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I feel like the coolest school principal ever. It’s only the end of the first week and we already have our school pictures!
I took multiple shots with a nice uncluttered background. An old walnut dresser and a white distressed stool made the perfect props. Michaela got to choose her school outfit. I took my camera card to Wal-Mart and used their instant print machine to print a variety of poses and styles. 16 wallets
Though our first “official” day of school was August 25th, some light schooling actually started for us the week of August 16th because that is when our Beyond Five In A Row co-op started with our very first week of “rowing” Betsy Ross! It was oh so much fun!! Soon I will share some pictures of the co-op, but for now I just wanted to share how our lessons will work this year.
Ambleside. Ambleside. I tried it last year and here’s what I found. I am a Charlotte Mason kind of teacher at heart, and therefore what I do is generally a Charlotte Mason sort of style without really trying too overly hard. I love the Ambleside book lists. From those, we found some great books that became part of our school curriculum last year. However, with my work schedule and my eclectic bent, I found it impossible to 100% stick to the reading schedule. This year, we are still using Ambleside, but, again, Beyond Five In A Row will be our #1 focus. From Ambleside we’ll take book suggestions, support and ideas from the e-mail loop, and once again I’ll be reading from Charlotte Mason’s own writings, as time allows. Now let’s talk about Beyond Five In A Row! Our co-op has scheduled four books for the upcoming school year (2010-2011). Betsy Ross, Homer Price, Thomas Edison, and The Boxcar Children. If the books seem “young,” don’t worry. There will be so many lessons surrounding this and so much other reading, I don’t consider it a problem for us. And actually, Michaela has never read these books!
Each book will cover 8 weeks and from each book there’ll be 4 co-ops. The co-ops rotate from home to home with 2 of the moms volunteering to teach at each co-op. We spread the work out so that each mom teaches and hosts the same number of times. Lessons are taken from the Beyond Five In A Row manual, with children learning unit-study style from home and at the co-ops each week. Since we started with Betsy Ross, I have made the focus of our first 8 weeks of school, Colonial America and the American Revolution. Here are some things we’ll be using.
In the Charlotte Mason style we do these: copywork, cursive, and spelling, all from Queen Homeschool; old books with reading selections covering early American historial figures; old record albums with traditional American and traditional European music from the 1700s, as well as famous composers from that time period; a journal for daily writing (dictation) covering what we’re doing.
We started with Mozart, but plan to listen to all selections before we are done, placing musicians and music on our timeline as we go.
My mother-in-law had a wonderful collection of books in her time. From those books, I was given a book called More Minute Biographies.
From this I was able to copy several pages that featured men to know from American Revolutionary times. We color in the pencil drawings while we listen to music from the 1700s, then they get pasted around the timeline.
Things are going well so far. We plan to make some very old-fashioned recipes from our Cooking in the Young Republic. Week #1 In Review (very light week): Week #2 In Review (started on Wednesday and had some celebrating, so, again, not a full week): Happy Homeschooling!
First of all, in my series of posts about our school plans, has to come the planner. It hasn’t been long since I went back to carrying a large purse/planner because I just love having everything with me, all the time.
I have SO enjoyed working with my planner and getting it just right. You know how often I’m in thrift stores, and it is really fun to look through books, papers, and the bag/purse section of the store to see what I can find to enhance my planner. The purse planner above started out as a 2-dollar cloth-covered notebook, though the actual notebook part had been taken out of it. Still, the zipper was in good shape, it had room for credit-size cards, and I liked the bright colors. As Gru says in Despicable Me, LIGHTBULB. I knew my notebook would fit right in and I imagined using something to make a strap and maybe adding a purse part to the planner somehow. Basically, visions of glue sticks danced in my head. I ended up finding two belts in complimentary colors in Goodwill, and a small satiny purse planner to glue to the front. (Note: fabric takes glue better and holds better than a small purse made from vinyl. I should know.) The belts are the kind that are just fabric with no holes and have the metal rings on one end, so I hooked one to the other and glued them across the “bottom” of the planner and then glued them up the sides, gluing one on one side and the other on the other side, thus ending up with an adjustable strap!
I found that the reproducible planning page provided in the Five In A Row manual was the perfect size to cut in half, hole-punch and put in the planner. I made copies, front and back for 8-10 weeks of lesson planning. Since I work at home three days a week, I love having everything with me in my purse planner, all the time, so when I’m out shopping or running errands, if I think of something to write down for school, I can do it immediately and not have to re-write when I get home. When you are working and homeschooling, every minute counts.
I made pretty dividers by using pictures from old magazines that inspired me, laminating them and hole-punching them. The small notebook you see me holding to the left holds weeks worth of lessons once they are done. I keep the pages in my purse/planner until the week is over and then transfer them to the notebook that will be a permanent record of what we did. (I do realize that a purse planner can’t reasonably hold a year’s worth of lessons all at one time. ) The goal is to keep our current eight weeks of study in the planner at all times. More about that in the next post or two.
The planner has sections for shopping, routines, school, to-do, addresses, etc. It also holds one or two things that I just love to read over and over because it helps me stay on track.
So there you have it: The Planner. It makes sense to me and it works for me. And now I’m always on the look-out for cool paper that I can hole-punch and use in my planner binder. Or cloth-covered notebooks that can be turned into a purse planner with cool belts. Stay tuned.
PS – This planner is indeed 5-1/2 x 8-1/2. I am adding some more pictures to help explain how I did this. Now I’m looking for fabric-covered notebooks everywhere I go so I can make another one!
Important to note that one strap is glued on one side and the other strap on the other side, for balance. Today was the first day of 7th grade for my girl. We had a very productive first day of school! It was all I had hoped for and more. As a tradition, we take yearly pictures for “school pictures” to go in a large frame. At the end we hope to have pictures for grades K through 12.
We started our day with pictures and then moved on to talk about goals for the year, how lessons would be handed out and turned in, and then we did some work. We spent time on the couch reading together. Most everything today we did together, though it won’t be that way every day. I look forward to sharing our lesson plans soon.
The mornings are still hot. Even when we first wake up, we are met at the door with North Carolina’s humid, heavy summer air. Still, I know that September mornings, and then the cooler mornings of October, are not far away.
The morning sun was causing my green tea to absolutely gleam in its little Japanese cup yesterday as I started the day. I thought of school, how I live my life, household things that needed to be done, and getting some “Mother Culture” in for myself during my days off. Time surely flies. Yesterday is over now, and here I sit, this morning with a cup of coffee, wondering again how to order my day. Tomorrow’s our first co-op of the school year. I hope to do a school post soon about how we’ll use Beyond Five In A Row, Ambleside, and the other eclectic sorts of things I tend to do around here. One thing I can tell you is that we have five huge “Charlottes” (writing spiders) now. You can be sure that our science and nature journaling will begin with these amazing spiders.
Argiope aurantia with a cicada (if that tells you how big the spider is).
Yes, it’s the fairies and friends post! (Whatever that is.)
Into the shop this morning went a new brooch pin, adorned with an image from Edmund Dulac. It’s from a fairy print, of course. There. We have the fairy part of this post covered.
For the friends part, I know I’ve not yet shared a picture of those of us who met up at the North Carolina Homeschool Conference and got supper at the Mellow Mushroom. From left to right, it’s me, Hollie, Rebecca, Adele, Leslie, Angela, Bo, and Jackie. What fun we had! Some of these ladies I see regularly in person, and some I have known for years on line (through Five In A Row) and finally had the privilege to meet! The Mellow Mushroom was unbelievably packed and there were some who couldn’t wait it out. We were sorry to see them have to leave! A few of us ended up ordering takeout from the MM and going back to the hotel and eating at two large, quiet tables in the lobby. It was a wonderful place to talk and carry on about conference and homeschooling stuff! Now. On another “friends” note…
It wasn’t a field trip or a co-op, but as sort of a last outing of the school year, our homeschool group met to share a potluck lunch and say goodbye to one of our families who is moving away. Oh how they will be missed! It was a wonderful (if bittersweet) time. If you can’t tell from the kids’ red faces, it was hot! It did not, however, slow the children down! This is only a small fraction of the children who were actually there that day. I am puttering around today, working in the garden, trying to get supper together (I must share my notecards soon), making more pins, cleaning a bit and just enjoying a day off. I hope you are having a wonderful day!
Part 2. Sounds important. Makes it sound like I was at the NC homeschool conference for an extended period of time, but really I only had Friday there, and that for only 8 hours. As I mentioned before, I went in with the hopes that I would get some direction especially for my own particular needs and weak areas. I was downstairs at the bookfair, and for the first time ever I noticed Queen Homeschool. With my love for all things Charlotte Mason, how did I miss this in years past? The beautiful covers of some of the books appealed greatly to my senses. There were ladies dressed in modest long dresses, some looking Victorian, some looking very Colonial. There were gallant men to remind us of the Revolution and little boys playing outside. I flipped through some of the lightweight booklets of copywork lessons and thought how much easier this would make our copywork throughout the year. But which one would I choose? My heart was drawn to Copywork for Girls.
It was filled with wonderful verses from the Bible and many excellent (some obscure) quotations from literature, all designed to instill modesty, godliness and a feminine confidence into girls. I picked one up and carried it around the booth. I picked up a Language Lessons book, looked inside and decided almost immediately that we’d be using it for language arts next year. It appears to be exactly what I’ve been looking for to go along with some other things I already have on hand.
I looked at my watch. I only had a few minutes! It was almost time for the next talk I wanted to hear: Reality Homeschooling by Bonita Lillie. Reality sounded like something I needed to have more of an understanding of. What should a homeschool look like, in reality? I put the books back into their places on the shelves and left the Queen Homeschool booth, determined to come back after the talk and get the books I wanted. Reality Homeschooling turned out to be an excellent talk. Excellent! There were so many things I needed to hear. Bonita Lillie gave the talk in her PJs. How real is that? Very real, on some days, for many of us, I expect. I won’t give you a blow by blow account, but one thing she said really struck me: be aware of your limitations and your child’s limitations. “Limitations” doesn’t have to mean “disabilities.” We can place all sorts of inappropriate expectations on our children. We can even try to live our lives again, through them! It’s not that we should not exert our authority in making good decisions for them; in fact, one point in Bonita’s talk was to always cover the basics first — reading, writing and arithmetic. She also pointed out that our children need to be excellent communicators to get along well in life, both in oral and written communication skills. It is more about celebrating the freedoms we have as homeschoolers to tailor school to fit our children’s strengths and to allow our children to become who they will become. When we place drastically unrealistic expectations on them, it’s like making them wear chains around their necks. I thought about that copywork book I was about to purchase — the one with the long frilly dress on the front. It really was not Michaela. It was me. Thank goodness I figured that out before I purchased it! (I’m not sure how many more times I’m gonna have to be smacked by that 2 x 4!) When the talk was over, I went straight down to Queen Homeschool to make my purchases, but for the copywork book, I chose Lessons from Leaders.
If you’ve followed this blog for awhile, you’ll know that Princess of the Universe humors her mama for things like Prairie Tuesdays, but she’s really a sometimes-rambunctious tomboy who’d rather be swinging from a tree. than wearing a frilly dress. She’s also been complimented for her leadership qualities. I have every intention of continuing to instill ladylike qualities in Michaela, but I love the peace I have about my second choice of copywork books. I’ll close on that note of peace. More certainly to come later about our entire curriculum line-up for next year.
Part of the day yesterday I looked like this:
BIG EYES. As I took in the sights at the NCHE’s 26th annual homeschool conference in Winston-Salem. And part of the day I felt like this:
Like a TINY LITTLE CREATURE in the midst of hundreds of thousands of delightful things to choose from. Yes, I took a Friday off to do that. It was a wonderful day and I’m so glad I went. I’ll be sure and post more about it later, but for now I have to work. Enjoy this day.
It is sometimes a very needful place to be: with others who share some of your most important goals and dreams.
Only one of us had a working camera (oh, those dead batteries) at the homeschool group mom’s meeting at Guglhupf a couple of weeks ago. So, I hope my friend Leslie won’t mind too much if I borrow her lovely picture taken of us all that day. It was a fun time sharing ideas and eating fancy desserts. (Fancy desserts is not a thing that happens much at my house!) This is just a few of the moms who make up our wonderful group. I am so thankful to be a part! On a gardening note, our little homeschool garden abounds with blossoms and creatures (and shy little garden fairies too, I’m sure).
One of my current favorite “things” in the garden is this birdbath, made quite simply from a mimosa stump and a clay pot’s large saucer. I keep telling myself I need to clothe that saucer with a layer of pretty mosaic, but the time flies away and it doesn’t get done. It’s pretty anyway.
Another favorite spot: the goldfish pond, currently showing off a bright water lily. It’s a joy to watch the goldfish shake the lily pads as they dart around underneath the surface and come up looking for food. Today’s a busy day for me and unless I get going I’ll end the day wishing I had not tarried here so long! Hopefully I’ll bring you some pictures of the day today — I’m hoping it will be special!
Charlotte Mason says that every day children need to have something to do, something to love. For my Michaela, there are bunnies; Annie, THE beagle; and, Oreo our sweet kitty who was hit by a car and now lives inside — a bit less than her old self, but just as sweet as ever. One of the daily chores around here is to gather greens for the bunnies. They do get some pellets too and we always make sure they have fresh water, but I have loved the results of having Michaela search for their greens. Bunnies cannot eat just anything, and domesticated rabbits have lost some of their ability to know what to eat and what not to eat. I have found that Michaela’s knowledge of what she is picking has greatly increased because of the responsibility of feeding it to these baby bunnies! The names of plaintain, dandelion, chickweed, clover, etc., used to go right into one ear and out the other, but with something to love, the names are sticking.
Last night I was looking through old photographs and postcards that I’ve collected through the years. I dearly love this little picture. A sweet baby, haltingly reaching out to pet a bunny. I figure there’s someone behind the camera saying, “pet the bunny.” Makes me smile every time. There’s trust in this picture. I’m trusting you that this bunny’s not going to bite my fingers off. I think Charlotte Mason might have smiled at this picture too.
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I am a 40-something-year-old mother of four delightful children, have been married for 22 years to my carpenter husband, and live in a 1921 farm-style house. I find the most joy in my garden, growing and harvesting herbs and flowers and caring for our pet rabbits. I have a 21-year-old son, a 19-year-old son, a 16-year-old son, and a bright and bubbly (and very funny) 11-year-old daughter who is homeschooled. I'm a North Carolina girl and I love sharing North Carolina links and information. I'm a book lover, bird lover, gardener and aspiring herbalist. I seek no help for my thrift store addiction. I do medical transcription from home part-time.
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.
I would
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for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
