One of our hopes is to become more self-sufficient. The first step was planting our 9 fruit trees, and six blueberry bushes this spring.
The second step was to create an area for planting area for seasonal crops. The best place to do this was the south side of our house. The challenge was that the yard had a steep slope there that needed to be tamed.
Chris began this task (with the help of the boys) in April. The process not only involved building retaining walls but also moving many tons of fill dirt, adding drainage, installing rain barrels and a compost bin.
I'm happy to say that the walls, after most recently putting in 9 cu.yds of compost and 12 cu.yds. of mulch are finally complete. Now I have the winter to plan what we are going to plant in the spring.
To help protect the garden from pests and other birds the boys are building Carolina Wren nests, since we know we have them and they are territorial insectivores. Titus was the first to complete a house this week.
This year wasn't all preparation though, we did manage to yield one Asian pear, a couple Honey crisp apples and Fuji apples this year. I'm not sure if it was because we grew them they tasted so good or if they were really that much better than any other apple I've ever had.
To help us prepare for planting next year, we went on a Farm Tour last Sunday. Like the Tour de Coop, this was an organized tour of various urban farms in the area. We learned a bit more about chickens, and enough to think about ducks. Our concerns about goats remain but are still we think manageable in the future. We learned which types of peppers, ocra, and various other plants that farmers are having success growing organically near our home; which should increase our chance of success greatly. The kids had fun playing with the animals, sampling the produce and playing on the tractors.
We had a new visitor to the yard this week - a box turtle! After all the attention he got, I doubt he'll wander this far up from the creek again but it was neat opportunity for everyone to see God's incredible design for this unique animal. They are the only turtles that can completely close themselves in their shell.
It seems fitting after all this talk of harvest that we finished today with our Michaelmas Party. This was the first year we have ever had it at our home. We rearranged the inside to provide a serving area in kitchen and seating in the chimney room and out on the attached deck. We had 28 friends stop by in waves throughout the afternoon. Much to my pleasure everything worked out beautifully. The kids were so busy playing outside, it was hard to get them to stop to eat. At the same time it was nice that the adults could sit and chat. One thing I've always enjoyed about Michaelmas is seeing my friends get to know each other that have nothing in common except a friendship with us.
This has truly been a wonderful Harvest Time.
That pretty much sums up Friday and Saturday.
Friday was our WILD day. We took a really neat field trip to the Aloha Safari Zoo which is a rescue zoo near Sanford. One of the many things I learned that day, was that without rescue zoos like this one, many animals would be put to death. Apparently, traditional zoos require up to six months lead time to create space for a new animal. These rescue zoos provide both short term and long term homes for animals in need. I point this out to help keep perspective, that this zoo is a labor of true love for the animals.
While we waited for the rest of the group to show-up, we met the World's largest cow, who was kind enough or lazy enough to not mind the children's pets. We also tried to coerce a Cockatoo that had escaped out of a tree back down to earth. We learned her story later.
The staff was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. The animals all appeared healthy and their habitats clean. Throughout the tour our guides shared the many and varied stories of how the animals had ended up calling Aloha Safari Zoo home.
When we were on the tractor tour throwing bread at the animals, a member of our group questioned the healthiness of bread for the animals. Our guide pointed out that grain is a major component of any commercial animal meal, so as a treat it was just fine. I thought that was good point, so I went back to smiling and laughing at the kids trying to hand and lob slices of bread at the animals.
Titus made a friend of the owner's 4 year old son, so he was being given a continuous supply of bread.
After the tractor ride, it was time to see the other animals and touch quite a few including a giraffe, tortoise, gator and python. We had just missed the window when the baby tiger would have been young enough for us to touch but he was still real cute.
The owner's young boy and Titus played at the playground after the tour; it was very nice. While they played, we learned about the business end of the operation which is raising and showing miniature horses. Theses are not stocky ponies but what appeared to me to be delicate Arabians that had been hit with a shrink-ray. To our surprise Titus' new friend was quite the showman and had recently cleaned up with awards at a big show. I wish it was closer; there is so much going on we would love to me more involved.
Saturday was our CRAZY day, three kids, three practices, three locations; all at 3:00PM and only one car!!!!
We ended up dividing and conquering. Thankfully the practices were for different lengths so their end times did not overlap. Chris dropped Lance off at his practice, then held Jared's practice. After Jared's practice they returned for the end of Lance's practice. If you're wondering who got the girl? Chris took Amber with him, Will's sister watched her at Jared's practice. While they were doing that, our neighbor drove Titus and I to his T-Ball Camp at Colonial. His camp was for three hours, so the Otto boys met up with us there when their practices were over. I forgot to take pictures but Titus had a great time at the camp and I spent the camp talking with the coach's wife and learning more about baseball at Colonial. Of course, at some point the conversation digressed to a discussion of books but that's to be expected with me.
So once again, we not only survived but prospered through a busy two days but the weekend still wasn't over...
Don't worry, we're not going that old school with Titus.
Up till this year, teaching Titus has been a very casual process; testing the waters with a lesson or two, then taking a break and trying again till I thought he could finally handle a schedule. Then, as I always do, I created a creative learning program just for him.
His day starts right after breakfast. I have his brothers do their independent work at this time so I can focus on him. His day lasts about two hours, then I send him off to play with Amber while I work with the older boys on the things they need my help on.
I have used a number (as in too many) different phonics and spelling programs with his older brothers. So one would think I would just use one of those for Titus, but alas no. I am using some of the programs I used in the past but I've added three new ones for a grand total of five programs. Stop laughing! I know it sounds absurd, but believe it or not, it's really working. Each program approaches phonics from a different angle and together they are working to make Titus quite the reader, speller and typer. Yesterday, he actually read "Go Dog! Go!" out loud to Amber.
Here's the list:
- CLE Learning to Read What I like about this program is its wholesome gentleness. I never have to worry about inappropriate sentences or words (like Learn to Read in 100 Days; great program, terrible content). I don't use it alone because it moves a little too slowly. If I was using this alone Titus would be bored and I believe loose his enthusiasm for reading.
- Adventures in Phonics with Christian Liberty Readers This is one of the new programs I bought. What I like about this program, like CLE Learning to Read, is the readers are completely safe/appropriate. However, unlike CLE, this program moves really fast. We only do one worksheet a day and practice a lesson in the reader. It's approach to teaching phonics is very different from the other programs I use but the differences do not seem to bother Titus at all, in fact I think it helps him excel.
- Classical Phonics I got it last year for Titus when I thought I could use one source (Memoria Press) for all my homeschooling needs (that hope was short lived). I bought this with the First Start Reading Program. I quickly ditched the First Start Reading Program (way too slow) but kept this book. I used this for a long time to test the waters to see when Titus was really ready to read. Now we use it about once a week for reinforcement and practice. I do like/buy into the philosophy of the book and I particularly like that its designed to teach reading without writing, so it can be used with younger children.
- Rocket Phonics I have used this program from the very beginning of homeschooling. I know it has changed a bit since my copy was published but I hope it has not changed in essentials. Unlike Classical Phonics, I can't say that I buy into their method of teaching phonics. Thankfully, that has never stopped me from being able to use their book, I have just covered up or ignored their clue system from the very beginning. To use it this way a child needs to have a basic understanding of phonics before beginning this program, but once they do its lots of fun. The strength of this program is its heavy focus on comprehension. From the very beginning, when the child is only reading a word at a time, they must find the word in a silly picture. It then progresses to phrases describing the picture that the child reads and then decides if it describes the picture, saying "True or False". As you continue to progress, the stories move from silly to quality, never twaddle. Depending on the section we are in, we do two to four pages a day.
- Read, Write & Type I found this program while looking for a typing program for my older children. When I tried it out, I realized it was too elementary for them but just right for Titus. I would not suggest this program as stand alone phonics program, it jumps around too much and lacks explanation of phonics/spelling rules. But as a program to reinforce spelling/phonics and teach typing I give it five thumbs up. This is Titus' reward for completing the rest of his school work each day. He really likes it because he thinks its funny and he gets to use the computer. I like it because its safe/benign and it gives him a leg-up being able to type so young. I think being able to play piano has helped him learn to type quickly.
Math was easy because I am convinced, after much research and trial/error, the CLE Math is the only Math program for us. If the proof is in the pudding, then his older brothers standardized test scores prove its effectiveness, they consistently score 3 to 4 years above grade level. It provides breath, right amount of repetition, tools for mastery and application of math principles from the very beginning. He is progressing well, already at Lesson 65. Once he's been introduced to all his math facts, I'll start him on XtraMath.
For now we only do this schedule three days a week, Monday to Wednesday. On Thursday, he has his SEEK classes and Friday we leave free for catch-up and field trips. Maybe if I'm lucky this schedule will work for Amber and I won't have to re-create the wheel a fourth time :-P
I realized it's been a year since I last posted what we were doing in school. Last year, I had great plans for using a more traditional approach. I thought continuity might be the key to success, I was wrong. Shortly into our school year I realized I'd made some poor choices, at least for our family. Some of the curricula I returned right away. Some of them I held onto and tried to make work, because frankly, I had them and with the move I didn't have the time to look for something new.
When we took our break a Thanksgiving, it was abundantly clear we needed to make some serious changes. This time I decided to get the boys input. I took them each aside and had them rank everything we were doing from 1-5 and tell me what they liked most and least. To be honest, I thought I knew what they would say but I was quite surprised in a number of cases. I took their input and began to re-plan the rest of our school year.
In December, I spent the six hour drive to Tennessee reading the Ambleside FAQ, blogs on how to make Charlotte Mason work, along with trying to read her actual teachings. In the end, I felt too overwhelmed (life was still crazy because of the move) to jump right in. So when we got back from vacation, I bought a curricula that claimed to follow her philosophy and hold your hand.
We started in January and made it four weeks into that curricula before we scrapped it too. I say "we" because there was no doubt in any of us that it needed to be dumped. Unfortunately, that meant I was starting over for the third time in a year. Thankfully, by finding what didn't work I was finally able to focus in on what would work for us. By the end of February, we had found a new rhythm that worked. We were doing everything my way and not following anyone's planned curricula. Go figure, I really did know what was better for my family. Amazingly, despite all the changes during the year we still managed to finish my main objective for the year; which was to finish our study of the Ancient History: New Testament Civilizations.
We are continuing on the same basic pattern this year and its still working. I say basic because I have tweaked a few things (I'm sure I always will) but how we're doing it is still working; the kids are learning, we're not fighting and we are even having fun.
We slowed things down a bit during July and August because we decided to do the Bible Bee Challenge over the summer. (Which by the way is an awesome program, easily encompassing a reading and writing curricula in one.) As of this week, we are finally up to full speed and this is what we're doing:
How Our Week Looks
Monday to Wednesday is when we get through the bulk of our school work.
Thursday is SEEK Co-op and daily work
Friday has a varied schedule, incl. some daily work, science, logic, Ray's Math and time to catch-up or take Field Trips.
Additionally:
Monday is Piano Lessons in the Afternoon.
Wednesday is Golf Lessons in the Afternoon.
Any day can be baseball games/practice.
Monday to Wednesday we try for a four hour day, from 9am to 1pm. However, it frequently takes a little longer due to distractions. I have a rough draft of the semester in an Excel Sheet. Then I fill in their Student planners one week at a time. I put the items they can do on their own on the right and things they need me for on the left. For Titus, I take a slightly different approach I'll cover in another post.
Here's what we are using this year: (I have put Lance and Jared together with slashes for slight variations in what they do.)
History and Reading. These subjects have always gone hand-in-hand in our house. Our focus this year is the Middle Ages. For our core/back-bone History book we will continue the M.B. Synge Story of the World Series (not Bauers).
These are available online for Free but I prefer reading from a hard
copy. We will finish Vol. 2 the first half of the year and then
hopefully read through Vol. 3 the second half. To do this we'll need to read-aloud about three chapters a week. Much of our Read/Aloud and Independent reading will focus on the Middle Ages but not all. I have
already tweaked my list of read aloud and independent read books for the year, so I won't list them here today. Instead, I
will continue to list them in my Monthly Book Reviews as we progress through the year.
CLE Math 7/ CLE Math 5 This has been the one constant in our curricula for years. I've covered why I don't use anything else in other posts. How we use it has varied a bit. For instance, I have dropped the quizzes because of our shortened week, and they boys see it as a reward. To allow them to begin first thing in the morning, I try to go over the new section with each of them the night before. This minor tweak has really helped them finish their math efficiently each day. I have also dropped the daily drills since they continue to do XtraMath each day instead. Jared asked to do more word problems so I got him this Daily Word Problems 4 book.
Additionally, on Friday's we do oral math, specifically Ray's Arithmetic Intellectual/Primary. This program is available on numerous sites for free; I think I got mine off Google Book. In theory, I see how you could use this alone but it would require a lot of my time. The time they spend doing math is the main time I work with Titus M-W. So I limit this to Friday's, to stretch them a bit. We only do one lesson at a time, frequently with the student flopping all over my bed while I call out the questions from my rocking chair.
Perplexors C/ Perplcxors A
for Logic. Since Mind Benders Book 3 is part of Lance's Writing
program I chose I different logic program to challenge them, and frankly this one was free shipping on Amazon. I think
learning logic is very important, the lack of an ability to think
logically is riddled in our society. The boys can do one problem any
day of the week, and it varies when they choose. The important thing is
they always choose because this is a subject they have always enjoyed.
Level C is getting a bit challenging for Lance but he still likes it,
Level A appears just right for Jared.
Daily Language Review 6/ Daily Language Review 4 These are no frill short daily drills that will prepare them for what will be on the standardized test at year end. They do these independently five days a week. The teaching comes when I go over their answers or if they encounter a topic we've never discussed before. Additionally for Lance, I have him learn one word a day, using Vocabulary Cartoons - Elementary Edition. This unique program uses humor and mnemonics to make the words stick in his memory. Each day, I have him write out the word and definition, then use it in a unique sentence to make sure he understands the meaning. I periodically test him on the words he's learned and I'm amazed the retention is complete every time. Don't let the "Elementary" in the title fool you, I doubt most High School kids know all these words.
Visual Latin We have used Latin to teach English grammar for the past two years. However, the classical approach to learning Latin was getting dry for all by the end of last year. I am very glad they have the classical foundation but I believe this program is going to work better from here out. The first five lessons of Visual Latin are free. We just finished lesson five yesterday so I'll be buying the rest this weekend. Each lesson is nicely broken up into three video and three worksheets. Therefore, each day we watch one video twice (under 10 min.) then we do the worksheet together; either orally or with our Boogie Boards*. We do this M-W, and I was amazed how easy it was to fit in our schedule. The boys really like the videos because of the instructor's humor. They also like that each lessons includes some translation, which gives them a sense of accomplishment.
Write Foundation Sentences to Paragraph/Write Foundation Creating Sentences
This had come on my radar many years back, but at the time it was geared to upper middle to high school. When it came back on my radar this summer I was pleased that they now have these two new programs. The boys both took a placement test to determine which level to use and Rebecca (the creator) was quick to answer my questions. The program is very adaptable. She provides outlines for doing each lesson over one or two weeks. I have modified it a bit more to do each lesson over six days, so that we can complete each lesson in two weeks only M-W. So far, so good, four weeks in; which is more than I can say over the last writing program we tried.
Spelling has been a bit of a struggle in our house for many years. I'm not willing to accept the "some kids just can't spell" excuse so I continue to search for the right method. We did "All About Spelling" for the last few years and this taught them the rules of spelling but they seemed to be having trouble remembering to apply them when they wrote independently. This year we are trying a three prong approach. For Lance we're trying Apples. This program is designed for the older child that still struggles a bit with spelling. It's designed to be a simple one year program, where the child does one worksheet a day. We are about 40 lessons in and so far Lance doesn't mind and I think it may be helping to improve his spelling. For Jared I'm using Building Spelling Skills: Level 4. The words in this curricula are appropriate to advanced. When he follows the program, he has mastery of the words each week. They complete these curricula independently five days a week.
In addition, we do Sequential Spelling for Adults together four days a week. I'm hoping if I hit spelling from enough different directions it will stick. I'm using the adult program for efficiency and to avoid it being tedious. The adult version is a condensed version of the Seven Children's books in the Sequential Spelling Series. This takes us only a short time to do each day. We all take out our boogie boards*, then I say a word. Next, we all write it. Finally, we hold up our boards, check their spelling and we move on to the next word. It's quick, its easy, it's done.
Typing Instructor for Kids After much searching this was the only program I could find that was affordable and customized itself to the child. The audio is a bit annoying but the boys just turn it down or off. I have them both set to achieve 20 wpm. They do one lesson independently M-W. Additionally, for memorizing scripture and typing practice they use a free program called Scripture Typer.
Geography - Seterra
This is a free tool we've been using for a while. The boys enjoyed
learning about the countries last year using Memoria Press's Geography I
but it didn't work to reinforce their location, this is where Seterra
came in. They have both completed European Countries and Capitals and
are now working on European Rivers. The bonus is that its free, to use
online or in our case we downloaded a copy years ago. This they do
independently, the same time they do XtraMath and Scripture Typer.
Science We are launching this subject slowly. We will speed up when baseball season ends and Chris will have time to lead the experiments. We are starting using a curricula that is an introduction to Physics Science and heavy on the biblical application. We are reading this curricula four days a week. Next we will begin Tiner and Apoligia. For the first semester, I will read one chapter a week from Exploring the World of Chemistry by Tiner. For the second semester, we will read one chapter a week from Exploring the World of Physics by Tiner. We used two other books in this series last year and I liked how it added a bit of history and living science to our days; all from a Christian perspective. From Apologia we are going to use the recently released Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics. We will be using this book the entire year, splitting the two sciences between our two semesters. However, I think we are going to forgo buying the experiment kit package or the notebooks this year.
That's about it for my two oldest, I'll be posting on the menagerie I'm using with Titus in another post.
* The Boogie Boards I refer to in this post are our new favorite schooling tool. I originally got one for Amber to occupy her while we worked, then the boys started borrowing it so much that I got one for all of them. We use it for Latin, math, spelling, vocabulary work and general doodling.
I've been pre-reading A LOT of books, the ones I like I've been adding to my book lists. The ones I don't I'm just keeping to myself but if you wonder about a certain book feel free to ask why its not on my list. Some are so precious I can't wait to share them with the boys but I think if I'm patient for them to mature a bit, they will get so much more out of them.
One such book I can't help but review, I did not read it to my kids yet, my friend Mae read it with me instead. When your children are later middle to high school this is a beautiful book to read, its even a little magical. It weaves a tale about how if everyone does their best with what they have, things can change for the better. There's nothing bad in the book. My hesitation with younger children is some stranger-danger and I just don't think they could understand the setting of the book since it is so foreign to the world they live in today. The book is called A Tree for Peter and is written by Kate Seredy. I mention it today because it is really hard to find. Our library had one copy it took me a while to get a hold of; used they are ridiculously expensive. So if you see a copy grab it and if you find two let me know.
For independent reading Lance read four books.
Homer Price by McCloskey I read this to him aloud many years ago. Looking back, I can definitely say I didn't dumb down his read alouds, as Lance said this has a wide vocabulary. This book has nothing to do with the middle ages. It is a series of humorous short stories that revolve around the characters in a small down in middle America in the early 1900s.
Leif Ericson by William O. Steele I originally planned to have this be a read aloud but changed my mind and had Lance read it independently. It is part of a series of biographies by Grosset & Dunlap that I stumbled on earlier this year and have been gathering up as I find them ever since. They are adventurous without being inappropriate. This did fit into our history timeline, and was a more detailed account of his life than other versions we have read.
King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry. This is my favorite of her books. The fact that it centers around a boy and his horse, inclined me to have Lance read it. The setting is early 1700s. It is historical fiction, it tells how the Godolphin Arabian came to be in England, by the then owner of Man O' War. Lance liked most how she described everything and boys loyalty to the horse.
The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame. I have to admit I got this book from the library to be a read aloud for Titus. I remember reading it aloud to Lance when he was much younger. I remember thinking it was really funny. It still is funny but the vocabulary is off the charts. As soon as I started to read the book I realized I was loopy. The vocabulary of the book was way too much for Titus. He was a good sport and we tried to read short bits for a few nights till I finally asked if he'd rather read something else and he said "yes". So then Lance read it instead, and I'm happy to say he still finds it funny.
Jared focused on two books this month for his independent reading.
Leif the Lucky by Berry This is not the more common book by the same name used by Beautiful Feet. Personally, I like this version better. I read them both from the library years ago and decided to only add this one to our home collection. The fact that I had two books at different reading levels about Leif Ericson is one of the reasons I chose to have them read these independently. It was fun to listen to the two of them discuss the differences between event accounts in the two books as they narrated their chapters to me.
His second book was also a Marguerite Henry book. He asked to read the sequel to Misty of Chincoteauge; Stormy, Misty's Foal. He's enjoying the read but a little disappointed it seems to be a sequel to the movie not the book. We watched the movie the other night and were a bit disheartened at the changes they made from the book.
For Titus he grabbed a lot of books about how things work, the most interesting was one called Electricity by Joseph Midthun. It uses a blob to play the role of electricity. The blob then teaches the intricacies of electricity in a manner understandable to young children.
