November - a time for tweaking?

It seems as though November and March are the two months I do a lot of tweaking to our homeschool for the year. Why should this year be any different? This year is going great and I see no major overhaul. In fact, I'm not going to change a thing that we are doing. I'm just going to add a bit more to it. I've also sat down this weekend and planned out our next six weeks, taking us right into the Christmas break.

History
Through the fall we have been looking at early settlements and early colonial period of US History. We've been reading literature, biographies and non-fiction, while also doing the History Pocket set from Evan-Moor. Mary's assigned reading has come from her history during this term. She has read a biography of Pocahantas, Carving in the Tree, Squanto: Friend of the Pilgrims, and is working through a biography of Ben Franklin currently. As read-alouds to Mary and Katie we have finished: Pocahantas and the Strangers, Life in Jamestown, Pilgrim Stories, Felicity books (1-5), and The Magic Tunnel. Plus many other non-fiction books we have looked through and discussed. The girls have also really enjyoed watching Liberty Kid's, even though they are set during the Revolutionary War.

Both have also worked through a "50 States" workbook and have enjoyed trying to learn the names of the Presidents.

Science
We have spent this fall concentrating on Earth Science. Our units have covered rocks, layers of the Earth, erosion and weathering, earthquakes, volcanos, and floods. Mary is using a school textbook that was passed along to me as her "spine", but we spend a lot of time using worksheets from Enchanted Learning and non-fiction books to flesh out the very limited material for both her and Katie.

Katie is going to split off from Mary at this point, and for the rest of the school year she is going to be learning about different biomes and habitats. I have a lot of very interesting materials left over from when Mary studied it a few years ago that I want to share with Katie.

Mary will study soil and conservation until the end of the term. And in January we will begin a unit including weather and the solar system to take us through the end of the year.

I'm sure if it is like everything else, Mary will be involved in Katie's projects and Katie in Mary's. So, we will actually be covering two sciences this year.

Language Arts
The biggest changes to our curriculum going forward is going to be in language arts. So far our language arts has pretty much been limited to crossover with history projects, phonics, handwriting, a weekly lesson from Simply Grammar (for Mary) and Katie's Literature Pockets (focusing on folk & fairy tales). All of that will stay, but we are going to add in weekly poems to study, and Intermediate Language Lessons (for Mary), an emphasis on formal narration and more copywork for both. Katie and I are going to start reading through some of the book list for Ambleside Online year 1.

Both girls need help in expressing themselves, which I think that the new add-ons will be very useful.

I have combined Katie's reading into her work with the Literature Pockets from Evan Moor. For each of the short fairy tales we find other versions of the fairy tales and she reads the different versions as we work through the activities. Both the girls enjoyed her recent unit on the Gingerbread Man. So much so they worked together and wrote their own "Cookie Man" story. We have several more units in the current Evan Moor book I have, and then I will get the next Folk and Fairy Tale one that has the longer stories in it to finish out the school year.

Math
I am making no changes to Math. Both girls are liking their Math Mammoth program and are doing well. Mary is finishing the chapter on working with large numbers and will be moving into multipling this week. Katie is working with subtraction and subtraction facts.

Latin
We are slowly working through Prima Latina. Latin seems to be the subject that is most quickly dropped during busy weeks. It is on Mary's list to do, but Katie does have her own book and follows along learning the vocabulary words. We are only on Lesson 5, but the girls do seem to be retaining the vocabulary due to random quizzes and the liberal use of the CD.

Art and Music

Art and Music are kind of hit or miss. They are picking up a lot through interest-led work and external activities. Around Christmas we will be attending the Nutcracker performed by the NC Ballet.

Emily
Emily is working with me through the Hooked on Phonics K book and loves to read short little phonetic readers. So much that I have trouble keeping up with her. I find myself printing off little books to make for her to read. She is a good little reader.

We keep working through her letters and phonics worksheets. Which she enjoys as long as she doesn't have to do much writing. She really enjoys the arts & craft activities.

In math she knows her shapes, sizes, numbers and so on. After Christmas we will start working with basic time skills, money and addition.

Handwriting is the bug-a-boo for Emily and I am tempted to purchase yet another curriculum for her and Robbie to share: Handwriting without Tears and the wooden letter set.

Robbie
Robbie loves letters. He knows his letters and the sounds most of them make. One of his favorite activities is to be read to and to find letters in the words.

We are working with him on counting and colors. And, just learning to occupy himself without taking apart the house.

As you can see we have had a very good fall this year.

Peace,

Amy

Laughter is GOOD Medicine

Katie did gradually get better yesterday, although she did not want to do much beyond sitting on the sofa watching the movies we got for her. She has fallen in love with "Andre". She chuckled and laughed throughout the movie and then wanted to watch it again and again.

Later in the day Mary, Katie and I curled up and read all together "The Pancake Man." Katie is studying the Gingerbread Man for her literature and we are reading different versions. It gave the girls the idea to write their own version of the "Gingerbread Man", which led to even more laughter. So much so that I don't think they ever finished it.

Mary did her best to entertain all of us, she put on a hilarious costume show that kept us all in stitches.

By bedtime; Katie's temp was almost normal, she had color in her cheeks and was not ready to go to sleep (a good sign she had turned the corner). Some of it was the medicine, but a lot of it was all the laughing she did yesterday.

Peace,

Amy

Beathing

Yesterday my heart sank as I sat in the doctor's office and heard him tell me that Katie had pneumonia. Flashes of recent news reports showing children laying in hospital beds in induced comas while breathing tubes stuck own their throats rushed through my mind. She was only a little sick over the weekend, how did she end up Tuesday morning barely able to stand with a 104 degree temperature.

He said it was a little spot, she could be treated at home and gave us a prescription for a high dose medicine. And, if she got worse to proceed directly to the ER.

At the pharmacy I had to wait, and wait for her medicine. It ends up Katie hasn't had a prescription filled since she was less than a year old. Katie doesn't get sick. While I waited I looked through the $5 DVD bin. I figured since she was going to be stationed on the sofa for a few days some new DVDs would be needed also. We got Nim's Island and Andre; little girls and their wild animals - perfect for Katie.

The rest of the day we sat and watched movies and watched Katie. Slowly her temperature fell back to 100, she began to sit up, to talk, to move.

Mary, became Katie's guard dog. She too had seen the news reports and being almost 10, understood that this wasn't just a cold. She made Katie get well cards, watched the same movie over and over (because Katie wanted to), and got Katie popsicles to suck on.

Last night the three of us slept in the family room. I dozed, waking every hour to check Katie's temperature and make sure she was breathing. She was, thankfully, and no wheezing.

They have not woken yet this morning. She is sleeping comfortably...which is good. But, I'm a worry wart and I don't know when I will sleep comfortably again. I have 3 other children who were a little sick over the weekend also. I've been warned that any one could get better and fall back very, very sick again quickly.

To steal a line from one of my favorite bloggers: "Kiss those babies".

Peace,

Amy

Somedays it is all about entertaining him

Planning school, teaching school and making sure the girls stay on task is not the most difficult part of my day. Lately, he has been very into taking things apart. It isn't unusual for me to find a screwdriver hidden away in his room, along with batteries removed from his toys or other things actually deconstructed.

It has become my mission to find ways to entertain him in my line of vision, while I teach the older ones. I felt really lucky when I pulled the mega blocks out for him yesterday and he spent the entire day building garages for his cars. We had a great school day!!

Peace,

Amy

Halloween Picture

This isn't the best picture of the kids and an example of why I don't often have them post for pictures. Shortly after it was taken the children all dispersed in several directions. Mary (as Ginny Weasly) was trick or treating with a friend and her parents, Katie (a devil) was with her friends and their parents, DH took Robbie (the firefighter) around the block, while poor Emily (the fairy) was too sick to go. But, don't worry, everyone shared their candy with her.

Peace,

Amy

Williamsburg Field Trip - Part III

Friday morning we headed over to the Visitor Center for Colonial Williamsburg where we caught the bus into Williamsburg.

Our first stop was the Governor's Palace, where Lord Dunmore served as the last Royal Governor. We had a really great docent giving the tour. He was funny and entertaining, and kept the three girls interested as we walked through the palace. I have to say the decorations left a bit to be desired. I think he had enough guns and swords on the walls to outfit half the colonial army.

When Lord and Lady Dunmore evacuated the Palace they took 13 wagons of goods with him. Yet, there were enough valuables left that when Patrick Henry took possession of the palace as the first governor of Virginia, he had a "yard sale" to raise money for the Patriots.


Capital, where the House of Burgesses meet.

Emily fell in love with the Hotch Potch alphabet blocks in the Wythe house. She bought a copy of the Hotch Potch doll with her money.

Here we are visiting the Printer. DH's grandfather ran a print shop, that while a little more mechanical than this one, still required the type to be set and was similar.


After the Printer we stopped by the Blacksmith.




They were busy making pieces for the new coffee shop that will be opening next month. We enjoyed our conversation with the Blacksmith.

The girls stopped by the Bakery to get some fresh baked cookies while I took a little break. Then we walked down the the Millinery shop. Mary fell in love with a yellow and blue silk dancing dress. The shopkeeper was very interesting and explained how there were no patterns and the material was not often cut. Instead it was wrapped and folded around the lady and then sewed. I couldn't get over the white baby dresses that all children wore until they were 5 or 6. White....seriously.

We stopped by the capital building, but it was crawling with school groups and did not feel like waiting until the next tour. We will hit it on another visit.

We made one last stop at the Jail.

We learned that almost any offense could get you hung, but most offenders were not hung. Most offenders were pardoned by the priest. The only two unpardonable offenses were murder and stealing a horse.

Then we caught the bus back to the Visitor Center and our car. Time to drive to Yorktown.

We did not visit the Yorktown Battleground, but went to the Virginia Museum. similar to the Jamestown, there was a very well done indoor exhibit through the timeline of the Revolutionary War. Many stories told through journal entries.

Scout Mary
DH talking with the doctor.
I think I need one of these signs above my laundry room.
Keeping track of all the supplies.
American army encampment

From the defeat of the British army we move on to what would have been an average 1780s farm.







All too soon it was time to re-enter the 21st century and head back home.

The trip was wonderful. Almost no crowds and could generally avoid the school groups. We got to talk extensively to almost everybody we meet. And, learned quite a bit back ground information. We will go back again in a few years, when US History study rolls back around.

We are already planning next fall's trip. It will be near the time we study the Civil War and we will go back to Virginia to visit the battlefields and DH wants to go to Gettysburg, PA.

Peace,

Amy

Williamsburg Field Trip - Part II

The Jamestown Settlement Museum is just down the road from the National Park. It is run by the Virginia Commonwealth as a teaching, living history museum. The first part is a gallery exhibit, no photographing, that spans the period from pre-settlement to the end of the colonial era. You can compare the three different cultures (Native, English, and African) that would come together to form the American colonies. Learn where different goods were imported from and how they got there.

After the gallery you walk out into a Native American village.


Inside they have tried to recreate living quarters as realistically as possible. And, everything is there to be touched and held. Mary tried her hand at grinding the corn for that day's meal.


Here, Mary is seeing how difficult it was to scape a deer-hide using only an oyster shell.

Katie is throwing a corn-cob dart through the hoops. A game all natives played to practice their hunting skills.

Just down the path is the dock with the three ships that brought the first Englishmen to Jamestown.


Aboard the Constance Marie, they learned just how tight the space was for the 50+ men that traveled for several weeks aboard the ship.

Officer's bed, just the right size for a ten-year-old girl.
Crews' bunks can fit a 4-year-old.

Goods carried down below.
Bathroom facilities
Helping the mate close the gunwales for the night.
Now, that is a rudder.
The ships always seem much bigger in books and movies.

From there we walked up to the Jamestown settlement.


Passing by a dugout canoe and the garden the Natives would have helped them plant.

Once inside the walls we found the armor. Child-sized, but still heavy.


Then off to explore the simple houses that the wealthy men lived in.



Basic cooking


How many men could fit into one room?

One last stop by the armory to get outfitted...






At this point we had pretty much closed down the museum for the day. It was time to drive back to Williamsburg, find some dinner and go swimming before bedtime.

Our visit to Colonial Williamsburg and Yorktown will be continued in Part III.

Peace,

Amy

Williamsburg Field Trip - Part 1

A few weeks ago DH came home with the news that he still had a few more vacation days he needed to use this fall. We mulled over several possibilities, but finally decided on a trip to Williamsburg/Jamestown. It is a fairly easy drive from where we live and we could do most of the activities in a two day/one night stay...which made it affordable. My mom offered to come up and stay with Robbie. As much as I hate leaving him behind, it was easier for DH and I to see the exhibits and take tours with the older girls. Plus, he had a blast with his Mamaw.

We left early Thursday morning and got to our hotel a little after 1pm. After dropping off our bags and picking up the tickets we headed down to Jamestown.


First, the National Park Jamestown Fort. Although there was a fairly long walking tour, we concentrated on the Fort and the Archearium.



Jamestown is a working archeological dig.

They are currently digging out the original well that John Smith dug for Jamestown. The well, turned briney and became a garbage pit after a new well was dug. Most of the artifacts they are finding are dating to the starving time, and includes bones of the small creatures (rats) they ate...ewww.
This a a model of the fort. Mary was really excited to see this, as one of her projects a few weeks ago was to draw a map of the fort. It looked very similar to this model.

Since foot traffic was very light at the museum when we were there, the workers were able to stop and talk to us about what they had been finding.

Here the girls are looking at Native pottery shards that no one else has seen in 400 years. They were just screened out of that pile of dirt that afternoon.

The National Park Service also operates a museum, called an archearium, where they display all the remains and artifacts they have uncovered in the last two decades. As we entered the girls were each given a picture scavenger hunt for an award at the end.

Mary had to find a silver "ear picker". Worn around the neck of a wealthy person, they used it to clean their teeth, clean under their fingernails and remove ear wax.


Let's just add that to my Christmas list.

Katie had to find a group of blue glass beads that were used for trading with the natives. And, Emily was sent in search of a double fish hook.

It was a great activity for the girls, and the docent made sure that we had to cover the whole exhibit area to find them all.

After that we paid homage to Pocahontas
We visited the glassblowers.

The day was kind of chilly and damp. Those hot ovens felt so good to stand nearby.
Here the glassblowers are making glasses that are sold in the gift shop. Beautiful pieces. We found out the glassblowing was one of the earliest industries created in Jamestown due to the abundance of sand and trees for fuel.
One of these men had been working at Jamestown for 12 years as a glassblower.
After the glassblowers, a short trip up the road took us to the Virginia Commonwealth Jamestown Settlement museum. Continue this visit in Part II.

Peace,

Amy

Monday before Halloween

I think it is time for a break. The kids are still doing well, you can just sense that they are ready for something exciting.

It is a good thing DH and I have planned a sleep-away field trip for later this week.


No worries though, we will be home in time for the Halloween festivities. In preparation, DH spent the evening carving pumpkins.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that they actually last until Saturday night.





Peace,

Amy