tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40520416594385056722024-03-13T04:43:54.999-07:00a runcible lifefour asynchronous kids'
eclectic home educationCatherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-15937786525552151582015-04-09T12:15:00.001-07:002015-04-09T12:16:42.897-07:00maggie and milly and molly and may <div style="text-align: left;">
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maggie and milly and molly and may</div>
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went down to the beach(to play one day)</div>
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and maggie discovered a shell that sang</div>
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so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and</div>
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milly befriended a stranded star</div>
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whose rays five languid fingers were;</div>
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and molly was chased by a horrible thing</div>
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which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and</div>
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may came home with a smooth round stone</div>
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as small as a world and and as large as alone.</div>
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For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)</div>
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it's always ourselves we find in the sea</div>
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-40698301516961739252015-01-23T15:37:00.001-08:002015-01-23T17:01:49.884-08:00Learning This Week - Anatomy and Math Resources, Poison Oak Remedies, Nature StudiesJanuary has been extremely germy for our family. I don't quite get why, with the mild climate here on the central CA coast, we still get the extremely immune compromised winter months. On one hand, its convenient for our human body study, as its been driving home lots of specific immune system questions. When J, my four year old was throwing up with the stomach bug, he repeatedly asked me, "What exact virus is in me? When will my white blood cells kill the virus?" It was kind of heart breaking and amazing at the same time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of our Anatomy study books</td></tr>
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Because of the aforementioned bout of stomach flu (which ripped through the whole family), we had to put off celebrating my oldest's birthday with her buddies, and then I had bronchitis for another week. More fodder for immunity study (or lack thereof!). Finally we had the party - an enchanted forest party at my daughter's favorite fairy grove. Everyone got Poison Oak. They do know what it looks like, but after years of drought, the sticks of it look kind of weird and were covered in new grass - well, long story short, the girls were pretty pathetic. But I have a new tool in my arsenal, thanks a tip from my dentist's office manager, who saw my daughter when we came in and told us to go get this stuff post haste. Its stupid expensive ($40 at my local pharmacy, but about half that on Amazon - I'm definitely planning on keeping some on hand - it worked great and saved my day/week).<br />
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Its gotten them back outside in trees where they belong!</div>
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We also did this DVD, which I love with the heat of a thousand suns:</div>
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...because *suddenly* both my 8 and 10 year olds know their multiplication and division facts.I would not say "in an hour,"</div>
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that's a bit extreme, but after watching the DVD a few times and reviewing their flash cards a few times - DONE. Which is a very different experience than we had with our <a href="http://www.visualspatial.org/" target="_blank">visual learner</a> and the dreaded addition/subtraction facts (or that time I accidentally gave my kid math PTSD). I have both an extreme visual spacial learner and a more audio sequential learner and it was amusing to me to watch the reactions to this. I really got it in an effort to effectively help the <a href="http://www.visualspatial.org/files/teaching.pdf" target="_blank">visual learner</a>, who has always struggled with memorizing math facts. She actually has amazing memory - she retains ridiculous amounts of information about things she attaches meaning to, but just not random numbers. So this method worked beautifully. </div>
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She immediately caught onto what was going on and loved it. My audio sequential learner was less enthused - she initially was saying, "This is SO WEIRD!!" and "This makes NO SENSE!" but eventually caught on and has gotten all of them memorized easily as well. Even my younger kids have memorized the stories (since its in DVD format, and being media deprived, they will watch anything on a screen). So while I wasn't intending it for them, hopefully it will make it easier for them later on. </div>
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We were also excited to get a new app from <a href="http://www.dragonboxapp.com/" target="_blank">Dragonbox</a> this weekend - <a href="http://wewanttoknow.com/elements/" target="_blank">Dragonbox Elements</a>. The kids started playing the original algebra based Dragonbox 5+ and then 12+ last summer and loved them, so they were super excited to try out a Geometry based game from them. While it didn't give my oldest two as much play time as I had hoped, it was still worth it for all of them to play through I think. I liked that there were multiple levels from easy to hard - my 4 year old has started it and been engaged. I do wish that maybe the levels might have been more significantly different, the way that the Dragonbox games seemed to be. </div>
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I was not just cracking the math whip this week. Although Physics prof husband would love that. </div>
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I try to balance that compulsion.</div>
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A few nature studies I enjoyed this week:</div>
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C - 6 years old - He likes to get up early and observe the birds at our feeders. </div>
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He old me this picture shows the progression of the bird looking for food</div>
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MG's (8) Dark Eyed Junco (lots of these at our feeders right now)</div>
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This cracked me up - I looked over to find this on C's math book and his narrating, </div>
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"hahah, I have ENSLAVED YOU ALL!" </div>
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Not long after, my oldest ran in, exasperated with her writing assignment, saying that she couldn't think of anything to complete them that didn't involve death.</div>
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I think I read once that one of the benefits of homeschooling is </div>
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"really knowing your children's hearts."</div>
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Erm, yes.</div>
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<br />Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-2754406663361574542014-12-15T13:08:00.003-08:002014-12-15T13:09:02.362-08:00Learning This Week<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">My trail partner</td></tr>
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The highlight of the week for me was going to Sobranes Trail, on the north end of Big Sur. While we've been to a lot of Big Sur, I'd never been to this particular area before, and I was enchanted. It was a cool, misty morning - rain threatening for the afternoon, but holding off for us in the morning.</div>
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Here is the rusty barn you can see from the highway.</div>
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We found a quiet spot right off the trail next to the trail to sit - </div>
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I worked on my journal and my little guy had his snack. </div>
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What's beyond those mountains?</div>
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Jack spotted a dew covered spider web and watched it, looking for its owner</div>
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We will be back with the husband unit to do some more serious hiking, since we didn't get very far before having to go back to find and then throughly inspect the port-o-potties (Jack has a mini-obsession).</div>
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Other stuff...</div>
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My kitchen has been taken over by a construction paper food chain diorama extravaganza... </div>
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or I suppose this is what you could consider pre-k / 1st grade project based learning </div>
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(I will, thanks very much, as I sweep up the cuttings).</div>
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It started with my four year old seeing a cool mobile of a food chain in a Magic School bus book - he grabbed his big brother and they got to work...</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6eTjDLx00M/VG-aEi3vhbI/AAAAAAAALVY/J4apAGX2kzo/s1600/20141117_123403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6eTjDLx00M/VG-aEi3vhbI/AAAAAAAALVY/J4apAGX2kzo/s1600/20141117_123403.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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To the point right? NOT ENOUGH!</div>
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There was actually more on here before I took the picture, but I had to move it so I could OPEN THE FRIDGE. It was a boat (it has to be on top of the water of course - of course!). </div>
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I know, I'm so mean, and totally stifling art, man.</div>
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MORE FOOD CHAIN!</div>
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Now in my kitchen there is also the human connection - a street lined road with trucks delivering shrimp to stores for people (the apex sea predator) to buy and eat. </div>
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Among other things, one burning question the boys had going down the food chain was what does plankton eat? I learned along the way on this project were that phytoplankton use photosynthesis to make their own food (although the boys kept shortening this to THEY EAT THE SUN, which I guess sounds more much more dramatic), while zooplankton eat the phytoplankton. Also see the Angler fish on the bottom? Those eat squid, turtles, and occasionally the very lost seabird.</div>
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And this isn't even our official science....</div>
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That would be anatomy:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1nPFUAItobo/VG-aElBHZmI/AAAAAAAALVg/f0vhuPdA-XI/s1600/20141114_112303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1nPFUAItobo/VG-aElBHZmI/AAAAAAAALVg/f0vhuPdA-XI/s1600/20141114_112303.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Doing skin rubbings from various body parts</div>
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Lego digestive system model</div>
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Lego nervous system model (both via my 6 year old)</div>
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Poetry teatime - keeping it real - yes, it still says "happy halloween" on that board.</div>
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My 6 year old observing and drawing the birds at the feeder and listening to the Princess and the Goblin. </div>
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Multi-tasking, yall.</div>
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-88481770415082540092014-10-20T14:07:00.000-07:002015-01-15T14:21:20.767-08:00Fall Learning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3eOUZthsSa8/VG-tJDWBRCI/AAAAAAAALcA/AklI9gL7jl0/s1600/20140912_121910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3eOUZthsSa8/VG-tJDWBRCI/AAAAAAAALcA/AklI9gL7jl0/s1600/20140912_121910.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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S has been working on Human Anatomy for science - </div>
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although what has really captured her interest has been the new slides we got for the microscope.</div>
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Watching <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse" target="_blank">Crash Course</a> videos to go along with our history chapter (thanks for the tip Aunt Jennifer!) </div>
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We're trying All About Reading and All About Spelling this fall. </div>
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Some of my more advanced readers and spellers are obviously enjoying the letter tile board.</div>
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Poetry teatime!</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n0jef7J01NA/VG-tH3VHGXI/AAAAAAAALbo/Cb8I-5MJ0cw/s1600/20140911_085531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n0jef7J01NA/VG-tH3VHGXI/AAAAAAAALbo/Cb8I-5MJ0cw/s1600/20140911_085531.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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C chose this squash from our CSA box for his still life drawing</div>
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Making sculptures out of Sculpey</div>
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Keeping it real - the table after 4 kids are done with it on a typical day </div>
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(the play dough is my pre-K-er's).</div>
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TRIGGER WARNING - dead stuff<br />
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I'm touched by my kids reactions to things in nature sometimes. Often when we are out hiking and exploring we come across animal remains, and often the children are interested. At the park they stumbled upon this very newly passed Scrub Jay. The boys and I initially found it, and their reaction was purely scientific, examining as closely as I would let them get, then finally running off. MG disappeared for a time, later to come get me to show me the memorial she had made for the bird:</div>
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-53492247250342829552014-10-12T14:10:00.000-07:002015-01-15T14:10:58.825-08:00Star Wars READS!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
So we have a pretty awesome library. The space is nice, the collection is excellent, and there are some really amazing librarians. Such as those who come up with events like this: Star Wars Reads.</div>
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I know, right?</div>
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Come to the library, do some cosplay... you don't feel alone because all the librarians are also dressed up (it was mostly all the younger librarians, go figure ;)</div>
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play with some Legos....</div>
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do some sing-alongs </div>
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(Star Wars themed, of course)</div>
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(the same librarian Karl also gave an </div>
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awesome dramatic reading from <i>The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda</i>)</div>
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But the most awesome item on the agenda started with the making of one's own life saber </div>
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(out of a pool noodle and duct tape of course)...</div>
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Then, when your light saber done, prepare for your Jedi training session with </div>
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Jedi Master Ben Kenobi! Freak out! Well, I freaked out.</div>
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Then it got kind of awkward because yeah, Darth Vader also came in to give lessons, and while that doesn't exactly work with the cannon, this guy made up for that by </div>
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Eventually the large group proved too unwieldily, and they asked the big kids to sit and wait for a bit, but the bonus was that they eventually got some semi-private Jedi training.</div>
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He told MG that she had much potential for the dark side. Yoikes.</div>
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This pic is totally out of focus because Vader was being a total jerk to me. </div>
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I was intimidated. I think he was enjoying it. Fun stuff.</div>
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-15818320044219893242013-11-25T14:00:00.000-08:002013-11-25T14:48:58.106-08:00What We're Reading: Thanksgiving WeekWe've been taking a bit of a history jaunt the past week, veering away from the very interesting-looking chapter on "The Bottom of the World" in our history spine to give homage to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. I was fortunate to find several good books at the library:<br />
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The story of the first Thankgiving told from the prospective of Squanto, who is incredibly important, but usually sidelined. I think I always thought as a child that he somehow just magically knew how to speak English! I appreciating reading the context of what has going on with the Native American nations as the first English settlers were arriving.</div>
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This story chronicles s child's perspective of making the journey across the Atlantic on the Mayflower</div>
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After reading so many more accurate historical descriptions, this one stood out as a more romanticized picture of the pilgrims. It was interesting to contrast it with the other more grim representations. The artwork really is lovely though, and makes for a nice picture study. </div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2851188-three-young-pilgrims?from_search=true" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1378065880l/2851188.jpg" width="240" /></a><span id="goog_845300781"></span><span id="goog_845300782"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a></div>
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And to counterbalance the romanticized view, a depressing one! </div>
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I will warn you at least, lots of people die bluntly in this book. But there are lots of engaging illustrations and the author certainly does not shy away from presenting the suffering that the pilgrims faced. My sensitive daughter looked a bit ill. But its true that its difficult to appreciate how relieved they were at the time of the first Thanksgiving without understand the difficulty they had already undergone.</div>
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I found this a really interesting modern tie in - what would a modern day pilgrim look like? Who today is looking for religious or political freedom? How might the beginnings of our own country change they way that we should respond to such people?</div>
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I'm thankful my library has done such a nice job curating their book selections. :)</div>
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Hopefully we will get to some art projects and such...</div>
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<br />Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-20194049142056352502013-08-10T22:00:00.000-07:002013-08-29T17:20:01.924-07:00Learning to Mind Our Own Business, or, Getting Out of the Mommy Wars For Good<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recently Time magazine unleashed another wave of mommy war teeth gnashing with its article on childless living: <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2148636,00.html" target="_blank">The Childfree Life: When Having It All Means Not Having Children</a>" by Lauren Sandler. Since I haven’t been reading Time lately - I did not renew my subscription to Time after being so irritated by the bizarre article on <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2114427,00.html" target="_blank">Dr. Sears and A</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2114427,00.html" target="_blank">ttachment Parenting</a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">they ran last year - I first saw mention of it via a friend’s Facebook post. I was particularly interested in the way the <a href="http://jezebel.com/not-even-childfree-women-are-safe-from-the-batshit-momm-989110352" target="_blank">article</a> linked in the post phrased is was something along the lines of, “Even women like us who don’t even have kids yet have now been pulled into the mommy wars! Women can't make anyone happy whatever they do!” Later I happened to catch a radio show with the article's author and was struck by the personal angle she was coming from - she had felt judged as a mother with only one child, and saw her childless friends also feeling harassed, so concluded that an article exploring the benefits of not having children would be a great thing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">But really what the article and the radio show came down to me is that women in general feel a tremendous pressure to conform to a cultural ideal of two children. Women who have no children or only one child feel that their motives are openly scrutinized and naturally become defensive about why they want to live “childfree,” all for reasons that most parents can agree that yes, are easier without children (more time for oneself, more money, more time for career, etc). What I desperately wanted to point out reading this was that actually women on the other “wrong” side of the cultural idea also get tremendous loads of scrutiny put on them for their larger families. Any women whose family portraits veer much to either side of this two kid norm experience uncomfortable - and inexplicable - pressure to conform. While it might be appropriate from a sociological standpoint to ask why our nation’s birth rate is falling, and what steps might need to be taken as a nation to support childbearing in general, these are not the tone of questions being asked. Most voices in the media seem perfectly gleeful to stir up debate over what decision is superior for various reasons, but the question I want to ask is, </span><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why something as intimate, nuanced, and personal as childbearing considered to be open season for public critique? Why do we feel comfortable venturing questions of family size or timing with anyone but very close relations? And if a question is asked and answered, how can any of us really feel comfortable telling that woman what she should do? Of course we hope its that we want the best for her, but in reality, we won’t be the one juggling career and baby, or wondering guiltily if we are missing out by staying home with them, or any of the myriad considerations that having children involves. We are the village around that woman and possible children, certainly, but what kind of village are we? Instead of warm and supportive, we have become shrill and combative. Its no wonder that the “Mommy Wars” have become such an apt description of the tension women today feel over their family decisions. When someone is judged and berated, they usually respond with defensiveness and will naturally feel threatened by others who are not in their camp. Its become such a vicious cycle that some women feel completely alienated from friends and family who make different choices than them, and this is truly ridiculous. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fair disclosure: I am a mother of four children, who while not being perfectly timed, I am thrilled nonetheless to have had just when they happened to be born. I know the bone tiredness, the emotional stress, the overwhelmed days, the financial juggling - I know them very well. My husband and I agreed on the decision that I would postpone my career to take care of our kids at home while they are young, and now we even homeschool them, pushing back my reentry into the paid economy even further. Both of these decisions I wholeheartedly believe are correct for us, but I also consider them deeply personal and not at all transferrable to the general public. The fact that this is what we have chosen to do does not mean that we think everyone else should do it. Its simply not our business. We will happily share our hopes for this lifestyle with others who ask (and I have been asked a lot - rolling in scientific and academic circles we are not at all the norm), but we try to do so without pretension that ours is universally superior, but only that after careful thought, it is preferable to us.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unfortunately today it seems that just the act of making decisions for your family has become synonymous with choosing a side in hyped-up war. I have learned from being at the awkward answering end of casual questions about “will we have more?” to being told by a stranger that I have too many kids and need to "get a new hobby," that a woman’s reproductive activity has been snatched out of from under the protection of culturally assumed privacy and thrust into the realm of vocal public scrutiny. After fielding these kinds of questions for years (a youngish mom with a gaggle of children in the grocery store always seems to draw attention, even when everyone is behaving themselves), I’ve become convinced that any leading questions to a woman about kids - when she’s having them, how many she wants to have - anything - are usually unwelcome and not really appropriate. We need to kindle a sense of deep respect for the privacy that the process of family planning - whether that family decides that they want no kids or fifteen - deserves. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The real problem - and the root of the mommy wars - is that we as a culture have suddenly been presented with more options than ever before for what a woman’s life can look like and we just cannot accept that one woman’s ideal can be - will be - different that another’s. But we are not automatons, and one size, one life, does not fit all. And this is not only okay, its wonderful. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want to challenge every woman especially to refuse to buy into the tension and drama that swirls around us. We need to let go of the judgmental attitudes we've bristled under and nasty comments we have heard in response to our decisions and make a commitment to support and encourage other women in our lives - especially those women that have made different decisions than we have about family or career. Give insight when asked, but no judgement. No snippy comments or veiled insults. Let’s be comfortable enough with our own decisions that we don’t feel the need to convince anyone else to make the same ones. Once we do this, the mommy wars will have no fuel to burn on, and all women - those with and without children - will be better off for it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-48905410264736562452013-08-03T23:22:00.000-07:002013-08-03T23:27:37.117-07:00Tips for the Brand New Homeschooler<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">So you're planning to start home educating your child this fall? Welcome to the world of the homeschool parent! *high five* I don’t know what brought you here - maybe you’ve got a kindergartener who can read but can’t sit still and don’t want to subject her to a classroom of “be quiets” and “sit downs!” Or maybe you’re pulling out your 5th grader because he hates everything to do with learning and it breaks your heart. Maybe your child has learning requirements their school can’t - or won’t - accommodate. Maybe you’re just fed up with the toxic social situation your middle schooler is dealing with and feel her stress level (and yours) would reduce coming home to learn. In any case, you’ve taken the step into the unfamiliar and are wondering what comes next.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You’ve probably already looked into this, but if your haven’t, you’ll want to soon. No one wants to be in that awkward situation of being afraid to go out with your kids during regular school hours for fear of random truancy reports! Look into your local homeschool regulations, and figure out what you need to comply. Local homeschool support groups or just a local homeschool friend can help you out enormously with this. If you don’t know anyone, go ahead and ask on a local homeschool Facebook page or Yahoo group. We’re generally a pretty friendly bunch that tries to help out newbies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do Your Research</span><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Take a few weeks to explore the major approaches to home education. Websites abound, including forums, Facebook pages, curriculum vendors’ websites, Pinterest boards, and of course myriad blogs. Google terms like Classical, Charlotte Mason, Unschooling, Unit Studies, Waldorf, and Montessori along with “homeschooling” and you’ll find plenty of information to get you started. It can be overwhelming, its true, but if you can get an overview of styles most likely one or two will appeal to you and strike a chord - “THIS is what I want my kids education to look like!” And then you can go deep into whatever chose philosophy with books and curriculum vendors’ pages, as well as more specialized websites. </span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started out homeschooling with an everything-in-the-box curriculum from <a href="http://www.sonlight.com/?utm_expid=159661-17.XPjkLOj5TKaa_lhmroHr_Q.0&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sonlight.com%2F" target="_blank">Sonlight</a>. It was great - literature based, all planned out, lots of fun. Having everything planned out but still flexible was exactly what I needed as a homeschool newb - I wasn’t even sure what all this should look like. Even though I went through a chunk of early childhood education classes in college, I wasn’t clear on how to schedule and manage our days. I look at Sonlight as my training wheels. I felt security knowing that it was a well planned out curriculum by people who knew what they were doing. Once I got a good sense of it, I began to branch out. In later years I took what I liked, what I didn’t like, and what I wanted to add, and began to put together my own program. But those first two years of using Sonlight really helped me to build confidence and find what worked for me and my kids. Another approach is to think in terms of subjects and put together a plan from there - find individual math, grammar, writing, spelling, handwriting, history, literature and science programs. I now use the book </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Well-Trained-Mind-Classical-Education/dp/0393067084/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375596378&sr=8-1&keywords=well+trained+mind" target="_blank">The Well Trained Mind</a></i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> heavily in my planning, and its really not much harder to plan than a box curriculum to plan. Whatever you use, consider your first year or so to be a learning period - it can take some time to find what works best. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe its just me, but when I go through homeschool resources I start to lose touch with reality a bit. Sure, I think - we can do Spanish....and Latin....and LEGO Robotics....and Rhetoric....and that amazing looking class on underwater pottery! Yes! YES! Then I remember the many times I have introduced an awesome new subject or activity only to have it fall with a thud because it was just one.more.thing.to.do. Start with your basics - Math, Language Arts, History/Social Studies, and Science are usually the core subjects. Art, Music, P.E., and various electives should be added in, but thoughtfully and realistically. Not every subject has to have a classroom-like lesson. Art for us usually consists of me introducing various art mediums (watercolor, pastels, clay, etc) and looking thoughtfully and discussing beautiful works of art. Fun, low-stress, and easy to fit into a laid back afternoon. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Join local support groups (check for links of off state organizations, yahoo groups, facebook groups and meetup.com groups). Go to whatever meetings you can find - just to check it out. Check out local co-ops and social groups. As in anything, you won’t click with everyone. Some groups will rub you the wrong way, but hopefully you’ll find a few families that you and your kids click with. Maybe you'll find a group to play at the park with, a co-op, or even an experienced homeschooler that can field some questions and offer encouragement. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Homeschooling really is a lifestyle. Your day will look pretty different from your neighbor whose kids leave at 8:30 am and come home at 3 pm. In some ways this is great - no rushing around in the morning packing lunches and signing permission slips, no nights of homework. But you will have your kids at home with you. All day. If you’re starting homeschooling from the beginning with your Kindergartener, or you already have young kids at home, this won’t be a big deal, but if you’re going from no kids (or just a few) at home to everyone suddenly, I can imagine it might be a shock to the system. Be open to adjusting housekeeping expectations and planning when your will be out of the house alone (when your spouse is home? or hiring an afternoon babysitter?). Just knowing that these will require adjustment can be comforting during the transition.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whatever educational approach resonates with you, if you are pulling a child out of regular school you might want to consider a period nondirected, discovery based learning . This is commonly called “deschooling,” and the idea is that it allows your child to calibrate themselves to the rhythm of learning out of an institution by allowing them the time to explore their own interests, no strings attached. We do this for at least 2 months out of the year (we call it summer break, hah!), but it seems to be particularly cathartic for older students who have developed negative associations with learning. You can read more about deschooling <a href="http://sandradodd.com/deschooling" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Much luck in the coming school year! Sending your virtual hugs and cups of coffee (and maybe glasses of wine if that's more your style). :) It will be an exciting year!</span><br />
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Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-14205818794790213682013-04-08T15:01:00.000-07:002013-11-25T14:48:17.672-08:005 (Possibly Unexpected) Things I Use Everyday to HomeschoolIts would come at no surprise that we use lots of living books and lots of art supplies in our day to day home learning adventure. But here are a few a little more off the beaten path resources that I've come to rely upon...<br />
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1) Split page journals<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mead-MEA09956-Primary-Journal-K-2nd/dp/B001JTL032/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365458085&sr=8-1&keywords=primary+journal" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/916ZV9WVImL._SL1500_.jpg" width="243" /></a> <a href="http://www.dickblick.com/items/10313-1085/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.dickblick.com/items/103/13/10313-1085-2ww-m.jpg" /></a></div>
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These are like regular notebooks or composition books, but provide a large space for drawing.<br />
I started using them years ago for my oldest daughter's copy work, since she loves drawing and could be compelled to do just about anything if drawing was also involved. Since then we have begun to use the format for nearly every subject - each kid has history, science, and copy work notebooks. I like the narrow ruled Bienfang note sketch books for science and history notebooks (more room to draw) and the Mead primary journals for copy work (more explicit handwriting guides). After reading our daily selections in history and science and hearing narrations, I have them record a response to the day's reading in their notebooks. Often this is just a picture with a sentence (or few, depending on their age). This solved the reporting issue I had with my Charlotte Mason approach - I have provide work samples for subjects that the primary work comes from reading and narration, which is a bit tricky to show. Their notebooks provide an easy, low key way to show what we are doing, and gives my art loving kids a creative outlet built into their days.I also find that if we don't do official art that week, I still have plenty of artwork to show, and its nice to have everything contained in one space. I also love the somewhat Waldorf element it lends to their work - they are in a way creating their own textbooks.<br />
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2) Primary Handwriting Dry Erase Boards<br />
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Like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Board-Dudes-Double-Lapboard-11060-6/dp/B002SFLAQ8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1365455913&sr=8-6&keywords=whiteboard+primary" target="_blank">this</a>. I use it everyday for writing out passages that we do for copywork. The handwriting guide style helps me make sure I'm writing out in (nearly) perfect form, and is easy to reuse everyday. I do like to use wet erase instead of dry erase markers though, since with dry erase my careful printing can come off on little misplaced fingers.I use a second board to write out weekly spelling words to copy out daily, or various other passages we might be memorizing and copying.<br />
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3) <a href="https://www.udemy.com/singapore-math/" target="_blank">Singapore Math Videos from Khan Academy</a><br />
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My oldest is using (among other things) Singapore Math 3a right now, and I was thrilled to find that Khan Academy has a series of explanation videos for it. Although the videos don't exactly match up to the workbook sequence (or maybe they do in a way I haven't quite deciphered), they are proving useful, and are free! I hope they continue to add on for more of the series.<br />
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4) <a href="http://www.playaway.com/" target="_blank">Play Away</a> Books<br />
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These are mp3 player pre-loaded with books and extremely easy to use. Even my 4 year old can work them with a little help. Although I use this more for quiet time entertainment than school work, I have found a few that I could use as a lazy (or exhausted or vocal-resting) mom's helpers for our daily read aloud novels. A few I've gotten I've used for school work from the library have been <i>The Princess and the Goblin</i>, <i>The Jungle Book</i>, and <i>The Hobbit. </i>Even though I also frequently check out traditional books on cd, these just make things easier, as they only require a set of headphones for individual listening. They would be too expensive for me to buy individually, but if your library doesn't offer these, definitely suggest them to your librarians!<br />
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4) <a href="http://www.homeschoolscience.com/" target="_blank">Home Science Adventures Kits</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Microscope+Explorations+Unit/004427/fc84352b8a6c5bb6dc06f95c?subject=11&category=2796" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.rainbowresource.com/products/004427.jpg" width="312" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Microscope+Explorations+Unit/004427/fc84352b8a6c5bb6dc06f95c?subject=11&category=2796" target="_blank">Microscope Explorations Unit</a></td></tr>
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My husband (the physics professor) is extremely into hands-on science activities, to a point where I was overwhelmed with my lack of ability to fit in enough said hands on activities to meet his or my science-devouring children't expectations. My hands, or really my brain, is pretty exhausted after our everyday work, and beyond a weekly experiment (which is more than a lot of people do, right?!?!) I had a hard time providing enough. These kits have come to the rescue! They include really well written guiding worksheets to follow as well as everything you need to do the experiments The best thing (aside from never having to hunt for a length of wire or rubber ball) is that they are (at least for my 6 and 8 year old) able to be done independently. That being the case, they are easy to use as a child supervised science exploration activity. I.e, it can be done with mom in a hammock, reading. Score! Of course you could also probably use it as your main science curriculum - there's lots to do and plenty of opportunity for living book supplementation.<br />
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5) A Trampoline<br />
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Seriously. Studies have shown that children sitting still for more than 10 minutes start to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rae-pica/what-if-everybody-underst_b_3021900.html" target="_blank">lose learning capacity</a>. So an easy, centrally located activity-generator is a perfect solution. A mini-trampoline doesn't take up a ton of space, but gets out a ton of energy. We do of course have to have strict rules for its use: one kid at a time and no hanging on the bar! But we have yet to have anyone injured on it, which for my children is saying something. It amuses me that they treat it like a hamster wheel - hopping on through out the day, bouncing happily for a few minutes and going about their business. I think it helps put them more in control of managing their energy and stimulation levels, which I think is a great step toward independence.<br />
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What about you? Any kind of weird standards that you wouldn't want to homeschool without? I'd love to hear them!<br />
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<br />Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-62443819770866518622013-03-15T12:57:00.003-07:002013-03-17T08:22:41.295-07:00Livng Books Books for St. Patrick's Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
St. Patrick's Day is a fun opportunity to take a little side jaunt from our normal history studies. This week, we've been reading about St. Patrick of Ireland, and I thought I'd share some of our favorite books to that end. Sometimes one is overwhelmed with silly, stereotypical representations of Patrick, but these are excellent sources for a mini-study using living books.</div>
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<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Patrick-Patron-Ireland-Tomie-DePaola/dp/0823410773/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363372897&sr=8-1&keywords=patrick+patron+saint+of+ireland" target="_blank">Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland</a></i></div>
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by Tomie dePaola</div>
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I love this storybook version of St. Patrick's life. Lovely illustrations, concise prose, and a clear distinction made between the historical life of Patrick and the legends that have been associated with him make for a great introduction to Ireland's beloved patron saint.</div>
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<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Heard-Good-News-Today-Children/dp/0873030737/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363373133&sr=1-1&keywords=i+heard+good+news+today" target="_blank">I Heard Good News Today: Stories For Children</a></i></div>
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by Cornelia Lehn</div>
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St. Patrick's story is among many tales of missionaries in this compilation of stories. About a five minute read aloud, I like reading this story as well because it emphasizes a bit more about Patrick's Roman background and fleshes out the circumstances like his pirate capture vividly (although it might be a little much for very sensitive young children - please pre-read).</div>
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<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Virtues-Miracles-Composed-Disciple-ebook/dp/B00AQMEUSK/ref=sr_1_18?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363373190&sr=1-18&keywords=st.+patrick" target="_blank">A Hymn on the Life, virtues and Miracles of St Patrick</a></i></div>
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Saint Fiech, Bishop of Sletty</div>
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This roughly 10 page poem describing Patrick's life and and work is an original source of many of the stories we know hear of St. Patrick. The Irish, English, and Latin versions are all included. Being available free on kindle is an added bonus!</div>
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<br />Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-66284887437859993032013-03-06T14:49:00.003-08:002013-03-17T08:24:22.494-07:00Favorite Resources: Jim Weiss Recordings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Have you discovered Jim Weiss's wonderful recordings? I came to stumble upon them on the Peace Hill Press website, while purchasing resources for our history work. We were studying the ancient Greeks at the time, and the Greek Myths cd we were able to check out at our library became and instant favorite in our house. . We are blessed that our local (fabulous) library has an enormous collection of these recordings, which range from folk tales and mythology, to American history, to classical literature. Since then, hardly a week has gone by that one of these recordings has not been either playing on an mp3 player at rest time or giving everyone something fun and interesting to listen to together in the car.<br />
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So my girls and I had an enormous treat last night - we got to see Jim Weiss, storyteller extraordinaire perform in the flesh at our local library! Last night you would have thought we were going to see Justin Beiber - if my children knew who he was. One of those moments I'm thrilled to have them woefully out of step with culture, but I digress. When we walked in to sit down front and center (yes, we were first in line to get in), we were thrilled to get to chat with Mr. Weiss - my 6 year old daughter was absolutely star struck. I am still kicking myself for forgetting my camera! But we did buy some recordings that we were able to have signed, so my girls have a souvenir. I hope it won't be the last time we see him perform in person! Ok, end of fangirl rant!<br />
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Many of these recording have fit wonderfully into our study of history using Story of the World: Volume 1 as a spine. I have just found a new, really helpful<a href="http://www.greathall.com/curriculum.html" target="_blank"> curriculum guide</a> that I now have bookmarked over at the<a href="http://www.greathall.com/home.html" target="_blank"> Greathall Productions</a> website. There are a few we missed! We have especially loved the three Greek myth recordings (<i>She & He</i> is my favorite!) as well as <i>Tales From Cultures Far and Near. </i>We are currently listening to <i>Julius Caesar and the Story of Rome.</i><br />
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Some of our favorite literature recordings are <i><a href="http://www.greathall.com/products/junglebook.html" target="_blank">Tales from the Jungle Book</a> </i>(I let my little ones listen to this while my oldest was reading the actual book independently - this way we could all discuss),<a href="http://www.greathall.com/products/sherlockholmes.html" target="_blank"> <i>Sherlock Holmes for Children</i> </a>(after which everyone begged me to get some of the original books for read aloud), and <i><a href="http://www.greathall.com/products/kingarthur.html" target="_blank">King Arthur and his Knights</a>. </i><br />
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I hope this helps! Happy listening!<br />
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<br />Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-27275777308074897892013-02-22T18:41:00.004-08:002013-02-22T18:41:50.035-08:00World's Okayest Mom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.cafepress.com/familyoffish" target="_blank">http://www.cafepress.com/familyoffish</a></div>
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I need one of these. It kind of takes the pressure off, right?</div>
Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-67696773623944000522012-08-11T14:26:00.004-07:002012-08-16T08:38:09.915-07:00Books for (tiny) BoysMy 2 year old has been getting in on the reading action lately. Usually our routine is to read a book of each child's choosing both before afternoon quiet time and then again before bed. With three kids choosing, we rack up some serious time reading time!<br />
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Now my youngest is insisting on choosing his *own* book for reading times too, and I thought I'd share some of his current favorites in case you need some library list inspiration for your little one. Of course, these are books tiny girls could certainly love, too - it just so happens my tiny one right now is a boy, and I do notice a bit of - shall we say? - masculine flair in his preferences.<br />
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Dinosaur vs. Bedtime</span></b></i></div>
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<b>Bob Shea</b></div>
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Simple, fun, and inter-actable (ROAR!), this story's hero little Dinosaur takes on all kind of challenges. Piles of leaves, big slides, talking grown-ups... and the biggest challenge of all, bedtime! Its like they've been to our house, weird.</div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Little Blue Truck</span></i></b></div>
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<b>Alice Schertle / Jill McElmurry</b></div>
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This book was given to us by my sweet Aunt Marti during our beach trip a month ago, and my 2 year old is still begging multiple readings of it daily. So many elements of a great early reading book - written in charming verse, lots of fun onamonapia, farm animals, vehicles, action / consequence (what happens when big Dump is rude?), team work, and even (though I admit it reads melodramatic) redemption. </div>
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See, now you have to read it to find out how someone could really find a board book redemptive. :)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Meeow and the Little Chairs</b></i></span></div>
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This was one that one of my kids picked at the library that I was honestly was kind of "meh" about at first, but its proven entertaining. There are colors to point out, animal sounds to make, and my favorite - imaginative play is encouraged. I can also see this being a fun book for a beginner reader because the text is huge and fairly simple.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>The Very Hungry Caterpillar</i></b></span></div>
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<b>Eric Carle</b></div>
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Of course you know about TVHC - how could you not? If you're like me you got three copies of the board book alone during your first child's babyhood. It has been such an enduring favorite around here that I made my little guy's 2nd birthday cake an homage to the Caterpillar:<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(the eyes bore into your soul... or not)</span></div>
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But I couldn't have a list of books for little ones without it.</div>
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I'd love to know - what are your favorite books for tiny readers?</div>
<br />Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-55380312873174564462012-06-04T09:07:00.000-07:002013-03-17T08:26:11.984-07:00How to be a Happy Introvert Mom<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pMWPbMeahC8/UUS3vawG-GI/AAAAAAAAAE0/7VJWodV1Tmk/s1600/Freyja-Sewell-Hush-Felt-Pod-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pMWPbMeahC8/UUS3vawG-GI/AAAAAAAAAE0/7VJWodV1Tmk/s400/Freyja-Sewell-Hush-Felt-Pod-2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://responsible-development.com/?p=710" target="_blank">image credit</a></td></tr>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7139270710758865"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I recently watched Susan Cain's delightful Ted Talk, "<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html">The Power of Introverts</a>." It was fun in a "rah rah introverts are great!" kind of way, but it also got me thinking of the way that introvertedness affects my family life. My husband and I are both introverts, and we have naturally structured life and routines in a way that supports both our introverted tendencies. I have four children ages seven, five, four, and two years. And I homeschool. On paper that would look very frightening to an introvert - but it really isn’t. Here's how.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Somewhere along the way, “introvert” has picked up negative connotations. Have you ever been told, “you’re not an introvert, you’re so nice!”? Introverts aren't necessarily shy or quiet, we are just people for whom social interaction is tiring rather than energizing. We don’t dislike people at all, they just wear us out. Consider how you feel after a morning playdate with lots of other moms. Do you feel energized when you get home, or do you need to take a nap? If you are on the napping end, you might be an introvert. (If you haven’t ever taken a personality test, consider taking the Meyer’s Briggs personality test <a href="http://www.personalitypage.com/html/indicate.html">here</a> or a quick inventory <a href="http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html">here</a>). Temperament isn’t good or bad, it just </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is</span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Knowing that the reason you feel like ripping someone’s head off is because you haven’t had any alone time really helps me calm down and look for a meaningful solution. </span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Introverts are the minority in our culture, and need to be especially thoughtful about their self care while going through the trying season of mothering young children. Children as a rule need a huge amount of interaction to develop into secure, happy little people. But for introverts, the process of pouring out attention and interaction on our little people is exhausting in a whole other way than it is to our extrovert friends. What makes us feel better is different as well. An introverted mom, when stressed and exhausted, will generally not want to go to a large “girls night out” gathering of the local mom’s group. Not because she doesn’t like those other moms, but because when tired and stressed, more social interaction is not what she needs to recharge. I know I have felt weird and awkward turning down invitations to such events (don't even get me started on women's retreats), not quite understanding why that - while it might be fun when I’m fully rested - is the last thing I want to do in the evening after a hectic day. Knowing what will best serve to energize me allows me to invest in those things that will truly support me (hello, quiet reading cave), rather than doing what everyone else seems to expect me to want to do. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>E</i>nforce daily “quiet alone” time regardless of age</span></span></h3>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For me, letting a child give up their nap at 2 was just not going to happen. Although I’ve never been a sleep trainer, I found that when all the older children have a set early afternoon quiet time, the baby will naturally, for the most part, follow along. How to keep nap / quiet time going in your house? A few strategies that work well in our house: </span></b><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;">Mp3 players for each child</span><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"> - the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-Clip-Player-Black/dp/B002MAPSQM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1338679915&sr=8-3">cheap kind</a>. You can upload music they like, or my favorite, books on cd from the library.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline;">Special “quiet time” coloring books or toys</span><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">. April at Holistic Homemaking has a great <a href="http://www.holistichomemaking.org/2010/04/mammas-bag-of-tricks-quiet-time-bins.html">post</a> about her quiet time bins that she rotates daily, and lots of suggestions for putting together your own. In our family its more casual - I might give a kid the option between drawing pad or listening to a book on their mp3 player. My kids go to sleep late, so I prefer they read or sleep over playing, but for kids who are getting used to a quiet time initially, a special bin could ease the transition. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold;">Separate spaces for everyone: </span><span style="font-size: 15px;">my kids share rooms, but everyone gets a space of their own for quiet time. They take turns in the favored locations like mom & dad’s room. My oldest sometimes spends her quiet time reading outside on the bench swing. As long as I have an area I can be alone in too, it works.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><b>Set the time:</b> </span><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Older children who don’t fall asleep will drive you nuts popping their head out of their spaces asking if they can get up yet. Clearly setting an end to quiet time solves this. For us its one hour from when we start, and I use digital clocks (time telling practice). There are also cool kid friendly clocks available that can help younger kids with this - my friend Christina swears by her <a href="http://www.amazon.com/KidSleep-KSCLB-Classic-Blue/dp/B000VVIHPS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338674382&sr=8-1">bunny clock</a>. </span><span style="font-size: 15px;">I read on a blog once (which I’ve forgotten now - arg!) about a mom who set up soothing music to play for an hour - and the kids knew that once the music stopped they could get up. Whatever works. Often at least two of my kids will sleep for a full two hours, so even when the hour is up, I still have everyone who is up be quiet until little nappers are awake.</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don't </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Over schedule Yourself!</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consider the effect that outside activities have on your energy level. Even if you love nothing more than to run from activity to activity, <a href="http://www2.aap.org/pressroom/playfinal.pdf">recent research</a> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">heavily questions the enrichment activity craze, urging parents to allow children large stretches of unstructured play. You know, the kind that we had growing up. If you’re an introvert, you probably spent a nice chunk of that free play time happily reading or playing alone after being drained by the constant interaction of the school day. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">All the running around and interaction with strangers and acquaintances is wearisome. Are you tired and grouchy after a full afternoon of activities? Cut some of the activities and send you kids outside to play (or just to the next room) instead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;">Don't feel the need to constantly entertain the children</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You should encourage your kids. You should spread before them a “feast of ideas” that inspires them. But you should also...wait for it....just leave them alone. Let them come up with their own games and play time. Its really not your job to entertain them, and allowing them to amuse themselves (without necessarily turning to various screen based entertainment) will encourage </span><a href="http://www.education.com/reference/article/importance-play--social-emotional/" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">creativity, problem solving skills, and overall independence</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love the picture education reformer Charlotte Mason describes as an ideal situation of children at play: Mother is in the room, working on whatever project she needs to be doing, like dishes or laundry or blogging :) and the children are close by, easy to observe and if needed, correct. But they are involved in their own play, not looking to Mother to tell them what to do next, or depending on her as a playmate. Which leads me to another not so obvious strategy for introverted mothering...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have a play group that never goes home</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You may actually love having a larger than average family - they entertain each other! While I frequently get stopped by lots of eye rolling, “better-you-than-me” commenting people insisting that my hands are SO FULL - I know something they apparently don’t. Although four children pose logistical problems of scale that one or two children wouldn't, four children in close age range will entertain one another in a completely different way that one child alone or two children 3 or more years apart. The common sense approach to being an introverted parent would be that the fewer children, the better, right? The fewer people there are around you, the less stressed one would think you would be. But of course things work differently in mother world, and at least in my experience it actually been the opposite. Children two years or less apart are closer to each other developmentally and naturally play together more easily. So even though I have 4 children, they are all so close together that I am almost never begged to come play with them in the way my friends with one or two children far apart are. I do have cuddlers, but that’s a different story. I don’t *have* to take them to </span></span><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">play dates</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> several times a week (although we actually do try to go the park with friends once or twice a week), because they pretty much always have someone to play with. I’m not saying you should necessarily have more kids if you don’t already want a larger family, but just want to encourage you if maybe you would like more children but are afraid they would drive you over the edge.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make it known that a great gift for you is babysitting </span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">If your husband wants to support you, be real about what will really help you the most. For me, my husband taking out the trash or giving the kids a bath </span></span><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">isn't</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> nearly as helpful as watching the kids while I run errands or go for a run alone. His time is very valuable, and I want to be able to spend time with him when he’s home, so I don’t usually prevail on him to watch kids while I go out alone - I try to rely on the daily quiet time for my regular dose of alone time. But when your husband/family/friends ask for gift suggestions, consider asking for a longer, restorative time alone. For me an afternoon of browsing shelves at the library alone or a solo Target expedition recharges like little else. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you have any strategies for introverted mothering? What special strategies benefit extroverted mothering?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More fun reading on introverts:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/03/caring-for-your-introvert/2696/">"Caring for Your Internet" at The Atlantic</a></span><br />
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<br />Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-1723274059737356342012-05-31T16:04:00.000-07:002013-03-17T08:25:25.331-07:00Incorporating Poetry Into Your Home School<span style="font-size: large;">Read Alouds</span><br />
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First and easiest step - find yourself a good poetry compilation and use it frequently for read aloud time. I personally love <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Childs-Anthology-Poetry-Elizabeth-Hauge/dp/0880013788">A Child's Anthology of Poetry</a>, </i>which my husband bought several years ago as a non-picture book read aloud that he could easily read to the kids in short chunks. It has become an invaluable resource for us and really lots of fun for adult reading. The poems are not "children's poetry" in the sense that they were written with children as the primary audience, but were chosen as poems that will resonate with children but also provide a strong baseline familiarity with the major body of poetic literature. Its a broad and diverse collection, appropriate for a range of developmental levels. I most likely wouldn't read "The Raven" to a five year old for example, but the variety certainly gives a nice scope to the collection. On that note, my husband once read <a href="http://www.online-literature.com/coleridge/646/">"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"</a> to my oldest daughter at 5 years old, and while I was horrified that she was going to have nightmares, she actually did enjoy it and seemed to comprehend a lot more than I would have expected. Treat poetry reading as fun reading - please don't belabor the process by trying to unpack heavy meaning from the poems. Of course it can be fun to wonder out loud what happened in the poem, or are there times when you feel like that poem describes? Just don't turn what should be light and fun into a lecture at this point. A few other excellent compilations: <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Favorite-Childhood-Childrens-Thrift-Classics/dp/0486270890/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338508802&sr=1-1">Favorite Poems of Childhood</a> </i>and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Century-Childrens-Treasury-Treasured-Holidays/dp/0679893148/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338508564&sr=1-3"><i>The 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury</i>.</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Copy Work</span><br />
Oh copy work, you are my favorite "kill two birds with one stone" trick - or in this case three or four birds. Copy work improves handwriting, spelling, and vocabulary, while also giving children the opportunity to slow down and absorb the words they are writing. I initially ran into the idea of copy work while reading Charlotte Mason's books on education, and have seen it put to use in a structured way in <i>First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind</i>, a book I use heavily for Language Arts. There is really no need to follow a set regime though - right now we are on summer break, which for us is like "homeschool lite" - math facts, reading, read alouds, and a bit of writing and copywork. I just find a good poem and write it out carefully in cursive for my 7 year old (who is just starting writing script) and have her copy it a few lines a day, or however she would like to do it at her own pace. Often by the time she has copied it, she has a good appreciation for the poem and sometimes has already started to memorize it a bit. Which leads me to...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Recitation</span><br />
You don't have to be Classical or Charlotte Mason inspired to benefit from poetry recitation. Forgive me if I go a little Anne of Green Gables on you, but there is a certain simple joy in being able to call up verse from memory. Young children will even spontaneously memorize their picture books without even trying. All it takes really is re-reading the poem several times over the course of a week and reviewing now and then. When a poem is mastered, we will usually make a big deal out of the child reciting for Dad, and also reciting for the video camera to delight the gradparents (or really more likely make them think that I'm really weird and trying to have little Anne of Green Gables children - but whatever).<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Specific Literary Devices / Unit Studies</span><br />
I taught an introduction to poetry class to kindergardners (yes, kindergartners) in our homeschool co-op a few years back. It was a little nuts, I admit, but I had a great time and the kids seemed to enjoy it and really get into many of the activities I had them do. In a circle-time set up, I read the poem out loud to the group with enthusiasm, then very briefly discussed one major literary device that the poem used. I touched on vocabulary words that would be especially obscure, and for some of the poems included a brief picture study to help illustrate the vocabulary. Then of course we did a hands on activity (usually some kind of craft) rounding everything out. For example, we made little styrofoam boats when we studied "There is No Frigate like a Book," and acted out a cozy house scene complete with having animal crackers and cocoa when reading "Animal Crackers." You could easily build a poetry unit study at home using the same model. Here are some of the poems I used, and what I emphasized:<br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.15307896514423192" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><a href="http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/pussy.html"><span style="color: #0000cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Owl and the Pussycat</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" Edward Lear - nonsense words</span><br /><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #0000cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.bartleby.com/113/1099.html">"There Is No Frigate Like a Book" </a> </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emily Dickinson - simile</span><br /><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><a href="http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/songs/maggie.htm"><span style="color: #0000cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">maggie and milly and molly and may</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" e.e. cummings - descriptive language</span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><a href="http://www.poetry-online.org/eliot_macavity_the_mystery_cat.htm"><span style="color: #0000cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Macavity: The Mystery Cat</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" T.S. Eliot - narrative poem</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><a href="http://edhelper.com/poetry/Animal_Crackers_by_Christopher_Morley.htm"><span style="color: #0000cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Animal Crackers</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" Christopher Moreley - rhyming</span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><a href="http://lookingup1.blogspot.com/2006/01/something-told-wild-geese-by-rachel.html"><span style="color: #0000cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Something Told the Wild Geese</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">" Rachel Field - loud / soft</span><br /><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children's_Hour_(poem)"><span style="color: #0000cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"The Children's Hour"</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - point of view</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Poet Unit Study</span></span><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another idea is to focus on one particular poet. I have not done this in a structured way yet, although we have read several poems by the same author and commented a little (like, "oh, I love the way that Christina Rosetti writes about nature!" - but not much beyond that). At this point in my kids' education, I prefer to focus on the language of the poems themselves over the author, but I can see focusing on the poets as an interesting tie-in to history, or as an interest-led project. An older student might enjoy reading biographies of poets, and could practice expository writing discussing a particular poet's style and literary contribution. I think for most students, this can happily wait until middle to upper grades.</span></span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope this has given you some ideas to easily introduce your students to the delights of poetry! Happy reading!</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b>Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-62033918365016844822012-05-31T09:34:00.001-07:002013-02-22T18:36:47.293-08:00Princess Books For Moms Who Hate PrincessesOkay, maybe hate is a bit too strong a word - more of a mental eyeroll. After having two sweet little girls who love princesses with no prompting from Mom whatsoever, my chosen defense to the superficial aspects of princess mania has become <b>good</b> princess books. This was a bit challenging at first, as the overt "princess books" that I found that outwardly poked fun at the whole princess genre were a bit too pushy and snarky for me. I don't want to make fun of my girls, and I didn't find those anti-princess books terribly well written. But over the years though happy library browsing accident, we've come across several excellent books that center around princesses who display courage, kindness, intelligence, compassion, and self sacrifice - all those things I want my daughter to admire over great hair and a tiny waist.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale </i></b></span></div>
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<b>John Steptoe</b></div>
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Mufaro has two daughters - both considered to be the most beautiful around. Although they are both lovely in form and face, the two sisters vary widely in their attitudes. One is hard-working and compassionate, the other is vain and cruel. As they journey to meet the prince, their true natures will become clear to their potential bridegroom. This book has been a wonderful jumping off point into the discussion of, "what makes someone beautiful?"<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">The Rough-Face Girl</span></i></b><br />
Rafe Martin / David Shannon</div>
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Based on a Native American folk tale, this beautifully told, haunting story centers around a young girl spurned by her cruel older sisters. She is forced to tend the fire, resulting in disfiguring scars covering her face and body. In her village lives a powerful invisible being, who will only marry the woman who can see him. Its a wonderful story of bravery, determination, and authenticity that ends with cheer-out-loud redemption.</div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Egyptian-Cinderella-Shirley-Climo/dp/0064432793">The Egyptian Cinderella</a> </span></i></b><br />
Shirley Climo / Ruth Heller</div>
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The story of Rodopis, a Greek slave girl in Egypt, is considered the earliest Cinderella story. Its thought to have been originally recorded in the 1st century BCE by the Greek historian Strabo. I think that if you take the fluffy Disney filter away from the the Cinderella story, you are left with a core that emphasizes perseverance through difficult circumstances and true moral fiber winning in the end. This retelling we found through <a href="http://www.veritaspress.com/prodinfo.asp?number=255282">Veritas Press </a>and used it with our study of Ancient Egypt as corresponding literature and it was a favorite! </div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adelita-Tomie-dePaola/dp/0142401870/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338480561&sr=1-1"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Adelita</span></i></b></a><br />
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Another lovely Cinderella story, this one based in Mexico. </div>
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I love how the Cinderella story translates and relates to so many cultures. </div>
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Tomie dePaola's iconic illustrations and excellent storytelling shines as always. </div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Apple-Pip-Princess-Jane-Ray/dp/0763637475/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338481207&sr=1-1"></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Apple-Pip-Princess-Jane-Ray/dp/0763637475/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338481207&sr=1-1"><b><i><span style="font-size: large;">The Apple Pip Princess</span></i></b></a><b><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></b></div>
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Jane Ray</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">This original story centers around t</span><span style="text-align: left;">he youngest and least </span><span style="text-align: left;">impressive princess of her family who it turns out is the one who bravely and </span><span style="text-align: left;">willingly sacrifices to save her people </span><span style="text-align: left;">when her kingdom's need is most dire</span><span style="text-align: left;">. The illustrations bring to mind a lovely mythical Persian feel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Three-Princes-Tale-Middle/dp/product-description/082341115X" target="_blank">The Three Princes: A Tale From the Middle East</a></i></b></span></div>
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Okay, so while this story really centers more on the princes seeking her hand than on the princess, I would include because the princess in question shows wisdom and follows her heart over superficial trappings. Its also one of my four year old son's favorites, so its got that boy appeal too. :)</div>
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I know there have to be many more out there -</div>
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Any suggestions would be appreciated!</div>
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<br />Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-79179207990804242492012-05-05T11:22:00.002-07:002012-05-05T11:22:58.701-07:00Yes, it has come to this......we have become *that* family who takes a laundry basket to the library. And to think I thought Susan Wise Bower was a little excessive when she wrote about her family doing this in <u>A Well Trained Mind</u>.<div>
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I broke one too many reusable grocery bags carrying library books. </div>
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Here comes mama nerd with all her nerdlets!</div>
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<br /></div>Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4052041659438505672.post-65182951941184612372011-10-13T14:15:00.000-07:002012-08-11T15:00:33.667-07:00Homeschooling Without a School Room<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #fafafa; font-family: inherit; line-height: 16px;">Just wanted to share our "school" room - also our kitchen and dining area (not even really a separate dining room). Most of our seat work happens in this space, as well as science projects, art, etc. Everything gets cleared off for lunch and then for dinner. </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_O3eIHtxKpk/TqwQ-8Q9PlI/AAAAAAAAAAk/CJcW3O9oA3c/s1600/DSC02221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_O3eIHtxKpk/TqwQ-8Q9PlI/AAAAAAAAAAk/CJcW3O9oA3c/s400/DSC02221.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #fafafa; line-height: 16px;">We keep all our current supplies in half of the pantry. I had to put a lot of my kitchen stuff in the garage to make space, but its worth it to have everything in one place.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #fafafa; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I use clip boxes from Target to contain most of the pieces - on the top are markers, crayons, math manipulatives. On the bottom are larger clip boxes that hold "centers" for my smaller kids (here my 16 month old was checking out the lacing cards - he just figured out how to unlatch there, which is why the writing implements are now on the top!). The books here are all of ours for the year, not including some supplements from the library. The plastic bins hold each kids work for the day. The baskets up top hold art supplies and learning puzzles/games/other randomness. On the door I have our calendar and the beginnings of an art gallery. I like everything closing away and instantly feeling uncluttered. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We don't have space for a school room at the moment, but I like this anyway. Having small children (mine are 6.5, 4.5, 3, and 16 months) I like staying central so I can keep and eye on everyone, and even work on stuff in the kitchen while kids work on schoolwork or projects at the table. I would eventually like to find some good stools to have extra working space for kids at the kitchen island, but at the moment even our small dining table is enough space for them all to work at the same time. We also read a lot, and do that on the couch in our living room. I think the key to this is having specific places for everything to live when not in use. </span></div>Catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01597240985377059811noreply@blogger.com0