A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Van DeMille I long ago decided that TJEd in its purity was not for me nor my children.  I felt at loose ends too much, and with various seasons coming and going, I felt punished for opening workbooks and simply saying, "This is what we're going to do today." Quite simply, I don't always have it in me to inspire instead of require. :) But rereading this book now made me realize that truly our household is an educationally inspiring household.  We read lots of classics.  We talk a lot.  I check in with my kids, and I provide lots of inspiration through my own example and through the supplies we keep in our home. It was a joyful reread, and it inspired me to keep up with our family reading . . . because lately I've felt in something of a slump. Core and Love of Learning--Oliver and Rachel DeMille When I finish assessing my kids, I'm going to write myself a separate post, assessing how I'm doing with the v...

What do I write about a really bright kid other than he's really bright?  I've not tested him, but he's reading novels (voluntarily and voraciously) that appear on lots of 3rd-6th grade reading lists, so I say confidently that he's a good reader.  He remembers what he reads, and he understands it based on the narrations he follows me around sharing. He intuits math concepts before I even think about teaching them to him. He memorizes math facts almost faster than I can present them. He both follows directions included in his Snap Circuits kit to build pre-designed circuits and invents his own successful circuits. He plays make-believe. He invents with building toys. He makes astute observations on our nature walks. He revels in outdoor play. His gross-motor skills are not as strong as his fine-motor, but he's long and gangly, and his bones seem to be growing faster than his skin or his muscles, so he aches a lot. He delights in everything! Seri...

Brother is a gentle soul.  He looks somewhat mischievous in this picture, and like any 5-year-old boy, he has his moments, but they are the exception to the rule.  He is gentle more often than anything. Our goals for Brother this school year were simply to heal. To heal from his fears. To heal from his trauma. To heal his body. To heal his mind. He has a long way to go, but truly, I can relate stories of healing that testify to the power of God. Fear of water Brother came to us terrified of water.  We don't know if it this fear came inherent or via outside forces, but it is a terrible fear.  Even baths often end in tears and screaming.  Short of doing what it takes to get him clean each day, we've simply given him opportunity to explore the joy of water at his own pace. Last summer we purchased a lake pass (yes, we had to pay for the privilege of swimming at the local lake!) and some life jackets, and headed out to play a few times each week....

The kids have been after me for a while now to change Little Brother's internet name to Beowulf.  So, as this is as good a time as any, I'll do it now. Beowulf is 4 1/2 years old.  Our primary goals for him this year have been to : 1.  Get him potty-trained 2.  Establish healthy sleep patterns 3.  Dress himself 4.  Help him with anger management. Potty-training For a brief week, we thought we'd achieved potty-training success . . . but we were wrong.  Beowulf just doesn't care if he's wet, dry, or messy.  He's perfectly comfortable in any state, and even seems unaware of the difference in any of these conditions.  This is probably a sensory perception issue. I remember coming into his room one morning to get him up for the day, only to be overwhelmed by the smell of a bowel movement.  When I asked, he told me he was completely clean and had no idea what the smell was.  He was shocked when I opened his pull-up and sho...

Pixie (age 15) loves to dance.  I've often seen dancer friends turn that passion into a career over time, but they danced so much more and so much longer than my Pixie.  I haven't wanted to discourage her, but I've been quietly doubtful that she could do much with what experience she has.  However, I have been happily proven wrong by Internship for High School Credit offered by Apologia Educational Ministries . Quite simply by creating this guide book, Apologia opened my eyes to the potential my girl has for engaging in and making joyful use of her passion.  And then the Internship for High School Credit book itself has given me confidence and a sense of order (without having to reinvent the wheel) for guiding her through what's going to be a great educational adventure this fall. There's a downloadable sample of the Internship for High School Credit available (click the title of the book in this post, then click on the "download" button below th...

My littles absolutely l♡ve the videos, music, games, and activities in the Educator's Spanish Collection by Whistlefritz . We'd been cobbling together some Spanish lessons on our own for quite some time, but it was a struggle to be consistent because sometimes a new day would dawn, and I'd realize I'd forgotten to prepare. It's a nice change of pace to always have something ready to go so the kids are getting consistent exposure to the Spanish language . . . something they look forward to! The Educator's Spanish Collection includes: 5 DVDs 3 CDs Book of 40 lesson plans Matching game--Spanish verbs Who at my house likes it: Baymax and Lola--2 1/2 yrs Little Brother--4 yrs Brother and Mister Man--5 yrs Ladybug--6 yrs Little Princess--7 yrs Nature Angel--10 yrs (The videos and lessons are definitely geared to very young children .  Nature Angel wouldn't choose to watch the videos herself, but she's happy to join her younger siblings...

Belle says, "I love Second Form Latin !  I love Latin!"  We have the Second Form Latin Complete Set . She discovered Memoria Press and their award-winning curriculum when Rose Red had the privilege of reviewing First Form Greek .  Belle spent a long time looking over the format of the lessons and all of the resources available and came to me asking, "Could I do Memoria Press Latin ?  If it's like the Greek lessons, it's really good." We spent some time researching the Second Form Latin Complete Set table of contents and lesson design, and Belle fell in love. "Please, please get this for me!" she begged. When the opportunity arose to review this curriculum, we certainly jumped at the chance. And the experience has been just as good as we hoped. In the beginning: The first thing we found out when our curriculum box arrived was that the flashcards are not pre-cut.  Belle and I spent a goodly amount of time tearing along the perforati...

Next up is little miss Lola. Oh!  What a character she is!!!! The polar opposite of Baymax in every way I can think of, she's got amazing gross motor skills!  This little lady (and I do mean little because she's still not tipping the 24 pound mark on the scales) can open doors, open gates, dress and undress herself completely, climb cupboards, turn on water faucets, take off lids, build climbing apparatus with the purpose of opening more cupboards, gates, doors, locks, or other obstacles, and so very much more. She can speak in 2-4 word sentences, but she rarely chooses to do so.  When she does, we just squeal with delight because she has the funniest deep-but-squeaky voice.  She's a singer.  Just yesterday she was singing the Veggie Tales theme song almost perfectly.  She's also partial to Jingle Bells . Like her biological siblings, she's on the slower end of fine motor development, but I'm not worried about it because she has lots of opportun...

Pictures from last week's homeschool camp out that I forgot to upload from my phone: Mister Man had a lot of fun jumping in the hoops. One sweet mom helped a passel of kids play a trivia game.  The kids howled with glee every time she got a question wrong--it was kids against grown-up. This is little friend T--who loved Lola so much all day long.  Baymax played with little friend I--.  We will miss her family so much when they leave this summer for an extended trip around the world!  Best homeschooling adventure ever!  But really, we are going to ache with missing them. And Lola loved, loved, loved this little megaphone.  She sang and hollered in it often throughout the day.   There are few pictures because the teens were off huddled around their own firepit, and the medium kids were running hither and yon with friends all day. Since then the older girls have partied with friends, read library books, watched movies, and wo...