I’m so sorry I never posted yesterday!  I was supposed to post about school stuff: where we are, how I am going to finish up the year…  Then yesterday went crazy, as work days are likely to do, and I never posted, though I was thinking about it. 

A reaping of that sown: greens to . . . → Read More: The Harvest]]> My Dear Readers,

I’m so sorry I never posted yesterday!  I was supposed to post about school stuff: where we are, how I am going to finish up the year…  Then yesterday went crazy, as work days are likely to do, and I never posted, though I was thinking about it. 

A reaping of that sown: greens to cook, greens for a fresh salad, greens for an infusion.

On Sunday evening I spent some time thinking about this school year:  about Ambleside Online, Five in a Row, how much time we’ve spent in co-ops and on fieldtrips, where we are in our Saxon math text, and where we are in our writing and grammar.  I say “we” because even thought it’s Michaela’s education, at this point I am totally responsible for putting her lessons together and making sure she follows through.

As I wondered about writing out yet more lessons, I could not get off my mind that, very simply, “you reap what you sow.” 

I had everything I needed right at my fingertips to do a full year of Ambleside and yet we have persisted in reading only a few of the selections on the year’s list of books.  We have focused on only one artist: Raphael.  But I’m not going to cry over things not accomplished. 

On the other hand, we have been 100% involved in our Five In A Row homeschool support group, including a co-op that split off to study Volume 4, and our lives have been so enriched with friendship, hands-on learning, review, and time outdoors and in others’ homes, the result has been beyond my expectations.  But I am not going to be over-confident regarding things we did accomplish. 

The summation of this is that we are not yet where I had hoped we’d be in the math book and yet we are still inspired to learn, and here it is May!  I think it has been a successful year. 

It is clear to me that we are reaping what we have sown through the year.  There’s a harvest to everything.  Perhaps we’ve a table covered in too many sweet fruits and not enough vitamin-rich vegetables, and yet, at least for now, we are doing well with what we’ve harvested.   It’s clear to me though that there are some lessons I need to take from this and that we need to be wise with the time left in this school year and even this summer.

We have three more outings with our homeschool group and the year will be done in that sense.  Otherwise, we are focusing only on math and writing during our days, and our evening/bedtime/independent reading will be purely the bible and the few books from Ambleside Year 5 that we want to finish but have not yet.  Michaela will be required to name all of the paintings by Raphael that we have studied.  Her end-of-year testing is already set up to be done with an indepedent testing service in the second half of June.  Then we’ll break, except for math.

I feel like I’m tying up loose ends and that I have learned so much.  As far as I know, next year we will be using Ambleside Year 6, Beyond Five In A Row, our Saxon math, and other things yet to be determined.  (Must wait until after the NC Homeschool Conference!)

While we’re at it, do expect a final Ambleside post before the school year is out.

I’ll leave you with a bunny picture.  Trying to crawl up out of my hand and look at the world, this little bunny does have ears!  If you’ll remember, Coco sometimes looked like she had no ears, or only one ear.  Like mama, like baby.

A good reminder:  You reap what you sow.

After a large Thanksgiving meal, for which we were duly thankful, my mother, my sister, my sweet husband, my son Joseph and I set out on a slow, easy walk around the pond.

The beauty of the woods enticed me to think on happy . . . → Read More: The Walk]]> “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!”  Psalms 8:1

After a large Thanksgiving meal, for which we were duly thankful, my mother, my sister, my sweet husband, my son Joseph and I set out on a slow, easy walk around the pond.

The beauty of the woods enticed me to think on happy things.  My mind was renewed as my thoughts flew to getting back into school after a week of cooking, eating, and relaxing.  We have the marvelous AO Year 5 books to devour.  This season offers the chance to study some of the greatest music of all time.  Handel’s Messiah comes to mind.  Music appreciation should flow almost without effort. 

In my Charlotte Mason reading this morning, exercising the mind was the subject of her writing.

Most of us have met with a few eccentric and a good many silly persons, concerning whom the question forces itself, Were these people born with less brain power than others?  Probably not; but if they were allowed to grow up without the daily habit of appropriate moral and mental work, if they were allowed to dawdle through youth without regular and sustained efforts of thought or will, the result would be the same, and the brain which should have been invigorated by daily exercise has become flabby and feeble as a healthy arm would be after carried for years in a sling.”

Oh what encouragement to push ever onward in the coming week! And though it might sometimes seem an inconveniece to my child to forgo mindless (insert name of modern pop star who most gets on your nerves) videos on YouTube, in favor of a more noble pursuit:

Do not let the children pass a day without distinct efforts, intellectual, moral, volitional; let them brace themselves to understand; let them compel themselves to do and to bear; and let them do right at the sacrifice of ease and pleasure… 

I find that we are not without things to work on.

Wishing you a beautiful and productive Saturday,
Lynn

It is simply a cardboard box that we are coloring the logs and mud plaster onto.  We cut out the one . . . → Read More: We Cannot Escape History]]> “We cannot escape history,” is what Abraham Lincoln said, and as we listened to Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait this morning, Michaela and I worked on our project of re-creating Lincoln’s birthplace for our homemade doll house collection.

It is simply a cardboard box that we are coloring the logs and mud plaster onto.  We cut out the one door and one window and hung a bearskin (felt) over the door.  The single window in the small cabin was covered with oiled paper (we used wax paper).  The floor was hard dirt so we painted on a thick layer of Mod Podge and sprinkled sand into it and let it dry.  After allowing it to dry and shaking off the excess, we had a nice dirt floor.

We have several items to add yet, including a bed of saplings, a homemade coverlet and a fireplace.  We will continue to add items as we read on through Abraham Lincoln’s World by Genevieve Foster.  It’s one of Michaela’s books for Ambleside Online Year 5.   I have gotten questions before regarding what to do for handicrafts and boys, and I think a project like this is so much fun!  It’s does not have to be classified as a doll house!

Lately our school days have been full of history, made even richer by our participation in our Five In A Row co-op activities.  I cannot emphasize enough how much I enjoy being a part of a co-op and learning alongside other moms (super nice friends) and their children. 

A few weeks ago we had a two-hour co-op class here.  All activities were centered around the book Cowboy Charlie, which is the story of Charles M. Russell, American painter of the American Wild West.   It ties in nicely with our other current reads as the times of Charles Russell pick up where Abraham Lincoln’s world left off. 

We read the book, Cowboy Charlie, as a group and then set off to travel around the yard by pretend train to different areas set up to represent different phases of Charles Russell’s life.

Michaela and I had made a tepee ahead of time, and you can barely see it because it blended right into the background on this cold, gray day, but the children enjoyed it and some of them came dressed up and ready to re-enact!

One of the parts of the co-op that I worked on was “passports” to the west.  There was a mystery character for each child, sealed in an envelope until everyone had received theirs.  The children then opened their envelopes.  We had many famous people there:  Buffalo Bill, Crazy Horse, Annie Oakley, Laura Ingalls Wilder and others.  It was really fun to see the children open their envelopes and find out who they were!

The original passports were made from luggage tags and then laminated.  I made a quick black and white photocopy of each one to keep a laminated set on hand for personal reference.   (Not to mention I wanted a tangible reminder of the day.)

My co-teacher (love her) talks about an area concerning one of the historical figures we had chosen to tell the children about.

After being outside and getting almost too chilly but not quite, we all came in and learned about the 12 constellations that tell the story of Jesus’ birth, death, and return.   Cowboy Charles M. Russell worked under the stars, remember.

We then crowded into the toasty kitchen and had warm apple cider, coffee, venison sausage, rice cakes, peanut butter and carrot sticks.  Everyone was so kind and I enjoyed so much having everyone over.  It was a day that made some precious memories for Michaela and me.  (Leslie, thank you for the pictures!)

We cannot escape history.

Lynn

For writing, Michaela will keep a journal about her new puppy, Annie.

For reading, I am definitely following the Ambleside Year 5 lessons and just calmly going with . . . → Read More: Light Lessons]]> Since I’m recovering from the effects of a non-working thyroid, which has probably been building over a year’s time, I don’t want to add any more stress to my life than necessary. 

For writing, Michaela will keep a journal about her new puppy, Annie.

For reading, I am definitely following the Ambleside Year 5 lessons and just calmly going with our own flow with those books.  There is one book that Michaela absolutely “does not get” right now.  (The Story of King Arthur and His Knights.)  Stress?  No.  That one’s going on the back burner right now and I’m hoping to read that one with her aloud later.  In the meantime she is loving the other books and placing figures on our timeline as we learn about new people.  Pictures are easily printed from a Google search for this!

Last night we snuggled up with Annie and read more from Farmer Boy, our current read in the Little House series. 

I think I have to work?  Well, no, Almanzo’s father had to get up at midnight, at 40 below zero, and take a whip outside to rouse the cows that were not in barns.  He had so much livestock that they could not all fit into his many barns and shelters.  If the cows that were exposed to the air were left to sleep too long they would freeze in their sleep.  So little Almanzo awoke to the sound of the door closing at midnight — father going out to keep the cows alive.  He’d drive them around until they were good and warm and then let them rest again.

Now that was hard work.

There’s a wild aster in my garden that’s beginning to bloom.  I love the tiny little blooms.  It’ll look like a snowstorm before it’s done.

We’ll do some light and easy nature sketching.

I’m involved in a Five In A Row Volume 4 co-op this year.  I’m very excited about that.  As far as creative lessons and things done away from home, that’s where my energy will go right now.  It’s easy to choose lessons from the Five In A Row manual, but we’ll be getting the children together to work on lessons and learn together.  So much fun!

The Ambleside takes care of itself if we just do the reading.  It gives us copywork material, timeline material, discussion material and more.

Of course we are doing math (Saxon 7/6) and many handicrafts.  Even now, Michaela is working on a new bed for the doll house.  It is being recycled from something I no longer needed.  I’ll be sure and post pictures!

Have a lovely Monday!

Lynn

Today is a work day for me, but I’ve enjoyed so much getting back into my little garden after a few days away, walking up and down my little garden paths and noticing big changes in little flowers.

My Ambleside reading this week is in Volume 6, pages 154-158. Volume 6 is titled Towards a Philosophy of Education.  . . . → Read More: Little Garden Path]]> I’m home.

Today is a work day for me, but I’ve enjoyed so much getting back into my little garden after a few days away, walking up and down my little garden paths and noticing big changes in little flowers.

My Ambleside reading this week is in Volume 6, pages 154-158. Volume 6 is titled Towards a Philosophy of Education.  You can easily print the pages from the Ambleside website and read along.  I’ve only had time to read a short amount this morning, but I loved this:

In devising a syllabus for a normal child, of whatever social class, three points must be considered: –

a) He requires much knowledge, for the mind needs sufficient food as much as does the body.

b) Knowledge should be various, for sameness in mental diet does not create appetite (i.e. curiosity).

c) Knowledge should be communicated in well-chosen language because his attention responds naturally to what is conveyed in literary form.

I love the richness of the books we are reading using Ambleside Year 5. 

Well, I could write on, but I must get to my work desk.  That, too, brings some excitement. I have new information at my fingertips and it’s made my job easier and more of a fun challenge.  As well, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t see some grammatical or scientific fact that I want to share with my chidren.

Today’s Quote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” ~Winston Churchill

Happy Monday. It’s good to be home.
Lynn

This is the completed assignment and I absolutely love it.  I asked her which fairy this is, but I shouldn’t have had . . . → Read More: Narration Through Drawing]]> One of Michaela’s narration assignments today was this:  Choose any one of the fairies we have talked about from The Fairy-Land of Science and draw me a picture of what you think she looks like.

This is the completed assignment and I absolutely love it.  I asked her which fairy this is, but I shouldn’t have had to ask. The shield on her chest is a snowflake. (Of course, six sides!) Her cheeks are rosy because it’s so cold.  Her wand is tipped with ice and represents the power that she has in nature.  That’s a snowball on her crown and the smaller snowballs have upsidedown icicles on them.  I think she was paying attention to the story.    Did you notice that fairy Crystallization is able to wear flip-flops in the snow?

One of her assignments for tomorrow (her boxes are all full and ready to go) is to look at this picture and tell me how it makes her feel, and she can do this by writing or by drawing at her easel.  I’m anxious to see what she chooses.  I’ll let you know.

I’m liking that the paintings from our artist study for this term are in the noteook in covers. At this point I am introducing one at a time with an assignment.

Lynn

If there was any doubt that I had made a wrong choice about using Ambleside Online this year for Michaela, that doubt was alleviated this morning when we started school.

It’s a refreshingly cool morning here.  In fact, the weather is so much cooler, we turned off all air conditioning last . . . → Read More: Bring Isaac Newton!]]> Encouragement That I’m On The Right Track:

If there was any doubt that I had made a wrong choice about using Ambleside Online this year for Michaela, that doubt was alleviated this morning when we started school.

It’s a refreshingly cool morning here.  In fact, the weather is so much cooler, we turned off all air conditioning last night.  Michaela and I retreated to her bedroom this morning, closed her doors, opened her windows and let the bunnies out to run around in the breeze blowing in under the curtains. 

I asked Michaela, “Would you like to do your reading in here this morning?”

“Yes,” was her immediate reply.

“I’ll go get the books,” I said.

“Get Isaac Newton!” she yelled after me.

Inventor, Scientist, and Teacher: Isaac Newton by John Hudson Tiner

Ambleside Year 5, as part of the assigned reading, includes simply ”biography of Isaac Newton” under Science Biography for Term 1. I love that we have some room for personal choice here, and that freedom to choose on some occasions will be exactly how I work in Beyond Five In A Row this year. 

We chose the Isaac Newton biography shown above and so far it is excellent.  I have skimmed the first chapter and then let Michaela take off on her own.  I was very pleased that she is now asking for this book, especially since she was clearly (and verbal about it) put off by the idea of reading about Isaac Newton. She told me this morning that she had expected it to be a boring book full of dates she’d have to remember. 

Beginning The Day In The Garden:

This morning began for me in the garden, thinking about how to make the most of the day. Days off go by quickly here and I know I have to make the most of them each week. If I don’t, we don’t get enough done.

I’ve been going through old magazines (I have way too many of them), tearing out the articles that I love best, putting them in clear protectors in a notebook, then recycling the old magazines.  I mean, I have only so much book space and it can’t all be devoted to magazines!

Since today is September 1st, I finished up the rest of my August magazines and have now pulled out all of my old September issues. I’ll go through them little by little this month, weeding out, preserving articles, and choosing which ones I just cannot part with. Going through these magazines was a restful time and allowed me to think easily about the day’s school work that lay ahead.

I pulled out an old window to look at and dream about while sipping on tea.  Thomas told me last night that his goal is to have my potting shed done by our anniversary in September!  That’s two weeks away, people!  Do I dare get my hopes up?  He’s a busy man and I don’t like to nag too much for him to work here after he’s worked and done building all day in someone else’s house. Still, my very own potting shed/greenhouse.  Sigh.  I can’t wait to show you pictures.

The garden is bright and cool. The sunlight even seems different this morning. How can I share the just-right temperature with a photo?

Even the goldfish seemed full of energy this morning and there weren’t any mosquitoes that I could see, where usually they are such a nuisance, even in the mornings.

I think it’s a perfect day to do some schooling outside on a blanket.

How Yesterday Went - Working and Homeschooling:

Yesterday was a work day for me, but I had Michaela’s boxes filled with work.  She moved through them with enthusiasm while I typed.  Some of the things she did:

• word find
• Mavis Beacon typing
• Saxon 7/6 lesson 4
• reading in Of Courage Undaunted: Across the Continent with Lewis and Clark
• reading in Isaac Newton (see above)
• made brownies for our dessert
• worked on her knitting (scarf)
• began a science experiment from the science bags
• drew a picture for friends who are having to give up a beloved pet
• oral narration

Doing Even More As We Go Along – Finding Our Rhythm:

Today I’m off work and am trying really hard to get a rhythm going so that our weekly Ambleside reading gets done, I get my Charlotte Mason reading done, and Michaela’s boxes are always filled with work on my work days.  Working in Language Arts in the Charlotte Mason style is on my list of things to conquer this week. Michaela’s a good writer — a creative writer — and I want her doing plenty of writing this year, even on my work days.

I could continue writing on and on and on, my to-do list is so full of wonderful things (art, timeline, our yearly notebook, ideas about the workboxes), but I’ll stop here.  More later on how this day unfolds.

Happy Tuesday!
Lynn

Even after saying she’d like to forgo Prairie Tuesdays for awhile, Miss Michaela suggested we put on some “prairie clothes” and have tea.  Apparently just a bonnet is enough . . . → Read More: Beginning Ambleside Year 5]]> I think Ambleside Online Year 5 is going to be a perfect fit for us. I am so happy that I chose to go with it this year.

Even after saying she’d like to forgo Prairie Tuesdays for awhile, Miss Michaela suggested we put on some “prairie clothes” and have tea.  Apparently just a bonnet is enough to make one feel prairie-ish.

We began school on Tuesday by easing into our weekly Year 5 assigned reading. I chose three books to start with and read out loud to Michaela from each one. The first was Wild Animals I Have Known, the second was Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 5, and the third was The Story of King Arthur and His Knights.

The reading went much more quickly than I’d expected.  I know that at Michaela’s age (11) she should be doing much of the reading on her own, and she will be.  At this juncture, however, I want to get a feel for which books I think she should read on her own and which I want to read with her.  I also want her to have a sense of how long she should sit and read each day – how long it will take her.  And did I mention that I just want to read some of the books myself? 

My ”assigned” reading this week, from the CM Series Yahoo! Group I am taking part in, is Volume 6 pages 119-127 of Home Education.  In it Miss Mason shares the thought (from A. Paterson, Across the Bridges) that “reading aloud is but a poor gift compared with the practice of reading in private.”

I do not think this means that reading aloud can’t be fun or worthy (we love read-alouds), but that a child should have to put some effort into their own education.  They should train their minds to be able to read and then digest complex works of literature on their own.  It is what their minds crave, if Miss Mason is correct, and I think she is.

Michaela had Lady Earl Grey while I had green tea.  She then worked on a scarf she is knitting with a circular knitter while I read more  to us about Lobo.

The reading from Charlotte Mason’s Home Education Volume 6 pulled on me as much as any of her writing has.  I love the thought that “a well-educated man with cultivated imagination, trained judgment, wide interests…is prepared to master the intracacies of any profession; while he knows at the same time how to make use of himself, of the powers with which nature and education have endowed him for his own happiness; the delightful employment of his leisure; for the increased happiness of his neighbours and the well-being of the community; thst is, such a man is able, not only to earn his living but to live.”

If you teach a child to learn; if their minds are cultivated to enjoy learning, reading, the humanities; if their spirit has not been neglected, but rather good character has been nurtured and duty to others made important, they will excel in whatever profession they find, and enjoy life too.

I love that!  More than once yesterday we encountered life situations to which having a right response was way more important in the long run than cramming ourselves full of facts and figures. 

One such situation was that a friend had worked on Michaela’s scarf during a recent visit and had nearly ruined the project by making the stitches too tight.  Michaela almost could not proceed at all, the stitches were so tight and hard to pick up.  We abandoned reading long enough for me to make two new rows of stitches, working past the nearly-impossible row, while I spoke to Michaela about not dwelling on the natural tendency to be angry over this, but by remembering how delighted this little girl had been to sit with us and work on something domestic.  After handing the knitting back to Michaela and continuing with our reading, the reading seemed even better than before. 

One quote from these assigned CM pages I feel I have to mention, though sad and quite alarming is this: “Germany became morally bankrupt (for a season only, let us hope) not solely because of the war but as the result of an education which ignored the things of the spirit or gave these a nominal place and a poor rendering in a utilitarian syllabus.”

It feels good to do something nice for another person, to give of oneself, to nurture the spirit.

As the days progress, we will add in more books.  We have started light copywork (at this point, one quote a day from her reading with attention paid to excellent handwriting), and of course math, and will add in subjects and work until we are doing a full Year 5 schedule. 

I have set up the white board and am keeping track of new words we find in our reading, writing out the definition and keeping it up so that all the family might notice it.  So far we have:

• puissant
• bivouac
• descried
• fastidious
• despot
• loup-garou

Narration so far is going beautifully, with Michaela telling me at intervals about the stories we are reading.  This will soon be transitioned to blog entries and writing. 

Last night at bedtime one of her stuffed animals, a wolf no less, was given a new name:  Blanca, from Wild Animals I Have Known.

I will continue to post about our progress.

Have a wonderful Thursday!
Lynn