Hi, I'm Heidi and I homeschool my two sweet kids. I want them to know that learning is an exciting lifelong adventure! We love great books, unit studies, notebooking, lapbooking, and hands-on learning.Our Homeschool Journal: Enjoying Fall
I just love fall! We’re enjoying everything autumn while we can…it seems to fly by in Maine and then winter arrives! Of course there’s lots of raking and jumping:
In our homeschool this week…
In RSO Biology we continued our study of animals and learned about echinoderms. The lab using a banana peel to explain their shape turned breakfast into science class!
I’m thankful again for our experiences at the ocean this summer because as we’re learning I can remind them of the real creatures we saw.
My daughter and I are really enjoying WriteShop Junior D. I need to post a full review soon–it’s one of my best curriculum finds to date. As we were finishing lesson 2 this week one of the publishing options for her humorous story was to make it into a comic. We used a printable comic template and she’s been working hard on speech bubbles and character drawings!
Donna Young and her incredible site is my favorite resource this week. I benefited from her free printables three times this week: once for the comic template, once for a monthly calendar, and lastly for a page with a blank top for illustrating and lines below for writing. And she had that one with lines in varying sizes so I could find one for both of my kids.
Places we went and people we saw…
We finished with Brazil at geography club this week. We’ve learned a lot about this country in a fun way. Topics covered at the meetings have included the history, geography, landmarks, animals and language of Brazil. We’ve played games, made Carnival masks, and tried foods from the country. I’m so glad we found homeschool friends and are able to get together regularly. It’s a sanity saver, and when we combine the socialization for kids and adults with learning opportunities it’s a double bonus!
My favorite thing this week was…
Fall is perfect hiking weather because it is isn’t hot or buggy, and the views with changing leaves are breathtaking. We headed to Acadia National Park for our longest hiking excursion yet and had a terrific time. First off we went up Flying Mountain to take in the views of Somes Sound and offshore islands. The hike itself wasn’t very long, but did involve a bit of actual climbing up and over rocks. My kids thought this was very exciting.
The hike was not long, so we had lots of exploring time at Valley Cove. This hermit crab became a nature study topic:
He (and dozens of his friends) fascinated my kids. He looks quite irritated with me, doesn’t he? The homeschool mom in me couldn’t help but point out that he is an Arthropod just like insects. Crustaceans are like the insects of the ocean! They loved the idea of him looking around for discarded shells. I rounded it out at home with a couple library books as their interest continued: The Crab on the Seashore & Eric Carle’s A House for Hermit Crab for fun.
I’d been mistaken and told the kids we’d be seeing a waterfall, which although in Valley Cove is actually on a different hike. When we finished the first hike everyone was willing to try the second, so off we went. The historic information I read spurred me on: the waterfall is called Man O’ War Brook waterfall because British war ships used Valley Cove for shelter and would replenish their drinking water using the falls. What a great story, and though the waterfall is small it was well worth the effort to get there.
Things I’m working on…
I’m still working on our family mission statement and a revamp of our chore system. We’ve had a lot of great discussions about our family and household this week. The overriding goal for me right now: do the best I can to use my time wisely, keep my priorities in proper order, and retain the joy in the process. Lofty goals, I know!
I’m reading…
My current reading goes along with those goals. I finally finished For the Children’s Sake. It’s a meaty book and I want to add it to my bookshelf so I have it to read over again periodically. I am more convinced that Charlotte Mason is a match for our style in many ways, and understanding that helps me make decisions about where to focus our time and energy. Up next for me is a collection of ebooks I purchased in a benefit sale this week. I’m excited to dig in because many of the ebooks relate to getting it all done (time management, freezer cooking, cleaning) and enjoying life, too.
Our family continues with Treasure Island and On the Banks of Plum Creek. There were so many cries for “you can’t stop reading there!” this week that I wish we could just read all day. They’re both great stories. My daughter is still reading Poppy by Avi for her library book club, and now Little House by Boston Bay (about Laura Ingalls’ Grandmother) by Melissa Wiley.
A photo to share…
I love playing Bananagrams with my daughter. We enjoy Scrabble, but since my son is too young to play it’s hard to fit in long games that don’t include him. Bananagrams is short so it’s easier to fit in. We also love just playing with the tiles. Frequently I’ll give my daughter a theme and she can use all the letters to make intersecting words about that theme. This week called for a “fall” theme.
In case you missed it…
Yesterday I posted 10 fall arts and crafts ideas. Making things with my kids aligns with my goal of keeping joy in our journey!
Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays.
Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!
Our Homeschool Journal: Celebrating a Birthday
This week my baby boy turned seven. Considering his current tank obsession much of our celebrating revolved around tanks. I made little tank cakes, and his gifts included many tank-related items. His fascination with tanks is completely self-driven, and we just supply the tools. He can rattle off the names of tanks, which country used them and in which war. He’s learning so much and he’s proud of his expertise. It’s a joy to watch our children develop into such unique individuals!
In our homeschool this week…
The three R’s rolled along smoothly (hooray!), but with scheduled events and a birthday celebration we didn’t accomplish a lot of extras. A little history (a great book called Old Ironsides: Americans Build a Fighting Ship), a little nature study (we found grubs, the larval form of Japanese Beetles that are wreaking havoc on lawns), reading aloud, and preparing for our weekly geography club (we learned about rainforest animals).
I am inspired by…and therefore am working on…
Colleen at Raising Lifelong Learners wrote a great series of posts on a “Back to Basics” approach to family life and homeschooling. I enjoyed all of the posts, and plan to implement many of her ideas.
Step 1: a family mission statement. I pored over her ideas and also posts from Simple Mom and Confessions of a Homeschooler (she has a pretty printable one) and have been discussing it with my family. My boys (both my son and my husband) like to crack jokes during serious discussions, but I’m going to persevere and get ideas from everyone to include in our mission statement. Coupling this with a revamp of our chore chart (inspired by Mary) and Colleen’s plan for Easy Discipline (earn an extra chore to make it up to the family) and I’m hoping things will run a little more smoothly in our home. Or at least I’ll nag less and the bathroom counters will get wiped down more often!
Places we went and people we saw…
We had many of our scheduled events this week: library book club, Cub Scouts, piano lesson, Geography Club, and a homeschool group playground meeting. Dentist appointments filled up an entire afternoon. Add to that celebrating a big boy turning seven and we had a very full week!
My favorite thing this week was…
The morning of my son’s birthday as we sat working on building a tank I heard the bus coming. I yelled, “Oh no! You’re going to miss your bus!” He played along and pretended to run to the door. We both grinned and realized how happy we were to be together. And perhaps he was happy for the no-schoolwork-on-your-birthday rule.
My favorite resource this week is completely working for us!
Teaching Textbooks. One week into it my daughter and I both love it. You can read my full post on our curriculum change from Khan Academy to Teaching Textbooks here.
We’re reading…
Still the same books! I am moving through For the Children’s Sake slowly–partly because I don’t have much reading time for myself, and also because I read it slowly, going back over sections that are especially applicable to our homeschool.
We’re well into the voyage to Treasure Island, and I’ll share a picture of a little cheat sheet I made for us to keep the characters straight. My son has an especially hard time remembering names so I made this character map with stick figures to remember who was who. No laughing.
I’m grateful for…
Our healthy baby boy born seven years ago, who tells me I’m the best mommy.
Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!
Our Homeschool Journal: Changing Furniture and Curriculum Already!
In our homeschool this week…
It was a great week! After last week with my husband gone and lots of extra activities, this week felt like a breeze.
- We worked on decorating cardstock to slip into the clear covers of our school binders. Note to self: do not leave a mischievous six year old boy with an ink pad while you put in a load of laundry.
- In our study through American History we’re at the War of 1812. My son loves to build things and here is his version of the U.S.S. Constitution, a.k.a. “Old Ironsides.” Since he used geometric shapes can that count as math and history?
- Our formal science curriculum (RSO Life) and nature study aligned perfectly this week and it was all about arthropods. Barb’s suggestion in her Getting Started ebook of choosing a nature study focus area worked out extremely well for us this month, and it was just good luck that our science studies coincided. This large spider was one of our study subjects that we noticed. I’ll have a full post on our study of insects and spiders coming up.
- Geography Club focused on Brazil and we brought these Brazilian treats called “Brigadieros” …and dropped the leftovers off with my husband at the fire station so I wouldn’t have to bring them home and possibly eat them all.
- I rearranged the furniture…again. Our large schoolroom table is now in the family room and provides a great together workspace to really stretch out. We are supposed to eat meals there so I’ll have to clean it up now and then. The desks the kids had upstairs in their rooms (that they never used) are now in the schoolroom. I’ll have to take a photo once I clean it all up!
Places we went and people we saw (which is also my favorite thing this week)…
Our favorite activity this week was geography club. Last year I was part of a small group that met for a book club once a month. We decided to meet every week this year with one meeting a month still being a book club, and the other meetings being a geography club where we’ll spend the month focusing on a country. We all bring something to share at the meeting: a food, a bit of knowledge, a game or activity. Our first meeting we discussed Brazil and had such fun! We’ll be continuing to study Brazil throughout the month, so I’ll post our resources and what we shared at the end of October.
My favorite resource this week…
By chance we ended up watching several videos on National Geographic Kids, and I realized it’s a treasure trove I should check more often! We watched a very informative short video on Brazil and then clicked over to the animals section and watched short clips on some creatures we’ve come across in our science studies. The site has gorgeous pictures and an information slideshow for various animals and countries, and many items also have quality videos.
What’s working and not working for us…
Our schedule really is working well. We have four weeks under our belt and I feel like we’re rolling along nicely. I never get everything done on my own to-do list and my house seems to be constantly messy, but I’m really happy with the learning taking place for both of my kids. Their individual work is going so smoothly, and my daughter’s weekly assignment sheet is helping her be more independent and productive. As always our studies together are favorites and we’re knee deep in exciting topics!
As far as something not working, that would be our math plan for my daughter. This deserves a post of its own, which I’ll get to later this week. I’ll just share this photo, and tell you that my daughter and I practically ran to meet the mailman on Thursday for this box:
Things I’m working on…
I think I may have a sickness to be rearranging furniture again when it’s been just over a months since I rearranged the whole house for those cool lockers. Why rearrange again? No good reason except my daughter (mini-me) and I got an idea and just had to try it out. It involved yet another multi-step furniture moving process, and one can never be sure how it will work out until everything is in it’s new spot. My husband made me promise not to carry any heavy furniture up or down the stairs when he left for his 24-hour firefighter shift, so currently all I accomplished was making the house look like it traveled through a tornado like in The Wizard of Oz. Why do I do this to myself? Why can’t I leave well enough alone and actually give myself time to dust or clean the bathrooms once in a while?
We’re reading…
Same books as last week:
- I’m still working through For The Children’s Sake by Susan Shaeffer Macaulay.
- My daughter is reading Poppy by Avi for her book club and Sacajawea: Guide to Lewis and Clark by Della Rowland and has shared many interesting tidbits with me.
- We’re reading Treasure Island and listening to Cherry Jones read On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We just got to Nellie Olson and are cracking up. We’re enjoying both books immensely and I’m constantly begged to read “Just one more chapter!”
- For poetry we’re reading through Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies, a nice mix of verses with beautiful watercolor artwork.
Other Happenings…
I shared our recipe for homemade play dough this week. It’s almost time for a new batch and I’m thinking orange or red for fall.
We celebrated Johnny Appleseed Day by watching the Scholastic video for the book Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindbergh (it’s on the Scrambled States video) and eating apple bread. Do you subscribe to the Homeschool Share blog and get their “Making the Days Count” monthly activity calendars? We always find something fun to add in to our schedule!
Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!
Our Homeschool Journal: A Week Without Daddy
What a week! My husband was away four days for a training, and our home just isn’t home without Daddy! He’s a firefighter/paramedic so we’re accustomed to his 24-hour shifts at the fire station less than a mile from our house, but having him be in another state for four days was much harder.
In our homeschool this week…
In our R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey curriculum it was all about worms! Our favorite activity was a lab testing worm senses.
We’ve continued with a focus area of insects and spiders for nature study. Barb posted a fun notebooking page that had my kids thinking like a bug!
We were also busy with outside-the-house activities:
- My son had his first Boy Scout den meeting and is SO proud to be a Tiger Cub. He looked so cute in his uniform!
- Our town homeschool group met and had fun crafting with Duck tape. At that once a month meeting we’re also giving the kids a chance to make a presentation. It was our first time trying it and it was a great experience for everyone! The kids could share anything they wished: an item that is special, something they learned, a poem. It was a small, relaxed group and good practice speaking and listening for all the kids.
- My daughter had her first meeting of a new after-school book club at our local library. Her two very best buddies that attend public school are also going…much giggling occurred in my back seat on the way.
Places we went and people we saw…
The day before my husband left we took advantage of the perfect fall day for our favorite fall tradition: pumpkin and apple picking. We have a wonderful pick-your-own farm a short drive away and had a great time with friends picking pounds of apples and perfect-for-carving pumpkins.
I followed up later in the week with Hodgepodge’s apple chalk pastel tutorial. Always a fun, messy time. If you haven’t tried their tutorials you must! All ages can produce hang-it-on-the-wall-worthy art.
My favorite thing this week was…
My husband’s return! We all missed him terribly. I missed his companionship and help with the kids and household…and his cooking. The kids missed his wrestling, tickling, and cuddling…and his cooking. They had a “welcome home” prepared for his late-night arrival. My favorite parts were the balloon kids awaiting hugs and kisses.
My favorite resource this week…
We stumbled upon the Math Is Fun website while helping my daughter with subtracting negative numbers. The Khan videos had explained how to do the problems but she still hadn’t grasped the why. Math Is Fun had a real-world explanation that clicked for her.
We’re reading…
I’m still working through For The Children’s Sake by Susan Shaeffer Macaulay and still really enjoying it. My daughter is reading Poppy by Avi for her book club and Sacajawea: Guide to Lewis and Clark by Della Rowland. We’re reading Treasure Island and listening to Cherry Jones read On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder. For poetry we’re reading through Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies, a nice mix of verses with beautiful watercolor artwork.
In case you missed it…
I posted about our plans for a government and elections unit study. I’m looking forward to starting it in about a week and connecting my kids with what’s happening in the news.
Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!
Our Homeschool Journal: A Full Week!
In our homeschool this week…
It was a busy, productive week. Our Time Traveler’s history focus was inventions of the 1800’s, and we had a lot of fun learning about the cotton gin, revolver, sewing machine, and steamboat and how these inventions impacted life in early America. Daddy, a licensed amateur radio operator, stepped in as a guest instructor for Morse Code. I need to arrange guest instructors more often! It was a highlight of the week.
We studied the phylum Cnidaria in our science curriculum (RSO Life Level 1), with a hands-on model of the jellyfish lifecycle.
In other science learning, nature study was part of nearly every day! I’m so thankful Barb makes it easy to implement nature study because it adds so much enrichment to our homeschool. The kids checked a few more things off the Last Days of Summer grid while I worked in the garden. We took a little walk another day and did Challenge #1 from the Outdoor Hour Challenge ebook.
Our item of interest ended up being mushrooms and we learned about them after returning home. The topic that intrigued us was related to our earlier science studies about plant cells and chloroplasts–why are mushrooms not green? Using the Handbook of Nature Study we learned it’s because they don’t have chloroplasts to manufacture their own food, but use decaying plant matter for food, thus doing the world a great service in addition to feeding themselves!
We also did the weekly challenge on ants. Our backyard ant hills are a bit quiet this time of year, but we tried to stir them up a little and noticed we have a least two different kinds making a home near our gardens. It was fun, as usual, to see the differences in what my kids were interested in: my daughter loved the structure of ant hills with separate rooms. We read the information in our books and then also did a little internet research to find some diagrams. My son was intrigued by the information in the Handbook of Nature Study on ant battles and how they can go on for days and involve fighting to the death.
The other idea from Barb’s Getting Started ebook was to pick a Focus Area, and for us the next month or two will be all about Insects and Spiders! I really like the idea of a nature focus area, and we have a catch-all console table that I’ve now turned into our nature study table. I combed our shelves and came up with several books and flash card sets. My son has a few interesting specimens in acrylic and we have a few insects we’ve collected in jars. I’ve set these all up on our nature table and we’ll be on the lookout for opportunities to study insects and spiders in our nature study.
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
No need to be derailed by minor illness! My youngest was starting with a cold one morning. I’m always thankful I don’t have to ask myself: “Do I send him to school or not?” That used to be so tricky, trying to weigh how they felt or if they were infectious with what they were missing. We don’t call off school at home for minor illness, but try to make adjustments to continue learning and give comfort to whoever is under the weather.
First step: The Sick Couch. That’s an official family name for the cozy spot we bestow upon the sick member, loaded up with pillows and blankets and stuffed animals. We pull the table closer and stock that with tissues and treats. This time I made a homemade hot chocolate that was well-received.
Then we continue with the things we can (all from the “sick couch”) and usually make adjustments like extra reading aloud or an educational show. This time we brought out our popular Magic School Bus Human Body DVD and he watched “Inside Ralphie” while I worked with his big sister.
Places we went and people we saw…
Did you know that a little town in Maine was involved in the War of 1812? We had a fabulous time at Hampden Heritage Days, a free event put on by the historical society at a historic home.
We learned about the Battle of Hampden and a chambermaid who threw the contents of a chamber pot on some British soldiers attempting to gain access to the home. We were able to step inside Hannibal Hamlin’s law office (vice-president with Lincoln during the Civil War). We also enjoyed many glimpses into life in another time period, and imagined what it would be like: sleeping on a rope bed, having to hand-make so much of what you needed, and handwriting that was really an art form. Some of it looked hard, but some of the simpleness of the time is always appealing. I loved the “Nanny-Rocker” where a mother could lay her baby to rock while having her hands free for handiwork, or how the spinning wheel was made to be portable so women could bring them when they socialized.
My favorite thing this week was…
Good friends coming to dinner! I love the flexibility we have to schedule social time as a family, and I also love when we have guests because my husband cooks the not-so-healthy meals that we generally avoid like creamy haddock chowder!
My favorite resource this week…
Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler posted her World’s Greatest Artists study for FREE this week. The printables and activities are a great addition to our Harmony Fine Arts curriculum and I was excited to download it and go further in our study of Renoir this month! I’m continually amazed and appreciative of homeschool bloggers sharing their hard work and talent with the rest of us!
Things I’m working on…
Putting together our first unit study for the year: it’s a little mix of Elections, Government and the Presidency geared for elementary age students. I’ll post my plans as soon as I finalize them–hopefully within the next few days after I receive all the books I’ve ordered.
We’re reading…
My 10-year old is still working on Nancy Drew and the Clue in the Crumbling Wall, while my 6-year old pours over a book on Tanks. Our read alouds are On The Banks of Plum Creek from the Little House series, and Treasure Island. Yes, the full, unabridged version! I was wondering how my six year old would do, but it is pirates after all! I found an audio version but it was read too quickly, so I’m reading it with as much panache as I can manage, and going slowly enough and stopping often enough to be sure they understand. As we’ve gotten into the story we’re all really enjoying it. I love the opportunity to read all the great books I missed!
I’m reading For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. I have it on interlibrary loan but will be adding it to my shelf when I can: it’s one of those I could see myself re-reading frequently for inspiration and encouragement in the Charlotte Mason philosophy.
Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!
Our Homeschool Journal: Back to School but Still Flexible
In our homeschool this week…
We’re officially back to school full-time! Though we school year round it’s more relaxed and about half-time in the summer. Maine’s weather seemed to change from summer to fall overnight, and it felt good to jump back into our normal school routine.
You can read the details on a day in our home schoolroom in an earlier post. Today I’m happy to report that so far my plans and schedule seem to be working well! We got a lot accomplished, and continuing our afternoon quiet time habit that we’d started in the summer helps to give us all time to recharge and come back together to enjoy the rest of our day. Our two new additions, WriteShop and Harmony Fine Arts, are starting off with two-thumbs up from me and my students.
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
There are certain things I don’t want my kids to miss, and one of those is the excitement of a new school year and the first day. I did my best to make the first day special: we wore special outfits, took pictures, and I made special meals that went along with our history studies. I also saved some curriculum and school supplies to begin using on the first day so it really feels like a new beginning, not just another day. Maybe for you first-day excitement isn’t important. Maybe you don’t want your kids to miss school parties, pictures, or plays…my advice is to try and recreate whatever it is (and make it even better!) through homeschooling. Sometimes it just takes a little creativity.
I am inspired by…
I listened for the second time to Andrew Pudewa’s Nurturing Competent Communicators. It’s such an inspiring talk that speaks to one of my major goals in homeschooling: raising children that can communicate well. It moved reading aloud to the top of my to-do list the first time I listened to it, and a refresher was good as we started the new school year so I don’t get my priorities out of order.
Places we went and people we saw…
I love a flexible schedule! We went on another day-trip adventure this week to visit a Maine-based business in person, Casey’s Wood Products, a manufacturer of wood craft parts.
The main reason was for my daughter, who is working on furnishing a wooden dollhouse we built. She was able to buy a bag full of fun accessories at a price far below a craft or collectible store.
The store itself was a terrific experience. First of all as a crafter I was in heaven with all the possibilities! The variety and quality was astounding and the staff made it extra enjoyable. We were the only shoppers there, since Casey’s does a lot of online bulk orders for businesses, but the staff didn’t treat us like we were in the way–it was like we were guests and they were very helpful and friendly. I bought quite a few things I just couldn’t resist (thimbles and jump rope handles), several items for homeschooling (geometric shapes, a wooden jail), and got an early start on craft projects for Christmas (trees, snowmen, mini spools).
For those of you that use All About Spelling and know about putting words that don’t follow spelling rules in jail–won’t this be fun?
Since we were in the area we made a pit stop at a famous Maine eatery: Red’s Eats. Another benefit of our flexible schedule–we didn’t have to wait in the usual hour long line.
My favorite resource this week…
This isn’t exactly school-related, but it’s definitely home-related. The ever-inspiring Mary at Homegrown Learners posted about Plan To Eat and I was intrigued. Meal planning was on my must-do list in order to be more efficient with my time. I’d meal planned before and enjoyed knowing what’s for dinner and what I need to buy at the store, but it was time consuming to choose the meals and make a shopping list so eventually I’d get busy and fall out of the habit. With Plan to Eat I could drag and drop meals into my meal plan, then print a shopping list organized by store department AND it took me less time than meal planning ever has. Hooray!
What’s working and not working for us…
In addition to Plan to Eat another new organizational item is working well: I made a get-ready morning checklist for my kids. I started with the idea from Tricia at Hodgepodge and her Before 8:45 checklist, customizing it for what I wanted my kids to accomplish on their own while I was getting myself ready. Not only do my children enjoy checking items off (they’re drawing different things in the check boxes each day), but it saves me the time and energy of verbally reminding them of each step.
Things I’m working on…
Making sure I take care of myself along with everything else, and trying to slow down enough to really enjoy life. My dear grandmother was completely type-A and drove herself so hard all her life that she didn’t often enjoy the everyday. I am very conscious of my similarities to her and try to keep my personality in check. I know I need my eight hours of sleep each night to function well. I know that I may be able to check a couple more things off my list if I stay up an extra hour, but I also know that I’ll be less patient and joyful if I do that every night. And too often lately instead of enjoying down-time with my family I’m hopping up to do housework or work in the schoolroom. I’m really trying to work on these bad habits.
I’m reading…
The Three R’s by Ruth Beechick. So far it’s a quick, no-nonsense and practical book. Our read aloud is On the Banks of Plum Creek from the Little House series. My daughter is reading an old Nancy Drew: The Clue in the Crumbling Wall.
I’m grateful for…
Watching the big yellow bus pass by my house. I was returning home from my morning walk, ready to dive into our first day back to school. I had just watched a little boy get on the bus, his mom anxiously yelling to him what bus he was supposed to catch after school to take him to Tae Kwon Do. We were getting ready to share a special “big bacon breakfast” family tradition and spend the day learning together. We’re so lucky.
Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!
Our Homeschool Journal: Nature Study (No Thanks to Mom)
In our homeschool this week…
We spent most of the week camping. It was our last trip since here in Maine the nights will be getting too chilly for sleeping in a pop-up camper right next to the ocean. I said we were going to try and cross off everything on Barb’s Last Days of Summer grid, and we got a running start: seven boxes checked off!
Other than the grid I had planned on the week being pretty low-key for education. I brought along an art project (more on that later) and our current book for reading aloud, but otherwise planned to just relax before we start full-time school next week. A lucky circumstance turned this trip into an educational treasure! While beach combing we noticed a lady searching alone. My six-year-old, who we think may be a politician someday, struck up a conversation with her. Turns out she used to work in education and was here for the summer as a volunteer to work on interpretive materials. How lucky for us! She seemed to enjoy the company of our kids and we left knowing a lot more about nature at our favorite place…no thanks to me and my fabulous homeschool mom planning.
The favorite tidbit my kids picked up was when my daughter asked this kind lady what made the little tiny holes in mussel shells. Turns out it’s a snail called the dog whelk. It eats mussels, which are larger than they are, by attaching to their shell, using a chemical to soften the shell, and then using their radula (like a tongue) as a drill to make that little hole. A squirt of their special saliva drugs the mussel, then a digestive enzyme turns the mussel to soup, then they suck it out through their tiny hole. Fascinating!
Since schools in our area are back in session it was pretty quiet at the beach. We were able to witness more activity from the seagulls than usual. We became intrigued watching them feed. They would pick things up from the ocean and fly up over the beach to drop them on the rocks and eat what was inside the shell. I was able to run to catch a closer look when one gull was done, and found his just-emptied sea urchin shell. We also witnessed the demise of a starfish. We decided a gull’s life looked pretty hard, but that they appeared pretty clever, too.
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
Be friendly! You never know what you can learn from people you meet just by striking up a conversation. My husband has encouraged me to be more like this over the years, and I see his personality trait in our son. Honestly, when I’d seen the woman on the beach I was sitting in the shade in my folding camp chair reading. I didn’t really want to chat, and I wasn’t even engaged with my kids combing the beach. Good thing my son followed in his dad’s footsteps!
My favorite thing this week was…
The weather! We’d had a lot of rain on our camping trips this summer, but the weather this trip couldn’t have been better. Warm and sunny but not humid or too hot, and perfect nights for campfires.
My favorite resource this week…
The art project I brought along on our camping trip was a chalk pastel tutorial from Hodgepodge. Their Nana gives them pastel lessons (lucky!) and Tricia kindly posts them for us to enjoy. We had a great time attempting to capture the beautiful sunsets over the ocean. If you haven’t tried one of Nana’s pastel tutorials I highly recommend it! It’s messy and fun and easy for all ages to create something special.
Things I’m working on…
Laundry. Post-camping laundry sometimes makes me want to run and hide. I also need to pull things together for the first week of school so I am organized with things printed or copied and ready to go.
I’m reading…
We’re near the end of Little House on the Prairie and enjoying this series so much!
I finished Beyond Survival: A Guide to Abundant-Life Homeschooling by Diana Waring. I can’t say it’s one I’d read again. I did enjoy the chapters on different learning and teaching styles and teaching multiple ages. I gleaned a bit from it, but though I don’t think the author meant it that way some sections made me feel we weren’t good enough. For example, when we visit with other families we don’t gather around the table and sing together. We try to get the kids to go play so us adults can talk. I’m looking for another, possibly more encouraging (and realistic for me) homeschooling book to read. Any suggestions?
I’m grateful for…
The seasons. I love the changes and trying to enjoy the best that each season in Maine has to offer.
Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!
Our Homeschool Journal: Gearing Up and Cleaning Out
We’ve had a productive two weeks: lots of summer fun, a good dose of schoolwork, painting and organizing in the schoolroom, and a major clean-out of our entire house. I’m tired just typing the things we’ve been doing, but it will be worth it when we’re relaxing on a camping trip next week. Then after that we’re back to full time school!
In our homeschool this week…(and last week since I didn’t post a journal entry then…)
We learned about granite and igneous rocks. Nature study is so enjoyable, and the ideas from Barb’s Handbook of Nature Study blog are so easy to implement, that we rarely skip this in our schedule. This Outdoor Hour Challenge came at a great time because we had recently hiked to a granite quarry after visiting a fort built with granite from that quarry. We got a chance to use our stereoscope, and decided it made the granite look like the surface of some strange planet! Notice the differences in the notebooking pages: My 6-year-old picked plain paper and drew pictures (including volcanoes), my 10-year-old chose a more structured page (a freebie from Barb). That’s the flexibility I love about notebooking!
We’re having a lot of fun in history, and have spent quite a while on Lewis and Clark. We finished up this week by exploring our backyard in their style–drawing all we found in our field journal and having snacks at camp. Our helpful dog came along just like Lewis’ dog (we really enjoyed the book Seaman’s Journal: On the Trail with Lewis and Clark).
Places we went and people we saw…
We visited a lot with friends, especially those who are heading back to school next week. We picked blackberries and made jam–not my favorite project, but opening a jar of summer in January is worth it!
My favorite thing this week was…
I was so happy to finish painting the set of lockers and moving them into the schoolroom. It meant I could finally put the room back together, and I just love how they turned out!
Here’s the link to our home schoolroom post if you want to check out the rest of the room!
My favorite resource this week…
The book All Through The Ages. I just know I’ll be using this guide to teaching history through living books for the rest of our homeschooling years. You can read my full review of All Through The Ages here.
What’s working for us…
Much of our time has been spent in a whole-house purge and it feels terrific! I realized that I feel less overwhelmed if the house is tidy, and that less stuff makes it easier to keep things tidy. I was able to persuade the kids to jump on board with getting rid of a lot by offering to have a garage sale and letting them keep the money for things they sell.
Things I’m working on…
I’m getting our weekly lesson plans ready for starting our full-time school year after Labor Day. The new addition this year is an assignment form I made for my daughter. I wrote a post about how I tackle the paperwork side of homeschool planning.
I’m reading…
We finished Farmer Boy (loved it) and have moved on in the series. We’re listening to the audiobook for Little House on the Prairie and really enjoying the talents of Cherry Jones and the fiddle music! My daughter is reading Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. I’m reading Beyond Survival: A Guide to Abundant-Life Homeschooling by Diana Waring–I’ve just started it so I can’t give an opinion on it just yet.
I’m grateful for…
My kids not heading back to public school full time in five days. We love enjoying fall together.
Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!
Our Homeschool Journal: Lucky Finds
In our homeschool this week…
I didn’t get much that I had planned accomplished this week, but it was mostly due to some great luck. We acquired some amazing things for our homeschool this week for very little money. That’s the luck part. The only not-so-lucky part: our schoolroom now looks like a tornado hit…and spread debris throughout the whole house. I’m not complaining, though, because these items (some of which were on my wish list, some of which I didn’t even know I wanted!) are now ours:
- Snapshots Across America: a game I’d had on my Amazon wishlist since a friend told me about it. Learning about U.S. geography and famous places with a game? Perfect. Finding it at Goodwill for $1.00? Lucky. The only thing it was missing was directions, and after I emailed the company, Talicor, they kindly emailed them to me.
- Focus on the Family Radio Theatre of the complete Chronicles of Narnia: basically free. No, don’t hate me. Our library has an amazing summer reading program where the kids earn book bucks to “spend” at a celebration at the end of the program. I easily persuaded my daughter to have this be one of her choices.
- Microscope and a box of slides: a town in our area built a brand new high school and had a yard sale at the old one. It was great fun–they’d walk you through the old building and you could just make offers on anything not nailed down: we scored these for $20.
- Roll-down maps: this was the item I was actually hoping to find. After seeing how Tricia at Hodgepodge used them as window blinds I really wanted roll-down maps. We don’t have much wall space left in our schoolroom so it was the perfect solution. I saw these on a wall in one of the classrooms, and they were mine for $5.00. Seriously! Never mind it took us half a day and around $30 to hang them–it is still an amazing find.
- Lockers: who knew I needed these? For $10 these are going to be a fun addition to our schoolroom. I had to make some major furniture adjustments to accommodate these, but I just couldn’t pass them up.
Places we went and people we saw…
We did do some of what I planned–the first was attending an airshow at Owl’s Head Transportation Museum.
That same day we also checked another Maine lighthouse off our list!
And said goodbye to some little friends we’d become pretty attached to (full post on the Monarch butterflies later).
Things I’m working on…
So my almost-ready-for-the-new-school-year schoolroom is now completely torn apart. But it will all be worth it. I’m telling myself that as I am doing this:
I’m grateful for…
My husband. I was feeling overwhelmed, partly because my priorities were getting out of order. We went for a walk and I blabbered on and on and he kindly and gently reminded me of what mattered most and how much he valued my role in our family. After his pep talk I felt completely renewed. He is an amazing man, and I don’t know what I would do without him.
Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!
Our Homeschool Journal: Lighthouses, Laundry, and Lists
In our homeschool this week…
We didn’t do a lot of formal schoolwork this week, which is okay because I didn’t plan a lot of schoolwork! We had a camping trip and then I knew I needed planning time. We spent three days camping, then three days catching up on laundry. (At least that’s what it feels like!) At home I spent time checking items off my list of things I had to finalize for our 2012-2013 school year. We did an hour of schoolwork here and there, accomplishing a lot of reading and even a little math, history and science. Of course, it seems that everywhere we go learning opportunities follow.
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
The area where we camped had another one of those great free summer-in-Maine activities! We walked the nearly mile-long trek out to Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse. Visiting lighthouses is a little hobby for us and we’ve taken our kids to quite a few. (Very Maine-ish, don’t you think?) I think it’s fun to pick something your area is known for and visit those places–like a tourist in your own state. My kids get even more excited to go to a lighthouse because it’s a quest to visit a new one we’ve not seen before. We also visited the Maine Lighthouse Museum (and bonus–it was free admission day!), a treasure trove of information–explanations, videos, and displays on the Fresnel lens and other aspects of a working light and foghorns, historical information on lighthouses and their use in navigation, and my favorite: the stories of the keeper’s lives and job requirements.
My favorite thing this week was…
Camping is my favorite summer activity, and special time with Grandma and Grandpa for my kids made it extra special.
My favorite resource this week…
Last year we used a downloaded typing program with our 10-year-old with some success, but due to the operating system on the computer she’s using we needed another plan this year. I was happy to find a free web-based learn-to-type program: TypingWeb. In our early trials she and I are both quite happy. That’s one more thing checked off on my planning list!
What’s working and not working for us…
Taking the time to sit down and finalize my plans is working for me. It helps me feel relaxed to enjoy our last weeks of light summer learning and be ready to dive into our full-time schedule in September.
Questions I have…
My last thing to figure out is a morning meeting. I want to have a morning routine that doesn’t leave me feeling scripted and too school-ish like the calendar time I tried last year. I stopped that mid-year, but feel like we do need a little time together before starting individual work. I would like to find a devotional book to use with the three of us together…any suggestions?
Things I’m working on…
I’m working on the last pieces of planning. I’m at the point where I’m figuring out our daily and weekly schedules. I have an idea for a weekly schedule for my 10-year-old as we work toward more independence. We’re ironing out the details with our homeschool groups on some classes and groups for the new school year.
I’m grateful for…
All the amazing resources (often for free) at our fingertips as homeschoolers in the age of computers and internet!
A photo to share…
On our trip we ate at a quirky little restaurant with delicious food in Rockland. After seeing this menu item–check out the first one under lunch specialties–I just had to take a picture. I really wanted to say to the waitress: “Yes, I’ll take Home Schooled, please.”
Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!
Hi, I'm Heidi and I homeschool my two sweet kids. I want them to know that learning is an exciting lifelong adventure! We love great books, unit studies, notebooking, lapbooking, and hands-on learning.
