not so good at blogging obviously. It is a good thing though because in this case it just means I am very busy.
We just wrapped up 9 weeks of school. The modified workbox system we are using has completely revolutionized school for us. We get 99% of what I have planned done. That is unheard of in this house.
This year we are using new core curriculum from Heart of Dakota. It is cute, sweet (maybe too sweet) and a little bit fun, but I am not sure I want to be married to it. We are committed for the year though and we are enjoying it so that is good. One thing I really do like about the program, and that will stay with us even if we decide to go else where next year, is the Drawn Into the Heart of Reading curriculum that HOD puts out. I am using it with El and it has really helped her to begin to love reading, something she has only mildly tolerated in past years.
It has you read through 9 genres of books and really study the books that you read. So far we have gone through Biography and are now wrapping up Adventure. For Adventure she read, Stone Fox, a book about a boy and his dog. The boy, Little Willie, is trying to save his grandpa's potato farm from the IRS by entering and winning a dog sled race. We ended up our 9th day of reading with Stone Fox, the usual dog sledding champion, coming up on Little Willie and his faithful dog, Searchlight, just as they were coming to the last stretch of the race. It was Friday. What a cliffhanger! It was all I could do to keep her from reading it before Monday.
So there we are, Monday, in the school room. El is practically bouncing up and down in her desk while she starts reading the last chapter. She is reading so fast (I have never seen this child so excited about a book)! She turns the page and reads, "....100 feet from the finish line, her heart burst. She died instantly." (not an exact quote) WHAT?!!! She continues to read for a few more lines and then she burst into tears and throws up her arms. "I just can't do it anymore!" Awww. She climbs in my lap sobbing and I start to read the last paragraph of the book to her. It took a few minutes because I was sobbing too. Needless to say, the rest of school was canceled for the day. Who can concentrate on predicate nominatives after that? Only the truly cold hearted I would venture to say.
I spent the rest of the day doing mental flip flops. "I should of preread the story and not allowed her to read it. She is too young for that kind of trauma. No! Death is a part of life and besides, being moved to tears by a book is a sign of a good book." Back and forth all evening these two thoughts warred in my mind as she broke out into fresh tears again and again. Fortunately, the next day we started a new book and she was ecstatic to learn it was about dolphins. Four days in to the reading and she suddenly hugs me and announces, "I love reading!" Yay! I have longed to hear those words. (And we obviously avoided psychological scarring from the book.)
Meanwhile, a teacher friend of mine has told me of a book called No More Dead Dogs. It seems that it is the norm in childrens' literature for the dog to die. I didn't know that!
Friday, September 2, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
July 22 2009
After a pleasant (and natural) birthing experience at Gwinnett Medical Center, we welcomed Josephine Grace into our family. She was so sweet just like her name.
Today she is still quite sweet, but she is so much more. She is funny, thoughtful, totally in love with her baby sister, obsessed with Yo Gabba Gabba and will only call me "Daddy". She does that on purpose b/c she will slip up sometimes and say "Mommy, I mean Daddy!" (Did I mention she is intelligent?) Silly Posie!
Tomorrow we will celebrate her birth with friends and family.
Today is also the day our youngest turns 3 months. How blessed we are to have 5 amazing girls!
Today she is still quite sweet, but she is so much more. She is funny, thoughtful, totally in love with her baby sister, obsessed with Yo Gabba Gabba and will only call me "Daddy". She does that on purpose b/c she will slip up sometimes and say "Mommy, I mean Daddy!" (Did I mention she is intelligent?) Silly Posie!
Tomorrow we will celebrate her birth with friends and family.
Today is also the day our youngest turns 3 months. How blessed we are to have 5 amazing girls!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Week 1 with 5 - complete Success
I will admit it.
I was terrified.
The thought of home schooling my rising 4th and 2nd graders while taking care of and occupying my 4yo, 23mo, and 2mo made my knees shake. Just thinking of juggling lessons, laundry, littles, 3 meals a day, and the general care and upkeep of the home was keeping me up at night.
Still, I persevered. I went ahead with our scheduled start date in spite of my husband's sudden change in work schedule that has him gone from the predawn to the post evening seven days a week. I charged on with my plans to use work boxes which are new to us and all new curriculum and even decided for extra measure to throw some schooling in for the four year old. All the while a small voice of fear kept saying, "You cannot do this. You will fail. You will have to put them in school."
A stronger voice calmly reminded me that I could. That I could do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That I could do all of it, one step at a time, moment by moment. But that I could only do it with grace, peace and gentleness through the power of the Holy Spirit. That while, on my own, I could muddle and scream my way through each moment, through Him, we would soar. And we did.
We start each day with memory verses and catechism during breakfast. After clearing the table we go to our school room for Calendar Time. I copied the idea for our calendar board and our calendar notebooks from a blog I found while searching out information on work boxes. In fact, I ended up following her plan for our work boxes as well and we love them. You can find the blog at http://www.mama-jenn.blogspot.com/.
While the older two work on their notebooks, I spend some time with N, the 4 yo. We are going through Heart of Dakota's Little Hands to Heaven and then following it up with some worksheets and crafts centered around the number and letter of the week. She has been impatiently waiting to start her own school work. She was begging me several times a day, "Can't we just do it now? I am ready." The verdict when asked how her first week of school went; "I hate school really, but I will keep on doing it." Ah, four - the obstinate age.
When E and M are done with their notebooks, they get started with their work boxes for the day. Depending on what the subject is, they either follow the direction I have written out for them, or they come and see me for instruction. Then during Josie's nap time, we work on HOD's Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory. This is a little beneath E but she has not had any geography instruction so it seemed like a good place to start. I beef it up for her with extra required reading and some notebooking pages. She also follows her own Grammar and Math programs. Plus she does Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day for science. Today she made gliders for an experiment on wing structure. She did it all on her own and was quite thrilled with the outcome.
I was terrified.
The thought of home schooling my rising 4th and 2nd graders while taking care of and occupying my 4yo, 23mo, and 2mo made my knees shake. Just thinking of juggling lessons, laundry, littles, 3 meals a day, and the general care and upkeep of the home was keeping me up at night.
Still, I persevered. I went ahead with our scheduled start date in spite of my husband's sudden change in work schedule that has him gone from the predawn to the post evening seven days a week. I charged on with my plans to use work boxes which are new to us and all new curriculum and even decided for extra measure to throw some schooling in for the four year old. All the while a small voice of fear kept saying, "You cannot do this. You will fail. You will have to put them in school."
A stronger voice calmly reminded me that I could. That I could do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That I could do all of it, one step at a time, moment by moment. But that I could only do it with grace, peace and gentleness through the power of the Holy Spirit. That while, on my own, I could muddle and scream my way through each moment, through Him, we would soar. And we did.
We start each day with memory verses and catechism during breakfast. After clearing the table we go to our school room for Calendar Time. I copied the idea for our calendar board and our calendar notebooks from a blog I found while searching out information on work boxes. In fact, I ended up following her plan for our work boxes as well and we love them. You can find the blog at http://www.mama-jenn.blogspot.com/.
While the older two work on their notebooks, I spend some time with N, the 4 yo. We are going through Heart of Dakota's Little Hands to Heaven and then following it up with some worksheets and crafts centered around the number and letter of the week. She has been impatiently waiting to start her own school work. She was begging me several times a day, "Can't we just do it now? I am ready." The verdict when asked how her first week of school went; "I hate school really, but I will keep on doing it." Ah, four - the obstinate age.
When E and M are done with their notebooks, they get started with their work boxes for the day. Depending on what the subject is, they either follow the direction I have written out for them, or they come and see me for instruction. Then during Josie's nap time, we work on HOD's Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory. This is a little beneath E but she has not had any geography instruction so it seemed like a good place to start. I beef it up for her with extra required reading and some notebooking pages. She also follows her own Grammar and Math programs. Plus she does Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day for science. Today she made gliders for an experiment on wing structure. She did it all on her own and was quite thrilled with the outcome.
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