Christmas Devotions

Half of the year is almost over and I want to re-cap all we've done, but that will have to come later. Right now I wanted to share what we are doing during our devotion time. Check out Ann Voskamp's website at http://www.aholyexperience.com/. You probably already know she wrote the New York Times' bestseller One Thousand Gifts. If you sign up to receive e-mails, you can download her Jesse Tree devotional for Christmas. Every morning the girls and I light the Advent candles and read in the soft glow of candlelight. It has become a very special time for us. The readings so far trace glimpses of Jesus in the Old Testament. All three of us are learning a lot and it is a beautiful way to start our school day.

Spider Study

I haven't posted since school started. I admit I've been a little overwhelmed. This is the first year the girls have done history and science separately, so that is double work for me. But each of them is happier and they are working on topics that interest them.

Liana's rock study kind of fizzled out. We read several books from the library, but I never could find a good beginner's book for rock identification. We haven't given up, just put it on hold, because Liana really wants to study rocks. But we went back to where we left off in Land Animals of the Sixth Day to the chapter on arachnids. I thought we'd better work on this before all the creatures outdoors are gone for the winter.

We read about spiders from the book and then took a walk in the yard. It was alive with activity! We'd learned about orb webs, funnel webs, tangle webs, and sheet webs and found many different types of webs right outside the door. It was very exciting! We even found the spider who made this beautiful orb web in the top picture. You will probably have to click on it to enlarge it and see the web.

We've had a lot of rain in our area lately and found another visitor to our yard, this lovely toad. I've never seen one in the garden before. He was very large! In our exploration, we also found a long snake slithering across the front porch before hiding in our vinca vine. I'm glad to know he's there. I wouldn't want to come across him unawares, and I'm sure he wouldn't want to be surprised by me either.

We Begin Again

In May, I admit, I needed a break. Then the summer got crazy and I longed for us to be back in school with predictable days, a schedule, time alone with my girls. We had August 29th on the calendar to begin again, but now this week has many interruptions. So I decided to start slow before we get up to full speed. A week of history and science only. Now that sounds like fun.

Over the weekend I had a list of questions to discuss with the girls: What is their favorite part of school; what do they dislike? How can I make learning easier for them? What would they like to do more of, less of? (No, we can't give up math.) What field trips would they like us to pursue? (Liana wants to visit a fashion design studio and explore caves. Arielle wants to see many things in Washington, D.C.) So those things will take a little more planning than, for example, a day at our local zoo.

One thing that came out of our discussion is that Arielle does not want to learn science or history together with Liana. She said the books are below her level and she would like more challenging work. She also said she does not like the creative projects that Liana enjoys so much and prefers worksheets and written work. Okay...what to do now since I had the whole year planned?

I did some research on-line, reading reviews, and exploring new history texts. I already have a hefty science book for her. I came up with The Mystery of History. It is not a high school book, but it appears to be sufficient for now. It also got rave reviews from homeschool moms. What I like about it is that not only will we learn world history, but also the history of the church. I admit I am ignorant when it comes to that. I ordered Volume 3 for Arielle. It picks up where we left off last time.

On vacation this summer the girls did some gem mining and Liana renewed her interest in rocks. All weekend after we got home she organized and studied her rocks, searching websites for more information. I had her science all lined up for the fall, but this is what is wonderful about homeschooling. I asked her if she would like to begin science this year with geology. She was all for it, and I ordered several books from the library. Our first day, waiting for the books, we read about rocks in all the books we already have.

We don't have Arielle's history book yet, but Christian Book Distributors allowed us to download the first four chapters. So she was able to start her work too. At least three times during the day she said to me, "I really like this book." I can honestly say I never said that about any history book I ever had in school.

Gearing Up

The summer went by much too quickly. It isn't over yet, but the next couple of weeks are busy and I know they will rush by in a flash.

Arielle shares my love of school supplies and we've enjoyed shopping for them. We've picked up a few items. Our favorite pens and pencils, some folders. We don't need much. All around us are moms with lists from various schools, trying to find each item required. I feel so free from all those trappings.

We also renovated our school room! We reorganized and moved furniture and sorted through books. Fred even painted. How nice to have a clean, fresh look for our first day.

Even more importantly, we need to prepare spiritually. Years ago while studying the book of Nehemiah I saw so many parallels to Nehemiah building the wall and us educating our children at home. (I believe the complete study I created is contained in this blog in previous posts.) I was reminded of it again when Nehemiah 4 popped up in my e-mail since I subscribe to daily Bible readings. In this short chapter were several important messages.

The taunters ask, what are these feeble moms doing? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish? Despite what others say, we build the wall, "for the people had a mind to work." Yes, it's hard work. Let's get to it.

Comments and attitudes around us can cause confusion and we forget our purpose. These verses remind us to pray and set a guard day and night. By ourselves we can't make the wall strong and lasting. But we "remember the Lord, who is great and awesome." Sometimes we labor with one hand and hold our weapon in the other, ready to defend the cause God has called us to finish. I am thinking I need to enlist the help of my husband to wield the sword in prayer while I do the teaching. It is a spiritual battle for the hearts of our children. We also need to remember that "the work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another." We need to ask for help when we need it, and listen for the sound of the trumpet and rally to support other moms when they are discouraged.

"So we labored at the work from the break of dawn until the stars came out." Nehemiah finished the wall. Will we?

Summer Vacation!

School just kind of faded out this year. We completed our 180 days, but I had hoped to finish up some other projects. The girls were working hard to prepare for the 4-H County Fashion Revue so their sewing took priority. I didn't even tell them when the last day of school was so they could be excited about it. I just decided to end. They still haven't been to Dairy Queen to celebrate!

While the girls sewed, I worked on the portfolios. Between the two projects, we had such a mess spread out all over the house. I love the portfolios in the sense that we have a record of the girls' school work to keep. It is interesting to go back over all we did this year and to realize we did quite a lot! Liana kept asking me, "Is it fun at all to do this? Even a little bit?" While I was working I said no. They are tedious and frustrating to put together and I resent the fact that they are required by the state. But now that they are complete, we have nice scrapbooks to preserve their work, after the district is done with it, of course.

Yesterday we had our evaluation. Our former evaluator lives far from our house, so I was looking for another. I found this new woman on a website and called her out of the blue. She lives about two miles away, so I was hoping it would work out well. I love her! She seemed genuinely interested in the girls' work and is a delightful woman. I am so glad to find another homeschooling family so near to our home too. Unfortunately, she has five boys, so no new friends for the girls will come about from this relationship.

This is Day 4 of summer vacation. Our first three days were filled with errands, doctor appointments, and visiting friends. Today is our first day home and I can't wait to begin. The girls finished their 4-H projects but they are already working on something new. Liana is cutting out a big purse that will work well as a carry-on bag when she travels to her brother's wedding. Arielle is making a cute top for summer. I have not had time to finish the bridesmaid dresses or even begin to make my mother-of-the-groom dress. So today we will sew! And maybe take a trip to Dairy Queen.

Art Museum

I wrote on another blog about our fabulous trip to the art museum. We tend to neglect art in our class time, not because we don't enjoy it, but because other subjects just tend to take precedence. Liana had to write a short research paper, so she chose an artist to study and has just finished her report on Mary Cassatt. She was very excited to see some Cassatt paintings at the art museum. Wandering around looking at art might be enjoyable, but it is much more than that if we recognize paintings and know a little about the artist.

We are finishing out our days. Every May it seems like there are a multitude of interruptions that steal time away from school. Still, we are making every effort to finish up what we hoped to accomplish this year. For both girls, we have stopped proceding forward with new math concepts and we are just reviewing what they learned all year. Arielle finished all her Language Arts except for a research paper she is doing on Laura Ingalls Wilder. Liana is reviewing for a comprehensive grammar test and then she will be finished with language too.

We are just about finished with Joy Hakim's Recontruction and Reform and instead of starting another book, we will continue with our studies of Central America at a leisurely pace. I realized we cannot finish our anatomy book this year, so after our chapter on nutrition, we will put it away until fall.

When May arrives, it is time to think about the dreaded portfolios required by our state and officially due on June 30th. But they need to be completed before our trip to the evaluator's house in early June. I have not begun to work on them!

The Tempest

Arielle's last literature assignment was to read Shakespeare's The Tempest. Her teacher advised her to get a side-by-side version with the original text next to the modern English. I don't know that Arielle tried reading the original at all. She is a voracious reader but likes ideas more than poetic words.

Her writing assignment was to choose a scene and set it in modern times and re-write the story. What a struggle this has been for her! Arielle is a good writer. Last year our evaluator told us that one of her papers would fulfill a high school requirement, and she was only 12 then. She is good at research papers or any task that requires logical thinking. She is one who likes worksheets and writing that is concrete and well-defined. This assignment has been a challenge. She doesn't like to create characters or stories.

Liana is on the other end of the spectrum. She hates worksheets and any assignment that confines her to a set parameter. She had one lesson that required her to write a story from three pictures. She did not like this at all. It was boring and pointless to her. But an open-ended writing lesson that gives her the liberty to create exhilarates her. Right now she is working on a novel about two friends during Civil War times. This was not an assignment, just something she wanted to do.

We all think differently and learn differently. I can't wait to see how God will use my two daughters' unique gifts as they grow to be women.

Another Great Book

The girls and I love audio books for the car. I used to think we don't really travel enough to hear a whole book, but that's not true. We spend more time on the road than we think. We just finished Newberry Medal winner Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. This version was read by Hope Davis and her rendering was delightful.

This is not a Christian book, but it is well-written with a multi-layered plot. It is funny, tender and heart-breaking all at the same time. Serious life issues arise in the story and they gave opportunity for some discussion. The vividly portrayed characters are unforgettable.

It is not for early elementary ages. Liana is eleven and I wouldn't recommend this for a child younger than she is.

Science for Arielle

Arielle says she hates science. Supposedly, no topic interests her. Two years ago she was with me at a homeschool fair and we met the author of a new science curriculum and Arielle decided maybe she would like to try chemistry. (She was thinking bubbling, messy, exciting projects.) She did not like this book.

In the elementary years, when kids are just exploring science topics, I think it is good to let them choose what interests them. One year Liana was very interested in birds and we studied Jeannie Fulbright's Flying Creatures. Liana had a lot of fun and we did science without complaint. Not so with Arielle.

Last year I decided it was time for more serious science and I bought Jay Wile's General Science . It looked intimidating, even to me. Then our evaluator recommended we do something else for the 7th grade year. (We will use General Science this fall for 8th grade. Somehow it doesn't look so scary now.) The evaluator sold us a short, one semester book called Earth's Waters. By the time Arielle got to oceanography, she admitted it was a "little bit interesting."

My goal was to start both girls with Jeannie Fulbright's new Anatomy and Physiology in January. We were a little late, but we did start and have finished the first chapter. Arielle is reading it on her own and then we do the projects all together. FINALLY! I think we hit on something. Arielle actually said she likes it! And this is a girl who claimed she wants nothing to do with anything medical.

So what makes this science different? The book is written in a conversational tone, but it doesn't talk down to the kids. The first chapter is a brief history of medicine and then a study of cells and the function of the organelles. The girls made a cell diagram and labeled the parts. Then they made a model of a cell with gelatin and candies. That was a big hit. They also mummified an apple to get an idea of how bodies were preserved by the Egyptians. We bought the notebooking journal too. It has fun ways to interact with the text, including lapbook ideas and crossword puzzles. Over the course of the year the girls will make a model of themselves and then add on the body systems with transparencies. They already started this by cutting out a picture of their heads and gluing them to a paper doll body.

We're off to a good start! Today we are de-calcifying some chicken bones.

Hospital Field Trip

For National Heart Month, we visited a hospital's cardiac unit as a field trip. The girls were not at all interested in going, but a friend had invited us. Years ago when I was a nurse I never wanted to work with cardiac patients, but I was fascinated by the new technology and quite impressed with how patients are diagnosed and treated.

The best part of the trip was a demo in progress in one of the surgical suites. A mannequin was lying on the table, draped as a patient would be in actual surgery. The heart catherization monitor, along with an exposed leg, was set up for the visitors to see and hold. The actual person who runs the heart-lung machine was there to demonstrate, and a model of a heart was visible, just as it would be in surgery. Kids could step up to the table and actually touch it. A surgical nurse stood by her table of instruments to explain how they were used. It was all quite amazing to me. As for the girls, well, they made it clear they have no interest in the medical field. They think all things medical are "gross."

Great Books

I got an e-mail from Amazon. They have a feature called "Essential Books" for children. You can search by age for supposedly great books for kids. I haven't checked it out yet. But it reminded me of two books Liana and I would recommend for their lists. Together we read two delightful William Steig books.

The first we read was Dominic. I'd never heard of this book until my son Dominic sent me a link for it. It sounded like a fun book, even more so because the character of Dominic in the book sounded a lot like my Dominic! Both Dominics get restless and go off to explore the world. We got the book from the library and loved it so much that I bought it for Liana for her birthday to keep forever.

I also bought her Abel's Island and we just finished it yesterday. This book has a mouse character who is stranded on an island for a year and learns a lot of lessons about life and himself during his time of loneliness and hardship.

Both books should be read aloud! The language is rich and clever. The themes are timeless and the characters lovable. Dominic and Abel grow and discover and learn and develop. The endings of both books make you clap and cheer. Read them! I just ordered another Steig book called The Real Thief. Liana and I don't want the adventures to end.

Sick Day

This blog is so neglected. The days go by in a blur and I often don't take time to reflect. We are busy with school, but it is hard to stop and think exactly what we're doing and then compose a blog entry. Liana had to take the California Achievement Test last month, so we spent some time preparing for that. We had lots of snow, which meant lots of time outside shoveling. January went by in a whirlwind. Today we have howling winds, literally. It is cold, and two sick girls are lying around on the furniture moaning and complaining--fever, headaches, sore throats. Poor babies. So, of course, no school.

But I've been busy today: cleaning the guinea pig cages, ironing, washing and folding clothes, making soup, vacuuming, doing dishes, and tending to my girls. I read two chapters of Abel's Island to Liana, but she is too sick to much enjoy it. So the day is quickly passing. How do I have time to do homeschooling anyway, I ask? We did no school work, yet I was busy all day. If we'd done school work, those chores would not have been done. So how does one do homeschooling AND chores? Well, in my case, it's near impossible. School comes first, so you can imagine what my house looks like on a normal day. Today, it looks pretty good, except for the blankets and tissues and trash bins alongside the sofa in the living room.

Year End Reflections

The past few months have been overwhelming with lots of interruptions while I try to keep my daughters on target with their education. As 2010 draws to a close, I think back on where we are and where we are heading.

The postcard project was a big disappointment. Within days my girls sent out dozens of postcards. A few trickled in back to them, but they came so slowly that the girls lost interest. Many we did receive were not "real" postcards but ones that were ordered on-line without a real picture of the area where the family lived. Also, the children did not write the postcards, as my girls did, but general info was pasted on the card. They weren't personal at all.

Liana has to take the California Achievement Test in January. She is stressed about it. She hates being timed and noise bothers her when she is working. In our state, I cannot administer the test. It has to be given by a certified teacher, so the homeschool co-op at our church offers this service every January. Liana doesn't pay attention to detail, so she doesn't notice misspelled words or punctuation errors. We have been steadily working on her Teaching Textbooks math program but I don't feel it is up to par with some other programs. Arielle has to take the test next year for 8th grade. I think I will give it to her at the end of this year as a practice so we will better know what to expect next year. (Tests I administer cannot be turned in to our school district.)

We did not reach our goals in science. Arielle had a short book on the study of the earth's water that our evaluator suggested to gently direct her to more serious science next year. We still have a few more weeks to go. Liana is almost finished with Zoology 3, which she has enjoyed. I want the girls to both complete these books so we can do Jeannie Fulbright's Anatomy all together for the rest of the year. Next year Arielle will tackle Jay Wile's General Science.

We spent the past few month studying South America. This has been a great adventure mostly because we ended up learning the story of the five missionaries killed in Ecuador in the 1950's. Arielle read an excerpt from Through Gates of Splendor and she read the book Bruchko by Bruce Olson, and then we watched End of the Spear. I am fascinated with this story and the outcome of this tribe who became Christians. Then Liana and I watched a recent documentary about these people and I read Steve Saint's book End of the Spear, which is a much more detailed account of what happened after the spearing. Highly recommended! We have just a few countries left to study in South America and then we will go back to American History, post-Civil War. That doesn't seem quite so exciting.

Arielle has her second literature class next week. Her assignment: read an autobiography or biography and write a short summary of the book. Then interview a live person in the same profession and tie it in to the story. That's why she read Bruchko. Today she is interviewing a friend of mine who returned from a misson trip to Peru this year.

Our home is filled with music again! Arielle got a guitar for her birthday and Liana got a violin for Christmas. Liana will have some lessons from a friend of ours who is a professional violinist, but Arielle is learning on her own and doing quite well!

Postcard Project

Hopefully we have finished this round of tests and hospitals and can get back to "normal" life. God is good. Our journey was short. My girls actually enjoyed the change in routine because another homeschooling mom offered to have them join her boys for two days. The children went to a free concert, played bocce ball, collected beautiful fall leaves and did art projects. My friend even added a dimension to their Spanish study by reading aloud a book in Spanish and letting them try to figure out the words and understand the meaning of the story.

I recently was invited to participate in a yahoo group for a postcard exchange. Do I need another project? But when I mentioned it to the girls, they were very enthusiastic. We add our name to a database and then we are to send a postcard about our state to everyone else on the list. There are a lot of names! The girls already have a small postcard collection, and they want more.

So where do we buy postcards? Of course they are in abundance every time we take a trip, but here at home? I wish we had stocked up on our last trip to Lancaster or Gettysburg. Instead, last weekend we drove out to a local state park and bought 20 postcards. We need many more, but there wasn't much of a selection here. We figured each girl would write 10 to start. That evening they spent a couple of hours writing out all the postcards. They even had fun going to the post office and getting the stamps. Now they are anxiously waiting for the cards to come in.

None have come yet, so I am thinking of how to make this educational! Not just a project to collect nice cards. What would I like the girls to remember about each state? They already are pretty sharp when it comes to geography. We have several games on the states and they know their location and capitals. Some families are marking a map to see the origin of all the responses. I think we will do that too since we have a large U.S. map in our school room. But what else?

I finally came up with a one-page worksheet. It's very simple. It has a box for the name of the state and four categories: Capital and major cities, geography (mountains, rivers, etc.), history and important people, and famous landmarks. I think I will add date admitted to the union too. This sheet will not detract too much from the fun of their postcard project, but it will give them something to look back on and help them remember some facts.

Discipling

Once I went to a church event and heard a speaker tell about her family's experience with homeschooling during the time one member had serious health issues. School work had to be temporarily suspended while the family journeyed through this difficult time. I don't remember this woman's exact words, but she said what the children learned during this season of life was more valuable than anything they could have learned from a textbook.

I was thinking about that while my daughters spent many hours in waiting rooms during their father's doctor appointments and medical procedures. On one hand I felt bad for them, and I worried about the school work they were missing. But then I thought, better this than to be far removed from us sitting in a public school classroom. We are a tight family. We need to be together for the good times and also for the hard times. Their school work will get finished. We have all year, even summer to catch up if need be.

It took me many years to realize that school work is secondary to relationship. Academics can slide from time to time, but the daily one-on-one we share can't be shoved aside and taken lightly. A sermon at church brought this idea home to me a little more clearly. It was about John the Baptist and how he made disciples for Jesus Christ. He pointed everyone in Christ's direction. He didn't care about his own life, and in fact said, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

All my interactions with my children must point them to Jesus. "Look at him!" That should be foremost in my mind for every issue, every problem, and every joy. Our girls will walk through the medical troubles with their parents and we will show them how to trust God through it. They will see our prayers, our faith, our victories, and even our failures. Above all, they will see God at work as he comforts us and answers our prayers.

My main job is to disciple my girls to be followers of Jesus. Relationship with him and with me is crucial. But sometimes I need a little help too. I recently bought Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade. This book has daily devotions for passing on our faith to our children. In the introduction the author states, "God calls the church of each generation to 'contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints'. When our children replace us as contenders for the faith, will they have a clear grasp of the faith they must defend? When they replace us as supporters of the truth, will they know the truth well enought to articulate it clearly and to recognize counterfeits?" Simply, this book is "What do we believe?" and "Why do we believe it?"

We have a rough road ahead crossing treacherous terrain. Isaiah 40:3 says, "A voice is calling, Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness, make smooth in the desert a highway for our God." Isaiah 41:18 says God will make the wilderness a pool of water. In Isaiah 42:16, God says, "In paths they do not know, I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them and rugged places into a plain." In all the circumstances of life, we will look at Jesus.

Banning Books

Choosing good books for my children and restricting others is always challenging as a homeschooling parent. I frequently read Jimmie's blog for her interesting stories about China and her great advice on teaching. "Banned Books Week" is her very informative post on books for kids. Check it out.

http://jimmiescollage.com/

Arielle reads so much that there would be no way to pre-read her books and censor the ones I didn't like. We talk about books a lot and we read together a lot and that brings up many topics to discuss. I've fed her a diet of good books from the time she was a baby and she is very discriminating when it comes to reading books that are just plain not good literature.

Together we have been reading Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi. It was a Newberry Medal book, so I figured there must be some reason it won that distinction. The language in this book is at times disturbing and it is full of violence. As I read it to Liana, there were a couple of times I edited as I read. But the message behind the book is worth talking about and kids learn a lot about the Middle Ages in England. Arielle has gone on to read the two sequels to this book.

Sometimes we used the school reading lists to find good literature. But moms need to have a discerning eye. I ask myself why this particular book is on the list. Public schools have their own agenda and message they want to get out. Not all books on their lists are worth reading.

Marsupial Lapbook

We are in week four of the new school year and overall, things are going well. Arielle is very independent now and desires that. She likes to get her assignments and then work at her own speed to complete them. She especially likes me to give her an assignment for the week, rather than just daily. She is very responsible to complete her work by Friday.

Arielle is working toward another deadline in October when her first literature class meets. She completed The Giver but it not so interested in reading The Time Machine. Moms also need to read The Giver. What a disturbing book! But it provides a lot of opportunity for discussion of important topics.

Liana is still battling her daily reading assignment. She has so much trouble concentrating and every bit of sound she hears when she is trying to read brings her to a frustrated frenzy. She now had to go upstairs alone to read. She doesn't like that, but there is no alternative. What ever would she do in a regular classroom? Thank God we can homeschool.

In the afternoon we are doing some serious science, history and geography. And no one is complaining! Liana has completed her first topic in science--the study of marsupials. Jeannie Fulbright's website had some good worksheets to print up and I had Liana write a little report on an animal of her choice. She will do that for each order of animals we study. I have to step it up a little this year.

While working on her lapbook, she has said several times, "I just love doing this." I help her organize her material, but she cuts and glues and writes captions for hours with incredible patience. In the mornings she struggles and lashes out and has absolutely no patience. But this is her thing, the creative stuff.

Good Running Start

We completed our first week! We had several interruptions. Our family members are not with the program yet and forget that we can't take phone calls during the day. Also, on Friday, I was called to do some emergency babysitting for a friend, but my daughters are more independent this year and can more easily work around interruptions.

Our days are longer this year. We can't skimp on history and science like we sometimes did in the past, so that is what we do every afternoon. We are studying South America right now using Around the World in 180 Days. Arielle likes doing her own research to find answers to the questions and both girls like doing map work. Liana's learning style draws her to a more creative approach, so she has started a lapbook on South America and also one for her zoology study of marsupials. I give both girls some freedom in designing lapbooks, but then they need guidance to organize their information. Otherwise they would just be gluing pictures on paper. We have lots of resources for pictures. At the homeschool fair I bought old atlases and several books of animals. Also, we still have our ancient set of encyclopedias. I give the girls the freedom to cut out all the pictures they want.

Arielle has received her literature assignment for the class she is taking. She has to read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells and The Giver by Lois Lowry and write a compare and contrast essay. She started reading The Giver and likes it, so she's off to a good start. Liana is reading the stories in the Abeka series. So far, she is enjoying them and I hear no complaints. It helps when Arielle remembers the stories from years back and tells Liana how good some of them are.

Liana had a little bit of a rough start this week after a very busy Labor Day weekend. She couldn't find her glasses and it put her in a frustrated frame of mind. But after a few tears shed and being told to go to her room until she got some control, she recovered quickly and we had a good day. This is a great improvement and it is encouraging to see her maturing. In the past, a minor set-back in the morning would ruin the entire day.

I start each day with much prayer for our school. This is the Lord's work, not mine.

We're Back!

Today we began a new school year. Summer flew by and here we are the end of August. The past few days we were in Gettysburg, but too quickly, vacation is over and it's time for school.

On our trip we began reading Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi and the girls wanted to start the day (after devotions) with that. I read too little of it to suit Arielle and she has spent the rest of the afternoon finishing the book. So much for read-alouds as a family.

First thing this morning we also started Andrew Pudewa's book All Things Fun and Fascinating: Writing Lessons in Structure and Style. He has a clever technique for teaching children how to summarize non-fiction passages by first reading it through once, then reading it sentence by sentence as the child writes down three key words from each sentence. Then using just their key word outline, they re-tell, or rewrite, the story. My daughter who does not like to write--Arielle--said, "This is fun! Can we do it again tomorrow?" Arielle also told me she thinks she will like her literature book this year, after reading the first story. I like this good attitude! In the picture both girls were trying to act angry because it was the first day of school. It didn't work. They were laughing too much.

Liana has come a long way in her reading and I will not press her to read aloud her assignments to me anymore. She hates it, I hate it, and it seems pointless. She comprehends what she reads silently. That's the main concern. Unless we are reading to a child, how often do we really read aloud? So our morning was more calm for that reason alone.

The girls are finishing up a Singapore math review book before we move back into their Teaching Textbooks. I think the Singapore math is more difficult, but it is a change of pace and useful for bringing in a new perspective.

We ended our first day making maps of South America. The girls got the game "10 Days in the Americas" over the summer, so they have a jump start on the geography. They could easily rattle off all the countries. Now we need to learn about those individual countries.

We ended our school day with popsicles!

Summer break

What is your favorite month? Fred and the girls were asking that question. Fred says December because he loves the Christmas season. Arielle said April because she likes spring. My best time of year is not the spring, that's for sure. That's when we try to finish up school, plus work on getting the portfolio together before we meet with the evaluator, plus finish up 4-H projects for the Fashion Revue. On top of that, this year I was a census worker. It has been a crazy time.

On Friday and Saturday last week I attended our annual local homeschool convention. These two days encourage and invigorate me to keep pressing onward in teaching my girls at home. Every year there is a speaker that really speaks to my heart or I find a book or curriculum that stirs me. This time, I found both.

Andrew Pudewa lectured on teaching children to write. For me, this has been the hardest subject to teach. This man is the director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing. He gave us some tools to use when we are teaching that are especially helpful for reluctant writers--those children who continually say, "I don't know what to write." I bought a book that uses his methods called All Things Fun & Fascinating: Writing Lessons in Structure and Style. In the fall, I will report on how this is working for my girls.

My other big find was Gladys Hunt's Honey for a Teen's Heart: Using Books to Communicate with Teens. Honey for a Child's Heart is the classic many homeschoolers use for reading lists, and this one has that feature as well. But it also talks about how to use good books to help us talk to our kids about ideas, values, and issues. There are even mother-daughter reading lists. Arielle is always asking me to read books that she has enjoyed so we can discuss them. Usually I just don't have the time to read all that she recommends. Maybe this book will give us a place to start.

I ran from the homeschool convention straight to the girls' fashion show. In the new profile picture the girls are modeling their 4-H entries.

This blog will take a break until fall when our new school year begins.