A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

That "first" day of summer school botany has been our only one so far. Grammie and Grampa came to visit.  We've been trying to do activities that include them  which has meant being home much of the time because their health precludes very many outings.  Just getting here was outing enough for them. We've played at a park.  I2 hardly ever plays at parks, so the day we went there was a banner day in his little life.  We drove past the park again the other day, and he lit up like Christmas.  We need to go back. --With few constraints on her time, M12 spends much of the day at the piano. --S11, J10, and E14 have read many, many, many library books--mostly fantasy. --The 3 little ones spend long hours in our empty dining room playing make believe. --A7 plays outdoors in the house the kids built of old bricks.  She faithfully weeds it daily and sweeps the dirt floor with a tree branch broom. --I2 loves the swing set. --E14 is leading all of the...

Language Arts: E14 did copywork and dictation from Spelling Wisdom Book 2.  For a time we had very formal lessons in which I pre-tested her by dictating the passage, helping her find the errors, practicing specific spelling words, having her copy the passage a few times, and doing a final dictation "test."  That got cumbersome and also held all 4 older girls to working at the same pace.  After a few months I just handed them the books and said, "Copy it until you feel that you know it.  Test yourself if you feel inclined.  You'll know when you've got it."  And I think it began to work.  E14 found her own rhythm as she copied the passages as many times as would fit over an open 2 page spread in her journal.  The longer passages were copied fewer times, the shorter more. Sometimes it took her 2 weeks before she moved from one passage to another, but this slow pace was good for my oldest and (seemingly) least conscientious student.  The...

Linking up with Heidi at A Lively Hope . . . To quote Heidi: " A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. "

Language Arts: M12 did copywork and dictation from Spelling Wisdom Book 1.  For a time we had very formal lessons in which I pre-tested her by dictating the passage, helping her find the errors, practicing specific spelling words, having her copy the passage a few times, and doing a final dictation "test."  That got cumbersome and also held all 4 older girls to working at the same pace.  After a few months I just handed them the books and said, "Copy it until you feel that you know it.  Test yourself if you feel inclined.  You'll know when you've got it."  And I think it began to work.  M12 moved through the passages at a moderate pace of 1-2 per week. Each day I checked her copybook to see where she was and find any errors that she might have missed on her own.  I also checked for efforts at best handwriting.  She's not an excellent speller, but she has made great strides this year.  I think this program is working because ...

We put little Mac in the guinea pig cage at first light on Tuesday morning.  We hoped half-heartedly that if he cheeped a lot Roni would be drawn to him, but we really  figured Roni had become someone else's dinner in the night. Mac was desperate to get out of that cage.  His Monday of freedom was prime in his memory, and he had no desire to stay trapped.  I called the nature center at the moment they opened, but I had to leave a message.  The day passed quickly as the kids had slept in dramatically after our late night at the ball game.  I got no return call, and I began to think I'd need to just pack up Mac and take him in.  He was fluttering around the edges of the cage so unhappily, and there was an adult robin on the grass near him.  The adult was pulling worms and insects out of the ground--I wondered if it was the mama or papa from the apple tree or a robin responding to Mac's calls.  I put together a grocery list, and started gath...

Linking up today with Tristan at Our Busy Homeschool . I had no intention of using today for our monthly post, but this day is going so catterwampus as important real life education happens to us that I think it is wise to do my best. The day started rather Monday boringly and blessedly.  I woke on time after a good night's sleep and had complete quiet in which to do my personal scripture study.  Kids woke, got dressed, did chores, and generally got going.  I wrote this post about the baby robins that E14 adopted.  (You should pause to read it, because today's is going to be full of follow up to that back story). Breakfast was on time at 8:30 am, and we had a nice little devotional--nothing exciting, nothing dreadful.  We're done with formal school for the summer, so the kids were sent from the breakfast table to brush their teeth and read scriptures.  According to this site , it is illegal to capture and keep wild birds, but we knew that. ...