In Our Living Room

I like the living room.  I went through a phase where I wanted to call it the family room, or the parlor, the hip phrase I hear lately is the great room.  But this room whatever you wish to call it has some serious living going on at all times!

 Last night I truly enjoyed watching some music lessons happen.  We are all so fortunate to have this wonderful papa in our lives.  After a full day of work at the office on Mondays he heads strait to band practice, then comes home and is still happy to give a lesson to some anxiously waiting children!  I just sat here, enjoying the warmth of the wood stove and breathed in every smile, giggle, and cord I could...there is nothing quite like it. 

 

Looking around the room, clearly the animals don't care one way or the other, a simple fire in the wood stove and family around is enough to make them...well fall asleep...sign of a truly content pet I'm assuming?

 

Of course there is always a changing display of artwork, right now there seems to be a dragon theme, I'm sure you can guess who is into this right now.

And here again this morning as I was thinking about a blog post we are again in our usual spots.  Kids in front of the fire doing schoolwork, cat sleeping in the chair, and me breathing all this life in, enjoying every last bit. 
Soon the seasons will shift as will our "living space" to outside but for now; I like it here in our living room.
Whats going on in yours?

The Science Lab

I've been away from this space a lot, and though I've thought of it often I haven't found my way back nearly enough. It feels that since we've come back from the rush of the holidays finding a good school rhythm has been anything but easy for any of us.  Finally, in the last week or so; I dare say things are falling into place.  Part of the predicament (this whole school year in general) has been finding curriculum that we are happy with that is at the appropriate level for each child.  Along with this is my continued wavering somewhere between a solid classical education and complete and total unschooling...a bit extreme I know but some days I stand on either side of that proverbial fence.

One thing that is clear is that we all really like science...A week with a science lab (or two) is a good week.  It seems that getting through a math lesson is that much easier when kids know a microscope is coming next.  The CPO Focus on Life Science text and investigation workbook have been a super find for us.  I know I mentioned them at the beginning of the school year but now being in the middle of it I can say I'm quite happy with the curriculum.  It takes a bit of creativity sometimes as it is a school based curriculum and the chapters of the California text available on line are lined up differently; but it is  thorough, engaging and full of extra activities.  There is a plethora of teaching material available for free on their website (another bonus).

Some of the supplies we have gotten from Home Science Tools they are reasonably priced and ship fairly quickly.  Other times I have changed things around a bit,  In the beginning of the year there was a lab with a marble launcher (very expensive for two homeschoolers and one lab experiment).  Luckily I was able to find directions on line to build one with a few things from the plumbing department at our local hardware store for around $5.00!  So presto, just like that we had to labs in one, as you can imagine building it was just as fun as the experiment.
Now we are in the thick of cell biology and really having a blast.  Who knew looking at your own cheek cells could be such fun. 
We've got some live protozoa coming next week to view under the microscope before moving into some genetics and then evolution (something I'm especially looking forward to).

What do other folks use for a science curriculum?  Are you having fun?  I'd love to hear about it.

a field trip

We took a little trip yesterday with our favorite little friends. A field trip to the Museum of Science in Boston to see the Mammoth exhibit...none left disappointed.

Well, honestly when you are a 12 year old girl, posing in front of the saber tooth with a bunch of boys isn't the most exciting thing...right?

Everyone jumped into a design challenge!  What a fun activity for these kiddos to do.  We didn't even hit the entire museum (a return trip is in the making)before everyone was ready to have lunch and continue on our journey.

After lunch there was a stop at the Lego store to use up some holiday gift cards, and of course a bit of shopping for my girl (the biggest reason she wanted to come).  These boys were quite patient while she browsed and tried on clothes.  Sitting and reading every Lego package, every detail, and planning the building that would follow. 

It was a great day all around, tired kiddos and two mamas that got to have some quality time together.  What more can we ask for?

Have you been on any field trips lately?

My Handyman

This week without Miss Molly has thrown our rhythm into an upheaval (not that we'd nailed a solid autumn rhythm yet).  The boy and I have enjoyed our time together, he has been such a help around the house.  tidying up, walking dogs and well...fixing the washing machine!

Yup!  Sorry the photos aren't better but I was quite busy passing this sweet guy tools and holding the flashlight.  We've had a few home owner struggles lately;  Our oil tank has sprung a leak, and while it is temporarily patched it needs to be replaced pronto.  When you live in a house built on a ledge in the late 1800s with a dirt floor crawl space this is no easy task.  So as you can imagine we were feeling a bit discouraged when our washing machine appeared to die over the weekend.  As much as I'd love to replace this old machine with a fancy new front loader, it's just not in the cards right now.
I was doing a bit of Internet research to see what the problem could be and took a huge guess (gotta love google).
We went down to our little local appliance shop and purchased a motor coupling for $20, took the machine apart, crazy I know!  turns out your can take the whole outside "jacket" right off the thing with a screwdriver and a bit of muscle.  Talk about homeschooling at it's finest.  We found a how-to on YouTube and with a bit of team work, laughter and a lot of "ewwwww" I've got laundry running right now.  How fun to see the innards of this thing and to see that we could ourselves fix the problem.  My boy was amazing, He watched the tutorial and got quickly to work, I'm not kidding when I say I was the tool passer-flashlight holder in the team, he was so proud of himself, and his mama is proud of him too!

Space The Final Frontier

Many years  back I bought some pattern blocks from swift river toys in anticipation of helping the kids with math.  There are great resources on-line for using them w/ learning fractions, symmetry, even music.  They have been helpful for both kids over the years and I believe they are well worth spending money on...however, I would like to share here with you what they have always and continue to be used for most of all:

This is a fleet of space aged star ships in the midst of a galactic battle of one sort or another.    I can't tell you how many things these simple little blocks have been used for over the years. Dinosaurs, viking boats, people, houses, cars...the list goes on.  The intricacy of his shapes, each one seeming to have a specific purpose, sides that move to change direction.  It's clear that we haven't outgrown these and quite frankly I am in no rush...

How bout you?  What do your kiddos use over and over again for so many games?

And We're Off

Hard to believe that we are moving through the month of September already.  It seems as though all of our summer fun whisked by in the blink of an eye.  I've got oh so many plans for fall though, after all it IS my favorite time of year by far.
We started school this week and it feels a bit crazy; we are off and running!

I was a bit unknowingly overzealous shall we say.  I dove right in to the deep end on these poor sweet kiddos.  "oh the first few math lessons are boring review? here jump right into the hard stuff after a few months off!"  Their little heads were spinning by the time dad got home last night.  Of course being the amazing papa that he is he seemed to make it all better...a little help with math and a little chat with mama about easing into things at the beginning a bit more gently.

So of course everyone is better today.  I'm feeling like the History Odyssey is going to be a fun way to learn about the middle ages for all of us.  Greg and the kids made a wonderful time line spanning from 400-1700 that the kiddos will be adding events to throughout the year.  There are art assignments, and my favorite actual literature.  The first book up for reading is The Door In the Wall, I'm excited about this one as I don't recall reading it as a child.  I've got it downloaded to their kindles and my laptop so we can all enjoy it.
I'm finding the kindle to be a wonderful tool for homeschooling.  They have a plethora of books on them as well as Internet access for research, a dictionary, thesaurus and so much more. 
I even have their science texts on the thing!  Free no less!  I'm so thrilled to have found this resource.  I've been hearing lots of good things about CPO science and that homeschoolers are finding it to be a very interactive engaging curriculum.  Then I found out that the CA version of their middle school science series (while put together a bit differently) is available for free here!  Whoa!  add that to all the free worksheets, slides and lecture materials on CPOs website and we are in business for the cost of some lab supplies!  For a science minded mama like myself this is very exciting.  I've been perusing the Home science tools website for equipment and supplies to go with what we already have.  We'll veer off a bit here and there to follow individual interests (I've made owl pellet dissection promises this year)but for the most part be following the Middle school Life Science curriculum.  I hope to make a regular post of our experiments. 
Of course there has still been plenty of crafting going on around here.  Molly has decided to take on quilting with mama;

As usual she's rocking it like any other creative endeavour she tackles.  I can't wait to see this finished product!  I've got the quilt top finished for my king quilt, but feeling a bit overwhelmed by it's size so it's on the back burner for a few weeks while I contemplate the long arm class.

There have also been some new little gnome homes popping up throughout the house.  We have a large bin of scrap wood from a friends woodworking business and the kids have found many uses for the odd little shapes (oh how I love the imagination of a child). 
So we have been busy and I've been away from the computer for a few days...How is school starting off for you?

Gearing Up

Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving up on summer just yet, there is still plenty of adventuring to do and fun to be had; but it is time to start getting ready for the school year ahead.

For me that means trying to find a rhythm again...summer has included some lazy days of sleeping in and doing as we please (not that we don't ever have those days during the school year).  I find that I am most productive and get the most done when I rise early before the rest of the family and just have a bit of time to myself.  I suspect that this does something to my mood as well because the hubs seemed thrilled to see me up baking this morning.  He smiled, kissed me and told me it warms his heart...Now I know for a fact he wasn't referring to the fact the kitchen was looking a bit like a tornado had blown through with the relics of both zucchini bread and gluten free zucchini muffins (hmmmmm...what else to make w/ the zucchini and squash that the kids will eat without complaint). 

yum!

 

I've been spending a lot of time these last few days thinking about curriculum for the kids this year.  We haven't used one curriculum but have always pieced things together as we see fit.  This year the kids are switching to Saxon math.  The last two years we were using math mammoth and while it worked well at first we ended up not liking it so much last year. 
I'm thrilled to have discovered History Odyssey!  We have been on a search for a good history curriculum for a while now and I'm thinking this study guide will fit the bill quite nicely.  It's a literature based history and geography course with year long lessons including great books and writing.  I especially like that it has 3 levels so the books and lessons can really hone in on the age group you are working with.  We are starting with Middle Ages level 2.  We did Story of the World Ancient times last year and this one picks up with the Fall of the Roman Empire (just where SOW left off) with some more challenging assignments.  I'm excited to see if I'm right about this one, and I'll be sure to let you know.
For more writing we'll be trying out Writing with Skill and The Creative Writer.  Both of these books seem like a good fit for my middle grade kiddos.  Should be fun all around, we have one who loves to write and one who love math...I'm undecided about ordering more grammar work books this year, we've just used simple ones like this which have been perfect.  I'm wondering this year if writing will combine the grammar enough so that it doesn't need to be a separate lesson?  Any thoughts?
We're working some french this year with a few beginning french texts I've picked up at book sales over the summer...honestly we didn't do enough last year, vowing to do better this year.

Looking forward to using the microscope this year

I guess the biggest decision yet to be made about school is science.  A secular curriculum is a must, but what to do has yet to be decided.  We did like Real Science 4 Kids last year.  Though Molly informed me recently it wasn't "real" chemistry.  When I asked what "real" chemistry was she replied "you blow stuff up"...hmmmm.  We may go ahead with their biology and physics or try just using a text book (I've got Glenco's Life Science).  What are folks using for middle grades?  I'd love to hear.

I'd also love to know what Greg has in store for his lessons this year.  I asked about art history and he seems to feel that art from our history studies is "bad", we shall see.  In the mean time, I'm off to enjoy a bit of time with my boy (Molly is at team camp this week).

Are you gearing up yet?  When are you planning on starting school?

School these days

It seems as though another school year has just about flown by...amazing that I'm already thinking about next years curriculum.  It's funny because really we are always learning, always growing, but sometimes we call it school and sometimes we call it life...We've just about finished up with math mammoth, it's been good to us for sure but next year we are moving on to Saxon as it seems to fit a little better for where the kids are at.

The last bit we've been doing has been geometry and I think we've all had some fun with this lesson.  There is just a bit more chemistry to cover from real science 4 kids, this has been great I've enjoyed the lessons as much as the kids.  They experiment on their own now in the kitchen (a whole post about that one soon, creative little buggers) and seem to genuinely have a good time together.
Corey has been eagerly writing a fiction story that is surely turning into a novel and both kids of course have been reading up a storm.  Our history lessons are ending with some Native American research and report writing, Corey is focusing on Sitting Bull while Molly is interested in the lives of children of the New England tribes.

With this warmer weather we've been outside as much as we can, doing school work or not.  Molly has really taken to having her own special things to tend to in the garden.  Last year she had some lovely strawberries in a small container, this year she's using an old wooden drawer that we've recycled, it looks fantastic and I can't wait to taste those berries.  Of course there will be pumpkins and all the usual garden fun.  I myself am looking forward to a bit of beach time and some camping trips!
How is your school year ending up?

Just Another Day

Funny how some days seem to just slip by, melt into the next with nothing of "importance" happening.  I know around here I can get pretty wrapped up in whatever is going on that seems so "important" at the time and not really notice the simple pleasure in the day to day.  Most of this week I have been busy reorganizing my "craffice"  unfortunately the lovely space I created and talked about here got a bit chaotic again.  But, yesterday the sun was warm and our old house is often colder in the family room than it is outside on the deck this time of year, so school in the morning moved outside yesterday.

 The sun was so bright (and lovely) that we all had to get some sunglasses!

 

And hey; when your teacher is sporting these shades life must be pretty good right?

Soon it was just a usual day of business around here and yet I was struck by just how extraordinary our little life really is.  Just as it is, without all the "needs" I seem to have for a farm.

 not sure what the actual experiment here is about, but sometimes when they are having fun together I just let them go.

more sun tea

this old black dog loves to just watch

 Turns out there is a secret recipe they are developing that includes dog hair and will cement buildings together in stoneville, turns out that the birch bark houses are getting blown away.

And finally the day was topped off with an Easter package from one very special grandma!  These two kids are amazing, I feel so lucky to be blessed with such love.