Encouragement into a new year - Charlotte Mason Companion

How are you finding your motivation to start another year of homeschooling your children?  Having time to catch up with family during holidays, or giving the home some renovation attention, is time well spent and a refreshing change from the regular routine. I still needed to have something to ponder during the day, so I decided to pull some books off the shelf and begin reviewing again.

A new habit I'm establishing is my morning reading time.  The house is quiet; my mind is just coming into gear. Quietly I go into the kitchen to brew a cup of tea, then I sit and read for up to 30 minutes. After that, Papa is ready to enjoy breakfast with me before heading to work and I start the daily routine with the children.  I'm really amazed at how the whole tone of my day has picked up again since starting this. That little bit of 'brain exercise' first thing has helped the conversation time flow from the outset.

So, what am I reading?  I have two books on the go at the moment: Devotions from Genesis and Charlotte Mason Companion. The latter I have read a couple of times before, but I wanted to review it again as I know my children's learning greatly benefits from this gentle style of teaching, indeed, of parenting.

Karen has truly embraced a warm style of writing, sharing encouraging words with gentleness and wisdom. Through her work, here, she's teaching me about her application of motherhood.

During my first reading of this book, I remember feeling very humbled. Here was another layer of learning I needed to take on. My children were young and there were times of boundary pushing, along with questioning and curiosity. While I knew this was coming, experiencing this was quite another matter, because a parent isn't always as well prepared with HOW one will exchange words and attitudes until confronted with the issue. There were wonderful days, and some not-so-wonderful ones also.  We were all learning and I found the early chapters in this book very encouraging.  Now, as I'm reading through this book yet again, I'm remembering the little conversations I had with my younger children and finding I'm fascinated at how much we've all grown individually.

Still, there are other lessons which weren't taken quite so to heart earlier on. Sometimes they are of interest, but not so valid to the current situation that I didn't ponder on those words quite so much.  Here's an example for you. Mariposa has been diligently working very hard at her spelling. Her issue with reading (mild dyslexia) meant we needed to take the reading requirements down into shorter time periods.  Now at age 13, Mariposa has improved remarkably, but I found myself always worrying about her spelling.  Here's what I found in chapter 22 "The Servant Spelling":

Mother reminded herself, however, "Spelling is just a servant to higher and more important matters, so I dare not worry over it, only tailor it more to my student's specific needs." 

... If your students, age twelve and up, struggle with spelling, they are not alone.  This can be the age when teachers' faces flush to look upon a rough draft full of spelling errors.  They may think, "Surely he should be able to spell by now." The truth is that many students still have a way to go.  Spelling ability follows reading ability. For some it may follow at a greater distance, but it does follow.

Sigh of relief! It will follow.

I'm a little over half way through this book now, with notebook now nearby at the same time to jot down ideas as they come to mind. The next few weeks will start seeing our plans emerging for another adventurous year of learning.

Until next time,

Catherine

Harriet Tubman in Art

I came across a very pleasant surprise today, in preparation for our art lesson.

We have been using Meet the Masters, and this week's artist is Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000).  Lawrence chooses some very interesting subjects reflecting his life.  His parents were from southern America and moved north during WWI to New York.  It was here that Lawrence was born.

His work in general uses many bold colours to reflect mood, and often with a method of overlapping.  He also uses his art as a way to communicate his life as a black American.  He was commissioned make a poster for the Munich Olympic Games (1972), and was one of many artists invited to capture his impression of President Carter's Inauguration in 1977.  However, how he chose to capture the event wasn't what was expected.  He'd rather capture the cheering crowd on the outskirts and sitting amongst tree branches.  President Carter wasn't literally represented at all! (To see his piece of art, The Swearing In, go here.)

I was delighted to find Lawrence had created a very interesting piece of art showing Harriet Tubman leading the people in the Underground Railroad.

Harriet is shown with her large hand leading the people, 

whilst pointing to the North Star with the other hand.

His technique of layering is quite obvious here, giving the piece a sense of depth.  The project we're supposed to be working on at the end of the lesson is a citiscape using the layering technique with tissue paper.  I may put the option to the children to do a similar piece of art as a landscape, or even attempt to imitate this piece.  I'll share the results when we're done!!

More Harriet Tubman artwork can be found by Lawrence and other artists.  Here is a small selection if you'd like to follow up:

• Lawrence: Daybreak - A Time to Rest (1967)
• Lawrence: The Life of Harriet Tubman No. 7
• Bryson: Harriet Tubman as Moses
• Johnson: Harriet Tubman in Patriotic Colors

and finally, a picture book telling the story of Harriet Tubman, illustrations by Jacob Lawrence. (It's available at Amazon and Book Depository, but I'll put the You Tube link here.)




Until next time!

Catherine

Quilts in our American History studies: Freedom Train

Mariposa and I are sharing some new found information through our reading at the moment.  She is learning about American History, using Sonlight Core D+E, and we're now using Freedom Train as her read-aloud.

Freedom Train has been a very engaging book.  We find we're moving through it at up to three chapters a day, so will finish it fairly quickly.

The story itself is moving at a good pace for us.  It has enough detail for discussion, but not too much that it becomes morose.  There is always some action about to take place, which is what prompts us to read 'just one more' chapter.

I've found it very interesting that a book I'd started reading last month (but haven't had time to finish yet) touches on a similar subject.  I'm reading The Runaway Quilt, which is book four in a series written by Jennifer Chiaverini.  In Jennifer's first book, The Quilter's Apprentice, there is reference made to quilts that were made as a signal to those who were escaping slavery through the Underground Railroad.  I decided to check for more references to see if more evidence could be found to prove this.

Early Log Cabin blocks were hand-pieced using strips of fabrics around a central square. In traditional Log Cabin blocks, one half is made of dark fabrics and the other half light. A red center symbolized the hearth of home, and a yellow center represented a welcoming light in the window. Anecdotal evidence, based on oral folklore, suggests that during the Civil War, a Log Cabin quilt with a black center hanging on a clothesline was meant to signal a stop for the Underground Railroad.   http://www.quiltviews.com/log-cabin-quilts-a-short-history

photo found here

There seems to be some controversy over this idea, as is written up in this piece of "Quilt History".  Still, I think that it's a very interesting piece of information to consider.  It's a theory that fits in with the codes of songs Harriet used to give secret messages to her friends and families throughout the story.

The Runaway Quilt explores the use of the Flying Geese block.  I'm now keen to finish reading this story to see what it reveals.  It seems that there were other quilt blocks used as symbols to slaves on the Underground Railroad.  Here's some more information I found: The Underground Railroad Quilt.

Even though there is no absolute proof to say that this quilting 'codes' were put there to assist runaway slaves, it's been interesting to find that there was definitely a huge effort made by many to help them find their destination.

Until next time!

Catherine

June 21st Wrap Up - It's Officially Winter

Beautiful sunny days, but very cold cloudless nights; this is how our winter was heralded in this year.  The sunshine has lifted our spirits considerably, though.  We've found seats by sunny windows to perch ourselves during the day, then we snuggle up in dressing gowns and under quilts in the evening.

It felt like we slowed down a little this week, probably because the children worked a little more independent of me and I could potter around the house a bit more.  I've been organising bookshelves and preparing used books to sell on.

At home ...

Outside, in the garden, I've not worked at all this week.  I need to remedy that next week and get the staging shelves set up in the greenhouse so I can finally use it to start my greens.  Oh yes, and I need to order my asparagus plants!!

 It took two full days to get this kit greenhouse assembled.
Now the staging shelves need to be put up and we can use it!

Our hens are at the end of their moult and I'm really hoping they'll start laying again soon.  It's been tricky rationing eggs.  I know I needed to store up at least 4doz more than I had put away for this winter.

Socially speaking ...

The week started with a full day of dance competitions on Sunday.  Maestro was involved in four routines and Mariposa in one.  They didn't collect any firsts, but both received 2nd placings, and a 3rd.

Funny girl.  

New false eyelashes required for competition.

Mariposa has been the centre of attention regarding extra activities this week.  Her horseriding lesson went extremely well.  She was invited back to learn a few other horsecare skills on Thursday night, involving feeding and rugging up for colder nights.  Her teacher also asked if she'd like to come back and be a helper to beginner students during term break.  Of course, when asked to come and work with horses, Mariposa is most willing, so she's clocked up about 6 hrs at the riding school there this week.

Such a lovely sunny day for riding!

In our homeschool ...

Maths seemed to be one main focus this week.  Mariposa continued practicing her long division based on the strategy we set up last week. (I'm so glad she has that visual to help her.  It's made it so much easier!!)  Maestro is learning more about quadratic equations, working through Algebra 2.  The dvd episodes are a little longer in explanation, and I like to watch them with Maestro to make sure I understand the same method.

The other main focus has been our reading.  Maestro has finished off Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and has now gone straight on to read The Red Baron by Manfred Van Richtofen.    Mariposa is reading Black Beauty, with her read-aloud being Freedom Train.  I'm finding the latter quite interesting, especially as a book I'm reading, called The Runaway Quilt, is on a related topic.

Our science lessons have been most inconsistent this week.  Maestro's been working through his Chemistry book, learning about ionic and covalent compounds.  He didn't get to do his experiment this week, so we'll be doing that first thing next week.

Mariposa will begin working on her TOPS Electricity (Sonlight's Science E) module next week.  I had planned to start this week, but with her doing extra horseriding activities, we couldn't schedule enough time in.

Next week is actually our last week for the term, then we'll take a two week break.  The weather promises to be as sunny as it was this week gone, so that will be great to keep the motivation up and propel us into our break with enthusiasm to organise some things around the home (that being the gardening mainly).

Until next time!

Catherine

An interview with Michael Morpurgo on Parkinson

Late tv viewing tonight; we just finished watching a fabulous interview on Parkinson with author Michael Morpurgo. This was the first episode we've seen from Parkinson for some time, as he's had a 5 year absence from television.  He's returned with a new series called 'Masterclass' where he interviews guests with artistic backgrounds.

If anyone has been reading or watching War Horse, then this interview is well worth seeing.  I knew little about the author, but enjoyed his sharing of advice, history and love of literature for children that I just had to write this up now to 'pass it on', as it were.

Here's a sample of the interview from YouTube:


Morpurgo's story of coming to be an author via his teaching was interesting.  With a mother who used to regularly read to him aloud when he was younger, as well as enjoying the works of authors such as Enid Blyton and Robert Louis Stevenson, he already had a basis of how excellent story-telling flowed.  As a teacher, he created stories as a way of capturing the attention of his class, and was then requested that he should write them down.

He has a lovely respect for his audience, never limiting or talking down to them.  Questions were answered from a variety of people, including children as young as eight years old, to whom Morpurgo gave advice to read well, especially good literature, meet many people and listen to their stories, and to write as often as possible about your feelings.  Practice letting the words flow regularly, but most importantly is to collect a store of ideas by building up a wealth of experiences.


It was interesting that he favoured Robert Louis Stevenson's works.  During the week, I'd borrowed a dvd Kidnapped. This was the BBC version with Adrian Dunbar.  This dvd had a retelling of the life of Robert Louis Stevenson with re-enacting.  This had given us a bit of background of examples to which Morpurgo referred, such as Stevenson's writing style and love of adventure.



I'd love for Morpurgo to come to our local libraries so we could meet him. He has a teaching philosophy I readily agree with.  Here's another talk he gave late last year, where he shares more insights into children's literature and making some wonderful points about nurturing a love of reading (as opposed to over-analysing a work so that it becomes 'flattened'.)   If you can, watch through to the end where he shares a song from the play "War Horse".  The words are so lovely.

Until next time!

Catherine

April 5th Wrap Up - visiting and chores

Hello!  I hope you've all had a good week, especially with a long weekend added in.

We've enjoyed being away to visit at my Mother-in-law's, down at Loch Sport in Victoria's Lakes district.  The weather was perfect, although a bit too windy to get out in a boat.  Best of all, we didn't have any mozzies to battle every evening!  Oh, yes, we did have a bit of a drizzly afternoon on Tuesday, but that was remedied with a movie afternoon.

I'd love to share some photos with you all, but alas my camera has gone kaput!  A topple off the bench and now the shutter doesn't automate properly, resulting in overexposed pictures.  So, as soon as I get a new one, we're without photos, I'm sorry.  :(


We got home from Loch Sport on Wednesday afternoon, so Papa (my husband) enjoyed a VERY short week back to work.

The children and I have been focussing on home duties.  They're very keen to earn as much pocket money as possible, so we're assisting them by posting up jobs to be done around the home.  I write up a post-it note with the required task, breaking the job down into steps to make sure all aspects are understood, and a price we're willing to pay for it's completion.  The children negotiate who wants to do what (needing to share big ticket jobs, like washing the car, equally).  Upon completion, I check the job has been done satisfactorily and then pop the post-it note into my diary, signing it when payment has been made.

The whole idea of posting up jobs for the children to choose from originated in a book I've been reading called Cleaning House by Kay Wills Wyma. She tells of how she expects her children to apply their life skills and actively be part of the working family (or as she puts it, getting rid of 'Youth Entitlement').  Every chapter is a new step she works to employ each month, telling how each child takes to the suggestions and what she learns along the way.  I really am enjoying reading this, with her good sense of humour (and who doesn't need a good sense of humour when parenting?!)  I'd recently read the chapter on paying for work around the home, and decided we'd start doing this with our children.

So far I'm very happy with the system.  Mariposa decided to take on the car washing and helped do some light pruning along the driveway.  Maestro moved a huge pile of bricks, cut back a shrub we're going to be removing, then swept up any remaining debris.


And speaking of jobs done outside .... we finished putting up a greenhouse the previous week!  I'd bought it a while back with our tax return money, but it was a huge task to put this kit together alone.  I needed Papa's muscle power.  But it's up and only needs the staging shelves made up so I can start my next lot of seedlings.

I'm making up lists of outside jobs I need to complete and get my autumn sowings underway.  We really need to get more salad greens going as the last lot I put into pots are almost exhausted.


I know this post isn't much fun without many pictures.  I'll remedy that as soon as the camera upgrade has happened.  :)

Until next time!
Catherine


Read what other homeschoolers have been up to at this week's linkup HERE.

(The Late) Mar 8th Weekly Wrap Up

Hello again everyone!  Don't the days just go by so quickly when you're having fun, hey?!

We've had a long weekend with some fun pottering about and outings, so I got a little distracted from the blogging again, but I'm back now!  (smiles!)

Well .. we've been enjoying some of this extra warm weather that's been here in Melbourne for just over a week.  Today was just a bit too hot, though .. 37degC here.  Thankfully it's cooling off and only 30degC now (at 9:30pm).

We have a new arrival in the chicken run.  Little 'Freeman' hatched last Sunday.  Unfortunately not all the other little hatchlings made it, but we're still waiting on two more eggs ... so we'll see!

In our homeschool ...

We've had a few topics finishing off for both the children.  

In maths, Maestro began and completed the trigonometry part of his Geometry work, which has completed MUS Geometry.  The next level would be MUS Algebra II, but I'm thinking of first taking a slight diversion to reading String, Straight-edge, & Shadow: The Story of Geometry by Julia E.Diggins.  It will be a good break for Maestro on completion of Geometry, and also a nice book to share with Mariposa as she begins her geometry exercises in her Singapore Maths book after completing decimals (especially all those word problems!!)

In history, Mariposa is still slowly working her way through Carry On, Mr Bowditch with me.  We've had Papa join in with this and he's really enjoying the story.  We've had talk of acquiring a sextant .. but I'm not so sure about that one! :)
Maestro's been learning about the Agricultural and Industrial revolutions. He's starting Oliver Twist (and I think I'll have to download the unabridged version from Audible so I can catch up with him!)

An introduction to atoms and the periodic table started Maestro off into his science module last week. We've been playing with this site called 'Build an Atom', where we can test our understanding of how atoms work. (Yes, I'm relearning all this with him!)

This simple video from BrainPOP gives a summary on atomic structure with a quiz at the end.


Socially speaking ...

We've had another relatively quiet week, except for an outing on Sunday.  The children went to visit with friends whilst Papa and I took a trip into the city to preview a film called Performance.  I received the invitation   c/- the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, which was lovely.   :)  This was a very moving film, and definitely one for those who enjoy the finer details of music, but more so about the dynamics of friendships in such a close knit group.  


That's about it for now.  I'll have some more to share at the end of this week, with another excursion lined up for Friday (yay!)

Until next time,

Catherine

Mar 1st Weekly Wrap Up

Autumn is definitely making it's appearance known.  Our car has had to go in for repairs, so on my walk back home I was enjoying the cooler morning, noticing the beginnings of leaf fall along the pavement.

Another sure sign of a change in the season is that the hens have begun their moulting. The chook run had a scattering of feathers everywhere the other day; it got me a little concerned hoping that a cat hadn't tried harassing the girls, but they were all safe and accounted for.   It's funny how both the black frizzles have started by losing their feathers under the chin first.

Moulting also means fewer eggs, so I'm going to start putting as many away as possible ready for winter.  Sorry neighbours, that's it for this season!

Let's take a quick look at what's happened this week.

In our homeschool ...

Maths for Maestro is a continuation of ways to prove triangles, and he'll finish this week's work with a review page of all that's been covered so far in this MUS Geometry book. Only a few more lessons and he'll have finished this book .. but that could take a couple of weeks still.  Mariposa's been practicing dividing decimals.  The use of large grid graph paper has been a wonderful help!

Our science lessons have revolved about safety and survival for Mariposa.  She's almost ready to read the first aid section, so I'm planning on pulling out some bandages so we can practice some simple techniques for making a sling and a splint.   Maestro's continued through with his early physics work and worked on friction.

We are reading Carry On Mr. Bowditch together, as well as completing the readers What's the Big Idea Ben Franklin and Phoebe the Spy with Mariposa.   Maestro's been learning about the Russian revolution, and has started reading The Trumpeter of Krakow which is set in Medieval Poland.

Mariposa has continued with her horseriding and is preparing for her Level 2 certificate now.  She's started learning about all the various horse colours, but after some discussion with the teacher, she now knows she needs to do a lot more research than she first thought.  A very creative picture presentation has begun.  I don't know if Mariposa's decided on making it into a poster or booklet yet, but I'm so glad she's just jumped right into this researching.  I've not had to give her any writing projects this week at all as this has been plenty for her to do.

Socially speaking ...

We've actually had a much quieter week!  No outings this week, except for those visits to nearby friends which the children have organised.  Eg: Mariposa's taking a walk with the dog with another homeschooler now and should be back by lunchtime.

A few friends have been discussing getting a girls sewing circle organised, so we're hoping to start that next term.  Meanwhile, I've scheduled an initial gathering for the middle of March where the girls can try out some flower arranging (similar to what I've done with Mariposa in 2011).  We just need to organise an alternative activity for the boys.

At home ...

Our broody hen we had back in December 2012 didn't end up hatching any eggs because they were 'duds'. She obviously wasn't happy about not having any little ones to raise as she's started sitting again.  I've ordered some incubated fertile eggs to pop under her, which Mum has graciously offered to bring over for me (thanks Mum!)  Once they arrive this afternoon, we'll put them under Miss Broody.  We should have chicks again soon!

The vegies are growing nicely in the pots too.  I went out and picked a nice bunch of silverbeet to cook up with some tomatoes for our breakfast.  Mmmm!

Also .. have to tell you quickly that we've started using water kefir!  It's been great for Mariposa's eczema.  I'll do a separate post on that soon as I've found out lots of information and had a month to try out favourite techniques.

I hope you all had a great week and have a lovely weekend.

Until next time,
Catherine

Our 2013 schedule and curriculum

Okay, I confess!  I am (still!) a schedule addict!

I, personally, LOVE seeing what other people do to help organise their time.  I enjoy reading through their ideas and seeing if it would be something that may fit our family lifestyle.

So, in saying that, please take this post as a way of sharing in case you are part of that type of audience who does like seeing the ideas of others.  I don't want to send a whole lot of readers into a panic.  No, you don't NEED to write up a schedule like this!  This is 'me' and how I work, and I'm just sharing if you'd like a peek into my life.

Also, do note that I don't claim to have everything perfect here.  We certainly DO!! have off-days, even off-weeks. Sometimes we are so engrossed in learning a particular topic that we spend longer on it than a written schedule allows ... so I'm flexible.  However, for my purposes, I do need an outline of how to manage our time. This is my guideline, especially where having extra students for music are concerned.

What do I use to organise our homeschool routine?

Well, I drew a lot of inspiration from Managers of Their Homes, so will still write out our routine in that format.  It works so nicely and I can print it out easily enough and paste it into my diary to check against appointments, etc.  If you'd like a look at last year's schedule again, please see here and here.  Below is a screen shot of how our 2013 schedule is looking at the moment:

click image to enlarge

Today was our first day back to the books.  It was great seeing the children enthused and pulling the books out.  We did have a few disorganised moments here and there, but I was really pleased to see that the day ran quite well.  Tomorrow may be another story, but today ... we're all happy. :)



Here is what we are using in 2013 (taking up where we left off last year):

Maestro (age 14):

• Wordly Wise 9
• IEW (B continuation course, then Speech Boot Camp), plus adhoc writing journal/comprehension
• Math U See Geometry
• History Odyssey: Early Modern 2, with readers from Sonlight Core H and 100.
• Apologia's Physical Science
• A collection of other books on life skills.  He's already reading Money Matters Workbook for Teens. CLE's Home Maintenance is his next elective choice.
• Dance (ballet, jazz, hip hop)

Mariposa (age 11):

• Phonetic Zoo A
• IEW (A) plus adhoc writing journal/comprehension
• Singapore Maths level 4, book 1, then level 5
• Sonlight Core D+E
• Sonlight Science F (3/4 through from last year), then Science E.
• CLE's Home Economics, plus sewing projects I'll put together.
• Piano lessons (preliminary).
• Horseriding
• Dance (hip hop)

Together we'll also be using:

• Grammar of Poetry
• Bridge to the Latin Road
• Visual Latin
• Meet the Masters for art (purchased through Homeschool Buyers Co-op).

Well ... that's the plan!  I can't believe another year's already underway.  I hope you ALL have a wonder 2013, and I look forward to sharing more as the year goes on. :)

Until next post!

Catherine

Dec 9 weekly wrap-up

I enjoyed filling in the calendar page this afternoon, writing in everything that happened AFTER the event.  I know! It's supposed to be the opposite way around, so I remember what's coming up.  Ah well! :)

The year's winding up and I've had several music students finish up their lessons for the year.  Most of my afternoons are freeing up, and with no more dance lessons for the children, we're enjoying a more relaxed routine.

We're also winding up with our bookwork.  Only two more weeks to go and we'll have a break over summer!

In our homeschool ...

Mariposa has finished another Singapore Maths book.  Instead of starting the next book, we're enjoying reading Mathematicians Are People Too, and learnt about Thales.  She really enjoyed the story of the donkey who didn't want to carry a heavy load across the river, and how Thales trained it to change it's behaviour.

Maestro has moved to some early Physics concepts in Apologia's Physical Science.  It's the first time he's used these formulae, but he's enjoying the change in topic.

Both of the children have worked on their spelling and improving really well.  I'd been a little lax with Maestro's spelling, but have pulled him back in with Mariposa's lessons (ie: they both work on the same list) using IEW's Phonetic Zoo.  The word list is not at all 'babyish', but based on learning the phonetic rule and recognising base words with their suffixes. Even though he is a really good speller already, I want him to keep up the practice and stay familiar with the rules. I'm so impressed with the improvement Mariposa's made with her spelling over this year (she's had to struggle with reading problems).  She's really done well with All About Spelling, and now Phonetic Zoo is challenging her that little bit more.  Here's a sample of all the words she's now able spell correctly:

This sample is from the Teacher Notes sample

found in pdf HERE.

We're still working through the same read-alouds: Johnny Tremain and Iron Peacock.  I'm hoping we'll finish these during next week.

We've also been doing some great lessons with Papa about goal setting.  I'll have to write up a separate post about that, so be sure to check that out soon.

Socially speaking ...

We enjoyed a lovely visit with a friend on Monday; ALL of Monday. It was an early morning start to make lunch up to take with us, and then we didn't get home until dinner time.

Wednesday night was coffee out with the local homeschooling mums.  I ended up chatting a lot with a lady I didn't know too well, but who shares similar ideas of growing her own produce, teaching her children sewing, cooking, building ... a lovely night spent sharing stories and ideas. :)

Then on Friday afternoon, the children went to stay overnight with friends whilst Papa and I went out.  We were given some complimentary tickets to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

In the home ...

It's been about the cherries!  I worked my way through all of them very carefully, so they're all washed, picked and now bottled (if not yet eaten fresh!)  The cherry pie made during the week was such a success that I've had to promise to make it again soon. Seven jars of cherries are now cooling off as we speak, and I can hear the random 'click' of the seal taking hold in the lids.



Our tighter budget was a success with our grocery shopping.  During the week I came across a great blog called The Fun, Cheap or Free Queen.  She has a very simple, workable idea for tracking spending weekly.  It was most helpful, so I hope to make it a success through the rest of the month.

You will also notice, if you've visited here before, that I've been playing with my blog page (again!).  I want to fix the header up some more, but that'll be when I get some time to figure it all out.

Hoping you all have a wonderful week ahead!

Until next post,

Catherine

Read more Weekly Wrap-Ups at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
and It's a Wrap at Hammock Tracks

Learning about the Boston Tea Party

We've finally gotten to the climax of the story in Johnny Tremain, and we're learning about the Boston Tea Party! Johnny Tremain is one of the Sonlight Core D+E books, as well as being recommended in the History Odyssey's Modern History II for Maestro.  Both of the children are covering around the same time period, which has been making our homeschooling more interesting as we share what we're doing.

You know, I only have scant recollection of ever hearing mention the Boston Tea Party in my youth.  Mum told me about it, and I'm sure I've seen the Walt Disney film of Johnny Tremain (watching Walt Disney on a Saturday night at my Nana's house was a huge treat!) but never in our schooling was it covered (Australian schools).  So, we're all learning about this as a family.

One question raised by Mariposa was 'How big were the tea chests'?  I imagined they were fairly large, perhaps requiring two men to carry one, but found that they were actually smaller!  There is one on display at the historic Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum, and can be seen on the short video here:




Had we an opportunity to travel to Boston, we'd certainly like to see this exhibit.  However, we'll be content to check out resources online.

Here are a few sites I've bookmarked for us all to view together:

• I really liked the explanation of the event on this page at Ducksters;
• A video and activities here at Have Fun with History are concisely done with a nice presentation;
• An episode of Liberty's Kids: The Boston Tea Party - a 23 minute cartoon Mariposa will enjoy.

Being such an avid fan of the old Walt Disney movies, too, I'm thinking it'll be a good investment to purchase the Johnny Tremain dvd from ebay (about $7 plus postage).  I know that the book is still SOOOoo much better, though.

We're really enjoying this book and learning about this time in history.  The timeline will be very interesting to see coming together, especially as we notice how the events in early American history lead into our Australian history.  Fun!

Until next post,

Catherine

A story of justice: The Stolen Smell

I was remembering a story I'd heard a number of years ago and was trying to retell it to the children.  Isn't it annoying when you can't remember the title of a story to find it again?  Well, I finally found the story: The Stolen Smell.

Better still, I found Leslie Slape telling the story here:

The Theft of a Smell

Did you enjoy that?  Great little tale, isn't it?

I found a copy of the written story in a couple of places.  One is in a book entitles "Tales of Wisdom and Justice" which you may view on google books here.  There is also a teacher's resource book full of similar character teaching strategies: Storytelling and QAR Strategies. (I've just put that one on my wishlist!!)

Until next post!

Catherine

Last week's Weekly Wrapup

We're enjoying the warmer weather and getting out in the backyard so much more.  Lots of projects are happening depending on time requirements, who's available to help and what materials we already have on hand.

In the garden, I have a new gate ready for my sectioned off vegie patch.  It was a find at the tip's recycling centre and does need a new coat of paint, but it's up and the wire fencing will be done afterwards.  The vegies will have to all be container plants until all this area is completed and ready to be used properly.  Containers have had to be the main style of gardening since we got our little dog, Midgy, anyway, as he LOVES digging.  All my asparagus is now gone (sob!), so will need replanting ... but this fenced off area will solve all that.

The chook run will be shortened so we can gain back some of that wire fencing to use for the veggie patch.

We've disassembled the pergola in an unused area and are relocating it to become a pergola on the back of the house. What is currently just a window will become a sliding door, and steps down still need to be put in.  This side of our house faces north, so we're going to grow a passionfruit vine over it which will give us shade in Summer .. and lovely fruit!


On the homeschool front, we've got several topics going on all at once.

Maestro's working through Geometry with MUS.  We're learning all the different types of lines through a circle at the moment.  While Mariposa is finishing working through one of her Singapore Maths level 4 books and is doing review.  I'm debating about making a 'summary' book with her using Interactive Maths Journals.  When I visited Runde's blog, I got very excited about how to put this journal together ... very CM, and 'WHY didn't I think of this earlier?'   Please do go and have a look at how she runs her math classes.  She's very inspiring!

History has us almost covering similar topics.  Maestro is using Pandia Press for Early Modern History.  The reading requirement was The Witch at Blackbird Pond, which we've just finished reading a month ago.  We've now started the Iron Peacock and really enjoying it.  The vocabulary is sensational, and we could keep stopping to check each word out, but we read it through to the end and then pick a few to check.
Mariposa and I have just started reading  Johnny Tremain (one chapter in) and will continue with it this week.

One day a week, Mariposa is still doing her horseriding lesson.  She spends up to 3hrs there on that day, with 1hr on riding.  She's currently working very hard to pass Level One Certificate and has spent hours finding the information to put into a scrap book journal.  I'm loving that she's very dedicated and putting in so much effort for a good result.

Meanwhile, Maestro's spending most of his spare time with dance rehearsals.  He's been selected for a special group dance which required an extra 6hrs training on weekends.  The result is a very tired, and extremely HUNGRY boy, but he's enjoying the challenge.

I'm also working on a little crafty project as a gift to my singing student.  I'll show the end result tomorrow. :)

Until next post!
Catherine

Our lives this week ...

The children keep telling me how quickly time is going.  Now THAT's scary .. that the children are noticing!  We're already planning what we'll be doing in early October, but my mind is still somewhere back in early August.

What I'm missing most, though, is looking at this blog I started and seeing that there are now gaping holes where I haven't been posting.  This is my journal!  This is where I come to look back and remember some of the things we've all done together as a family.  So ... I'm back and aiming to be here more often.

Chareen has been posting regularly about her weekly happenings, so I thought I'd follow her example to 'break the ice' again and help the thinking box tick over.

In Our Homeschool This Week:

* Maestro is writing up a research paper on Jules Verne, following the requirements from IEW.  I was asked by a friend, who lectures at Deakin University, how we are working with Maestro's writing skills.  He was very interested in what we described of IEW, so must share some links with him. One point that was raised, which we tried to employ with this paper, was working to a time limit.  Usually we allow as much time as needed for the best result, but at tertiary level, that won't be a luxury students have.  So, the goal is to achieve the best result in a given timeframe.  Maestro's paper is due tomorrow, and his rough draft is already completed today.

* I'm reading 'The Witch of Blackbird Pond' to Mariposa; a very interesting story.  I didn't expect the complex language which fills this story .. it's so rich in vocabulary and imagery!  Mariposa is seeming to follow this quite well though and has been asking for another chapter later in the day.

* In maths, it's Geometry for Maestro this term (just started with MUS) and Mariposa is learning about Decimals.

Helpful homeschool tips or advice to share:

* My no. 1 tip at the moment is to make sure lights are out .. and stay out .. at a reasonable hour to ensure everyone gets a good nights sleep.  Ha, ha, ha!  I don't think I need to say much more, other than people rummaging for food late at night keeps others awake.  Maybe I need to get a padlock for the fridge!

I am inspired by ...

* Lots of ideas I've been finding on Pinterest.  Yes, as of just a few days ago, I joined Pinterest and have been very happy pinning away.  So many bookmarks I had saved are now neatly pinned, and I've enjoyed FAR too much time checking out pins from others (all worth it, though! <>)

* A beautiful song I heard on the radio this afternoon was also most spectacular.  I had to jot down the name of the album and hope to purchase a copy soon; Storybook Journey with 18yr old singer Siobhan Owen. Such a pure, lovely tone! Sioban is a classical/celtic singer and harpist.

Places we're going this week:

* Tuesdays are regular horseriding lessons for Mariposa again.  She's not had lessons for the first 1/2 of this year, but she's back and preparing for her Level 1 certificate.

* Physio work for Maestro tomorrow, also.  He's been working hard with his dancing, and with lifting being a part of his ballet work now, he needs to overcome some shoulder problems and develop some strength.  After two sessions last month, there's already been some improvement, but more work will need to be done for a little while yet.

* We have a date rollerblading with a local group of homeschoolers this Friday.  It's a great time for the children to all spend a few hours together, including some games and inline hockey, while the mums sit and have a cuppa and chat.

My favourite thing this week:

Well, as I'm writing about this current week, there's not a lot to reflect on at the moment.  One thing I'm most proud of is that we've been using produce from our own garden again.  I've enjoyed the creative ways we've found to use what we've had so nothing goes to waste, like a silverbeet quiche full of fresh eggs.

Things I'm working on:

* The best ways to set up some wicking garden beds.  I've recently pinned some ideas I've found, but still need to figure out how the budget can work to accomodate this investment.  At least we'll have a few homeschooling subjects covered when we work on this: woodwork (making the frames), economics (when we look for the best purchase prices for the items), science (setting up the worm farm .. after making one), not to mention home economics once we cook the produce too.

I'm reading:

* Paul, A Novel, by Walter Wangerin Jr.  It's a fictional account of Paul's life, with the interpretation taken from a particular belief standpoint which is not my own.  However, I do like how some relevant historical circumstances of the time are explored, as well as some 'lesser' characters explored.  I'm only about 1/3 of the way through it at the moment.


I'll leave it at that for now.  My goal tomorrow is get the camera out and take some nice photos.  I don't know if we'll get many at horseriding as it's expected to be raining ... but we'll see. :)

More Australian history finds

There are some lovely recent publications with regard to Australian history available now at our library.  I was really keen to bring them home and enjoy them with the family.

Tony Robinson is already popular here, especially after we'd seen the series 'The Worst Jobs in History" and "Time Team".  Now he's completed a series on Australian history.  The book seems to give a really good summary on the dvd, if not a little more information in parts.

Some Peter Mcinnes books also caught my attention.  Actually, truth be told, one book had pricked my interest some time back when we visited the Australian Geographic store.  That's where I first saw Australian Backyard Explorer, but couldn't afford to purchase it.

I love how these books are set out.  They invite you to jump right on in to the pages, with some fabulous 'hands on' suggestions.  Check out all that the books offer on these pages:  Australian Backyard Explorer and Australian Backyard Naturalist.

We did bring home Australia's Pioneers, Heros and Fools, but I just didn't get enough time to read this properly before having to return it.  It is an easy read, which would be great for a teens.

Hopefully sharing these finds will help others who are learning about Australian history, and you'll enjoy some of these books as much as we have.

This month we're reading ...

I thought I'd share some of our personal choices for reading at the moment.  It seems we all have at least one book on the little side dresser of each bedroom!

Mariposa's worked her way through the first four books of the Boxcar Children and is soon to start some more books given to her by a friend. I'm loving that she's really enjoying getting her nose stuck into a book rather than it being such a chore.  I'm sure the new glasses are helping too!

Maestro has recently discovered Terry Pratchett.  He always tries to grab as many books from the library by the same author as possible, or at least read the whole series.  At the moment he's working his way through  The Colour of Magic. Whilst scouring the library catalogue, he had also found a dvd made by the BBC, titled Going Postal, and we enjoyed viewing that as a family last weekend.

Papa has two books on his bedside dresser at the moment.  One is a little, old, cloth-covered copy of Longfellows Poems. The other is on loan from a friend: Made in America by Bill Bryson.

Finally, I have two books on loan from the library also.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society was recommended to me some time back by Maestro's violin teacher.  It's written as a collection of letters; set in post WWII London.  So far it's a delightful easy read.

The other book I've picked up is by Rhonda Hetzel's Down to Earth: A Simple Guide to Living.  It's such a beautifully presented book, offering all the gentle wisdom she has given on her blog, and more!  I'm seriously considering purchasing a copy as one of our Home Economic text books for the children to read.

Are you enjoying any great reads at your house?  Please do share. :)

Thank you for dropping by!

Homeschooling is teaching me ...

I am definitely on a learning curve again.  Sometimes my children are a great source of gentle reminders that there is still something I am yet to master about how their forming minds work, or something I thought I knew needs refining.  Right now it is all about PATIENCE!

Mariposa has been going so well with her learning of fractions, that I was presented with a stumbling block when she suddenly didn't understand the concept of mixed fractions.  "Why don't you understand this, but you can make equivalent fractions so easily?"  No matter how many times I tried to go over it all again, we couldn't move up to the next step.  Okay .. time out!  I didn't want to drive Mariposa to despair over this, and I could feel my anxiety going up a notch too.

What do you do when what you are teaching to the best of your ability just doesn't seem to be working?

I know that it's not only maths which can cause learning anxieties, but I'll continue with my example as my point of reference.

Mariposa needed time to see, again, how she did know that 5 thirds are the same as 1 and 2 thirds.  We'd done this before (this is where cooking is a GREAT way of teaching fractions!) but she'd forgotten.  The material needed to be married back into a context she could understand.  I needed to give her time and space to experiment and remake those connections.

Approaching learning in small, gentle steps encourages the child's mind to begin to think through how a new idea works and see how it relates to every day life.  When we hit a 'road block' it's time to really slow down.  Both of the children have taught me that if I try and tick all the boxes to be learnt by a certain date,  I'm only satisfying my own need to say 'done it!'  They don't learn the lessons so well that way.  They need to own the learning, having had time to digest the material and make connections to the other 'knowns' in their lives, before I can serve up the next stage.

Another example is something that Maestro told me last week.  He's discovered the label of 'Classical Learning' somewhere in his findings lately and has told me that he prefers this style.  He's a very systematic person and also enjoys being challenged.  His developing interest in classical literature has been slowly on the  increase.  Whilst he enjoys a good range of literature, he told me that he also wants to read "Robin Hood" and "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table."  Later this week we're also going to have a look at Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" as part of his Medieval history.  (Help! I haven't read that yet!)

What came about last week was Maestro patiently explaining to me that he finds that he's not really learning anything new using a particular book.  He'd rather spend his time trying to work through some of these books with older English, and he could spend time later writing a book report.  "The vocabulary in the other book is already in those stories, Mum.  If I get stuck, I can easily look them up, but most of the time I can understand it all already.  I'm just a slow reader, though, so maybe we can get some of them as audio books, please?!"  Okay ... so, again, I have to learn to stand back a little and watch what is developing instead of being mandatory about the 'tick the box' syndrome and complete a book from which he's not really learning.

To top it all off, I must muse on how different these two children are from one another.  They come to the solutions in such different ways, leading me on a journey I wouldn't have taken myself.  I'm still learning to be patient enough to stand back a little and see that bigger picture, though.  It's so easy to expect them to do it all my way!  There is a time to ask for my methods, with the love and respect that should happen in a family, and then there's the time to let them grow into their own maturity.  ... See!  I'm learning, slowly! :)

Thank you for dropping by!

Covering books with dust jackets

I'm so happy!

I found a supplier for some quality book covering.  Now my hardcovers with dust jackets won't get so damaged.  A quick friendly chat to a lovely gentleman had the order done and on it's way within a couple of days.

The role of 'Unifold' arrived from The Book Cover Co. the other day, and I successfully covered my first book today.

The instructions were super easy to follow.

I have always encouraged the children to take good care of all our books, and this helps them look good for a lot longer.

Thank you for dropping by!