Term 1 Review {2015-2016}

We have wrapped up term 1 of our school year and are a few weeks into term 2. You can find our original school plans here and here.

(Pictures in this post are random pictures I took during term 1.)

It was a good term and we are certainly enjoying Ambleside Online curriculum. Tyler has had the smoothest transition and he is moving right along. It has taken Caleb a little longer to settle into the book list.

We have followed Tyler's original book list almost completely. I can't believe it!  We did drop the Using Language Well book because I just couldn't fit him into the program (he was at different grammar and dictation levels). We also changed his math program, but I will save that for another post.

Tyler said his favorite books are all those on his free reading list and Life of Fred. His least favorite is The Story of Inventions because the chapters are too long. ; )

There were a few changes made to Caleb's original book list. Science took the biggest hit. First Studies in Plant Life and The Amateur Naturalist are the only books from the original plan still being used. We've added in Fabre's Book of Insects and The Book of Trees .

History has stayed on track but I did drop Light to the Nations mostly because there was no time. I added in a shorter church history book to go along with the British history book.


I also dropped How to Read a Book because of time issues and Caleb wasn't really getting it. This book is schedule in AO over a few years so it will be picked back up next year. I was enjoying this book as I read it out loud to Caleb. It is certainly a must read for students!

The only thing that has been a complete failure is Spanish. He has completed fourteen weeks of school (and Spanish) and Caleb knows zero Spanish. I honestly don't know what to do at this point and this is on my list to pondering during Christmas break. 

Caleb said his favorite book has been To the Heights. I got no comment on least favorite. I think he is enjoying most of his books . . . . the IEW writing gives him the most grief. 

As I said earlier, we are loving AO. My only complaint is that there is a large learning curve. The website is loaded with information but it is a struggle to navigate. I know I came across AO in my first year of homeschooling and I couldn't make sense of the website and never took a second look until this past year. I'm extremely thankful that I finally took that second look. After a few months I learned that our placement into AO could have been a little different but overall I don't think it matters much.

Please leave questions or comments in the comments. You can also email me at  tendingpumpkinpatch at gmail dot com.

 

 

First Sunday of Advent Quick Daybook {November 29. 2015}

I'm still here! Sorry it's been so long. Just too much to get done and of course my favorite thing got put at the end of the list. I thought a quick daybook would be helpful to get back into the blogging habit. I have a few post waiting in draft to finish up in December. Pictures feature some of the Advent decorations we put up today (please excuse the quality since it's dark today).

 

Outside my window it is cold and rainy. It looks to be a colder than average week.

I am hearing Advent music! It warms my heart to hear it and it's been a long wait. 

I'm thankful for time with extended family during the Thanksgiving holiday. It's hard to find time for that currently in this season of life. 

It has been slow going around the house. I was able to deep clean Caleb's closet last weekend. He has been doing a good job of keeping it clean (minus the dusting) but I needed to move furniture to dust behind and sweep under. I also need to locate his scout book that went missing . . . . found it! I need to make my list of cleaning projects to do during Advent.

This week we are back to school. Otherwise it's a very light week and I hope to get some extra projects done.

I'm working to complete our Advent plan and hopefully everything will run smoothly during this time of waiting and preparing anticipation. My list includes a reading list, family prayer time, family Advent activities, preparing the home for Christmas, preparing our hearts for Christmas, shopping for Christmas, and how to keep the season low-key (or a plan to keep celebrations to a minimum until Christmas).

In the school room we are in the last three weeks before Christmas break. We will probably take all of the Christmas season off. I'm still fine tuning the school plan for term 2 while we are living it. I have some post coming up that are all school related.

I am struggling with working in a timely fashion. It seems like it takes me at least twice as long to get things done than it should. Is it age? It seems like my mind is a cluttered mess and it takes a long time to settle into a task and then stay focused until completion. It's a daily struggle!

I'm pondering the homily at church this morning. (We didn't have our normal priest today.) Father Greg kept using the word anticipation to describe how to prepare for Christmas during Advent. I really enjoyed all he had to said. Nothing new but it was refreshing and a great message for the first Sunday of Advent. It definetly gave me some ideas for Advent plans. 

I am reading A Child in Winter (Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany with Caryll Houselander) by Thomas Hoffman for daily devotions. Today's reading had a quote from The Reed of God (p38), "In the season of our Advent-waking, working, eating, sleeping, being-each breath is a breathing of Christ into the world." I like that thought.

Early Fall Nature Study {October 2, 2015}

I think fall is here. With that we were able to get out to our favorite place (the family farm) for a nature hike. 

Typically, summer nature hikes don't happen because it's hot, many bothering insects, and the grass/weeds are too tall and release too much pollen. Now most of that is gone. I did get into a nest of the tiniest seed ticks I've ever seen.

The sun was out when we left the house. On the short drive to the farm it had become cloudy and extremely windy. It was cold and I wanted to go back home. But, we bundled up and headed out anyway. 

All of my pictures from the nature hike are dark from all the clouds (and we were in the woods, but the sun would have helped a lot).

We picked a trail that we haven't been on since early spring. But, we went left instead of right this time which led us to a popular trail that brought us to Uncle Kevin's creek. Since the creek was dry we decided to walk the creek until we hit the next trail head. 

It was a wonderful hike! We had never done this before so the dry creek bed held many surprises for us to find. It wasn't the easiest walking but I surprising never fell, on my camera, which was my only worry. We studied much geology on this "trail". This was the perfect walk to go along with the book Rocks, Rivers, and the Changing Earth that Tyler has been reading. Completely unplanned connection on my part but I assume Holy Spirit led.

Even Lucy was interested in all the geology. ; )

We were wondering what sleeps under there. The only water we found and it was loaded with creatures.

We eventually found another trail that would take us back up the hill and to our starting point. By that time the sun was back out and the wind had died down a little. 

I sat by the lake (in my hammock) listening to a podcast while Lucy took a nap and chewed on a stick. The boys went to start a fire for some warmth but mostly for marshmallows.

Scott joined us after work for some fishing. Scott was the only one who caught a fish (which we ate with dinner). Lucy loves fishing too. The boys also roasted marshmallows over the fire they had made.

It turned out to be a beautiful day for some nature study at the family farm.

Tyler, the rock collector, carried this large rock on  most of the nature hike.

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real {October 1, 2015}

I'm linking up with Like Mother Like Daughter today. I've gotten behind on blogging so I thought this would be an easy way to get pictures posted on the blog since they are piling up. Plus, I haven't linked up with {phfr} in a long time.

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

 

 Pictures from our vacation to Pensacola Beach Florida. Plus some miscellaneous pictures.

Fort Pickins

Tyler before he lost both his sunglasses and goggles in the ocean.

Perhaps if the US military didn't encourage people not to read about history we would have avoided many repeat problems we have today. This poster was at the aviation museum in Pensacola Florida.

First time we have ever seen a ground hog in the yard. Lucy barked at it and scared it into the neighbor's tree.

Tyler is halfway through cross country season. This was from his first meet at Cole County Park.

We had a caterpillar turn to butterfly right at the front door. There was also one on the dead flower by the door.

Hay bale jumping at the family farm. Tyler with Lucy here.

More hay bale jumping with Caleb this time

9th Grade Booklist {2015-2016}

You can find the introduction and Tyler's booklist here. A post on what is in our Morning Basket will follow soon.

This booklist is for Caleb who is 14 and in the 9th grade. His list is adapted from Ambleside Online (AO) Year 7. Adaptions were made to make sure he is working at a high school level and to accommodate our personal preferences.

One thing I failed to mention in the introduction/Tyler's list is that AO is a rigorous curriculum. Year 7 is high school level in my opinion. Their years are not written to follow along to an equivalent public school grade. I picked year 5 for Tyler because it was about where he was in history. (He really was at year 4 history rotation but I thought the book choices for year 5 were more at his level.) I picked year 7 for Caleb because most of year 9 book choices were to far above his level. Year 7 also matched up the best for his history rotation too.

I'm not linking to the books I pulled from AO but you can find links to that material here (and I will say what AO year I pulled them from if not year 7).  Books that are not AO will be linked to sources of purchase. None of the links are affiliates. 

History/Geography: (British history heavy this year)
The History of England by Arnold-Forster
Light to the Nation Volume 1 (just to add a Catholic component, a well-rounded world history, and Church history)
The Crusades by Hilaire Belloc  (term 2 & 3 reading)
The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin (term 1 & 2)
Geography reading for term 3 is still up in the air. We will use a suggestion from AO or we may use Why Greenland is an Island . . . by Joyce Davis
Map drill of Europe

Science: 
We decided to take an integrated living book approach for high school science. At the end of 4 years Caleb should have a credit for biology, physics, chemistry, and whatever other sciences his reading list covers.

Eric Soloane's Weather Book (term 1 reading)
A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawkings (AO year 8 science-term 1 reading) 
First Studies of Plant Life by Atkinson
The Amateur Natuarlist by Gerald Durrell

The Practical Botany for Gardeners by Geoff Hodge

King Soloman's Ring by Konrad Lorenz (term 2 & 3)
And probably an undecided chemistry book once term 1 books are finished.

Literature:
Prose & Poetry for Enjoyment 
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle (term 1)
Term 2 & 3 readings are undecided at this point, but those choices will come from the year 7 list.  

Grammar/Dictation/Writing:
At first glance it may look like Caleb's language arts does not follow a Charlotte Mason philosophy, but even though I went with "programs", we follow them in a CM inspired way. I truly think we are sticking to Miss Mason's principles with these programs.
Fix It! Grammar: Robin Hood
Spelling You See
IEW: Medieval History Based Writing Lessons 
daily oral narrations and written narrations

Math:
Math-U-See Algebra 1
Caleb also uses xtramath.org to review basic math facts. We also use Khan Academy for extra help with Algebra.

Logic:
How To Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Chares Van Doren
The Fallacy Detective by  Bluedorn

Art:
The Story of Painting by Janson
A Child's Book of Prayer in Art by Sister Wendy Beckett (term 1)
Picture Study Portfolios-da Vinci (term 2)
(term 3 artist not chosen, yet)
Art For Kids-Drawing by Temple 

Religion:
To The Heights: A Novel Based on the Life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (I don't think this will take all year to read but I don't have other saint books picked out yet.)
Chief Truths of the Faith by Fr. Laux 

Government/Economics:
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy by Richard Maybury (term 1)
Term 2 & 3 readings are undecided but we will most likely get them from AO year 8 and continue reading the Maybury books.

Foreign Language:
Caleb has picked Spanish. I don't have any resources to share. Caleb has started Spanish, but I'm still working on customizing a program to work for high school level and in a Charlotte Mason way. It's a tough order to fill!

Caleb is also working on getting PE and health credits this year.

 

6th Grade Book List {2015-2016}

Our educational philosophy follows a Charlotte Mason liberal arts education that focuses on our Catholic faith. 

This year we've made some changes to achieve that by following the Ambleside Online curriculum.

Tyler is 11 and would be 6th grade in brick and mortar school. Tyler's book list is based off of year 5 at AO. I made a few changes to year 5 for Tyler and those changes made were mostly in bible/religion(since we are Catholic we are going to use Catholic resources). Any other changes made were because of books we already had on hand or Tyler's personal preference in book selections.

I'm not linking the book selections from AO. You can find links to those here. Selections not from AO will be linked to where you can find those. None of the links are affiliates.

History/Geography:
This Country of Ours by H. E. Marshall
Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster (term 1 & 2)
The Story of the World Volume 4 by Susan Wise Bauer (term 3)
Of Courage Undaunted: Across the Continent with Lewis and Clark by James Daugherty (term 1 reading)
a book on Beatrix Potter (not picked out yet, term 2 reading)
Carry a Big Stick: The Uncommon Heroism of Teddy Roosevelt by George Grant (term 3 reading)
The Book of Marvels: The Occident and The Book of Marvels: The Orient by Richard Halliburton
Home Geography by C. C. Long
Map drill on South American, North America, and United States

Science/Nature Study:
Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton
Christian Liberty Nature Reader 5 by Worthington Hooker
The Story of Inventions by Frank Bachman
Rocks, Rivers, and the Changing Earth: A First Book About Geology by Schnieders (this was a replacement to Lady How and Madame Why since that book was started in year 4 and too big to complete in one year)
Chemistry Kit for experimenting (AO recommended a physics experiment book but Tyler got this last Christmas and really wanted to finally dig into it)
Science biographies (one book per term)on Sir Isaac Newton, Alexander Graham Bell, and George Washing Carver. AO has some recommended titles but I searched our local library and went with what they had to avoid the extra cost of purchasing. The only suggested book our local library had was the Always Inventing by Tom Matthew, which we will use.

Literature:
The Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch
King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
I added in Pagoo by Holling C. Holling, which is in year 3 science recommendations, since Tyler has not read it and we are going to the beach very soon.
He will also read a book by Rudyard Kipling in term 2 and/or 3 (once King Arthur is finished). I haven't decided on which one yet. AO recommends Kim, but we may pick another since Tyler has not read any of his books yet.

Free Reading selections:
Little House series
continue the Narnia series
Bush Boys series 
The Hobbit

Language Arts:
Using Language Well Book 2  from Simply Charlotte Mason 
Spelling Wisdom Book 2 from Simply Charlotte Mason (which may be too hard for him, so we may go back to books 1)
one weekly written narration
Fix It! Grammar: The Nose Tree  (perhaps overkill with Using Language Well, but I couldn't decided and they seem to complement each other at the moment)
daily copywork
daily oral narrations
Poetry for term 1-read a poem daily from Cautionary Tales for Children by Hilaire Belloc (hilarious!); term 2-poetry from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; term 3-poetry from Rudyard Kipling (I changed the AO order of poets for year 5 and took out Whittier/Dunbar to use Belloc instead.)

Math:
Saxon 6/5
Life of Fred Liver and Mineshaft
Xtra Math (for math fact drill along with Saxon practice sheets)

Religion:
The First Christians: The Acts of the Apostles for Children by Marigold Hunt
The New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism 2 
Mother Seton and the Sisters of Charity by Alma Power-Waters (term 1 saint reading)
Saint readings for term 2 & 3 have not been picked yet.

Foreign Language:
Latin was bought to be started but Tyler is not cooperating, so it is on hold at the moment. I had planned to use Latin for Children by Classical Academic Press. We may get a Greek book for Christmas per his request.

I will have another post on Caleb's 9th grade selections and our Morning Basket work coming up soon! 

Weekend Ramblings {August 9, 2015}

I know it's been quiet around here and that's because my favorite things to write about are school and nature study, which we have not been doing. I also like lots of pictures in a blog post and I haven't been taking much lately.

We did enjoy getting back into the school routine this week. A gentle approach was much needed and we did half days this week. Even with half days I was able to do some evaluations and I had some projects for the weekend. We will continue with half days for this week too.

Tyler got almost all his work done with half days (and I mean a full weeks worth). Of course, there is still math and Latin to do but other than that he only has about a day of work left. I'm not sure how to fix that, yet. Caleb on the other hand hardly got anything done. I'm not sure how to fix that either. Perhaps just a full day would help or I have scheduled too much or Caleb hasn't found his daily groove in the schedule. There has been a lot to think about this weekend.

Surprisingly, Caleb enjoyed one of his history books (The Birth of Britain) even though it's a tough read. And unsurprisingly, Tyler does not have a favorite book for the new year, yet. 

I'm still planning on doing a post of our book list for the year and I'm hoping to have that done soon (meaning a week or two since we need to take some "formal" back to school pictures).

Saturday was a lazy day. I did watch a training DVD from IEW on how to teach their writing program (the overview one that comes with the Student Writing Intensive program). I didn't finish it and plan to do that this evening while the boys are at a swim party (will be quiet here). I was glad to work on this project and get Caleb's writing figured out for the year (a gap I had in the lesson plans).

 

Summer project goals were not achieved this year. I never get it all done which maybe means I need to rethink and plan accordingly. The main problem was not having the time all at once to dedicate to a project. I had the time to do it overall, but I couldn't make it work all at once. I don't like unfinished projects so they didn't get started.  Not started projects bother me too, so sooner or later they will get done. ; )

I'm planning on a much longer spring/Easter break in 2016 so I think this will help with the summer project list. I could possible get one or two done in the spring instead of the summer. This is the most natural time of the year to do it anyway. This is could be a great solution except for the fact I still have to get it done for 2015. 

Caleb has been saving up his money to buy a new toy. He got very lucky and a kind man at our church found him a good deal on a used guitar and has offered lessons at a reasonable price. Caleb has been saving up money for the lessons too. Today he has been searching youtube and watching first lessons in guitar playing.

Cross country practice has started. We were unable to find a team for Caleb to run on this year. Tyler will be running on the same team that both boys ran on last year. Caleb has been practicing with the team though and I've been logging the hours for a PE credit.