Autumn's Preview

Well, the weatherman was right.  Looks like our quick jaunt to the beach on Saturday night was timed perfectly because today, the autumn air blew in.  Yes, it blew in and it blew us outside to enjoy it.  The plan was to take our school books out and read in the fresh air, but alas, it was too hard to concentrate among the loveliness. 

So instead, we learned new ways to slide...

...played peekaboo...

...and fit in a nature walk along the back of our property. 

There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky,
which through the summer is not heard or seen,
as if it could not be, as if it had not been!

~Percy Bysshe Shelley~

Juggling Lessons

Michelle said:  I noticed you have independent work for phonics/math.  How much time do you spend with each child going over the lesson?  It seems for me, teaching phonics and math takes up a good portion of my time.  

Good question!  This is something I've struggled with and tweaked and struggled with and tweaked some more.  I've been frustrated and satisfied and everything in between.  We learn Bible, history, science, art, and music as a group, but when it comes to math and English, it is not easy finding the balance to teach three kids on three different levels. 

For the first time this year, I've given Gavin his own checklist for independent table time.  He knows what subjects to work on and how many minutes he must spend on them or how many pages to complete.  Aside from answering questions or checking his work, he reads the lessons and completes the work on his own.  In Charlotte Mason style, we plan short lessons so he works on math for twenty minutes (more if I feel he is not working diligently), does one lesson in his grammar/copywork book, and completes one page of handwriting.

While he is working quietly at the dining room table, I take Maddie and Owen into the living room.  While Gavin is completing his twenty minute math session, I give them a twenty minute phonics lesson together.  They love working together and, for now, they are reading on the same level.   On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they do several pages of handwriting in lieu of the reading lesson.  I give them the directions and leave them to work at the table on their own.  Inevitably, they will finish at the same time and I'll be left to toggle between the two, checking and correcting their work.

Though this may change as the year progresses and they reach new, more difficult skills, so far both Maddie and Owen need only a few minutes of instruction each day in their math books.  (Owen is working on a first grade level and Maddie on a second grade level.)  If either of them needs additional assistance, is having difficulty, or has a long lesson, we'll move back into the living room so we don't disturb the ones at the table. 

Now here is the killer.  During this supposedly quiet, orderly time, Alaine is pulling out the DVDs from the cabinet and tangling the Wii cords.  Benjamin needs to be taken to the bathroom, and I'm pulling the ingredients for dinner out of the freezer.  In other words, it is not quiet and orderly at all...and that's life and learning with five!  

Summer's Last Hoorah

The first day of autumn is September 23rd, but not one hint of it is was in the air this week.  The weatherman says the cooler days are coming and I will welcome them gladly, but in the meantime, we took the opportunity to eke out a September evening on the beach. 

We ate subs while chasing off gulls and trying to keep the grit out of the kids' food (to no avail). 

Some of us dug in the sand even making a hole big enough to hold seven! 

The same someones enjoyed the surf, though the strong rip currents kept them from venturing too far.  Gavin appointed himself resident life guard and kept his eye on anyone who might possibly "wash away to sea forever." (We witnessed a true life guard rescue tonight, too, so the threat was serious.) 

Alaine decided that she would take a risk in the rough waves.  Even when she fell down flat , she got up with a grin! 

And me?  I'm never been much of a beach girl (at. all.) so I sat in my beach chair taking photos of the festivities.  "Look cute," I prompted these two girls and within two seconds, we had this: 

Okay.  Bring on the soup and the hayrides.

Skills I've Acquired as a Mom

Before I had kids, I graduated high school and went to college for two years to get my associates degree.  I worked at the public library for three years and at a college library for two more years.  Becoming a mom almost nine years ago, though, required a whole new set of skills that none of my other life-experiences had prepared me for. 

I am proud to say that I can now:

1. Sweep the floor, vacuum, and cook dinner with one arm.
   
2. Read a story for the fifteenth time without remembering a word of what I read.
   
3. Determine whether my baby has a fever by kissing her forehead.
   
4. Remember the specific preferences for each child's peanut butter sandwich (who likes crunchy, who likes it with jelly, who only eats half, etc.).
   
5. Clean a face with my fingers and just a touch of saliva.
   
6.  Carry on a semi-intelligent conversation with my husband while the boys repeat the phrase "poopy poop" on the couch beside me.
   
7. Nurse the baby and tie someone's shoes at the same time.
   
8. Change a diaper on my lap in a public place without anyone knowing what I'm doing. 
   
9. Sing the lyrics to the Super Why television show (and a bunch of others, too).
   
10. Function on less than seven hours of sleep which included a 2 am waking to get the 5-year-old a drink of water.
    
11. Pack the diaper bag with my eyes closed (and have what I need when I leave the house). 
    
12. Talk on the telephone while scolding the kids with my eyebrows.
    

What about you?  What are your skills?

Tri-Moms: Organizing the School Year

Though I am a planner by nature, when it comes to homeschooling, I've found that I do better without a daily lesson plan.  Because I tend to get too attached to a schedule once I've made one, it is more beneficial to me to look at the year as a whole and make yearly goals instead of daily plans.  Then if we have a social invitation, sick day, or other unexpected interruption, we take the day  (or  week) off and we pick up where we left off without feeling as though we're behind.  It is all a mental game, really. 

At the beginning of each school year, I make broad goals that we work all year to complete.  Some of our goals for this year include:

• History:     read our way from the post-Civil War era through space exploration
• Art:     study the works of 2-3 artists
• Music:     listen to and read about 9 hymns (1 per month) and learn to sing along
• English:     help both Maddie and Owen  become independent readers 
• Memory Work:     memorize The Lord's Prayer and the books of the Bible & memorize 2-4 poems

If we complete a goal by December, I may consider making a new goal for that subject.  If we complete a goal by April, I may consider the subject complete for the year and lighten our load.  It is a good method for us and it works.  

Though I do not make daily lesson plans, I do like a bit of structure.  I prefer to sit down at the school table with an expectation so I'm not winging it every day.  Though I have jotted it on paper, it is such a flexible routine that if we anticipate a 3- or 4-day school week instead of the typical 5, we can tailor our plans accordingly.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Kick off the day with...	Bible memory	Bible reading	Bible reading	Bible reading	Missionary study
“Extra” Subject:	Poetry	Art Study	Science Reading	Music Study	Outside Science
Independent Table Time:	English: Phonics and/or Copywork	Handwriting	English:  Phonics  and/or Copywork	Handwriting	English: Phonics and/or Copywork
	<------Math------>
Winding Down...	<------Geography/ History Reading------>

Then there is the issue of end-of-year organization.  In the fall of 2007, during my first weeks as an "official" homeschool mom, I had every intention of writing down of what Gavin did in school every day.  I recorded each math lesson and each page of handwriting in a grid with spaces for each subject and each day of the week.  I thrive on organization and records so I expected to enjoy this process of record keeping, but instead it stressed me out.  It was too easy to get discouraged about blank spaces and what didn't get done.  I talked it over with Brian and decided to abandon the daily records and instead keep a more general yearly record. Now when May rolls around and we wind down our year, I type up a comprehensive list of what each child accomplished in each subject and compile the pages in a binder along with work samples, art projects, and a few pictures from the year. It is sort of like a school year scrapbook. 

By the time I'm done, I have a 1-inch 3-ring binder for each school aged child to mark their finished school year.  Someone recently asked me what I do with the things that don't fit in the small binder.  My answer?  Throw them away!  I work hard to include all the highlights in the binder, but if it doesn't fit, out it goes.

: :: :: :: :: :: :: :

If you are like me, you enjoy getting a nosy little peek into the plans of other homeschool moms'.  Visit the other Tri-Moms, Allyson @ A Heart For Home and Christy @ A Living Homeschool and read their take on organizing their homeschools. 

Up next: September 20

  Getting the whole family involved in homeschooling

Fall Schedule of Topics

October 4:  The joys and fears of our children growing older

October 18: Traveling with children
November 1: Thanksgiving crafts and recipes

November 15: Teaching the meaning of Thanksgiving

Naming Our Summer

Warning: excessive photo alert {wink}

I'm not much of a "namer."  We've never named our cars or our homes, and even naming our babies has, at times, been agonizing.  But I've spent many moments this summer thinking of a word for our summer-- a word to embody all that it held. Moving out of town and to a quiet new house in the country ushered in welcome changes and it feels as though we've suddenly broken from our cocoons.

Because my informal motto of the summer was "people over schedule" (meaning that if we had an opportunity to fellowship or reach out to others, we would make an effort to do that even if it was outside of our comfort zone or disrupted our routine), I had almost settled on the word People for we spent many happy hours among, well...people. 

There were visits with grandmothers...

and great-grandmothers.

We opened our home to guests who brought laughs and good conversation.

There was the weekend when my brother was in town
(from across the country or 2863 driving miles according to Mapquest)
and we seized the opportunity to snap a family picture...

...and there were multiple afternoons to bond with cousins!



 But I couldn't settle on naming our summer People because that was
only part of the picture of our summer.

Some very special things were done alone...

...like going to Horse Camp...

...and learning to walk.

So what do you call a summer of People with a sprinkling of independence, plus injuries, sadness, smiles, celebrations, a little water, and a little sand ?

I have settled on naming our summer Full. 

Not full of chaos or even a full calendar, but a pleasing and satiated Full. 

What would your name your summer? 

Leave me a comment or write about it on your blog and leave me the link! 

1

We've watched her transition from    baby...

 

                                             ...to toddler.

And now she is  ONe!                                           

Happy Birthday to our sweet Alaine Claire.

For the record, Maddie says Alaine is most definitely not a toddler until she turns 2. 

I asked her what I am to call this baby who toddles and she has settled on the term baby-toddler.

I think it fits.

Children's Book Monday {Evening}

For weekly book recommendations, 

please visit Elise's Children's Book Monday at  A Path Made Straight. 

 

A B Cedar: An Alphabet of Trees

by George Ella Lyon
illustrated by Tom Parker

When doing a library search for books to accompany our in-depth nature study on trees this year, I stumbled across this title.  Being an older book (copyright 1989), the library had no little thumbnail photo to accompany the listing, but I put it on hold anyway, thinking perhaps it would be the perfect choice for the little boys to share while the two older children were sketching or reading a more age-appropriate selection. 

When the book came in and I picked up the hold, I flipped through it and then tucked it at the bottom of my stack of tree books.  This morning, while everyone was busy at the table, Benjamin needed something to do so I pulled the book back out and we sprawled on our bellies right in the middle of the dining room floor.  I was expecting an alphabet book.  Instead I opened up a most fascinating peek into the world of trees!  I was so impressed that after we finished, I re-read it to Owen a few minutes later ...and told Brian all about it this evening ...and read it again to all the kids tonight before bed. 

Each page highlights two to four different trees.  For example, Aspen, Butternut, and Cedar share a  double-page spread.  Life-sized children's hands are sketched holding a life-sized leaf  from each tree.  My children were amazed at the large umbrella tree leaf and the teak leaf that ran off the page.  Some pages even show seed pods or fruits. Benjamin insisted that the elderberries were actually blueberries, but because they were drawn to scale, we (I) knew they were not.  Maddie enjoyed repeating the name of each tree and Gavin made it his mission to give his made-up etymology of the trees he had never heard of.  "Kumquat sounds Chinese," he said (And what do you know?  He's right!), "and Nannyberry sounds like a rich tree."

I was most intrigued by the illustrations down at the bottom of each page.  Directly above the name of each tree was a  tiny silhouette of that tree, and surrounding the tree silhouette were teensy silhouettes of people and animals, intended to give perspective on how large the tree is in comparison.  The kids were particularly amazed at the tall skinny Poplar tree with the human silhouettes far below its towering top. 

Did I mention that following the Zebrawood tree, a handful of poetic lines follow, sharing a few uses of the tree. Yes, this book is infinitely more than a pre-school alphabet book because, though Benjamin did run his finger over the line of printed letters and sing the ABC song more than once, he also learned that the pages of the book itself had been made from a tree. 

Happy learning, happy leafing...and happy reading!

So You Have a Reluctant Reader?

I remember the summer I turned six.  It was the summer between kindergarten and first grade. My mom took me to the library where I checked out Ramona Quimby, Age 8.  That was the first chapter book I read on my own, and it began a life-long obsession with reading.  I am rarely without a book (or two or three) on my nightstand. 

I began to teach Gavin to read when he was about four, the age I had been when I learned to read.  I was eager  to have him share my passion for reading, but though he seemed to be learning the concepts, there was never an "a-ha!" moment when it all clicked. I kept waiting for it to happen, and though he progressed through his phonics books, reading was not easy for him, and it was certainly not a pleasure. 

I tried to be patient.  I reasoned that there was no hurry.  Though progress was slow, there was progress.  I reminded myself that each child learns at their own pace and that there is no magic age that one must learn to read! 

Still I tried anything I could think of to encourage his reading skills.  I brought fun books home from the library.  I asked him read to his little brothers.  I had him read alone with me.   He would stumble and mumble and wilt if I asked him to help a selection of our history book.  He still adored books and being read to, but the process of reading was so tedious to him that he fought my many efforts to expand his independent abilities. 

I sensed a breakthrough last summer when we were driving to one of the many midwife appointments at the end of my pregnancy.  As we passed a billboard, he commented on it as we sped by, but when I asked him what it had said, he clammed up.  We kept plugging away at his phonics workbooks, but when we took our winter break last year, the true breakthrough occurred.  Suddenly, he knew how to read!  Four years after his reading journey began-- at eight-years-old-- his "a-ha!" moment happened and he seemed to be able to read well overnight. 

My Tips For Your Reluctant Reader:

Do not be discouraged if your child does not begin to read as early or as quickly as you expect.  Unless you suspect an underlying learning issue, don't sweat it if your child takes his time with reading.  Just as with potty-training, waiting for readiness prevents frustration in everyone.  Though we persevered for many school years, when Gavin was finally ready, he began reading on his own during winter break when I was doing nothing!  He progressed from  reading only very basic sentences to reading short chapter books within a matter of weeks. 

Continue to read, read, read aloud.  Being exposed to and listening to quality literature is wonderful preparation for independent reading.  The summer reading program gestapo said that having Gavin read picture books with and to his younger siblings didn't count, but I still hold that the well-written picture book is more beneficial to life-long reading than a twaddly grade-level book. 

When asking your child to read aloud to you, offer to read every other page (or every other sentence...or every other word).  When faced with a abundance of words, Gavin became overwhelmed, but telling him that I would trade off with him, reading every other page, made the selection seem more friendly and do-able. 

If reading aloud is  intimidating (as it was for Gavin), have your child read a selection to himself and then engage him in casual conversation about what he read.  I don't mean to ask a list of questions, but ask him what he enjoyed or if anything exciting happened.  If he can give you details of the story, you'll know he read well enough to comprehend. 


Allow the privilege of staying up late to read in bed.   We have a new routine in our house.  After we tuck the kids in bed between 8 and 9 o'clock, it is lights out for everyone except Gavin.  He gets to click on a tiny flashlight and read a chapter or two of a book in bed.  We tell him he can read until he gets tired.  He often calls me into his room before he turns out the light to share what he's read that evening.

What are your tips for starting children on the happy path of reading? 

Collection of Goodness-- Homeschool Edition

The Homeschool Kids Who Don't Do Anything on YouTube

~ Watch it if you need some good, cute fun! ~

My Annual Catalog Post from Cindy

~ Read if you feel the overwhelming need to buy it/gather it/ teach it all! ~

Motherhood as a Mission Field from Rachel Jankovic

~Read if you wonder if you are making enough impact by staying home~

Curing Scope and Sequence Syndrome from Joy
~Read if you worry that your kids aren't learning what "all the other kids" are learning~

Are You Doing Enough?  from Misty
~Read if you fear the "bumps" on this year's schooling journey~