Timelines, trivia and Charlotte Mason all go together. We have been homeschooling for seven years now. (I know; I can't believe it either!) We still have not started timelines. In the beginning, it was a lack of space. A long wall, where you can put up a long sheet of paper to write names and dates on, was just not going to happen in the yellow house. Then when we moved here, honestly, I did not want a long piece of paper, with writing all over it, hanging on my hallway by the front door. Yes, I realize this is our girls' education; however, it is our home too.
So, I thought maybe we'll do one when Jesse's started her middle school history. Well, she is still finishing Story of the World, from the grammar stage. She will finish it this year, so next year is the year! For the last few days, I've been rereading my Well-Trained Mind book and glancing over a friend's newer version of the same book. Last night, I ventured onto the website. There is where I read "index cards". Hmm. A timeline made from index cards?! How would such a thing work? How would you keep it? How much of it would there be?
This morning, I found another site about timelines. It led me to yet another site, to show an index card timeline in use. Granted the thing was written in Italian, or German (the lady that led me there said Italian, but those words looked more German to me considering how close the Italian and Spanish languages are). Anyway. The Italian, German, lady had put each timeline item on its own index card. She had a line, similar to Jesse's new artwork line in her room, with the index cards hanging in order. I don't think they keep them out all the time, but they are (I'm guessing here) easy to get out and put away when you are done.
Last night I was wondering how an index timeline would actually work. I mean if you have each item on its own card, that is a LOT of cards. You know? But. This is where my mind started spinning. If you made the cards color coded, maybe it would work. For instance: pink=literature; science=green; history=blue. Then not only could you see what was going on in a hundred year period (per box or something like that I haven't gotten that far yet in my thoughts), but you could see quickly the years where scientific discoveries are abounding or wars were fought often and every where.
I think I'm liking this idea, but I definitely need to spend more time thinking on it.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
School IS fun
This afternoon Chloe was pulling out the science dictionary (or was it the encyclopedia...anyway) to write her narration, when she found a "cool candy bar". There was a picture of a candy bar exploding from a bullet being shot through it. She liked it so much she carried the book downstairs to show Jesse. :)
I have to say, not knowing if this will continue after next week, but here we are approaching the end of week three of our school year and I am still relaxed! I am amazed. I am caught up on all the grading, and still everything has been recorded. Jesse is now caught up with her math homework and Chloe should be tonight.
Tomorrow night I am hoping we will be able to have our first family meeting about school. I believe I stated last week, my goal was to have a weekly meeting about grades, and any problems or kudos. I am hoping tomorrow will be the first of these meetings.
I will add that John is not particularly fond of one of Jesse's science books. He has helped her with a couple of projects over the past couple of weeks and the book is just not giving enough information he needs to do the projects. He told me he was going to shoot the book full of holes. Of course, I laughed, which honestly did not help. But I felt justified for some of my complaints over the past few years regarding books. lol
Next week, we return to taekwondo. I am truly hoping our school continues to go smoothly after our return.
I have to say, not knowing if this will continue after next week, but here we are approaching the end of week three of our school year and I am still relaxed! I am amazed. I am caught up on all the grading, and still everything has been recorded. Jesse is now caught up with her math homework and Chloe should be tonight.
Tomorrow night I am hoping we will be able to have our first family meeting about school. I believe I stated last week, my goal was to have a weekly meeting about grades, and any problems or kudos. I am hoping tomorrow will be the first of these meetings.
I will add that John is not particularly fond of one of Jesse's science books. He has helped her with a couple of projects over the past couple of weeks and the book is just not giving enough information he needs to do the projects. He told me he was going to shoot the book full of holes. Of course, I laughed, which honestly did not help. But I felt justified for some of my complaints over the past few years regarding books. lol
Next week, we return to taekwondo. I am truly hoping our school continues to go smoothly after our return.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Drum roll, please!!
Finally! Jesse's room.
She has had this sign for years now. It is the only thing we can find with her spelling of her name.
In the above picture, you can see a red frame where she framed her winning art work from CCT S.T.A.R. Also, her Bug collection, ducks, Stitch, etc.
It took us quite awhile to find a bedspread she liked. This one, I believe, suits her to a tee.
We also added an art display (the wire going across the room). She loves it! Here is some of her artwork that is currently on display:
She has had this sign for years now. It is the only thing we can find with her spelling of her name.
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| We have been invited in. |
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| IKEA is everywhere! |
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| A place for her favorite things. |
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| Most of her rubber duck collection. |
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| Now, she wants to add a corkboard but I have no clue where it will go. |
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| Can YOU find the dog? |
We also added an art display (the wire going across the room). She loves it! Here is some of her artwork that is currently on display:
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| Goofy, of course! |
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| Baljeet's (from Phineas & Ferb) twin who lives in India (from the mind of Jesse!). |
Monday, July 23, 2012
Chloe turned 9!!!
Believe it or not, I know I have a difficult time believing it, Chloe is nine!!
This year Chloe wanted to have a party. She rarely wants to have one. But this year was different. And this year she had big plans! Not only did she want a party, but she wanted a destination party. Yep! She wanted a party outside the house. lol She finally decided on Monkey Joe's. Monkey Joe's is a bounce house here in town, in fact they just built one on our side of town last year. I thought of trying to convince her to have the party at home, so we could invite more people. However, she has had so few parties I wanted her to get what she really wanted.
What I don't like about Monkey Joe's is the basic party is for just nine people. So, we were only able to invite two other families. Chloe had so much fun! She had her own inflatable throne and her friends treated her as though she were a queen! She loved it. The girls made a giant cookie, with a kite (from Pooh of course!).
For her actual birthday, she had cupcakes (from Food Lion) and picked one of her favorite places for lunch, Chinese buffet. Again, she loved it! She also received her present from John and me. A PEZ display for her collection. I really thought they would all fit. They did not! Five are left without homes. :( But two of them have no "feet", so they can't go into the stand. And the other three are pull-backs, so she plays with them more.
I think, overall, she had a great birthday!!
This year Chloe wanted to have a party. She rarely wants to have one. But this year was different. And this year she had big plans! Not only did she want a party, but she wanted a destination party. Yep! She wanted a party outside the house. lol She finally decided on Monkey Joe's. Monkey Joe's is a bounce house here in town, in fact they just built one on our side of town last year. I thought of trying to convince her to have the party at home, so we could invite more people. However, she has had so few parties I wanted her to get what she really wanted.
What I don't like about Monkey Joe's is the basic party is for just nine people. So, we were only able to invite two other families. Chloe had so much fun! She had her own inflatable throne and her friends treated her as though she were a queen! She loved it. The girls made a giant cookie, with a kite (from Pooh of course!).
For her actual birthday, she had cupcakes (from Food Lion) and picked one of her favorite places for lunch, Chinese buffet. Again, she loved it! She also received her present from John and me. A PEZ display for her collection. I really thought they would all fit. They did not! Five are left without homes. :( But two of them have no "feet", so they can't go into the stand. And the other three are pull-backs, so she plays with them more.
I think, overall, she had a great birthday!!
Feeling pretty good
We are starting our third week of school and everything is going well. For the most part, we are still all caught up on most subjects. I did have to rearrange one of Jesse's science assignments, because John forgot he was building a sundial with her. And the girls are a little behind on "math homework" (problems they get wrong in school, they have to redo for homework). Other than those couple of things, we are doing great!
Only two weeks in and I am still liking the new schedule. In four weeks, we get a week break! I love the countdown. lol They are still looking forward to Mondays, even with the math added in. And today, they are having to do English too. Because Chloe's birthday party was Friday (and I didn't want to lose a day in the first two weeks), we had school on Saturday. They finished everything except English, so I bumped it to Funday Monday. They said they were good with it. I think they just wanted to goof off with Dad some more.
Only two weeks in and I am still liking the new schedule. In four weeks, we get a week break! I love the countdown. lol They are still looking forward to Mondays, even with the math added in. And today, they are having to do English too. Because Chloe's birthday party was Friday (and I didn't want to lose a day in the first two weeks), we had school on Saturday. They finished everything except English, so I bumped it to Funday Monday. They said they were good with it. I think they just wanted to goof off with Dad some more.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Life's funny moments
Today, I had one of those funny moments when you just go, "Huh?!" A friend of mine was moving a year, or so, ago and asked me to drop by to see if I wanted any of her books. I did get a couple, one was on organizing. I remembered a couple of days ago I had the book, but didn't know where it was. This morning I decided to go through a stack of magazines to keep what I wanted and toss the rest. I found the book.
I wasn't going to start reading it immediately, but somehow I was drawn to it. "A moth to a flame," comes to mind. Anyway, I read the first two chapters then closed the book. But I kept thinking about what it had said, to take the book slowly and really "do" the written exercises. I set my mind to it. I remembered I had placed about a dozen spirals in my desk drawer, a month ago, that had been partially used. I thought I would look for one that looked rather full. I looked in the drawer. Decided on a spiral and pulled it out. I flipped through it to see if there was any blank paper. But something caught my attention. I turned to the first page in the spiral and there it was. Oh, my word!!! You have to be kidding! I laughed. The spiral I randomly chose from inside my desk drawer was the spiral I had used a little over a year ago when I first got the book. And the problems were the same then, that they are now!
I didn't even remember doing the list.
I wasn't going to start reading it immediately, but somehow I was drawn to it. "A moth to a flame," comes to mind. Anyway, I read the first two chapters then closed the book. But I kept thinking about what it had said, to take the book slowly and really "do" the written exercises. I set my mind to it. I remembered I had placed about a dozen spirals in my desk drawer, a month ago, that had been partially used. I thought I would look for one that looked rather full. I looked in the drawer. Decided on a spiral and pulled it out. I flipped through it to see if there was any blank paper. But something caught my attention. I turned to the first page in the spiral and there it was. Oh, my word!!! You have to be kidding! I laughed. The spiral I randomly chose from inside my desk drawer was the spiral I had used a little over a year ago when I first got the book. And the problems were the same then, that they are now!
I didn't even remember doing the list.
A little more about school
Our little school is changing a lot this year, not only with our schedule. The girls are actually doing two sciences, each, this year. Well, eventually three.
Of course, we are still following the Well-Trained Mind for the science. Jesse is back to the Earth and the universe, not her favorite. Chloe is doing physics, which of course she loves because it is all experiments. But this year Spectrum put out science workbooks. Thank you, Spectrum! They are workbooks that simply restate the information for the national guidelines.
I bought each child two books: one for the grade they are in and one for the grade they were in last year. I wanted to back track just to verify they are on track. Yes, I could take them to be tested (a friend of mine does it); however, I am not. Anyway. Jesse has never been one to love, or even like science. I know, shocking, right? Tuesday night she told, quite excitedly, "I love the new science!" Yeah!! Home run! I needed one of those.
Eventually, we are going to start the Homeschool Mondays at the Zoo. Where we have been going for science just cut out a lot of their classes, but didn't add any back (the last time I checked), so we were looking for a new place to go. The zoo will be quite a bit more expensive, but the first class was great and John felt it would be worth it (he was with us during the first class). We are even going to schedule, at least one class, on John's day off so he can go too. :)
So, YEAH for school and YEAH for science!
Of course, we are still following the Well-Trained Mind for the science. Jesse is back to the Earth and the universe, not her favorite. Chloe is doing physics, which of course she loves because it is all experiments. But this year Spectrum put out science workbooks. Thank you, Spectrum! They are workbooks that simply restate the information for the national guidelines.
I bought each child two books: one for the grade they are in and one for the grade they were in last year. I wanted to back track just to verify they are on track. Yes, I could take them to be tested (a friend of mine does it); however, I am not. Anyway. Jesse has never been one to love, or even like science. I know, shocking, right? Tuesday night she told, quite excitedly, "I love the new science!" Yeah!! Home run! I needed one of those.
Eventually, we are going to start the Homeschool Mondays at the Zoo. Where we have been going for science just cut out a lot of their classes, but didn't add any back (the last time I checked), so we were looking for a new place to go. The zoo will be quite a bit more expensive, but the first class was great and John felt it would be worth it (he was with us during the first class). We are even going to schedule, at least one class, on John's day off so he can go too. :)
So, YEAH for school and YEAH for science!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Five days down!!
I cannot believe it is Friday already! I am happy to report, after a very rocky start, our first week of school ended quite well.
All subjects, including science experiments, have been completed for the week. Tests taken and graded (even filed). I am no longer trying to do everything at once. (It is impossible.) While the girls are working, I am no longer running back and forth to do laundry, or dishes, or whatever. I am right there with them. We have completed every oral drill for English and all speed drills for math. While they were studying for tests, I made the copy of the test and had it ready when they needed it.
When they completed a subject (depending on the subject), we would either go over their answers together or I would check their work, as it was handed to me. They even learned test results within a few minutes of handing in the test. They seem much happier and even relaxed. It has been a great week!
However, our house is a mess, because I have not had time to do housework. lol We did wind up doing more errands this week than we had planned. I was hoping to avoid the library Wednesday, but some books had to be returned. Which turned out great, because I found out Mrs. Paula had not left yet. So, Thursday we took her some "goodbye; we'll miss you so much" cupcakes. We also had the opportunity to meet the newest librarian who is one, of two people, who are going to be over the volunteers (something Mrs. Paula did). Mrs. Paula wanted to make sure she met Jesse, before Jesse returned in August.
I told the girls this afternoon that I hoped we could keep this up. Jesse was completely positive we could. I hope she is right. Tomorrow is cleaning day and I cannot wait!!
All subjects, including science experiments, have been completed for the week. Tests taken and graded (even filed). I am no longer trying to do everything at once. (It is impossible.) While the girls are working, I am no longer running back and forth to do laundry, or dishes, or whatever. I am right there with them. We have completed every oral drill for English and all speed drills for math. While they were studying for tests, I made the copy of the test and had it ready when they needed it.
When they completed a subject (depending on the subject), we would either go over their answers together or I would check their work, as it was handed to me. They even learned test results within a few minutes of handing in the test. They seem much happier and even relaxed. It has been a great week!
However, our house is a mess, because I have not had time to do housework. lol We did wind up doing more errands this week than we had planned. I was hoping to avoid the library Wednesday, but some books had to be returned. Which turned out great, because I found out Mrs. Paula had not left yet. So, Thursday we took her some "goodbye; we'll miss you so much" cupcakes. We also had the opportunity to meet the newest librarian who is one, of two people, who are going to be over the volunteers (something Mrs. Paula did). Mrs. Paula wanted to make sure she met Jesse, before Jesse returned in August.
I told the girls this afternoon that I hoped we could keep this up. Jesse was completely positive we could. I hope she is right. Tomorrow is cleaning day and I cannot wait!!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
First day of school 2012-2013
Wow! That five weeks flew by so quickly! I believe part of the reason was working on Jesse's room. And no the last two things are still not up. I may post pictures anyway; I know some of you are anxious to see it. :)
We started a new schedule, as you know. Mondays were going to be more "Funday" (Jesse's name). Mondays were going to be for art, home ec, Spanish and geography. But something kept nagging at me. So, yesterday as they were doing art, I pulled out this year's calendar and next year's. I started counting the days they would have in school, then subtracted all the Mondays that would be "Funday". I truly wanted to bang my head on the wall. If we did "Funday" all year, at the end of the year the girls would be 28 days behind in math!! Day one and our schedule was totally flawed!
I sat there staring at the calendars, hoping for a miracle. Well, days were not going to be added to the calendar for my benefit, so our schedule had to change. The question was, "how?" Jesse, of course, did not want to change anything about "Funday". She had looked forward to it for, what a week-and-a-half?! The best solution was to add math to Mondays. Jesse says, "it is no long Funday, just Monday." She'll adjust; she has no choice. :)
We'll see what comes next.
We started a new schedule, as you know. Mondays were going to be more "Funday" (Jesse's name). Mondays were going to be for art, home ec, Spanish and geography. But something kept nagging at me. So, yesterday as they were doing art, I pulled out this year's calendar and next year's. I started counting the days they would have in school, then subtracted all the Mondays that would be "Funday". I truly wanted to bang my head on the wall. If we did "Funday" all year, at the end of the year the girls would be 28 days behind in math!! Day one and our schedule was totally flawed!
I sat there staring at the calendars, hoping for a miracle. Well, days were not going to be added to the calendar for my benefit, so our schedule had to change. The question was, "how?" Jesse, of course, did not want to change anything about "Funday". She had looked forward to it for, what a week-and-a-half?! The best solution was to add math to Mondays. Jesse says, "it is no long Funday, just Monday." She'll adjust; she has no choice. :)
We'll see what comes next.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Ready, Set, Go!
First, I'll say, "No, Jesse's room is still not finished." We still need a hang a couple of things, then we'll be done. She loves it though and, truly, that is what matters.
Today was interesting. I think all of our days are interesting (John disagrees, but that is another story), but today was especially fun. Today was our last day of summer, with just the girls and myself. We celebrated, or consoled (depending on your point-of-view), ourselves with Tiffany's for breakfast. Then we relaxed for awhile. Well, until the bread slicer machine went nuts and made an incredibly high-pitched shriek that startled everyone in the building. They got it fixed; I think it just wanted extra attention today. lol
A homeschool friend met us there. She wanted me, and my A-type brain, to look over her homeschool schedule she made. It was beautiful!! So many colors! I told her I had tried to schedule our lives like that a few years ago. We failed miserably, but I think she is going to do great. So long as her almost two-year-old goes along with the plan. I told her Monday (their first day of school) will be the day he figures out how to crawl out of his crib by himself. She laughed, but agreed. That just seems to be the way our lives go, as homeschoolers; you work so long for the perfect plan, then a child has his own (throws a monkey wrench into everything!). LOL
We are almost ready for school. The girls and I finished cleaning the classroom this afternoon. They also took out all their papers from last year and set-up their notebooks for this coming year. I still need to finish up their paperwork from last year and get it mailed, but I think I am finally ready to start the year. Last night I typed in the science schedules for both 4th and 6th grade. I have finished the reading lists, and even picked the books up from the library. I am ready to go! I just wish the girls were. ;)
Today was interesting. I think all of our days are interesting (John disagrees, but that is another story), but today was especially fun. Today was our last day of summer, with just the girls and myself. We celebrated, or consoled (depending on your point-of-view), ourselves with Tiffany's for breakfast. Then we relaxed for awhile. Well, until the bread slicer machine went nuts and made an incredibly high-pitched shriek that startled everyone in the building. They got it fixed; I think it just wanted extra attention today. lol
A homeschool friend met us there. She wanted me, and my A-type brain, to look over her homeschool schedule she made. It was beautiful!! So many colors! I told her I had tried to schedule our lives like that a few years ago. We failed miserably, but I think she is going to do great. So long as her almost two-year-old goes along with the plan. I told her Monday (their first day of school) will be the day he figures out how to crawl out of his crib by himself. She laughed, but agreed. That just seems to be the way our lives go, as homeschoolers; you work so long for the perfect plan, then a child has his own (throws a monkey wrench into everything!). LOL
We are almost ready for school. The girls and I finished cleaning the classroom this afternoon. They also took out all their papers from last year and set-up their notebooks for this coming year. I still need to finish up their paperwork from last year and get it mailed, but I think I am finally ready to start the year. Last night I typed in the science schedules for both 4th and 6th grade. I have finished the reading lists, and even picked the books up from the library. I am ready to go! I just wish the girls were. ;)
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