Science is Cool!

What we're using: The Usborne Internet-Linked Encylopedia of Our World, World and Space by Childcraft, My First Science Encyclopedia (Kingfisher), Hands-On Earth Science (Carson Dellarosa) and The Geography Book.
Our Earth Science and Geography lessons (Astronomy too) are downloadable for free on the right sidebar.

Today, we did two days of science due to behavior problems this week. It was great!
Thank goodness the experiments weren't any more involved.

Illustrating how the earth has day and night on opposite sides.

Illustrating a solar eclipse.

Illustrating the phases of the moon.

In geography, we made a world clock. We even took the project further than The Geography Book said and divided the times by day and night, the stars were Camille's idea. The center circle is on a brad and can spin.

We watched Our World on United Streaming which I highly recommend and more of To Space and Back by Sally Ride. Tomorrow will be the regular weekly report, we have decided to take pictures of our projects so I figured I would share them, especially after seeing how well they turned out!
By the way, our 'sun' is an energy-saving lightbulb that is supposed to last 5 years.

Themes to Remember Review

ClassicalMagic.net has a music program that we love which can be used for children aged 2 and up. I'm even enjoying it! First off, I appreciate the books are hardcover, which lends an everlasting quality to them and it is apparent that Marjorie Kiel Persons spent a lot of time developing this product. Marjorie holds majors in Elementary, Secondary, Music and Religion Eduction as well as English literature and has traveled extensively.

You can read the hows and whys of how the program was developed, here and even literary benefits of the program. In each book, Persons provides a "how to" guide and practical teaching suggestions which is very helpful which includes: Listen and Sing Along, Meet the Composers, Musical terms, Games (three provided), Art, Drama, and Movement. This program is for multiple learning types and the approach is up to the parent/teacher. Your child will learn about the orchestra, opera, history of the composers, their individual styles and influences, musical terms and really come to understand the music.

In Themes to Remember Volume 1 and 2 there are illustrations for younger children, a biography of the composer with a portrait of composer (which can be purchased as an additional set separately), music terms about the particular composition or composer and lyrics to help memorize the composition. On each cd that accompanies each book there is the composition and a track that plays the composition with the lyrics. It is pleasant and fun. It sounds simple but you'd be amazed at how much your child will learn effortlessly with this program by just reading the biography, learning the music terms and singing the lyrics (memorization would be best) which is just the beginning!

Each book shares about each major time in classical music and the program could be used to study music chronologically or incrementally as the 6 year schedule that Classical Magic recommends. We're using the six year schedule, which is also why I bought the three books, there is a fourth book, Antonin Dvorák From the New World with Lyrics which tells the story of Dvorák's life in both prose and lyrics, and includes reproducibles plus a listening guide for the orchestrated recording on the CD.. The CD contains, in addition to tracks of the themes with and without lyrics, a fully orchestrated recording of the Symphony (without lyrics).

The purpose of the six year schedule is to introduce children to the simpler concepts first and then gradually increase the difficulty to match their knowledge. Even though Camille is in 2nd grade, we're starting in Year 1 which could also be used with kindergarten and younger aged children. Can I just say that it is nice to know that we have a study of classical music selected for six years! It is a relief for me and I hope no qualms about what she'll be learning. If you have multiples and are just starting out, I would keep them together and start from the beginning of the six year schedule, if that's the route you select.

With help from another homeschool mom, I created a schedule for Year 1 that we're using this year. We are studying one composition and composer for two weeks and I supplemented the schedule with living books, encyclopedia information and coloring books. Here's our Year 1 approach. If you'd like to see the whole six year schedule, click here to go to Classical Magic. For five of the six years, you'll only need the three books Themes to Remember 1, Themes to Remember 2 and Classical Karaoke for Kids, there is only one year that requires the Dvorák book which is why I purchased the three books at one time.

If you wish to know more about the lyrics included, here at places you can view them: Handel and Boccherini, more inside pages to be viewed at RainbowResource.com for Themes to Remember Vol. 1, and Themes to Remember Vol 2., and at SingNLearn.org.

A Long Day/Week

We started our lessons at 7:30 am, it's 7:45 pm and we're still doing them. Camille is finishing up her history work, which was fun but who wants to do school all day? Apparently, she does. She has not left our learning room with a few exceptions: lunch, for a drink, bathroom, dinner. I don't think I should have to keep on her to do her work, she knows better. What is funny is that we talked about monks today and how they would work for 8 hours on a book, or even just one page because they were studious (yes she learned what studious means today).

Tomorrow we're going to do two days worth of science to make up what her procrastination (and mine in addressing the problem) has done to our schedule. Her dad and I agree, she has plenty of time to do the work and the only one she's hurting is herself. Well, me too since I have to be there, and her brother because he desperately wants to play with his sister. We're taking care of it and I feel so much better. My dh stays pretty much out of disciplining her and I haven't been called her dad (my ex) about it but today he told me that I need to. He's right, I can't be the only bad guy!

The parsonage walk-through went well. I'm switching subjects, I want to share the books we've been reading this week because even though other things have been going wrong, this has been right!

Read Aloud This Week:






























Camille read independently:




















So I guess this week hasn't been too bad. : ) There's been a LOT of reading!

Busy Day!

I just wanted to post something else so that "It's been a bad day" isn't the first post anymore. Today is a new day, albeit busy but a new day nonetheless.

There is no distance on this earth as far away as yesterday. ~Robert Nathan, So Love Returns

I'll update later.

It's been a bad day.

I woke up at 6 am. The kids were up at 6:30 am. Everything was going fine.

Until we did math today, for whatever reason Camille quit. Granted, we have Bible then Math so we weren't too far into the day when trouble hit. She just sat there, acting like she was waiting for something. Instead of doing the "homework" thing where I've told her she has so much time to accomplish her work then she has to do it after our lessons on her own. I didn't do that, I knew I should have and just moved on. BUT she asked for it to be homework and some switch clicked in my head and decided, "oh no, that is NOT going to happen". 1 hour later, she finishes her math work after being told repeatedly to get to work. Wasted time on both hers and my end and that frustrates me. I know it was my fault, I just didn't want to do anything about it. I get tired of 'doing something about it'.

She finished her Bible, math, independent reading, handwriting work today along with going through her spelling flashcards. I didn't leave the room, which means housework didn't get done while I dealt with her "goofing" off. It was lunch time when I quit. We didn't do history, french, grammar or music. She is now at 5:30 pm practicing her piano. She's been busy, scrubbing the tub, sweeping the floors, folding laundry, cleaning her room but guess what! She enjoyed doing that stuff.

Tomorrow the Parsonage Committee is doing a walk-thru at 1:00 pm, can you hear me jump for joy? Not. I'm not really stressed about it, I cleaned house over the weekend and yesterday so it's not too bad, just needs a little "pick-up" attention. I'm in such a blah mood. Yuck. Deep down, I think Camille is acting out/up whatever because she's going to her dad's this weekend. This tends to happen when she's about to leave.

Testing the Guinea Pig

I'm not 100% sure how I feel about "testing" in our homeschool just yet. When we do our math tests in Horizons, I tell Camille a day before that she will have a math test the next day. No big deal. On the day I give her the test first when we get to our math lessons without reviewing anything. She is so eager to know how she did, as she is with all her math work. She routinely requests for me to mark her papers with a 100! if she got everything right, complete with stickers or one of the many stamps she has begged to buy while out shopping.

We also have spelling tests once a week and if Camille misses a word, she is to write it 3x and then I ask her to spell it everyday until our next spelling test and I include that word on the test. Since we're in our 4th week of 2nd grade, the technique I just shared is what we did in 1st grade. This year, she gets flashcards of her spelling words on Monday, we flip through them and she reads the word and spells it aloud. Thursday she will be tested after she completes her Spelling Workout worksheets and in Spelling Workout there is a cumulative spelling test.

We haven't had a problem with tests in math or spelling. I'm wondering if it would be beneficial to quiz her in other subjects as well. As a student, I loved challenges and she is a lot like me. Hmm. I do have concerns though. She hasn't "failed" anything since we've been homeschooling. If she were to fail, would it mean that I may be testing her wrong, my teaching is lacking in some way or she's not applying herself. How to determine for sure? I don't want quizzes or test to become important- not in the way she evaluates herself or how she is performing. Is there any way around that? I want her to see tests, quizzes, exams as a challenge to prove what she knows, nothing more. If she doesn't know something well enough to "pass" or do well on the test then all that means is that there is more work to be done, not that she's a failure. Tests were normal for me, a part of life as a public school student. Now that I have my own dd's education in my hands, I'm not sure what is best for her.

I really could go on about my concerns but I'll spare whoever is reading my gibberish. I've spent some time reading about the positives and negatives about testing, as well as asked other homeschoolers their thoughts and opinions about testing in a home education environment- the spectrum is wide and long on that one! I decided that since Camille's in 2nd grade, I have some wiggle room to find out if this will help her or harm her. Yes, I over think things and aren't you lucky you decided to read my blog today to share the agony of my thoughts? Lol.

Here's a link to Ambleside Online, the free Charlotte Mason based curriculum and their examination page. And here is a link to one of my favorite homeschoolers, LindaFay and the examinations she has given her own children.

More links about testing & homeschooling:
National Home Education Network: Article on the Side-Effects of Testing

Oops, guess what? I couldn't find many articles that weren't about standardized testing! Which is not what I'm talking about at all. I want to quiz/test, whatever you want to call it, about what I have taught. What I think was "caught" or items I wish were caught. Lol. When talking about this with other homeschoolers, some mentioned that games were a good way to "test" knowledge. That's great if it works for them, I tend to want to help my child when we play games and I want to have fun. If my dd plays an online game, which I haven't allowed yet, I don't want to make the mistake in thinking she doesn't know the material when in fact she couldn't move the mouse quick enough, the questions were formulated in a confusing way or the questions contained information she hasn't learned yet. I did find one site I might start letting her use as a "game" after our lessons- Internet4Classrooms, 2nd grade. They have K-8 there and the games are from Harcourt and other educational resources.

Want to see the quiz I'll give Friday as a test run?

Quiz 1 Name: ___________________ Date: ______________

Bible
You’ve memorized four scriptures. Pick one and explain what it means.

1. Jesus was in the beginning with God. All things were made though him. John 1:2-3

2. In Him was life...the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness. John 1:4-5

3. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Isaiah 9:2

4. And He will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace Isaiah 9:6



Math
Oral discussion

1. How fast can you add your 3’s aloud?
3+0, 3+1, 3+2, 3+3, 3+4, 3+5, 3+6, 3+7, 3+8, 3+9, 3+10?

2. Count by 3’s to 36.

3. Say this number in number words: 4,931.

4. [ 54, 23, 67, 45, 17, 76 ]

What is the largest number in this set?
What is the smallest number in this set?


Reading

In 1822, a doctor’s wife found a huge tooth buried in a rock. It looked like it belonged to a giant lizard. The woman was the first person to find the remains of a dinosaur.

1. Who was the woman’s husband?
2. What did the wife find?
3. Where was it buried?
4. When did this happen?
5. To what did the tooth look like it belonged?
6. To what did the tooth really belong?
7. What was the woman the first to do?

Bonus Question: Do you remember if the first dinosaur found was the Iguanodon or Triceratops?


Grammar
Name the types of sentences and put the appropriate punctuation mark at the end.

Stop Mr. Jones, we're heading for those rocks_

This is a lot of work_

Has the game started_

Pass me an eraser_

The girl spent two hours on her report_

A canoe can tip over easily_

Should I paddle like this_


What nouns do you see in the above sentences?
What pronouns?
What proper nouns?
What verbs?


History
Oral discussion

1. In the story Beowulf, how did Beowulf kill Grendel?
2. Why is the Middle Ages called the Dark Ages?
3. What are scribes?
4. What kind of life did a monk lead in the Middle Ages?
5. When the Celts asked for help, who other than the Angles came across the North Sea?


Science
Oral discussion

1. What is the very middle of the earth called? Is it soft or hard?
2. What does a geologist study?
3. Name three continents. You may use the map or globe.
4. Where is the equator?
5. Which is brighter a full moon or a new moon?


Separate sheets for handwriting and piano.

All of this is what we have learned in the last 4 weeks, the only thing that is extra is the dinosaur question which I'll be pleasantly surprised if she knows it. The more I look at this, I don't feel like it's a "test", more like a review but based on what she knows, not what I tell her. My poor guinea pig. There are times I feel sorry for her, I actually asked her over the weekend if there was something she didn't like about our lessons so far and after the deadening silence, she just said- "No. I love it all." I even pushed a little, "you like this? you like that we did that?" If this quiz/review thing works, we'll have it every 4 weeks and for our 40 week year, we'll have a total of 10 of them. I have a feeling that in 3-5 years I'll read this and laugh at myself. Maybe even hysterically!

Yep, that's about right.

Make it a fabulous day!

Year at a Glance - Week 4

Here is our updated year at a glance based on what we've accomplished so far. Here is the link to the original Year at A Glance. We are behind in grammar, which if we do lessons 94-99 this week we'll be caught up and we are one week behind in science but I just moved science down a week because we have breathing room in that regard.

The music appreciation column has changed from the original Year at a Glance because I set it up wrong in order to reflect our actual lessons. We study one composer and composition for two weeks at a time, this is a better reflection of what we're doing. I'm not going to update the original Year at Glance because when I update it for my use, I save over the original file. Just a little sidenote.

I feel so organized and on top of things this year versus last. Of course last year was our first year homeschooling and I've learned so much in the meantime. I contribute a lot of that learning to the exposure of homeschoolers and participating within the online community. I have learned so much from our fellow online homeschoolers, from blogs to message boards- and I have a thankful heart for you! Prime example, I wasn't going to do a Year at a Glance, but I saw this on Jennefer's blog and I immediately saw the value in it. I know I've been linking to her a lot lately, but I love others who make me think!

It isn't enough to create a Year at a Glance or long-term goals, you have to update them and use the tools you take time to create. From reading others' journeys I know this is an area that gets neglected over time. Starting the year, everyone is full steam ahead but then 12 weeks into the year, something happens...life gets busy, behavior problems crop up, or something else and all those well-thought out plans go to the wayside.

Last year I struggled to find a system that worked for use. I tried using a homeschooling software product to map out our year and I ended up not liking it at all. The excel file is working fabulously for me so far. I look back on my last year self and I see that I was a mess just trying to figure out how to do what everyone else was doing. I've learned it's not so much what everyone else is doing, it is finding what works for you and your family.

I want to say one other thing before I end this post. I have found a new outlook about reading educational theory, philosophy books etc. like The Well-Trained Mind, Charlotte Mason, Teaching the Trivium, and the rest of them. I am teaching my children. My personality and theirs and what works for us is important. I will glean ideas from the books but overall the way we approach this journey needs to be tailored to *our* needs instead of trying to fit us into a WTM box. I was trapped in that "we're a XYZ homeschooler" category last year, but this year I'm embracing that we are "homeschoolers" and that saying that we use WTM or TOG is just a detail but it doesn't really define us. If workbooks fit us best, who cares if it doesn't fit within the educational philosophy of XYZ book?

God meets us where we are, granted if we listen, we'll change but he doesn't wait for us to be at a certain level to reach out to us. He's there with you all the time. Allow the journey with homeschooling be more about where you are instead of trying to fit someone else's ideals or fitting into the profile of being an XYZ homeschooler.

How We Do It All

It has been asked when what our day looks like and how we fit in everything so I'll share the "plan". This is a work in progress because this past week (see Week 3 Report) we focused more on homeschooling than keeping house. This coming week we'll be doing everything. It takes discipline and determination, the discipline part has been hard and has needed a lot of prayer and the determination part is something that has been built up to. The lack of discipline has built up the determination. I'm ready to make our lives easier, to build up our house instead of tearing it down.

I've tried many things in the past 1.5 years and the following routine fits us, instead of trying to make us fit into a "program" or follow rules that we've never had but have to start to fit another persons' ideal.

Night Before
Set up coffee pot, fill/run dishwasher, put empty laundry basket in den. Go to bed by 11:00 pm!

6:00 am Mom wakes up
Get coffee, empty dishwasher, shower, get dressed.
Until 7:00 I work with Danny to make his bed, get him dressed and get his clothes for the laundry basket.
Make breakfast.

6:30 am Kids wake up
*Danny has been rising between 6 am and 6:30 lately.
Camille has an alarm clock and is to get up, get dressed and make her bed, bring the day's laundry out to the basket in den.

7:00 am approximately - Breakfast
Pray.
Eat breakfast.
Kids take the dishes to the sink and go brush their teeth and hair.
I clean up breakfast, put laundry in washer.
Camille does her daily weather journal.
*Still thinking of what to do during this time, something for memory work

7:20 am Circle Time Prayer
We sit in a circle and pray over each other and our day.

7:30 am Bible lesson
Recite the scripture 3x (Chapter, verse, scripture, chapter, verse) and discuss what the scripture means.
I read the Bible story, and Camille narrates, we discuss where necessary.
Camille answers the lesson's questions independently while I read Bible Stories for Tiny Tots to Danny.

7:55 am Daily Memory Work
Still under construction but the idea is to play a song about the books of the Bible and learn five at a time, using a chart to help us. I may move this to breakfast time.

8:00 am Math
Drill/memory work is done first, then I teach the lesson or review concepts with Camile. She works independently on the lesson's worksheets and I play with Danny concerning math concepts. On Friday there is not a math lesson, just Daily Mental Math worksheet.

8:45 am Independent Reading & Snack
Camille reads 1-2 pages to me and then she's to read the rest of the book or a predetermined amount of pages. If she reads an entire book, she records it in her reading log. During this time, I read to Danny- one book of my choosing and whatever else he wants me to read to him. *This is an area we may change as we get used to doing all our subjects.
Chores: Laundry gets moved to dryer.

9:15 am Handwriting
A page of Classically Cursive is done, I make sure Camille is okay with the formation of the letter and let her do the page independently. I work with Danny with something related, tracing his ABCs, etc.
Chores: Start working on room of the day's cleaning.

9:30 am Grammar and/or Spelling
On Monday I will give Camille her spelling words from Spelling Workout on flashcards, each day she'll read the work and spell it, flipping through the words so that she'll be ready for a test on Thursday after her spelling lesson. Mon-Wed is really for grammar, which we use First Language Lessons. We recite our current poem for memorization, do the lesson work which includes a little bit of copywork either the grammar rule/definition, copywork within the lesson or a writing activity such as writing a letter. This is free play time for Danny, depending on his demeanor. I need to spend the time with Camille during this time. I will probably use the Leap Frog DVDs during this time.

10:00 am French
Bonjour Les Amis is a children's video set about teaching french. We watch this together (all of us). The rest of the week's french activities are chosen to support what we watched with Bonjour Les Amis.
Chores: Fold laundry while watching, put in appropriate rooms when video is finished.

10:30 am History & Art or Science with Geography
This is a crucial time in our day, I have a lot of reading aloud to do with Camille so it is tricky with Danny. It is basically, do whatever I can to keep Danny busy time. On history days, we recite our Veritas Press History cards and then dive into our history lesson with includes an element of art, I will try to include Danny in this with a duplicate of whatever Camille is doing-we'll see how that works. On science days, we do our reading first and then will try to include Danny same as history or just give him a little science activity to do.

11:30 am Music Appreciation & Piano
We play our selection for the week during the day at various times. I play the lyrics and we sing the song everyday at this time. Once a week (day still undetermined) we will read more about the composer and do a biography and coloring page about the composer. After this Camille is to do her piano work for her private piano lessons, I have divided up her weekly piano work so it is manageable for her and while she does this, Danny helps me with getting lunch ready.

12:00 pm Lunch
After lunch Danny takes a nap, Camille is to finish any work that was deemed "homework" (if she goofs off or gets an attitude, her work turns into homework. Her decision, her consequence.)

12:30 pm - 4:00 pm
This is variable, free-time after the chores are done. I say 4:00 pm because I prefer to do a tidy up at 4:00 pm so that dh comes home to a toy-free den and some time I start dinner preparations at 4:00 pm.

6:00 pm Dinner and the rest
Clean up dinner dishes and spend family time until about 7:30 pm. Bath time, read-alouds and then if Camille wants she can stay up till 8:30 pm reading. Regular bedtime is 8:00 pm.

Friday is an extra day for school: Bible, math, reading and an informal state study happens. During the weekend, I prepare the for next week: reading the books we'll read, preparing each lesson or preparing myself for each lesson and doing what I need to like scheduling out our week, copying/photocopying, preparing items for experiments, etc.

All I did was take our regular life and put a little structure to it. Every day is different with its own challenges and blessings, we just go with the flow. The chore schedule has been a life-saver, I don't feel overwhelmed with all of the house on a given day, and I feel accomplished getting the one room clean. Daily chores are being constantly trained to do, how to leave a room, how to take care our things, etc. We are not down to the minute scheduled with the exception of lesson time, until we get into the routine of it, I'm using a timer. I know Camille, I know how she handles the work and she has buffer time within each lesson time ranging from 5-10 minutes. This is why I started the homework stipulation. It's not perfect, but it works for us and accomplishes so much for our family. Danny's behavior has improved greatly once I got my act together. This year is all about balance for us, achieving it and maintaining it and making it a daily part of our lives.

Week 3 Report-In Detail

Warning: This is a super long post with lots of pictures.

Overall, I would give this week an B+! It could have been better but it went well. On Sunday I was concerned about catching up with our work in certain subjects because of the patchy week we had before but Camille really rose to the occasion and did the work necessary. I am very proud of her for not complaining about it and just getting it done. It gives me hope!

I made a few changes this week that I feel are worth mentioning (is there anything I *don't* mention?).

1. Camille received an alarm clock.
It is set at 6:30 a.m., she is to wake-up walk across the room and shut off the alarm, get dressed, make her bed and bring the day's laundry out to the den to put in the laundry basket. I do one load of laundry each day and each day has its' own load (i.e. Monday is Jeans, Tuesday is towels, etc.) If you wish to see our cleaning routine, it's on the right hand sidebar under Life.

2. Family Circle Time before lessons.
The children and I (dh is usually unable to participate but will as he is able) sit in a circle on the floor holding hands and talk about what we need to do for the day. This includes special errands we may need to do, behaviors we need to focus on, and the kids share what they might like to do after 'school'. We ask Danny but he's not sure what we're talking about, he just says "go bye-bye". We then take turns praying, I pray over the children aloud, I pray for myself as a mother/teacher and I pray for people we know that need our prayers. Camille then prays aloud and I pray for Danny to end. After this we start our Bible lesson.

For the longest time I felt I needed to do the Pledge of Allegiance, focus on "this day in history" or some other way to start the day. This is SO MUCH better! Throughout the day I can remind Camille of what she prayed about or what I prayed about for her and it instantly humbles her (at least so far). I have to thank Jennefer at Smooth Stones Academy for sharing that she watched Buzby the Misbehaving Bee by Max Lucado with her children, we did that Monday and I probably asked Camille about 30x this week if a choice she was about to make was walking the "straight path".

3. This week we added French, Spelling and Music appreciation into our schedule as our third week phase in. The phase in itself has worked wonderfully, although I panicked this week thinking we have too much to do! All I need to do is re-adjust a few things, such as Spelling. For Camille to have a spelling test on Thursday with her regular spelling lesson, she needs to get her spelling words on Monday and she needs to review them during the week. So, I will make flashcards for her each weekend and review the words with her everyday starting each Monday.

I am also seriously considering dropping the church history portion from our history studies. I'm torn about this in so many ways because I feel it is beneficial to be exposed to the great people who have sacrificed so much for us to be able to practice our faith in the present day but I also feel that the trials and tribulations may be better suited to learn (and understand) in the logic stage and beyond. I still love Mindy and Brandon Withrow's History Lives books and recommend them highly but I think for us, they might be better for when Camille is a little older and can enjoy reading them on her own followed by a discussion to highlight the events and happenings that I feel are important. There are wonderful picture books out there to use in the meantime. I'm still considering this and may use the History Lives books, as well as Trial and Triumph when I feel it's appropriate. This will be determined on a week by week basis because over the weekend I look at all the materials I have planned out and read them to ready myself for the week to come.

The Nobility Record is working well, I feel much less burden just putting a checkmark √ or X beside each task. It is serving as a reminder for Camille and me to do certain things throughout the day. When it comes to Camille doing her piano work each day she "knows" how much work to do because with the Nobility Record, I staggered her piano work throughout the week: Theory book work on Tuesday, Notespeller book work on Wednesday, etc. We're also ending each day with a recap of behaviors and preparing ourselves for the Family Circle Time prayer for the next day.

Okay let's get to the pictures and details about the week! This picture is Camille's picture- she wanted to take a picture of Mom's work since I took so many this week of hers.


Bible: Beginnings II: Jesus, My Shepherd, Week 3- Lessons 1-5
Scripture for the week: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." Isaiah 9:2

We have talked about how God loves his people, even though his people have turned away from him and how God sent Jesus to save us all. This has been very powerful this week as we have addressed some behavior issues through our Bible lessons. It has led to very fruitful conversations.



Daily Memory Work
We are supposed to be memorizing the Books of the Bible. I finally canceled our order from Bksschoolhouse.com after not receiving any word from their customer service regarding shipping or anything, I called and canceled. Four days later and I still have not received a refund, I'll have to call them again. Urgh. I did place a order for the same products at TeachersParadise.com and I have received: an order confirmation, a shipping confirmation and even a way to track the package! We are waiting until our chart arrives to start. Of course I can do it without the chart but hey, you don't mess with the master plan! Lol.

Math: Horizons 2, Lessons 9-12
Concepts covered have been: counting by tens, place value up to the thousands, before and after by tens, fives and twos and horizontal to vertical addition, subtraction.

Camille has done very well so far with her math lessons, I feel most of it has been review but it has been reassuring that during the 6 weeks we took off for summer she didn't lose any of her mathematical prowess. (How you like that? Lol). She scored a 99 on her first test, she missed one due to not paying enough attention. She had to number a 0-100 chart and she wrote 36 twice. Thousands in place value was no big deal this week, I think math is her favorite subject. (She says all of her subjects are her favorite but she usually starts the list with math)


Independent Reading: A Bargain for Frances by Russell Hoban


Click any picture to make larger

I told Camille she could take all week to read this book if she read 10 pages a day and did a book report at the end. We're using Evan-Moor's How to Report on Books Grades 1-2 for the book report. The book report is very simple, is this book real or make-believe. It gives us an opportunity to discuss these things. I didn't read a non-fiction book to compare to the fiction book like the instructions said to but I'll be more viligant about this from now on.

Handwriting: Classically Cursive Book I
Cursive instruction is going well, I help Camille in the beginning and just allow her to finish it on her own. Danny and I are working with his ABC laminated cards, tracing them with his finger and saying the letter sound aloud. I want to continue working with Danny as Camille works independently on her handwriting. Problem? I want Camille to start doing cursive in her copywork and eliminate this time being spent doing "handwriting".

Grammar First Language Lessons, Lessons 92-94
We are behind in grammar, I know it. We are supposed to be further along and it's my fault. I love First Language Lessons but it's not really the best fit for us. It is a case of loving the elements of a program and it's easy as pie but for it to be effective for your child, you use the program differently than how it is laid out. I haven't wanted to admit this because I truly like First Language Lessons but I will be much happier when we start using Loyola Education Group's Exercises in English. Camille does so much better with something concrete in front of her like a worksheet where she can examine the work and make the connections.

Right now I write the FLL lesson on our dry erase board. I have Camille copy the grammar rule or definition and we work on samples, provided in the book and ones we make up. The poetry memorization, narration and later on dictation are elements that I value greatly but I can do these things without FLL. I even entertained the idea of creating our own FLL Level 2 worksheets for this year based on the lessons in the book. Who knows, I might do this if I'm not staying on track better in the next week or two.




Spelling: Spelling Workout C, Lesson 1
This went very well! I did not test Camille because we discussed it and decided together that she needs more time to study her words. I mentioned the flashcards above.

French
Monday- We (Camille, Danny and I) watched Bonjour Les Amis 1, the first segment which I'm calling lessons. We sang Frère Jacques and practiced the vocabulary in the first segment. I had Camille pause the video and write down the vocabulary. Don't you just love it when you can find ways to lighten your load as the teacher?

Tuesday- With Un Peu De Tout, we worked on family members' titles: la mère, le père, etc. and did a little art project. I posted about this with pictures at http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com/2007/08/todays-french-lesson.html
We also discussed how le is masculine and la is feminine.

Wednesday - We watched the first segment of Bonjour Les Amis again, making sure we were pronouncing the words correctly and practiced conversation with each other and telling each other "voici, la soeur"

Thursday - We're going to read Toute Ma Famille (out of print book), and listen to a song from chanson et jeux français pour débutants petits et grands (Sara Jordan), "Mon ami Louis" and follow along with the lyrics page provided and do a crossword puzzle from the same book about family members titles. With the lyrics page (which I'm photocopying) I'll have Camille circle the family members titles that she identifies.

Friday - Listen to a french song to learn. We'll be visiting a friend so this will be done in the car, I'll photocopy the lyrics for Camille.

I've relaxed a lot about learning french, in fact I haven't been studying myself because we have so much going on and I'm trying to settle into our routine better. This year is going to be about achieving balance, I can tell! We have so many resources for french and we're just working through them one step at a time. I haven't really planned anything out for french other than following the lead of Bonjour Les Amis and doing things I feel will enrich watching it.

World History SOTW 2 with AG, customized lessons
Chapter 2- The Early Days of Britain

The studies this week have actually been great, I eliminated some readings Sunday night (I look at our lessons each weekend before we do them) which I feel really helped overall.

For our bedtime read-aloud we're reading Britain, The Country Series which is an older book that is out-of-print but it is about different people that live in Britain and their daily lives. This is helping us tie together the past and the present and Camille is making the connections when we read about people who work in Angle, Wales, Scotland, and more places that we read about in the SOTW chapter and through our map work.




We read the SOTW 2 chapter section 1 on Monday, did the map work, and colored a page from Celtic Gods & Heroes coloring book. Camille also did her history copywork on Monday. We had a narration hiccup on Monday which was really an attitude problem but Tuesday things went much better.

On Tuesday we read Beowulf from Favorite Medieval Tales instead of reading it from SOTW and Camille colored the coloring page on Beowulf from SOTW student pages. We also read a little from Celtic Illumination by Courtney Davis, which involved reading about the history of the art form:
__________________________________________________________

"...key patterns and spirals are associated with protection and were often used to protect warriors, their weapons, homes and final resting places.

Zoomorphic ornament is based on the forms of animals, birds, reptiles. Its origins are the worship of animals and their power, and the earliest images are found in caves. It appears early in Celtic art but reached its height much later, as elaborate carvings on Pictish stone slabs and in illuminated books."

__________________________________________________________

We looked at knotwork, spiral, key and zoomorphic Celtic art, the book is filled with each type and instruction on how to do them. I bought this book for $4.99 at Ross Dress for Less (similar to TJMaxx) in their little book area sometime during Camille's first grade year. I thought it would be worth the $4.99 but I didn't realize how fabulous it would be. I can forsee Camille actually trying to do her own Celtic art during her logic stage years, this form of art involves a great deal of work and patience. After reading about it, Camille picked a page from Medieval Alphabet to Illuminate instead of the SOTW student coloring page. I think it turned out beautifully! After worrying a little (just a little) whether we should start using TOG now, I realized that I have time to get acquainted with TOG a little more and make it work for us in ways I know will work. Does that make sense?

A side note: We do not like the woman's voice singing on the Medieval cd for the Veritas Press history cards. I will repeat, we do NOT like the woman's voice or the type of singing. Dh actually had a laughing fit when the singer stretched out Summa Theologica. I stopped the cd and decided it would be much better to just read the cards and flip through them each day we do history. Camille liked it better too. We loved the Old Testament and New Testament cds but the Medieval one irks us.

I skipped the church history reading for this week. I do have Across a Dark and Wild Sea by Don Brown for next week's reading from the library and I am excited to read this aloud. It is the story of Columba, who "founded the famous monastery on the Scottish Island of Iona and left a legacy of learning that illuminated a corner of the Dark Ages." If you have a grammar stage student, this is a wonderful book!

Earth Science with Geography
Complete satisfaction. That's how I feel about our science studies. When you take a chance and create your own lesson plans you "feel" like they will work and that they will fit well but when they are actually in practice, that's the true test. We had so much fun with science and geography this week. Don't worry, I've got pictures...

I decided to study only earth science on Wednesday and let a little spill over on Thursday with our geography work. On Wednesday, we read from our spines (it seems like a lot when it's listed out but it really is not) which took about 10 minutes total. We spent time discussing the readings- what is an atmosphere? What are the layers of the earth and what exactly are they. The Childcraft book reading was a huge hit, it provided that "living" book experience. The books I requested from the library on inter-library loan did not arrive in time (sigh) but they are still on their way. I'm really looking forward to reading I Can Be a Geologist by Paul Sipiera and Rocks in His Head by Carol Otis Hurst.

Camille was very excited to use the Usborne interactive activities, where she took a 'peek inside planet earth' and did an earth words quiz. After she was finished she drew her own picture of the earth's layers and labeled it.


On Thursday, we watched Junior Geologist: Our Planet Earth (10 minutes) at United Streaming and I discovered that there were worksheets with the video so I printed them out and we used these as our projects. What we originally were going to do was use two experiments from Hands-On Earth Science (Carson-Dellrosa) but I decided at the last minute to change. Camille completed her Lesson 1 vocabulary worksheet that I created for her, and we went to work on the projects.



One was an art project from United Streaming-step one: color the earth (two sides) land and water and then paste cotton onto it for clouds. Step two: at least what we did, paste paper stars to foil and cut them out. It was supposed to be a model with stars and the earth but we pasted it to a blue piece on construction paper and hung it with pipe cleaners.

I didn't have the books I wanted from the library so I looked in the earth science books we have here and I found information about geologists in Reader Digest's Rocks and Minerals book. Camille completed a scientist profile on geologists.

There was a playdoh experiment in the book which I felt was better, (which means I forgot to make the cupcakes that were needed for the Hands-On Earth Science experiment but hey, it worked out anyways). I seem to have a problem with instructions. I didn't do the experiment like the book said, which was to create multi-layers using different colors of play-doh and use a wide straw or tunnel to take a section out nice and neat. Nope, I made play-doh balls and layered them. Lol. I was sweating it for a minute or two as Camille cut the play-doh but it turned out great if you ignore the fact I only did three layers instead of five.

Geography was next and it went very well. I had printed out a page from Enchanted Learning which was free, label the continents worksheet. We read the information, looked at the globe and did the little scavenger hunt exercises that were in The Geography Book and she labeled the worksheet. Originally we were going to start the Global Puzzle but decided against it until we get one of those puzzle boards to put on top of a puzzle (to keep it safe from ds3).

Music Appreciation: Themes to Remember
We listened to Vivaldi's Spring from the Four Seasons (the entire piece) all week in the background. Camille is convinced she likes Vivaldi's style. Then Thursday we did our music appreciation lesson, and sang the lyrics to the song. We loved it. Our study of each piece lasts two weeks, so next week we're going to read about Vivaldi. I've had a hard time figuring out what "day" to do the lesson for this, it may change week to week because it may just be when we "feel" like it. It's nice to have something like that, you know?

Preschool


Danny is doing well this week, we've focused on listening skills. I've been having him repeat sentences. The wedgits have been a complete HIT around here. I think Danny has played with them every single day. The Galt puzzles are nice too, it's better to do one at a time instead of having them all poured out at once. We had one incident this week, Danny broke one of the Leap Frog DVDs that had arrived only the day before. It was the Talking Words Factory 2 disc, so we have time to get another before he's ready for it. Broke it in half...in half. Sigh, sorry- I was just reliving the moment for a second there. You can see from the pictures that Camille has been enjoying the wedgits too. I can't tell you how many formations I've looked at this week. "Mom! Look at what I did! Isn't this great?" Lol. Danny decided he wanted to play with the Zoob pieces too. It looks like a mess but Danny is doing very well in cleaning up after himself. I'm a proud mama in that regard. I say "let's pick up our toys" and Danny gets right to work- most of the time.



That is our week! Our nitty-gritty, probably the longest post I've ever done, detailed to make your mind go numb post about our week 3. This post has been a work in progress all week. I won't be doing many of these throughout the year, by the way.

: ) Jessica

Juggling 3yo with 2nd grade

Click on it to make the picture bigger. This is just an attempt to put Danny (3) on some sort of schedule and involve him as much as possible. There are mistakes in the schedule but I don't want to modify it yet. I forgot playdoh and other activities for him. I just want to make a conscious effort to do things with Danny during the day. This 'schedule' is not set in stone, Camille's portion is but Danny's isn't. It is way too hot right now (heat index 110) to send him outside to play as I want during history/science time. I thought it would be a good idea to try and do the same subjects at the same time, Camille is writing, then I am working with Danny with his tracing ABC's.

I'm finding Danny takes a LOT of one-on-one time to keep him interested. A LOT. It's fun but distracting for Camille. We're working on it together. He's doing well, counting to 4 on his own and saying most of the ABC song. He knows Frére Jacques clearly though! Lol. He wears me out. We played cowboys today, the kids got foam cowboy hats from Wal-Mart and all day Danny rode a stick horse saying Yee-Haw!

By the way, if you have a transportation-crazed kid, a Hot Wheels toothbrush is NOT a good idea. He cried and cried today because Mommy wouldn't give him his "tooth truck" to play with. I had two cups of coffee this morning and two Tylenol with an undesired side order of pleading, temper tantrums. There are times the Puuuh-leeeaze Maaaamma is just too cute, after the 78th time, not so cute. Surprisingly Danny is easier to handle discipline wise these days, I don't know if I've improved or God felt sorry for me. I'll take it either way.

Comparing SOTW and TOG

I sat down Sunday night and read all that I have prepared for this week's history lesson with The Story of the World, Volume 2. I read the supplement reading that I had chosen. I know SOTW forwards and backwards and the formula is pretty simple. Read SOTW, narration, map work, supplement books, coloring pages and projects. I'm still getting acquainted with Tapestry of Grace so when I prepared for this week in history, I also read what TOG had laid out for the same study of time.

This is a bit difficult because I have tailored our history studies outside the scope of what SOTW offers on its own. I'll list what SOTW has, what I have added and what TOG offers and maybe that will show why I got so flustered Sunday night as I compared the history studies.


The Story of the World
General Information about SOTW

Each chapter is broken down in the Activity Guide and there are pages referenced in various history encyclopedias at the beginning of each chapter.

Review Questions and Narration samples: These can be used to help the parent/teacher discuss the chapter with the student. Narrations are a retelling of what was read, SOTW models these in complete sentences.

Additional History Reading and Corresponding Literature: Fiction and non-fiction books listed with author, publisher, date published and a synopsis as well as the independent reading level and read aloud level.

Map Work: Maps are provided in the student pages and instructions usually consist of coloring an area that has been discussed within the chapter.

Coloring Page: Instructions for the coloring pages and helpful guidance about what to discuss about each coloring activity.

Projects: Activity, Craft and Art projects that range in involvement and styles.

You know as I type this out I realize I haven't been using certain features of this program! Slap the forehead moment. I haven't been reading the Coloring page information, and I haven't used the review questions to their fullest either. Okay, let me share what I did with our own tailored history lessons. Here's what I had planned (this is not representative of what SOTW has in their activity guide) for SOTW 2's Chapter 2 using our books, and I'll show you the modifications I made to this plan on Sunday night.

The Early Days of Britain - Chapter 2

READING:
Church History: Peril and Peace: Patrick
Mythology of the World: pg. 52
KF Ancient World p. 80-81, p. 108-109
Kingdoms and Empires p. 26-27
Celtic Gods and Heroes- Dover Coloring Book
Literature: Fav. Medieval Tales: p.8 Beowulf

ART: Celtic Illumination (book), color a page from Medieval Alphabet to Illuminate

PROJECT/ACTIVITY: Defeat the Romans

Copywork:
“Tempest on the plain of Lir
Bursts its barriers far and near
And upon the rising tide
Wind and noisy winter ride -
Winter throws a shining spear.”
Storm at Sea, Celtic poem

This is what we did. The selections not crossed out is what we actually read, Camille did a coloring page from Celtic Gods and Heroes, a Beowulf coloring page from SOTW AG, and an alphabet page from Medieval Alphabet to Illuminate after we looked at the book Celtic Illumination and discussed it a little. She did the copywork, mapwork and I recapped the information for her. *This week we had a problem with narration, this will improve with time. We have a little "new school year syndrome".

Looking at TOG for the same study, things looked a bit different. This chapter in SOTW is combined with others in the first week of Tapestry's Redesigned Year 2, Unit 1. Assigned is SOTW 2's chapter 1-3, reading the first two sections of chapter 1-2, and first section only of chapter 3). I should say that SOTW is listed as an alternate/extra resource for upper grammar in TOG, it is not a main spine for SOTW. (*Part of the reason I love TOG is that it is very flexible and be used a million different ways!)

TOG's program is laid out differently than SOTW, it encompasses much more than SOTW does. I am only going to share what the lower grammar (isn't reading completely on their own yet) and upper grammar (able to read independently well) has as possible assignments in TOG. It is impossible for me to recap all that TOG entails so please don't think that what I am sharing is *it*.

Threads: These are different elements of a week's study.

Writing Thread: Assignments found in Writing Assignment charts in the week plan, which is divided by levels (not age/grade level) also uses Writing Aids, TOG's writing program.

Geography Thread: LG/UG- Teach/review major generic terms for landforms. Learn/review major global features: deserts, rivers, continents, oceans and mountain ranges. Introduce major features of European continent.

Lower Grammar Geography (to be done over two weeks) assignment- learn geographic terms for landforms: tributary, source (river), mouth (river), peninsula, island, plateau, canal, sea, bay, summit, delta, port, mountain range, inlet, cliff

Learn/review continents and oceans of the world: North America, South America, Europe, Australia, Africa, Antarctica, Asia and the oceans- Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern (optional).

Learn/review major mountains, rivers and deserts of the world: Andes, Alps, Himalayas, Rocky, Great Dividing Range mountains, Sahara, Arabian and Gobi deserts, Amazon, Mississippi, Nile, Yangtze and Rhine rivers.

In Europe: British Isles, find London, find the area Romans called Gaul and locate Paris. Identify three major mountain ranges of western Europe: Pyrenees, Alps and Apennines. Identify Italian peninsula and note Rome, Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily. Note the location of Iberian peninsula, Grecian peninsula and locate Athens and Crete. Note the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Discuss Rhine and Danube Rivers and how the rivers formed a natural northeastern boundary for the Roman Empire.

Are you seeing the picture yet? This is just lower grammar and I haven't even shared the reading assignments or anything else. I will spare you the Upper Grammar geography details, which really just includes more geographic terms.

Fine Arts and Activities Thread for Lower & Upper Grammar:
1. Salt map of imaginary country that incorporates the types of landforms mentioned in geography objectives for the week.
From the reading assignment pages
LG: A Coloring Book of the Middle Ages by Bellerophon Books
UG: Knights & Castles 50 Hands-On Activities to Experience the Middle Ages; Life in Celtic Times by A.G. Smith with pages to read already chosen out.

Church History Thread: Lower Grammar, Learn about the witness of Saint Valentine by reading Saint Valentine by Robert Sabuda. Upper Grammar, review as needed the first five chapters of Trial and Triumph. Read or re-read about Monica and her famous son, Augustine of Hippo, who lived through and wrote about the dissolution of the Roman Empire.

Here's a look at the reading selections that TOG has for this week starting with Lower Grammar, each book has pages indicated to read. Keep in mind that these are just the books, there are other activities mentioned for the week, remember the geography activities mentioned above.

LOWER GRAMMAR
History Core: The Usborne Internet Linked Medieval World
Suggested Read-Aloud: Famous Men of the Middle Ages
Literature: Brigid's Cloak (TOG provides a worksheet for this book)
Worldview/Church History: Saint Valentine
Textbook: none listed
History Supplement: The Middle Ages by Jane Shuter
Arts & Activities: A Coloring Book of the Middle Ages
Enrichment: Geography From A to Z

UPPER GRAMMAR
History Core: The Story of the Middle Ages by Samuel Harding
Suggested Read-Aloud: Famous Men of the Middle Ages
Literature: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (worksheet provided)
Worldview/Church History: Trial and Triumph
Textbook: The Story of the World Vol. 2. First 3 chapters certain sections only
History Supplement: none listed
Arts & Activities: Life in Celtic Times
Enrichment: Where Am I?

There just is no comparison between SOTW and TOG. One could say that the workload in SOTW is better suited for a 2-3 day study of history and TOG seems like it would require more time over the period of a week. There is so much more to TOG than what I have mentioned here but comparing one to the other on Sunday night before we were about to start, it made me wonder whether I should just abandon the lessons I created or modify them somehow. The geography mentioned in TOG, I'm covering this year in Earth Science. I will say that I don't think there's a correct answer to this, it just depends on the individual, the children involved and how the homeschool operates and what is valued. Whenever I start thinking about this SOTW, TOG the pros/cons of each program and what we value and what we should do- I get overwhelmed. Honestly, Sunday night I felt so inadequate with the lesson I had prepared but I know that I have the books and I can modify them at any time.

I shared Lower and Upper Grammar because Camille is sort of caught in the middle of these, we'd pull assignments from both at this time and I plan on doing that when we use TOG for 3rd grade. I just have to make the decision to use TOG now or stay with what we have. My intentions are to fold in TOG as much as possible but keep the SOTW formula we are used to until I figure out how we're going to use TOG in our homeschool without feeling overwhelmed or allowing the curriculum to be in control. I am a firm believer in making the curriculum we use tools instead of a master we serve.

Today's French Lesson

Bonjour! Here's what we learned in our French lesson today...

Let's back track, yesterday we watched the first lesson of Bonjour Les Amis. After we watched it together, I had Camille pause the program and write the written words (the same vocabulary we're learning).

Bonjour.
Bonjour les amis.
Voici papa.
Bonjour papa.
Bonjour Moustache.
Voici monsieur Jean Michel et voici Madame Marie Michel.
Voici Caroline.
Et voici Antoine.

While listening to the songs and rhymes on Un, Deux, Trois, we discussed voici and family members. Today we're
focusing on family members titles from Un Peu de Tout. Camille colored family members, we cut them out and she was to match the person up to the noun that described the person. A little english grammar thrown in there for good measure.

The best way I could figure to start teaching/learning the masculine and feminine words la and le was to use family members to drive home the point that la is feminine and le is masculine.

Then Camille was to put the picture of the person with their title and then we practiced saying, Voici la mère. Voici le père. Voici la soeur. etc. Here are the pictures of her work.

Too many things to say.

I want to post about humility and homeschooling, preschool curriculums and ideas, my thoughts about TOG and SOTW, about how Danny is doing with his new preschool activities, etc. We're a little busy and posting takes time so bear with me, there will be a new post soon.

In the meantime, if you're a reader- what should be next?

The Fairy Tale

'The Fairy Tale'
about 1845/1870
James Sant (1820-1916)
Oil on canvas, 61 x 76.2cm

Isn't it beautiful? The wonderment and eagerness of the scene captured me.
Make it a beautiful Monday.

A Full Week Ahead

This is our 3rd week so we're adding French, Spelling and Music Appreciation into our day. We haven't had the best of starts in the last two weeks due to other circumstances such as traveling, stress within our household, etc. It is going to be a fine balance this week of playing catch-up and starting new subjects. I figured I'd give an overview of what we hope to accomplish this week, for my sanity and a reminder that life is filled with surprises!

Monday ~ August 6th
Bible: Finish Lesson 2, Day 5's Questions* and review memory verses. Do Lesson 3, Day 1.
Weather Journal: Record high temperature for August 2-7.*
Daily Memory Work: Books of the Bible (first five)
Math: Lesson 9, recite math facts
Independent Reading: A Bargain For Frances by Russell Hoban
Handwriting: a page from Classically Cursive
Grammar: FLL -Review writing dates, titles of respect, addressing a letter and lessons 90-92.
French: Watch lesson 1 of Bonjour Les Amis
History: Chapter 2 of SOTW 2
Music Appreciation: Vivaldi Spring from the Four Seasons
Piano Lesson: 3:30 pm

*These items are catch-up, the rest is normal.

Tuesday ~ August 7th
Bible: Lesson 3, Day 2.
Weather Journal: Record high temperature for the day.
Daily Memory Work: Books of the Bible (first five)
Math: Test 1, Lesson 10
Independent Reading: A Bargain For Frances by Russell Hoban
Handwriting: a page from Classically Cursive
Grammar: FLL -Lessons 93-94
French: Write vocabulary from Lesson 1 Bonjour Les Amis.
History: Finish Chapter 2 of SOTW 2
Music Appreciation: Vivaldi Spring from the Four Seasons
Piano Work: Notespeller book and practice


Wednesday ~ August 8th
Bible: Lesson 3, Day 3.
Weather Journal: Record high temperature for the day.
Daily Memory Work: Books of the Bible (first five)
Math: Lesson 11
Independent Reading: A Bargain For Frances by Russell Hoban
Handwriting: a page from Classically Cursive
Grammar: FLL -Lesson 95
French: Practice introductions, complete activity from Un Peu De Tout
Science: Lesson 1 of Earth Science & Geography (we're behind one week)
Music Appreciation: Vivaldi Spring from the Four Seasons
Piano Work: Theory book and practice

Thursday ~ August 9th
Bible: Lesson 3, Day 4.
Weather Journal: Record high temperature for the day.
Daily Memory Work: Books of the Bible (first five)
Math: Lesson 12
Independent Reading: A Bargain For Frances by Russell Hoban
Handwriting: a page from Classically Cursive
Spelling: Spelling Workout C, Lesson 1
French: Bonjour Les Amis Lesson 1 for review, practice introductions
Science: Finish Lesson 1 of Earth Science & Geography
Music Appreciation: Vivaldi Spring from the Four Seasons
Piano Work: Solo book, Lesson book and practice

Friday ~ August 10th
Bible: Lesson 3, Day 5.
Weather Journal: Record high temperature for the day.
Daily Memory Work: Books of the Bible (first five)
Math: Daily Mental Math Week 3
State Study: About the USA
Science: Lesson 2, if we desire
Music Appreciation: Vivaldi Spring from the Four Seasons
Piano Work: practice

This week I want A Bargain for Frances to be read multiple times, Camille is doing her first book report on it and I want to discuss the book with her. Another reason is to help her pick up the pace a little and gain more confidence.

What I've been a little slack on:

1. Using the Veritas Press Middle Ages history cards and cd. We don't like the singer on the cd so I've procrastinated while I decide what to do- just follow along with the cd and get used to it or just recite the cards aloud. I'm trying to find another solution which is for me to sing the titles of the cards on a cassette tape (or even better onto a cd) but I can't say I'm thrilled to do this. Fortunately it is only for my children's use! Lol.

2. Daily Memory Work
We are awaiting for our Books of the Bible poster to come from BK's Schoolhouse. We've been waiting for over a month, I will make our own poster if it doesn't come in the mail tomorrow (Monday) and call the company to get a refund. In other words, don't order from BK's Schoolhouse even if they have wonderful prices.

3. Grammar.
Sigh. Can I just blame our busy lives of late? No. I've done this myself, we could have accomplished more ground in our FLL book but I let it slide.

Talking about busy lives- this week we need to go grocery shopping after our lessons one day, we hope to visit our homeschooling friend that lives an hour and a half away, and the kids want to go swimming at a nearby lake that has a little beach area after a day's lesson this week. Not to mention catching up with laundry, our dinner menu and other commitments. The weeds in our abandoned flower beds are not getting the hint that they need to move along to someone else's yard. Our dog and car have not washed themselves. I didn't want to say anything but some things just have to get on the same pages as me, you know? Get with the program!

Busy. Busy. Busy. I read a fiction book this past week! Elizabeth Berg's The Art of Mending. She's one of my favorite authors, it was nice visiting with her even if for a short while. I read a 200+ book in 3 hours, in the same day. We have a 4 hour drive to the in-laws, Danny and Camille were very pleasant backseat passengers, dh drove and I read. It was one of those moments in time that you smile to yourself and exhale a little, feeling happily contented.

P.S. We're not going to Maine in September- if MIL passes away I want to be here for my dh. It's only been postponed, not canceled so I'm grateful for that and the fact my mother responded well to the situation. Thank you Lord.

By the way, feel free to comment on the new look of the blog. I didn't want to mention this but really people! There have been over 300 visitors and no comments about the new look! Do you hate it that much? C'mon, give my graphic designer heart something!