By Lynn, on September 24th, 2008%
Miss Priss and I started rowing Very Last First Time today using Five In A Row.
It is a very good story, perfect for really stirring the imagination and for making a child wonder where in the world could anyone live to be able to go under the sea? The story also makes a child want to be brave. I love that the brave child in the book is a little girl!
Princess of the Universe colored the story disks this morning and we placed them on the appropriate places. If you want a child well-versed in geography, I highly recommend Five In A Row. 
After we read the story, I remembered a picture from an old National Geographic that I cut out when my oldest boys rowed this book years ago.
As you can see, October 1999, so if you save old National Geos, as we do, look it up!
I’m looking forward to the new adventures we’ll have when we “row” again tomorrow.
Lynn
By Lynn, on September 23rd, 2008%
Is it just me, or is this just cute as pie?
Do you see the apple pie on the table? I had a bottle cap from my ginger-ale today and thought this would make a perfect doll house pie pan, if only the edges were brought out some.
And what a way to finish up How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World !
We finished up with a geography review and a final reading of the book and some talk about art and now it’s on to a new adventure tomorrow!
This little pie is just a bottle cap with the edges flattened out somewhat by pliers, a circle of felt glued in for the bottom crust, little pieces of felt glued in for apple slices, and felt strips glued on the for the top crust. I think the dolls will have wonderful conversations about Italy and Sri Lanka and England…
Happy Homeschooling,
Lynn
By Lynn, on September 23rd, 2008%
Louise at The Pink Gate tagged me for some fun!
1. What are your nicknames?
Hmmm. “Sandra Lynn The Big Fat Hen” comes to mind. I was called that because I was so skinny in elementary school. I loved it.
2. What game show and/or reality show would you like to be on?
Well, not having TV, I have no idea! Maybe one where everyone wins a lot of money. 
3. What was the first movie you bought in VHS or DVD?
Bambi, for the boys when they were little.
4. What is your favorite scent?
Easy. Lavender from the garden.
5. If you had a million dollars that you could only spend on yourself, what would you do with it?
If it had to be spent on me, a beautiful country house with gardens, the home being decorated in total shabby chic.
6. What one place have you visited that you can’t forget and want to go back to?
The Appalachian mountains.
7. Do you trust easily?
It depends on the initial feeling I get.
8. Do you think before you act, or act before you think?
A little of both, depending on what situation it is and what kind of mood I’m in.
9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
Losing my dear friend, Melissa.
10. Do you have a good body image?
Yes, for the most part.
11. What is your favorite fruit?
Bananas.
12. What websites do you visit daily?
Five In A Row.
13. What have you been seriously addicted to lately?
Oh my, you know it’s the thrift store.
14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
A very sweet person; creative and sensitive; protective of those around her.
15. What’s the last song that got stuck in your head?
Gladly, a hymn.
16. What’s your favorite item of clothing?
Right now, a teal linen skirt. And a white billowy blouse.
17. Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy?
No.
18. What would you do if you saw $100 lying on the ground?
Try to get it back to whoever it belonged to.
19. What items could you not go without during the day?
Hot tea. My greens and whey drink each morning.
20. What should you be doing right now?
Lesson plans! But every teacher needs a mental health break, right??
Lynn
How to play: If you’ve been tagged, post your own answers to the questions on your blog. Tag eight other people, and add links to the blogs of the person who tagged you and the people you tagged.
If you visit here and want to play, consider yourself tagged…and loved!
By Lynn, on September 23rd, 2008%
It is true that with homeschooling the sky is the limit.
But to get out into the great blue yonder you must be reaching.
We enjoyed our time away, but it felt good Sunday evening to get settled in at home again and look over some things I want to get done this week.
Looking over the Five In A Row Manual
I have several ideas that I need to put into place so that both Joseph and Michaela are getting their work done.
- Keep a stack of grade-appropriate workbooks to direct them to if I am tied up and they don’t have anything independent to do. For example, while we were away, Miss Priss did a lot of math review from colorful workbooks. She colored and added and subtracted and multiplied and had a great time.
- Always have their lesson plans printed out by Monday mornings so they can see what is expected of them all week. If they want to work ahead, that’s fine.
- Allow on-line time, but during school time it must be something worth doing.
- Educational DVDs about history and geography subjects and then write a quick note about it in their journals.
- An abundance of creative writing prompts that can be turned to at a moment’s notice. I love that I can spend 5 minutes reading from Story Starters: Helping Children Write Like They’ve Never Written Before
 and then have Michaela work on a writing assignment independently. I also want to make up a pretty jar full of one-line prompts that she draw from. That’s always fun!
These may seem like little things, but if nothing is planned except things that I have to be involved directly in, it is easy to let my children, especially Princess of the Universe, do nothing.
Five In A Row
As far as our “rowing” this week, we have taken the first two days of the week to finish up How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. I wish my rowing could always be as simple as Monday through Friday, but it’s okay that it’s not. Our traveling last week altered our schedule a bit and I know that sometimes my work will do the same, but no worries.
As far as this week, we are going into Very Last First Time. It’s a book I love, and another that her older brothers have rowed, but Michaela has not.
There’s A Scientist In The Garden
Oh yes. Experients galore with this child.
I wander around, looking at bees…
and pretty little bugs that nature has dressed out so finely…
while princess of the universe does experiments with baking soda and vinegar. She cut a rocket out of the back of a cereal box, put it together by the directions, and got the idea to try and launch it off of a water bottle.
Oreo hung around watching until things started foaming over, then she split.
Happy little rocket, about to be tested.
Oreo let me hold her while the scientist worked.
And the scientist took a break long enough to get a picture of me and little Oreo.
A pretty little butterfly landed close by.
We are still very much in a transition phase. I have so many ideas — some things that I want to be very scheduled and very daily, and then many spontaneous things, like the science fun, or the unexpected trip to the vet this morning. (Everything’s fine.) Michaela often talks about being a vet, and our vet this morning treated Miss Priss like royalty! She talked to her about making good grades in science and math and she also spoke directly to her and showed her how to give the medicine and put her in charge! Very nice.
I will post our lesson plan schedule soon, as it is falling into place on paper and in my mind.
Lynn
By Lynn, on September 22nd, 2008%
Yes, we must go out into the garden and catch up.
Immediately on opening the door, we’ll be greeted by little Oreo, who LOVES to be held. She snuggles. Really. And she just purrs so easily, as soon as she sees you. She is recently back from her first round of shots and being spayed. See the little dark spot on her nose? The animal shelter (where we had it done) said that is where she rubbed her nose on the cage. Wanting attention maybe?
We can put Oreo down, but she’ll be all under our feet and walking with us every step of the way, so watch where you step.
Green plants encroach on the little garden path. After being away for 4 days, the garden looks even more jungle-like than I’d remembered. It’s overcast here this morning, with a rare drop of rain actually, but it’s not enough to keep us inside.
In both directions, the garden path is overgrown.
This plant is getting huge (right, near front). I think it’s some kind of salvia, but it has not bloomed until now.
See the big chunk out of the leaf? Whatever has been living on this plant has really eaten well all summer. I thought this plant would never bloom, but now the critters are gone, it has burst forth with new growth and I think the red blooms will be lovely. I just have to wonder whey they are down-turning. I thought this was some kind of pineapple sage, but have never seen the blooms turn down. Do you know what it is? Maybe Vanillalotus will know.
Not far away, look at this caterpillar munching on the Cassia obtusifolia. So pretty and bright, but I have no idea what it’ll turn into. Do you know?
Can you believe the size of the rosehips on this Queen Elizabeth rose? I must do something with them. There are only a few — but so big! Not enough for jelly, but for use in tea or something? Hmmm…
And Queen Elizabeth decided to put out one more bloom. It has faded a bit. I missed its peak, but that’s okay.
One bloom has petals falling, another one is about to open. Reminds me of us humans, in all stages and ages of life.
You know, it’s the little things sometimes that get your attention. This flower (above and below) is wild and took hold in my garden about two or three years ago. It looks like little drops of snow floating around when it’s at this stage. It’s in the aster family I think, and the blooms will be more lavender tinted when they open up, but will appear, still, overall to be white until you get up close.
I love these tall wild flowers (above). Do you like them?
You’ll see now why I love the Euonymous strawberry tree (above) that I have on the front porch. Look at the blooms! Is this not wonderful? I love them. I have seen this tree growing in the wild on my mother’s property, so I was very glad to find one at a local nursery that I could bring home to my own yard.
We cannot stay the onset of fall. It is in the colors, changing before our eyes. Are you ready? After all, today is the first day you know.
Lynn
PS – Lesson plans to be posted later…
By Lynn, on September 17th, 2008%
I know I am fortunate to have a daughter who likes to write. The contrast between her apparent ease with spelling and writing and my son Joseph’s struggle to spell even the simplest words is amazing. I do think they will be a benefit to each other, though, as he is thoughtful and settled compared to her being somewhat silly and impulsive.
Today for Michaela’s writing assignment, I tried something new. I took the 8 vocabulary words from the Five In A Row manual for How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. I wrote all 8 of them on little pieces of paper, folded each one in half, and put them in a little pile. Princess of the Universe had to drawn one word and write the first sentence of a creative story with it. Then draw another one at random to write the next sentence, and so on until eight sentences were done to create one story! This really made her think because she had to work around the words she drew by making a sentence containing each word.
I am really loving having Michaela close by all day and getting the chance to interact with her and talk with her about things throughout the day.
I found a few new books to add to our homeschool library. I need to take a closer peek at the chapter book to make sure it’s okay. Anyone read Stones in Water ?
I wanted to let you know that I’ll be away for a few days, with Miss Priss and our school books in tow.
I will post an update when we return. I also want to catch up with all of you when I return. I have made blog visits but had very little time to comment this week. It has been a VERY busy week here. Whew!!
Lynn
By Lynn, on September 16th, 2008%
Yes, I’d say the apple pie recipe in How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World is a really good one!
I let Princess of the Universe just have her time in the kitchen tonight! I was close by and supervising, but she and the little neighbor boy next door put all the ingredients together! They measured and they used my apple corer, peeler, slicer to prepare the apples.
Once out of the oven, I had a kitchen full of men and boys wanting APPLE PIE!
Pardon the mess in the background (we live here), but doesn’t this little chef look absolutely proud of herself? :)
We had a very nice geography discussion today and enjoyed finding Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. We are really enjoying our school lessons and getting into a nice routine.
On A Garden Note…
I saw this big grasshopper out by my front steps!
Isn’t he pretty??? Wow. He let me get very close for a picture. In fact, he sat so still that I wondered if something was wrong with him. I moved in closer and he flew to the nearby lamb’s quarter that I am letting go to seed over my flower garden (yikes), but they are edible greens and that’s another post entirely. Anyway, he finally flew away when I got THIS CLOSE.
He walked along a stem of lamb’s quarter, hanging upside down, showing off. He hung around for awhile. He’s probably out there somewhere even now thinking he’s got the best garden in the world.
Lynn
By Lynn, on September 15th, 2008%
The core heart of our homeschool is a curriculum called Five In A Row. Each week we’ll be taking simple but most effective lessons from our Five In A Row manual, all centered around a wonderful children’s picture book. This week we have chosen to “row” How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World.
It was so special to snuggle up and read our story together this morning. Miss Priss loved this story and so did I. For our lesson today we took a language arts lesson (there are a variety of lessons to choose from, which makes Five In A Row very versatile). I had Miss Priss write down the vocabulary words (five times each), but only after we had talked about each one and she pretty much acted out what they meant. Not because I asked her to, but just because she’s pretty dramatic sometimes.
She colored the story disk for us and we put it on her bulletin board to dry. She put quite a bit of glitter glue on the apple leaf to make it 3D, she said.
I have to tell you that How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World is one of my favorite books as far as illustrations. Well, as far as everything, but this page right here…
is one of my favorites. I love row houses and I love the way these businesses are all side by side with their own personalities (buildings have those, you know). I got so inspired that I decided to make a building of my own and just casually show it to Princess of the Universe to see if she wanted to make one too. I did not even have to ask. She jumped right in and started making her own building, with me knowing all the time that these buildings we were making were going into an art piece.
The simple art piece went into a frame just recently purchased from Goodwill for $1.88 to commemorate our first Five In A Row book after bringing Princess home.
Miss Priss did the three businesses on the left, and I made the two houses and the business on the right.
Close-up detail of my tall house shows that Miss Priss lives there, the date she came home and that she lives in a home school. Sweet.
Thought you might want to see the shops that Princess of the Universe did. The one in the middle I think was inspired by the trip to France to get an egg and their elegance there!
Of course you don’t have to make framed art each week with Five in a Row. This was something special and extra that I wanted to do, but by involving Michaela in my love of buildings and their personalities, we got to know each other better.
For the next four days, we will be choosing a lesson each day. My plan is to do:
- Tuesday – Geography
- Wednesday – Math
- Thursday - Art
- Friday – Science discussion
Math? Not to worry. We will be doing math every day by way of an independent math curriculum, but Five In A Row includes basic applied math lessons. Also, even though Geography will be our lesson for Tueday, geography is really a daily “given” in this curriculum because every day we will place our story disk on a world map in the location that is most appropriate for the story. Over time, Princess of the Universe will be very good at geography!
Just wanted to give you a peek at our day today.
Lynn
By Lynn, on September 15th, 2008%
Denise, you are so right! I realized even as I was uploading my pictures that it was just not fair to deprive everyone of an image of my socks. So, here, in their faded glory, are my wool socks.
Aren’t they lovely?
Ha! You also get to see my wildly printed PJ pants. Working in PJs: one of the wonderful privileges of working at home.
This might be a good time to say that it drives Hubby crazy that I would even think of going outside in my socks, but I don’t wander far away in just socks. And I do try to stay on dry ground.
Lynn
By Lynn, on September 13th, 2008%
It got hot today. Let me say that again. When I walked outside this afternoon in my wool socks and long-sleeve shirt IT WAS HOT OUTSIDE.
See, I sit in a cool office, still as a statue, except my fingers typing away, all day. I get cold. But it did not take long outside for WOOL SOCKS to feel very inappropriate. And yet I pressed on, camera in hand, brave blogging woman that I am.
After much rain of late, the azalea is blooming again. Is this normal?
I crawled quietly under a tree – in my WOOL SOCKS – to commune with this little butterfly.
He (she?) flew away and landed on the hot brick foundation. I followed, bravely, out into the direct sun, in my WOOL SOCKS.
Euonymous strawberry. Not for eating, but it’s pretty. So glad I bought it.
Fluffy, sweet kitty. She looks like she’s wearing eyeliner.
The goldenrod is starting to bloom. It clashes with the azalea…
I heard a loud, angry buzzing. Really. Glancing into the foliage I found this yellow jacket looking very able — and willing — to sting. But wait! My son says you are not a yellow jacket but a fly. He’s right, I think. Are you a flower fly? Anyhoo, thanks for the picture. I’m leaving now. But even if you are a yellow jacket and even if you do try to sting me on my foot, angry buzzing thing, you’ll get squished, because I’m wearing THICK WOOL SOCKS.
Let the ground get soaked with rain and you’ll find out that there are mold spores everywhere.
My pretty crepe myrtle, I love your bark.
Pretty patterned branch. Is this growth a lichen or a fungus? I’m not sure. Do you know? Do you wear WOOL SOCKS outside?
When I was little, my dolls had carpets made for a king if only they could make their home on a rock covered with thick soft moss.
You look like a potato chip, little yellow butterfly, but maybe I’m just overheated because I refuse to take off my WOOL SOCKS.
Thank you for the photo, little butterfly.
I must go in and take off my WOOL SOCKS now.
Lynn
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About Lynn
I am the mother of four delightful children: a 23-year-old son, a 20-year-old son, a 17-year-old son, and a bright and bubbly 13-year-old daughter. I share an apartment home with my 17-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. My little home on the internet is called Rose Cottage because of my love for gardening, roses, and all things romantic and Victorian. Welcome.
I'm a North Carolina girl and I love sharing North Carolina links and information. I do medical transcription from home. My hobbies include making sweet little dolls from clay who are named and have their own stories to tell. I also make old-fashioned brooches. These are for sale in my Etsy shop.
For 13 years continuously, I homeschooled some or all of our four children, but the time came that our homeschool had to be closed. It was the end of a beautiful chapter in my life. I will always be a strong supporter of homeschooling and I will continue to review books and maintain my homeschool website, The Healthy Homeschool. The Players
Lil Ol' Me
Son Daniel, 23
Son, Big Joe, 20
Son, John, 17
Daughter, Michaela, 13
Annie Fatso Beagle
My Symphony
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.
William Henry Channing
1810-1884
What You Do Sow a thought, reap an action.
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny.
Contact Me 
I would  for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
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