Why Sleep is Important or Funny Things on a Thursday Afternoon

To be fair, we didn't get much sleep Wednesday night. I awoke around 3a.m. to the sound of banging. The boys had fallen asleep in the living room. I padded, okay dragged, myself through the darkness of the hallway to see what ill might have befallen them to be so d*#@ loud at that hour of the morning. Tigger, my fair knight, had killed a giant hairy spider. Tigger does not possess an ounce of arachnophobia (I have enough for everyone), yet even he was shaken. He made a large circle with his hands when I asked how big it was. He said he could hear it moving on the bookshelves *shudder*. We've had wolf spiders in the house before, but it's been a long time. Me thinks this was a lone scout and when he doesn't return the other spiders will stay far away. Do NOT tell me otherwise, because I'm not listening. Said spider was now deceased, hence the banging, and all three of us stayed awake for at least another hour.

So yesterday at school Z and I had a bit of fun with out new dragons and our Medieval Europe book. Direct quote from Z, "RAWR! Fear me, I am cheap plastic toy."

"Darn these castle walls."

"Hey look, they're learning Latin too!"

"Why are you all screaming, I was just watching the service."

We must have laughed for twenty minutes and never really did recover back to academics. My PSA for today, sleep is important, otherwise you may end up doing great silly things. Then again, maybe the lack of sleep had nothing to do with us being silly, that kind of happens anyway.

(I am now wearing shoes in the house, yuck, shudder, I hate spiders)

Tales from the Backyard

Our backyard holds a sense of magic,

wildflowers bloom,

a dog runs, a boy plays.

A hammock hangs beckoning anyone to come and let the breeze blow you to slumber.

Spring and all the colors of the season are in attendance.

Adventures in Wakefield

I noticed recently that it has been a month since I blogged here. Well we've had a productive month, including doing complete weeks of school. :greenstars: We've had more than our fair share of distractions this year, with illness, grumpies, growing, and what-not.

We've added some new one liners to our repertoire. We went to see Alice in Wonderland and the antics of the March Hare and Mad Hatter have added endless quips to our day, including the famous "You're late for tea!" Although it comes out more as, "You're late for school!". I do not throw the fine china however. I've also decided that I could really do the Mad Hatter as a costume. I have the hair, just a tad (okay a lot) more red, and then I could get the hat, which some book stores and Amazon sell. So I'm ordering the hat, yes I am. I going to wear it while I write, I'll be the mad writer. Go ahead, laugh, it may not be far from the truth.

We're entering the home stretch of our school year. We've finished our study of informal logic for the year and now we have filled its slot with an informal study of philosophy. We are using Philosophy for kids. Granted we've only done two lessons but both led to very interesting conversations which, as is SOP for our classroom, wandered down a rabbit hole or two.

Come to think of it, this year has been a lot of rabbit holes. That can be one of the joys and one of the pitfalls of homeschooling an only. No one objects when we stray off course (we: plural: meaning I love tangents as well) and no one but me will draw us back to center when necessary.
We laid aside some subjects and Z has picked up a few projects of his own, with great gusto. One could argue that rabbit holes allow us to explore ourselves and find out what is truly important. Just like Alice some days we feel sized correctly and it fits, some days we feel tiny and know we've taken on too much. There is no homeschool potion that will grow us or shrink us, but day-by-day we continue to find out who we are and where we belong.

A Review: The History of the Medieval World

As a regular poster on the Well-Trained Mind message boards I was excited when Susan Wise Bauer herself offered a preview online copy of her latest book, The History of the Medieval World, to posters in exchange for a review. Excitedly I rushed off my e-mail to Peace Hill Press with a please, thank you, yes, I'd love a copy.

It arrived and my first words were "Whoa!" or maybe "Wow!" All 741 pages of the proof copy. I discovered a few things in a short period of time.

1. I have a really hard time reading any book online. As a budding (would-be, going to be, hopeful) novelist I even print off my copy to read. As much as I love technology I will be one of the last people to order a Kindle.

2. This time period is fascinating! We are currently studying the Middle Ages and there are many things about this time period I a) never learned, b) have forgotten, or c) wasn't paying attention during that class period. My best guess would be "a".

I should preface my review by stating I received this proof copy free in exchange for a review, good or bad. I should also state that while we have homeschooled for 6 years now this is only our second year using a classical method. Our history programs prior to last year have not included world history. Unfortunately, I can't go back and change that.

I will also state I did not finish reading this book in its entirety. I focused on the areas where we were at in our school studies and then returned to the front of the book, but have not read as far as I would have liked.

If you could rate books on their density this would be a medicine ball not a basketball. The way this book is formatted is great. You can pick a chapter and read from that. I found it most helpful as we finished our study of Charlemagne. I would read about him and then turn to the logic stage materials we are using in class with a greater depth of understanding.

My only concern about this book is the short period of time it covers. According to the table of contents the chapters start at year 312 and the book ends at year 1129. In comparison Story of the World vol. 2 covers a much larger time period.

After delving into this material I can understand why. My only real memory of this time period from high school is people conquering, killing, and moving. This book covers not only the Western Civilization but the Eastern Hemisphere as well. It is a true world history book.

My concern for this comes from those that might be planning a four-year history rotation for the rhetoric level. Although this book is quite readable I can see where some students might struggle to read this book and then continue in another history text all in one year. I have not searched to see if there is an answer to this issue, but I'm sure there is a viable solution.

If you can only order one book on this period of time, I'd recommend this one. It would be a wonderful resource for self-education, rhetoric level studies, or even as reference book. I plan to order a print copy for myself.

The History of the Medieval World is available at Amazon or from the Peace Hill Press store. For a limited time if you order from PHP you can request an autographed copy.

School Expenses 2010-2011

I will keep this as a running total of what I've spent for school. Most of the purchases are for the 2010-2011 school year, a few are for finishing this year. I did not include the cost of items I already own.

for 2009/2010 school year:
LOF pre-algebra 29.00
Coat of Arms (dover book) 4.95
That Crumpled Paper was Due Last Week 11.00
Philosophy for Kids 20.00
Brain Quest workbook 5.00
Origami Calendar 2.40 (love clearance!)
Igniting Your Writing (currclick) 10.00
SWB's A Plan for teaching writing for middle school (MP3) 3.99
SWB's A Plan for teaching writing for elementary school (MP3) 3.99
" A Plan for Teaching writing for high school (MP3) 3.99
" Literary Analysis 3.99
Writing with Ease 19.77
Megawords Book 1 (teacher/student) 20.77
WWE book 3 - 23.07

Latin:
Latin Alive Teacher book - own
Latin Alive student book - 16.00
Latin Alive! book 1 DVDs & CDs - 94.26 (thank you, CAP! Amazing facebook discount saved 28.00)
Latin Fairy Tales - 10.17
Quot Animalia - 2.00

English:
Teach Terrific Grammar (6-8) - 14.96
Megawords 2 & 3 - 31.85


Earth Science:
Earth Science (Tarbuck 11th ed) - used 10.00
2nd copy of Earth Science book - paperbackswap. (PBS) 1 credit (changed mind on Textbook)
Switched to:
The Good Earth: Introduction to Earth Science - 1 PBS credit
" " second copy - Amazon - 6.52
Earthquakes, Volcanoes, & Tsunamis - 11.66
Weather Projects for Young Scientists - 11.66
You and the Environment - 4H project book, free download
Earth Encyclopedia - 9.99

Bible:
Dallas School New Testament study (x2) - 9.95

History:
Spielvogel's Human Odyssey (TE used) 13.00
Spielvogel's Human Odyssey (student) - already own
George Washington's World - 11.38
History and Technology 7 book series 35.00


Japanese language:
Irasshai Teacher Material - 18.99
Irasshai textbook - 29.99
Irasshai workbook x 2 - 18.99 x 2

Asian Studies:
Japanese designs (Dover coloring book) - 4.95
Great Wall of China book (PBS) - 1 credit
The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks - 1 credit
Korea - An Illustrated History - 6.48
Japan - An Illustrated History (used) - 5.74
The Importance of Living (used) - 7.95
Tales of Japan - 10.10
The Samurai's Tale - (free amazon 4/3)
Japan Culture Smart - 9.95
Urashima and the Kingdom Beneath the Sea - 9.95
Life of Pi
Chinese Brush Painting - both for 11.19 (B&N w/discount)
Asian World 600-1500 - (used) 6.86
Teacher's guide to Asian World - 19.95
The Story of Ancient China - 14.95
Ch'l-lin Purse - 6.95
Marco Polo for Kids - 11.53
Exploration into Japan - 4.34
Sign of the Chrysanthemum - 3.77
Ancient Japan - TCR download from CurrClick - 10.00
Art supplies - 12.40

Literature:
Alice's Adventure in Wonderland
Tom Sawyer - both books 7.82
Mark Twain short Stories - 2.50
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (may not use until 8th) - 1.50
Figuratively Speaking - 12.23
Journey to the Centre of the Earth - 5.17

Misc:
Uncle Josh's Outline Map book - 16.86
Planbook software - 30.00
Paper Planner & book rings - 8.00
Far East Scrapbook paper - 17.88
Once Upon a Time scapbook paper - 13.07
Paper and report covers - 11.98
More report covers (I use these in binding) - 4.36
Photo boxes (for organizing supplies) - 6.68

My Self-Education:
Classical Rhetoric with Aristotle - 13.95 (used)
Sophie's World - 4.00
Animal Farm - 2.00

Items to use Later:
Renaissance & Reformation (Miller) - 10.00
Story of Mathematics - 4.10
Shakespeare biography - 2.49
Michelangelo book - 4.30
Antique classic books - 20.00







Total spent to date: 888.13 - 30.10 (book trade-in) = 858.03 + 3 PBS credits

2010-2011 School Year purchases

I've always tried to be frugal in our homeschooling. Next fall will start our seventh year of homeschooling. Some years we've had a tiny budget, some years I've been able to spend more. My spending tends to be done over a period of time in shorter amounts. Then at least twice during the months of March and April I do a few larger orders.

I started keeping track of expenses in November. This includes items for next year (2010-2011) and any items I need to finish out this remaining year.

The current total is listed in the sidebar, a detailed list is also available as a separate post. A few items for next year I already own as I have either been using them for my own self-education. I also invested in a membership in Amazon prime last year. That has been one of the best things for us as I can purchase less expensive items as needed and not worry about the shipping fees. For our family the 79.00 fee has been worth it.

Because our expenses are usually spread out over the year I don't have an exact dollar figure for what I spent last year. It was in the $700 - $1000 ball park. That's where I'd like to keep it, at least for middle school. Part of that budget includes materials for my own self-education, I consider myself a student in our school.

By listing these items I'm hoping to not only see how much I actually spend, but that you can see that homeschooling doesn't need to cost a fortune. Happy research and happy shopping.

Asian Studies? How LCC of You

I recently posted a rough draft of our schedule for next year. It includes Asian Studies for history, geography, and lit. If you also notice we follow the Latin-Centered Curriculum as our educational model. If you are confused because you never read the page about Asian Studies in LCC, don't be, it's not there.

Z is currently fascinated with the Japanese language, stemming from his interests in Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, and Naruto. He has asked numerous times to learn the Japanese language. Not wanting to waste an educational opportunity I have worked Japanese into our schedule for next year. What about Greek? We started Greek last year and after our experience I had already opted to keep the Greek fun and perhaps work it in at the high school level. We'll discuss Latin in a moment.

Because we entered the classical model of education at the fifth grade level Z missed some of the richness that classical provides at early elementary level. One of those was world history. Our previous curriculum focused on US History and took a more social studies approach to history. We missed many of the rich history of the Asian culture. Last year we focused mainly on Greek and Roman history, this year we are studying the Middle Ages. Next year my goal was to hit the Renaissance/Reformation period and Moderns in 8th. So going back to Asian studies to hit what we missed in previous year seems very in medias res of me.

My current plan is to use a history text as a spine touching only on the chapter on Asian history. We will then take a deeper look at the East Asian countries of Japan, Korea, and China. We'll also finish our three year world geography tour on the Asian continent. We'll also add in art with Japanese calligraphy, origami, possibly silk painting, or wood block printing.

I've very excited and have already picked resources for many of these areas. Pssst - many of these items were already sitting on my bookshelves.

Latin will still be our main language. Latin, math, and composition will still be our core subjects. Following an LCC will actually give us the time needed to pursue Z's current passion. So perhaps it is very LCC of us to take the time to explore Asia.

My Percy Jackson Review

I give the movie a solid B. There were good parts and bad parts. The casting was good. Logan Lerman does a great job as Percy, Uma Thurman is awesome as Medusa.

Camp Half blood is different than I imagined. Some of the dialogue is bad and it seems like the script couldn't decide if it were designed for kids or teens. They introduced aspects of the series is some not so subtle ways like the dyslexia and ADHD angle. They missed some of the subtlety of the book and the genuine emotion of the story seemed forced.

The effects were decent and they changed the story line, but it held up all right, not excellent, but all right.

They sort of combined Ares and Hades, Ares is not in the movie at all, neither is Clarisse.

I've read all the books twice and some of the events have co-mingled in my mind and I've forgotten everything that only took place in "The Lightning Thief". I'll have to go back and re-read it now.

All in all I give it a B because of the solid casting and the setting of the foundation of what will hopefully be the remaining books becoming movies.

Also when you go do not leave when the credits start. There is a great scene part way through the credits.

Percy Jackson Movie Day

I think I am more excited than Z. Today we are taking a field trip to see Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief. I have my camp half-blood shirt all ready, money stashed in my wallet, and gas in my car. Yippee!!

I'll post a review afterward. I've read a few early reviews and I plan to view the movie as a separate entity from the books. Z and I read the series last year, I read them twice.

For now I must consume more coffee and get ready.

Beginning Literature Analysis

After some reflection, contemplation, frustration, and commiseration from certain other homeschooling families I decided to follow the wisdom of someone who was kind enough to share their latest venture into writing. Going back to familiar stories to teach literature elements.

I immediately cried Eureka! at her lightbulb moment and ran through the house and grabbed one of the Z's favorite childrens stories, The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear. It is a most excellent story to help develop a basic lit analysis.

I hurriedly created a lit analysis form, available here. The form was created by referring to the book Critical Conditioning by Kathryn Stout. Critical Conditioning is an excellent reference source for homeschoolers.

So today we discussed the elements on the form, then we read the book. Then we went back and filled in the form. I was impressed with Z's focused attention (a good thing in 12 year olds), his observations of the plot, and how easily he grasped the plot elements.

Tomorrow we are doing a paragraph with Z being able to chose from a few different topic sentences. If you have read the book, these should be familar to you.
1. The Bear never existed.
2. The narrator was looking out for the mouse
3. The narrator was a bully.
4. The mouse allowed his fear to win.

or Z's addition
5. The narrator was a jerk and only wanted the strawberry.

I feel quite blessed to be able to bounce ideas, frustrations off others that are homeschooling. I am also thankful that those that are further ahead of us on the road are willing to be transparent so we can learn from them.

Mid-Year Mix it up & Mayhem

Getting back to school after a long Christmas break has been hard. It's like a good stretch, it hurts a little, but you know it's good for you. We're mixing up a few things on this second half of the school year.

We have finished our reading of Science Matters and have moved into our biology/anatomy study. Biology is not Z's favorite science, it doesn't involving setting anything on fire and he doesn't like looking at dead animals. In the last year we have found a dead dragonfly, bumble bee, and a tiny frog in our yard. Me, being the curious one, have brought them into the house, photographed them, gazed at them under the microscope, and then placed them back into the wild to be a part of the "circle of life". Z made a face, took a quick look, and left the room. He nearly gagged at my suggestion of dissecting the frog, he was already deceased. I opted to delay the lab portion of biology as well and we put the frog back outside in the yard.

As much as I love CW Homer, we have put it on hold for a few months. It was simply moving too quickly for us. We are concentrating on R&S Grammar and a few workbooks on paragraph writing. I'm hoping later this spring to return to Homer and then finish it up next year. I had a brief moment of panic before I chose to take this action. Then I remembered when I purchased the Homer OB book my plan was to spread it out over two years if necessary. Panic attack averted, I'm actually following my plan. :svengo: (that's the fainting smiley code).

Math is progressing well. We are finishing up the LOF decimals and percents book this month and then we will move into LOF pre-algebra (biology). I'm also continuing with the Dolciani pre-algebra book as needed. The LOF pre-algebra book just fit too well into our studies this semester, I couldn't pass it up. We'll meld the LOF with Dolciani for the rest of the year and next year with our Algebra study as well.

Logic is another area where we have changed course a little. I do like Art of Argument, but I'm not sure he's getting the most use out of it at this point. The book is broken into two units and my plan is to finish unit one and then complete unit two next year. Part of that has to do with some long term planning goals and the fact I KNOW this child will need a good foundation in logic and reasoning skills. I still haven't decided 100% what we will do, but I'd like to have a logic/worldview/philosophy course going at all times and I'm still debating on curriculum.

I have seen the waves of maturity coming in for Z. His study habits are getting better. His ability to focus for a longer period of time is hit or miss. I can tell when he's going through a growth spurt and when he's just being a goof. I'm starting to hear a deeper tone of voice come from across the table. He's 4 1/2 inches away from being taller than me, he handed down socks to me, and we bought the same size gloves for our winter trip up north. I'm not sure if that is the mix it up part or the mayhem, but I think twelve is a great age for homeschooling. We keep a growth chart on the door frame in his bedroom. He's grown many inches so far this year. But that's not the only growth, I see it in his papers for school, his attitude towards life, his respect towards his family and himself. It's a journey and I'm glad I get to experience twelve with him.

Field Trip: St. Louis style

Here are some photos from our fantastic trip to City Museum in St. Louis. It was a wonderful place to visit and would be a great place to hang out.

A funky mosaic column

Z watching the turtles hovering under the warming light.

Tigger joining the rat race, round and round and round....

The boys huddling together for warmth. We've been in the south long enough for our blood to thin more than a tad.

The watchful monster outside. What a creative way to do a wall.

If you are interested in seeing more photos you can find them here.

Shooting Nature

New Header photo and shooting nature

It has never been my life's desire to live near a swamp. However I find the animal life around one to be quite fascinating. If you open your eyes there is nature study everywhere. The other day I went to the state park for a quick "teacher conference" (see previous post) and to snap some pictures.

I walked right by this scene and stopped short. I had been looking at the ground watching for snakes and I almost missed it. In the middle of the shot there is a Great Blue Heron. Can you find it?

Look at the tail end of the "d" in Wakefield, there it is. One again nature gives us a life lesson. Do you know what it is? To see the truly beautiful things in life sometimes you have spend time looking where you didn't think there was beauty at all.

The Return of Alex Rider!

The latest installment in the Alex Rider series, Crocodile Tears, arrived today. We have already read through chapter two. I can't say how excited I am that it is here. I may stay up late tonight and get a good bit - or should I say bite - of reading done.

I wonder how Alex will save the world this time?!

ETA: I have posted a review at the Elegant Lion blog. It gets two thumbs up from me.

Teacher's Field Day

I was able to get out into nature by myself today. I needed a little break from Nanowrimo and I wanted to catch some fall in the park. Being in nature helps me regroup. I think I'll need that this week. The above is me having a private teacher-parent conference. Looking for thoughts, inspiration, and peace.

The lovely bird has found balance. Why is it so easy for birds to balance on the tiny branches of life? Is it because the are able to fly above it and see it in better perspective.

These dying leaves were one of the most vibrant colors in the park today. Vibrancy right before plummeting to their deaths on the ground. I'm sure there is something poetic there. I'll steal from Homer, "the Generation of Leaves".

These berries were beautiful. Berries thrive best in groups. Another point to ponder.

I love the colors in this picture. We recently had a few big storms. There were a lot of small trees down and many logs in the water. I love the composition of the broken branch framing the greenery behind it. So maybe being broken does not mean being useless. Another great point along the way.

All in all it was a great teacher's meeting. I think we'll schedule those on a regular basis.

N is for November and NaNoWriMo

November used the be that month that lay quietly between the chaos of December and the frustration of October. Not that November has been without its own celebration, there is that whole Thanksgiving holiday, a whole week off of school at the end of the month. Thanksgiving around here has meant a few things. We cook a dinner and poke at the turkey every few hours to see if it is done. Then we go to the movie. OR We decide on Thanksgiving Day that we'd rather go out and suffer through a turkey dinner prepared by someone else. (My family suffers when I cook too, they have learned to eat anyway) One year I think we filled up on a family size tub of popcorn at the theater.

Anyway this is now the third year that November has had some excitement. In addition to schooling Z I'm writing a story. My son would say it with rolling eyes, "You're writing another? What about all of those you've already written." Then he'd point to the bottom shelf of the classroom bookshelf that holds several stories in various stages of completion.

I love Nano. (www.nanowrimo.org) for those who don't know what it is. Basically the world of writers gets together and crafts (*snort*), okay writes a plotted, not plotted, 50k words in 30 days. The average is 1667 words per day. It's the 5th and I'm on 10,345. The process is the reward. The first year I thought I'd never reach 50k, the 2nd year I thought I could never stop writing, This year I'm actually liking my story.

Part of the plot has been bits and pieces of dreams I've had over the last few months. Thankfully I have weird dreams that wake me up in the middle of the night going HUH! I've already interwoven about five or six dreams into my story.

Along this road I must also continue with schooling. This year has been eye-opening in many way. We are only eleven weeks into the year and we've had breakthroughs, ephiphanies, stumbling blocks, and even a few victories.

We're branching out and trying a few new things. Academically and socially. November is the month to allow those ideas and revelations to stew. Stirring once in a while, it will be interesting to see how Thanksgiving break ties all of them together.

Thanksgiving is about being thankful. I can't wait to see what develops in Z and in my story in these few short weeks.

Nature Study at the Door

This darling sparrow was in our fireplace this morning. Z freaked me out saying there was something banging from inside the glass doors. We got the flashlight to be sure it wasn't a bat (not letting that into the house) and saw that this tiny bird.

I had a little net and was going to catch him and Z had opened the front door. He darted up to the top of the vaulted ceiling and then flew smack into the sliding glass doors to the sunroom. Poor guy.

He is now sitting on the front porch in a box on a chair. He feet are fine as they are curled around a twig. His neck isn't broken as he was turning his head around. He's been out there for about 30 minutes and appears to be resting.

UPDATE: Z and I went outside to move the chair as the sun was starting to shine directly on it. The little sparrow flew away and landed in one of our tall trees. I'm so happy.

Beware, I'm redecorating

As I am running out of things to redecorate and move in my actual house, I have now turned to my blog. Should things seem out of place and a bit discombobulated over the next fews days I apologize, but I promise the mess will all be picked up, the books will be returned to their shelves and there will be no more dust in the corners.

Water Bonds

My knowledge of chemistry is somewhat limited. I know that water is 2 hydrogen and 1 oxygen and I know that when H2O is allowed anywhere near Z a chemical reaction occurs. The boy loves water, in the sink, in the tub, in the ocean, he is happy.

Today was a blah day. I went to Walmart early this morning, it was pouring rain. It quit for a while and we've all be lying around today. Z scooted through the classroom a few times proclaiming, "I'm bored."

So when it started to pour again I decided it was time for a positive chemical reaction. We went and played in the rain. We splashed in puddles and watched the tiny waterfall going down the driveway. Then we moved to the muddy backyard. Z was splashing in the mud and falling down. We rinsed off with the hose and then repeated. He was laughing. I asked him to explain his current mood in interpretive dance. With glee he bent down scooped up mud and proceeded to smear it on his chest and then drew a happy face on his torso.

I so wanted to take his picture, he asked me not too. Instead I etched the memory into my brain. A moment of pure splendor, chemistry in action.