In-Service Day

Yesterday we had an in-service day. I planned out the remaining weeks of school. We only have seven weeks of school left plus one week of spring break. I'm almost sad to see it end but we have come a long way in the last twenty-eight weeks. As I look back here are some of the highlights to remind me that it will be all right:

• The Latin book that was scary to look through at the beginning of the year is almost completed.
  
• We made it through CW Aesop B without bloodshed.
• CW Poetry is a hit, I knew that. Z is very pattern oriented and poetry is a pattern.
• Z called diagramming sentences fun.
  
• Life of Fred is a big, big hit. Did you know you can laugh during math?
• I'm learning a lot about ancient history this year.
  
• I'm learning a lot about the periodic table of elements this year too.
  
• I'm glad I read Black Ships Before Troy before attempting The Iliad.
• There will be an eighth Alex Rider book! (jumping for joy)
• If you are planning on self-educating make sure you budget for it. I consider myself the second student now. Fortunately most of what I'm buying Z can use down the road.
• You don't have to do it ALL in one year. (who me?)
• Just because Z isn't ready to learn something doesn't mean I have to quit learning it.
  
• Matching bookcases are a thing of beauty.
• An electric pencil sharpener is also a thing of beauty
• Next fall is going to be awesome!
  

Wakefield Walk: Z's perspective

Yesterday was a beautiful day. I had Z take the camera out and take pictures of ten different items in the yard. Amazing what the yard looks like from his perspective. His pictures, my narrations...

The ant mound that is outside of his bedroom window.

A beautiful composition photo which epitomizes the diversity of our yard.

One of the trees that got struck by lightning last year.

Another set of trees in the yard that really like each other.

It's a little blurry, but there is a birds' nest in there.

Another half downed tree. Um, we have some tree work to do in the yard.

The little creek at the end of our driveway. Technically it's a water drainage system (ditch for us common folks) but it has a wonderful eco system of its own. Z saw a turtle in there yesterday and there are always little fish swimming in it.

Another picture of the creek.

This very large flowering bush in our side yard. It's only pretty for about three or four weeks. Z has captured its beauty.

Another dead tree in our backyard. Yup, it's on the list for Tigger to take down. Currently a feeding ground for a woodpecker.

Z certainly surprised me with what he chose to photograph. He did a wonderful job.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lucky stars above you,
Sunshine on your way,
Many friends to love you,
Joy in work and play-
Laughter to outweigh each care,
In your heart a song-
And gladness waiting everywhere
All your whole life long!

Professor Z's science experiement

Science started in a normal fashion, marshmallows on a plate. We were going to make model molecules (say that three times fast!).

However, the professor had a better idea. Roasting marshmallows over an open flame in the kitchen. Seemed harmless enough, right?


No! Our molecules started to glow! There must have been something radioactive in the fuel? What should we do?



Why feed the marshmallows to an unsuspecting participant of course! We initially tried to "volunteer" Sargent Astrum here, but she was already stuffed. (Get it, already stuffed!) .....boo, hiss.

So we did what any self-respecting homeschooler would do, we fed it to the Private Daytona. See the resulting glow in her eye? The dog has since recovered and has sworn off marshmallows for a while.



Disclaimer: No actual marshmallows were harmed in the course of this experiment, no hazardous chemicals were created, and the dog didn't really glow. We did find out what happens to a marshmallow once it burns up. Crispy would be a good description.

CW Poetry: A beginning

Our of our assignments today was to replace words in the simple rhyme of Jack Be Nimble. Here it is in the original form in case you have forgotten.

Jack be nimble
Jack be quick
Jack jump over the candlestick

Z has once again put his unique touch on our writing assignments. This the Professor's rendition

We be tired
We slow
We jump over the flaming 'fro

For those of you who have seen my hair early in the morning, flaming 'fro is not too far from the truth. His imitation gets two thumbs up from me.

Wordless Wednesday: Monday in the Backyard

A Quiet Victory

Z is a reluctant writer. He does not lack in the imagination department and can tell wonderful stories, the struggle has been to get him to put them down on paper. This year I bit the bullet and purchased Classical Writing's Aesop B for our grammar and writing program. Yesterday we finished the eighteen week program.

I am so proud of Z, he has moved forward greatly in his writing. We are still working on getting all of those wonderful creative ideas onto paper but he has made real progress. I give credit to Classical Writing for that. It is a deep and rich program. If it were chocolate it would one of those creamy decadent kind. You know the kind that you put into your mouth and simply let it melt because of its texture. Okay, now I've just made myself hungry. Anyway, we could redo the entire book and have a completely different experience. It is that kind of savory experience with a curriculum that I desire.

Z has even said that one of the fun parts of school is diagramming sentences. I know he is my child, but that is not something he picked up from Tigger or I. So there is hope that he will be smarter than both us. :)

Because of my experience with Aesop I have no qualms, although a little bit of stage fright, about moving onto their next level, Homer. We won't dig into that until fall. Until then we are going to work on CW's Poetry for Beginners A. Z keeps telling me that poetry is girly. I simply raise my eyebrows because I know better. I'm currently reading The Iliad and there isn't a "girly" aspect to it. I truly think he will enjoy the poetry, he loves to memorize song lyrics and we are always playing goofy rhyming games.

Armed with CW Aesop we have won another battle. There are no trumpets, no banners, and no war games to coincide with this triumph, but it is victory just the same.

A Generation of Leaves

"As is the generation of leaves, so it that of humanity. The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. So one generation of men will grow will another dies." The Iliad Book 6 line 146-149

A generation of leaves. As Homer points out in book six of the Iliad we are but a generation that will be blown by the winds of time. Leaves line my yard like packing peanuts in a box. My son and my dog run through them stirring them, wafting them into the house. They crunch underneath foot, they crack and break into pieces. They are dead remnants of life, a reminder to the trees that even as the new blooms open, that death is a part of life.





I wonder if, as the leaves fall they bemoan their fate. I wonder if they lie underneath their former habitat of life and sneer upon the new growth as it happens. Knowing full well that new growth shall someday sit beside that fallen leaf. Perhaps they are happy for the new leaves sprung forth with the emergence of the singing birds. Perhaps they sit in somber recollection of those very songs, the songs of the morning birds, and wish upon the new leaves all the joy those melodies proclaim.





Perhaps the look upon new life as they sit upon the earth. A life where a child may pile them and play, a life where they may regenerate the earth itself even as they pass from this moment in time.



I do not believe I have ever pondered the leaves as I have this night. My yard full of tall stately trees reaching to the sky is but a nursery and a cemetery all in one. New life sprung forth each season, the frogs are out, the birds are starting to sing, the mosquitoes swarming, and the baby lizards are venturing out from the shed. Yet the leaves of old sit still upon the ground only moving as we bustle through them. The story of life right outside my own back door.

Alex Rider: A Conclusion

I feel quite sad today. We have finished with the Alex Rider series. We started Stormbreaker as a read-aloud last fall, before school even started. We would read an Alex Rider book then go to something historical or educational then rush back to Alex. Snakehead is the final chapter, so far, in the series. Z and I have traveled the world through Alex's eyes. We have watched him save the world multiple times, with help from friends and misc gadgets along the way.

I'm not sure who enjoyed the series more, me or Z. I've never been much of a girly-girl, so Alex's adventures were right up my alley. James Bond is also a big hit in our house, so it was nice to find a series with that feel, yet tame enough for Z.

We have watched Alex, the character, change and grow as he has gone through various bumps and bruises along the way. With a little bit of foresight I would have written an entire geography curriculum centered around the series to use this year. IMO it would be a great series to form a geography unit study around.

So I have sadly shelved the final Alex Rider book. Z's first words after we finished were "Are there going to be anymore?" I don't know. I would think not as it seems the author has come to a nice crisp ending. Perhaps in a few years Alex will grow up and we shall see what he does for his future.

Lucky clovers?

My new header photo is a patch of clover from my back yard. St. Patrick's Day is fast approaching and that's my blog decoration. ;) I love St. Patrick's Day, the one day of the year everyone is just like my family, IRISH!

A New Year, Our New Arrangement

I have been known to rearrange the classroom on a whim. Now that I have three new bookcases (yippee!) I'm finally getting some real organization in place.



The bookcase on the left holds mostly my items, the one on the right for Z. The middle one holds extra science and math books, one I'm working on for self-ed and ones found as bargains too good to pass up.

I found these bookcases at Target. I spent a few hours putting them together and find them to be of good quality for the furniture you have to assemble.

This is the great window we look out (get distracted with) during school. Z has to sit with his back toward the window otherwise, well we'd never get anything accomplishated.


This is my working file. It hold my school planner, a few books and a whole bunch of papers I will eventually go through. My papers, not Z's.

The floor is still a work in progress, but it's on the list.

An Interview with Dr. Campbell

The following is a link to a wonderful interview with Dr. Campbell himself. He discusses his new book Living Memory, which I heartily recommend. He also talks about some of his philosophy on classical education.

Click here to read the interview.

The Professor vs Poison Ivy

Z has developed poison ivy. Saturday he was fine, Sunday he had a rash. He also had a sore throat so we weren't sure if it was strep or poison ivy. Monday it proved to be poison ivy. Poor guy, it is on his face and arm.

The benadryl is making him tired, so we've done a short day of school for yesterday and today. Today the poison ivy has won the battle, but Z shall win the war I'm sure.

So what's on the teacher's desk?

Here are a few of the things on my desk. The fierce and nasty looking dragon is a new addition as of yesterday. Yes, I know I'm weird. I try to have something tangible (something I can fidget with) for each of the stories I am working on. The dragon is perfect for my story Hunting Dragons. Personally I think he has a sinus issue hence the reason for the open mouth. He's only trying to breathe, not breathe fire.

Plus he looks as if he is about to devour the Jeep in the below picture. You can barely see it, it's the yellow gold thing. There's my planner, my phone, part of the lamp, and the little silver cup that holds my mp3 player (I'm using it right now, so it's not in the picture) and my usb drive. Oh and next to the planner is a plastic spider. He has a name, which I forget, and Z and I pass him back him back and forth. Sometimes he winds up in one of my dresser drawers. He's supposed to help me get over my fear of spiders, not working. I am not afraid of dragons however.



On the other side of my desk is the other silver cup that holds the obvious. Than an empty cup, my mouse pad and my cup holder (it says DREAM). The cup is empty, it's not half full, half empty, it is completely empty. It had cranberry juice, bitter but good for you. (come up with any allegory you want about a completely empty glass that was filled with bitter drink :)



Last picture is of my stuffed hippo. He's been here before, he sits on a shelf above my desk. He's to help with my story Post 452. There is an actual stuffed hippo in that story, plus he's more friendly than the dragon.





Aside from the computer, which is a HP laptop, that is what's on my desk. Thanks for peering into my life today.

Grammar Fun with Z

Leave it to Z to come up with a way to make grammar fun. He was on a roll yesterday and decided that there were a few culturally relevant ways to learn about verbs. Our little gift from Z to you.

Introducing...

The Verbinator: "Read these verbs if you want to live."

Dark Verb: "Noun, I am your father."

Drive Thru History: Greece

If you're like me you've had some teaching on Ancient Greece, although Z might say it was in the ancient days. Twenty-five years does seems like a long time, yes do the math, I'm 41. If you're also like me you might have had some biblical history thrown in via Sunday School, messages from your pastor, etc.

So if this were a visual I'd be holding up both arms wide apart. I'd shake my right hand and say "On one hand you have Greek History" and then I'd shake my left hand "On the other hand you have biblical history, and never the two shall meet." At least that has been my experience. So these histories are as far apart as my arm span, which honestly is not that far, I have short arms. You can't mention God in the public schools and you don't hear so much about ancient Greek culture in Sunday School.

Drive thru History: Greece solves that dilemma. The three videos on this DVD weave Greek culture into biblical history in a way that is fun and educational. To top it off Dave Stotts is a hoot. He seems to possess a humor that is similar to that of me and Z, so he is very welcome in our classroom.

These DVDs are produced from a Christian perspective however I believe anyone interested in biblical history should watch these. They do not come off as overly evangelistic, IMO. I would also say that anyone who in using the neo-classical or classical model for education should watch these. We are using MOH (Mystery of History) as our history/religion course and this DVD ties in nicely with their schedule. If you have not studied biblical history and how it relates to the ancient cultures this DVD ties them together nicely.

I would rate this DVD as PG. Z is eleven and I did not find anything I would discern as objectionable in this DVD. However he does discuss some of the less savory habits of the ancient world, but it is done tastefully. There is also artwork scrolled that depicts ancient life. These are more pencil-like drawings and I did not see any true "nudes" however you might want to preview for your family's standards.

I had been wanting to buy these as I have caught some episodes on TV, but it was never a priority in the budget, kwim. Our local movie store did not carry them, so we requested them from Netflix. I'm learning to love Netflix and the other installments of Drive Thru History have been added to our queue.

The Professor and His Art Project

Z loves to make spider webs of yarn in his room. This was his project for yesterday. He spent a great deal of time weaving the yarn throughout specific areas. it was quite creative.

A New Year, a Revamped Schedule

After much contemplation I am doing an experiment with our daily schedule. The Latin-Centered Curriculum outlines doing some subjects once per week. We will continue to do reading, Latin, math, and comprehension daily. I do like approaching those subjects in that manner. I also like doing history, literature, religion, science, and geography once a week. However, due to illness, injuries, and other various distractions I find some of those subjects not getting done and we are woefully behind in at least two of them.

I have decided to experiment by focusing on one subject five times per week for a period of time. For instance, we will focus on religion for the next few weeks and should finish that subject for the year in two to three weeks. Then we will move to history and should finish it in three to four weeks. Literature will be our last subject to handle in that manner. That is if the "experiment" works.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping this will help with Z's retention as well. We will continue to do Science on Fridays as that is one of Z's favorite subjects. Friday is also a shorter day as Latin and Comprehension are done four times per week only. Geography will continue to be done once a week.

I'll report back to let you know if this is a hit or a flop.

Classical Writing: Robin Hood, a collaboration

We are delving into Classical Writing Aesop B this year. This is the first year Z has done a formal writing program. This week I have been sick so we opted to make this weeks lesson a collaboration. Z wrote half of this, including the opening paragraph. I helped with other parts. It was a true tag-team effort.

Robin Hood

A guy was walking down the road. Robin Hood saw him and left him alone.
The very next day the man was again there. Robin Hood jumped out and said, "What can you spare?"
The guy had five shillings and gave them to Robin. Then he pulls out a ring starts a sobbin'.
Robin Hood is going to help the guy. Allin-a-Dale agreed with a sigh.
He went to church as a harper but did not play. He protested the maiden marrying the man old and grey.
Then Robin Hood saved the day. They grey old man went away.
Allin-a-Dale married the maiden fair that day then and there.

Go Hypothesize!

Z and I have these cards. It's simply a deck of regular playing cards with a different scientist on each number or face card. Today we decided to make up our own game using them. Well, it was basically Go Fish but with a twist. Instead of calling out the value of the card we had to use the scientist name. If we didn't have that card instead of saying "Go Fish" we said "Go Hypothesize" and then that person drew a card from the deck. It was fun and educational. I know Z learned a lot in that fifteen minutes of play. One thing I learned is that it is possible to still laugh and learn at the END of the school day. We haven't done that in a while.