Our Homeschool ~ Charlotte Mason Style

Over my 14 years of homeschooling, I’ve tried a lot of different approaches and curriculums, but even from the start, I always had an idea in mind of what I wanted our schooling experience to be like. It would be Christ-centered, simple, nurturing, and would encourage a love for learning. My love for books – especially storybooks – fit in beautifully. As I read more over the years about different methods of homeschooling, I saw that I agreed with many of the ideas that Charlotte Mason wrote about in the late 1800’s. Some of these ideas included copywork for writing, reading of great ideas in living books, narration, short lessons, and nature study. I have been incorporating several of these into our homeschool for the past 5 years or so.

This year, the Lord has taken us a step further in our journey. I have added in some new studies on a regular basis that always seemed to fall through the cracks before. Some of these include artist and composer studies, Shakespeare, nature stories, and character studies. Another difference is that we are reading living books for science, history and geography that take us on wonderful journeys every week.

Here is our weekly schedule as it stands right now – I’ve been tweaking it since September 1st, but for now, this is working for us. Every day we do:

Bible & Scripture Memory
Read-aloud classic novel
History (M-Th)/Geography (F)
Copywork
Spelling
Reading (independent assigned)
Phonics (Anna)
Math

Some of these we do together, and others are done independently. Tommy and Sarah also add in a short daily grammar exercise.

In addition to the subjects we study daily, we have others that are only studied from 1-3 times a week -

Monday – Poetry
              Science (older kids)
Tuesday – Character studies
              Composer study
              Shakespeare
Wednesday - Missionary story
                  Nature Stories
                  Science (older kids)
 Thursday – Artist study
                 Drawing
Friday – Book of Centuries (Timeline)
            Map Drill
           Science (older kids)
           Nature Study (outdoors)

Along with these, I am doing the Bible/Science (fun) portion of My Father’s World Kindergarten curriculum with Anna and Michael – this includes many classic children’s stories and fun, easy crafts set up around the alphabet (A-Apple, B-Butterfly, C-Cow, etc.) four or five days a week.

Does that look like a lot? Well, it is, but remember – we do all of these in short lessons, many about 15 minutes each – some less, some more. We average around 3-4 hours for our school day, although that may not be all at once, depending on life – it may be spread throughout the day, and if we don’t get to something, I either make it up later in the week, or start there the next time we are scheduled to do that subject. Also, not all of the children do all of these studies – Anna does the least amount, being Kindergarten age this year. Michael joins us for most subjects, but isn’t doing formal grammar yet or Shakespeare. Laura (10th grade) does most of her work independently, except for a few of the family subjects. In fact, the 3-4 hour day usually refers to my time, as I work with each of the children individually and as a group.

I have really enjoyed this year so far, and feel like we are having the richest learning experience we’ve ever had. We have laughed over Shakespeare, enjoyed classical music, travelled down the river with “Paddle to the Sea”, gone into outer space as we study the planets, had fun with drawing exercises, marveled at Monet paintings, and spent a little time each day in the Big Woods with Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I hope to share more about each of our studies, and how we do them, in future posts.

Blessings,
Nancy

Remember this? . . .

بدلة العريس

Remember last week when I posted this?

Well, I should have known to go straight to the technological expert in the house for my answer. When I showed it to him (Matthew) this morning, he immediately copied it, and headed off to Google for an answer. When he pasted in this – بدلة العريس – he was rewarded with a screen full of pictures of tuxedoes. That was our first clue. Then he went to Google translate and pasted it in. Here was the result -

Translation: Arabic (automatically detected) » English
بدلة العريس The groom’s suit

So, I guess that answers my question.

Google obviously sent someone to my blog as a result of this post. Go ahead and check it out, because I’m a mother and I just can’t help myself!

Another mystery solved.

Blessings,
Nancy

Apple Trees

Last month we planted apple trees over by the barn. I hadn’t set out to have apple trees, but when Jeff found the Dewberries at the nursery, he mentioned that they also had apple trees that were being cleared out. I love the idea of growing our own apples for cobblers, pies, and just plain ole eatin’!

So he brought one home – A Granny Smith -

No, it doesn’t look like much now, but just wait a few years! Well, in reading up on apple trees that night, we discovered that apple trees need a friend to help them pollinate, so we went back to the nursery and came home with two friends – a Red Delicious and a Jonathan.

Red Delicious -

Jonathan -

So far they have withstood several severe storms and winds and are doing fine. They are sprouting new leaves, as well. These are dwarf versions, so they won’t get as tall as a normal apple tree, and are supposed to fruit sooner – yippee! So, our adventure with apple trees has begun, and I hope that we can keep them going long enough to reap the harvest!

Blessings,
Nancy

From the Learning Room – “Stopping By Woods…”

Last week our study was on the poem/book “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost with illustrations by Susan Jeffers.

This is a lovely poem to study in January, especially in Texas where we don’t get to experience snow very often. I thought that this would be a wonderful poem for us to memorize. When I mentioned this to the children, they insisted that they could never do that! However, by the end of the week, without even trying, they had it down, just from reading it, studying it, and living with it all week. They had such fun reciting it over and over, and were pleased that they were able to do it after all. One of our activities for the week included cutting out snowflakes to tape on the dining room windows.

We discussed Robert Frost, which led us into a discussion of John F. Kennedy, as Frost recited poetry at JFK’s inauguration, and then died two years later, along with the President. We discussed taking a field trip to downtown Dallas to visit the museum there sometime.

We also discussed rhyme and rhyme scheme and were easily able to decipher the rhyme scheme of Frost’s poem (A-A-B-A, B-B-C-B . . .)

As Mom read about how snowflakes are formed and why snow is important to us (besides the fun!), the children created these snow pictures using pencil erasers dipped in paint and a snowflake punch.

We looked for the artist’s hidden animals throughout the book and discussed her use of black and white with only small touches of color. We also discussed hibernation of animals – why, when, how, where, and who.

The man in the poem left a gift of seeds and grasses for the wild animals to enjoy in the forest, which led to our final activity of the week – the making and hanging of birdseed pinecones.

The supplies – pinecones, peanut butter, birdseed, and ribbon -

I tied a length of ribbon on each pinecone and then the children spread peanut butter all over the pinecones -

Next, they rolled their pinecone in the bird seed, coating it well -

We hung these in the trees by the bird feeders, so that they birds would see them when they came to the feeders, and so that we could watch them through the kitchen window!

I think these went up just in time, as an ice storm is due today and now the birds will have an extra treat to ease the icy days.

Our Five In A Row meal for the week was one of comfort and warmth after coming in on a snowy evening – Tater Tot Casserole, with Peach Crisp for dessert -

It was a very nice week, and we did manage to fit in that trip to the ice rink for 3 of the children -

I’m hoping to write up a post about the skating and post more pictures soon.

I especially loved this book because of the emphasis on the enjoyment of nature and taking time out of our daily busyness to stop and marvel at the glorious creation of our Lord – a reminder that we all need from time to time.

Stay warm and enjoy a nice cup of hot cocoa – we’ll certainly be indulging a bit today!

Blessings,
Nancy

A Few Thoughts. . .

Last night we started our Ladies Bible Study back up at church. We finished studying Romans in November, and took off the month of December. Our new study is a topical study – we are going through the book “Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety” by Elyse Fitzpatrick. I am really looking forward to seeing what the Lord has for us in this study, as I, like most women, deal with many of these issues in my life.

We have only begun with the first chapter, but I wanted to share just a few of the things that have impressed me and encouraged me already. Some of these came from reading the book and some of them from our discussion last night, which is always a blessing as the Lord uses other believers to minister to me from their own experiences and by sharing what the Lord has taught them.

- One comment that was made was the fact that so many of our fears are based on “what if’s”, and we imagine having to go through so many things from our present point of view. What really hit me was when someone reminded us all that God gives us grace for those times at the time of need, not before – so it is needless to worry about “what if” something happens, when we really need to spend that energy trusting the Lord to give us that grace when it is needed. This has been such a comfort to me, as I tend to be one who thinks about these “what if’s” more than I should, and I am trying to remember this truth whenever I find myself worrying in this way.

- Another comment that was shared that really impacted me was in relation to parenting and perfectionism (eek!). Someone shared something she had read that stated that our focus in parenting is not to make perfect children, who make no mistakes, but to teach them to recognize their sin and lead them to the Savior with a repentant heart. I totally agree with this, but realized that – in practice – I probably lean more toward the former rather than the latter. I expect to be able to teach them the right thing to do, and then expect them to just do it, and then I get frustrated when they fail over and over again (as I do!). It was further pointed out that parenting this way actually drives them away from God, rather than towards Him – in realizing their need for Him – which was a huge wake-up call for me. There is a chapter later in the book on perfectionism, which I can’t wait to read (and may not wait to!)

-One final thought comes from the final paragraph in this chapter, and deals with the truth that trust in the Lord is the antidote for the harmful fears and worries that beset us – this will be greatly delved into throughout the course of the book, but these words really touched my heart -

“Look deeply also into the heart of the One who loved you so much that He walked into the jaws of death and His enemy’s grasp for your sake. Love like that just demands to be trusted. So whether your fears are real or imagined – whether you’re just beginning to understand them or you’re too familiar with them – you can throw yourself on the mercy of God, the one who loves you more than you could possibly know.”

I’ll try to share more insights as I work through the study over the next 6 months.

Have a wonderful day!

Blessings,
Nancy

Back in My Day . . .

Back in my day, this would have been the arm of a fellow schoolmate who was preparing to ace a test – the wrong way! Now, I never prepared for a test this way, but I saw plenty of people who did around me in the schoolroom.

Fast forward 30 years. . . the arm in this picture belongs to my daughter, Laura, who is not preparing for a test, but, rather is teaching herself the Italian language. She came downstairs the other day and showed it to me – “Look, Mom, I’m learning all of the question words in Italian! I’ve written them on my arm, so that I will see them all day long.”

Ingenious, don’t you think? And it worked, too – she had been looking at them for so long, that she just about had them all learned.

Ah, the unconventional joys of homeschooling.

Blessings,
Nancy

From the Learning Room. . .

When Peggy added this new feature to our Simple Woman’s Daybook list, it inspired me to take it a step further and make a category of posts whereby I can share some of what we are working on in our Homeschool.

This year starts our 14th year homeschooling our children. There are officially five children schooling this year, although Anna and David – not wanting to be left out – will be joining us for some of the fun.

Most of our schooling follows the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education – copywork, living books, short lessons, nature study and lots of free time to explore and think. I love to work in units of study with themes. This almost got me in trouble this year, as I realized at the last minute that my plan included about 7 different themes all going at the same time. I just can’t resist anything set up with themes, and each of them sounded so good – on their own – but, together – train wreck! I am so glad that the Lord showed me this before I actually attempted to do all of that!

My lesson plan is now much simplified, covering the basics of reading, writing, spelling and math – with only ONE unit or theme to study at a time. How much richer this will be for us, rather than splitting our learning up into so many directions.

Matthew is following a more traditional course plan, as he is finishing up to graduate this year, while Laura will be doing independent unit studies on topics of interest in addition to her basic subjects. Both of my high schoolers have foreign languages added to their lists, as well.

We all have daily Bible lessons and reading, and I am planning to keep a read-aloud going throughout the year. Nature studies will be on-going – weather permitting (and when it doesn’t, maybe we’ll study our resident indoor nature or the non-permitting weather!)

My units of study with the younger three children will alternate between book units in Five In A Row (these are rich in lessons for all ages) and unit studies of our own choosing, based on seasonal topics, holidays, historical events or whatever the Lord brings into our life.

Future posts will give you more of a look at some of the specific activities we are doing and the interesting things that we are learning about. Thanks for visiting!

Blessings,
Nancy

Shopping Trip

I ran several errands yesterday. Staples were getting rather low and it was time to stock up. This meant a trip to the big “Stuff-Mart”, which is generally exhausting and expensive. A friend and I were commenting a week or so ago that we can’t seem to go into that store without spending hundreds of dollars! I don’t know if it’s because they sell everything you might need want, thus allowing you to make all your purchases at once, or if prices have really just gone up that much – probably both. Anyway, this trip was no exception, but I was, as I said, stocking up.

Since I have begun cooking more from scratch and baking bread on a daily basis (in the bread machine), I have been naturally going through more flour. So, on this day I bought 10 lbs. of all-purpose flour, 5 lbs. of bread flour, and 5 lbs. of whole wheat flour. I also bought 10 lbs. of sugar, 3 lbs. of butter, a huge container of cinnamon (in preparation for all of those lovely Fall breads and desserts that have started entering my mind), a large bag of chocolate chips, an extra large bottle of vanilla, and a dozen and a half eggs. Add in a number of other staple food items that we were out of (peanut butter, salad dressings, preserves, etc.), household paper products (including diapers), and various toiletries from the OTHER side of the store (boy, did my feet hurt last night!), and I finally pushed my brimming cart to the checkout – this should definitely count as exercise, shouldn’t it?

The total, not surprisingly, was high – but I consoled myself by hoping that this would be my only “stocking up” trip for the month. Now I will simply go to my neighborhood grocery store once a week and fill in for meals based on their sales and my menus.

Did you notice I said “hoping”? That’s because this is my first month to be baking so much from scratch and I really don’t know how long these staples will last. If they don’t make it a full month, I may decide to try Sam’s next time, so that I can buy larger quantities for hopefully better prices. I may decide to do so anyway. I think I will plan a trip to Sam’s soon to compare their prices and quantities with what I bought. What do you all do? I would love to hear!

Other errands of the day included dropping Matthew at work, a visit to Bath & Body Works for their hand soap sale – I love to use their foaming Warm Vanilla Sugar hand soap by the kitchen sink, and a run in to Kroger for sirloin steaks (on sale) and blueberries – also on sale, but completely sold out! I will try back this weekend after they restock.

In case you’re wondering if I did all this with children along – no. I didn’t. I usually do most of my “major’ grocery shopping alone (unless it’s just a quick run). I spent many years shopping with children, but now that I have teenagers old enough to care for the littles, I prefer to go alone (this does not hold true when I have a small baby – up to a certain age, my babies go everywhere with me.) – I can focus on the task at hand much better and be done much sooner and with less frazzling of my brain! I generally do my weekly shopping trip on Saturdays, when Jeff is home to watch children, too.

After returning home, we unloaded everything, put it away, and tossed some pizzas in the oven for dinner. Did I mention that I don’t scratch cook on shopping days?

Blessings,
Nancy

My Darling Daughter Does It Again. . .

Chock another one up to the teenage generation and their computer prowess. I have silently been perplexed for days now about a little hiccup on my blog. You may not have noticed it at all – especially if you haven’t scrolled down in awhile. But I noticed it, and had no idea what to do about it. The problem was that starting about the American Girl post, everything had suddenly turned to italics – all of my posts prior to and including that post. I finally said something about it tonight as I prepared to sit down and type in my next post and my daughter, Laura – 14 yrs old – says to me, and I quote: “Oh, I know what that is – it happens to me all the time.” She then proceeded to tell me that I had probably forgotten to “unitalicize” my italics at the end of my Daybook post and it had resulted in the perplexing change in the rest of the blog. I went in to edit the Daybook post, and sure enough, I had forgotten to unitalicize. A few taps on the keyboard and my little blog was back to normal. Did I feel stupid? Yes. Will it be the last time? No. At least I know where to go the next time something unexplainable pops up.

Blessings,
Nancy

Crockpot Tortellini Soup

I made this for dinner last night and it was a hit with my family, including the children! I found the recipe here when I googled “zucchini recipes” recently, in an attempt to find some tasty ways to use my bountiful zucchini harvest from my garden. I found many lovely recipes to suit my tastes, printed a few off, and am attempting to try them bit by bit. This was my first recipe to try and also my first ever homemade soup to make(!!) – adding a new page to my Scratch notebook, where I am compiling recipes along my journey to learn to cook more and more from “scratch”.

I had boiled some chickens on Monday and saved the broth to use for this soup – just refrigerated it overnight before pouring it in Tuesday morning.

So, without further ado, here we go -

Crockpot Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 medium zucchini, in 1-inch cubes, about 1 cup
3 1/2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 large can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 can (15 1/2 ounces) canned great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 to 2 tablespoons dried leaf basil
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces fresh or dry cheese-filled tortellini, cooked

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients except tortellini in Crock Pot. Mix well. Cover and cook on Low setting for at least 6 hours. When ready to serve, increase heat to High setting. Add cooked tortellini. Cook 10 minutes longer, until heated through.

I doubled this recipe for my family and it completely filled my crockpot. When we were ready to eat, I added some garlic salt to taste and sprinkled Mozzerella cheese on each bowl of soup before serving. (I used shredded Parmesan on mine, and it was yummy, too!)

I served Cheesy Garlic Biscuits, a long-time family favorite, alongside the soup and got rave reviews.
I will definitely be cooking this one again.

Enjoy!

Blessing,
Nancy