Thought of the Day

"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 Butterfly. 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
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AudioBooks

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

For Christmas, I made Butterfly and Pumpkin Pie some doll clothes. Butterfly 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 Butterfly and a matching apron for her American Girl Doll.

Games, Vacations, and Family

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!

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.