Poetry and bugs, with a dash of schooling...

Alex and I are working on poetry right now. Not just writing it, but reading it aloud and well. He is getting pretty good at it. I bought two magnetic table boards for the kids to practice their poetry (or in Cyan's case, reading) on. I left them on the table and in the morning, this is what they woke up to in front of their breakfast:

They were each given the task of creating their own poem. Alex wrote a poem on snow (on paper) and Cyan wrote this:

You may be thinking how terribly rude she was being, but she is on a Penelope kick, so this was actually a compliment and she didn't even know if could have been insulting. (Alex did however... I talked with him about that).

We have been on field trip city lately. We went to the zoo on Friday, and the Nisqually Valley Reserve and the Farm I work for on Saturday. There are too many pictures to try to post them all here, but I will post some of the best.

The zoo was great! We had a good time and even got to see a couple of friends we hadn't seen in forever!

This sweet whale came up to say "hi" right next to us, and it started a chain of events that was pretty funny. Cyan dropped her toy (small blue ball) in the whale tank, and Logan started screaming... not because of the toy falling in (which was rescued very quickly by zoo staff who were wonderful about it!), but because he is scared of whales. Well, actually, anything that has glass between it and him. He was fine with the Lemurs, fine with the Meerkats and Walabies... but whales, polar bear, walrus, and even the otters? Climbed up my arm and screamed every time we got close. I hope it is just a phase as they are some of my very favorites, but it was needless to say, strange to have him so attached to me. Usually I am chasing him. But he wouldn't leave my side.

Then on Saturday morning, we went to Nisqually Valley Bird Refuge. This was a wonderful and educational trip. Did you know that birds are the fewest in our area right at the end of the summer? I had no idea. We must be in the middle of the migration path, so as the birds go South in late Fall, they are here, and as they go North in late spring, they are here, but in the Summer? Not a bird except for native ducks were at the refuge. We didn't even see a hawk. Amazing!

But you know what that really means? Visiting a bird refuge with no birds? BUGS!

This fell out of the sky (literally!) and landed on Alex's arm. Scared the crap out of him until he figured out what it was. lol...

And this one crawled right on to Cyan's finger from the bench she was leaning on. She was watching it as it walked up, and it crawled right on to her. She was thrilled that she 'got' a caterpillar to. :)

And here is yet another catterpillar we saw... I think it is an older version of the one Alex had on his arm, but not sure. They look very similar though. Deffinetly related.

This one is my personal favorite... a wooly bear. I love them!

Whatcha looking at buddy?

Ah-hah! Sweet little thing.

See how many things you see at a bird refuge when the birds are not there? My guess is, that all of these would have been food for said birds if they had actually been around, but since they were not, it made for one cool field trip. It openned up a huge conversation about food chains and food webs. We drew food chains these things were connected in a bit too, but that isn't nearly as interesting pics of cool critters we saw.

Biology Lesson - Food Webs

Last week we studied Eat Your Rainbow... a way of eating that concetrates on color and of course, is mostly based on plants (not food dye.. lol!) The kids followed what they were eating for a week (or at least that was the plan) and figured out what colors they ate most... then we talked about how good each of those colors in nature were for our bodies. They were into it.... but didn't really understand it. So this week, I switched to food chains and food webs for an easier way to understand very similar information. Food chains and food webs has been a super fun set of lessons.

First, I had them compare and contrast two different plants that were in the yard (no better time to do this than in harvest season) and Cyan drew and colored them, and Alex wrote lists (after drawing and coloring them) to their differences and similarities.

Then I read the book Who Eats What?. It is an incredible book that explains quite a few things about food chains and food webs in perfect kid friendly language.

Then today, I had them read the book again, and make their own food chains (Cyan) or food web (Alex).

While they were doing that, I got a print out of Bill Nye the Science Guy's food web PDF file. After they were done with that, we watched his episode on the food web. It was a great end to the lesson... really hammering it in. I wish I could explain what I did better... But it was a great lesson. :)

Strange Nature, and some cool bugs

We have three branches that are completely red now. But that is all. Perhaps, few and far between, there is another half red leaf on the oak tree... but really, the whole rest of the tree is green aside from those there branches.

Like, really. Isn't that odd?

Every day now, my children find more bugs. Even Logan came in for a 'bug jar' today. Good thing I preserve food. It gives my children nearly an endless supply of 'bug jars'. lol!

This is a cool big spider Cyan found in the garden while picking tomatoes for our omlet this morning. Pretty cool isn't it?

It is wasp season too... wasps eat meat, not honey or nectar. So when I saw some at our lunch yesterday, I just let it pass, and tried to keep Cyan from screaming defence over her turkey-wrap. lol... but then, on her plate, I saw it. One of them was eating her lunch meat right out of her wrap!! It was crazy enough that we actually put another peice down for the next one who came along so I could take photos... they chew around in a circle, and then pick up the piece they have taken and fly off with it. It is completely odd... and totally cool to watch.

These next two pictures are out of focus... but it was so cool that I have to put them up here anyway.

Can you see the little sucker chewing around her turkey in a circle like that?

He flew into the shadows and this was the only chance I got to capture him take off with it... but he has his chewed piece of turkey in his little legs, and he is flying away with it. Isn't that the weirdest thing?

Fall is such a cool season. :)

Review of Math-U-See

I am completely impressed.

It is spendy but so far, it is worth every penny. We have only done two lessons each kid... but things I was trying to get into Cyan's head for most of last year, she got in those two lessons. It could be that she is just more ready for Place Value and other concepts like that now... she is older. It could also be that I laid down a good enough foundation that she was able to pick it up really fast. But I like the set up of Math-U-See very much. The idea of watching the video, touching the blocks, and doing the problems all at once is very appealing and quite effective. I don't think we will be going back to Singapore Math. It is great for concepts when kids are just starting out... but the lack of instructions for kids OR teachers just makes the higher levels way more complicated. And by higher levels I mean book 3. Like 2nd grade math. I am really enjoying the change.

Seeds, and Bugs, and other Fall stuff

On Saturday we had Nature Day.  The lesson we read had a story about how when the author was a little girl, she used to go out in the early fall and collect seeds by walking in her socks and having the burrs and seeds stick right in... then she would just plant her socks!  lol... I didn't sacrifice two pairs of socks, but we did go out and look for plants that had gone to seed.  We found tons!

Clockwise from top Left:  grass, dandylion, chive, nasturtium, coriander/cilantro, sunflower, calendula, borage (in the center of the old flower head) and fennel (the one in the middle is a stamen of a flower Alex found outside thinking it was a seed until closer examination).  These are just a few that we found in the yard.

Fall is also the time for bugs. 

Lots of bugs and bug like critters.    While we were on our seed hunt, Alex found this crazy caterpillar over by our fir tree. 

Terribly cool isn't he?  Right now, he is in a jar, looking to make a cocoon under a leaf at the bottom.  Hopefully it works out and the kids will have a moth or butterfly in a couple of weeks to release.  Crossing our fingers...

Cyan found a grasshopper today as well, and now the two bug like critters are hanging out next to each other in jars out on the BBQ (yes, outside. I am a mean mommy.) Logan was especially intrigued by the grasshopper and how it kept jumping in the jar. Hopefully, the poor thing survives my children's close examination.

The seasons are changing, and along with that, the leaves. 

This is about a month early for us, and it has been surprisingly cold lately, but sunny, and beautiful as well... so we'll take it. 

All my secrets revealed...

Someone asked me how I keep it all together with a toddler around my feet all day long. I felt the need to answer candidly, for that is really the only way us mamas can feel sane and normal.

None of my secrets are easy at this point. Logan spends a lot of time outside. He also spends a lot of time making controlled messes. Which is intense for me... but whatever. And whenever I get a free moment from explaining everything from Pre-Algebra to how to sound out 'we' for the 900th time (lol!) I read him books.

I have also employed a lot of Montessori tactics with him. Lots of time in his highchair putting beans from one small bowl to another with a spoon. Lots of banging on pots and pans.

Did I mention he is outside a lot?

He has his own clipboard with his own crayons that we get out at the start of the day when the kids are getting their daily work done, but that really doesn't ever (like ever) last more than 15 minutes.

Today he spent quite a bit of time sitting on his bouncy horse, eating M&M's, and watching Baby Einstein. Then, the biggest chore (because every time the tv is on it is like a black hole sucking the life out of my children's brains and sending them to another dimension) is keeping the kids from that side of the living area so we can actually get something done.

It isn't easy. That is for sure. And I don't worry about if my house is clean. And Logan is outside, a lot. I pretty much just never stop moving. I put him in the swing, give him a good push, and then run inside, where I explain, once again, how to get the sum of X in a division problem, then run back outside, usually with binky in hand, to give him another push, and continue to push him with my toes while I listen to a recitation of Cyan trying to read the, omg, most simple books in the world, which of course, she was way past 3 months ago, as she stutters and read as s-l-o-w-l-y as possible while my eyeballs are falling out, just to have Alex come out and say he doesn't understand.

Lots of deep breathing. But thanks for thinking I could have it all together. That makes me feel like I may not be crazy for trying this.

First days of school

Babies love school. All sorts of stuff they don't get to play with comes out...

"Hey, look mama! A blower!"

And the big kids like it because they get to do things like eat M&M's (after graphing all the colors) at 9am...

Write stories about Alien Lifeforms they made up, that just so happen to live on the moon...

And get done at 10:30 in the morning and go play hop-scotch on the back poarch.

Baby gets to join in that fun too.

Homeschool life is good.

Our Schedules

Here is their individual schedules with the curriculum we are using for each subject. This is what I started with. The actual schedule came after I figured out how long each subject took for my kids.

Alex has a couple things that are still blank on his. We are not sure what he wants to do for electives nor what we can afford. So we are still talking/working on that with him.

Our school days are set up a bit differently than most. We switch back and forth with my husband's work schedule. We have four day weeks with rotating weekends. Every other month we have W, Th, F off, and every other month we have Su, M, T off. Yes... my kids always do school on Saturday because my husband always works. So far, our schedule has worked out just about like this:

It is a rough estimate... and of course, if we can get it done faster, we do. But for the most part, below is about what our days look like so far.

Our School Day Schedule

7:30 am

- Get kids doing their chores while making breakfast.

8:00 am

- Eat breakfast and make sure chores are done.

8:30 am

- Start school work with Critical Thinking and Calendar skills.

9:00 am

- Math

10:00 am (or whenever we are done with math)

- English/spelling

11:00 am (or whenever we are done with English)

- Break and snack

11:30 am

- Back to school work. Day one and three is Nature Science and Biology. Day two and four is History and Geography. Logan usually watches a Baby video at this time.

12:30 pm (or whenever we are done with Science or History)

- Lunch. Put Logan down for nap.

1:00 pm

- Meet the Masters, Art, or other elective time.

Haha! Caught you!

This little guy has been eluding my camera for weeks. Isn't he cute?? A new one to add to our bird collection!

The First Day of School

What a crazy day! We had all the normal first day of school 'stuff'. The whining over who was going to get to do what, the talking at the same time, the baby wandering around wondering what he is supposed to do and constantly feeling left out, and the moments that make my heart sing that make it all worth it.

I set them up so we could talk about their schedules. I gave them each copies of what they were going to do on what days and then they got to ask questions. Logan sat and did his 'work' while we were chatting about our days.

After that, we started our calendar work. Cyan, on her own, decided she needed to do hers away from the brothers.

Alex was inside, but he also got his work done quicker than I expected. Their daily work includes calendar activities (suitable to their different ages and ablities) and then a critical thinking assignment, which is usually short, that gets their minds going.

After daily work and calendar work was Math... Alex is doing pre-algebra and doing pretty good at it, although he is getting stuck on silly things like not remembering how to do the same type of problem two minutes later. This will improve with time I am sure, as it took him forever to do his work today and he won't want to make that a trend. ;)

Cyan is doing Singapore Math for now until we get her Math-u-See stuff. I am not terribly impressed. Second grade and she is working on "longer" and "shorter". Needless to say, she got it done very quickly.

Then comes English. Today I had Cyan do a lesson in her Explode the Code and write words that were revelant to our Biology Lesson later. She did great! I am surprized at how fast this stuff comes back up and is useful.

The lesson she was working on is using Consonent Blends.

Alex had a creative writing assignment that came from ABC Teacher... he got to create an alien life form. Although he was annoyed that 'research' came into it, he eventually created a cool little critter from the Moon that is named JX49 and eats moon dust particles. He will have more time tomorrow to do this project in greater detail.

While all of this was going on, I was trying very hard to get the last of the strawberry apple sauce done. And it was strange to realise that doing that while school was going on was easy! Doing it while you have a toddler, however... not so much.

Not that he didn't find his own things to do.

Finding bugs under rocks is fun.

and of course, there is always playing soccer with the cat. Yikes...

After school is over, what do my children do? Well, they play dress up. Here is Cyan, as a Borg.

That is all from this end! Hope the rest of you have had a great start of school!

Review for September

Alex:
We just started, but he is doing great.

Language Arts: I am mainly working on him enjoying language arts right now. I am giving him writing prompts and having him correct his own work. I am also having him correct others work with a red pen... which he is enjoying quite a bit. The control of the red pen seems to be a good motivation. Funny kid.

Math: We have been working on Order of Operations and skills to start pre-algebra when we get the books so far. He is amazing at math!

Science: We are working on basic plant biology right now along with a bit of nutritional science.

Social Studies: We are studying maps to get us ready for the Story of the World curriculum. Identification of different land marks on a map/globe/atlas, the names of specific countries, and stories of where man first started; Adam and Eve, and Evolutionary Theory are our main focus until we get the curriculum.

Fine Arts: We started the Meet the Masters program yesterday and talked about the different artists we would be studying this year. It looks like a great program and I am sure it will bring a bunch of ideas for more projects for my kids.

Technology: We are working on typing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cyan:
Language Arts: She is doing great. She jumped right back in. She is reading like a champ (still a bit behind grade level, but I have no worries) and understands the actual rules of English much better than she should (which is why she has a hard time with the reading. Poor kid.)

Math: We are working on Addition and Subtraction again. She knows it, does well at it, but needed some review. We are also working on fractions and X 2. These have been fun and will be easy to expand on for more in detail math later.

Science: We are working on Biology and plant form and function. She just made a little booklet on beans and how they sprout.

Social Studies: We are studying maps to get us ready for the Story of the World curriculum. Identification of different land marks (mountains, rivers, etc) on a map/globe/atlas, the names of contenents, and stories of where man first started; Adam and Eve, and Evolutionary Theory are our main focus until we get the curriculum.

Fine Arts: "Mama, I am ALREADY an artist!" We started the Meet the Masters program yesterday and talked about the different artists we would be studying this year. It looks like a great program and I am sure it will bring a bunch of ideas for more projects for my kids. Cyan has already decided that she wants to paint like Monet. I think in this area she will be fine.

Technology: She is working on finding her favorite ed sites on the computer by herself.

My sweet girly

This girly.  Boy I love her.  She has enough spirit to one day be something amazing, but it is really challenging me right now.  I guess some of us just have to come in kickin'. 

And god help their mothers. 

In other news, first day of school is Wednesday.  We still don't have curriculum.  This is a bummer... but I got through an entire year last year without one, so a week won't hurt.  I have already set up a little 'Eat Your Rainbow' unit study about whole foods eating for kids and eating different colored foods.  It should be fun for us all.  :)