map to find out which one is which.

Alien You would probably be a little confused as to why even some of the waters seem divided up, but you would probably put it down to humans being a little weird :)

Alien You would now realise that the humans like to divide and classify things (that is to sort them into groups of things that share something in common), and you would be a little curious as to what else humans have classified.

You look back at the maps, and notice lines drawn horizontally across it.

“Equator” you would read. Above and below it, equally spaced are more lines- “Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn”.

Alien You would need to look those up, and when you did you will find that the equator is an imaginary belt around the centre of the earth. It is the fattest part of the globe, with a constant warm temperature, and equal lengths of day and night. The areas between the two tropics, and surrounding the equator, are what the humans call 'the tropics'. This is a band around the earth, where the weather does not fluctuate much, and is warm almost all the time.

You would notice on your map, that the equator is 0 degrees latitude, and that each of the Tropics is 23.5 degrees- the Tropic of Cancer is 23.5 degrees NORTH, the tropic of Capricorn 23.5 degrees SOUTH.

Since Alien You is from another planet, you wouldn't know what North and South mean. So you do a little research. North and South, you would discover, come from something called the CARDINAL directions or Compass Points. These are found on a COMPASS. North points to the 'top' of the Earth, where the North Pole is.

When Alien you decided to find out more, you would discover that the earth works a lot like a giant magnet. As the needle on a compass spins, it turns to point NORTH, not to the North pole itself, but to something called Magnetic North. It's close to the North pole :)

The Cardinal directions are like the 4 points of a cross. At the top is North, to the right is East, at the bottom is South and on the left is West. Between each of these points the directions are given mixed names...

North-east, south-east, South-west and north-west. You find they can be divided even further into North-North-East, South-North-East and so on.

You might learn that every map has the directions on it, in the form of a compass rose... which always tells you which way is north- and if the map doesn't have one, then north is at the top of the page.

You find a rhyme to help you remember which way the directions are, for when you go travelling on earth.

The east is where the sun does rise

Each morning in the glorious skies;

Full west he sets, or hides his head,

And points us to the time for bed;

He's in the south at our lunch time;

The north is facing to a line.

Now you understand the directions, you go looking for the way the humans have classified the earth. As Alien You looks around, you would probably begin to notice patterns. One of the first you'd see, is that the places on earth, fit into six main groups. You might discover that the humans call these biomes, and have organised them according to the vegetation (plant and tree growth) and organisms that live there.

Alien You might find the human definition:

“The world's major communities, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment.” (Campbell 1996)

But being an Alien, you'd know it meant the first thing I said ;)

Then you would find out that there are six major types of Biomes:

Freshwater, Marine, Desert, Forest (tropical, temperate and taiga), Grassland (including savanna and chaparral) and Tundra

The more Alien You would research though, the more biomes you would find. Being a smart Alien, you would know that you did not want to make it too complicated, and you'd stick to the ones you found first.

Each of the six biomes, have some further divisions in them, to describe different types of that biome. You realise that not all deserts are hot, and not all grassland are without trees, so Alien You decides to make memory cards which you can then use to help you remember.

Parent's Note: Here, hand out the biome cards provided, using each of them to introduce the properties of each biome. They are designed as Montessori style three-part cards- the picture and title plus the description and title. Cut out the picture and it's title separately from each other, but leave the description and it's title together. You will use these in 'matching' games for the children to use.

I have divided the biome cards into freshwater, marine water, tundra and grasslands, forest, and desert. There are subdivisions under each biome to describe various TYPES of biome. While these are not super important to know now, most children like the extra information because it makes more sense that way :)

Vocabulary to learn

Continents

Oceans

Classify

Equator

Tropics

Biomes

Cardinal Directions

Compass

Flash cards to introduce

Seven Continents

Four Oceans

Biomes

Cardinal directions

Cards to review

Solar System

Earth Structure

Volcano Cards

Activities

Make a compass: http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/compass1.htm

Make an ocean in a bottle: http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/ocean-in-a-bottle.html

Cool video of the experiment with a more advanced report on oil and water: http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-an-ocean-in-a-bottle

Cartesian diver: http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/lab/diver/index.htm

Biome in a baggie: http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/biomeinabaggie.html

Map work:

Draw the continental divides on the map and label each continent.

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/testmaps/maps.htm

Mark the equator with a red line.

Mark the two tropics with yellow lines.

Writing Activity Prompts

Using your Alien identity, create some more reports for the aliens back home.

a- Make a notebook page about Continents and oceans OR biomes and the Cardinal directions. Include a map with the directions on it.

b- In your travel journal, record information about the continents and oceans OR Cardinal directions and biomes, include a map with the directions on it.

c- Using a video camera, make a report for the aliens back home. Imagine you are on a scientific exploration mission, and think of it as being a news report, with visuals to help the others understand. You can send this to your grandparents if you like :)

Further Resources

Online

OCEANS AND CONTINENTS:

Actually, only oceans. The continents will of course be looked at on an individual basis later :)

Oceans wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean

Enchanted Learning Oceans page:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/ocean/

WWF Oceans:

http://www.panda.org/about_our_earth/middle_school/habitats/oceans/

Planet Ocean: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/planetocean/

http://www.ocean.com/

Oceans Alive:

http://www.mos.org/oceans/

BBC Oceans Page:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/oceans/

COMPASS POINTS/CARDINAL DIRECTIONS:

The wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_direction

watch a video about the cardinal directions:

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=da9929b0f9a3ce48f97c

On World Atlas:

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/comprose.htm

An easy game using the directions (aimed at the younger crowd)

http://www.sfsocialstudies.com/g1/u2/index.html

A cyberchase game:

http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/inverseoperations/inverseoperations.html

A little about navigation:

http://www.boatsafe.com/kids/082000.htm

Origins of the compass rose:

http://www.gisnet.com/notebook/comprose.php

BIOMES

Many of these sites are university level sites, the tend to go into a LOT of detail, so keep them for those children who want to do MORE on the subject :)

The best biomes site on the web- all my information is from here :)

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/index.php

Travel with Bill Botanist to all the biomes of the world:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Experiments/Biome/plantindex.php

Enchanted Learning site:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/

Some cool homeschooling activities related to Biomes (scroll down for the biomes):

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/directory/EarthScience.htm

Good descriptive site about biomes (more in-depth divisions):

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm

A nice site with nice pictures of the animals and plants in the biomes:

http://ths.sps.lane.edu/biomes/index1.html

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/biomes.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biome

http://www.runet.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/intro.html

Books

Oceans and Continents

We will cover the continents in individual detail later, so these are just overviews.

Mara, Wil: The Seven Continents Children's Press (2005)

Mara, Wil: The Four Oceans (Children's Press 2005)

Simon, Seymour: Oceans Collins (2006)

Ryan, Pam Munoz: Hello Ocean Charlesbridge Publishing (2001)

Cole, Joanna: Magic Schoolbus on the Ocean Floor Scholastic (1994)

MacQuitty, Miranda: Ocean DK Children (2004)

Nelson, Robin: Where is My Continent? Lerner Publishing Group (2001)

Cheyney, Jeanne and Arnold: Continents Good Year Books 1997

Moore, Jo Ellen and Shipman, Gary: Beginning Geography: Continents and Oceans Evan-Moore (1993)

Cardinal Directions
De Capua, Sarah: We Need Directions (Rookie Read-About Geography) Children's Press(CT) (2002)

Fowler, Allan: North, South, East, and West (Rookie Read-About Science) Childrens Press Chicago (1993)

Aberg, Rebecca: Map Keys (Rookie Read-About Geography) Children's Press (CT) (2003)

Gonzales, Doreen: Up North and Down South: Using Map Directions (Map Mania) Capstone Press (2008)

Schroeder, Susan: Cardinal Points: NORTH AuthorHouse (2008) Fiction book for older kids, not really about the cardinal points but about astronomy and all sorts :)

Aberg, Rebecca: Latitude and Longitude Children's Press (2003)

Biomes

Explore the Biomes Series, Various Authors, Capstone Press (2007)

Van Cleave, Janice: Janice VanCleave's Science Around the World: Activities on Biomes from Pole to Pole Wiley (2004)

Davis, Barbara J: Biomes and Ecosystems Gareth Stevens Publishing (2007)

Kalman, Bobbie: What is a Biome? Crabtree Publishing Company (1998)

Woodward, Susan L: Biomes of Earth: Terrestrial, Aquatic, and Human-Dominated Greenwood Press (2003)

Collard, Sneed B. III: Many Biomes, One Earth Charlesbridge Punblishing (2009)

Geography Text

2009-02-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

I started writing a geography text to use with DS. I tried to make it fun, and the idea is that the story is a spine to be used with the recommended texts and other resources. Each chapter will have two to three topics, and is designed to be studied over the course of a couple of weeks :) Each section will be used in conjunction with flashcards, written activities and experiments.
As we get into the journeys through various countries, they will keep a 'travel journal'. Or at least that is the plan! So far so good...
If you'd like to see it, read on!

JOURNEY TO THE PLANET EARTH

Part 1: Meet the Earth

Chapter 1: Physical Geography- the Structure of the Earth.

I supposed many of you think you know all about the world. And chances are you may indeed know a little about it, but probably not all there is to know about the world. This chapter will introduce the earth to you, so you can begin to learn a little about the place where you were born!

If you were an alien, arriving in a spaceship to visit this planet- and you can imagine that you are peaceful or going to take over the world as (whichever pleases you)- you would begin the approach to our planet, by arriving in our solar system.

The solar system, is the series of planets, dwarf planets and asteroids (plus a few comets and other odd pieces of debris) that orbit our sun. The sun, (which as an alien you would call Sol) is holding them in a not-quite-circular pattern around it, using the force of gravity. You will learn a lot more about this in science class :)

As you enter the solar system the furthest point (that we know of) from the sun, would bring you into contact with some dwarf planets called Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. - barely bigger than asteroids, which inhabit the edges of the solar system. That far from the sun, it is very cold, and the sun looks like little more than a large star. You would drive through the solar system, seeing a few planets here and there- and if you were fortunate, you might even arrive at a time when you would actually see ALL of the planets as you passed by. This doesn't happen often, and it is far more likely that the alien you, would see just a few of them. The next planet you would see, is one which we call Neptune. It is the first of four gas giants that you would see. Net would come Uranus, which has rings around it in a vertical orbit. Saturn would follow, with it's famous rings. Then you would see the biggest planet in the solar system- Jupiter.

After Jupiter, you would make your way through the asteroid belt- a ring of asteroids around the sun. Within this belt is another dwarf planet called Ceres.

After the asteroids, you'd pass Mars, the red planet, before finally arriving at our planet- Earth. There are only two more planets closer to the sun- Venus and Mercury, both of which are very hot and uninhabitable as a result.

The Alien You, will see immediately that earth is different. For a start, it is teeming with life. There is a large amount of water covering about ¾ of the earth, and it's temperature range is quite moderate.

Using your specialised alien equipment, you would notice that the earth is made up of several layers. The outer layer, is relatively thin- only about 25 miles deep or so (and only about 3-5 miles thick under the oceans). It is a hard layer, rather brittle, and it is made up of the lightest elements. It covers a liquid layer beneath it, which we call the mantle.

This liquid layer, is made up of what we know as lava- essentially molten rocks. The rocks are being compressed by the sheer weight of the earth's crust, creating heat, which prevents these rocks being in the solid state you would see on the crust. Technically they are solid in the mantle, but they are able to move around like a very thick, syrupy liquid. The mantle is the thickest layer of the earth at 1800 miles thick.

Now, beyond THAT layer, is another one- the outer core. The outer core is a ball of very hot metals (4000 degrees F to 9000 degrees F) all in their liquid state. It is about 1400 miles thick, and made mostly from melted nickle and iron.

The last layer is called the inner core- and the pressure and temperatures there are so great that the metals are squeezed together in a dense ball. They cannot move like a liquid, but rather vibrate in place instead.

But that doesn't matter to you, because it is the first layer and the second one which you find interesting.

The mantle, being semi-liquid, has a lot of movement going on. The liquid rock, or magma, acts very much like the water in a tea kettle. Water in a tea kettle circulates while being heated. Eventually it gets hot, and lets off gases- in this case water vapour in the form of steam. The steam will be forceful enough to make the kettle whistle (if it has a whistle) or if not, you might hear the lid rattle.

When magma gets hot, it too lets off gases. The gases, really have nowhere to go, so they cause an increase in pressure. As the pressure increases, it forces the magma to rise through cracks in the surface- eventually causing a volcanic eruption. The eruption is a much more powerful version of the steaming kettle :)

Alien You, might decide to look rather closely at the areas where you see the magma coming out. You notice that they always occur in the same areas, and as you look at your equipment closely, you realise that the crust layer of the earth, is in fact more like a series of puzzle pieces, than a coat over the top of the globe.

These puzzle pieces fit together remarkably well, but along the cracks where they meet- the fault line, you begin to realise that these areas have more earthquakes and volcanoes than elsewhere.

Imagine ice in a glass of water- as the water beneath it moves so does the ice. The larger the ice, the less it moves, but it does still move. Well, that is how the crust works. Like the ice on water, the crust on top of the liquid magma layer, moves a little when the magma does. As more pressure- and therefore more force in the movement builds, so does the earth along these faults move more.

Earthquake prone areas of the globe always occur along these fault lines.

Volcanoes are a little different- there are two main types of volcano- those that spew rock and ash, and those that spew the lava. These different types of volcanoes occur in different areas- and it is different types of pressure build-up that cause this. You'll learn more about these later too :)

So now, alien you has traveled through the solar system. Alien You has arrived at the earth, and began the first part of their study on the planet.

Just as Alien You is making a report, so will you be making a report, and yes, perhaps you will be allowed to make it just as if you were reporting back to your alien planet :)

Vocabulary to learn

Solar System

Orbit

Gravity

Asteroids

Dwarf Planet

Gas Giant

Crust

Mantle

Core

Magma

Lava

Fault Lines

Flash cards to introduce

Solar System

Earth Structure

Volcano Cards

Activities

Make a volcano or a paper model of a volcano

Map Work

Colour in the main fault lines on a black line map.

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/testmaps/maps.htm

Writing Activity Prompts

Alien You has to report back to your home planet- so create your own alien identity, and do two of the following:

a- Make a notebook page about the structure of the earth (lower grades)

b- You will be creating a book in which you will write your travel experiences to be published to the folks back home. This week, create the title page and write about visiting the earth and it's structure.

c- Using a camera, make your first report home, focusing on the structure of the earth. Plan it out on paper first, using graphics to illustrate your points.

Further Resources

Online

Disclaimer, parents should always check websites themselves, as notions of appropriate and inappropriate content vary :)

EARTHQUAKES

The National Earthquake Information Center- NEIC (part of USGS) has a load of information on their website, aimed at a variety of ages.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/kids//

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/faq.php

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/teachers.php/

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/publications.php

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/resources/links.php?category=3

The Earthquake Museum: http://www.olympus.net/personal/gofamily/quake/index.html

FEMA Earthquake Legends: http://www.fema.gov/kids/eqlegnd.htm

Weather Wiz Kids: http://www.weatherwizkids.com/earthquake1.htm

The Educational Technology Center has put together a page full of links:

http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/earthqu.html

VOLCANOES

Bedfordshire UK Library System has some nice kids pages:

http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/webingres/bedfordshire/vlib/0.childrens_gateway/volcanoes.htm

Volcano World- definitely check out the Rocky Stories :)

http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/

FEMA Volcanoes for Kids: http://www.fema.gov/kids/volcano.htm

Great Page with quick facts for kids from another UK site:

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/mountains/volcanoes.htm

Homeschool Volcano Unit:

http://www.homeschoollearning.com/units/unit_09-24-01.shtml

A site with some great volcanic information- aimed a little more at the advanced elementary school student- the language is simplistic, the topics less so- good explanations!

http://www.kidsgeo.com/geology-for-kids/0049-volcanism.php

Excellent Volcano Theme Page with many links :)

http://www.cln.org/themes/volcanoes.html

Read about how to make an exploding Volcano

http://geologyecology.suite101.com/article.cfm/volcano_experiment_for_kids

Companion Pages to the Nova programs about volcanoes

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/volcano/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vesuvius/

Volcano Questions Answered:

http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/ASK/volcanoes.html

An Intereactive Page about Volcanoes

http://www.learner.org/interactives/volcanoes/

A cool page in Dutch and English about Volcanoes and plate techtonics

http://library.thinkquest.org/17457/english.html

Virtual Fieldtrip Into a Volcano

http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/kids/adventure/

Volcanoes on other planets (appropriate for our intergalactic traveller!)

http://www.neiu.edu/~kbartels/VolcanoModule/VolcanoesOnOtherPlanets.html

Another interactive Volcano website:

http://www.viterbo.edu/academic/ug/education/edu250/ajbuck/index.html

Volcano Game on Discovery Kids

http://kids.discovery.com/games/pompeii/pompeii.html

College Level Lecture Notes on Volcanoes

http://www.geo.umass.edu/courses/volcanology/lecture_notes.htm

Books

Disclaimer- parents should always check the books themselves as objectionable content or twaddle are obviously subject to opinion.

EARTHQUAKES

(recommended by the Earthquake Museum)

Lampton, Christopher F., Earthquake: A Disaster Book, Houghton Mifflin Company 1992
VanCleave, Janice, Janice VanCleave's Earthquakes: Mind-boggling Experiments You Can Turn Into Science Fair Projects (Paperback), Wiley; 1993

(Recommended by the Seismology department at Berkley)

Clifford, N., Incredible Earth, Inside Guides, DK Publishing, New York, New York, hardcover, 1996.
Fisher, R., The Earth Pack, National Geographic Society, 1995.
A pop-up book on the Earth. Fun for adults as well as children.
Levy, M., and M. Salvadori, Earthquake Games, Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1997.
Subtitled "Earthquakes and volcanoes explained by 32 games and experiments." A great hands-on activity book. Use materials like Slinkies, buckets of soil, sponges, rocks, and strings to demonstrate the principles underlying earthquakes. Contains background information, explanations of scientific concepts, and great illustrations.
Van Rose, S. , Volcano and Earthquake, Eyewitness Books, Knopf, New York, New York, 64 pp., hardcover, 1992.
One of the Eyewitness Books series, this book contains wonderful photographs and illustrations of plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Includes some great pictures of historical seismic instruments.

Other books that come well recommended by parents

Osborne, Mary Pope, Earthquake in the Early Morning, Random House Books for Young Readers, 2001

One of the Magic Tree House books. They are easy to read, and fun for the kids to read alone.
Osborne, Mary Pope and Boyce, Natalie Pope, Tusnamis and Other Natural Disasters: A Non-Fiction Companion to High Tide in Hawaii, Random House Books for Young Readers, 2007

This one has a few bits of information about Earthquakes and Volcanoes.
Branley, Franklin M., Earthquakes (Lets read and find out science 2) Harper Collins, 2005
Bolt, Bruce, Earthquakes, W. H. Freeman 2003
Katherine Krohn (Author), Tod Smith (Illustrator), Al Milgrom (Illustrator) The Earth-Shaking Facts about Earthquakes with Max Axiom, Super Scientist (Graphic Library: Graphic Science series) Capstone Press 2008

Some less enthusiastic readers might enjoy this one :)
Watt, Fiona, Earthquakes and Volcanoes, Usborne Books, 2007
Sutherland, Lin, Pathfinders: Earthquakes & Volcanoes, Readers Digest 2003
Kudlinski, Kathleen V., Earthquake! A Story of the San Francisco Earthquake, (Once Upon America) Puffin 1995

VOLCANOES

O'Meara, Donna, Into the Volcano: A Volcano Researcher at Work, Kids Can Press 2007

First hand account from a volcano researcher.
Osborne, Mary Pope, Vacation Under the Volcano, Random House Books for Young Readers 1998
Osbourne, Mary Pope and Boyce, Natalie Pope, Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Non-Fiction Companion to Vacation Under the Volcano, Random House Books for Young Readers 2006
Wood, Don A., Into the Volcano, Blue Sky Press 2008
Stamper, Judith, Voyage to the Volcano (A Magic Schoolbus Book), Scholastic 2003
Prager, Ellen, Volcano: Jump Into Science, National Geographic Children's Books 2001
Lauber, Patricia, Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens, Aladdin 1993
Morris, Neal, Volcanoes (The Wonders of Our World), Crabtree Publishing Company 1995
Magloff, Lisa, Volcano Experience, DK Children 2006

Teatime

2009-01-23T09:55:00.001-08:00

I have brought over this post and some of the teatime resources from the Charlotte Mason Home website, because there are just too many ads over there!

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Those who follow the Charlotte Mason method, are like to be followers of traditions as old as Charlotte herself... at least!

One such favoured method, is the timely one of TEA-TIME. Tea-time, according to tradition, occurs at about three or four O'Clock in the afternoon. It is a time of refreshment and rest, and a time of culture to those who use the time wisely.

There are numerous articles on the web about tea-time and homeschooling.

Teatime offers a unique opening for the teaching of manners, for the reading of a family book and for a quiet time of reflection. Well, not necessarily quiet!

Favourite teatime activities include studying paintings, listening to poetry, reading a chapter book, discussing the day with Mum, listening to a selection of good music and eating baked goodies.

Teatime is an opening to the past that we can use in our everyday lives to broaden the cultural horizons of our children, letting them peak into the traditions of the past while learning lessons to take into their future.

In addition to all that, teatime offers a unique possibility in the realm of teaching our children the rudimentary basics of cooking. One might choose to bake a cake or pie to eat during that week at teatime. Involving the children in the everyday household duties such as cooking, can only benefit them as far as their future goes. I see no reason why both girls and boys should not learn to cook, and the most enjoyable beginnings are those which are rewarded with the sweetness of a dessert. Of course, there is also the opportunity to study other cultures and serve up foods that you would not normally eat. This is particularly good to do at teatime, since not all experiments will be met with enthusiasm, and spouses are notoriously hard to please in this respect.

Mum’s Caramel slice

2009-01-23T09:54:00.001-08:00

Another English recipe, this is a kid favourite!

Shortbread:
5 oz butter ( 9 ½ T)
10 oz fl (20 T)
4 oz caster sugar (7 ½ T)

Filling:
4 oz butter (7 ½ T)
2 T Golden Syrup
4oz sugar (7 ½ T)
1 large can Condensed Milk

Topping:
4 oz chocolate (7 ½ T)

Shortbread Method:
1. Cream butter and sugar together and add flour.
2. Press into tin
3. Bake 350 for 15-20 minutes.
4. Cool

Filling Method:
1. Put all ingredients into pan and heat slowly till sugar dissolves stirring occasionally.
2. Bring to the boil, simmer and stir continuously for 5 minutes.
3. Cool for 1 minute.
4. Pour onto shortbread base.
5. Chill until firm.

Topping Method:
1. Melt choc and pour over the filling. Cool, then mark into squares before firm. Chill until firm.

Cut and Come Again Cake

2009-01-23T09:53:00.000-08:00

Another English recipe, it is so named because people keep coming back for more. It is much lighter than normal fruit cakes, and quite delicious! Ingredients:

8 oz S.R. Flour (15.3 tbsp)
Pinch of salt
2 tsp. Mixed Spice
4oz Margarine (7.6 tbsp)
4oz Sugar
9oz Dried Mixed Fruit
1 egg and enough milk to make up to 1/4 pint (17.3 tbsp)

Method:

1. Sift flour, salt and spice.
2. Rub in fat, and then stir in sugar and fruit.
3. Make a well in center then stir in milk/egg mixture. Mix well.
4. Place into greased and lined 8" tin.
5. Cook in oven gas mark 4 for approx. one and ¼ hours.

Best Brownies

2009-01-23T09:52:00.000-08:00

Something more traditionally American, these brownies can also be made using carob powder if you are allergic to, or don't like chocolate.

Prep Time: approx. 25 Minutes. Cook Time: approx. 35 Minutes.

Ingredients:

½ cup butter (8tbsp)
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt ½ cup butter. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, ½ cup flour, salt and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

To Make Frosting:

1. Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 cup confectioners' sugar.
2. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

Lemon Meringue Pie

2009-01-23T09:51:00.000-08:00

A delicious Lemon meringue recipe, a hit every time.

Ingredients:

4oz short crust pastry (i.e. made with 4oz flour, 2oz fat and pinch salt and water to mix)
Half pint water
1 large juicy lemon
2-3oz granulated sugar (~1/4 C)
2 level tbsp. cornflour
2 egg yolks
Half oz butter

Meringue:

3-4 oz caster sugar 2 egg whites

Method:

1. Line 8-inch pie plate with pastry - bake blind for 25 min at gas mark 7 or 425 degrees F
2. Meanwhile put the water lemon rind and granulated sugar into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
3. Mix the juice with the cornflour then strain the rind mix onto it. Bring back to the boil and cook for two minutes.
4. Beat in the yolks and the butter. Once butter has melted pout into the pastry case.
5. Make meringue by beating the egg whites until stiff - then beat in half the sugar.
6. Stir in almost all the rest of the sugar then pour over the lemon mixture making sure that you seal the edges.
7. Sprinkle with the remaining caster sugar and cook in a low oven (gas 2 or 300 degrees F) for 30 minutes or until browned.

A True English Scone Recipe

2009-01-23T09:41:00.001-08:00

I'm adding some teatime resources in here to share with others :)

This recipe comes straight from England! Serve plain scones with clotted cream and jam (if you can't get clotted cream, see recipe below!). Fruit and cheese scones are delicious with butter.

2 oz butter or margarine
8 oz Self Raising flour
¼ pt of milk (just under)
PLUS:
FRUIT SCONES
2 oz fruit
1 oz sugar
CHEESE SCONES
3 oz cheese
PLAIN SCONES
1 oz sugar

Mix the butter and flour together.
Add the milk stirring constantly.
Add any extra ingredients.
Mix to a doughy consistency.
Roll out to 1/4 inch thick, and cut out with cookie cutters.
Cook in preheated oven, Gas mark 4, 350 degrees, for about 15 minutes or until the scone is golden brown.
Cool.

Clotted Cream

If you can't purchase clotted cream in your grocery store, you can make this acceptable substitute:

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
½ pt whipping cream

Method:

1. Beat butter until creamy (easy with your electric mixer).
2. In another bowl, with clean beaters, whip cream until dry, firm peaks form.
3. Gradually add the whipped cream to the butter, mixing gently with a whisk until it is combined.
4. Refrigerate until ready to use, or freeze (for up to 3 weeks).

Keeping it Balanced

2008-10-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

So the last couple of weeks, I have been focused on balance. Trying to balance time online with time teaching with time crafting etc etc. I don't think I am there yet.
BUT I have learned a few things.

1. Mondays are always bad. So now we have nature study on Mondays. This gives us the opportunity to gradually start the school week. It works really well, and Rebel actually will provide work for it too :) Both Monday and Tuesday are far less stressful. Not to mention when you suggest the kids keep an eye open for autumnal things, they will spend the rest of the week looking.

2. Reading and/or knitting while the kids school is better than the computer. Unfortunately, the book you are reading or your knitting bag do NOT happen to have those files you want to listen to/print out. If you want to only turn on the computer in the afternoon, you are going to lose. So you will turn on the computer, you just have to NOT turn on the emails ;)

3. If you keep the kids out of their rooms for studying, then you will not have to fight over Lego's and Nintendo DS's. These things are quite safe when applying the rule "out of sight, out of mind".

4. Husband's working at home on the occasional one day a week are a novelty. The kids WILL interrupt him even if you promise they wont. However, after a week or two, it becomes a treat- the kids realise they can work while your husband does and when they are done, DAD will take them places :) Great motivation!!

5. The stereotypical table in the kitchen really is a nice place to make them work, BUT the little one will disrupt the older, who will try to do the younger's work- "because it is so EASY"! However, your control is a lot greater when they are forced to sit on a chair. It is NOT the best place for them to listen to read alouds- invariably they need to fidget!

6. Reading some of the 'My First Little House' books will lead to reading the real "Little House on the Prairie" because your 4 year old will demand to know "what happens next?" Your 9 year old son will want to listen too :)

7. Birthdays should always be taken off if you are a homeschooled kid :) After all, those presents are way too tempting otherwise! Yes, Rebel turned 9 in my time away! Wow... how those kids age FAST!

8. Sickness should be dealt with by unschooling. Hopefully some family friends will leave you with a supply of National Geographic magazines, which supply your children with days worth of reading. This does not require vast amounts of energy, concentration or pencil work. They will get interested in a subject and be willing to do a notebook page on it :)

9. 4 year olds will lose their books and no matter how hard you try you can't find the one you REALLY want. And this is despite you putting the books in the bags you made.

10. When you want the kids to go outside, they wont. They will want to play inside. When you want them inside, there is nothing they want more than to be out playing with that rabbit!

Wednesday 17th September

2008-09-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

So we start off, not too late, with the bible story. Today was the first three plagues on the Egyptians. I decide I want the kids to illustrate this, so we extend the lesson a bit.
Rebel then goes onto Latin while M'Lady finishes her picture.
After Latin, we get onto mathematics. The two page exercises are easily finished, then onto poetry.
M'Lady watches the blacksmith video, while Rebel goes back to do handwriting. I decide not to do the writing of the ballad because I think the two kids are not quite old enough for that ;) Well, Rebel is old enough, I just don't think he can write an entire ballad/poem by himself :)
The up comes Greek. Rebel gets distracted, and only half finishes it. Then we move onto spelling. Once more, he has just one mistake, works his way by himself through the ten step learning process, and is finished. I am pleased, the spelling course is making him think twice about HOW something SHOULD be spelled :)
Then we go onto the progym. Rebel underlines verbs and writes some of the action words out.

After lunch I decide not to do the history, because I am still waiting for M'Lady's book to arrive- and she NEEDS something to do while Rebel works. I let him finish his plagues, and am most annoyed later when M'Lady helps decorate his page *grrrr*.

A pretty uneventful day- lets hope tomorrow afternoon at the park goes smoothly too :)

Friday, Monday and Tuesday (12th/15th/16th September)

2008-09-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

FRIDAY:
The end of the week is always an odd day. Sometimes we have finished the work set- for instance, Rebel has already done the progym for the week!
We start with a Bible story and a prayer. The kids feel like the day goes smoother with it :) Then onto Latin- Rebel is writing sentences in English and underlining the direct object.
After Latin, is mathematics. This goes OK, though not great. It is rather boring repetition, and some of it is so simple he ends up OVERthinking the problem.
Poetry is next, with the ending of the Lewis Carroll segment. I wonder if it would be good to draw these out over two weeks. The kids have gone from asking if my Inspector Lewis DVDs are 'Lewis and Clark' to asking if they are 'Lewis Carroll'! Well- now they know his name!
Poetry slides into copywork, and as usual, nothing gets done. Greek slips by- Rebel is supposed to be reviewing.
Then spelling is up. The lesson goes well. Rebel has 3 mistakes, and enjoys the correction process, which I walk him through. He is pretty confident he knows the words now.
Since we finished the progym for the week, I wrap up early for lunch.
Mid-afternoon and DH is home from work early, to try and get some work done uninterrupted. Warned in advance, I try desperately to keep the kids quite by doing their science lesson I forgot yesterday. We start before DH gets home, and continue once he has arrived. We blow up balloons to represent the planets- Jupiter is not big enough, and Rebel has managed to blow up those long balloons (I STILL can't do it) which he folds into a ring for Saturn. I am very impressed- I have never managed to blow up those long balloons. I have fun trying to twist them into shapes though ;)
Then the kids create Title pages for their Astronomy books. M'Lady wants a small book, so I sew some signatures together to make a 4"x6" book. The spine is ducttape, the covers are construction paper with her pictures glued onto them. It is rudimentary at best!
In the meantime, Rebel manages to get ink from his orange stamp pad all over the carpet. I make him clean it up!
DH is dealing with some kind of emergency, so I put a TV show on for the kids. We sit and watch it, waiting for him to finish! Once finished, it is on to the normal Friday evening meal out :) A nice end to the week. I consider it a good one, because we had two VERY good days and only ONE really bad day :)

MONDAY:
As do most beginning of the week days, Monday went rather South. Rebel lived up to his nickname and rebelled against everything we did. We missed our morning Bible reading and prayer because the kids decided to help the rabbit rather longer than necessary. Then we went onto Latin for Rebel and Language Arts for M'Lady.
Latin was horrible- he couldn't focus, and kept walking off in the middle of his work!
M'Lady was taking her cues from Rebel, which means she was trying to balk at everything. Colouring the page, listening to the story... you name it. She did a great notebook page for the letter 'D' though :) My favourite was the picture of Dada she drew- complete with moustache!
Mathematics was next for Rebel, and he did not do much better with that. At least he got the exercise I set done, which is a good thing, but he was up and distracting M'Lady a lot.
After Mathematics, was poetry. The Serendipity course for this is superb, and the kids are both enjoying it. We started with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow this week, and ballads. I truly think it is amazing that this will tend to be the ONE lesson that goes smoothly. M'Lady is beginning to participate in the Poetry lesson- her interest is peaked by it :) Since it tends to occur in the middle of her main lesson block, I am inclined to let her join in ;)
Copywork- I am really floundering with this lesson for Rebel. He is still working his way through his Spencerian Penmanship course. I am thinking that I'll let him complete it before really pushing the copywork. The course is wonderful, he has beautiful handwriting, but I'd like for him to copy some things. I'll have to extend the poetry lesson and truncate the copywork, then incorporate actual copywork into other lessons!
I set Greek for Rebel. He listens to the Memory Verse and vocab, and I realise I should have made him listen to the CD every day last week to review stuff. I'll have to do that this week.
I forgot to transition into the mathematics for M'Lady, but never mind. By this point I had a headache and was exhausted!
We segue into the spelling lesson for Rebel. He managed to get all of them right, which made life easier. I suspect that this level is a little too easy for him- but it is training him to remember the spelling 'rules' for each group.
Then in the progym we start on Cornelia's Jewels. I started the program a little late last year, so we are running a bit behind. Never mind, with a stern resolve I can get him back on track! He has memorised the parts of speech, and I forgo the spelling part of the student manual- we're using a different program anyway!
In the afternoon, I start the Literature lesson. They listen well, and I am relieved. Then the battle starts. It takes Rebel until BEDTIME to get his work done. Maybe it is the full moon! Any way you look at it, it took too long. Both his father and I fussed at him, and in the end, *I* am the one writing the narration rather than he himself. I am rethinking our set-up for learning. I think I might try working at the kitchen table!

TUESDAY:
The day starts well, because we're all up early. OK, I admit, I do NOT like being up early. Early is badd. It is dark, and I am only half awake! BUT it does mean I get the kids ready before breakfast!
They are out to feed the rabbit early too, although they come in at the normal time. As I go out to call them in, the next-door neighbour is calling her dog in. Strangely, my kids and the dog are both misbehaving and not listening!
First up Bible. We have a regular schedule because Rebel needs it. I once tried to just wing it and finish what we did not do the day before- and he complained because he said he was supposed to do MATHEMATICS then! I realised that my son is very much a routine person ;)
I get the story read, and the kids have plenty of time to play before the next lesson. They want to start the next lesson NOW and save the time up. It doesn't work that way, and they squander it ALL!
Next is Latin, at which Rebel handles himself well. He does the work and plays while I start M'Lady on the M is for Masterpiece at Serendipity. I am thinking of setting the notes up like the R is for Rhyme ones, because those work really well for me. She likes the cave paintings and the Mona Lisa, and I print out a Mona Lisa to colour. The black crayon is missing, and apparently that prevents her from working. I can't find it :(
I start Rebel on mathematics, which he zooms through with 1/2 his attention. I wish mathematics was not built upon skills- a lot of this stuff is so easy for him, but the SKILLS needed are introduced with the easy stuff. However, like yesterday, he gets his pages (an exercise) done, and I am pleased.
Then we do Poetry. M'Lady wants to join in, and I read Longfellow's poems to them, asking them if they are ballads or not. We discuss ballads and the ballad patterns (4 lined stanzas, rhyming on the 2nd and 4th line, tells a story- typically with a tragic ending). They enjoy the lesson and it flies by. Apparently we're fans ;)
After poetry it is copywork. Rebel has little to do, and it is today I make the realization about copywork and handwriting. I'll have to think on this. In the plus column, it does mean we can wait for Drew's Memory Work book to come out :)
I set M'Lady to work on a wipe-clean book Mum sent her. It doesn't really work well with our markers- I need to find a better pen for it, but she enjoys it until the pen causes problems by making her hand too dirty. I tell her to wash it up and pack her up for the day.
Then it is on to spelling. Rebel gets just one word wrong today, but that's OK. It means we are working through the lists quickly, and building his skills up. Once we have this pattern down, I will print out the extra activities on card for him to do. In the meantime I am trying to get comfortable with this new routine. I really like the spelling program though.
Then Progym. I am stumped. The work for today is spelling work. I suggest Rebel do some of the work for tomorrow, but I am not forceful about it.
This afternoon is supposed to be Geography. Rebel got some books in the mail from Mum this weekend- the Horrible Geography books. I promise him that he can read one for his lesson today :) I need to make some atmosphere cards for them, and cut the Earth layer cards out.

Wednesday and Thursday 10/11th September

2008-09-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

I'm posting both yesterday's and todays here at once, because today's is pretty simple :)

Yesterday, I knew it was not going to go well, when the kids didn't get enough sleep. Studies have shown in this house, that the kids need A LOT of sleep- and for some reason they have to wake up at the same time every day!

We started with the Bible reading. I am still trying to catch up with Christian studies, so we are working our way through it. We finished the story of Joseph. I have this unfortunate trend to sit there singing "coat of many colours" and other "Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat" songs in my head while reading it- even though it was always one of my favourite stories. Probably because Joseph's mother is Rachel... ;)

Anyway, then it was onto Latin. That actually went rather smoothly. I discovered that this way, one lesson a week seems to be sufficient ;)
I set M'Lady up with her faith block... colouring to religious music really. So I spent a lot of time finding the religious music. I have to say, I disapprove of some of the versions I found online! I started a playlist I can play for the block each time :)

After Latin was mathematics, there distracta-boy came into his own. He did ONE question in 40 minutes. I told him that he'd have to live with that, and we moved on to poetry. M'Lady decided to join in this time. In fact, she did more than Rebel did!

Rebel took so long to do his spelling test, that I ended up giving a lunch break early and leaving the progym for later.

Mid-afternoon, we did Famous Men of Rome. Rebel liked that, he loves the Romans, but it was a battle of distraction! I gave him a map to label and a timeline to start, and we ended there.

I was pleased to note that M is for Masterpiece came in the mail, so next week M'Lady will get some art :) Once we have done two weeks of art, we'll alternate M is for Melody and M is for Masterpiece- in the meantime I'll order M is for Melody and R is for Rhyme, for my own ;) These are definitely worth getting, the kids really enjoy these lessons!

Today is nature study day. We started out by finishing up Rebel's Caesar story, as per request. As you can already tell, he got to bed earlier and consequently slept better and acts better ;)
Then I sent them outside, and gave them their nature journals.
They each went around, Rebel drawing, M'lady playing. Rebel's journal is filled with pictures!

From Top left: The exterior of the notebook. I found these on sale at Michaels for $1 each. The pen comes with it! Next up is a rose, then a morning glory.
Second row: white rose, spiderwort, rose and rosehip.
Third Row: Habanero pepper, swallowtail caterpillar and hummingbird.

You can click on the picture to get a better look :)

M'Lady did a picture of a caterpillar, but she hasn't finished it yet :)
So far so good today!

And then it Gets Better...

2008-09-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

I was pleasantly surprised when Rebel came upstairs this morning- he was dressed, had eaten breakfast and emptied the dishwasher before I even got downstairs! Apparently he wanted to go for a walk.
So, we went for a walk first thing, picking up acorns and sweetgum balls and other tree leavings :)
Back at the house, we got in the Bible reading before heading into Latin/Fine Arts. Both went quite well, Rebel got part of his Latin accomplished, M'Lady enjoyed hearing about the Brass section of the Orchestra. We listened to some things by Handel while Rebel went onto mathematics, and M'Lady coloured brass instruments while Rebel worked on R is for Rhyme and his copywork.
Things went South a little at that point, because then M'Lady was supposed to be doing mathematics and Rebel his Greek review. A little inducement in the form of revitalizing cookies helped! As M'lady began to clean up her math things, Rebel took his spelling Power placement test. We got it fixed and M'Lady was finished when Rebel went onto the Progym. As he dithered around with how it should look, I pulled him off the computer and made him narrate it. A few disagreements later, we were done.

I have geography scheduled for Tuesday afternoons, but our first lesson will overlap with science- which we do on Thursdays, so to kille two birds with one stone, I decided to delay it :)

All in all, a good day :)

My New Schedule- Tweaked :)

2008-09-08T12:35:00.001-07:00

Can be viewed here :)

Somedays you Take the Good with the Bad

2008-09-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

There are just some days that are not really fun.
I had such hopes for today, that school would go well, the kids would be good, we'd have fun.
I had planned to start our 'before school walk' this morning, after watching a homeschooling neighbour traipse past our house every day bright and early. Well, even she was late today, but we didn't get that done at all! The kids delayed and played. I did, however, get them dressed before breakfast ;)

First up was the Bible story. I really wanted to have Rebel read this to us, because my throat is hurting. Well, after I corrected him twice for the same mispronunciation of Pharoah (it was the FIRST word of the page), he went on strike. I read the story.
Next was SUPPOSED to be Latin for Rebel and a Language Arts block for M'Lady. Rebel was still sulking- I got M'Lady started, and headed Rebel into mathematics, forgetting about Latin today (even though I made some great worksheets for it this weekend!).
Instead of 3 pages of mathematics, Rebel managed one. By this point I am getting upset. We start poetry, which went REALLY well, and I set Rebel up with some copywork... Lewis Carroll's 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat". He loved that! R is for Rhyme is a success with Rebel ;)
Then it was phonics for M'Lady. We practise with the gold and green letter flashcards I made for her. I am hoping to get her to make some letters for the Alphabet trail.
Then it fell to pieces. M'Lady had managed to lose her Heavenly Friends book, and her room was a mess. So I tip all the mess onto the floor and make her clean with me. We go through the entire room, cleaning, tidying away the mess and putting away the clothes.
Meanwhile I set Rebel to review the Greek alphabet... I don't know if he did it, although I gave him the cards.
Then while tidying with M'Lady I make him do his prep work for his Progymnasmata story. Nope. No dice. When DH calls at lunch I have a short fuse, and luckily for me, HE has words with Rebel. They work a little, her gets a sentence written. It is not until I let M'Lady have her banana twin (cake) because she picked up her crayons, that he starts writing in earnest. Then I write the second part so he can eat!
My planned spelling has gone, and I realise, spelling needs to come first so nothing will derail it. OK, quick tweak to the schedule.
After lunch, I read their literature selections to them and they sort-of do their work. That is to say Rebel narrates and M'Lady draws, but neither one does any more. I sit in the mess they managed to make doing nothing, and sigh with relief that the lessons are over for today. All I have to do is discuss our spelling program with Rebel, so we're ready tomorrow!!

Now I can go read...

Portraits

2008-09-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

I don't really do school portraits. After all, I take photos of my kids year round :) But Mum and Dad sent M'Lady some school uniforms from England- because they thought she'd like htem :) They were right, M'Lady was thrilled with the selection, because she knew she looked like Mama.

In fact, she looks a WHOLE lot like my school portrait in this particular picture. Next week I'll get Rebel to pose ;)

(the rocker and afghan AND the painting are all things DH inherited from his mother :))

NOT Back to School

2008-09-02T13:52:00.001-07:00

I called it a 'Not-back-to-school' day today, because all the local schools went back. So the day has been a random time of being outside, organizing toys and watching shows :)
Very much 'NOT' back to school ;)

Friday 29th August

2008-08-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

I'm the distracted one today ;) Call it political interest, but I keep checking the news to see what is going on. Not to mention that DH is coming home early today, so school is a lot lighter an issue :)

We started out with the prayer and Bible- the kids agree that it is a nice way to start. I like the soft start approach, although I am lazy enough to dislike the fact it means I have to be ready on time :) None the less, we started only a little late, and in a much better frame of mind than yesterday!!

Next up Latin. Only I scratched phonics and move M'Lady's block lesson forward. This seemed to work- she could colour in her Flower Fairies, while I helped Rebel on Latin. We were interrupted by DH on the phone though, and the lesson was quite intense- so I broke it off until next week.

Then it was math for Rebel and a continuation of the Block lesson for M'Lady. I recapped the Mrs. Applebee story up to (and including) F, so we can start with 'G' next week. She has trouble recognising 'G', so that is why I picked there to re-start. After we had completed that, and while Rebel was still on math, I started M'Lady on her mathematics, then switched Rebel to Handwriting. I had hoped to start his copywork, but he is still working through his handwriting book. Instead, I think I will add copywork to his main lessons. I wish Memoria Press had decided to print the Memory Work book before school started, but oh well. I'll have to wing it.

Then it was Progym for Rebel, while M'Lady just continued. He has yet to finish it- they snuck outside and I made them do some yard work while out there. Instead of being a punishment though, apparently it was interesting. Next time I'll make him weed ;)

RE is up for this afternoon, but I don't really have M'Lady figured out on this yet. I might just continue with this morning's Bible readings (we stopped in the middle of Joseph's story- and I am really trying to catch up so we can do Christian Studies III) and add in some copywork, main lesson page and memory verses. I have to go over to the Simply Charlotte Mason list and re-read their memory verse method again ;)

Oh- and if you want to read about our Tasha Tea yesterday, head on over to my main blog and take a look. There are really 3 Tasha related posts, somewhat related to the tea ;)

Now- onto the long weekend, with hopes of setting up a sparrow post, and maybe a Fairy House. No promises though!

Thursday 28th August

2008-08-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

So today- we're off to a bad start. The weather and darkness make it seem so much earlier than it is, and the kids apparently have cabin fever even though they have not stayed in the house.
Bible goes well, although M'Lady had a fit because she had not been quick enough to START the sign of the cross and she kept asking me to 'go back'.
This calmed them a little, but I needed to get M'Lady to do some phonics, and this meant Rebel had to do Latin unobserved. Of course he didn't. OK Mum, time to rethink THAT plan. How can I read to M'Lady without interfering with Rebel's lesson (he will just come over to listen)? I'll have to switch something around. I thought for sure Latin and phonics would work well together- but apparently not.
Mathematics is tough. Neither of them have the focus to do ANYTHING. Not the dots, not the mathematics recap, nothing.
I am so glad that Nature Study is scheduled today, I would surely go mad if I had to contend with this level of distraction through all other lessons!!

Meanwhile I am planning and plotting our Tasha Tea for later. It's a shame we don't have an outfit like hers to wear (I still haven't finished the shawl LOL), but we'll make do. I'll blog about it later on my main blog. And now, I will go take a look at the Science lesson I had planned this afternoon and see if we can fit it in now :)

Wednesday 27th August

2008-08-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

Whoops... didn't get a chance to post this yesterday!

We started out fine... even on time, but it went downhill from there :o Apparently, yesterday was distraction day. Rebel was distracted during Latin and mathematics. M'Lady was just plain distracted.
She DID get her main lesson pages up to date though ;)
After that, we tried the R is for Rhyme poetry. It is a lovely lesson plan, but a little above M'Lady's abilities. Not to worry, I'll change the lesson plan to allow Rebel to take advantage of it, while I wait for M'Lady to get a little older ;)
*I* found it fascinating though... ;)

Copywork and recitation went by in a flash (as always) and onto Progymn with Rebel. We'll start Greek backnext week. Progym was not hassle, and then suddenly it was lunch.

After lunch we were supposed to have history, but I don't have half of M'Lady's stuff, so I decided we'll add that next week. Or maybe with the nature study cancelled today (Thursday), I might just put it on today.

So far, so good. One tweak to make, two new schedules to revamp and some tea-time goodies to bake :)

Day 2- 4th Grade and Kindergarten year A

2008-08-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

So again, we started a little late. Today that was caused by tantrum boy. Apparently I gave him the wrong shirt to wear yesterday!! Once we were all sorted out, we were 20 minutes behind. Not to worry, I read the Bible story for the day, lead with the prayer and began.

After Bible, it is Latin and Phonics. I test M'Lady to see where we need to restart. She knows the alphabet well up to 'G', so we'll ebgin there. I'll read the Mrs. Applebee story to her later, from the start, so she remembers it ;)

We do the first lesson in Latin Book 1. This went rapidly and well, and we had a little giggle over trying to roll our 'R's. Apparently only I can do it ;) Oh well, practise makes perfect, right?

Then onto mathematics. I prepare a Gnumber Gnomes lesson for M'Lady, while Rebel works through his book. He manages to finish it, and we're finally where we're supposed to be!

So what were the math lessons you ask?
Simple number recognition. For some reason, M'Lady (call it laziness perhaps) doesn't want to recognise numbers. So I organized something that was 1/2 Montessori, 1/2 Gnumber Gnomes.

I take some index cards, and write the numbers 0-10 (in rainbow colours) on them. In corresponding colours, I draw the appropriate number of dots on another card. Then I created a series of control cards in the appropriate colour, with both the number AND the correct number of dots on it.

The lesson starts with me showing M'Lady how this works.

First, you choose a DOT card, and count out a corresponding number of gems.

Then you pick the NUMBER card that goes with it. There is a pile of numbers, a pile of dots, and a pile of control cards.

The correct card is placed next to the dots, and then M'Lady checks her answer with the control cards.

First she selects the right card from the control card pile.

And she compares it to the cards on her tray. If it is correct, it gets put in the correct pile. If not, she has to re-do it. I might make her put the ones she gets wrong at first in another pile.
Simple, AND something she can do on her own while I get the next lesson ready or help Rebel!

After mathematics, it is Language Arts block for M'Lady. I set her the task of producing some main lesson pages for A, B and C, while I check out the Alphabet Path stuff.

Rebel starts off with handwriting, and I set him some copywork for the rest of the week. He'll be copying the Star Spangled Banner. After that, he has Progym. This is one of his favourites- apparently he loves to write the story LOL. Today was supposed to be the spelling lesson, but I am waiting on a new spelling book. Rather than mess with the new method (the book is Spelling Power), I opt to forgo the spelling lesson, and instead focus on the grammar. We learn about pronouns. Funnily enough, most of the grammar we do, we've already covered in Latin, so this is mostly review! He has learned the 9 parts of speech though- this is great because I am learning too!!

Next up is lunch, followed by Geography. Only I don't have geography books yet... whoops! Actually it is not my fault. The G is for geography books are NOT at my library, so I am forced to improvise. I am thinking I might just do alphabetical states for DD- or maybe in order of joining the union, and use OTHER books. DS I think will be working through the continents. Of course we'll start with our own :) Either way, I have two books ready to be ordered to help, and a library catalogue to search before next week!

So far so good! We need to work on completion, but otherwise, we're coming along- and M'Lady is finally NOT being such a bother to Rebel. Wow, what a refreshing change!

Day 1- 4th Grade and Kindergarten year A

2008-08-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

So the plan so far is that I will be doing a version of Kindergarten with DD this year, and another year next year. Should it be necessary that is ;)
So far the plan consists of Latin Centered program for DS and a Serendipity inspired one for DD.
I don't know how long that will last- I might drop all but the Alphabet path part of Serendipity for DD this year, it depends on how the rest of the week goes (see if she can handle it- so far so good) ;)

Today:
The plan was to start at 9 with prayers, Bible and Saint readings. We got that done- a little later than planned simply because I started us out a little late- I forgot to check on the Saint for today :o
The Bible reading went VERY well, and the kids happily illustrated them.
Next up was Latin/Phonics. Uh-oh- somewhere along the line I managed to forget to prepare the Latin. I am still dithering on what to start him with, so we skip that AND phonics as a consequence. No matter, that lets us ease back into it, right?

Mathematics comes next. DD books are apparently on back order- and the ones we are working on now involve counting. According to DS, he can't concentrate with her counting. He leaves the room, and works in another room. I don't like this- there is nothing I can do to make SURE he is working if I can't see him. He doesn't get as much done as I had hoped.

Next up is the Fine Arts Block for DD and Copywork & Recitation, Greek and Progymnasmata. I drop the Greek for today, deciding against Languages. Too stressful for the first day back ;) I read some to DD from M is for Melody. I have yet to get a copy of M is for Masterpiece. This goes rather well, although DS is rather lapsed in the handwriting he is supposed to be doing. DD is then set to colour a flag while DS and I concentrate on the Progym. Progym is of course, a favourite here, and since it also just so happens to be about Julius Caesar it went even better.

Next is lunch, then play then finally a Literature block. The literature block goes well for DS but DD is distracted. She finally does a great picture for the Mother Goose rhymes :) Although she DOES add a picture of the Glob from Gumby :o

Results and Response:
I consider it a pretty good school day. No, we didn't get it ALL done (those are very rare indeed LOL), but we got a lot done. It was my first day homeschooling BOTH of them, so I am happy to have this much done. The rest of the week will be establishing rhythms, routines and tweaking what we have :)

Rebel's Schedule

2008-08-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

Click for a closer view.

Everything is subject to change of course, but so far, this is the plan! The idea here is to merge the two kids. M'Lady is beginning a Kindergarten year because she has literally been begging to 'do school' (do you know how many times she has asked me in the last few days "is it time for school yet?"?). So I spread the plan out. It is less intensive, more relaxed, and has playtime scheduled- as well as read alouds.
I am aiming to do teatime this year. I aim every year, but this time I have a reason. The kids are always begging for food early, I figure that a scheduled snack time might help ;)

This schedules is heavily influenced by The Latin Centered Curriculum, with a few ideas from other places ;)

M'Lady's Schedule

2008-08-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

Click the picture for a closer look.

This looks like a lot. But when you consider that mostly it is large blocks of time so she can do activities, you realize it truly is just a Kindergarten day. It is designed to mostly to coincide with her brother's lessons, so she can 'do some' too :) . This is a Serendipity based plan, heavily influenced by Elizabeth, and ready to be tweaked when necessary. I am assuming that the mathematics will include the Math Gnomes, which is why I scheduled her a large time slot. I may reduce it later.

What we're doing

2008-08-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been a time for the kids to enjoy the summer.
Rebel has been creating paper structures from kits that Mum sent over and some that I downloaded off of the internet.
M'Lady has been learning about not bullying the bunny ;)

NOW, I am in the final stages of planning, where I hope to upload my schedule in just a few days :)

The Homeschool Blog

2008-08-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

I have often deliberated on hosting an education blog. At one point I even tried to host one on wordpress, but I realised that I love blogger better, and it is just a lot easier for me to host another blog here :) Especially since it means I can separate out the learning from the life :)

So I decided to start this blog. The title comes from one of my favourite educational quotes:
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire" by William Butler Yeats.

This blog is about our school life, and all my school posts will eventually be hosted here :)

I have included links in the sidebars, to the blogs I am subscribed to, to other learning notes blogs and to other homeschooling Catholics :) They are organized by the most recent posting, so you never know what will be top of the list when you visit!

Oh, and yes, I DID draw and paint my own header ;)