Am I Still Here?

So I stopped blogging for awhile mostly because I had no time and had trouble thinking of what to write. I've  never been much of a writer and even though it should be easy to write about our happenings around the house, I always seem to get writer's block. But I am going to try doing better.

So let me catch up with what's been happening with us. The school year is going very well and I'm pleased with the changes we've made. The last two months have been more of a challenge for me, trying to get their work ready, not procrastinating, etc. We're almost done with SOTW Volume 2 (yes, finally) and it's been really exciting. The kids have picked up so much from the reading and activities. This week we'll be reenacting a sword fight scene from a Shakespeare play, complete with fake blood! Last week we crowned Liberty as queen and the kids carried her around the house on her litter (aka laundry basket with poles stuck through the holes) for her coronation parade.

Look at me, I'm the Queen!

Another big highlight are the new additions to our family: pet mice. We have Oreo (Leanna's), Ratatouille (Jacob's), Mr. FluffyPants (Joshua's), Mocha (mine) and Oreo I/Templeton is still running loose somewhere in the house. Never thought I'd have a pet mouse, but I'll admit, they are cute. Mocha has mostly gotten used to me and will sit in my hand for a few seconds without looking for an escape route. 

Ratatouille (the gray one) an Mr. Fluffypants

Have you heard of the "no poo" trend? Poo, as in shampoo, not poop poo, although I'd like no more poo diapers soon too. I've heard about it for awhile, but been pretty skeptical about it. Really, no shampoo or conditioner?? For my curly rat's nest hair? But when my sister said she was going no poo and going to have gorgeous hair, how could I keep shampooing and let her outdo me? Of course I couldn't so I jumped on the bandwagon. Now I'm not much of a green/health-nut/crunchy mom and I've never cared too much about the chemicals in my hair products, but I do understand the argument that shampoo is bad for you. Of course, that's not the reason I'm going no poo. I'm doing it for the amazingly beautiful hair I've been promised. The healthy stuff is just a side benefit. Today is Day #7 of no poo. Last Wednesday, Day #1, I washed with a small amount of baking soda followed by a rinse of vinegar. I did the same on Friday or Saturday, but every other day I've done nothing or just rinsed with water. By Sunday my hair was oily, but I'm keeping at it. From what I've read, the less I use the baking soda, the quicker my head will adjust and stop overproducing oil. I'll admit, my hair is easy to brush, unlike when I shampoo but don't condition. Of course, that's mainly because of greasiness. After a week, I haven't really noticed anything different, except my showers are much shorter. I'll keep going because I'm still hoping for the amazingly beautiful hair, but I'm not sold yet.

That's it for now, but I am going to try to blog more often. 

Catching up...

It's been awhile since I've taken the time to write anything so here's my attempt to catch up. I'm still on my journey to a healthier me. Since my initial weigh-in at the gym, I've lost 16 pounds and 4.1% body fat. More importantly, I've gone down two pant sizes and I know I'm getting healthy. Do I feel any different? Yes and no. I can tell my stamina, endurance and strength have increased. When I first started I could barely pedal backwards on the elliptical. Now I can easily do 15 minutes. As far as increased energy and feeling rested, nada. Supposedly exercise helps give you energy and not so run-down and exhausted feeling. Well, that hasn't happened here. I still sleep fine, but wake up exhausted. While I would love to not feel exhausted all the time, I'm not disappointed enough to give up. I know I'm healthier than I was 4 months ago, even if I can't feel it.


I'm still running. Crazy, I know. The 5K I had planned on running was unfortunately canceled. It's ok, I'll find another one. I'm still running 3 miles at a time, at a pace of about 13-15 minutes per mile. Just today I took the kids to a nearby paved trail and we ran/jogged/biked 3 miles together. Even with two kids on bikes, one running with me and pushing one in a stroller - and don't forget everyone's water bottle - we managed 3 miles in about 45 minutes. Not bad for a run in the hot Florida sun. I really enjoyed taking the kids and while I think it was a challenge for them, there was no complaining and everyone stayed together. They all seemed to enjoy it also. One of the best things about making these lifestyle changes is that my kids have noticed. I feel much better about the example I am setting for them by showing that healthy eating and exercising are both important. I want them to know that working out is not just something you do to lose weight, but something you do to stay healthy. 

Jacob's print fossil

In other news, homeschooling is going well. Most recently the boys are learning about fossils and rocks. Jacob was able to make a print fossil using clay and a seashell, which he then used to make a cast fossil. Joshua grew salt crystals and examined them with the magnifying glass and microscope.

In history we've reached the Age of the Crusades and the Diaspora. We still love The Story of the World and the activities that go along with it. Next, we'll be heading back to Asia for the invasion from Mongolia. I'm looking forward to making Chinese hanging lanterns and building a ger. That would be a Mongol home, similar to a teepee, that the nomads would pick up and take with them. 

Eating with chopsticks after reading about Asia

Next time I get a chance to blog, I'll share the excitement of our new hobby, geocaching. But for now, it's my bedtime.

An Egyptian Experiment

The shaduf consists of an upright frame on which is suspended a long pole or branch, at a distance of about one-fifth of its length from one end. At the long end of this pole hangs a bucket, skin bag, or bitumen-coated reed basket, while the short end carries a weight (clay, stone, or similar) which serves as the counterpoise of a lever. When correctly balanced, the counterweight will support a half-filled bucket, so some effort is used to pull an empty bucket down to the water, but only the same effort is needed to lift a full bucket.

With an almost effortless swinging and lifting motion, the waterproof vessel is used to scoop up and carry water from one body of water (typically, a river or pond) to another. At the end of each movement, the water is emptied out into runnels that convey the water along irrigation ditches in the required direction.

We decided to build our shaduf out of k'nex using the design for making a lever. It worked really well except for swiveling from left to right. But it gave the kids a good idea of how the Egyptians got water from the Nile River to irrigate their crops. Jacob wasn't interested in helping at first, but once we get the water out, he joined in.

Tying the "bucket" onto the shaduf

Seeing how it works. You can see Jacob is getting interested.

Scooping up the water

Scooping more water. Jacob decided it was pretty cool after all.

March Update

Time for an update on our schooling adventures! We've been pretty busy these past few weeks, making up for the time we lost last fall. The plan now is to finish a few subjects before Baby #4 makes her appearance and continue a few subjects into the summer.

Joshua is doing very well with reading. I keep reminding myself, it doesn't matter how many workbook pages he gets done, the goal of phonics is for him to read. His phonics curriculum is one thing we'll be continuing through the summer in order to finish. He hasn't yet developed a love for reading, probably due to the struggles that he has with it. But we keep trudging along and I know he'll get it.

Jacob is tackling the parts of speech in grammar. He can identify nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. He's having fun incorporating some of these new words into his creative writing. I always love to read the things he comes up with.

Leanna can read the phonics alphabet chart without any help now - which means she knows all the letter sounds and clue words. We've worked a tiny bit on blending letters, but she doesn't seem completely ready.

Math is going very well for both boys. We'll definitely finish up by June. Joshua is telling time to the minute and Jacob is having fun drawing shapes on coordinate planes. Leanna is practicing counting and adding.

Science and history continue to be the favorite subjects. We are into animals now in science and are learning the characteristics of each classification. The kids are adding things to their Creation notebooks all the time. This week we learned about fish and next week we're onto birds. We'll finish up with a trip to the zoo to see all the different animals we learned about!

We're almost done with Tirzah for history. The kids are enjoying the story and so am I. Our next project is to make an shaduf (pronounced shay-doof), which the Egyptians used to get water from the Nile River to their crops. I also have a few other things planned, I just need to find the energy!

Jacob is also studying Florida history and putting together a State scrapbook. I'm hoping to end the study with a trip to the http://www.tampabayhistorycenter.org/index.html which has several exhibits on Florida history as well as history of our specific area.

All in all, we've had a great time the last few weeks. We've gotten a lot accomplished and the kids are really enjoying learning. There have been a few rough days, but many more days that remind me why I love homeschooling.

Fish Collages for their Creation notebook

Reading to your kids

Our current list of read-alouds:

Tirzah
Mummies & Pyramids (Magic Tree House Research Guide)
Space: A Nonfiction Companion to Midnight on the Moon (Magic Tree House Research Guide) - starting this one today
The Tale of Despereaux- yes, we're still working our way through this one
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - I'll count this one even though it's daddy's book with the kids, which I consider above and beyond "school".


And on the shelf ready to be started within the next week or so are:

Mummies in the Morning (Magic Tree House, No. 3)
Hour of the Olympics (Magic Tree House #16)
How to Make a Mummy Talk

Why so much reading, you ask? And why all at the same time? This is the part of our homeschool that has been shaped by the Charlotte Mason method.

For example, Charlotte’s students used living books rather than dry textbooks. Living books are usually written in story form by one author who has a passion for the subject. A living book makes the subject “come alive.”

Tirzah is an example of a living book we're using for Ancient Egypt. The author tells the story of Tirzah, an Israelite girl, living under the rule of the Pharaoh. They are waiting for Moses to lead the people out of Egypt. Although we just started, the kids are excited about listening to what happens next. And because of their knowledge of Bible stories, they already know what will happen when the last plague hits Egypt and the Israelites are finally allowed to leave.

Although some may not, I consider many of the Magic Tree House books to be good living books for us. Yes, they may not be the highest quality literature, but they captivate my children and we have learned so much from them. I have found books that cover both history and science topics, as shown in the lists above.

Now to my confession. I never really enjoyed reading to my kids when they were tiny. Yes, we're all told how important it is to read every day to your baby. But really, how boring is The Cat in the Hat when you've read it 100 times already to the same child who really couldn't care less? My love of reading to my kids started to develop over the past year and a half to two years. What could be more exciting than having your kids hanging on to every word of Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, or The Tale of Despereaux? And hang they do, waiting for what will happen next. Even Leanna, at 4 years old, follows along, listening intently. Now, do they sit quietly in one spot, never moving, doing nothing but listening? Heck no, not in this house! We typically pile on my bed for our read-alouds and Jacob will usually snuggle beside me. The other two are either on the bed or the floor, sometimes coloring, sometimes playing quietly with toys, but listening all the same. Then comes one of my favorite parts, narration.

A key component of Charlotte Mason’s method is narration. In simple terms, narration is telling back in your own words what you just read or heard. It’s a wonderful evaluation tool that requires much thinking and assimilating on the student’s part.

Jacob is developing wonderful narration skills and can repeat, almost word for word sometimes, what he has just heard. Joshua participates a little, mostly with lots of prompts from me asking what happened. And Leanna will try and answer a question or two. But I know they are listening, even if they can't remember every detail. We also do drawing/coloring narration. All three kids are great at coloring what they have just listened to.

My other favorite part is listening to Jacob read, especially when he has asked for a turn. One of our main goals for our children's educations has been to instill a love for reading. I think we've done a fairly decent job with Jacob. He literally devours books that are above his age level and reads any time he can get a chance. Hearing him read from the Bible, our read-aloud, or even from his favorite comic strip, Calvin & Hobbes, makes my heart swell with pride. Joshua's reading skills are coming along and I hope that it will be soon that he can join in on reading aloud to the family.

My only complaint about our read-alouds? Not having enough time. I struggle with fitting it in and some days we don't get to read at all. Those other things, like math and language arts, seem to get in the way. I had a lofty goal of reading for an hour or two every single day. Of course, that hasn't happened, which is why it's taking us months and months to get through one book. But the kids remember. They only need small reminders of what happened when we last read and we are back to the adventure in the book.

With all that said, I think it's time to grab our space research guide, snuggle up in bed, and launch a rocket into space to see what we can learn about the solar system.

Starting our Journery to Ancient Egypt

We started our study of Ancient Egypt by creating a salt dough map of Egypt. It's amazing what you can learn from salt, flour, and a pizza box!


The kids measured and mixed the ingredients, then patted it out into the shape of the country. They each took a turn painting some of the water and the land. We labeled the different parts and talked about why they were important. We learned why Upper Egypt is actually south of Lower Egypt. It's higher in elevation, which is also why the Nile River flows north. We learned that the Nile River is the world's longest river and that the Sahara Desert is the world's largest desert. We talked about why the terrain is grassy along the coasts, but desert and dry where there is no water.





The best part is that they remembered everything we talked about and shared it with daddy at dinner. We also started reading Mummies & Pyramids (Magic Tree House Research Guide). Today we're planning on making a reed boat, using straws for reeds, to show the type of boat the Egyptians used on the Nile River. Check back for more pictures!

Back to work!

Yesterday we started back to school after our Christmas break. I must say that I haven't encountered any of the attitude problems that typically prevail after any kind of break we have. There has been a little resistance here and there, but none of the stubbornness that is usual. Maybe my eldest child is maturing? One can hope.

We started back full swing in hopes of getting back into a regular school routine. The last few months have been difficult with me being sick and now that I'm feeling better, we need to make up for lost time. We're doubling up on history lessons for a few weeks in an attempt to finish up the first unit of our curriculum. I am anxious to get through it because the second unit begins our study on Ancient Egypt and I have so many fun, hands-on activities planned. I'm looking forward to it and I think the kids will really have fun.

Science is going well. We just started Day Three of creation and are learning about rocks and the rock cycle. We're going to grow rock candy and possibly some salt crystals. After that, we get to start studying about plants, sprouting a bean seed, growing a bean plant in a box showing how it will grow towards the light, and the typical "memorize the parts of a plant" stuff. It's so fun doing this with all the kids and seeing each of them gain something from it at their own level. The best part is seeing them excited about learning. They were thrilled tonight when I returned from the library with a bunch of books of the different types of rocks we talked about.

I discovered a fun new way to practice math facts. With Jacob, I use 3 dice. Each roll, he adds two dice and then multiplies the sum by the third die. He loves this game and it's great practice for his times tables. Joshua uses two dice and adds them together to practice his addition facts. Both boys are somewhat lacking in their math facts so I'm excited to have found something that they love doing.

Joshua and Leanna will both be starting new handwriting curriculum Handwriting Without Tears tomorrow. I'm hoping it lives up to its name. Leanna was excitedly looking through her new workbook today while Joshua was just glad we didn't have to start it today. But I think it will be a wonderful addition to our schedule and give them both the writing foundation that they need. I struggle with Joshua's writing ability and I'm hoping this will be the answer.

This week, Jacob started dictation. We started with a short poem by Robert Louis Stevenson. I was very impressed with how well he did and he was quick to point out that he only misspelled one word on "my very first time ever!"

Dictation is the method Charlotte Mason used to teach spelling and reinforce grammar and composition skills to her students. For a dictation exercise, give the child a copy of a selected passage and instruct the child to study the passage until he is sure of the spelling of all the words and knows of all the capitalization and punctuation. When the child is ready, dictate the passage one line or sentence at a time, saying each line or sentence only once and pausing while the child writes it. Be on the alert to catch any misspelling and correct it immediately. Start with short passages for younger children and progress to paragraphs and pages for older children. Charlotte started using dictation exercises with children around the third or fourth grades.

Jacob is in the next to last unit of his Pippi Longstocking grammer study. We're going to finish up reading the book this week and all three kids have asked about watching the movie. I'm excited about their enthusiasm. Jacob has done extremely well with the grammar study despite the fact that it may be above his grade level. I'm proud of the work that he's done on it. I do admit, I'll be glad when we're through. At that point, we're going to take things slower in grammar and focus on really solidifying parts of speech and sentence structure. In place of the study, he'll be working on a Florida scrapbook. So yes, I'm excited to get started with something new.

Overall, I'm very pleased with how well things are going. I will try and get some pictures put up of what we're working on very soon.

They came!

Our science and history books came today! I am so excited to be able to read through them. Looks like a lot of exciting stuff!

science and history

I finally ordered a curriculum for science and history/geography. It's by Simply Charlotte Mason and I am so excited about it! The science is 106 Days of Creation Studies. It goes through each day of creation expanding on what was created that day. It's obviously very Biblical based and mainly consists of Bible reading, reading other books, and hands-on activities and field trips. No textbooks!


History/Geography will be a similar approach. Using the Bible and other selected books, we'll be studying Genesis through Deuteronomy and Ancient Egypt. No textbooks, just Bible reading, other books and hands-on activities.


The best part of both of these is that because it is real life stuff, the kids won't think of it as school or boring. It will be fun stuff that will encourage their love of reading as well as journaling, drawing, and other activities. And all three children will be participating.