Memory Work- Where we are

Boo has learned the following:

All memory work up to lesson 65, in First Language Lessons, minus one poem because I wanted to do a different version.

O Sacrament Most Holy

Act of Faith

The Pledge of Allegiance

Act of Hope

Eternal Rest
O Come O Come Emmanuel

Up and coming: We'll be learning the Act of Charity (and other basic prayers to prepare for 1st Holy Communion), An Advent/Christmas poem, and a few other little moral, Mother-Goose type rhymes. We will also be learning more of the Stabat Mater during Lent-- I think this is turning into a tradition.

Here is the Advent Poem, with special thanks to MO, for sending it to me.

Like foolish folk of old I would not be,
Who had no room that night for
Him and thee.
See, Mother Mary, here within my heart
I've made a little
shrine for Him apart;
Swept it of sin, and cleansed it with all care;
Warmed it with love and scented it with prayer.
So, Mother, when the
Christmas anthems start,
Please let me hold your baby--in my heart.

Sr. Maryanna, O.P.

Phonecian Bread from STOW

We all enjoyed making the Phonecian (pita) bread in the Story of the World Activity Book.

Recently, Boo built a seige tower for the chapter on the Assyrians. This led to both Meenie and Boo looking up seige towers on the internet with their father. Afterwards, Meenie proceeded into the kitchen to give me an oral report about seige towers and how they work, while I was baking cookies. It was from the perspective of a three year old, so it went like this:

Siege towers, yeah, um the bad guys had a seige tower and then they tried to
get over the wall. The other guys were shooting arrows. The they had a door
knocker to knock down the wall. Yeah, they were bad.

Trip to the Museum of Science

We had been meaning to do this for a long time. So this week, my husband took some vacation days and we went into the city via the T, to the Museum of Science.

It was great, we really enjoyed the Lightning Exhibit and the Butterfly Garden. Much of the extra stuff was expensive, even with our library discount pass, so we did not see any of the films or the planetarium.

It really re-inforced some of the things that we have already learned this year. My son and I enjoyed putting together and taking apart the models of the eyes, teeth and other parts of the body.

I think that next year we will go back and focus on the exhibits that relate to what we will be studying. I really liked the mathematics exhibit, which is not something that would normally thrill me. Overall, I thought it was really well-done, and it was clean and well kept. I regret that we did not take more pictures, most of them are from the Butterfly Garden.

Weekly Update

Now, it is time for our not-so-weekly update. I am really trying to keep up with this, it is just that my cooking blog is more interesting :)

Language Arts:
We are on book 20 of the Now I'm Reading, purple set.
We began the yellow Bob Books set, but cannot find some of the books because Meenie played with them.
We're on Lesson 120 of OPG, and reviewing some of the consonant blends.
We're doing the Act of Hope for our memory work
We're on Letter G in Seton's Handwriting for Young Catholics 1.
We just finished Lesson 44 of FLL 1 and we are doing any suggested copywork, plus some other random copywork.
We're on Lesson 12 of SWO A.
Our Read Aloud is currently Huckleberry Finn.
Meenie is learning letters C and H, and getting past the humps of reciting the alphabet.

Math:
Saxon 1-Lesson 48
Meenie is learning to count 1-10, somehow she was able to count from 1-19 but forgot. I don't know how but I believe the explaination is that she is two and therefore insane.

History:
We're on Chapter 11 of SOTW 1, and finishing up our spider project plus getting ready to read about Ancient Africa in our library books.

Geography:
We're still memorizing the locations and names of the states. We're about half way done. I think Boo knows at least 27 of them, Meenie knows 6-8.
We're on pages 17-18 of Maps, Charts, and Graphs A

Art/Music/PE:
We kind of just take this as it comes, it is usually integrated with another subject. We listen to plenty of classical music. Walking is our main form of exercise though sometimes the kids like to dance to music. I don't really know what else to do when the weather gets cold.

Religion:
We're on Lesson 4 of the St. Joseph First Communion Baltimore Catechism, this month we'll be focusing on the Holy Souls.

Celebrating All Saint's Day

We celebrated All Saint's Day in every way we could this year. It was a rather successful day, I promise not to rant about my disliking of Halloween as a secular holiday. We just ignored it and went on our merry way to give our children a taste of Catholic culture.

We invited a three guests to our home, who were greeted by St. Dominic and St. Cecilia. In the above picture, you can see our home altar which was to honor our patrons for the day and will become an All Soul's altar this week.

We began our day by gathering at our altar and praying the Litany of the Saints as a Family. The house was clean and tidy and I prepared for our dinner. First, we snacked on spinach dip and fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. For the main course we had a slow roasted beef brisket and vegetables. I made buttermilk biscuits for the first time ever, I even cut them out in Fall shapes --acorns and leaves! I made a yellow cake with butter cream icing for dessert.

My children watched a movie about St. Francis of Assisi and played with our guests who also brought wine and ice cream. It felt like a holiday, my children were giddy with excitement all day long, which was exactly how I want them to feel about the great feasts of the Church.

The only other thing that I had planned, but did not do was to read about some of the lives of the saints, I was getting a cold and my throat was pretty sore by the end of the day. But there are plenty of other opportunities to read about the heroes of our Faith; I would consider the day well-sanctified and perfectly wonderful.

I never thought I would be this excited

Boo is really picking up the pace with learning to read. He is often readin over my shoulder as I sit at the computer and read or type. He's reading everything around him and every lesson is going faster and faster. There were days I would DREAD doing reading lessons due to the snail-like pace.

But that's not what I am excited about. I am excited about the fact that I actually like to teach math. I've never been a good math student, and I have never liked the subject, but I like teaching it. Apparently, Boo and Meenie both enjoy learning math, evidenced by the fact that Meenie can count and understand the concept of numbers and Boo is doing addition now at age 5.

I guess that is what is so great about homeschooling. At five, I was in half-day kindergarten, where I was with all the other children who had not learned their ABC's yet. I do not remember any type of math, but I do remember that there were addition facts involved in Kindergarten.

Some people would say, that you have to let kids play and be little kids, and so on. My kids have more playtime than children who go to school. I've estimated that the average school child has between 2-3 hours at most, of play per day (not counting recesses at school). Many children have homework, dinner and baths to take care of in the evening after school. How much time does that really leave for playing and being a kid?

So even though I try to push my children to reach their full potential, there are over 8 free hours per day, in which they have to be a kid.

Wordless Wednesday 10/8/08

"Ham" has been Baptised

Not with a name like Ham, but with a real Christian name.

Our son's soul being cleansed of Original Sin.
Here I am, newly born into God's family.
Ham wears the family Baptismal gown.
All of us, with Grampy.
Just too cute!

An Announcement

With joy and gratefulness, we announce the birth of our second son "Ham":

Boo and Ham
Ham hours after birth
Daddy and Ham
Ham in the Car after 2 diaper changes in a row!

The Week of June 8th-14th

Today we're having just reading lessons and just finishing up Bob Books Set 1 (The large combined edition in the blue box)

M, T, W,F, S- Reading, Math, Science

Monday we're going swimming hopefully, it will be over 90 degrees here and spending time with a friend.

Tuesday, hopefully it will be cooler, we're meeting some other homeschoolers

Wednesday, nothing special, we're getting a few errands done with Daddy

Thursday, no school as usual but I have an appointment

Friday, I am thinking will be an art day but we also could end up going swimming

Saturday is Boo's Baptismal day. We're going to have a small present and a special desert and talk about the Sacrament of Baptism.

School Resumes

Alright, school has resumed. However, it's hot and I am uncomfortable for very justifiable reasons... so we're taking it slow. This week we just did reading. Next week I am adding math and science back into the mix. The following week handwriting and history return. Not to mention we're going to do the summer reading program at the local library. After that week copywork, memory work, geography and the arts will resume.

On Thursday we took a field trip to a botanical garden as part of our study on plants. Plants from now until August. Human Body will begin in October through November. Finally, we will study our huge Animal unit from December until the school year ends in April or May, we will culminate that with a trip to the zoo.

Well, that is a brief rundown of our plans for science. Now for some pictures of our trip:

Meenie poses in front of one of the many bird houses on display by local artists.

Both Boo and Meenie enjoy the children's garden.

Here we are with Mama's favorite flowers--Children and Irises.

I'm still here!

We're taking a break, vacation and a move wore us out! We'll be back in June with our Summer Adventures!

What did we actually get done this week?

OPG- Lesson 49-56


FLL-Lesson 6 -9


Handwriting and Copy work-4 days this week


Memory Work- "O Sacrament Most Holy" I think we've got this down so we'll be moving on next week


Saxon, Lesson 6-8


History: SOTW Ch. part 1 and review questions from What is History and What is Archaeology, Make a family history book
SOTW Ch 1, Part 2, review questions and cross references
Cave Painting
Map activity


Science: Continued Bean Sprout experiment and observations for journal
Began Seed Needs experiment
read How and Acorn becomes a Tree or other library books experiment


Geography: Maps and SOTW work, Maps Charts and Graphs lesson 2


Art: How to Draw Lesson, learned how to draw a dog's face and a house with landscape


PE:Trips to park all week-- plenty of climbing playing and exploring


Music:listened to classical music, Scottish music, and folk music


I've created a monster!

A future doctor....

Boo looooves this book:

We're doing Plants right now. He wasn't supposed to even see the book until we began the Body unit. Now I can barely pry it from his little hands. I bought a stand up skeleton model last night and he is BUGGING me to do it. It is the type that you have to assemble. He has memorized many of the bone names and internal organs and their functions in just two days!!

(I purchased this book at a wholesale club for $10.99)

Book Review and Plan for the Week

The infamous Saxon Math- Level K

You can pretty much purchase Saxon Math from anywhere. I think Seton has the best price, but I could be wrong.

For the record, I have not tried any other Math program, I'm sticking with Saxon, because it works and Boo is happy with it.

What I like about it:

• Boo likes repetition, and it is repetitious, he thrived on the Meeting book
• It is scripted, though I do not always need it, it is nice to have on days I can't think
• It is fun, we all enjoyed the manipulatives
• No distracting pictures

On it's implementation:

• The meeting book could be skipped but I thought it helped with calendar skills
• I used the arrows in the meeting book to write whatever number Boo could count to. We then practiced counting to that number each month and then used the rest of the arrows for subsequent numbers
• Not all lessons need to be repeated twice
• More than one lesson can be done in a day without being overwhelming
• The program is more appropriate for a pre-schooler, 3-4.5 years old
• I never did the estimating activities later in the book
• some of the activities require practice, like skip counting, or even regular counting, for younger children

Plan for the Week

Language Arts:
OPG- Lesson 49,50(M) 51, 52 (T) 53, 54 (W) 55-56 (F) 57,58 (S)
FLL-Lesson 6 (M) 7 (T) 8 (W) 9 (F) 10 (S)
HW- Seton, extra practice- all week
MW- "O Sacrament Most Holy"-every day
CW- Continue practicing name- all week

Math:
Saxon, Lesson 6(M) 7 (T) 8 (W) 9 (F) (10) S

History:
SOTW Ch. part 1 and review questions from What is History and What is Archaeology, Make a family history book (M)

SOTW Ch 1, Part 2, review questions and cross references (T)

Cave Painting and Map activity (S)

Science:
Continue Bean Sprout experiment and observations for journal (M,T)

Begin Seed Needs experiment, continue Bean Sprout observation, read How and Acorn becomes a Tree or other library books (W)

Green Hour Challenge (TH)

Work on observation pages for experiment and finish any books borrowed from library (F, S)

Geography:
Practice US Geography- all week with wall map update on Monday
New Hampshire Map for US Notebook (T)
Maps, Charts and Graphs, Lesson 2 and continents review(F)
History Mapwork (S)

Art:
How to Draw Lesson (F)

PE:
Trips to park all week and possible Green Hour challenge on Thursday to be considered

Music:
Learn one Catholic hymn and listen to classical music- all week

Religion:
St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism- all week

My Dream History Program Part I

I love history, good history, history that reflects Christ and His Church as well as our salvation as the center!

I've been gathering some thoughts and ideas on what I would do if I were to write or create my ideal history program. First of all, it would definitely take a similar sequence to The Well-Trained Mind Format. We would study Ancient History for the first part of the four year cycle.

I would like to begin with the Creation of the World and move on to a then to a short unit on pre-historic creatures. I'd like it to cover all of the major early world civilizations. When focusing on the near East, I would like to draw from the Old Testament and histories of the Old Testament written by priests and Catholic scholars.

One part I would definitely have would be a book with photographs of different parts of civilizations, kind of in a program by itself, similar to Child-Sized Masterpieces. The student would use the photographs to become familiar with major archaeological sites and be able to identify them and also many of the works of art associated with different civilizations.

As far as the near East, I would cover a little on all of the OT prophets, appropriate to the age. From around the world we would focus on important people from each civilization, like Hammurabi or Ramses. Many of the lives of the people on suggested list in TWTM would be appropriate to study.

When it comes to the Life of Our Lord, I would love for the children to learn about what it was like to live at the same time, as a special focus. We would then study what happened to each of the Twelve apostles as they went out to spread the Faith to the world. We would also study each council of the Church, beginning with the council of Jerusalem. However, at an age appropriate level.

I would incorporate a study of philosophers, such as Aristotle, that the saints drew from (St. Thomas Aquinas in particular ). We would also learn about and read the Fathers, on an age appropriate level.

When we learn about the history of the Roman Empire, we would do a huge unit on the Martyrs. I think we would make a martyrs notebook. We would also make a popes notebook because we would be memorizing the names of the popes all the way up to the end of the time period we are studying.

In between, we would be studying how all of the ancient cultures lived, worked and their wars and conflicts. I don't want the focus to be solely European. One thing that I would probably omit, at an early level, would be details about pagan gods. I just don't think it is necessary at a younger age to cover this topic in detail the way some other classical programs do.

I think I'd end the time period at the Council of Carthage, where the canon of Sacred Scriptures was set.

I would also like to have a book that was in a narrative format to read each lesson from, as well as a project idea book.

Wordless Wednesday 4/16/2008

Our First Year with First Child Complete

Celebrate with us! Boo has completed his entire Kindergarten curriculum and is moving on to First Grade/ K-5.

Here is a picture of Boo last year, shortly after we began school. He's helping me make vegetarian minestrone for a Friday meal.

Above is the Boo from last week, almost a year later. Still cooking, still helping mom. We're making Scotcharoos, he went a little heavy on the sprinkles.

The highlights of our year were:

• Learning to read
• Completing all of our Kindergarten materials in all subjects, math, reading, handwriting, religion and science
• A trip to the Columbus Zoo and COSI
• A special trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire and a train ride
• Beginning Geography and loving it

On Early Education

I'd like to share my thoughts today on formally educating at a young age.

My children are typical children, they are not advanced or gifted (except to me). They are just your average children.

There are a some differences in our home and other homes that, I think, facilitate the children wanting to learn. We do not live a life that is deeply rooted in popular culture. My children cannot name SpongeBob, Dora, or whatever else is new. I do not allow toys in our home that are based on TV shows or false ideas about women (Barbies). So our children are pretty much left to their own imaginations.

Unfortunately, the children do not have a vast bank of loving and caring relatives that live nearby. This has caused us to be a little more withdrawn from social life within the family. We've had to turn to each other for support in everything, as a family should naturally do. But this situation has given us all a strong bond. I think and can see that my children will likely be best friends even into their adulthood. I would rather have this than have bad influences from certain relatives, those kinds of influences are hard to undo.

So here we are with this tight knit small, but growing family, with little interest in fads and fashions of the day. We're boring by American standards. Being "boring" gives us the ability to view the world in a different way. The children think that learning is a fun, worthwhile and fulfilling activity. They bring me things and say "Teach me this, Mama." instead of "Do this for me and buy me that."

My oldest was bored playing with his toys, so I decided to teach him. I was happy to do so, as I do not know what God has in store for the future. Our children are all close in age, and I would have liked to have Boo reading before Meenie starts K. As a new homeschooling mother, I was trying to ease myself into things so I could not get burnt out.

The lessons began shortly before the age of 4 and we're completing level K this week. We worked at Boo's pace, reviewing and taking breaks as necessary. So it was not forceful, but it was disciplined. As in, once lessons begin, we're not getting up. Before I knew it, my son was running to sit at his desk or bringing me the reading lesson book.

Some of the greatest saints of the Church, like St. Robert Bellarmine, were young learners. So I take inspiration and encouragement on early learning from the saints. It is my hope that my children will be able to complete college early. I don't know what kind of vocation they will go into but I am hoping to use the high school years to prepare the boys for seminary (logic, philosophy, theology, Latin), married life (maybe some type of skill or specialization in a subject) and for the girls to be a homemaker (home economics study) or perhaps a religious (which could be a whole variety of skills from nursing to teaching). Maybe my children will all stay single and live with me and take care of me in my old age. Who knows! But I believe early education is beneficial and I hope to set them on a path to fulfill God's plans and accomplish much for Him in the earlier part of their life.

Wordless Wednesday and a quip

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And now let's hear from Boo:

Last night I was happily using the computer when Meenie angrily screamed.

I said to Boo, "What are you doing to her?"

"I was being Pat." replied Boo

"Pat? Oh, Paaaat, right." I agreed. " You mean from Hop on Pop?"

"Yes!" agreed Boo with a huge grin.

So this is my reward for teaching my child phonics, he acts out a page from a Dr. Seuss book.

NO PAT NO

Don't sit on that!

My Life without TV

Before we were married, my husband and I made a commitment that we would not be allowing our children to watch television. For those who cannot understand this, here is why:

• It fosters immorality and anti-Catholic ideas
• Impurity on television is rampant
• Adult themes can even be found on children's shows
• It robs children of creativity
• It steals away precious time that we could be doing something for God, our Faith and other people
• It creates a television-based culture in many aspects of life, just look at how products are used to market TV shows
• We want to have our own Catholic culture based on values that we determine, not networks
• Television is a passive activity and does not promote critical thinking
• It is a distraction from our daily duties and our spiritual duties
• Anything can pop up on the TV, thus limiting parental control

Now, before you draw other conclusions, let me say that I do not think the object the TV set is evil or bad in itself. It is what is put onto the television that makes it bad. I think renting movies, shows, documentaries is a good idea. Not all shows are bad, but many commercials are. I do think that people should seriously consider renting instead of subscribing to a cable service. In this way, TV does not rule your day and you are more in control of what you and your children view.

If television programming came into union with Catholic standards of morality and decency, I would subscribe to it once again, however, it would not rule our lives. We would not base how we relate to others on television shows and it would not be our only discussion piece among friends.

I definitely strongly oppose children having a TV set in their rooms. I think this is so detrimental to children, so many studies have been done on the effects of TV on the brain. I think you would have to be a very careless parent to allow a television in the bedroom.

One of the best rewards of having a no-TV home that I have seen in my own life is reflected in my children. Everywhere we go people compliment us on good behavior, the children are able to sit through Good Friday Liturgy, which is so wonderful. They are much better behaved and kinder than other children their age, that I have met, who watch a lot of TV. They would rather play horses than pretend they are Spiderman. To me, this is a gift to me because I know I am giving my children something that I never had, a great but innocent imagination, with which it is my hope and prayer that they will use their gifts to serve God and His Church well.

Science and Living in God's World- Book Review

Book: Science and Living in God's World
Publisher: Our Lady of Victory

I ordered this book for kindergarten science.

Positive: The only positive aspect I can think of in regards to this material are the good intentions that probably went into creating it. The goal was to write a science book that would draw children in to the marvels of God's creation and His Goodness.

Negative:

• The topics included in this book are lightly touched upon and too broad
• The illustrations and pictures are not well done
• Requires kindergardeners to do simplified crossword puzzle, some activities are way above level K
• Few to little explaination
• Parent would probably have to do most of the writing for fill-in-the-blank exercises

I could find no practical use for this book in our home. The exercises are not realistic for children of this age and there are no experiments. It does not contain much in the way of information either. It does not offer any supplemental reading which might have redeemed it's usefulness. Weak science books like these make people think that Catholics are afraid of science or have some kind of disdain for it. I would also say that if you are not already teaching your child that this world is God's wonderful creation and the study of science is to know more about this wonderful world that God made for man, then as a Catholic, you may already be failing to understand the purpose of science. I think that is kind of expected for most Catholics to know and pass on to their children already.

Overall, I would say this book is not worth the investment. It would be better to find alternate materials or borrow books from the library.

Plans for the week, ending on April 12th, 2008

Well, now I know I want to have all of this done because we just moved up our vacation by one week!

Boo
Monday:
100EL: 95
Saxon K: 97, 101(repeat), 104, 109
--practice counting by 10's for some reason this was not retained-- all week

Tuesday:
100EL: 96
Saxon: 97 (repeat), 110, 111

Wednesday:
100EL: 97
Saxon: 99, 111 (repeat)

Thursday:
Maybe no school but here is contingency...
100EL: 98
Saxon: 99 (repeat), 112- the final evaluation

Friday:
100EL: 99

Saturday:
100EL 100

Then we're going to have a little party for finishing K. I am thinking about baking a cake or brownies and making a paper graduation hat. Later, I'm going to post two pictures of the Boo, one taken right before K and one from right now. I may also write out a little overall evaluation to keep in our records of our accomplishments this year.

Also this week, I am going to make a chore chart because I have a few chore goals in mind for both of my children. One is to make their beds each day, the second is to get all of those clothes into the hamper-- not on the floor, not under the table, not under the bed!

Weekly Report

We are just winding down the school year here. Handwriting and science are finished, with occaisional review exercises in handwriting at my whims.

So we are pretty much left with trying to finish Math and Phonics.

This week was a slow week but we managed to get up to lesson 94 in 100 Easy Lessons- after today only 5 more lessons to do! YAY.

We're 11 lessons away from finishing Saxon Math K. Some of them are so easy that we can do multiple in one day. There is one lesson where we have to compare sizes of leaves, well there are no leaves around to compare yet, so I am trying to find something else!

Geography, which is Boo's current passion, is just ongoing. I think we're up to naming and locating 15-20 states.

We went out to two restaurants and visited a friend on Thursday, so that was about it for field trips. Good manners practice on all occaisions to go out though.

I am thinking and hoping to have K wrapped up by the end of next week.

Beginning to Teach Reading

I have mentioned before that I have always wanted to homeschool my children. We also do not watch regular television or subscribe to cable. I have tried to create a home that is a not only peaceful and God-serving but also a place where the children can learn. I really want our children to love to learn and appreciate the beautiful and amazing world that God made for them.



It all started with Boo, of course, because he is the oldest. I began to teach him shapes, colors, counting. I would never get him to sing the alphabet until he was 3 or 4 though. When he turned three, I bought one of those Hooked on Phonics early learning packages. It contained a book and a CD to learn the names of the letters. I thought that the songs were pretty stupid, even painful to listen to but he liked it a lot. But that is not what helped him learn the letters.



The Hooked on Phonics book contained a book of bubble letters that you were supposed to color and decorate. I took that one step further and cut them out and hung them on the door by which we exited our apartment. Each day we would review the letters that he colored on the door and when he learned one, we would add a new one. Sometimes I would give him a quiz, so in order to leave the house to go out and play he had to "unlock" the door by telling me the letter names. I did this both with capital and small letters, until he knew them all.



Book had learned all of his letters by the time he was 3 1/2. Beyond that there was not much more to teach him. He began to get bored again and wanted to spend the day doing whatever I was doing.



I have always been an early-bird when it comes to home education, so that winter I ordered much of the kindergarten curriculum that I wanted and began to look through it. I tried to begin him with Seton Kindergarten Phonics and had no success.

I looked through different recommendations and stumbled upon Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Once we got past the discipline issues- not wanting to sit still, thinking that getting up during a lesson was acceptable, we were fine. I cannot describe the amazement and wonder which I watched my son learn to read through this book. I began the book about a month before he turned four.


We needed a lot of review at first and I wanted to take things at a leisurely pace. But here we are almost a year later, I am 6 lessons away from finishing this book. My son is not yet 5 years old and he is beginning to learn to spell, without being formally taught. He is figuring out for himself what letter words begin with and even standing over my shoulder when I am on the computer, trying to read what I write. He can read Bob Books, Dr. Seuss-type books, like Go Dog Go and Hop on Pop. I even hear him in the car, trying to read signs and billboards.


So that is where we are, almost two years into this journey. We're going to be using The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading next. Beyond that, I have not decided what to use, but we will be gradually moving on to more challenging books. I am looking ahead with anticipation of progress to be made and teaching our second child, Meenie, to read!

Wordless Wednesday, April 2, 2008

A Year with God- Book Review

Title: A Year with God, Celebrating the Liturgical Year
Publisher: Catholic Heritage Curricula (Little Way Press) 2005

I own this book and am reviewing it because I am using it as an enrichment material for our religion lessons and for the ideas and crafts in relation to the Church year. We try to incorporate the feasts of the Church into our home life as much as possible.

Positive:

• This book is spiral bound, so it lays flat and it is easy to keep your place. I really like spiral bound books for their convenience.
• Permissions for reproduction among family members, plus they will give group permissions, so the book is a good investment
• Can be used for multiple ages, depending on creativity and skill I would say that anyone from young children to adults would enjoy the activities in this book
• Nice Catholic graphics for projects, like the Sacred Heart, angels etc. Wholesome illustrations
• Clear instructions and a wide variety of ideas for celebrations and parties to incorporate the liturgical year into home life
• Best part, to me at least, is the All Saint's Day section

Negative:

• Uses the Novus Ordo calendar, so adaptations have to be made for the parents. One example: No Time after Pentecost, instead "Ordinary Time."
• Quotes from liberal Novus Ordo personalities and sources
• Includes Novus Ordo saints
• References to Novus Ordo service that traditional Catholic families probably cannot relate to
• Uses a bit of fluffy language and themes that are common to the NO
• Does not incorporate the traditional abstinence and fasting laws or Ember days
• Reference to abortion, a topic that parents may not want to introduce to young children

Overall, this book can be great for following the Church year with some adaptations. It definitely is helpful in bringing the wonderful feasts of the Church into daily life and is an asset to any homeschool book collection. I think that this book is over-priced, I would either recommend sharing the cost with a friend or trying to find it used.

My Home Education Plan and State Law

Today, I am going to explore how the program I created fits into the law and requirements for this state.

First of all, I do not have to give any notification this year. The reason why is that kindergarten is not mandatory; the compulsory attendance age is 6. I often laugh when I think about filing for first grade in 2009- what is it going to look like when my 6 year old is using mostly second grade materials?!

So from the data given at www.hslda.org...

I not even required to teach anything to my children before the age of 6. That would be lazy and irresponsible, wouldn't it?

My home education plan, in relation to state law:
900 hours at the elementary level
---so if I begin in May and we can easily cover that with all of our daily lessons and activities, especially considering that we school on Saturday and sometimes do extra lessons on Sundays

Reading
---I'm teaching a phonics program and we are studying literature, Boo should be reading at a first grade level by fall and maybe even more independently

Writing
---Boo is learning to write his letters and how to spell, so that he can write meaningful things one day

English language and grammar
---We're using First Language Lessons which is great because many of the lessons are oral. I am also trying to remember to get both children to answer in complete sentences.

Geography
---We're going to learn the names and locations of all 50 states. We are also working on learning the names of the continents and oceans. In addition, when geography over laps history we will be locating regions and areas that are pertinent on the map.

Arithmetic
---We've got that covered with Saxon 1.

Drawing
---We will be learning about drawing, I actually possess a little talent for drawing, so this should be a pleasure. I plan on picking up some how-to-draw books.

Music
---We will continue to listen to all kinds of music from around the world. We're keeping formal piano or violin lessons in our minds at some point as well.

History
---We'll be studying ancient history, I can't wait!

I'm not sure that the state requires science but we will be studying the human body which will cover health. We'll also be learning about plants and animals.

I wasn't certain that the requirement for CPR, US Constitution, and duties of citizenship--being taught formally was meant for elementary levels, so I am not going to worry about those.

PE
---if we find a bowling league we're going to go with that. Otherwise, I think we'll just go bowling, for nature walks and do bicycle riding.

Good behavior
---I'm not really sure how the state can require this because it is so subjective. But I think that falls under religion. This is just one of those things that you learn through life's daily tasks anyways.

First Grade or K-5 plans

Beginning in May: Grade K-5/First Grade (call it what you like )

Math: Saxon 1
---I want to use Singapore, but my son loves to use Saxon, I figure why bother with something good! Singapore also has a bit of a culture barrier for me, some of the sample problems on the placement test-- I could not figure out what they meant until I saw the answer.

Handwriting: Seton Handwriting 1 for Young Catholics, plus extra paper for practice

Reading: Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading, Bob Books (all sets), Now I'm Reading series (all levels), various easy readers. ---I want to order the hardbound National Catholic Readers and the McGuffey Readers, but they are a bit expensive so I will have to wait and see. I want to buy the whole sets at once, not just one book at at time! I also have considered ordering the Little Angel Readers. I am also looking into what level that the American Cardinal Readers begin.

English: First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind ---If I can get a sneak peek at the Catholic version of Voyages in English, I may order that later too, but I do want the whole set. First Language Lessons may not last us the whole year, but it is for use in first and second grade so we will use it for 2 years.

Spelling: Spelling Workout Level A ---I am going to probably begin this subject about half-way through the year. I have considering also just making my own spelling lists and doing activities based on them.

Memory work: I plan on keeping a notebook with all of the poems,sayings, etc. that we memorize.

Science: We'll be following the classical sequence described in the WTM, so this year we will be studying Animals, Plants and the Human Body. I plan on doing it by unit studies and doing lots of experiments, museum visits and hands-on stuff. We'll probably be borrowing most of our books from the library. This will probably include getting a pet fish and growing some kind of plant. We'll also probably keep a nature journal, if I can get Boo to do so. (He doesn't really like to draw or color)

History: We'll be also following the WTM sequence here so we will be studying Ancient History. I have the Usborne Encyclopedia of the Ancient World for a reference. We will be using some of the Story of the World and its Activity Book. ---I won't be following the suggestion of studying gods and mythology, especially at this age. I am going to use some of the stories from this time period, but at an innocent level that will be suitable. We will be incorporating the history of our salvation and the creation of the world into everything. I'm going to be looking for a book to fill in my gaps of knowledge of Old Testament history--so I can teach this better. DH said Roman Catholic Books republishes something to that effect. ---I'd like to use a Catholic curricula but I do not think any of the ones currently being published fit my expectations, they tend to be too brief or not even on the same topic as us at the same level.

Geography: Maps charts and Graphs, Level A, memorizing the 50 states and their location using a simple US map and a sticker chart published by Dover, plus the seven continents and the four oceans using puzzles, maps, globe etc. I also plan on using Uncle Josh's Blackline maps for this and History, it's a CD rom so you print it out yourself. ---I believe I also bought a 50 states coloring book which I might copy and turn into part of a geography notebook. The Maps,Charts, Graphs book looks so easy that you could do it in one sitting, I may order the next level. I initially ordered it because graphs were our biggest stumbling block (really the only one) in mathematics.

P.E./Art/ Music: For P.E. we'll be taking nature walks and hikes, bowling--possibly in a league, maybe roller-skating. I've e-mailed a local roller rink to ask if they play classical music or at least oldies instead of Top 40 all the time. For music, I am considering getting a keyboard in order to teach my son piano, I don't know if that will work out. I may spend the next year trying to find a teacher for piano too. I also want the kids to learn violin, we'll see where that goes. We also listen to various music from around the world and different periods, except modern (hehe). For Art we will be doing picture study of great Catholic works as well as using Child-Sized Masterpieces and the book How to use Child-Sized Masterpieces (this book might be out of print). We are also using Art 1 for Young Catholics from Seton. Additionally, A Year with God: Celebrating the Liturgical Year we are using from Catholic Heritage, but omitting the Novus Ordo-y stuff. I also plan on borrowing some how-to-draw books form the library.

Religion: We'll be using and memorizing parts of the St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism (the First Communion one), as well as investing in some more good children's books on the Faith. We also read the New Testament out loud as a family. I have quite a few other resources, we'll use them as need. We also will be following and incorporating the Church year into our daily lives as usual, and reading the lives of the saints for children too! In addition to that, I take every opportunity to instruct the children in good morals, manners and behavior (which I consider to fall under religion because of the virtue of Charity).

Other etc.: I just plan on continuing to use the Kumon workbooks for fun and enrichment. Reading is really our biggest thing because I plan on adding Latin and a modern foreign language, probably Spanish, in the future (I'm thinking third grade).

Our schedule is probably going to look like this:
everyday:
Math 20-45 minutes
Language Arts 1-2 hours
Handwriting 15 minutes
Spelling 15 minutes
memory work 5-10 minutes
geography 10-15 minutes

I almost always do the most disliked subject right away after breakfast, it makes the rest of the day seem easy two days each week for: history ex: Mon, Tues 1 hour science ex: Wed, Thurs 30 minutes-hours art: Friday 30 minutes PE: 1-2 days a week 10-30 minutes

My Educational Outlook and Philosophy

After I decided that I wanted to homeschool, I never really gave much thought to curriculum. I just had the idea that I would order it, follow detailed instructions in a teacher's manual and then send it back in to be graded. (I did not know there were so many options prior to actually beginning our homeschooling journey)

I had pretty much thought that all curricula were the same. I knew that we would be teaching our children from a Catholic point of view, so their education would also contribute to their growth in Faith and hopefully holiness. The other thing I wanted to give our children in addition to a love and zeal for the Faith, was a solid, strong education that would enable them to do whatever work God has in store for them.

When my son was about 3, I figured out that a pre-packaged curriculum was just not for us. I want my children to be able to move ahead as needed. In other words, I did not want to hold them back from challenging and exciting work in lieu of keeping them doing something "age appropriate." So I began to order books for kindergarten two years ago. I had a whole plan of every material I was going to use. Upon receiving the materials, I thought that they looked great. I was so excited to begin.

This is where experience is so valuable. I was really displeased with the kindergarten science books that I ordered (I'm going to review them later) and also sorely disappointed with my choice for a phonics book. I threw the science books in the trash, I think the phonics books may still be in a closet somewhere. The valuable lesson that I learned is that sometimes, you just cannot tell if something will work based on reading it, you actually have to attempt it with your child to tell if it is the right fit for your family.

Soon after, I was encouraged to read "The Well-Trained Mind" by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. I knew a little about most of the homeschooling styles, Charlotte Mason, unschooling, correspondence schools and so on. But this book really helped me understand that I was a classical homeschooler. This book spoke directly to me, it is my absolute favorite book on homeschooling. Though I do vary, in that I provide a Catholic education, this book was great tool to show me that a classical education best fits our lives and beliefs and Catholic parents.

So here I am, a very serious traditional Catholic educator of the classical method of education, trying to wade my way through each grade level for the first time. I am having more fun, fulfillment and pleasure than I ever imagined.

I have returned, with more First Impressions

If anyone was thinking my blog was dead, they were wrong! I took a break from most of my usual Internet activities during Lent.

In the near future, I have plans to write about my own home education plans and ideas, the reactions of those around me, and of course introduce my children and their works!

First Impressions Part III

When I was in high school I was very active at church, I got to know almost everyone who went to daily services and some of their families. I was also involved in the youth group. Which is where my next encounter with homeschooling began.

These two families are actually related and were fairly conservative for people attending the Vatican II church. They were actually the first families I met who gave me a favorable impression of homeschooling. I'd like to say that in both families, all of the children were nice and relatively innocent. I would not say that "Family A" put homeschooled out of any love for education but rather because of religious reasons. However, "Family B" was probably homeschooling for religious and academic reasons. So anyways, I continued to have social dealings with both families over the years and was able to gain a more realistic impression of homeschooling.

Both families changed my mind about the socialization issue. I would like to say that the children in Family B, had better manners and were able to communicate better with all sorts of people than their relations in Family A. At times, the children in Family A did things that were socially inappropriate and acted like they were in their own world. However, knowing the parents made me understand this all together: If you have a parent that is weird, usually the children are weird.

I began to understand that homeschooling and homeschoolers could take on so many different qualities and they were dependent often on the parents and their style or approach to home education.

In the case of Family B, I saw that homeschooling produced smart and funny people-- the kind of people everyone loves to have around. The children of both families were also very prayerful and took their faith seriously. At this point my view of homeschooling began to change.

It was also during this time that I spent half of my waking hours on the Internet chatting with other Catholics. During this time I met what most people know as "traditional Catholics." I didn't know I was on the road to becoming one, but that it another story for another day. Most of these people homeschooled. They showed me that their children loved God and the Catholic Faith, they showed me that homeschooling could produce exactly the kind of child that I would want for myself. These people also introduced me to many of the traditional Catholic homeschooling websites, which I read, looked over their curriculum and was very pleased with. I even pleaded with my own mother to take my little sister out of school and homeschool.

Before I knew it, I was totally in support of homeschooling and knew from the age of 18 that I was going to homeschool my children.

So at 19, when I met my future husband, we were already in agreement about homeschooling, and there was nothing more to do than dream of the day when we would have children of our own to teach.

First Impressions Part II

My second encounter with homeschooling occurred when I was in junior high.

We had a girl in our grade who was pretty much a spoiled, rotten brat with the most permissive parents in the world. She was the first person to get her eyebrow pierced, this was before body piercings were common place in public schools. She constantly paraded around her immoral lifestyle, which her parents supported her in. Her parents also allowed her to use drugs.

She could not even do the most simple work or sit still to take a test. She was constantly arguing with teachers, disrespecting them or sleeping in class. I think the teachers must have had a party when her parents decided to pull her out of school.

So she was taken out of school and homeschooled, I do not know what happened to her. But the event added to my impressions that homeschooling was for people who could not do all the "hard" work in a public school and that homeschoolers were social misfits. I also thought that her parents took her out of school so she could do nothing all day and have fun. I just could not see this person taking part in any educational experiences. This added to my former belief that homeschoolers took the easy way out and that we students in the public school were superior.

First Impressions

I want to begin by recording my first and earliest impressions of homeschooling, homeschoolers and their lives.

My very first contact with the concept of homeschooling was when I was in fifth grade, in public school. We had a student, Jimmy, who seemed to be a social misfit. Whether he was or not, it did seem like he came from an odd family. His mother came to school to eat lunch with him because the other boys would not play with him. The boys were constantly picking on him and teasing him, I don't know if Jimmy provoked it. However, the situation escalated and I can imagine school must have been a horrible experience for this boy.

Eventually, Jimmy's mother pulled him out of school to teach him at home. Of course all of the other children thought it was because Jimmy couldn't handle "real" school and that he was a momma's boy. Unfortunately, my earliest attitude towards homeschooling was shaped by this experience.

I just want to say that now I realize Jimmy had a wonderful mother who really cared about him. Jimmy is probably out there working on his doctorate or pursuing something else great or at least worthwhile. Meanwhile, many other students from our school are working at Odd-Lots and Valu-City, I know because I see them when I go home to visit.