Following Foundations 3/16/2012

We had beautiful weather this week! We spent one morning at the park and lots of time in our own backyard. Z-man handed Doodlebug a big magnifying glass and said, “You use this if you want to study things.” Now if I can just get Little Man to look in the correct end of the binoculars, we’ll be set. 🙂

Sassafras (2nd Grade):

Sassafras learned about Benjamin Franklin and the clockmaker John Harrison in history this week. She also finished up Gulliver’s Travels. She started reading Ann McGovern’s If You Lived in Colonial Times and learned about cooking in the colonial period. It was my plan for us to make homemade bread this week. It didn’t happen. 😦 In science she learned about clouds and precipitation. It was a great week for identifying clouds!

 

As part of our Michelangelo study, Sassafras and the Z-man carved a head out of an apple. The plan is to let the apples dry out for a few weeks, and then they’re going to dress them up. I think it’s a little freaky, but they think it’s pretty cool. For music, we listened to Dvorak’s New World Symphony. Sassafras also continued to work on Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring on the piano. She wants to play it next weekend when Grandma comes to visit.

 

Z-man (Kindergarten):

The Z-man read Put Me in the Zoo and The Cat in the Hat this week. He also received a huge lot of Curious George books from a friend, so he’s been somewhat engrossed in those.  One afternoon he and Sassafras sat on the back doorstep and read their books together. I love it!

In other news, at 5:30 Tuesday morning, I heard some disturbance in the kitchen and noticed that the light was on. Daddy found the Z-man playing in the kitchen. He promptly deposited him on the couch and told him to go to sleep. Well, he did go back to sleep, but I, on the other hand, laid in the bed staring at the ceiling for the next hour. So, I decided just to get up and start my day. That’s when I noticed the markers and paper on the kitchen table. Apparently, the Z-man had been designing his own color-by-number picture sometime in the wee hours of the morning. Sigh. I included a pic below. If you need an interpreter, it says “1. Red 2. Brown 3. (written backwards) whatever.” I was informed later in the day that the picture is an apple with wings on a boat.  (Please note the jumping fish on the left.) So, there you have it. I think spelling is going to be a fun subject next year!

 

Little Man (3 years old):

“Another one bites the dusta.” That was Little Man’s motto this week. All of the time outdoors this week inevitably led to bumps, bruises, and scrapes. If it wasn’t him, it was Doodlebug hitting the pavement! Meanwhile, he also spent some time on the back steps eating crackers with his baby sister. Awwww!

 

Doodlebug (2 years old):

I still haven’t seen that cursed penny Doodlebug supposedly swallowed. Maybe I dreamed the whole thing. She has a checkup next week, so we’ll see what the doctor says. Meanwhile, she spent the week walking around in the North Carolina red dirt with her bare feet and sitting on sidewalk chalk drawings on the back patio. I also learned this week that while she may be fearless in many things, don’t let a little fly land on her. She was extremely upset!

Me:

We  bought a new bookcase this week. Don’t ask me how it fits, but we managed to to put it in the dining room with everything else. The other shorter bookcase in the room was just too chaotic, so something had to be done. I was getting grumpy. Now I feel much more organized, although somewhat cramped. 🙂

I’ve made it up to the 38% mark in Don Quixote. Only the equivalent of 623 pages to go! I think I can! I think I can!

Following Foundations 1/20/2012

Well, I’m trying to get back in the saddle again with our weekly reports. The holidays always get me off-kilter. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, from our home to yours!

Sassafras (2nd Grade):

We started studying Colonial America this week with Jamestown, John Smith, Pocahontas, and John Rolfe. She began reading Pocahontas and the Strangers for literature.  We made a little 3D map of Jamestown, showing its triangular fort. Both Sassafras and the Z-man made cornhusk dolls as well. (Yes, I was feeling very motivated in the “arts & activities” area this week!) I’ve included pics of our creations, as well as a picture from last week’s Shakespeare study.

 

 

In science Sassafras continued her study of the solar system with Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. She and the Z-man also started painting their model of the solar system. (Like I said–I was VERY motivated!) Latin focused on the “to be” verbs, grammar was about adverbs and adjectives, and writing dealt with direct quotations. Our artist study was about Leonardo da Vinci. We were also supposed to do a watercolor wash painting, but it didn’t happen. The cornhusk doll won out. For music, we continued studying Beethoven. (I love Beethoven!) Sassafras was also back at the piano this week after a long break over the holidays. She was finally able to use the damper pedal. Yes, she’s totally pumped about the pedal!

Basketball is going pretty well for Sassafras. So far, she’s made one goal. She has a game at 8:30 in the morning. There really should be a law against that. It has been worse. A couple of weeks ago she had to be there at 7:30 AM….for pictures. Oh my word!

Z-man (Kindergarten):

The Z-man had a big accomplishment this week. He lost his first tooth! I didn’t even know it was loose until he started crying while eating. The drama was high for a couple of days, and he kept insisting on a soft diet. He went through a lot of yogurt! It was barely hanging on, so I finally told him that if his tooth came out by the end of the day, we would all go to Purple Penguin for frozen yogurt. He pulled it right after supper. Behold the power of sprinkles!

While I was highly motivated this week, the Z-man…well….was not.  All of his seatwork was a struggle. He managed to do some math, phonics, and handwriting, but it wasn’t pretty. We’re a little ahead in our Sonlight reading, so we didn’t start a new read-aloud this week. Instead I let him listen in on his sister’s history reading. I’m going to have him learn about the 13 colonies along with Sassafras. I’m hoping that sometime this year we’ll get to Williamsburg and Jamestown, and I want him to have a clue when we get there.

In science this week, the Z-man started studying the human body. We made a lift-the-flap digestion poster and did a muscle-pulling craft. (Again, I was motivated….or possibly feverish?) In geography, he studied about lakes and rivers. He colored a nice page about the parts of a river, but his baby sister decided she would dip the dry-erase marker in my coffee and then wipe down the table. His geography page was a casualty. Sigh.

  

Little Man (3 yrs old):

Little Man was totally pumped about his school this week. I started him on the Explode the Code primers (beginning phonics) this week. He already knows all of his letter sounds, so now we will be practicing phonemic awareness. So far, so good! He also continued to work on fine motor skills with Kumon workbooks.

I had a meeting with Little Man’s speech therapist this week to authorize testing his articulation and language. His testing will be next week, and then we’ll know if he’s ready to exit out of the program. He’s made great progress!

Doodlebug (22 months old):

I have great news to report about Doodlebug! She had hip xrays last week and received a good report. Both of her hip angles were well within the normal limits. So, we were able to say bye-bye to her brace. Woohoo! She sees the orthopaedist again in 9 months to ensure there aren’t any reversals. I hope we’re home free!! In the meantime, Doodlebug is growing up too fast. Sniff.

  

Me:

Merry Christmas to me! I pooled my monetary Christmas gifts and bought a Kindle Keyboard. I really like it! (Unfortunately, my hubby and  Sassafras are big fans, too. Excuse me. May I have MY kindle please?) I’m mainly interested in free, older classics. Right now I’m reading Arthur Conan Doyle’s second Sherlock Holmes novel, The Sign of the Four. And speaking of Sherlock Holmes, I’m a big fan of Jeremy Brett. So, I was pretty miffed about Netflix taking that series off of instant streaming. However, I’ve recently discovered the new BBC series Sherlock. I was very skeptical at first, but I really enjoyed the first two episodes of series 1. There are only 3 episodes (90 min each) in each series. Series 2 will air on PBS in the US in May. Good stuff. I hope.

In other news, this past weekend we pulled up the carpet in our hallway and living room. The hardwoods underneath look great! I don’t have real before and after photos. The picture below was from five years ago when we bought our furniture. Since then, the piano and the tall bookcases are in the room. But regardless, it’s clear that we have a huge improvement!

 

Following Foundations 11/11/2011

We took the kids to the Green Eggs & Ham Discovery Concert at the Winston-Salem Symphony last Saturday. It was a hoot! It was very entertaining and held their attention the entire show. Now if only Little Man would eat green eggs and ham….or vegetables…or fruit…or beef…or fish….or……well, I guess I don’t really have time to go through that list. Anyway…… We then headed to our church’s hayride. The weather was a bit cold, but the leaves were beautiful, the apple cider was delicious, and the fellowship was sweet.

Sassafras (2nd Grade):

In history this week, Sassafras studied the Aztecs, the Incas, and the Spanish conquistadors.  She was also supposed to learn about the flora and fauna of South America. Didn’t happen. However, she did manage to make a salt-dough map of South America. Hopefully, she’ll be able to paint it next week. (Salt dough maps take forever to dry in our house.) We also read  A Winter’s Tale and Romeo & Juliet from Edith Nesbit’s The Children’s Shakespeare.  Nesbit does a wonderful job of re-writing these tales for children.

In science this week, Sassafras learned about stars and constellations. She thinks it’s cool that there’s a constellation named Pegasus. She’s really going to love it when the constellations of the winter sky are in full view.  The astronomy course I took in college is going to come in handy!

   

Her literature this week was supposed to be The Borrowers. However, on Tuesday she left the book at the school where Little Man has speech therapy. Sigh. So, she’s reading The Trumpet of the Swan instead.

We finished the book 52 Days by Camel: My Sahara Adventure this week for our Africa study. I know I mentioned it last week, but this book is so wonderful and interesting! The photographs are outstanding!

We finally managed to do an art project late Friday afternoon. The focus was painting a wash with watercolors. The “wash” part turned out okay, but I’m rather discouraged with watercolors. I have zero knowledge about watercolor technique. She painted her cat and then immediately tried to put a black eye on it. Well, the black all spread out all over the cat’s head. She was in tears, and I was quickly trying to tell her how to salvage the picture before she had a complete meltdown. In the end, she made the cat with black markings. She was happy, and the crisis was averted. I would much prefer to stick to drawing and sketching. There’s much less drama.

Z-man (Kindergarten):

I started giving the Z-man speed drills in Rod&Staff Math 1 this week. He doesn’t write very fast, so I give him 90 seconds instead of a minute to complete them. He actually finished all the problems yesterday, and he was very proud of himself.

Science this week was about animals that live in the sea. He really liked the Great White Shark. For our read-aloud, we read Mary on Horseback. (Why do I always cry when I read Sonlight books? Sniff.)

The Z-man did the same art project as Sassafras. His painting is entitled “Elephant with Wind-Blown Ears.”

 

Little Man (3 yrs old):

Little Man finally got his s-blends down in speech therapy. Now he’s going to be working on sh/ch. Maybe before long a “chip ship” won’t be a “ship ship”.

Doodlebug (19 months):

This week I included a couple videos of Doodlebug. Everybody likes to watch a dancing baby, right? The second video is of Doodlebug practicing her back flip in her Rhino Cruiser.

Me:

There isn’t anything interesting to report about me this week. I changed diapers, did a little bit of laundry, practiced some guitar and piano,  and changed more diapers.

Following Foundations 9/23/2011

Today we took a field trip to Emerald Hollow Mine in Hiddenite, NC with some fellow homeschoolers. I planned this trip to go along with our recent study of rocks and minerals in science. On Wednesday the weather wasn’t looking all that promising with a 60% chance of rain in the forecast, but I was willing to give it a go. Well, the radar this morning offered little hope with a huge system of rain and storms moving across the southeast. The two-hour trip to Hiddenite was mostly in the rain. However, by the time we got there, it was only drizzling. We each worked through two buckets of ore on the sluiceway and then listened to a very informative and interesting presentation on rocks & minerals. The sun came out as we were eating lunch, and we were then able to go searching for gemstones in the creek. I had prayed that the Lord would be gracious to us with the weather and that we would all have a good time regardless, and He answered prayers in such a wonderful way. We had a great time with great friends, and we found some cool gemstones!

      

Sassafras (2nd Grade):

In history this week Sassafras studied the Hundred Years’ War, Joan of Arc, and the Black Death. She desperately wanted to supplement by watching some “Sleeping Beauty”-type show that was on Disney. In the middle of her handwriting, she kept sneaking a peek at the TV. She said, “Can’t I go in the living room and watch that show? It’s medieval! I just went in there, and I saw a peasant!!” Go finish your handwriting, dear.

And truth be told, she really does need to be working on her cursive. She’s actually doing quite well, but she got confused this week and switched a little s with a d. And how did this manifest itself? A card she made for daddy started off “To sassy.” OK, so we all had to laugh at that one!

Sassafras finished Rod & Staff Math 2 this week, learned the “drop the e” rule in spelling, studied mountains in science, read half of More Stories From Grandma’s Attic, and read about Jacob & Esau in her Bible study. I included a pic she drew of the story of Jacob’s ladder.In art and music, we continued our study of the Limbourg Brothers and Johann Sebastian Bach. She and the Z-man each drew a castle for their art project.

 

Z-man (Kindergarten):

The Z-man finally graduated from the “silent E” section in his reading lessons. Woohoo! He finished the first I Can Read It! book in Sonlight.  He’s super excited about starting book 2 next week! In math he worked on addition facts that add to four and practiced counting to 100. He finished a nursery rhyme pocket for “Diddle, Diddle Dumpling, My Son John.” For our read-aloud, we read Johnny Appleseed.

The Z-man had a great time at the mine today. Boys just love mud. Once, I saw him slip and head down the muddy hill on his belly like he was on a water slide. “I’m okay! I’m okay!”

Little Man (3 yrs old):

Little Man really hit the jackpot at the sluiceway today. I think he found more gemstones than anybody. However, he wasn’t too crazy about falling in the creek. He also had a hard time getting up the muddy bank.  He’d climb and then slide back down. Once he said excitedly, “I almost there, Mommy!” Down he went, and the tears came. Daddy had to give him a boost. Bless his heart. I guess not all boys like the mud.

 

Doodlebug (18 months):

Doodlebug had her 18-month checkup this week. She made a point to scowl at anyone who came within three feet of her.  Actually, scowling, complaining, and getting into trouble was her modus operandi this week. When she wasn’t holding on to my leg screaming, she was climbing on the table and grabbing pencils, scissors, markers, and anything else she knew she wasn’t supposed to have. She never missed an opportunity to go in the bathroom and steal all the toothbrushes. Yes, I was ready to pull my hair out. She was still going strong at bedtime. We try to give her some chill-out time in her brace before we put her to bed each night, but she decided she’d rather walk around.  This child stops for nothing!! I’m tired!!

Me:

I played in a creek. That was pretty much the highlight of my week. Really!!

What else happened this week? Well, I pulled Doodlebug off the table. I pulled Doodlebug out of the bathroom. I returned toothbrushes back to the bathroom and shut the door….again…and again. I pulled Doodlebug off the table. I took pencils away from Doodlebug. I took markers away from Doodlebug. I wiped marker ink off Doodlebug’s face and arms, the table, the….. Oh, I think you get the point. And just as I thought I had Doodlebug settled and out of trouble, I had to launch an inquisition in an attempt to find out why there was poop in the hallway. It turns out the culprit was Mr. Nobody. Can I go play in the creek next week, too?

Following Foundations 8/05/2011

We had a busy week of  magnets, monks, cathedrals, rainbows, a bloody nose and holy rides to the library. Read on!

Sassafras (2nd Grade):

Sassafras spent every morning this week at the library participating in the GlaxoSmithKline Science in the Summer program. The electricity and magnetism themed program included experiments with magnets, static electricity, and circuits. They had show-n-tell today and showed off some of their projects. In the picture below she is showing off their homemade magnet.

In the afternoons she did a little math, history, and Latin. In history, we studied Justinian the Great, St. Benedict, St. Patrick, monasteries, cathedrals, and Byzantine Art. We also learned about illuminated Medieval manuscripts. I bought a coloring book of illuminated letters and let her color a page for art. We also found a nice little video about how Medieval books were made. (Be sure to bookmark it for your Medieval studies!) Another cool video we watched was David Macaulay’s Cathedral on Google Video.

 

Z-man (Kindergarten):

The Z-man and I just plugged away at Kindergarten this week while his sister was playing with electricity at the library. We started studying weather in his science. We talked about the water cycle, floods, and rainbows. Later this week, he told Sassafras he was coloring with “indigo”. She was, shall I say, insulted when he said he read the name of the color on the crayon. “How did he do that?? He can’t read that!!” Of course, having learned about “indigo” in the rainbow had primed his reading pump, so to speak, but she didn’t know that. Chill out, Sissy!

Little Man (3 yrs old):

Little Man was just along for the ride this week. What else can I say? We read Pete’s a Pizza, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and The Gingerbread Man. He colored a little, did some counting, and learned a bit of Latin. He sanctified one of our trips to the library this week by chanting “Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus”. It’s gonna be bad if Sassfras’s little brother shows her up on her Latin prayers. It could get ugly! Hmmm. I wonder what else he can learn by osmosis? He’s very spongy.

Doodlebug (16 months):

Doodlebug (aka Rotten) was daredevil extraordinaire this week. Last Saturday night, she thought she would test out her theory that sleep is overrated. She was up from 1AM to 5:30 AM. At first we tried to let her sleep in our bed. (Note to self: Babies in Rhino-Cruiser hip braces are not capable of sleeping with their parents. Or rather,  the parents can’t sleep with them.) I was amazed at the speed with which she could rotate on any axis. It wasn’t working out in any way, shape, form or fashion. So, hubby and I ended up taking turns sitting with her in the living room. She walked all over everywhere in her brace to the point where we had to attach more velcro the next night. Sigh. I’m sure I was walking around in a daze at church on Sunday.

On Tuesday she decided it was in her best interest to attempt to climb out of her crib. Who needs a stinkin’ nap anyway? Well, she got stuck and started screaming. When I finally reached her, I found her straddling the side of the crib and hanging on for dear life. She rounded out the day by falling into the bathtub while reaching for a toy. I guess she landed on her face because she came up with a bloody nose. Gravity is like that. At the park today, she walked up and DOWN the slide. Methinks I have my work cut out for me.

When she wasn’t climbing, she was sword-fighting her brothers. Yes, she will take you down. Also, she somehow managed to get an M&M every time Little Man used the potty. Hmmm. Maybe I was afraid of the light saber.

 

Me:

It looks like I may start teaching two kids to play the piano and guitar. We’re still trying to work out the details. Yes, I’m leaping out of my comfort zone. Who knows, maybe my parachute is a different color….. In the meantime, I’m working through Debbie Denke’s The Aspiring Jazz Pianist. Not that I’m interested in playing jazz, but it seems to be a good book for working through the application of chord theory. I can do this…..I think.

Following Foundations 7/29/2011

Well, here we go. I’m not going to promise to be consistent in cranking out my weekly reports. I know from experience that, as Mary Poppins says, “That’s a pie crust promise–easily made and easily broken.” I’m on top of things this week, though!

Before I delve into this week,  I want to mention some highlights of the past several months. In March we headed to Mississippi to spend Doodlebug’s first birthday with my family.  We hit the zoo, children’s museum, and the agriculture museum. It’s nice being a tourist in your own hometown! 🙂

 

In April the kids participated in Field Day through our local homeschool group. Sassafras and the Z-man both placed second in the sack race. Little Man even participated in a 3-yr old dash. There were free sno-cones and inflatables for the kids. It was a really great time and I’m looking forward to next year.

 

In May we visited the Lazy 5 Ranch and became pals with emus, llamas, water buffalo, and other four-footed creatures. I’ve never laughed so hard as when I had emus and llamas sticking their heads in my car! It was hilarious!!

  

In early July we headed to Michigan to visit my husband’s family. We spent some time at the beach flying kites, visited Windmill Island where we toured a 200 yr old working windmill brought over from the Netherlands, and, most importantly, ate some really good pizza. 🙂

    

Now we finally arrive at this week. My plan was to start school the second week of August. However, Sassafras started begging to start school early. I think the heat and humidity were starting to get to her! So I caved and we started school this week on a light schedule. We’ll get into the full swing of things in a couple of weeks. This week has given me an opportunity to test out my daily schedule to see if it’s going to work.  Juggling 2nd grade, kindergarten, preschool, and a toddler is definitely going to be a challenge, but I’m hopeful. 🙂 I can at least have hope, right?

Sassafras (2nd Grade):

Sassafras had a great first week of 2nd grade with some math, history, Latin and art. We started year 2 of Tapestry of Grace with the Barbarian invasion of the Roman empire. In geography she started a salt dough map of an imaginary place with various landforms. (I think she also came up with some imaginary landforms!) For art and music we started the Harmony Fine Arts program for the Medieval & Renaissance period. This was our first week studying the artist Cimabue and the composer Vivaldi. Sassafras did a watercolor picture of our house.

Our current read-aloud is the The Wheel on the School, which is a book set in the Netherlands. My husband’s family is from the Netherlands, so that has made this book extra special.

 

Z-man (Kindergarten):

I started the Z-man full-swing in Kindergarten this week. The only other thing I plan to add in a couple of weeks is some beginning geography. We started Sonlight’s Core K (or whatever it’s called now), Sonlight’s Science K, math, handwriting, and Explode the Code. We’re slowly pushing through the Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading. We’ve made it through the section on silent e, but it’s still a challenge for him. I’ve decided to go back and review before we move forward.

I’m learning very quickly that this boy is going to be my visual learner. For science, we played with a globe and a flashlight in the bathroom for him to understand night & day. I also had him make a poster of the seasons. The Z-man also participated in his sister’s art lessons. His watercolor picture is of our backyard.  He’s a very eager learner, and he’s so excited about school!

 

Little Man (3 yrs old):

Little Man is doing a little bit of preschool. He collapses into a pitiful heap in the floor if I tell him he doesn’t have to do school. So, we’re doing a couple of Kumon workbooks and some counting. He calls all of it his “math”, even his coloring. We’re also reading through the books in Sonlight’s p3/4 core.

We’re doing the potty-training thing. I hate it and he could take it or leave it. In many ways, he’s just like his brother. He’ll use the potty if I take him, but then he doesn’t care if he wets all over himself. Sigh. I have hope. I can at least have hope, right? 🙂

Little Man is doing better with his speech. His therapy will start  back in a month or so. He speaks in 4-5 word sentences and can sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star all the way through. That’s pretty much his only song, so I’m hoping that for my sanity’s sake, he’ll expand his repertoire soon!

Doodlebug (16 months):

This is my wild child! Having hip surgery hasn’t slowed her down! She started walking at 14 months, which is a full month ahead of her siblings. She loves to climb and will make stairs out of whatever she can find. She likes to dance while standing on the Lego bin. She can put her clothes in the hamper, stuff her socks in her shoes, throw things in the trash (not always things she should), pull things out of the trash (none of which she should), walk up and down stairs, steal things that belong to her siblings (and laugh about it), and sneak a chip out of the bag when no one’s looking. She’s trying to say a few words, and she can do a bit of sign language. She’s recently started loving books, especially Ten Little Ladybugs. 

And what are we going to do with this feisty girl?! Well for the past two weeks and for at least the next six months, she has to go back to wearing her hip brace at night. I really thought it was going to be a struggle when we found out that her hips had gone downhill during the past six months. But believe it or not, she has been a real trooper and hasn’t complained about the brace. She can roll over, sit up, and stand in the brace. Lately, she’s even been trying to put her leg up on the side of the crib! Heaven help me! I hope she doesn’t figure out how to take the brace off and then subsequently climb out of her crib! A lot can happen in six months! But I have hope! I can at least have hope, right? 🙂

Me:

I’m burning the candle at both ends. A few months ago I put my guitar lessons on hold in order to tinker on the piano. It’s been slow going because I’m just so busy with everything. Even though I can read music, I’m learning how to play using chord theory. I have all this information in my head and I want it to exit through my fingers!! It’s a lot of fun and very rewarding!

Following Foundations 11/5/2010

Soccer, soccer, soccer. That defined our week! We would have had a total of one practice and four games this week if one hadn’t been rained out. We sat in sleet for a game this morning! Uggghh! Well, soccer playing is all over now. We have  a couple of soccer parties left. Here comes the sugar!

Sassafras (1st Grade):

In Tapestry of Grace history this week, Sassafras studied ancient American civilizations, including the Inuits, the Mound Builders, the Cliff Dwellers, the Olmecs, and the Maya. Actually, I had been dreading history this week due to lack of books on the subject. The one history book we did have, Dover’s Life in Ancient Mexico Coloring Book, contained some disturbing pictures such as a Maya leader pulling a spiked rope through his tongue. Honey, do you want to color this page? Ewwww. Blech. Gross. (Insert any other adjective you feel is appropriate.) But in spite of it all, we actually enjoyed this week and learned a lot!  We spent a good bit of time online looking at pictures of igloos, Native American Mounds in the eastern US, cliff dwellings in the southwest, big stone heads of the Olmec people, and Mayan ruins. I actually had some of my own pictures of the Mayan ruins at Tulum where my husband and I had visited on our honeymoon. On that trip, we had also purchased a Mayan-style codex book that explains the Mayan calendar, and Sassafras was able to make a rubbing of the cover. We also took time on Friday to watch Cracking the Maya Code via Netflix.

In science Sassafras studied protists and bacteria. We spent a little bit of time on youtube watching amoebas and paramecia move around under a microscope. One of my favorite things in school as a kid was looking at pond water through a microscope. I can’t wait until we can buy our own microscope and look at all kinds of cool stuff! This week’s lessons completed our animal study in God’s Design Science. Next week we’re on to the human body.

Her other subjects–math, writing, grammar, and spelling–progressed as usual. Art appreciation this week included reading Van Gogh and the Sunflowers about Vincent van Gogh and looking at some of his work online. In How to Teach Art to Children, Sassafras studied more about the art element of value by diluting watercolors. Drawing with Children didn’t get accomplished this week due to the Maya video we chose to watch on Friday afternoon.

In other news, Sassafras scored two awesome goals in her last soccer game of the season. Unfortunately, I think she may have pulled a muscle in the process. Sigh. We’ll see if she’ll even be able to get out of her bunk bed in the morning. She’s also making great strides in piano. She has become comsumed with a primer level hymn book and has already worked through four songs on her own. I included a video of her playing “Go Tell It On the Mountain”.

Z-man (K4):

The Z-man is still progressing nicely in his school work. He’ll finish his Explode the Code primers next week. Woohoo! I also started him on a Kumon Numbers 1-30 book. In Singapore math he worked on pattern sequences. He loves math and always asks to do it first. He’s also practicing counting to 30 and counting by 10’s to 100.

The Z-man has now memorized the first 18 questions of the Baptist Catechism. I finally started putting the answers to chants and it has really sped up his memorization. Why I didn’t do this earlier is beyond me. His memory verse this week was Proverbs 15:1: “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Now if only I could get him to apply this concept with his little brother. They were constantly at each other’s throats this week. Sigh.

Little Man (2 yrs):

Little Man is talking up a storm! He’s trying to copy his siblings in what they say. He’s not putting any words together in a sentence, but he does put thoughts together. This week in particular he’s been talking about what belongs to whom. I made the mistake of letting his baby sister wear one of his sweatshirts last week. When I tried to put the same sweatshirt on him the other day, he would have no part of it because he thought it was his sister’s and not his. “Me” has been his favorite word this week!

Doodlebug (7 months):

Our cast-free Doodlebug is doing great!! She does very well in her Rhino Cruiser brace during naps and at night. Earlier this week she started rolling over. Before she was casted, she had only rolled over twice. Now we can’t keep her on her tummy for any significant amount of time. We’re also working on sitting up. She has some self-support, but she usually stiffens her body and leans backwards, making sitting impossible. Her legs tend to default to the cast position most of the time. She’ll get there!

Me:

This week was our anniversary. Nine years! We’re hoping we’ll be able to celebrate with dinner maybe next weekend. This week was just too busy with soccer to do anything else. The Maya book that I mentioned earlier that we bought on our honeymoon also came with our wedding date written in Maya hieroglyphs on bark paper. I’ve included a picture of it below. The first five positions of the Maya date tell how many days passed from the creation of the world (according to the Maya) to our wedding date. I won’t go into all of the details (they’re explained in the book), but it says, according to my calculations, that 1,867,932 days passed from creation until our wedding. That equals roughly 5,114 years. The rest contains other calendar info. Apparently, if I had been born on the same day of our anniversary, my character would be described as good, rich, and generous. According to my explanation sheet, this would put me in the same boat as Nietsche, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lucille Ball, and Frank Sinatra. Hmmmm.

Following Foundations 10/29/2010

This is a two week update! Mamaw and Granddaddy came to visit last week, so there was no time to write our report. We headed to the NC State Fair last Friday. The highlights included the kiddie rides, the ferris wheel, face paintings, milking a cow, and deep-fried Oreos. A great time was had by all!

Sassafras (1st Grade):

Last week was a light week for Sassafras. She only covered history and math. This week we were back full swing. History over the last two weeks covered the Indus Valley civilization and ancient China. We particularly enjoyed the China books this week and loved learning about the Great Wall of China. We even looked at the Great Wall with Google Earth. We read two literature selections by Ed Young entitled Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China and Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China.

Math and language arts carried on as usual. Nothing too exciting to report. She’s almost done with Rod & Staff 1st grade math, and she’s working on dividing multi-syllable words in spelling. In reading she started The Chalk Box Kid, and we began Goonie Bird Greene as a read-aloud.

In science Sassafras covered Echinoderms (starfish, etc.), sponges, and worms. This finally brings her to the end of the section on invertebrates. For the sponge lesson, I let her do some sponge painting with real and artificial sponges.

We had a great week in art! For art appreciation we read Suzette and the Puppy: A Book About Mary Cassett and looked online at several works by Mary Cassett. In How to Teach Art to Children she started learning about the art element of value. This week she worked with shades of gray. In Drawing with Children, I asked her what she wanted to draw and she suggested flowers. So, a quick google image search yielded this simple image of a bouquet of flowers. Sassafras’s version is below. I think she did great with no instruction from me. When she was done, we talked about what she did and didn’t like about her drawing. I was happy that she was happy, especially since I tend to stress her out sometimes when she’s trying to draw.

Sassafras is doing great in her extracurricular activities. In her gym&swim class at the Y this week, they asked if she wanted to swim with the big kids. She declined, but the offer does show how much she has improved in the pool. She even does a nice backstroke! In piano, she finished Primer A (for young beginners) of the Bastien Series and started Primer B. I also bought her a book of hymns and she has already learned “Jesus Loves Me”. And finally, in her soccer game tonight, she scored her first goal of the season! She was so excited! I’m glad progress is being made!

Z-man (K4):

The Z-man has been plugging away in his schoolwork. He only has one letter left in the last Explode the Code Primer. I’m anticipating reading lessons to begin in a week or so. I let him try counting up to 30 this week. He’s been begging to do it, but I told him he had to get to twenty consistently first. We’ve also been reading through Sonlight’s p4/5 core. In the Berenstain Bears’ Big Book of the Science and Nature, we started reading about simple machines this week. We demonstrated a lever by lifting the ottoman with the broom. He thought that was pretty cool!

The Z-man has lately become fascinated with the dashboard in the van. He’s constantly asking questions about what does what. He also religiously watches the gas gauge. He starts to fret when we get to a quarter of a tank. He has also become interested in the names of roads and interstates. He’s starting to memorize the names of local roads. However, he tends to get confused about what constitutes an “interstate”. His first question, regardless of where we are, is always “are we on the interstate?” “No, honey, we’re in the driveway.” OK, it’s not quite that bad…but close.

Little Man (2 yrs):

I truly believe the croup is from the devil! Little Man woke up last night with the croup accompanied by bad stridor. It was probably the worst we’ve seen of all of our kids’ bouts with croup. Fortunately, I had a couple of doses of steriod from the last time Little Man had croup. Our doctor had intentionally given us a little extra. Anyways, about an hour and a half after the steroid, he was breathing quietly. I’m not sure what tonight holds.

Little Man is still doing well in speech therapy. This week was his best session yet. No whispering! Woohoo! He received several new words for his book this week, so we have our work cut out for us! He’s also been getting better at saying his siblings names. Little Man is his own number one fan. Anytime he says a word correctly, he screams “Yay!” and claps and commands everyone else to clap for him!

Doodlebug (7 months):

3-2-1 CAST OFF!! Tuesday was cast-off day! Free at last! Free at last! Doodlebug did really well during the cast removal.  The cast tech let her wear some little ear muffs to muffle out the sound of the saw. It took what seemed like forever to get the cast off. Since she had managed to crack her first cast, apparently the doctors were determined she wasn’t going to crack the second one. So the cast was layered on really thick. What should have taken only 5 minutes took 20 minutes instead! Doodlebug wasn’t very happy during the whole process, but she wasn’t hysterical either. We soon discovered that she had some hunk-chunka legs hiding up in that cast! Oh to be a baby and have socially acceptable chunky thighs! Her x-ray results were great. Her left hip angle (the one that was operated on) was in the normal range and her right hip angle was just above normal with mild dysplasia. We were delighted to hear that she only has to wear her rhino cruiser brace during naps and at night. This makes life so much easier for us now. She fits in a highchair! Yay! She fits in a regular carseat! Yay! We don’t have to use our cadillac stroller everywhere we go now! Yay! She can now learn to sit up and roll over and be a normal baby! Yay! I get to cuddle my baby all the time now without a cast or contraption in the way! Yay! Yay! (Insert backflip if I were ten years younger.)

The day she got her cast off, I spent the whole afternoon cuddling with her. As a result, I neglected to plan and cook supper. We claimed it was a celebration and went out for pizza. I took a picture of her sitting in her first restaurant highchair. We then wheeled her into the store to buy her a new girlie pink carseat. I took another picture of her in the umbrella stroller. 🙂  And then we did the best part….a BATH!! A real BATH!! She hated it, but I loved it! Aaaahh! Life is good! I’m so happy to have my baby back!

Well, believe it or not, there are a few more things to mention about Doodlebug that don’t include the cast. I’m suspicious that she may have a rice intolerance. We had three occurrences where she had bad vomiting an hour and a half after having a tiny bit of rice cereal mixed in with some fruit. After giving her a two week break from trying solid foods, I finally tried to offer her some applesauce last night. Well, it didn’t make her sick, but as you can see from the picture, she clearly vetoed it! Sigh. Maybe I should just toss her a chicken leg. She now has her first two teeth coming in!

Me:

No, I do not regret eating deep-fried Oreos. I only wish I had discovered the deep-fried Chips Ahoy cookies first. Well, there’s always next year!

Following Foundations 10/15/2010

Z-man: “Mommy, I found some rectangle money in my jammy drawer!!!”

Now if only I could find some rectangle money in MY jammy drawer!

Sassafras (1st grade):

We’re calling this week 10A. We did everything but history and art appreciation. Next week we have dentist appointments, a visit from Mamaw, and a trip to the state fair. So, next week we’ll just be covering math and history. However, she did put the final touches on her history lapbook from Unit 1 (The Books of Moses) in Tapestry of Grace and drew a cover for it.

Her math this week was accompanied by tears only on one day. I don’t know why. It just happens occasionally. In Writing With Ease, Sassafras gave narrations from passages about Davy Crocket and Sacagawea (which, by the way, I didn’t know was pronouced with a hard ‘g’). She completed step four in All About Spelling, and in First Language Lessons, she sent her Daddy a letter in the mail as part of writing her complete address with her zip code. Daddy was pleasantly surprised!

In science, Sassafras reviewed arthopods and then studied mollusks and cnidarians (jellyfish, anenomes, etc). She had a great time sorting shells and trying to identify them with a shell book we borrowed from the library. We also checked out a couple of books on both groups of animals for her to read in her spare time over the next week.

In art this week, Sassafras thought I was throwing her to the wolves. Yes, she had tears over art. Every week we practice drawing from graphics in Drawing With Children. Every week I talk her through all of the elements of shape in whatever picture we’ve selected and I draw the picture along with her. She usually does pretty well with me working with her. Well, this week I told her that I wanted her to try it by herself so I could see if she could process the picture by herself.  She cried. How terrible is that! What kind of mother can make their child cry over art?! About twenty minutes later she finally started drawing by herself. She selected a camel from a book called The Lion’s Paw. She was actually very happy with it once she got started. I just felt terrible that I upset her over art. Bad Mommy.

Z-man (K4):

As I’m mixing Crystal Light with water, the Z-man says, “Mommy, is that a bad drink? Daddy says he needs a bad drink.” “No, Honey. Daddy said he needed something to drink really bad. He meant he was thirsty.” And what lesson did Daddy learn from this? Don’t think you can mix up your adjectives and adverbs in front of a four year old and get away with it!

The Z-man completed his small portion of math and phonics this week. He was even able to sound out a few words on Starfall this week. We’ll be on the reading road soon!

You know, it’s funny what kids remember. Halloween is coming up. (I hate Halloween, but I guess that’s beside the point.) Anyways, we’re going to the symphony for a kids’ Halloween concert. The kids can dress up and get candy, etc. Since they will also be sitting down during the concert, I need costumes that are of the “sit-able” type and not too warm. (This means our adorable little duck costume is a no-go for Little Man. He would have been so cute!!) As a result, there’s been much conversation about costumes, with Z-man changing his mind every other day. (His last choice was Batman–the blue and gray one, he says.) Well, one day in the middle of the costume conversation, Z-man’s face suddenly falls and he whimpers, “Daddy, can I go with you instead of staying home and watching McQueen?!” (Sniff. Sniff.) Uh, what?? And then I remember. Last Halloween (when he was 3 years old) he was sick, so he stayed at home with me and watched the Cars movie while Daddy took Sassafras and Little Man trick-or-treating. Now I’m sure he doesn’t remember being sick. He just remembers being left behind. Great. Just great. Sigh. I’m sure he thinks it was my fault. I mean, I can even make a kid cry over art.

Little Man (2 yrs):

Little Man is still making slow improvements in his speech. This week we were able to make him very aware of saying ‘up’ instead of ‘bup’. All it takes is a raised eyebrow and he’ll correct himself on that word. This week his therapist added hot, hide, house, and hand to his word practice book. She also gave some suggestions for activities for developing lip rounding, such as picking up cheerios with his lips or alternating between ‘ooo’ and ‘eee’ sounds. Little Man and I have decided that trying to sing The Witch Doctor is the most fun. OOO EEE, OOO AH AH, TING TANG, WALLA WALLA, BING BANG!! He has a ways to go, but he’s having fun! Now I just need him to stop whispering during his speech therapy!! Once he goes into whisper mode, it’s very difficult to get him out of it. He only whispers louder if you say you can’t hear him. Sigh.

Little Man has also been having trouble adjusting to cool weather clothing.  He doth protest much when I pull out a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Hoodie sweatshirts are the worst. I let him wear his tennis shoes as a consolation prize. The boy is all about his teeny-boppers.

Doodlebug (7 months):

Are we there yet, Papa Smurf??! One and a half weeks until she’s cast-free!! The next step will be a Rhino Cruiser brace. (Click here to see Sassafras in her Rhino Cruiser when she was a baby.) I’m hoping the brace will be 23/7 instead of 24/7. I want at least an hour a day to hold my squishy, cuddly baby! Not to mention the fact that I want to give her a real BATH!! Do you know how difficult it is the wash the head of a 7 month old the same way you would that of a 1 week old? They don’t move their head when they’re a week old! Who knew a sponge bath could be so messy!

Me:

I made this awesome black-eyed pea soup again this week. Yum. Yum. Add some Frank’s Hot Sauce and it’s double yum.

Following Foundations 10/8/2010

We started Monday morning with only one tablespoon of peanut butter, two waffles, and ten goldfish crackers. I guess I failed miserably in the planning/preparation department. It was a long day.

Sassafras (1st Grade):

This week Sassafras completed week 9 of Tapestry of Grace Year 1. We are now at the end of unit 1. Woohoo! We looked at the Jewish feasts of Sukkot and Shavuot and read stories of the children of Israel wandering around in the wilderness for forty years. In geography, she worked on how to read a map key and a map scale. In science, she completed her study of arthopods by learning about arachnids, crustaceans, and myriapods  (centipedes & millipedes). The rest of the invertebrate world now lies ahead!! Cnidarians, here we come!

In language arts, we started All About Spelling Level 2. In Writing With Ease, she did narrations with passages from Charlotte’s Web. We continued our study of nouns and began memorizing a new poem in First Language Lessons. For read-alouds, we finished Mountain Born and started Mr. Popper’s Penguins. (I cried like a baby at the end of Mountain Born. Sassafras laughed at me. She said “The sheep’s not real!” Oh, have a heart!!! ) For her reading, she started Third Grade Detectives: The Clue of the Left-Handed Envelope. No other tears were shed.

In Scripture memorization, Sassafras memorized Romans 1:21a and 1 John 2:15-17. She also memorized question 110 of the Baptist Catechism, which asks “What rule has God given for our direction in prayer?” The answer is “The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer, but the special rule of direction is that prayer, which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer.” The remaining eight questions of the Catechism will center on the Lord’s Prayer. We’re almost to the end!!!

In art appreciation, we talked about still life paintings and continued to work through Art Fraud Detective. In How to Teach Art to Children, she made a color wheel with tertiary colors. In Drawing With Children, she’s still working on drawing from graphics. This week she tried to draw the  bunny from Margaret Wise Brown’s The Runaway Bunny. She made three attempts and each time we talked about what she liked and what she didn’t like. I’ve included pics of all three attempts.

Last Saturday, we all went to a birthday party at Putt-Putt. It was actually the first time she played miniature golf. Does that sound bad?? Like maybe she should have had this life experience before the age of six?? Oh, well. She had played hockey in her Gym & Swim class the week before at the Y. So, she was anticipating being pretty good at golf…or so she said! Anyways, she scooted the ball around and had a great time. My friend Audrey sent me some pics of our kiddos at the party and I’m including some here. (Hint: These are the pictures taken with the really good camera!)

Sassafras also had another first this week. She poured milk from the milk jug all by herself. She just pranced over to the fridge and decided to get her own milk. After she got comfortable with that, she also tackled the apple juice. Today, she said “Momma, I’m gonna pour out my water and get me some apple juice.” Uhh…no, you’re not! For some reason, she erroneously thinks she now has free reign over the fridge. I swear if she learns how to slice a piece of cheese from the block, she’ll go through 2 pounds of cheese in 3 days. I’m gonna have to watch her!!

Z-man (K4):

The Z-man worked on the letter V in Go For the Code this week. Three more letters and he will be finished with the Explode the Code primer books. Woohoo! He’s also loving Singapore math and always asks to do it first. (In contrast, his sister would probably be burning math books in the backyard if given the opportunity.) I’m also enjoying going through Sonlight’s p4/5 core with him.

He finally finished memorizing question 17 of the Baptist Catechism, which asks “Did our first parents continue in the glad obedience for which they were created?” He’s still working on Proverbs 1:10, which says “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.” It’s a short verse, so you would think he would learn it quickly. However, you would be surprised at all the variations of “entice” and “consent” that I hear from him! If sinners WHAT? Do not WHAT?  The good news is that he knows what the verse means!

The Z-man does not get along with his little brother. I know that isn’t earth shattering news. Little Man is two….and stubborn…and he doesn’t communicate that well. The situation is complicated by the fact that the Z-man is a screamer. He can’t just cry when he doesn’t get his way. He screams. He screams as if someone is trying to kill him. The boys were playing outside this week while Sassafras was doing schoolwork. I hear this blood curdling scream come from the backyard. Is someone hurt?! Of couse not. The boys were tied up in knots while the Z-man had his foot squarely planted on an acorn that he was trying to shove into the ground to grow an oak tree. Little Man was Little Man. He wanted the acorn. That acorn. Not the other 372 acorns lying around the backyard. I just knew the neighbors were going to call the cops. It sounded that bad. Sigh.

The Z-man asked me today if I’m thirsty after I nurse the baby. HaHa! You betcha! Mommy needs a Diet Pepsi!

Little Man (2 yrs):

Is that picture on the left not sweetness made over?! I could just eat him up with a spoon!

Little Man is working hard in speech therapy. We practiced the same words again this week: mommy, daddy, baby, hippo, happy, bunny, etc. Some of the words I still have to remind him of the first sound, but overall he’s improving on these words.  He even started using the words on his own. For example, he now calls me “Mommy” instead of “Mama”. He received three more words to practice this week: hat, boom, and man. For his therapy session this week, he talked out loud for the first twenty minutes or so and then after that he just whispered. I noted that the whispering came after the therapist was trying to get him to say “shoe”. I guess he took the ‘shhhh’ part seriously! Actually, I’m not sure why he whispers at times. It usually always happens when he’s around someone he doesn’t know all that well. He’ll either not say a word or he’ll whisper. At other times, I think he’s not feeling very confident in his ability to communicate. Up until recently, he wouldn’t talk at all to most of the nursery workers at church. Now I’m getting reports that he’s starting to whisper and he’s using sign language a bit more.

His therapist may take him in a different direction next week. He has a hard time getting the first sound in many one-syllable words. He usually puts the ending sound first. So for example, bike sounds like ‘kike’. Milk sounds like ‘kook’. He seems to get beginning H words when given a visual cue, so he may work on more H words next time. One problem that the therapist and I both noted is that he doesn’t round his mouth very often. I tried practicing in front of a mirror with him today to no avail. It may just take some time. I can get him to round his lips when I ask him to pucker up and give me a kiss. However, I can’t get him to stop kissing me long enough to practice making his sounds! Oh well. We’ll keep working on it! A few extra kisses from Little Man will be worth it!

Doodlebug (6 months):

Well, my little Doodlebug has two and a half weeks left in her cast. Her cold-weather wardrobe is a little sparse, so hopefully the colder weather will hold off until then. I did find some things for her to wear in my bin of 12-18 month girl clothes. I even found a couple pairs of knit pants that would stretch enough to get over her cast. Of course, she looks like Grandpa Jones when she wears them! Pants to her chest and no teeth!!

Me:

Here are the highlights: I interfered with the planting of an oak tree in my backyard and I cried about a dead sheep. That’s all I got…. Oh! Wait! Wait! For those who read my report a couple of weeks ago:  R.I.P. Mousey. I said you were going down.