Hazel"nut" Academy Update

Today was the first day of Co-op as some call it. Its really a private Christian school that has classes for homeschoolers on Tuesdays. Princess Poodle will take History (SOTW), Science (biology), Art, and Music. She had a wonderful first day. Princess Poodle can struggle with being "shy" when she feels out of place. She really is quite the talkative, inquisitive, often corny little girl but if she feels on the outside of things she closes up completely. I pray she will come to feel comfortable there on Tuesdays. Today she came home telling me all about Spanish Conquistadores and told me that history is her favorite subject.





Last night Papa, Princess Poodle, Triple H and myself went bug hunting. We used a white sheet and a massive work light to create a bug haven. We were after moths mostly but ended up with moths, grasshoppers and one big black cricket! Triple H fell in love with this one old, slow (he would just sit on his hand)brown grasshopper. He reminded me of some granddaddy grasshopper. Slower, wiser than the little green "teenage" grasshoppers that dart around and are afraid of human hands. Maybe this "granddaddy" grasshopper has been in his share of nature studies and knows he won't be hurt. The kids loved the nighttime bug hunt. It made me miss camping and long to take them.







In other school news: Math: Saxon 2 is going well. Nothing too exciting but we are getting it done. Princess Poodle seems to be making progress with her math facts now that the timed portion of the drill is gone. I am really liking Writing with Ease and consider it a winner so far. It includes copywork from good literature, narration exercises from portions of stories, and I add in a few things like picture study and creating a simple story based on the picture, as well as dictation of a simple sentence. We are leaving science for a bit except for our nature study on the changing leaves etc. and will be starting Native Americans and Pilgrims in the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow we will make spears and read in our history encyclopedia. I think the kids are going to enjoy this segment of American History. I hesitate to say we are in a groove because life always has a way of changing that groove but we seem to be doing well most days. I am already looking into possible direction for history/culture study next year. I am considering Winter Promise Children Around the World but then again that is a long way off. I have so many things running around in my head I apologize if this entry has been choppy. Thanks for stopping by.






Oh and Autumn is in the air. I can feel it coming. The leaves are losing their vibrant green color. The air has a hint of coolness in it. I planted my mums. And my heart is beating a little faster. Autumn does that to me everytime!


Sheryl


Countdown to Disney: 18 days!

Fieldtrip: Nature Study

What an amazing homeschooling day. We went to a nature preserve with another homeschooling family and the day was so enjoyable. We saw a black bear, many owls, a red fox, a cougar, a playful river otter, a nervous coyote, two agressive bobcats, many birds of prey, snakes, turtles and bison. There were farm animals and nature trails and lots and lots of smiles and laughter. A pleasant picnic, active kids, conversation with a sweet friend that gets where I'm coming from...what a good day. I thank God for each day but I must admit I send Him a little extra grin at the end of days like today. Here are some pics of the trip and the animal friends we made. Enjoy a peak into this day of Hazel"nut" academy.

KIDS ARE GETTING OLDER :Caution: controversy ahead

I read an article today in a Christian parenting magazine. It was about something known as "age compression". It spoke of how 10 is the new 13. How kids are trading in their toys at age 6 for video games and celebrity icons. How children younger and younger are into fashion and want the latest trend in clothing.

I hope this post will not offend anyone that reads it. I seem to stand quite alone at times even in circles of believers on this topic. I do believe in age compression and I believe it is a scheme of Satan that is being led by the media and marketing divisions. The idea of kids getting older younger is even a marketing term they use to market older items/icons etc. to younger children. They are making 8 and 9 the preteen ages that were once 11 and 12.

So here are some rambling thoughts of mine. First Hannah Montana, High School Musical, etc. I have watched these (by myself) I have researched online as to their purity factor etc. Both of these rank high on Christian websites as good clean fun to watch. However, both of these shows/movies are about HIGHSCHOOLERS. I feel people seem to miss that. As good and clean as Hanna Mon. or Highschool musical are ...they contain boy/girl "love" relationships/crushes, they contain at times emphasis on clothing etc. And I don't believe even these things are bad..but they are not appropriate for a six year old, or five year old...they really should be for Preteen and preteen used to be 10-12 years old. And yet most parents meaning well, wanting to enjoy some time watching something good together have opened this preteen world to their very young girls. Could this be harmful? ? Could it led to a bedroom filled with pop-culture icons instead of ponies, stuffed animals, dolls or sports..maybe. I don't know. What I do know is that a mom recently told me that her 12 year old had outgrown Hannah Montana. What? What comes after that!! I think that these shows are good pure entertainment that is meant for the 9-12 year old group of girls. I'm truly not against them. But are we pushing age compression on our kids? Are we unwillingly setting them up to feel older than they are and thus lead to feelings of inadequacy, wanting to dress older... ( I chose these two Disney dynasties to talk about because they are in essence good. I won't even go into all the crud out there)

The article also talked about the age of video games and how this too is being pushed on kids to young. How there is danger with some kids that these video/computer gaming systems is taking the place of age appropriate toys and creativity. I thought about this alot to. Now he has a leapster and plays this on long trips in the van or at the doctors office. And I let him play educational computer games while I teach harder subjects to my dd for school. I have a blog. I'm not a technophobic. But there has to be a limit. My 4 year old son wants a WII for Christmas..he played it at a friends house. He won't get it. Not because its bad, not because I can't be disciplined and limit his time on it..but because it isn't necessary. He is four and he can play with cars, balls, trains, action figures, and well DIRT. So I guess my kids might be slightly disappointed this Christmas.

Halloween is approaching and I am so thankful that my 7 year old will be wearing a princess costume that she chose because she loves it. Already I love to see her twirling in it. And that my 4 year old will be Peter Pan complete with swashbuckling dagger he totes around the house. I am thankful that I don't have to buy one of those blonde Hannah wigs....at least not for a few more years.

What are your thoughts on age compression? I welcome them . I know we all have different views on society, culture etc. I am just one brainstorming mom that wants to fight in the battle to protect my kids. Sometimes I may be too extreme and make mistakes..other times I might be right on. Its a journey and I'm learning as I go.
Sheryl

Wordless Wednesday

Me..sick..very sick. After two trips to the ER, 4 shots, and a round of antibiotics plus a few weeks to forget this ordeal I finally felt I could make fun of myself and post this pic. DD6 took it while I was sick. And yes that is a frozen bag of corn on my head! lol...aren't I pretty? ha ha ha

I Smell Like Tobacco and other thoughts

I smell like tobacco. I don't know why. It is baffling me. I have been to Snip-Its for Triple H to get his twice a year hair cut. We went to CHildren's Place for fall pants and tops on sale. We went through the drive in at Chickfillet for kids icecream cones. Where is the tobacoo smell coming from. It reminds me of one of those stores at the mall that sold pipes and old pictures of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. I know because I bought such an Eastwood picture for my husband back when we were dating. I smell like a Tinder Box. Strange....And Princess Poodle just said that I smell yummy..even stranger!


Bugs...In science we are learning about insects. Today we painted butterflies, read about butterflies and moths and their differences, and watched a Magic School Bus and Bug City about the insects. Tonight we go moth hunting. All it takes is a big white sheet and a bright flashlight. Well really all it takes is a porch light but I'm trying to make this fun here. Keep that curiosity flowing.

School went much better today. I dropped the timed portion of our math drills. Such relief. The funny thing is I think she did them the fastest she has ever done and with no timer on. My sweet little girl..wished I had dropped the timer long ago.

In other school/Hazel"nut" life news: Brownies was a big hit. So is softball. But with everything plus church on Wed. night something has got to give. I keep telling myself that it is only for a few more weeks. If I have to pull into a fast food place one more time to feed my starving kids cause practice is at 5:30 and they don't want to eat much at 4 and I don't want to cook at 7 then I am going to scream. I think I even saw two little golden spikes coming out of Princess Poodles head the other day.. I THINK she is growing golden arches.

OH and to our delight Fall Break and Family Vacation is only 4 weeks away. YeaH!!! Disney world here we come.

Fieldtrip to a nature preserve with great animals later this weekend. Pictures to come! And hopefully I can write about Tales from the crypt..oh I mean from the sleep lab. I'm already a little spooked about spending the night there! They said to pack light..I hope that includes my big Bible, my torn copy of Pride and Prejudice and my cell phone!

Have a great day everyone!

Update on Woodland Fairy Bedroom

Here is a pic of the mural so far. I used Wallies for the fairies and then I painted on the branch to make it look like they were sitting on the branch of a tree. I used some stencils to look like "fairy dust". I have a metal bistro table and chair set my sister is handing down for free and we should get that at Thanksgiving. I'll put it under the branch and hang some sort of lantern/light above it. The perfect tea party table for my little girly girl.

I'm TIRED MOMMY ; superhero extrordinaire

I am soon to be an official lab rat. After 15 years of bad sleep..and I mean the wake up 10 times a night bad sleep...after focusing on two babies, a husband with RA , and everyone and everything other than myself I am trying to find out why the heck I can't sleep. So I'm off in less than a week to be hooked up to wires, but in a bed thats not my own, and have my brain monitored while I sleep. Does this mean that they will be able to read my dreams..oh I hope not!!!If they could they would surely send my to the nut house.

Life has gotten busy with Brownnies, softball coaching, church Awana, co-op and homeschooling. And I"m exhausted. My kids hear me say it way to much. My poor husband has heard me say it for way too many years. I'm not super mommy ...I'm TIRED MOMMY...its written on my cape. My superhero symbol is two very large eyes half shut and droopy. If you press a button on my left hand (thats made of plastic of course I'm an action figure here) a big yawning sound comes out. TIRED MOMMY...able to do all of the days functions wit her eyes half shut and half her memory missing. I even lay out a cereal bar, SCISSORS, and a cup of ice for my son to get himself breakfast before waking me up. The ice melts overnight to make a nice cup of water. And I do cook breakfast later in the morning so don't call defax on me just yet.

I just need some sleep. I need rest and I need joy and some of these things I must chose to take because God is handing them to me. And for the sleep thing...well maybe these doctors will figure something out because I'd really love to change my superhero status!!!!

Thanks for stopping by...off to make breakfast, teach school, go to Brownie, drive a car! and more all with my eyes half shut!

A rough outline of our schedule

Another homeschooling mom asked to see our daily schedule. So for Ali and anyone else interested here is a rough outline of our days. This is for a first grader dd6 and pre-K ds4. My son will have another year of PreK after this one. We plan on holding him back a year due to a late summer birthday and not wanting him to be the youngest in his class.


Monday: no later than 9:00 start time : Morning Meeting: This is where we sit down together and cover various topics. Examples: work on memory of theology questions and answers (kids catechism), work in skip counting, counting by 1's for ds, telling time, counting money, sometimes we do math problems on our small hand held whiteboard, we also say a morning prayer and each child choses someone we know to pray for, we say the pledge each meeting and also work on any songs we are learning (right now it is the Star Spangled Banner). This meeting is ususally about 15 minutes or shorter if the kids end up laying on the floor. Alot of work gets done in these first few minutes.

After Morning meeting we do TABLE TIME. I start my dd on her copywork from Writing With Ease or Spelling Workout A (I keep an eye on this as she works so I can catch any mistakes. ) While she is doing copywork I work with ds on his worksheets from Get Ready For the Code. He can pretty much do these on his own at this point and I mostly read directions, check his work, and help him with his letter formation. After he finishes his "table time" I take him up to the computer and he plays on Nick Jr. Playhouse Disney or PBS Kids or Starfall. While he is working on the computer I tackle either Saxon Math or Writing With Ease/Language Lessons for the Well trained Mind with dd. I pick which subject needs one on one without brother that day to do first. If she needs a break after this we take a little break. DD is very good at staying on task and we tend to finish work quickly. Some days math can include little brother and he joins us.

Books are often read throughout the day, during lunchtime, on the couch etc. This time is pretty non-structured. DD loves to read and some weeks she reads what she chooses (right now it is Charlottes Web) and other weeks she must read a book I choose. Next week she will be reading excerpts out of CHristian Liberty Nature Reader that correlates with our science.

Tuesdays: DD goes to a co-op where she takes science, history, music and art

Wednesday: Basically the same as Monday but with some Awana verse review thrown in.

Thursday: The first half of the day is the same as Monday. We use Thursday afternoons to do science or history. I have worked myself into a month on science, a month on history and so on. I will have some months that overlap but when they do the science will be less so we can fit in our American History.

Friday: This day is our different more relaxed school day. Library trips, field trips on some Fridays. We use Fridays for our Artistic Pursuits lessons, science lessons and history lessons. If we have fallen behind during the week due to illness etc. Friday becomes a make-up day. I anticipate having to have math on Friday some weeks in order for us to finish our curriculum near the end of the year.

Most homeschool days we finish all our basics work by 10:30 or 11:00. This doesn't include reading stories etc. at or after lunch. And of course on Thursdays we have an afternoon session for history or science. With younger kiddos you might need more breaks and might find during little one's nap time to be a good time to teach. My dd is really quite the little machine when it comes to school work. Her focus and comprehension amaze me. My son will probably need more breaks between subjects etc. as he gets into the heavy schooling.

To be honest I am a person that craves reason in my day but I also grant myself flexability. If something grand comes up for science and it is a Monday then we spend our day doing nature study etc and move the basics to Friday. I really try to keep to the basics first because if I don't then my science/history loving 6 year old will let her favorite subjects take center stage.

For curriculum THIS Year I use with my first grader:
Saxon Math 2
Writing with Ease (Susan W. Bauer)
Language Lessons for the WEll trained Mind (wise) I correlate the lessons with the writing with ease and we won't do ALL the lessons.
Language Lessons for the Very Young (picture study/story telling lessons onlywhich could be done with a great art book instead)
Spelling Workout A (easy for her and independent at this point)
Science: a variety of sources with a focus on our nature journals: covering mostly animals this year
History: We did sotw 1 last year and loved it. This year we are doing American History which I have pieced together using a variety of sources. We will not be going into the Civil War this year.
Artistic Pursuits Book Oone

My ds4 is using Get Ready For the Code , Get SEt for the Code etc. and he will be doing some work from Sing Spell Read and Write K level. We also do songs, games etc.

I hope this helps Ali. My youngest just turned 4 and this year is easier than last year. Plus my dd6 is reading quite well and this cuts down on how much she needs me for her work. We are trying to adopt from China and if that ever happens then I will have a little one again and I don't know what I'll do! lol

Photos and school update

My Serene little girl..something about this photo captivates me.
A sister-brother Hawaiian tea party...really that's what it was. These moments are so nice though not as often as I would like.


School Update: We are in Week Six of our new school year. So far the curriculum choices are a good fit. Get Ready for the Code and Get Set for the Code are great for Triple H because he can do them on his own with little to no instruction and this is nice for me. It is reinforcing his letter recognition and sounds and we are starting to work on reading three letter words. Today he read the word "big" all by himself. I also like Writing with Ease. Princess Poodle likes to hear the classic story excerpts and I like the open and go format. I am also using First Language Lessons for the well trained mind which I work in quite easily. Saxon 2 is a good fit. We are still in the review stage of the lessons but I think after too long of a summer the review is nice. Princess Poodle is getting the hang of adding two digit numbers with carrying and I'm so proud of her. She is also making progress in the ever dreaded math drill sheets.
We are on a break from history for one month so we can focus on science. I find it a little much to do these two subjects together so we have somewhat created a every other month rotation and it is working out nicely. Next year I may look into a science program or maybe not. I would like to do a couple of months on the human body and don't think we will get to that this year. I also want to hit the earth sciences sometime. I really need a long term plan but I work best from year to year. This week in science we are studying insects. We will talk about grasshoppers and crickets this week. Our science is pretty much a pieced together curriculum including Christian Liberty Nature Readers, some science spines, lots of library books, Magic School Bus videos, Animal Atlas videos, nature study and some experiments. Both the kids love their nature journals and take great pride in showing them off. I'll post some nature journal pics very soon.

Hope everyone is having a great school year.
Thanks for stopping by.

Some Pictures of Princess Poodles First Grade Work

This is a picture from Language Lessons for the Very Young. Princess Poodle studied the picture and answered some questions about it. Then she got to create her own story based on the picture. I wrote her thoughts exactly as they came out. I thought her story made sense and followed a logical sequence.

Here is Princess Poodle's landscape from our Artistic Pursuits curriculum.
And here is her still life. We used watercolor crayons on both of these.