Thursday is a new experience for us. Little Queen is not with us on Thursday. This is strange and could not have predicted. We miss her. But, we get a lot done while she is off having a pretty good time (and missing us).
Firstborn and Sunshine worked on their memory work and are doing very nicely. (Psalm 42, in the sidebar). Firstborn corrected yesterday's math test. Silly mistakes show that he knows how to do the work just needs to take more time and care in the execution. He also completed another handwriting book today. I think we will start the next one while awaiting the arrival of the typing program he will be starting. We fininshed off Chapter 3 of our history text and made plans to put all of those conquistadors, early American saints and exploration routes into our own little book. Sunshine made progress on her embroidery while I read and continues to work steadily through her penmanship. Latin was completely neglected today. Darn! Both children are preparing diligently for their upcoming music theory tests.
Rosebud is counting by tens in her Primer math book now and is well past the half way mark in her penmanship book. Though she claims not to "like history" (then usually proceeds to ask what history is), she loves her Bible stories which we are reading chronologically, one tale daily. And, she was disappointed to learn that we had read about St. Rose of Lima yesterday in history without her. I will happily re-read it for her this weekend or next Monday. It is her reading that is really sailing along, though I don't think she realizes just how well. It is so gratifying to hear her read many of the words with just a quick sound out or none at all and of course the vocabulary grows daily as we add new sound combinations. She is finally lovin' it.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Firstborn Writes
Here is Firstborn's final submission to his first online writing class:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coach Kevin put me on the pitcher's mound for the first time. My knees shook with nervousness, but I focused on the cather's mitt. We were in the third of four innings and I had already struck out two batters. There was a runner on second when the next batter came to the plate.
For the first two throws, I slipped my fingers over the stitched seams. Now there were two strikes on the scoreboard and I wanted the next pitch to be the final one of the inning. I rotated the ball in my hand and planted my fingers across the seams. I shut out all of the sounds around me and my eyes were like laser beams on the catcher's mitt. I drew my armback and let the ball fly. SMACK! The ball hit the catcher's mitt and the umpire called it, "Strrrike three!"
That day I used two of my best pitches. The last pitch was one I made up. It flies as strait as a wooden dowel. I usually use it when the batter has two strikes and three balls. It works well also against left handed batters. To deliver this pitch, you hold your fingers across the seams.The other two pitches I throw are the two-seam fastball and the four-seam fastball. The two are practically the same, except the two seam fastball curves a little more than the four seam. To throw the two-seam fastball, hold your fingers with the seams. The pitch the four-seam fastball hold your fingers across the seams at the curvy part.
Professional pitchers use all kinds of grips dependent on the situation. A few are the curveball, the knuckleball, the screwball, and the change-up. I sometimes use the change-up, too. For the change-up, the pitcher holds the ball with three of four fingers and across one with the seams, depending on which kind of change up is thrown.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coach Kevin put me on the pitcher's mound for the first time. My knees shook with nervousness, but I focused on the cather's mitt. We were in the third of four innings and I had already struck out two batters. There was a runner on second when the next batter came to the plate.
For the first two throws, I slipped my fingers over the stitched seams. Now there were two strikes on the scoreboard and I wanted the next pitch to be the final one of the inning. I rotated the ball in my hand and planted my fingers across the seams. I shut out all of the sounds around me and my eyes were like laser beams on the catcher's mitt. I drew my armback and let the ball fly. SMACK! The ball hit the catcher's mitt and the umpire called it, "Strrrike three!"
That day I used two of my best pitches. The last pitch was one I made up. It flies as strait as a wooden dowel. I usually use it when the batter has two strikes and three balls. It works well also against left handed batters. To deliver this pitch, you hold your fingers across the seams.The other two pitches I throw are the two-seam fastball and the four-seam fastball. The two are practically the same, except the two seam fastball curves a little more than the four seam. To throw the two-seam fastball, hold your fingers with the seams. The pitch the four-seam fastball hold your fingers across the seams at the curvy part.
Professional pitchers use all kinds of grips dependent on the situation. A few are the curveball, the knuckleball, the screwball, and the change-up. I sometimes use the change-up, too. For the change-up, the pitcher holds the ball with three of four fingers and across one with the seams, depending on which kind of change up is thrown.
Alive and Learnin'
So, judging by my sitemeter, it seems people are actually checking in to this sorry, neglected little learning blog. Well, we are still here and still learning. The silence here perhaps reflects just how busy learning we have been. Well, maybe. Anyway, the Autumn started out a bit slow it seemed to me. Though the children were eager to resume their academic studies, we just didn't find our groove. And then, Little Queen and I went out of town for a few days which really threw everything off. Now we are back. And we are grooving.
Rosebud is absolutely loving her work right now. She asks me first thing each morning (sometimes when I am still in bed) if she may please go do some handwriting and math. Pretty please. Umm...sure. And then she does more later when we've all joined up for some concentrated work. On Saturday morning, on Sunday morning, on Columbus Day morning, Rosebud could be found pouring over another page of her Getty-Dubay
Italics handwriting book or polishing off another lesson in her beloved Math-U-See Primer. With just a bit of encouragement, she is sounding off a new set of words or another tiny tale from our well worn copy of the Little Angel Reader. She treasures her daily Bible story whether it is read to her by myself, an older sibling, or even on occassion, The Prof. Kindergarten is a simple delight for this simply delightful little girl
Sunshine embraces the growing challenges of her second grade work. She also began work in the Getty-Dubay series this year and enjoys the words and sentences and the stylized writing. Math is not a love, but comes quite naturally even as she starts in on the Beta book. Beta throws subtraction and graphs into the mix. History is interesting and First Holy Communion preparation an absolute favorite activity. In addition to memorizing the Baltimore Catechism, she is preparing an album. Moreover, she is joining her brother in studying the Mass which so far includes learning about the vesting of the priest (an small but elaborate ceremony in and of itself), liturgical colors and memorizing Psalm 42 (as numbered in the Douy-Rheims) found at the opening of the (traditional Latin) Mass.
Firstborn just completed a 6-week long online writing class given by Jean Hall via Bravewriter. What a great education for both of us. We look forward to more writing and more classes in the future. Math continues to be the unfavored subject, though with careful attention to detail, it comes easily enough this boy's mind. He is working through Epsilon (from our dear Math-U-See) , doing battle, it seems, with the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of fractions. Fractions are presented in all of their fanciful and frightful forms here: from improper (oh my!) to mixed and everything in between. Our discovery of the past has finally brought us to US history. Coronado, Pizzaro, de Soto, St. Brendan, Columbus, Sts. Martin de Porres, Rose of Lima, and Juan Diego are the names whirling around in our minds, past our eyes and under our pencils these days. Thrilling tales of adventure, savagery and holiness, to be sure.
The two elders are both studying Latin; Rosebud in the old friend, Prima Latina and Firstborn leading the way through Latin for Children. Geography studies through the literary prowess of Holling C. Holling (what was his mother thinking? Holling?!) have captured my children's attention. And we are even trying our hands at a bit of letterboxing! (More to come on that venture soon)
The out and abouts include art class, ballet and...and, well, Firstborn really wanted to give fencing a try this year but it just didn't seem to fall into place. Maybe next year.
I am just relieved that we have finally found a rhythm, a constant to cling to as the weekends and evenings fill up in the flow leading to holidays.
Rosebud is absolutely loving her work right now. She asks me first thing each morning (sometimes when I am still in bed) if she may please go do some handwriting and math. Pretty please. Umm...sure. And then she does more later when we've all joined up for some concentrated work. On Saturday morning, on Sunday morning, on Columbus Day morning, Rosebud could be found pouring over another page of her Getty-Dubay
Italics handwriting book or polishing off another lesson in her beloved Math-U-See Primer. With just a bit of encouragement, she is sounding off a new set of words or another tiny tale from our well worn copy of the Little Angel Reader. She treasures her daily Bible story whether it is read to her by myself, an older sibling, or even on occassion, The Prof. Kindergarten is a simple delight for this simply delightful little girlSunshine embraces the growing challenges of her second grade work. She also began work in the Getty-Dubay series this year and enjoys the words and sentences and the stylized writing. Math is not a love, but comes quite naturally even as she starts in on the Beta book. Beta throws subtraction and graphs into the mix. History is interesting and First Holy Communion preparation an absolute favorite activity. In addition to memorizing the Baltimore Catechism, she is preparing an album. Moreover, she is joining her brother in studying the Mass which so far includes learning about the vesting of the priest (an small but elaborate ceremony in and of itself), liturgical colors and memorizing Psalm 42 (as numbered in the Douy-Rheims) found at the opening of the (traditional Latin) Mass.
Firstborn just completed a 6-week long online writing class given by Jean Hall via Bravewriter. What a great education for both of us. We look forward to more writing and more classes in the future. Math continues to be the unfavored subject, though with careful attention to detail, it comes easily enough this boy's mind. He is working through Epsilon (from our dear Math-U-See) , doing battle, it seems, with the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of fractions. Fractions are presented in all of their fanciful and frightful forms here: from improper (oh my!) to mixed and everything in between. Our discovery of the past has finally brought us to US history. Coronado, Pizzaro, de Soto, St. Brendan, Columbus, Sts. Martin de Porres, Rose of Lima, and Juan Diego are the names whirling around in our minds, past our eyes and under our pencils these days. Thrilling tales of adventure, savagery and holiness, to be sure.
The two elders are both studying Latin; Rosebud in the old friend, Prima Latina and Firstborn leading the way through Latin for Children. Geography studies through the literary prowess of Holling C. Holling (what was his mother thinking? Holling?!) have captured my children's attention. And we are even trying our hands at a bit of letterboxing! (More to come on that venture soon)
The out and abouts include art class, ballet and...and, well, Firstborn really wanted to give fencing a try this year but it just didn't seem to fall into place. Maybe next year.
I am just relieved that we have finally found a rhythm, a constant to cling to as the weekends and evenings fill up in the flow leading to holidays.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
digging in
We have been off to a pretty good start this Autumn. I am attempting to prepare a daily ordo for each child--a list to have ready for each child when they awaken in the morning. It includes the date, feast day, domicile contributions for the day, R & D assignments, listing of any out of home activities and a list of current and near future events of interest. For me, this is an advanced level of planning ahead and seems to be much appreciated by the children.
Here are some general ideas of the concentrations of study for the time being:
Rosebud (5yo, Kindergarten):
Here are some general ideas of the concentrations of study for the time being:
Rosebud (5yo, Kindergarten):
- Penmanship...she already had learned cursive letter shapes from the sandpaper letters last year. Now we are embarking on the Getty-Dubay italics print book along with alternative "writing" materials. For example, some days she "writes" and spells using the moveable alphabet and other days with rubber stamp letters. I am taking this nice and slow as a) I know how tiring writing is to the young arm and B) I certainly don't want to make anything about writing feel negative or overwhelming. The joy of writing is a difficult attitude to recover once trampled upon.
- Catechism...She is unintentionally learning the First Communion Baltimore catechism right along with her older sister and enjoys listening to the FHC stories I am reading Sunshine. In addition, she and I agreed to read stories together from her children's bible each week.
- Math...Again, I know better than to push this subject on any child who is young and not yet thirsting for it, but Rosebud was really thirsty. She did a grocery store pre-school math book this summer just for fun, but was begging for the real thing. So imagine her excitement when I agreed to purchase the Math-U-See primer for her. She loves it and is doing well.
- Reading...Tempered enthusiasm on this subject. She wants so very much to be a reader but considers the process to be hard work. So little snippets is our approach. One page or one story a day from the Little Angel Reader, Level A. But, she is showing progress even at that. Also encouraged when I show her a word in a book or on a sign that she can successfully sound out.
- Sewing...We will continue to work on this ever popular activity...more button sewing and then onto some large square gingham for little stuffed pillows and animals
- Music...to include piano study and concert attendance
Rosebud
- Penmanship...also has some mastery of cursive, but now we are switching to Getty-Dubay italics. I think she is enjoying this and does a page daily.
- Latin...Of course she already knows the prayers and phrases we use daily, but this is Rosebud's first formal study of Latin and we will use the time tested Prima Latina for her.
- Math...continuing on in Alpha...a topic not as beloved as it used to be, but not despised
- History...A semester long study of American history with her big brother and then it is back to Creation. We are trying out From Sea to Shining Sea this term.
- Catechism...Two-fold. Preparation for First Holy Communion, including memorization of the Baltimore Catechism, many read aloud books and an Album. Also, an in-depth study of the Mass to include DVDs, texts, and the creation of an Album.
- Science...nature walks and wherever they take us.
- Music...piano lessons, concert attendance
- Geography...Holling C. Holling books and study
- Home arts...embroidery...she is beginning a counted cross stitch sampler
Okay, it is getting late. I will write an overview of Firstborn's fifth grade course of study tomorrow evening. However, the goals listed above are limited primarily to the check list academics but not reflective of my real goals for the year. I am determined that we WILL cook more together, indulge in a museum membership and ballet subscription, seek out more concerts, learn water color painting, go on regular nature walks, and, of course, continue our constant read alouds.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
and we're off...
It is funny, even though we don't take the entire summer away from academic learning and even though learning is an ongoing experience in this household, there continues to be a magic about starting fresh in the Autumn. New books are still arriving, new subjects are being explored and new routines attempted. But, after just a few short weeks of hiatus from the math, Latin, readers, history and penmanship the little scholars here at the Suburban Ranch were itchin' to get started again. Sunshine told me the days were so slow...she missed the routine and purpose that a morning spent huddled around books and writing implements brings, I suppose.
So, like all of our public school counterparts, we dove back in on Monday morning. It wasn't a typical start, though. No, I would never want our first day to resemble the first day of a brick and mortar school. That would defy part of our purpose in home education. Rather, we started a bit late (yours truly was up a bit too late the night before organizing the Study and the studies) in the morning. First task: the chef's apprentice (Firstborn in this case) prepared, with some assistance, Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins--spiked with some lemon zest and juice to give some kick.
We marched on thru our other planned topics with a few variations. Firstborn is starting the Bravewriter Kidswrite online writing course this term and there was a really fun pre-writing game that we played (even included Sunshine in on the fun-she couldn't resist). Also, I started Firstborn on reading the history lesson to us. And, above all, I didn't think Rosebud--officially a Kindergarten aged student now--was going to be able to contain her excitement at finally starting her first Math U See workbook. I think she wanted to try to complete the entire book in one sitting. I sure hope her enthusiasm continues for years to come.
It was a completely fun first day. A low-impact Monday enjoyed by all.
So, like all of our public school counterparts, we dove back in on Monday morning. It wasn't a typical start, though. No, I would never want our first day to resemble the first day of a brick and mortar school. That would defy part of our purpose in home education. Rather, we started a bit late (yours truly was up a bit too late the night before organizing the Study and the studies) in the morning. First task: the chef's apprentice (Firstborn in this case) prepared, with some assistance, Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins--spiked with some lemon zest and juice to give some kick.
We marched on thru our other planned topics with a few variations. Firstborn is starting the Bravewriter Kidswrite online writing course this term and there was a really fun pre-writing game that we played (even included Sunshine in on the fun-she couldn't resist). Also, I started Firstborn on reading the history lesson to us. And, above all, I didn't think Rosebud--officially a Kindergarten aged student now--was going to be able to contain her excitement at finally starting her first Math U See workbook. I think she wanted to try to complete the entire book in one sitting. I sure hope her enthusiasm continues for years to come.
It was a completely fun first day. A low-impact Monday enjoyed by all.
Friday, June 01, 2007
31 May 2007
Yesterday started out rainy and overcast. The children were absolutely itching to get outside and once the thunder & lightning had passed, they burst out through the doors. An hour passed while they collected worms in the street puddles to feed to our garden and our hens. On the long front porch, we timed each of the girls as they sprinted back and forth. We got out the jump ropes and practiced a new skill. Is it bad that none of them know how to jump rope yet? Yikes! Back inside, the elder three and I read the rest of a book about Shakespeare and then a picture book retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Firstborn spent time playing Babble and then completed a painting he had started last week. The afternoon was filled with friends and "socialization." And, at last, the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals on prime time ABC. During one of the commercial breaks, everyone went out side to enjoy the first popsicle of the season.
All in all, a perfect day of learning! Art, history, drama, physical activity, socializing, spelling, science and off to bed exhausted and content...
All in all, a perfect day of learning! Art, history, drama, physical activity, socializing, spelling, science and off to bed exhausted and content...
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Today Rosebud Read
Okay, sounded out. But it is official. She got out her reader, we snuggled on the couch in my bedroom and she sounded out some three letter words with very little to no help from me. We were beaming. This ranks among my favorite moments...first steps, first smiles, first spoken words, first words read.
Love it!
Love it!
A Very Schooly Day, Thurs 10 May
Well, after having had a sort of unintended break from school in March and April, the little scholars were literally begging to return to their more formal studies. We have been back at it and while appreciate the return to routine as much as they do, I am getting a little squirmy about all our workbookish, schooly-school dependence. Still, we made thru to the ebb of outside life, so I am sometimes too preoccupied to get creative and surrender myself entirely to their intellectual souls. As I say, though, I am getting squirmy. Tomorrow we ARE heading out on a nature walk with camera, sketch books, picnic lunch, jars, guidebooks and I am NOT promising that we will use any of those things. But we will learn, explore and enjoy.
And then there was a very "proper" school day today...
Firstborn:
And then there was a very "proper" school day today...
Firstborn:
- Handwriting--New Workbook (!), pagaes 14-15
- MUS--Complete 19B & 19C
- Latin--Listen to chant CD and complete pages 44-45
- Memorization--Malachi 1:11
- Spelling/Vocabulary--Babble
Sunshine:
- Handwriting—page 17, first two lines
- MUS—Watch Lesson 27 presentation & complete 27A
- Memorization—Complete Heb 1:3
- Copywork—color illustration
- Catechism—Narrate new Just Like Mary reading
- Spelling/Vocabulary—Babble
We also read up on the Renaissance world explorers in our Kingfisher Encyclopedia...da Gama, Columbus, Magellan, etc.
Wednesday 9 May 2007
A simple, schooly morning. Tomorrow I hope we can be a bit more creative and together.
Firstborn:
Handwriting—New workbook! pages 12-13
MUS—Watch Lesson 19 Presentation; Complete 19A (watched the lesson alone, but seems to have caught on)
Latin—Listen to Chant CD two times (he neglected to listen yesterday)
Copywork/Memorization—Malachi 1:11
Spelling/Vocabulary: Babble
Sunshine:
MUS— Test 26
Copywork/Memorization—Complete verse from Heb 13
Catechism—Narrate new Just Like Mary reading
Spelling/Vocabulary—Babble
Rosebud
Magnadoodle phonics
Firstborn:
Handwriting—New workbook! pages 12-13
MUS—Watch Lesson 19 Presentation; Complete 19A (watched the lesson alone, but seems to have caught on)
Latin—Listen to Chant CD two times (he neglected to listen yesterday)
Copywork/Memorization—Malachi 1:11
Spelling/Vocabulary: Babble
Sunshine:
MUS— Test 26
Copywork/Memorization—Complete verse from Heb 13
Catechism—Narrate new Just Like Mary reading
Spelling/Vocabulary—Babble
Rosebud
Magnadoodle phonics
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
7 May 07
On the days we've had time to work in some formal learning (which are beginning to increase again), we have been trying something a little new. I spend an hour at the beginning of the day, even before breakfast if possible, to work one on one with Firstborn. Then, about a half hour each with Sunshine and Rosebud. With Firstborn and Sunshine, I review their previous work (check yesterday's math, Latin, handwriting, etc) and we decide together their goals for the current day. I have started typing these goals on a Word document along with reminders of extra-cirricular activities and special contributions they may make for the day (sweeping the porch, filling bird feeder/bath, watering garden, etc) so that they can check back without my having to remember it all. I have even bigger ideas for these "Book(s) of Days" that I will write about in the future.
For today, Rosebud was so excited about her new bike and new rollerskates and new CDs, that I am just giving her the day to bathe in her happiness while honing new cooridination skills. She is absolutely beaming.
Firstborn: Chef's Apprentice
For today, Rosebud was so excited about her new bike and new rollerskates and new CDs, that I am just giving her the day to bathe in her happiness while honing new cooridination skills. She is absolutely beaming.
Firstborn: Chef's Apprentice
- Latin--pages 42 (derivatives) & 43 (grammar review); listen & chant with CD lessons 1-10
- MUS--Lesson 18 TEST and online multiplication drill with timings
- Handwriting--page 75 This completes the book! Also discussed prefixes and suffixes.
- Spelling & Vocabulary--Babble
- Listen to Science with Sunshine--Catholic Stories from Science 2, Soul Food and Germs Make me Sick
- Art/Painting
- Nature walk
Rosebud
- MUS--correct problems from last assignment
- Handwriting--two sentences
- Catechism--Discussed new page from Learning to Love God, copied (traced) illustration and copied half of scripture verse (complete and memorize tomorrow)
- Art/painting
- Nature walk
- Science (same as Firstborn, see above)
Sunday, May 06, 2007
catching up
Oh dear, I fear I have ignored this learning blog for far too long. We had high gardening hopes for the month of March. Alas, a miraculously wet spring has disrupted our plans. The positive aspect is that the rain is making an actual dent in the extreme drought we have endured for years now. The negative, albeit selfish, is that as it is unhealthy for the plants and soil to be worked when wet, we didn't do even half of what we had planned. Nonetheless, we dug up nearly three 64 sq ft garden beds. One is planted with tomatoes, sweet and spicy peppers and a tomatillo. (Forgot eggplant?) One is planted around the perimeter with sunflowers in hopes of growing a little sunflower house. Normally it would be too late, but we are hoping to drop a few melon seeds in our third bed just to see if they might make it in this strangely wet and "cool" spring weather. There are few herbs to add (how could we make it through the summer without fresh basil?) and then we'll be stopped by the inevitable hot weather.
The fig tree looks gorgeous. The blackberry patch is flowering and putting out the preliminary green sours. And the peach reports from the orchards is good, so far.
In the meantime, we have made some irregular attempts at school work. Plugging along on math, Latin, and handwriting for Firstborn. Math & handwriting for Sunshine. A bit of history for the pair of them. And reading/writing for Rosebud. In the last couple of weeks, she has started some very primitive attempts at sounding out three letter words. We're on the brink of a breakthrough.
There had been a lot of days "off" this spring because, well because, outside life becomes so demanding in the spring. It is this way every spring. And Advent. The natural consequence of a flow in Life is an ebb in formal research and discovery. We very nearly fall into a patch of unschooling. And that is okay. It really is. The children are happy, we have read a lot, done some baking and cooking. Art, ballet, choir, music, and baseball mark the week and puncuate the education with bits of normalcy and formality. But now the children are begging. Mom, when can we get back to school? Can't you read us some history? When will I read? When will you get my new math book?
The flow of life is gradually ebbing and I've got the little scholars right where I want 'em: begging for more education. Bwah-ha-ha! Actually, I think it is their way of begging for my attention, for their routine and for our morning together time. We enjoy learning together and being together. Come to think of it, I am ready for a return to mornings in the Study.
We are trying some new formats and I am refocusing on spiritual preparation. More details forthcoming. I'll be writing more about these in the days to come.
The fig tree looks gorgeous. The blackberry patch is flowering and putting out the preliminary green sours. And the peach reports from the orchards is good, so far.
In the meantime, we have made some irregular attempts at school work. Plugging along on math, Latin, and handwriting for Firstborn. Math & handwriting for Sunshine. A bit of history for the pair of them. And reading/writing for Rosebud. In the last couple of weeks, she has started some very primitive attempts at sounding out three letter words. We're on the brink of a breakthrough.
There had been a lot of days "off" this spring because, well because, outside life becomes so demanding in the spring. It is this way every spring. And Advent. The natural consequence of a flow in Life is an ebb in formal research and discovery. We very nearly fall into a patch of unschooling. And that is okay. It really is. The children are happy, we have read a lot, done some baking and cooking. Art, ballet, choir, music, and baseball mark the week and puncuate the education with bits of normalcy and formality. But now the children are begging. Mom, when can we get back to school? Can't you read us some history? When will I read? When will you get my new math book?
The flow of life is gradually ebbing and I've got the little scholars right where I want 'em: begging for more education. Bwah-ha-ha! Actually, I think it is their way of begging for my attention, for their routine and for our morning together time. We enjoy learning together and being together. Come to think of it, I am ready for a return to mornings in the Study.
We are trying some new formats and I am refocusing on spiritual preparation. More details forthcoming. I'll be writing more about these in the days to come.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Beowulf
BeowulfWe are nearing the end of our adventures with Beowulf. Actually we sadly read the tale of the death of the brave Ring-giver today. Firstborn recently did some copywork from an earlier verse in the epic wherein the elder King Hygelac is sagely exhorting Beowulf to be mindful of the fragility of life even in the wake of his great defeat over the man eating Grendel. King Hygelac speaking to his adorned, but youthful, hero:
O flower of warriors, beware of that trap.
choose, dear Beowulf, the better part,
eternal rewards. Do not give way to pride.
For a brief while your strength is in bloom
but it fades quickly; and soon there will follow
illness or the sword to lay you low,
or a sudden fire or surge of water
or jabbing blade or javelin from the air
or repellant age. Your piercing eye
will dim and darken; and death will arrive,
dear warrior, to sweep you away.
Firstborn and I relished the poet's masterful description of the creation of the earth in the earliest verses of the epoch:
The a powerful demon, a prowler through the dark,
nursed a hard grievance. It harrowed him
to hear the din of the loud banquet
everyday in the hall, the harp being struck
and the clear song of a skilled poet
telling with mastery of man's beginnings,
how the Almighty had made the earth
a gleaming plain girdled with waters;
in His splendour He set the sun and the moon
to be earth's lamplight, lanterns for men,
and filled the broad lap of the world
with brancehs and leaves; and quickened life
in every other thing that moved.
In all honesty, I had no previous knowledge of the tale of Beowulf and did not expect that we would read the entire book. Rather unexpectedly, it has been a glorious and riveting story of bravery, youth, wisdom, loyalty, faith in God, virtue, death and the battle against evil at any cost. Although Rosebud did ask that we not read the "next" book (she is accustomed to books coming in series), I think it is fair to write that we have all enjoyed hearing of Beowulf's adventures and character. I hope to have Firstborn compose a written summary of some sort after we finish the final pages later this week.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Thursday 8 Mar 07
The classroom has officially moved outdoors this week. Tuesday we measured, measured, and measured the backyard. Wednesday I drew a scale model of the yard using both our measurements and the survey that came with the house. (Firstborn has requested a copy of this model so that he can try to fill in some of the details to make it more illustrated.) Today there were a few last measurements and then the digging began.
At the rear of our property is a chain link fence; beyond that, we can see the back of our neighbor's house and partially onto their oversized side yard/dog run and then out on to the street parallel to our own. It isn't an offensive view, but it is haphazardly interrupted by 4-8' tall hackberry trees ("trash trees") that have spontaneously taken up root over the years. I have always considered these trees to be an eyesore and of no value to us in terms of asthetics or privacy. So this morning the apprentice gardeners and I began the work of sawing down the trees and digging up portions of the roots. It was hard work, but the weather couldn't have been better for outdoor physical labor. There is a bit remaining for tomorrow which is predicted to be another glorious spring-like day.
In addition to finishing the task of clearing out the fence line, the Prof will be home most of tomorrow and I hope to walk the property with him and the children so we can discuss some of my landscaping ideas. I also hope to stop by the school where the Prof works to re-examine some of the neat landscaping they have incorporated during the past year and possibly at a nursery to discuss garden border options.
The bright sun and warm air are so invigorating. I am drinking in deep breaths of this wonderful season as it will soon be burned away by the blazing sun. I hope that we will have a garden that will be inviting enough to beckon us out for an early morning iced tea on even the hottest late summer days.
St. Fiacre, pray for us.
At the rear of our property is a chain link fence; beyond that, we can see the back of our neighbor's house and partially onto their oversized side yard/dog run and then out on to the street parallel to our own. It isn't an offensive view, but it is haphazardly interrupted by 4-8' tall hackberry trees ("trash trees") that have spontaneously taken up root over the years. I have always considered these trees to be an eyesore and of no value to us in terms of asthetics or privacy. So this morning the apprentice gardeners and I began the work of sawing down the trees and digging up portions of the roots. It was hard work, but the weather couldn't have been better for outdoor physical labor. There is a bit remaining for tomorrow which is predicted to be another glorious spring-like day.
In addition to finishing the task of clearing out the fence line, the Prof will be home most of tomorrow and I hope to walk the property with him and the children so we can discuss some of my landscaping ideas. I also hope to stop by the school where the Prof works to re-examine some of the neat landscaping they have incorporated during the past year and possibly at a nursery to discuss garden border options.
The bright sun and warm air are so invigorating. I am drinking in deep breaths of this wonderful season as it will soon be burned away by the blazing sun. I hope that we will have a garden that will be inviting enough to beckon us out for an early morning iced tea on even the hottest late summer days.
St. Fiacre, pray for us.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
(Monday &) Tuesday
Monday...forget it. Monday was blur of dental appointment, dropping off and picking up children, cleaning house, phone calls & e-mails, teaching lessons, early dinner, teaching class, meetings. No school and probably no real learning. That is behind us now.
Tuesday was so very relaxed by comparison. Firstborn did some Latin, Math, and music practice and by then the temps had risen enough that I was willing to head outdoors for the beginning of our landscaping adventure. The three eldest and I wove around the back yard marking every possible measurement: from the privacy fence to the corner of the house, from the privacy fence to the patio, patio to driveway, privacy fence to chain link fence, back of house to back fence, back fence to coop, back fence to Kindergarten, back fence to playscape, etc., etc.
Next task is to get it down on graph paper.
In the afternoon there was artistic pursuits followed by a tasty and simple supper. After dinner the children worked on their Lenten coloring contest pictures and the girls worked on Sunshine's jewelry box. They called their friends, the H's and we called it a day. Such a pleasant contrast to Monday.
Tuesday was so very relaxed by comparison. Firstborn did some Latin, Math, and music practice and by then the temps had risen enough that I was willing to head outdoors for the beginning of our landscaping adventure. The three eldest and I wove around the back yard marking every possible measurement: from the privacy fence to the corner of the house, from the privacy fence to the patio, patio to driveway, privacy fence to chain link fence, back of house to back fence, back fence to coop, back fence to Kindergarten, back fence to playscape, etc., etc.
Next task is to get it down on graph paper.
In the afternoon there was artistic pursuits followed by a tasty and simple supper. After dinner the children worked on their Lenten coloring contest pictures and the girls worked on Sunshine's jewelry box. They called their friends, the H's and we called it a day. Such a pleasant contrast to Monday.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Wednesday, 28 Feb 07
For the first time in years, we do not have art class on Wednesdays. It has been a long standing routine to spend our Wed mornings either cramming school work or cleaning house. Mid-day we have always made the dash to art class and then attended or, more recently, hosted a Rosary/playdate. Busy day. But, no more. Art has been switched and really made the morning seem luxurious.
We actually did a credible amount of school work and, after lunch, spent a good amount of energy cleaning the house before our friends arrived.
Firstborn:
We actually did a credible amount of school work and, after lunch, spent a good amount of energy cleaning the house before our friends arrived.
Firstborn:
- MUS: we checked the first three pages of lesson 3, no worries there (completed 2 today)
- Handwriting: nearly completed the book
- Poetry: claims to have it memorized, though I haven't heard it yet.
- History: worked on a coloring page from a Dover Story of the Crusades book
- Latin: started a new lesson today, though I need to listen to the lesson as it sounded grammar heavy and I was preoccupied at the time he watched the DVD
- Baseball
Sunshine:
- MUS: Completed a page
- Handwriting: plugging along...did a page today
- Sewing: a) completed a button braclet and b) completed a little sachet stuffed pillow
Rosebud:
- Sewing: she is really excited to start some sewing again. Rosebud completed a button braclet and practiced straight even stitches with burlap & yarn
Little Queen:
Yup, poor thing gets passed around and told "no" so much during the morning R&R. I finally decided I just needed to sit down to give her my full attention on some activities as well. She LOVED it! We did a couple of shape puzzles and well as the shape sorter box. Repeatedly. Fun! The siblings had a hard time not joining in or interupting me, but I insisted (as I do when I am working one on one with them) that I was not available as I was giving Little Queen a lesson. Little Queen responded soooo well to this that I feel all the more guilty for not doing it more often and all the more determined to do it daily. (Of course I give her attention other times, but during R&R it seems like we just try to keep her "out of the way" most of the time. How disrespectful!)
Tomorrow we have guests, so there probably will not be a lot of school and Friday we will wrap a few things up. During March, we are moving the classroom outdoors for gardening and landscaping projects. There may not be textbooks, but there will be plenty of math & science!
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Lunch: This & That
Dinner: (with neighbor Courtney...fun!) Cheese & Bean Quesadillas and salad.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Addendum to Monday
I can't figure how to edit in this "new" blogger. So, I just wanted to add that I went to bed last night after blogging. I was snuggled into bed and just letting go of that final thread of consciousness when I heard a cough. A suspicious cough. Another. And then the cry. "Professor, I think someone has thrown up." Ah, yes. Out to the line to get some of those clean diapers. Down to start the washer with pillow, sheets and nightgown. Start the bath; hair needs washing. And grab a pillow for my most beloved husband who has volunteered to sleep on the girls' bedroom floor in case he is needed during the night.
Blessed relief, it was a seemingly isolated event.
Holding my breath for the other little ducklings to show symptoms of the the one hour flu.
Blessed relief, it was a seemingly isolated event.
Holding my breath for the other little ducklings to show symptoms of the the one hour flu.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Details of Monday
Didn't get up until 7:30; of course, the children had already been up for awhile and the Prof had left just shortly before. Dressed and started a load of diapers; we were desperate.
I was hesitant to cook much because there was, most unfortunately, a mountain of pots & pans awaiting washing. But, we had yogurt with granola, sausage patties & scrambled eggs. The Prof returned home and I went for a shower. Confession: It had been awhile since my last. I took a long time with the morning toilette. I knew it was going to be a big day and I just needed a nice morning boost. Made a phone call regarding tonight's class. Meanwhile, the children cleaned up the breakfast table, folded laundry (even more than they had been asked to do!), practiced their music lessons and piddled around a bit.
The Prof started a lesson in the studio and I started some with the little scholars. Firstborn did some handwriting and watched a new MUS lesson. Sunshine also did math. We left for ballet on time! We arrived early! The Prof, of course, was home teaching when we left, so we just waved a quick goodbye.
Ballet. Sunshine and Olivia were the only ones there today, so they got a really good workout. While we waited, Firstborn did some math and I read another chunk of Beowulf to him. Rosebud & Little Queen played. Firstborn joined them for the last half hour. I sketched garden plans.
Once we were back to the ranch it was time for lunch (everyone is ALWAYS EXTREMELY hungry after ballet). We had This & That leftovers (pork loin, clam chowder, etc) . I ate and worked. Little Queen was rather fussy and tired. The children cleaned up the lunch table while I took The Cranky One up for her nap. Quiet time for everyone. I washed dishes, hung diapers to dry, fed the hens, and picked up around the house as fast as I could. Also replied to a couple of emails and made a phone call.
Mother's Helper arrived shortly after Quiet Time and The Cranky One, thankfully, was ready for a good time. Mother's Helper made fairy with the girls while I taught a couple of music lessons. Finished. Changed a diaper. The Prof walked in to teach more lessons as the children & I ran out of the house. A short practice/warm-up before the opening game of the baseball season. Got the girls hot dogs (shame on me). Hung around at the diamond watching the game until The Prof arrived and then raced back home for the first night of a new childbirth class. Whew! Picked up a few more things, got materials prepared for class, checked e-mail and then just tried to take a few deep breaths so as to give the impression that I was very relaxed and centered for teaching class.
Class went well. The Prof and the scholars came home late and grabbed a snack. Everyone was still up when I finished around 9. I heard all about the game. (Firstborn's team lost) Off to bed went the Dear Family. I grabbed a snack, transferred photos from my camera, sent some e-mails, blogged and now I am off to bed.
I was hesitant to cook much because there was, most unfortunately, a mountain of pots & pans awaiting washing. But, we had yogurt with granola, sausage patties & scrambled eggs. The Prof returned home and I went for a shower. Confession: It had been awhile since my last. I took a long time with the morning toilette. I knew it was going to be a big day and I just needed a nice morning boost. Made a phone call regarding tonight's class. Meanwhile, the children cleaned up the breakfast table, folded laundry (even more than they had been asked to do!), practiced their music lessons and piddled around a bit.
The Prof started a lesson in the studio and I started some with the little scholars. Firstborn did some handwriting and watched a new MUS lesson. Sunshine also did math. We left for ballet on time! We arrived early! The Prof, of course, was home teaching when we left, so we just waved a quick goodbye.
Ballet. Sunshine and Olivia were the only ones there today, so they got a really good workout. While we waited, Firstborn did some math and I read another chunk of Beowulf to him. Rosebud & Little Queen played. Firstborn joined them for the last half hour. I sketched garden plans.
Once we were back to the ranch it was time for lunch (everyone is ALWAYS EXTREMELY hungry after ballet). We had This & That leftovers (pork loin, clam chowder, etc) . I ate and worked. Little Queen was rather fussy and tired. The children cleaned up the lunch table while I took The Cranky One up for her nap. Quiet time for everyone. I washed dishes, hung diapers to dry, fed the hens, and picked up around the house as fast as I could. Also replied to a couple of emails and made a phone call.
Mother's Helper arrived shortly after Quiet Time and The Cranky One, thankfully, was ready for a good time. Mother's Helper made fairy with the girls while I taught a couple of music lessons. Finished. Changed a diaper. The Prof walked in to teach more lessons as the children & I ran out of the house. A short practice/warm-up before the opening game of the baseball season. Got the girls hot dogs (shame on me). Hung around at the diamond watching the game until The Prof arrived and then raced back home for the first night of a new childbirth class. Whew! Picked up a few more things, got materials prepared for class, checked e-mail and then just tried to take a few deep breaths so as to give the impression that I was very relaxed and centered for teaching class.
Class went well. The Prof and the scholars came home late and grabbed a snack. Everyone was still up when I finished around 9. I heard all about the game. (Firstborn's team lost) Off to bed went the Dear Family. I grabbed a snack, transferred photos from my camera, sent some e-mails, blogged and now I am off to bed.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Friday 23 Feb 07
Firstborn:
- Great job on math test (Epsilon 16), only one wrong!
- Took his Latin test today...pretty good, but more review is needed. I've got to remember to keep that CD going daily.
- Put together (wrote) a little report on Science & Technology in the middle ages which will be presented tomorrow evening
- Listened to a big and rather exciting portion of Beowulf
- Practiced Menuet
Sunshine:
- Started a new Alpha math lesson today. Although she is nearing the end of the book, I feel we need more drill before going on to Beta. Trying to find fun ways to do this.
- Listened in for most of Beowulf
- Copied pictures
- Handwriting
- Weaving and sewing projects underway
Rosebud:
- Not really into the work scene today. I think she did the hundred's board and had a music lesson. Sunshine apparently taught her to weave and sew. The girls are trying to make their stitches "march in a straight line."
We finished "Little House in the Highlands" tonight; everyone enjoyed the final chapter immensely. Sunshine learned that we have a napkin folding book and was trying out some creative napkin folds...this would be great work for the Chef's Apprentice!
Firstborn had baseball practice tonight is beaming shyly because he is one of four on his team being considered for the pitcher's mound. The Prof & I are trying not let on how nervous we are for him.
We didn't get out to the yard to take measurments today as planned because it was drizzly. Actually, the children still spent plenty of time out there playing, chasing the chickens, catapulting and even eating lunch. Almamater didn't feel like going out in the damp weather, though. Firstborn is gathering up lots of treasures left behind by the roofers who completed their work today (nails, screws, metal discs, rubber bands, etc)
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Lunch: This & That...PB&J on tortillas, leftover french fries, leftover burrito, popcorn, carrot sticks
Dinner: Baked Tilapia with a corn meal breading, bread, salad and radish samples from the farmer's market
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Thursday 22 Feb 07
The good news is that there has been a LOT more schooling going on than this blog would indicate. We have had a steady week of work with a nice balance between independent work and together projects.
Firstborn:
Firstborn:
- has been working on his baseball album. He is adding short biographies and drawings of some of the great players
- finishes off 2-3 pages of math each day, mostly well done. Mostly he forgets to reduce those fractions! He took the test today and we'll correct it tomorrow. We'll be taking a break soon from the indoor schoolroom and enjoying the outdoor schoolroom. In March, backyard landscaping and gardening will take the place of our regular school day. Tomorrow I would like Firstborn to take some measurements of the backyard so we can put it on graph paper and start planning.
- italic cursive is going well; he is almost done with the current workbook
- the catapult is complete! I have to blog about this over at Soul of the Home
- we are finally approaching the Late Middle Ages, pressing on through the Hillyer text with bonus info from the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia and some supplemental texts. Firstborn is reading If All the Swords of England which tells the tale of Thomas Becket. Today we caught up on filling in the big wall timeline as it was several centuries behind.
- will prepare a narration for us on Science & Technology in the Middle Ages.
- Completed a copywork page from Learning to Love God...I'll have to take a look at it tomorrow
Sunshine
- seems to be enjoying our history studies and trying hard to keep up...
- plugging away on math and handwriting pages each day
- still doing the self imposed daily copywork from Learning to Love God. Her handwriting is improving by leaps and bounds; finally getting better control over smaller size writing.
- really enjoys reading from her children's bible. She does this during school time and free time.
- reading, art, and dance are her current loves
Rosebud
- does the hundreds board daily and can now put it back on her own! Also, adds with the red & blue rods fluently; I think she is ready for the next step
- showed me this week that she knows her geometric solids perfectly
- wants to read, but just isn't quite ready yet; I need to look in the Montessori Read & Write book for inspiration on some more activities we might do. Meanwhile, we keep practicing the sandpaper letters and writing with the moveable alphabet
- in addition to these "pre-writing" activities, she likes to trace my writing of family names onto tracing paper; I am thinking of some little craft projects we might do with that interest
- looooves being the chef's apprentice; sets the table beautifully, though still usually forgets a thing or two
- plans to recite this little poem to the family tomorrow night:
There is nothing to fear
for Jesus is near;
His love is the light
that makes all things come right.
ALL of the children are enjoying Beowulf. I was so surprised today when I stopped reading at a real cliffhanger moment (Grendel's mother had just arrived to avenge the death of her son) and all three children pleaded with me to go on. Even 4 year old Rosebud-who I didn't even know was paying any attention, much less understanding, any of the tale. Nonetheless, we stopped. We have only one remaining chapter in Little House in the Highlands which will, no doubt, be read tomorrow. I am thinking of something more spiritual to read after that...saint story or the like, for our "lenten reading." Also, after Beowulf, we will read a few of the Canterbury Tales (retold for children in modern English). Firstborn was wondering about the Tales of Marco Polo (we read about him yesterday in history). Goodness, I know nothing about those; maybe the girls & I better stop at the library tomorrow during baseball practice to see if they carry anything pertinent.
Everyone had a music lesson or practiced their music assignments today. Very nice to hear that going on. All three are preparing for spring recitals; it will be Rosebud's debut at the beginner's recital and Sunshine's debut at the big program.
We need to start serious planning for the landscaping project. I do intend to keep a couple of subjects going during March, but hope to primarily get everyone working hard outside. Tomorrow I am going to get out our collection of gardening books, especially want to look the children's landscape books for some ideas. This year we want to try to grow the sunflower house. More on that later.
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Lunch: PB&J on Tortillas
Dinner: Black bean soup & bread,
except Alma can't eat them beans, so it for her it was Barley Soup w/ Carmelized Onions
Neighbor Courtney joined us. Fun!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Tuesday 13 Feb 07
This morning I had planned that we would cut classes and head out for some nature study. The weather, however, was a bit windier and cooler than I had anticipated. I convinced myself that we needed to stay in. We spent the next hour in the school room and, truth be told, I was so engrossed and frustrated with a computer project that I can hardly report what work the children accomplished during that time. I can say that I did not have any ultimate success with my project. After an hour my son observed that he didn't think anyone else would have tried so long to succeed on such a project (it is a family trait, believe me dear son, you will be blessed/cursed with this stubborn perseverance in time). I realized the whole thing was futile and we just had to get out.
We bundled up, did a couple of errands-including picking up some lunch-and finally arrived at our Botanical Garden destination. We all enjoyed a lovely hike along a different path than we usually follow.
In all fairness, I know that Firstborn did some math and Latin as well as some copywork this morning. Sunshine did complete a copy work project from yesterday and do a page or two of math.
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Lunch-McDonald's, bananas and cookies
Dinner-Carbonara (from Rachel Ray, again) another big hit with the whole family!, served with salad
We bundled up, did a couple of errands-including picking up some lunch-and finally arrived at our Botanical Garden destination. We all enjoyed a lovely hike along a different path than we usually follow.
In all fairness, I know that Firstborn did some math and Latin as well as some copywork this morning. Sunshine did complete a copy work project from yesterday and do a page or two of math.
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Lunch-McDonald's, bananas and cookies
Dinner-Carbonara (from Rachel Ray, again) another big hit with the whole family!, served with salad
Monday, February 12, 2007
Monday, 12 Feb 2007
We did have a pretty good finish to last week, I just couldn't spend time at the computer documenting it. So, fresh start today. Mondays are perfect for fresh starts anyway.
Firstborn:
Firstborn:
- listened to another segment of Beowulf (we started this last week); originally I thought we would just read a bit of this to hear the poetry and language, but Firstborn is riveted by the story and begs for more every time I set the book down. I admit, I am really enjoying it, as well.
- three pages of a new math lesson... he watched the DVD alone, I'll have to catch up tomorrow with the new work
- Copywork from Learning to Love God
Sunshine
- Two pages math
- Copywork from Learning to Love God (I should mention that she copies the scripture verse AND the picture when doing this work)
- Selected and began memory on new poem
- Listened in on Beowulf
- Practiced ballet
Rosebud
- Completed hundreds board (I randomly pointed to numbers today & found that she really does know most of them without hesitation!) She so very much wants to start on the addition board
- Worked on her alphabet book (I write a large cursive letter on a blank page & she traces it several times with different colored pencils; we are making a complete alphabet book a few pages a day)
Rosebud was my Chef's Apprentice for the day, though we didn't end up cooking anything too interesting. Tonight we all worked hard on St. Valentine's cards and little gifts for the bowling party. Sunshine is making little sachets and Rosebud made suncatchers. Tomorrow Firstborn and I need to put together a Word Search or similar puzzle using St. Valentine related words.
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Lunch: leftovers from last night's potluck (meatballs, sheherezade, rice in pepper sauce)
Dinner: Quesadillas--always a hit!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Monday & Tuesday
Yesterday we got some good work done before being pulled in other directions, I just can't remember what it all was. Hmmm...I know Sunshine and Firstborn each made good strides in math. I set the timer for fifteen minutes and told them show me how much they could get done in that time. Firstborn was enjoying his work so much, however, that pressed on past the 15 minute mark. Go figure. We reviewed Latin. Sunshine read the pages from Just Like Mary about the Presentation of the Lord, which stated that said presentation/purification took place on the eighth day after Christ's birth. *sigh* Nonetheless, she gave one of her best narrations...even Firstborn noticed...who wasn't supposed to be listening...because Sunshine won't let him.
We also inaugurated our new Chef's Apprentice program yesterday. Each day one of the three children will serve as my apprentice in the kitchen; our first was Sunshine. She got lots of practice setting a table properly. Yes, the children have always helped set the table, but I have not given the time to thoroughly teach each one how to do it properly. She also helped with some cooking, but not too much, because an apprentice has to earn such privileges.
Today, Alma has been in a bit of a bad mood. Not for any particular reason, but combined with Little Queen's foul mood, there wasn't a lot of fantastic schooling today.
Firstborn:
We also inaugurated our new Chef's Apprentice program yesterday. Each day one of the three children will serve as my apprentice in the kitchen; our first was Sunshine. She got lots of practice setting a table properly. Yes, the children have always helped set the table, but I have not given the time to thoroughly teach each one how to do it properly. She also helped with some cooking, but not too much, because an apprentice has to earn such privileges.
Today, Alma has been in a bit of a bad mood. Not for any particular reason, but combined with Little Queen's foul mood, there wasn't a lot of fantastic schooling today.
Firstborn:
- Completed Math lesson, made corrections, completed a drill worksheet
- Played a game of Yahtzee with Rosebud
- Completed a Latin worksheet
- Completed a page of Handwriting
Sunshine:
- Completed two pages of math and wept over some flash cards (we won't pull those out again for a while)
- Read her Just Like Mary
- Completed some copy work she had assigned herself from Learning to Love God
Rosebud:
- Played Yahtzee (won, of course) against Firstborn
- Completed the hundreds board and counted by tens
- Looked at the Mass kit with Sunshine and me
We read a chapter of Little House in the Highlands during lunch. Most of all, we are planning to get outside today as it is headed up to 70* and the bright sun beckons. I will see if the girls want to go to tennis with Firstborn later on today. Also, tonight we need to get to work on the Valentine's we are preparing for the homeschool bowling party.
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Monday:
Dinner-Chicken Noodle Soup, Buttered Wheat Bread, Hot Chocolate Ice Cream
Tuesday:
Lunch-Chicken Noodle Soup and Mozarella sticks
Dinner-Quesadillas
Friday, February 02, 2007
The Birthday Party That Wasn't
Today was supposed to be Sunshine's birthday party. However, there were only two girls invited and one awoke with a fever this morning. So we turned the skating party into a playdate at our house, including cupcakes and a present. All this to say, school was essentially cancelled for today.
However, The Professor and Firstborn didn't cancel their plans. They went outside to practice up for Firstborn's upcoming baseball try outs and then headed off to Home Depot to check off the rest of the materials list for the aforementioned catapult project.
Having purchased some new clear storage boxes, I was content to work on sorting the girls' closet out for much of the afternoon, while squeezing in the requisite laundry loads and general picking up.
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Today The Professor put on his chef's hat for both of these meals:
Lunch- Tuna sandwiches & popcorn
Dinner- Salmon & Spinach Noodle casserole, bread and salad; cupcakes for dessert
However, The Professor and Firstborn didn't cancel their plans. They went outside to practice up for Firstborn's upcoming baseball try outs and then headed off to Home Depot to check off the rest of the materials list for the aforementioned catapult project.
Having purchased some new clear storage boxes, I was content to work on sorting the girls' closet out for much of the afternoon, while squeezing in the requisite laundry loads and general picking up.
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Today The Professor put on his chef's hat for both of these meals:
Lunch- Tuna sandwiches & popcorn
Dinner- Salmon & Spinach Noodle casserole, bread and salad; cupcakes for dessert
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Thursday, 1 February
Followed an unusual schedule today. The Prof had a morning rehearsal so he had to leave by 8:30 and I had to leave by 10:30 for Firstborn's dental appointment. So, it looked like another day that The Prof wouldn't be able to watch Little Queen for a bit while I worked on some of the topics that are difficult with her "participation." Alas, seems it was Providentially solved as Little Queen had awakened extra early and I wasn't able to get back to sleep. So, the children and I got in a great bit of school work from 7:30 - 8:30, before The Professor's departure and then had breakfast after he left. It was actually a wonderful, albeit spontaneous, plan.
Firstborn's cleaning went well. I only mention it because the hygenist told me that he was asking a lot of great questions (I mostly stayed in the lobby with the girls). When we stopped in to check on him at one point, they were discussing cuspids and the difference in molar roots on the top vs. the bottom. So, I decided to count this as part of Firstborn's school day (anatomy & personal hygiene).
Additionally, today:
Firstborn
- Checked and corrected his last three math pages and completed one more page
- Reviewed Latin lesson with me rather intensely and completed part of the worksheet
- Listened as I read a chapter from Hillyer on Gothic Cathedral construction. We learned about flying buttresses, gargoyles, and other architectural details. I got out David Macauley's "Cathedral" and he was thrilled to find some illustrations and descriptions of the terms we had just discussed.
- Completed three pages of handwriting...really looks good!
- No catechism of any kind today...
Sunshine
- Completed some handwriting, still striving to make smaller letters and rest on the line
- Completed two pages of Math...doing very well here
- Listened in on the Gothic Cathedral reading as well
- Did some independent art work
Rosebud
- Enthusiastically reviewed Geometric Solids
- Worked on moveable alphabet writing names of language objects...want to make sure that also keep up on sandpaper letters. Also, perhaps some more physical letter games next week.
- We tried a Mystery Bag Game, but my attention was lacking so it didn't go as well. We need to try this again next week as I know Rosebud is going to love this one and it is going to expand her ability to describe things.
Both girls are eager to get their music lessons. Tomorrow The Prof has alotted time to work on the Crusader Catapult with Firstborn and, weather permitting, get outside to practice for the upcoming baseball try-outs.
Thrice this week we have prayed our family rosary at night by candlelight and it has been a real delight to almost everyone (The Prof prefers the darkness that precedes sunrise to that which proceeds sunset). The children really like the ambience and seem to focus better when the room is darkened.
ETA: We read Chapter 2 of Little House in the Highlands
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Lunch: Pizza
Dinner: Barbeque
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Catching Up...
Friday, Monday, and Tuesday did happen and so did some learning. But I am not going to pretend that they were the high points of academic penetration. Things were just happening in life. In fact, Monday our Little Ray of Sunshine celebrated her 7th birthday (I need to blog that over at Soul of the Home). Tuesday was a pretty good day and today was mediocre.
Firstborn told me he wants to do a history project pertaining to the Crusades, "something more than just making a little book like when I was younger." Hmmmmm...history project...on the Crusades...for a nine year old. Suddenly I thought of a great idea! Firstborn had mentioned last week that there was a catapult in his book about catapults designed by King Richard for use in the Crusades. I suggested that this would be a great history project for him and that his dad would be a perfect partner for the work. So, Saturday found The Prof and the children at Home Depot purchasing PVC piping, various small connecting pieces of PVC and PVC primer/solvent. In the meantime, Firstborn has been doing some coloring in a Medieval Life coloring book and continuing some historical fiction reading.
Meanwhile, both Firstborn and Sunshine have moved ahead in their Math books. Firstborn needs a lot more drilling about when to apply the various rules to solving fraction problems. Rule of Four? Find the GCF? Just add the numerator? It is a lot to sort out. Sunshine is doing great math in her head, especially with subtraction. I am pleased, but still making sure she is continuing to drill those basics.
Firstborn's Latin is really getting meaty now. It is so critical for us to review and drill daily; I even intend to play the CD on Saturday. Those second noun declensions of the neuter...well, maybe it is Almamater who really needs to review!
Rosebud has nearly mastered her knowledge of the geometric solids. We are now using all of the solids we own: cylinder, cube, sphere, square based pyramid, triangular based pyramid, cone, square base prism, triangular prism, ellipsoid and ovoid. She loves playing the command game and the label game (tries to sound out some of the short words in the label game). Loves practicing writing using stencils and copying her siblings names using tracing paper. She is working on learning a short poem/prayer: There is nothing to fear for Jesus is near; His love is the light that makes all things come right.
To all three children: We discontinued Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm as it was just too advanced (though I was enjoying my first reading of it and may continue to the end) and have instead started in on the Melissa Wiley series. We are beginning with Little House in the Highlands.
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I posted about our recent dinners over at Soul of the Home. For today:
Lunch: Wendy's and bananas
Dinner: Final leftovers of the Monte Cristo sandwiches and the Enmoladas
Firstborn told me he wants to do a history project pertaining to the Crusades, "something more than just making a little book like when I was younger." Hmmmmm...history project...on the Crusades...for a nine year old. Suddenly I thought of a great idea! Firstborn had mentioned last week that there was a catapult in his book about catapults
designed by King Richard for use in the Crusades. I suggested that this would be a great history project for him and that his dad would be a perfect partner for the work. So, Saturday found The Prof and the children at Home Depot purchasing PVC piping, various small connecting pieces of PVC and PVC primer/solvent. In the meantime, Firstborn has been doing some coloring in a Medieval Life coloring book and continuing some historical fiction reading.Meanwhile, both Firstborn and Sunshine have moved ahead in their Math books. Firstborn needs a lot more drilling about when to apply the various rules to solving fraction problems. Rule of Four? Find the GCF? Just add the numerator? It is a lot to sort out. Sunshine is doing great math in her head, especially with subtraction. I am pleased, but still making sure she is continuing to drill those basics.
Firstborn's Latin is really getting meaty now. It is so critical for us to review and drill daily; I even intend to play the CD on Saturday. Those second noun declensions of the neuter...well, maybe it is Almamater who really needs to review!
Rosebud has nearly mastered her knowledge of the geometric solids. We are now using all of the solids we own: cylinder, cube, sphere, square based pyramid, triangular based pyramid, cone, square base prism, triangular prism, ellipsoid and ovoid. She loves playing the command game and the label game (tries to sound out some of the short words in the label game). Loves practicing writing using stencils and copying her siblings names using tracing paper. She is working on learning a short poem/prayer: There is nothing to fear for Jesus is near; His love is the light that makes all things come right.
To all three children: We discontinued Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm as it was just too advanced (though I was enjoying my first reading of it and may continue to the end) and have instead started in on the Melissa Wiley series. We are beginning with Little House in the Highlands
.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I posted about our recent dinners over at Soul of the Home. For today:
Lunch: Wendy's and bananas
Dinner: Final leftovers of the Monte Cristo sandwiches and the Enmoladas
Thursday, January 25, 2007
(Wednesday & Thursday)
I guess this is an accountability post; also known as a post about real life mingling with home school. It ain't pretty from a scholarly standpoint, but it is honest:
Wednesday :
Wednesday is traditionally our "Domestic Arts" day, because we usually have company on Wednesday. We also usually squeeze in a little bit of table work (ie, academic work). None today. We started late and then had to cut out early to take the Prof to his Wed workplace as his car was in the shop. When we returned, there was just time for a little more cleaning, a quick snack before our minds were turned to another committment.
We did enjoy the afternoon guests for our weekly Rosary and play group. Off to bed late, way too late.
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Lunch: Cheeseburgers. Golden french fries. Okay, it was Wendy's.
Dinner: Frozen Pizza, green salad and cherry pie. Not a real banner day nutritionally.
Thursday:
So Thursday is the day we usually work hard to make up for Wednesday's fun. It helps because usually the Prof has some time available to help out with Little Queen. Again, though, today proved to be rather irregular schedule wise. I taught a rescheduled music lesson and chatted away with the mom for awhile afterwards. The Prof was largely out of the picture this morning having had an early rehearsal with a saxophonist (thankfully at another location. I love the saxophone, used to play it as a matter of fact, but, please not before 10am).
Well, after everyone had left, there was an incoming phone call that lasted quite awhile (had to happen, though, as there is some planning that must be tended to). Wouldn't you know, then it was past lunchtime? First I helped Firstborn with a Latin for Children maze (I guess that counts as school!), read a book to Rosebud-who had waited so patiently-and finally put together a lunch for us all. I think the eldest two did fit in a few math pages somewhere in there, but I'll have to confirm that tomorrow.
After lunch it was quiet time (blessings!). I scurried to get some of my own work done during QT, because it was such a beautiful day, I knew I wanted to take everyone on a walk in the late afternoon. Oh, it was just what the doctor had ordered. The temps were in the sixties and the shy sun was finally beaming, we basked in it all. In fact, the children stayed out until dark.
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Lunch: leftover Cream of Tomato Soup, leftover Italian Style Mac-n-Cheese, PB&J sandwiches, carrot sticks and that wonderful farm fresh Raw Whole Milk.
Dinner: Blueberry Pancakes and Hashed Browns (which was on the menu for tomorrow night, so I have some shuffling to do now!)
Wednesday :
Wednesday is traditionally our "Domestic Arts" day, because we usually have company on Wednesday. We also usually squeeze in a little bit of table work (ie, academic work). None today. We started late and then had to cut out early to take the Prof to his Wed workplace as his car was in the shop. When we returned, there was just time for a little more cleaning, a quick snack before our minds were turned to another committment.
We did enjoy the afternoon guests for our weekly Rosary and play group. Off to bed late, way too late.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lunch: Cheeseburgers. Golden french fries. Okay, it was Wendy's.
Dinner: Frozen Pizza, green salad and cherry pie. Not a real banner day nutritionally.
Thursday:
So Thursday is the day we usually work hard to make up for Wednesday's fun. It helps because usually the Prof has some time available to help out with Little Queen. Again, though, today proved to be rather irregular schedule wise. I taught a rescheduled music lesson and chatted away with the mom for awhile afterwards. The Prof was largely out of the picture this morning having had an early rehearsal with a saxophonist (thankfully at another location. I love the saxophone, used to play it as a matter of fact, but, please not before 10am).
Well, after everyone had left, there was an incoming phone call that lasted quite awhile (had to happen, though, as there is some planning that must be tended to). Wouldn't you know, then it was past lunchtime? First I helped Firstborn with a Latin for Children maze (I guess that counts as school!), read a book to Rosebud-who had waited so patiently-and finally put together a lunch for us all. I think the eldest two did fit in a few math pages somewhere in there, but I'll have to confirm that tomorrow.
After lunch it was quiet time (blessings!). I scurried to get some of my own work done during QT, because it was such a beautiful day, I knew I wanted to take everyone on a walk in the late afternoon. Oh, it was just what the doctor had ordered. The temps were in the sixties and the shy sun was finally beaming, we basked in it all. In fact, the children stayed out until dark.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lunch: leftover Cream of Tomato Soup, leftover Italian Style Mac-n-Cheese, PB&J sandwiches, carrot sticks and that wonderful farm fresh Raw Whole Milk.
Dinner: Blueberry Pancakes and Hashed Browns (which was on the menu for tomorrow night, so I have some shuffling to do now!)
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Tuesday 23 January
Firstborn:
- Checked his math work from yesterday and corrected errors. Completed 1+ additional pages.
- Reviewed Latin and asked to take the test. Possible errors in the teacher manual here? I need to sit down with it tonight.
- Lots of music theory review
Sunshine:
- Drafted a thank you card; will copy it tomorrow (this counts for handwriting & spelling)
- "Built" with her MUS blocks for quite awhile.
- Worked on her poem and recited the first verse for me from memory
- Music theory review
Rosebud:
- Dug out the long forsaken geometric solids. We reviewed: cube, sphere, square-based pyramid, triangular-based pyramid, cone, and cylinder. They came back to her remarkably well. We placed them in the mystery bag and identified them by feel. Then we created a new game in which one of us would feel the shape in the mystery bag and describe it ("has a square on one end and a point at the other") until the other person could name the shape. Rosebud LOVED this activity and we did it over & over. Tomorrow we will add the remaining solids, if she is up for more.
- Also dug out the long forsaken "Parts of a Flower" cards. She recalled these with just a little prompting and happily labelled them (corolla, pistil, stamen, calyx, flower).
- We played the Label Game again. I see her actually starting to try to sound out words a bit. We used yesterdays cards and added a couple of new ones. I know she is going to love the command game later this week!
All Together:
- Since the Prof was around for awhile to take Little Queen into his care, we got out the microscope. Steering away from the ready made slides, the children opted to examine a piece of newspaper and some chalk dust. All enjoyed seeing these...especially the newspaper. Firstborn thought it neat that the ink isn't actually consistent though the letter looks solid to the naked eye.
- I read from Hillyer's "Child's History of the World" to Firstborn and Sunshine. We were reading about the Crusades. Firstborn was very excited to tell us that one of the three kings we read about (King Richard) had designed a catapult for use in the Crusade battles and the design is included in his new book, The Art of the Catapult
This evening we read two more chapters from Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
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Lunch: Leftover Cream of Tomato Soup and toast (quick lunch=no time for Missal readings)
Dinner: Italian Style Mac-n-Cheese (Rachel Ray's Comfort Food
Monday, January 22, 2007
Monday22 January
Friday did happen and it was a good day of schooling, I just can't remember the details anymore. So we'll just pick up and start fresh with today. Because of other committments, Monday is always sort of a short day in the study. A sort of bumpy way to start the week, really, but there is nothing that can be done about it for now.
Firstborn:
Firstborn:
- Watched the DVD presentation of his new math lesson. Then I gave him fifteen minutes to complete all that he could. He was intrigued by this and completed three entire pages. Hurray! However, I haven't checked the work. Still, I was pleased to see him focus so on his math work. Inspired by Sunshine, Firstborn then spent some time at the MUS website doing much needed basic function drill. He knows the basics, but doesn't seem to be second nature yet.
- Latin. Lots of Latin review today, independent and with me. The conjugations and declensions (we're on the second declension now) are starting to get sorted out in his brain and the memory work is really improving. He also completed the lesson worksheet. We will spend the rest of the week reviewing, doing the activity book pages and I HAVE to get that CD playing every day. Hmmm....what would be a good routine time for that?
- Still plugging away on those Christmas thank you cards. One more drafted and written today.
Sunshine:
- Spent a lot of time looking for things this morning. Ugh! Over the weekend I cleared all of the toys and even some of the clothes (the ones that were on the floor) out of the girls' room. Still Sunshine couldn't find everything she needed this morning. Putting things away when she is finished with them is a life skill that I am really going to have to help her with (maybe if I did a better job modelling it?!)
- Handwriting. Sunshine did such nice work in her handwriting book today. It was a small amount, but really careful. I was pleased with her thoughtfulness in this work and gave her a lot of encouragement.
- Math. I am still not ready to let her move on to the next chapter in MUS until she really has those -9s down. These seem to be the hardest to learn (for Firstborn, too) and I want her to have them solid before we move on. So, she spent a lot of time at the MUS online drill doing these today and did improve.
- Chose a poem for the week, but totally independently. Need to work with her tomorrow.
- She needs to polish off some more thank you cards tomorrow during school.
Rosebud
- Completed the 100s board again. Her counting is improving each time and she notices her errors independently and is even able to correct them.
- Ohhh, how she wants to read, but just isn't quite "there" yet. Today I started her on the Label Game. I write on individual sheets of paper simple names of objects in the room (lamp, desk, rug, etc) and sound it out for her and then she labels it. After we do up to ten, I ask her to bring each label back to me by name (Bring me the label that says "lamp" please). She loved this and started to see the sounds as I read them to her. Later in the week or next week, I would like to add the Command Game.
- Dictated a thank you card to me today. Signed it (in improving cursive !) and illustrated it (the drawing is really maturing, too!)
Firstborn and Sunshine worked on their music theory today. Big test is coming up!
Over the weekend we finished "Schoolhouse in the Woods" and began "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm." The former was beloved by the children, the latter is obviously much more of a challenge but they keep asking for more. It gives me a chance to model narration; I stop after every paragraph to narrate or field questions. This is also a new book for me and I am really enjoying it.
We have failed at the family rosary for several consecutive days now, but the daily scripture reading from the missal has been consistent. The readings give them a chance to try to narrate and me a chance to model. They seem to enjoy this activity--more than I thought they would, certainly. I like Helen's idea of working with one or two catechism questions each week at tea time, so I am hashing over how to incorporate that into our day as well.
Notes for tomorrow: 1. Family Rosary. 2. Latin CD 3. Label Game for Clara 4. Thank you cards 5. Order new items w/Christmas money (esp. for Little Queen & Rosebud) 5. More time away from the texts
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Lunch: Leftover Salmon & Spinach Noodle Casserole (from Big Book of Casseroles
Dinner: Cream of Tomato Soup (Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
Thursday, January 18, 2007
18 January
Another late start day. Next week we've really got to get back to our morning routine. Gratefully, I woke up feeling better this morning than I have felt in a long time; taking the antibiotic (and the ibuprofen) was definetely the right decision. The ice is melting and the temps are rising. The Professor whipped up a dozen Brown Sugar Oatmeal muffins, sliced some apples, poured some milk and we called it breakfast.
School was really humming today as we had Little Queen with us. Whew! Makes it so much more, umm... interesting.
Firstborn:
- Latin lesson 7 presents new challenges. We reviewed the grammar material and he did part of the worksheet
- Oral narration of Chapter 1 of The Lost Baron
- Addressed several Christmas thank you cards
- Tallied scores from Rosebud and my Yahtzee game
- Worked on music theory
Sunshine:
- Read and orally narrated Reading 3 from Just Like Mary
- Completed perfectly MUS 21E, so she needn't do 21F
- Reviewed with me subtraction with 9s using flashcards (we'll continue this before starting a new lesson)
- Completed the hundreds board
- Read through an old reader, just for fun
- Practiced her memorized poem; the selection is extremely short, but we are concentrating more on her presentation than the actual poem (posture, nervous habits, eye contact, etc). Nonetheless, we did discuss the meaning of the poem for a couple of minutes today.
Rosebud:
- Wrote more words with moveable alphabet
- Worked with red & blue rods (doing quite well with this!)
- Beat me at Yahtzee. This time she wrote her own scores for the first time
- Worked on a tangram puzzle
Little Queen:
- Ring stacker
- Matreshkas
- Shape sorter
- "Observed" everyone else's work
- Shook the dice for me in Yahtzee
During lunch I read the Mass readings of the day and we discussed them. Firstborn read Chapter 2 of the The Lost Baron during QT and will orally narrate it tomorrow.
In the afternoon, Firstborn & Rosebud very enthusiastically helped chop vegetables and herbs for the White Bean Soup. (We harvested rosemary and parsley from the garden; the parsley looks like it may have suffered more than a bit from the freezing weather.) Then all three older children folded a ton of laundry (still catching up from the holidays) while I read aloud almost the remainder of Schoolhouse in the Woods.
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Lunch: Nachos and salad
Dinner: White Bean Soup w/ Pasta & Rosemary Oil (except I forgot the pasta...oops!) and Turkey & bacon wraps with Raspberry Chipotle sauce. Christmas candies for dessert. The soup was met with mixed reviews; the wraps were a hit!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Wednesday 17 January
Despite the weather and my still under-the weather health, we had a great day of R&D. This afternoon I finally went to dr.--one I had never seen, but who is supposed to be very tuned in to alternative medicine. Even though I haven't been feeling well since before Christmas, he encouraged me to wait it out another day or two. Yeesh! Anyway, I left with a prescription for an antibiotic in case I decide to resort to it. Meanwhile, back in the schoolroom...
Firstborn:
Firstborn:
- Made corrections on his math test and was very pleased to have only gotten a few wrong (Hmmm...I was surprised he got a few wrong)
- Wrote another Christmas thank-you card
- Began Lesson 7 Latin
- Listened to and discussed one lesson from Catholic Stories from Science
- Selected poem and began memorization
- Read Chapter 1 of The Lost Baron, will orally narrate tomorrow
Sunshine:
- Read and narrated second lesson from Just Like Mary
- Copywork from Just Like Mary
- Listened to and discussed a lesson from Catholic Stories from Science
- Worked on poetry memorization
- Completed MUS 21D
Rosebud:
- Completed the hundreds board
- "Wrote" more words with moveable alphabet
- Played with matreshkas
- Wrote alphabet using stencil
- Dictated and illustrated a Christmas thank you card
- Matched butterfly name labels to butterfly models
During lunch I read the Mass readings of the day to everyone and we discussed them.
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Lunch: children had frozen waffles and scrambled eggs (which Sunshine made); The Prof had a walnut and vinegar omlette (?!)
Dinner: Pizza and salad (I had two antibiotics, two ibuprofen, one hot shower and early to bed)
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Tuesday 16 January: Snow day!
Another day of city shutdown. The sleet was on and off throughout the day
and the temps stayed in the twenties. We lingered during the morning and
finally sat down for some R&D. As soon as we'd started, the first snow flakes
floated past the window and the neighbors were all in our front yard.
Goodbye, Productive Day!
The children stayed out for a couple of hours. I took advantage of the time
to do some research for a trip we are planning this summer. When they came
in we had a hot lunch and off they went to Quiet Time (much needed as they
were sooo hyper today with the weather). I had a terrible headache so lay
down for a nap. Ended up sleeping way too long, the last part of it Little Queen
joined me.
When I got up we had to start the dinner preparations right away. After
dinner I read Chapter four of Schoolhouse in the Woods and the children went
to bed. I stayed up talking to Susan on the phone while the Professor watched
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Before bed, I alerted the children to the fact that tomorrow we are doing school
work regardless of the weather and of the fact that the city will be shut down
for another day. They were just too hyper today and need to have some directed
activity tomorrow.
In all fairness, Firstborn did most of his math test today, Sunshine worked on her
poem and both worked on their music theory. Rosebud had her music lesson and
learned a new song!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lunch: Finished the leftover Cauliflower soup and leftover Split Pea soup, nachos,
& carrots
Dinner: We tried a new and wonderful dish-Simple Butternut Squash Tart--it was
rich, sweet, hot and comforting. The Prof whipped up some cranberry sauce to go
with it, I sliced some pears, and we had a bowl of popcorn as an hors d'ouevre (late
dinner, remember). I had put some cinnamon and sugar with an egg wash on the
scraps of puff pastry (left from the Tart) and baked them up for a petite, easy dessert.
and the temps stayed in the twenties. We lingered during the morning and
finally sat down for some R&D. As soon as we'd started, the first snow flakes
floated past the window and the neighbors were all in our front yard.
Goodbye, Productive Day!
The children stayed out for a couple of hours. I took advantage of the time
to do some research for a trip we are planning this summer. When they came
in we had a hot lunch and off they went to Quiet Time (much needed as they
were sooo hyper today with the weather). I had a terrible headache so lay
down for a nap. Ended up sleeping way too long, the last part of it Little Queen
joined me.
When I got up we had to start the dinner preparations right away. After
dinner I read Chapter four of Schoolhouse in the Woods and the children went
to bed. I stayed up talking to Susan on the phone while the Professor watched
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Before bed, I alerted the children to the fact that tomorrow we are doing school
work regardless of the weather and of the fact that the city will be shut down
for another day. They were just too hyper today and need to have some directed
activity tomorrow.
In all fairness, Firstborn did most of his math test today, Sunshine worked on her
poem and both worked on their music theory. Rosebud had her music lesson and
learned a new song!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lunch: Finished the leftover Cauliflower soup and leftover Split Pea soup, nachos,
& carrots
Dinner: We tried a new and wonderful dish-Simple Butternut Squash Tart--it was
rich, sweet, hot and comforting. The Prof whipped up some cranberry sauce to go
with it, I sliced some pears, and we had a bowl of popcorn as an hors d'ouevre (late
dinner, remember). I had put some cinnamon and sugar with an egg wash on the
scraps of puff pastry (left from the Tart) and baked them up for a petite, easy dessert.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Monday, 15 January
Things are very unusual today. Last night my mom called at 11:30 to report that Dad had just been taken by ambulance to the hospital. As of this morning, things have stabalized and they are running a myriad of tests. At the same time, our temperatures were dropping and the rain was moving in. This morning we had sleet and the temps are in the upper twenties, which means we are all staying in for today and probably tomorrow. The good news is that means the Professor can spend some quality time with Little Queen while I give the young scholars more of my devoted attention in the study.
We started very late today, just because of the interrupted night (Mom called back around 1am again) and, well, because dark, cold, home-bound days inspire a certain lethargy. But then we had some great R& D.
We started very late today, just because of the interrupted night (Mom called back around 1am again) and, well, because dark, cold, home-bound days inspire a certain lethargy. But then we had some great R& D.
Firstborn:
- Completed corrections on MUS lesson 13 and did the Lesson 12 test as a review/prep for Lesson 13 test. He was pleasantly agreeable to this painstaking work. Ready for Test 13!
- Checked his Latin test from last week and aced it!
- Worked on music theory
- Tomorrow: Start new Latin lesson, MUS Test 13, Music theory review, select poem, history narrations, science
Sunshine:
- Did copywork from "Learning to Love God"
- Orally narrated a short reading from "Just Like Mary"
- Selected a winter poem for memorization
- Completed a math page and corrections on the previous page
- Worked on music theory
Rosebud:
- Wrote her first words using the moveable alphabet!!!
- Completed the hundreds board for the first time
- Played with matreshkas
- Attempted the addition tray, but she really wasn't ready for it yet
- Laid out sandpaper numbers and represented values with markers
After school and lunch, we prayed a rosary for Papa. The children enjoyed their afternoon quiet time: the girls silently colored in their saint coloring/story books and did some scissors and paper crafts while Firstborn re-read an old favorite, "Mr. Popper's Penguins" in his room. I read Chapt 3 of Schoolhouse in the Woods after snack. (We finished the first book of the series, "The Happy Little Family" over the weekend.)
Note to self: Tomorrow read & discuss Mass readings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lunch: Leftover pork/applesauce and leftover brisket, carrots, salad
Snack: Hot apple cider and broiled cinnamon-n-sugar buttered toast
Dinner: Cauliflower Soup (made with our garden harvested purple cauliflower) & a crusty loaf; ice cream with Pannetone cake for dessert
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Friday January 12
Today we had a short R&D because Grandmama & Papa made a late departure from our home and because I am still pretty under the weather. We also, as promised, focused a lot more on the domestic arts that had been woefully neglected these past couple of weeks. Tomorrow there will be plenty more domesticity!
For R&D:
Firstborn:
For R&D:
Firstborn:
- Completed Latin for Children Lesson 6 test (I need to check it over the weekend)
- Has completed lesson 21 work in MUS, but says he isn't ready for the test yet
We will review the lesson on Monday to see what parts cause him uncertainty still. - Memorized a short poem and recited it in the evening
Rosebud:
- Completed a math page
- Recited her first poem for the family: Bed in Summer by Robert Louis Stevenson. I let her choose this one, but next week I hope to direct her choice a bit more. She was terribly scared and upset about reciting it for us; it can only get easier from here.
In the evening we all watched This is America, Charlie Brown: Music and Heroes. It was a bit edgey and politically correct, shows graphic scenes of Vietnam War which surprised me, but still educational and enjoyable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lunch: PB&J, etc
Dinner: Daddy took the children to Culver's; Mommy did an errand and picked up some salmon for dinner
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Thursday Jan 11, 2007
Firstborn:
- Reviewed DVD lesson presentations 5-8 from MUS (Math, Epsilon)
- Reviewed Lesson 6 of Latin for Children; quiz tomorrow, new lesson next week
- Listened to and discussed two stories from Catholic Stories from Science
- Completed two pages of handwriting
- Played Scrabble about 20 minutes with me
Sunshine:
- Completed page in MUS (Alpha), did several rounds of drill at website
- Completed handwriting page
- Reviewed poem recitation for the week and read poems to Rosebud
Rosebud
- Played with matreshkas
- Listened to several poems read by Almamater and Sunshine, had Rosebud do a tiny bit of narration of these. She did great. Yesterday she dictated this precious little poem to me:
Pretty Poem
Roses are bloomed
Pretties are found
Roses are pretty
Blooms I love.
Lovings are sweet
Pretty roses of sweets
Dreams of fun
As of loves.
The end.
By Rosebud
January 2007
- All three watched the Wright Brothers' Story from our new This is America, Charlie Brown DVD.
Today I was very exhausted from a long night with an inexplicably restlesss Little Queen and because of my own achiness and illness. Grandmama was able to watch Little Queen during most of our short school session, Deo Gratias. The rest of the day, the three elder children spent outdoors playing Indians splendidly together, including building a fort and a tent. Firstborn played several games of Rummy with his grandparents. Tonight I read aloud Chapt 3 of Happy Little Family...all three are enjoying this book.
I have privately been reading a new Laura Ingalls Wilder book on wisdom and virtue and wish to share some of snippets with the children and quote some of these on the family blog. Tomorrow Grandmama & Papa depart and we must devote our selves to some domestic arts!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lunch: Split Pea Soup...children were so engaged in their playing, they completely declined the meal; though there were some little snacks and an early dinner:
Dinner: Leftover brisket and chicken from last night's carryout
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