FOR TODAY Thursday, July 15, 2010

Outside my window… it’s slightly cloudy, and not nearly as hot as it has been.  Yesterday’s rain has cooled things off considerably.  Annie even complained of being cold this morning.   Everything is damp and muddy and most likely, I won’t have to water the garden today.

I am thinking…about packing for vacation!  We’ll be heading out to the beach on Saturday and we’re all very much looking forward to it.   This will be Cutie’s first time seeing the ocean.  But first I have tons of packing to do.  It’s no easy feat packing for 6 people–especially when one of them is a baby.   I’m trying to figure out a way to squeeze our oversized playpen in the car since the beach house isn’t babyproof.

I am thankful for… cooler weather!  It’s been so hot lately, and even though we do have air conditioners, we try to not turn them on unless we absolutely have to, and even with them on, my kitchen is always sweltering hot.  So yesterday and today have given us some wonderful relief.

From the kitchen… I’m going to make some refrigerator pickles today with the pickling cukes I picked from our garden the other day.  I also have a fairly large zucchini that I need to do something with–maybe I’ll make some zucchini bread to take on vacation?

I am wearing… khaki cropped pants and an orange tank top.  I’ve acutally been trying to dress a bit nicer lately.  A friend got me hooked on http://chicisimo.com.  It’s fun to see the different outfits people wear, and come up with new and different things out of my own closet.

I am creating… lesson plans!  I have most of our school stuff now, though I still need to get a few more things.  I really love this time of year–planning and dreaming up projects and lessons and books to read…it’s so exhilarating!

I am going… to buy some new sneakers for Cutie either tonight or tomorrow.  She is finally walking, so it’s time to get some shoes on her, especially since we’re going to be out and about the next several days.

I am reading… The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope.  I’m really enjoying it so far–it’s a pre-read for  Annie, and I think she’ll really like it as well.  I’ll probably bring the next Sookie Stackhouse novel with me to the beach–you’ve got to have a nice fluffy book for the beach!

I am hoping… to clear some space on my shelves soon to make room for new school stuff.

I am hearing… Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Wii game.

One of my favorite things… writing lesson plans–cause I’m a geek like that.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Get all the laundry done, get everyone packed…and head to the beach!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing…

A sweet picture I took of Annie--stopping to smell the roses.

It’s not that I don’t have  anything to blog about, there’s plenty going on.  I guess I just get too busy this time of year.  That seems ridiculous.  How could I be busier in the summer than during the school year?  I think I try to take advantage of less school and throw myself into projects–the garden, cleaning/reorganizing the house…I forget sometimes I even have a blog.

So what have we been up to?

Annie went to Jazzercise camp last week and preformed “Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile” for their Jazzercise Idol.  She did an amazing job, especially considering that just a few years ago she was so painfully shy that she couldn’t talk in front of people–now she can get on stage and sing and dance!

We finished up scouts for the year–the twins are now going to be Bear cubs and Annie is a Cadette.   They don’t meet much in the summer, so we can just relax until the fall.  Rob is going to be taking over the Bears next year, so he needs the break!

Cutie has been doing weekly therapy, and it seems to be going well.  She’s still not walking more than a step or two here and there, and still no words, though she is babbling like crazy.  She also does this really cute thing where if she sees a flower or you say the word flower she’ll do her fake sneeze–basically she’ll just say, “ah ah ah ah ah!”  Very cute.  We saw a butterfly yesterday and she did her fake sneeze–apparently butterflies are very similar to flowers.

I’ve been on a mission to get the house in order before we start school in the fall.  I really want to redo the kitchen, but there are no funds for a full on makeover.  So I’m hoping to at least paint.  And I can definitely declutter!  I’ve already purged the arts and crafts bins and moved all of them to a large cabinet that was full of junk.  It felt good to get that mess taken care of.  I’d also like to repaint the living room, but that would require Rob to take down all the shelving he’s built on the walls, and I don’t think he’s up for that.

I’ve been doing lots of reading–so far this summer, I’ve read:

The Book of William: How Shakespeare’s First Folio Conquered the World by Paul Collins

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis (this was a read aloud)

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

Q & A by Vikus Swarup

Prairie Tale: A Memoir by Melissa Gilbert

Poison: A Novel of the Renaissance by Sarah Poole

I went to the Used Book Superstore a few weeks ago when they were having their big kids book sale (all kids books for 69 cents!!!) and I got a ton of great stuff.  I managed to get 4 Prentice Hall Science books for Annie.  We now have middle school science covered for at least 2 years.  I have a 50% off coupon I need to use so I’m hoping to find the rest of the books we need for Sonlight Core 1+2 and 6.   I got the IG’s and about 70% of the books so far.

Our garden is doing pretty well–we’ve got several tomatoes, cukes and zucchini come in, and everything else seems to be growing nicely, except for the strawberries–I don’t know what went wrong there, but after the initial 7 or 8 berries we got, the plants just stopped growing fruit.  Maybe they’ll do better next year.   I’m hoping we can make some homemade pickles this year–we messed it up last year because we waited to long and the cukes were over ripe.  I’m hoping this year goes better.  We love pickles here and the kids are really excited to try making their own.

And that’s been our summer so far!  We’re looking forward to going to the beach in a couple of weeks, as well as the zoo, and next month my father will be in town for a visit, and we’re going to go to the Dinosaur State Park in CT.   And of course just lots of relaxing, reading, soaking up some sun, running through sprinklers, and hopefully some swimming (I’m planning to teach the kids how to swim this summer).

I hope everyone has a great summer!  I’ll try to blog more often, promise!

I sat down last 2 days with the checklist for the formidable list of attainments, and I worked out a sort of plan of action for our summer primer.  Before I go into it, I want to point out that all of this will be done very informally and very relaxed.  It looks like a lot, but in reality, over the course of each day, it won’t really amount to that much actual study time.  And really, it’s surprising how much learning happens without any planning at all.

So here’s my run down:

To recite beautifully 6 easy poems…

-choose 1 poem each week or two and practice reading it aloud.  I’ll try to let them choose their own, but I have a feeling the boys will need some assistance choosing.

To recite, perfectly and beautifully a parable and a psalm.

-same as above–I’ll do the choosing this time, and we’ll just learn a line or two daily until we’ve got the whole thing memorized.

To memorize math facts…

-play computer games, use Mathmania magazine, play Smath, play with flash cards, read living math books, etc.  Basically, we’ll do something math related each day.

To read…

-The children are already required to read every day, for a minimum of 10 min.  Annie usually reads for 2-3 hours a day, but the boys are less apt to pick up a book if I don’t tell them to.  I’ll also read aloud each day for 30 min. or so.

To copy in careful cursive from a favorite book.

Once a week they will choose a passage from their reading and copy it in careful, neat cursive.

To know the points of a compass…Describe the boundaries of their home.

I figure we’ll do this pretty informally.  The boys each have a compass for scouts, so we’ll take them outside and “play” with them around the yard and we’ll take them with us on nature walks.

To describe any lake, river, pond, island, etc…

We happen to live right next to a pond, so this is an easy one.  I’ll have them narrate to me a description of the pond, and then they can choose a medium (water color, color pencils, oil pastels, etc) and draw/paint a landscape of the pond.

To tell 3 stories from Bible history, 3 from early American history and 3 from World history.

We’ll read bible stories, Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans, Once Upon a Time Saints, etc. and I’ll have them narrate to me what they heard.  Possibly, if they want to, they can write their narrations and illustrate them, either just a drawing and a few sentences, or comic book style.

Describe 3 walks and 3 views

Very informal…I plan to take at least one nature walk a week, and just casually I’ll have them describe their walks.  As for views–I figure we’ll use our backyard, their grandparents back yard and the view from the beach house.  Again, I’ll keep this very casual.  I’ve learned that if they think they’re doing school, they can’t think of anything.  But if it’s just everyday conversation, they can talk enough to fill several notebooks, lol.

To mount in a scrapbook a dozen common wildflowers, leaves and flowers from 6 forest trees…

We’ll start keeping nature journals and I’ll have them either mount the specimens they find or draw them and keep track of where they were found, their common and latin names, etc.

To know 6 birds…

This will be easy, because we are already bird watchers.  We’ll keep watching the birds that come to our feeder and pay close attention to their songs.  We might add in some reading of The Burgess Bird Book, but for some reason (despite our love of birds) this book has never been a favorite here.

To learn a new craft/art

I’ve been wanting to learn sewing and Annie has been trying to get me to help her learn to sew, so that covers her new craft.  The twins can have Rob teach them some sort of art technique or wood working, etc.  Whatever he’s willing to teach them, lol.

Tell 3 stories about their own pets…

They will make little illustrated books about our dog Sam for Cutie.

To recite 2 prayers in Latin.

I own Prima Latina, so I’ll just use the prayers they cover, I think they have the Sanctus and Our Father and the Table blessing…it’s been a while since I used it.

To name 20 common objects in Spanish…

We’ll use the Usborne First 1000 Words in Spanish.

To sing a hymn, a Spanish song and a Patriotic song.

We’ll choose a song they hear frequently at church, I’ll have to do some research on a spanish song–maybe we’ll learn a song they already know, translated into spanish, and for our patriotic song, I’d like to have them learn The Star Spangled Banner.

To keep a caterpillar and tell his life story…

In addition to keeping a caterpillar and watching over it, I’ll have them draw the life cycle of a butterfly and write his life story.

I’ve decided we’ll have notebooks to keep all their work in, nothing fancy, just a binder–we might even keep their nature journal pages loose-leaf to add to our notebooks.  I’m thinking we’ll just call it our Charlotte Mason Summer Primer.

….for summer.

This morning I saw this thread at the 4Real boards, and I almost skipped over it.  I figured, none of my children are of the age (6) to do that list.  But then something made me click the post and as I read over it, it dawned on me that with a few adjustments, that formidable list would  make wonderful summer work for my children.

My kids on the other hand, relish their summer vacation.  They enjoy their school work, but, like any other child, they would rather spend their days playing and doing what “they” want to do.  I, however, like to keep them busy, because usually what they want to do  is whine about being bored.

Here’s the list (I’ll give the link for a wonderful checklist that Jen from Wildflowers and Marbles created) with the adjustments I made (indicated by an *):

• To recite, beautifully, 6 easy poems and hymns.
• To recite, perfectly and beautifully, a parable and a psalm.
• To memorize math facts (addition/subtraction/multiplicaton.)*
• To read–what and how much will depend on the child.
• To copy in neat, careful cursive from a favorite book.*
• To know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, wehre the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows.
• To describe the boundaries of their own home.
• To describe any lake, river, pond, island, etc. within easy reach.
• To tell quite accurately (however shortly) 3 stories from Bible history, 3 from Early American history and 3 from world history.*
• To be able to describe 3 walks and 3 views.
• To mount in a scrapbook a dozen common wildflowers, with leaves to name these, describe them in their own words and say where they found them.
• To do the same with leaves and flowers of 6 forest trees.
• To know 6 birds by song, color and shape
• To learn an new craft or type of art.*
• To tell three stories about their own pets.
• To recite the Table Prayer and Hail Mary in Latin.
• To name 20 common objects in Spanish and say a dozen little sentences.
• To sing on hymn, one Spanish (or French) song and one English song.
• To keep a caterpillar and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observations.

CM Formidable List

Right now I’d like to keep this rather informal (being summer and all) but at the same time I’d like to make sure these things happen.  Annie became very excited as we read down the list (she loves all things Charlotte Mason) but the boys were less than thrilled.  While I think they’ll enjoy the nature study aspect…the memorization and other “schooly” sorts of things are just not their cup of tea.

I’m thinking this could be notebooked…but I haven’t worked it all out yet.  I’m envisioning them hand copying the poems and songs they memorize and illustrated them, but I have a feeling that they won’t want to do that.  Maybe we could scrapbook their learning?  I don’t know yet…but I do want to keep a record of it beyond just the checklist.  When I figure it all out, I’ll post about it.

It was a busy weekend, and a busy start to the week as well.  Thursday was meant to be the last game of the season for the twin’s baseball team, but it rained.  So then it was Friday instead.  This was a blessing in disguise, because now I was able to go to the game along with my mother-in-law who had been out of town.  They won that game, and therefore made it to the rookie league championship game the next day.  That game unfortunately was at the same time as Cutie’s naptime, and it is a cardinal sin to mess up her nap schedule.  So I had to miss the big game.  But all is well, because they won!  I’ve never been prouder of all my boys (Rob was the coach again this season).

The twins with their trophies and medals

Two weeks ago, I received the twins test scores.  I thought it was weird that I didn’t get Annie’s too, but it was close to the weekend, so I figured hers would come Monday.  They didn’t.  Days passed, and still hers didn’t come.   So finally I called Seton and apparently, they somehow lost her test.   I’ve been using Seton for 5 years for testing and this is the first time I’ve ever had any issues.  So, they sent me a new test and refunded me the money for the one they lost.  Poor Annie had to take it again (she was not pleased, as you can imagine) but since it was the exact same test, she breezed through.  I finally got it back in the mail today, and I just pray I get the scores back well before July 1, so I can get everything sent to the school in plenty of time.

Today was Cutie’s weekly therapy session, and it was an interesting one.  The therapist asked for Cutie to wear shoes during therapy, to help her with balance.  No easy feat–baby hates shoes.  She’s gotten better about it, but she still gives me a bit of a dirty look when she sees me bringing her shoes over.  Well, her left shoe never stays on, and today it just kept coming off.  Finally we decide to just let her be barefoot and see how she does.  Now, I’ve noticed before that her feet are long and skinny, a bit flat and her toes curl over each other, but the therapist thinks that it could be what is causing her to not walk, since it affects her balance.  It makes sense, but I don’t know what that means for the long term.  I suppose it will be a wait-and-see kind of deal.    In good news, Cutie signed “all done” for the first time. I’ve never done sign language with any of the older kids, but they were all extremely verbal, so it was never necessary.  Cutie definitely likes to challenge me in all things.

The rest of the week is looking to be a bit more relaxed, and we’ll all be home in the evenings now that baseball and scouts are all over for the summer (until the bridging/crossover ceremonies next week).   If the weather cooperates, I’d like to do some nature study down at the pond again, and I definitely need to devote some time to the weed-fest that once was the vegetable garden.  I love having a garden, but man do I hate weeding.

Well happy Monday everyone!

I recently received Small Steps for Catholic Moms from The Catholic Company.   This book has been such a blessing.  I’d been wanting a copy ever since I saw Elizabeth Foss mention it on her blog months and months ago.  So when I got the chance to review it, I jumped on it!  I have always had the hardest time finding a time to pray and just begin my day with Jesus.  It’s been a struggle for years, but this book has been exactly what I needed.  This is a calendar of prayer in book form.  Each day is a quote from a saint, a prayer and some kind of action.  The months are divided by themes (June is gentleness) and each quote, prayer and action revolve around the monthly theme.  It has been just what I needed to spark my prayer life.  I find that if I read my page first thing in the morning, and then again in the afternoon (sort of a refresher) I can really focus and continuously pray over it throughout the day.  It helps me keep my focus on God, instead of letting all the little things throughout my day distract me from Him.

In case anyone wondered…this is exactly why I do what I do.

HT to Theresa at LaPaz Home Learning

FOR TODAY Monday, June 7, 2010

Outside my window… it’s a cool, breezy day.  We had tons of rain yesterday, and today is cool and cloudy, with the possibility of a bit more rain.  That’s fine with me, the garden could use the extra water.

I am thinking… about our summer learning plans.  As much as my children would like a full break from school, I try to sneak in some learning so they don’t forget everything.  I’m thinking we’ll play lots of math games and of course we’ll continue our read alouds–we’re working on finishing up the Chronicles of Narnia.  The kids all have to read something everyday, and Dino-boy, who struggles with reading, will be going through Sonlight Language Arts 1 with me.  His goal is to be able to read the Magic Treehouse books by the end of the summer, just like Gamer-boy.  Aside from that, they are free to play.
I am thankful for… healthy children!  Dino-boy was sick for most of last week with some mystery illness.  He had a low-grade fever and no appetite and was very tired.  Poor kid was so tired of being sick by Saturday, but thankfully, after giving him some echinacea and saying a lot of prayers, the fever finally broke.  Thankfully no one else caught it.

From the kitchen… this morning I made some potato salad with my fresh-from-the-garden dill and parsley.  I’m making some buffalo chicken tenders to go with it.  It’s so exciting to use home-grown foods, isn’t it?  I have some strawberries coming in, and we’re starting to see some tiny green tomatoes on the grape tomato plants.  I can’t wait till we have enough produce to actually cook with.

I am wearing… jeans, a yellow long-sleeve shirt with an orange tank underneath.

I am creating… mentally creating anyhow, Annie’s science lesson plans.  I haven’t yet started to put things onto paper yet, but I’m going to begin working on it soon.  I’d rather get it done now than scramble around getting it ready in August.

I am going… to see Annie’s play tonight!  Her Drama Kids class is putting on their end of year production.  This year it’s “Story Land’s Got Talent” and Annie is playing Goldilocks.  I can’t wait!

I am reading… The Mysterious Benedict Society– Annie has been begging me to read this for months, so I’ve finally started it.  It’s a very fun book!  Sort of a Harry Potterish type of story with orphan-heroes that have to save the world, but with logic and problem solving skills instead of magic.

and Small Steps for Catholic Moms, which I’ll be reviewing very soon.

I am hoping… to get to the store sometime soon and pick out some fabric.  I’ve had a sewing machine for years and have never used it.  Annie learned how to sew in girl scouts and has been asking if we could try out our sewing machine.  So, hopefully I don’t chicken out.  I have no idea what I’ll sew–possibly some matching summer dresses or something?

I am hearing… my big kids watching a Kirby movie.

One of my favorite things… summer vacation–plenty of time to read, plan for the next school year, relax or jump into projects…this is my absolute favorite time of year!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Everything is winding down (another reason I love this time of year!).  Tuesday beings Fitness University–which my kids have always called “Running School.”  It’s a fun summer exercise program and the kids always look forward to it.  Thursday is the last baseball game, Friday the twins are going to a friends birthday party and Saturday I think is the Rookie league end-of-season celebration.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing…

Maureen Wittman had a post on her blog about favorite read alouds, and I thought it would be fun to post our favorite read alouds.

I polled all my children and they each came up with their 3 favorite read alouds.  It’s funny to see theme’s emerge.  Gamer-boy’s favorite stories all feature a mouse, and Dino-boy seems to prefer non-fiction.

Annie’s top 3
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Movie Tie-in Edition (rack) (Narnia) by C.S. Lewis

Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady

The Hobbit or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

Gamer-boy’s top 3

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

The Voyage of the ‘Dawn Treader’ (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 5) by C.S. Lewis

The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary

Dino-boy’s top 3
Africatrek: A Journey by Bicycle Through Africa by Dan Beuttner

Sovietrek: A Journey by Bicycle Across Russia by Dan Beuttner

. . . If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern

MamaSaurus’s top 3
The Complete Tales & Poems of Winnie-The-Pooh by A.A. Milne

Charlotte’s Web E.B. White

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

The Host: A Novel- Meyer (2) And I think I’m being generous with that rating. I will NEVER read anything by her again. She writes like a very juvenile 16 year old girl and her stories go absolutely no where. Seriously–600+ pages and NOTHING HAPPENS!  It was marketed to be a psychological thriller–I think the psychological part is that you force yourself to keep reading because you think something must happen at some point…there has to be a climax right?  NO.  The only thrilling part was finally getting to the end.

Patron Saint of First Communicants: The Story of Blessed Imelda Lambertini (Stories of the Saints for Young People Ages 10 to 100)- Windeatt (4) a read aloud with the boys before they made their first communion.

Unlikely Spiritual Heroes- Hill (3) I read this for The Catholic Company’s reviewer program.

The Rosary: Keeping Company with Jesus and Mary-Edmisten (4) I had been wanting to read this book for a while and then I won it in one of her blog giveaways. I love when things like that happen!  I really enjoyed the book–the rosary is one of those things that I just never “got”.   After reading this book though, it makes much more sense.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl- Drummond (4) I liked her book quite a bit, but with dh’s high cholesterol I can’t really use many of her recipes. I liked all the pictures and stories about her life though.  And her pie crust recipe is awesome.

The Lady Elizabeth: A Novel (Random House Reader’s Circle)- Weir (4.5) I really liked the story, but I think Weir makes her out to be a little too innocent.  I’ve read other books about Elizabeth that went the opposite direction and made her out to be very duplicitous.  I imagine she was somewhere in the middle.

The Book of William: How Shakespeare’s First Folio Conquered the World- Collins (4) This was actually a really interesting book–it goes into the history of the first Folio being printed, and follows who owned the books through the centuries. I never knew there was such a thing as a book census.  This also made me want to break out my Complete Works of Shakespeare–even if it’s just a mass market paperback copy.