Winter Days and Celebrations

I've started writing this post 4 times now.  No matter how hard I tried, every word was wrong.  I wasn't writing about anything profound, but found myself getting whiny and complaining and that's not going to work.  I'll just say this:  I'm cold!  There, that should do it.

This sweet love thought I had lost it one day when I bundled her up to take her outside.  She looked at me with absolute horror and then the wind took her breath away (literally) and we decided to head back inside.  Desperate times baby.  It was finally above 0 degrees, I had to get out, even if only for 2 minutes.

This little critter doesn't mind if she never steps foot outside.  After all, while the big kids are out freezing their tails off, she has free-reign of their rooms.  She thought she would try out the Troll mask.  Scared?

Cold weather and an absentee, recital-gettin'-ready-for husband has made our days pretty long.  Someday I'll get to hear him play again, but it wasn't meant to be this time around so we planned a surprise "Daddy's-done-with-his-recital" party.  I love that we're a party just by ourselves.  

HIs recital is over and we're just about to start "birthday season".  We have 4 birthdays in the span of 2 1/2 weeks.  The exciting part?  Only one of those birthdays falls at the beginning of Lent (sorry for the reminder, but yes, Lent is really that close). I've had the first of those birthdays on Ash Wednesday before.  Of course, as always, I'll hold my sweet Felicity closer than ever on Mardi Gras, even if it isn't her birthday this year.  But, no need to go "there" just yet.  We'll just plug away, nurse these colds away, and wish the cold away!!!

More on Homeschooling- Curriculum Choices (What we're currently using)

First, my opinion about choosing a curriculum.  Repeat after me, "Choose what works best for my family, choose what works best for my family, choose what works best for my family, etc..."  Got it?  Okay, I'll begin.....

Math:  All of my older children (7 and above) are using Math-U-See.  We've used this program for the past 2-3 years and I love it.  The kids watch a DVD, taught by Mr.Steve (that's what my kids call him...well, not to his face, it's a DVD..lol) and then they have workbook pages for that week.  I have them do two pages per day, plus a test page at the end and then they correct any mistakes on Friday.  We don't do grades in our family.  If it's wrong, they fix it.  If I notice on day one that a child is just not "getting it" then I watch the DVD with them and we work together.  

Why I Chose This:  I've used almost every Math program out there.  Math-U-See made the cut because it didn't require an enormous amount of my time.  I don't prep a Math lesson, Math is not a mom-lead subject anymore.  I needed to "farm out" this subject because we were spending way too much time on Math and I didn't feel like it needed to be that way.  Math is a short, sweet, and to-the-point subject.  The kids get their work done and we move on.  The one downfall about this that I've found so far is that I'm not always certain how the kids are supposed to be working out certain problems.  "Mr.Steve" uses a little bit different of a method than I grew up using so I have had to relearn in order to help the kids.  But, I'm really happy with this approach.  I don't plan on changing, just plugging away.

English: Okay, so I have a degree in English.  I minored in Education.  I don't teach English...at all.   To be fair, I should clarify that we have a heavy "language arts" homeschool.  When I say that I don't teach English I really mean that my kids aren't using workbooks that ask them to circle the nouns, verbs, etc...  From the time they were born I've read to them.  My awesome mentor, Amy (I've mentioned her before), really encouraged me to always read "above" the kids' level.  I try to read really good picture books when they are itty, bitty.  I am "that" mom that says, "Uh, no" when a child finds a "Dora" book at the library and wants to bring it home.  We read chapter books when they are small.  One of the first things we do during the day is spend a good amount of time reading aloud (Read-Aloud list will be posted soon-ish). I believe 100% that reading to your kids is one of the best investments of your time.  

*We are currently not using a writing program.  My kids are all writing books.  Books that I thought were just for fun, but have turned out to be really well written.  The kids take turns reading them to each other and to us.  We're all falling in love with the characters and can't wait to hear what comes next.

*I've used Andrew Pudewa's "Writing Intensive" for the older two and we really liked it.  It's another program that is taught by DVD.  Due mainly to budget reason (that darn chicken coop!) I didn't get anything this year.  It was a strong program, the kids liked it, I liked it.  "Bob" as the kids called him (they couldn't remember his name) reminded me a lot of my comp. teacher in high school.  I found editing their papers to be a little hard to keep up with, but I would use this program again for sure.  Except I want to try something else for next year, just because.  

History: "Connecting with History".  Love it.  This is a Catholic worldview history program.  It follows the Classical style of education's approach to history.  It's very heavily literature based.  Didn't use it this year because we are focussing on Scotland (since we're going there in a handful of months!), but we will use it again next year.  

Science: Noeo Science!  I can't say enough about this program.  Seriously.  I had tried every homeschool science program out there.  Nothing worked for us.  My kids hated science.  I hated science.  Noeo science uses a mix of non-fiction books and biographies to teach.  It also uses a Classical approach having 3 levels of 3 different "subjects".  For instance, we started with Biology 1 and Biology 2 two years ago, did Physics 1 and 2 last year, and are doing Chemistry 1 and 2 this year.  Next year, back to Biology, but it will be levels 2 and 3.  The kids keep a science notebook and do one or two pages for every day they do science.  They read the assigned pages, do the experiment if there is one (the materials for the experiments come with the program), and write or draw (or both!) what they learned.  

Spelling: Spelling Power. A neighbor told me about this program.  Instead of learning a list of words for a week and then having a test at the end of the week, this program has a daily test.  The words you spell correctly you "pass" for that day and the words you miss, you study using a specific technique.  The program does not repeat those words the next day, but rather it's designed so that the child will be spelling them again on a different day.  My oldest was such an awful speller that I have always had the kids repeat those words on the next day's test.  It works for us.  It's a solid program, takes about 5-10 minutes a day. 

What else do we do?  

-For "Ora Time" we start by reciting our "Sacred Heart" prayer, and read the daily Mass readings.  

-I have the kids memorizing different character qualities so we work on those.  I've been on the fence about this, really.  I like it for now though.  

-The kids practice piano every day.  For now Brett is teaching them (a benefit for having a Music Professor for a husband) and they are doing well.  

-Every once in awhile we memorize poems.  The kids did an "Oral Interp" style rendition of "The Children's Hour" and it was fun.  A couple weekends ago we memorized the last stanza of  "Address to the Haggis" by Robert Burns.  Have you ever tried simply reading Burns?  Did not have a clue how hard that was going to be.  The kids did better that I did.  

-The kids practice karate every day as well.  

-Every day after lunch is rest time around here.  Since we're all together all the time, I've found that it's really helpful for every one if we take a break from one another.  The kids either read or write or work quietly on something.  Occasionally I'll let the big kids work together on something while the little ones nap (and they nap at the same time which is a miracle because I'm not a big "sleep trainer" type mom).  The goal is that they are doing something alone.  Naptime around here can be bliss, really.  

****The more we develop our homeschool, the more we've become fans of the Classical approach to education.  I don't think we'd be seen as "hard core" classical educators, but we try to stick to that style as much as we can.  On tap for next year will be Latin!  We tried it once a long time ago and it was not going well.  We used "Prima Latina" because I had heard great things about it.  I think the program is solid, it just didn't work for us.  

To Recap:

Math: Math-U-See

English: Grammar is taught in the context of the kids' writing.  We've used "Institute for Excellence In Writing" and liked it.  

Spelling: Spelling Power

History:  Connecting with History

Science: Noeo

Oh, I could just talk about homeschool forever.  I really am happy with what we're doing for the most part.  

Here's Looking At You

January Review- In (Mostly) Pictures

Finally enough hair to do the classic "tri-tails".

Can't get enough of this love!

Sleeping baby sisters are the best company when you're reading a good book.

We run when we get our mail so we don't freeze.  

Some Scots ready for our "Burns Supper"!  

Our "Haggis" which was not truly Haggis at all, but our attempt at something like it. It was really just potato sausage.

January has flown by, and yet those many days that were so very cold seemed to barely creep along.  Strange how that happens.

A high of 19 is on the menu for today!  Can't wait to kick these kids outside and soak up some sun (which is actually out surprisingly enough).

And Just Like That

Although there are different schools of thought of when Christmas officially ends, we are wrapping up our celebrations here.  I wish I could say that this Christmas season was filled with quiet, and awe, and beauty.  It was, in a way, because isn't that what Christmas is always filled with?  The arrival of a baby, the baby.  However, the weekend before Christmas, two more of the kids fell to the longest living, slowest moving virus that we've ever had in this house.

We were hoping Felicity would be spared because when she's sick, she's very, very sick.  This time was no exception.  We kept many late night vigils, making sure her temp wasn't getting too high, her breathing wasn't too labored, and forcing her to drink so we could escape another visit to the hospital.  I always marvel at how full of life and spunk she can be, and then....crash!  Down she goes.  A marvel, that girl.

I think it is safe to say that the particular bug that plagued us is gone.  The baby has a cough now, but I think it is only partially a virus and partially my overdose of dairy products over the New Year holiday. Turns out that she's like all of my breastfeeding babes have been, not a fan of the dairy.  Bummer.  I'm trying to find a happy medium between being sufficiently concerned, but not overly so.  This "having a healthy newborn with no medical issues" thing has thrown me for a loop.  I almost forget how to parent a healthy kid.  All part of the healing process, I guess.

The state "next door" is shut down tomorrow due to the cold.  Our town is also canceling school.  I contemplated giving the kids one more day of vacation as well.  After all, Brett is still technically off, and it is so tempting.  We will forge ahead anyway.  Between the virus-that-never-dies and the 102nd day of subzero temperatures (okay, a bit of an exaggeration) we have begun to go a tad bit crazy.  Alarms are set, lesson plans are, well, going to come together, and I think we are all excited to start learning together again.

Which brings me to my next topic, if I were sticking to a particular topic at all and not just rambling.  My expectations for this next semester are much lower than the previous semester.  I knew that having a new baby would slow me down a little bit, and it did.  Having a baby, however, did not slow me down as much as having a 2 1/2 year old who was the former "baby" did. I'm in a strange spot with homeschooling.  I feel as if I'm constantly leaving the big kids to do their work on their own, and yet simultaneously shooing the little ones off.  I know this is just a phase and I'm determined to enjoy where we are now, and not waiting for it to get "easier".  This isn't easy stuff.  It will always change and be different, but raising and homeschooling any number of children is never easy.

We're working to find that good balance.  The balance that is essential for a family to run smoothly.  When I find the secret to it, I'll let you know.  Well, first I'll somehow copyright my idea and make millions and then I'll charge you if you want any information.  Nah, I wouldn't do that.  This time around that balance is going to mean less trips to town, but more time when we're there.

This balance is also going to mean we spend more time reading-aloud as a family.  When my older three were my only three we would read for hours every day.  No exaggeration at all.  I've continued to read-aloud while adding more kids to the mix, but we've never made the time to do it as much or as often.  It has taken us way too long to get through simple books and forget more "meaty" material.  I truly believe that reading aloud, and above the reading level of your kids, helps to form them into good, interested readers.  It sure seems to have helped with their desire to write as well.  Reading and writing are not subjects in our homeschool.  They are a part of life.

So, there's the plan.  Place an emphasis on reading-aloud again and limit our trips to town.  Sounds promising to me.  I should add that we are all working on making sure we kiss sweet, chunky, yummy, delicious, tasty, scrumptious baby cheeks as often as we can.  Now who could go wrong with that?

When All Else Fails

Post a cute baby picture! 

Just Because

My coffee the other morning. Isn't it pretty? And that's all I have for ya . A coffee picture. Because we're still the house of sick .

 I text my husband (who is sleeping in the guest room) in the middle of the night when I can hear him up coughing, check on various kids, rub essential oil on lots of feet, pray, and try to sleep myself. 

Jones Family-0 

Mean ole Flu-4. 

Maybe admitting defeat will make it go away.