Dinner is Served

Nicole has been on a mission lately....a mission of learning.  Truly, this little girl has a thirst for knowledge and experiences.  She loves to learn.

She has been working on her skills in the kitchen lately.  She has been proficient at making oatmeal ( on the stove) for a couple of years now, has mastered making brownies (including taking them in and out of the oven).  She has followed recipes to make home made chocolate chip cookies, and oatmeal raisin cookies.  She has saved her own money to buy her very own kitchen tools (measuring spoons and a vegetable saver).

However, last weekend while visiting with friends for a few hours, we stumbled across a kid's competition cooking show.  The youngest was 9, most were 12-14.  She was inspired.  I knew a week of cooking was in our future.

Last night she cooked dinner for us, and it was all her idea.

She wanted to make chicken, with gravy over rice and steamed broccoli.

I watched and offered a very light assistant's hand....but she did most of the work.

Nicole seasoned and cut the chicken.

While the chicken was cooking in the skillet,

she started chopping the broccoli.

 However, this became tricky for her, because had to learn to remember to check on the chicken and stir it up occasionally.

Once the chicken was done, we put it on a separate plate and made a roux for our gravy.  We used the same skillet because it would have lots of yummy flavor stuck to the bottom.  She melted the butter, added some garlic, and then 1/4 cup of flour for the roux.

Once the flour was browned, she added a can of chicken broth and whisked it to make a delicious gravy.

While the gravy and chicken simmered, she cooked up the rice and broccoli, then finished the meal off with a roll.

Nicole plated the food for dinner.

It was delicious and everyone's plate was licked clean.  The kids had to ask Nicole for permission to be excused, and then give her a kiss on the cheek.

Great job on dinner!

Downtown Disney...or Bust

We are not big Disney fans.  It appears in this area of Florida that many, many people are HUGE fans of mouse...but we aren't.  I mean, we don't really have anything against Mickey Mouse or Disney World, except that you have to sell your first born in order to be able to afford a vacation.  Not literally of course...but it is quite an expense.  One that we have simply chosen not to make.  We know that we would not make the effort to go to the parks enough to pay for a season pass...and there is no way you can get everything done in only one day.

So, our poor, deprived children have never been to Disney World (except Nicole. She was 2 and does not remember).  Of course, I don't really think our children are poor or deprived (especially NOT in light of the recent persecution and horrors happening on the other side of the world.)

However, we did make an effort to go to Downtown Disney yesterday.  The main goal was to to right a wrong that was my fault.  Nicole and I sat down several weeks ago and picked out some really cool Lego pieces for a video she is working on.  Apparently, I never hit submit and the order never got processed.  I really felt like I owed her one (she even paid for the pieces).

So, off we went on a surprise trip to the Lego store.

The background is all made from Legos.

She was thrilled!

And in awe of the really cool Lego designs.

I believe it inspired her, which was a really cool thing.

She and her sister designed three Lego people.  Nicole made one to be Joan of Arc, and two knights.  She also bought a package of knightly looking Lego people.  Hannah made people for her "hotel."

After the Lego store, Hannah wanted some time to look around the princess store.

See Hannah...you DID see Cinderella!

It's kind of like going to Disney World, without really being there.

Mickey Mouse ears...check that off the list!

But, not really.  I know they would love Disney if they ever got the chance to go.

I have had lots, and lots...and well, lots of friends tell me how fun it is to spend a day at Downtown Disney (we were done in about an hour, haha....not really the shoppers, are we?) and then spent time riding buses and monorails to different resorts.  After so many people telling us how much fun it was...we decided to give it a shot.

Here is a picture of our first bus ride

I should have taken a picture of the last, it included a crying baby (thankfully...not ours though!)

So, we waited at least 20 minutes for our first bus.  It took us on a round about ride of 5 or 6 different stops before getting to The Boardwalk (almost an hour later) where we were told the ESPN store was.

Kind of...it was the ESPN Club- as in really cool sports bar with lots of TVs and over priced food...oh, and a little hole in the wall store.  Hmph.  Since it was now past 2, we decided to go ahead and eat.  It was a good decision because the clouds of Florida opened up while we were there, so we had a nice, cool dry place to weather out the Florida storms.  The food was good...but still overpriced.  The company was great as always (how could it not be with this handsome man...and the cutest children in the world!)

After another bus wait and ride, we ended up at  Epcot, where we had to switch buses and wait again, hahaha.  Are you catching what our day was like?

We finally made it to a resort, The Art of Animation.

Watch out Hannah!  Sebastian is going to pinch you!

To be fair...this one did not disappoint.  The kids had a blast as we strolled through the resort grounds.

There was a Finding Nemo Theme and pool

The Lion King

Yep, Jeremy's daughter is sniffing his armpit.

Hannah is paying honor to Mufasa (or is that grown up Simba) like the animals did int he movie, hehehe.

Hakuna Mata

And...best of all...Cars!

I think Luigi might run Nicole over....with Nathan's extra push?

After an hour or so, we got back in the bus line again.  One of our sweet children then told us they had to go to the bathroom (again, because we had just gone).  So, daddy jumped out of line and off they went.  Our bus pulled up, and they were not back yet.  Ugh...we were going to have to wait again!  Just as the driver was getting ready to pull off....we caught sight of daddy and flagged the bus down.  I was so thankful we made it...because it would have been at least another 30 minutes until that bus came back.

We ended up back in....where else...but Epcot!

Hey Look kids!  We DID go to Disney's Epcot...we have the picture to prove it!

From here, we caught a monorail and took it to the entrance of the Magic Kingdom.

1st monorail ride

Then, we hopped off, and took another monorail to The Grand Floridian.  I am convinced this hotel was designed to mimic the beautiful Tampa Hotel built by Henry Plant...but that's another story.  We enjoyed live music and looking off a balcony before meandering back down the bus line where we...yes....waited for another bus.

Silliness at Rainforest Cafe (where we did not eat)

In all honesty, I thought the day was a bust.  However, at dinner, Hannah piped up and said, "Thanks for bringing us here today.  It was really fun."  To which Nicole replied "Yes, this was fun.  Thank you!".

I am pretty sure shock was the look of choice that overtook Jeremy and I...but hey...riding a bus, monorail, and waiting in line all day can be quite exciting for homeschool kids who rarely do any of those things :)

Extras for Cycle 3

So, I have already outlined our bare necessities, our basics for CC Cycle 3.

Copy work, Memory work, math, spelling, and reading.  Lots and lots of reading.  A good day is getting through all of those things.

This leaves A LOT of time for extra reading, Bible, chores and play time.  One of the greatest benefits of homeschooling is that my children really don't differentiate between "school time" and "other time".  We are pretty much always making a lesson out of something.

For example...Nicole has been working for weeks on designing and implementing a "Joan of Arc" stop motion video with her Legos.  She has written a script, designed several sets, learned the program, and is currently waiting for a few extra Lego pieces to arrive.  Whether or not she realizes it...she has been doing some pretty hard core school work, all under the disguise of "Play".

More often than not, the children's play ends up reflecting whatever it is we've been learning about.  This is a great, natural addition to our CC program.

However, I do have a plan to go a little deeper in areas like history, science, and geography when and if needed.  Last time through Cycle 3, I purchased the Road Trip USA curriculum, written by another homeschool mom.  It was not very expensive.  We started, but did not finish.  My kids were to young, my life was a bit crazy with an unexpected move and transition, and I tried to force this curriculum to keep up with CC...it didn't work.  We survived that year.

Ack, it's sideways again....this is just a quick glimpse of two days.

I want to try to work through that curriculum again this year.  But, if we don't make it...it's ok.  Here's the plan.  Each state gets two days of attention.  During those two days we learn some basic facts, read about famous people and events and even make a recipe or do a short project.  One of my favorite things is that there is a suggested reading schedule through these books.

I think this reading will give us a great overview of US History.  I will not try to keep up with CC's pace (I tried that last time and quit pretty quickly).  We will just work through the states at our own pace.

I also like that it comes with printable sheets about each state.  Perfect for Nathan and Hannah to color while I read out loud.

The children will enjoy the activities and cooking the recipes.  This will simply be an addition.

I also have a lot of great books that I have collected from thrift stores over the years.

I would love to work through the Little House books.  This might be a summer time adventure though.

The sisters in time series is a great little historical fiction series with a Christian moral emphasis.  We have enjoyed reading Sarah's Journey...about a girl and her family on the Mayflower.  However, now that Nate is getting older, I need to start watching for some "boy centered" books as well.

One of our favorite things to do is cuddle up on the couch and read in the afternoons.

I also have a few more books that I am excited about.  The first is a set of three history books that came to me highly recommend.  I decided to purchase the young reader's Edition.

The Light and the Glory

From Sea to Shining Sea

Sounding Forth the Trumpet

We have the audio version of Rush Limbaugh's new historical fiction

Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims

and the book version of Rush Revere and the First Patriots

We have already started a daily reading (when we remember) of 

The American Patriot's Almanac which details an event that took place each day of the year

I found this book at a thrift store last year for .50.  I thought that since we learning about the human body, this might be a good, and natural time to go a little deeper with Nicole.  I need to read this book more thoroughly though and see if it is appropriate for her yet.  

I will also be looking for fun ways to explore science at home.  We will find some fun projects about the human body, explore our senses, dissect a chicken wing (did that before...I couldn't eat chicken for a while), and maybe even do some fun experimenting with elements from the periodic table.  I will keep up with pinterest for most of these idea that will get thrown in when we can.

If Nate and Hannah are looking for something to do while I work with Nicole on math or spelling, there is always the PreScripts books as well...

Finally, we will be working towards earning several badges in American Heritage Girls.  These badges are historically based and will be a great addition to anything read or study. 

As you can see...this is very reading heavy.  We don't do much "busy work" (well, some might consider copy work busy work...I think it is essential).  We do a lot of reading, and from that reading we usually jump on rabbit trails and have fun exploring and learning together.  

Oh, and let's not forget Liberty's Kids DVDs.

When life gets busy though... back to the basics we go.  Everything else is just fun and games :)  For their own quiet reading time, the kids can pick out a book on whatever topic they choose (with my permission of course).  This will probably mean animals for Nicole, cars for Nate, and ballet for Hannah.  

Reading and Spelling

I mentioned Spell to Write and Read and PALs in my last post.

Here's the deal.  Before I was a mom, I was a teacher...well, sort of.  I don't have my degree in education (it's communication with a minor in marketing), but I always wanted to be a teacher.  When I got married, Jeremy encouraged me in this and I took on a job as a substitute teacher.  After a year, I picked up a job teaching science and math to 7th & 8th graders. Almost my dream job (I would have rather had Geography and Math).  I love middle schoolers.  Then, I had a baby and my whole world turned upside down.

I am terrified of 5 year olds.  Well, not anymore so much, but I used to be.  My biggest "NO" to homeschool was "How am I going to teach them how to read?"  This scared me to death.  I felt ill equipped, and like I was treading water for several years, until my sweet friend Stacy introduced me to Spell to Write and Read.

I was intrigued...and confused.  I do not think I learned to read or spell phonetically.  I didn't even know what a phonogram was, and I couldn't name the first spelling rule besides "i before e except after c"...and I wasn't even sure if THAT was right.  With my friend patiently going through the program with me and asking crazy questions for several weeks, I began to realize how much I loved this program.

I love it so much that after 6 weeks, we started over.  No, actually, I was so lost and confused that we needed to stop and I needed to read it all again.  I knew I had missed something, but I didn't know what.  Our second time around though...and we (Nicole and I) did much better.  I loved that I was teaching Nicole how to spell by learning what sounds that letters and letter combos make (phonograms), and that through that skill she was learning spelling skills, which taught her how to read.

Still, discouragement and self-doubt  in regards to teaching reading continued.  The one resounding thing I kept hearing from veterans was "It will click.  Keep working at it, and one day, it will click with her".  Yeah right I would think.  However, I came to find out that "yes" they WERE right.  One day, I literally saw all the phonogram and spelling rules "click" with my daughter.  She went from being a non-reader to a reader within a day of that "click".  She realized that she could trust the rules she has learned and read any word she sees.

The SWR program includes ideas to teach grammar and writing in each list.  Sometimes we use those ideas...sometimes we don't.  This program has been wonderful for Nicole, and I have learned just as much...if not more!

However, SWR has been difficult for Hannah.  And for good reason, I started Hannah almost a year earlier before I started Nicole.  There was a difference between the two though...Hannah WANTS to learn to read...Nicole could not have cared less.  She enjoyed being read to, and didn't want to do the reading herself.  Hannah on the other hand is begging to learn to read.

But, SWR wasn't working for her (yet).  She really struggled with the black/white of SWR and could not even hear the difference between many of the sounds.  Nicole likes black and white.  Give me the rules, and I will follow.  Hannah...eh...not so much.

So, I decided to try something different.  We recently bought the PALs program from Institute of Excellence in Writing.  We use the IEW writing curriculum in the Essentials program of CC, and I have come to appreciate and admire much of what they teach homeschoolers.  They have devised the PALs  program  which is blended phonics and sight word system.  I was not excited about the sight words...but we need to try something!  So....here we are!

We are about 10 lessons in (averaging 2-3 lessons per week) and it's going alright.  The program comes with a lesson books that tells me what to do, a book full of pre-made file folder games that all I have to do is cut and paste together, and several files of downloadable student workbooks, readers, and such.  There is also a DVD and lots of online support.

The highlight of the program is the Phonetic Farm where the children learn letter blends by silly stories that relate back to the farm.  Hannah loves this.  She loves the stories and reciting them to help her recall what sound that letter or blend is making.  I think her reading skills have improved a tad.  She also loves to play the file folder games.  I, however, grumble and complain about cutting them out (but that will need to stop after today's sermon!)

Nate enjoys doing the program with us.  I like it because I can make it either writing heavy or not.  So, Nate can participate and cut and paste the words instead of writing them, since he is not developmentally able to do so yet.  However, I can have Hannah write her words out.

I like that some basic punctuation skills have been introduced so far as well.

All in all, I am pleased with our introduction to PALs.  I do plan to switch back to SWR in a year or so, but for now it has helped Hannah and Nathan both learn their phonograms.  They beg to do their "farm work" every day, which is a far cry from when I would whip out my SWR book with her.  She likes fun, games, and silliness...and why shouldn't she?  She is 6 years old.  There's plenty of time for being serious....not quite yet.

Back to the Basics with Classical Conversations

Our family has been in four Classical Conversations communities in the past four years.  I have had the privileged of being "just a mom", a tutor, and a director of various communities.  It's been a wonderful time as I have made friends all over the area, been inspired by different types of people and learned under different styles.  I am grateful for my time at each community.

Some friends seem to think I'm a "CC Veteran", but I don't see myself that way.  I still struggle.  Do I Really (I mean REALLY) trust the memory work the way CC encourages me to?  I think I do...that is, until I start to question.  I have learned that questions are a great thing and to not be afraid of them.  So, it's ok to really question our homeschool decisions.  It allows us time to really think about why we have chosen this path and if there is anything that needs changed.

Do I doubt, that maybe my children aren't learning "enough".  Do I compare with our neighbor's kids, or other homeschooled or private school kids?  Yes, sometimes I catch myself in the trap of comparison, which only breeds fear, discontentment, and frustration.

As we begin our 5th year of CC, and my second as a director, I will be honest...I have struggled this summer with doubt.  Doubting whether the memory work is enough.  It all seems so simple.  And it is.  It ought to be that way.  Why do we always work to over complicate things?

I am thankful for articles, books, conversations, and friends that have encouraged me these last few weeks.  The Memory work IS enough.  Drill the memory work, this is what prepares them for Essentials, and later for Challenge.  I was not educated classically...and so it can be easy to fall into the system I am more familiar with because it was the system I was in for 17 years.  It is very important to continue to read and learn about the classical method.  There is always more to know!

This year I feel the pressure of adding our third child into our CC day, as well as my final year to prep my 3rd grader for Essentials (ahhhh...someone make it stop!  I can't believe she is a 3rd grader!!!).  I am choosing to take time to organize before the school year begins, despite the fact that my personality would prefer that I "wing it" like always.

I have decided to jump on the "Notebooking" band wagon and give it a shot.  I love binders (that love started when I worked in advertising, it's the one thing I took away from that job).  My kids seem to love binders, probably because of my influence.  So, I am choosing to organize binders and pray for our year.

I have taken a mish-mash of advice from different CC bloggers and put together with what I think will work for my children.

They already got to decorate the front of their folder.  Nicole chose a tornado theme.  I don't know???

All three have a binder with dividers (you will see that my dividers are still not labeled...that is me rebelling against over preparation).

Each child has a little pouch in the front for their supplies.  I am hoping that they understand that these have been set apart for school and it will decrease the frustration of looking for a pencil.

All three will have Timeline, History, English, Science, Geography, Latin, Math, Fine Arts, and Field Trips.
My 4 & 6 year old will also have a section for our PALs reading program (different post)
My 8 year old will have a section for Presentation and Spell to Write and Read

We will be focusing on a lot of copy work this year. Almost every subject will have a page each week for the kids to trace, write, and draw.

Basic copywork for the younger kids.  This might take Nathan 2 days to complete...that's ok with me for now.

 My 4 year old is learning basic handwritting skills.  He basically has a binder "for fun" because his sisters have one and he wants one too.  I do not expect him to do the same amount of work as his sisters.  I do want him to practice handwriting, and recite the memory work with us.  He will participate in his reading program and will listen to our read alouds.  Otherwise, I am happy with him playing with cars, trains, and building with his blocks.  He is four and should play...a lot.

Trace one day, try to draw the fact on the back the next day

My 6 year old will be tracing memory work one day, and then writing it in her best handwriting the next.

After tracing one day, Hannah and Nicole would rewrite the next day

My 8 year old will be focusing on her cursive this year.  She will be tracing in cursive, and then writing in cursive.  I also want to teach basic editing skills and rules.  She gets really emotional when I edit her work, so I have decided that I will type out the history sentence each week with mistakes (like capitalization, spelling, and punctuation) for her to correct and help to reinforce those rules.

Nicole is not "required" to learn her multiplication tables yet, but I want her to.  This is in her math section for daily review

I don't know why this is sideways...but a sample of Nicole's cursive practice...courtesy of a great mom on CC Connected.

This was also on CC Connected.  This will be a fun change for Nicole for Science practice

On top of our memory work, Hannah and Nicole will continue with their math program (We use Saxon).  Nathan and Hannah will work through their PALs reading program, and Nicole will continue in Spell to Write and Read.

We will also read a lot.  Read out loud, read silently, read to each other, listen to audio books...read, read, read.

So wait...that doesn't sound like a lot of school work.  Break it down for me:
Copywork-            15 minutes
Memory Work -    30 minutes
Math -                   30 minutes
Reading/Spelling    20-30 minutes
Read                     30 minutes

Yep, our "official" school time is probably only 2 hours a day.  Doesn't sound like much, does it?  I really think it doesn't need to be much more.  We are dealing with quality memory work, solid math, and a great reading/spelling curriculum.  We will also read far more than 30 minutes on most days.

So, yes....friends who have little ones, I think this is enough.  It's hard to consider though, isn't it?  Kids are in school for over 6 hours a day...but think of the quality time you get with your little ones.  I strongly believe that play and chores are an important part of a child's day.  We could stop right there at let it be "enough".

However, I know my kids.  They are used to this homeschool thing and have already discovered that learning happens even when we aren't sitting at our school room table.  I do plan on adding more. My ideas are found here  But, when life gets crazy....I know I can go back to THIS and be perfectly fine.