This year, because of a new on-line cataloging system at the Big City Library where we get most of our books, I wasn’t able to reserve the history books I needed before we started our school year. Instead of not starting history on time, I decided to just do a whole week of science instead. Then, the next week, we did four days of history.

We just finished up our third week, and we spent four days in a row on science.

So far, it seems to be working. The best part is that on our “off” week for history, I can still be working on a read-aloud for history. On our “off” week for science, I can slip in one or two experiments or a written research report that will be due on our first day back to science.

We might still have weeks where we split our history/science activities. So far, however, it has been working out well to keep with one each week.

My first four children were happy with their pacifiers. We weaned them off before they were one year old. It worked great.

My fifth child wouldn’t take a pacifier, but sure did like his thumb. Either thumb would work.

It seems cute to most people, seeing my little man with one hand in his pocket (although lately, if he’s in shorts, it might be down his pants – but that’s fodder for another post) and the other with a thumb in his mouth.

I’ve received some sympathetic smiles and words of advice from other moms-of-thumb-suckers. I appreciate these, although the tales they tell make me even more apprehensive of the years ahead.

Just the other day, a mom commented on how nice it must be to have a thumb-sucker because he self-soothes. Her (unsolicited) comment and advice to me was to just “let him be” and he’d “give it up” when “it was the right time.” (I’m told that can be in the latter teen years if they don’t get braces in their tweens or early teens.) Apparently, I must have given off the vibe that I’m planning on ripping his thumb out of his mouth every time I see it in there.

I was reminded of this mother’s comments (about how lucky I am) as I stood holding my almost-two-year old today in the pediatrician’s office as the doctor told me that my son most definitely had Hand-Foot-and-Mouth disease.

Yep, I’m so lucky to have a self-soother.

Funny, Lady, he needed more than his thumb since he started to feel sick. He was only soothed while clinging to me all his waking hours.

I’m thinking it is more fortunate that he still thinks Mom can fix anything, thus why he felt better (even while still in pain, I’m sure) in my arms. The thumb had nothing to do with it. Well, it might have had something to do with him CATCHING HFM ….

DD#2: Math pg 36; GWG3 Lesson 1.1

Both: Latin Lesson 1, flashcards Ch 1-5, vocab drill (1), workbook pg 9; Religion – Week 1, Day 1; Dictation – 4 sentences; Science – Lesson 1

DD#3: Math 1/2 pg 27, 100EL Lesson 56, Grandparent’s Day Craft, Start to memorize children’s rhyme Rub-a-dub-dub.

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When it is written out like that, it doesn’t look like that much work.

I lived through it and I’m exhausted. Tomorrow, we get to do it all over again. And I won’t have dh here to keep the younger two occupied. (Youngest has a bit of a fever. Seems to be the same thing that ds#1 had a week ago and dh had two and a half weeks ago. Slight fever, dizziness, achy, etc. lasts for 1-3 days depending on the person.)

Kids are all upstairs watching a movie and then we’re going to celebrate that we made it through the first day with some cake and ice cream that dd#3 made yesterday for “cooking class.”

And I’m going to try to get to bed early.

So, I ended up putting together my own plan incorporating lots of literature and activities. I have an overview plan which lists read alouds, readers for my 5th grade (strong reader), readers for my 3rd grade (struggling reader), music, art, and writing activities.

Spine (core book used as a chronological basis of study to keep us on track): Complete Book of U.S.  History

Activity ideas & framework from: Portraits of American Girlhood (including Molly & Felicity’s Cook Books)

Music & Art supplements: Draw and Write Through History Book 4, Draw Write Now Book 5, I Hear America Singing!

Daily Schedule
At 8:30, while everyone finishes their chores, dd#3 & I do her phonics and handwriting.
When finished, she is released to go have some fun on her own (which she does responsibly).

At 9, DD#1 & DD#2 join me for their math. I am “at elbow” for teaching (primarily for #2) or answering questions (both kids). As long as they work steadily through for 45 minutes, they have no homework in this subject. If they goof off, they have the rest of their lesson to complete on their own time.

They transition to working on their individual grammar workbooks for about 15 minutes and then work through Latin together for 30 minutes.

The smaller kids play with different toys in the “school area” during this time. The youngest usually goes down for a nap around 10:30. We all have a break then and the four olders get a snack while I start on lunch.

After snacks, the two older kids work together for 30 minutes on their religion schoolwork.

DD#2 is then released for the morning and DD#1 starts on her writing lesson. Once she is on the right track, DD#3 joins me for some math for about 15 minutes. Then, I finish getting lunch ready.

After lunch & cleanup, DD#1 works for 30 minutes independently on Spanish while I listen to DD#2 read aloud.

At around 1:30, the older two do between 1-4 sentences of dictation for a maximum of 15 minutes. Then, we start our History or Science studies, depending on the day. Both consist of some reading aloud, doing hands-on activities, writing, map work, drawing, coloring, and listening to music.

After the formal “school” stuff is over, dd#3 and I spend some time on a fun activity of her choosing – cooking, sewing, dress-up, crafts, me reading aloud, poetry, or drama (puppet show?).

Older DS has a lot of puzzles, Legos, blocks, and “tools” to play with during this time. He has “fun” workbooks that he can do anytime he likes. He has access to craft materials, Play-Doh, and other mess-making supplies right in our school area. The younger one so far spends some of this time in my lap or sitting on a chair scribbling nearby. He can also play with the blocks, trucks, and tools. The biggest on-going challenge for me is to keep an eye on them and make time to teach them to clean up after themselves before moving onto making bigger & better messes!

Child #1 – “5th Grade”

Math: A Beka Arithmetic 6 (I’ve read that ABeka slows down a lot after the 3rd grade text. She used CLE 400 last year & I went ahead & skipped the 5th grade ABeka text. Only time will tell if this was the right decision.)

Grammar: Growing With Grammar 5 (I used GWG3 with her previously. It is a pretty independent program & I’m hoping for that again.)

Writing: Writing Tales 2 (incorporates some grammar. I liked how WT1 improved her writing skills & endurance.)

Latin: Latina Christiana 1

Religion: Seton’s Religion 4 for Young Catholics (I struggled with what to do for our religion studies this year. I usually use Laura Berquist’s Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum as a guide, but didn’t like what they had for this year. This seemed like a good one-year overview of the Baltimore Catechism No. 1. Since we just studied it over three years, a one-year review sounded good.)

Spelling: We are going to do dictation using Susan Anthony’s Dictation Resource Book. We’re taking a break from a formal spelling program this year.

History: US History using my own mesh. (Post & link to follow in about a week.)

Science: Beautiful Feet’s History of Science (with some modification)

Spanish: Getting Started with Spanish + Spanish in 10 Minutes a Day

Child #2 – “3rd Grade”

Math: A Beka Arithmetic 3

Grammar: Growing with Grammar 3 (first formal introduction to grammar)

Religion, Latin, History, Dictation, and Science with older sister

Child #3 – “Kindergarten”

(transitioning to 1st grade sometime mid-year)

Math: Miquonish math using a variety of discovery math techniques. We will transition into A Beka’s Arithmetic 1 as the year progresses

Reading: We are about half way through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (100EL). We will do the best we can to finish it & then move onto SWR-type phonics instruction

Handwriting: I’m going to try to teach this one cursive (loosely using Cursive First) starting this fall.

Crafts/Cooking Class/Fun Stuff: We are shooting for three times per week to have “fun” activities. We’ll be using Shirley’s Prepackaged Crafts for at least half the year.

It was not surprising, but it was somewhat amusing to see the quiz turn me up as a “Classical” homeschool style. I consider my style to be eclectic with some “school at home” along with a decidedly Classical flavor with some definite Charlotte Masonish type of learning.

Check out your style at the above link – even if you send your kids to public school.

My oldest is “pencil phobic” and hates to write. The next child in line loves to write (the actual process of putting words on paper as well as the creativity necessary to come up with stories) and will write and illustrate her own stories all day long.

In Writing Tales, at the end of the first week of studying a new story & some grammar, the student writes a rough draft. Over the course of the next week, while reviewing the grammar concept, the student revises the retelling and on the final day recopies it.

I will share my oldest’s rough draft first. She frequently will write the minimum she thinks she needs to in order to finish the lesson. In an effort to get her to flesh out her story, I asked her a series of questions she needed to answer in her rewrite. At the bottom is her final draft. This is from Chapter 23/24 of a 30 chapter program. In the original story, the doll is named Ching. My daughter frequently renames the characters and retitles the work.

I would say she is behind grade level in both spelling and grammar, but she is catching up. All punctuation and spelling mistakes are hers in both her rough and final drafts. All paragraph breaks and sentence fragments are hers as well.

Rough draft:

Cho was a doll nicely made A little girl wanted Cho so badly. But she didn’t have the money so a rich man bough Cho. And sent Cho down a montain, down a river, acrosed a ocean, to America and to a little rich girl. The rich girl did not want Cho. So she sat Cho on a terrese. Cho fell off.

An old man found Cho and did not want him so he went to a man who gave him to his cook. The cook thew him in the trash.

The trash man sold him to a landry man who cleaned him up sent him, Acosed an ocean, up a river, up a mountain to a little Chines girl. This girl, Lee loved Cho.

Lee said, “I am so glad to have you back.”

Cho seemed to say, “I’m glad your hear.”

Lee said, “I’m so happy I could dance.”

Lee hated dancing.

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Questions I asked her to answer in her final draft

• Why did the rich man buy Cho? Who is the little rich girl?
• Why did the little rich girl not want Cho?
• How did Cho fall off the terrace?
• Where did Cho fall?
• How long did Cho stay there before he was found (original story said the whole winter)?
• Describe his time there or the place where he fell.
• How did the laundry man find and purchase Cho?
• Why did the man buy him?
• What did he think of Cho?
• What three things did the laundry man do to clean up the doll?
• Before he packaged up the doll, what did he say outloud?
• What did the little girl say when Cho arrived?

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China Doll Travels

Cho was a nicely-made doll. A little girl wanted Cho, but she did not have the money. A rich man bought Cho for his sister in America.

The rich man sent Cho down a mountain, down a river, across the ocean to his rich sister.

The young sister did not want Cho. She had a lot of other dolls. She sat Cho on a terrace. Cho fell off.

He fell in a big gust of wind. Cho fell in a snowy garden. Cho was there for a day. His multicolored shirt was easy to spot on the snow.

An old man found Cho, but he did not want Cho because he was too old to play with dolls. So, the old man gave the wet doll to his cook. The cook did not want Cho to clutter up the kitchen so she threw him in the rubbish pile.

The rubbish man found Cho and stuck him in a separate place, because Cho was not rags or bones.

Che was very dirty. He is covered with mud. Cho smells like rubbish, mud, and rotten veggies.

A laundry man was looking for something to wash. He came upon Cho. The man said, ‘This will be a very fine doll when he is washed.’ The man wanted to send Cho to his niece for her birthday was coming up. The man bought Cho.

The man, Sam stuck Cho in some water, scrubbed and dried him. He put Cho in a box. Sam said, “take care of So Lee.”

So Sam sent Cho across an ocean up a river up a mountain to a little China girl. This girl, So Lee loved Cho. So Lee said,” I’m so glad to have you back.

He seemed to say, ”I am glad you’re here.”

So Lee said,”I am so happy I could dance.”

So Lee hated dancing.

The End

She thought it looked awfully cold since it was covered with ice.

One that I come back to again and again is the similarities between potty training and learning to read.

Hear me out.

First, the social stigma or look-down-the-nose-upon those whose children are not potty training by a certain age or reading by a certain age.

There is pride in some parents when their child is potty trained or reading at a much younger age than ‘normal’ (whatever “normal” is). There is despair in the minds of other parents when either of these two abilities is delayed much past ‘normal.’

Secondly, some parents spend quite a bit of time trying to train their child in the science of proper elimination of their bodily waste. Most homeschooling parents spend quite a bit of time training their children in the mechanics of reading (phonics, sight words, blending, etc.) unless the child figures it out at a young age on their own.

Third, plenty of parents bang their heads against the wall, figuratively, when their child doesn’t seem to be able to properly perform the task which the parent is attempting to train them in repeatedly.

I have found that I have absolutely nothing to do with my child making that final leap that allows them to be properly reading or potty training. Something inside their head just “clicks” and while one day they cannot do the task, the next they can. In our house, we also have set-backs and tough days after the “clicking” takes place, but there is such a noticeable difference in ability that a new pattern quickly emerges.

Anyway, I just wanted to encourage those out there facing either of these two sometimes seemingly insurmountable tasks. Keep gently showing the proper steps and behaviors for a few minutes each day. Don’t despair and don’t get upset. Unless there is something physical that is not right and impeding the process, when the “click” occurs in your child’s brain, all the ground work you are laying with help them succeed all the more.  This can make the difference between a child who automatically washes their hands after using the restroom and one who just leaves the bathroom. Your patience can determine if you spawn a life-long love of reading or a sullen peace treaty between your child and books.

Good luck!