Focus

I ran 20 minutes this morning. I'm so incredibly excited and shocked. Jasmine didn't think I had it in me (thanks, kid!)
Life is changing. And, as it always is when it's us, it's changing quickly. We're hoping to get the house on the market in 2 weeks. TWO weeks.
So that means I spent yesterday starting work to get the house ready. Want to hear what I did?
~Pfaltzgraff dishes are packed (I think I still spelled that wrong. Too lazy to look it up)
~Three boxes of stuff from the back room are packed and labeled.
~The kids' toys are in their bedroom, instead of in a play area in half of the dining room
~some hooks are finally taken out of the wall from 3 (4?) Christmases ago
~a decorative vinyl sticker is off the wall of the living room
~a box of doll clothes got packed away

That looks pretty good, until you realize I tackled something little in just about every room in the house. Which means you can't actually see any change. And the whole point of organizing to me is the finished LOOK.
So today I'm going to tackle one room (the back room, which is the school/laundry area) and see if I can actually SEE some progress before I leave for date night.

I took pictures of our bedroom on Monday. It's not completely done, but almost. I want excellence. I want better pictures than I've ever taken of a room, and I want it looking better than it's ever looked! Here's what I have right now.

Changes

I think it's time to put this blog together with the other one.
http://joshandcharlene.blogspot.com/

It's just too hard to write on both, so I tend to just give up and not write in either!!
If you are interested in hearing my occasional school stories, feel free to subscribe for email updates to that one!!

Thanks for reading :)

Decisions

Yesterday, Jasmine couldn't decide between spelling and math.
I told her she had to choose, and that if she didn't, I would.
Her response: "If I can't choose, could you please choose math??"

Three Weeks Off

So we're taking our equivalent of Summer Vacation now.
No comment on the fact that it's supposed to snow tonight. What kind of summer is that?? (*giggle*)

Bekah wanted to earn a "help mommy" badge yesterday. I haven't broken it to her that we're not doing badges next year. If she wants to volunteer to clean up, who'm I to turn that down??
Jasmine wanted to make another hideaway, since we skipped the last 5. But they didn't interest her (or me) enough, so we ended up doing one of the other activities from the Creating Clever Castles and Cars book. She wasn't happy with the results and I wasn't exactly happy with her reaction to the results, but they did enjoy running around it for a few hours last night.
(no pictures...it really didn't turn out to look like anything!)

I'm gearing up for second grade. Going through the book of Science activities to figure out what all we need to buy ahead of time. I just ordered a teacher's book specifically for homeschoolers to track what we do each day. It should make things run more smoothly and keep me on task, even though we're going the more unschooling route. I still have to report to the school district, so it's good to track what we're covering for those lovely quarterly reports.

I promised Jasmine an ice cream party (with homemade ice cream!) for completing first grade.
So here's the story:

We made ice cream. From scratch. From So Delicious Coconut Milk for Josh and Bekah, and regular milk for the rest of us. (milk and sugar in a little ziploc, put inside a larger ziploc full of ice and salt, and then wrapped in a towel and placed in a plastic shopping bag. shake for 15 minutes, rinse of the water/salt on the inside bag, and enjoy!)

Pretty exciting, non?

Unfortunately, we were nervous to rinse the bags for long, because we didn't want it melting in the water.
So it didn't get the salt off.
When we put the ice cream in the bowls, some of the salt came off into the bowl.

YUCK.

I'd like to try again and see if we can get actual eatable ice cream out of the process this time.

Finishing up First Grade

Today we finished reading the last of the Encyclopedia of World History (with appropriate editing in the reading, like mentioning that maybe GMOs weren't quite as perfect as they thought when the book was published ;) ).

And with that, I am now the mother of a second grader!!

I'm so incredibly proud of Jasmine. She's been quite a trooper, with all the changes we've made over the past 11 1/2 months. She is definitely breaking me in to homeschooling, just as she did with being a mom. But that just makes it that much easier for the next ones coming up!

I'll keep blogging for next year, though now the title of the blog is outdated.

Congratulations, sweet Jasmine! I'm so proud of you!!

Braille

Yesterday Jasmine and I read about Louis Braille and his Braille alphabet.
She thought it was a fascinating pattern, and wanted to try it for her copywork.
(drawing the dots, not actually making raised bumps on the paper).

She decided two words was enough work:

We have a goal for ourselves...I think we might be able to finish first grade this week with a little push. It means we won't do all five of the hideaways left, which is perfectly fine with me. It would be awesome to finish and have time to get second grade put together before we start that in May!!

Mary Poppins, an interview

Me: Jasmine, tell me how the book, Mary Poppins, was different from the movie.

Jasmine: she was crosser in the book.

Me: What does cross mean?

Jasmine: not nice.

Me: which would you rather have as a nanny?

Jasmine: Julie Andrews' Mary Poppins.

Me: Bekah, what was your favorite story?

Bekah: the last one.

Me: Why?

Bekah: Because there was a letter.

Me: What did the letter say?

Bekah: It said that she would come back.

Me: was that written in English?

Bekah: No, it wasn't.

Hudson: Mine favorite was, um, in the book. Mine was, um, when they was going to a place. Like going home. They goed home.

Jasmine: Mine was when they went Christmas shopping.

Me: Are you excited to start reading Mary Poppins Comes Back?


Jasmine, Bekah and Hudson: YEAH!

"Covered" Wagon

We did last week's Hideaway this afternoon: a covered wagon.
But the swimming noodles didn't appreciate the heavy sheet, so I taped them up more and put on a pillowcase. Kinda lost some of the excitement factor, but at least they were able to play in/on/around it!

We brought down their old spring horse to pull the wagon. They enjoyed exploring the West!

A Hideaway!

We've pretty much given up on making hideaways, but we still have a bunch of boxes, so we should keep chipping away at them. They're just getting tough to keep the motivation up, especially during the cold weather...the porch is too cold to have the hideaway out there, so it's the kitchen. And I get really claustrophobic.
But we did one today. It's actually from the readings from a couple weeks ago, but that doesn't matter. The kids love it because it's also something they see in their current favorite movie: Disney's Peter Pan!

And I know I'm rambling and not saying much. Shall I try over?

We finally got around to making a hideaway today!

These are not pictures I'm proud of photographically, but the kids like them because it helps them remember the hideaway.
They're quoting Peter Pan while they're inside. It's pretty cute.

We're getting close to the end of the school year. It's hard to believe we're almost done with first grade!! What a long and winding road it's been!

Math Class

I was in a mood to shake things up a bit today.
That, and I was just going through the games closet, realizing how many we haven't touched in years.

So I brought down Yatzee. Or, as Bekah read it, "Yangtze." (she loves "The Story of Ping.")

We had a great time! They liked to "Shake it, Pinky, Shake it" with each roll. It extended the game quite a bit but they loved it.
They added up their scores on the abacus. They used lots of logic and problem-solving skills to play the game.

And for the first time ever, I won on a game I taught someone else!!!

Ending the Third Quarter

It's hard to believe it, but we're now 3/4 of the way done with first grade! Thankfully I have all but one of the books for second grade (and that last one I can borrow from the library if I'm inspired to go through it before the new one arrives), so I can do some concrete planning.

I'd say this year has been a success. One of the things I'm most happy about is that I've learned to go with the flow more. Both with giving Jasmine some freedom in planning her day/week, and in adjusting the curriculum as needed to work with our temperaments and strengths.


I've loved the Hideaways. Well, loved 'em and hated 'em. There are more boxes still sitting, waiting to be created, than we have projects left, because now that it's winter, our space is more limited. But we still do them some of the time:

My husband and I re-tackled that notorious igloo with the milk jugs we held onto after our first attempt. It was helpful to have thought it through the first time, so we could avoid the same mistakes. It was smaller, but it actually lasted a few days instead of a few minutes!

Gym class is more fun than I ever thought it could be...they love yoga, ballet and Irish Dancing.

I'm excited that we've made it this far, and that things are smoother and more enjoyable most days. I love my kids and am so very thankful that I get this time with them, and that I'm not sending them off for some other person to get to see that "aha!" moment. 

Second Grade planning

So....we're changing gears again.

Thankfully it's only January and we're not scheduled to finish first grade until sometime in April.

Jasmine had requested a science focus for next year.
No, that's not completely true. She asked that the only thing we do next year was science.

Thankfully, her favorite part of science is my reading to her. So though I am making plans for more activities and experiments, I know the primary requirement is good books. I can do books!

I've decided to go through history, starting with the Biblical account of creation, and through to modern history, and we'll cover things as they were discovered/invented. So we'll cover gravity when we learn about Isaac Newton.
It means making a lot of decisions...do we cover astonomy when we do ancient Greece, with Aristarchus, or do we wait until we get to Copernicus?? I haven't yet figured that part out, but I did find an awesome book that may help steer me:   I just got notification that it's been shipped. I can't wait to look through it and see how much it steers things.


Our main book is going to be the Usborne Internet-Linked Science Encyclopedia (Usborne Encyclopedia).

I've also found a couple books for next to nothing (love buying used books!!) with tons of fun child-friendly experiments. I think we should have a fun year!!

Hideaway: Old West General Store

We're now in the 19th century! It's incredible how far we've come.

Welcome to the Wild West, and to Jasmine's General Store.

Ya might notice the sign outside, created by the store owner, indicating that light bulbs are among the things available for purchase inside. But there's a warning: don't eat the light bulbs.
Inside are many drawers, all full of bits and bobs for sale!
C'mon over and shop!

Spelling again

This is Jasmine's spelling list from a couple days ago.
It's not all transferring over to when she's writing (she spelled "I" "iey" a day or so after it showed up on her spelling list) but I know it will come. And I love the logic of this, and the way it builds on itself. Just the way they learn to read! I can't believe this is such an unusual technique, because it's so incredibly logical!!!

Spelling

Spelling has been getting groans from the girls.

And from mom, if I'm completely honest.

So I knew it was time to change gears to something completely different.

My friend told me about the method she's been using for her 4th grader, and after she described it to me I decided to give it a try.

So I picked up a copy of Sequential Spelling, Level 1.

So far we've done two lessons. Oh, and Bekah's doing it with us.

They love it. They're succeeding, they're laughing, and they're learning without even realizing it!

A quick summary of how it works:
They start with writing "in." That's pretty easy to figure out. You write it on a white board and they see that they did get it! (they correct themselves as they go)
Then you have them write "pin." Also pretty easy, since they've already thought through the "in" part.

They write a couple more words the same way...they write it out, you write it on the white board and they see if they got it right. And they're done!!

Painless. Even for a child who doesn't like to write (though thankfully that doesn't seem to be as bad as it used to be. I think Copywork is helping tremendously in that regard), and even for a not-quite-5-year-old (who reads like a 9-year old)!!

Excellent idea, Mommy!

Yesterday, I was told, was the best day of school, ever.
Both Jasmine and Bekah told me separately that they loved it. Bekah told me school had been fun, and that I'd had an excellent idea. Yes, my 4-3/4-year-old daughter used the word excellent.
And Jasmine told me it was the most fun day of school she'd ever had.

And what was this wonderful thing I'd let them do??

We'd made Goobleck.
At first it was on the watery side but they had a blast:

I added more cornstarch and it was even cooler (so cool that I forgot to take pictures).

Even Josh thought it was cool when he tried it this morning.

It's messy. We have cornstarch all over the floor, counters and the stovetop. But it's been a lot of fun, trying to decide if it's a solid or a liquid!

*****important*****
If you make this, Don't put it down the drain when you're done. It will clog your drains. Throw it in the garbage!! (or let it dry and add water again for more fun someday down the road!)

Planning Stage

I don't know how it's possible, but it's time for me to start planning for school for next year.

Jasmine thinks we should spend the whole year doing science. She thinks it's the most enjoyable subject, but I think the state might have something to say about that.

So we're going to do a lot of science, but also spend the year studying American history and the other normal stuff.

And we're going out on a limb and doing our own curriculum for those two subjects!!!

We have access to a beautiful Christian library 10 minutes away. And what's even better is it's in the building where Josh works. So I can do a search and write to him, requesting a specific book to bring home for school the next day. How perfect is that?

We're going to stick with RightStart for math, Susan Wise Bauer's materials for language arts, and we're going to start using Sequential Spelling because we haven't found anything we like and that looks awesome.


I think this is the first post ever not to have pictures! I haven't taken any recently...well, none concerning school....I'll have to remedy that!

Enjoying the Journey

(I accidentally posted this on the family blog yesterday, so please forgive me if you've already read it over there!)

I'm finally disciplining myself and spending less time online. And I love the feeling. I feel so free! My house is staying cleaner. We got the week's school done in 4 days, and I think all but one day it was done before lunch. Which is good; tomorrow we'll start in on some of next week's school, since we have outings three days next week!!

But I did manage to get a few pictures :)

This was Monday morning's pile. One morning.
And yes, we got it all done!

Yeah, I know. It's a sandwich.
No, it's not a gun.
She recognized that the shape looked familiar: she matched it on her puzzle and proclaimed it Oklahoma!
Then she ate it, saying things like "I just ate a big church!"

Playing with the abacus after finishing her worksheet.

Bekah, proudly showing off her work.

Happy end of week 21!

Insecurities

Today's math lesson brought something out that I don't usually think about.
(story: they were working on their worksheet:

Jasmine used the abacus to figure out the totals, which is what the book intended for her to do. Bekah, though, figured out how straight-forward it was. On the first one, you can see a 0 that was erased between the two. She told me the right answer but wrote it the way she says it: "two ten five." She wrote "two ten (20) five." As soon as I showed her with their placecards how the 5 covers the 0, she didn't make that error again.)

Jasmine is very bright. School comes quickly to her, other than writing, so we're working on that. But the rest isn't difficult. She does worry about the future, though. She worries that she'll be left to do work on her own and not get the help she needs. I've spent a long time talking through that with her.

Bekah is in a different league from Jasmine. I'm sure we'll find something she struggles with someday...oh wait! I have it. She doesn't want to talk to other people. She thinks the family should be enough, and doesn't understand why there's a need to ever see anyone else. So there's her struggle.

Jasmine is starting to recognize the fact that Bekah can do everything Jasmine can do. And it's making her uncomfortable.

What makes this a million times harder for me is that she is ME. I always knew I was decently bright, but my brother outshone me...in everything but talking to people. Yup, even down to that. So though I'm comfortable with who I am now and who he is now, it hurts me to see her struggle. I know how she feels, and I'm not sure how to help her through it appropriately.

It's funny. I don't really compare the kids the rest of the time. I see them as all completely different kids, who touch my heart in different ways and all three mean the world to me. But when they're both doing the same work, it's next to impossible not to notice the difference.

Anyone else go through this? I'd love to hear that I'll get better at it and not notice so much down the road!

Math

I haven't talked much at all about math. Which is a shame, because we love the curriculum.

We're using RightStart (link is on the top left of the Blog page. Too lazy to get it myself, knowing you can see it now). Jasmine's still using the kindergarten level because we bought it for her last year, but she's going through it more quickly because of that.

Bekah's in the room for most lessons. We try to do math when Hudson's sleeping because he's just too much "help" with the abacus and place cards. But he's heard enough that when I said "six plus one equals" he chimed in "what?" and I've heard him call the abacus a "ten" (there are lots of "tens" in the way they teach counting.

It's a completely different way of doing math from what we traditionally do in America. I always loved math and did beautifully in it, but I liked the way this goes about it. It's closer to the way children in Japan are taught, but it doesn't put them at a disadvantage when they're tested using Western exams. It's just a different way of looking at math.

I'm not going to try to explain it all. If you're interested in seeing what it does, check out their site. I'll just tell you that we love it and it's done an amazing job.

And to prove that, here's Bekah's worksheet from this morning. (I will note that there are very few worksheets in their system. This is #15 and we've done more than 40 lessons).

(by the way, her 3s are blowing bubbles. My children don't lack any creativity!)