Day in the Life of Our Homeschool

Here's a peek into our typical day:

Wake up and do morning routines. This includes bed-making, teeth-brushing, getting dressed and tidying up bedrooms for the children. I assist the youngest with all of the above.

Breakfast. Since Daddy is working remotely from home for the next few weeks until his job is finished, he surprised us with chocolate chip pancakes this morning. When mommy is in charge, much easier fare is prepared!

Next, we do our circle time, which includes going over Bible memory work (Psalm 23 from NIRV, right now), "Windows to the World" for geography (today was Bangladesh) and prayer, reading from "The Story for Kids", and working on patterns. We've been doing a fun thing, where the kids think up patterns to make by clapping, patting, etc. and then we create the pattern using pattern blocks to represent the A,B,C, etc. parts.

Next, individual work begins with the children. While I am working with one child, the others are working independently. (Ideally, of course!). Today, the oldest had to narrate from "Henry and Ribsy". I had him narrate all the chapters from memory and was very impressed with what he had retained, including some interesting phrases and whole portions of dialogue. He also had piano practice and lesson. He worked in his Horizons math book, and worked in his writing journal detailing his football practice last night.

Daughter worked on patterns with pattern blocks, and upper and lower case letters. She and I worked on her scrapbook where she narrated the text to me from the pictures. We played a game with the white board where she had to guess what letter I was making before I finished making it. Then, to keep score, we used tally marks and learned about those. Because it was her first time using tally marks, we talked about and practiced (lots!) counting by 5's. Then, she wanted to go play outside. She is my dig-in-the-dirt girl! She came in with two worms, so then she and I looked up worms in the "Handbook of Nature Study" -- not much there for her, but I will use the questions to formulate some little mini lessons and observation-type projects as we watch the worms. We talked about the importance of only keeping the worms for a short time and then releasing them back into their natural habitat.

The littlest, who is normally with us, was having a playdate with a neighbor. We normally do all the preschool type things with her. Painting and playdough are favorites. And she loves to be read to!

Usually, it's around lunch by this time, so we take a break for that. Then, it's outside for play/nature study. After that, we all do a house project for the next hour or so before rest time. Today we are making cookies for a new neighbor and working in the upstairs bedrooms. All of the children still take a rest each day. The oldest often read or play quietly, while the youngest still naps. This is time for mommy to regroup!

After rest time, there is usually snack and more outside play until supper. On Tuesdays, though, we have "Tuesday Teatime" where we do art study and poetry and manners. We are getting ready to study a new artist after spending several months with Mary Cassatt. We have so enjoyed her art! We'll be moving on to Van Gogh next week. Often, our poetry comes from Favorite Poems Old and New. Our favorite manners game is from EBoo and they are funny flash cards with pigs using nice manners. A book we use for manners is "Everyday Graces" by Karen Santorum. It is a truly beautiful book that we will use for years to come!

That's the short version of a day in the life of our very busy little homeschool!

Thank Goodness God Made Worms Regenerative

A conversation in our driveway this afternoon:

Me to baby girl 3: "Do you still have your worm?"

Baby Girl 3: "Yeah, but I broked him."

Oh.

Spring is Coming --The Red-Winged Blackbirds and Robins Are Back!

The red-winged blackbirds are back, as are the robins around these parts. It is so funny how the robin seems such a common bird in spring, summer, and fall, yet seems such a welcome sight at the end of a long, cold winter!

Here is a list of the birds we've seen at our feeder since January:

red-winged blackbird
grackle
crow
bluebird
house sparrow
song sparrow
purple finch
house finch
male and female cardinal
bluebird
black-capped chickadee
mourning dove
brown-headed cowbird
starling
dark-eyed junco

Green Hour Challenge - Week Two - Describing

We took Green Hour Challenge number 2 this week. We had a lovely day with a bit of sunshine and warmer weather today, so we headed out into our yard. I pre-read the assigned pages from the Handbook of Nature Study, and therefore learned about the importance of preparing the children what to look for, etc. I simply told them that we were going to take a nature walk, and that we would be listening, looking, and touching things. I tried to model curiosity and a posture of listening/observing.

I was amazed at the things we were able to see in our very own backyard, which is mostly used for swinging, sliding, and bird feeding! We found evidence of bunnies (you know the little brown kind!) in two places in the yard, and because it was Saturday and daddy was with us, he pointed out the places in the yard that he has noticed bunnies hiding.

We visited a grouping of bushes near the back of the yard where birds seem to gather. There were clusters of small red berries on that bush. We discussed that perhaps the birds like the bush for the berries. Then we took note of the area around the feeder. The birds had been quite messy with the seed and there was much on the ground. We were delighted to see the branches on the tree turning a scarlet red color on the ends!

So, here are the observations that each family member made
DD3 heard birds, saw three birds, and felt soft, little berries.
DD5 heard tweeting, saw spotted leaves and felt nice soft "hay" (aka dead grass!).
DS6 heard chirping, saw red berries, and felt dry, hard grass
Daddy heard hooting, saw a flying kite, and felt a smooth and rough tree.
Mommy heard barking, saw red branch tips, and felt cool, gentle wind.

All in all a wonderful challenge full of fun and lots of noticing in our very own backyard! We have decided to start with a family nature journal with a weekly entry.

Green Hour Challenge - Week One - Ice!

*****We are participating the the Green Hour Challenges being posted by Harmony Art Mom here. These can be for homeschoolers or just folks who want to instill a love and knowledge of nature in their children. I encourage you to participate as well.*****

We ventured out into the snow on Wednesday this week for our Green Hour Challenge. I am not known around this house as being the adventurous snow-mom, so I was quite proud of myself, truth be told. Now, when it's fall, spring, or summer, I would rather be outside, but in the winter I tend to hibernate. But, snow it did and remembering Barb's words, "even if it is really cold and yucky", we put on our boots, buttoned up our coats, and headed out!

The children enjoyed walking in the snow and really noticed the ice and icicles that were covering things as we walked. My middle daughter in particular was enamored by the diamond-like qualities of the ice. Since I just have one officially school-aged person, we mostly spent time observing and chatting, and watching our breath vaporize. ;) I will note that the Water Forms chapter of the Handbook of Nature Study has a small bit about ice and a very simple experiment about placing a jar of water outside in the cold to observe what happens. Maybe we'll try this next week.

Here are some of the quotes that struck me (for future encouragement) in reading the Handbook of Nature Study for this week's assignment:

"Nature study gives the child practical and helpful knowledge."

"Nature study cultivates the child's imagination...cultivat(ing) in him a perception and regard for what is true and the power to express it."

"But more than all, nature study gives the child a sense of companionship with life out-of-doors and an abiding love of nature."

"Out in this, God's beautiful world, there is everything waiting to heal lacerated nerves, to strengthen tired muscles, to please and content the soul that is torn to shreds with duty and care."

"In nature study, any teacher can with honor say, "I do not know"; for perhaps the question is as yet unanswered by the great scientists. But she should not let the lack of knowledge be a wet blanket thrown over her pupils' interest. She should say frankly, "I do not know; let us see if we cannot together find out this mysterious thing."

"But they (the students) never lost confidence in me or in my knowledge; they simply gained respect for the vastness of the unknown."

"If nature study is made a drill, its pedagogic value is lost. When it is properly taught, the child is unconscious of the mental effort or that he is suffering the act of teaching. As soon as nature study becomes a task, it should be dropped. But how could it ever be a task to see that the sky is blue or the dandelion golden or to listen to the oriole in the elm!"

Thanks, Barb for the challenge. We're looking forward to Challenge #2!

Baby DD to Middle DD while trying to "Wook at Mommy and Daddy Buh-dees (Birdies) Out Da Window"

"I NEED THOSE RE-NOP-AH-LAHS (translation: binoculars) RIGHT NOW!!!!!"

Brrrrr! and Birds

I see on my computer screen this morning that it is a whopping 10 degrees outside this morning. It was 50 degrees on Saturday and very sunny and nice, which got me all excited about spring. But, alas, this is Indiana and so spring is not right around the corner as it sometimes can appear to be.

We've been enjoying watching the birds in our feeders this past month. Our best day was when a whole flock of male and female cardinals descended. We plan to add cardinals to our nature journals this week and discuss the fact that they are the state bird of Indiana. We've also had lots of sparrows. We put out a suet feeder in hopes of attracting other birds that won't come to seed feeders, but have so far had little luck. We did see a beautiful blue jay, though.

Finally -- Warm Weather and SUN!

Yesterday, we got to enjoy some time outside, as the weather is finally cooperating. While it wasn't so warm yesterday, the sun was out, so that made it possible to enjoy being outside.



I love getting my children outside. Since the play area has been destroyed by the storm, we weren't able to play out back much, although Dad did have the kids practice putting! But we were able to go up front and enjoy watching the children ride the Little Tykes car and tricycle. We also got in some much needed yard work. The hostas, lillies and geraniums are coming up! Since this is our first spring with trees, we were delighted to see them beginning to bud, and in some cases, flower.



I took the opportunity to show the kids our redbud, as it is just beginning to bud. I explained to them that in a few short weeks, it would have purple blooms. DD3, my nature lover and flower-crazed child, was ecstatic.



It's so cool to see your child's natural curiosity. I long to keep encouraging that. DD3 wonders at everything. I often hear from the back seat of the car, "MOMMY, I JUST SAW A BIRRRRDDDEEEE!" She's also the child that wanders downstairs sleepily in the morning, inquiring if I've noticed the beautiful sunrise this morning "that God made". And, often when she reacts this way to creation, the scripture comes to mind that says, "From the lips of children and infants, you have ordained praise" (Ps. 8:2).



Keep wondering my child, keep wondering.