Pinewood Castle

Wordless Wednesday

Our School - The First Three Weeks

Well, we started school the day after Labor Day like most families. We took a class photo on the porch just like always.

I think the kids were a little more excited than I was. I guess that's a good thing. I really am trying to remember to smile more. I even taped the lipstick smile cartoon to my bathroom mirror and added Kirsten's quote: "An extraordinary education begins with a smiling mother."

Well, it's not Kirsten's quote, but it's the one that she posted and I think of her when I read it. I've never met Kirsten IRL, but maybe I will someday since our girls are pen-pals. I really admire moms who smile.

 

My students enjoyed having special outfits to wear - especially the preschooler. She loves to have special clothes for specific occasions. For instance, she has one pair of panties she won't wear because she says they are her Birthday Panties.

And the kids enjoyed the schulte cones. The contents were minimal but they were no less appreciative.

Usually we "do school" four days a week and spend Wednesday mornings at piano lessons. This month I said "yes" to so many field trips and appointments so we are doing morning schoolwork only two or three days a week in September and October. Subjects have been layered on each week. We are almost up to the full load, except we still  have to find time to finish the IEW writing program.

 

Time Management is the battle I am picking the big goal for us this year. Really - are all home schooled kids as  lazy relaxed as mine? Mine seem to take forever to get ready in the morning and transition from breakfast to chores to schoolwork. They can tell time, but just don't seem to get how fast time ticks by and how behind we get by lunchtime with five minutes wasted here and there.

I think they are finally getting the timer enforcement - I am insisting they wear headphones and listen to baroque or classical music to keep from being so distracted by one another. The first two or three weeks they timed each subject and now they are setting their timers to the time allotted. At noon I add up the minutes they wrote down and compare it to the time gone by. Sometimes there are large chunks of time unaccounted for! I really don't get how this happens and the child somehow never knows.

Well, I take that back. One day Sunshine admitted that she spent time here and there watching out for the butterfly to emerge from it's chrysalis. Today my eldest had an hour unaccounted for with no explanation. Hopefully the long talk with the principal after dinner will be the remedy for this time-wasting syndrome.

(yes, he does his school work standing up)

I know many homeschoolers are not so uptight about this, but I find that our day works best if the book  work is finished by lunch so we can have wider margins around lunch and dinnertime. On paper we have an hour and a half for lunch & outside before beginning a piano/read alone/check-in with mom rotation from 1:30 - 3:00. The goal is to finish by 3:00 and gather together for art or science before getting back outside.

These kids love outside.

After that I unload the dishwasher and start dinner. Two nights a week my son has to eat early and get to choir by 6pm. The toddler's tummy alarm goes off about 5pm so we have all been eating earlier and having more time to clean up after dinner and to spend more time outside before the sun goes down. Or like tonight, finishing school work!

Do your kids cherish their time outside as much as ours? The current passion is concocting recipes from the doll mud pie book such as Pine Needle Upside Down Cake, Roasted Rocks, and Sandwiches made from sand and leaves. Pretty tasty cuisine for dolls.

 

Getting the little ones to bed by 7:00 - 7:30pm has made a huge difference in their happiness and well being as well as the rest of the family. It's nice to have an hour that is noticeably quieter than the rest. By 8pm dad reads to the the big kids, we pray, and they get off to bed by 8:30. Usually.

And as for the actual school work? My 6th grader is totally excited about The Ancients. She made the nomad tent suggested in SOTW and plans to sleep there tonight.

My 4th grader is combining history and home ec. by cooking from Eat Your Way Through the USA. Everything has been a hit so far!

(lobster casserole and blueberry pie for Maine)

Our 3rd grader was pretty non-compliant with the timer directives for the first two weeks, but then he got in gear and was able to finish his work in two hours and start making lunch by 11:30! I about fell over in disbelief. Maybe he will turn out to be a reliable fellow after all.

The preschooler is usually cooperative with preschool activities, though we just do the plans when we can. Sometimes before the toddler's nap, sometimes during. She surprises me with her memory for song lyrics, counting, interest in the alphabet, reciting the months of the year, and even adding numbers on her own.

And the toddler - he loves to "read" in his little hand-me-down Thomas chair. He's soooo adorable at this age - which happens to be 18 months this week.

One more crucial item to our school routine has been resurrected - Morning Devotional Time. It's almost back in place - we have yet to decide if this should take place before or after breakfast. Either way, we had slacked off with our routine of morning prayer, reading the saint-of-the-day, a chapter of Proverbs-a-day, and singing a hymn. As for the Devotional Stories for Little Folks - honestly the girls just read them on their own in years past. Since their brother has not gotten to reading them, the girls unanimously agreed that he needed to hear these stories and get on the bandwagon of putting some more virtues in practice, so I am reading them out loud for the first time even though I honestly don't like cutesy moralizing stories. But if it works and bears fruit I am willing to give them a try.

The theme of our home school mom's group also inspired this change: First Things First. After deciding on this theme one of the co-leaders came across this article on the same topic by Jeannie Fulbright that confirmed our chosen focus.

At our first meeting she read the article aloud (with tears in her eyes) and we handed out notebooks decorated with a picture of the proverbial cart before a horse. It was such a poignant reminder that everything we do as homeschoolers is difficult enough with out God's help, and can be unbearably difficult unless we put God first and ask his blessings on our day and on our children.

Camping, Waterfalls, and the Donut Shop

Did you know that there are over 130 waterfalls between Duluth, MN and the Canadian border?

We tried camping one more time this summer, this time up at the North Shore (the week before we started school) with the hopes of seeing a few more of the famous falls as well as Grand Portage and some rock hunting beaches. Yes, you read that right. I tried camping again and I almost liked it enough to try again next summer. Almost.

For about twenty four hours I thought I might take to tent camping after all. The the air was cool and dry. A light breeze blew away the mosquitoes. The bathrooms at the MN state park were the cleanest yet. I thought perhaps we had just been camping in all the wrong places and that the best place to be was definitely the North Shore where it was cooler. We enjoyed the evening by the campfire, a chilly night, and awoke to a promising day.

The first thing on our agenda was a hike to Devil's Kettle Falls, a challenging one mile hike but totally worth the effort. There are two large falls and the first one was a wonderful place to linger.

The Devil's Kettle Falls is a geological mystery - no one really knows where half the Brule River goes after it falls into the cauldron on the left.

Waterfalls are so amazing. The sound of the rushing water is energetic, the sight of the falling water mesmerizingly relaxing. The thought of falling to one's death and being swept away down river adds a certain adrenaline rush.

 

We vetnured off the path and found a little bench in the rocks to sit on and contemplate the destiny of so much rushing water. Most likely both halves of the falls lead to eternal life in Lake Superior, but it was amusing to imagine the possibility of half the water gushing into the underworld.

After lunch and a trip to Grand Marais the wind and rain clouds blew in. We had a cool evening by the fire and I still felt like I might like camping after all - until the rain started hitting the tent roof at 1:00 am, the baby woke up crying at 1:30  and the 4yo threw up at 2:00. I resolved for the umpteenth time that I would never go camping again. At last until the youngest is six.

 

The next rainy morning was spent at the laundry-mat and the World's Best Donut shop. I was feeling rather sorry for my poor sleep-deprived self until an older couple at the donut shop struck up conversation about our "lovely family", if our daughers' good posture was due to ballet and if we were unfortunate enough to be tent camping. As it turned out they had six children, took them to the North Shore every summer, and all of them now home school their children. After raising their family they retired and bought a house on the North Shore and love having their children and grandchildren come to visit. Their witness to me that day at that particular time was just the encouragement I needed to get through the rest of the trip and, well, perhaps the rest of life.

 

Although the rain ceased, the fog and mist lingered that day. With Grand Portage on our agenda, we proceeded northward towards the Canadian border. All three times we have been this far north there has been rain or overcast skies. In fact, everything north of the Naniboujou Lodge seems eerie and haunted to me. I kind of like it and kind of don't.

Grand Portage was once the fur trade center of the universe - the half way point between Montreal and the fur trading lands further west. The visitor's center offered interesting displays and a great movie about the lives of the voyageurs complete with their little rest stops to smoke their pipes, the songs to which they paddled, their mosquito repellent of bear grease and skunk oil, and of course the grueling portages. Can you imagine carrying almost 200 pounds on your back on miles of hiking trails? Or carrying this canoe uphill? At least it provided shelter at night.

The gift shop had two great books I have no regrets about purchasing: With Pipe, Paddle, and Song: A Story of the French-Canadian Voyageurs  (Bethlehem Books) and Waterfalls of Minnesota's North Shore. We used the waterfall book on the way home and I had the Voyageurs book read by the end of the weekend.

Since the forecast predicted rain for the rest of our time except the following morning, we decided to pack up during the dry stretch and head home. Joe did not want to pack up camp in the rain, even though it meant we wouldn't be able to get together in Duluth with our dear friends, Lori and family from Loving Them From Scratch.

The drive down Hwy 61 was broken up with several stops - one at Cascade Falls.

Another at Caribou Falls. We were all wishing we had worn swimsuits for this one.

The Little Princess was quite done with all this traveling by the time we hiked to Caribou Falls. She had a tantrum all the way there because she didn't want to go and all the way back because she didn't want to leave while I had that old conversation in my head questioning why we even try to travel with young children at all.

The Little Prince, however, was an angel when he knew we were heading home after not being a happy camper (like, not at all a happy camper) the whole time we were there. Too much wind, too many tree roots to trip on at the campsite, too many people shouting "No!" when he got too near the fire. Nothing seemed to be right with him. He was so glad we were packed up and heading out.

 

I was pleased too. Even though every time we have camped and I swear I will never do it again, I know I probably will - if faced with the choice of traveling or staying home. I'm sure we will try it again next summer - but at a campsite right on the lake shore. Don't tell my husband, but I even find myself daydreaming about retiring there up like the couple in the donut shop, as long as our kids and grandkids have to camp out in the yard so they know what we went through for them!

To Blog or Not to Blog

Let's just say I am super impressed these days with homeschooling moms of many who still manage to crank out posts at a steady rate. This endeavor just seems beyond my reach these days. There are so many things to do, I just have to prioritize and think, "What is the one thing I need to do right now?" The possibilities are a endless, but it is usually something like:

help the kids with school

help the kids practice

take a violin in for new fine tuners

read to the older kids

read to the younger kids

fold laundry for the kids so they can go outside and get the sunshine and exercise they need

go outside and walk so I can get the sunshine and exercise I need

make a menu plan

make a grocery list for the menu plan

read the choir boy's newsletter

update the calendar with performance dates

make necessary phone calls like scheduling the chimney sweep

write a thank you note and bake cookies for someone who did something nice for me

place my Azure order

close the pantry door

grade math

order library books

return library books

re-do my grocery price lists and see if Aldi is really less expensive than Costco

make some iced coffee

go to the bathroom!

order snow gear for the eldest

sign up for that field trip

get to a dr. appointment for me

drive to karate

drive to boy choir

grocery shop during choir rehearsal

drive to violin

drive to Ft. Snelling for a field trip

print out the educational material for that Young People's Concert

ask my husband what day he can mow and take the van for an oil change

order beeswax candles for the dark months

talk to my niece about her new baby boy

clean the floor

clean the appliances

change burnt-out lightbulbs

wipe the dust off the light fixtures

get out bigger clothes for the baby

change the outfit on the 4 year old's baby doll

at least do puzzles with the 4yo since we didn't get to doing preschool

let the new butterfly go

pick up the family room again

water the porch mums

pick the lock on my bedroom door after the 4yo locked the baby in my bedroom all by himself

look at what's for dinner tomorrow

make sure I have all the ingredients

You get the idea. You get that "write all those blog posts I have swimming in my head" isn't the one thing I need to be doing unless it's 9pm or earlier, the kids are all in bed, the laundry is all folded and put away, I know what's for dinner the next day, and I am not about to fall asleep standing up.

Patience. And priorities. And all for the love of God and these precious people He put in my life ~

Lots of Questions About Resources! A Homeschooling Meme

Lots of Questions About Resources:: A Homeschooling Meme

The amazing Grace at Our Field of Little Flowers tagged me for this meme ...

Of course I am way behind on blogging and you are probably wondering what is going on over here and why I am returning to blogging with a meme of all things. Well, because it's easier! Easier than updating everyone on our camping trip to the North Shore and resuming school and all the little ways our children are growing and changing.

I will get to all that eventually but this post was a little easier to prepare while listening to music practice. Yes, although I used to get offended when my clarinet professor read the newspaper during my lesson, I now multitask while my kids practice piano and violin. This is not the Suzuki way. Shhhhh - don't tell their teachers!

Anyway . . .

One homeschooling book you have enjoyed::
One? Ha, ha, ha.

In the early years: You Are Your Child's First Teacher.

A little later: Katrina Kenison's Mitten Strings for God and Susan Schaeffer Macaulay's For the Children's Sake and For the Family's Sake.

A little after that: Sally Clarkson's Educating the WholeHearted Child and Elizabeth Foss' Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home. (there is a new edition of the Whole Hearted Child on my wish list).

What I eventually (after meandering through Waldorf and Charlotte Mason inspired approaches) modeled our curriculum after: Berquist's Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum.

When my family grew and things weren't so easy anymore: Jackie Wellwood's One Hundred and One Devotions for Homeschool Moms and Large Family Logistics.

Currently exploring: Carol Barnier's books.

One resource you wouldn’t be without::
Well, I have to agree with Grace that an internet connection is invaluable. In fact I am intrigued by the idea of using an iPad with apps for homeschooling fun and exploration, or getting one for the coffee table so we can cuddle on the sofa while we surf.

An even more valuable resource would have to be my husband. There is no way I would or could homeschool without his support. He totally supports what I am doing, lets me make most of the curriculum choices and is generous with the education budget. Even though he does not take over teaching any subjects, he is always the answer man when the kids have questions, the comedian when we need humor and takes over doing the dishes when I am too tired at the end of a day (even if I am tired for a year or two). He puts in extra hours at home to help out instead of spending lots of extra time at the office or taking on side jobs for extra money.

Third, I have to say I have been totally blessed by attending a homeschooling mom's support group once a month. I feel much less like a homeschooling hermit by attending meetings, hearing talks and gleaning ideas and inspiration. Really, over the course of three years I have learned more from these meetings than all the books I have read.

One resource you wish you’d never bought::
Lots of wooden Montessori manipulatives. I paid too much for them, didn't really know how to properly use them, and now they just sit on the shelf.

 One resource you enjoyed last year::

Phonetic Zoo for spelling. Sorry I keep plugging this program, but hey - it works for us. Also, doing Artistic Pursuits with another family kept us faithful to art time.

One resource you wished existed::
A unit study for 1st grade based on Aesop's Fables - complete with narration of the stories, drawing the animals for art, studying the animals for science, poetry, biblical references for the lessons and virtues, and simplified versions of the stories in the form of phonics readers.

One more - I think someone should go into business selling boxed kits for Little Saints. I am so thankful to have all the weeks' supplies in ziploc bags ready to go, but would have paid $$ to have it all done for me.

One homeschooling catalogue you enjoy reading:
Emmanuel Books for sure. The Sonlight catalog gives me ideas of how to spice up geography with living books. I also keep the Veritas and ChistianBook.com catalogs for ideas.

One homeschooling website you use regularly:
Hmmm, I enjoy reading the 4Real and Well Trained Mind forums, though I seldom comment on either one because I feel like I have nothing new to contribute. Really, whatever question I have I just use the search feature first and come up with a wealth of information from previous threads. I have recently discovered two new collaborative blogs - Simple Homeschool and The Heart of the Matter and enjoy these quite a bit.

Thank you, btw, to those who have clicked book links and ordered something recently. A little Amazon credit came my way and it was most welcome!

Now I have to tag six other homeschoolers to join in this Resource game:

Kirsten at Sonlight Garden. (I keep thinking about a quote she posted, "The most extraordinary education begins with a mother who smiles.")

Lori at Loving Them From Scratch

Sarah at With a Hopeful Heart

Jamie Jo at Lord Make Me a Saint

Sarah at Amongst Lovely Things

Jen at Northwoods Classical Academy

 

Ready? Or Not?

I know, I know, in spite of all the inspiring back-to-school posts arriving daily in my google reader I am flooded with the urge to procrastinate the commencement of another full school year. I just don't feel ready yet! Plus, the weather is finally offering gorgeous days with highs in the low 80's and dew points under 60. I am determined not to let them go to waste.

Our books our in, the classroom is dusted, new school supplies are waiting to be opened, and the shelves are organized. We have had plenty of summertime diversions but I am just not emotionally, mentally or spiritually ready to start. Our summer maintenance schedule of math, music and reading combined with household duties and care of the littles has been enough, even too much at times. I had hoped that the more relaxed pace would provide space to be less stressed, more joyful. Well it has, a little, but not in great strides the way I had hoped. 

It helps that the baby (finally) started sleeping through the night. It helps that the girls can dress him and change poopy diapers. It helps that we have successfully completed three weeks of Little Saints Preschool. Some of those at home "mom-cation" ideas I've read about in blogsphere have helped too, but in reality there is only so much recharging a mom with two little ones can do without being needed every three minutes. This inevitable leads to daydreaming about spending two weeks at a spa where each day would include healthy meals, exercise, a massage, a nap and several hours for reading and prayer. Come to think of it, a weekend at the hermitage is definitely more suited to my time and budget - but do you think my husband would let me off for a whole weekend?

What's an introverted melancholic homeschooling mom of five to do?

Ok, maybe not.

Making a gradual and prayerful new beginning would be a more permanent solution. Maybe this is the year NOT to hit the ground running the day after Labor Day. Here's what I am formulating in order to ease into things:

Monday - Family outing to the beach one last time. Grill burgers, eat watermelon and corn on the cobb.

Tuesday - Special breakfast, new back-to-school outfits, school pictures on the porch, sharpen pencils and open school supplies, handwriting and math during preschool, science together during baby's naptime, play outside, practice violin and piano. Indulge in Le Petit Ecolier, those French chocolate shortbread schoolboy cookies. Maybe this year I will even make Schultüte.

Wednesday - Piano lessons begin, cats go to the vet in the afternoon, play outside, practice violin and piano.

Thursday - A "Not Back to School" Track and Field Day sponsored by a local homeschooling group. Play outside, practice violin and piano. Boy's choir starts.

Friday - Some school and practicing in the morning, a nature hike in the afternoon.

Saturday - Violin lessons at MacPhail begin.

After that? Maybe we will layer in a subject or two a week. I have three, no four new approaches to try this year.

• The first is to get up an hour earlier and have breakfast at 7 am instead of 8 am.Ha, ha. This will be the most difficult change for our family!
• The second is to use timers again, but this year enforce that the kids write down on their schedule how long it takes them to do each subject every day.
• The third is to provide each child with a portable CD player and headphones to keep them from being distracted by preschool activities and one other.
• The fourth? To read a chapter of Proverbs every day - thirty one chapters, one for each day of the month!

Here's a sneak peek at one of the back-to-school outfits ~ there's nothing like cute clothes to get a mom excited, even if they are not for her!

(The real name of our homeschool is Queen of Heaven Academy, but these were so close to "Pinewood" I couldn't resist!)

(Cartoon from Todd Wilson's Official Book of Homeschooling Cartoons Vo. 3)