Thinking About Next Year, in February

I'm looking forward to next year. It might start the first week of June. (Whether I'm kidding or not, I'm not even sure.) I can't wait to have Tyler home with us. Right now I feel like I have to let them play in the mornings because he has preschool in the afternoons, and it wouldn't really be fair for him to "have school" all day. I'm ready to switch that around and do school first, and then have time for play. I'll probably still use Nolan's naptime in the afternoon for some school, but I'm really excited about what we can all do together in the morning.

We will probably end up using a lot of the books I planned on using this year. It was too much for the time we had available to us (keeping mornings for play, and working around preschool drop off and pick up and getting Nolan down for his nap in the afternoon) and to be honest, it was too much for Lucas's abilities at the beginning of the year. He has really grown a lot though. He is narrating well, and his reading is improving - I think he is actually enjoying it! Now that he has been introduced to things like narration, nature walks, and picture study, I think it will be easier to add in more subjects. Tyler will catch on quickly. He will have his own little phonics lessons, but everything else, all of the read aloud subjects, will be together. Lucas will have sacrament prep (First Reconciliation and First Communion) and more reading/phonics that Tyler will not. Even math will probably be together.

I've been thinking about how Nolan will fit into our morning time. He wants to do everything they're doing. It makes it hard for Lucas and Tyler to focus with Nolan there - who wants to be there, but is noisy and wiggly. Right now they all have open access to toys. I'm wondering if restricting that access will encourage longer, better play with whatever I get out. It seems like he would be able to entertain himself with access to so many toys, but he doesn't, so I might try something different.

So here I am, in February, thinking about next year. Typical, I know. It's not that I'm in a rut regarding this year - I actually feel like we are finally getting into a groove because there haven't been as many tears about school lately! It is finally feeling good, and I'm looking forward to including Tyler in that and having a better routine to our day.

Schoolish Outings

Recently we've done some school-ish things without doing much school. In December, we read Mr. Popper's Penguins and planned a book group for kids. It was really fun. Today we are going to a Velveteen Rabbit book group.

We've continued going on Charlotte Mason inspired nature walks. Winter walks are interesting in their own way. Not many insects or flowers to look at, but that makes the few things you do find more interesting.

We have a once a month gymnastics class, and the older boys are halfway through four swim lessons. It's good to get some exercise in winter; even when they're playing outside, it doesn't end up being as much as summer. Not coincidentally, the swim lessons were scheduled to begin after a trip to an indoor water park, which was not schoolish other than listening to James Herriott on the four hour drive.

Last weekend I took the older boys to their first symphony. It was a family friendly concert that included "Carnival of the Animals." We have two versions of it at home, so it was fun listening to both and then seeing their reactions at the concert.

Coming up in March, we will be taking a family trip to Seattle and Olympia, WA, for my grandma's 90th birthday. This will be everyone's first time to Washington except for me, so I'm hoping the weather will allow us a glimpse of Mount Rainier. We might also drive to the ocean one day, if we have a long enough chunk of unscheduled time. There is a good wildlife refuge to explore too.

In April, my oldest and I will be taking a day trip to Chicago on his birthday. Last year he got to go to monster trucks with Daddy. This year is mine. :) He was born in Chicago and is excited to take the train and see skyscrapers. I also plan to stop at the Art Institute (a Van Gogh exhibit is coming). I haven't decided yet if we'll spend the rest of the day exploring the Loop, Magnificent Mile, or Lincoln Park, where I lived for seven years. I'm really excited for us to spend the day together.

What I've Been Reading

1. I finished Pocketful of Pinecones by Karen Andreola, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for an easy to read novel, which it was, and the bonus was getting to see a Charlotte Mason beginner ease into the methods and see her and her children fall in love with their new education. I can't say I "learned" a lot, but I found it inspirational in a yearning kind of way. Moving back to the country is my dream, too.

2. I'm about halfway through Teaching from Rest by Sarah Mackenzie. It is good, but I find I am consistently underwhelmed when I read books by bloggers. There is just not that much more they can say than what they've already written online, available for free. The words might be different, but the message is the same. I'm slightly rubbed the wrong way by writing for free, realizing you're getting famous, and then cashing in on that. I mean, I guess it's fair, it just bothers me. Anyway, I'm reading it, and I think she has a lot of good things to say, but I would probably recommend people follow her blog and podcasts instead (although now she's charging for some content there, too - makes me wonder how she can be running a growing business and still homeschooling in the way she suggests).

3. A few months ago, I stole away for a couple hours on a Sunday afternoon. I went to Barnes & Noble and sped-read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, otherwise known as the KonMari method. Again, I was familiar with it from what I had read online, but this one did have a few areas that hadn't been fleshed out fully on the various blogs, podcasts, and YouTube videos I had watched. I began decluttering after that, loosely using the touchstone of her method, of deciding what stays and what goes by whether an item "sparks joy." I have been able to part with a lot of clothes that always left me feeling annoyed that they didn't fit quite right or had some memory attached to it that made me avoid wearing it again. The same with jewelry. I kept my classic jewelry that I always fall back on and a couple newer pieces that also have a classic look. I've also gotten rid of quite a few kitchen utensils, DVDs, CDs, and surprisingly, a LOT of books! I got momentary joy from buying really great books at really great prices (or free), but after reading KonMari, I realized hanging onto them, having to constantly rearrange my bookshelves, and feeling regret about not reading so many of them, was reason to let them go back to the thrift store. I can always find them again. Most recently I went through the linen closet and got rid of so, so much old makeup and hair things that I haven't used since college. The house isn't feeling lighter yet - I haven't reach my "clicking point" - but I'm working on it. I'm now reading her follow-up book, Spark Joy, which was available for free on Kindle a few weeks ago but only through Verizon (weird promotion?). I haven't spent a penny or acquired any more books to have the world of KonMari opened up to me.

4. I'm continuing to read Charlotte Mason's Volume 3 with the local CM group. It gets better and better. Unfortunately, I find myself nodding in agreement, underling, and asterisking all over the place, but I still cannot/have not been able to implement it. Some of the methods, yes, but the atmosphere, no. I have so much work to do, mostly on myself. I feel somewhat defeated lately. My growing boys have growing personalities, and the sum of their personalities and energy levels is just so much greater than mine. I feel like there is so much to undo because we had wonderful, sweet, obedient 3 year olds, and then we gradually lost that, and now they're tyrants. At least that's how I feel today. Which really has nothing to do with Charlotte Mason, other than I believe what she writes is true and I'm frustrated that I cannot make it be true in my own home.

5. Giants in the Earth by O. E. Rolvaag - must. start. reading. I found it this weekend at a used bookstore for $2, and I read the first two pages. I have 20 days to read it before our book group, and it sounds really intriguing to me, but I am going to need a solid half hour of silence to get into it the first time. If I can't concentrate, it will never happen.

I love reading, but it's something I truly have to find time for. The days and weeks get full and busy and go fast. I will say that's something Sarah Mackenzie and Charlotte Mason have in common though - reading needs to become part of the atmosphere of our home, and it is my duty to create that.

All Saints Party

Yesterday around 50 children from our Catholic homeschooling community gathered for an All Saints party. The children each gave a clue for the others to guess their identity, and then we prayed a Litany of Saints including the saints represented. Moms set up games and a snack table, and everyone had a good time.

My boys were St. Luke, St. Francis, and St. Pope John Paul II. For St. Luke, we attached props of a paint palette and an empty vitamin bottle, since he was a doctor by trade and later an artist. St. Francis had a stuffed squirrel and duck pinned to him. JPII was very simply a pope who liked to play soccer. I wasn't going to try to keep a 17 month old from tripping over a long costume.

The game I brought was St. Anthony's Lost & Found. I made a sensory bin with about 10 pounds of rice and 12 small objects hidden in it. The younger ones really enjoyed digging around, and the older children were challenged by finding some of the smaller items.

It's been nice getting together with our Catholic homeschool community and watching friendships form between the children as they spend more time together.

First Lessons

We are a month into our school year, and it is going well. While we are still not a "school every day" family, we have tried to fit in a Bible story and copywork nearly every day and lessons in reading, math, literature, and geography a few afternoons a week. We honestly haven't begun history yet. We have been enjoying a warm, sunny September instead. Even math was brought outside one day.

I believe Lucas is settling into the Charlotte Mason approach. His narrations of Bible stories and Aesop's fables are better each time. His copywork is improving, and he has even begun making some of his letters "fancy." The highlight of our first month, though, is picture study. The first week, he studied and then described to me the painting The Son of Man by Rene Magritte. He then painted his own version of it with watercolors. He loves painting, even giving "a painter artist" as his answer to "When I grow up I want to be..." on the first day of school, so it shouldn't surprise me that picture study is going so well.

His next picture study was Football Players by Henri Rousseau. I left him alone on the couch for a few minutes with the picture and told him to look at it and try to remember everything he could. He remembered nearly everything - more than I would have, I think! He was able to tell me about trees in the background, clouds in the sky, what color stripes the players were wearing, their mustaches, the orange leaves ("I think it's fall," he inferred), and even the white fence behind the players. I was so impressed and proud of him, which made him proud of himself, too. When I gave him the painting to look at one more time, he noticed right away that one thing he hadn't seen the first time were the cracks in the tree trunks.

He wondered if Rousseau had painted this all in one day. I told him I didn't know, but some artists do work quickly, and others work for a very long time on one piece. We looked up the painting, and though we didn't answer that exact question, we learned more about the artist, the painting (he was impressed by the size of it, almost as tall as him), and where we could go see the painting in person (that idea really excited him - I think a visit to an art museum is in our future). I'm just thrilled that he has found something to be passionate about that neither of us would have ever expected or thought to make a part of our lives if we weren't homeschooling.

I'm also pleased with his progress in reading. I have to constantly remind myself that boys only four months younger than him are just starting kindergarten, and to expect a full year's difference in reading level is not fair. Still, I believe he is reading fairly well, considering it is not something we worked on every day last year, or even this year. We have been reviewing CVC words and sight words, adding to those that we learned last year. We have also started working on th, sh, and ch, and briefly introduced silent e through the words five and nine. He seems to enjoy spelling words and using word cards to write stories more than actual reading, but he is getting more comfortable reading the short Bob books and the lessons in Alpha-Phonics.

You can see his "fancy" s in sat.

Nature study has been another high point. He has become quite a good cricket and grasshopper catcher. We haven't seen many birds, so I've allowed him to focus on insects and a few wildflowers still blooming. His first entry in his nature notebook is a drawing of goldenrod. We had walked through a field full of goldenrod, and there were bees all around. He was a little scared but we made it, and then he worked hard on his drawing for about 20 minutes.

Overall, our year is off to a good start. We are still picking up steam in terms of our daily routine and how many lessons we fit in each week. More importantly, though, we are enjoying our time together and I'm seeing sparks of joy in both of us that have been missing for a while.

He made the apple pie filling while I made the crust.

First Grade Plans 2015-2016

We are just beginning our Fall 2015 term of 1st grade. I've spent the past few months reading about Charlotte Mason's philosophy and methodology, comparing various curricula and booklists, and perusing blogs by other CM homeschoolers. I recommend starting with For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay if you want an introduction to Charlotte Mason education before reading her own six volumes.

Many hours were spent reading, writing, thinking, and praying this summer about what our homeschool would look like this year. Below are my decisions, which are always subject to change - as my husband knows all too well. We are following a combination of recommendations from Ambleside Online and Mater Amabilis, and a combination of what they each suggest for kindergarten and 1st grade (Year 0 and Year 1, Prep Level and Level 1B). Don't worry; in total I am doing less than what any one of those four years recommend. I simply selected books from each list.

Because of the ages of my children (6, 4, and 15 months), certain parts of our day will be spent together and won't be conducive to great focus. But, for about 90 minutes, three times a week, I will be able to work with my 6yo alone. This will happen during the toddler's naptime on the three afternoons that my 4yo is at preschool, and I have chosen to do the subjects that require more focus and effort during that time (reading, math, the catechism portion of religion, and more difficult selections in literature). The remaining subjects will happen around the kitchen table, while playing outside, or on the couch while little brothers entertain themselves nearby.

For All the Children Together
Morning Basket:
New Catholic Picture Bible, one story a day during Ordinary Time
(Tomie dePaola Advent and Christmas unit, plus Jesse Tree, and Lent/Easter unit including A Life of Our Lord for Children by Marigold Hunt)
Around the Year Once Upon a Time Saints, one a week

Prayers, hymn, and memory verse (upcoming Sunday's Responsorial Psalm)

Copywork: review letter formation, our names, and eventually moving on to memory verse
A brief review of today's day and date, and our address and phone numbers until those are mastered
End with folk song

Stories on the Swing:
(This happens daily after breakfast, morning chores, and morning basket are complete. The 15mo stays quiet, and I can read from my Kindle instead of a book. These are downloaded from Yesterday's Classics.)
For the Children's Hour by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
Kindergarten Gems by Agnes Taylor Ketchum
Clara Dillingham Pierson's Among the Farmyard People, Among the Forest People, Among the Meadow People, Among the Night People, Among the Pond People, and Dooryard Stories
Following the stories, a brief time of running, stretching, and calisthenics, and then outdoor play until lunchtime

Poetry:

Gyo Fukikawa's Mother Goose and A Child's Book of Poems
A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Tasha Tudor

A.A. Milne's Now We Are Six and When We Were Very Young

Nature Study:

Burgess Bird Book for Children and others by Thornton Burgess (We are just beginning Old Mother West Wind as a bedtime read aloud, and I also came upon an old copy of the Flower Book which I hope to read from occasionally in the spring in addition to the Bird Book.)
One Small Square series and Jim Arnosky books on nature shelf for free reads

Handbook of Nature Study
A nature journal for each of us
Various field guides

Composer Study:
Fall Term: Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf

Music:
Singing Lesson for Little Singers - these exercises are just as much for me as for the children because I have a goal of improving my singing voice.
Not sure if he is ready for piano lessons; maybe after Christmas

Picture Study:
I Spy An Alphabet In Art by Lucy Micklethwait (Preschooler follows a letter of the week curriculum, which we will follow for picture study this year.)

Art:
Draw Write Now Books 1-3 (big hit so far; my kids love drawing)
Watercolor painting

Foreign Language:
Song School Latin, once we are inside a few more hours a day over the winter
Usborne First 1000 Words in Latin, Spanish, and English (same illustrations on each page of all three books, making for easy translation of common words between the three languages)
A variety of familiar picture books in Spanish

Handicrafts/Practical Work:
Chores: washing dishes, folding laundry, dusting, cleaning floors and windows
Personal Care: brushing teeth, washing face, combing hair, cleaning and cutting fingernails
Dressing: buttoning shirts, tying shoes
Gift Giving: well done handmade birthday and thank you cards
Gardening: caring for a houseplant in winter, starting seeds in spring
Baking: weekly baking afternoon with mom
Play-Doh, Legos, Montessori work, and various building materials and art supplies available during free time

For the 1st Grader
Reading: a combination of The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and Delightful Reading (I'm reading both for my own reference and going from there. Right now we are alternating days between basic short vowel phonics and sight words using CM methods.)
Math: Right Start B, 2-3 lessons a week plus math games and books
Catechism: Faith & Life 1 Our Heavenly Father to be read and discussed once a week

Literature:
Aesop for Children illustrated by Milo Winter
American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborne
Classic Fairy Tales by Scott Gustafson (I happened to purchase a signed copy of this way back in college during a class on fairy tales. I think they are just fine. We can graduate to Lang another year.)

American History:
Here is where I stray from the recommendation of both AO and MA. I do not feel we are ready for formal study of history. Looking ahead, I think I will prefer to do history together, and I'd rather wait one more year to begin, when my middle child can at least listen to it. Instead we'll be reading through some of these:
Susan Buckley & Elspeth Leacock's Journeys in Time, Places in Time, Kids Make History, and Journeys for Freedom
William Bennett's Children's Book of Virtues, CBO Heroes, CBO Faith, and CBO America (There are history readings in each of these, along with folk tales, fairy tales, fables, poetry, etc. They are popular at bedtime.)
Several books by Jean Fritz and "If You..." books by Ann McGovern
D'Aulaire: We may try George Washington because the boys are enamored with him right now. The rest will wait.

Geography:
Holling C Holling's Paddle to the Sea, narration and mapwork
Barbara Taylor's The Earth, loosely following the Mater Amabilis 1B Geography plans, but mostly just for perusing (it's also on the nature shelf)

Chapter Book Read Alouds:
Little House on the Prairie (We just finished Big Woods, and he wants to read the whole series before any other chapter books. I told him once he can read, he is free to do that, but I have other chapter books I want to read to him first. I will read one more - Little House - and then we are taking a break.)
Mr. Popper's Penguins
My Father's Dragon

Out of the Home:
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, three times a month
Blue Knights, once a month
Homeschool gymnastics, once a month
CM group nature walk, once a month

First Friday Mass and social, once a month
CCD, weekly
I was not planning on CCD this year. I want to say that I firmly believe that Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is more than sufficient for religious formation and sacramental preparation, plus we are reading the Bible, lives of saints, and Faith & Life at home. However, we just joined a new parish, and my husband felt enrolling them in CCD would help us all embrace it as our new home. At the same time, there are unique benefits to this particular CCD program: my younger son is taught by a Missionary of Charity, my older son is taught by a Brother from the Community of St. John, and because there is a large Hispanic population at this parish, my children are exposed to the Spanish language and their rich Catholic culture. So all in all, it is an hour a week I wasn't planning on, but I think it will be good.

Mother Culture:

Charlotte Mason's Volumes 1, 3, and 6 when I finish 1
Pocketful of Pinecones by Karen Andreola - I am so enjoying this! My lightest read.
Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt
Book group with friends - we alternate fiction and nonfiction/religious books

Well-Read Mom book group - I plan on reading these:

     The Rule of St. Benedict

     Giants in the Earth by Ole Edvart Rolvaag

     Frankenstein

     The Brothers Karamazov

7QT New Blog

1) Hello, and thanks for visiting. This is a brand new blog, from a not brand new blogger. I hope this is a welcoming, friendly space for friends new and old. I'll be writing about life as a Catholic wife and mom, and all the things that includes for me right now. Things like 1 year olds that don't sleep, 4 years olds that know too much for their own good, and 6 year olds that are stretching like a rubber band away from mom all day and then snapping back with great force at night. And how sometimes that hurts and makes both of us cry.

2) I spent the past five days in training for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. It was a wonderful experience, and by that I actually mean full of wonder. I have heard and used the word wonder more times in the past five days than in the past year. Someday I'd love to tell you all about it, but right now I am still digesting it. And I'm exhausted.

3) Summer is flying by. Last week when I realized it was July I couldn't believe it. Where did June go? I guess it rained so much that we never got into our typical summer rhythm of playing in the sprinkler, eating ice cream on the driveway, and being hot. It's been a strange summer. Here is how we spent one of the many rainy days, watching birds from inside the house. We were just so tired of the rain, and I think the birds were too.

4) Do you ever feel like you have so much to learn and there's no way you ever will? That's how I feel right now about all the things I want to dive into head first: gardening (my poor garden), sewing (my unused except by other people sewing machine), my books (piles and piles, shelves and shelves of fiction, non-fiction, homeschooling, and lots and lots of Catholic stuff...). I need to find a way to read or learn on a regular basis to fill this craving without letting any one thing take over my life. Maybe a half hour every other day or something. Is that doable? Sometimes it doesn't seem like it, but a half hour a week doesn't sound like enough either.

5) This Sunday is our oldest's baptismal anniversary. I'm going to surprise him with a special dessert. We've not done a good job of celebrating before. I remember it, but we never really talk about it or do anything special. What are your traditions?

6) I decided I will say one thing about this week of being at training. I was gone from home 11 hours every day, from 7:00am to 6:00pm, five days in a row. I missed my kids, and they missed me. I learned a lot and enjoyed it very much, and it reaffirmed so much of what I believe about child development and being a stay at home mom. It really made me appreciate and look forward to having all of next week to just enjoy each other.

7) So long for now. I hope to write here once a week or so if you want to pop back in.

Thanks to my dear friend Bonnie for hosting, and a big congratulations! She's been keeping a secret. :)