This weekend was full of interesting things and the more I thought about them I realized I could categorize them into the following three categories. So, for your blog reading pleasure, here they are:
The Good:
Top of the list is the 55 pounds of apples my dh picked for us this weekend so we could make applesauce. It really only took us 3 hours, although it did feel a bit longer than that at times. For the record, we did not peel, core and slice all 55 pounds, only about 1/2 of that, but we ended up with 4 quarts of regular applesauce and 5 quarts of cinnamon applesauce.
Ms 21 yo also used some apples to make us an apple cake. It was very good.
We also used some apples to make some apple stuff (we cooked about 8 cups down and mashed them up so I'm not really sure what I should call it) that we added cinnamon and brown sugar to. We plan on heating that up and mixing it in with our oatmeal. If you're interested, you can see it in the canning picture front row, left side :)
Another entry in our "Good" category is the fact that my son won this absolutely incredible backpack in a raffle on Saturday night. As he put it, "A $300 backpack for 2 bucks".
He is absolutely enthralled with it, as you can see by his smile here. This has pretty much been his "look" since he won it. Now he can't wait to go somewhere to use it.
The Bad:
The first entry into this category happened Sunday morning right before we were leaving for Mass when I went to put the 5 pound pork roast in the crock pot. I cut open the package and wrinkled my nose...not something you should be doing just after opening a package of meat. Just to confirm my suspicions, I called my husband over. "Yep, that's bad meat". Well, run out the door to church and figure it out later. All day long the question kept coming, "What's for dinner?" Turns out those coupons to Culvers came in handy. Just so happens that Culvers was right across the street from the store I bought the meat at so we went and got our money back and promptly spent it on some Wisconsin butter burgers (although this part of the story really should be up there under the "Good" category!).
Fortunately our next "Bad" contestant had good timing. A few weeks ago we had ordered a new container for our blender because it had gotten knocked out of the cabinet and broke. We were using it to puree the apples into sauce and it had been doing a great job, that is until it got knocked off the counter and broken. Wow, who goes through two blender containers in 1 month? Like I said, the timing was at least good because we had just finished pureeing our last batch of apples. Thank you, God, for that small favor!
The Ugly:
I have to say that making the applesauce really wasn't that bad, except for the way that it kept popping out of the pot while it was heating up. I cannot tell you how many times that boiling stuff hit me. On my arms, my face, my hands. It wasn't until a big blob of boiling applesauce flew out and landed on the inside of my wrist that I really got mad. Two big blisters later, I am not a happy camper. My husband said he'd like to do more canning and I burst into tears. Okay, so not quite that extreme, but I sure felt like it. I was quite traumatized by being spit at and wounded by boiling liquid. Not sure I can go down that path again.
So there you have it. My weekend in a nut shell. In looking back over it, there was definitely more good than anything else, and for that I am grateful. Have a great beginning of the week!
God Bless!
What a day! We all managed to get up remotely on time and actually made it to Mass this morning before it began. Accomplishment #1 for the day. Today was promising to be a bit warmer than it has been, so we all dressed the part, only to leave Mass and find out it had rained and really wasn't all that warm out. Typical Chicago.
We came home and began our school work; that is until I had to stop and write up a transcript for Ms 19 yo so she could drop it off at the junior college; that is after she and three of her sisters ran to Wal Mart to pick up a gift that one of them needs for a party - then they were off to the jr college to check out club and activity day. As a side note, they told me that it was set up by someone who was smart: one of the main groups on campus was giving away free hot dogs, but if you wanted any condiments or anything to go with it, you had to stop at the other tables to get them. Very clever.
Anyhow, with them gone and my work done there, I could get back to the task at hand - the three other kids and their writing and math. That is, until there was a knock on the door and three families stopped by to pick some apples and pears from our super-abundant crop. I finally got the right kids back in the house and the other kids back outside so we could finish.
A bit of chatting with the ladies and eating some organic, home-grown apples (who am I kidding, we didn't do a thing to merit the abundance we have, but it sounds good, doesn't it?), then it was a rush into the house to eat lunch, get in the car, pick up two neighbor girls, run to the college to get Ms 17 yo and then off to dance and theater classes.
While they were busy dancing and acting, I ran to JCP to use my $15 off birthday coupon. Can you believe I had the hardest time finding anything that I liked? I walked around that store for 1 1/2 hours and my mind was a mess trying to figure out what would look good with this sweater or that top, a task I find incredibly difficult. Of course, I had to get something or else my coupon would go to waste, so I finally found an orange sweater and a denim shirt. Orange must be the hot color for the fall!
Back to pick up the girls, fight the rain and traffic, arrive home in time to say good bye to two of the girls who were going out for the evening, eat dinner, pray the rosary, check facebook, answer emails, sort through two bags of clothes that were given to us (yeah!!), write this blog post and then go to bed. Phew.
Oh, and just to thank you for reading this far, here's a cool site a friend emailed me all about cuneiform and how to write the letters of the alphabet. Very cool; especially if you're learning about it in Classically Catholic Memory!
God Bless!
My last two "students" are my five year old and my three year old. When my oldest daughter was 5 I was so anxious to get started really teaching her things. I found myself getting frustrated that we weren't really getting into "meaty" stuff yet and I wondered why she didn't have her mutliplication facts memorized. Six kids later I have definitely "lowered" my expectations and standards.
Now that my little 5 year old is in kindergarten, we spend about 1 hour a day in formal studies. I got a big workbook for her to help her learn her letters and numbers and all that other fun stuff. I know I could have just taught her this without the big workbook but it would have taken more time for me to get it all together and I'm afraid I would have never gotten around to it. For now she enjoys her workbook pages and is catching on to that whole alphabet thing. The rest of her learning occurs by just following the rest of us around and by being in the same room during a lot of our discussions and reading. I continue to be amazed at the things she picks up.
There is one thing I've noticed about the differences between my girls and my boys for which I am very thankful. It appears as if my boys have much more vivid imaginations than my girls do and therefore are quite capable of entertaining themselves for long periods of time. Now that he is three, my son in quite content playing with whoever happens to be available to him. If no one is, then more often than not, he doesn't mind playing by himself.
Throughout the day I schedule the other kids to take their turn with the younger ones, so this way I can focus on the difficult subjects a little better. More often than not, though, these two are never very far away from the hub of activity. For the most part they are content with this setup, but I assure you that if either one of them is having a bad day it definitely has an impact on the school day.
So that is how we run our school day. We are pretty consistent with a 4 1/4 day school week. We use Friday mornings to finish up things from the week and take any math tests that might need to be taken. Sickness and clubs are about the only things that get us off track the rest of the week.
I've given you a glimpse of our day, but if you are interested in how I put my whole day into a schedule and how I've learned to live with a routine, check out my website. I have put together a workshop called "A Plan for Joy in the Home - A Workshop on Organizing your Day for Catholic Homeschooling Mothers". In it I walk you through some important areas that I think need to be organized and at the end of the workshop, we put all of these areas together into a master schedule. If you are organizationally challenged and would be interested in this workshop for yourself and some of your friends, check it out here and contact me for more information.
God Bless!
Today we will follow the next set of students: a 3rd grader and a 4th grader. God is good in that I am able to pair them up, also. Both of them are required to be up at 7:00 and be ready to start school by 8:30 a.m. They, too, have subjects that they can take in the car with them if we head out to mass in the morning.
This year I decided to let them pick some subjects that they were interested in studying. So, while they might be similar in ability, they have somewhat different interests. Their day begins with the 3rd grader reading history books. At first he was studying the American Revolution and now he is back to some in-depth reading about the Civil War. The 4th grader starts with the current Saint book that she is reading.
For the next hour the 3rd grader practices his handwriting (I can't believe it but he has the nicest handwriting out of all of them!!!), works on his map skills book and spends some time with the French program. The 4th grader is studying US geography and learning the states and capitals, is also doing a map skills book and spends some time doing French.
After that we meet to do math together. For this age level I have been using Math U See. We watch the DVD lesson together and then will spend the next couple of days doing the worksheets. How well they are doing determines how many sheets they have to do. They end each lesson section with the test.
They each are assigned time during the morning to play with the little kids so that I can work with other students. Since we have finished our election study, I will be spending some time with them learning grammar and writing. We have also incorporated our read aloud time again and we are currently reading "The Bronze Bow".
After lunch I meet with the 3rd grader and we read from his St. Paul book together. Then the 4th grader joins us and we go over a lesson in the 1st St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism book together. During this time I also grade their math sheets and we discuss any projects they might be doing. We also plan their studies for the next day.
If they have finished all their work, they are free for the rest of the day. If they owe me any time for misbehaving, now is their time to pay up.
They seem to be enjoying the fact that they can do some of their work on their own. They also like being able to pick some of their subjects to study. I have found that this motivates them to keep up with the work, too.
Tomorrow I will bring you the last two students in our school. Until then, have a good day.
God Bless!
After our Junior, we have two more girls who are currently in 9th grade and 7th grade. I noticed early on that more often than not they worked at about the same pace, so I decided to group them together for most of their studies. Since the 9th grader is now technically in high school, I've had to make a few changes to this arrangement, but they still do some work together.
Both girls are supposed to be up by 6:45 and be ready to begin their day by 8:00. Like their older sister, they take schoolwork in the car if we are heading out to morning mass.
The 9th grader's schedule looks something like this:
The day begins with Science. She also did the Biology dissection lab last year, but this year was not quite ready for the Biology book, so she chose to study Botany using the Apologia book. She works through this on her own.
Like her older sister, she is reading through "Christ the King, Lord of History" and reviewing the questions and doing projects. She is also responsible for reading classical works by foreign authors.
Next is math - the dreaded subject. Both she and her 7th grade sister are doing Saxon Algebra 1/2. I've decided to try teaching each lesson instead of using the DIVE CD (which we have done in the past. It is okay for some, but not for others) or having them do the lesson on their own. So far we are all enjoying this method immensely :)
Like all her siblings, she is learning French with Rosetta Stone. For her religion class, she is focusing on reading stories of the Saints and then either writing a report or doing some sort of project to express her knowledge.
After the Christmas break, I will be having her finish up our study of the American Government using the Abeka American Government course. It looks like a good, comprehensive coverage of the subject.
Our 7th grade daughter (who really wanted to have her own post. Sorry DD :) begins her day with the second St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism book. She is reading through it and answering the questions.
I found this really neat Vocabulary book a few years ago called "Vocabulary Cartoons" It is a book of hundreds of SAT words that you learn with mnemonics. This is her next subject. After that she joins her sister and I for MATH.
In the place of our unit study, I plan on working with her and some of the younger ones on writing and grammar. MORE FUN together. After lunch she practices the piano and reads "Beautiful Girlhood" which is a study for young teens on how to become a godly young lady.
Both girls each have 1/2 hour scheduled with me at some point during the day. During this time we correct the math lesson and plan for the next day's studies. We also have time go over other papers and brainstorm for projects they might be working on. I really like this idea of a scheduled time to meet with them. In the past, I would always say that I was going to meet with them but things always seemed to get in the way and I would never get to it. It really helps me to keep on top of what they are doing while allowing them to work on their own.
They are also both involved in a number of other clubs and performances as well as helping out around the house and playing with their younger siblings. While not quite as independent as their older sister, they are learning how to become more responsible and independent.
Tomorrow, the next twosome!
God Bless!
Today I will give you an overview of our homeschooling life from the perspective of our oldest student - a Junior in high school.
Basically, my daughter has always been a self-starter. I have been blessed with someone who picks things up easily, likes to work on her own, is creative and responsible. This has been a double-edged sword. I was terribly spoiled by her ability and expected everyone to follow suit. This, of course, hasn't happened. On the other hand, she has been a great example that, in some way or another, everyone has followed.
Her day starts at 6:30 when she gets up and gets ready. If we don't go to morning Mass, her school day begins at 8:00. The days we do go to morning Mass, she packs up what books she can and does her work in the car since we have at least 30 minutes to travel in each direction.
She does the following classes in this order: (in our schedule, most subjects are given 1/2 hour time blocks)
Religion - She thoroughly enjoyed learning apologetics last year, so she has been continuing her study this year using the "Beginning Apologetics" series by San Juan Catholic Seminars.
Once or twice a week, I set aside 1/2 hour where we both meet to discuss what she has been doing, go over any problems or discuss future projects.
Next is Biology. We really like the Apologia series. They are interesting to read and most of the experiments are very do-able. She is using the "Exploring Creation with Biology" book. Last year we were fortunate enough to have a mom teach a dissecting class for any interested high schoolers.
The math program I've had her following for the past 2 years is "Life of Fred". This year is geometry and we allow an hour for this subject.
In history she is studying world history. In addition to reading "Christ the King, Lord of History" and going over the questions and doing one project per chapter, she is also responsible for reading classics written by authors from other countries. Fortunately all of my children are avid readers.
For the past two months we have all been working together on a unit study of the founding of our country and the election process. Now that we are done with that portion, my daughter will be tackling the book "The Making of America - The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution". I wish I had the time to read it as it looks quite fascinating.
After our lunch hour, she then works for an hour on a web site that she is building. We have found a great program called Site Build It! They walk you through the whole process of how to build a content rich web site from the ground up. It is a lot of work, but it is fun and an incredible learning experience.
Finally she spends some time with the Rosetta Stone French program that we got this year. So far I am very impressed with the program - I just wish my computer was. I think it's time for an upgrade!
The rest of the day is spent either blogging, cooking dinner, reading a book, watching her younger siblings or writing something for the next contest she is entering. A couple times a month she is involved in different clubs or performances so when that happens, that becomes school and the other book work is picked up the next day.
She is pretty much our only stand-alone student. As you will see over the next few days, I switched gears a bit with the next couple. Hopefully you found this fly's-eye view interesting.
God Bless!
