First Day of School

We completed our first day of school this fall. My four and three-year olds aren’t tired, but I am.

I noted early on that I was not completely prepared to teach history today, but since we do each twice per week, I had the option to do science instead. Our hands-on plan went well, especially since I assigned my oldest to look up “Simple Machines” in the Usborne Science Encyclopedia during her assigned reading time. She took notes and drew pictures on “levers.” Since that was what I planned on building on our first day with our Ein-O Discovery Tank, it fit in nicely. We built all three “classes” of levers and started our notebook pages on them. (I forgot to print out paper for this, so I had to run do this while they were building their models.)

We stopped by the library this evening to pick up a book on Mary Stuart and an additional “visual encyclopedia” on physics to use during the next few weeks of science.

I wasn’t ready for spelling today as I didn’t have my tape recorder handy and when I retrieved it, I had to change the batteries. I also couldn’t find my extra red spelling notebook for SWR, so I ended up going online tonight and ordering another (with plenty of “not-needed” extras).

We had some “attitude” today, but it went pretty well, all-in-all. My oldest’s piano book arrived via UPS this evening, so we’re in good shape for the rest of the week . . . I hope!

Keeping the preschooler, toddler, and baby busy was just as fun as I knew it would be. Thank goodness for good weather and baby naps!

Nightmares & Daydreams

Two nights in a row, I have had bad dreams. One was someone breaking into our house in the middle of the night and another was my father dying. In both cases, I was woken up by my youngest child crying. Both were disturbing and things I won’t forget for awhile. I can still remember the few other times I have dreamt of my father passing away. (For some reason, it is never my mother who dies in my dreams.)

On the other side of the coin, it struck me in the last half a day how different my life would be if I sent the older two children off to the local public school. I have a small case of envy for the stay-at-home mothers in the neighborhood who either have no children at home during the day or only have one small child left. We dropped our older two children off for their first ever sleep-over at their grandparent’s house yesterday afternoon. We will go pick them up this afternoon.

Last night, it was SO EASY with just the younger two. This morning was SO EASY with the younger two. I had the time and attention to catch our youngest before he got to work “cleaning” the toilet! I was able to read “age appropriate” books to Child #3 that we haven’t read in a couple of years. I didn’t yell even once.

Now, my life wouldn’t always be easier. Mornings would be more hectic and more difficult because we’d be hurrying to get the older two ready and out the door. Afternoons, we would be “on the clock” to go pick them up.

I will keep my small case of envy, but our decision to continue homeschooling our kids stays intact.  The benefits are just so much greater.

Which Science For Next Year?

So we aren’t even halfway through this school year and I’m already starting to have those curriculum questions that come up every year. I’ll start with Science, although I’ve got questions about grammar and geography (map skills), too.

I’m sold on using the classical 4-yr rotation in science:  biology/botany, earth & space, chemistry, physics. We are on the earth & space rotation this year and using Apologia’s Astronomy book for our first semester. Second semester, we are using my cobbled together Charlotte Mason-inspired “real books” approach with the help of our (limited) local library resources. I have a few experiment books to add to the festivities next semester as my kids really like to do experiments. (I’m not overly fond of them, however.)

So, next year is Chemistry. I still have relatively young kids, so I’m looking at the K-3rd grade level materials. Some that I have looked into are R.E.A.L sciencefrom Pandia Press, Real Science 4 Kids (RS4K), and Noeo Science.

I would say my top pick would be Noeo, but it is SO PRICEY!

$160 for Noeo Chem I (with their 20% package discount) – a whole year’s worth of work

Right now, RS4K would be my second pick, but the curriculum is designed to get through three unit studies (Chemistry, Physics, Biology) in one year. If I just did one (Chemistry Pre-Level I) with them, we would be through in a semester or less. Going onto the next level (Level I) would be problematic as it is recommended for Grades 3 – 5 and would probably be above Child #2′s head. I’d like to continue to teach them together, so I need to _somewhat_ keep that in mind. If I went ahead and purchased both, that is creeping into the pricey range ($130). If I didn’t, what would we do second semester? I’m not planning on spending $55 for one semester (or less) of material and then spend the time figuring out myself what we will do with the second semester. (That sounds snotty, but I’m pretty stingy with my money.)

$55 for RS4K Pre-Level I Chemistry (1/2 of a year’s worth of work)
Another $75 for RS4K Level I Chemistry (1/2 yr of year’s worth of work)

R.E.A.L. Science rounds out my top three, but it is miles below the other two. My biggest reason? They don’t have a chemistry book out yet for me to examine! However, they are expecting to have one out (sometime) in 2009. Cathy Duffy gives the program a so-so review compared to her glowing one of Noeo.

I also briefly looked at Living Learning Books Chemistry program. It is $32 for the program and they recommend a science encyclopedia to go with it. It is inexpensive for a whole year’s program. I will probably look into this one more in the next several months.

I think that is one of the reasons that I start thinking about these things so early, because I like to research things fully before buying them. Hopefully, we will be able to find something we like.

Toddler Mayhem!

I have written before of my little Tasmanian Tornado – Child #3. She writes on walls, spilled fingernail polish on our carpet, spilled laundry detergent on the carpet,and gets into all sorts of mischief. The problem has accelerated in recent days. She has managed to tear up a small notebook of paper that belonged to her older sister, break two bracelets – neither of which belonged to her, tear up drawings done by Child #2, get into the (“childproof door-knob-bed) (toy/clothes) closet numerous times to spread small toys around the house, smeared lotion on the carpet, used up several Band-Aids that an older sibling had squirreled away for emergencies, and in general, create mayhem in our house!

I realize she is bored. I have tried to remedy this by providing age-appropriate puzzles and toys – rotated every 15 minutes or so to keep up her interest. I have even sat her down with writing utensils and her own sheets of paper to attempt to distract her from her getting into things. Nothing works for long – and it usually ends up back-firing as she takes the items and strews them all over the rest of the house. Or, she leaves them on the floor where Child #4 picks them up and throws them down the stairs.

One acquaintance of mine suggested that I strap said child into a high chair for long stretches of time to keep her in one place and out of trouble.

Um, I’m not quite that desperate. But, if you have any other (more humane) suggestions, I’ll entertain them. Did I mention that she is the sort of kid who can get along without much sleep? She went to one nap at around nine months of age and rarely takes a nap now. If I ask her to take a nap and don’t lay down with her until she goes to sleep, I usually find her wreaking havoc in the room when I come back in to check on her.

And yes, I’m putting a lock on the closet door. She turns three in three months. She used to be my “easiest” kid.

The Best Laid Plans . . .

I have my book of lesson plans that I refer to daily to see what I thought we would do each day. We have only had three full days of school and already I am glad I am so flexible.

For example, this summer, Child #1 went after the Singapore math books I purchased for her to keep her math skills fresh. It went so well that the built-in review of A Beka’s math program is almost boring for her. I pondered simply skipping the first 29-some lessons completely, but think a little review is good. Besides, I haven’t been doing the mental math with her that A Beka’s program encourages. My lesson plans had us finishing Lesson 5 at the end of this week. We finished Lesson 8 today.

In another example, I planned to ease into Spell to Write and Read. I figured it would take about two weeks to review the 26 (alphabet) single-letter phonograms while doing some other fun games and such. On Day 2, Child #2 remarked that she knew all these so could we go a bit faster? So, the next day, I tested her on her knowledge. When I held up the phonogram card, she was to say the sound(s) as quickly as she could. If she hesitated or got them wrong the first time through (even if she corrected herself), I counted them wrong. She got 25 of the 26 single-letter phonograms perfect. She also knew 24 of the remaining 44 phonograms immediately and perfectly. So, a week early, I gave her a new Learning Log and we started on the Consonant/Vowel reference page.

I have also learned that I might have been a bit optimistic in how many pages we can cover each day in Story of the World I and Apologia’s Astronomy. Child #2 is doing great with Learn to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and is completing, on average, three pages per day of Singapore Earlybird Math (1B).

Politics: Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty

There are sometimes when I wish we had a TV/cable/DVR or whatever is available nowadays. The Rally for the Republic is going on right now – near where the Republican National Convention is taking place. It is supposedly being shown on CSPAN-2. If I wasn’t busy homeschooling and taking care of the kids, I might have snuck downstairs to the computer to watch the live feeds on http://www.campaignforliberty.com/.

While I don’t think you’ll see it on TV, I did find a couple of articles online.
MSNBC commented a bit on it. CNN highlights some of what Dr. Paul said. Fox News has a short article. ABC news wrote something up. CBS news looks like it is running just the standard AP story but nothing of their own – unless the Jesse Ventura 2012 article is theirs.

Oh yeah, I forgot I could catch the highlights on YouTube! Amazing stuff.

And this YouTube music video tribute is pretty cool, too.

Review: Haystack Full of Needles by Alice Gunther

Haystack Full of Needles
A Catholic Home Educator’s Guide to Socialization
by Alice Gunther

I had never heard of Alice Gunther. But the subtitle intrigued me.

The foreword was written by Laura Berquist. But I’m not big on reading the ‘latest, greatest’ book on any topic when it is still hot off the press. I prefer to wait until the fervor has died down and pick it up at the local library.

Chances of my local library ever having a copy of this book:  extremely low.

So, I ended up ordering three copies before the book was published. I always pass along books I like to my friends, but for some reason, I thought this might make a good ‘gift’ book for other Catholic homeschooling moms.

After reading it, I am even more firmly of this belief – especially if you want to put some of the author’s suggestions into practice in your own homeschool community.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book. I had a vague impression from reading various online reviews that it would be useful to read and have in my library. A friend thought it would be full of practical advice on homeschooling activities to celebrate Catholic events and activities with other home educators. Perhaps the book would offer answers to the “socialization” question that homeschoolers often get. Haystack was these things, yet trying to sum it up with just that would be untrue.

Mrs. Gunther tells many stories of her own throughout the book – her journey to homeschooling, finding fellow hikers on the road less traveled, and highlights or summaries of her and her children’s favorite activities. These are enjoyable in themselves, but they are by no means the “meat” of the book.

The author points out that there are two different types of “socialization” that people wonder about – 1) “learning to relate to others” and 2) “having friends, fun, and a satisfying social life.” She deals mostly with the latter with many practical suggestions for finding other home educators, planning activities, attending events, adjusting for different age groups or genders, and a lot more.

After reading the book, one of my gift recipients admitted to being disappointed. She was disappointed that she doesn’t live near the author. Would we be able to implement any of Mrs. Gunther’s recommendations with such a small group of Catholic homeschoolers in our area? (We number only four families in our little community.) Looking closely, there are very few suggested activities that we would not be able to do, albeit on a small scale. We lack only the time and energy of the moms to organize them.

One emphasis of the author is on the pattern of three elements which have made for enjoyable activities: coffee, prayer, and simplicity. She also suggests planning things in six week chunks to make them more manageable.

The aspect of the book that I personally enjoyed the most was her comforting look back at her oldest two children – as they were when first starting out and now, so many years later. She leaves this book to inspire, reassure, and guide home educating parents on their own journey. Use it as a map, a compass, or a field guide, depending on where you are on the road less traveled.

While I plan to loan my copy out to other Catholic and non-Catholic home educators and friends, I am glad I bought it. With enough prayer, courage, and energy, I will attempt to implement one or two of the author’s suggestions in my own little neck of the woods. I would encourage you to buy, beg, or borrow this book. It is worth the read . . . and the re-read!

Hillside Education
www.hillsideeducation.com
$12.95
More reviews can be found here.