workboxwall

Originally uploaded by laluandmatt

finally. Well, no, not really. We’ve just been too busy for me to spend time talking to my computer. But now that we’ve settled in a little bit (and I do mean a LITTLE bit. we still have boxes randomly sitting in corners.) I’d like to share more about what we’re doing. Just in case all 4 readers from last year were interested:

The least important, but most exciting thing happening right now: workboxes. I’ve signed up, signed on and generally joined the workbox craze. The kids love it b/c they know what to do (even little 3 year old L) and I love it because it motivates me be prepare EVERY night and fill all those boxes beforehand. It used to drive M. crazy to watch me go through every bookcase and cubby just to locate the tape and construction paper… only to realize we don’t have a sprinkle of glitter in the house. And we need to make angels. An angel is just NOT the same without glitter.

So we have modified “sterilite” workboxes from Target (3.99 each), matching bins to keep finished work and clipboards (they were blue, I couldn’t resist), and our memory station (that’s what the CD player is for), and then my old ikea drawers that I loved so much but weren’t getting used much (holding the craft supplies that were hardly used last year).

So here’s a picture. I have lots more to share, mostly about our schoolroom and school plans and a little bit about our new home. Next time. All this blogging has me wiped. Whew. Time for ice cream.

the apple tree cabin

Originally uploaded by laluandmatt

The economy is shot and what are we doing? Crazy things. Well, not running up our credit cards or anything (been there, done that) thank goodness. But something almost as crazy. We are sniffing around looking for a fixer upper kind of mountain cabin. It needs to have charm, trees, and room for RV parking (which in theory will completely offset the monthly payment). The prices are finally low enough for it to make sense…Well, kind of. At least a dozen other people seem to be thinking like us judging by all the other offers on the same houses.

This one was our first pick. Until an inspection revealed a great deal of dry rot. I said, “Who cares!” My wise husband said, “No way.” I still think it’s super cute though. So we are still on the hunt. Which in some ways is the best part, Yes?

kindergarten board

Originally uploaded by laluandmatt

Two things I learned this week:
1) Don’t schedule 9 subjects in one day. No matter how many books you’ve read on Charlotte Mason’s “many subjects/short lessons” theory. Maybe it works better in First Grade, but 9 subjects is just way too much skipping around. For the kindergartener. And the teacher. Whew!

2) Go for a walk every day… even if it’s boiling hot and all you want to do after lessons is collapse on the couch listening to your Maytag wash all those karate uniforms for those new lessons you signed your kids up for. Tao Bao does not count as P.E. unless it’s raining and grasshoppers make for happy days. Especially bright green ones.

Off to find more grasshoppers…

for Kindergarten. Well, the beginnings of a plan anyway. You’d think after 4 months of research and note-taking (and clearly not blogging) and fussing with HST (Home School Tracker) I’d have a pretty concise set of lesson plans! Those are coming along, but for now I think mostly we have a good skeletal framework. Some of you may be thinking “that is WAY too much planning for a kindergarten curriculum!” – but I am such a scatterbrained, unorganized thinker. Truly. Without a daily plan and boxes to check, I very soon get overwhelmed and lose track of where we need to go. At 5, I think it’s quite beneficial for my little kindergartener (!) to have a teacher who knows exactly what is supposed to be taught at any given time of day. So for the benefit of those few family and friends who wish to know where I’ve been hiding the entire summer… here are the choices:

Schedule: This year we will continue with our 4 day a week program, saving Fridays for our new local teaching Coop. Coop days will include a program for our little 2 year old DD too, and possible a music program. One small glitch: This scardy-cat mom will have to learn to teach a room full of other people’s kids from time to time, as the Coop is not run by one teacher (apart from the music program), but is a shared program with other moms who will take turns at the helm. Yuck. I am not looking forward to that part. I love teaching. But not in front of a crowd. Still think this is going to be a great experience for the kids and so I’m preparing to make a big silly fool of myself in front of other 5, 6 and 7 year olds. And, on another topic entirely, we are nearly finished potty training our DD (2). Very big deal. HUGE. (That’s my darling daughter’s favorite word… that and, “oh, man…” which she says when she doesn’t get her way!)

MAIN: We will be using Tapestry of Grace, Year 2: Between Ancient and Modern as our core curriculum, but I’ve mixed up the schedule quite a bit to make it more appropriate for Kindergarten. After reading through the first two units, which include literally hundreds of pages of teachers notes and reading assignments, I’m convinced this part of our “plan” will be more of an education for me than my children. The worldview assignments are rich and varied and I’m certain my little guy will have a blast learning about knights and castles and kings and explorers, but I’ll be studying the differences between the Southern and Northern Renaissance and the various influences of these movements on the Reformation. Which, in theory, will prepare me to teach the same topics at a higher level next time we cycle through this period of history, but in reality is just plain fun. I’m in heaven! I could write about TOG for hours, and prob. will in another post! My only real struggle with TOG is the decision of the fantastic folks (they really are super friendly and responsive) at Tapestry to refuse access to HST daily lesson plans created by other moms who want to share, or even providing their own version of downloadable lesson plans (I’d happily pay for this privilege!).

In the lower grades, when the student really can’t “plan” their own schedule every week (what TOG suggests in order to encourage discipline and self-government), it’s near to impossible for the mom to keep good records without going nuts. With over 70+ resources, just keeping track of the reading log is a monumental effort! (Here is a link to the TOG forum discussion on HST) They finally posted a “sample” daily lesson plan over on their site last week (and it’s great!)… but the mom of Lower Grammar students still needs to do all that work in planning out the daily assignments for the remaining 35 weeks (I’ve logged easily 40+ hours doing exactly this and I’m nowhere near finished) that would otherwise be provided in a plan like Sonlight.

If you homeschool in California and you’ve been following the court case this year, you will understand why I want to have my records complete, extensive and, well… perfect.

Sonlight and KONOS were the runners-up. Overall I’m really happy with TOG, despite the scheduling weakness. It’s just a top-notch, Ivy-League prep style education – in the best sense. If you complete all the assignments as listed for the Rhetoric Stage, I’m convinced your students will have been exposed to more good literature and philosophy than 95% of recent Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Columbia graduates.   TOG is unmatched. Which is why I need to start now to prepare myself to teach that stage!

Math: We will continue with Shiller Math 1 & 2 starting up at lesson 117, where we left off in June. This is my little guys favorite subject and while I debated switching over to Math-U-See (and the DVDs that go with this program!), we will be sticking with Shiller for the next year or two. I have a slight philosophical conflict with the program. Dorothy Sayers would challenge the teacher to do more drilling and work less with abstract ideas at this early stage of learning, but for many reasons this Montessori based math program is engaging for him, and that is a top priority for me this year.

Science: We loved Apologia Astronomy last year! We used only the parts that worked in a pre-school setting (projects and read-alouds), and there is still plenty to explore should we want to circle back in a few years. We are now moving on to the newly released Land Animals of the Sixth Day with much anticipation. Dinosaurs are included in our topic line-up, and lots of gardening and field trips (like Grossology at the local Science Museum) to supplement, thanks to our new COOP!

Language Arts: This is where “the plan” gets a little tricky expensive. I’ve spent the bulk of the summer trying to get my mind wrapped around the Spalding method of teaching reading and spelling with some success. I’m sold on the vertical method of teaching reading/spelling: basically where all the sounds of each letter/phonogram are taught first instead of all the short vowel sounds first, and then the long, for instance, and then word families. And I’ve written up a gazillion lesson plans using the Spell to Write and Read Wise Guide Spelling Lists (Which we used last year at a slower pace). And trying to fit in a local STWR training seminar into our schedule, with no success. And then, right when I had the entire year planned out, I stumbled upon The Phonics Road. Wow. It’s still “Spalding” based, but with 2 important differences: (1) It has lesson plans (thank you Barbara Beers!!!) so I don’t have to spend every moment my husband is home (thank you my patient love!) trying to create my own lesson plans in addition to teaching myself graduate-level language theory. And (2) It has DVD teacher training disks for the entire curriculum! And (3 – I know I said 2, but I just thought of another very important part) the program actually looks like FUN! The entire Phonics Road program (up to about 4th grade and then it segues into the Latin Road to English Grammar, which I am also excited about!) has a construction theme with “tool boxes” and “blueprints” and “building codes” to get little ones a bit more excited about spelling rules. So far Matt has memorized all but the most advanced phonograms (and even those he gets right more times than I do), he can break down nearly any word by clapping syllables, and finger spell aloud with me (all this thanks to the excellent Spell to Write and Read program). But reading and spelling are his least favorite lessons nonetheless… he consistently says they’re boring. Not sure where he picked that word up, but in this case, he is absolutely right. No matter how much phonogram bingo we do, it’s just not an exciting subject yet. Once he is reading fluently, I think he will have a change of heart. Until then, having a few catchy “Bob the Builder” type themes will come in mighty handy around here! 

I’ve also ordered up Cursive First… I’ll let you know what I think once work a bit through the program.  So far we are loving the cursive sandpaper letters.   Even our 2 year old loves to practice her letters this way!

Art: Artistic Pursuits: Books 1 & 2. Tapestry of Grace suggests Book 2 as a supplement to their “core” studies, but I liked the few pages I could preview on CBD in this program and ended up ordering the wrong book! Book 1 instead of Book 2. But I enjoyed it so much I decided to keep it anyway and I just ordered up Book 2 also. We’ll be adding this about 3 weeks into the school year so we can get a handle on the main subjects first. I might make an exception though, for the incredibly messy make-at-home oil pastel scratch board projects… I loved those when I was a kid! We may have to try that our first week. Just FYI. These are not cheap art programs. And you need to source and buy all your own supplies (no, office depot will not carry the required materials). But they look easy to use for the artistically challenged (I love art, but technically have no skills to pass on to my children in this regard!) AND I know I will use these for years to come at different ages. So there. That’s my weak justification.

Music: Stories of the Great Composers, with CD. I will be reading these stories aloud and listening to some of the “great compositions” during our lunch breaks. This brilliant time management idea I picked up from a fabulous home school blogger whose name now escapes me! I’m not sure how else we’ll fit classical music in on a daily basis (we already have a sing-along program with Bible Memory Songs in the morning), but I so want to do this. Another option is to outsource this subject to a teacher in our new COOP on Fridays.

Nature Study: A subject all on it’s own because I think the study of God’s creation is awfully important at this stage. We are one of those radical home schoolers who believe in a literal 7 day creation and want to reinforce our strong (and faith-building) belief in a God who can do miracles. Because I truly believe my children are living, breathing miracles.  Yes, I want to teach my little ones all about modern scientific discoveries… but I also want to instill a hope in God who is not limited by the laws of nature, but indeed created them and governs them! And so, in an effort to balance out the push towards all things evolutionary in both the secular and Christian media… I read from Genesis (crazy me). And, I want to carve out some time each week to get out of the house and really hunt down the local natural treasures. Even the snails that are eating all my green beans and climbing up into our engines. Or maybe it’s rats that are catching the snails and crawling up into our car engines? We have various theories as to how they actually get up there. But however it happens, they get cooked. Crispy. Nice topic for our first week of Charlotte Mason-inspired nature study, huh?  Morning Star Learning has some great natural study bundles here.

Our Morning/Circle Time is a combination of singing, dancing (I have very energetic morning kids) and memory work (everything from verses, to continents to math facts, to phone numbers) and devotions. Sounds like alot, but it’s really less than 20 minutes.

Foreign Language: We are continuing with Bonjour Les Amis and our favorite cat Moustache, but I’m still looking for a good supplement. Ideally we’d enroll him in the local 3-day a week afternoon French immersion classes. But that is not going to happen this year. I’m hoping to continue on with French for the next 2 years and transition into Latin once we progress from The Phonics Road to The Latin Road. I wish we could do both! This is the only academic subject (at this age) where I feel outsourcing would provide a better result. Oh. And I should mention my sweet husband wants me to teach Chinese at some point. I will definitely be outsourcing THAT one.

PE: Karate is on the short list for our PE requirement. I like the schedule and the discipline. It’s never too early to learn how to do a proper push-up. Not that I can do anything close to a proper push-up. Football was the number one request this year by DS, but for some reason I think 5 is a bit young for organized Pop Warner. Any dissenters out there? Maybe I’m just in mourning. I can’t watch any football now, knowing Farve is playing for the Jets. I’m happy that Rodgers is getting his chance, finally, but still. Now it’s time for my PE requirement: laundry.

P.S. Please excuse the lacking photos and links. I’ve already exceeded my personal “blog” time limit and truly need to peel myself away from this machine. But I love to read what other HS moms are planning for the year (pictures or no), so I’m just publishing it as is!

My daughter finally has her own (completed) doll quilt. With matching pillow.

Yes. I am quite proud of all 18 inches of it, and she’s at a great age for actually using a doll quilt, which is always nice. Although I am still a sucker for the wall of doll quilts decorating technique. There must be 7 work-in-progress doll quilts lying around the sewing room just waiting to be enjoyed by some friends daughter or cousin… but this is the first one actually finished. Slight problem (okay, maybe a big problem…I had to rip out 3 corners) with the binding however. See below:

That’s what happens when I try to complete the binding on a quilt without this handy dandy continuous binding tutorial from Heather Bailey

At least the pillow turned out alright.

Lately my mind has been looking like this:

• Call Grandma on Mondays, because that’s my assigned day (but remember to quickly pick up the phone at 6:30 a.m so the kids don’t wake up… because she calls nearly every day, thinking it’s been weeks since we’ve talked. I’m still trying to figure this Alzheimer’s thing out. Do I pretend like everything is normal? Remind her about every overlooked or forgotten detail? Just the important ones? Prob. just the important ones that are upseting her, right? I just really miss her.)
• Remember to bring back the plastic tub (freshly washed) when we pick up our new CSA produce basket. I love this local food… and the drop off couldn’t be closer. Just a few blocks away really. So why am I worried about forgetting this small detail?
• New shoes for Lauren. That she’ll actually wear without tearing up (very sad sight). No clue where to start.
• Present for my parents upcoming big anniversary. Seriously. I need to get them a good present to make up for the ten years or so I haven’t gotten them anything. Which makes me feel like the most terrible of daughters. Somehow anniversaries mean alot more to me this year. I’m going on 9 and it seems like a really big deal at this point. And 39 years of marriage. Wow.
• Our local home school support group has us sign up for the county (one charge) and the city/community (another) before we get the updates on classes and park days and the like. So I’ve been stuck in the middle without even knowing it (I just signed up with the county). And now that I’m all properly signed up (I think)I have so many socializing/fieldtrip opportunities, I’m actually having to say no occasionally (alot actually), just to get some schooling done on a regular basis. That feels weird.
• This weekend is our home school EXPO. I’m so excited I can hardly stand it. But I’m putting myself on a very tight budget (promise honey!) since theoretically I have all but 2 subjects covered for next year (kindergarten/1st). And this makes me nervous. I can save money all day long if I stay close to home and never pull out of the driveway. It’s only when I go out into the world that the money starts to run away from me. I’m a sucker for a sweet talking sales person and good marketing. Glycolic facial peels (“Honey, those crows feet age you 10 years… you’ve got to do something.”). I’ll take one. (But isn’t 33 a pretty normal age to get lines around your eyes? I think so. Or I remembered that I thought so once I got home from Nordstroms that day.) Bath and Body works 2 for 1 deals? I’m in. GapKids shorts: Buy 1 get one at 50% off? Yup. Give me a sales person with a nice smile and a pitch, and I’m a goner. So lately, like so many other Americans (since the gas and grocery bills are completely unpredictable these days) I’ve tried to keep things nice and lean around here. If we don’t really need it, it can wait. So for me, that means I can’t leave the house. Except for groceries, and gas, and parks, and playdates and doctors, and Jamba Juice. And maybe the occasional trip to Antique Alley. I’m in for a big test this weekend. The biggest temptation for me, bar none, is books (and bookcases). I think I’ll have to leave my wallet and checkbook at home and go cash only to play it safe. I’m weak! (This was written last week and although I didn’t go cash only… I was much more selective than I have been in the past. I truly wish I could claim my character has suddenly taken a much welcome frugal bent… but I’ve a feeling every housewife in America is watching her pennies with all the bad news out there right now. I don’t care what Bernanke says!)
  
• My sweetie wants some new pictures of the kids for his office. (no big deal, right?). Framed. (Big deal.) For some reason getting pictures framed is making me very anxious. (Where to I go? What style? How much?) Such a simple thing really.
• Why is my 2 year old daughter not going to sleep until 10pm? This worries me. Already tried naps, no naps, cut out sugar, lots of daytime play, solid bedtime routine, etc. Still no sleep until 10. I think she just wants to watch all the Jane Austen movies I’ve ordered from Netflix with me. Persuasion is on tonight. (Mansfield Park) With earphones.
• My orthodontist was supposed to call me a week ago to set up my big appointment to put on real, hones-to-goodness, braces. Now, I could call myself. But they said they would call me with available days, and I’m getting ornery in my old age and fully expecting them to follow through. Whew. They called, and I have an appointment on the 21st of May.

I still have nobody to vote for this year, and I’m seriously considering sitting out this election. Or hoping Ron Paul runs as an Independent.

moving

Originally uploaded by laluandmatt

So… most families take pictures of their kids playing sports, yes? But this picture means so much to us because it is living proof that there is something greater at work here on earth. You see, it means our big 5 year old now has depth vision for the first time ever. Real, honest to goodness, depth vision. He can catch and throw and dodge and generally just have good old fashioned boyhood fun.

Last summer, there was no hope of this ever really happening. He had eye surgery, but his very competent doctor said that he would never have binocular vision like this. A true miracle, and we are very, very grateful this month.

And… I’ve put a few more things in my etsy shop today too. Good days, these.

pin pillow

Originally uploaded by laluandmatt

With only one tiny pillow. But it’s a start.

After much hemming and hawing, we’ve finally managed to kick TV programming to the curb. And here are just a few things we’ve done this week instead:

1. Letters written to great-grandma who was just diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She has moved now to a safe, loving environment where she will be visited by family often – but sadly, not by us, as she now lives far away in another state. The move was quick and sudden, as was the disease progression. But all is not sad, as she is being well-loved and watched over. So… pictures were drawn. Some tears shed – not so much from sadness as my own awkwardness in trying to explain all this to my son.
2. An extraordinary amount of birdwatching. This is where the kids and I end up immediately after waking – all cuddled up on the couch looking out the window trying to figure out where the quail will lay her eggs this year. Even before coffee. That’s how exciting it is. Well, for me, half the excitement is in watching them – so aware, so in tune with all the noises, movements and colors in the yard. We’ve been using the Burgess Bird Book for Children in our morning read-aloud time this week.
3. And an inordinate amount of sewing. Purse-making for a friend, presents for our brand new little niece (!), pillows for us, various girly dresses (Using Japanese patterns as inspiration for Lauren’s summer wardrobe. Inspiration because the patterns are, indeed, in Japanese, and I can’t quite figure out all the steps without a translator!), and frequent arguments with my sewing machine over tension control for free-motion quiltiing!
4. Increased our Netflix account to 5 instead of 3! The Inquiry is next.

Enter Exhibit A. and B and C and, well… too many. I can’t help myself.

The pattern book, on top of still unfinished quilt top…

For summer. In linen and fabric and jute.

Inside.

For a friend. Still trying to figure out the handles.

More linen.

A dress for the littlest one. From this:

The house isn’t any cleaner just because we canceled TV. But we sure are having fun.

The less obvious list.

• No morning after let-down. Christmas and Independence Day (usually my favorites – I’m so predictable) have a way of souring the next day. Unless you can go sledding (in the first case), or boating (in the latter). Easter just kind of fades into a much-needed weather change here in San Diego. We’ve had 90 degree days this week. And sunburns.
• The decorations. I’m keeping out all my vintage paper eggs for the entire season. Great if you like birds and eggs and bunnies. And who doesn’t. Well, maybe not the bunnies if you’re a guy. Sorry sweetie!
• Egg salad for lunch – easy peasy. Made with my mom, in my own kitchen, for the first time. It’s awesome having my mom around. The Food for Life bread I just found at the store is pretty awesome too. But not as awesome as my mom. Who managed to potty train Lauren with a dolly and get Matt to read aloud all in one day. We’re still working on the potty training, but the train is definitely on the track! And for all those non-moms out there who think I’m crazy to blog about bread… I have no defense. You should have heard my mom and I discussing our three different mayo-replacement choices!
• The Easter Story read by Poppa and the little ones old enough to listen to all 20 minutes of it. It helps when your grandpa is a professional story-teller of sorts, I guess.
• Basketball games. We are on the verge of canceling TV completely… and the boys lucked out last weekend since I’ve been procrastinating. (I’m not so anti-TV as I am anti-advertising. But that’s a whole different post.)
• Cottage cheese pancakes and mangoes for breakfast.
• No Easter baskets. Less running after super-hyper kids and way more relaxing. And bubble blowing. And sewing. Well, honestly, I kind of forgot about the Easter baskets, so it’s not as if I planned the holiday to be this super no-sugar holiday. But it all worked out perfectly. See below…

Flamenco Twirly Skirt, Draft 1:

A spur of the moment combination bubble/twirly skirt with all my favorite springy fabrics. I didn’t use a pattern for this, since I seem to have pattern ADD, and lose interest before I finish reading through the pattern instructions. (That said, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of these new adorable patterns from Oliver and S.)

The longest tier was more than 18 feet long (likely not a surprise to you veteran sewers out there). Hanging there on the pegs the skirt looks a little funny (apart from the crazy threads), but on Lalu it’s just the sassiest little skirt ever and I love it. The only thing I really want to change is to thicken up the waistband a bit. Oh, and wash out the orange juice stains. And then bribe her to stand still.  For a picture.  Before the grass stains.  And after the threads are snipped.

I hope you had fun last weekend too!

First Desk

Originally uploaded by laluandmatt

and a new corner. I found it in a dusty corner with the wood sanded down and covered with clutter at the local antique mall. Our (almost) five year old has been asking for his own desk in his room, and his daddy had the same kind of desk when he was small. So we officially have an heirloom folks! And lots of messy jeans & hand stained memories to go along with it. I keep peeking into the room just to look at it.

Happy Easter everyone!