Weather Tree

We've done weather trees before, but this one was inspired by Ann Druitt, Christine Fynes-Clinton, and Marije Rowling's book "All Year Round" which is chock-full of verses, recipes, craft ideas and games. I drew the tree on bigger paper, though- 18x24", and I discarded their suggestion of different leaf colors for different types of weather, and stuck with temperatures instead. Because we live in a place without weather. Seriously. It is sunny nearly every day. I thought temperatures would show the transitions of the year better- we'll see. In any case, the boys like it, and keep careful track of whose turn it is to color in the leaves. Miles, after being excluded for making some little angry scribbles, now takes great care and even colors inside the lines of the tiny leaves!

Weeks 2 and 3: After

Week 3 is in the bag, as they say. Yeah, I know, this should be the end of week 4, but who is counting, exactly? And, um, yeah, Friday hasn't happened yet, but we're going to the Fair, which is at least as important as fractions, cursive, and American History. Actually, I planned for this to happen well in advance-I knew we'd be going on vacation and hectic and started school two weeks before the regular school kids, just to compensate. 'Cause Lord knows homeschoolers can't fall behind public school kids, even in attendance, right?
So...Avery is speeding through Life of Fred~Fractions. Loves it. I'm waiting still for the whole entire set of Key Curriculum Press workbooks to arrive, then we'll start adding in those. We haven't done any Calculus by and for Young People yet, but we did check out the Mathematics Made Meaningful Cuisenaire rod kit, Miles and Avery both. I'm not sure how much we'll use the cards, frankly- they seem a little... ahem... boring... but we do love our cuisenaire rods, and Miles sorted out a bunch by color, and enjoyed being able to "do school" with Avery.
All last week was nature study, at Glacier and the Bison Range. The boys saw turtles sunning themselves and poking their heads out of the water like mucky little sticks, dragonflies mating, elk bugling, antelope, bison, bears, deer, fish, birds, slugs, all kinds of creatures.
Avery zoomed through a ton of the Earthsearch book on the trip, plus a lot of map reading, compass work, and general geography of the inland Northwest and Rocky Mountain region. He straddled the Continental Divide and learned to identify U-shaped glacier-made valleys, and V-shaped river made valleys.
He had a guitar lesson and his teacher finally let him move past The Blue Danube, which has been driving him from even wanting to look at his guitar for weeks now. On to more fun stuff. Whew!
The boys love circle, and love taking a walk first thing- if only I could get Papa out of the house at 7:30, so that we could have a decent walk AND not start school so late. He's been leaving at 8, and we're out the door before him, but the boys hate to leave while he's still home. We've been walking for an hour, then starting circle at 9, then oral reading, math puzzler, main lesson, Life of Fred, spelling, and just trying to stuff as much in as possible.
We attempted some wet felting, making octopus figures, but it didn't work out. I'm not so good at wet felting, except snakes and balls, which is all the octopus was supposed to be, just felted together, but it didn't work. At all.
We haven't started embroidery yet, even though he's been asking for weeks.
We haven't really started Latin yet, Artistic Pursuits, and a whole bunch of ther stuff, too, probably. Gotta get out the door just a little earlier, and take shorter walks in the morning, I guess.
The good news, though, is that Miles loves having his own school basket, and eagerly works through his activites and stories every day, so he's not begging to watch TV or bugging Avery. Ansel is exactly the Buddha baby I KNEW I was going to have- he watches his brothers and chuckles, and sucks his fingers, nurses, sleeps, and tries to figure out how to crawl all with equal delight. Avery is cheerful and good about school this year, and likes having shorter lessons, a clear plan to the day, boxes to check off, and interesting work to do. So all's good, if not quite on schedule yet. Which, you know, is pretty darn good!

Lessons Learned on Vacation

1) When your Mom says "Don't lean over the railing" she actually means "Don't go anywhere near the steep side of the road, no matter what." In fact, don't even undo your seat belt. Let's just get down the mountain, really, really slowly. 'Cause, you know, she's trying to be cool, and let everyone enjoy this amazing adventure, but really, she keeps having flashes of children falling off cliffs and being devoured by wild animals.... Well, at least she's trying, right?
2) Mountain goats, big horn sheep, black bears, black back woodpeckers, deer, elk, even the antelope and bison, bears, turtles, and elk at the National Bison Refuge, are all really interesting and fun to watch. But getting to hold a little slug, watch it for hours, and take pictures of it close up? Well, that, apparently, is worth going on vacation and camping out for.

3)This is close enough to a black bear for your mother's comfort. Especially since there were three, and we can only see two. And there might be rustling in those bushes right behind us....

4)Bison don't care about the rules of the road as they apply to automobiles. And we're not arguing with them. We don't mind sitting still, right here. No sir.

5) A carousel ride (or maybe three) is a great way to end a vacation. Riding with your brother is even nicer.

6) We love going on vacation. We love each other, and we love visiting our friends. We love camping, but maybe we can love a newer, bigger, more weather-proof tent next time. We love being away, seeing new things and having adventures, but we really love coming home again.

The Rhythm of Our Days

Inspired by the topic ORGANIZATION discussed at my homeschool meeting last night: a copy of our official family schedule. Wake up time is 7am for the boys, and bedtime is 8pm. Everything else is sandwiched between!

For us the schedule is a rhythm, a guide, not a strict task master. We are not slaves to the schedule- we are opposed to slavery in all it's forms!

Here are the rules:

Everyone works during chore times. A child who doesn't want to help has to sit in the room with everyone else, not reading or playing. Once usually is enough to remind them that working together is more fun than sitting alone.

No TV/videos/long phone calls/play dates til school work is done. Period. Miles has his own "school" basket, with special activities and projects to work on during school time.

School is not more or less important than chores, chores are not more or less important than having fun and relaxing, fun is not more or less important than school. If we miss a scheduled period for whatever reason, we just get back on rhythm wherever we should be, not where we skipped out. If we're missing the same periods frequently, or continually off-schedule, that's a clue we need to revise either the schedule or our choices.

Don't sacrifice an unexpected adventure for dishes and laundry, neither sacrifice a calm and happy home life for wild adventures!

If a task isn't done as well as I might do it, oh well. I can't do it all myself, neither do I want to. It's good for everyone to learn all the jobs of the household, eventually, so we rotate. Miles may be in charge of scrubbing the table on Monday, but Avery will do it Tuesday and I'll do it Wednesday. It won't kill us if it's a little crusty once in awhile, and it will eventually get clean, and certainly will get dirtier again, too! Besides, a few germs are good for everyone, right? Builds immune systems and all that....

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Morning: Wash, teeth, dress, make beds, empty hamper, sort and start laundry, make breakfast, set table, unload dishwasher, clear table	Morning: Wash, teeth, dress, make beds, empty hamper, sort and start laundry, make breakfast, set table, unload dishwasher, clear table	Morning: Wash, teeth, dress, make beds, empty hamper, sort and start laundry, make breakfast, set table, unload dishwasher, clear table	Morning: Wash, teeth, dress, make beds, empty hamper, sort and start laundry, make breakfast, set table, unload dishwasher, clear table	Morning: Wash, teeth, dress, make beds, empty hamper, sort and start laundry, make breakfast, set table, unload dishwasher, clear table	Morning: Wash, teeth, dress, make beds, empty hamper, sort and start laundry, make breakfast, set table, unload dishwasher, clear table	Morning: Wash, teeth, dress, make beds, empty hamper, sort and start laundry, make breakfast, set table, unload dishwasher, clear table
Walk: 30 minutes	Walk: 30 minutes	Walk: 30 minutes	Walk: 30 minutes	Walk: 30 minutes
School time: May start supper during break	School time: May start supper during break	School time: May start supper during break	School time: May start supper during break	School time: May start supper during break		church, sunday school, social hour
Make & eat lunch	Make & eat lunch	Make & eat lunch	Make & eat lunch	Make & eat lunch	Make & eat lunch	Make & eat lunch
Story, nap	Story, nap	Story, nap	Story, nap	Story, nap
Quiet activities while little ones sleep: Handwork, reading, other projects	Quiet activities while little ones sleep: Handwork, reading, other projects	Quiet activities while little ones sleep: Handwork, reading, other projects	Quiet activities while little ones sleep: Handwork, reading, other projects	Quiet activities while little ones sleep: Handwork, reading, other projects
Afternoon chore time: General quick pick up, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, table scrub, laundry fold and put away	Afternoon chore time: General quick pick up, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, table scrub, laundry fold and put away	Afternoon chore time: General quick pick up, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, table scrub, laundry fold and put away	Afternoon chore time: General quick pick up, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, table scrub, laundry fold and put away	Afternoon chore time: General quick pick up, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, table scrub, laundry fold and put away	Afternoon chore time: General quick pick up, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, table scrub, laundry fold and put away	Afternoon chore time: General quick pick up, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, table scrub, laundry fold and put away
Focus Area: Kitchen	Focus Area: Bathrooms	Focus Area: Living/Dining	Focus Area: Bedrooms	Focus Area: Family Room	Focus Area: Yard, recycling	Focus Area: Groceries
Walk/Play	Walk/Play	Walk/Play	Walk/Play	Walk/Play
Make and eat Supper, set and clear table, dishes	Make and eat Supper, set and clear table, dishes	Make and eat Supper, set and clear table, dishes	Make and eat Supper, set and clear table, dishes	Make and eat Supper, set and clear table, dishes	Make and eat Supper, set and clear table, dishes	Make and eat Supper, set and clear table, dishes
Bath and story, pjs, teeth, 5 minute pick up	Bath and story, pjs, teeth, 5 minute pick up	Bath and story, pjs, teeth, 5 minute pick up	Bath and story, pjs, teeth, 5 minute pick up	Bath and story, pjs, teeth, 5 minute pick up	Bath and story, pjs, teeth, 5 minute pick up	Bath and story, pjs, teeth, 5 minute pick up
Boys to bed	Boys to bed	Boys to bed	Boys to bed	Boys to bed	Boys to bed	Boys to bed
Prep next day, read, relax	Prep next day, read, relax	Prep next day, read, relax	Prep next day, read, relax	Prep next day, read, relax	Prep next day, read, relax	Prep next day, read, relax

Week 1: After

Luckily I'm considering these first two weeks our gear-up weeks, or else I would probably be feeling pretty badly about how our week went, school-wise. We were still in summer-mode, mostly, and still working on fruit, still meeting at the park for homeschool playdate, still lazing around. Plus I had two migraines (two! and I've only had ever had migraines when I'm pregnant, which I'm not, so what is that about? threw us all off sides, anyway!). So, there are the excuses, make of them what you will.
Circle is a resounding success. Smart enough for Avery, silly enough for Miles, wholesome enough for me. I think two hymns in a row almost is a little much, but the boys look forward to "Circle Game" as Miles calls it, and even baby Ansel sits in his Bumbo chair in the middle and smiles and coos and laughs.
Stickeen was a good story for oral reading. Short enough to easily finish in a week, exciting and descriptive. We have a good sense of what glaciers are like, and we're suckers for heartwarming stories about dogs. The reading was easy enough that it was fun for Avery, with still the challenge some new words (mostly Alaskan Native words). I had planned on modeling, and making Stickeen figures, but that didn't happen.
Cursive is fine. Well, the amount of time practicing takes right now is good. Shortish sentences for awhile, building up. We've got a copywork/Character lesson book started, with "Honor thy Father and thy Mother." Character Training is going well so far, too. Simple- a story, tied in with the quote or verse for cursive practice that week, talking about the trait, a project.
Grammar is simple and easy with Simply Grammar, but I'm glad I also bought Word Play, though we skipped that this week. Between the two I think there'll be enough variety to be interesting and educational instead of just review. Maybe. I think next year we'll need a more formal, more challenging approach to grammar.
Spelling was simple. I like the system, but the words I chose for him, expecting them to be not-too-hard were way-too-easy. Still, he's never had spelling as a subject before, so I don't want to go too hard. I think we'll do a bunch orally at the beginning of the week, more than 20, so we work through this part of the book at an accelerated pace, without actually skipping anything, until we get 20 challenging words or definitions for the week. The McGuffey Speller is so old fashioned that a lot of the words aren't in common usage any more, so I anticipate a good amount of easy to spell words will end up in the spelling list just because of their novelty, vocabulary-wise.
Latin was barely started. Rather than try to start where we flailed about and stopped last year, I decided to start again fresh this year. I think I'll actually wait til after our vacation, coming up here. I do like Lively Latin, but you do need to work it every day, and we're still a little too summery and every-which-way yet to settle in.
Math Puzzlers. Mathmania is a dud. They're too silly, too babyish. For some reason I always expect Highlights to come through for me, but they always fall short, one way or another. I need to find some good, cheap books of logic puzzles and diagramming puzzles.
Life of Fred is our favorite Math thing so far. So funny and sweet, and it's a clever lesson in English and Math all at once. Short chapters, few questions, lots of humor. He loves it and so do I! He's working through Fractions right now. Actually, this is more read aloud time, because, as it turns out, even though I already know how to deal with fractions, the story is so engaging and sweet we all (even Miles) want to hear what happens next! He finished the first section, but didn't try crossing the bridge yet.
Avery worked on the "twos" for oral math. Review, speed, review, memorize. Over and over.
Calculus by and for Young People is okay. Not so gentle as I thought it would be, it's more of a mouthful than I thought. But good stuff, great to work with on Math Lab day, if we're going to do it together. We worked on the first lesson but didn't finish it- I wasn't anticipating his nerves and didn't set aside enough time to be there with him, paying attention. An older kid or one more comfortable with reading mathematical notation would maybe not be intimidated and have more fun just jumping in, but all those numbers and notations are a little off-putting to Avery right now. I am glad we lucked out and somehow got the actual worktext instead of the CD-Rom set- I have a feeling we'd never get to them if we had to go on the computer and print stuff off.
Man and Animals Main Lesson Block was simple, not muddied with trying to stuff other subjects into the theme. Just pure and calm. I'm really glad I put all that time getting comfortable with the lesson before we started! It would have been a disaster if I weren't comfortable with it. Not one you can fake, I think.
History's great. I really like Joy Hakim's A History of US. Highly recommend it. I imagine we'll use it again, in a few years, when we study US History again. I'll probably buy the middle school lesson books to go with them, then. For fourth grade the reading is not hard, and is interesting and comprehensive enough that I don't feel the need to add in a ton of other historical text reading, so far anyway. We are just sort of skimming along this year. We didn't get to watercolor painting, which I had planned to tie in to the Inuit lesson, but Avery did write a nice paragraph in the US History lesson book, and paste in a map of the Arctic regions.
Science. Dud week. No Nature story, no nature hike, no nature journals. No science lab. Avery did read a lot about cells, and watch a couple short video things online, and do a little activity, we talked about cells. We ran out of time, with screaming babies, before he had a chance to draw a cell in his Anatomy lesson book.
Art. Double dud. We have the Artistic Pursuits Modern Artists book to use this year, but we were so short of time, and he so didn't want to do it, that we just skipped it. He did the first lesson last year, anyway. Does that count? Even Handwork, embroidery, which Avery was asking for everyday this past week, didn't ever quite happen. Ergh!
Form drawing was a success. It was, really for the first time, FUN and not just tolerable for Avery. I didn't belabor a story, but kept that quite simple and open-ended. He took the form along himself, and made lovely work out of it. Pretty cool for a kid who "hates art" right now.
Guitar. A lesson. A few practices, and lots and lots of struggles about practicing. Seems there's always something more pressing, more interesting, more important than practicing. Anybody have any tips about that?
PE. Lots of running and playing, working and climbing around. No lessons yet, no soccer yet. Still summer. Avery did research bicycle safety, and explain some things to me. A Dad in the homeschool community hear was killed last weekend in a mountain biking accident, and while we didn't know him personally we are still touched by the tragedy of the loss for that family, and a little research about bike safety seemed in order.

Form Drawing 4.1

Here is our first form of the fourth year.
Avery has resisted writing, form drawing, especially the symmetrical and crossing-line forms. With this in mind I started this year easy, with a very simple image of a traveler, a wanderer, a hunter, walking to the north, east, west, south, coming up behind his prey, circling, continuing on. This simple story fits well with the rest of our work- we are studying US History this year, starting this week with Beringia the land-bridge, and the Inuit.
He liked it, and actually spent a long time working on it, getting it right on the chalkboard, then in his lesson book, even adding smaller and bigger versions of the hunter's path, in different colors, overlapping, and coloring it all in. It looks great, and most important, he was proud of his work and happy with the result.
Resounding success!

Construction 5: Ready for Play!

It was determined that bracing on the long sides was needed. Much better, now! The rope ladder from the tree was moved to the fort, though it is less than satisfactory. The contractor is now thinking that creating a permanent ladder on the end would be best, with a thick knotted rope to climb at the trap-door entrance.
I thought this might be the sort of project that would be completed at some point. I see now that I was quite wrong. Apparently the beauty of building a rather simple, open-ended play structure in your own backyard is that construction is not meant to ever be entirely done. There are infinite improvements, additions, re-builds, and de-structions to ponder and pursue.
Ah, well... as long as I don't lose my laundry-line hook, it's all good with me!