Daily Summary 3-11-11

What We Did Today March 11, 2011

• Watched coverage of earthquake in Japan
• Had breakfast
• Cleaned house - Rachey took forever on her jobs
• I did several extra loads of laundry and partially cleaned our bedroom
• I fed and held Josiah a lot
• Nat did 1 1/2 Saxon lessons
• Rachey read a science chapter about birds
• Rachey did 64 multiplication facts
• Rachey did 2 cursive worksheets
• Nat did the Z cursive worksheet
• Nat read a science chapter about climate and weather and filled out 1 1/2 worksheets about the topic
• Quesadillas for lunch (plus Rachey ate some leftovers)
• Abigail took a nap (and woke up happy) :)
• I made bread (4 loaves)
• Nat read The Rover Boys On The Ocean, filled out vocabulary cards, and wrote a "letter" to Tom Rover's Father
• Rachey practiced her violin and mostly has all songs memorized
• Rachey read from The Adventures Of Reddy Fox
• The girls are playing with clay and playdough
• Nat practiced her violin
• We ate dinner - Pasta with chicken, artichoke hearts, and sun-dried tomatoes

Good Light

We had some sunshine shining in our windows today. Both yesterday and today, we actually spent some time outside. It was pleasant...wasn't raining, wasn't snowy, there was no slush on the ground, it was nearly 50 degrees...tropical almost.

I let the girls do some of their schoolwork outside. The neighbor is falling marketable timber in preparation for a road they are putting in their property. The girls kept getting distracted as the trees came falling down. They kept asking questions about how the falls got the trees to fall a certain direction.

Then...a hawk came swooping over our chickens. Our rooster sounded the alarm and my daughter called me to have a look. It turned out the hawk had killed one of our chickens, but hadn't been able to take it with him. The chicken had found a hole underneath the fence (the chickens actually dig them...sort of...when they have a dirt bath), but was outside the fence when the hawk arrived. The chicken appeared to have trouble finding the hole in the fence to come back in and was stuck attempting to squeeze through a spot it couldn't squeeze through. This was probably the reason the hawk was successful at catching the chicken. Chickens are not the smartest creatures in the world. They rely solely on the benefits of the flock and on instinct.

Finally, just now, I hear my 3 year old SCREAMING. My 7 year old daughter told me she was screaming because there were three chickens in the yard. I had locked all the other chickens up, but didn't see any in the yard. When there is a predator nearby the chickens take to hiding. Smart chickens. Sort of.

So I set my 7 year old to chasing the chicken in an attempt to catch them. My 7 year old is REALLY good at this, but catching chickens is easier said than done. The first one we caught because it ran out into the field, then I just herded it toward the chicken coop and opened the door. The second one she cornered against the fence and picked up no problem. She handed the chicken over the fence to me. I was in the field near the chicken coop and just put the chicken in the coop. My 7 year old told me that this is the very same chicken she always could catch in the summer. The third chicken was more elusive and kept dodging my daughter. Suddenly, though it hopped up on the fence. The chicken was facing me, away from my daughter. I said to my daughter, I hope she will let us grab her. My daughter just put her hands on her and grabbed her (the chicken never saw it coming) and handed her to me. Away she went safely in her coop.

Here is a picture of my little man in the wonderful light that was coming in our living room windows today. He's growing and changing.

Playing With Toys

Everything has been going well around here regarding school...

However, we seem to be on round two of the chest cold we've had for six weeks. This must be a new virus because the kids...mostly the baby and the toddler...have a new, full-blown round of nasal and chest congestion. They never really got over the previous chest congestion. I'm hoping I've already had this because I was feeling sick for a few days about a week ago.

Snow came and went around here and never really amounted to much, but did keep us home from activities because of when it hit and the impact on our road. We were back to classes today despite the baby being sick. He did alright going out, but was very grumpy when we got home.

For school we've gotten in groove lately. The girls have changed how they've done vocabulary lately. I'm surprised they like it because it is extra work for them. They've been highlighting or writing down words they don't know in their school reading and looking them up in the dictionary and writing down a definition they can understand. We're using mostly Robinson curriculum this year and they have pre-written definitions for them to memorize. This is just a slight variation. I've been studying grammar from Robinson's source, as well as online sources...trying to solidify how I'm correcting their writing. I think we'll start reading some of the rules together. I'm really not into diagramming sentences or the like for grammar. I never learned from that... Yet, it seems to me that to teach writing to my children we need to know more than what we learn from good writing (the Charlotte Mason way). So, that is one area I'm working on right now.

I wanted to share this picture of how my oldest daughter arranged her animals she was playing with today. Some of their farm experiences, as well the influence of the many nature videos we watch are coming out I think.

My Little Guy's New Milestones

My little man's been making so much developmental progress this last week or two...eating food, spinning in a circle, pushing up on his knees. Daddy scared our little man with a sneeze tonight, and when Daddy offered his arms to comfort him our baby stretched out his arms like he was asking to be picked up. Then as I took him back, I told our little guy to wave goodbye to Daddy. Lo and behold he picked up his hand and closed and opened it. I immediate yelled, "yeah!". Then, the little guy cried again. It was getting to be bedtime.

Here are a couple of recent pictures of him.

With his oldest sister (my step-daughter).

In his snowsuit.

Just Chillin'

Time-Warp Wife - Riding in Cars With...Boys?

I thought this was a more than excellent post that will be worth my returning to in the years when my daughters are older.

Time-Warp Wife - A Return to Biblical Womanhood: Riding in Cars With...Boys?: "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. ~ Proverbs 4:23 Dear Darlene, I am coming to you with a questi..."

Studying Monet

We were studying Monet today. We learned that Claude Monet liked to draw caricatures of friends and teachers as a young boy. We also learned that Monet used perspective a lot in most of his paintings. One daughter wanted to practice a caricature and the other perspective. Here are the drawings:

My middle daughter drew a caricature of her Grandmother.

My oldest daughter drew a road with people and buildings (with perspective). The painting is an Impressionist painting like Claude Monet's drawings.

This Is How We Do Science

This is how we do science around here:

(Among other things)

Homeschooling Writing Resources

Here are some good free supplemental writing and spelling resources:

Grammar And Writing Exercises From Houghton MacMillan

Grammar From ABC Teach

Writing Ideas From ABC Teach

Getting Into My Groove

This year I have been mostly experimenting with using the Robinson method for teaching. I must say I am impressed. Really, I think, the problem with education today (by in large) is that society expects far too little of children.

My nine year old this year is working through Saxon Math 5/6 and getting nearly 100% on every lesson. Robinson has the kids track their own progress in Saxon(how many they get correct) and repeat if they don't get at least 95% correct. My daughter loves this and it motivates her like nobody's business. My seven year old, who has always been a little slower in terms of development, is also very motivated. She wants to do Saxon Math 4/5. There is something really motivating about doing work they can be proud of. She is working on her multiplication tables still, but she has gotten down addition and subtraction facts cold.

And they are reading and doing writing. At this age, their writing can be copywork or it can be anything they want to write. I correct it after they do their writing and they have to go through and correct their spelling, grammar, etc. before the next day. This...my older daughter is not so thrilled with. But, they learn from the process amazingly. I make spelling lists from real world words they miss. And I explain phonics rules and grammar rules as we go along.

They do other work too. First off, they are in art and violin. Violin is fantastic for math. Art is fantastic for observation. When they are interested in other subjects (science, a foreign language...I let them study it on their own). Now, it's been pretty difficult having a new baby and before that being pregnant. That's part of my reason for going with this curriculum...it takes less prep on my part. I just didn't want to do (or pay for) a set curriculum.

I am also very interested in the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education. It holds a lot in common with the Robinson curriculum. It is clear that Robinson borrowed some from Charlotte Mason. Yet, I have found that certain things Charlotte taught, aren't absolutely necessary for well rounded, well educated children. Charlotte was a big proponent in her writing of switching subject when the child lost interest. Robinson is the opposite...'have them sit there till they get the discipline to do hard work'. Charlotte taught that actual lessons (not all of a child's learning) should be kept short (should be finished in the morning). Robinson teaches that lessons (reading, writing, and arithmatic) should last 5-6 hours 6 days a week, year round (minus vacations).

What I have found is that either method works, as long as the expectations for the child are high and the goal for the child's education are presented clearly. Homeschooling is so superior to group education, as long as an effort of excellence is put forth. I find myself free from the ideology of either method...or any other method. I can bring in nature study to teach science. If desired, I can bring in worksheets to teach a foreign language, phonics, latin, whatever. I can bring in a writing curriculum, if desired, to fine tune their writing. Yet, I don't have to...their education will still be superior to what they would get elsewhere if I don't. What I will do is rely on my children teaching themselves and using whatever tool I find to learn the subject naturally.

It Has Begun

It has already begun.

Answers

Sometimes I just don't have the answers. I'm the kind of person that likes to have answers for everything. But, so often I do not. I struggle with myself and with my job as a Mom the most I think. How do I teach my children virtue? I feel like Paul so often as I say, "that which I don't want to do, I do, and that which I want to do, I don't do. Who shall save me from this body of sin? Thanks be to Jesus Christ."

Very often I'm very hard on my oldest...Yet, sometimes she behaves so badly...so impatient and bossy with her just younger sister or just older sister (my stepdaughter). It is so difficult for me. I want to teach her to be patient...and I am so impatient with her impatience!

I appreciate this post from I Live in An Antbed. She talks about figuring out what is the trait that the enemy is perverting in your child and teaching them what they are to be. Her example in her child is stubbornness and the resulting lesson is that God wants the child to be determined, but not stubborn. I need to be patient with my child and teach her, not just correct her. Oh, I pray God will enable me. He has done a work in me thus far, causing me to be more contented, more eternally oriented, more family oriented, but it always feels like there is a chasm from where I should be and where I am.

Lord, help me to be patient myself, to teach my daughter to be meek and patient and eternally oriented. She is such a blessing to me, because I know if I ask her to she will follow my directions exactly and help me. Let her be a blessing to others also, serving them as she serves You. I pray that You would teach her to serve, not only myself, but her sisters, strangers, and you Our Lord.