Motherhood Management in Your Home School

Are you going crazy trying to keep things running smoothly in your home school when your house is full of young children?  Let's think about two different moms at exaggerated ends of the spectrum.


Mom #1 rolls wearily out of bed when the preschooler starts whining for breakfast. The two older children stumble out of their rooms, poking each other, and meet with a sharp reprimand from Mom. After eating, the children wander off and Mom is left alone to clear up the debris. The baby starts to whimper and Mom discovers a blow-out diaper oozing onto the high chair. She sets the jelly jar back on the table and carries the baby upstairs to the nursery. As soon as she gets the messy diaper off, she hears a crash downstairs. It is the jelly jar, now shattered and splattered on the kitchen floor. After she mops, Mom trudges back upstairs to nurse the baby. The other children scamper outside to play, barefoot and in their pajamas. When Mom yells for them to come in, they track mud all over the fresh-mopped floor.

During morning school time, Mom #1's third grade son repeats the same math mistakes from yesterday, because she didn't grade his paper. They can't do the science experiment listed in their text book because they didn't buy the supplies. While Mom hunts for flash cards for the first grader's phonics lesson, the bored preschooler throws blocks at the baby. By now it's lunch time and Mom must try to make peanut butter sandwiches while clutching a howling baby.

The bedraggled family has just finished eating when the phone suddenly rings. It is a home school friend, inviting them all over to play that afternoon. Escape! After a frantic scramble to find matching shoes, they jump in the van and fight over the front seat. During their visit, Mom and her friend spend the time commiserating over the lack of good field trips in their support group, and ask themselves if maybe they should switch groups. Actually, though, Mom's friend is thinking of quitting home schooling anyway, and the social time turns into a gripe session.

On the way home, Mom drops off the overdue library books and stops at the grocery store to get meat for supper. She forgets to get a new jar of jelly, but her children manipulate her into buying candy bars to keep them quiet. When they get home, Mom has to set the groceries on the floor because the table is still covered with the remains of lunch and the counters are full of clutter. The preschooler has missed his nap and runs around wild until Dad walks in. Mom has a pulsing headache and the house is trashed. There is very little to write down for school, but Mom hasn't kept records this week anyway.

So that was an exaggerated Mom #1! (I hope!) What about Mom #2? She has the same children and the same house, but her perspective is totally different!

Mom #2 gets up early to have her quiet time and a shower. The preschooler is up when Mom gets out of the bathroom, so she puts him to work setting out the breakfast dishes. She turns on some music and greets her grumpy older children with a smile, because she knows that the next 10 minutes can either make or break the day. After breakfast, the children all take their dishes to the sink. One child wipes the table and another sweeps. Since the jelly has been transferred to a plastic jar, the preschooler enjoys putting the food away. Mom throws in a load of laundry, takes tonight's dinner out of the freezer, and quickly reviews her to-do list and lesson plans.

When the baby starts to whimper with that blow-out diaper, Mom takes her and the preschooler upstairs. The preschooler picks out a picture book and plops onto the floor. Mom changes the messy diaper, washes her hands and nurses the baby to sleep.

It's time for the third grader's math lesson, so the first grader takes the preschooler into the living room and helps him with a puzzle. At the dining room table, Mom pulls out a fraction chart to demonstrate the math lesson. She can see the concepts click in her son's brain. This is a dramatic improvement from last week's fraction frustration which impelled her to make the chart in the first place. Then the two older children switch places so that the first grader can do her math and phonics with Mom.

After this, Mom calls the other children in for a science experiment. She pulls the supplies out of a plastic bin, opens the book and directs the children through each step as the preschooler watches with wide eyes. School time proceeds smoothly through the morning. Lunch passes amiably with only one cup of spilled milk and lots of scattered crumbs, which are quickly cleaned up.

When the phone rings, Mom waits for the answering machine to come on, finds out it is a home school friend calling, and picks it up. Her friend invites them over to play, so Mom checks the to-do list. No, it won't fit in today. Mom reminds herself, “Great ideas deserve great planning,” so she suggests postponing it until Wednesday. This is fine with her friend, yet Mom detects an odd note in the voice on the other end of the line. Is anything wrong? “Well, yes,” replies the friend. “I am so burned out with home schooling. I'm thinking of quitting. I just can't seem to get it together. How in the world do you do it?” Mom chats with her friend for 20 minutes, trying to think of a way to encourage her. She recommends a helpful home school book which she has been reading in snatches each day.

After Mom gets off the phone, she tells her children that they can go weed the backyard strawberry patch if they put their shoes and socks on first. She then makes a quick phone call to the health insurance claims department. Next, she pulls out her home school planning notebook, opens to the support group section and flips to her field trip planning page. She calls the local science museum about group prices and jots down all of the information on a notebook page.

When the children are ready to come inside, Mom stands guard at the door to make sure that dirt doesn't sneak in too. The preschooler is filthy, so Mom sticks him in the tub. It's also time for his nap time story and cuddle. Mom grabs her own book to read in his room, because she knows she will have to prevent the nap-fighting preschooler from escaping. When he drifts off to sleep, she sorts through closets and drawers to find items to donate to Salvation Army.

For the rest of the afternoon, Mom reads to the older children, plays with the baby, supervises clean up time and prepares dinner. When Dad gets home, Mom tells about the day and hands him the notes from the health insurance phone call. After dinner and a short Bible video, Dad reads to the children while Mom grades papers and fills out home school record sheets. Mom and Dad chat about the agenda for the next day before she goes to bed, tired but satisfied.

What's the difference? On the surface, the most obvious thing is that Mom #2 has prepared for her day and prevented many of the time-and-energy-eating hassles that plague Mom #1. If you probe a little deeper, you might detect that Mom #2 has gone beyond mere survival to true productivity. How? She is focused on important goals and priorities previously set with Dad. In line with what she feels is her mission in life, she wants to develop a warm home atmosphere, be a helpful partner to her husband, teach and train their children effectively, optimize the family health, grow in her personal life, and assist other moms to do the same. These goals are attached to specific tasks (home schooling, reading, cooking, decluttering and cleaning the house, phone calls, etc.) which Mom does little by little each day, in delicate balance. She must keep her goals and tasks in mind so she doesn't get sidetracked. She knows when to say “NO.” Mom #2 is both efficient and effective. I know this ideal mom seems unattainable, yet we can at least see improvement to the extent that we emulate her and aspire to her ways.

 These two moms reflect different management styles: Management By Objective (MBO) and Management by Exception (MBE). MBO managers set positive, specific, measurable, attainable goals with steps to implement them. They also anticipate situations so they are ready to prevent them or respond to them. In contrast, MBE managers coast along until a problem comes up and then they react to it. They spend prime time on “fighting fires” instead of on productive work. For some, MBE is actually Management by Explosion. What is your current management style? As you move toward MBO management, ask God for a mission statement for your own life, a reflection of what he has called you to be and do. Next, seek God's vision for your life in the areas of marriage, child training, home school, finances, health, ministry, home making, schedule, personal development, etc. These should all be in harmony with your mission. List your specific goals in each area, both long term and short term. Choose a few that are important and/or urgent, and set up a brainstorming page for each. In detail, list the steps and resources needed to pursue each goal. Knowing that I don’t operate in isolation, I even include sections for God’s Part, Others’ Parts and My Part.

Hold on to your visions and keep them in your mind every day! Review your goals and evaluate your progress. Are you overwhelmed? Pace yourself and don't try to accomplish everything at once. Major on one or two things, and dabble in the others as you have time. You are not obligated to become an expert in every “essential” school subject, extra-curricular option, or homemaking skill. Find what fits your unique family. Keep your goals and priorities in balance, so that hobbies, projects, and ministries don't crowd out your first duties to spiritual growth, husband, children, and home life.


Plan ahead so that you can avoid spending all your time reacting to problems. When you are calm and rational, think through recurring problems to reveal creative solutions for the future. For example, if your child routinely bursts into tears while doing a certain subject, consider alternative ways to present or supplement the lessons. The care you take in solving your child's learning problems, rather than merely shifting blame, communicates to him that he is worth something. Your approach to life planning and problem solving will be one of the strongest lessons to your children in the home school of real life. Not even the zippiest workbook can surpass a resourceful and sensible mom.
~~
 
This article is excerpted from my book The Real Life Home School Mom.  You can read the book for free via the PDF in the sidebar of this blog, www.StartWellHomeSchool.blogspot.com.

You can also read the first section of this "Life Management 101" section on my http://www.comewearymoms.blogspot.com/ blog here: "Let Our Ordered Lives Confess the Beauty of Thy Peace...?" at  http://comewearymoms.blogspot.com/2010/05/let-our-ordered-lives-confess-beauty-of.html

Arts & Crafts at Home

Dear friends,

Art is one of those school subjects that often gets neglected, not only in public schools with budget cuts, but also in home schools where moms don't always feel qualified or creative.   We've been in a home school co-op for the past four years and haven't devoted much time to art education at home, though my kids are always creating their own masterpieces.  This year, now that we're doing it all at home again, I want to actually work on teaching arts & crafts more intentionally, especially as it relates to our American history studies.  It helps me to go back and review some basics on art education, so I thought you might enjoy these ideas, too. 

This article is excerpted from my book Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade.  It is part of a larger chapter on the appreciating and applying both visual and performing arts.

VISUAL ARTS APPLICATION

“All the skilled men among the workmen made the tabernacle

with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn,

with cherubim worked into them by a skilled craftsman.” Exodus 36:8

I want my children to become proficient in the using elements of form, color and texture in various media. Part of this will come from creative freestyle exploration and “play” but that is not totally sufficient for becoming good at art. That is an acquired skill which takes practice and usually some sort of instruction, whether from a parent, a book, or a professional teacher. Barry Stebbing’s books emphasize this concept, and follow it up with good solid instruction. Nonetheless, most young children can do without intensive formal art instruction for now. While they sometimes need some pointers or a “show me how” demonstration, you don’t always need to hover over your children with a list of instructions. It’s a blast to just get to create something on your own. If they do want to try an organized project without you, there are lots of creative library books that they can check out by themselves.

Acknowledge the Creator as the Master Artist. God can be the creative force behind your art explorations. Ask him to guide your mind and your hands to glorify him! As a home educator, you have the freedom to do art projects on Biblical themes. In the Middle Ages, when most common people were unable to read the Scriptures, artisans used stained glass to communicate the truths of the faith. When I was in 4th grade, my family visited an art museum and bought a Dover stained glass style coloring book with translucent pages. I painstakingly decorated a page with a cathedral window theme, and brought it in to tape up on the classroom window since my teacher had invited each of us to display some work of art. I was informed that I would not be able to do that because it depicted a religious scene! Looking back, this seems so outrageous, even by today’s politically correct standards. A reproduction of a masterpiece of art, banned from the classroom? You, however, can honor God in your artwork anytime you want!

Start with anything that uses creativity or builds visual and motor skills. Puzzles, chunky beads, peg boards and wooden blocks are examples of this. Cuisenaire pattern blocks are simply marvelous for making pictures! Don’t worry if there is not permanent proof of a project.

Plan occasional times for instruction and planned projects. Since this can be frustrating, try to minimize the tears and crumpled up papers through a little prevention. Assure the child that the goal is not a perfect specimen, but enjoyment of the creative process. Try to keep the projects very simple, with easily available materials. You will be more inclined to pick it up and do it than if you had to run out and spend lots of money and then come home and do some elaborate concoction. You also won’t be as disappointed if things don’t work out.

Work one on one whenever possible. Group projects, even with only two children, can easily lead to conflict. Each child wants mom’s undivided attention, and doesn’t want to have to wait for the red pencil that sister is using across the table.

Teach drawing as the first foundation for the visual arts. Drawing seems to be a “fluff” skill, but it is actually quite important because it enables us to make an accurate rendering or diagram of an object or concept for someone who isn’t familiar with what we are trying to communicate to them. “He looked like this...” or “This goes here and that goes there...” Preschoolers are just now learning to control their pencils and make lines where they want them. Make a few basic shapes on paper and see if they can copy them. They may have to trace over several of them at the start, just like they do in handwriting. Talk as you go: “This is a circle. Around we go. This is a square, so let’s make the sides stand up straight.” Put shapes together to make simple objects. A triangle on top of a square makes the start of a house. A circle on a tall rectangle forms a tree. Moving on from there, a simple project for a primary grade student might be to set an item on the table, examine it carefully, and sketch it. Start with a simple contour (outline) of the object, and then try to add details such as shading or patterns. You could also try to copy a drawing that you see, perhaps tracing the outline first. Our shelves are well-stocked with basic drawing books that give step by step instructions for sketching animals and other high interest subjects. Some people might say that “copying stifles creativity” but this is how we learn lots of different subjects! Of course, no child should be confined to that. There should always be freedom to create original artworks.

Imitate art that you see. That’s how the world’s master artists learned -- by copying other great works of art until they could do their own. Try to create something in a similar style, or using the same media. Kelly-Ann Gritner-Gibbons suggests: “Your children may enjoy drawing or painting a picture, inspired by artwork from children's books or art books. If your children don’t seem very excited about the idea, take out some extra paper and get involved drawing with them! When my daughter was five, we read Beatrix Potter stories together. We discussed the illustrations, what we thought was happening based on what we observed. After a couple of days of this, my daughter pulled out paper and began drawing her own pictures of our pets (wearing clothes), engaged in human activities. The drawings are terrific!” 

Set up a regular place to do art projects, and keep your supplies near that place. At our house tidy art projects, such as every day drawing, take place at our dining room table. We keep bins of colored pencils, stencils, safety scissors, and markers nearby. If they want to make a mess with glue, clay or paints, they need to go out in the garage where we have a craft table set up. I expect them to lay down newspapers, wear an old T-shirt, and clean up afterwards. (Sigh... This doesn’t always happen!) I try to keep messy stuff out of the reach of toddlers. I hate to find rubber stamps dumped on the floor, or markers smeared on the wall! [Note in 2010: We no longer have a garage since we converted it to a bedroom.  However, we do have a craft table set up on the back porch! Use what you have!]

Display art projects in a special place. This will serve as a reminder that your child's efforts are important and appreciated. You might want to frame one for Dad’s office, or slide one into a plastic page protector mounted on your refrigerator. Of course you are going to run out of room there! When you need to archive a masterpiece, you can store it in a special Treasure Box, or in a notebook inside a page protector, or in a file folder. You can buy a plastic portfolio envelope or make one of your own with decorated poster board. I still have a whole portfolio of my high school art work in the back of my closet, and my children enjoy looking through it once in a while.

Participate in an art fair. Our support group hosts an art exhibition on our annual Promotion Night. Or, you can hold a private show of your child’s artwork, and invite family and friends. Use small display stands for framed or rigid artwork.

Suggested Art and Craft Projects: 

• colors (the color wheel, primary and secondary colors, mixing colors to get a desired shade, what colors go well together to create a certain mood)
• drawing -- straight lines, zig zag lines, curvy lines, dots, basic shapes, contours of items, textures, shading, etc.
• lettering in different styles
• painting -- many kinds!
• collages with cut paper, small objects, or magazine pictures
• printing with rubber stamps, potato prints, or other methods
• rubbings to show texture of an object
• sculpture and mobiles
• needlework, sewing and weaving
• paper engineering (pop up cards, slide mechanisms, etc.)
• computerized art
• posters and other signs for real life purposes
• greeting cards or booklets
• gift wrap and party decorations
• holiday ornaments and garlands
• toys, corn husk dolls, puppets, props, masks, and scenery
• photography and scrap booking

 Materials and supplies to have on hand: 

• markers, colored pencils and/or crayons
• lots of paper: blank, colored, graph, card stock, poster board, etc.
• plastic stencils of alphabet, numbers, shapes, animals and other simple objects
• computer art software
• tape, gel glue, white washable glue, glue sticks and glitter glue
• scissors (with blunt tip for younger children)
• finger paints, washable tempera paints, water colors, brushes, and plastic plate palette
• rubber stamps and ink pads
• play dough or other non-toxic clay
• Plaster of Paris powder
• fabric, thread, embroidery floss, buttons, sequins, large needles with blunt points
• knitting needles, crochet hook and yarn
• craft sticks, scraps of wood, pre-cut wood shapes, toothpicks
• felt, stuffing, colorful fabrics
• scrap book and supplies
• inexpensive automatic camera and film

Basic Arts and Crafts Method Books:

• Lamb’s Book of Art and others by Barry Stebbing (www.HowGreatThouArt.com)
• How to Draw Wild Animals and other books in series (Watermill Press) -- Simple step-by-step instructions for drawing a wide variety of subjects.
• Appreciating Art by Debbie and Darrel Trulson (Christian Liberty Press) -- Arts and crafts projects designed for elementary age home schoolers.
• Art Fun! by Kim Solga (North Light Books) -- Lots of great projects in a colorful book!
• Get Set... Go! series by Ruth Thompson (Children’s Press) -- Titles include: Painting, Drawing, Printing and Collage. These books are for preschool and early elementary.
• Draw Write Now series by Marie Hablitzel and Kim Stitzer -- themed drawing and handwriting books for early elementary.
• Start with Art: Understanding Art with Lots of Practical Step-by-Step Projects for the Young Artist series by Sue Lacey (Copper Beech Books) -- Titles include: People, Animals and Landscapes. Each page spread features a famous work of art, and gives ideas for how to use the subject or technique (prints, model, mosaic, collage, etc.) in a simple art project at home.
• Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes -- A classic for home educators.

Do you want to read about nurturing your own creativity as a mom?  Pop on over to my ComeWeary Moms blog at read all about it! 
http://comewearymoms.blogspot.com/2010/05/nurture-your-creativity.html

Bored? What to Do With a TV Off!

Dear friends,

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but one day when I was seven years old, our TV mysteriously broke. We could no longer spend several hours a day watching sit-coms and cartoons, and thus it remained for six more years. My parents wisely broke the addiction that stifled our creativity and growth. Soon we realized that the worlds of music, art, literature, and gardening were more exciting and productive than Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch. My brother and sister and I all ended up with a lifetime love of learning. Many of the skills we pursued in our TV-free childhood days have served us well as adults. I fondly recall the many hours spent with my sister, reading side by side, designing our dream houses, writing zany stories, and going to Saturday morning music theory classes at the conservatory. My brother helped me with the piano. Mom and Dad took us to concerts and ethnic restaurants, and we never missed a school musical with John on the trombone or keyboards, or Barb at the cello. Dad later taught me computer programming and prepared me with a job skill that paid my way through college. As a family, we had become unplugged, but not unglued.

In our own household, we haven't totally gotten rid of our TV. We enjoy educational videos, some PBS, and the evening news. Putting limits on time is always a challenge! We occasionally put the TV in storage for a few months when it has consistently gotten out of hand. You can also buy a set with a “parental control” feature so you can block out TV access for hours at a time or filter offensive content.

Families need regular hours for the 3Rs of recreation, relaxation and rejoicing with one another to affirm their commitment. Why not try a few of these TV-free activities?

♥ Read aloud a chapter from a long book or choose short picture books.
♥ Write appreciative notes to relatives, missionaries, shut-ins, or each other.
♥ Produce an annual family newsletter.
♥ Write and illustrate your own books.
♥ Play thinking games, like chess, 20 questions, or Scrabble.
♥ Design your own game!
♥ Try sign language, Braille, or Morse code. Take a blindfold walk.
♥ Have an art contest or draw self-portraits.
♥ Bake cookies and deliver them to someone who needs a lift.
♥ Walk around your neighborhood and chat with whoever you meet.
♥ Take a nature walk and make collages with your specimens.
♥ Work together on a special household or garden project.
♥ Have family worship time with songs, prayer, story, and craft.
♥ Look at photo albums, show slides, or listen to old records.
♥ Tell stories of when Mom and Dad were young.
♥ Put on a talent show or dress up for skits. Make sure the camera is ready!
♥ Let the children try the old guitar or clarinet.
♥ Have a family discussion about topics like where to go on vacation.
♥ Go to a concert, play, art museum, or zoo.

~~~~~~
This article is excerpted from my first book, The Real Life Home School Mom: http://www.virginiaknowles.com/thereallifehomeschoolmom

Excellent Resource for Children's Literature

A friend referenced this site. Curiosity got the best of me and I followed the link. What a treasure!

Warning: You might be there for a while.

http://www.short-story-time.com/index.html

What is the Charlotte Mason Approach to Education?

Miss Charlotte Mason was a late 19th / early 20th century leader in British education. Her Parents National Educators Union schools, in homes and villages around that country, championed natural learning methods, high quality literature, the fine arts, orderly home atmosphere, healthy outdoor time, and the dignity of the child.

Her methods, outlined in the six volume Original Home Schooling series, have made a comeback in modern home schooling circles where they are also known as “living books” or “life experiences” education. Mind you, I haven’t yet been able to plow through all of her own writings, but I do appreciate the books and magazine articles I have read about them. If I had to choose one approach to home schooling, this would be it!

For language we use dictation, copy work and narration; choose interesting “whole books” written by authors with a passion for their subjects; and teach children to read with a commonsense blend of phonics and sight words. There are so many other ways we have used Charlotte Mason to appreciate art and nature, but to list them would start another whole chapter! My favorite book on this is The Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola.

Quick Tips for Using
The Best Facets of Charlotte Mason

♥ Choose interesting “living books” and biographies for reading aloud or independent study.
♥ Keep lessons short and varied so that the mind does not become dull.
♥ Assess comprehension by oral or written narration (the student tells what he has learned).
♥ Use the methods of dictation and copying to practice grammar, handwriting and spelling.
♥ Go on nature walks and draw what you see.
♥ Allow plenty of time for unstructured outdoor play.
♥ Study fine art and listen to excellent music, focusing on one artist or composer at a time.

The brief article above is excerpted from my first book, The Real Life Home School Mom.


Charlotte Mason Web Sites 

Here is a collection of several popular web sites that teach about various aspects of the Charlotte Mason approach to education. Please note that I do not endorse everything on each site.

I recommend that if you see a link that interests you, either in this Charlotte Mason section or the next one on my blog links, that you right click and open in a new tab. That way you can read each one in turn without losing track of the others.

Charlotte Mason Research & Supply with Karen Andreola www.charlottemason.com/ (I'm not sure if this site has been updated recently since it doesn't list Karen's newest book, but there is still a lot of great stuff there.)

Ambleside On-line -- free curriculum, booklists, schedules, including free on-line texts, plus CM's original series in modern English paraphrase http://www.amblesideonline.org/

Simply Charlotte Mason http://simplycharlottemason.com/

~~~

I wrote a blog post called Nature Study: It's For the Birds! about a little bit of Charlotte Mason style nature study in our home and co-op. My sons Andrew, Micah, and Ben took the beautiful bird photographs in this post. Check it out! (Update in 2021: They are all adults now!)

Nature Study: It's For the Birds!

Nature Study: It’s for the Birds!

One of the key facets of the Charlotte Mason approach to education is nature study, and certainly one of the most fascinating aspects of this is learning about birds!

I love to read books about birds to my kids, and browse through field guides to see the variety of species.

We should take a field trip to our local Audubon Center for Birds of Prey soon.

Fortunately for busy home school moms, there is an easy to use resource for teaching your elementary age children all about them. Our home school co-op’s 5th-6th grade science class has been using Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day, which also explores the wonderful world of insects and bats.  (Five of the 12 lessons are on birds.)   I like the specific information she gives, such as her explanation of how the male mallefowl keeps the eggs in the nest mound at just the right temperature using its built-in tongue thermometer to determine whether to cover it with more or less sand and rotting plants.  Then, when the chiecks hatch, they have to spend about 15 hours digging out! Wow!  Or how about the albatross, which has an 11 foot sing span and can glide on guests of wind for days at a time?
 
 Like Fulbright’s other science books (Botany, Astronomy, Land Animals, and Swimming Creatures), the Flying Creatures book combines solid content (complete text, photos, diagrams), hands-on activities, and note booking. You can either purchase pre-printed Notebooking Journals for each of these courses, or download them for free from her web site, www.jeanniefulbright.com/NotebookPages.html

My son Micah has particularly enjoyed the bird studies this year. As part of his homework assignments, he has made a bird booklet by downloading pictures from the web and writing about each species.

He has also enthusiastically drawn pictures of birds, and more recently, taken dozens of pictures of ones found near our home (see below). I can tell this is somewhat of a passion for him and that makes me as happy as a lark!

One of Micah’s favorite bird web sites is the one by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, www.allaboutbirds.org/, which is full of pictures, textual information, audio clips, and video. One of the pages on this site has bird sketches by Catherine Hamilton.

These are some of the bird photographs which my sons Micah, Ben, and Andrew have taken in the past week or so.

Red-Tailed Hawk

The mockingbird is our Florida state bird.

Robin

Some sort of yellow bird -- yet to be identified!

Male cardinal

The next several photos are of white ibises

that sometimes visit our neighborhood. 

Micah, who took all but one of these pictures, 

identified them using the web site www.whatbird.com/

Ben, who is 7, took the next one.

A red headed woodpecker, added on March 27.

Then there are birds that you don't find just strutting around your neighborhood.... 


Andrew took this one of a family of sandhill cranes while he and Dad were on a camp out with friends at Moss Park near Orlando.

Micah took these -- a sea gull and a chick -- at New Smyrna Beach on April 1.

And don't forget Bible birds!

Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young, at your altars,

O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

Blessed are those who dwell in your house,

ever singing your praise! Psalm 84:3-4

Look at the birds of the air:

they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they?

And which of you by being anxious

can add a single hour to his span of life?

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,

and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:26-27, 33

Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:30-31

Read for the Heart: Whole Books for Wholehearted Families

Read for the Heart:
Whole Books for Wholehearted Families

Book by Sarah Clarkson

Review by Virginia Knowles

Bunny trails, even the cyber kind, can lead to serendipitous discoveries, and that is certainly the case with how I found a wonderful book that is reshaping my home education path.

Late last year, I happened to be reading a theology blog that linked to a music video, which in turn linked to a writer’s forum, which fortuitously deposited me onto Sarah Clarkson’s blog. Her name is no mystery to me, though. What jumped out to me is that she is a Clarkson, twentysomething eldest daughter of Clay and Sally, whose 1995 book The Wholehearted Child (later renamed Educating the Wholehearted Child), laid an early foundation for Charlotte Mason style education in our home. Now Sarah, who was nurtured in a literature-loving environment, has penned her own contribution to the cause. She was kind enough to send me a review copy, along with a sweet note, and I devoured it in January. It’s been doing its work on me ever since, pointing me back from whence I came, back to whole literature education. But that is another story for another time.

Let me talk about the book. Bare fact: 384 pages of sheer delight. With her own warm-hearted, imagination-sparking vignettes from her family’s experience, Sarah sets first sets forth a passionate and poetic plea for us to teach our children with an abundance of well-written books. She suggests several ideas for making reading accessible and attractive to children, such as filling book baskets for each one or reading aloud while they sketch.   She also presents solid research on literacy.  For example, did you know that 15-24 year old spend only 7-10 minutes a day on voluntary reading, but 2 1/2 hours per day watching TV?  How did this habit start?  In childhood!  This is more alarming when Sarah reports on studies which show that TV viewing causes the logical left side of the brain to go into a state of passivity, while at the same time stimulating the the emotional, less rational, less discerning right side of the brain.  So, "The child is indiscriminately receptive to whatever image or idea is presented, inhibited not only in his discernement of the truth or error of the idea, but also in the basic skill of rational comprehension."  However, when we read, our full minds are engaged, "resulting in a brain trained to interact with ideas and a mind able to comprehend, choosing what it will accept or reject as true."   (Thanks, Mom and Dad for pulling the plug on our TV for six years when I was a kid, and for always taking us to the library and bookstores!)

Then, so as not to leave us floundering about what to read, Sarah lays out a feast of titles, authors, and engaging descriptions in the categories of picture books, Golden Age classics, children’s fiction, fairy tales & fantasy, history & biography, spiritual reading, poetry, and music/art/nature. Throw in several appendices, such as Caldecott Medalists, and you have a veritable treasure chest. Many of these books have been favorites in my own family as well as in my English classroom at the Providence co-op. However, she listed scores of titles I had never heard of before. So, armed with a list of her recommended picture books, I raided our public library and came home with a rich stash. Our favorite new find is Jill Barklem’s cheerful Brambly Hedge series, of which we’ve read at least five or six.

To give you a flavor of Sarah’s book descriptions, here is part of what she says about Brambly Hedge:

After months of studying the customs and traditions of English country life, Barklem set out to craft a series of children’s books filled with the hominess she found. The Brambly Hedge series chronicles the colorful days of a cheerful community of mice who love a good feast, an adventurous foray, and the charming company of their families.

Sarah wrote more about this series here: Book Review of Brambly Hedge

And, a sweet childhood recollection from Sarah:

It might be my earliest memory. I am curled in the crook of my mother’s arm in the evening. Bedtime lurks just around the corner, but for now, the two of us are nestled in the worn cushions of the old brown couch with a battered storybook open between us. My mom is reading, her voice charmingly expressive as she smoothes the glossy pages for me to see. I am entranced. The rhythm of the simple words combines with the whimsical paintings to captivate my little soul. I gaze at it all in bright-eyed wonder until I am compelled to surrender to my bedtime hour. I am only pacified by the knowledge that is will all begin again the next evening. Over twenty years have come and gone since that night, but the memory came rushing back the other day when I stumbled across the very storybook that had so delighted me as a child. I felt that I was meeting an old friend whose soul was part of my own, and I sat down to renew our acquaintance.

(This reminds me of the time my family moved to San Carlos, California when I was at the end of second grade. When I first walked into the classroom, nervous to be the new kid, the teacher, Mrs. McMillan had all of the children gathered in a circle for reading time. The book? I could never forget Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey, another featured author in Read for the Heart. I checked out Blueberries for Sal from the library recently, read it to the kindergartners in our home school co-op, and enjoyed it as much as ever. The book is 15 years older than I am, with monotone ink illustrations, but it is timeless. And it was woven into my memory by a book-loving teacher. I also remember my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Mueller, reading aloud to us every day. One book that stands out is Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, of which Sarah remarks in RFTH, "I challenge anyone to read this book without tears.")

So you’ve figured out by now that I highly recommend Read for the Heart. It’s a beautiful book, list price of $17, very professionally published by Apologia/Wholeheart. You can find it on the WholeHeart web site, on the Apologia web site, or at CBD (where you can see inside the book).

I can’t resist one last quote from Read for the Heart. Sarah slips in inspiring quotes at the beginning of each chapter, and this is from the one on Music, Art and Nature:


“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” Johann Wilhelm von Goethe

Indeed!

Read for the heart!

Virginia Knowles

Math Skills Checklist 3rd-5th Grades

MATH SKILLS CHECKLIST
3RD - 5TH GRADES

by Virginia Knowles
from Common Sense Excellence


 Practice and review the skills listed above with increasing difficulty of problems.
 Recognize, read and write numerals to 999,999.
 Read and write word numbers (one hundred twenty-two thousand, four hundred)
 Write numbers with expanded notation (5,931 = 5,000+900+30+1)
 Read and write Roman numerals to 100 or higher.
 Create a simple graph or chart to express mathematical information.
 Do two and three digit addition and subtraction with regrouping (carrying or borrowing).
 Introduce decimals (tenths, hundredths) and show how to line up for addition.
 Round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000.
 Use estimation for arithmetic problems and know when this is appropriate.
 Memorize multiplication facts up to 12 X 12.
 Recognize whether a number up to 100 is a prime or composite.
 Learn multiplication terminology: multiplicand, multiplier, product, factor, multiple.
 Multiply two and three digit numbers with or without regrouping.
 Multiply by 10s, 100s, 1000s.
 Multiply numbers with decimals, and count digits to the right of the decimal points in the multiplicand and multiplier to determine the placement of the decimal in the final product.
 Find common multiples and lowest common multiple.
 Learn division terminology: dividend, divisor, quotient, remainder.
 Memorize division facts with quotients up to 100.
 Do long division with or without remainders.
 Know the fraction terms numerator and denominator.
 Reduce fractions to lowest terms (6/8 = 3/4).
 Compare fractions with like denominator.
 Find a common denominator for fractions.
 Add and subtract fractions.
 Multiply and divide fractions.
 Convert mixed numbers to improper fractions, and improper fractions to mixed numbers.
 Convert fractions to decimal numbers, and decimal numbers to fractions.
 Read and create simple graphs (pictograph, line graph, bar graph).
 Convert between units of length measurement (1 ft.=12 in., 1 m.=100 cm., etc.).
 Convert between units of weight measurement (1 lb.=16 oz., 1 g.=1000 mg., etc.)
 Convert between units of volume measurement (1 c.=8 oz., 1 l.=1000 ml., etc.)
 Tell time to the minute.
 Compute elapsed time (clock or calendar).
 Understand the concept of time zones and convert between them.
 Calculate perimeter of polygons.
 Calculate area of squares, rectangles and triangles.
 Identify lines of symmetry in a shape.
 Identify points, line segments, parallel lines, intersecting lines, perpendicular lines and rays.
 Identify the center, radius, and diameter of a circle.
 Solve for a variable (n+3=9, so n=6).

This list is from my book Common Sense Excellence: Faith-Filled Home Education for Preschool to 5th Grade.
You might also like to see: Math Skills Checklist from Preschool to 2nd Grade

Just a few others notes from my math chapter...



"I want my children to develop a sense of wonder as they explore math concepts, as well as lay a solid foundation for further study. Math may seem like such a neutral subject, but its fascinating principles reflect our Creator’s design. Math teaches us about equity, order, structure and absoluteness. Gaining excellence in this area enables us to be people of integrity and accuracy in a world where cheating and shortcuts are too easy. Children who have a hard time seeing the relevance of the worksheet in front of them may gain a new appreciation and motivation for math if they see that these skills are vital for hobbies, cooking, travel, personal safety, business transactions, and career success. In the elementary grades, I want my children to understand concepts and memorize facts. These essential and complementary facets of math education should not be pitted against one another, but used to balance and enhance each other. Demonstration and drill are both important. Sequence and structure are not as romantic as pure “discovery math” but they become more and more crucial as students advance past the primary grades. Hands-on discovery math is still very important as it supplements your math program."

Thanks for stopping by! You most likely found me on a web search for math skills, but while you're here, let me invite you to pop on over to my main blog, Virginia's Life, Such As It Is or my middle school blog.


May God bless you richly as you learn to COUNT on him today! His VALUE is immeasurable, and he MULTIPLIES blessings! (Sorry, couldn't resist the puns!)

Taking Math on the Road

I am ecstatic about my newest resource, Taking Math on the Road! It is the first, of what I hope will be many, activity folders in my new Do, Learn, & Remember series. As children create an activity folder, they pull math off flat paper and apply concepts—numeration, graphing, measurement, computation, money, estimation, and more— to life experiences.

This series was conceived as I answered questions from parents: "How do you teach math?" or "Do you have a template for that activity?" The Taking Math on the Road CD contains instructions and templates for the games we play in our home to learn math. The CD can be purchased at my website and inserted in the CD drive of your computer. Print the pages you need and begin a thematic math adventure.

Want to know more? I am posting the introduction to Taking Math on the Road here so you can become more acquainted with the ideas behind the Do, Learn, & Remember series.

"The contents of this activity folder are intentionally written to help you teach your child math concepts. Working through this seven day study, your child will create a folder packed with high-interest activities. Unlike worksheets which teach math on a one-dimensional surface, Do, Learn, & Remember actively involves your child. The games are intended to provide stand-alone math instruction but can be easily adapted or incorporated into existing home studies.

Do, Learn, & Remember encourages mastery through repetition, an essential element for teaching math concepts. The completed folder’s compact, pocket-design keeps supplies and pieces safely inside and invites your child to carry learning through the day, playing and practicing again and again. This study is not a once-and-done-creation.

Do, Learn, & Remember activities offer flexibility. The unit was written for varied developmental stages and educational philosophies. Simply choose appropriate activities from the selections provided. Feel free to shorten, lengthen, substitute, or omit activities to accommodate your child’s learning needs. Web resources (marked with a computer symbol) and book suggestions are included for extended study. It is even possible to use the games and resources without constructing the activity folder.

Each lesson includes practical application experiences and related book titles (a library visit enhances study, but is not required) in an effort to make learning relevant to life. Additional supplemental activities and templates are available on this CD. Create, teach, and learn by the means which best encourage learning in your home.

Taking Math on the Road was tested in our home. If it didn’t work, I didn’t include it. In fact, only activities which earned a “Dad, look what we did!” made their way into this unit. Most of the activities were completed at multiple levels (ages 4-8) and some were selected as review activities for children who needed extra practice. Generally, we all played together. Our activity folder and the memories we made creating it, are treasured. We hope yours will be, too!"

Math concepts taught and reinforced in Taking Math on the Road:

• Shape and color recognition
• Counting to 100 by twos, fives, and tens
• Greater than and less than to 100
• Ordering numbers 1-100
• Ordering numbers 100-1000
• Graphing and tallying
• Comparison
• Addition facts and their corresponding subtraction facts (addends 0-6, sums less than 12)
• Foundational fraction concepts

Content area skills integrated and applied to life skills:

• Roman roads
• Road construction
• Shapes, colors, and meanings of common road signs
• History and significance of traffic signals
• Inventors who contributed to automotive history
• Car manufacturing
• Auto mechanics
• Buses
• Drawing vehicles

Bonus! activities and templates for Place Value Pasta, Add the Wheels, Traffic Sign Criss-Cross, and Roman Road Dessert.