Wordless Wednesday Oct 15

From Corps of Re-Discovery

4th Grade Science Thoughts

I've been bit by the "what to do next year" bug mainly because I want time to find the resources used instead of buying new as much as possible. The longer period of time I have to find used resources, the better.

Next year in 4th, I want to cover physical science and chemistry in one year. I loosely made our science sequence plan based on theory we may use Prentice Hall Science Explorer for 5th-8th. That plan is not set in stone because there may be different curricula that is more appealing for us at that time or I may just find that using a textbook is too stifling. Most importantly, I want to provide our children with a solid science education, especially since I feel it is likely Camille will have an interest in the science field.

In choosing science curricula, my main objective is to find something that will ignite a love of learning about whatever we're studying. Academic level is the second objective, then ease of use for me. Of course, the tone of the material is important and usually weeds out certain curricula- we do not wish to have propaganda either way that any creation theory (evolution, young earth, etc.) is an undisputed fact. I also tend to lean towards well put together curricula that is visually appealing, easy to use with a solid structure and sequence.

I chose God's Design for Life: The World of Plants by Debbie and Richard Lawrence for our 3rd grade botany (in addition to other products) because:

1. Welcoming narrative writing style that I feel comfortable with, I do not feel it talks for me but enables me to engage my child.

2. The scope of concepts is just the right depth. This is what made me decide against Apologia elementary science curriculum, the amount of terms and the explanations are a better fit from God's Design than Apologia's. I feel Apologia throws a bunch of concepts and terms at a child that is not ready for them to be absorbed, much less remembered in the long term. I don't feel it's worth providing such a deep level of study at the younger ages when it will be repeated again at a more appropriate level. It's not my goal to bog down my child in the elementary level but to ignite a love of learning and make science fun.

3. The text is organized for ease of use, providing a supply list at the beginning of the lesson, text to read, making observations and doing experiments, review questions and an opportunity to do deeper studies. God's Design provides an excellent springboard to add living books without it being too much. I also appreciate the experiments, biographies and historical information included in the text. There is no busywork that consists of word puzzles the like, which is something that irritates me to find in curricula.

4. I can use the lessons as quickly or as slowly as I prefer at whatever depth I deem necessary. We can cover a lesson a day or stretch it out over a couple of days. This flexibility is something unexpected that I have found in the God's Design curriculum although I highly appreciate it.

So for those reasons, I am considering using God's Design for next year's studies on physical science and chemistry. If this is the option I choose, we'd use:

God's Design for the Physical World
1. Heat and Energy
2. Machines and Motion

God's Design for Chemistry
1. Properties of Atoms and Molecules
2. Properties of Matter for Chemistry

I'd skip the Inventions and Technology this time in favor of Frank Bachman's Great Inventors and their Inventions (we already have). I love Exploring the History of Medicine by John Hudson Tiner so I would like to also include his physics and chemistry books to our studies.

Problem of Quantity
The problem I have created for myself by covering both physics and chemistry in one year is that if we used God's Design, is that we'd have a long study. There are 34-35 lessons per book and while it is doable to use 3 books in 36 weeks, 4 books would push our studies to 46 weeks if we did 3 lessons a week but is more doable at 4 times a week which would be 35 weeks. My concern with doing 4 lessons a week is that we'd be going through concepts very quickly and I feel this would negate the purpose of studying them. Not to mention it would involve 4 different experiments/projects a week, whew!

I prefer two to three lessons a week and we'd slow down as we needed- so two lessons is optimal and if we wanted, we could accomplish three lessons. For this reason, I'm shying away a little from using God's Design. It's not crucial to me to use something that would cause stress to our schedule when there are other alternatives. I'm also a bit concerned about the depth that the chemistry books go in and whether Camille would do well with the concepts. I can only see small glimpses of the book via the samples at Answersingenesis.org.

I have bought a used copy of one of the Chemistry books for God's Design, this will allow me to assess the situation better but I also have alternatives that I would be happy with as well.

For Physical Science- this caught my eye last year, Terrific Science's Teaching Physical Science Through Children's Literature. I love the concept of using children's literature (living books) to teach physical science and the lessons include integrated language arts focuses. Another plus is that there are only 20 lessons AND I could read John Hudson Tiner's Exploring The World of Physics. 20 lessons, 2 times a week would mean that physical science would only take 10 weeks of our year. If I were to use this, we could spend 10 weeks using the curriculum and then read Great Inventors and their Inventions as a main book before moving on to chemistry. Total time spent would be 15 weeks: 10 weeks on Teaching Physical Science and 5 weeks reading Great Inventors.

For Chemistry- Instead of using God's Design, Ellen McHenry's Elements: Ingredients of the Universe (Intro to Chemistry) has caught my eye. The very small sample shows how McHenry uses kitchen staples to signify elements,which I love! I want the idea that chemistry is all around us to be prevalent in whatever resources we use. There are only 7 chapters! Unfortunately, I cannot tell how long it would take to cover a chapter due to the lack of a sufficient sample. If I could keep Elements within 10 weeks, we'd have another 10 weeks to read another living book, The Secret of Everyday Things by Jean Henri Fabre or The Wonder Book of Chemistry by Jean Henri Fabre - which I would decide after our studies to determine which would best suit Camille at that time.

Although others have touted McHenry's Elements curriculum, I feel very leery since I cannot see a better sample. Another solution is to combine God's Design with the alternatives- either using God's Design Physical World OR Chemistry but not both. I will be teaching 4th grade and kindergarten next year so I am looking for a curriculum instead of creating my own, which I could do with the books we have. I'm a little intimidated by chemistry, it's a subject that can easily be delved into too deep.

This where I am currently at with this decision. I hope to read more about others' experiences with these products to better assess what would work best for us.

Nobility Record Revisited

Last year in 2nd grade, I created a Nobility Record for Camille but I also created a rewards system which made it difficult for me to keep up with it. I don't have time to keep track of points and what not. I've revamped it to fit what we're doing now and each day Camille will maintain her checklist. The reward will be a job well done as well as whatever we can comfortably do that week. It's the same stuff that Camille enjoys, painting her nails, playing a board game, etc. so the reward part won't be as difficult as I previously made it.

Here is her new Nobility Record which I created with a spreadsheet.

My plan is to meet with her each week and discuss areas that need improvement, to praise her for her hard work and show her my appreciation as well as reminding her that I am paying attention. I've included key areas that I feel she needs to work on as well as areas that she does well so each day will have it's ups and downs. This is one way I'm preparing her to work a little more independently.

Friday's Field Trip

We went to the Mighty 8th Heritage Museum in Pooler, Georgia yesterday for our weekly field trip. What an amazing and humbling resource for World War II. The kids were awestruck by the planes and images of war. Dh and I stood silent as a Nazi flag hung from the ceiling, the long red banner type with the symbol in the center. Beside the flag was the Jungvolk Oath (taken by ten-year-old boys on first entering the Hitler Youth):

"In the presence of this blood banner which represents our Führer, I swear to devote all my energies and my strength to the saviour of our country, Adolf Hitler. I am willing and ready to give up my life for him, so help me God."

Eerie, both Dh and I were disturbed by it. As a family, we watched presentations about how the soldiers lived while serving, we learned about Black Thursday and quite truly...you could spend a whole year just studying World War II. It was somber for me, while the kids were 'wowing', I just felt the stress of the time. There were many wonderful exhibits, it is well worth anyone's time if they are visiting the Savannah area. We'll be going back next year for a more in-depth visit when we study this time period.

Week 4 Report

This week has been a light one, while I'm not want to stay in bed all day sick, I'm still coughing and congested which has left my throat raw and too sore to read aloud. When I cannot read aloud, it puts a huge damper on our day.

Family Exercise: This is the new beginning to our day, Jack likes it. We've taken a walk, did KidsWalk by Leslie Sansone and Yoga For Kids twice, we'll do TaeBo Kicks today (Friday).

Explorer's Bible Study: Discovery, Genesis: This week we studied Genesis 3. Camille is doing well, I am relieved that this wasn't too hard for her. I'm glad that I decided to try it when I was having doubts.

Horizons Math 3: Going well, today will be the day for Test 2. I'm having Camille write out the Roman Numerals 1-20 as copywork on a little dry erase board daily.

Prima Latina: I decided to just have Camille review the vocabulary and facts for Lessons 1-4 this week, we started off doing Lesson 1 and 2 during the first week and now we have all this vocabulary, it seems to be going so fast...too fast. I slowed her down and I think she's ready to continue Lesson 5 next week.

Primary Language Lessons and Explode the Code: We're on Lesson 103 of PLL and Lesson 5 of ETC 7. We decided to try one PLL lesson a day and 2 pages of ETC. In PLL, Camille is enjoying the descriptive writing assignments. I'm very proud of her for all the handwriting she has been doing without complaint, I have increased the amount significantly and I only hear of "sore wrist" occasionally.

Poetry: Camille is finishing up Merry Sunshine, although I think she'd be better off with another week. Next up is Foreign Lands by Robert Louis Stevenson which has 5 stanzas. A friend and I discussed having our kids memorize the same poems at the same time so that they could compete with each other. Camille responded with vigor, dedicating half an hour yesterday to reciting Merry Sunshine again and again.

Tapestry of Grace, Year 3-Week 4: We continued to read about Lewis & Clark and President Thomas Jefferson. Camille completed her President card so now she has George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson in her President card collection. We read Rumpelstiltskin this week during Afternoon Tea. Camille and I created a poster for The Louisiana Purchase.



Life Science: Human Body: Camille read What Happens to a Hamburger? independently, completing the 32 pages all in one sitting. That is an accomplishment here! Today we have to finish our Digestion poster and add digestive systems to our body outlines.


Piano: Camille has been playing the song, Persian Market over and over this week. She likes the exotic sound of it.
In a Persian market, you can buy a nice rug, Or some golden earrings, or a lovely jug. You can see a camel, in a Persian market, Or a goose who's honking, or a cute piglet.

Drawing With Children: I tested Camille this week for what level she should start at. She did well at Level 3! I told her I had to figure out what to do since she did so well.





I'm not 100% sure about our field trip today, the rainy weather is putting a huge damper on walking a trail and the other alternative is a museum. We'll see.

Blog Renovations Are Done

The blog's renovations are done, unless you see something that you're willing to tell me about. Really, if there is something annoying or otherwise hard to read, please let me know. I'm using Firefox on a Mac so I may not see what you see.

Please Excuse the Mess

Our blog is about to get a new look and a new code so I will have to rebuild the sidebars. I am so excited though to be uploading the new design, I've wanted it for awhile and I have to thank Darcy from Graphically Designing for all her help and encouragement. She was going to design a new blog for me but I couldn't stop trying to help her.

What do you expect from a graphic designer? She said I know too much for my own good, so we agreed that I would take the design over from the starting place Darcy created.

I hope to have everything loaded up and back to normal (well not completely normal) in the next few days. I probably won't post again until Friday or Saturday for the weekly report.

What Do You Do?

I'm teaching 4th and 5th graders for Sunday School each week and because our church ministers to all the families in the area, we have a wide array of children from different types of homes but the majority are from dysfunctional homes. I find it very interesting to hear their opinions and point of views, albeit shocking at times but it is still interesting.

In the last 5 weeks of teaching them, school experiences have been brought up a lot and I've been all ears. Today, one of my students asked what my job is and I said I was 'professional mom'. What's that? So I walked up to the board and wrote out all that I do: cook meals, maintain the home inside and out, maintain family finances, parent and disciple my children, coordinate and execute the family schedule, homeschool, and take care of myself.

They had many questions about what I wrote but 'homeschooling' really caught their eye. "Does that mean Camille does school on the computer?", "How much time do you do school each day?" , "Were you a teacher before?" and the questions kept going as I answered their questions.

"No, Camille does not have any lessons on the computer, I teach her almost like I teach this class- I have help (as I held up the teacher's manual for Sunday School)." They wanted to know so much and I truly debated whether or not to tell them because I was scared it might be harmful for them. A part of me wished Camille was in the class so that she could tell them herself but I realized that her perspective might be like salt.

I told them what we do, without a ton of detail, what our daily routine is and what a day for Camille is like. They had tons of questions after that because it seems the only homeschoolers they know use computer programs for their lessons. The bad part of all the questions was that I felt it left a sense of unrest among them, as they started to complain more about school than before.

Later when we got home and discovered the last caterpillar was gone from our milkweed plant, I realized- our kids' education is not something we compartmentalize, it is a way of life for us. Camille and Danny are drawing beside me and Camille has drawn an under the sea picture complete with sponges, sea anemone and coral, she is telling Danny a story about how the sea anemone protects the clownfish and how a sponge makes friends with a crab to travel safely together.

I love our life.

Week 3 Report

This week has been hard, mostly because I've been sick with an upper respiratory infection which has left me feeling very weak. I kept going though, dropping things I didn't have energy for. We were much more productive Monday and Tuesday than the rest of the week. I pray the kids don't get sick.

Explorer's Bible Study, Disovery-Genesis: I can't decide if I want Camille to do this independently or not- I do because I feel she can do the work and I don't because I want to discuss it with her. This week the lessons were about Genesis chapter 2.

Horizons Math- No problems, Camille completed lessons 10-15 this week which I just noticed on my Year at a Glance that I messed up. I scheduled on the Year at a Glance 4 days of math when we're doing 5 days currently. I'll have to make a decision about that, whether to keep math on Fridays or replace it with a game. I'll have to see where math will end if we keep on the current path we're on and I don't have the frame of mind to do right now.

Prima Latina- Camille has made flashcards of the vocabulary words and I hate to admit that I did not watch Lesson 4 with her this week or work with her much due to being ill. She did complete her exercises and I feel much about continuing about Latin instead of French formally.

Primary Language Lessons & Explode the Code
In PLL, Camille has more writing than she has had in the past so I decided to break it up within her week and do PLL on Mondays and Wednesdays, giving her a break with ETC on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She is doing much better in ETC with the broken compound words.

Poetry- She is still working on Merry Sunshine, I consider it a difficult poem because of the flow.

Merry Sunshine
by Anonymous

Good-morning, Merry Sunshine,
How did you wake so soon?
You've scared the little stars away,
And shined away the moon.

I saw you go to sleep last night
Before I ceased my playing;
How did you get way over there?
And where have you been staying?

I never go to sleep, dear child,
I just go round to see
My little children of the east
Who rise and wait for me.

I waken all the birds and bees
And flowers on my way,
And now come back to see
the child who stayed out late to play.

I'm stretching her as far as the poems she's memorizing, next up is Foreign Lands by Robert Louis Stevenson. She's doing extremely well with her poetry memorization and when we review (before each new poem) all the poems she's worked on in the past I'm taken by how much has been accomplished so easily.

Tapestry of Grace, Year 3, Week 3
I'm so grateful this week was light on reading, it doesn't seem like it because of the multiple books but they were short. I ended our reading of Of Courage Undaunted even though Sacajawea was about to join Lewis & Clark within the story, I opted for National Geographic's video- Lewis & Clark: Our Journey West instead while I rested my throat. Yes, I am hard on myself and it won't change.

Independently, Camille read Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin which a book illustrated in a comic book style. I do not like these style of books at all but didn't see the harm in having her read it. As a child, I read comic books but they were not a favorite of mine but I also grew up with Wonder Woman, Superman, the Incredible Hulk and other comic book heroes as cartoons on television.

I read aloud our readings from America in the Time of Lewis & Clark, Smoke Stacks and Spinning Jenny and for our Afternoon Tea this week, I read The Bremen Town Musicians as well as read the picture book version for Danny at bedtime.

For this week's history project, Camille worked on a Lewis & Clark map.

This Lewis & Clark map is from Interactive 3-D Maps: American History by Donald Silver and Patricia Wynne, the book covers North American nomads to the 1960's.

Life Science: Head to Toe Science by Jim Wiese
This week we continued our study of the five senses, we read The Body Detectives by Gelman and The Magic School Bus Explores the Five Senses by J. Cole. We learned so much more than we did in our first study of the five senses back in first grade. Here are a few of the projects Camille did this week.





I didn't take pictures of the touch project she worked on. Here's a picture of holding a grasshopper from last weekend, Sunday's nature walk after church. The blue nailpolish is not my idea or my work, she came home with it after spending time with her dad who takes her for manicures at times.

Here's her nature journal entry for this week, she measured the largest caterpillar.

We did not do Drawing With Children, Needlepoint or our Composer Biography this week. We're not going on a field trip today either. I really dislike being sick but I'm doing as much as I can without staying in bed all day.

Mom's School- I feel so ashamed to admit that I have done nothing this week for my own studies other than read Twlight by Stephanie Meyer in less than 24 hours. I have my other books sitting her waiting but now that I'm done with Twilight, I want the 2nd book in the series. Sigh. I'm blaming it on being sick.

I changed our daily routine which I posted about, two posts ago? We'll start the new routine on Monday.

Monarch Caterpillar Progress

This was on Sept. 24th. the smallest one, see it on the leaf in the center?

One week later (Oct. 2nd) and many milkweed leaves later...the small one is now in the center. The larger one is on the left- this picture will enlarge if you click on it. It is so amazing to watch! I know there is a chance they will never be monarch butterflies but we are very blessed to be able to experience this.

October 3rd: The larger caterpillar left the plant in the early afternoon and we are unable to locate it. October 5th: The smaller one left the plant. We will not be able to watch them transform. Dh thinks a bird ate them but I suspect they left to form their chrysalis.

Life Changes our Life

Once again I have to change our daily routine!

My dh has been dealing with back pain issues for a year now, he's already had one major surgery and multiple minor procedures such as epidermals to relieve his pain. On top of his back pain which he does take meds for, he is battling depression (he is taking meds) from his back and the untimely death of his mother last October. The one year anniversary of her passing is quickly approaching and I am reminded once again that although my part in this life is difficult at this time, I am his helpmeet.

This past year has been hard, we've dealt with the pain of losing dh's mother, my first and ever loved companion-Magnum, my first dog, bringing Jack (our current dog) into the family, moving due to dh's new appointment at another church, dh's surgeries and consequent pain and his depression. It has been a year of learning perseverance, patience and humbling love on my part and the lessons still continue.

I do have to say that we are much happier this year than we were last, our new church is very loving and active, we are glad to be home in Savannah and the kids are blossoming much more with activities, family and friends. Although our circumstances are better, the problems still exist. Danny's preschool hours are from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Monday-Friday. I choose to keep Danny with us on Fridays because it is our field trip day but he needs to been taken before 9:00 am and picked up Monday-Thursday. When discussing whether to send Danny to preschool, dh agreed that he would take Danny to preschool in the mornings and I would pick him up so that Camille and I could start her lessons at 8:00 am.

Lately dh has been staying up late and waking up late in the mornings and has asked me to take Danny to preschool many times so I resolved that instead of being upset about this, to just modify Camille and I's daily routine to accommodate taking Danny to preschool in the mornings. I've struggled with anger, resentment and the overwhelming feeling that it's not fair before God reminded me that in Him, I can do this- it just depends on what attitude I'm going to have each day.

I cannot heal dh no matter how much I want, so I will leave the healing in God's hands and do what I can with the current circumstances. Thus the change in our daily schedule, which is posted on the right sidebar as well as below.

MONDAY-THURSDAY

6:30 am ---Wake-Up, Morning Routine (Dressed, Hygiene, Breakfast, Chores)
8:00 am ---Family Exercise (Walk Jack or do exercise videos together)
8:45 am ---Camille: Informal French (DVD or game) while I take Danny to preschool

9:00 am ---Explorer's Bible Study: Genesis
9:30 am ---Horizons Math
10:00 am--Prima Latina

10:30 am--Mon/Wed: Primary Language Lessons, Tues/Thurs: Explode the Code **
11:00 am--Poetry Memorization
11:15 am---Tapestry of Grace Year 3, with Writing Aids

12:00 pm--Lunch
12:30 pm--Life Science
1:00 pm---Mon.- Afternoon Tea w/ Fairy Tale; Tues.-Drawing with Children;
--------------Wed.-Needlepoint; Thurs.-Composer Biography

1:30 pm---Independent Reading
2:00 pm--Afternoon chores, Game time if able
2:30 pm--Piano practice, Thurs.-Piano Lesson at 3:00

2:45 pm---Mom leaves to pickup Danny from preschool
3:00 pm --Once Danny is home, free play until dinner
7-8:00 pm--Nightly Bedtime Reading Hour

**Explode the Code and Primary Language Lessons are alternated because PLL tends to have a lot of writing at Camille's level right now. I felt it best to alternate the two to give her a break.

Weekly Activities:
On Mondays & Thursdays: Danny has soccer practice or game
Wednesday: Youth at church
Thursday afternoons: Camille's piano lesson

On Friday:
Bible, Math, Latin, Independent Reading and Piano practice must be done before we leave for our weekly field trip or nature study.

This will work out actually better than what I expected, we will have devoted time to exercise which is something I had dropped from our routine in the first routine modification. Camille will learn to do her studies a little more independently and to use her time wisely.

Gone is my optimal idea of having our academic lessons done by lunch because science will be done after lunch but in our reality it is not a problem since we love our science time and it does not feel like drudgery.

I'm not perfect by any means, when the challenge of dh's depression reared it's ugly head into my well-thought out routine, I was not happy and I behaved rather poorly. It is in true thanks to God for not allowing me to wallow in self-pity and grow in bitterness about this but to react proactively. This is a time of iron sharpening iron, at least on my end, I pray that it is on dh's end to as I show him that obstacles are just obstacles- they can be overcome for the benefit of all.

I felt the need to write this post because everyone has struggles that they may not share with others and feel helpless in the situation. I also see God's hand in my own situation and wish to share the hope and joy from a positive attitude that can occur from a difficult situation instead of anger, bitterness and resentment. Every day God is teaching me to love and this is my testimony.

Wordless Wednesday

Glimpses of Reality

1. Yesterday morning Camille said she wanted to go to school. This was a surprise because she loves homeschooling but what she was really saying is that she wants to have a 'girl' friend. She has much more friends here than she did before we moved but they are all boys. Oh and the whole "I want to go to school" episode escalated to the point that I told her I would drop her off at the elementary school after I dropped Danny off at preschool, which is when she explained more about what she meant.

Yes, she did think I was going to the elementary school and yes, I did think about it for a nanosecond. We ended the conversation with the fact that her dad and I decide her educational path, not her and that I would do what I can to get her a 'girl' friend.

2. On top of Camille's declaration yesterday morning, Danny had an all-out temper tantrum when I dropped him off at preschool for his second week. "I don't want to go Mommy! I want to stay with you!" Clinging, yelling, fighting, yep. A teacher helped pull him off of me and tried to talk to him to calm him down, the class was going on a field trip to the bakery and she was working to entice him. Camille and I sat in the lobby for 15 minutes while he worked out the rest of his temper tantrum which we heard loud and clear though many walls and doors.

We left and I called back 10 minutes later and he had calmed down and was actively participating with the class. When I picked him up, he had a great behavior report. Sigh.

3. I am sick, which started yesterday afternoon. I have the chest congestion crud and I want to crawl into bed heavily medicated but I can't.

4. I am dropping French as a formal subject, we'll do something each week informally- probably play Lingua Fun French card game and watch Bonjour Les Amis but I'm allowing Prima Latina to have all of our academic foreign language focus at this time. No, I don't have any solid reasons for doing this, it is just a gut feeling that this is what we should do at this time. French will resume formally after Prima Latina, I think.

5. Instead of reading Of Courage Undaunted and finishing it, we're in Part III- but instead of continuing to read- we watched Lewis & Clark Great Journey West by National Geographic.

This post is dedicated to a friend who thinks I've got it all together (ha!) and that doubts herself more often than she should!

Feed the Ducks, Study the Ducks

We watched them, took their pictures and then came home to identify and learn more about them. Camille located every single one in our bird field guide except for the muscovy ducks, which I found in DK Animal. The captions are a joint effort.

Friday's Field Trip

We went to the UGA Aquarium on Skidaway Island, UGA stands for University of Georgia, and the kids surprised me. It is a small aquarium but the kids were finally interested in more details about the fish we looked at than ever before. To walk through the aquarium glancing at each display, it would probably take 15 minutes but we spent almost an hour and talked about each display in detail- with me following the kids' interest.

I am seeing the pay-offs of nature study more and more each day, the kids are more patient, observant and interested in learning more, even Danny so I know this is not just a maturity thing.

Here are some of the highlights of the aquarium visit


Camille explores the coral reef display, she played tour guide as she told me about the various invertebrates shown.









I thought the picture was clearer when I took it but the seahorses were beautiful and we watched them for a long time.



An interactive program where Camille selected all the invertebrates and played, "Do I know this?" To my delight, she won her own game...the program did not tell her anything that she didn't learn in the last two months.

Outside of the aquarium

Aquatic Turtles Basking


And on the Nature Trail at the Aquarium...






Yes, those are dolphins.





The trees don't seem to understand that Fall is starting, it looked more like Spring on the trail.

It is so refreshing to get out each Friday and get OUT there.

A Teaching Moment

Today's outing led us eventually to Barnes & Noble where the kids and I had coffee and hot cocoa, respectively. Camille must have seen a bi-racial couple walking by and asked me,

"Mom, is it okay for a brown skinned person and a white skinned person to be married?"

The blessed child thinks that any couple that holds hands or kisses is married... (Which is a thought that popped into my head when she asked this.)

"Why do you think it's not okay?" I asked. "Well, they have different skin color, aren't they different species?" she plainly asked while I tried not to laugh out loud....seriously.

"I have blue eyes and you have brown, right? Are we different?" I asked.
"Yes and no," she answered.
"Men are men and women are women- all humans have that in common. God made us all unique so some people have green eyes, others have brown, some have blonde hair and some have brown hair. Some people have curly hair, some have straight. The color of skin is the same as the color of our eyes and hair, it's just one way God made us all unique but the same. Men are men no matter what color their hair, skin or eyes are and women are women no matter what color their hair, skin or eyes." I explained.

She then went on to explain how people have more characteristics that are different, height and weight. Then she asked me, "but is it okay?" I told her God said he created a man and a woman and it was good, He didn't say a white man and white woman, He said MAN and WOMAN so yes, it more than okay...it is good.

We live in the South, we have family members that are not healthy in their attitudes and it has always been a fear of mine that the kids would pick up on this without me being able to talk to them beforehand. This was perfect, especially since we'll talk about slaves soon in history. Thank you Lord!

Week 2 Report

Science and Nature Studies this week...

Above is just one of the projects Camille did for Human Body this week. She also did projects for sight, touch, taste and smell from Easy Make & Learn Projects: Human Body by Donald Silver.



I finally got a clear photo of one of the three monarch caterpillars on our milkweed plant.



We watched this grasshopper katydid hatch Thursday morning in our yard and to save it, I put it in our habitat until I had finished mowing the yard. He was fun to observe.

Also this week in science, we added faces to the kids' My Body and Camille read Look at Your Eyes by Paul Showers and Why I Sneeze, Shiver, Hiccup and Yawn by Berger independently. Today (Friday) we're going on a field trip...destination unknown due to the weather but we'll post pictures later.

In History...
We finished reading Napoleon The Little Corporal and we're about to finish Part II in Of Courage Undaunted. I read Seeking Knowledge aloud to Camille because I felt she had enough independent reading for the week. Truthfully, I find Of Courage Undaunted a little boring but Camille is enjoying it. This week in history was light compared to what is coming next week.

Explorer's Bible Study: Discovery Genesis
These lessons are going well although we volley between answering orally and writing the answers. I know this isn't great but Camille has noticed that her Sunday School teacher is making mistakes in his teaching based on what she is learning in Explorer's. She said this week that she wants to correct him but that he's the teacher and she knows that is rude. I'm very happy with Explorer's, even more so than I thought I would be.

Prima Latina
Last week we did two lessons in a week, this week we've slowed down to one. Right now we're watching part of the DVD lesson on Monday, finishing it on Tuesday and then using Wednesday and Thursday to complete the exercises plus play games with the vocabulary. I'm having Camille make flashcards for her vocabulary, one card for the word and one card for the definition. We completed Lesson 3 this week.

Horizons Math 3
Nothing really to report other than it's going well.

Primary Language Lessons & Explode the Code Book 7
Also going well, Camille worked on singular and plurals this week. In Explode the Code 7, Camille is having a little trouble with matching syllables to make words, which is a new exercise in book 7. The exercises are like this:

Join the syllables to make a word that fits each meaning. Use your dictionary to help you.

Syllables: age, band, pack
1. A large box or present ________________. (answer is package)
2. A piece of cloth that covers a wound or sore _____________________. (answer is bandage)

Now I don't know if it she is assuming something but this has really tripped her up this week.

Poetry
Camille has memorized Bird Talk by Aileen Fisher in its entirety. We videotaped her reciting it but the background noise drowned her out. Next week she will start working on Merry Sunshine.

French
Camille has learned the definite and indefinite articles in Unit 2, I suspect that after next week she'll be ready to move on to Unit 3.

Piano
Camille loves her new teacher, he is having her play songs like Pop Goes the Weasel and The Lion Sleeps Tonight (from Lion King). He is now on vacation, a trip to Italy (I'm so jealous) for three weeks. She is practicing 3-4x a day of her own accord.

Afternoon Tea with Fairy Tales
This week we read Hansel and Gretel and I realized that Camille is not squirmish at all. The stepmother in the story lead into a discussion about step parents though.

Drawing with Children
This week we experimented with the Prismacolor markers, next week we'll do the relaxation techniques and start with the placement exercises.

Needlepoint
Camille LOVES this, besides piano she wants to do needlepoint whenever she can. We ran out of yarn so we're going to see if we can get some this weekend so she can finish her current project.

Composer Biography
We listened to Vivaldi 2x this week. I'm forgiving myself because this week has been very busy.

LIFE
Danny started Montessori preschool this week, on top of that we had soccer twice this week, a different time for Camille's piano lesson and a harried mom trying to get used to all the changes. There are a lot of little things I have neglected to do but I'm giving myself a pass this week.

Mom's School
I read Streams of Civilization 2 about the French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte. I neglected to watch Teaching the Classics this week but it was a stressful week. My other books have not come in yet, I will be picking up The Grimm Brothers book from the library. Although I was to read Presenting Miss Jane Austen first, I'll read the book on the Grimm brothers because it's available first. I'm trying.

Eureka! Monarchs!

I bought a milkweed plant for $9.99 when we moved here. It has more than paid for itself in nature study! Camille has drawn it...

We learned about milkweed bugs that flocked to it, all the while I was sad that I hadn't seen ONE monarch visit. At least, we learned about something new...I figured. I was dismayed when I read that milkweed bugs are not harmful to the milkweed plant unless you're trying to cultivate them. We watched their eggs...and now we're watching as they go through their developmental stages, five in all.

Today, we went to look and lo and behold! There are THREE monarch butterfly caterpillars!

It was the whole reason I bought the milkweed plant in the first place. I just read Terry and the Caterpillars by Selsam to Danny and now Camille wants to wait until the chrysalis is formed and then move them so we can watch them inside, just like Terry from the book she overheard me reading to Danny.

She's looking at one of the caterpillars, I wish the picture would have shown it! It's there though.

There are sometimes I feel like I can't take a picture to save my life! Sigh. On the left, you can see the little yellow bugs? Those are little milkweed bugs. The yellow, white and black striped out of focus caterpillar is just one of three we saw on the plant today. I am so thrilled!