Natue Journal

MODG recommends Keeping a Nature Journal. I know it's very un-homeschooling of me, but I've never managed to get my kids interested in doing this. I've given it a feeble try several times with no results. This is our "do things different" year as far as curriculum and we're focusing on art. I also wanted to get the kids excited about nature journaling. Not that I'm excited. It's actually allergy season for our family so I want to stay indoors as much as possible. But is such a home school stand-by that I wanted to give it a real chance to work.

So, I got the book from the library (there are several by this author) and bought some blank cheap books for the kids and flipped past all the gooey stuff (we love nature because...) and gave them the first assignment. Then the second. In an hour they'd done 2 pages of their 20 page books and they looked GREAT!

I was seriously impressed how well it worked. I just needed the drive (and the focus of a good book) to make it happen.

I'm definately going to do this often for the 3 weeks we have the book from the library.

I may even renew the book if we continue to need it. I was really only interested in the inspiration and it looks like the kids caught that!

My backyard looked like when we first started homeschooling and the kids did school outside all the time. It felt just lovely for an hour.

Yes, my 13yr old is really in charge of all the meals, planning, cooking and shopping for the year.

Yes, my 13yr old is really in charge of all the meals, planning, cooking and shopping for the year.


Background:

I read Little House On the Prairie to the girls when they were in 2nd grade & Kindergarten. In it, Ma left the girls (I think they were preteens) with the baby and the house for a week! They knew how to do all the work AND did the spring cleaning to surprise Ma.

When I first read that, I thought "HOW could Ma leave them like that? There were soooo many dangers in those days!" Then I started re-rethinking what I thought of childhood. I honestly believe we have an artificial infancy concept of childhood. Rather than considering that childhood as the training ground for adulthood, our society thinks children are to be coddled, entertained and considered unable to be functioning, contributing members of society even while they're children. Hmmm.... So if God made children capable of more responsibility, are we DISabling them to not let them live to that potential? Hmmm....


So I made it a pie-in-the-sky goal that each of my children would know how to do every job in the house that I could teach them by the time they were 13. Then at 13 I would teach them to juggle. I wasn't taught how to multi-task or juggle and it's taken me YEARS of motherhood before I felt like I was doing anything but failing. I would like my girls to be a little better off than that.


Each year, each child switches jobs to become proficient in a job for the year. This is the rough schedule of chores as the children progress in maturity:


Age 4 - Set the table
5 - Sweep the floor
6 - Wash the table / Mop the floor
7 - Take out the trash
8 - Empty the dishwasher (each time, and YES I lost alot of dishes on the ceramic floor this way and we ended up switching to plastic for our main dishes)
9 - Laundry (yes, all the laundry in the house)
10 - Mow the lawn - we end up having a "catch-up" year in here somewhere - a kid will prefer a job and ask for an extra year on it before going to the next harder job -OR- they need more practice on a job and get stuck on it for another year until they've mastered it.
11 - Dishes (keeping the kitchen clean after every meal)
12 - Dinner (I plan and they learn to cook dinner each night. I feel like it's such a challenging task to get all the dishes to come out at the same time and on the table hot (or cold) that it takes a lot of practice)

13 - Since Dd#1 has taken over the cooking / list making / and shopping (although I am the driver and looker-overer) I tried to make it as easy on her as possible.

• I consolidated all my recipes in one book that office depot printed and bound for ~$5
• made a master grocery list
• lists for each kinds of meal (breakfast, weekday lunch, dinner & weekend lunch - we add extra servings & sides when Dave is home)
• I have a system in place for meal planning that I can teach her
• I made an excel spreadsheet of the meals I make, how much they cost and the approximate ingredients. She inputs the number of meals into one column and it calculates how much she'll be spending for the month. This is just automating meal planning for her benefit - I did it for years without a spreadsheet. When I put in the approximate ingredients, I didn't put it in the way you cook (4 Cups of milk) but the way you shop (1/8 gallon of milk)

Here are the steps

1. Make a list of which meals she'd like from each category (breakfast, weekday lunch, dinner & weekend lunch )
2. Plug those meals into an actual calendar to make sure she isn't making 3 chicken meals in a week (Dave's allergic to chicken).
3. Compare that list to the actual recipes to make a list of ingredients you'll need at the store.
4. Make a grocery list. (I have her consolidating step 3 & 4 by using the spreadsheet above.)

Besides the blank stares of disbelief, here are the answers to some questions I've gotten about my 13yr old doing this job --

Q: Isn't that too big of a job for a 13 yr old.

A: I don't throw a 13 yr old into this. They want to help stir cookies when they're 3. They learn to use the microwave under supervision when they're 7. They learn to make eggs & pancakes and breakfast stuff when they're 8. They learn to take things out of the oven when they're 10ish (depends on the kid). Doing the laundry for a family of 7 is no slacker's job and it's a big responsibility at 9 years old. For the kids who don't handle responsibility well, I provide consequences, rewards, reminders, timers, threats, encouragement -- and anything I can think of to help them shoulder the responsibility. Not including swiching laundry loads, it takes about 10 hrs/wk for a kid to fold all the laundry. These gradual responsibilities help train them to carry the next set so they're not overwhelmed when they have to run their own lives.

Q: Don't you feel like it interferes with your own spirituality not to serve your family in love?

A: It's much harder for me to let her do it than to do it myself. Yes, she's burned some meals. Yes, some haven't turned out. Yes, I'm taking a risk with our family's budget to have her do this. These are things that cause me to die to self in love of my children to help them become the people God means them to be. I'd rather her take these risks when she's under my tutelage than when she's broke and out on her own with no one to help her when she makes a mistake.

Q: Does she have any time to do anything but work?

A: It does take her quite a while to make meals (2 1/2 hours for a dinner I could do in 30-45 minutes) but she'll get faster. Meal planning takes about 5 hrs for the month using the tools above. Shopping takes about 4 hours for 1 month's worth. Yes, she gets more free time than I do, but less than the little kids. I'm not worried about overloading her with work. I definitely keep that in mind and check with her to see how she's doing with this much responsibility. With responsibility comes privileges (and she's happy for those).

After 13? I have a Life Skills for Teen list we'll be tweaking for each child.

Jenn's Perfect Planner Quest

...and the quest continues. There's been some interest (among my loyal friends who would say I looked pretty even if I didn't) in the planner I designed for our school.

One of the *small* things I don't like about Good News Planners after using them several years (they are one of the best Catholic planners out there, though!) is that when I have it open to the week and folded in half to save space on my desk, I have to keep flipping it upside down and back again to see all the subjects of any particular day. This has been a small thing, until I decided I need a space for Sat/Sun activities and left-over school, wanted more list space (they're the ones who taught me how much I love the list space) and other druthers.

One of the things that has kept me from making my own teacher planner that DOES contain everything I want, is that I really DON'T like 3-ring binders. I have them, I use them. However, I don't like how they sit on the shelf (or with other books leaning on them and I don't like that you can't fold them in half and still have the page you want open - you're only choice in having them smaller on your desk is to close them (and then find your place again.)

But Lady of Virtue with her sewing tutorial on covers and idea of a half-page binder with a handle piqued my interest. I could easily grab it to go room to room. I can take it with me when a kid hasn't gotten their work done to check what they need....hmmmm. Kim's home journal is sooo pretty! So I bought a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" from Office Depot for about $8 (I wanted the 2" binder so I could fit lots of junk in it.)

I took some template advice from Donnna Young, put the headers in a pretty font, and tried several different template versions (week-at-a-glance on a 2-page spread, 1 day per page) printing them out and filling out a particularly full week of actual lesson plans from last year. I ended up liking the spacing of 1/2 a week on a 2-page spread.

2 days prints out on one piece of paper and folds to fit in my half-sheet binder as one day per page. I'm not sure you can read the snapshot above. The center is the school planner with subjects in bold, kids initials, then room to write (in the English section I have abreviations for the various categories, [grammar, writing (either handwriting or reports), Latin, Spelling, Typing or Reading, Memory items like poetry] and a list for spelling words or things I need to keep track of.

Along the side of the page are places for us to decide meals for the day (so we remember to get the meat out of the freezer and we don't have complaints about kids wanting to fix something different for lunch), Mama's Routines (things I never remember to do that would really help me if I did like setting my clothes out for the next day), Morning Chores & Afternoon Chores, Individual kids chores based on the day (since some kids rotate and some don't). Below is the view of that same page on the bottom.

I've got a section for GRADES that has a grading cheat sheet and a place to record grades based on the specifics of our school done in an excel spreadsheet.

The next section is our ROUTINES. This is specifically for our school routines.

Some of this seems a little silly to make the effort to put into print, but I forget what I think would be good for the kids to do (and we end up forgeting to do any mapwork until I come across it 3 months after the fact). In the heat of battle, I can't keep creative ideas in mind -- so I need them somewhere easily accessible. I also have any scheduling things in this section.

In this section we have our

• Religion plans
• books I intend to use for the year (nothing worse than buying books and not being able to remember what you're even looking for on the shelf because you can't remember what you decided to buy 8 months ago)
• Confirmation plans & notebook ideas (so I don't forget what I wanted to get done)
• Spelling Worksheet
• Book Report ideas
• Prayer Checklist
• Primary Sources Evaluation Checklist
• Vocabulary Ideas
• IEW Checklists and models
• Latin vocabulary and traslation for the year
• Timeline memorization for the year
• Any other memorization items I know we'll want to cover this year
• 5 minute Brain Breaks

Faith - The next section contains ideas I'd like to incorporate for the year. Liturgical Year ideas from A Year With God and A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families and all the saint ideas for each day from Elizabeth Foss' 4Real Learning forums - GREAT STUFF (if I can just get it incorporated). I always figure, if I do some of it, I'm better off than if I hadn't done any.

Chores

• Virtue-Vice Chart
• Carpe Diem
• School when Mama isn't feeling well
• Chore list for our house

Cookbook

So we can do meal planning while we're out.

Contacts

All my contact from outlook and an extra copy of contacts from groups or meetings. OFTEN, I'll be out and need to call some obscure person I never call for a particular reason.

When boy cousins come to stay

When boy cousins come to stay
even just for the night,
They all get each other really rowdy


When boy cousins come
they like to play baseball


There's lots of hitting and throwing
and catching and missing


They think it's hilarious to get up
at 4:30 in the morning
and sneak around with flashlights

They hang out in trees

and climb too high

and get grounded from trees for the rest of the summer

They all want to play computer games

even the boys who are grounded from

the last time someone came to visit

When boy cousins come to stay
even just for the night,

Mama doesn't get much rest,

but, boy does everyone have a good time!

Overpopulation: The Making of a Myth

I've heard this from several of my family members who still believe it. This is super short, so forward it on to fearful friends and family.

Do you love Aunt Yaya?

I love Yaya, yes I do - I love Yaya, how 'bout YOU?

5 Minute Brain Breaks

I haven't read this book Brain Gym: Simple Activities for Whole Brain Learning, but I need to. I do have enough sense to realize that some of my kids need to MOVE to be able to sustain attention for very long. Therefore, as needed, or as scheduled for some kids (~3/day), we have


5 Minute Brain Breaks

• kick a ball
• jump rope
• swing
• do tricks on rings
• jump on trampolene
• shoot basketball hoops
• take a short walk
• run the dog across the yard
• chore breaks
• jumping jacks while quizzing spelling
• ride bikes
• dance
• Fun Physical Fitness Book

Couples' Night Out

Don't know what to do on a couples' night out?

Try a stress reliever - a shooting range!

Park Days at the splash pad

AHHHHHHH....summer!

Classical Education - good article

Overall this was a good article. I was amused at this part -

Martha Robinson: Doug, Is it possible for a student who has been "traditionally" educated to transition to Classical? When is too late?

Doug Wilson: After the concrete is dry, it is harder to do. But we have often said that we are trying to provide the kind of education which none have got. We were not able to do it adequately. But as G.K. Chesterton said, anything worth doing is worth doing badly.

Martha Robinson: Doug, can you offer encouragement to parents who would like to do Classical but did not begin at the beginning?

Doug Wilson: My encouragement would be this. God has a general pattern of picking us up where we are, and not where we should have been. If He only helped us if we were where we should have been, we would all be in a world of hurt. Starting now is better than not starting at all.

Read the whole article

Swing set and tree fort hideaway - at least for a day

The kids and have been candidating for a tree house. Dave has considered it and decided we won't be able to. Our tree won't support it, it's a lot of work for him, it would be expensive, he'd have to make it safe and is concerned about that...etc.

Since we can't have a tree house, when Dave trimmed the tree this spring (there was some pretty substantial damage from the icestorm last winter) the kids dragged the biggest limbs and made a tree fort out of their swingset.
Here's a picture of Ds#4 in his tree fort...or a swing fort...or a tree swing...or something like that.

If you can't climb up to a tree house, you can bring the tree to you.

Carpe Diem

This is our list that the kids are supposed to check when they're done with all their school and chores, have been told no to TV and Wii, and aren't allowed to say the words "I'm bored" (or they get a job to do.) "Sieze the day" sounded better than "The Don't Say You're Bored List"



Carpe Diem


Amy told me that her kids walk around just looking bored. Maybe she could set a timer for 15 minutes (hoping the activity keeps them busy longer than that) and when it goes off choose something else from the list. It might give her 15 minutes of non-hovering bored kids, hopefully?

What to do for school when Mama isn't feeling well

I made this list mainly for pregnancy times. The kids can work in a workbook without me, but some of the kids may only have 30 minutes of work in their workbooks. What to do with them the other 9 1/2 hour until Daddy gets home? The list is specific to our house and books and activities in our house. It was designed with ages 4-10 in mind.


What to do for school when Mama isn't feeling well

• Do Little Saints with boys
• Read boys a saint story
• Do flashcards racing across the room
• Mary Coloring Book
• Practice writing on the wipe-off board
• Read Catholic Stories from Science
• Ds#4 read to girls
• Play Sparkle
• Listen to Story of the World CD
• Play Mass
• Listen to educational music
• Play a United States Game
• Paint Heaven (ask Mama what this might look like)
• Dd#1 read a hard book outloud
• Listen to a book on tape
• Count to 500 by 2's
• Make up a piano duet
• Read boys a kids' book
• Cut out the Digestive System from Construction Paper
• Make up a cheer for your 5 senses
• Practice Disaster saftey
• Make a Tree book with leaf samples & rubbings, draw tree shapes & label
• Act out the beginnings of Rome
• Sing Row Your Boat in rounds
• Read Classical Kids & choose an activity (ask Mama)
• Do a science project (ask Mama)
• Have a paper boat floating contest
• Play Picture This folder game
• Play Silly Sentences
• Sew sock monkeys (ask Mama)
• Agree on a title and everyone make up their own story (in secret) with the same title.
• Then we'll have an author night and read your stories
• Make a volocano in the sand box (ask Mama)
• Play computer games in Kids' Places that are NOT Nick Jr. or PBS Kids
• Count to 750 by 5's
• Read a story online http://www.mainlesson.com/
• Measure the water that comes out of the hose in one minute
• Look up an artist in Sr. Wendy and try to paint like him
• Listen to Bethoveen CD
• Act out Alexandar the Great
• Have a geography bee
• Read a bible story & coloring page
• Listen to Grammar Songs
• Listen to Latin Songs CD
• Jewish Holidays coloring book
• Read boys a history story
• Play Jepardy (history, science)
• Play Latin Bingo
• Ds#3 read to girls
• Do a craft (ask Mama)
• Look through activity books
• Make history paper dolls
• Play scrabble
• Put together a Map puzzle
• Draw 1 small square of our yard
• Do a worksheet
• Read boys a Mass book
• Listen to bible tapes (St. Michael)
• Do math on the wipe-off board
• Do an ArtPac project
• Look up Usborne or Kingfisher and make a Lego building like a different culture
• Catch a bug & draw it - make a bug book
• Pull apart a leaf so all veins are intact
• Play number squeeze
• Teach the boys to finger crochet
• Try to sing in harmony
• Count to 1000 by 10's
• Memorize a poem and we'll video tape a poetry night
• Declare it (butterfly) day. Research, draw, craft, act out, look up poems, make poems….
• make a chart of people's scores jumping rope
• Play Decimal Street
• Read boys a science book
• Write a book of the story of your life using the bound books
• Online drawing lessons http://donnayoung.org/art/draw1.htm
• Have a spelling bee
• Play a Mass folder Game

Tie Dye - and messy projects

Messy projects are best done with friends. Then when the kids get filthy, you can comfort yourself that 10 other kids look just as bad as your kids. You can also justify when your porch, yard, etc. gets trashed. It hasn't just been for your measly 3 or 4 kids, but 10 other kids got enjoyment, experience or educatation and that mess is really not that bad when you spread the blame out over 13 kids.

My WONDERFUL friend offered to trash her porch for my kids to make tie dye. She provided all the materials and cleaned everything up. She was even fun and gracious while we were trashing and using her stuff. I LOVE homeschool friends like that!!

Quote of the Day

Ds#3 to Ds#4 and back again

Remember when we saw him cut him open?

Yeah! And cut him into pieces?...And then we ate him? That was COOL!

Mama (concerned that Dd#1 hadn't been careful of what they saw on TV when she babysat)

What are you two talking about?

Ds#4

When we went fishing with Mark!

(Ds#3's Godfather).

Spelling Power

I have a girl who WON'T learn spelling. I have had several discussions with her father about whether the ability to spell is a character flaw or not (I think not). It is important, but not the most important thing in my mind (mostly because I can't splel to save my life).

None-the-less, we need to work on spelling especially with this girl. So I researched EXPENSIVE/INTENSIVE spelling programs. Once I'd decided on Spelling Power, her dad told me it didn't make sense to spend all that money when we have a perfectly good spelling program and learning to type would most likely fix the problem. Well, okay. We didn't quite agree on that one.



THEN, I rediscovered Paula's Archives. She has a fantastic Spelling Power how-to along with a study sheet that we can use with our present spelling program which is Natual Speller - I LOVE the price and the word lists by phonetic sound. Now both parents are happy. Results are yet to be seen, but that Modified Study Sheet is definately going in my planner.

More Pooh-love

Free Vocabulary Ideas

Password Game - it sounds like a silly solution, but you can make up your own cards using words they've been studiing. Here are the rules to print off. My kids like a game better when the've seen it's fun. Here's a video clip of Lucille Ball in 1964 playing with her school-age kids. I like the idea of starting with familiar, easier words for the kids to learn to like the game and moving to more difficult vocabulary.

Vocabulary Awareness

• Choose 5 words and define them
• post them on the fridge
• award points every time they are used in conversation
• or detected in print or radio
• put the words in a notebook with a small drawing about the word

School Exercizes

• Write 1-3 paragraphs using where one word is emphasized. This gets interesting and funny.
• Write either a few sentences or a paragraph with one of the words in mind but don't use the word. Put the word in parantheses at the end.

Susan Wise Bauer suggests

• Writing the words on index cards
• Monday- read the words, put them on flash cards with meanings on opposite side.
• Tue-Thu- drill with the flash cards.
• Fri- review flash cards and complete exercises.
• She uses Vocabulary from Classical Roots, but you could use any program with this schedule and even choose your own words from reading the child is doing.

Vocabulary Word Lists (free online) - you could orally quiz a child until they miss 5 and use those for the week's vocabulary words with activities from above

• General Service List with linked definitions
• Academic Word List with linked definitions
• Vocabulary by grade level
• Vocabulary based on "classic" (highschool level) books - the site also has words by theme, a little difficult to navigate, but it's free!
• 7th grade vocabulary list and printable version with instructions for the year
• After the kids have passed their test for the week, reward them with a game of CrazyLibs using previous vocabulary words

Software review of Vocabulary products for the computer

Highly recommended vocabulary curriculum (not free). I haven't used these, but have them in my research notes to consider:

• The Word Within the Word by Michael Thompson OOP, search through www.bookfinder.com
• Wordly Wise 3000 see sample pages ~$11/student book (some kids get bored due to the same activities over and over) Seton sells the older version with an answer key. This is what I bought for this year. It's our first time doing vocabulary, so I'll let you know how it goes.
• Vocabulary From Classical Roots - recommended by SWB ~$11/student book & $20/teacher book
• Vocabulary for Enjoyment ~$14

Primary Sources Evaluation

I really appreciate Susan Wise Bauer's The Well Trained Mind. I've used and used it. One of the things I like is how many ideas and options she gives for each stage of learning. For middle school, I require my kids to use some primary sources. She gives an easy way to evaluate them.


How it works for us, is that I find (or let them find) a primary source online. Here are a few:

• Internet Modern History Sourcebook
• Eyewitness To History
• American History
• Charters of Freedom

I also have a set of primary sources called the Annals of American History from Encyclopedia Britannica that I got for $15 on e-bay which was recommended by Angelicum Academy.


I've also found this article interesting, but for ease of use you can't beat The Well Trained Mind's evaluation of primary sources. Thank you Susan Wise Bauer!!

Summer fun - finally!

We have one week to pack all our summer fun into. We did school about half-time this summer. I usually like to start school around August 1st. The library is painted (my one project that needed done this summer) -- my husband is WONDERFUL! And we're done with Wildcats. So, we're taking the week off of serious cleaning (just keeping up on normal chores) and that's it. The rest is for whatever we'd like to do. Sunday we had fun with friends in their backyard (kickball that day). Monday we went our cousins' house and it was one of the first swim times all summer. The kids had an absolute BLAST! Unfortunately, I let them get burned to a crisp -- spray sunscreen doesn't seem to work for us. I sprayed the baby twice and thought the kids would be fine -- afterall, they've baked in the sun on the ball field all summer...but I neglected to recognize that they had their shirts on, then. Let alone the water intesifying the sun. I sprayed them once they looked a little red -- too late. They came home like lobsters. Crying kids at night and clothes changing times...poor children. God should have given them a more responsible mom.

Quote of the Day

Ds#5 has seen the other kids shouting and raising their hands when we suggest something fun ('Who wants to get icecream?' and each of the kids raise their hands and shout 'Me')
Now, he'll suggest what he wants and respond to himself.

Out. ME!!

and raise his hand so we can see him.

Prayer

My Prayer Checklist is a FANTASTIC tool too keep track of K-12 memorization items for Religion class. Each year when I choose the 4-6 items we'll memorize as a family, I'm so thankful for such a complete list. (Truth be told we only get to 2-3 of them for the year, but I'm still further along than if I hadn't made the effort or had the chart to know what I was missing.)
I retyped My Prayer Checklist into an excel document so I could put the prayers in a different order (I put all the numerical items in order), but you could just as easily use it as is.

Wildcat1

Inspite of (or because of) Ds#3's obvious over-excitement, he won the sportsmanship award, the "mental attitude" award among all the age groups at his Wildcat site. He was encouraging to all the kids and a great sport the whole summer. Dave and I were really proud of him!

Wildcat2

Ds#3 is at 3rd base and we teased him all summer long about how he'd have his glove in his hand and jump up and down and wave his hands because he'd get so excited about the possibility of catching the ball!

Wildcat3

When I watch this all keep thinking is "Ds#4, get your dirty hands out of your mouth!"

Wildcat Summer

Book Reports

I'm not a big fan of book reports because I don't want kids to dread reading because they know they have a report coming. I also don't want to burden younger grades with too much writing. When I was in school, I thought the format took an exciting book and didn't do it justice (just making it boring).

I do like book reports because when I'm not available to discuss with the kids each book they've read, I'd like them to reflect on it. I also sometimes just need a small writing assignment and it seems to fit in how easy they are to do.

Here are some of my favorite book report ideas:

• Find a critic's review of the book and write a comparison/contrast from your perspective
• Compare / contrast yourself with the main character
• Make a list of 10-15 rules to live by that the main character lives by. Compare this to a list of rules others want him to live by. What is the outcome?
• Make a test (and answer key) for the book
• Put yourself in the role of main character. What would have been different?
• Tell what way this book has added to your life? What have you learned? What have you discovered about yourself or others?
• Write an alternate ending for the book
• Do a character sketch (give the moral, emotional, emotional, physical and circumstantial characteristics of one of the people in the book).
• Explain why you would or would not want to live in a world presented by the author
• Write a jeopardy game / questions about the book
• Plan a party with a theme based on the book.

If these aren't enough, do a google search for "creative book report ideas."
I also liked this link.

Quote of the Day - 2

I know this is our 2nd quote of the day, but while discussing the last quote of the day...

Dd#2

So, they didn't really fall down, they were having an occasion.

Daddy

A WHAT?

Dd#2

That's what Mama said happens when two people sin. They have an occasion.

Daddy looking at Mama dubiously

WHAT?

Mama

She means fornication.

Dd#1

She thought Mama said the sin was for an occasion instead of fornication.

Quote of the Day

The children were watching a show with us that I did not pre-screen. There was one passionate kiss (the extent of the inappropriate content.) The two kissing people, who had been sitting kissing for about 2 seconds, went diagonal and as they were kissing in motion toward a horizontal position went out of sight off the screen. I was blushing inside wondering if I should turn off the TV or discuss it or what when :
Ds#4 as he was laughing hilariously.

Look! The kissed so much they fell unconscious and fell over!

Confirmation Notebook

I took ALOT of ideas from this person - THANK YOU! The notebook will be the paper record that we followed through with the confirmation plans.

Sacrament

• Baptism Pics of Dd#1's Baptism
• Essay including sources of Baptism (CCC & New Advent) and abreviated explanations
• Meaning of Baptism & symbolism from other sources (Scott Hahn's Salvation History)
• All 3 of the above for the sacrament of Confirmation

Saint

• write and illustrate biography of Maria Goretti, her Confirmation Saint (We've got the movie and we'll work through the study guide)
• Saint books she's read will need a book report of some kind and I may have her write her own prayer to each saint she studies
• copywork through the year of quotes & include favorite Saint prayers and novenas

Prayer

• Creed - Each phrase will have some life application and explanation with it
• Ten Commandments - I think I'll have her do creative writing and do a short story of someone who has broken that particular commandment and let her decide how to end each story (repentance & grace or pride & consequences)
• Gifts and Fruits of the Spirit - each item will have a common fruit (banana) or a wrapped present in a particular shape to write the fruit, it's definition, explanation and application and the day we talk about it we may make a recipe (banana bread).
• Spiritual & Corporal Works of Mercy - the faith folder from Catholic Lapbooks is available, but I'll most likely give her a coloring page (she still LOVES to color) and let her write about that work on the back.
• A mini book - a Confirmation Prayer Book - of common Mass and Catholic prayers - she'll most likely do it in calligraphy.

Apologetics

• She'll do book reports of some fashion (her choice of a list I have) of all the books she is reading
• Salvation History/History of the Church - I may have her review these (we've done alot of them) and do a timeline and outline of them

Vocation - she'll need to work through the topics in the books we've chosen (Life's Work)
Service Project - just an explanation of what she's done
Confirmand - this will be done after the Confirmation - photos and narrations, a scrapbook of the day
Lest, anyone accuse me of being so organized or smart or be impressed by this list -- please remember I STOLE most of these plans and I've been working on them for 2 years -- quite a bit of time to make a decision or two.

Confirmation Plans

We are well versed on how to prepare for First Communion and First Reconciliation, but now we're venturing into new territory. Dd#1 will be confirmed at the end of this school-year.
Due to my upraising (or lack there of in certain areas) I didn't get confirmed until I was 22 or so. As an adult I chose to make the Catholic Church my permenant home and a nun-friend (who was involved in Campus Ministries) gave me individual classes. I read through the CCC and we discussed the parts I didn't agree with or had problems with. She had a great sense of humor (needed to try and teach a disagreeable person like me) and gave me a wonderful blessing as my confirmation sponsor.

My plans for Dd#1 are not so simple, but hopefully will give her at least as good of a send off into the adult phase of her faith. I'll most likely have her keep a notebook on it. She'll be in CCD, but I haven't been super impressed with how much she's learned when she's gone (we put the kids in during sacrament years - Dave's preference). I got plans from this person and Elizabeth Foss' plans. It sounds like a lot of books, but we already own the items in black and I don't really expect to get through it all. Also, we're really focusing on religion this year and letting science & writing be a side-note rather than a real subject. I'm also just looking for a nice rounded smattering of the following:
Catechism

• Didache Series : Introduction to Catholicism: A Complete Course - she did this in 7th grade
• The Sacrament of Confirmation for Confirmation Candidates
• Confirmation Preparation for Young Catholics
• Baltimore Catechism No. 2
• Saint Patrick's Summer
• CCC to look items up as they surface
• A papal encyclical or 2. Any suggestions??

Apologetics

• Prove it! God (Amy Welborn) She did this series of books in 7th grade
• Prove it! Jesus (Amy Welborn)
• Prove it!Church (Amy Welborn)
• Prove it!Prayer (Amy Welborn)
• Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)
• The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis) - 7th grade
• Boys to Men (Gray and Martin)
• A Philadelphia Catholic in King James' Court & *Optional : Study Guide
• Listen to Jeff Cavins CDs - Great Adventure
• - Listen to Scott Hahn's Salvation History
• The Joyful Mysteries of Life
• Rome Sweet Home (Hahn)
• Surprised By Truth (Madrid)
• This IS My Body (Shea)
• By What Authority? (Shea)
• Witness To Hope (Wiegel)

Church History

• Mrs. Carroll's History Sampler Series
• 2000 Years of Christian History - 7th grade
• A Life of Our Lord for Children (Marigold Hunt) - 6th grade

Morality/Vocations

• Completely Christ's: The Radical Call of the Consecrated Life DVD
• Real Love (Bonacci)
• Dressing with Dignity
• LifeWork DVD: Finding God's Purpose in Your Life
• LifeWork: Finding Your Purpose in Life
• My Path to Heaven: A Young Person’s Retreat with Saint Ignatius (Fr. Geoffrey Bliss, S.J.), home retreat.
• Letters to A Young Catholic (George Weigel)
• Catholic Christianity (Peter Kreeft)
• Free article online - "How to Discern Elements of Your Personal Vocation" by Fr. Peter Ryan http://newmancentre.org/pages/ryanpeter.htm

Saints

• We own many of the vision books
• We're also purchasing several saint movies from Ignatius Press

Community

• 30 hours of some kind of service outside of our home (this works out to around 1/wk during school)
• helping clean the church
• helping clean a house for someone who just had a baby
• visiting a nursing home, etc.

Prayer

• Holy Hours of Eucharistic Adoration
• "Extra" Mass weekly
• Solo prayer each evening
• Stations of the Cross Fridays of Lent (we attempt this every year and fail -- maybe if it's an assignment we'll accomplish it.)
• Consecration to the Holy Spirit
• Continue to pray in front of the abortion clinic at least once a month

Lia's Challenge - home stretch

Lia's Challenge is almost over. We hear that Dd#2 is a finalist. She's having a hard time concentrating on anything else. Cross your fingers...

Blogs that like my kids

This blog picked up Ds#4's video to Lia's Challenge.
http://www.standforlife.net/2009/07/who-makes-more-sense-7-year-old-or.html

Family Catechism

I'm looking into my options for doing religion together as a family next year. This is what I've come up with.

• The Apostolate's Family Catechesis download free & discussion guide play it as a game free online
• Mercy Academy has a multi-level plan for Christian Doctrine
• Family Faith Formation seems like a nice program - for $120 they send you a once a month packet for your family which includes games, activities, booklets, and audio CDs and lessons that take about an hour per week to cover.
• Father McBride's Family Catechism (EWTN catalog has it new) take a look at the inside, it wouldn't be for youngers.

Topics to Cover :

Sacraments / Doctrine - Mass unit study - Sunday Preparation looks AWESOME! and it's free!, St. Patrick's Summer by Marigold Hunt, discuss Q in St. Joseph's Baltimore Catechism, Catholic Catechism Board Game, Faith Folders for Catholics

Living the Liturgical Year - we've all discussed this at length with my favorite suggestions being at 4Real Learning forums

Scripture - Coloring pages & narrations from Golden Children's Bible, Life of Christ, Bible History from TAN books : Knecht's Bible History (the slim blue volume) for ~K-3, Schuster's Bible History for 3-6, and the Bible History by Johnson, Hannan, and Sr. Dominica for 7-9 (the first two books have the same illustrations). Middle & High school students just read the Bible.

Saints - Vision books are our favorites for upper elem / middle school and Catholic Mosaic suggestions for youngers.

Apologetics - for the older crowd.

Trying something new - 2009/2010 plans

As I'm planning for next year, I'm considering my options. Although I've always been a Classical homeschooler, I'm sort of taking a break from the classical model and hoping to have a really fun year, while keeping up the academic rigor. (The plan is for Classical highschool for Dd#1, so I'd like to do something different before we dive into that in the coming years.) It's an exploration to see if the model that fits us better is more/less fun than another OR if my expectations that school will always be a joy is not in sync with reality.

We WON'T be studying chronological history. Let me repeat. I'm throwing history out the window for the year. Shocking, isn't it? Instead, we'll be reading literature for fun (and studying audience, author, events from that time period, literary terms & usage, etc. a la TWTM method) My younger kids haven't read Charlotte's Web since we've been so immersed in history and I plan to cover this and other important literary works next year.

We WON'T be studying a year of one branch of science. Instead I'll let the kids choose 9-10 topics that we'll play with by reading library books and finding experiments on and trying to figure out which branch of science that topic would belong in.

Math (MUS), English (LOG for youngers & Seton for olders), Latin (LCII and Henle) will all be pretty standard stuff.

I may take a short break from Dd#1's Traditional Logic (Memoria Press) to do logic puzzles and games with the entire family.

We have 2 sacraments (Dd#1 Confirmation, Ds#4 First Communion) this year and we'll be studying those intensively, but I'm hoping to do religion class together as a family with additional reading on the part of the bigger kids.

Quote of the Day

The workbook explained that stories have a beginning, middle and end and write your own story using a beginning, middle and end. Ds#4, who is 7 years old, came up with this.

The Advechers (Adventures) of P. Skywalker

I just becam (became) a Jedi night (knight).
And ileons (aliens) attak (attacked) my house.
And I chopt (chopped) them and made them into ileon (alien) fish.
The End.

In My Dreams - A perfect teacher's planner

It's become a quest. Organizing 4 kids in school/activities/chores plus keeping all my work straight in a mind that's getting more muddled with the years -- I keep thinking, "If only I could find the perfect planner."

I've researched others. There's some VERY good ones. But nothing perfect (it couldn't be because life isn't perfect, could it?)

In my dreams, my perfect planner would incorporate :

room to fit each kid in each subject in my planner
the kids chore list
room for lots of outside activities
more room in the language arts portion (because there's so many seperate subjects we do within that category - spelling, poetry, memorization, writing, handwriting, typing, reading AND grammar)
SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS (because kids sometimes have left-over work to do then!)
*saint and holy days as well as national holidays
a section for each of the kids' spelling words / vocabulary words / items they're supposed to be working on that I forget from day to day and kid to kid what they're working on
*the Sunday readings
*child-centered reflections on the Sunday readings
*gradebook
*gradescale
*periodic table

*These are all included in the nearly perfect planner from Creative Communications.

I've considered making my own, but I don't really like 3 ring binder and everytime I try to concieve of it - my mind gets more muddled...hmmm.....

How do you handle the logistics of a classical education with a large family?

Specifically, this question was addressed with The Well Trained Mind in mind (sorry about the bad alliteration.) Classical Homeschooling may look different in your family during different years and from family to family. Here's some of our version.

I've got 5 children who are presently 13, 11, 9, 7 and 1 1/2.

Things they work on their own :

• Math (Math-U-See and they mostly work on their own)
• Grammar (CHC or Seton Catholic workbooks)
• Spelling (Natural Speller)
• Memory work
• Religion text

Things I pair them up on :

• Prayer memorization
• Latin (2 kids work together on a level)

Things they all work together on :
History*
Science*
Religion discussions
History discussions
History projects

When asking around and trying to implement academic excellence (remember: I said "trying") having a toddler running around dumping the dog's water into the dog's food and all over the floor or/and a baby crying to nurse...it seems incredibly difficult if not impossible. Here's my tip : It seems incredibly difficult because IT IS!! You may look back on this year of toddlerhood or infancy as one of the most challenging (please read - this is *hard*) particularly with several other kids to teach, a house to keep clean, errands, gym class...etc. That doesn't mean you can't get through it. Really, your kids may even learn more than you expected! Hard is not the same as impossible. Hard means life is really sucky right now and you have a lot of suffering to offer Jesus. Hard means He carries you through. Hard means you need carried through.

Back to logistics -

• Every kid takes a turn at "Baby Duty." Some of the younger kids can only handle 15 minutes at a time, but everyone has a turn at my attention (which they may have to stand in line and wait patiently for) and everyone has a chance at doing their seat work and everyone takes a turn on "baby duty." It's like a law at our house.
• I made the preschoolers montessori materials to work with (so they're in the same room as we are) and the toddlers have toys that are just for school time. Here are more toddler tips.
• As soon as a kid can read, he's reading out loud from a book that's on his level, but that we're all on the same topic about - religion, history, science.
• *The big kids read books and have papers due on their own level, but in the same topic we're all covering together. Some of the big kids' books are read aloud (by the big kid to a little kid) -- that's one of the GREAT benefits of living books : The reading level a kid can comprehend being read to is higher than his actual reading level -- so he can enjoy some of the big kids' books.
• *I have one book I'm reading aloud to the majority (if not all) the kids at all times in one topic or another. This is in addition to the books the kids may read to each other. 20 minutes a day gets us further along than we were before. Read aloud time is not always pretty. Some kids need to wiggle quietly, some can draw and others need consistently drawn back into the story with questions directed at them and OFTEN we just quit because I'm too frustrated at kids who can't be quiet or keep their bodies to themselves (boys!) but then we try again the next day.
• This is important : the biggest thing in a classical education is to try again the next day. And wake up and try again the next day. Day to day it can look like you're making very little real progress. A mom gets caught up in wiping noses and cleaning up messes and finding erasers and scrubbing peanut butter out of hair and...then at the end of the day you look at your lesson plans and realize "We didn't get to Latin AGAIN." or, "We forgot to chant our memory items." or even "We haven't hit chemistry in a MONTH." If you wake up the next morning and try again -- it will all come together. A classical education is about the years of learning building on one another rather than looking for accomplishment in the day to day. Don't give in to discouragement (or if you do, find encouragement FAST!)

I take a LOT of cues from TWTM, but I keep in mind what Susan Wise Bauer said in this article : Here is a great article

7 year old Homeschool Pro-life Activist

Thought you might appreciate our seven-year-old son's submission to Lia's Pro-Life Youth Challenge. Here's the YouTube video link to his entry in the contest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvgmJySxX1g

If you forward on to family and friends or post to your blog, PLEASE do not reference his first name for privacy and security reasons. Thanks for your discretion.

Pro-Life To End Abortion

Thought you might appreciate our seven-year-old son's submission to Lia's Pro-Life Youth Challenge. Here's the YouTube video link to his entry in the contest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvgmJySxX1g

If you forward on to family and friends or post to your blog, PLEASE do not reference his first name for privacy and security reasons. We'd prefer to keep his first name private for now. Thanks for your discretion.

Homeschool Pro-life Activist

This video was posted to Lia's Pro-life Challenge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALpkxYA3NyQ
Dave and I think this is a prime example of homeschoolers pursuing their passion -and- the difference you can make in the world is not limited by your gender, profession or AGE. CHILDREN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

If you forward on to family and friends, PLEASE do not reference her first name for privacy and security reasons.

The lyrics she wrote are below:

On that day, when the angel came to Mary
Heaven rejoiced,
“You’re to have a child,
You’re to help Him through trials
And God will put His life right in your hands.”

On that day when Jesus was born into a stable
God shared His light,
He made birth a gift,
This baby brought life
Through Christ He turned the darkness into light…

(Refrain)
You were there, You were there
You were watching over them
As You sat on Your throne,
You sent Christ so we’re not alone.

On that day, when my mama’s mom tried to abort her,
God was there,
Through His grace she was spared,
She found those who would care,
His gift of love is why I am alive.

You were there, You were there,
You were watching over us.
By Your grace we were born,
And my daddy’s not alone.

On that day, when abortion became legal,
All heaven cried
‘Cause a baby’s a gift,
And killing’s not right
And though they die they have eternal life.

You are there, You are there
The uncared for are cared for now,
As You sit on Your throne,
You will hold the child alone.

(Bridge)
When life’s hopeless and we can’t bear,
We know that you’re always there,
Watching over us.
Through abortion they cannot share
The gift of life, the gift of love
That comes from God alone.
It’s just unthinkable, incomprehensible,
That such a mistake would be made,
As to take the life of an unborn child,
A gift of God’s own grace.

You are there, You are there
You are watching over us.
Lord we pray, give us strength,
Help us know we’re not alone…
You are there, always there
Help us feel Your presence, Lord.
Give us faith, to choose life,
Help us know we’re not alone…
…You are there

Copyright © 2009. E. MacDonald. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted with permission.

Educational Choice & National Standards

Thank you Mark Souder!!
I was thrilled to read this article in which Mr. Souder was the voice of reason in defending my rights to educate my children in the manner in which God has called us. He has been so reasonable to look to ALL of his constiuency and preserving what is in their best interest. What we have in Indiana is true freedom of educational choice and I'd like it to stay that way! Thank you Mark Souder!!

Happy B-day, Ds#3!

A man of simple pleasures. Have a party with one other family. Order pizza and have icecream cups. Ride bikes at their house (down the block from us) and watch 'Night at the Museum' (that they own. One family of 5 kids (us) + one family of 6 kids (them) makes for a full family room --- and we hardly heard a sound. Honest.

Lia’s Challenge: Pro-Life Film Contest-Susan B. Anthony List

Lia’s Challenge: Pro-Life Film Contest-Susan B. Anthony List

Posted using ShareThis

Kids Video Contest

Here's a GREAT contest - Lia's Challenge Contest Rules and Information
Kids can make a pro-life video and win $1,000 for college. The child must be 18 or under and it be a 2-5 minute video. Rules are below. My kids are choosing what to post. Yours may be inspired after listening to Lia and learning about the contest.
http://www.sba-list.org/site/c.ddJBKJNsFqG/b.5079687/k.FDA1/Lia8217s_Challenge_ProLife_Film_Contest.htm

Great Depression Cooking Ep:2 - Egg Drop Soup

The kids and I have been watching Clara's Depression Cooking Lessons on youtube and we LOVE HER!!!!

Her stories are so endearing. Here in 2009 she's now 93 and just adorable.

Dd#2 is considering making this recipe.

A "just because" present

My dear friend *Patrice* bought me a present. A just-because-I-love-you and I-knew-you'd-like-this present. A book. I book I already own. Normally, I wouldn't be so excited about getting a book I already own. She went to the Cinci Homeschool Conference and brought me a signed copy of Susan Wise Bauer's The Well Trained Mind 3rd Edition. It's not even available on Amazon, yet!

I would NEVER swing the bucks for a book I already own, but I'm SOOOO EXCITED to get the updated version!!

I was so excited that I kept walking around the house cleaning so I can get my work done and hurry up and read it.

I was so excited I kept telling each of my children, "I'm soooo excited!!" Dears that they are, Dd#2 got tired of hearing about my excitement and suggested I just blog about it and get the out the excitement out that was bubbling over. GREAT IDEA!!

I'm soo excited. Do you think the girls at book club will feel unloved if I stay home to read a non-book club book?

Happy Birthday to Dave

Dave is...
...SMART! (That's what attracted him to me in the first place -- well, his dimple helped, too.)
...42 today! Happy Birthday, Dave!
...creative and notices creativity in other people.
...well-rounded. He plays piano, designs websites, designs landscapes beautifully, plays trumpet, plays practice-chanter (he started learning the bagpipes, but then he had 5 kids and that slowed him down, some.)
...funny -- he's either making me mad by joking about something, or making me laugh or some combination of the two. He's also the life of the party and our friends always ask for him to join us in a game (even though he doesn't enjoy playing games he makes sure everyone else enjoys themselves.)
...generous (sometimes to a fault and shows the children mercy when I'm waiting for justice.)
...intuitive (I'm not saying he understands girl-nature, but he tries)
...a very hard worker.
...reliable (not a romantic-sounding quality, but a wonderful one when a girl runs out of gas on a regular basis and needs to call someone to come rescue her.)
...W*O*N*D*E*R*F*U*L!!

Pooh-love

Another kid falls to the adorable cuteness of pooh. We're batting 100 and 5 out of 5 kids at or before the age of 5 fall madly in love with Pooh! He could dance all day long to Pooh.

Sick Baby

Several of us have had a really bad cold for the last couple of weeks. About half of the kids haven't gotten it and both grown-ups have had relapses of it. The well kids wanted to make the baby feel better, so they put him in a rubbermaid tub with his bear and blanket and dragged him around the house. Those kids sure know how to make a fellow happy!