Co-op

This year's theme was biology for science and Ancients for History and Scripture overview (the big picture).

8:30am Mass
9:30am abortion clinic decade
10am at my house for a quick breakfast (20 min)
10:30 am High School Lit - I assigned the books and taught the class (1 1/2 - 2 hrs)
10:30 am Middle School & Jr. High biology taught by another mom (1hr)
11:30 am play break for younger kids
12:00 pm lunch for all
1:00pm Biology labs for High school kids taught by another mom(2hrs)
1:00pm History for middle & elem taught by me(1hr)
2:00pm Bible for middle & elem taught by another mom(1/2 hr)

Co-op video from my blog and a few pictures from my blog -- we were pretty busy teaching and didn't have time to take many pictures - bummer!

Hist - I used RC history and another friend bought books based on the time period.
Sci - For the Middle school & elementary crowd we used 1 semester of RS4K + Ellen McHenry activities and 1 semester of Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology

Mainly, I used RC History with my kids and we did the co-op on topics I chose from RC History. RC was like our outline for the co-op, but my friend had her middle schooler enrolled in the online history class through Homeschool Connections.

I chose topics for the week in history (ex: Alexander the Great or The Fall of the temple or certain emperors of Rome). I might ask a few discussion questions to start and decide on an activity.

* Sometimes I'd read from a book I knew my friend hadn't bought and I hadn't exposed my kids to, yet.
* I added quite a few group games & activities that weren't in the lesson plans (make your own laws like Hammurabi -or- update Hamurabi's
laws for today -or- Roman Empire Jeopardy, What Star Wars characters correspond to which historical Roman figure, etc.)
* Often we'd have lunch together based on history (Greek salad -or- a Roman banquet, etc.)
* Sometimes we'd just do discussion or just do an activity, but usually it was a mix of the two.

It worked out fantastic!! My friend taught 1hr of biology & 30 min of Bible to the elementary & middle school kids while I taught a 2 hr high school literature class, we'd break for a combined lunch and they we switched and the high schoolers did biology while I taught history & some deeper theology. Everyone learned ALOT and had a blast. The kids are all sad that it's ending.

Jenn

The plan is to do it again for the Middle Ages & Chemistry next year.

Would your kids like to be in a play?

Who is invited : Homeschool kids Preschool – High school

The musical is called Ultimate Superstar.

The cost will be $20/family. That will cover the cost of the copyright on the play, copies, 1 CD per family and hopefully cover the church's cost of the lights while we're using them. We don't want ANY children to not participate due to financial difficulties. So, if you can't afford the cost, please see Jenn.

Parent participation is required. If you'd rather not sing and dance we'll still find things for you to do. We sure don't want anyone burned out or burdened from this (especially not ME), and many hands make light work. We'll just grab moms and ask for help as the need arises, but expect to be tapped.

Rehearsals are from 10:30am - 11:30 am Mondays, February 14 - May 9, 2011 at Christ Church of Georgetown. The week of the performance, we'll have extra rehearsals : Tuesday May 10th 10:30-12:30 and a dress rehearsal will be Friday, May 13th 10:30-12:30. The performance will be that evening, Friday 13th. This year we will also be performing the play at 2 nursing homes following the performance. The children will have worked hard and can bless others with their talents.

We will have auditions for key parts. If your child would like to audition, GREAT! If they would like to be in the chorus, TERRIFIC! If some of your kids would like to participate and some don't, that's fine, too. Since we'll have such a limited time each week, we'll need to keep the distractions to a minimum, so bringing school for the kids who aren't participating might be a good way to go.

For those who participate in Discovery Clubs co-op, don't forget to pack a lunch so your kids can eat before going to co-op.

Let us know if there are any questions or concerns,
To sign up, please contact Jenn. You can leave comments on the my blog, post on my facebook or e-mail me directly.

Lion's Park

Our favorite park days are at Lion's Park. Shade for the moms, space for the kids to explore but still be in sight....

What do teens do who are too old for the park? Weird stuff...

"How do you do it all?"

I get this question alllllll the time. Really, I DON'T do it all.


I think what the questioner is really asking is how do I get school done with the normal tasks of running a home. I firmly believe that homeschooling is not more difficult than being a good parent. Homeschooling is an extension of being a good parent and the same life-skills apply.

A friend of mine told me that although I insist I'm not a routine/scheduled person by nature, that with a houseful of kids....a girl has to develop survival techniques. That's what these are--survival techniques. I don't survive gracefully or silently -- I'm barely making it through some days. I am, however, surviving with JOY!

How do I do it all? I go to sleep each night asking forgiveness for my sins and strength for my weak areas and wake up in the morning and WITH GOD'S GRACE do it all over again.

Jenn's Routines (or suvival strategies) We do it together as much as possible. I oversee to make sure things get done and they are the worker bees.


In addition to the kids doing a reasonable amount of the cleaning (since they're doing the majority of the messing up), I have some systems in place for running the house. I do meal planning and here and here especially through the school year. I have a master shopping list and keep lists everywhere (and loose them, too.)

I cut myself slack. Mom's Night Outs are essential, life-giving evenings for me. I make sure that my prayer life and emotional well-being are being attended to. This is a fine line. I've seen moms neglecting the needs of their children to attend to their own needs and this is what our culture encourages. That isn't what I'm saying. I'm also not a door mat. Balance is difficult, but essential. We have breaks through the year that work for our family.

I keep a running list of curriculum items I want to explore when I have 10 minutes or an evening. I find this helps tremendously. I organize the list by subject, but you could just as easily organize it by age. Even if the book is something that's far far in the future, I still put it down to explore later. This is one less item to worry about forgetting. I can forget it guilt-free because once a year I go back to my running list and see if anything will apply to the upcomming year and toss it in the hopper of items to consider (and mostly reject.)

I keep a list of our schedule for the year. I did mine in a spreadsheet (it's just the way I think- I started on paper) and this way I can print a schedule for each child or set of children. Our schedule is done in a Manager's of their Homes method with the heart of A Mother's Rule of Life. I found both of these (seeming opposing) methods of scheduling to reside nicely in the dichotomy that is my mind. We only do "book work" 4 days a week and the 5th day we run errands, do many of our "extra curriculuar" activities and have fun.

I combine children in subject areas as much as possible. This serves 2 purposes -- I have less to teach and the kids can bounce off each other when we have crafts/discussions/activities. I also keep us on the same topic even if they're in different books. So, Dd#1 is reading the Odyssey while the younger kids are learning about the Ancient Greeks. The same purposes apply as above. I also have the kids teach each other where appropriate. I taught preschool ONCE. My 1st grader/3rd grader/5th grader / 9th grader are all happy for a little sandbox play to teach preschool. I make sure they have time in their schedule so they're not getting overwhelmed with work, but so far, they all count it joy. No one has offered to take over teaching the kindergardener to read, so I'll do that 5 times (lucky me.)

Toddlers are a force to be reckoned with -- prepare to meet them head on or be bowled over by them. I have a list of Things To Do With Your Toddler While You Homeschool and here. The list works for 3 year olds as well as, if not better than, it did when they were 2 years old. I'm also a fan of school in the bathroom. All my kids love baths and a rowdy 2 year old is contained in the bath. I take 1 other kid and while I sit in the bathroom (trying to stay dry from all the splashing) I work with the older child.

So those are most of my survival tricks.

Family Canoeing on a Sunday afternoon

We had a lovely Sunday afternoon canoeing with the kids. (I had the easy kids, so mine was more relaxing. Dave had the rowdy 3 including the 2 yr old in his canoe -- less relaxing for him.)

We went to Trading Post Canoes up in Mongo, Indiana (wherever THAT is? like an hour away) and took the 4 mile trip. It took us around 2 hrs (when it was taking everyone else an hour), but we really enjoyed it. It was all of our kids' first time canoeing and my first time on a canoe trip (that I recall). It was pretty funny what a difficult time we had manoevering the boats until we got the hang of it. We thought it was funniest that the younger boys 8 & 10 (with the exception of the 2 year old) were pretty good at padding and more adept at manovering the canoe straight.

We'll have to do it again! Anyone want to join us next time?

Christmas Band Concert 2009

To hear a snippet Click on this
My saxaphone is my accessory!


A beautiful girl making beautiful music.

I LOOOOVVEE my saxaphone.
I'm liking my trumpet more, but it's still pretty hard.

I'm not in the band -- but I have a recorder!

Learning from the Master

My two Wii Lads...

Mom's Retreat

Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist hosts a short but highly effective Mom's Retreat the first weekend in Advent. This year it's Saturday fternoon December 5 'till Sunday afternoon December 6th up in Ann Arbor, MI. The cost is $25.

THESE ARE SOME EXCEPTIONAL NUNS!! My girls call them "Mama's Nuns" because they hold such a special place in my heart. They're the kind of nuns that appeal to a party girl like me. They come from all walks of life and have so many girls/women asking to join their order, they can't build fast enough to keep them all in beds and the girls keep coming!! They wear a traditional habit (to the floor) and a rosary from their waist to their feet. Hearing them sing the Psalms at vespers is honestly a piece of heaven here on earth. Their focus is Christ in the Eucharist (see their name, above) and they play volleyball and teach as many people about Jesus as they can. Their passion and joy just pours out of them. SERIOUSLY KEWL NUNS, here!

My spot is reserved to go, who wants to carpool?

Reserve your spot online or e-mail or by phone.

Here's a flyer about it.

I'm sooo excited to go, again this year. Due to illness, pregnancy, nursing, etc., I haven't gone in a few years -- but GOD WILLING I can go this year!! Ohhhhhh....I can hardly wait!!

Whew!

WHAT a busy week!

I'm going to have to figure out how to pare down or get LOTS more energy. Times include travel time

M 8:30-10:30 Band for 3 kids (& me trying to keep the youngest 2 busy)
M 12:00 - 2:00 Co-op (& me keeping the youngest busy)
M 2:00 - 4:00 Gym (& me keeping the youngest busy - are we noticing a pattern here?)

T 12:30 - 4:30 Dd#1 Shakespeare Class

W 8:30-10:30 Band for 3 kids (& me trying to keep the youngest 2 busy)

Th 7:30-10:00 Mass & pray at abortion clinic (this one gets set aside way too often sometimes twice a month)

F I have 2 monthly committments on Fridays that take a half a day.

I also have to fit in breakfast & lunch, cleaning, SCHOOL, and outside meetings for 2 pro-life groups. The kid whose about to turn 2 is my biggest challenge right now (did I ever say I'm not all that crazy about 2-3 year olds? NOT my favorite age.)

I keep telling myself, "no one has a fatal disease, no one is presently in mortal danger, etc." God's gifts are WONDERFUL! (but they can require a bit of energy to keep up on them.)

January Sledding brrrrrrrr

Gingerbread houses in April?

A friend and I have been putting forth a great effort to get together since I was pregnant. Last week we finally got together. She'd been saving a surprise that she'd bought and saved for all the kids -- 2 gingerbread kits. We poured a cup of tea and went into the other room and let the kids have at it. They had fun and then the houses fell down.

Homemade crafting materials

This was just too much cool crafty stuff to pass on.
This site has homemade...almost everything for crafts - glue, paper, puffy paint, wax seals...

First Reconciliation Craft - Lapbook

An illustration of this is listed on my website at First Reconciliation Lapbook.

Ds#3's First Reconciliation will be tonight. With the pregnancy and birth, I was thankful for CCD. However, his preparation wasn't as complete as the girls' had been (with CCD & preparation at home) and I didn't realize it (or pay attention) until last week. So, we did a crash course. He understood the concept, but not the specific procedures or vocabulary. I'd worked with him early in the school year on the concepts, so he was great on that.

I used Dd#1's lapbook we created for her 1st Reconciliation as the primary "text" to teach him. It turned out to be just perfect.

Here is the lapbook Dd#1 created 4 years ago for her First Reconciliation :

We took a file folder and covered it's front and back with white typing paper (to make it white - with the significance of purity). Then we covered all of that with a fine tule. We also tied gross-grain ribbon on each flap that opens with the bow on the front covers.

Front :

• On the front cover is a booklet she made about The Good Shepherd and the procedures of Reconciliation.
• We also attached a pin she received from her Godparents on the occasion.

Inside :

* In the shape of the 10 commandments, we cut 8 pieces of construction paper that we attached together with string. We folded the 10 commandments and she wrote 1 of each commandment, in her own words, on the inside so it was like a book form. Then, we glued the front and back cover of the commandments so the book was "open" to the inside left of the file folder at the top.

* The piece of accordion folded pink paper you see next to the 10 commandments is the Act of Contrition she wrote out from memory. Then we folded it accordion style and glued the top fold to the center top of the lapbook.

* Below the 10 commandments, is her handprint cut out in 5 different colors. On one finger of each hand she wrote the procedures of Reconciliation. So that on the first handprint, in the thumb she wrote 1. Make the sign of the cross and tell the priest how long it's been since your last confession. On the 2nd hand print in the pointer finger she wrote 2. Confess your sins. On the 3rd handprint in the middle finger she wrote 3. Listen to the priest. On the 4th handprint in the rimg finger she wrote 4. Say the Act of Contrition. On the 5th handprint in the pinky finger she wrote 5. Listen for Absolution. Say Amen. Thank the priest. The handprint booklet was stapled in the bottom of the palm (so that it opened down) to the bottom of the inside left flap.

* We cut heart 3 shapes and stapled them into a booklet on the inside right flap. She wrote Examination of Conscience on the front cover. Opening the booklet on each page she wrote one reflection that she felt applied to her. "Have I said my morning offering?" "Have I minded my parents?" "Have I paid attention in Mass" "Have I talked to God through my day?" "Have I acted like Jesus would to my siblings?"

* She listed her sins in a rectangular booklet we taped at the top and glued to the bottom inside right flap.

*In the middle of the center inside page, we stapled the program the church put together for her First Reconciliation ceremony.

* At the bottom of the center inside page, we stapled a booklet of pictures with her and her friends at the cookie reception after First Reconciliation.

Park Days

Park Days are a HUGE part of our homeschool in summer. We look forward to park days all year and relish every moment. While some busy moms come for an hour, we come early and stay late and love every minute. The moms sit together with all the lunches we've brought, and the kids come to us when they need us. It's a near perfect arrangement!! (One of the benefits of bringing the camera is that I don't have any pictures of ME in them!!)
My kids are in orange. Many of the larger families choose a color so they can find their kids easier. I just have to count to 4 when searching the playground. Every Thursday of the summer, you'll find our family at a local park.
On a particularly hot day, the kids found a shady tree

Sometimes the moms have to intervene.... Today they fought over whose turn it was to use the straw they found on the ground to dig in the dirt. At least they're past the stage of putting things in their mouths.
The kids are sure to come home filthy!
But they come home filled with friends and fun ...and EXHAUSTED from all the play!!! What a perfect summer day!!

First Friday Fun

Our Catholic homeschool group gets together once a month to celebrate First Friday Mass and has an activity aferwards. The activity varies, but we try to keep it free, easy & of wide appeal. Some months the activities are the same year to year.

• June is a highschool graduation ceremony & party.
• July & August is just a park day after Mass - bring your own picnic.
• September is some sort of Field Day activities, although last year, it worked out better to do this the following Saturday when the Dads could participate.
• November is usually an All Saints party.
• December has been an Advent play.
• January is caroling at a Catholic nursing home (other places think you're crazy to sing Christmas Carols on January 4th).
• We usually book a rollerskating rink for a winter month.
• A local homeschool family opens their gymnastics' facilities to us once a year.

Here are some of the activities we've done in the past in the other months :

Square Dancing Class, Spiritual Bouquet banner, zoomobile, rosary making, Gym Day, Creating craft decorations for an upcoming activity, Advent Art display, Bowling, Pre-lent Carnival, & Winter Olympics coinciding with the President's Physical Fitness Day.

In May, the First Communicants crown Mary, every child has an opportunity to bring her flowers, and this year we did a sidewalk chalk rosary. Sometimes, there are miscommunications, so not very many people stayed...but the girls were dedicated - the boys mostly wrestled in the parkinglot after each doing their own cross or some religous symbol in chalk. The girls' huge creation says "Pray the Rosary."

Dd#1 is on the left squinting because of the sun.

A Trifle of a problem

I'm helping with a baby shower today. Last night, Dd#2 made a trifle for the party. She was sooo proud of it. We put it in a beautiful glass bowl and in the fridge. She spent the night at homeschool friend's house after the poetry recital last night.

She'll be soooo disappointed when she comes home to find that her Daddy ate half of it in the middle of the night......

Trifle
*Bake a chocolate cake. Don't ice it. Let it cool.
*Cut it up in small squares (1"ish).
*Make up 2 pkgs of pudding (we used chocolate).
*Layer half of the cake squares in the bottom of a glass bowl with half the pudding and 1/2 small tub of whipped cream. Then do another layer of the same using up the whipped cream. *Sprinkle with chopped candy (we used frozen penut butter cup, but the recipe called for Heath. You could also chop up cookie (choc. chip or oreo...).

PUT A SIGN ON IT IN THE FRIDGE SO IT DOESN'T GET EATEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! (Awesome the next day, too!)

Farm Fun

Between baby chicks, baby ducks...

...sheep, chickens, pigs, dogs...
(the girls were sooo excited that they got the chicks to fall asleep on their laps)
and kickball...the kids had a WONDERFUL afternoon last week!! What a joy to homeschool and an even greater blessing to have friends who share their lives with us!!

Wednesdays is Co-op Day

Co-op has been wildly successful on many levels for our family this year. They've learned things I wouldn't have thought to teach them. They've utilized resources I wouldn't have had available for them. They got to see their friends, and make new ones. And I didn't have to do all the work. We're looking forward to next year! This is a sampling of my kids throughout the year at Library Club - thanks in full part to Kim and her wonderful photography business.

Mindless Meetings

I really hate meetings for meetings' sake. I'm not good on a committee and don't work well with others. Give me a task - a tiny bit of direction - and I'll make up the rest and run with it. Usually I can accomplish some modicum of success.

The weekly co-op we've been doing this year was more work than I wanted to put into it. So, when people started asking me about doing it again next year, and I knew they were right and it was time to get moving on it...I was plain discouraged. I prayed about getting out of it. I asked Dave and told him all the pro's and con's from my perspective. He advised me to stick with the co-op for next year and just try to diversify the work load. I was even more discouraged. I just wanted to be done with it! The Co-op allowed us to get in most of our extra curricular activities during the day so it didn't take away from family time in the evenings and it allowed us to stay home 4 days a week and get all our school done without the incredible stress of running in and out the door and trying to pick up where we left off when we were tired and cranky from running around. The house stays in better order when we aren't running out the door. It was really working for every member of our family but me and I wasn't doing it for my sake to start with so...

FINE, GOD! If you intend on being mean and MAKING me do this, FINE!

(while I stomp off to my room to pout.) -this is what a terrible Christian I am and an example of what a sucky job I do with submission.

So, I scheduled a planning meeting with the people who seemed interested in helping. Last night we finally got together for the planning meeting (February weather in Indiana can be unpredictable and it took some doing to get another date).

God is SO good! We accomplished an incredible amount at the planning meeting and some of the women had suggestions of how to diversify that really makes it completely do-able and enjoyable for me to participate next year. As a matter of fact, I won't be doing anymore than any other participant!! I AM SOOO PSYCHED about next year!! God took my teeny, tiny bit of submission and gave me everything I needed (in His time).

Garage Play

This play is on the little side. Just 3 of my kids are in it. Dd#2 wrote it. It was her assignment of choice from her religion book. We usually fall back on Faith and Life Series. However, I got a copy of Our Holy Faith from e-bay cheap last year when she was looking for more reading material. She REALLY likes it, so it's what she's using this semester. She had to "write a play about loving your neighbor." She had a delimma because she just went to Escape School where she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers. So, she made all the characters kids so there wouldn't be as much risk (this was a topic of discussion among my children this morning as she was assigning roles).

IT WAS SOOOO CUTE!! (if only I had a digital camera, I could show you!) I taped it with the camcorder. She staged Ds#4 walking down the "sidewalk" (those foam floor alphabet puzzles in a loooong rectangle across the garage) calling for his lost dog. Ds#3 rides by on his scooter with a hosiery bag tied with elastic over his shoulder and rolls of paper closed with rubberbands that he tosses around the garage on his "paper route". Ds#3 helps Ds#4 and Dd#2 walks in with our dog, Maggie, who they renamed Christine so she could be in the play, too. SOOO CUTE!! I love homeschooling.