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Pardon me while I mess around a bit with this template. Hopefully I'll finish soon, before I have anything real to say!

A Morning Spent in Scotland

We are reading Little House in the Highlands by Melissa Wiley. It is historical fiction written about Laura Ingalls Wilder's Great Grandmother who grew up in Scotland. At first I thought it blasphemy to try to write novels about LIW's family, but I love the books. They are incredibly descriptive as far as life in Scotland at the end of the 18th century and just fun to read. Plus the boys really like them.

So this morning we had porridge and cream because that is what Martha had for breakfast every morning in her nursery with her brothers and sister. Harry pretended to be Martha's brother Robbie and Sam Duncan, another of her brothers. Annika got to be Martha, although I'm pretty sure Martha never dropped most of her porridge down her dress--maybe she did at almost two. While they ate their breakfasts I read a chapter that described the tenant farmers' cottages, so now I'm trying to find a picture of what one might have looked like. Not that easy, really.

I have this sneaking feeling that we will be incorporating more and more Scotland into our summer--mostly food, probably. But we'll do more than that as the little people in our home want to. It's just fun.

This morning

We're reading Pagoo--a really wonderful book about a hermit crab growing up in a tide pool. It's full of a lot of information about tide pools and the animals that live there. What's more is that the kids really like the book and it's sparking an interest in tide pools. Which, for where we live is pretty good.

This led to looking at other animals in tide pools, trying to figure out how the tides work (I knew it had something to do with the moon, just not exactly how), and inexplicably, looking up how fireworks work.

All in about 30 minutes. (this was actually yesterday morning)

Why Preschool?

The short answer--because Sam needs it.

He doesn't really know how to deal with people his own age, or around his own age. And nothing I was doing was solving this problem. Everyone his age that I know is already in preschool. I also wanted him to have a place where Harry isn't. Although, Harry did go to the same preschool and they all know Sam as "Harry's Little Brother." So there's a slight flaw in the system. Sam's teacher is new to us and didn't know Harry though.

All-in-all it's been a good thing for him, even after only two days. Sam tells me a lot about his day. Tonight he sat on my lap and ticked off the things he remembers from the day. He had snack, rode a bike, made his project. There were about five or six things that he told me about. His teacher said he didn't say much but he did talk a little. Which, frankly for me, was amazing.

I don't know if I truly underestimate Sam or if I just worry too much about him. I know he is incredibly smart and loving and funny and oh-so-stubborn. But I didn't think he'd take to preschool as well as he has. I thought he'd have a harder time relating with the other kids--instead tonight he told me that he played with a "nice boy in a red shirt!" I didn't think he'd talk for a while, if ever.

I am just so incredibly proud of Sam. He has worked so hard just to speak clearly and here he is off in the world by himself, proving me to be the overprotective mom that I am!

The Outside; inside and stuffed

Today we headed out to a local nature center to see what we could see. It was a taxidermists dream. Fortunately my kids all seem to be future taxidermists. They had all of the birds we've seen in our back yard, plus their nests and in some cases their eggs. There were also stuffed gulls, a Great Horned Owl and lots of other things that should normally be flying or creeping.

Along with all of the things the kids couldn't touch, there was plenty they could. Apparently when animals die, people bring them to the nature center. So there were bird wings, feathers, dead lizards (ewww) and all kinds of things to discover.

Since the nature center is by a lagoon, there is also a path partway around where you can see pretty much nothing! The reeds are so high it's a little like being in a corn maze. We were able to watch a little bird jumping around in some mud eating some "most delicious bugs. Yum, yum." That was fun. And the kids saw a couple of ducks as we were driving out.

We had a good, low-key time. The kids did like seeing all of the animals and feeling what they could, but they also had a lot of fun squeezing all of the stuffed birds so they could hear the sounds they make. This doesn't really explain it. Maybe this will help: http://www.seattleaudubon.org/natureshop.cfm?catID=366 . They were toys, not the real birds--we got a mourning dove because they were the first birds we identified when we got the feeder.

This post is getting long. It was just a fun, easy time. There was no pressure to have fun and they could all enjoy themselves at what ever level they are at. Next time you visit, we'll take you there. (All of you. I promise. If you visit, I'll take you all over the place!)

today...

was a very good day.

Harry had his art class and "Kids' Club" over at his little school. He loves his art class and is learning to do so much. He also likes Kids' Club and hanging out with his friends. He needs this outlet too.

Sam had speech where he didn't just talk to his therapist, he talked with her aides as well. I see big changes in store for my reticent little--sorry--"medium small" boy!

And Annika napped for more than an hour. I love it. I used the time to tuck Sam into bed for a nap and do lessons with Harry. We got so much accomplished. I love days like this.

I'm going to bed, but I'll write about Sam's first week at preschool tomorrow. Such a big kid!

Why won't she talk?

As I stated in my last post, Annika will be starting speech therapy soon. I'm not entirely sure when, but it will be in the next couple of months. (It would be sooner, but we won't be available for a while.)

After all that we've been through with Sam's speech and confidence, we kept an eye (or ear) out for anything similar in Annika. And sure enough, she isn't talking yet. Which in and of itself is probably not much to worry about, but with our family history, for Annika it is. She isn't trying to talk--she grunts here and there and has a couple of baby signs that she uses, but overall, she is quiet.

So I took her in to be evaluated by the people at Early Intervention (EI). EI is for families who's children are delayed in any way or have an issue that could affect their development. Going in I really wanted them to say, "no problem here, she'll catch up soon." But they didn't. Instead she is at a 7-9 month level for speech. I can't tell you how disheartening this is. I really wanted them to send me home and laugh at me for being such an overprotective mom. I also know that a speech issue that will be "fixed" fairly easily is nothing compared to what most of the other families at EI go through. But, like every other mom, I want my children to move easily through life. I don't want any of my children to struggle--especially not with something as basic as communicating.

In any case, Annika will be getting services soon. She goes in for a hearing test next month and for an actual speech evaluation then too. After that we'll know exactly what we have to do to get her at age level.

On the other hand, she tests at 36 months for fine motor skills!

The Decision--New and Improved

After writing my last post here the other day, I thought and thought about sending Harry to school. It just bothered me that there were so many reasons I could see to keep homeschooling and doing what we are doing and so few for sending him back. I also kept thinking that I should keep him home--you know the good old feeling that something isn't right about the decision.

So, I decided to follow that feeling. We are keeping him home next year. It just doesn't work to send him back. Sure, the class size is only 20, but here there's only one child in first grade. Here we can set out a bird buffet, pretend to be Jenny Wren, talk more about Erik the Red, do all of the subtraction we can take in one day. All of those things that make learning at home fun and joyous.

It's still going to require some juggling. Sam will have speech and he will still go to preschool--that'll be the hardest thing to deal with, schedule-wise. Annika will also start speech therapy, so there will be another thing to worry about.

But really, the benefits far, far outweigh the negatives. Like, I can't even see the negatives in the rear-view mirror!

yes, we really have done stuff...

really.

But between me being sick every other week and Easter...well, I just haven't been on here much at all. Obviously.

Also, there is that one little issue of Jason coming to me one night and asking me if I was planning to send Harry to school next year. I looked at him, completely shocked, and said, no...why?

So that started me thinking again about school and if I should send him next year. All of my being screamed NOOOOOOOOO. But I still decided to think about why not and also why it might be a good thing.

Reasons why not:

1. I don't want to. I don't want to lose the closeness that we have developed. I like what we are doing and I'm comfortable with our little home-based existence.
   
2. I can do a better job teaching him than a teacher with 20-30 kids.
3. It's a lot of fun opening up a book and exploring it with him.
4. We can do what we want when we want.
5. I don't have to worry about being late for school, packing a lunch (ugg) or getting him dressed.
6. He's really interesting to be with and getting more so the older he gets--why would I want to miss any of this?
7. I discovered that he has a talent and interest in creating art--something that wouldn't have been discovered in ps.
   

Reasons to send him:

1. He wants to go. He is very social and misses his friends.
2. In first grade the classes are limited to 20 kids.
3. It will be nice to have some more one-on-one time with Sam and Annika. And specifically for Sam to get out of Harry's very long shadow.
4. It'll be easier to get stuff done in the middle of the day--it's full day school and I won't feel quite so scattered. (Hopefully)

And the decision is...

Tentatively, Harry is going to First Grade and Sam to Preschool.

The decision was really driven by Sam's need for friends. He's been going to speech for over a year now, but that's just 30 minutes twice a week. I honestly don't know anyone who has a child Sam's age that we can get together with easily. Also, with Sam's personality quirks, he needs to get together with children more.

The preschool Harry went to and that Sam is going to is a coop, meaning that I have to bring snack once a month and "volunteer" twice a month. In order to be able to do that, Harry needs to be in school. Or I need a nanny.

In a very long blog post, my thought process and my decision. I'm okay with it some days and not others. But this is long enough for now, so good night.

A Quickie

Because it's kind of funny...

We've started reading The Burgess Bird Book, a wonderful old book that introduces kids to birds through stories. So instead of having a bunch of dry facts about a wren, the author (Burgess) wrote a story about a wren that just migrated back to her home in the north. She tells all kinds of information in the story, but it is just in there and not something that will hit you over the head.

Anyway. We read the first story this morning, about Jenny Wren. So all day long Harry has run around the house saying, "Tut, tut, tut, I'm Jenny Wren." When I suggested that maybe, he might want to be Mr. Wren, he said "no way, he doesn't get to talk. He only sings." And honestly, if you have ever heard Harry sing, that's probably for the best.

Charlotte Mason

You probably have never heard of her. I hadn't until just a couple of months ago. However, now I'm in the process of rethinking all of my homeschooling plans.

I had planned to follow the Well-Trained Mind. I bought the book, decided that this is how I want my children educated. They would be smart, able to think, and well-read. I also liked the focus on history and phonics.

Unfortunately this hasn't seemed to go as well as I had hoped. The cornerstone of the history studies--a four-year rotation beginning with the Ancient World and ending with the Modern seems really forced. It gives the same weight to Sumeria as the US. While I do think we are incredibly ethnocentric in studying only the US for many years, I do think my kids would enjoy studying the history of the US more than the ancients right now.

So I hunted around some more and stumbled upon this 19th century educator, Charlotte Mason. She is known for short lessons (approx. 15 min in length), copywork, narration, nature studies every afternoon, and a "twaddle"-free life. I can't go into depth right now everything that attracts me to CM, but I will say that I am making some changes in our routines and plans. I am so very happy about this. Things are going swimmingly right now. We don't do all of the big projects we might've, but Harry and Sam are learning so much from just telling me back what they've heard or read.

I'll post more later, but if you are curious, here is a sight with an overview of Charlotte Mason's ideas: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/methods/CharlotteMason.htm

too much information!

While I put Annika to bed at night, I use the internet. Not for her, but for me. I write my posts, look up library books, and search for helpful information. One thing I think is helpful for homeschoolers is the wealth of information out there. It's nice to find a review of a resource you think you might like or people who have the same philosophy as you.

Unfortunately, there is also a downside to all of that information. For two reasons. First it's easy to get caught up reading about how to homeschool and forget to actually homeschool. Second, there is always the tendency to compare myself to these women who have been homeschooling for years and seem to have it down.

The first issue is where I have to make myself leave the computer, stop looking up books, and trust all of the work I've done to make things work actually will. I don't need that one more, really great book that will tie everything together and make Harry and Sam super smart. I just need the five other, pretty great books that will do what I need them to--help Harry and Sam want to know more so they can find the books they like by themselves.

I love information and the fact that there is a fact out there that I'm not aware of kills me. But I need to leave the computer and actually teach my children something. (Not now really, it's bed time, but tomorrow I will--both leave the computer and teach them something.)

As far as the comparisons go. It's a lot less clear-cut than just turning off the computer. I do get valuable information from these women. I just need to remember that I am me. My kids are not their kids. My life is not theirs. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

I do believe that I am doing the right thing for my family. But I think I need to spend less time reading about other people. So if I'm scarce, that's why. Just a little more information for you.

Snow Day

Yesterday we went to the snow. When we got there we went on a bus to the super tram to go to the snow. Once we got out on the super tram we went up, up, and away! Then we went inside to get some food. Daddy wanted a hamburger, but it would take twenty minutes. So instead he got some chicken and rice. I got some food and lemonade. Sam and Mommy got rootbeer.
Then we went to the snow. We had snowball fights. Everyone got Mommy, then everyone got Sam and he was all white. We made a snowman. We rolled snow down a hill and then we put them on top of each other. Then we made snow angels. We laid down and wiggled our arms and legs we went "swish, swish."
Then my hands were freezing and Daddy put his gloves on my hands. When we were going up to the restaurant Mommy put her gloves on my hands and they were warmer. We went up to get hot cocoa. Sam wanted chocolate milk but they didn't have any. But we had hot cocoa.
Then we went down the tram. Once we got down we were going to walk down to the car, but I saw the bus. So we got back in line and we got back on the bus. Then we went and got in the car. And we went home. We watched Baby Einstein and I played some games. A race game and some war games.
We got to Panera Bread and that's where we had our dinner, then we went home and fell fast asleep.

By Harry

The Plan for March

at least the first half. (Roughly 13 March)

Math:
Finish MUS Alpha through lesson 18
Recite his addition facts up to 10 with no errors

Reading/Language Arts:
Beatrix Potter Unit--covers many of her little books, also has copywork and geography components (and lots of crafts)

History:
We are not going to continue with our Ancient World studies right now. Instead we will work on the history of the United States. I'm reserving books from the library right now to use. We'll start with the landing at Plymouth Rock
Also we will create a "Book of Centuries"--sort of a time line in a book

Science:
Move away from just leaves to plants themselves
Keep watching their bean plants and seeing what they do

Art:
Van Gogh--we're having fun with him

Music:
Beethoven--right now a little about his live (birth and death dates) and recognition

Poetry:
We'll all memorize something that I haven't decided on yet

That's it so far, but I think it'll work for now. Check back to see what we're using for resources another time.

The Scientific Method of Madness

I think if there is anything that is being neglected that shouldn't be is science. We've done a lot of half-hearted things so far.

1. Looked at leaves and discussed their structure.
2. Soaked beans to see which would open up fastest (don't do that, it just gets messy and icky)
3. Grown a lima bean in a cup in the kitchen window. So far that's been pretty successful, but we need to plant them tomorrow.
4. Taken a walk around a pond to see what's there. We saw a duck. Yep, one lone living thing. It was fun, but I was really hoping for more. Who knows, maybe the next time we go.
5. Annika walks and collecting. That's pretty cool, but I don't always follow up like I should.

Yesterday Jason had the boys looking at different things under the microscope. I kept wanting to say, "wait, let me get a pencil and a paper, you can write down what you see," but I held my tongue and they had fun with Jason.

I just realized that Harry goes to a science class at the coop, so I'm technically off the hook for that. Yay! Even if he does think it's boring. But that's okay, he's just committed for the month.

Ancient History, Modern Boy

Like I've said already, we started off our history studies at the beginning of time. We use Story of the World--the book and the activity guide. Which is good because I don't have to do a lot of searching for things to do or maps to color.

In the beginning...people were nomads and ate lizards. We talked about different foods they may have eaten (there is a quiz online that Harry had fun with). We looked at cave paintings and made our own. Decided we wouldn't necessarily want to be nomads and moved into the agricultural revolution. We have our own garden so planting seeds is a normal part of Harry's life and I think that helped make sense of what we were reading. We read quite a few books about Early People and their tools and weapons. Harry now can point out a flint in any book he reads.

Now we have moved onto Ancient Egypt. We've located the Nile Delta and talked about the Double Crown King--Narmer. The boys pretend to be Egyptians now when they play. I constantly have to remind them to play nice since neither wants to be the losing king! We made crowns and collars to wear when being Pharaohs. We even made one for Annika. And then of course we've now moved into the gods and goddess portion of our studies. We will be finishing that and moving onto hieroglyphics this week.

That's as far as we've gotten not because we don't like what we're doing, but because we do. It's all interesting and there are so many books to read. Also, since Jason and I have been to Egypt, it's fun to look at the books and pictures and tell Harry what it's really like.

The one thing I wish I'd done a better job in is listing all of the books we've used to supplement SOTW. Our main book is the Kingfisher World History Encyclopedia. But we also use the Usborne First History Encyclopedia. If anyone has a source for cheap Usborne books, let me know. I love most all of them.

Reading: First Month

Reading is a little, okay a lot, trickier to document than math. I think everyone should just rest assured right now that we spend a couple of hours reading a day. It may not be with everyone at all times and they may not be sitting next to me the whole time, but even while they play trains, I'm probably reading to them.

In January we focused a lot on Owl Moon. We read it, Harry narrated it. (I didn't write it down and now I could kick myself). We checked out owl books from the library and decided that while big owls are pretty, baby owls are "pretty gross." We looked at what they eat and when they fly. We talked about where they live and what it would be like to go owling. But we didn't actually go owling. We also tried to make paintings that "looked cold" using some of the techniques in the book. Finally, at the end of this we made paper bag owls.

When we finished that we read A New Coat for Anna. Harry narrated and I did write it down. It was a lot more detailed than I thought it would be. We decided the book probably took place in Germany right after WWII (that caught his interest). We talked about weaving and shearing and all of the steps that go into making a new coat. I attempted to have Harry make a lapbook for it, but it didn't quite go anywhere. Harry wove paper in an attempt to talk about weaving. We check out a bunch of books on weaving, shearing, dying--all things wool. It was a lot of fun. We also read a couple of other books that describe the time period in different places in Europe. The one I liked best was Boxes for Katje. It made me want to plant tulips!

The last January book was Stopping By Woods on A Snowy Evening. This is obviously the poem by Robert Frost and the hardest one for Harry to get into. But was talked about cold and how it made us feel. I think I should have tried to have Harry memorize some, but next poem I will.

And now in February we have Allen Say. I've already talked a lot about what I am going to do, but what have I done? We've read these books already: Grandfather's Journey, Emma's Rug, and How My Parents Learned to Eat. Harry has done narration on all of them. So far his favorite is How my Parents... which isn't written by Say, but illustrated by him. I think Harry likes that one because we have it as a book on tape. And to him cassette tapes are a marvel of modern technology. He had no idea what it was or what it did when I first handed it to him. I thought that was hilarious. He spent the entire day on Friday playing the tape over and over again. He also has been telling me about some of the details in the pictures and the story since then. With Grandfather's Journey we labeled a map with the journey from Japan to California. I want to do one for the journey through the US, but I think that will have to be tomorrow. We also wrote a letter to Harry's grandparents asking for information on our ancestors--where they came from, why, who they were, etc. We'll mail it soon, really. We have a few more books to read and I have a bunch more on Japan itself to read. So we're still in the middle of Japan. Emma's Rug wasn't too interesting to Harry, although he did narrate it.

And that's the "official" reading. Harry reads a lot. He's read a couple of Henry and Mudge books, but he isn't really interested in them. He and Jason are still reading Eragon. I'm reading him Little House in the Big Woods and Poppy and Rye. Harry also reads to Sam a lot. Which may be my favorite thing about homeschooling.

PS, I don't know what's going on with the font, but it's getting late and I'll try to figure it out tomorrow.

First Month Math

Like I said before, we were to do lessons 7-12 in MUS Alpha. Instead Harry has done lessons 1-9. We started at the beginning because it's easier to understand how the lessons sound and are presented starting at the beginning.

We've also done a bunch of math computer games and practices. The best one is Math Compass. It's a no-frills program of drills that Harry just loves! It's hilarious how into he gets.

We also made a great big cube with stickers on each side from 1-6. (Think great big die.) We throw it twice and add the numbers together. Low-tech, but a lot of fun (at least until someone loses an eye).

So that's math for the month. I actually think Harry's got his addition facts down pretty well, I just want to cement them into him a little more before we go onto subtraction.

Documentation, Schmocumentation!

I have our monthly meeting in the morning, so I've been trying to think of what we've done lately. I've realized that I don't have a lot of paperwork to take in, we've done only a couple of worksheets, I haven't typed out many narrations, and a lot of what we have done is just what we do.

For instance today we:

1. Got up and went to speech. Harry helped me get everyone ready to go--he was a big help. That is something we've been working on; seeing what needs to be done and doing it.
2. First Language Lessons: One of the few things that we can show the consultant. However, even that isn't written daily. However, I think today's lesson is perfect for "showing off." Harry wrote common and proper nouns for some examples I gave him (ie: I gave him the word store, he had to decide if it was common or proper and give an example of the opposite). So we have writing practice as well as grammar practice.
3. Math U See: The goal was to do lessons 7-12. We didn't get to lesson 12, but that's because I had Harry start in lesson 1. It's not easy to come to a new math program and start in the middle (or lesson 7 in this case). So he's actually made more progress than I first thought and it is pretty easy to show that with math.
4. Ancient Egypt and Story of the World: I read Cry of the Benu Bird to Harry and Sam--it is a picture book about the Ancient Egyptian creation myth. I also read from SOTW--the section on gods and goddesses in Egyptian society. It's actually a difficult thing for him to understand so we'll be spending more time on this subject. Also partly because it's Egypt and I've planned to spend the month on Egypt. I don't have any written work from this though so it's hard to "show" that it happened.
5. Lincoln's Birthday: I printed a little book about Lincoln so we read through that. There were comprehension questions, so I had him do a couple of those, but not all of them because I know he understood what we were talking about. We did penny rubs and looked for the little statue on the back of the penny. We discovered that crayons work better than pencils for getting details. We also made a "log cabin" out of pretzels and a milk carton. That was fun. I took a picture.
6. Harry read to Sam after we went to the park. Obviously aside from the mental picture I have of that, I don't have any documentation.
7. I read Little House in the Big Woods to both boys. It's interesting to me how into it Harry gets.

Anyway, that was the learning portion of the day. At least the planned portion. We all know that there is much learning in just living and growing each day.