Lighthouse Classical Academy

Who says we can't be creative with Shakespeare!

2012-01-25T11:32:00.000-08:00

The children and I reached Shakespeare in The Story of the World. I checked out Lois Burdett's A Midsummer Night's Dream for Kids and Bruce Colville's retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

After reading them, the children decided it would be fun to make paper bag puppets and retell the story ourselves. Tiger got a bit creative with his version of why Hermia doesn't want to marry Demetrius...
I will let Tiger tell you why...

Here are the first 4 puppets. 3 have two separate faces.


Top L-R Demetrius, Hippolyta, Bottom L-R Lysander	, Hermia

Same puppets with their other heads. Hermia has a closed mouth and an open mouth for talking

Week in Review

2012-01-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

Last week we had SNOW! The local public schools were cancelled for the entire week due to snow and ice on the grounds and roads and many people were stuck in their homes. Many families lost power and some of my friends had no power for days. My family was blessed to not lose power but we were in our house for the week.

I was so grateful that I already homeschooled because many people I know were going crazy trying to keep their kids busy. Mine on the other hand were busy.

We were able to sneak to the library between storms before the roads got really messy. We were able to get huge stacks of books just in time for the snow to start falling hard and fast. We came home and spread out a blanket, grabbed a large bowl of popcorn and delved into our books. We spent the whole afternoon reading. The next day, the kids couldn't wait to get out more books to read.

I spent hours reading aloud. We are working on Carry on Mr. Bowditch as well as Five Children and It. We discussed evolution vs. Creation, the Revolutionary War, the Women's liberation movement and many vocabulary words.

Before the snow started to melt, we had a bout of freezing rain. When the kids went out to play in the snow, they discovered that there were sheets of ice covering the fluffy snow. They built tunnels in the snow and carried large sheets of frozen snow to create a "bird fort" in case some of the birds in the area needed some shelter.

They made puppets to create their own version of A Mid Summer Nights Dream. Lysander and Hermia are done.

We grew bean seeds in the closet, refrigerator, and taped to a window to see where seeds grow best and to see what happens when there is no light for the seed to get to.

When we finally got out of the house, we were able to go to Karate.

It was a good week. Sadly I don't have many pictures- my camera is on a business trip in Germany this week.

Engineering Experiments in play

2012-01-16T15:17:00.000-08:00

It snowed yesterday! We don't get a whole lot of snow where we live, but when it snows, it is fun to play in. The snow we get is usually very heavy and wet.

Tiger and our neighbors decided to build a snow fort. They started by building the walls with a rectangular bucket. Slowly the walls got higher and rounder. Eventually they got to the door area and decided they needed to create their doorway. At first they had to figure out what they were going to do for the door. Then they remembered various times when each of them had played with arches and keystones. They had one boy lay in the doorway to make sure it stayed big enough to crawl through and hold the "stones" up while they built. They other two then proceeded to pack and layer the snow ever so carefully until a keystone was created and the snow was packed tight. In the end, an arch of sorts was created and the boys had a doorway. They did have a few starts and stops but finally got it.

At one point Tiger decided to test the strength of the doorway and created a crack. This presented the opportunity to discuss "non-destructive testing" and a repair.

Then off to sled on the 2 inches of snowy mush and lots of laughter.

On the thread of inspiration...

2012-01-12T15:06:00.000-08:00

Today was a divergence from our old schedule. It was definitely more free-form, but it was good. A few years ago there no way I could have handled this but today it was great and the kids couldn't wait to get back to their work.

We started the day with family work time. Since the school room was a mess, that is what we tackled. After a short while it was picked up and we were ready to go! Next was devotional. Then we spent a little time working on botany. We are working on a germination experiment with beans in the fridge, in a window, and in a dark closet.

After germination project, we split up into learning time. For the next couple of hours, the kids had free choice, within the educational bookshelves that are in my school room. Piglet chose to construct a simple lapbook.


Instructions to draw a canoe with people in it


The yellow is the step that is already done and the blue is what needs to be done this step.

Tiger chose to delve into exploring art. He read about Van Gogh's Starry Night and a little about him and then attempted his own scene using a similar technique of thick paint and etching into it. Here is his painting:

Pumpkin Pie worked on slow math speed with me:

And Strawberry dumped out a puzzle, sat on my lap and helped me play with Pumpkin Pie, read stories and asked me to split myself in half so I could read to her while I played, deleted half the pictures I took today from the camera, took pictures of the table, and watched everyone working.

After lunch they moved on- Strawberry sleeps temporarily, Pumpkin Pie is playing with dolls, Piglet is doing art and making paper cutout collages, and Tiger is working on K'nex and playing games with the girls.

I would say today was a great day!

Thought of the Day

2012-01-10T16:26:00.000-08:00

"Leadership Education requires us to pay the price to receive inspiration in order to personalize whatever is needed to help each student get the ideal education for them."

Taken from an article written by Rachel DeMille

Home School Insights: The TJEd Conveyor Belt

Today I was looking for help for Piglet. She is incredibly accurate with math- almost never any errors and she has always been good at it, but she takes a long time to do each page and gets frustrated and then says she hates math. So today I was searching for ways to inspire her enjoy numbers a little more and came upon a great article with lots of math picture books to read. Many are on my library hold list now and then I came upon that article. That really is the crux of why I homeschool- I am entitled to receive inspiration for the education of each of my children in a unique way and to personalize their journey. What my schedule looks like might not look like "school" to some people but they sure are learning a lot. Sometimes a bit of sputtering and stalling goes in but then I have seen quite a few jackrabbit starts. I need to remember that no matter what "level" their peers are at, they are truly where they need to be and will "catch up" in their own time.

That brings me to one of my daughter's favorite books. Pumpkin Pie wants to learn to read but doesn't want to learn to read. She wants to read because everyone else does it but she doesn't because then she can read herself and others won't HAVE to read to her. I think she likes that little bit of power and babying still. I keep reassuring her that we will still read to her when she knows how to read. Anyway, her favorite book is Ruby in her Own Time (not an affiliate link). It is about 5 ducks and their parents. The 4 ducks do everything as expected but Ruby does things "in her own time." When she does, she does them just as well as the others and eventually excels as she flys further and wider than her brothers and sisters. Throughout the book, the mother has confidence she will flourish
.

AudioBooks

2012-01-08T21:58:00.000-08:00

There are so many educational resources available for free online.

I love audiobooks! Many available are done with a full cast so each character gets a real voice- something although I love I am not super talented at recreating. I bought 3 Sansa Clips for about $30 each so my kids could listen to different stories at different times.

My library system has many audiobooks in its collection that are available for free download. They are only available for a limited amount of time just like checking out a book but I can put it on my mp3 player or ipod and we can listen to the books. I also love Story Nory for some classics like Rikki Tikki Tavi. Librivox also has many classic out of copyright audiobooks available.

When I drive 1000 miles with all 4 kids, I don't take a DVD player, I pack many hours of audiobooks both in CD format and on all the mp3 players and my ipod. Then, each child can listen to stories they are interested in or I can pipe them through the whole car for the whole family.

Some of the books we have listened to on Audio have included The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; Johnny Tremain; Peter Pan; Charlotte's Web; Ginger Pye; Paddington; Just So Stories; and The Secret Garden.

Audiobooks aren't just for long trips though. When I have to run errands, the kids and I will often listen to an audiobook rather than the radio. They love stories and I am happy filling their minds with quality sound.

Tiger likes to borrow audiobooks and read the book while it is being played, especially if the book is a little more challenging. Doing this, he read Redwall, several of the Little Britches series, and a few others.

What audiobooks do you like to listen to?

A little fun- American Girl Doll Clothes and Les Cheries Doll Clothes

2012-01-02T21:30:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, I made Piglet and Pumpkin Pie some doll clothes. Piglet has an American Doll and both girls have a Les Cheries doll. Those Les Cheries dolls don't seem to have many patterns available and the clothes made by Corolle are expensive! So, I attempted to make some clothes for them. For the most part I was happy with how they turned out.

I also made an apron for Piglet and a matching apron for her American Girl Doll.

Games, Vacations, and Family

2012-01-02T18:38:00.000-08:00

Getting 4 kids looking at the camera AND cute is hard... Miraculously Christmas Eve I succeeded. Here are the kids in their new Christmas pjs:

I really love Nicholeen Peck's book Teaching Self Government. It is so good about not only helping the family to develop a way of discipline but more importantly teaching a family that what matters MOST is relationships. When the relationships are in tact, the rest is much easier.
My husband is lucky enough to have the week between Christmas and New Years off. We have spent this past week playing games, laughing, doing crafts, and building the annual Cub Scout Pinewood Derby car. So much fun!

I have been doing some product reviews for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I was lucky enough to get a book about building a pinewood derby car. Last year, my son was last place- the car barely made it down the track- and both my husband and son needed a little help to get started and do a better job this year. Tiger and my husband have been using it as a point of reference:

We have also been enjoying playing Catan.

Other activities this holiday have included Bowling- I love that the ball matched the dress my 2 year old was wearing! Strawberry wanted to take a turn with the ball.

So none of us managed to break 100... But I did get close!

Resolve to update more!

2011-12-29T21:41:00.001-08:00

The new year is coming and I need to post more updates. Just yesterday a friend I hadn't seen in several years comment on my lack of updates... Here goes!

The other day my husband came home and saw a giant box covered with tinfoil on the table. "What are you doing, building a spaceship!?" The kids were so excited to show him our light box with little peat pots sitting on a plate. I sure hoped it worked. That was about 10 weeks ago. We now have mini basil plants and cilantro growing in the hut. We had to transplant several of the peat pots into 4" pots. It may be dark and cold and rainy outside but I have some fresh herbs growing inside!

Writing:
E and I have been testing an upcoming writing curriculum for The WriteShop. We are currently beta testing level F. So far, E has worked on Adventures, Mysteries, Limericks, Tall Tales, persuasive letters etc and is delving into 5 paragraph essays. I have really liked the exposure to several different genres of writing and for the most part he has too. He still remains a bit of a reluctant writer despite a talent for writing. Although, the way that this program breaks down the preparation for writing into tiny steps and the brainstorming before the writing, it has been much easier for him.

Book Club:
My older girls are now in a Heroine Club for girls. They have read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Little House in the Big Woods. Each week they meet, they discuss the book and then do some sort of activity based on the book. The girls have made butter, embroidered handkerchiefs, had a tea party, and made little patchwork blankets. I am thrilled with the way that the parent in charge is running it. I love the way each girl gets to talk and has a voice and the way she draws the girls into discussion even though a couple are as young as 5 1/2 and some are a little closer to 9.

Art:
M has really taken to art. Her drawing gets better and better but she really excels at making 3D sculptures. Sometimes they are for her world of make believe, but sometimes they are just for fun. She has made everything from an old fashioned washboard to a bowl of salad with a cup of dressing where the dressing falls out when you pour it on the salad (a small paper glued to the base of the cup and designed to fall out and be put back in!) Today I came home from the library and she showed me the crown and flip flops she made for her Felicity doll out of typing paper. Needless to say, Santa brought her a couple of rolls of tape for Christmas!

Karate:
The highlight of C's week, when there is no "book club" is karate. She takes her karate very seriously and is doing very well. Her last test came back with almost all Above Average marks. Sensei was her judge and she raved about how well C did.

Rockhounding near Mt. Rainier

2010-07-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

We had the opportunity to go rockhounding near Mt. Rainier last weekend. The kids searched for various types of volcanic rocks. We were outside Mt. Rainier park so we were totally legal collecting rocks. E was able to use his rocks for his collections requirement for cub scouts. Here are some pictures of our adventures.

A Haiku

2009-12-11T10:47:00.000-08:00

We are studying knights and Samurai... the Samurai wrote haiku. Here is E's Haiku

Everything was still
Upon the frozen nighttime
Stars were gleaming bright

What do they learn when you aren't teaching...

2009-06-30T18:25:00.000-07:00

C has learned to set up a chess board! E plays chess frequently and is participating in a chess club. He has taken part in 3 or 4 mini-tournaments after chess club as well. He then plays at home with Hubby. As a result, C has observed the proper chess setup. A week or so ago she set up a chess board by herself. I second guessed it because it was possible that E had set it up and then run upstairs for something. Last night, I went into the living room to see her pairing all the chess pieces, naming them by name, "here are the bishops" and "here are the knights." Then, a while later, Brady came upstairs to tell me that she had set up the chess board perfectly except she had switched the king and queen... I still do that sometimes!

M has learned to read quite well. I thought she was still in the beginning reader stage and needed phonics books. She has all but refused to read out loud except for scripture reading, so I had no idea of the progress she had made. I used to get the phonics books from the library for her, but she didn't like them so I just let her have books like Frances, Frog and Toad, Little Bear, and Dick and Jane. During rest time, she would go in her room and study a book. She loves pictures, so I figured she mostly looked at the pictures with a little work on the words. Needless to say, she has mostly taught herself to read. Today she brought me Swimmy and announced that she had read it this afternoon. When I asked what it was about, she said, "I will read it to you," then she proceeded to read it to me with little difficulty, decent speed, and a clear voice. I am amazed. She also read me The Pokey Little Puppy the other day. Neither of these books are read very often in our house- thus they weren't memorized. I don't remember the last time I read swimmy out loud. Anyway, I am so proud of her efforts to learn to read. She is quite excited that she knows how to read now.

E is always studying science. He loves science books (and math books) and has taught himself all kinds of things about the human body, physics, chemistry, etc. through reading books like The Usborne Encyclopedia of Science. He sometimes does this during rest time and sometimes during other parts of the day.

It is so nice to see the kids learning things and thinking it is a game!

Pictures

2009-06-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our adventures...

When we went to Victoria last month, we visited the Bug Zoo. C was the most adventurous and enjoyed holding many of the bugs. Here she is holding a giant millipede.

M touched the hissing cockroach with a finger and looked at a few being held by someone else, but she did hold the millipede.

E didn't hold many of the bugs, but he did hold the stick bug.

Just the other day we watched a mama duck with 16 ducklings (at least that was what I counted each time I tried to count, but they all move around so much or huddle together that I might have been off by a couple) waddle into our back yard. The kids watched them for a long time as mama lead them around our backyard looking for her way back to her pond. Eventually she left after unsuccessfully leading them to the blackberry patch and chain link fence in the back. They are no longer in our yard.

School on the Road

2009-05-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a while since I posted... mostly because our schooling has been a bit different lately partially due to my pregnancy. Anyway, we have enjoyed learning on the road. We have studied elephant seals and visited them, we have been to Victoria, BC and held and observed various insects, been to the butterfly gardens, been to plays, and on top of the Space Needle. We have listened to MANY books on CD and planted a garden. Learning takes on so many forms.

If I were Pharoah-

2009-02-06T12:44:00.000-08:00

We went to a play yesterday called Pharoah Serket and the Lost Stone at the Children's Theatre. The scenery was once again phenomenal and the acting was excellent too. I am continually amazed at the special effects that this theatre is able to pull off.

Today I assigned a paper called If I were Pharoah. The idea came from the questions posed to the children at the end of the play by the actors. They asked if the children like to be Pharoah and why or why not. They asked what they thought it would be like.

After doing a web diagram to help get his thoughts in order, he wrote 1 page hand-written on wide ruled paper. This was the paper E wrote (no editing has been done) :

If I were Pharoah-
I would build cities because people need to live there. I would build houses because people need to eat and drink and sleep and work there. I would build colorful bridges for cars and people. at the times there were lots of cars around, I would build a flat, steel, surface with a motor above. It would have a sensor built in the cover, and when it detected cars, it would spin the motor to make the flat, steel, surface up and I would have a road built underneath. When there were lots of people around it would detect people and down that platform would go. And I would paint lovely pictures on the outside and a shading roof on the top followed by another motor that pulled the roof in and off the side when it wasn't sunny.

Computer Games

2009-02-03T17:24:00.000-08:00

I am always amazed there seems to be a computer game somewhere on the internet for reviewing various math facts and procedures. E was practicing rounding today and after doing his workbook, I let him play Half-Court Rounding on this site. For him it makes a difference. He also likes to practice his multiplication facts and division facts on multiplication.com.

Children's Museum Science Class

2009-01-28T15:27:00.000-08:00

E got to take part in a science class at the Children's Museum. They were studying the Solar System and all the planets. They dressed up and discussed the attributes of each planet. Here is the class picture.

School doesn't stop for vacations

2009-01-06T18:23:00.001-08:00

Over Christmas, we toured the Museum of Flight. We boarded the Concorde, sat in the cockpit of a Blackbird, toured a retired Air Force One, and perused WWI flighter planes, tactics, and uniforms. Here are a few pictures from that.

Then we went to OMSI in Portland. We did brain teasers and played in the science play ground. Here are a few pictures from that.

Edventures

2009-01-06T11:40:00.000-08:00

I came across a website that utilizes Legos, Knex, and other materials to teach engineering, science, architecture, art, and other things. One of the assignments on the site was to learn about form follows function, proportions, scale, and design. E was assigned to design a pizzaria including an office, kitchen, dining area, bathrooms, exit, storage room, and refrigerator. The tour, in 3 parts because blogspot will only upload 100MB at at time is his creation.

part 1

part 2

part 3

The Wizard of Oz

2008-12-14T14:48:00.000-08:00

"Oh, we're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz..." E and I had the opportunity to go watch an incredible children's Theater performance of The Wizard of Oz. I don't think I have ever seen a play with such incredible special effects! During the tornado, they dropped a see-through screen and then projected on the back screen and the front screen the tornado. They also projected things flying through the tornado in perspective- like the cow, etc.

Illuminations

2008-11-21T14:25:00.000-08:00

We are studying medieval history this year. We learned that the monks in Britain, during the Dark Ages, made pretty illuminations in the books they transcribed. We made our own illuminations. I used a paint pen to help them get the gold paint where they wanted the image to be gold. They colored the rest in bright markers. The monks would have used quill pens and gold leafing. They also used bright colors. This image was so detail oriented, the children began to appreciate how long it took the monks to copy their texts and make such beautiful images. Here is E's rough draft:

Here is his final draft:
M and C Participated too. Here is M's rough draft:

Here is her final draft:

And, here is C's attempt, with a little help from M and E to color inside some of the lines:

A Tragic Story

2008-11-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

E has been practicing A Tragic Story, by William Makepeace Thackeray. Here is his recitation. I coached him on making sure he enunciated and didn't use a monotone to speak, but the actions are all his doing.