Join us as we set sail for the new world

We are packing our bags, filling our minds and generally preparing for a trip to the new world. Our boat sets sail in two weeks. Won't you join us?

Seriously, if you have considered using Tapestry of Grace, now is a good time to check it out. The free three week trial includes everything. Very few curricula offer such an in depth preview. We are finishing up week 18 this week. So, I plan to start week 20 January 25. Take some time to look over the sample materials. Pick up a few books from the library and join us on this learning adventure.

Let no set back go to waste

This morning was exactly what I imagined homeschooling would be like. When I brought my oldest daughter home I had a four year old, a 18 month old, and a 5 week old. I was terrified. I was lucky if dinner was ready. I had no idea how I would teach my daughter how to write a paragraph. Totally convinced that God was asking me to bring McKenzie home, I withdrew her from school. I braced myself for a "wasted" year.

At 10:30 this morning I was still cleaning up the breakfast mess. In my mind I was going over all of the academic things that undoubtedly would not be accomplished today. Then, my three year old broke a Christmas decoration. Okay, deep breath. Not a crisis. Not even close. However, it had to be cleaned up. (dirty dishes in the sink - -ok; broken glass in the carpet --not ok) By the time that I was ready to start school I already needed a mental break. I sent the kids to play in their room while I went to basement. While I stood in our unfinished basement I decided that the best way to start our school day was with something fun. Yes, we were "behind". Yes, I was anxious about fitting in two handwriting lessons. I also knew that I did not have the patience needed to guide the girls through their more challenging lessons.

Today, at the shameful time of 11am, we started our school day by reading "The Winter's Tale" from The Children's Shakespeare by E. Nesbit. The girls loved it. In fact, they were jumping up and down begging for "one more Shakespeare." My six year old said, "Shakespeare is better than dessert!"

We didn't have time for handwriting lessons today. I didn't hold up any math flash cards today. We didn't draw maps of Magellan's historic trip to the Spice Islands. Today we read Shakespeare. Today I offered up a prayer. God, despite my weaknesses, please let my children learn.

Ten years from now my girls might be sitting in a high school classroom. I hope that if their teacher hands them a copy of a Shakespeare play they will clap their hands in joy.

If success is measured by learning opportunities

Geography challenge #2 was, if nothing else, fun. I love that the most ordinary activities become exciting with children.

I let each girl pick a destination. My 6 year old routed us from our pick up spot to the "transfer circle". From there she guided us onto our next bus and pulled the bell when our stop was announced. When we reached our destination she looked up at me and said, "Thanks for planning this."

My 8 year old was also able to reach her chosen destination, but it took a little more work. She did not need to switch buses, but she really wanted to. After two attempts at navigating a bus transfer she agreed to stay on the main line and get off at the stop closest to her goal, the library. The ride back to the car went more smoothly.

I would like to repeat this activity. I think that I would be able to tweak it as they get older. Superimpose latitude and longitude type lines on the bus map, give the destinations in the form of coordinates. Also, it would be fun to ask them to be the tour guide for our town and have them plan a tour using the bus system. That idea would focus more on social studies and language arts.

Geography Challenge #2

At the beginning of the year I tried a geography challenge with the girls. It worked even better than I had hoped.

We are now filling the "geography adventure" jar again. For the next two weeks, as we read about Columbus, I will be teaching the girls basic map skills. Each morning I am asking them questions from the previous lesson. Along with the review questions I am throwing in world geography questions. For my first grader I am also asking her questions about our address.

My ideas do not always work. This one is working. For this homemade geography unit I am using a book called Maps and Mapping: geography facts and experiments. (check the J912 section in your library for something similar) I am also using TOG Year 2 map aids.

And the adventure that will reward all of their hard work? A trip on the Applcart! What? The Applcart is our college town's version of public transportation. Each girl will be given a map, pick a destination, and without assistance pick the bus route that we should follow to reach the chosen destination. They are so excited that it is almost embarrassing. You would think that they never leave the house.

I do not care to spend the entire day on the college bus with my 4 children, so I am highly motivated to teach well. I hope to take pictures of this adventure.

When the teacher is the student

Two and a half years ago my husband and I made an agonizing decision. We wrote a letter to the principal of our oldest daughter's school. We ordered a math curicullum. We drilled our friends with questions about home management. We called the president of a local homeschooling coop. And so began this quiet "unexpected adventure."

This week I have realized all the things that I would have never learned had I been unwilling to venture down this path. Here is the short list:

• I love history. My exposure to world history prior to homeschooling was a backbreaking textbook with dates, dates, and more dates. This year history has come alive for me. I love the books that we are using. Real books, not two paragraphs used to bookend another timeline.
• spelling - - -teaching phonics is greatly improving my spelling skills
• each fingertip has 50,000 nerve endings! Did you know that? Last night as I prayed for my children, I thanked God that he knows every one of those nerve endings.
• how to find the answer to analogy questions (wish I had had this one 15 years ago when I was taking the SAT)
• how to rejoice and live comfortably in the life that God has called you to, even if that is different from what you expected

What are you learning on the adventure that God has called you to?

the non-TOG stuff

At the heart of our school work is Tapestry of Grace, but, as the sidebar indicates, we have a few other things going on too. Here is a quick update.

Math - -still good; I like being able to pull from two resources; McKenzie is loving the analogies. I usually have to make her stop and move on to the next thing.

Science - overall good; It is working for both girls, which is nice. I did buy anatomy coloring books that we are using to supplement the anatomy reading. I am also finding myself adding experiments. If you are willing to use R.E.A.L. science as a starting point it is fine. If you would rather have all you need at your fingertips don't use this one

Grammar - I continue to be satisfied with Easy Grammar. We are using the daily grams workbook and the larger lesson book.

Spelling - Spelling Power sure seems like a lot of work for a spelling program. I am not following the program exactly, which doesn't seem to be working. Now I have to decide, do I spend a few hours organizing spelling or do I bag the whole thing. Advice?

Phonics - My first grader is using Veritas Press phonics. Last year I did not need the teacher's guide. This year I saved a ton $$$ and only bought the student workbook. As it turns out I wish that I had the teacher's manual for the first grade material. I am making it work since I have two years worth of Saxon phonics to pull from, but if you are thinking about using Veritas just buy the whole thing.

a common goal

We are wrapping up unit one of year two. For those of you not using Tapestry of Grace, that means that we are beginning to transition out of the middle ages and into the renaissance. Today we talked about the life of Jon Wycliff and I did a quick review of some of the people we had talked about through out the week. Joan of Arc, Johann Gutenburg, Jan Huss I went rattling through the list. My third grader said to me, "it is like they were all working on the same things and didn't even know."

Wow. That was so true. All week I had been reminding the girls that these people had given their lives. Being the only woman in the army must have been lonely. Devoting yourself to one goal despite financial ruin must have been challenging. Standing for the truth of the Bible, even if that meant standing against the bishop, would have been scary. McKenzie pulled it all together for us. All of these people surely had times when they felt alone. And yet, they were not. God was using each of them to usher in the reformation.