Rethinking Math

I need to rethink math and my approach with my littlest.  Her brother gets numbers very easily.  It's how his brain works.  He "gets" letters and reads well however he dislikes writing them nicely.  The little one however just goes blank with numbers.  Letters...she's all over them.  Numbers...nope.  She seems to understand patterns/sequence with objects.  Put a number on a piece of paper and she looks/feels lost.

MFW Highlights week 3

While it is week 3 for MFW highlights, it is only our 2nd week participating.  This week completely did not go as scheduled.  We're perfectly okay with it too.  Life is what it is.  My Dad passed away and as a family we spent time together in the woods near the base of Mt. Rainier.  We managed 2 days of "structured" schooling.  The rest of our time was spent hiking and exploring.  Thoroughly taking in all of God's wonders.  While I have no pictures of our "structured" schooling, I do have many pictures of us just being and exploring the natural world.  We nearly caught a Northern Alligator lizard, now have 3 woolly bears taking up residence on the dining table, captured frogs near Reflection Lake, caught a Western Toad at the river where we soaked in the Cascade Mountains, had a large boring beetle climb a leg, nearly caught a garter snake, drank the colors of alpine and sub-alpine meadows, was up close and personal with marmots, and took in both the north and south side of Mt. Rainier. 

 

 

 

 

 

Head on over and visit 2 ladybugs and a lizard to MFW Highlights.

Week in review

We're back in the groove.  This week was our first full week of school and what a grand week it was.  Truthfully Monday wasn't the best despite a great start last week.  A Momma who didn't keep order in the morning mixed with a little girl who didn't want breakfast cooked up to a very frustrating time.  Tuesday was much better.  I am blessed to have little ones who love to learn.  Little ones who love to be at home with their Momma.  

Jonathan blossomed under the guidance of MFW k program.  I am so proud of my guy.  He has an insatiable appetite for knowledge and at times it's difficult for me to keep up with his hunger.

 We began to work on animal patterns this week.  Some of the creatures have been simple for the children (and their Momma) to master while others have proven to take a bit of time to figure out.  While they...ahem..."play" (wink wink) with the pattern blocks I read to them.  We've started the Little House series.  I adore that they love stories and being read too.  That has not always been the case.  Both of the kids didn't seem to like being read to until roughly 3.  At that point I never could seem to read enough.  I treasure having them at home and being able to curl up in the rocking chair or on the couch and reading.  And as if that isn't delicious enough, where else can a young Miss attend school in a mask that her Gee-Gee and Pop-Pop brought back from Italy?

Nature study is nothing new to our household.  I have, at times, put aside other studies in order to dive into a subject in nature that holds the kids' interest in it's grip.  What is new however is our own nature notebook.  The kids have been looking forward to this.  We have a drawer that is our "special art drawer".  It contains pencils and color pencils that are exclusively for our notebooks.  Wednesday morning we were outside by 7:45am with excitement bubbling over.  This week we've been discussing things close to the ground.  Slugs and snails seem to be what the kids are most interested in.  We have had a worm habitat and recently an ant farm. I can now say that this Momma now knows more about slugs and worms than I ever thought I'd want to know.  Frankly, I no longer see them as simply icky, slimy creatures.  Don't get me wrong, I'll still put ground eggshell and diatemacious earth out to prevent them from eating the greens in our garden.

This weekend we are headed to the mountains for camping.  I plan on sneaking our nature notebooks into our gear and know that we will most definitely have a wonderful time looking at all of the wonderful things that are close to the ground.



linked to homeschooling highlights in MFW at: Discovering Their Gifts

New school space

School officially began last week in our house.  I really dislike the way it sounds; "school officially began...".  We school all the time however during our "off" time we are more relaxed.  For Kindergarten we used My Father's World and I couldn't have been happier with it.  Truly it was gentle, fun, and engaging.  Our son who struggled with "structured" learning blossomed over the last year with MFW.  Jeff and I decided (well, he generally leaves it to me) to stay with the curriculum again this year.  I am excited about everything we  have planned over the next 10 months. 

Speaking of excitement! The kids and I have a newly dedicated school area. Our house is small by American standards.  Very small.  When we visited a friend's house which was over 2000 sq ft Emma was amazed at the size and declared it a mansion.  Our home is a three bedroom and while the kids are boy/girl, they have always been together.  They are not yet ready to separate.  We had a fun area dedicated to all of our school and craft goodies in the living room but our craft/school/book collection is growing.  The 3rd bedroom has thus been dubbed the "school room".  I'll leave you with pictures of our school area.  

Excuse the mess behind the guitar.  It is all of my sewing stuff that will soon have a new home about the sewing machine which was moved to our bedroom in order to make this schooling area possible.  The rocking chairs have both been kept warm.  They are our quiet areas.

Happy moment

Both of my kids read short stories today for the first time. I know that I'm not the only Mom who is brought to tears when her child reads for themselves. I think as a homeschooling Mom however, I may get a wee bit more emotional. Deciding to teach the children at home is not a decision made lightly. So often we're left wondering if we've made a difference, if our child(ren) is learning. We question ourselves. For today, for this brief moment, I'm letting out a big sigh. In that sigh you will find joy, contentment, and pride. At the end of the sigh you might catch a "what next" but probably not. Life is good.

Silk

Our little guy has begun to build it's cocoon! Nature is a wonder.

Fiber Fest

This past weekend our family was apart. Daddy took the kiddos camping and I headed to OFFF Saturday morning. Giddy Up! Last year I went with rabbits to sell but this year I was a consumer. A gauker. A budget was set and stuck to. I determined that I wasn't going to buy pretty braids of painted roving this year but instead went with a list of potential future sheep. We've had Romney in the past and while they were gentle sheep, I've been studying other sheep. The guy who's picture is above is a CVM / Romeldale. After spending TONS of time talking with breeders/ranchers of these mellow sheep I think I'm pretty well set that they will be the sheep in our future.

Hopefully a couple alpacas will be in our future too. I don't want to breed Alpaca...just have a couple for my own personal spinning use.

This is the "loot" I came home with. Really it's not much. The black fiber at the top of the picture is Gotland. It's a rather new breed in America and I was curious. It has an open crimp so is more like curly locks. Dark brown stuff on the right hand side is Romeldale / CVM, the stuff at the bottom is my splurge. 50/50 yak/merino. Oh.my.softness! It will be saved for a later date. The fiber on the left hand side is romeldale/CVM from a different farm. Told you, I'm in love. :-) All in all it was a nice weekend but the silence gave me a lot of time to think. I realized just how much I need my family and caused me to appreciate so much more the blessings God has given me. At times I feel like throwing my hands in the air. Child rearing is so frustrating...and ever so worth it. Because of my children, I am learning how to love unconditionally just as they do. I miss them and the Mister terribly when they are not near me.

Last but not least we have a new "pet" erm...science study living on the coffee table. You can't see it in the picture but there is a caterpillar hidden in the leaves. My little Em was beside herself with excitement over a "live surprise" she had for me. Through a little research on my part I've become certain that it will (hopefully) emerge as a moth in the spring. It has given me a perfect opportunity to add more "school" to our day. The best part of the whole thing? The excitement and interest the kids have. I love that the kids have a zeal towards nature. This has also provided me with the opportunity for us to put together our first lapbook. Yippee!! Oh...dirt has been added since this picture was taken since several moths go into chrysalis in the ground.

By George!!! A Mother could not have asked for a more pleasant morning. My kiddos woke up about 7am. My little man who has not preferred "school". The last couple weeks he seems to have blossomed and just seems to "get it". He's saying sounds and reading some of the basic words before his sis who is always asking for school. At any rate, this morning at 7am my little man was begging me to have school in the dark. No, not in the evening when he typically wants to wait until but right then and there! Oh Joy of Joys! Will this last? I can be hopeful can't I?

Our Thankful Tree

The kids and I are spending the week leading up to Thanksgiving talking about things we are thankful for. Today we began the tree and started with the letters 'a', 'm', and 's'. I'm using green backing for Em and tan for Jonathan.

I must ask you what self respecting tree would be without a 4 yr old boy being thankful for Marshmallows?