Homeschool Diva

We are on a first name basis with our librarians. Whether you homeschool or use traditional school, I highly recommend working your local library like a TOOL!  I unfortunately pay a consistent amount of fines as we are always keeping something a little longer then a week. No matter what, I am always leaving one book at home that should of been turned in.   Oh well, that bursts your bubble doesn’t it.  This week we scored a few fun finds at our library. I take one canvas bag with me, and we fill it until we can’t fit any more in.  That is when they have to stop. I also find tons of educational movies at the library.  Some are great and some are a bust.

I also use some great educational websites to spice up our day.  The kids have really learned how to get around on the computer so I am working that too.  Here are two great sites that our family uses often.  Hope your family enjoys them as much as we do.  Now if I could just find a fun Latin website for kids.

• the happy scientist
• national geographic for kids

Have a wonder filled week everyone~

From time to time, I like to pull back, and review why we are homeschooling, and what we want to nurture in this whole thing.  I like to have my husband go over stuff with me, so that he can give me a birds eye view of what he sees, calm me down in some of my myopic meanderings, and encourage me on in some of the things we need to work on as a team.

I have re-read our homeschool philosophy, and it still inspires me to keep moving forward, so here we go moving into our third year of education at home.  This year our oldest will be working year 3, our middle will be working year 1 and our youngest will be working his way through pre-k at a local preschool.   One of the things we will be doing this year, is waking the kids with an alarm.  That and they will be given their chore list on small dry erase board, that they can keep in their rooms and check off each morning. It will have this written at the top. ” Have these tasks done and be ready for school at a ___________am.” I have got to ween them off of me constantly reminding them to do their chores.  This puts the responsibility in their hands as part of their work.  On an added note, this is not something I pay them for.  I don’t get paid to do the laundry, we are a family and work as a team.  I understand wanting to teach kids the value of working to earn money and how to manage that wisely, but doing standard family chores is not how our kids are going to get that.  I will write about what we are doing in another post.  This one is already long enough. Geesh.

• brush teeth
• use fluoride
• put away tooth brushes etc.
• wash face and hands
• get dressed in clothes OTHER THEN WHAT YOU WORE YESTERDAY.  Think color, you know mix it up for Pete sake!
• make bed
• straiten room and put away pj’s (strip beds and wash linens on Mondays)
• wipe down counter and mirror in the bathroom. (Chloe)
• Take out bathroom trash (Hudson)
• CAREFULLY open bedroom and bathroom window blinds to let in the morning light. (Jackson)

I am creating a spiral bound copy work book for the older two, that they can do directly in the book.  That way I don’t have to store tons of loose leaf paper, and our oldest will take over reading 50% of his course work and be working towards fully reading it all by  the end of the year.  This is the year that parents traditionally transition their child into reading a portion of their own course work in AO even though it will be a bit of a challenge,  I need to free my time up to focus on our middle.

One of the new things that we have been blessed with this year is a co-op in our local area. Our oldest will be taking a few classes there, and getting a “school vibe” complete with lunch and study hall.  He is very excited. They will continue with their Saints PE co-op and swim team has been added in to the mix too, along with children’s choir and a few other things. With all of this, we will be more then busy in the afternoons.  Which brings me back to point one, setting alarm to start our day.  I have to get all core work in by lunch time, or we won’t get it in.  I hear it all the time.  Homeshooled children are not socially competent.  Don’t they get bored?  Do they interact with kids their age at all? etc. etc.  Let me tell you people, there are so many things for these kids to do, that if I am not careful, I will never get the core work in.

So, here we go again, for another fun, at times frustrating, and grueling yet rewarding, always challenging yet gentle and nurturing, relationship building year of educating our kids at home.  I had a major boost when a dear friend who has three grown kids tell me that if she had to do it over again, she would of homeschooled.

Grace and Peace to all those Mama’s getting it done, whatever way they can.

You have to feed your kids good stuff. Not just good food, but good life experiences too. Bottom line. That takes plugging in, prayer and really observing where your kids are at, and what they need  at any stage of development.  Whether you home school or do private or public, you as the parent need to make sure you are tending your little garden. Ever hear the saying “No one can do your push ups for ya?”  Well the same is true in parenting. Lately I have been getting emails of admiration from non homeschooling Moms who want a little help on how to supplement their child’s education.  I love it.

First I would recommend taking stock of were your child is, physically, mentally, relationally, emotionally, spiritually and academically.  Make a list if you have to. Maybe we get things turned around when we hyper focus on academics and leave other very important formational stuff out?  Let the Lord lead you, on things that you see that your  child needs.  Do they need a good dose of habit training, how to do chores or how to take care of their hygiene?  Do they need to read some deep literature, other then fast food type stuff that is typically marketing to early elementary readers?  You get the idea.  I don’t know, only you will now that for each of your children.  Hey, and if you don’t know, maybe you are just too  busy and you need to slow down a bit so you can take stock or where you and your littles are at.

I would recommend you intentionally add a few things into your family rhythm to help give you some well balanced nutrition for you growing brood, weather home educated or not.  Pick a family read aloud.  Stretch and pick a classic or even, shock….. some Shakespeare.   This is also a great resource for those wanting to steer their children into some really good literature.  Living literature will take you and your child into deeper things like geography and history and science.  These books are simply outstanding and every family would do well to read through them together. We have gone through seasons of this on and off in our family and are right now back in this season.  Make your children earn video game or TV time by reading  2 for 1.   For every 2 minutes they read, they can earn one minute of TV or video game time.  It works for us.  Instead of filling your house with the sound of a TV on, play some music quietly in the background.  There are tons of online math helps out there or even some interesting math books that will help your kids.

Think through some practical things you can do with your kids.  Take them to the post office and have them do the whole deal, buy the stamp, address, and mail the letter, use the automated kiosk etc. Go to the hardware story and but the supplies for a family project and involved them in actually checking out and paying for the items.  Involve them in your whole life.  Even the simple things can be a learning moment.  You don’t have to be teacher or a school to schedule a field trip.  You can make a few phone calls in your local area and set up some family things for you all to do together.

Life is short, and there are so many things you can do and accomplish when your kids are big and have flown the coop.  Take a little time, in whatever way you can, to add a little richness to your child’s education.

Hope this helps some of you out there.   I am going to go take some of my own advice and do some phonics games with the kids.

Grace and Peace to everyone out there

Does anyone else get sick and tired of thinking up new titles for their stinking posts?  I hope everyone had a safe and Happy 4th of July.  We had a fun, family weekend together.  My dear husband had to deal with two flat tires and a car that wouldn’t start but that is another story.  For the most part our day was wonderful.

I wonder at how the summer seems so  frantic.  It is always so much busier then the rest of the year.  Is is that way for you all too? The kids and I are steadily working our way through school very gently this summer so as not to loose any of their competency in any area.  I took a large break last year and realized it wasn’t a good plan for us.  They get plenty of breaks through out the year, and it is so hot here mid-summer that our time is better spent schooling then playing.

I’ve had several emails and facebook comments lately about how I homeschool  etc. that I thought I would write a little post tomorrow at how you can implement these methods with your family whether homeschooling fully or just supplementing your child’s traditional school schedule.   I think life is learning and “we” as parents are responsible for making sure our kids get what they need to be ready for life. Anyway you slice it, that doesn’t just deal with making sure they can read, and write and do their arithmetic. It is a whole lot more then that.

As far as where I am at right now…..what I said the other day, still holds for me today.

Grace and Peace to all those testing the waters and learning something new! See you all tomorrow.

We plan to spend a ton of time outside this summer.  I will reverse our days, so that we can be out and play in the cooler, morning weather.  I will move them through literature and history first thing in the am….head out to explore around 10 for a few hours, come back for lunch and choirs and then we can finish up with math and copy work when the day is the hottest and the rain is rolling through.  Last year I took a large break in the summer and it was a train wreck, so this year we just steadily will work our way through.

I didn’t set this shot up, they all just hung out there for a split second before they were off again.  I am not 100% happy with this shot, as it isn’t a sharp as I would of liked but it will do. I love our nature study.I get to follow them around as they explore, silently watching them work and discover together.  That is how this whole photography thing started ya know.  There is so much in the way I school them, that is silent.  I just set up an environment for them to explore in, and then shut my mouth and let them get to “playing”.  Because of the literature we are reading, they naturally make connections all over the place.

I made a decision early on in our homeschool journey to enjoy all our time together, not looking to rush through it and move on to what I want to do, but to be present at all times, and learn with them.

Life is learning, and we are all enjoying our days together.  I will upload the rest of our days discoveries later today.  For now we need to sketch in our nature journals and then on to Math and Mr. Steve.  Oh how we love Mr. Steve around here….he makes my life so easy.

Blessings to all those keeping their mouths shut so their little ones can make connections on their own~

I was asked awhile ago to review a new product from the folks over at SpellQuizzer. It was prvodential to say the least, because what I had been doing before wasn’t very effecient.   As a busy homeschooling Mom with three sweet peas at three levels, ANYTHING that makes my life a bit simpler is deeply appreciated.  I have steadily been working our children through their phonics and doing spelling tests through dictation….focusing on the use of the phonics rules they have been learning, as well as those pesky sight words in the English language that do not conform to the standard phonics rules.   The Bottom line is, there are some words you just have to memorize and this little computer software, is making my life so much easier.

SpellQuizzer is a spelling program that helps children learn their spelling words. I can create the lists straight from our curriculum and record my voice to aid them. The best part is, I only have to do it once for each level, and walk the kids through it as they progress.  You can download pre-made spelling lists for SpellQuizzer from their web site and share them with co-op friends etc. They see computer time as a special privilege, so getting to do some school work on the computer is a great delight to them. Not to mention they are working on forming beginning typing skills.  If you want a paperless way of getting those dang spelling words undercontrol, while you work with another child on another topic,  you should check them out.  I for one, am working it like a tool!

I love homeschooling, but know there are some pitfalls with it, as with anything.  My oldest would tend to be an introvert, so we are making sure he has PLENTY of chances to be with his peers, work with other constructive, authority figures and do something that requires a little discipline.  Our middle needs something were she isn’t lumped in with her brothers all the time.  She also needs to be around other girls and strong female role models that are not me.  Our youngest is super physical and needs something to keep him moving.  The more he can get out and move, the more he can sit down and focus… so what do you do that doesn’t have me at 3 different place and 3 different time? Trust me I have been pulling my hair out with it.

We do a homeschool PE co-op once a week, so they are getting all the traditional team sports, soccer, flag football, tennis etc.  They all love it. I wanted to give them an individual sport to help them build their confidence and discipline WITHOUT me running all over kingdom come so they could do it.  I know…. tall order but I am a firm believer if you keep asking, you will find the right thing.  We did dance, and karate and gymnastics and they were enjoyed by all, but it wasn’t like they were dying  to go and do it again.  With all of my swimming etc, they have been picking up stokes, and the town Olympic pool is  a 5 minute bike ride from our new home. Our kids have been water bugs since birth. I taught them all to swim before they were 2 and we have lived in the water ever since. Funny side note, that was the first thing I taught them myself that actually gave me the confidence to homeschool.   I have been looking for an individual sport for them to try.  Maybe you remember my post about how my daughter didn’t really like the traditional dance thing for little girls and I was looking for something for her.  I think we have found it.  One day it hit me like a brick, swimming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Presto, we can ride our bikes there, it isn’t crazy expensive, they are around constructive authority figures and kids their age.  It is a physically challenging sport without being super hard on their little growing bodies and did I say THEY LOVE IT? My daughter is seeing older girls who are strong and feminine at the same time without trying to be Barbie, and my boys are getting their niche fit.  I almost gasped when I realized it hit all of my hopes and desires for what our kids needed in the way of  extracurricular activities at this point in their development. Not to mention, I can swim a few laps during their workouts.  Isnt’ that crazy?

So for now, we are a swim family…..my daughter is begging to do diving and can already do a beautiful back dive off the low board, so we will see if that may fit in down the road. Right now, I am tickled silly and wanted to share it with you all here. We are prepping to move into our new home this weekend, so I would guess the next slew of pictures will give you a glimpse of our new space.

Grace and Peace to all who are finding just what they have been looking for~

Yesterday we had the rare opportunity to tour some historical replicas of the ships Columbus found the new world in.  Our first thought upon seeing these ships; handcrafted using 15th century techniques in Brazil was, “Wow they are small!”.  I meen really, really small.

Go to thenina.com and check out all of the cool educational info there.  We are studying Columbus this term so it will be fun to have such a memorable reference to draw on while we read through his life. I thought it was a little peculiar that you could actually charter one of these for a wedding reception or company party.  Hey, I guess everyone even needs to make a buck.

It was even more fun to think of the books we have read this year like Swiss Family Robinson, Treasure Island and Seabird.  These are ships similar to ones that we followed many adventures on.  I would stop to point things out and say, “This is where they kept all their livestock in Swiss Family Robinson.”, and “Can you believe Ezra climbed all the way up there to scout out for icebergs?”.  Each time I was met with an, “I know!” Like Mom, I have already put all of this together in my mind, you do not need to call it out for me.  I stopped after the third exasperated “I KNOW”.

If you are near one of their next stops you should take a tour and if you are anything like our family you might just say, “I can’t believe how small they are!”.

Yesterday we went with another homeschooling family to a wonderful local spot with all sorts of nature and history.

We took a boat ride, saw a local legend’s homestead, worked with microscopes

and made new friends. The day was glorious, the children had their imaginations sparked and I shot my camera like a maniac.

My friend has a very thorough post here and here so instead of rewriting it, I will direct you to her to read all about it.  I am working on a shutterfly book of our adventures.  (Between the two of us we have enough photos for a small novella;-)

As we slowly made our way down the river observing osprey, alligators, Spanish moss, air plants and other natural inhabitants of our local area, I said a quiet prayer at how thankful I am that we live here.  Get out there and see the world people…and please take a little one along with you…they will thank you one day 20 years from now.  Trust me it is an entire practice in delayed gratification.

Grace and Peace to all those “wondering” at the world around them~

Here is another fun addition of real world math.  Firstly, we use and adore Math-U-See consistently throughout the year in our homeschool.  There are days however, that I like to mix it up and do something a little playful to get them thinking about math in the real world.

This morning we played a game of monopoly.  We received the newest version of Monopoly: Here and Now the real World Edition for Christmas.  It is a fun version that incorporates geography, world facts on the chance and community chest cards, and interesting games pieces that take the kids literally around the world in every game.

Our youngest got to work on basic counting by moving the pieces and rolling the dice.  Our middle worked on basic addition by  adding everyone’s dice together and telling them how far they had to move the pieces and our oldest had to read out all of the chance and community chest cards for each player.  We had a ton of fun.  This particular edition, does not have money, but cards and a banker machine that you add and subtract money for each transaction made.  By the end of the first game, they were working through place values in the millions, Large number addition and subtraction and how to work the key pad which is similar to a calculator and a keypad on the computer.  I wont even get into the idea of money management and budgeting as more abstract ideas they begin to absorb through this game.

All in all, I think I hid a little real world math by way of a game today. Give it a try it is easy and fun to do. Tomorrow, we will do a little more real world math, when they get to spend a few real dollars at the zoo to purchase a drink and choose a few animals they would like to feed.  I will hand them each a zip lock bag of coins and they will have to count their way out of it.  That should be a barrel full of monkeys…excuse the pun.

Grace and Peace to all budding mathematicians in the real world!

1). Go to the park - your house will be too messy for you to relax anyway, so get out in the fresh air. You might start feeling better. Better to feel the fresh breeze than get overwhelmed with all the mess that has grown up around you, in your demise.

2) Read a book, it may just take your mind of how your head is throbbing.  I suggest Outliers.  It is a fascinating read.  I wonder how homeschoolers fit into all that junk?

3) Give your kids tons of responsibility.  They will really enjoy being the boss for the day.  You shouldn’t be surprised at how well they all work together. You may, however, vacillate between being disturbed and proud at how well your oldest can do your job as teacher, how your middle can do the job of  a Mommy and how well your youngest listens and narrates to his siblings…..Really mind blowing stuff.

4) In risk of milking it….take a day where you don’t speak..at all….to the kids. Heck I would be sick again just to do this once a week.  It was fascinating and so calming at the same time.  Only motion, do a ton of hand clapping to get their attention, write cryptic notes on scrap paper and make your oldest be your runner. It is amazing how quiet you will find your children, when they have no verbal cues to go on.  Little tip, 7 year olds can not read short hand….so write the whole thing out neatly, or you will have to write it 2 times.  Do the job right the first time and it will save yourself time in the long run. Isn’t that what we tell the kids about a bagillion times a week?

5) DON’T…I repeat DON’T get overwhelmed with what you have fallen behind in in regards to your homeschool schedule.  Take a deep breath, take another Tylenol, drink tons of water, and then right when you are feeling about back up to speed, just do the basics, reading, writing, math…then put it all away. Take your book “Treasure Island” to the beach. Read a chapter and then “play” like you are on the real treasure island and you just found Ben Gunn.  Tomorrow will be another day, and you are waiting on the next level of math to arrive in the mail anyway.  Relax…life is short…and even real teachers get sick too.

Grace and Peace to all who were sick, are sick or will be sick in the next 24 hours the way this bug is running around~

We have had a little virus running through our house.  Our daughter is feeling better but weak and our youngest is starting into it so I have been a little preoccupied.

Because this space has always been a place that I can record ideas and insights along my journey of life, I wanted to leave a few thoughts about why I am in love with the space that God has us in in regards to homeschooling our kiddos.

Firstly, you have space.  Space to work on habits consistently over a long period of time. Space to be still as a family and really watch your children move along in their own formation.  Space to stay clear of the “parenting rat race” that is oh so common.  Space, to pick up hobbies and customs that would not be possible if we did not live our lives this way.

Secondly, you have time to really see what each child needs, and meet them there.  Learn really who they are, and pray that God would show you exactly what they need at any given time in their overall development. Like any parent, there are days you feel like you are not doing enough, your kids are not getting something of what they may need etc. etc.  When those days hit I re-read my homeschooling philosophy, and re-read the scope and sequence provided by AO and relax all over again.  Whenever I get stuck in the details, I pull back and remind myself of the big picture. Speaking of big picture look at these two jokers.  You will have to go to my flickr  and read the whole story.  I was laughing so hard I could hardly focus my camera.

I say this over and over but honestly it is sooo true.  If you can read a recipe and bake a cake, you can homeschool.  You have to learn to be disciplined, but hey if you are not, I would say that is a good life skill to work on anyway, so why not give it a go.  If you are on the fence, this is what I would say. Try it, you may like  it.  Hey you may love it, and then tell all your friends and they do it with you and before you know it, you have a regular homeschool party kickin’.  If you do want to give it a go.  Check out what we use.   It is awesome on so many levels.   Every time I read the FAQ’s I get so tickled that God lead us to this and I can give this level of education at home without me having to spend GOBS of money and without me having to do hours and hours of work to put something of this caliber together. MAJOR props to those homeschool Moms out there who can pull it together on their own.  I know a few and my hats off to them.  I just need some traintracks to run on, and I am good to go. Ambleside gives me that.  I know the “why” before the “how”, and even then when I don’t understand the “why” I trust the method and in time see the amazing fruit in it.

So, today I really had it on my heart to say GO FOR IT!  You have nothing to loose and only buckets of insight to gain.   It isn’t a cake walk for sure, but what is? Great Googly Moogly I could go on and on, but I will stop now.

Grace and Peace to all those who love learning~

I am beginning to work my children into “work plans”.  They wear a watch and I list for them the things we need to accomplish in a day.  Chores, school work etc.  Then I tell them, you need to have x and y done by such and such time. They love it and so do I.  The younger two are still a bit lost, but my oldest is tracking right along.

It is a marvelous method of making them responsible for their life and their work.  In time, I hope to be organized enough to have a book that I hand them, kind of like a day planner that has their “plans” for the day, and then they work through it and bring it to me to sign off on.  In my artistic imaginations, it would almost be  a small art book that I make for them, that they can explore throughout the year with notes of love and inspiration from me, pictures, etc.  I guess I can start to work on that in my free time;-)

A goal for next year. Peace to all managing their time well today.

A Charlotte Mason education has a few distinctives. Here is a great little summary for you if you are new to the philosophy of CM education. We don’t really use workbooks, and narration is a STRONG component of what we do. If you have done any research about it, it can be a bit daunting trying to pull all that off by yourself. That is why I am indebted to the folks over at Ambleside Online. A few Homeschool Moms got together about 10 years ago, and started putting things together for their own families, and just kept on going, keeping track of what they were doing all along, and offering it free for others to find them on their own homeschool journey.

Part of the homeschool process for me, really steamed from my own childhood. I was dreadfully BORED in school and then had a few teachers who just didn’t seem to like me in the 4th and 5th grade (hard to imagine, I know!) and from those 2 things I developed a loathing for school until I reached the collegiate level. When I did get to the collegiate level, I realized some dreadful holes in my understanding of the world, its history and the relationships between how things worked. And I went to one of the top 5 highschools in the nation. I know some of that was because I was being taught to pass tests and not to have a holistic understanding of the world.

So fast forward 15 years, and you can see why some things are very important for me. I really wanted a classical approach with a strong emphasis on history as a whole, not just random little parts that rarely flowed together, and an appreciate for great literature, art, poetry and music. Not just modern things but through the ages. Charlotte Mason filled the bill for me, and now here we are. I literally can’t wait to see what we cover next. It is all so much fun and fascinating, and our kids beg us to keep reading. “DON’T STOP!” is a common phrase in our house, but alas, I do, because it keeps them hungry for more. A love of learning for life is what we are going for, and I see it blooming in the smallest and sweetest way in these early years. I can’t wait to see how it matures through the years.

So here are a some of the questions that Christine asked and I thought I would answer here in case any one else is in her boat.

• Our DC are 12 & 10 (7th & 5th). This is 2nd year HSing 10yr old and 1st year with 12 yr old. Do you think Ambleside is something that they could just get into with no prior use of CM?
  • Absolutely! A CM approach is very different from traditional schooling and workbook driven curriculums. It may take a bit of detox from the way they are used to schooling but give them space to transition. Children are brilliant and if we give them good stuff for their little minds to engage with, they take off and soar. I think they can transition over beautifully. AO is set up in years, yr 1, yr 2 and so on. Those do not mean school years. So a 5th grader coming out of 5th grade traditional school, may need to do yr 3 or yr 4 based on what they can handle. This is where the flexible part comes in. The language component is challenging and it will take a bit for them to get used to the literature readings, and the concept of narrating. One way to check where they should start is by going to a given year and look at the free reading books. Check one out from the library and read it aloud as a family. Track where they are with it. This will tell you if you need to pull back a year or two. There are many 3rd graders coming out of traditional school starting with yr 1. You have to start thinking holistically and not by years. My children are not yet at the age of being able to read their own literature on their own. My 7 year old is in love with Shakespeare. He couldn’t read King Lear on his own, but boy does he LOVE it when I read it to him. It does not mean they can not engage with it beautifully, they just need a facilitator, me. I read aloud, and bit by bit I am transitioning the reading over to them. By yr 4 they should be doing most of their reading on their own. In the beginning you may read a ton with them, even at their age. Just like riding a bike with training wheels, you will see when they can go it alone.

• Also, one of our DC is VERY right brained, visual, Will Ambleside work for him?
  • Yes, you may have to think a little differently. They will have to begin to visualize the story in their brain. You may need to have a notebook handy during the readings, so they can draw out the characters and their interactions. You will also create a Book of Centuries which is a very visual way to keep track of what you are studying. My oldest is very visual too. That is why we LOVE Math U See, it works splendidly for him. You can also incorporate some pbs movies about certain things you are learning about, Shakespeare etc.

• Is there workbooks or is it pretty much reading?
  • I use 3 workbooks, one for Handwriting, one for phonics and one for Math. Other than that, they are creating their own narrations and work, based on how they narrate to me. I don’t ask them leading questions, because it makes them sloppy in their thinking. I read, they listen and then tell me back to the best of their ability. With one of our selections I started asking leading questions and I am paying for it now. With mine, I read one paragraph and ask them to tell me back to the best of their ability exactly what they heard. This is how they are picking up great grammar, vocabulary and how to make the connections in their brains and then give it back to me. It is a hard discipline, and you should not expect them to master it right off the bat. Your age would be giving a written narration. Mine are still orally narrating. I also “test” in this way. They don’t know it is a test, I call the “Oral Reviews” and they go something like this….”Tell me everything you can about…”.

• What are the pros/cons of Ambleside?
  • Pros - it fits all of the things we wanted in an education for our children. I love that it is gentle and challenging at the same time. The information you cover over the 12 years is amazing. The advisory suggests that once a child has moved through year 7 work, they have gotten the equivalent of what a traditional highschool senior would have.
    
  • Cons - Not many, however you may not be “down” with every book selection for different personal reasons. I have no issues with them, but some parents do. Again, be flexible and substitute a great equivalent. They offer suggestions in those areas. Some Moms on the email loop are HARD CORE and can at times put pressure on you to do what they are doing. If you know what you want and where you are going, you will be able to stir clear of that. Comparison is bad stuff, so stay away from it:-)

• Do you teach your children all the same level or do you teach each one at their own levels?
  • I do Bible, Art, Music and Nature Study the same for all 3, handwriting at the same time, just different aspects for each age, Poetry together(I usually pull this back so the littles can hang with it), and math at the same time, just different aspects for each. The reading/phonics, history and literature I do differently as they are at different levels and ability to understand. Your 2 however, are close enough in age, and probably ability at this point that you may experiment doing the same year for both of them. Just ask your older to do a few things a bit more challenging then what your younger can do.

  So, I hope that helps a little. The FAQ’s are very helpful and the email thread is a great source of info as you get going. One of my favorite CM blogs to read is here. She “rocks the shizoks” with all of this stuff. I go there often. If I can be of any help just drop me an email.

So is your music study a little dusty? Maybe you are wondering how in the heck do I teach my children music at home if a) I am not a musician and b) we have no instruments and c) I don’t know where the heck to start.

Well, my friends have no fear. Most Parents can get their kids through the first 2 years of general music instruction on their own with a few good resources and then, if they see that their child is leaning in a given direction, save their pennies for private lessons…cuz Lord knows they are CRAZY expensive. I called the other day for a violin lesson quote and I almost choked over the phone with the dear woman.

Now, I studied violin and piano growing up. I was one of those kids who kept asking and asking to learn, not every kid is like that. Later in life, I taught myself guitar. Once you have the basics of one instrument you can kind of figure things out on any instrument if you want to. I have always sung and eventually started leading worship in college, owned a music and movement business for 8 or so years and taught hundreds of kids and their parents basic music and then stopped because I got burned out and wanted to be with my own kids not everyone else’s and well, the rest is history. Music is a huge part of our families life. I would not say we are musicians per say, we are worshipers who can get around on a guitar and use it to facilitate worship. Even if your child is not drawn to it, it would still be valuable to require them to learn basic knowledge of a given instrument. It is kind of like new foods. How do you know if you are going to like them if you don’t try them.

Why am I writing all of this? Because I have been letting music study slide in our little homeschool. I taught music for so many years with other peoples kids, I just kind of wanted to not go there right now. Shame, shame on me. This is how it works at our house, tons of varied music on all the time, kids seeing Mommy and Daddy lead worship with a guitar, piano at home that kids are getting comfortable with. Oldest - could care less (or so I thought), our middle (interested but not as interested as she is in sports) and our youngest ( sang before he could talk, asks routinely for lessons, works with a drum or the glockenspiel daily and lays his body flat on anything vibrating so, as he says “he can hear the rhythm”.) So I have the whole spectrum.

Here is my game plane, and you can join me if you wish. Maybe we can keep each other accountable:-)
A Piano resource I am going to use is - Pianimals. Hey if you don’t have a piano, check Craig’s List we got a used one super cheap, but a keyboard could do in a pinch. If you can’t even do that, you could ask around and see if a friend or neighbor has one that you could use once a week. We use the classical composer study available for free through Ambleside Online to make sure we are listening to new and different things.

This last week a friend gave our oldest a recorder. Well, Hallelujah, he is finally interested in all things music. So I am going to use Young Beginner Recoder book for our introduction to recorder. Another homeschool blog I read recommended it, so I thought, why reinvent the wheel, I will use that. I mean it is a recorder people, not the harp. I just want to start something.

Pre step - before step 1 - Pray that God would bless your simple heart to infuse the sound of music and worship into your little crews life. He will surely bless it. You never know, you may have a Handel on your hands.

Step 1 - Turn off the TV and turn on the music. Come on you can do it , we won’t die:-)

Step 2 - Leave some “musicky junk” around the house. Recorder,small hand drum, glockenspiel, rhythm sticks. Hey take a field trip to a music store and wet their appetites. Give a kid a pair of rhythm eggs and they will be set for hours.

Step 3 - SCHEDULE IT! Really people, I am talking to myself, I need to plan that sucker in, or as history proves, it wont happen.

Step 4 - Download some good classical stuff to mix into all your current contemporary stuff. Get a good spectrum except for heavens sake country, don’t expose the kids to that junk. (I am kidding, if you all like that sound go ahead, I wont penalize you. I wont understand you, but I wont penalize you:-))

Step 4 - Relax, have fun, don’t stress about it.

Okay, Ready, set…GO!

There are my pithy tips for today. I know mind bending right.

Keepin’ it real peeps - Blessings to you and your crew today!

If you have not done this, you should check it out.

We toured a candy store today. They showed us how to make different types of chocolate candy, many of their cool tools and machines and learned that water is the number one enemy of chocolate. It turns it into taffy like a tootsie roll.

They even let us paint some chocolate portraits with food coloring.

The kids were very polite and well behaved. We left the store standing in one piece and took home a few bags of handmade candy. The owner of the store used to be a teacher for 22 years and then opened this store so she was very hands on. She mentioned how she didn’t know how we did it. How we could teach our own kids. I remember thinking the same thing, until I tried it. Now I couldn’t imagine letting someone else do it, at least not right now. This is my season, and I am taking them to candy store on my terms people!!!

Phew, I am glad I got that off my chest, I couldn’t really give her my home school 411 then, so I just smiled and nodded.If you homeschool, what do you say when people say that to you?

Peace to all who love them some chocolate in large handmade quantities.

This year, our homeschooling has primarily focused on our oldest with our middle child doing small bits of work but nothing required and our youngest just learning to sit and focus on a small task for a bit of time. He is my ALL boy so he needs lots of outside time and loves any type of water work and trucks. Lots and lots of trucks.

Last night when they were getting ready for bed, I sang them the ABC song as they swished their fluoride and for some reason, this was the time he wanted to know all about the ABC’s. He went to bed singing the song and it stayed with him until morning. He brought me the sandpaper letters and asked to learn his ABC’s. So we sat down and had a little phonics lesson with our little 3 year old. The older two were pleased as punch to listen to him doing “big kid” work and he was rather pleased with himself as well. He is sure to remind me daily he IS NOT a baby anymore. I have to remind Jackson to stop correcting him or giggling at him, and Chloe to stop helping him and just LET HIM BE! Oh the poor third child has so many Mommies.

I am also experimenting with starting Jackson on a work plan idea, so that I can sit and work with the younger two. The idea being, I give Jackson his list of things to be done for the day, and he begins working on the things, that he can do without my total aid and support, giving me time to work on other things with the younger two that he already has mastered. Today I saw a little glimpse of that working out. I walked around today like I was the most organized innovative teacher around. You’d of thought I won the Noble peace prize or something.

Give me the props peeps!

I have found a few great links for you to use with your kids at home. I always enjoy getting a good tip so I thought I would give you all a few links that may inspire you over your Winter Break.

Science with Me is a good resource for science based worksheets, ebooks and projects.  It is may be helpful to throw into your homeschooling mix.

Family Fun Time is a site with tons of ideas on crafts, recipes and ways to have “family time”.  My partners and I have been slowly working on this over the past few months.  It has been a labor of love for all of us.

And last but certainly not least is Me and My Girl.  If you have been around my blog much at all you may be familiar with Randi a loyal commenter.  Her blog is a great read but her second site Me and My Girl gives great tips and crafts to do with your little ones at home.  Especially if you need help with hand craft ideas.

So there you have it!  Have fun!

I have a 3 and a 4 year old rambling around throughout our schooling day.  I have found several activities to keep their busy hands…well busy if you know what I mean.

Our children love to be in the kitchen and our youngest is no exception.  A “cutting work” is always one of his favorite activities.  Bananas, cheese, watermelon and cucumbers  are all worthy candidates for beginning cutting activities.   For my older children I may try this though.

 Today, I let our three year old spread natural peanut butter on his banana slices.  Focus, control, attention to detail and fine motor skills all come into play.  Plus a bonus, he is getting his own snack.  He was very proud of himself accomplishing this skill…and I was very happy to have him busy.

I have found a wonderful free software that allows you to download  handwriting fonts onto your computer and create tons of handwriting activities for your preschooler.

I can customize them, and then save them on my desktop and use them over and over.  We have  one notebook that we keep all of our work in.  Keeps our days a bit more streamlined.

Next week we begin week #12 of AO year 1 cirr.  We will then have our oral exams.  I am adding some grace and courtesy things in to the exam but for the most part will use what AO prescribes.

I have done a good job of staying on target.  It is amazing how flexible we have been with our schedule but still been able to stay in task with what we need to finish in the way of course work.

Overall we have had a great beginning.  I am still weak on foreign language and hand craft. We will work on that in term #2. I have mostly been doing painting and cooking in the kitchen for all three as our handcraft.  Our youngest (just three this Sunday) is happy as a clam with his Montessori style practical life works.  Our daughter jumps in and out of lessons as she is drawn to them.  She always sits through her older brothers literature readings an phonics Lessons and requests some of her own too.  She also loves her MUS primer.  Our oldest just read “The Story of Ferdinand” by himself yesterday and giggled the whole way through.  He was so tickled that he was reading a real book and not a “learning reader or phonics lesson”  afterwards he said, “Mom can’t I just read a few pages of Ferdinand everyday instead of having a phonics lesson?”  We only have 20 left so I want to finish them through so I have the experience of teaching it for our next children. 

I love how well rounded the entire course cirr is.  How everything spirals into each other.  It is one masterpiece that is being painted in front of your child, from history to art study to what is going on with Gods People. I am not tweaking anything but doing what AO has prescribed completely and that is why I love it.  I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. ANYONE can do this, really!  Honestly, I am not a trained teacher.  I never liked to play teacher as a child.  I hate busy paper work type things.  In my mind I thought that was what homeschooling was.  I laugh at myself now. 

If this blog does anything, my prayer is that people on the outside looking in would see that you really can do this. So that is my term one update! Thanks for all the encouragement along the way and for everyone who pointed me in this direction. There are too many to name, but I am deeply grateful to all.

Peace to you on this rainy October morning~

I can’t say enough about the Ambleside Online website and its free curriculum resources for the Charlotte Mason method.  I am deeply indebted to all the people and all the hours spent on creating well rounded, balanced resources for parents to implement in their home schools. 

Between all of the articles archived on the site and all the discussion threads contained in the yahoo groups, anyone who wants to provide a well rounded, classical education for their children can jump right in and get started.  The thing that overwhelmed me the most about homeschooling before I got started was the many different types of curriculum out their and how prepacked so much of it felt.  I know that works wonderfully for so many, but somehow it wasn’t inspiring me.

To really grasp something and own it I need to be inspired by it and that is what I am getting through this website.  If you need a little inspiration or direction with your homeschool, check out their site or the new CM Blog Carnival that has started. There are so many tips and thoughts it will keep you inspired for your homeschool journey.  

Our first home school field trip with our local PEC group was so much fun.  My dear Mom watched the youngest children so I could go with our six year old alone.  It was such a joy.  All I could think of as I heard his cries of wonder and enjoyment was, “This is why I am homeschooling! This could of been experienced by some teacher fresh out of college.  She would of barely noticed because her class room is too crowded and she isn’t making enough money to live here and my little treasure would of been lost in the cracks.”    It was a very fufilling day.

I also connected with another home school Mom who is using AO for her daughters YRS1 and 4 so I am thankful to find a local resource to bounce things off of.  

Here is Jackson with the figures of the Astronauts.  I think it is so sweet how he is holding the big ones hand. 

This is the device that projected the images on the planetarium’s dome.  They were beautiful and Jackson was mesmerized.

He could of stayed all day at the science games. 

He asked if this was the name of some Pharaoh out of a book we read a few weeks ago.  It took me a minute to remember who he was talking about.   I said “No, just a small child sized mummy.”  We wondered who it was and how their life could of been.

All in all it was wonderful. Go explore something new in your community this week.  It is a BLAST!

Well, everyday is read out loud day here, but it REALLY is today.  5am and it is raining, and raining and raining.  It has been raining consistently for 10 days now so the kids and I will snuggle up with some good books today.

I am very excited about The Lion Tree that Ruth Willms just sent me.  I started reading it out loud yesterday to the kids and they are hooked in Chapter 1.  It is a fiction book based on the facts of Jonah, Job and Queen Esther.  It has the feel of Chronicles of Narnia so I will keep you posted on how it goes and do  an in depth book review when we are done.

Peace to all~ 

My thought was to do a little school each day while we have been away at Sea World.  Firstly, I forgot my computer so Kim and I have been sharing one and secondly, WE ARE AT SEA WORLD!  What was I thinking?

We have  loosely read through our literature and listened to some extra reading in the car thanks to librivox. Life is learning and petting dolphins qualifies as a bit of school if you ask me.  Not only that, we have been experimenting with tons of nature photos around here.  I will post those soon.

We pray all is well with you all, where ever you may be.

Grace and Peace to you.

I am happy to announce that I am hosting the second Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival. It will be centered around music/composer study. We would love to have your submissions no later than October 1,st by 11:59pm. The carnival will be hosted on this site on the 2nd and you can submit your entries here. I look forward to learning new tips from everyone.

Here is a great homeschool resource. Librivox offers tons of audio books free to download.  We are downloading several to listen to in the car during our travels.  Why not listen to some books on your next long road trip insteda of knee jerking and bringing the portable DVD player. 

Yesterday the children and I went to a local wildlife center to enjoy God’s creation together.  I took an entire photo journal of our time so check out our nature blog.

We love the library.  We are on a first name basis with the librarian.  We check out our home school books for the week, a few Spanish children’s books and an appropriate DVD. 

Some time ago, we checked out Rescue Heroes for our youngest.  He adored it and I KNOW we returned it to the library. At least I think we did. He asks for it all the time.  The library can’t find it and we have renewed it 3x hoping it would pop up. It hasn’t.  We have torn the house and van apart looking for our lost item:-(  So now the library said, I could pay for it with them at the cost of 24.95 with a 4.95 processing fee. WHAT…do they think it was made of gold?

So I just reordered it today on Amazon for 4.91 with 2.95 shipping.  Once I receive it, with the shipping and late fees, that I can’t stop until I produce something to them, I will have about $9 in…$13 if they charge me the processing fee.  Much better than $30 don’t ya think.

I guess it is bound to happen, but it irks me!  I guess we do borrow hundreds of dollars of books a week from them, so one missed item isn’t a bad track record.

So I salvaged my hard week last week on Friday by making sure we had “Something to do, something to think about and something to love”! 

I actually took “the show” on the road and went to our favorite park located adjacent to a marine rescue center.  We did some of our lessons in a favorite forest that shaded us from the heat!

Doing narration from high up in a tree always makes it more exciting.  We read Travel and imagined we were hunting for our own “deserted city”.  Mommy had fun too!

By the end of the day the children were back on track, happy and cooperative.  I think we all had cabin fever.  Outdoor time is so important and not just in your front yard but new places as well. 

Denise was so kind to interview me at her WAHM-Articles blog.  If you have time, and are inclinded go check it out.

If you are interested in driving traffic back to your website or blog, a great way to do it for free is through article submission or written press releases.  Consider an event that is newsworthy or a topic you would like to explore and write an article on it.  (around 500 words)  You then have the opportunity to list an author bio at the bottom of the piece with link backs to your blog or website.  These articles are then viewed constantly for addition to newsletters, blogs and other forms of online media.  Here is an example of a piece I wrote on building Christmas traditions.

I have been invited to be the “Resident Homeschooling Expert” at WHAM-Articles .com. I will be writing a monthly column about homeschooling, tips, resources and reviews.  I was very honored to be asked and am excited to add it to my writing mix.  I will be on the look our for great ideas and tips so if you have something that you think is newsworthy, drop me a line and let me know.

really, I  am not kidding. 

Let me tell you why?  I was wondering if this was really children’s programming or not.  Let me back up.  We are teaching the kids Spanish.  We are learning too of course and are using various methods of fumbling about with it.

We check out children’s books in Spanish at the library and read through them with ease and so I thought that a Spanish DVD looked good for teaching them some more.  I was wrong.  Not only was it cheesy it had a 20 something model in a skimpy dress and heels “dancing” around in circles while singing the colors in Spanish.  Honestly, I gave them about 5 minutes to see if they would move on.  Nope they didn’t.  Sexy, female in skimpy clothing teaching Spanish words to young children. That’s a winner?!

Well, let’s just say “no me’gusta”.

Bye - Bye

I have currently been reading “Hints on Child Training” by H. Clay Trumbull. It is a book written about 100 years ago by Elizabeth Elliott’s Great-Grandfather. It is a wonderfully pragmatic look at how to train you children with the “big picture” in mind. In fact, after reading it once through, I have determined to read it again. It has so many gems in it, that reading it once is not enough to assimilate all of Trumbull’s wisdom. Especially once you are passing through the toddler years and on into early childhood.

In today’s fast past world, child training is rarely embraced as a proactive way to help your children become fully functioning adults. This book hints at the wonder of parenting and the blessing of training early in life. It has been a valuable resource for our family’s thinking on parenting our children.

I think if parents were armed with this information early they would determine to live simply and make sure the stress everywhere else in their life is minimized.  Once you realize how the environment you create for your children forms them deeply, you will be careful to not let “mindless” things slip in. As parents, our  specific mindset of where we are leading our children is key to navigating the parenting roadblocks that inevitably arise along our children’s path to adult hood. It is a sobering thought to realize the weaknesses that will occur in our children as adults are due to our weaknesses as a parents when they are young. This is a must have for a families library. It is one of those books that you will highlight and underline and refer to often.

This year I am keeping a record of all of our activities digitally.  I am keeping a monthly project going with picaboo to keep all of our adventures organized and kept in one place.  I plan to scan certain written work that is appropriate and drawn narrations to add to the piece.  It will be a fun family keepsake. 

The children have one from the former preschool and they cherish it.  I wish to keep the tradition going without all the actual cutting and pasting.  It is a whole new digital world and I intend to use it like a tool.

 Grace and Peace to all,

I am ALWAYS finding myself stuck on Lindafay’s home school blog Higher up and Further In.  It is very comforting to read through her many years of home schooling experience for tips, ideas etc.  I have been slowly reworking my blogs organization.  It is becoming my home school dashboard.  Thoughts, wonderings, resources and other inspiring people to read found in my blog roll.  Jackson is on it as much as I am tooling through the resources.  He LOVES THIS! My hope is that one day this site would be an encouragement to a brand new home schooling mama who is excited and nervous and wondering if she can ever pull this off.  And then voila, she will find this blog and she will say to herself, “Oh my goodness if SHE could do it I will have no problem!”  So keep watching the links come in.  (I hope you find them as helpful and inspiring as I do) I will soon begin adding book reviews and the kids and I will be starting a nature blog here soon.  Their sketches are still scribble and I want them to have a place to see what they are recording.  I taught Jackson how to use the digital camera and he routinely goes out and snaps shots of local wildlife.  Mostly flowers and trees.  Yesterday we went to a little park called “Peanut Island”.  During the summer we go every Monday night with my parents in their boat.  We saw a spotted manta ray with a 5 foot wing span and 2 mini hermit crabs walking along.  I wished we had our camera.  So now we wont leave home without it.     Speaking of blogging…I wish other really experienced homeschoolers I know (not to mention any names, Chenoa Styron and Carolyn Hanson) would start a blog like Lindafay’s so more newbie’s can bask in their wisdom.  It is such a gift.  I am thankful for their encouraging words along the way.  Anyway….no pressure, I was just thinking how cool it would be if I could scroll through their brain and not bug them all the time with calls and emails.