homeschool — See Jamie blog

A week of birds, birds, birds! (And my new ‘do)

on May 11, 2012

Our hummingbirds are back! Last weekend I hung a feeder and bought a colorful hanging plant for the back porch, trying to give the hummers a better chance of finding the feeder. The next morning, I got buzzed when I took Lacy outside, and this week I’ve seen them coming and going, even while I’m out on the porch. I know we have both males and females already. When I see them coming more frequently, or males starting their fighting, I’ll hang another feeder, too.

Pigs really do fly. Our bird feeder is evidence of this fact. Our piggy birdies eat every bit of seed in our feeder in just a few days. The house finches have been back in full force; one day we counted at least seven on the feeder at once.

Birds we’ve seen at our feeder this month include:

house finches
cardinals
eastern towhees (they sing, “Drink your tea!” so I love them especially!)
goldfinches, now wearing their bright summer coats
downy woodpeckers and red-bellied woodpeckers
chickadees and titmice (or is it titmouses?)
chipping sparrows
white-breasted nuthatches

One little nuthatch had a bit TOO close of an encounter with the bird feeder. Ken re-filled it yesterday {again!}, and found a nuthatch inside the feeder — a little too eager to get at the seed! It was okay, and must not have been there long, but I’m glad we didn’t wait days to refill it or the little thing might’ve died in there.

Didn’t Kathryn do a lovely job on her nature notebook page this week?

I said I wouldn’t allow any games on my iPad (because it’s mine, all mine!) but I did make a few exceptions for educational games. Kathryn loooooves Stack the States, a geography game I found by recommendation from Tricia (aka HodgePodge Mom).

This week we finished up all of our history readings for the school year, including The Story of Inventions by Frank Bachman. Our last two chapters were on the invention of the computer, and the history of space travel. I loved this quote by Dr. Wernher von Braun, the scientist who headed up the development of the U.S. space program:

In our modern world, people seem to feel that science has somehow made “religious ideas” seem old-fashioned. Nevertheless, I think science has a real surprise for the skeptics. Science, for instance, tells us that nothing in nature, not even the tiniest particle, can disappear without a trace. Think about that for a moment. Nature does not know extinction, only change. Now if God applies this fundamental principle to the most tiny and humble parts of the universe, does it not make sense to assume that He also applies it to the masterpiece of His creation — the human soul?

Yep.

Guess what? We have completed our 180 required days of school! Kathryn keeps trying to tell me that means she’s a middle-schooler now {breathe in, breathe out}, but I’m totally in denial and told her she’s absolutely not a 6th grader til we start the new school year.

We will keep on at a very relaxed “unofficial” pace through the summer to finish up math, and do the few remaining states in our U.S. States notebook. But for Lindsey, I need to get BUSY making plans for her homeschool year, because we’ll have to start it this summer in order to do all that she needs to get done.

Our church only does GA’s (Girls in Action) through 5th grade, so Wednesday was Kathryn’s last night ever! The 5th graders get charms instead of badges, so they received the charms they earned for the year and celebrated with ice cream sundaes.

PHOTOS IN COLLAGE: 1) Ready for hummingbirds; 2) Geography on the iPad; 3) GA’s charms in lieu of badges; 4) I take too many photos of Lacy sleeping; 5) helping Brandon and Diane address and seal wedding invitations; 6) Kathryn working at the soup kitchen.

I’M INSPIRED BY… serving again at the soup kitchen. There is some craziness in my life right now, and this is a reality check I need. I hope as we continue working there, we’ll find ways to be more useful and figure out more specific ways we might serve or bless the people who come for a meal. Want more inspiration? Read some of the posts from the Compassion bloggers who have been in Tanzania all week.

A PHOTO TO SHARE:
I have a new ‘do. I like my hair LONG or SHORT (not at all in-between), and since it takes entirely too long to get it long, I decided to just go short again. Really short.

(Reminded why I don’t like self-portraits: lens angle makes my nose look HUGE!)

—> HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, all you sweet mama-friends! {hugs}

Linking today with:
- iHN’s Homeschool Mother’s Journal
- Kris’ Weekly Wrap-Up
- Mary’s Collage Friday
- Dawn’s Camera Phone Friday

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Filed Under: homeschool Tagged With: nature study, weekly report

Our Week: Interest-Led Nature Study and More!

on May 4, 2012

LAST WEEK:
We finished up Kathryn’s semester of enrichment classes, finally came to the end of the book Freckles (which we loooooved!), and Kathryn and I served at a soup kitchen! I’ve looked far and wide for a ministry opportunity where kids were allowed to serve, and this one dropped right in my lap. Neither of us knew what to expect, but we loved it. Kathryn was a great helper, and was complimented by the staff about her ability to follow directions well. She even willingly helped wash dishes! I cooked 50+ grilled cheese sandwiches; not something I’ve ever been able to say before! Right now this place serves two meals a week, and we’re on the schedule to serve two more times this month, and hope to continue serving at least twice a month.

LIFE/HOMESCHOOL THIS WEEK:
We’ve had all sorts of unplanned interest-led kinds nature study going on: birds, fruit trees, and the crows and small king snake I posted about earlier this week.

(history reading, pitiful Lacy, baby apples, and road trip dreaming)

This year we finally have apples on both apple trees! We have two apples trees: one for yellow apples and one for green apples, but we were beginning to wonder if they would cross-pollinate since they are different varieties. Maybe they just haven’t been mature enough. I’m eager for them to get more prolific in their apple-making. Homemade apple pies made from apples in our own back yard = pretty close to perfection.

Our peach tree is very prolific and seems to be happy overall, but we can’t keep the critters from destroying the peaches. We’ve yet to get one actual edible peach yet. Even though Georgia is the peach state, we can’t buy the proper spray without an agricultural license.

It’s baby bird time! We’ve seen baby cardinals being fed in the dogwood tree outside our living room window, and practicing flying around in the backyard. We think their nest is in a big spruce-looking tree.

Lacy the fast-running WonderDog hurt her foot this week. She is one tough girl; I’ve seen her crash and slide when cutting a fast turn in wet grass, and heard her smack a foot or tail into the wooden play set, but in all those instances, she just keeps on running. This time, though, she stopped and limped over to me. I examined it, but didn’t see anything obvious, so we just kept watching it for the day. She limped a lot the rest of the day, and didn’t even bark at the FedEx truck (which is really saying something!). But by the next day, she was almost fully recovered, so I think she just bruised it.

Lindsey is talking about looking forward to being home for school (just three more weeks), and is still on the hunt for a part-time job. Ken and Kathryn have a wild idea to do a major road trip, and while I admit that does sound interesting, it also sounds like a whole lot more time with my butt in a car than I’d like! Since Lindsey won’t be tied to the public school schedule, these sorts of adventures could actually be possible.

A PHOTO TO SHARE:
One of my favorite flowers: a peony, just opening.

And this shrub. It smells AMAZING but I have no idea what it is. Anybody know???

MY FAVORITE THING THIS WEEK (one of them, anyway):
Sunday afternoon, Kathryn asked if she could do some more reading in her George Washington Carver book. Just because she wanted to. Have I mentioned how much I love living books? She really likes the “Heroes of History” series.

As of this evening, the girls will both be gone for the weekend, so I’m looking forward to spending time with Ken. What are you looking forward to this weekend?

Linking today with:
- iHN’s Homeschool Mother’s Journal
- Kris’ Weekly Wrap-Up
- Mary’s Collage Friday
- Dawn’s Camera Phone Friday

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Filed Under: homeschool Tagged With: ministry and missions, nature study, weekly report

Learning with MawMaw & Papa

on May 3, 2012

These photos are from back in 2008, when Kathryn was just 7 years old.

As homeschoolers, we’ve all heard it… what about socialization? I’ve thought about this often over the years, and there is one specific day that stands out in my memory: a day we spent with with Ken’s grandparents, who live about two hours south of us.

Aren’t they adorable?

MawMaw and Papa

MawMaw and Papa have been married nearly sixty-five years, and have lived in this same house, built by Papa, that whole time. In this house, they have raised four children, loved on lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and eaten a whole lot of world-famous (almost!) biscuits that MawMaw makes from scratch every day! They are some of the sweetest, kindest, most Jesus-loving people I have ever known, and I am so blessed to have married into their family.

You can’t go to MawMaw’s house without being fed. I think it’s some sort of Southern grandmother law in a book I haven’t been given yet, since I’m not yet a grandmother. Anyway, on this day, as any day we visit them, we ate dinner (that’s lunch for the city folks) made by MawMaw and blessed by Papa. When we were stuffed, we sat out on the porch for a while sipping on sweet tea. Brandon and Ken took turns riding Papa’s gas-powered scooter while Kathryn enjoyed a chat with Papa.

Kathryn and Papa on the swing

At Ken’s request, MawMaw played a little for us on the piano (she is the piano player for her church).

MawMaw playing piano

Than, at my request, she showed us all some really great old family photos. I was blessed by listening to MawMaw’s stories about her family, and about what it was like when she was a little girl. She and I continued talking and looking at pictures; meanwhile the others went out to the porch and Ken and Papa played guitar. Kathryn and Brandon listened (and sometimes sang along) as they swang.

Papa and Ken play guitar

Later, MawMaw gave us girls a little crochet lesson: not enough so that I can do it, but enough to make me want to learn how. The baby blankets she makes are beautiful!

MawMaw shows us how to crochet

Papa loves to garden, so he showed us the tomatoes and peppers he’s already planted. (That rusty old bus behind Papa is a story in itself!)

Papa and the bus

On this day spent with MawMaw and Papa, Kathryn learned far more than she would’ve in a classroom. It is far more important to me that my child can relate people of ALL ages, rather than a room full of kids exactly the same age. I’m so glad we homeschool, so that days like this are more frequent than they would be otherwise.

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Filed Under: homeschool

Nature Study: Crows

on May 1, 2012

I love it when a nature study comes to us, rather than when we have to go looking for it. (Mostly because I have slacked big-time this year in planning for studies!)

We came home one day last week to find this garden snake in our driveway, being attacked by crows. We actually like snakes around here, so I stopped the car to get a better look and make sure I didn’t run over him. He was still crawling, and I thought the crows had just found him, so I was going to move him to safety. But then I saw bloody marks on his head and noticed he had a chunk missing on one side, so I knew he wasn’t going to make it. I decided to leave him to the crows, figuring they’d finish him off pretty quickly and put him out of any misery he might have been in.

snake

Kathryn was mad. Like I said, we appreciate snakes, and this one is a good one to have around. (It would’ve been a different story if it was a poisonous copperhead.) It’s one thing to see how nature works when you’re watching a National Geographic show on lions in Africa; it’s quite another thing to see it right up close.

One of my twitter friends said (after I tweeted about this) that crows had eaten the baby robins from a nest at her house last year. A few days after this, I saw a crow flying with something pink and baby-bird-sized in its mouth, and then landed in a tree to eat whatever it was. I told Kathryn what I’d seen, and that prompted her to get out the Handbook of Nature Study and find the section on crows. I read the section aloud, and Kathryn’s crow-hating thoughts quickly turned to wishing she could have one as a pet when she learned how intelligent they are — and that the nest-raiding habit is apparently not the case with all crows. I told her it’s probably like man-eating lions: very seldom does that ever happen, but if a lion ever learns how much easier it is to eat a human than a fast-running, hard-kicking zebra, for instance, then they’ll prefer to hunt humans. Once a crow learns what easy fare the bird nest buffet is, I’m guessing they probably keep that habit going.

After we’d read and talked about crows, I remembered that I have a whole bunch of bird notebooking pages, so Kathryn and I each chose the one we wanted and printed those off to fill in and put in our nature journals. I’m trying to do nature journal entries as well, to help encourage her to do so.

Barb’s Outdoor Hour Challenge #6 has great ideas for studying birds. (Of course! Barb always has great nature study ideas!)

It’s slow getting back into regular nature studies, but I’m encouraged that even when we don’t do a “formal” study, we’re almost always studying some plant or creature that sometimes literally crosses our path.

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Filed Under: homeschool Tagged With: nature study

Weekly Report: Making Plans (& a cute dog)

on April 21, 2012

weekly report

We’re in a holding pattern in our homeschool lately, just doing our thing, looking toward the end of this school year and already anticipating next school year. We’ll be starting some of our next-year stuff this summer, as I’d really like to work gradually into more of a year-round schedule. More on that as I figure it out.

There are still, as always, things I’d like to be doing but we’re not. It’s not that we don’t have time, but we lack some of the good habits we need. I’m hoping with the fresh start of a fresh year, I’ll be able to get everyone set on better schedules and habits. A lot of thought and prayer right now about exactly HOW to accomplish that.

Technology is handy: Kathryn uses the YouVersion Bible app on my iPhone to look up verses for her daily Bible study.

Lindsey has been applying for jobs at a few nearby places, and we’re hoping she’ll hear something good back soon. She needs to start making (and learning to save) money, and we’re requiring a part-time job as part of her increasing responsibilities. She’d also like to have a car one of these days, and there are not currently any fairy car-godmothers around, so a job would be handy for that sort of thing — even though we’ll be the ones driving her hither and thither for a while. For the record, even if there was a fairy godmother around, we believe earning at least a large portion of the money for a car is the best way to make sure she appreciates it!

I’ve haven’t yet shared more of the why’s and our plans for Lindsey coming back home for school after she finishes out this year of public school, mostly because I didn’t want things to change again after I wrote about them, but it’s looking like this is what we’ll be doing. So, more on that soon. I’m busy wrapping my brain around it all right now.

Holocaust Remembrance Day — or Yom HaShoah — was on Thursday, so it began the evening before, as Jewish holidays do. We attended a remembrance service at a messianic synagogue Wednesday night. Mostly this consisted of various readings from survivors of the holocaust. What those people went through (mostly Jews, but not all) is truly beyond comprehension. Let us not forget how easily evil can spring up and grow; all it takes is for people to stand idle by, refusing to speak about it, hoping it will go away.

Kathryn made this tile in the kid-friendlier version of the Holocaust service.

This week, Kathryn made a duct tape wallet for her step-brother’s birthday present. She’s also been working hard on finishing up a nifty knitted scarf because next week is her last day of enrichment classes for the year, and she needs the teacher’s help on the final steps for the scarf. We still want to learn to knit without looms, and I’m hoping to have time (and brain power) to do that over the summer.

Lacy is cute. There’s no other reason for this photo. She spends most of her day lounging in the bed because she is a lazy spoiled bum of a dog. But the greyhound in her makes her a rather regal-looking bum — and she is the smartest home educated dog I know.

I’m linking up this week with Kris’ Weekly Wrap Up and Sue’s “A Homeschool Mother’s Journal.”

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Filed Under: homeschool Tagged With: weekly report, WonderDog

Our Week: Fun Mama Points = Heart Ties

on April 6, 2012

SPRING BREAK!

With Ken and Lindsey out of the country on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic (returning tomorrow!), this week has been all about being a Fun Mama. We started the week with a sleep over, and I took Kathryn and her friend to our favorite frozen yogurt place the following afternoon. (Can you hear the Fun Mama points already starting to add up? Cha-ching!)

While her friend was still here, Kathryn noticed that a new iris color had opened up, so she excitedly rushed outside and told her friend all about irises and how bees get pollen, and the girls examined the insides of the flowers. I love how excited she was to share nature study with her friend!

The spring weather has been delightful.

Lacy the WonderDog got in on the fun, too. This is her happy face because she LOVES to run, and is even happier when someone runs with her!

I bought Kathryn nearly a whole new wardrobe (or so it seemed) because she’s been growing like a weed and nearly nothing from last summer fit her anymore! This earned me more Fun Mama points, not just because I bought her stuff, but because we spent time finding things that she likes AND that are comfy, and we had fun doing it.

We shopped at Hobby Lobby to restock our craft supplies, and I’m hoping to do a little art project this afternoon. Yesterday we baked a pound cake — my grandmother’s recipe — and then took a big hunk over to my aunt and my grandmother. Gran still loves that cake with a good cup of coffee, but it’s too hard for her to bake like that anymore. We’re blessed that they live just a half-mile away from us, and I want to make a point of visiting them more often. There’s simply no good excuse not to. (Pound cake = points; letting Kathryn help = more points.)

Between rain showers, we made sidewalk paint from this idea on Pinterest. Kathryn had a good time with it, but I think our sidewalk paint would’ve been better if we’d added more cornstarch; I’m guessing this might make it more opaque, so we’ll try it differently next time. Still, it’s a fun outdoor activity. A friend of ours did this, too, and said her toddler LOVED it. (More points.)

We watched a few movies together this week, and ate ice cream BEFORE supper. (Fun points!) I even got extra points for bravery in the line of duty when I had to kill two wasps (or hornets?) that got in the house one day! My favorite of the movies we watched was a 1995 version of A Little Princess, one of Kathryn’s favorite books. We also watched the musical version of Oliver Twist; we enjoyed it but it was very different from the book, even leaving out several main characters. (Movie-watching = more fun points.)

We continued reading-aloud from Freckles, and Kathryn has continued to confiscate my Kindle to read books like The Second Jungle Book and Pollyanna Grows Up. We finished up a few things we’d gotten behind on, and Kathryn made a new page for her nature journal. This got her looking back over her nature journal entries from the past few years, and she is more inspired to start back up with adding new journal entries. We used one of Barb’s free journal pages for this.

As it turned out, this week wasn’t really a week “off” after all, but more like a week of unschooling — which has been a wonderful reminder to me that it really all comes back to a lifestyle of learning.

It’s not about how many days I’ve checked off on my attendance form, or how many lessons we’ve done in any workbook, but it’s about creating an atmosphere where learning never stops: not when the school day is done, not when we’re on a break, and certainly not just because we grow up.

Even more importantly, this week helped build more ties between Kathryn’s heart and mine, and I’m learning how very essential that is, especially the older she gets.

** Today I’m linking up with Kris and Sue and Jamerril! Join us!

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Filed Under: family life, homeschool Tagged With: nature study, parenting, weekly report, WonderDog

Our Week: Chicks and Flowers!

on March 30, 2012

We’re still doing all the usual things: math, history readings, map work, Bible study, copywork, and so on, but we’re trying to add in a bit more art and at least a little nature study.

This week, we did the “three little chicks” pastel, inspired by Nana at the Hodgepodge.

The resulting art: mine, with a confused chick going the wrong way, is at left; Kathryn’s is at right. I like hers much better because it looks like a cute Easter card, but she insisted I share mine, too. She really did a beautiful job with the blending this time! And she blogged about it, too!

This week’s informal nature study was mostly about the irises in our yard. Last year, we planted several different colors from Ken’s grandma’s flower garden, but lost track of which ones we planted where. When we saw buds emerge, we eagerly watched to see what color they would be. These are much, much taller than the purple irises we’ve had for years. We spent some time outside examining the insides of the flowers, and although these new ones look entirely white, they are pale lavender on the inside. We studied how perfectly they are formed to make sure the pollen gets on the bees that visit. And now we’re eagerly watching two different iris buds to see what color they will be when they open in the next few days.

I really want to try to do a watercolor or maybe a pastel of one of these pretty flowers!

Lacy the WonderDog was due for a check-up, and Kathryn was eager to go on this little trip to the vet. We didn’t get a tour or learn all that much new about dogs, so it wouldn’t count as a field trip, but it’s definitely a little bit of life skills — not the least of which was realizing how much it costs to take a dog to the vet! Despite having blood drawn and getting vaccinations, Lacy enjoys vet visits because everyone at the office fawns over her and tells her what a good and pretty girl she is.

In Kathryn’s loom knitting class, they are doing a service project making panels for baby blankets. I think the plan is to finish these in class and then donate them. The yarn she’s using is wonderfully soft. She’s also working on a new purple and white hat.

Next week = Spring Break! We’ll be doing a few catch-up things, eating some frozen yogurt, relaxing, and I’ll be working on earning a few extra Fun Mama points. Meanwhile, Ken and Lindsey will be on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic! Ken is one of the group leaders, and this is the annual spring break mission trip for the high school students at our church.

If you missed our television interview, we hope you’ll check that out when you have time!

** I’m linking up at Kris’ Weekly Wrap-Up and Sue’s A Homeschool Mother’s Journal!

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Filed Under: homeschool Tagged With: nature study, weekly report

Our Week: Pollen, Rainbows, and A New Door!

on March 23, 2012

The highlight of our week this week was a brand new back door. This may not sound tremendously exciting, but the old one was just about rotting out of the wall, so it was much needed. Our next project is to get the back porch a bit more finished. Below, the old rotting door at left, the new unit at right, and the job in process!

We aren’t doing much nature study lately, but we were looking at the March edition of Barb’s “Handbook of Nature Study Newsletter,” and Kathryn perked up when she saw the idea to draw a chalk rainbow on the driveway before a spring rain storm. We knew the forecast called for rain, so we braved the pollen (seriously bad: we set new record highs this week!) and drew on the driveway. Later that evening, the rain washed it all away — along with at least some of the pollen!

Now things are only slightly yellow from the plethora of pollen.

Our week has also been full of: knitting, and making pompoms for knitting projects; reading Freckles, and Kathryn reading The Jungle Book on her own; doing a bit of geography study on the state of Texas; learning about plate tectonics in A Child’s Geography; looking at random slides in the microscope (just for fun); daily copywork, and building a wind-powered yacht (with wheels) in LEGO simple machines class.

I’ll write a more detailed weekly report next time, I promise! What have you been up to this week? Share at Kris’ Weekly Wrap-Up or Sue’s A Homeschool Mother’s Journal!

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Filed Under: homeschool Tagged With: weekly report

Our Week: Daughters, Duct Tape, & Decisions

on March 16, 2012

Last Friday night, I took both of my girls to the annual Mother-Daughter event at our church. It was a ballet performance of a modernized version of the story of Ruth, followed by a dessert reception. The fun of the evening (influenced, I’m sure, by the sugar we’d eaten) made for much laughter on our drive home. These lighthearted moments are becoming more frequent, and I am very thankful.

After many talks and much pondering, it looks as though Lindsey will be homeschooling again next year. She has realized that this will give her much more flexibility, and will get her graduated sooner than if she sticks with the rigidity of public school requirements and schedules. If she remains in public school, she’s likely looking at three more years, and she’s already 17. I’ve made no promises about this time-frame, but told her if she is extremely diligent and if we start this June, then she may be able to graduate in June 2013. So now I’m in major planning mode because I’ll be trying to fit in nearly two years of schooling into one calendar year; there are a variety of reasons for this, but that’s for another post, another time.

Last Sunday, Kathryn celebrated Purim and dressed as Esther for a costume contest (at her dad’s messianic synagogue). This week, for a bat mitzvah class assignment, she wrote a short report comparing the play at the Purim celebration to the story of Esther in the Bible.

Kathryn has been on a major creative kick lately, and has been knitting up a storm, plus making a few fun and funky projects, like this brightly colored Duct tape purse!

I started our next scheduled literature read-aloud, Kim by Rudyard Kipling, but didn’t even make it through the first chapter before I decided I needed a less cumbersome read-aloud after Oliver Twist. Oddly enough, I can talk a mile a minute, but reading something like that aloud wears me out; weird, huh? So we’re reading another book from our shelf, Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter. We’re only a few chapters into it, but we are both enjoying it.

Kathryn’s interest in astronomy has grown since finding a few great sites like EarthSky.org and Astronomy Picture of the Day. As we were in the car with my mom the other night, Kathryn was telling her all about Jupiter and Venus, and how they’re in a different place than usual, and other things that make my brain hurt to think about. Yeah, homeschool is cool. Just a note: the EarthSky site is not at all Creation-minded, but if you stick to the astronomy parts, it’s good stuff. Kathryn has eagerly taken it upon herself to learn all this; I should really look for some good astronomy books, too!

I’m hoping later today to do a little art project. If we do, I’ll be sure to share. Kathryn wants to do the little chicks pastel from Hodgepodge, and next week, I want to try Barb’s peony!

** I’m linking up with Kris’ Weekly Wrap-Up, and Sue’s A Homeschool Mother’s Journal.

–> Don’t miss fun giveaway I’m doing next week for a “My Husband Rocks” t-shirt from Union28! Check back Monday for a post with all the details!!

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Filed Under: homeschool Tagged With: weekly report

Weekly Report: It’s March already!?

on March 9, 2012

I honestly don’t think I have unreasonable expectations for what I hope to accomplish in a homeschool week, but it rarely ends up happening. Ever been there? That’s one of the reasons I like doing these weekly reports; even when I don’t feel like we’ve done much, writing it down like this makes me realize how very much we really did do!

I’m delinquent again in updating, so this covers a few weeks!

weekly report

On President’s Day, Lindsey was out of school, so we declared it a family fun day, Ken took the day off, and we spent the day on a family field trip visiting the Tennessee Aquarium and taking an educational (and speedy!) boat ride on the Tennessee River. History, science, and family fun — all in one!

Later that week, Kathryn was under the weather so we did lots of reading, and took advantage of our free Netflix trial to watch some history and science programs. We watched an episode of The Blue Planet (all about the ocean), and a documentary on the Sphinx. I think she’d watch the History channel and National Geographic all day long if I’d let her. But then again, those tend to be my shows of choice on the rare occasions when I do watch TV or movies.

Above: Lacy the WonderDog stands guard by a sick girl; practicing calligraphy; racer derby car; LEGO catapult; Kathryn snagged the Smithsonian magazine as soon as it arrived; LEGO conveyor belt.

Speaking of TV, we started this week out by doing a television interview for a local station. This episode will focus on adoption and the need for permanence in a child’s life, versus spending years and years in foster care. Although we didn’t get a full tour of the TV station, it was fun to see the behind the scenes stuff. Another field trip! I’m very impressed that both my daughters are willing to do things like this, too; I was so shy as a kid, and couldn’t have imagined doing television or radio interviews, or standing up and speaking in front of groups — all things we’ve done as adoption advocates in the past couple of years. It blows my mind, y’all!

This week, Kathryn finished up her Wordly Wise vocabulary lessons for the year. She has a couple of crossword-puzzle type reviews left to do, but that’s it! We were ahead of schedule on this, but we’re behind on plenty of other things to make up for that.

Kathryn has been learning calligraphy with a set her dad got her for Christmas. It’s fun, so everyone in the family has wanted a try. She’s also still doing regular copywork with quotes from Civil War heroes, and she may just have the best handwriting in the family.

For her bat mitzvah classes, Kathryn read the book Number the Stars. I read it, too, and it’s quite good. A historical fiction story of a young girl in Demark during the Nazi occupation. Easy as far as reading level, but good content.

In Stories of Inventions, we’ve been reading about Samuel Morse and the telegraph. It’s pretty astounding to think of just how much some of the inventions we’ve read about so drastically changed the world! Again we were reminded that people often have to fail many times before they finally succeed in a big way — and one person really can make a huge difference in the world, for good or bad.

In other history readings, we’re nearing the end of This Country of Ours (one of our read-alouds), and Kathryn is enjoying the first few chapters of Teddy Roosevelt: An American Original and The Ground-breaking, Chance-Taking Life of George Washington Carver. I also discovered a book on our homeschool shelf that I’d forgotten we had, so she eagerly whizzed through that one this week: Escape to Freedom, about the Underground Railroad.

As for literature: We should be able to finish up Oliver Twist this afternoon. We’ve enjoyed following Oliver’s adventures, but I’m ready to move on to a less difficult read-aloud. On her own, Kathryn’s been reading a variety of books, as she usually does. We’ve just put together a list on Amazon of Kathryn’s recommended reads, and we’ll keep adding to it as she finds new favorites!

Kathryn is still knitting up a storm: she’s finished a cable-knit type of baby hat, started a new hat, and is working on her first scarf. In her LEGO simple machines class the past few weeks, she has build a catapult and a conveyor belt. Seriously cool stuff!

In case you missed it, I finally wrote that review on Teaching Textbooks, so check it out if you’ve considered using it, or if you’re looking for a new math curriculum.

Curious about other homeschool books we’re using? I’m trying to keep this list updated.

** I’m linking up with Kris’ Weekly Wrap-Up; with Sue’s A Homeschool Mother’s Journal; and with Dawn’s Camera Phone Fridays! Come join the fun!

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(Note: post may contain affiliate links. See disclosure page for details.)

Filed Under: homeschool Tagged With: weekly report

Teaching Textbooks Math: My Review

on February 23, 2012

As promised, my review of Teaching Textbooks — with big thanks to Kathryn, our resident expert, for her assistance in making sure I covered all the important points in this review!

Teaching Textbooks is a full-year math curriculum that includes a consumable workbook, an answer booklet, and four CDs with step-by-step audiovisual instruction — plus a digital gradebook that instantly grades answers and calculates scores for each assignment.

First, since I always find reviews most helpful when I know where the reviewer is coming from, let me tell you a bit about us. I have home educated Kathryn since kindergarten, and we have used several of the math curricula I most often hear about: Saxon (1st and 2nd grades), Horizons (3rd and 4th grades), and Singapore (kindergarten, and beginning of 5th grade). They have all had their good and bad points. Somewhere along the way, though certainly not entirely because of curriculum we were or weren’t using, Kathryn began to hate math. Our homeschool days became stressful because of all the difficulties surrounding our math lessons. Clearly, I couldn’t just do away with math entirely, but we had to have something significantly different. She had become frustrated, and began to feel as though math was hard and she was bad at it — which was far from the truth.

I hesitated in trying Teaching Textbooks because of the cost. I don’t mind paying for a good curriculum that really works, but not for one we’d briefly use and then set aside. Finally, I took the plunge, deciding that even if it only succeeded in getting us over this difficult math-malevolent hump, it would be worth every penny.

Before starting this program, we took a couple of weeks off from math so we could have a fresh start. I talked it up favorably, as I often do with any new thing we’ll be trying. Kathryn enjoys playing educational games on the computer, so I told her that in many ways, this would be like that.

How it works: Kathryn puts in the current Teaching Textbooks CD into the laptop. She clicks the desktop icon to open the program, which we easily installed before the first lesson. Once the program opens, she logs in, then chooses the lesson she is to do. She can also view her gradebook at any time, and usually does so at the end of her lesson. The gradebook shows the score of each lesson, and any problems missed. Teaching Textbooks comes with a workbook, but we have not used that at all. She keeps a piece of scrap paper nearby to work out problems she can’t do in her head. The workbook is good to have for reference purposes, and some families might use it often.

Each lesson is taught orally, along with animation demonstrating what is being taught. (You can view a sample lesson on the TT site.) The narrator has a pleasant voice, and every time the student enters a correct answer, the narrator offers some positive encouragement, such as Great job; You got it; or Awesome! Once the lesson has been explained, there are a few practice problems before the “real” assignment begins. Some of the questions in each lesson are true/false; some are multiple choice; some are fill-in-the-blank.

I’m not sure what options there are for older kids in the upper-level programs, but this level allows the student to choose a “buddy” for each lesson. These buddies show up in the top left-hand corner of the screen, and change slightly as the child answers each question correctly. For instance, a robot is built a little at a time, until it’s complete and a new one starts. Same with paper airplanes. Or a kitten changes outfits and adds accessories, or a mouse climbs higher to reach a piece of cheese. The buddies can even be changed mid-lesson. They also offer occasional hints throughout the lesson. It’s fun, and if I’m not close by, Kathryn calls me over to see what the buddy is doing.

In preparing to write this review, I asked Kathryn for her input. As a homeschooling mom, I can give my opinion about it, but I think the student’s opinion is just as important!

She told me her favorite thing about Teaching Textbooks is the buddies; her least favorite thing is the T/F questions because they can be tricky.

When compared to the other math curricula we’ve used, I asked if she likes this one better. When she said yes, I asked if it’s just a little better, or a lot; she enthusiastically said it’s a LOT better!

She had this to tell the kids: “It’s easier than the other math programs. Well, it’s not really easier, but it explains things really well, and helps you whether you learn best with your ears or with your eyes.”

To the parents: “It doesn’t take up much room because you only need the cd’s, as long as you already have a computer to use. It is easy for you because it does most of the teaching.”

From my perspective, the lessons are easy. No preparation on my part is required, and if I follow along with the lesson, I can easily clarify any questions Kathryn has — which are infrequent. It even does all the grading for me.

In the beginning, she was very frustrated that she couldn’t go back to change an incorrect answer (except with fill-in-the-blanks, where the student gets two chances); she has perfectionist tendencies, and having a “wrong answer” on the gradebook upset her. But I used that as a teaching opportunity in itself, and pointed out that a “wrong” answer is just a tool to show that we might need a little more practice on that type of problem. Once we worked past that, I’ve heard no complaining, and that is a DRASTIC change from what math time had become before starting Teaching Textbooks.

Around here, math time is accompanied by a little chocolatey goodness — what we call “math motivation.” (Note: cookies not included with purchase of curriculum.)

Besides the improvement in our lessons, Kathryn’s natural enjoyment of math has returned, too. She doesn’t love every aspect of math, but she has always astounded me with the math she can do mentally (since I have to write down everything), in pointing out things like math problems on the clock (for instance, 4:28 is a math problem because 4 multiplied by 2 is 8). She ponders things like what pi really is, and where infinity ends, and how far you could count if you just kept counting. She is a math-minded child, which is why I knew there was something seriously out of whack when she started disliking it.

Is this the perfect math program? No; I don’t believe there is one. And of course, we must keep in mind the individual learning style of her child, as well as many other factors. I don’t know how long we’ll keep using Teaching Textbooks, but it has proved itself invaluable in our home this year.

More questions? Kathryn and I will do our best to answer them in the comments!

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Filed Under: homeschool Tagged With: curriculum review

Family Field Trip: Tennessee Aquarium

on February 22, 2012

On Monday, Lindsey was out of school, so Ken took the day off, and we planned a fun family outing. Since Lindsey is in public school, and since Kathryn’s bat mitzvah classes take up nearly every Saturday, the days we can do something together like this are rare, and we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.

We drew out the anticipation a bit by not telling them what we were doing until we woke them up that morning. (Yep, still working on becoming a Fun Mama.)

We went last year to the Georgia Aquarium, and it’s great, but we wanted to do something different this time. Lindsey had never been to the Tennessee Aquarium, and it’s been a long time since we took Kathryn there. From where we live, driving to Chattanooga really doesn’t take much longer than driving to Atlanta and finding parking and so on, even though we’re closer in miles to Atlanta. So we spent the day in Chattanooga.

A mirror gave us a chance for a family photo.

Our favorite parts of the Tennessee Aquarium were the penguins, the octopus, and the river otters. The otters are so cute, and very entertaining. The penguins were cute and entertaining, too. (And one pair was working on making baby penguins. What is it with always being there when critters are mating?) The octopus wasn’t cute at all, but I could’ve sat there and watched it for a long time because the way it moves is fascinating.

We were surprised that the Aquarium had a butterfly exhibit. Kathryn was excited about that, but disappointed when no butterflies landed on her. This injured one didn’t want to get off of me!

We toured one half of the Aquarium, then took a lunch break. It was too cold to spend a great deal of time outside, but we did venture up to an observation bridge to look over the city of Chattanooga, and felt compelled to pose on a big brick sofa.

After lunch, it was time for a River Gorge Explorer cruise on the Tennessee River. We’d never done this before! Our guide was very knowledgeable about the wildlife in the area, and the history of the river. Since Kathryn and I have been studying the Civil War, those parts were extra-interesting. The boat was very comfy and very high-tech. Kathryn was a little scared at first because it goes fast and stops fast. At one point, she adamantly stated that she never wanted to be on a boat again. Eventually, however, she relaxed and by the end of the day, she said the boat ride may have been her favorite part. We were all excited to see a bald eagle soaring above the river! By the end of the two-hour cruise, Kathryn went up top (which we could only do at slow speeds) with Ken and loved it!

After the river cruise, we toured the other half of the aquarium.

Kathryn hammed it up for a close-encounter with a piranha, but we also got to touch young sturgeon, as well as a small spotted shark and several types of manna and cow-nose rays. I love that we’ve had these types of personal experiences; if I say a sturgeon feels like manna skin, with shark fins, but more firm than either of the other two, my daughters actually know what I’m talking about! Now, that’s real learning — and no lectures required.