How is your Fall planning going?

Easy as pie? Hard as stones?

I am somewhere in between, reading sites like THIS and of course THIS. Looking at our Oak Meadow stuff, last year was a hard year so we will not need new Oak Meadow books. Our math, beginning reading, ABC's, and language arts will be from there. Our History, literature, nature study/science, artist and composer study, & habit/character development will be mostly Charlotte Mason inspired with some mama inspiration! :)

Many of the subjects will be learned with the whole family! But I have not put any planning on paper, I am still in the brain/reading part of my planning.

For the summer we have been reading Michelangelo by Diane Stanley along with a picture of his works (the David this week), we also started the Bard of Avon also by Diane Stanley. I am planning to also begin reading The Scottish Play, (Macbeth) from Beautiful Stories From Shakespeare by Edith Nesbit. I highly recommend reading LindaFay's articles on reading Shakespeare! I LOVE Shakespeare!!! I am dreaming of going HERE!

Summer has just started and we have our summer nature basket started. We have a nature basket instead of a nature table these days hopefully someday it will morph back into a table. We spent the evening of the Summer Solstice at the beach where we picked up a couple new things for our basket. Yea for summer!!

On another note with all the upheaval and homelessness we are schooling through the summer as we are painfully behind, life! So hopefully we don't get too much sunny day fever and we actually do get some work done! :) So stay tuned!!

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And the BEACH EDITION of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival is up! Looks like good reading!

~ The Reading Mother ~

by Strickland Gillilan

I had a mother who read to me

Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea.

Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth;

"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath.

I had a Mother who read me lays

Of ancient and gallant and golden days;

Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,

Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales

Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,

True to his trust till his tragic death,

Faithfulness lent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things

That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-

Stories that stir with an upward touch.

Oh, that each mother of boys were such!

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be -

-I had a Mother who read to me.

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We're reading The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, what are you reading?

A couple weeks ago the local library had an Family Art Day! We went not knowing what to expect, free for all art? No they had stations and a theme. The theme was Mexican Folk Art (to go with the museum exhibit), so we got to make corn husk dolls, paper flowers, and masks. The kids had tons of fun and I think it added a couple more things to our bag of tricks, we would make them again at home (the kids want to for Day of the Dead decorations). Here is Jake making his paper flower, they were beautiful! THIS set is similar to what they had for us to use,ANOTHER and HERE is directions to make your own corn husk doll!

And the new SUMMER edition of RHYTHM OF THE HOME is up!! I love to read these!! :)

I know you can not see it, but Leili's shirt says, "Nature is my classroom! Homeschooling Rocks!" It was a sweet hand me down from a good friend. :)

As there are seasons in our year there are also seasons in our lives, and this season has been rough on our schooling. Don't get me wrong my kids are learning plenty just different. During times like these I am thankful for the unmindful occurrence of ending up in unschooling play groups. It helps me remember that my kids are always learning, always. So while I juggle a baby and deal with the unrest of unemployment and homelessness, I try to find comfort in knowing that this is just for a season, all too soon we will have a good rhythm and be getting a little more book learning in. Oh but as I have learned from so many cherished unschooling friends, we will leave room for the natural learning that takes place in the home. Isn't that why we homeschool?? :)

There are two Charlotte Mason Carnivals up! I can't wait to read them both!! One is a Walk in the Desert (did you see ours on our Nature Blog?), And the other Carnival Here!

I have been teaching Fern many "action songs" as they are called around here this year. And one of my favorites from when I was a kid is "Popcorn Popping On The Apricot Tree", my parents even planted a couple apricot trees outside my bedroom window! So on our recent road trip to Grandma's I was blissfully reminded of this song as it seemed her whole yard was blooming!

It seems to me that kids just don't know rhymes and songs like I did. (Unless you count the Dora theme, I don't) So I have tried to be consciously teaching my kids Mother Goose rhymes and other classic children's... knowledge? Is that the right word? Anyway here is a little popcorn popping for your enjoyment!

I have recently gotten a little bit creative with Riley and his school work. Don't get me wrong, I want to challenge him but I don't want to suffocate him. So I change things to pique his interest and draw him in. For example... Instead of making a list of thins that come from trees, I gave him my camera and asked him to take pictures of things that come from trees. He then drew a picture of it in his main lesson book.

And here is a fun project, after reading a story about a family moving west to homestead we got out Grandpa's Lincoln Logs and made a homestead of our own! Too bad all our little animal figures are in a box somewhere that would have been fun!!

Really I have taken to heart the TJed phrase of "love of learning not hate of learning", Riley knows how to write, he is pretty good at it but he just does not enjoy it. If I force it what will I accomplish? Not much more than squashing his enjoyment of learning and damage our relationship. He will write, he will learn to push himself. But he needs to first learn it is worth it!

If you remember the post a little bit past, the "ah ha" post I said that I needed to learn a few lessons, yea well sometimes I have to be reminded. :)

Our lives right now is like riding a roller coaster, fun, scary, wanting to go home... , all experienced day by day or even hour by hour. So an all in one, less books to be homeless with, mom does not have too much brain power kind of curriculum is right for us. But part of my learning was that we should never be a slave to a curriculum or philosophy, ever. So there are things I leave out, there are things I add in, and in truth if life was "normal" I would add or change a few more things. And I can see the hand of the Lord in us knowing this was right for this year, the Lord saw this year coming before we did as always! I enjoy reading other mom's homeschooling blogs to learn, get ideas, and even to just feel "normal"! But I just don't think I could label us as "Waldorf" or "Charlotte Mason" or "TJed", I pick and choose, we are us! I think there are a few labels I might use, nature based, holistic, and gentle are a couple that pop into mind. And you know the couple of mama's who have been inspiring and who I look up to did not have a label, or even a "THIS is the perfect way" because really part of being a homeschooling parent is really about doing what is right for our family and our kids. Isn't that what why we choose homeschooling in the first place?

Anyway, the latest Charlotte Mason Carnival is up, good stuff!! And there is a post about sibling fighting over at Parent Passageway, definitely we are needing this! And look at this fun Montessori catalog!!

Ta-ta for now!!

Jake and I have been working on word families!

We have done; AD, AG, AN, AP, AR, AT, AW, AY, & ED! Generally we draw a simple picture from our short story in our main lesson book then write the letter combination and the words from our story. But on AW day I surprised Jake and we played pin the tail on the donkey! There was a donkey in our story that said hee, HAW. I cut out tails and wrote on them our other AW words, saw, law, caw (what the crow says), & haw. He had such a fun time playing this with me, then he pasted the tails in his main lesson book and we will put one of these photos in there too! This chalk board was one a family friend made for my dad and my uncle when they where kids, I use to draw on it with my sister at my grandma's house when I was little, and now my kids have been enjoying drawing on it!

Jake loved using my handkerchief as a blindfold, I think only kids think it is fun to be blindfolded! :) Dan and I were discussing that this is a much more gentle and just plain better way to start on the reading learning than what we ended up doing with Riley. Jake does not even realize we are learning the foundation for reading, we are just doing word families!! :)

A couple weeks ago Fern and I where exploring the letter E. So we made some animal ears together, here is my cutie!! Miss. Bunny
Miss. Bear

Miss. Silly Bean!

Sometimes you just need a different view, you know what I mean? A few years ago I stumbled upon something good, but I did not know how good. I needed a different view to really know how good it was. To get that different view I had to kick a few rocks and bump my head a few times. Also the pleading, praying, fasting, seeking, and searching needed to be done. And thankfully that different view came. I had always known, it just wasn't the right time yet. And so after all the trying and failing we are succeeding and really enjoying it! It is the right time.

I have always been pulled towards the Waldorf schooling, but did not know how to make it fit our lives and our faith. The last few years have given me that, and so we have returned to using the Oak Meadow Curriculum this year and it feels so right, like coming home and snuggling under a warm blanket. Of course there are still stones and growing pains, getting use to schooling with a new babe on my hip or at my breast is... exciting. :) As is blocking out life and it's stresses. But it is right, and it is so nice for everything to come together! Finally! :)

So things may be a little different around here, there are a few new links, but it is still just us enjoying each other and learning as we go!

And if you have not had enough of me, there are a few more of my ramblings in the newest Oak Meadow Newsletter, page 5. :)

Our summer science has been pretty hands on lately, how about yours? Fern with her woolly bear caterpillar!
The boys have caught 3 salamanders which we kept for a few days each and then returned to the "mud pit"!
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The kids also got to learn a bit about the human body too as we welcomed the arrival of our new little girl. They were really fascinated with the umbilical cord and placenta, the midwife took the time with the kids and let them touch the placenta and umbilical cord and explained all about it. They thought it was great, but I will not gross out the faint at heart and post the pictures! :)
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I hope everyone is enjoying their summer, we are! I am getting things ready for the new school year so watch for that soon! Also it is not too late to sign up for the homeschool BOOK-IT program, it is FREE!!!

BOOKS GLORIOUS BOOKS! (sing to the tune of food glorious food from Oliver!)

Today was the big library sale in the neighboring town, and I got some good finds! Unfortunately only 2 on my school "needs" list, but still lots of fun! :) I got 38 books and one VHS for $39.50. Not bad.

A couple great finds where for Dan, his stack is up at the top starting with Jonathon Livingston Seagull, under that are three black covered boos, they are all old German book, one a dictionary from 1958, and a grammar book (he loves German grammar), and then an old text book. He was stoked and I got a few big kisses for those!

I got all but two out of the Little House series, a few classics for me, some fun books to try to tantalize Riley with (Super Fudge, Ramona the Brave, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory), and a few to put away for later!

All and all I'd call it a success! :)

Do you remember pattern block from kindergarten? I always LOVED them, so a few years ago I splurged and bought some nice wood ones from Lakeshore. Then when I was at my sister in laws house she pulled out cool pattern block picture cards for the kids to use, they were really neat. So I went home and looked into buying some, they were a little pricey so I did an Internet search and found a cool mom who had made her own (sorry I have lost the link) to print out of free. I laminated them and they have been great! I have them saved on my computer so if you want them just email me and I'll send them as an attachment!

Well Riley has out grown the pictures for the most part, but he still loves to use the blocks. So here is his most recent creations... his photography too... This is the Star Wars Millennium Falcon...

and an X wing Fighter with R2-D2 in the back!

I saw THIS great idea over at Soule Mama, and so here is our "Spring Books". The kids think it is tons of fun, the same old books seem new in the box and I picked up a couple new books too! Do you have any favorite spring themed books on your shelves?

We took a trip to the State Capital today!And taught our children to protest!

Read about it and see more pictures on our OTHER blog!

Well Jake and I got a little time together, with out anyone else! Amazing hu!So Jake "read" me Make Way For Ducklings, he did really well!
Then Jake painted Mr. Mallard, he was so excited that I knew how to make green even though we were out of green paint! It is nice to be super mom occasionally! :)

The for lunch he got to have a picnic inside and listen to a couple of his audio books, he LOVES these!!

All in all Jake and I were able to spend some quality time together and even do some fun "school work", I love school work like this!!

So that was a few quality hours in the life of my sweet 5 year old!

What a winter we have had (and are still having)! With temperatures in the teens quite a bit it is just too cold to go out at all. This has severely limited our nature study as you can see over at our nature blog, but the other impact is just the SEVERE cabin fever so bad that you just don't want to do anything! The thought of sitting down and doing a math page has not tempted any of us. Mostly our chapter book reading (we just finished The Secret Garden and have jumped into Prince Caspian from the Narnia series!), art/drawing time (We are LOVING our new art supplies from here, I wish I had some too!), and music time (although not our composer study, I never did get a CD and the kids are wanting "rock" music, lately being the Muppet Show sound track, so maybe I should call this P.E. instead because all the dancing gets our blood pumping!) :) So how do we get the math in?Riley is all about cooking these days so during our last trip to the library he asked the librarian if they had children's cookbooks! This book has been his favorite so far, Pretend Soup and other real recipes! So his math and science and such have been coming from cooking up a storm! Here are some blueberry pancakes he made for us, very yummy although we will have to quadruple the batch next time! Now that will be quite the math lesson!!

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What is your schooling looking like this season?

We enjoyed learning about China and celebrating the Chinese New Year! The kids loved finding out about there animal and were excited that the new babe will be born in the year of the ox! :)
This was a great book we found at our library, it is put out by the Boston Children's Museum which is suppose to be fantastic! We have also been reading The Story about Ping, and we found this old VHS tape at the library and had a blast watching it!

So Sunday night we had our New Years Eve feast! We had dumplings which represent gold bars and prosperity!

This was our prosperity platter (little fingers had already gotten into it) and I forgot to pull the tangerine and honey dew melon out to put on there! Opps! Starting on the left and going clockwise, dried black mission figs, dried pineapple, dried dragon fruit, dried edame, dried pomelo, and the center are multi grain crackers with soy sauce!

Sorry I forgot to get a picture until we had dug in!! Here are our noodles and veggies, you eat noodles on New Years for a long life! I'd hate to have rice that night! :)

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The next day we enjoyed a bit more fun!

We were awaiting guests so we had the front door decorated!

We made lamps Sunday night after dinner and hung them up!

Then with our friends we watched a dragon dance video and them made our own dragons! Riley's on top, then Jake's, then Fern's! You tube has some great dragon dance videos! :)



Here is our own for your enjoyment, and yes Riley is my ham!

So while my Dad was here last month I asked him one day to read this book to Riley, we found it at our library and was pleasantly surprised at the great illustrations and even the explanation was pretty good! BUT, there was a reason I asked Daddy to read this to him! In the middle of the book while reading about wiring a light switch and all, Grandpa jumps up and says where is a screw driver!?!
And then the science lesson moved to taking apart my house!! This really helped Riley understand what the book was talking about and he and Grandpa have built an awesome memory too! THIS IS WHAT HOMESCHOOLING IS ALL ABOUT!!! And even better I stalked them a got a photo so Riley will always have it! :)
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I am sure you all have noticed but I have our new artist, composer, and scripture memory up on the side bar. Just a couple notes about all of it, I have since found (much to my dismay) that the pictures are not good enough quality to print out, so if you were going to use them you will have to wait and I will search the internet for better quality ones. So sad because it is a big time taker and I thought I was done with it! :( Second, if anyone near or far has a recording of Ravel (does not have to be the one pictured) and wouldn't mind ether making me a copy or letting me make a copy I would greatly appreciate it! :) CD is preferable but cassette is just fine too! :) And third for those of you who are not LDS, I am sure you have no clue what scriptures we are using! :) We are using The Doctrine and Covenants which is latter-day, or modern revelation. Mostly received through the latter-day prophet Joseph Smith, but also from a couple other latter-day prophets. You can read more about it HERE and HERE! :)
I hope the new year brings new fun and incite to your homeschool!

*Pictures have been fixed for the artist study! :)