Homeschooling "J"

The Bears' Travelogue: Bearis, France

2011-10-29T21:17:00.001-04:00

I'm behind on my blogging. (I know, what else is new.) Before I attack the 19,268 pictures that my husband took on our recent trip to Williamsburg, VA to pull out a handful for posting, I thought I'd better finish up the exotic vacation for the bears.

Their last leg of the trip was a visit to Bearis, France. You know, where the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower are. Yes, Bearis.

After a short four-hour flight from Cairo, the bears thought they'd get a good night's sleep in the 4-Star hotel on the back of J's door. Sightseeing takes a lot out of you!

The next morning their room service breakfast was a lovely French pastry--a bear claw, of course. (Well, it's actually American, but it was too appropriate not to use!)

Rested and full, the bears went out to see the sites. The taxi driver took them straight to the Eiffel Tower. Sadly, this was the only picture that came out as the photographer kept putting his paw in front of the lens.

The bears are back and chat late into the night about their experiences abroad. Since returning home, they have been available to help J with his homeschooling. Recently they participated in a Civil War battle reenactment. Perhaps they'll oblige us with another performance that could be photographed and used on the blog.

You've never seen a Civil War reenactment until you've seen one put on by small bears!

The Bears' Travelogue: Egypt

2011-09-15T20:28:00.036-04:00

The bears are off on another adventure--Egypt this time. Our guest columnist will be USA the bear.

The Bears Explore Egypt
by USA the Bear of Homeschooling "J"

Hi. My name is USA. I am the spokesbear for this part of our trip.

Here's a letter I wrote to my family back home:

Dear Mama and Papa Bear,

Guess where we are now? EGYPT!

Yesterday, we dove in the Nile River. You should have seen Classy swimming away from that crocodile! Today we saw the pyramids. A camel was spitting at Osito, but it missed. For lunch we had Basboosa to eat. Basboosa is semolina cake with honey and lemon and it tasted yummy!

Sand keeps getting in my eyes. Maybe I should wear a ghoutra and 'iqal like my friends.

Our next stop is Bearis, France.

Write you soon,

USA

Osito and Sunny posed in front of the pyramids:

Wallace and Sizzle really wanted to ride the camel. Osito warned them about the camel's bad behavior:

Cheery and Ty 2K taking advantage of good headwear. The fabric is called a ghoutra, and the circlet to hold it on is called an 'iqal.

Our final destination is Bearis, France. Then we'll be home!

Fourth Grade Curriculum: Language Arts, et al

2011-09-13T07:24:00.001-04:00

Going by the title, one would think that this post would be very short. One would be wrong.

I'm grouping all things language related into this post: Literature, Grammar, Spelling, Writing, Penmanship, and Latin! Here we go:

Literature

Since our history time frame this year is from 1850 to the present, this is the year I'm going to cover all nine of Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books. We've already done Farmer Boy. The remaining eight will be covered one each month loosely using the suggested study helps and activities from this book:

(Link)

Grammar

We didn't finish this whole book from last year, so we'll take care of that this year.

(Link)

SPELLING

J is a strong speller. In the future I will use his writing as a guide for checking on his spelling, but right now I'm using random spelling books that I pick up at sales to see where he might be weak. This year's book of choice is this one:

(Link)

WRITING

J loves to write. His writing skills have been surprisingly good considering his age. I attribute that to the huge amounts of reading he's always done. Now it's time to make sure that he has the tools he needs to be a REALLY good writer. At some point in the future (junior high?) I hope to have him ready to spend a year writing a novel. We need to make sure he has everything he needs at the ready when the time comes.

I picked up this Evan-Moor book at a sale because it looked like it laid things out in an attractive, thorough way.

(Link)

Just for fun I'm going to have him do a monthly report using this book (also from Evan-Moor):

(Link)

PENMANSHIP

J's printing and cursive has evolved over the years. I think he wrote more neatly in first grade than he does now! I know that computers are the future. I know that good handwriting is useful but no longer holds the same level of respect it once had. Still, I feel that the discipline and artistry of good handwriting is a good thing. Once a week I will have him carefully copy passages from his favorite books with the understanding that I'm looking for the muscle control and attention to detail.

He may not agree with the need. That's OK. I'm the mama.

LATIN

I am still completely enamored with the Latin course I discovered last year. We completed Book 1 and J has kept up with his vocabulary charts over the summer. We're ready for Book 2 now!

(Link)

My husband and I have a plan for J's foreign language studies. He will continue to study Latin through the 12th grade. We hope that continuing with Latin will give him a huge help in learning on several levels: history, science, English, other Romance languages and general educational value. It would also be cool to be able to read some of the classics. I know he'll pass me up fairly quickly as I don't have the time to study that he does. That's OK. He can translate for me.

Back to the plan. Beginning in fifth grade, we're going to do four years of Spanish. I've take a little Spanish, so I at least have a basic understanding of form and pronunciation. Fluent I am not. Perhaps I'll be that much closer after we complete the studies.

In 9th grade we are going to let him choose another language to learn. Or more than one. We're going to have him do that completely on his own. With Latin background and a good command of Spanish, this should be a fairly easy transition for him if he chooses a Romance language. If he chooses Japanese or Russian or Swahili, he'll at least won't be afraid to try!

This completes the posts regarding our fourth grade plans. We'll start school officially on October 3rd. It's good to have this finished!

The Bears' Travelogue: Mt. Ev-bear-est

2011-09-12T07:03:00.003-04:00

Normally I write the posts that appear on this blog. Today I asked J if he'd like to provide the captions for the photos and he jumped at the opportunity. It's short and sweet, but then, so is he.

The Bears Climb Mount Ev-bear-est
by J of Homeschooling "J"

Apparently a bear is going somewhere. (Hence the name on the suitcase.)

Why, they're traveling on an airplane! (Their names are at the end of the post.)

Flight attendant Valentina is telling everyone to buckle up here.

They are at Mt. Ev-bear-est! They need proper gear. (Goggles and...)

(... air tanks.)

Now, let's hope they make it...

Order of Bears in airplane shot

Bears (L to R, T to B): Mr., Ariel (AIR-ee-ull), Frankenteddy (FRAIN-kin-teh-dee), Glory, B. B. Bear, USA, Ty 2K (TIE TOO-kay), Osito (oe-SEE-toe), Clubby II, Classy, Pappa (PAY-puh-pah), Hero, Erin (AIR-inn), Peace, Fuzz, The Beginning, Halo, PeaceBear (The Peace part is the symbol), 1997 Holiday Teddy, Valentina (val-in-TEEN-uh), Valentino, Kicks, Cheery, Curly, Sizzle, Kissy, Mrs., 2004 Signature Bear, Halo II, Spangle, 1999 Signature Bear, Britannia, Wallace, Princess, Milennium, Bearon.

Fourth Grade Curriculum: Bible, Art, and Music

2011-09-11T07:54:00.002-04:00

Last year (and throughout the summer) we read through the New Testament. This year we're going to start with the book of Proverbs for the first two months. After that we'll begin reading in Genesis. At some point in the past I was able to download this Old Testament timeline as a freebie ebook. In it the student uses stick figures to help take them through the layout of the Old Testament. It's really cute and provides memory cues.

(Link)

In December we'll take a break from the OT reading and go through the Advent story. We did this last year and J wanted to do it again, he enjoyed it so much. I've also got a couple of activity books for Easter that I may go through.

Art

In the past we've studied artists and done lots of crafts using wonderful books such as MaryAnn F. Kohl's Discovering Great Artists. You can see examples of J's artwork using that book HERE, HERE,and HERE,

This year we're going to concentrate on increasing his drawing skills using some "how to draw" books to give him new techniques. It's a good thing I've got a lot of paper.

MUSIC

I play the piano, so I will continue to give J piano lessons. Regardless of a person's natural abilities regarding music, my opinion is that at least one year of piano lessons is a useful thing to anyone. Therefore, J will be taking lessons until. It's good for him! If he wants to write his own music in the future, knowing how to play the piano will make that a lot easier.

His true love, though, is the drums.

My husband plays the trumpet, guitar, violin, and has a fantastic singing voice. I play the piano, flute, and have a mediocre singing voice. What does our son, our only child, our flesh and blood want to play? The drums.

So, for this year we're going to use a video series for lessons. He has a natural aptitude for them (I might try to upload an audio some time if you're game), but I can take him only so far. Soon we'll need to get someone to teach him actually knows what they're doing!

The final post for this series will be about my intention to cover many facets of language.

Fred and J

2011-09-10T08:23:00.000-04:00

I'd like to introduce you to a new friend of J's. His name is Fred. Fred Gauss. (Rhymes with "house.") He's 5 1/2 years old and is a professor in Mathematics.

We met Fred a couple of months ago and he assured me that he could help J overcome his distaste for all things math. Fred has lived up to his word!

The books are entertaining, yet they're written so that it's clear that math is important to everyday life. It's important to be pretty well versed in the addition and multiplication facts, but the rest seems to make so much sense to J that he's absorbing the processes along with the stories. (He quotes passages from the stories when the mood hits him.)

The series currently begins with Fractions (lower grade math books are supposed to be for sale soon) and moves through Decimals and Percents, Pre-Algebra, then Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and finally Calculus, Statistics, and finally Linear Algebra!

According to the website, this means all the way through to college math. We're both very excited about this possibility.

There are a LOT of good reviews and I am adding my own "thumbs up" from our experience so far.

One thing that many families commented about was that there didn't seem to be enough review. I think I may have an answer to that. If you're using Life of Fred and want to know my take on that, please leave a comment and I'll fill you in.

If you're intrigued, please use the following links for more information:

Books for sale with descriptions of every volume.

Reviews from Amazon.

Reviews from Homeschooling families.

Cathy Duffy review.

Fourth Grade Curriculum: Geography, History, Science, and Math

2011-09-09T08:46:00.003-04:00

Another year, another custom-made curriculum. This is my fourth for J. I absolutely love it! As I've said before (if you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know this), I would find a boxed curriculum stifling. It works for a lot of people, but it's just not for me. Of course, that means a WHOLE lot more work for me on the front end, but I'm delighted to get to do it. I find it, well, fun!

For those who are interested, I'm going to break this subject down into three separate posts because, believe me, it is a lot of material. It's a good mixture (I think) of the challenging, enjoyable, and stimulating. If knowing my plans for the next school year would cause you to glaze over in boredom, the title will give you advance notification and you can wait for non-curriculum posts which will follow this series.

In this post, I've grouped together the four areas of Geography, History, Science, and Math.

GEOGRAPHY

J has a really great handle on how the world is divided up since we went through it a few years ago. Now I'd like to build on his previous exposure and enjoy doing a continent a month. Beginning in October, the order will be North America, Australia, Antarctica, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and Krypton.

Each month we'll head to the library and just absorb everything we can about each continent. There might even be some activities and food tasting. What? Oh, you noticed an 8th continent? Well, we had an extra month and I asked J if he wanted to do something different. He did. He decided that we'd study Krypton and its 14 continents. This should be interesting.

HISTORY

We've been working through history chronologically using Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World series. I did not use the workbooks or the test books that she also provides. Instead, we read the series and then went to the library to add to our knowledge with a variety of books. After that, J's imagination would run amuck which would solidify the information in his mind. HERE is an example of the results of learning about the Ishtar Gates and HERE shows how he absorbed what he learned about Egypt. This totally works for us!

(Link)

SCIENCE

In following the suggested order of presentation from The Well-Trained Mind, the history and science time periods match up. This year we're studying Physics. I decided, since we're only at elementary level, to use this book about Isaac Newton that includes experiments and

(Link)

THIS really cool book! The lady who does our end-of-the-year evaluation recommended it. We'll do one experiment a week out of this book.

(Link)

MATH

We'll be enjoying learning with a mathematics professor whose name is Fred. I will do a separate post about him in a few days. J and I LOVE Fred.

(Link)

Post 2 of 3 will be about Bible, Art, and Music.

Bears, and Bears, and Bears! Oh My!

2011-09-08T07:07:00.002-04:00

Sometime back in May J discovered that a couple of his bears sort of looked alike. This caught his interest. Then, while we were in Cape Cod at a thrift shop, he spotted ANOTHER bear with the same features. This one had a tag on it. It said "Ty." A collection was born.

We told him no more than 20 bears of all types in his entire room. He quickly downsized his NON-Ty bears so that he could add to his original 3. Thanks to yard sales (or maybe not "thanks?"), he met his 20 Ty bear quota. Then he decided to go through the other stuffed animals in his room and really cut their numbers to the bone. He asked if he could trade those in for another 20 Ty bears. In a moment of, I don't know, insanity I guess, I said yes. He is now running at 36 Ty bears.

These bears have featured heavily in many vignettes and activities. We have an "ourson du jour" that accompanies J throughout his daily routine. We have bears traveling around the house in the middle of the night (with Mama's help) determined to become nocturnal and party a lot. They have even come to bear as behavior modification aides.

The other day J was in his room for quite a while. He was dressed, of course (?), as a . . . cowboy and had done some bear-wrangling. In a very orderly way they were lined up waiting for something:

Cowboy J seemed to be providing something to the individuals in the crowd:

A penny! Each bear was carefully balancing a shiny penny on his or her leg. But what for?

Why, it's a sun bath! For one cent admission (notice the one in the "toll booth"), each bear gained entrance into the closet where, apparently, sun bathing was going on.

Here you see Frankenteddy (who, by the way, is the new Favicon for J's blog) about to enter. Beyond, the previous customers were finishing up.

Looks like they're bearly done. Perhaps Frankenteddy should wait a bit.

You just never know what the imagination of a 9yo will produce.

(For longtime followers of Homeschooling J, I have sad news. The longsuffering sidekick, Teddy, didn't make the cut. Mama rescued him and is storing him away. She couldn't bear to see him rejected.)

Back to School 2011

2011-09-07T21:00:00.000-04:00

It's official. As of today, Miss Girl is in the 3rd grade and J is in the 4th. Do they look older? (They're the ones without the fur.)

Our Back to School Party theme this year was: Pizza. First, we had a clue hunt (Miss Girl's clues were written on pepperoni shapes and J's were on anchovy shapes) that led to their new school supplies. They love clue hunts, especially J. When we got home, J quickly made one for me. He had me climbing up and down the stairs like nobody's business!

For the second event, we had them draw toppings on a paper pizza. One could go the boring route and have them draw "mushrooms," "pepperoni," and "green peppers." I opted for something different. They had to draw toppings such as "vehicles," "wild animals," and "weather." Then they "called in" and gave their pizza orders. When we got home, J wanted to do that again as well. He gave the choices and I had to do the drawing. Two examples of my "toppings" were "J playing the drums," and "reptiles." Never a dull moment at our house.

We wanted the final activity before settling down to a pizza lunch (we're so good at themes) to be a fairly active one. One internet suggestion was to have a race with empty pizza boxes on their heads. It was raining outside and we had only a small amount of room inside, so I had to come up with another way to use those pizza boxes and their energy. The result of my brainstorm was "Pizza-nastics."

I started out with a calm and peaceful command. I could have suggested a nap at this point but knew that would go over like a stale pizza.

Next we moved into a higher skill set. The old balancing on the head trick. Miss Girl showed exquisite poise.

J, too, seemed to cotton to this particular pizza-nastics event. Of course, it does appear that he's being helped by that chandelier. I'll check the rules on that one...

Next the arms. Careful, careful...

Look at the loft on those! Fingertips, no less!

Now for the final event. Centered precariously, will the boxes remain for the next move?

Success! The extension on those arms is marvelous. Congratulations, new students!

And now, it's time to pack those carbs. (J is pointing to his recently lost tooth--I think. Maybe he's just indicating where the pizza should go.)

Summer Program 2011

2011-09-05T07:08:00.003-04:00

We don't actually homeschool "year-round." I simply divide the year into regular homeschooling (usually from after Labor Day to Memorial Day) and what I call "Summer Program."

I started doing this last year (between 2nd and 3rd grades) because I found it a useful place to put things we were too busy to get to during the regular school year, and because J just simply does better with some structure. Not a whole lot, though. It's summertime after all! (Click HERE to see last summer's plan.)

After we completed "Brawn Week," (click for explanation), we began doing the following:

Bible

During the school year (3rd grade) we read John through Hebrews. We just kept going through the summer and read through Jude. We went back and did Luke again at J's request. This has been a wonderful experience together.

Math

Math has not been a favored subject, as I've mentioned in the past. Back in the spring, I signed up for Time4Learning in hopes of getting past J's self-determined brick wall. It wasn't that he couldn't do the work. It was just highly distasteful to him. Using the Time4Learning format caught his interest enough to catch him up to grade level very quickly. (See HERE for my full review of the website.)

Since then I discovered something that I suspected would be a fantastic fit for J: Life of Fred. We got the first book that is currently available (Fractions) and there was actual cheering going on when I brought it out each day! (I will do a separate post on this series in the future.) We completed the fractions book and have started the next book about decimals and percents.

History

We're going to Colonial Williamsburg this fall! The second half of 3rd grade we spent a lot of time studying about the colonies. Once summer began, we read through a guidebook that I had kept from when L and I visited many years ago. He and I know our stuff now, by golly!

Latin

I didn't want J to lose his vocab skills from last year, so we kept that up through various games throughout the summer. We finished Lively Latin Book 1 last year and will begin Book 2 when regular school starts up.

Gardening

Though not a "subject" it has definitely been an education! J has helped with all the steps involved and is especially enjoying the results. We all are!

Music and Art

These were incorporated by basically telling J to go play. (I'm such a slave-driver in the education department.) Lots of drums were played, some piano, and quite a few pieces of artwork were produced. (A future post may be about his "studio" upstairs.)

Along with regular chores, visits to the park, library and to be with the cousins, summer has been wonderful and too short at the same time. We've got another "Brawn Week" coming up soon as we transition to the new season. At least one of us is excited about that. Can you guess which one?

Farmer Boy and J (and some friends)

2011-09-02T07:26:00.004-04:00

This school year we are going to read through the nine books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder about her growing up on the prairie. The first book written was actually "Little House in the Big Woods." We decided to start with her second book, "Farmer Boy" which is about her husband's childhood in upstate New York.

The reason we began with that book is that Almanzo's childhood home is now a museum and will close at the end of September. Since it's relatively nearby, we decided a Road Trip was in order! I invited another homeschooling mom and her lovely daughters to join together for this trip and off we went.

(As a side note, we visited the farm back in 2008. I wrote a tear-wrenching saga regarding a huge disappointment that I experienced on that trip. If you'd like to read that post, click HERE. Please have your tissue box nearby.)

The house is the original restored structure. We were able to tour the inside of the house which is furnished as it would have been when Almanzo lived there. It was so wonderful to see the layout and recall passages from the book as we went around. (Picture from the website. I forgot to take one.)

If you've read the book, here is the stove placement between the parlor and the dining room. This was where Almanzo was when his sister pushed him too much and he responded by...well, I'll just let you read the book if you don't know the reference! (Picture from the website. I wasn't allowed to take any pics inside the house.)

The barns in the back of the house are reconstructed (the originals having burned many years ago). You can't see it in the picture, but the barns were built in a U-shaped pattern with a tall fence in the back that created a penned area for the stock in the winter. We saw where Blossom, Starlight, Lucy, Star and Bright were all housed. The whole farm is so ingeniously laid out and self-sufficient it (almost) made me want to homestead. Almost. (Picture from the website. Now I wished I HAD gotten one to show the cool plan. Another day, another road trip.)

Having stepped back in time, J tried on a straw hat and was instantly transformed into Almanzo II. (By the way, his name was pronounced "Al-MAN-zo." The TV series had it wrong.)

After the tour and a delicious picnic lunch, we crossed the road to see the Trout River where Almanzo and his father fished. Can you tell the youngins were a bit excited? Can you feel the energy zipping in the air?

"Wait!" declared J. In their minds they were all back in 1866 and he felt the need to remind the girls that they were wearing hoopskirts and should be careful when walking to the river. He's a cautious boy.

That lasted until we got to the river and it was discovered that many rocks were available for chucking. J was working on a small boulder while the girls collected their missiles.

Before we left, the children gazed upon the river with thoughts of 1866 in their minds. They were sad to go. They wanted to buy the house and live in it. I said no.

If you'd like to see more about the Wilder homestead, click HERE.

Catching Up . . .

2011-08-30T16:04:00.000-04:00

Oops. That was quite a long hiatus! So much has happened that I think I'll do a "catching up" kind of post showing some of the things we've been doing since April 5th.

April 12th was J's birthday. He turned 9yo. It was a "Constellation Party" complete with hand drawn constellations on a black tablecloth. My sister commented that J's party themes generally involve a lot of black and white. She's right! One year it was a zebra theme, another year a Cars theme (with black tires, white cake, etc.), and now the night sky. Here's the party boy opening some presents:

The morning of April 14th came with a call from my BIL. He and my sister were on their way to the hospital. Their baby had decided (3 weeks early) that it was time for him to make his appearance. Baby M had heard all the partying going on two days before and didn't want to be left out. Here is J with his new cousin:

A couple of weeks later we thought spring had finally arrived. It did, but it brought nearly a month of rain. We ended up with a once-in-100-years flooding situation. Amazingly, our "dry" basement wanted to become an indoor swimming pool. No pictures of that, though. This house gives you an idea of what others were facing. We're grateful that the water stayed in the basement at our house!

It finally dried out enough by the first part of June to start hitting the parks!

Reading is a constant activity, no matter what the weather:

We actually put in a garden this year and J got a taste of some good old fashioned manual labor. He was underwhelmed with the joy of weeding, but he did a great job:

About mid-June we decided to do what everyone who starts a garden does--leave for two weeks! (Yes, we did!) A customer of my husband's has a house on Cape Cod that they wanted painted. We did sort of a "working vacation" and enjoyed a car show:

A museum about the Pilgrims (J is being the "Town Crier" with the hat and bell of a real Town Crier in the case.):

We visited the Pilgrim Monument as well. The Pilgrims landed at the tip of Cape Cod (Provincetown) first, before moving on to Plymouth. Though J makes the monument seem like nothing, that baby had 116 steps and 60 ramps to the top. J and L all but sprinted to the top. I did not. After we got back down, J wanted to go up again. Silly boy.

Of course you know we went to the beach. We went nearly every day that we were there. It was glorious!

July and August was a blur of our Summer Program (a future post), parks, parties, and the backyard pool. After the flooding in May, we have had one of the most beautiful summers since we moved here. Just the right amount of hot days to many, many days in the mid-70s. Lots of sunshine. Not too much rain, but enough to keep the garden happy.

THEN, Irene thought she'd reach an arm up this way. At our house there was a lot of wind and a lot of heavy rain for about 10 hours. (The basement stayed dry, though!) Just a few miles from us there was more flooding and lots of power outages. Whole towns were affected and a lot of roads are closed.

While we waited to see what damage would result, J decided to watch through the front door. Here's J in what we're entitling "The Storm Before the Calm."

That is a quick glimpse of the last four months at our household. I've got more new posts coming up, so please check back. I promise it won't be another four months!

Time4Learning Fantastic Sale

2011-04-05T12:40:00.004-04:00

This just came into my inbox. I'm unable to take advantage of it since I'm an existing customer (click HERE to see my review), but I wanted to pass along this deal to anyone who was thinking about joining but hesitating because of the price. NOW is apparently the time!

If you join in April, the price is only $4.99 per month instead of $19.99! Click on the picture below for more information. If you DO sign up, I'd appreciate if you add my name as a referral.

Product Recommendation

2011-03-24T11:32:00.008-04:00

J really enjoys school. Each subject to greater or lesser degree is his "favorite." He enjoys learning.

Except for Math.

At the end of 2nd grade, I got out the multiplication flash cards and proceeded to fall into the pit of hades. There was weeping. There was gnashing of teeth. It was awful--and very surprising. J has taken to anything I've put before him in the past. What was going on?

We overcame the multiplication facts memorization horror by using Times Tales during the summer between 2nd and 3rd. I figured we were over the resistance regarding learning math. I figured wrong.

Fourth grade commenced and J would sit for an hour with SIX problems in front of him. At the end of the hour (with much prompting from me to "get to it," and "keep working"), he would have gotten two problems done. One of them was wrong.

What to do? Well, I finally realized that he is a "visual learner." He's artistic and loves words. I began a search to find something that would engage him enough for him to pull down the wall of resistance he had created for himself. J COULD do the work. It wasn't that he didn't understand the concepts. He would just dawdle, due to lack of desire, and then get things wrong because he wasn't paying attention.

After much research I finally found something that (I hoped) would fit the bill: Clear explanation of the material, repetition of concepts, engaging, interactive, and rewarding enough to pull him over his wall of Resistance.

What I found is an Internet based program called Time4Learning. This website covers ALL the subjects for preschool through eighth grade, including art. We've not explored the other subjects, but have found the math portion to be so valuable that we'll be continuing it for rest of elementary school, at least.

J is now EAGER to do his math. He works through the concepts, takes the quizzes and tests, and is mastering each one. If he doesn't master it, we go back through it together until he does. Each area is covered using interactive games with tutorials that clearly describe the process. After he completes an entire subject area and misses no more than two problems on the final test, he's allowed to go to a "Playground" with all SORTS of games. He lives for the playground, so that's extra motivation to complete the assignments.

The cost is $19.95 per month for the first child. If you sign up for a year, the price goes down. In order to see if this is useful, the company allows a two-week money back guarantee to give a chance to really explore all that it has to offer.

Please go and check this out if math has been a pulling-teeth issue in your homeschooling. If you find that it works for you, please tell them you heard it from me. They give a compensation if others sign up and use your name as a referral.

I have found this site to be exactly what we needed to deal with an area where J has dug his heels in. I am HAPPY to recommend it!

(I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. Time4Learning is an online educational program that can be used in many ways including as a homeschooling curriculum or afterschool tutorial. Find out how to write your own curriculum review for Time4Learning.)

The-J-Files: More MSB Humor

2011-02-16T07:24:00.002-05:00

In the first drawing below, Ralphie (with the backwards hat and the "R" on his shirt) and Carlos (with the long curly hair) are discussing an opportunity to dissect. (They are, after all, a science-focused group.) Carlos, evidently, is not interested in this particular pursuit. Ralphie is disappointed because he was actually prepared. He has a knife in his left hand and is dragging a shark by its fin with the right. (The rest of the shark is off of the page.)

In an attempt to accommodate Carlos' squeamish response to dissecting once-living creatures, Ralphie finds an alternative and calls out this new option to Carlos. Carlos face palms.

(There IS a tiny "R" in the proper place. J noticed after he wrote the word and attempted to squeeze it in.)

(Note to self: Work with J on proper division of syllables when writing.)

The-J-Files: The Big Soccer Accident--Part 2

2011-02-15T07:37:00.001-05:00

In the last post, I shared with you the details of the Big Soccer Accident. I hope it wasn't too gruesome and that you weren't scarred by the sight.

This is the followup post. This . . . is "the rest of the story."

The school bus, living up to its "magic" moniker, instantly changed into an ambulance (that's why it's yellow), and the EMT workers (who showed up out of nowhere) quickly found stretchers for all the injured parties. (J kindly identified each stretcher occupant.)

The soccer goals in the background and the sun setting on the scene showed that all would be given proper care.

All's well that ends well.

The-J-Files: The Big Soccer Accident--Part 1

2011-02-14T14:00:00.006-05:00

For my first installment of "The J Files," I chose from the MSB file. MSB (for the uninitiated) stands for "Magic School Bus." Joanna Cole wrote a series of books back in the 80s in which a 3rd/4th grade science class went on field trips to help them understand various topics brought up in class. Their field trips, however, were not just ORDINARY field trips. They occurred via a "magic" school bus that took them into outer space and into the cells of the human body, amongst many other places.

The book series featured the teacher, "Ms. Frizzle," a class pet lizard, "Liz," and 18 students. We started with the book series when J was about 4yo. When he was 5yo, I found out that there was a TV series, too! In the TV series, only the teacher, the lizard, and EIGHT of the students made the cut.

That was the background. There will be a quiz later.

The picture I found for our first "The J Files" feature is actually one of the few that J deigned to color. Coloring is not his favorite thing to do. (Unlike his Aunt T who STILL has her crayons from her coloring days.) He strongly feels that black and white is sufficient, so, when he does give us some color in his drawings, it should be noted and appreciated.

First, some character identification:

D.A. (aka Dorothy Ann) wears a purple shirt, green skirt and her blond hair in two pigtails.
Carlos is always in a blue hoodie, red sweat pants, and wears his hair on the long side (hence the long "curl").
Shirley wears a flowered dress. She didn't make it to the big time TV program.
Phoebe (red dress) and Gregory (blue outfit) are crashing into one another on the left side of the page. Phoebe went on to stardom, Gregory went on to obscurity.
Molly and Tim, both African-Americans, are running from the sideline watching in horror as the scene unfolds before them. Tim became a TV regular, Molly, not so much.
Wanda, lying on the ground in a pink outfit, also became a TV character.
Ralphie, who is partial to a backwards cap and a shirt with an "R" on it, became a TV regular, too. He's bumping into the goal.
Joel, lying on the ground between Shirley and Wanda, was never a character in the books or in the TV series. J decided to add him on his own as "the new kid."

Here's the whole story about The Big Soccer Accident in J's words:

It was a sunny day. TV characters joined with the book characters (and a new kid) for a friendly game of soccer. (It was all Ms. Frizzle's idea.) The accident all started when Gregory kicked the ball to D.A. It slipped between her feet and she whirled around to get it. Carlos ran forward to get the ball when he "knuckle-sandwiched" Shirley. D.A. whirled too quickly, tripped over Shirley's leg, and fell on Carlos.

Meanwhile, Phoebe was sympathetically watching the action as was Gregory. Neither one was looking where they were going and smacked into each other. Very painfully.

Arnold (not pictured, but a TV character) was rushing toward the goal. Ralphie was backing away from the charging Arnold, and bumped into the goal as Tim and Molly were doing their own running.

Wanda and Joel (the new kid) decided it was best just to hit the ground with all the chaos going on.

The ball? It was relaxing near the goal. Clearly it was delighting in the fact that it was NOT part of the action.

So, did you feel all the excitement? Did you vicariously experience the pain? Are you wondering if they were all OK? Don't worry, J will answer that in his next drawing.

There are files and then there are Files.

2011-02-10T08:13:00.002-05:00

I love organization. I love storage items. I love files--especially if they're pretty. What I usually put IN the files is fairly mundane. Aside from customer names, I have titles like "Electricity," "Amex Card," and "Bank Statements." My homeschool file titles are more interesting: "Lapbook Ideas," "Outdoor Activities," and "Curriculum Catalogs."

Because I have seen the benefits of organizing papers, I wanted to instill some good habits in my son. About once a month we go through the REAMS of drawings and writings he puts forth to reduce the amounts, categorize them, and then neatly store them in files.

His titles are more attention-grabbing than mine, though. What's inside the folders is more entertaining, too! So, do your files have boring titles like mine or do yours have snazzy topics like the following found on J's files?:

• Cars (Pixar)
• Castles
• Club House (with his imaginary club friends)
• Comics
• Jokes (as in written by the 8yo)
• Miscellaneous (3 files of that!)
• My Music
• Natural Disasters
• Planets (an ongoing passion)
• Robots
• Sticker Stories
• Vegetables (yes)
• Wall-E (an old passion)

I'll be posting a few choice selections in the near future because they they're just too much fun NOT to share. Therefore, I introduce a new feature of this blog.

I give you:

Stay tuned.

Snow, Snow, Snow

2011-02-06T16:54:00.011-05:00

It's really to be expected. We live "Up North." We're used to it. AND, there's one little boy who knows how to make the most of it!

The following pictures are from the FIRST of three snowstorms we are to get this week. This storm piled 14 1/2 inches on top of what was left from the last storm a couple of weeks ago. The day after these pictures (today), we got another six inches. The weathermen have forecasted more in the next day or two.

(Aunt E, J has a snowball stored in the freezer for you.)

Here's our roof with lovely hats on the dormers. (I have a dream that, one day, our shutters will be put back on our house. Our painter is a little slow about these things.)

The boy gives you an idea of the front yard depth. That's a "yard" stick. Get it?

Here are the snowballs for Aunt E.

The boy decided that he'd go for a swim! Actually, he was attempting to create a tunnel . . . with his head. That proved to be rather cold for his face, he discovered.

Daddy came to the rescue with a red face mask/hat thingy. That's the best I can do for a name. Floridians do not know the various names for snow equipment.

It worked! The tunnel was dug and the face was not cold--mostly.

As a finale to the outdoor time, Daddy decided to chuck J into the snow. I was able to get action pics so you could experience the free fall with J. (If the following does not load for you, click on the link at the bottom of the page to go to the hosting site.)

CLICK HERE to go to the host site (Photobucket) to view the slide show.

The Elements (and the Superhero)

2011-01-16T16:36:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year! It's already halfway through January, so I thought it was high time for another post.

J received many wonderful gifts for Christmas. Two of them involved his newest passion: The Periodic Table of the Elements. Aunt E hooked him up with this book. (Click on it for info.) It gives each of the elements in full color pictures with a LOT of information:

The book itself is awesome. J pored over it for 2 hours straight and then carried it around with him for the next week. But that wasn't all. Aunt E went the extra mile and got the boxed card set that goes with the book!

So, of course, J got right down to creating The Periodic Table on his bedroom floor . . .

. . . while dressed as Superman. (Makes perfect sense.) There's a certain danger, however, to pairing this particular costume with assembling the P.T. A certain little element called -- KRYPTON!! (Whose symbol is Kr.) Watch out, Superman!!

Just in time, Superman solved the Krypton problem by surrounding it with the other elements. The day is saved and the P.T. is complete.

Our version of a "snow day"

2010-12-15T11:23:00.005-05:00

A couple of weeks ago winter truly arrived in our neck of the woods. In fact, there was so much snow that we declared a "snow day." In regular school settings that means the kids stay home. What about homeschoolers? They're already home! So, what we did was put aside all the book-learnin' and took care of the homestead.

At the beginning of October, L had a delivery of wood made. The giant pile in the backyard needed to be stacked on our porch, but L ended up working 80 hour weeks for six weeks as he was trying to beat the weather and the holiday rush for his customers. The giant pile stayed a giant pile. Then it began to snow.

J is 8yo now. He's a big boy. It was time for him to earn his keep around here! He suited up and turned into "Logger Boy."

Since there was snow (see all the snow?), he was able to use an old sled as his delivery wagon. Upon arrival at the woodpile he carefully positioned the sled and loaded on the logs:

With his sled full, he placed the rope around his waist and headed for the porch:

Mush! Mush!

Picking up speed at the halfway mark:

The Wood Express has arrived.

Now the "Heaving o' the Logs" phase begins. Logger Boy shows expert technique. He says it's all in the hips, especially the Betbo muscles. (Click HERE if you don't know what and where your betbo muscles are.)

It was inevitable. With the feel of the snow and the cold and the wood, the transformation was complete. Logger Boy has become a man of the woods, filled with the heady exhilaration that comes with doing the manly work of providing for the homestead. You can see it in his face.

With that load delivered, Logger Boy heads back to the woodpile.

After two trips, he decided it was time for a break. So, he sat in the snow, prepared a large, fresh snowball, and had a snack.

Swimming like a (beginner) fish

2010-12-07T13:34:00.004-05:00

On our trip to Plymouth, we made it a point to stay at a hotel that had a pool. J has felt timid in the past about anything to do with swimming. Sure, it's fun to be in the water, but inserting the ENTIRE body under the water has eluded him. We hoped that he would find a new level of confidence on this trip.

First off, the gear. It's important to be properly suited up for this endeavor. Equipment check: A way to keep water out of the eyes? Affirmative. A way to continue to breathe as God intended humans to do? Affirmative.

Let's test this mask out and see if the water stays where it's supposed to:

Amazing! I'm under the water and I can breathe! What will they think of next?

Let us pause for a joyful thrashing about in the water in honor of these revelations.

Testing out the fancy footwork. Yes, all seems to be in order.

With all this proof that I won't drown, I wonder if I can put my head under that water and survive? I'll hang on to the edge of the pool just in case we have a malfunction.

I did it! No drowning occurred! Perhaps this pool stuff CAN be fun!

This verifies what my parents have been telling me. (For years). I suppose I should have believed them. (Yes.) They've proven trustworthy in the past. (Ya think?) I think I will receive their words as completely true in the future! (Finally.)

Except when they tell me that broccoli tastes good.

Happy (Educational) Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T12:31:00.000-05:00

We're doing Thanksgiving a bit differently this year.

We are currently sitting in a hotel room watching the parade. Guess where? Plymouth, Massachusetts. We arrived yesterday and, while traveling, went back in time to 1620.

Our van transformed into this vessel:

As we came aboard, J was selected to help out on deck. First job was learning to swab:

Then he and L helped to "batten the hatches." Below those hatches is the 'tween deck. That's where we (all 102 of us) will be living throughout the voyage. Only the crew is allowed on deck for the most part.

Below I attempt to create a "cabin" area for our family. The curtains provide a bit of privacy, but 100+ people, 40 of them children, will make for a dark, noisy, smelly situation.

Finally, after 66 days, we arrive. The Native People are reasonably friendly considering that some of their group had been kidnapped five years earlier by other Europeans. We stay on the ship for the winter. By spring, half of the Mayflower's inhabitants are dead. The men that are healthy enough begin work on the shelter needs.

This house size would be comfortable for a family of six.

Some of the men pause in their work as they discuss the important matters of the colony.

Only four married women survived the winter. As each dwelling is completed, we begin to make it as homey as possible. The curtains provide privacy and a bit of warmth, but it is very, very cold in the house. The Native People live in what they call a Wetu. They are considerably warmer because they use woven mats on the wall to trap the heat as it rises. Perhaps I can construct something like that for our walls . . .

Despite the friendliness shown by the Native People, it is still wise for us to be wary. Other tribes in the area are not fond of the fact that we are here. Armor needs to be at the ready.

These strafing guns are positioned so that the streets can be defended if there is an invasion.

Despite the constant concern about attack, we must continue to prepare our homes and take care of our livestock. Each adult 16 and over will be granted 100 acres of land. J, being 8, will be granted 47 acres. It takes only 2 acres to feed four people, so the extra land will take quite some time to cultivate. That means we have land to pass down to our descendants. In Holland we lived in poverty. In this new land we have the potential to live like kings!

Fresh eggs from the chickens that wander about the town are much appreciated.

For those who have survived, life is good. We have much to be thankful for. We are blessed.

(Returning to 2010 . . .)

What a contrast. I'm typing this on a wireless computer while sitting in a climate-controlled hotel room. We just finished watching the parade. Life is filled with comfort and ease and I am grateful for all that I have. More than that, though, I am grateful for the people in my life.

No matter what the circumstances--I am blessed.

No Telescope? No Problem!

2010-10-06T10:32:00.009-04:00

One of J's many passions is all things Space. His latest concentration has been on the stars and their groupings as constellations.

Google Earth has a "sky" option that has been very informative. Did you know that the stars have names? I guess I kind of knew that, but other things (many other things) in life have, up to now, been far more interesting to me.

Since J has been catching me up to speed in this area, I thought I'd share one of the "visuals" he used to help me learn more about the stars.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Big Dipper (click on the pictures to enlarge):

The Big Dipper is made up of seven named stars. Not only do these stars have names, they also have personalitites--"Staralities," if you will. (That last piece of information did not come from the scientists. J has taken it upon himself to bring this under-researched area of the stars to the forefront.) The stars are mugging for the camera and even have their positions given in a small legend at the top. This is an example of exhaustive research.

First up is Alkaid who is positioned at the tip of the panhandle. This star is a bit grumpy. His passion is walking over rocks. Sometimes he stubs his toe, which would explain his grumpiness.

Mizar is actually a double star. His little friend is named Alcor. He's a tiny guy. Mizar seems to be more cheerful than Alkaid. Probably because he has company.

If Mizar is cheerful, Allioth is downright giddy! He prefers to walk on his hands--for fun, of course.

The first star in the "pot" part of the Big Dipper is Megrez. His face is a picture of sadness. Apparently he has TWO sets of legs: one quite large, one normal sized (for a star, that is). His arms are small and come out of the top of his head. He has trouble finding shoes to fit.

Evidently (I recently learned) there is an "Alpha Star" in each constellation (the largest star). Dubhe is the Alpha Star of the Big Dipper. You can tell by his picture that he feels the responsibilities AND the benefits of his position. Just in case you forget that he is the Alpha Star, he has the Greek letter (alpha) on his hat.

What's that arrow coming out of his hat, you ask? This shows that he is one of the two "pointers" in the Big Dipper. He (and Merak) point out the direction of the North Star (Polaris).

Merak (pointer #2), also has an arrow. His arrow has more information. It says, "Polaris and Mr. Showoff." As you can see from his position indicator, he is directly below Dubhe. Now we know what he thinks of him.

I must apologize in advance for the next star. His manners are, well, less than perfect. I questioned whether he was aware that the camera was on him, but J assured me that Phad was unbothered by his public display of rudeness. They're all made of gas, of course. Phad has just taken things to a more relaxed level.

Now that J has revealed his discoveries regarding the stars, find a telescope and do some star-gazing on the next clear night. I promise you'll view them with a new perspective.

J and Ansel Adams

2010-10-05T12:06:00.011-04:00

Recently we had an opportunity to go to a local museum that was featuring some of Ansel Adams' work. Ansel Adams was known for his beautiful landscape photography--which he produced using black and white film. HERE is more information about him.

With all the beautiful fall colors around us, it was hard to even think about black and white!

In one of the buildings were several works by Folk artist Warren Kimble. He didn't believe in black and white unless you count the cow.

Just before we entered the building with Ansel's works, we found a friend that wanted to pose with J.

J and I very much enjoyed viewing Ansel Adams' photos. We talked about what made the photos "work" even though there was no color. Then, I gave J the camera so that he could see what would and wouldn't work and so we could discuss why.

This first photo was lovely in color, but faded into a bland photo when we put it in grayscale:

This cow made a much better impression in her original psychedelic state:

Some things just photograph better in color. Fruit, for example, looks more tasty in color. In black and white it is less enticing as food, but not too bad as art:

There was a collection of old stoves in another building. J liked this one especially as it looked like a gingerbread house. It was interesting to note that its transition to black and white actually made the distracting background fade:

This guy looked a little rusted and tired. Turn him into a black and white photo and he looks young and strong again. (Perhaps all future photos of me should be in black and white?)

This next photo actually approached "art" when given its grayscale finish. Ansel would have been proud.

Back in the old days we had to wait a L O N G time for the film to be developed, etc., etc. Yay for digital cameras! So many more opportunities to educate with the technology we enjoy now.

Cooking: Marinades

2010-09-30T14:32:00.006-04:00

We preempt Cucumber Week to bring you . . . Marinades.

Boneless, skinless was on sale this week. I hauled home 15 pounds and J and I got to work "processing" them. We chose four different flavors of marinades (Lemon-Pepper, Middle-Eastern, Cranberry, and BBQ). J helped me measure and stir and pour. Fractions were bandied about. Requests for many tastes were made.

The results soaking in the frig (after three hours we turned them and the entire pieces were covered--in case you were wondering). NOTE: The container with the light green lid is Cucumber Soup:

After the "lab" portion of our lesson, J sat down to compare the recipes and see if he could identify the recurring ingredients that make a marinade a marinade. He found that there was always some sort of creamy/oily base and at least one acid in each recipe.

With that information, J created his own marinade ingredients. He believed that not one but TWO creamy ingredients would enhance his marinade. He also felt strongly about the cranberry sauce being included. He chose a lighter oil (what a sensitive palate), and thought the celery seed was a must since you could have the flavor without the strings. Nutmeg was just a dash of personality.

We're going to determine amounts and actually use his marinade the next time I bring home a batch of chicken.

If everything works out as I hope in teaching cooking to J, I will not have to cook for the next, oh, 12 years??

Cooking: Chicken and Dumplings

2010-09-27T20:27:00.005-04:00

J (dressed as Arnold from The Magic School Bus) had his first official cooking lesson for this school year. He has helped me here and there in the past, but he's more hands-on this year as we work our way through basic recipes as part of the curriculum. Each recipe he completes is included in a notebook he made, complete with his own artwork (of course).

Since the temps have been on the cool side, I chose to have him go through the process of chicken and dumplings.

Here he is doing a masterful job shredding the chicken. I was very impressed. Perhaps his glasses helped him to concentrate.

On the counter are the dumplings all rolled out and ready. I know there's a bit of a controversy regarding dumpling shape, but we're a "rolled dumpling" family. If J wants to learn about the other kind, I guess he'll have to learn about it on the street.

Bubbling away in the pot. Not the most photogenic of meals.

The best part of doing the cooking--being the first to taste the results.

Next up for us: Cucumber Week.

Goin' to the Fair!

2010-09-07T07:14:00.002-04:00

In our neck of the woods, the fair arrives for Labor Day weekend. It's a combination of agricultural-type stuff and the carnival. We enjoy both, though I'm partial to the animals. And the food. And the rides. OK, I guess I like it all!

These are entries for the vegetables. The youngins were mildly impressed. When we got to the "largest" vegetables competition, though, things picked up for them. (Unfortunately, no pics.)

Next was getting to enjoy the baby animals. These piglets were taking a nap.

An opportunity to milk "Bossy." The cornstalk yielded a volunteer.

This was really cool. They had REAL tigers and a lion doing tricks. This was the closest I've been to these animals in a long time. Very impressive.

This big boy is TALLER than the (already tall) trainer. Very happy the fencing is there. Very happy.

This was a nice, safe ride. The other boy and J were enjoying the echo-effect of the bear's belly. A lot.

What is this? It looks quite tall. Stories and stories high. J probably won't want to go on this.

Dizzying heights, I tell you. Definitely, J won't like this one.

J liked this one. So did Miss Girl. What is this world coming to? Aunt T and I were skeptical. Daddy/Uncle L was inclined to agree with J and Miss Girl and offered to accompany them.

As Aunt T and I watched the bucket ascend, we noticed bodies flopping around from seat to seat as pictures were being taken. This did not bring comfort to the ground-bound mamas.

Still going up. Can you see me and Aunt T? We're right there in front of that middle building. Hyperventilating.

Ahh. The view from the top. Lovely.

After this ride, J wanted to go on a space ship that went so fast it held the bodies against the sides. Miss Girl wanted to go on a roller coaster.

Maybe next year when Aunt T and I are older.

First Day of School

2010-09-06T15:41:00.004-04:00

Well, it's official. Last Monday, August 30, the new school year began. Third Grade!

The school outfit was chosen (with comfort in mind) with McQueen shoes completing it. Daddy's 1970s lunchbox (Matchbox!) was packed with yummy snacks.

We heard the bus rumbling, so we scrambled around for last minute hugs and kisses, and then off to the bus stop. We arrived just in time.

"Brawn Week"

2010-08-31T18:59:00.006-04:00

As I mentioned in my post about Theme Weeks, a week at the beginning of summer and a week right before school starts in the fall are devoted to all things "brawn." We do NO "book learnin'" at all. Just all muscle, all the time.

I divided the house up into five areas and each day we tackled one area. At 8yo, J is fully capable of all sorts of helpfulness. He did not complain about the tasks (good boy!), but did mention that he was eager to get back to using his brains again. Approximately once a day. Usually as I handed him a duster or other tool.

First things first: Get the dirt out of the rugs! Check out the muscle . . . the technique . . .

Look, he gets to sit down for this job! White kitchen cabinets always need a good scrubbing:

Such exhausting work. I guess it's time for a break:

The next day. I'm not exactly sure what this face is about. There was no odor, I promise!

J has become very familiar with the workings of the vacuum cleaner. I have actually been able to set him on that task and Do. Something. Else. Oh, the freedom! One day his wife will thank me.

Over the course of the week, J was a huge help as we worked our way from the top floor to the basement. Everything is now nice and clean (and spider web-free) as we prepare to start school and get ready for fall.

Back to School "Party"

2010-08-18T20:28:00.004-04:00

When J began First Grade, Miss Girl (his cousin) was going into Kindergarten. We got together to celebrate this momentous occasion. (Click HERE to see.) That was 2008. Last year Aunt T and I were actually so organized we had a THEME. Both of us were going to cover Oceanography. (Click HERE for that exciting post.)

This year, though, we kind of decided to wing it and have a day of "activity."

First we went to a park. It was 78 degrees and sunny, so we HAD to go to a park! This one was also a military memorial (hence the canon a few pics down):

This picnic table needed to be conquered:

Then, it was conquered by two:

After the park, we stopped for ice cream. It was, after all, a sunny day. Our final destination was a concert given by a local group that offers "matinee" performances for children. We got there early, so the kids had opportunity to pose on stumps:

Hug a tree:

Sit on a rock:

And generally let off the energy produced by the ice cream:

The doors opened for the concert and we settled in. They provide a program with the selected pieces which are chosen according to a theme. (Yay, a "theme" DID happen!) This week's focus was "Form."

Aunt T and Miss Girl sat separately so that we could explain things as the instrumentalists played.

For the last song, they allowed the children to come up on the stage so that could "feel" the music around them.

Then, we went home. The new school year's start has been commemorated with play, music, and ice cream. We're off to a great new year!

3rd Grade: History, Latin, and Science

2010-08-16T13:15:00.003-04:00

In my Overview, I list other things I'm planning on covering (e.g. Cooking, Art, etc.) that will not have specific books. I won't do a separate post for those items. I do want to talk about the three subjects that are MY favorite ones in this post.

History:

History is my A+, #1, all time Favorite subject. We've been following the suggestion from The Well-Trained Mind to present history in chronological order over a four-year period. Then, we'll repeat the time periods in order for the next set of four years, going more deeply into the details. A final time through for the high school years will give opportunity to delve into more details than usually is done.

The "text" that I'm using is Story of the World, Part 3. This will cover the mid-1500s to the mid-1800s. This book will provide the guideline for studying. I will supplement with the gobs of extra books I have for that time period as well as plenty-o library books. Fun, fun, fun!

Science:

Science, however, is lower on the scale for me. I'm not a fan of messes. They have to be cleaned up! Of course, for the "Cause of Education," I have "allowed" them.

When The Well-Trained Mind declared chemistry to be the focus for 3rd grade, I began to worry a bit. The only thing we did in my high school chemistry class was write "chemical equations." I actually liked that part, but it never gave me a grid for actual chemistry as we never did any experiments. (I did, however, watch in fascination as one of the cheerleaders had her hair corn-rowed one day in class a la Bo Derek. But I digress.)

Back to my dilemma. How in the world was I going to make chemistry remotely interesting without a serious chem set so we could blow up things? I researched a bit (a lot) and came up with this: And this:

Both are VERY cool books. The first (Fizz, Bubble, and Flash) is an entertaining yet thorough explanation of the Periodic Table. (Woo Hoo! I'm finally going to understand what all that means!) The second book has 30 chemistry experiments using regular stuff you would find in your home (or easy to find in the store).

NOW I'm excited about Science! (We'll save the chem set for later when J is more able to wield a fire extinguisher.)

Latin:

I began this Latin program this summer. I had tried FOUR other programs but none really fit for us. THIS program, however, is fun, interesting, and J and I are truly "getting" Latin! I cannot say enough good things about it. If you're interested in taking a stab at Latin for yourself, this program would be the way to go. It incorporates Roman history, too. J says he sees Latin words every where now as he recognizes them in English.
This is the last post about our curriculum. I've got all the books lined up, the year generally planned out and the first week's lesson plans ready to go.

Right after Brawn Week, I think J will be VERY happy to get started on all of this!

3rd Grade: Math

2010-08-15T14:06:00.000-04:00

Math has been interesting. Of all the subjects we've covered in the three years we've been homeschooling, math has always been on the bottom as far as J's interest goes.

Things started out well. Whenever we had word problems, J was excited. Then we hit the "wall" of the multiplication tables. Oh, the weeping, the wailing, the gnashing of teeth. He HATED the flash cards. Hated them, I tell you.

When I went for J's evaluation at the end of 2nd grade, I asked the evaluator for some suggestions to make math more enjoyable. She pointed out that J is a visual learner. For some reason that never occurred to me! Then, she showed me a little program called "Times Tales." It covered the more difficult sets of multiplication that were giving J trouble by using PICTURES in story form to solidify it in his mind.

I used it during our Summer Program and, get this, J declared that MATH was his favorite subject! (Cue the Hallelujah Chorus.)

With the hurdle of the multiplication tables out of the way, I turned my thoughts to the new school year. First, I thought I'd use the Mind Benders book that incorporated logic puzzles (word problems using the process of elimination to solve). We'll do one each week. They're an excellent to provide orderly thinking, and, well, I just like them!

Next, I found an interesting presentation regarding all things money. We'll essentially read through this and talk about it as it comes up in "life."

Finally, I wanted a math book that continued to lay down the principles in an orderly way but provided LOTS of words to help with the numbers. I came across Mathematics Power Learning for Children. It had amazing reviews, but I'm not sold yet. We'll see how it goes when we get into it.
Thought not J's strongest subject, I think I can turn it around to at least make it an enjoyable one. I'll do my best.

3rd Grade: Language and Writing

2010-08-14T08:34:00.001-04:00

The following are the books I've pulled for spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and writing. It's quite a stack, believe me. Each offers something specific that I wanted to incorporate this year. When I originally bought them (at curriculum sales), I knew by skimming through them that they had the potential to spark both my and J's interest. We'll see if I was correct!

Language:

This book gave a nice combination of spelling, vocabulary, and "life" situations using the word lists. J's spelling skills are pretty solid, so this might be a little less challenging that I would like. We'll see as the school year moves along.

This next book seems like it will do a fantastic job of giving a lot of useful practice for the chosen 100 words. J is a great speller, but that doesn't mean he always knows the definition of the words he spells. This book should prove very useful.

I found the series below last year (through another homeschooler). I can't say enough good things about it. The method used to simplify a sentence by removing the prepositional phrases is pure genius. I'm finding the gaps in my own education being filled through using these books for J. The first book teaches the new concepts. The second gives daily review of all concepts learned to date.

Writing:

With all that spelling, vocab, and grammar, the boy just needs to write! In my backlog of posts from the summer, I wanted to show some of J's summer writing. It has been a blast. It also showed me some areas of weakness and areas of interest that I can address this school year.

This next book is an intriguing way to practice punctuation. J is pretty grounded in this area, but more practice never hurts.

Lots of interesting story types, starters, and endings are given in the next book. I went through and chose enough to give him weekly prompts to increase his writing skills.

I didn't NEED to use the next book, but I wanted to. I will be using it more as a creative way to present what J writes. I could just put his writing in a notebook, but I know he will enjoy this visual/creative chance to enhance his work.

One more thing will be included in our language/writing section: Poetry. I never learned much about poetry until I went to college. I had a professor that made poetry absolutely come alive. Ever since then I knew I would cultivate that same excitement for poetry in my child. My plan is mostly to read, read, read lots of good poems. Each month I'll give him an opportunity to do his own using different "types" of poetry (eg Haiku).

I already have proof that he's for this. As I was copying off my pages describing the different types of poems, J caught sight of two of them and ran of to create a series. He's calling it his "food poetry" series. I told you he's a language kind of guy!

3rd Grade: Overview

2010-08-13T18:17:00.003-04:00

The following is an overview of my plans for third grade. After this post, I will break it into sections linking to the books I will be using.

For some this is just letting you know what your grandchild/nephew/friend is up to this year. For others who are homeschooling, perhaps you'll find something useful in what I've listed!

Language:

Spelling
Vocabulary
Grammar

Writing:

Punctuation Puzzles
5 Minute Story Inspiration
"Publishing" written work
Poetry Appreciation

Math:

Multiplication
Division
Fractions
Factoring
Prime Numbers

History:

Early Modern Times (from Elizabeth I to the "Forty-Niners")

Science:

Chemistry experiments
Periodic Table

Bible:

Read through one gospel (Mark) and the remainder of the NT
Stick figure timeline of the events in the NT

Art:

Study of individual artists' lives
Weekly crafts (just for fun)

Latin:

Lively Latin (which is just TOO awesome!)

Music:

Piano lessons
Drum lessons (I promise I'll get to a post about his new drum set.)

Cooking:

Learn to plan a menu, make a grocery list, shop for and prep food
Cook 10 breakfasts, 10 suppers, and 10 desserts throughout the school year

Health:

Simple first aid (required by the state)

I have finished!

2010-08-13T17:25:00.005-04:00

WHEW!

In snippets of time over the past two weeks, I have been pulling together J's Third Grade Curriculum. I'm a bit of a geek in this area--or maybe more of a free spirit. Either way, that boils down to over-the-top customization. I have only one child and I LIKE to research and pick and choose, and mix and match what I know would be a good fit for me and for J. I actually think it's fun! We're not starting for three more weeks, but, by golly, I'm ready!

I'm splitting up my posting of this "presentation" of our overview as there are too many parts for one post. You would probably glaze over a bit if I didn't, so I thought breaking it up would give you an opportunity to do other things with your life rather than read through all of this at once. I'm thoughtful that way.

Let me preface what is about to be shown with the reminder that J's forte is language. He is ALL about language. It comes easily to him and he eats it up like ice cream: the more I give him, the more he wants! (Math, not so much.)

I had several books on my shelves that I've picked up through curriculum sales. I pulled out these babies and found many that would work for us this year. In fact, through these sales, Half.com, and used items bought from other homeschoolers online, my total outlay for this school year is approximately $200. Not too shabby!

This was just the introduction. Next up will be an overview, then Language and Writing.

I have goosebumps.

Theme Weeks

2010-08-10T14:37:00.000-04:00

Summer is winding to a close. We finished our Summer Program last Friday and we have three weeks until we start third grade.

It doesn't work well for J to have too much down-time. He entertains himself well and is always coming up with things to do (read through this blog as a testimony to that!), but I find that his behavior stays on track better if I make sure there's something structured in each day.

Therefore, the next three weeks have "themes."

This week we are doing "Experiment Art." (Click on the book for info.) I've used books by Mary Ann Kohl before and they are great. In this book, I chose the section that specifically does chemistry related projects as we'll be doing intro to chemistry in third grade.

Next week will be what I'm calling "Library Week." This is something that totally appeals to me. We will visit a different library each day (we have six) and will just spend a couple of hours there enjoying what each library has to offer. Each day we'll also bring home some books and spend about an hour enjoying a snack and reading. We're also going to a concert in the middle of the week.

The last of the summer weeks is something I instituted at the beginning of the summer. We did one of these then: "Brawn Week." When I first introduced this theme, I told J that he would not need his brain at all. He was suspicious. His suspicions were confirmed when we spent the entire week super cleaning the house and doing yard work! Well, "Brawn Week" is making a reappearance.

J is underwhelmed.

School will "officially" start August 30th, but that can always change. I love the flexibility that homeschooling offers.

Guess what landed in our yard?

2010-08-08T15:40:00.003-04:00

I was walking by our sliding door that looks into our back yard and saw a flapping movement. A hawk was landing on our wood pile! J and I ran and got the binoculars to look at him and even managed to get out on the porch without him being concerned.

Then, it occurred to me to get the camera. I carefully opened the screen door and got a shot of him in the middle of the yard:

I ventured down the steps, ever so slowly, and crept toward him. He was making high chirping sounds toward me (I assume they were chirps of warning!). I was beginning to think I should heed those warning chirps when he suddenly flew toward our burn pile:

Where he stayed for the next 45 minutes! I got a few more snaps and then left him be to relax and do whatever he had landed in our yard to do.

Summer Program

2010-07-27T08:47:00.006-04:00

Have you noticed that I haven't posted since mid-May? I have many things TO post, but I've neglected just sitting down and getting to them. I decided to just "jump in" where we are and then catch up on the other items as we go along.

We decided to have a "Summer Program" this year. It's not remedial summer school, but rather an opportunity to do some things we don't get to during the regular school year. We're nearly finished and it has been very enjoyable for both me and J.

Here's the layout:

Bible
I had two goals for this area for the summer. One was to read through the book of John. The other was for J to memorize verses that have to do with wisdom. This has been a wonderful time together.

Literature
We've been going through the "Time Warp Trio" series. We put the books in chronological order and I read TO him. The reason I do that is that the books like to have the boys insulting each other (in fun), so I skip over those parts. Other than that, they are funny and incorporate historical facts as they experience each trip back in time.

L is also reading an old 1950s book about Wild Bill Hickok to J. It's a great "boy" book and it's a great chance for daddy/son memories to be created.

Math
Math in the summer??? Yes! J really, really hated learning his times tables using flash cards. He's a visual sort of learner and, though he learned them, it was definitely not his favorite thing. I found something called Times Tales that incorporates pictures and stories to teach the more difficult combinations. J is eating it up because he's all about words and pictures (as you can tell from his cartoons that I've posted). Now J claims that math is his favorite subject. He actually cheers about the multiplication tables, and has learned those last, pesky, difficult ones. I'd say we overcame the obstacle!

Writing
I have a stack of scrapbook pages that are colorful and thought-provoking. Each week J has chosen a sheet and then used it to inspire short, 3-paragraph "essays." I'll be posting some of them soon.

Music
I play the piano, so I began simple lessons with him. ALSO, J got a real drum set for his birthday! (I know, I know, I promise I'll do a post about it soon.) I am NOT a drummer, so I've given him some rudimentary things to practice. Mostly he just does his own "songs." We're looking into getting a teacher at some point, but for now I've found an online video series that will challenge him.

History
We're finishing up the final books of the Which Way USA series that are a subscription from J's grandparents. He's saving our state for the very last.

Latin
Heavy-duty for summer, eh? I tried three different approaches during the last school year and none of them really got off the ground for me. THEN, I found something called Lively Latin. It. Is. Awesome. The author has done a fantastic job of making the subject easy to learn (which I needed) as well as interesting and fun. I am learning so much! I mean, J is learning so much! I really, really recommend it.

It looks like a lot, doesn't it? It really is only about 2 hours worth of activity, and all of it is enjoyable. Structure works well for us, even in the summer. I do the "program" only four days a week, and if we need to do something else, it's certainly easy enough to push it off to another day . . . and we certainly have.

The summer program also includes field trips (more posts I haven't gotten to), helping with the garden, and trips to the community pool on the (few) hot days. We haven't gone camping yet, but the camper is opened up, airing out, and we're making plans.

Now that I've broken the posting silence, I'll make it a point to catch up on them!

Spring Planting

2010-05-11T07:09:00.000-04:00

Back in April when we were pretending like spring had arrived, we decided to get some seeds started. My husband is more into gardening than I am, so I asked if he would take on this task, with J as his right-hand man.

They started with good ol' dirt and planted and planted for over an hour. Husband was kind and spread newspaper on the floor. I'm not sure I would have thought of that, so I'm glad he was in charge for more reasons than one!

J carefully wrote the names on some sticks. Look at the style, the technique. Look at the eye of his frog rain boot peeking out from beneath. OK, that's a little interesting.

All seeds cozy in their individual pots. They planted 1,209 varieties of . . . Lettuce. I checked recently and ALL of the leaves look exactly alike. It's a good thing we labeled them!

Now, if it would quit snowing and having overnight lows below freezing, the lettuce might get a chance to see actual ground. When they grow to maturity, I will give a taste comparison of all 1,209 types. Or not.

Happy Belated Easter

2010-05-07T23:00:00.012-04:00

Up North, hunting for Easter eggs outside is not for the faint of heart. Normally there is snow . . . lots of snow. The temperatures usually match the fact that there's lots of snow. The ground is no where to be seen.

But not this year!

The day before Easter the temperature was 82 degrees! Heavens to Betsy! Everyone was beyond giddy and hardly anyone stayed indoors.

Aunt T's town was having an egg hunt that was open to everyone. Miss Girl and J were milling with the crowd in anticipation of a snowsuit-free experience.

J located one egg near the river:

He helped another boy get this egg out of the tree. The bare tree. Not much of a camouflage.

The hunt isn't quite as challenging when the leaves are non-existent:

"Miss Girl! Oh, Miss Girl! Look behind you!"

On Easter proper, the families got together for some serious egg-dying. The Easter Bunny made a special visit to help out, demonstrating his technique.

Since I'm rather late in getting this posted and it's now mid-May, I must report that the "Dog Days of April" have gone. In fact, we had a little snow yesterday and the expected low tonight is in the 20s. Still, we have hope that summer will truly make its way to our area.

It has to--all the flowers have already bloomed and the grass is begging to be mowed!

J and Jackson Pollock

2010-04-17T07:32:00.000-04:00

I've said it before: Modern Art is PERFECT for kids to copy! I'm not saying that the modern artists have no talent--to the contrary. Their willingness to create from within is very exciting. Much of it is really amazing. It also lends itself to encouraging kids to enjoy art!

Jackson Pollock was known for his "paint splatter" style of painting. The video below gives a wonderful mix of actual photos of Pollock and a dramatization of when he stumbled upon the style that would make him famous. (If it doesn't show below, click HERE to watch it on YouTube directly.)

When the weather gets warmer, I am planning on putting a large piece of paper out in the yard and having L and J work together on their own Pollock-inspired masterpiece. L is an artist, so I expect this to be a fun project for them both.

I wanted to give J a chance to "do" Pollock while were reading about him and came across this link. You will love it. Once you enter the site, start creating. (Hint: Left-click to change colors.)

Create like Jackson Pollock

"Creative" Writing

2010-04-16T14:43:00.005-04:00

Creative writing. For some, those words bring a slight feeling of panic. (That would be me.) For others, it's a total delight. (That would be J.) By delight, I mean actual cheering. I don't try to understand it, I just take advantage of it.

A workbook I've been using, published in 1981, has done a good job of providing inspiration. The very last page gave these three "scenes" as incentives for three separate paragraphs:

J has been eagerly awaiting this assignment since he first looked through the book. Aliens, planets, and humor--right up his alley.

Each panel corresponds to a paragraph below. Pronunciations were provided when necessary. Believe me, they were necessary. Unfortunately, I couldn't use accent marks. Just do your best.

Neffoneffolummasilonokoody (nef-o-nef-o-luh-muh-sil-o-no-koo-dee), the president of Saturn, decided to go to Earth one day. It took him 38 years to get there (and 88 days). Neffoneffolummasilonokoody (ed. note: "Neff" for short) landed and started walking around.

He looked through some bushes and said, "!!!!" with alarm! Here's what he saw: 3 strange aliens! One had a nose at arms length, a second one had a long, flowing body, and the last one had stiff hair.

He was so scared he jumped back into his NIFO (Now Identified Flying Object) and zoomed toward Neptune where his cousin lived, to tell him about it. His cousin's name was Inglick (eeng-leek). Neffoneffolummasilonokoody never returned to Earth again.

You may borrow these images for your own creative writing assignment. Please turn it in by next Friday. Don't forget to indent.

A Day at the Beach

2010-03-29T09:14:00.000-04:00

This is what happens when you give a 7yo a camera while you're trying to pack. These were taken a few months ago when we were taking a vacation. I didn't discover them until recently.

We were able to get a room that was beachfront and several floors up. J was out on the balcony, enjoying his morning. We were listening to the radio, getting things organized so we could go to breakfast. This view was peaceful and relaxing. It gave no indication of the terror that was about to be unleashed.

J was feeling a little "artsy" and produced this "Study of Chair through Circle." (The song on the radio was Margaritaville.)

"Look. There's a foot. I'll take a picture of it."

"If I take a picture of TWO feet with the ocean in the background, it will really give the feel of a day at the beach."

"You know, if I take a picture of my feet like this, it looks like they're far away. Cool."

"We ARE at the ocean. I should take a picture of sharks." (Next song on the radio was Theme from Jaws.)

"Wait, I heard something outside. It sounded like it came from the pool area."

"WAIT! What's happening?? The pool is twisting around!"

"Oh NO! The earth is moving! Is it an earthquake??"

(Radio) Ladies and Gentlemen, we interrupt to report that a giant has been sighted at a hotel on the beach. He seems gentle, but is very interested in pools. For your safety, don't go near the beach!

"Come on, J. We're ready to go down to breakfast." "Yes, ma'am. Daddy, there's a giant outside . . ."

Planet Humor

2010-03-27T10:37:00.002-04:00

It would take quite a long time to post ALL the drawings that come from J's fingers. We are constantly going through them and reducing, just to keep them from taking over the house. But, I thought these were post-worthy. They made me laugh, anyway!

In the first drawing, the planets are waiting in line (for the sun to light up the universe). In front of them there is (apparently) a sign that says, "No Books of Any Sort in this Line." Jupiter is completely disregarding that sign by reading a comic book. (About Superman, of course.) Uranus (to his right), is a little disgusted at this display of disobedience.

In front of Jupiter are Pluto (looking at his watch), Venus (who has noticed Jupiter's bad manners, too), and Mercury (who is just bored).

Next up we have Uranus playing tennis (wearing a visor), and Saturn who is playing on the monkey bars. Uh oh. The tennis ball got away from Uranus and hit poor Saturn right in the eye. Trouble!

In this drawing, the planets are doing a little forest clearing. Jupiter (with safety goggles in place), was getting ready to chop the felled tree with his ax when he tripped over a log. On the right, Uranus, who saw Jupiter, was concerned. Then he heard something. Another tree was heading right toward him! He turned quickly in horror. Unfortunately, the artist left us in the lurch as to what happened. (J says Uranus moved away quickly.)

Who needs Charlie Brown or Blondie when you could be reading about planets?

On the Wild Side

2010-03-19T20:16:00.003-04:00

We have just spent the whole week moving J's bedroom from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor. Upstairs the room measured 12 x 19 . . . for one child. Downstairs the measurements are 8 x 10.

What can I say? I like a challenge.

I have never really decorated J's room much before. I was going to do up his nursery before he was born, but I didn't get to it in time. Then I sort of threw some nautical stuff around, but it wasn't really, truly decorated. Finally, I decided it was time to rectify this situation.

The theme? Wild Animals. The featured animal is the zebra as that's J's favorite.

Here's what you see when you approach the door. Zebra picture, zebra collection, Wall-E, and Teddy:

Notice "Teddy" is tucked into a place of honor. He's sitting next to the Magic School Bus books.

Lots of zebras, eh? Well, to mix it up a little, I added a leopard print curtain, with zebra tiebacks. You'll notice a LOT of plastic drawer/bin thingys. I'm a big believer in separating items to make them easier to put away.

The loft bed was hauled downstairs. That puppy is heavy! It's also got a lot going in a small space. Underneath is a desk (not pictured) and a bookcase. On top is the bed. To the right are more storage drawers. Behind the drawers and bookcase are storage areas, too.

The best part, though, is the curtain. Zebra print with a leopard sleeve for the rod. When closed, it creates a curtain for a stage area!

If you look closely (perhaps you can click on the picture to enlarge), you'll see some wild animal shower curtain hooks decorating along the top. There is a second set of rod holders that lower the curtain to a puppet stage height.

J was an absolute champion about decluttering. That was the only way I was going to be able to get nearly all his toys into this room. NOT in the room are his train set, Leggos, cardboard building blocks, and box-0-music instruments. They now reside in the basement.

I want to add another wild animal print--giraffe. I thought I could do up the switch plates in that pattern, and then maybe pull it all together with something on the wall.

OK, the next picture is . . . Wait! What's this? I think I've discovered something that could be hot-off-the-presses breaking news! These are J's costumes, but I *think* I see Batman's legs hanging below. Could this be where Batman lives? IS J BATMAN???? I don't know. I think we'd better keep this information to ourselves. We don't want The Riddler to get wind of this. Promise me you'll keep it secret . . .

Hands On Science

2010-03-08T17:26:00.005-05:00

One of the awesome things about homeschooling is that BOTH parents can be involved. Science experiments are not my forte. Many times they're messy and I'm not always up for making messes since I have to do so much cleaning up! I didn't want J to have to miss out in this area due to my lack of enthusiasm, so L stepped in to provide for this area of his education.

Aunt E gave J a circuit kit for his birthday last year. We've been hanging on to it waiting for the right time. Finally, we got it out about a month ago and J and L have worked on the experiments (there are 100) together. They're enjoying themselves and I get to do something else!

First, you set up the board for the latest experiment.

THEN you read the directions.

Men.

(Not really. I had control of the post creation so I get to decide the order of the pics. Ha!)

It's all in place. What will happen? OK, J, YOU flip the switch.

It worked! It worked!

MSB: The Movie

2010-03-05T19:39:00.010-05:00

Interest in the Magic School Bus series of books and videos has waxed and waned for about four years now. I had never heard of them before when a customer of L's gave J her daughter's collection of MSB books. They were great! I read them to J, he read them to me. Over, and over, and over.

At church one day, I was talking to a teenager and mentioned J's love of the books. She told me they had videos! I checked the library and, sure enough, there were a LOT of videos!

Different characters have been J's favorites over the years. Miss Girl (J's cousin), actually had one of the characters move into their home for a while. He was always invisible. Stories flew between the two cousins as they enjoyed the eight kids from the series.

The other day, MSB made a comeback. I'm not quite sure how the plot unfolded, but I'll do my best to at least identify the characters and (maybe) what the heck they're doing. This would be the trailer to the movie, coming to a theater near you.

First, we have the central character:

J donned a cap, backwards of course. Any guesses on who he's portraying? (Answers below pics.) This character seems to be fending off attacking robots with a sword.

(Ralphie)

I'm not sure that I can really explain this pic. The character on the right (no hat, proper clothing colors) is dropping a sword onto another character. Yes, that's a character. The yellow hair with two ponytails, the purple shirt, and the green skirt. She's the one who always refers to her resource books.

(Left: Dorothy Ann and Right: Carlos)

There was one more character that made an appearance during this movie trailer. He appeared to be running from something. A robot that didn't appreciate being whacked with a sword, maybe. He was caught on a surveillance tape. Can you guess his name?

If you guessed Arnold, you would be correct!

Don't forget, now:

MSB, The Movie will be coming to your town soon. Get those tickets ahead of time. It's sure to be a sellout.

(If you can't see the surveillance pics, click HERE.)

Gymnastics!

2010-02-24T09:39:00.003-05:00

When J was three, I tried to take him to a little gymnastics class that was offered by our rec center. He seemed interested. The very first move was a somersault. J lined up with the other kids and one by one the teacher helped them roll frontwards. When it was J's turn, he put his head down and started to roll. The teacher flipped him over and got ready to help the next child.

Well, J was shocked. He was speechless (which hasn't happened often). He gave her a majorly dirty look and ran over to me. He would not go back over there. End of gymnastics class.

Recently a gym in a nearby town decided to fill in some downtime by offering a class for 11 weeks to homeschoolers. Normally the classes are after school hours, so it was nice to have something in the morning. J said he was VERY interested in giving this a try. I was nervous, but we went for it.

He loves it, of course!

Here he is with his friend Owen. Owen is 7, too. They were chatting a bit here.

J and Owen wait for their turn to try a handstand. I missed J doing the handstand. I was all ready and waiting and the teacher moved them to the next activity. Drat! Since they were chatting, all was not lost.

In fact, I noticed there was quite a bit of chatting going on. Hmmm. Better deal with that one.

FINALLY, I got a pic of J doing something BESIDES flapping his gums. They get plenty of exercise at home--believe me. I have to put him on silence sometimes just so my ears can have a rest. But, I digress. This is the "wall walk."

Such a difference from three to seven!

Human Body Systems (with additions)

2010-02-16T15:40:00.006-05:00

In my last post I mentioned that J has been interested in the human body systems for quite some time. There were several months where he was constantly sketching them.

One episode of sketching occurred when I brought home these large gingerbread boy cutouts. I showed them to J who immediately felt the need to show their innards. In detail.

He made six of these, but I will showcase just three. The first is the skeletal system. (Click on the picture to see the labels.)

Although ALL of the systems are important, the next picture shows the one that makes it all work--the cardio-vascular:

If you will click on this third system (muscular) you may discover some new muscle groups. The Fom, for example, is an alternate name for the leg muscles. Rather than list the individual muscles, J just grouped them together and renamed them. Efficiency is his middle name.

There's another newly coined muscle that I want you to pay particular attention to. It is called the "Betbo."

The Betbo consists of the waist muscles.

Last fall, Aunt E came for a visit. Aunt E has worked in the medical field for quite some time. J knew that Aunt E would be especially appreciative of his work. He dragged . . . er. . .asked her to go upstairs to see his wall people. She admired them. Then, she pondered aloud about the particulars of the Betbo.

Aunt E: "What does the Betbo do?"

J: "It's the muscle that does this."

Then J proceeded to demonstrate the Betbo. We discovered that it's the muscle you use to do The Twist!

So, the next time you're doing The Twist, you know, as you're going about your daily routine, remember that you're using your Betbo. It's important that you use proper terms when you can.

Second Grade Health: My Version

2010-02-14T19:03:00.007-05:00

I've mentioned before how much I'm learning . . . I mean, how much J is learning through homeschooling. According to many Scope and Sequences, second grade science should cover the basics of the human body and astronomy.

J began being interested in the human body innards around two years ago. He has since learned about the bones and many of the systems. (We're saving some for *later* if you know what I mean.) Since he was so interested, he managed to memorize all sorts of body part names and their whereabouts. Tomorrow I'll take some pictures of the results of that pursuit.

Knowing that we'd essentially covered enough information about the human body for now, I decided to incorporate taking CARE of that body. That is a subject that I spend a lot of time thinking about and educating myself about. I decided that I wanted to learn more and that J might as well learn with me. Or me with him. Either way.

To that end I dedicated three of our school months to this area. The first month we studied nutrition. About two years ago God directed me to seek out information regarding healthy eating with the understanding that it should agree with the fact that He made things a certain way for a purpose. I ended up finding this book:

Nourishing Traditions is a wealth of amazing information (and recipes) that lined up with the criteria that nutrition should start with food in its "purist" form--how God made it. We covered Protein, Carbohydrates, Fats, Dairy, Vitamins, Minerals, and Beverages. Not your usual lineup of nutrition terms, eh? I'm going to be doing a few posts specifically explaining those. J will illustrate.

This month we've gone even further "out there." Homeopathy. I'll be doing a post on that as well. This book is our "text."

Next month we will concentrate on herbs. There's a FANTASTIC website called "Learning Herbs" that has a free course as well as tons of information on all sorts of things related to herbs. J and I will take the online course and will also use this board game:

I bought the game a few months ago and we've played it a few times already. To supplement the course and game, I'll use the following book as a sort of reference guide. The herbs are set up in alphabetical order, so we'll probably peruse a few just for fun.

J has enjoyed what we've covered so far. So have I.

J and Magritte

2010-02-09T21:47:00.006-05:00

I can't believe my last post was in December. So, a belated Happy New Year!

To ease into more regular posting, I thought I'd start with something light and fun. We're in the latter part of our art book, Discovering Great Artists. In this section we're covering Surrealists, Cubists, and other "ists" that form the "Modern Arts." We've done Picasso and a few others, but I wanted to share J's efforts in regards to copying the style of Rene Magritte.

You may not know his name, but I bet you've seen some of his work. The two below are representative of his style. He liked to "mix things up" a bit.

This one was one of J's favorites. I've never associated a tuba with "hot" music, but there it is.

After reading the background on Magritte and looking at a selection of his works, I set J up to create his own "Magritte." (NOTE: You would definitely want to choose the photos of his work ahead of time rather than having your child standing there while you look through them. Trust me.)

I put J's tennis shoe on the table in front of him. J decided to give it a bit of an angle and then set to work. After he drew and colored the shoe, he gave it the "Magritte" magic--Little tiny people climbing and standing on the "mountain." Two of the balloons say "hi." The two little guys stuck in a furrow at the toe are calling for help. It is, after all, a very big shoe.

J has decided he likes Modern Art the best. Can you blame him?

Dr. "J"

2009-12-11T21:43:00.009-05:00

No, not the one you're thinking of.

J has a doctor's kit, but he felt a lack. He needed some proper forms to go with the kit. Without the forms he felt it wouldn't be right to officially hang out his shingle.

I browsed through some toy catalogs and used their forms as ideas for making my own. Below I've created links for printables so that ALL budding doctors can have the proper forms.

(Shhhh. Don't tell J. These are for Christmas...)

Eye Chart (cardstock)

Door Sign (cardstock)

Medical Chart (Human) (colored paper)

Medical Chart (Bear) (colored paper)

Procedure Checklist

Graduation Certificate

X-Rays (cardstock)

Prescription Pad (colored paper)

Addendum to THE Christmas List

2009-12-09T13:05:00.003-05:00

I left out a very important detail.

The 7-year-old brother that's on the list? His name has to be John. I'm not sure exactly why. Evidently, it doesn't have to be his given name. It will be acceptable if the boy is willing to change it to John.

So, before you send that gift wrapped 7-year-old boy (don't forget the air holes), please make sure he's not against the name-change.

THE Christmas List

2009-12-09T11:38:00.004-05:00

In a write-on/wipe-off Christmas book J has, there is a page that has three scrolls for writing out the child's Christmas wish list. As I was cleaning upstairs this morning, I heard a voice informing me that the list was complete.

If we had approximately 20,000 extra dollars lying around, we would be able to grant the wishes on this list. However, we don't. But, the list makes for good reading...

Hiccup Warner (J gets the hiccups all the time. This gadget would give warning that hiccups were about to start and provide a button to push to head them off. I don't think Toys-R-Us carries this.)
Remote control Wall-E
Extra train tracks (For his already large train set. I told him no.)
Kid-size pool table (because the one in the garage is too big)
Drum set (the real deal)
7-year-old brother (Of course, the Child Shop is the place to get one of these.)
Magic Hat
Thomas the Train characters: Edward and Toby
Extra-powerful binoculars (So he can see for miles. Perhaps the military has a spare we can buy?)
Cowboy boots
Ice cream maker (We already have one.)
Robot-making-kit with METAL parts (Because our kit with the cardboard parts wasn't sturdy enough.)
Pet kitty (HERE is how wanting a cat came about!)
Cars poster (Already have one. He forgot about it.)

There you have it. If anyone has a spare 7-year-old boy they'd like to give as a present, let me know.

Literature comes alive

2009-11-16T18:26:00.005-05:00

We recently finished reading both Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. They were the abridged versions which hit the highlights. I normally don't like abridged versions, but in Huck Finn's case I was grateful. I do NOT like to read dialect. It slows me down too much.

I've been using these literature choices as our read-aloud bedtime stories. In order to deal with having to read the dialect, I had to call up my roots, my family, my kin. I relaxed my mouth and just let the drawl flow. It worked! (Then I had trouble getting back to my regular accent!)

As per usual, J was inspired to illustrate the newest books in a word-play cartoon. Below is a little soybean and a fish with new identities:

If you remember the story of Tom Sawyer, it begins with Tom and Huck witnessing a murder in the graveyard. Injun Joe and Muff Potter were supposed to be digging up a body for Dr. Robinson. Muff was three sheets to the wind. Injun Joe picked an argument with the Dr. and threatened to kill him. Muff tried to intervene, he got knocked down in the scuffle and Joe killed the doctor with Muff's knife. It was very exciting.

Since they were the next group of important characters introduced, they, too, have been given new identities:

Now, the next time you read Tom Sawyer, you'll have new images for your mind's eye!

Resting and Reading Time: An Explanation

2009-11-04T20:15:00.007-05:00

I will use a particular phrase many times in my posts about J and his doings. That phrase is, "Resting and Reading Time."

Here's the scoop:

J has ALWAYS been a Morning Person. Dyed-in-the-wool, race-with-the-rooster type of Morning Person. J's father and I are decidedly NOT Morning People. Since I was there for his birth, I know he's ours. I just have no idea where he got this propensity to actually WANT to hop out of bed, full of energy!

In order to survive J's freakish...I mean natural time clock, we had to provide some way for him to enjoy his love for the early hours and our love for coming to consciousness on the right side of 6am. He's been this way forever.

When he was little, we trained him to stay on his bed when he awoke. We taught him how to turn on the bedside light, provided a light refreshment and a basket of books. That bought us enough time to reasonably ease ourselves into the land of alertness.

This has evolved as he's grown older. Now he comes into our room (in the dark, of course), gives hugs and kisses and good mornings, announces the time, and then goes off to perform his morning ablutions. After that, his desk light clicks on and the creativity begins.

That doesn't mean we get to sleep in until full daylight, mind you. But he's happy to have an hour or so to himself and we're happy to pretend we're getting all sorts of sleep.

Now you know.

Uh Oh.

2009-11-04T19:34:00.012-05:00

Apparently there is a situation going on in our house involving cultural clashes.

During J's "Resting and Reading Time," the following pages were produced. In the first one, there is definitely a "Technology meets Myth" issue. Anubis is an Egyptian god. He has evidently encountered a being that has puzzled him:

Ra, another Egyptian god, is having his own problems. Being the sun god and all has not prepared him for travel to another region. Confusion reigns.

I really don't know what to say. Will the other 2000+ Egyptian gods also confront weather frustrations and mechanical being surprises...or worse?

Only J knows.

Robots

2009-10-31T07:40:00.004-04:00

J has a love for robots (among many other things). He and Miss Girl were playing together and were sharing the large Lego blocks. Miss Girl was creating a lovely house. J decided to create a robot as tall as he. Miss Girl encouraged his endeavor, donating blocks from her stash when her house was finished. It grew, and grew until J created....J***Bot! J***Bot was a little top heavy and needed to lean against the hutch for support.

J***Bot is a "Bounce Bot" because he walks stiffly, using first one foot then the other. With help, of course.

There were still Legos left, so J decided to create....JuniorBot, J***Bot's son. He gets around by using wheels. He is a "Roller Bot."

Looky there. We STILL had Legos left! JuniorBot apparently produced his OWN son. This one was named, "BabyBot." BabyBot's eyes had some difficulty with focus. He is a "Skimmer Bot" which means that he skims above the surface as air pushes its way through the window holes.

BabyBot felt the need to produce an heir, as well. We were down to the bottom of bucket as far as choices of available blocks. Because of the scarcity of building materials, the new Bot was very short. His name? "NewbornBot." He is a "Scooter Bot" because the door slab is attached to its frame and opens and closes rapidly to help him move.

J wanted to demonstrate J***Bot's ability to obey commands. J said, "J***Bot! Nod your head!" J***Bot instantly obeyed. More commands followed with instant obedience. I planned to take J***Bot aside and determine HOW J got him to obey instantly. That information will be put to use as soon as I can figure out how to apply it to 7yo humans.

Evidently, the tables were turned! J***Bot began to command J! "J! Stand exactly the way I am standing." It worked! I have GOT to get to the bottom of this. I could write a book and make millions!

Our final picture: Inventor and Inventions. One big, happy family.

Fear of Cats, Part 2

2009-10-21T20:30:00.007-04:00

We've completed Day 6 of cat-sitting. (If you missed the exciting Part 1, click HERE.) J is beginning to come to terms with the presence of the cat. He continues to "broom" her and has even attempted to play "string" with her. She makes a small effort to play, but at 19 she's more interested in sleeping. Oh, and the brooming. That activity has been given the green light.

J likes to know where she is at all times, which is a little distracting (cat-stracting?) during homeschooling time.

The cat uses her claws to help herself onto the couch, the bed, and the chairs. J is concerned when he sees those claws. He vacates the room. Fast. Today she wanted to share his dining chair with him. We were right in the middle of math. Next thing I knew, a cat was sitting there ready to answer the math problem. She didn't get the answer right.

Later on I was presented with yet another list. (I don't know WHERE this boy gets his list-making tendencies...) This list gave insight into the needs of felines.

Stuff Cats Need to Survive:

Food
Litter Box
Water
String
Sleep
A Good Brooming
Sleeping Places
Plenty of Humans!!!!!

I'm going to count this as science, you know. Observation of living creature.

Soon he might even stay in the room if she shows a little claw. I wonder what list will result from that experience?

From Fear to...

2009-10-18T22:06:00.012-04:00

J is currently afraid of cats. Well, dogs, too, but this post is about cats. A few months ago we were encouraging him to pet a neighbor's cat. The cat acted all friendly and happy and all. Then that evil thing suddenly spun around and grabbed J by the arm and dug deep. When it let go (which seemed like forever as I was trying to get it off), there were deep cuts and scratches. (There's a ravine behind our house. L has a BB gun. No one would ever know...)

I digress. Since that time, J has been sure that ALL cats would do the same to him. We've tried to help him by holding cats for him to pet, etc., but still he's convinced they really intend to do him harm.

A friend of ours needed cat-sitting services this week. The cat loves people and is quite old. She probably wouldn't hurt a flea--not that she has any.

J knew she was coming to stay and began to get upset. He would run past her to his room and slam the door shut, fearful of the cat's intentions. He was moved to make a list about the subject:

Steps on How to Be Afraid of Cats:

Panic.
Run.
Go upstairs.
Slam door shut.
Keep door shut.
Sigh.
Relax.

The next morning, I sat between them and told J that I would have the cat run her "demo." (J looks for the demos on all electronic items. Why not apply it to the feline?) She worked with me and did all the things she does. Sleep, sit up, walk slowly, use the litter box, eat, drink, and yodel when lonely. That. Was. It.

This demo encouraged J a little. In fact, he decided a second list might be useful:

Steps on How NOT to Be Afraid of Cats:

See cat.
Go over to cat.
Pet cat.
Keep petting cat until Mama says to stop.
Ask for treat to put in cat's food dish.
Rejoice about treat.

After writing the list, J got to step 1 but then stopped. Today, however, we discovered that the cat likes to be "broomed." By that I mean that we take the broom and "sweep" her on the back. She loves it. J decided he could manage that as the handle of the broom provided distance between his body and the cat's claws.

The cat loved the brooming. J succeeded in getting through steps two through six. He really did, as long as you notice that step three did NOT say with WHAT the cat should be petted.

Tomorrow will be day five of sixteen days of this experience. My hope is that by the end of her stay, the cat will have helped take away the fear. Perhaps another list will be produced. A list of steps about ENJOYING a cat!

The Planets and Their Roman Names

2009-10-10T14:19:00.007-04:00

In history we have (finally) moved past Egypt to Rome. Immediately J recognized the names of the planets being those of Roman gods. All except Earth and Uranus, that is.

Immediately a sketch was made to indicate how the names fit with the planets. From the top left, we have the winged hat and shoes of Mercury, the messenger god. To his left is Venus, the goddess of love. She apparently likes what she sees.

Below them on the left is Jupiter, the king of the gods. One of Jupiter's moons is Io, who, as the story goes, was once a woman but was changed into a cow. See her horns and the four legs? She isn't a planet. That was just a freebie.

To the king's left is Mars, the god of war. He has his sword. He has his shield. He has his helmet. Judging from his expression of lowered eyebrows and shouting mouth, he's ready for battle.

Beneath Mars is Saturn. He's Jupiter's father and the god of time. Since his son is the king, he's retired and has picked up a hobby that matches his purpose. He has "developed" his photography skills so that he can always show the past. He likes going back in time. The top photo is Pluto, god of the underworld, sitting on his throne. The bottom pic is of Neptune, the god of the sea. He's treading water.

You'll always remember the origins of the planets names now, won't you? We're glad to be of service.

Art for Second Grade

2009-10-08T09:59:00.003-04:00

Beginning this week we are going to finish up the artists in the book, Discovering Great Artists by MaryAnn F. Kohl. We began this book last year. HERE is a collection of my favorites.

Below is a list of the artists that we will cover. Each page in the book gives a quick synopsis of the artist's life and specific style. Then directions are given for the student to create a similar style. I can't say enough about how much I love this book and how much J has enjoyed it.

You'll notice that I've scheduled a "Gallery Showing" for June. I'm planning on displaying all of his work inspired by this book and perhaps even making it a little bit of an event. For those too far away to attend, I will be sure to report on it right here on the blog.

Second Grade List of Artists:

October: Toulouse-Lautrec, Seurat, Vuillard, Russell

November: Matisse, Munch, Kandinsky, Klee

December: Stella, Escher

January: Calder, Braque, Picasso

February: Duchamp, Chagall, Magritte, Dali

March: Rockwell, Wyeth, Lange, Bourke-White

April: Vasarily, Pollock, Christo, Paik

May: Lichtenstein, Warhol, Ringgold, Van Allsburg

June: Great Artist Cookies (this should be fun--and tasty!) to be served at the Gallery Showing.

Along with the artists, we'll also do some "grid drawing" using books like the one below (click on the picture to see other titles):

Pepping up plain sentences

2009-10-07T20:01:00.006-04:00

I decided to test J using the free placement tests at Calvert School. One particular section showed the above picture.

The directions said, "On a separate piece of paper, have your child write a four to five sentence paragraph about the picture." I read the directions to J. Either he wasn't quite sure what a paragraph was, or he just needed to release the poetry in his soul:

There is snow everywhere.

A boy is making a snowman. There!

The pile of rocks he'd better beware.

'Cause they're the home of a polar bear.

Moving on to Greece

2009-09-24T07:10:00.004-04:00

Having explored all things Egyptian (for now, anyway), we're on to Greece. They, too, had all sorts of stories and legends and a whole bunch of gods. Silly Greeks. But, since so much of our culture and literature makes reference to the stories and the sayings, etc. from ancient Greece, it's important to become familiar enough to understand those references.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are very interesting to learn about. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were touched on when we were studying that time period. Another ancient wonder was the Colossus of Rhodes. It was about a third of the size of the Statue of Liberty and stood near the harbor. It was destroyed in an earthquake about 50 years after being built. If you'd like to learn more, HERE is an interesting site that discusses the 7 Wonders of many categories.

This image is one of many that artists have come up with to show the Colossus.

Recently, J was reading a book about the Seven Wonders to L. They got to the Colossus and Daddy, being the fan of wordplay that he is, gave J an idea. J is also a fan of wordplay. Off J ran to his desk. A few minutes later he returned with this illustration:

The date is a little off, but the details are spot-on. At the bottom is the finding of the boots in the discovery phase. The large picture at the top is the restored statue. Of course, any artifact raised from centuries of being underwater would show some wear and tear.

Daddy is a funny man.

More about Egypt

2009-09-24T06:38:00.001-04:00

The study of all things Egyptian has captured J's imagination. For a few weeks now it has been his biggest interest. We're about to move on to Greece.

Here are a few manifestations of J's absorption of the material. First we have an architect's plans for a pyramid. J has a set of hieroglyphic stamps. At the top it says "Gold Cap." Further down on the left it says "Dig" and has the arrow pointing to the appropriate spot. Below that it says "1st Chamber" and points to the room at the very bottom. To the right it says "Grand Gallery" but J forgot to draw the arrow. Finally, the top right says "Steps Go Here." If you'd like, you can build your own pyramid in your back yard.

One morning I awoke to hear the sounds of scotch tape being dispensed. Then, a few steps and more pulling and tearing of tape. When I got up to investigate, I found that all the doors in the house had signs. Each Egyptian god was given his or her own room. These were my favorites:

Ra (or Re) was the sun god. This was on our bathroom door. The bathroom is painted yellow.

As the story goes, Osiris was once a pharaoh. His brother, Seth, wanted his throne and murdered him. Then Seth cut Osiris' body up and hid the pieces in 14 different locations. Osiris' wife, Isis, gathered up all the pieces and put them together again and made the first mummy. Since he was dead, and a pharaoh, he (of course) got to become a god. His jurisdiction was the underworld. He was happy to be put back together again, as you can see.

Anubis was also associated with death. Since death was so important to the Egyptians, they spent a lot of time thinking about, talking about, and mummifying anyone and anything they could. Anubis' room was all about the mummy and his innards. The Egyptians removed the brain, liver, stomach, and lungs (not pictured) before mummifying the body. As you can see, the organs were NOT happy with this situation. The brain was the only one who could think, and his thoughts were very dark.

This picture was on OUR bedroom door. The hieroglyphics say "Thoth's Room." Thoth was the god of wisdom and writing. I was told that this was on our door because, and I quote, "Daddy is a good writer and he's the wisest one in the house." There was no sign for me. I'm not sure what to think about that. I'll just let it pass.

I WAS, however, handed six pages of activities. The first was a coded word scramble (spelling out the names of the canopic jars), then another coded page that asked the question, "What threatening cold-blooded animal lives in the Nile?" There was a "Fun Fact" page that showed a picture of Horus and informed me that the canopic jars were his four sons, and two pages that listed 22 names and their pronunciations. Then, there was this:

I did my very best work connecting the dots and discovered...those four canopic jars!

A good time was had by all.

The Haberdashery of Egypt's Pharaohs

2009-09-23T11:19:00.008-04:00

What can I say? The Pharaoh, king of Egypt, must wear many hats.

One afternoon J modeled his collection. He indicated that, though the pharaoh was wearing the same shirt in each photo (a Cars shirt, no less), each picture was of a different pharaoh.

First, we have King Tut (Tutankhamen) sitting on his kingly throne. He looks severe and determined.

But then his photographer caught him in a lighter moment:

Pictured here is Seti I in the crown of Lower Egypt:

Now we have Ramses II sporting the crown of Upper Egypt.

Long ago, Sargon united the Upper and Lower Kingdoms of Egypt. To show that union, he combined the two crowns (that's a picture of his great-grandmother in the background):

When it was time for battle, the special war crown was worn. Ramses II returned for this pose. (Ignore the tapestry pillow protruding from his eyebrow.)

Uh oh. Anubis, the god of the dead has arrived. The pharaohs know what that means. I guess it's time for them to return to their sarcophagi (sarcophaguses?) Thanks, guys. We appreciate your cooperation.

Communicating with aliens?

2009-09-23T08:55:00.005-04:00

During our Ancient Egypt unit, J was mightily impressed with the Rosetta Stone which was carved in 196BC. When the stone was found in 1799, it unlocked the meaning of Hieroglyphic writing. A message was written on the stone in three languages: Greek (used by the rulers), Demotic (the common language), and Hieroglyphics (used by the religious leaders). Greek and Demotic were understood languages. By comparing the three, they were able to translate the ancient Egyptian symbols.

In a bid to mix interests (planets have always been a favorite pastime), J came up with his own Rosetta Stone. He calls it his "Roplaneta Stone." I should probably pass this important document along to astronomers and those who are trying to find life on other planets. With this key, they might be able to translate any findings and discover the truth of their civilizations.

Or, perhaps an alien from one of these planets will stumble across this as they're surfing the net and find a way to speak Earthen and communicate with us. There's no telling what breakthroughs may occur.

Taming the Paper--and what you find when you do

2009-09-22T08:49:00.005-04:00

I am doing my utmost best to keep J's paper production down to a dull roar. One of my tactics is to periodically go through the giant stack and have him select many to keep and some to release. We've been doing this for several years, so he's pretty amenable to the process.

When we go through the sorting, we first divide them into like topics. Currently we have subjects like "Egypt," "Cars," "Pooh," and "Robots." Then, there's the "Miscellaneous" pile. That's a big one. Many of the papers I've never seen, so when we're sorting I often have to ask what the picture is about. There are many interesting surprises!

Take this one, for example. I had no idea what it was, so I asked. This picture, I was informed, is of a "Child Shop." OK. The numbers at the top are the ages. Behind the doors are, apparently, kids to buy. So THAT's where babies come from!

You should be able to enlarge the picture by clicking on it, but I'll save you some time. The label on Door 1 is "Wah." Door 2 is "No Returns." Door 3 is "Few Words." Door 4 is "Hi." Door 5 is "G or B?" (Which stands for girl or boy.) Door 6 is "Do Not Disturb." On Door 7 is a "Cars" symbol.

I can't even begin to analyze the thinking behind those signs. I'll leave that for you to ponder.

But wait, there's more. When I put the page face down on the scanner to copy, I noticed this coupon on the back: "Buy a 6 & 7 Get a Free Remote Controlled Robot!"

Now, that's a bargain!

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea--a review

2009-09-21T14:53:00.005-04:00

After the fiasco that was the Five Little Peppers, we moved on to Jules Verne. Now THIS was more like it! I had never read this story nor seen the movie. Definitely fun and exciting. This story inspired much more from the "Resting and Reading" time in the early hours.

Recently, J has become the "Scissor King." A year ago it was awkward for him to wield the scissors. Lately he has become an example of precision. After reading 20,000 Leagues, he spent about an hour cutting out characters and props from the story. He drew with minute detail and then took his safety scissors and left not one piece of unnecessary paper attached to his drawings. It was impressive.

I suggested he draw an under-the-sea background for his cutouts. He incorporated elements from the story like the coral graveyard (lower right hand corner) and the ghost ship. If you want to see these amazing intricacies, click on the picture. He wanted me to point out to you that "Ned, the harpooner" was sticking his harpoon into the squid's eye. (Should I give this a PG rating for graphic violence?)

Apparently J did a rough draft drawing of the characters beforehand. He said these were too difficult to cut out so he made the ones you see above.

In the picture below you see a diver and the Nautilus. Below that is a cup with "N" on it (we couldn't tell if it was for "Nautilus" or "Nemo"). All the way to the right is the professor thinking about the shark attack. On the bottom is Ned attacking the steward with the other two trying to stop him. Then, above them the same group is depicted as their initials. Bet you never thought to do that before!

The following is work that was inspired by the other Jules Verne book we read, Journey to the Center of the Earth. At one point in the book, the men were crossing a vast sea. All of a sudden, two giant reptiles rose near them and began to battle. One was an icthyosaurus, and the other was plesiosaurus. The battle was exciting and terrifying at the same time. Here's how J responded to the scene:

Ah, the mind of a seven-year-old.

Five Little Peppers--a review

2009-09-21T14:19:00.006-04:00

I have a huge backlog of posts that I'm preparing. I'll try to send them a little at a time so they aren't overwhelming. J produces paper faster than anything I've ever seen!

If you remember my Curriculum Outline, I said that we were going to work through certain children's literature titles at the rate of one a month. We're using them as the bedtime stories. We've already completed Peter Pan, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. I kind of sped through this book as there was quite a bit of lamenting and gnashing of teeth. I hit the highlights of the plot and got it over with. I read it as a child and now I recall that I sort of went through it quickly then, too. I don't recommend it.

J, always inspired in the early morning hours, gave his one and only interpretation of the story:

I have to say the picture was more interesting than the actual book. So, my advice is to look at the picture--and skip the book.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, however, was MUCH more interesting. I'll post about that next.

Second Grade Curriculum Overview

2009-08-25T12:21:00.007-04:00

We started school last Wednesday. So far, things are going along fine. At this point, my plans are working out. Obviously, freedom to change mid-stream is one of the benefits of homeschooling. Below is a pretty thorough rendering of my curriculum. I post this for those who might find it useful and for those who are interested in seeing what J is "into" this year.

Plan for Second Grade:

Bible:

We are reading through the Bible, beginning in Genesis. (This lines up with our history as we're going through the ancient civilizations. It's very useful to helping J understand what the true God was doing while others were worshiping false gods.)
We're also going through the "Discovering Jesus" series a second time. I'm finding that it helps J to have the characters reappear. He remembers the stories from last year and seems to be picking up on the points of the stories, because of their familiarity, this year. After we finish those, I'll find another devotional book.
I found an "alphabetical" set of memory verses for kids HERE. We're doing one per week.
I found a stick figure timeline to accompany our Bible reading HERE. J is enjoying it.
Daily we are praying for the children at church. I've divided them up by the number of school days, so we pray for the "Tuesday" kids, etc. Last year we prayed for the neighbors on our street each day. We saw some amazing things because of that and it was great to point out to J how our prayers were answered.

Spelling:

J is an amazing speller. BUT, there are still lots of words and the accompanying rules that he doesn't know. I am currently using some spelling workbooks that work through the rules. I picked these up at curriculum sales. One particular book that we're both enjoying is Spelling Made Easy.

Grammar:

For grammar we're using English Made Easy, Easy Grammar, Daily Grams, and a really fun book called Grammar Cop. J is a big fan of grammar. He gets it from his daddy.

Literature:

For this year I wanted to bring in some of the classics, especially the ones for boys. Many of these will be new to me. I talked with L and he made some suggestions. Then I showed them to J via Amazon and asked him to decide the order. We're reading one book a month and here and there I will bring in unit studies, lapbooks, etc. to supplement the story.
The book list is: Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Peter Pan, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Indian in the Cupboard, Swiss Family Robinson, Tom Sawyer, Charlotte's Web, Captains Courageous, Black Beauty, something by James Herriot, King Arthur, and Robin Hood.

Math:

We're continuing with Verbal Math Lessons, and I'm supplementing with worksheets. He's also memorizing his multiplication tables.

Writing:

J does a lot of writing on his own. For his assigned writing, we'll be sending letters to friends and relatives (check your mail--one might be arriving soon!) as well as copywork to help him become stronger with his cursive writing.

Science:

Beginning now until the book is complete, we are doing the experiments in a book called My Book of Science Experiments. A neighbor had this book at her yard sale and I loved the full-color appeal.
The rest of the year is laid out as follows: (Sept.) Constellations, (Oct.) Sun and Moon, (Nov.) Planets, (Dec.), Nutrition, (Jan.) Herbs, (Feb.) Homeopathy, (Mar. - June) Oceanography
I will pull books, worksheets, online info, library info, etc. to cover the year's science plans.

History: This summer I read the book, The Well-Trained Mind. I discovered that the author's philosophy pretty much lined up with ours. The only difference was that we had not planned to go chronologically through history. After discussing it, we felt that it was probably a good idea. I started our history study this summer and have discovered that it really IS a good idea to go through history in order. Well, there ya go.

Story of the World, Part 1 provides the order for us.
I have lots and lots of books and workbooks that provide plenty of supporting activities. As you can tell from the Ishtar Gates post, this is right up J's alley.
Since, according to the Well-Trained Mind, we were supposed to start with ancient history in first grade, I decided to try and catch up. We began the ancients in July and I plan to continue through January. In February we will start the middle ages. I still need to order the Story of the World, Part 2, for that.

Latin: L and I have always planned to include Latin in homeschooling. It provides a great foundation for our own and other languages. It's also the language of science and law. Since J's abilities in language are what they are, we knew he would be able to pick this up with no problem. I haven't quite decided my plan of action, so I will write about that in a separate post.

Art: We will finish the remaining artists in MaryAnn Kohl's book, Discovering Great Artists that we began in first grade. I'm also going to incorporate what I learn in reading Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. For fun, we'll do some graph drawing from a series of books called the I Can Draw series, by Walter Foster.

Music: We'll continue with drum lessons. I'm also going to begin teaching formal piano lessons.

This is really just a skeleton. I will fill it in as the year progresses. It's more challenging than last year, but the structure is good for J. My favorite part of this plan, though, is how the history and Bible converge so well. It has brought up some great discussions.

J is handing me a worksheet he's finished. I guess I'd better go and teach instead of just writing about it!

First Day of School Party

2009-08-22T13:13:00.011-04:00

Aunt T and I like to kick off a new school year with a little celebrating. Both of us plan to do Oceanography at some point this year, so we came up with a (loose) theme of....Fish.

We had a chance to join a group of kids to take a tour of a Fish Hatchery. Fish. Ocean. It worked. The guide described the process of harvesting eggs, incubating them and then putting them in the "raceways" to grow. There wasn't much room for racing. I was disappointed.

Things picked up when we were given a chance to feed them. You'd have thought that there were piranha rather than trout when we tossed in the food.

(I...can't...resist..."Heil, Fishler!" I'm sorry. Please forgive me.)

There. I can go on now.

After the tour, we went to a favorite summer snack bar to get some lunch. We took our lunch to an ocean-themed playground (what else?). Good. My master plan was falling into place. While the kids and Aunt T ate, I laid out the clues for a treasure hunt. We got a cute treasure chest with fish items at Oriental Trading. J and Miss Girl worked together to follow the clues.

Here, the "Waterfall" clue:

and the "Sea Monster" clue:

Those clues, amongst others, ultimately led to the treasure map:

10 steps forward, 10 steps left, 10 steps left again, and Eureka!

It's now official: J is in Second Grade and Miss Girl is in First Grade. Where does the time go?

The Ishtar Gate comes alive

2009-08-09T17:25:00.007-04:00

We've been working through the ancient civilizations this summer. We'll continue that time period through January. I'll be posting soon about our whole plan for the year.

Meanwhile, J discovered that ancient Babylon had something called the "Ishtar Gate." In the picture below it is in blue. The rest of the gates form a double wall around the city. In the top left you can see one of the ancient wonders of the world--The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

If you click on the picture, you will notice that each of the towers appears to have three "eyes." Well, that's how J saw it anyway. This piqued his interest and inspired an entire cartoon of six panels. Each panel is labeled with the word "Part" and a cuneiform (earliest writing system) symbol for the number. Each panel has its accompanying storyline as J gave it. Click on each drawing and it will enlarge so you can see the writing. Enjoy.

(By the way, the circle speech bubble is in "Babylon language" and the square speech bubble is the interpretation.)

Part 1:

One day, the talking Ishtar Gates of Babylon were all having a good time. All, that is, except one. His name was Thomas. His best friend, Eddie, was also one of the shorter gates. He was always there when Thomas needed his help, especially when Thomas was in a bad mood. Eddie said to Thomas, "Thomas, Don’t be sad." He decided to take him for a beautiful walk.

Part 2:

As they were walking, the saw a lush forest, rolling meadows, tall trees, majestic mountains, and a lot of other things they had never seen before. "Come on! This is pretty," Eddie said. Thomas just smiled a fake smile, but he was still in a very bad mood.

Part 3:

Then, Eddie showed Thomas a little chipmunk feeding a caterpillar another caterpillar which made him double-sized, Thomas’ frown slowly changed to a smile…

Part 4:

Suddenly, they both broke out laughing. As the chipmunk continued to feed the caterpillar ANOTHER caterpillar which made him one time bigger than double-sized which was so funny that Eddie almost got hiccups. (J always gets hiccups when he laughs a lot. As far as the caterpillar cannibal, I have no idea.)

Part 5:

Finally, now that Thomas was cheered up, both Thomas and Eddie had a good time talking about funny things on their way home. It was so exciting.

Part 6:

When the got home, they told Widget and Mack about what they saw. Widget and Mack didn’t believe a word of it. Now it’s Mack and Widget’s turn to do the same story. I do believe that might be even funnier. Don’t you?

Sorry about the caterpillar scenario. Things were quite rough back in ancient times.

Another Trip

2009-07-31T13:58:00.003-04:00

For our third trip this summer, we're doing a short jaunt to the coast of Maine. After we get back, it will be time to iron out the final details and launch....(cue drum roll)...

Second Grade!

This year I'm planning to officially start on August 19. On the day before, we, Aunt T, and Miss Girl will have our New School Year party. We're going to combine a trip to a fish hatchery with a final summery lunch from a favorite roadside eatery eaten as a picnic at a playground. Fun will be had by all.

Fish hatchery, you ask? Why, yes. My science intentions for the second part of our school year will be Oceanography. Fish--ocean--get it? I know it's a bit of a stretch as the hatchery fish will never know the call of the wild. We just won't tell them.

As soon as I have my final plans together, I will post an Overview of Second Grade. J and I are very excited. I'm in no hurry, though, to give up summer. We'll squeeze every drop out that we can!

Proof!

2009-07-17T11:29:00.004-04:00

This morning the car had an appointment. I decided to pack up our school stuff and take it with us. We were there for an hour and we got lots of things done. This worked out well because I ended up being out of the house three days this week. We "redeemed the day" and made the waiting time productive. Proof that we can "home" school anywhere!

Here's the waiting room with a handy dandy table.

Teddy came along for the ride. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but Teddy has lost an eye. The closest I can figure to what happened is that his face was banged one time too many into a hard surface. Teddy has adjusted to his handicap admirably. He did not miss the irony that he now has a reason to wear the pirate patch. For now, though, Teddy is rigorously executing the role of monitor.

Summer Fun

2009-07-11T21:18:00.000-04:00

It's July. Summer is attempting to make itself felt here. We've had rain, rain and more rain, but Friday we had sun. Glorious sun. The temperature actually got into the 80s and we all know what that means...

POOL TIME!

Our youngins are not swimmers, yet, but they ARE First-Class Wading Pool Aficionados. These two know how to make good use of buckets, plastic toys, a hose, and...

An umbrella.

Yes, an innocent umbrella. Lurking behind this symbol of sun and happiness is mayhem, pure and simple. We'll take a look, but you don't really see anything, do you?

Caught!

The Chasm, Revisited

2009-07-09T21:15:00.000-04:00

Evidently the formations at Ausable Chasm that J enjoyed during our last trip made more of an impression than I realized!

During J's "Resting and Reading Time" (see below for explanation) he decided to create images for the formations he recalled from our trip. They're a little more involved than I remember seeing:

After seeing these renditions of the formations, I bet you're ready to make a trip yourself, aren't you?

(Definition of J's "Resting and Reading Time:" J is a morning person. He gets up around 5:00. Since his father and I do NOT want to get up at 5:00, he has a quiet time in his room for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. He finds great inspiration during his solitude.)

A Few From the Fourth

2009-07-06T21:12:00.001-04:00

Note to us: Always charge your camera batteries before heading out to an event or activity. Always.

We got just a few shots before the camera conked out on us. One of the shots would have been really great. Sadly, however, our usually photogenic Miss Girl...blinked. I know Aunt T probably has much better photos of the two cousins together, but I'll put my lone, cropped photo of J here. It's really all I have.

We did recharge the batteries for the fireworks show that our neighbor puts on every year. Here are two that I thought were interesting. I include these because I'm sure you haven't seen enough pictures of fireworks just yet.

I call this one "Squiggles."

This one reminded me of a Weeping Willow. So, I named it...

Herman.

(What? "Willow" would have been too predictable!)

Field Trip #2

2009-07-03T21:11:00.000-04:00

We JUST returned from this trip. We really did stay home for a month between excursions.

For this outing we decided to go to Lake Placid and Ausable Chasm. Since it rained the first day we thought it best to go somewhere INside.

We went way up into the mountains to the place where the 1932 and the 1980 Winter Olympics were held. One of the famous names in 1932 was Sonja Henie. Here are her PINK (yes!) skates:

She was so popular they even had song sheets with her picture:

The rink where Sonja skated her way into the history books is open for everyone to use. It isn't the actual ice of course (77 year old ice--yuck), but it is the very place. Next to that rink was a building that housed the 1980 Games. The museum was in this building:

Each Winter Olympics has a mascot. The Lake Placid 1980 Olympics had "Roni the Racoon." This is the actual costume worn at the games:

From the front of the building you can see the national flags and the oval speedskating rink where Eric Heiden won FOUR of the five gold medals for the United States that year. (For those who remember Eric, let me just point out that he is now 51 years old. I'm sorry to do that to you.)

The fifth gold medal was won by the "Miracle on Ice" guys. A hockey team made up of college boys who took the world by surprise. Here are the doors...

...Leading to the rink...

...where the US gold medal was won by THESE guys:

We emerged from Memory Lane, did a little shopping and headed back to the campground. The next day was 72 degrees, and lightly overcast, so we decided to see another gorge. We like big holes in the ground. This time it was called a chasm. Ausable Chasm. It was, of course, amazing:

J's favorite formation was "Elephant Head." If you'd like to see more of the formations, click on the link above.

Now, I was very much enjoying the hike. We descended 80 feet to the river and were able to walk along with a lovely light breeze keeping us comfortable. Comfort. I like comfort. There was a gentle smile on my mosquito bitten face. Life was good. Then, I was informed that we would be rafting on said river. Oh.

Here are the strangers in the front of our raft. Notice the thick life vests. Evidently it was also 80 feet DEEP in some places. And, I was told, there would be a small rapid. Oh, again.

Our confident 20-year-old guide assured me that all would be well. He also gave me instructions on what to do should we capsize. I was not amused. The picture below is how our faces looked as the rapid (small) appeared in front of us.

(NOTE: That is a picture of me. Yes, it is. It counts. Yes, it does.)

I have to say that it was fun, even the (small) rapid. At the end of the ride J announced he wanted to go again. I agreed. My gentle smile returned. I scratched my itchy bites and decided that, indeed, life is good.

Field Trip #1

2009-07-02T20:44:00.002-04:00

This will look like all we do is travel, but it's an optical illusion. This post is about a trip we took in MAY. Just wanted you to know that we stay home, too.

Everything in New England is close. Within five hours or less you can be in another state, near the ocean, or clean up to Canada. For this trip we decided to go to an area in Vermont right on the New Hampshire border.

Our first stop was at the birthplace of President Calvin Coolidge. His hometown is frozen in time to the 1920s. This first picture is the front parlor of his father's house. In this room Vice-president Coolidge received a phone call telling him that the president had died suddenly. Coolidge's father (who was a notary public) swore him in as president at 2:47am as the kerosene lamp shone.

The guide told us that Coolidge's favorite drink was Moxie. I've had it. I don't like it but L does. There's no accounting for taste, I suppose, but L IS drinking the elixir of a world leader. I guess that counts for something.

The next day we wanted to find a particular covered bridge. In the Which Way, U.S.A.? book we studied for New Hampshire, it mentioned the "Cornish-Windsor" bridge. Since we would be nearby, we made sure to go and see it. Here's a sign about it:

Here's the view of the river the bridge crosses (rain was on its way):

Here's the bridge itself:

A picture of some tourists in front of the bridge:

Studley McGuire in his frog boots:

But wait, what's this? I was making my way back to the truck thinking that Studley and his father would be along shortly. Evidently Studley wanted to look over the edge into the water. Studley's father apparently encouraged this behavior, recording it for me to view later when I would be home. Near a doctor if I needed resuscitation.

And it was a LONG way down, about 30 feet. This picture does not do the vertigo justice:

When they returned to the truck (keeping me in the dark as to their shenanigans), we began to drive back to the campground and discovered that Windsor was the place where Vermont became a republic for about 14 years. The only other state to have been a republic was Texas.

On the wall was the ACTUAL signed land grant from King George III himself:

On the last day of our trip we made it to Montshire Museum (which was fantastic!). It is a science museum with three floors of hands-on activities as well as a "Planet Walk." You start at the sun and walk to the planets, all distanced and sized comparatively. We decided to stop at Neptune as Pluto was WAY too far away. Besides, it's not a planet any more. Yeah. That's why we didn't go.

On the way back home we decided to stop at the Quechee Gorge. You'll find that we're really into gorges and chasms and stuff. Since the next post will be about the Ausable Chasm, I leave you with just one picture from Quechee:

No Summer for Us!

2009-06-25T20:40:00.002-04:00

Just kidding. We finally GOT a summer as of today (90 degrees and humid!), so I believe we'll take full advantage of it!

What I mean by my title is that I'm changing up how I plan to schedule our school year. You need to understand that I have planned to homeschool my child(ren) ever since I first read about homeschooling back in 1984. If you do the math (never mind, I'll do it for you), that was EIGHTEEN years before J was born.

If you know me at all you know that I like to plan ahead. Well, eighteen years gave me plenty of time for that. I had it ALL figured out. Then I had a child. Well, actually, then I had J. All my plans and ideas and intentions keep getting turned around as I walk through the journey of homeschooling THIS child.

One of the things I "vowed" that I would do was homeschool from Labor Day to Memorial Day and flat out take the summer off. Yep, that was my plan. Of course, now that we're here, it's just not going to work for J. He needs the daily challenge, so I've settled on a NEW plan that (I hope) will accommodate and work for him.

I found the plan in a book called, "The Well-Trained Mind" by Susan Wise Bauer. I've been avoiding that book for quite a while now. I found that the methods I was using with J were working very well, so I saw no need to look into their suggestions. Well, I decided to include Latin for the next school year and thought it might be helpful to read the book and see what all the fuss was about.

After I read through the first chapter, I discovered that I was already using those very same methods with J! The only thing I hadn't done was go through history in chronological order. L and I discussed it and decided to follow the recommendation for history that the book gave and continue doing what I've been doing--which just happened to match up with this type of education. We decided that "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Below is my intended schedule to provide enough intellectual stimulation for J throughout the year. I have found that if he has too much time on his hands he goes from being creative to behavior issues. So, I'll just challenge the boy!

School Year Schedule for 2009-2010

Summer 2009:

Continue a light load of school 3 days a week concentrating on:

Reading through the Bible, 1 chapter a day
Going through the Susie and Richie Hunt books again
Memorizing Bible verses
Readings from Ancient History (we are currently reading The Iliad for Boys and Girls as well as story book versions of the ancient myths from the library
Cursive writing practice through copywork and dictation
Math using workbooks and continuing with Verbal Math Lessons
Lapbooks on topics of interest (we just finished studying about robots)
Any extra reading we can tote home from the library, just for fun!

The full-time schedule will be to school in:

September - mid-October
One week off
Late October - Thanksgiving
One week off
Early December
Three weeks off
Mid-January - Late February
Two weeks off
March and April
Two weeks off
Late April and May and on into Summer
Three weeks off scattered throughout the summer as we take trips, etc.

This schedule follows what actually happened this past school year. I found that I ended up naturally taking the breaks pretty much where they are listed. It's still 12 weeks off, but I believe that this will work MUCH better for J. And for me.

You know the adage: "The best laid plans..."

It's Official

2009-06-24T20:03:00.002-04:00

I wasn't worried, but I didn't want to plan too much until I got the "okay" from our state to prepare for the next school year.

I just got the letter today and all is set to go. Here is what I sent in as our Course of Study:

Basic Communication Skills:

Language Arts:
Continued proficiency in:
Reading comprehension
Grammar (parts of speech, punctuation, etc.)
Writing skills (spelling, vocabulary, sentence structure)
Use of reference materials
Narration
Poetry
Classic literature
Oral reading fluency

Introduction to:
Cursive
Copywork
Dictation
Math:
Continued proficiency in:
Addition
Subtraction
Time
Place Values
Money
Measuring
Introduction to:
Multiplication
Fractions
Word problems

Citizenship, History & Government

Major US holidays
Police Station visit
Ancient Civilizations (Sumer, Egypt, Greece, Rome, etc.)

Physical Education and Health

Playground
Biking, swimming, ball activities
Nutrition
First Aid

English, American & Other Literature

Ancient writings from 5000 BC to AD 400 using poetry, biographies, and stories such as Aesop's Fables

The Natural Sciences

Oceanography
Astronomy

The Fine Arts

Drum and/or piano lessons
"Discovering Great Artists" by MaryAnn F. Kohl (remaining artists--begun in First Grade)

That's what I gave to the state. I wanted to be vague enough to give myself plenty of room to flesh out what I intend to cover. I also didn't want to be too specific and get tied to something that just didn't work for this year. It's all about flexibility!

I will do as I did last school year and post my detailed monthly overview to show how I will put this plan into action. As it is, I plan to do a "Homeschool Lite" throughout the summer. I'll post about that separately.

For the Birds

2009-05-25T19:48:00.002-04:00

I have been VERY lax in posting lately. Sorry about that. I promise to do my best to catch up, starting with this post.

"Bird Day" happened on May 4th. We spent a couple of weeks (and actually, we're continuing with the subject) learning some of the more common birds. I planned a "field trip" to a museum we have nearby and we invited Miss Girl and Aunt T to join us.

The man who started this museum is now nearly 90. His mother was a teacher in a one-room school house in New England and her son was her student for six years. He drew and painted as a child and learned taxidermy at age 12. At age 18, he carved his first birds modeled after a stray parakeet that flew into their shed. The museum now has over 400 bird carvings and they were absolutely stunning.

There was an area set up with a giant window looking out at a variety of bird feeders. Binoculars were available and we spent a few minutes watching.

A basket next to the window was filled with beanbags labeled with the name of a bird and it's weight. The filler matched the weight so it was like picking up the particular bird. That would be a great project to do. Hmmmm...

The next room we entered showed a diorama of water birds floating on "water." J and Miss Girl were smiling for Aunt T's camera.

In the "Exotic Bird" room J immediately saw a Quetzel. The bird is nearly extinct. When we were studying Central America we discovered that its image was incorporated into many of their arts and crafts.

Here it is close up. It's tail can grow as long as 36 inches.

The carvings were so amazing. In a video we saw the techniques used to create the birds so that they were accurate in their size and coloring. I chose three to post about. The lighting was dim to protect the carvings, so these aren't the best pictures. The first is one of our favorites--the Red Winged Blackbird. They are plentiful near our church building, and it's fun to see the bright red shoulders as they fly by.

When we looked up we saw a Bald Eagle.

In its own case was a big ol' Tom Turkey. This took 1300 hours.

When we finished looking around inside the museum, we took a nature trail to a pond. At the beginning of May the trees were mostly leafless or budding. If I were to take another picture now (3 weeks later), it would look VERY different.

The pond has a name.

Observing the pond brought out their contemplative sides. They were quiet for a second. Then J wanted to know if there was a rock he could throw into the pond. Evidently it was too still for his taste.

The Terrific Tasties

2009-05-06T19:46:00.000-04:00

We've been homeschooling, spring cleaning, decluttering, and generally getting things ready for "The Season."

What is "The Season" you ask? Here "Up North" we get a limited amount of time to spend enjoying easy, breezy weather. Everything (I mean everything) closes down and rolls up its sidewalks about mid-October. They don't open up until mid-May. If we want to enjoy things we have to get a move on! Hustle, hustle!

Now that I've explained my dearth of posts, I wanted to post about a project that J insisted on doing. Our region has a grocery chain called Hannaford. They are having a contest in the New England states and New York in honor of Earth Day for children in grades 1 through 8 in which they are to design a picture to be printed on a reusable grocery bag. Their rules said:

Local food is fresher, and supporting farmers and producers Close to Home helps strengthen local economies and communities. We want you to learn about the agriculture in the state where you live. Find out what makes your state great and design us a bag to fit!

J saw the poster about the contest a few weeks ago. He began to talk non-stop about doing a picture. I explained to him that it had to be something that had to do with healthy food and the agricultural production of our state. I gave him a grocery ad to show him what Hannaford liked.

He wanted to draw pirates.

I didn't say anything for a few days and figured he had forgotten about it. He saw the poster again and was worried that he had missed the deadline. He seemed determined to enter this contest, so I got the form and he sat down and drew this:

He's convinced he's going to win. I reminded him that there were LOTS of kids participating and the contest is open to kids up to 8th grade. He was unphased. He insists he's going to win.

Do you think we need to work on his self-confidence?

I'm aware (even though he isn't) that we've got a potential lesson on dealing with disappointment coming. I'm not too concerned. That's part of life. I am very pleased, however, that he was determined to follow this thing through.

My favorite vegetable is the celery playing the drums. The "hair" fits the part, don't you think?