Headbanger Homeschool

Happy Birthday My Love

2011-12-14T10:28:00.002-05:00

Before you were born, I lived with the silent fear and guilt that I would not be able to love you as much as your sister. I couldn't see how, since I loved her with my entire heart and soul. Then you were born. "And what happened, then? Well, in Whoville they say - that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day". I love you so completely, every moment of every day. I love everything that you are and everything that you will be. Happy first Birthday Merle my Squirrel.

Love, Mom

Girls Rule! According to the Hidden Pillowcase

2011-10-28T23:04:00.004-04:00

A conversation I had with Roo after my husband was changing the pillow cases on the futon upstairs and discovered graffiti;)

Me: Roo, why did you write Girls Rule! on our pillow case with decorative swirls all around it?
Roo: I felt like drawing.
Me: And you thought we would be okay with you colouring on the pillow case?
Roo: I didn't think you would get mad.
Me: Then why did you hide it?
Roo: So you wouldn't see it.
Me: So you obviously knew while you were doing it that you shouldn't be, right?
Roo: *shrugs*
Me: Okay let me rephrase. When you were colouring on the pillow, were you worried I would come upstairs and see you while you were doing it?
Roo: Did I at least spell Girls right? Did you notice I used an explanation point?
Me: Yes

Is it just me, or did she miss the point entirely?

This is what we completed for the past couple of weeks since I missed a few back there.

Memory Work - I decided I would also incorporate our Latin chants and the Being Words - être for French.

Spelling (All About Spelling level 2) - She finished Level 2 lesson 10, 11 and 12 and we are really focusing on the silent e because she seems to always forget it when spelling. We may take next week to keep going over the silent e rules and words.

First Language Lessons 2 - We worked on lesson 113-124 using commas, helping verbs, contractions and adjectives.

Writing with Ease 2 - Completed week 5-8 of writing, narrations, and dictation using excerpts from Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerie Henry, My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson, Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes, and The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Latin (Lively Latin) - We are progressing through it very slowly because I don't see any point in rushing this subject since full understanding is needed. We have just entered into what the first declension is.

French (Nallenart L'Art de Lire1) - We are working on knowing and memorizing the Being Words, être, je suis, tu es, il/elle est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles sont. I remember spending a lot of time on these in school too.

Math ( Singapore 2A/2B) - We are almost done 1B and have been adding and subtracting numbers within 100. We have also completed several chapters in Life of Fred Elementary - Butterflies since we recently finished Apples.

History (Story of the World Middles Ages) - Chapter 5-8 A King named Skadagupta, Monks in Caves, Muhammad's Vision, Muhammad Flees to Medina, The Koran: Islam's Holy Book, Fight for Mecca, The City of Baghdad, Sinbad in the Valley of Snakes, Yang Chein Unites North and South, and The Tang Dynasty. For each of these there were accompanying colouring pages and map work. We also used the Usborne Encyclopedia of religions to read about Muslims.

Science (Elemental Science Earth and Astronomy) - We covered many subjects for the past few weeks such as Tornadoes, Hurricanes and Volcanoes, Mountains, Rivers and Rivers of Ice, The Seashore, Seas and Oceans and Under the Sea, and the biomes desert, plains, rainforest and Arctic. We also built a paper mache volcano and exploded it.

Painting the finished product.

Not quite as colourful as we wanted even though we added plenty of food colouring. I suspect she may have added water or something when I wasn't looking. I have no idea why she taped pieces of foliage around the base either.

Geography (Expedition Earth)- We stamped our passports and went to India, Israel and Thailand to finish our Asia tour. This week we began Europe and started with Russia (even though it is on both Asia and Europe). We read the Children Just Like Me book to look how each child in these countries live. So far Russia has been her favourite because the little girl goes to dance school. Regular school in the morning and dance lessons every afternoon, who wouldn't want that?

Art (Meet the Masters) - Roo started her weekly Art class. It is two hours of mixed media fun in which she looks forward to every week.

What did Merle do? Merle can walk around her play pen no problem and will sometimes stand unassisted for a second or two before she falls or grabs onto something. She also thinks Yo Gabba Gabba is the best show ever and will literally bitch at you if you shut it off or the video runs out. She stands and laughs and dances the entire time it is on. When it stops she points and yells. We recently ordered the Yo Gabba Gabba Party in a Box DVD set because she only had one video she watched repeatedly. If I hear the "I love Bugs" song one more time.........

Excitement is in the Air and I have Seen the Light

2011-10-15T23:36:00.003-04:00

Hmmm, what to blog about since I have been missing in action for the last two weeks? Some exciting things have taken place, began taking or are about to take place. First off, Stella, who is a little girl in my online mom group for when I had Merle has had an improvement over a scary last week. Stella has Type 2 Gaucher Disease. It is a very rare form of the disease that affects the brain as well as the major organs and is characterized by severe neurological involvement in the first year of life. She is a very brave, strong little girl who needs your prayers. So if you have some extra prayers to give please send one Stellas' way. You can read about her and follow her story at CaringBridge where there is also a link for donations.

The next news is a close friend of mine had her first book published, it was released last week and it is awesome (I am about 1/2 way finished). It is called Down The Yellow Brick Road: Finding Home by D.X. Luc and it is currently available in Ebook format. This book is for mature audiences only, and you need to get it because you won't regret it. It will also make you unable to look at The Wizard of Oz the same way ever again;)

As we (my husband and I) slowly breathe in and breathe out to try to rid the anxiety, the next thing on the forefront is his band. Their first single should be hitting the airwaves soon so it is an exiting and scary time for us. The final touches of mixing and mastering are being done as I type this. So keep your ears open for BeforeTheCurtain because soon they may be played on a radio station near you:)

Lastly I had an epiphany. I always read about them, and never had one so when I did, I was all "what is this weird feeling of clarity and empowerment?". Believe it or not (and those that know me will not) it was about exercise. I am finally feeling like I am ready. I have been working out since July of this past summer and have noticed an overall change in my strength, endurance and slight changes in my body. I have put on a little weight recently but I am holding on to the hope that it is muscle gain. If it's not, then I'm pissed;) Anyway, I have always been the skinny fat girl. I know, Boo Hoo you wear a size 0-2 and you jiggle a bit. I'm not looking for sympathy, that's not the point of this. I get it, I am blessed in the fact that I never really have had to watch my weight my whole life. Even during pregnancy I topped out at 143lbs. But I have never, ever been fit. Seriously, changing the sheets on the bed makes me tired.....that may actually be because clean sheet day is the best day and I feel inclined to climb in and enjoy them. But you get the picture, climbing the stairs, folding laundry, typing on the computer, all theses tasks make me tired. I never have energy and feel like I am dragging my ass 24/7. I could probably sleep for a full day and still wake tired. I haven't had a descent night sleep since October 2004 and that combined with being out of shape makes me feel like I am only 1/16 of the person I can be. So this is where the epiphany comes in. It was in regards to not only wanting to get fit, but finally the motivation to do it. I have been doing Bodyrockers since I began my workouts in July. I love it. I hate it. I want to embrace it fully. I have never completely had my ass kicked that hard within the first 2 minutes of anything except maybe floor hockey, dodge ball, or Canada Fitness day in grade school. And those are some serious flashbacks to traumatic school experiences. I hated gym. That could be a whole blog post in it's own. Anyway, these workouts are called High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT and that they are. And an even more awesome part is that these workouts are designed to do from home in small spaces and by using your own body weight instead of a billion pieces of equipment. There has been some equipment that has been incorporated as Bodyrock.tv has evolved but they are not necessary. Even so, I hope to have it all at some point anyway:) especially the dip station. I really want a dip station. One thing that I do feel is needed though, is a interval timer. I bought the Gymboss one that was recommended, but there is also a free Gymboss app for your iphone/ipod as well. It is more of a pain in the ass to use but it does work and I used it for the first little while. I am the type of person who has no time to go to the gym, like zero. And even if I did, I probably would find an excuse to not go, especially by myself. So the idea of getting fit from home in a real small amount of time (most routines are only 12-15 minutes) is what I was looking for and never knew existed. I came across Bodyrock.tv on the web through the magic that is Google. After seeing the completely jaw dropping ripped body of Zuzana Light, looking through her website, and reading her very open interview, I find her completely charming and inspiring. She had me at "Hi Guys" :) I like the challenge, the change of daily routines, the Bodyrock community camaraderie and even the "oh my god, I think I'm going to puke" feeling after a really intense workout. At the start I could only do half (sometimes not even half) of the routine or reps than what was stated. I always did the push ups from my knees and two days ago I was able to do a series of regular push ups (not the whole time though) but that is an achievement for me. I am so happy I found this site and so happy that I now truly feel like I can do this, not just the motions of doing it. I want to become the best me there is and I think I am finally on the track to getting there.

P.S. Shelley, if you are reading this, you are my inspiration as well. Thank you.

Lions and Tigers and.......Inbred Cannibal Mountain Men

2011-10-01T00:07:00.001-04:00

I'm not a big "let's be one with nature" person. I don't like camping, bugs or hot sunny days, so nature walks aren't really my forte either. But my husband and Roo wanted to go out for a family walk along the trails. I was supposed to compile a list of things so that the two of them could have a scavenger hunt while on our walk. It's a very common place for bike riders, dog walkers and families to go around the various trails. They are scenic and easy to walk along..........as long as you stick to the trails. I pushed the carriage with Merle while the two of them did their hunt. At the end of one trail was a park where the girls played for a bit and then we backtracked. Instead of going down the same way we came up, Tom decided that "it would be fun to go into the more wooded area because it went down by the water and we could cross a bridge and come around", his words not mine. He apparently used to bike these paths and was familiar with where they led or something like that. Always go with your gut. For one, the path wasn't paved. It was more of a human flattened out path, which was fine at first until it got more hilly, rocky and the woods got denser. Then as we walked further in you could no longer hear people talking and laughing. It got really quiet and I have seen too many horror films. Actually not seen, but been more in the room while Tom was watching them because they scare me so bad I can't sit and watch them. Because I am a firm believer that nothing good happens in the woods and I frequently say it, Tom said something along the lines of "your thinking of those inbred, cannibal, mountain men from that movie aren't you?" That would be the ones from the movie Wrong Turn, which is seared into my brain for life. I can't run fast to begin with and pushing a stroller in a heavy wooded area, there would be zero hope for me. I would be the first to go if that moment was a horror movie. So the path sucks, and is gradually getting suckier as we continue to forge through because "there is the water just up ahead and then we can cross the bridge to the other side. Nope. The dirt ground turned to mud and giant puddles, and the paths go smaller. Long story short, we had to turn around while I carried Merle all the way out and helped Roo through the mud, over puddles and up hills while Tom had to collapse and carry the big stroller because it was way easier than pushing it. And somewhere along the way I twisted my ankle and hurt my armpit. We got back to the car and then when to Dairy Queen. Mint, Oreo and Skor Bar is my new favourite Blizzard.

During the park play.

This is what we completed this week.

Memory Work - We added the definition of earthquake to our box.

Spelling (All About Spelling level 2) - She finished Level 2 lesson 9 when to use c or k.

First Language Lessons 2 - We worked on lesson 110-112 linking verbs, seasons and we started a poem booklet.

Writing with Ease 2 - Completed week 4 of writing, narrations, and dictation using excerpts from Dr. Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

Latin (Lively Latin) - We spent the week learning/memorizing our vocabulary words and our chants did exercise 1.2 and read a history section.

French (Nallenart L'Art de Lire1) - 1 worksheet, and flashcard reviewing.

Math ( Singapore 2A/2B) - Still finishing 1B, we did time this week with a review chapter.

History (Story of the World Middles Ages) - Chapter four The Beauty of Constantinople, Justinian the Just Emperor, The Empress Theodorra and The Church in the East. We did the corresponding map work and advanced map work for this chapter.

Science (Elemental Science Earth and Astronomy) - Roo learned about Storms, flooding and earthquakes. We also watched some video clips on storms and tsunamis.

Geography (Expedition Earth)- We stamped our passports and went to Japan. We still use Sheppard Software daily to learn the European countries. She is also learning to map the world by heart via The Core method and started her continent blobs this week. Continent blobs are rough circles/ovals drawn in the area on the map that corresponds with each continent. It's done after the five great circles are drawn in order to be able to visually space where the continents are located. I didn't post a picture last week, so this is an example of how to map the continent blobs and 5 great circles.

Art (Meet the Masters) - We continued our study on Vincent Van Gogh. Her art class starts next week which is going to be fun for her as well.

What did Merle do? She can make it around her play pen by holding the side and can now easily get from her belly to her butt. She also fell asleep in the most awkward position ever.

I Come From Ork

2011-09-23T22:37:00.004-04:00

I was pretty excited when my husband went out to the store today (code for I am smoking) and came up carrying the mail because................today Merle's Halloween costume arrived. Which was pretty unexpected seeing I only ordered it Wednesday. I need to take up the sleeves and put a pin tuck in the wig/headpiece but overall it fits and she doesn't appear to like it:) Princess Leia!

Sorry for the crappy phone photo.

There comes a point in your life when you realize that your child is going to be way smarter than you. You hope for it, but you also secretly wish that you will always be just a little bit smarter. If only, because you are their parents and you need that so they don't know you are talking out your ass most of the time. Well yesterday I had my moment of acceptance. This a three way conversation between Roo, Merle and I (and yes Merle is only 9 months so just go with me on this).

Me: Merle did you poop?
Merle: screech, snort, clap.
Me: Should I be scared?
Roo: If I may interrupt? I have been working on my baby translation skills.
Me: Okay. Did she poop?
Roo: Merley did you poop?
Merle: dada, ma, click.
Roo: She said maybe. But don't worry because it is not diaper explosion.
Me: Good to know.
Roo: She also says that her conscience is still making her feel guilty about the incident on Tuesday, but she doesn't want to talk about it because she is embarrassed.
Me: Where did you come from?
Roo: Ork, but you call it Saturn. Then she left.

I was like, seriously wtf? I had to write it down so I wouldn't forget. That was my moment that I knew she would surpass me in brains. Which is hard to admit because I am a know-it-all asshole, just ask my husband;)

This is what we completed this week.

Memory Work - We added the water cycle to her daily list.

Spelling (All About Spelling level 2) - She finished Level 2 lesson 7 the silent e.

First Language Lessons 2 - We worked on lesson 107-109 narration and linking verbs.

Writing with Ease 2 - Completed week 3 of writing, narrations, and dictation using excerpts from Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald

Latin (Lively Latin) - I am moving really, really slow through this Latin program, we may even get 2 years out of it. We spent the week learning/memorizing our vocabulary words and our chants.

French (Nallenart L'Art de Lire1) - 1 worksheet, story translation and the uses of s'appelle.

Math ( Singapore 2A/2B) - Still finishing 1B, we finished up the review and division section this week. It was a nice gentle introduction into division. We also did 2 chapters from Life of Fred Elementary series.

History (Story of the World Middles Ages) - Chapter three Augustine Comes to England, Medieval Monasteries, and Writing Books by Hand. We did the corresponding map work and colouring her Illumination fancy Medieval letters. Tonight for dinner we at like the monks from medieval monasteries, lentil soup, bread and cheese, apples and pears, and apple cider (should be water but I hate water and they drank cider on special occasions). We watched House Hunter International while eating:)

This is our medieval meal, you can't really see it here. Merle decided she really likes old cheese, the older the better she says.

Science (Elemental Science Earth and Astronomy) - Roo learned about seasons and the water cycle this week. She also went on a long nature walk with dad where she fell in a pond.

This isn't from the nature walk but it is her today enjoying the last flowers of the season of the first day of Fall while we were on our way to the grocery store.

Geography (Expedition Earth)- We stamped our passports and went to South Korea. Every other day she reviews her Canadian provinces and territories and every day she goes over the countries in Europe via Sheppard Software. She is also learning to map the world by heart via The Core method and started her continent blobs this week. Continent blobs are rough circles/ovals drawn in the area on the map that corresponds with each continent. It's done after the five great circles are drawn in order to be able to visually space where the continents are located. This is what it looked like (I'll take a picture tomorrow because I forgot).

Our stamped passports and the flag of the countries we have visited.

Art (Meet the Masters) - This week we started our study on Vincent Van Gogh.

Composer Study - Classical while doing continent blobs and geography.

What did Merle do? She has started click her tongue repeatedly. No crawling really, she just kind of drags herself on her belly around to wherever she wants to go.

Bathroom Door - 1 ......Celtic War Axe - 0

2011-09-17T23:14:00.004-04:00

Two weeks down and I think we may in fact be finding our groove. Except for that one day we slept in because the baby decided to sleep in and when she does we all silently rejoice and stay asleep. For history this week we studied the Celts. I'm completely not a crafty person but I thought it would be fun to make Roo a Celtic war axe. I have pretty much zero craft supplies in the house except for the basic stuff so it was made from digging through the recycling box. This is the finished product which she loved.

Later in the day she had on her princess dress because you know all warriors wear princess dresses. Anyway, she went running from her room into the kitchen screaming a Valkyrie war cry with her axe raised over her head and hit the bathroom door and landed on her butt. I have no idea how she didn't see it but she didn't and there were lots of tears and hugs and mutterings of how her hand was broken. I wanted to take a picture because it was kind of funny to see but I thought that would have been mean.

Also: NEW ADDICTION ALERT, it is called Pinterest, I love it. It allows you to keep track of visual lists of things you want, wishlists, idea lists, DIY lists, or in the case of me, wishful thinking lists, and honestly my life isn't complete until (fill in the blank) lists, here's mine. So addicting.

This is what we completed this week.

Memory Work - No change from last week as she has a pile of stuff that she is still working on daily.

Spelling (All About Spelling level 2) - She finished Level 2 lesson 6 the silent e.

First Language Lessons 2 - We worked on lesson 104-106 pronouns and state of being verbs.

Writing with Ease 2 - Completed week 2 of writing, narrations, and dictation using excerpts from The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum.

Latin (Lively Latin) - We completed Lesson 1.1 which was introducing us to different nouns and masculine, feminine and neuter how they work in Latin

French (Nallenart L'Art de Lire1) - She did 2 worksheets and translated the story in to English.

Math ( Singapore 2A/2B) - Still finishing 1B, we finished up the multiplication section this week. It was a nice gentle introduction into multiplication. She does math under the table for some reason.

History (Story of the World Middles Ages) - Chapter two The Celts of Britain, Barbarians come to Britain, and Beowulf the Hero. We did the corresponding map work and are in the middle of reading Beowulf by Michael Morpurgo which is a nice, light and entertaining version for kids.

Science (Elemental Science Earth and Astronomy) - We learned about Earth from Space and Day and Night this week. No experiments though because she opted to bike ride instead which is fine by me because if this colder weather continues she won't be able to ride much longer.

Geography (Expedition Earth)- We stamped our passports and began our journey to Asia, first stop China. The Children Just Like Me book is great to be able to relate to how other children live around the world. Every other day she reviews her Canadian provinces and territories and every day she goes over the countries in Europe via Sheppard Software. She is also learning to map the world by heart via The Core method. We began a rough sketch of our continent blobs this week. Continent blobs are rough circles/ovals drawn in the area on the map that corresponds with each continent. It's done after the five great circles are drawn in order to be able to visually space where the continents are located. That was a mouthful, and I am sure confusing to those that have no idea what I am talking about:)

Art (Meet the Masters) - This week we made our portfolio that will hold all of her artwork she makes this year.

Composer Study - Classical while doing art. I need to get something together asap.

What did Merle do? She enjoys getting her hair vacuumed when we are cleaning which is strange because most kids are terrified of the vacuum. She also regularly does something we call The Dirty Old Man. Here is a video, it speaks for itself:)

Her vacuumed hair that resembles Donald Trump.

The Devil is in the Details

2011-09-09T21:13:00.002-04:00

This was out first week back to full time school and our first week of what we call grade 2. So far so good with our selected curriculum for this year. I only made one change. After one lesson of Latin for Children A I knew it was going to be too hard for this year so we shelved it for now and I got Lively Latin. It has the right amount of work and history portions to keep her interested. So my title for this post comes from the fact that I just may be raising a smart a$$. I haven't decided if it is an age thing or if it is a personality thing but whatever it is, it is definitely annoying. When you give her instructions, ask her to do something or even ask her a question it seems that you have to make sure you ask for EXACTLY what you want and or expect from her or else she will inform you that, that wasn't what you asked. Therefore finding a loophole. For example,

Me: Roo bring your dishes from lunch time out of the living room and into the kitchen.

Roo: There are no dishes in there.

Me: Oh, did you already bring them in?

Roo: There are no dishes to bring in.

Me: What? You ate lunch so bring the dishes in.

Roo: Those aren't dishes, those are recyclable materials.

Lunch came from a prepackaged container, there were in fact no dishes.

My husband has been trying to teach Roo how to ride a two wheeler. She seems to be more interested of when they take a break and she collects rocks and sticks. A few days ago she built a fire pit instead.

Our first week was four days due to Labour Day, so this is what we completed this week.

First day of school.

Memory Work - We are still working through the same materials that we had in the box last year but are adding stuff from this year into it slowly. I added the planets this week for science.

Spelling (All About Spelling level 2) - She finished Level 2 lesson 5.

First Language Lessons 2 - We worked on lesson 101-103 which was a review from last year.

Writing with Ease 2 - Completed week 1 of writing, narrations, and dictation. This was her first time doing dictation. She didn't do too bad, it was more the spelling of some of the words that slowed her down.

Latin (Lively Latin) - This first week is kind of like an introduction. It has given us the history of Latin and some small exercises. All in all, it seems like a good fit for her age and she seems excited to do the lessons.

French (Nallenart L'Art de Lire1) - This level is a gentle introduction to reading French. The level basically focuses on the French vowels and shows you how they are used via simple stories. These stories also aid in reading French.

Math ( Singapore 2A/2B) - We are still finishing 1B but it seems to be moving quickly. We had to put it aside for a bit last year and did Math Mammoth for a bit to work on problem areas.

History (Story of the World Middles Ages) - Chapter one was about the Fall of Rome. We did map work for it as well as placed out final timeline picture on the Ancients timeline (The Fall of Rome picture) before we now proceed to the middle ages. This is exciting for me because the Middle Ages is my favourite time period. I am looking forward to sharing this with Roo.

It's a crappy picture but that is the Ancients and Middle Ages timelines from Pandia Press. the other two levels will be added as we do those years.

Science (Elemental Science Earth and Astronomy) - This week was like an introduction to earth and space. We learned about the earth, space and the moon. Then we built a paper mache model of earth which is in fact still drying and probably needs a second layer of stuff put on it. The we will paint it. She wanted to do the whole solar system, I thought no way:)

Our model of Earth in process. All we had was coloured news print so I hope we can paint of it.

Geography (Expedition Earth)- We began with an introduction to the Continents and Oceans even though she knows them already. The I handed out the passports we will be using for our journey this year. Every other day she reviews her Canadian provinces and territories and every day she goes over the countries in Europe via Sheppard Software. She is also learning to map the world by heart via The Core method. I think she has mastered the Great Five Circles and next week we may begin the continent blobs.

Art (Meet the Masters) - We only did the introduction lesson this week.

Composer Study - None this week.

What did Merle do? She has figured out how to clap though it still surprises her when she does it. She kind of gets the waving thing, and she has taken to pulling her dress over her head until you say "where's Merle" and then she whips it down and laughs.

I learned how to do several different types of braids this week. This is the waterfall, the picture makes her hair look like she has a million split ends, I just didn't brush it before the picture. Not bad for my first attempt.

Hell Hath Frozen Over

2011-08-20T22:49:00.002-04:00

It's worth checking if it has because my school plan for this year is now complete. The odds were against me, hell even I bet against myself. But remember I am ever the pessimist so I had to bet against myself, it's in my nature. I was pushing my luck with time, but the choices are finally made. I just need to input them into my schedule in a realistic, non horrifying way. I have spent the better part of the day trying to clean and organize the dining room because it in fact could be described as horrifying. This is the room we use for school. The computer is in there, all my book shelves and we sit at the dining room table with baskets of the books we will need. It's cluttered and messy no matter how hard I try to organize it. What I really want is Expedit computer desk/book shelf combo. I want it in the black-brown wood colour and with the larger size book shelf. Computer on one side, she can sit and do work on the other and all our books and supplies would fit nicely onto the shelves. It's not realistic in this apartment though, because the spot it would have to go has such as slanted floor we can't have book shelves on that wall. I'll keep it on my wish list for the next place. In the meantime baskets and crowded table it is!

This is my plans for this school year, grade 2.

Language Arts

First Language Lessons 2

Writing With Ease 2

All About Spelling 2 and 3

Handwriting Without Tears Cursive

Math

Just call me Miss indecisive, or just plain stupid. Either works in this situation. She started last year with Singapore Math 1A/1B and it seemed to jump topics too quick and I had to keep going back. So we stopped and I got Math Mammoth 1A/1B for her because it has a lot of practice. She completed it by summer so I purchased Mammoth 2A/2B for this year. I decided over the summer to finish our Singapore Math 1B book and noticed that she is doing much better with it and math is less torturous. So I ordered Singapore Math 2A/2B and will use Math Mammoth as a supplement.

Singapore 2A/2B

Math Mammoth 2A/2B - supplement

Life of Fred Elementary series - Apples, Butterflies and Cats. There are 4 of these books out right now and we love them! I can't wait for the others to come out.

History

Story of the World 2 - Middle Ages

Activity Guide for SOTW 2

It's my favorite time period so I am very excited. I also got the Pandia Press wall timeline which I am getting laminated and timeline figures from the Hannah_hs_ helps yahoo group already cut out and laminated.

Science

Elemental Science Earth Science and Astronomy

Geography

Ideas from The Core by Leigh Bortins for learning the world by mapping it.

Expedition Earth done secularly

Foreign Language

Latin for Children A

L'Art de Lire 1 - French

Art and Composer Study

Art - Meet the Masters Online. She is also enrolled in a weekly art class.

Composer
The plan is a composer a month study. Print and post a picture of the composer on the wall, read a biography on the composer, map where they lived and listen to their music. Classicsforkids is a great site for this as well.

*** I forgot Memory Work, so I will add it at the end here. I am still using the same ideas as before using the Charlotte Mason Method for memory work (but not memorizing scripture because we are secular). I will be adding memory work for what we will be doing this year Science, History, Latin, French.

I hope the links to everything I posted work. If they don't, please let me know.

I don't know if I am missing anything, but I feel as if I got everything I wanted to covered. The lack of having 62 hours in everyday is frustrating but I am trying to overcome it and get what I need done a piece at a time. Our school start date is after Labour Day so I still have a couple of weeks to manage. I am also implementing a chore/task sheet this year. Everything from school work to, going and staying in bed, to teeth brushing will be on it (it's a fight to get her to brush her teeth as well as stay in bed). At the end of the week the sheet will be evaluated and she will get an allowance and/or treat based on the completion and the attitude while completing. Wish me luck because I am not holding my breath on this one.

WW - New Fall/Winter Headwear

2011-08-17T12:10:00.002-04:00

Hand made by a friend.

Facts About Me That You Probably Don't Care About But I don't Give a Shit

2011-08-11T20:31:00.007-04:00

This post is two fold. One because I haven't posted in a while and I have wanted to post our "This Years Curriculum" but I am still figuring it out. Yikes, I know. Second, my About Me section has been "under construction" since day one and I figured, why not hit two birds with one stone. It's going to be more like a bulleted list of random facts, not some deeply poetic dialogue about my life. Here it goes.

First one is not a shocker to those who know me. I read all. the. time. If I could make a library into my home I would.
I actually want a library in my home and any of these will do.
One of my pet peeves is stupid spelling mistakes or word confusion (ex. lose and loose). So if you notice a spelling error in any of my posts I exempt myself from all responsibility and blame it on pregnancy brain and post pregnancy brain. I firmly believe some of your brain actually gets absorbed into each child you have during gestation. It's real, believe me.
I fry my spaghetti. Heat up a frying pan, put in cooked noodles and pour over the sauce. Mix and cook until all sauce bakes onto the noodles. It tastes so much better. I've even converted my husband.
I have had a crush on Jared Leto since I was 14 and he was on My So Called Life. I am not fickle with my celebrity crushes, so when an opportunity came up where I could potentially meet him I declined. What if I met him and was disappointed? That would be like 18 years of my life wasted. Who would I crush on after that?
If I stare blankly at you during a conversation, than it usually means you have said something stupid and I am giving you time to save yourself.
I am introverted. No that doesn't mean shy.
I eat food that falls on the floor. The five second rule applies to everything except what falls beside the stove. It's scary there. True story. On my husbands and my second or third date we went to a Thai restaurant. We each had a main course and split an order of Pad Thai. So when I was trying to maneuver the noodles from the dish to my plate I dropped 95% of them on the table. Without thinking I scooped them all from the table to my plate with intent to eat them. I had a moment of "Oh shit, maybe I shouldn't have done that." and then I shrugged and figured if that turns him off then I have no hope when he really gets to know me. It turns out he liked the fact I did that.........(or so he says).
I don't understand abstract art, it frustrates me. I just can't see it as art. Can a 5 year old paint like Caravaggio? Not fucking likely.
I don't like clowns or Santa, they make me uncomfortable. I also don't like crocs.
I want to live in Europe, preferably the Western half. I also wish I was fluent in another language. Fuck you high school French, you did nothing for me!
I am a cup half empty kind of person. The eternal pessimist. The upside? I never expect anything to work out so if it does I am genuinely surprised and thankful.
I play the lottery weekly because if I don't, then you know my numbers will be drawn next week. This goes back to the pessimist/cup half empty thing.
I've got a sailor mouth. Some may say the use of swear words shows a lack of intelligence and creativity. I say that when you are mad sometimes "Gosh, your making me mad!" doesn't quite mirror what you are feeling. The F word tends to get the point across quickly. I also use the F word as verb, adverb, adjective, command, interjection, and noun. Sometimes all at once. I think that ability actually shows my high intelligence and creativity;)
I love McDonald's, it's yummy and has the best coke. It honestly doesn't bother me that someone experimentally left a McDonald's burger out for 3 months and it still looked the same.
I like cheese, the super old stinky stuff.
I've never had sushi/seafood but I avoid it like the plague. Lobsters are the cockroach of the sea.
I firmly believe that text messaging is the major reason why kids can't spell. I for one can't bring myself to type short forms of things very often. Proper spelling and grammar should still apply to texting.
I don't like ice cream cake. I like ice cream AND cake but not together.
I've worn glasses since I was three and contacts since I was 14. My eye sight still sucks and I am considered legally blind without them.
I homeschool my child because I don't believe education is one size fits all.
I hate the word socialization when applied to homeschool. What do you do for socialization? Do you realize you look stupid asking me that question when we are watching our children in dance or art class together. Seriously? Look it up, socializing and socialization are two different things. A) Socialization is the process through which a child learns the customs, behaviors, and expectations of certain culture and/or society. B) Socializing is getting together for a social or common purpose. It’s an activity, not a process. I want my children to get socialization from her family not public school peers and socializing is done every time you leave the house. It seems to me that people who lived in the pioneer days who saw nothing of anyone except their families and a few scattered strangers for months on end didn't worry that much about socialization. This "socialization" thing annoys me. It's a made-up concept by the public school system and our modern society.
I honestly don't care if you don't like me. Really. I may actually enjoy the fact that you don't. So don't think my feelings are hurt if you don't like me and we aren't friends. I've probably already thanked god/goddess/or various deities that we are not.
Still Under Construction!

A Day in the Life of

2011-07-13T10:15:00.000-04:00

My online mom group decided we would each do "day in the life of" posts so everyone could learn about one another more and them secretly compare ourselves to each other;) If I am talking about something and you are thinking WTH is that, I usually include links for as much as I can find. Just click on the green bolded words.

So my day starts depending on when Merle wakes. If I keep the room dark and try not to move too much, sometimes I get a bit longer. Mostly it's me closing my eyes trying to pretend sleep in hopes she catches the drift. Usually not and she starts the day by plucking out her sucky and singing a little bit. It's usually between 7:30 and 8:30 (sometimes longer on the weekend). I have one happy morning kid and one crusty one. I get up and while I feed Merle I steep myself a cup of tea (because I like it super strong).

Happy morning breakfast baby.
After that I am usually catching myself up on Facebook and my favourite homeschooling forum The Well Trained Mind. Lots and lots of great information on there. You can lose a full day once you start reading and researching. Time to wake the crusty one. It usually involves pulling back the blinds, cheering good morning, placing a baby on her head and whipping the covers back. Still it will take 15-20 minutes for her to crawl out of bed with a scowl and crazy hair.
It's time for me to motivate myself to exercise. Blah. Today I warmed up, did a workout called Prison Cell Exercises which I have aptly renamed, You Will Die in Prison Exercises. Then I stretched it out. This is my prison mugshot, I thought it was going to kill me.

Shower, dress and beautify. I have to shower with the door open since the bathroom is small and I can't bring Merle in. She hangs out in her jumper beside her sister (who is usually playing on the computer) which is right out front of the bathroom door. Showering with the door closed or without an audience, now what would that be like?

School time! If you ever watched Seinfeld you would know the Soup Nazi. I refer to myself as the school Nazi. Yes we do school during the summer. We take various other breaks throughout the year as needed but if we take the summer off, I know I will be spending the first two months of the next school year reteaching everything she forgot over the summer.
We start our lessons with daily memory work, and math facts. Next we work on geography. Where the Canadian provinces are located and what their capitals are and European countries on a map via online sources. Daily we do math, Latin, French, copywork, spelling and grammar. Alternating days are History (3x week) and Science (2x week). If she pays attention it usually takes close to 2 hours a day. She is Harry Potter obsessed right now so currently she goes to Hogwarts. She puts on a witch hat, has a wand and I have changed the class names to Chants, Transfiguration, Spells, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, History of Magic, Potions, Muggle Studies and Charms. Merle wants to join Hogwarts too.

Lunch is next and I usually read or scan the computer while eating. Merle is either cat napping, sitting on my knee or bouncing in her jumper. Roo usually eats lunch in the living room with her toys or while playing JumpStart on the computer. We did a quick photo shoot before going out.

We live right downtown so most things are really close and convenient. Today we went to the library which is 1.5 blocks away. She hung out with a little girl that was there while I perused the books. A quick 20 minute library visit turned into 1.5 hours. She also has the habit of reading and walking so I constantly have to pull her over to stop her from walking into people/objects.

Then we walked through town to the water front because they have ducks there she likes to feed. We have to do it covertly because we feed them our ends from the bread and the crunchy momma's (no offence) hang out there by the coffee shop in their mom group. They frown upon this and "encourage" feeding them corn and seeds. I don't need to be given nor do I deal well with someone lecturing me so we hide;) The grocery store is literally a 2 minute walk from home so we usually pick up stuff every 2-3 days in small quantities because I have to carry it home. Today was one of those days because I needed diapers. I often make Roo wear a backpack to carry stuff to help. It's usually only bread or other light things and she complains the whole way home. Even while I am strapped with a kid on my front and carrying 4 bags struggling, she is literally skipping along and complaining. It's annoying. We get home and put the groceries away then Roo stripped down and sat in front of the a/c unit because "she was disgustingly hot". Then we figured out what's for dinner. While thinking about it, I feed Merle. She had peas first with bananas after. She loves any kind of banana mixture and can't open her mouth quick enough for it.
I prepared a stir fry for me broccoli, green pepper, onion, leeks, a couple of eggs thrown in, slivered almonds and teriyaki sauce. Roo had kraft dinner because she's picky with stir fry on the side. Then she went into the bath. I wash her hair she hangs out in the tub until she wrinkles. When I went in to fish her out I noticed that her shampoo bottle was now almost completely empty and floating in the water. When I asked her what happened she declared that she wanted to smell like strawberries so she washed her body with it. Pretty expensive bath. Out she comes and then it's Merle's turn, quick, easy and painless. Roo gets a bedtime snack and Merle ate paper.

Then ready for bed. It's usually around 8:30 by the time I am able to get her in. We all climb into bed to read a couple of stories from Aesop's Fables for Children and a chapter from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Now we see how long she will be awake for, my guess is 11:30 or later. Merle takes her final 8 oz bottle before bed at 9:00 and slips into milk coma on her mat.

I slide her into bed when I go to bed and she will sleep until a 4am feeding. Right now is my time to fiddle on the computer, update my blog, or watch things that I have missed on TV because I get zero time to myself. I usually watch TV shows or Movies on THIS site. I love it it's awesome. I've still got to wash, sterilize and prepare bottles and almost forgot:( It's now 12:00 and I am sliding into bed to read one of my three books on the go and Roo is still awake. She will be crusty in the morning and then the full circle starts again.

I'm So Sorry Iza..........Please Forgive Me.

2011-07-06T00:53:00.002-04:00

On Friday which happened to be Canada Day, I made myself accept that my cat wasn't getting any better. I was just wishing and hoping she was. That afternoon I brought her to the emergency clinic knowing I wouldn't be bringing her home. After the vet checked her out, she told me her opinion but the decision was mine to make. It was the hardest decision I have ever had to make. Signing the paper to permit the euthanasia felt like a betrayal of the worst kind and I still feel sick thinking about it. She asked me if I wanted to stay in the room or not. I really wanted to run away and say I couldn't do it. But I had no choice because she was sitting there scared and not knowing what was happening. It was quick but seemed so very long. The whole time I was crying and saying "I'm so sorry" over and over. It's so blurry but so vivid in my mind still. I remember hearing my tears rolling down my face and hitting the stainless steel table. Then it was done.
She was 14+ years old. I adopted her from the humane society and her age was unknown at the time. It was estimated at 1 year, maybe more. I named her Iza (pronounced Ee-suh) a character from one of my favourite books. She was my constant friend, my heart is aching and I miss her terribly.

Thank you mom, for being there when I needed someone. I love you.

A Hillbilly Smile.....or Redneck Depending Where You Are From

2011-06-25T23:12:00.001-04:00

So Roo's top two front teeth came out this week and this is how it went.

They were extremely loose but she refused to let me work at them so I just left them alone. On Monday she was trying to avoid brushing her teeth at bedtime and hid under the covers. When I whipped them back somehow one tooth got snagged or something (she must have been under there with her mouth wide open...strange) but never the less she came out with a shocked look and a tooth in her hand. The other tooth was hanging on sideways barely, so it looked like it was one tooth in the center of her mouth. When she smiled I burst out laughing and told her that it looked like a hillbilly smile. What do you think?

After 3 days of that, she let me take the tooth out on Thursday. She was very excited at 6:15 am the next morning when she woke me to show me that the tooth fairy left her ten dollars. The tooth fairy really needs to keep smaller change in the house.

We did school in 4 days this week because a) I am tired, b) it's hot and that makes me crabby, and c)We had an Opthamologist appointment on Friday. You could tell Roo was taught reading by using phonics because when she did her eye exam chart she used the letter sounds instead of the letter names;)

Roo's dance recital was last Friday. They were supposed to be Tinker Belle like fairies and they danced to It's Not Easy Being Green. She was nervous.

But apparently she is not nervous when she video tapes herself dancing. This video makes me think that she should be taken out of ballet and placed into hip hop. I had no idea when she filmed this video when I saw it, but then I remember her yelling "Mom, Where's my leather jacket? I need it for something".

Now on to what we finished this week and last.

Memory Work - Nothing new has been added, we are just working through our memory box to ensure that everything is being memorized and retained.

Spelling (All About Spelling) - She finished Level 2 lesson 3 and 4 this week.

First Language Lessons - Daily review

Writing with Ease - Completed week 36 of copy work and narration exercises from The Wizard of Oz. We are now done it and have slowly started Handwriting Without Tears Cursive.

Latin (Song School Latin) - Review

French (Nallenart) - We learned about time, and numbers 30-59.

Math - Using our abacus we did 2 pages of Math Mammoth 1B (we only have 2 sections left) each day and one exercise from Singapore Math a day too. We continued with math facts online using XtraMath. She is plugging along and each day more go into the mastered list. This only takes about 5 minutes a day.

History (Story of the World) - We completed Ch 36 The First Roman Prince, Ch 37 Birth of Jesus and Crucifixion, and Ch 38 The End of the Ancient Jewish Nation and Ch 39 Nero the Evil Emperor, and Christians in the Catacombs.

Science (Elemental) - Our plant study is almost done and this week we completed Nuts, Cones and Spores as well as Stems.

Geography - Every day she reviews her Canadian provinces and territories as well as Europe via Sheppard Software. I really need to dig in my heels and figure out how I am going to implement The Core's method for Geography before I have to return it to the Library.

These are my thoughts on curriculum for next year (grade 2). Some of these I already have on my shelves. Edited to add some changes.

Language Arts

First Language Lessons 2

Writing With Ease 2

All About Spelling 2 and 3

Handwriting Without Tears Cursive

Math

Math Mammoth 2A/2B

History

Story of the World 2 - Middle Ages

Activity Guide for SOTW 2

Science

Elemental Science Earth Science and Astronomy

Geography

Ideas from The Core

Expedition Earth done secularly

Foreign Language

Latin for Children A

L'Art de Lire 1 - French

Art and Composer Study

Art - Meet the Masters Online. I asked around on the WTM Forum about Mac compatibility and they said it would work. I really wanted to use this program but the Internet Explorer necessity scared me away, but I have since been told that I can use my Safari Browser without issues. Yay!

Composer - a study I will put together (presumably one composer a month from the middle ages period)

My Feelings About Bedtime Summed Up in 2:36 Minutes

2011-06-18T09:50:00.001-04:00

Here is the link to the actual book. Not that I would read it to her as tempting as that might be. But I would like it for my own mental being;) It sounds better with Samuel L. Jackson reading it though.

Let's Put it on Facebook!

2011-06-10T22:07:00.004-04:00

We had a 4 day week this week because Wednesday we went to Walmart. You know how easy it is to lose a full day in Walmart;) This week Merle started to cut her first tooth. She is a champ, I didn't even know until I felt it when she started to chew on my finger. Roo's top two front teeth are almost ready to come out as well. I am happy that they have finally become loose, since looking at the chipped one has been giving me mommy guilt for the last 4.5 years. When Roo was two she climbed onto a kitchen chair to sit beside her dad while he was on the computer. She began to wiggle in her seat and somehow managed to wiggle right off and land on her face. The result was a chipped front tooth that makes me feel terrible every time I see it.

Last week I had surprise photos from Roo taking pictures of herself and this week I have a funny video she made of her sister. It's not the video that is funny, but the song she is singing during filming after she made me put Merle into a sparkly fairy costume.

Now on to what we finished this week.

Memory Work - I added parts of a flower to the list to coincide with what we are learning in science.

Spelling (All About Spelling) - She finished Level 2 lesson 3 this week. The use of y as a vowel.

First Language Lessons - Daily review

Writing with Ease - Completed week 35 of copy work and narration exercises from The Wind in the Willows. One week left in this and the book is done!

Latin (Song School Latin) - Review

French (Nallenart) - We learned about time, how to ask for time and how to answer.

Math - Using our abacus we did 2 pages of Math Mammoth 1B each day and one exercise from Singapore Math a day too. We continued with math facts online using XtraMath. She is plugging along and each day more go into the mastered list. This only takes about 5 minutes a day.

History (Story of the World) - We completed Ch 35 Caesar Fights the Celts, Caesar Crosses the Rubicon, Caesar and Cleopatra, and The Death of Caesar. We also read about Caesar in the Famous Men of Rome book and have begun Cleopatra by Diane Stanley.

Science (Elemental) - In our plant study this week we looked at Fruit, Why Plants Have Fruit, and Seeds.

Geography - Every day she reviews her Canadian provinces and territories as well as Western Europe via Sheppard Software. I just got my copy of The Core from the Library and am avidly reading the geography chapter so we can begin our five circles and continent blobs.

Merle has mastered the skills of the Old Man face this week. She sucks in her lips and this is the result.

These are my thoughts on curriculum for next year (grade 2). Some of these I already have on my shelves.

Language Arts

First Language Lessons 2

Writing With Ease 2

All About Spelling 2&3

Handwriting Without Tears Cursive

Math

Math Mammoth 2A/2B

History

Story of the World 2 - Middle Ages

Activity Guide for SOTW 2

Science

Elemental Science Earth Science and Astronomy

Geography

Ideas from The Core
Expedition Earth done secularly

Foreign Language

Latin for Children A

L'Art de Lire 1 - French

Art and Composer Study

Art - Usborne Art Treasury book and picture study I put together and maybe I will sign her up for a weekly art class.

Composer - a study I will put together (presumably one composer a month from the middle ages period)

Go the F**k to Sleep

2011-06-03T22:08:00.000-04:00

So, Roo has always been a hard one to get to sleep at night. Even as a baby it seemed she always thought that she was going to miss something if she closed her eyes, so she would fight it. Once asleep, she would sleep the night through and half the day if you would let her though. Lately it seems like it is getting worse. She used to just read quietly in bed with the occasional "I have to pee", "I need water" or "my lips are so dry, I need chap stick". You know, any excuse to get out of bed to make sure she isn't in fact missing anything. I did notice though, that she has been getting a collection of toys and hiding them near the bed so she can play instead of read. So I said enough is enough and got a big basket, filled it with the toys and left only the books for night time. Did that work to make her go to sleep? Nope, I went in last night and she had cleaned, dusted, organized and folded everything instead. This book......so appropriate.

And this is what you find on your camera when you leave it unattended.

There were 17 of these in a row with various poses and facial expressions. She has obviously figured out how to use the timer.

Now on to what we finished this week.

Memory Work - This week I added the Greek and Roman names for the gods. We still have a lot in her daily work but she wanted to add them to the list.

Spelling (All About Spelling) - She finished Level 2 lesson 2 this week.

First Language Lessons - Since FLL is done, I went back to the beginning to start our daily review for summer. It only takes 1-2 minutes a day to go over.

Writing with Ease - Completed week 34 of copy work and narration exercises from Socks by Beverly Cleary. I also received our Handwriting Without Tears Cursive book today because she wants to begin "fancy writing" during the summer when Writing With Ease is done. We will see how that goes.

Latin (Song School Latin) - Review

Merle bounces along when Roo listens to her Song School Latin CD. It's pretty funny.

French (Nallenart) - Unit 10 fruit and vegetables with their colours review and test.

Math - We bought our abacus for Math Mammoth 1B and completed 2-3 pages each day and one exercise from Singapore Math a day as well. She also started doing her math facts online using XtraMath thanks to a recommendation and honestly, I have noticed an big improvement over the last week and a half she has been using it. Her recall is a lot quicker.

History (Story of the World) - We began our study of Caesar this week and read Caesar is Kidnapped, The Consuls of Rome and Caesar and the Senate. After the map work we played the Ransom Caesar game which is like Battleship but we gave up because she didn't quite get it and let the pirates have Caesar;)

Science (Elemental) - In our plant study this week we looked at buds, and flower reproductive parts, as well as different kinds of flowers. We also ended up flipping through the Usborne Science book and read some of the sections on evolution again because she wanted to.

Geography - Every day she reviews her Canadian provinces and territories as well as Western Europe via Sheppard Software.

Composer Study - We just listened to some classical music I have downloaded while she dug through my winter gear and put stuff on. This is her impersonation of me apparently.

I am trying to figure out what exactly I am going to need for next years curriculum. I already have some of the things that I bought in advance last year with the previous levels. I think I just need to sit down and make an inventory of what I have and what I need.

I Can't Think of a Title, So This is the Title

2011-05-27T19:36:00.002-04:00

It's been two weeks, yes I am a bad blogger. But sometimes when you never have free time and then you get 5 minutes to yourself you just don't feel like blogging about it. Hmmm, maybe I should. Isn't that what bloggers do? Give you a small insight to their life, like "My husband isn't home, both kids are asleep, the dishes are done, (high five self) what am I going to do for the next 3.5 minutes I have before I should go to bed because the baby will be waking in a few hours to be fed and I am super tired? Never mind, baby just woke." That would be my post in it's entirety.

Earlier this week I asked Roo to hand me my hole punch and she did with a weird look on her face. I took it and noticed it was broken. The first thing I do is ask her because she,

a) looked guilty and

b) she is always touching my stuff.

She says no, so I razzed her a bit more about it and then she gets adamant so I know she didn't do it. This kid doesn't lie, she may refrain from telling me something (in which some may say lying by omission. I actually use that one on my husband all the time.) BUT if you ask her if she did it she will sigh and then say "yes I did it". I hope that quality sticks with her through life. Now back to the hole punch story. I enter Sherlock Holmes mode as my mind wonders how this hole punch may have broken. Roo didn't do it, Merle is too young, did I drop it or something?..........Wait a minute. There is someone else who may have done this, someone I probably should have asked first based on his track record. So I ask my husband when he came home and he admitted to breaking it and putting it back without telling me (lying by omission). How did he break it you may ask? He was trying to punch an extra hole in his belt. Even Roo was "Dad, that tool is for paper."

Did you break my hole punch? Kidding, just a shameless cute baby picture.

Now on to what we finished this week............and last week:

Memory Work - I added parts of a plant to the list this week because we started our plant study in science.

Spelling (All About Spelling) - We used these two weeks to do a long drawn out study of AAS level 2 lesson one. It's the review lesson so I thought we should go through it slowly to ensure AAS 1 stuck.

First Language Lessons - We finished FLL1 and will continue to review it throughout the summer since the break between grade 1 and 2 is the time where kids seems to forget the most.

Writing with Ease - Completed week 32 and 33 of copy work and narration exercises from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Roo doing work while Merle watches.

Latin (Song School Latin) - Review

French (Nallenart) - Unit 10.2 fruit and vegetables with their colours used in sentences.

Math - We finished Math Mammoth 1A and bought our abacus for 1B and completed several exercises from Singapore Math as well.

History (Story of the World) - We finished chapter 32 Calligraphy in China, Warring States and The First Emperor and The Great Wall of China. We did the map work and read about the great wall and we looked at the tomb of emperor Shi Huangdi on the internet. She also started some Chinese character writing which I will post a picture of when she finishes it. In chapter 33 we read about Confucius and the religion Confucianism and some of his most famous sayings.

Do not do unto others what you would not want others to do to you. - Confucius

Science (Elemental) - We completed the study of the human body with germs, allergies and nutrition. This week we started our plant study by learning about different types of leaves. We are also getting a seed to plant this weekend so that she can monitor plant growth over the summer.

Geography - Roo has learned all of the Nordic countries and their location on a map and about half of Western Europe via Sheppard Software. She is currently sitting in a cardboard box because she is taking the train to Paris (said with a French accent) and then a boat across the Mediterranean Sea to Egypt because apparently she has opened a business there involving Sphinx.

Composer Study - We watched part 2 of a YouTube video on Antonio Vivaldi and listened to some of his works while she did tanagrams, or a least tried to do tanagrams. She actually gave up and ended up constructing various pictures involving the different shapes.

Look Out Von Trapp Family Singers.....Here We Come

2011-05-13T21:58:00.002-04:00

I am typing one handed with a spit bubble blowing baby bouncing in the other hand. The spit river is now flowing steadily down my arm and it's a good thing my watch has a metal band. Yay to the gross aspects of motherhood.
Roo had a funny light bulb moment tonight while we were reading a story before bed. We were reading Harry Potter and the story mentioned a stag, and this is how the conversation went.

Roo: What is a stag?
Me: A stag is a deer, a male deer to be exact.
Roo: What is a female deer called?
Me: A doe.
Roo: Oh, like doe a deer?
Me: .....A female deer.
(3 seconds of a deep concentration face and then her eyes slowly opened wider and wider)
Roo: Ohhhhhhhhh...........that song makes sense now.

Note: The Sound of Music is my favourite movie for some reason and the stage musical is awesome too.

We finished D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths this week and have moved on to The Orchard Book of Roman Myths by Geraldine McCaughrean.

On to what we finished this week:

Memory Work - I didn't add anything this week from the Living Memory book but I have some ideas. We just worked on the lists and poems from the box and had to put some back into the daily rotation that she had completely blanked on.

Spelling (All About Spelling) - Level 1 of AAS is complete and she got her certificate today. Next week we start on level 2.

She has this thing with smiling nicely until I hit the button and then she gives me a stretched out turtle neck. It's like she thinks the more intense and bigger she smiles, the better.

First Language Lessons - Lessons 94-96, commands, questions and exclamation sentences.

Writing with Ease - Completed week 31 of copy work and narration exercises from the the poems The Sandpiper and The Nightingale and the Glow Worm.

Latin (Song School Latin) - SSL is complete. We are going to go back over the book through the summer and use my flashcards as review.

French (Nallenart) - Unit 10.2 fruit and vegetables.

Math - Two pages a day of Math Mammoth 1A subtraction and addition review. I also brought back out Singapore 1A and we are working on that daily as well in small increments.

History (Story of the World) - We finished chapter 31 India Empire United and The Jakata Tales.

Science (Elemental) - From our body study this week we studied the urinary system and a overview of reproduction and the stages of a baby growing.

Geography - We started this week to look at Europe. She is beginning by learning the Nordic countries and western Europe via Sheppard Software. I ordered the book The Core from the library because I am interested in the Geography section that I have heard so much about.

Composer Study - We watched part 1 of a YouTube video on Antonio Vivaldi and listened to some of his works while she coloured.

And now a little sisterly love

Actually it's because Roo likes Merle to lay on her chest and squish her nose for some reason. She makes me put her there every night to squish her face before she goes to sleep. Kids are strange.

Fake Cough Somewhere Else Please

2011-05-06T21:15:00.000-04:00

I just kicked my cat off my knee because honestly, that can be really annoying sometimes. She is now off to the side fake coughing. Iza is her name (pronounced Ee-suh) and she fake coughs for punishment. Like when you kick her off the bed at night because she is sleeping on your hip and it is starting to ache. She'll stand on the floor beside the bed and fake cough until she wakes someone up, usually the baby. I can't get mad at her though because she is a senior citizen now.
Also a subtle reminder to my husband who may or may not be reading this. These black, size 8 for the puking in my boots incident.

It has been really rainy this week so Roo decided to perk up the day with a really spring-like, colourful ensemble. I personally love cloudy, rainy days but I am staring to notice that isn't the norm and most people prefer sunshine.

What we finished this week:

Memory Work - Mr. Nobody is almost memorized. I need to go through my Living Memory book to find some more ideas for memory work.

Spelling (All About Spelling) - We are on level 1 section 24. I am going to draw out the last section until all of the cards in the review sections are moved to the mastered section.

First Language Lessons - Lessons 91-93, Sunflower poem, sentences/fragments and statements.

Writing with Ease - Completed week 30 of copy work and narration exercises from the Buddhist Stories The Jataka Tales.

Latin (Song School Latin) - New outdoor words and review. We are on the final chapter, the summer will probably be review of the entire book. I got a laminating machine (hooray!) and finished laminating about half of the Song School Latin flashcards I made. I forgot how much I do not enjoy colouring.

French (Nallenart) - Unit 10.1 numbers from 13-29 and 10.2 fruit.

Math - Two-three pages of Math Mammoth 1A subtraction and addition review. I need to buy an abacus before we move onto the next section of larger addition problems.

History (Story of the World) - We finished chapter 29 Life on the Ganges River, The Castes of Ancient India and Siddhartha aka Buddha. We then read about Buddhism in the Usborne World Religion Book. She googled Buddhas and decided she would like a statue of one.

Science (Elemental) - From our body study this week we studied...............poop. Well, it was actually the digestive system but she was fixated on the poop section. There has been much poop talk over the last 24 hours.

Geography - The capitals and provinces of Canada are now known and we decided she wanted to venture over to Europe next, since next year we will be studying the middle ages (my favourite time period). She started with the Nordic countries and we will do section by section via Sheppard Software.

Composer Study - We listened again to The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi and read his biography and placed where he lived on a map.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-04T10:10:00.000-04:00

A Lesson Learned and Jesus Might Live on My Street

2011-04-29T22:10:00.001-04:00

Roo learned a lesson the hard way this week for why we should put away our toys. This is the result,

It once was a magnetic princess that you put on her different magnetic outfits into her different backdrops. I cooked it. Not on purpose, but she had stuck it to a cookie tray while playing with it and never put it away properly. I'm not in the habit of checking the bottom of pans for toys before putting them in the oven so the result was a cooked, crackled princess whose head and hands fell off upon returning it to my daughter. I was trying not to laugh while she looked at me like I did it on purpose. Maybe she will start putting her stuff away.....probably not. Maybe I should cook more stuff.

I missed last weeks weekly report because it was a long weekend and I honestly didn't feel like posting one. It has been a busy two weeks even though they were only 4 day weeks. Lets start back on Good Friday because it was bizarre. On Friday morning I heard weird music coming from outside and my husband was yelling from the other room, "Jesus is walking down the street" over and over. Sure enough Jesus was walking down the street while being whipped by Romans (photo below). A strange way to start the day.

I am paying for the abundance of Easter chocolate we gave Roo this week. I should have known free access to a bucket of chocolate may lead to intense sugar highs at inconvenient times. I also almost got caught putting out the candies on Easter eve. Is it an eve like Christmas? Anyway, the kid who normally sleeps like the dead, woke up to every crinkle sound thinking it was the Easter Bunny. I literally had to throw the chocolate out of sight when she woke up as I walked by her room carry a basket filled with it.

Easter morning and by the hair alone. one may think they had already got into treats.

What we finished this week:

Memory Work - We are still working on the Mr. Nobody poem but the whole thing now. She also has the human body systems almost memorized plus whatever daily work comes out of the memory work box.

Spelling (All About Spelling) - For the last 2 weeks we have been working on all the the cards we have behind the review sections. They were getting large and daily review was taking a long time so I thought we would stop, solidify the information and them finish the last two sections in level 1.

First Language Lessons - Lessons 85-90, poem, review, writing dates and seasons.

Writing with Ease - Completed week 28 and 29 of copy work and narration exercises from On the Banks of Plum Creek and All of a Kind Family excerpts.

Latin (Song School Latin) - Water words and garden words. Review.

French (Nallenart) - Unit 9.2 Colour adjectives and counting from 13-29.

Math - Two-three pages of Math Mammoth 1A subtraction a day and we finished the measurement and shape section. She had a measurement test.

History (Story of the World) - We finished chapter 28 Roman Gods, Roman Builders and Roman Gladiators as well as Chapter 29 The Punic Wars. She completed a Roman Chariot. It was supposed to be big enough for her, but seeing we didn't have any big boxes she decided to make one for her Barbie using a Kleenex box.

Nothing says chariot race like purple hair and a ball gown.

Science (Elemental) - From our body study we looked at the the heart, blood flow, blood cells and the lungs and how we breath and make sounds.

Geography - She almost has the capitals of Canada down and hopefully we can move on to another section o the world next week. We are using Sheppard Software as our geography guide right now. It is just a basic study of countries and capitals at the moment and a more in depth study of countries next year.

Composer Study - We listened to The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi.

A Mother’s Prayer for Her Child By Tina Fey

2011-04-21T13:05:00.001-04:00

“First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen.Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.”

-Tina Fey

Remind Me Not to Piss Off a Crow

2011-04-20T16:08:00.001-04:00

Because they can remember your face. Also apparently they hold grudges and will plan and conspire with one another in order to get revenge. According to this article crows:

1. Can remember your face.

2. They conspire with one another.

3. The have a incredible memory.

4. They use tools for problem solving.

5. They plan (or plot if you are more of a paranoid type).

6. They have adaptive behaviour.

So I realized two things from this article. First, it seems crows and I have a lot in common. Secondly, I am not being paranoid when I have thought a crow was watching me......it really was.

I Need Ginkgo Biloba - Weekly Report

2011-04-15T19:43:00.001-04:00

Even though studies differ about it's efficiency, I remain optimistic. Because it's happening, I can feel it. My brain is in fact atrophying. I just spent at least 30 seconds staring at my camera trying to figure out where I plug in the usb cable to upload photos. We have had this camera for years. I also just realized that I forgot to pick up new dance tights for Roo this week even though I hung them smack dab where I would see them 50 times a day so I wouldn't forget. She wore her only pair of tights to dance under her new jeans last week and the blue dye from the jeans transferred so now she has tie dye tights.

I also need to find a recycling box with a lock top because every time I turn around Roo is digging stuff out for "crafts". OR, worse my husband every once in a while flashes his pack rat tendencies by either digging out "useful" items in the recycling bin or raiding the bags I have filled to go to charity because we may just need that item someday. I personally would love for someone to come in and completely empty our home and bring back in things piece by piece so we can get rid of 3/4 of what is in here. This is the reason I drool over the Ikea catalogue. Those Swedes have the right idea.

Recycling bin harvesting mess. "crafts"

Merle was 4 months this week. She can now roll, but not on purpose. It still surprises her every time she flips from back to belly. The only room she has rolled in though is in the kitchen where the floor is very slanted, so it may in fact not count.

Happy 4 month birthday Merle the Squirrel!

What we finished this week:

Memory Work - We are working on stanza 1 and 2 from the FLL poem Mr. Nobody plus whatever daily work comes out of the memory work box.

Spelling (All About Spelling) - We completed lessons 19-22, which included the rules for using ck and k. We are almost done level one and I plan on slowing level 2 down a lot.

First Language Lessons - Lessons 82-84, poetry capitalization, pronouns and an oral composition.

Writing with Ease - Completed week 27 of copy work and narration exercises from A Christmas Carol excerpts.

Latin (Song School Latin) - Review week

French (Nallenart) - Unit 9.1 clothing terms test and numbers.

Math - Two pages of Math Mammoth 1A subtraction a day and 1 page of measurements. We also finished 1B shapes this week.

History (Story of the World) - We finished chapter 27 The beginning of Rome, Romulus and Remus and The Power of Rome including map work.

Science (Elemental) - From our body study we looked at the the senses this week. We completed some senses experiments and made a braille sentence. Which is kind of appropriate because before Roo got her glasses she was considered legally blind. We had no idea she had vision problems until she started giving signs at age 4. It makes me sad that she went years being unable to see properly without us realizing it.

Braille activity

Geography - Now that she knows the Canadian provinces and Territories memorized with map placement, we started working on their capitals this week. We are using Sheppard Software as our geography guide right now.

Art - This week she did a picture narration and a line drawing by sketching the contour of an object without looking down at the paper.

Hard at work and pissing and moaning that her pencil wasn't sharp enough. Is it my fault that she lost the only good sharpener we have after I specifically told her not to take it out of the room. It has entered the abyss of things to never be seen again.

The Power of the Biebs - Weekly Report

2011-04-08T23:03:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, Roo's Aunt Naomi came for a visit bearing a magazine filled with Justin Bieber pull out posters. (He will be referred to as JB or Biebs from here on out) The result was Bieber Fever as shown in this post. Who would have thought JB would have an integral part in Tummy Time success? Roo stuck a picture of JB above Merle's change table and she smiles and "talks" to him every.single.time.she.gets.changed. We have not been having Tummy Time success and I wasn't sure if it was because she couldn't or she was just lazy. So a few days ago I decided to take the change table poster and stick it to the bottom of the shelf in front of her TT mat. Lo and behold! She apparently was just lazy after all.

Never underestimate the power of the Biebs.

Last week I decided I needed to work on my own education before my brain atrophies so I learned the countries of Europe, their capitals and map placement. This week I learned all the countries in Asia and the Middle East, their capitals and locations on a map. I will soon conquer the world;) I also worked on my Latin with Getting Started with Latin. I discovered a way to make flashcards for Song School Latin too. I went to the SSL website and found the pdf for the colouring pages for the SSL vocabulary words. When I went to print them I changed the layout so it would shrink and fit 9 colouring pages for every 1 printed page. The result is perfect flashcard sizes that all I need to do is colour, cut and laminate. It totally beats coming up with my own (lazy procrastinator). I also just discovered while typing, that the fingernail on my middle finger is way too long and it is impeding my typing skills.

What we finished this week:

Memory Work - I added the list of Greek Gods.

Spelling (All About Spelling) - We completed lessons 14-18, which included the rule for the different sounds of "c" and the endings ck, ng, and nk.

First Language Lessons - Lessons 79-81, titles of respect, poem review and a new poem called Mr. Nobody.

Writing with Ease - Completed week 26 of copy work and narration exercises from The Tales of Peter Rabbit excerpts.

Latin (Song School Latin) - Sky vocabulary and review.

French (Nallenart) - Unit 9.1 clothing terms and made collages using magazine cut outs for these clothing vocabulary words.

Math - We started Math Mammoth 1A subtraction and continued with 1B shapes.

History (Story of the World) - We finished chapter 26 The People of the Americas which included the Nazca Drawings, The heads of the Olmec and the tale of Rabbit Shoots the Sun. She then completed a Nazca drawing of her own.

Working on her Nazca drawing while sporting a juice moustache and a bad ass snake tattoo;)

Science (Elemental) - From our body study we looked at the nervous system and the brain and tested our reflexes. She was supposed to remember and record her dream from last night but she said she couldn't remember it because the dream catcher caught it, so we have to try this weekend.

Geography - She has the Canadian provinces and territories memorized and almost placed on the map, she just always forgets where Nova Scotia is located. We are using Sheppard Software to get these down and I love this site.

Art - This week she did a picture narration and made a three dimensional animal. She decided that she wanted to make a panda and then used to scraps to make her dad a skeleton pirate.

We also spent a significant amount of time today googling mythological beasts. Now that she has figured out how to Google, it has become her new favourite thing.

Weekly Reports - Self Education

2011-04-01T20:49:00.005-04:00

Today I have one of those headaches where you blink, and your eye actually feels like it is going to fall out. The ones where Tylenol just seems to take the edge off but nothing else. It's not pleasant.
I just finished writing a post for The Ultimate Blog Party, so if you are interested it is a great way to get your blog out there and meet like minded (or not so like minded) people hop over to 5minutesformom.

My girls and I went for a walk yesterday morning to enjoy the warmer weather. The snow has melted so all the garbage the snow covered has become painfully obvious. Roo was walking and got very quiet while she was looking around and she said, "Mom, why do people pollute? Don't they know that the rain is the earths tears?" I was a little in awe that she made such a statement. But definitely proud. Instead of a lemonade stand, she said she wants a Save the Earth stand. I'm not sure how I am going to accomplish that one.
I have become determined to boost my self education learning. So this week I learned all the countries in Europe as well as their capitals and locations on a map. Next week I am going to try Asia. I have also come to the conclusion that Merle has the hair of a baby orangutan.

What do you think?

Another big thing this week was that Roo lost another tooth. After 45 minutes of me trying to get it out and her acting like I was amputating a finger, I got it out she said "that wasn't that bad". Yeah right, like the neighbors would believe that after that episode.

What we finished this week:

Memory Work - I didn't add anything this week, but for next week I plan on adding the list of Greek Gods.

Spelling (All About Spelling) - As we are speeding through level one we are doing a level a day in about 15-20 minutes. I know we just started but although it is very teacher intensive, I am really liking this program. I think it is going to work. Now all I need is a 2 foot x 3 foot magnetic dry erase board to stick all the letters on. I have a board but it's not magnetic:(

First Language Lessons - Lesson 76-78, review, address abbreviations and titles of respect.

Writing with Ease - Completed week 25 of copy work and narration exercises from Pollyanna excerpts.

Latin (Song School Latin) - Season terms and review.

French (Nallenart) - Unit 9.1 new words and flashcards for clothing terms.

Math - We have completed Math Mammoth 1A addition facts and 1B telling time. She did a test on time today and will do the addition test on Monday. Next week we will move on to 1A subtraction and 1B measurement.

History (Story of the World) - We finished chapter 25 Alexander the Great. We also noticed and had a discussion about how men throughout history to today never seem satisfied. They always want more and there never seems to be peace.

Science (Elemental) - From our body study we muscles and how they work. We also googled dust mites and immediately wished we didn't.

Geography - She is working through Canadian provinces and territories, capitals and landscapes via Sheppard Software. I had forgotten about this site and have refreshed my love for it.

Art - We are working on the art project this weekend because we opted to go grocery shopping instead of art this afternoon.

Ultimate Blog Party 2011

2011-04-01T19:51:00.008-04:00

I came across The Ultimate Blog Party through a blog where I am a regular reader. Being an introvert, parties to me are the equivalent of dental work without Novocaine and I try to avoid both when humanly possible. So this kind of party is more my cup of tea (which I prefer to coffee).

I'm Sara age 31 SAHHM (stay at home homeschooling mom) to my daughter 6 with an infant daughter tag along who was born December 2010. My blog mostly consists of our homeschooling adventure and if I feel motivated I may write something somewhat heartfelt or at least about something non related to homeschooling (like this post).

I have been married for almost 7 years to my husband who is goldsmith by day and rock star by night.......hopefully rock star by day soon as well;) A little bit about myself, yuck, I hate doing this. Thank goodness there will never be a need for me to write my autobiography because I would be terrible at it.

I am addicted to books. I read.all.the.time, anything and everything during every spare moment I have (my next few points are all related to reading).
I admit it, I usually read the last page of a book before reading. I hate surprises and avoid if possible. I also have been known to google movies to find out what happens before watching them as well. It saves me anxiety while watching;)
One of my top ten dreams is to have a library in my home. Not just any library, but one with huge wooden shelves with a rolling ladder and leather furniture. Think these for inspiration.
I want to live in Europe. I will live in Europe. To live in a city that has so much history it literally oozes out of the cracks in the sidewalk makes my heart flutter.
People usually don't like me when they first meet me. I come across as cold and b****y, I know this and it doesn't bother me (I may actually kind of like it). I need to spend quite a bit of time with someone before they "get" me. But once we are friends, we are friends for life........unless you betray me.
I have been known to eat something that has passed well beyond the 5 second rule and I'm not ashamed of it.
I think I am physically incapable of Twittering. I over think things and would spend too much time editing what I wanted to say that I would completely ruin the spontaneity of it.
I also text message using complete sentences and proper grammar. I can't bring myself to use slang or shorten words.

That's all I have at the moment because I am supposed to be doing my weekly homeschool wrap up right now. I may come back and add more later. Happy Ultimate Blog Party!

Earth Hour 2011

2011-03-28T16:24:00.000-04:00

This year for Earth Hour the girls and I got into our pj's, lit candles and hung out in my bed. We played board games and read from our Harry Potter night time read aloud. The pictures are kind of bad quality but they work.

Weekly Report - I Hate Tummy Time and My Lamb Suit

2011-03-25T20:50:00.004-04:00

Note to self: Don't give a baby Tummy Time when baby has a cold. Especially when said baby hates TT and never puts in effort, just kind of rubs her face back and forth and cries. The end result is excessive amounts of "nasal mucus" (being polite) all over the face. Lesson learned.

I was doing the happy dance late week (not really dancing because I don't dance, more like a sway) because it seemed that the house cold was going to pass me by. How silly of me. I should just accept the fact that I will indeed catch any and everything that passes through this house plus most things that don't. So I schooled with a cold this week which made me cranky, irritable and a little bit of a space cadet, not too far from the norm except the space cadet part.

What we finished this week:

Memory Work - I didn't add anything this week, we just worked with what was already in the daily section since she hasn't got them memorized yet. We already have a good list of things in memory as per what I put in my Memory Work Monday post. I did find some more memorization ideas for history though.

Spelling (All About Spelling) - Since we have now finished OPTGR we started AAS 1 spelling at the end of last week. We have done one lesson per day and each lesson takes an average of 20 minutes to complete fully. I knew we would go through level 1 quickly because it has the simple spelling rules for CVC words, but she seems to be really enjoying it. Actually, I think what she is really enjoying is using the Bingo dabber to stamp each lesson completed as well as stamping the mastered Phonograms list. As you can see by the picture, she has mastered all phonograms except for most of the vowels and Y. She is having trouble remembering all of the sounds each vowel makes, but it seems to be getting better each day she does review.

First Language Lessons - Lesson 73-75, a poem, poem narration and searching the poem for uses of nouns, pronouns and action verbs.

Writing with Ease - Completed week 24 of copy work and narration exercises from The Happy Hollisters excerpts. Roo has decided she may want us to read this book because it sounds a little like Scooby Doo.

Latin (Song School Latin) - Weather terms

French (Nallenart) - Unit 9.1 new words and flashcards for clothing terms.

Math - We worked on Math Mammoth 1A addition facts 1 page a day as well as 1B telling time one page a day. We are almost done 1A addition section and 1B time section probably by the end of next week and will move onto 1A subtraction and 1B measurement.

History (Story of the World) - We finished chapter 23 Greek Gods and Chapter 24 Greeks War with Persian and the Peloponnesian War. She did map work for these chapters, coloured the Parthenon and we toured The Acropolis via Google Earth.

Science (Elemental) - From our body study we covered the skeletal system, skull and bones/joints. Roo decided that at some point she wants us to buy a full scale human skeleton model if we can afford it;) I was able to pick up some diagrams of various parts of the human body from the dollar store for $1.50 a piece (I know, what is the point of being called a dollar store if items cost more than a dollar). But it was a good deal nevertheless and the heart diagram I got was in a clear package and when I opened it there were 5 of the same poster in it. So if you are ever in the neighborhood and need a diagram poster of the heart, let me know because I have 4 to spare:)

Art - We did a picture narration and she completed and art project about shapes. She was to look out the window and make a picture using construction paper cut into shapes to represent what she saw.

Roo wanted me to take a picture of Merle in her lamb suit. Merle hates the lamb suit (I think it's the hat she hates). Anyway, we put it on her to taunt her. Mean I know, but I have to get my excitement somewhere. Here's the picture,

You can kind of see part of Roo's face while she is laughing at the her sister.

Here is a close up of another day, she looks more ticked in this picture.

Memory Work Monday

2011-03-21T22:38:00.001-04:00

So one of the ladies at the WTM forums came up with a great idea. She thought it would be beneficial if people posted what memory work their children were working on, on a weekly basis. That way it will let others see what your are doing and maybe give memory work ideas to those that are getting stumped for ideas or inspire those that haven't yet to start.

First off I'll explain what system I use. Actually I won't explain it, I'll just post a link to the site and that has an explanation way better than what I would give. I use the Charlotte Mason Memory System minus the scripture memorization. I started gathering a lot of what I wanted Roo to memorize before the school year started. I also used the book Living Memory By Andrew Campbell, which is filled with great things.

My list for Roo who is 6, so far is:
The Caterpillar poem
Definition of herbivore, omnivore and carnivore
Hearts Like Doors Poem
The Oceans
The Egyptian Ennead
Periods of Early History
Work Poem
Vertebrates
Invertebrates
Canadian Provinces and Territories
Seven Main Levels of Taxonomy
Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt
The Continents
Days of the Week Poem
The Months Poem
Periods of Egyptian History
Signs of the Zodiac
The Senses
Human Body Systems

Most of these have already been memorized they just fit somewhere into the odd/even, day of the week, day of the month rotation. Memory work is the first thing we do for school work in the morning. Many of the list came from things we were studying in science and history at the time.

Weekly Report

2011-03-18T21:10:00.003-04:00

I just finished laminating Greek Paper Dolls and what a pain in the butt that was. But the kid is happy so it makes it worth it....to some extent.

Stalking the mailman paid off this week and my All About Spelling levels 1-3 arrived on Wednesday. I ordered the first three levels because I knew we would zip through level one and I didn't want to have to pay for that much shipping (to Canada) on each level. It arrived too late for us to squeeze a lesson into that day but early enough that I spent a significant amount of time cutting out letter tiles and attaching magnets to them. If I would have read the teachers guide first I would have realized that a) I didn't need any tiles until lesson three which would have given me more time and b) Only certain tiles were needed for level one, not all. So now that they are all cut out I will probably lose some of them before I need them. Especially if I put them away into a "safe spot"where I think at the time, "this is a good spot, I'll definitely remember this spot". Yeah right.

Also Merle's Bumbo arrived the same day, so we got double the excitement. She is sitting in it beside me right now complaining about something:)

What we finished this week:

Memory Work - I added the five senses since we began our body study in science this week as well as the human body systems.

Phonics - We finished The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading today. She was able to read the following sentence:

The extraterrestrial creature wanted to do some interplanetary travel.

As well as the word: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (it took her three times because she kept getting tongue tied) She kept saying that she could keep hearing Mary Poppins saying it in her head.

First Language Lessons - Lesson 70-72, covering seasons, holidays and the use of I.

Writing with Ease - Completed week 23 of copy work and narration exercises from How to Eat Fried Worms excerpts.

Latin (Song School Latin) - Review week covering the topics on food.

French (Nallenart) - A test on unit 8.4 and completed unit 8.5 reading and translating a simple French story.

Math - We worked on Math Mammoth 1A addition facts 2 pages a day as well as 1B telling time one page a day.

History (Story of the World) - We finished chapter 22 Life in Athens and Life in Sparta. Hence the Greek paper dolls.

Science (Elemental) - We started studying the body this week, covering cells, skin and hair. We also did a fingerprint experiment.

We received three more postcards via postcrossing from Taiwan, Texas and China with real Chinese writing which she was very excited about. I registered to send 5 more cards (the limit at one time) so that we can receive more. After we get the postcards we have been locating the place on the wall map and reading about in on the computer.

A picture of my girls in their St. Patrick's Day festive gear. One is happy, one is not.

St. Patrick's Day - WW

2011-03-16T11:48:00.000-04:00

I Hate Waiting.......I Need to Work On That.

2011-03-11T18:35:00.003-05:00

This week was a behaviour battle for the last two days and I found out why this morning.....she was getting sick. Roo was awake no more than 20 minutes this morning before she puked. So today is rest on the couch and take it easy day. Apparently taking it easy means playing and hogging the remote. I wish I got those days when I am sick.

So much for stalking the mailman this week, I'm still waiting for All About Spelling to arrive and the wait is driving me nuts. Have I mentioned I am not a very patient person?

I have been an Ebay addict for years, but for some reason I never thought about looking there for cheap printer ink. I have no idea why. I search Ebay for the weirdest, most random things but not for something I use all the time and loath spending $$ on. Anyway, I found 2 black and 2 colour cartridges for the price of one and free shipping to boot! Now I have to wait for those too. (for those of you who have never seen The Goonies or Fresh Prince of Bel Air, that is where those two Ebay shirts are from).

We were supposed to go to Barrie to day with my husband to watch his band BeforeTheCurtain open for Three Days Grace tonight, but Pukey McPukster changed those plans quick. Now I have to wait for pictures and video footage. Do you notice the waiting theme? I think someone is out to get me.

What we finished this week:

Memory Work - Nothing new added, just going through our memory work box daily. We use the Charlotte Mason method for memory work minus the Bible Scriptures as our method.

Phonics - Homonyms, homophones and homographs. Also reading harder three syllable words.

First Language Lessons - Lesson 67-39, we are doing seasons and abbreviations.

Writing with Ease - Completed week 22 of copy work and narration exercises from The Velveteen Rabbit excerpts.

Latin (Song School Latin) - We learned names of certain types of foods, fruit, milk, bread, cookie and chicken. She learned how to use et cetera as well as how bread (panis) ties to the English word pantry.

French (Nallenart) - Review, review, review. Today was supposed to be a test for unit 8 but sick people don't do well on tests. It is put off until Monday.

Math - We worked on Math Mammoth 1A addition facts 2 pages a day as well as 1B telling time one page a day.

History (Story of the World) - We finished chapter 21 The Medes, Persians and Cyrus the Great. Next week we are off to Sparta. Do you think she is too young to watch 300? ;) Kidding.

Science (Elemental) - With the final study of ants, butterflies and grasshoppers we are done animals. These are our completed habitat pages as well as our Carnivore, Omnivore and Herbivore food chart.

We received our first postcard Wednesday via postcrossing and it came from Finland. She was very excited to get it so I am off to register to send more cards so that we can receive more. I would love to visit Finland one day. I have a thing for the Nordic countries and I love snow, it must my Scandinavian heritage coming through.

Since Earth Hour is coming up soon I made a post about it earlier this week that has some links to some to downloadable teaching/school activities for Earth Hour on their website.

To finish my week off here is a video from my husbands show on Wednesday when they opened for Apocalyptica. Good luck tonight guys!

Earth Hour 2011 - Join in This Year

2011-03-09T22:49:00.002-05:00

There are also some links to downloadable teaching/school activities for Earth Hour on their website.