Deleted Photos

So it looks like I inadvertently deleted the photos from this entire blog. It connects back to Google+. Don't delete your photos from Google+ or it will delete your photos from the original source. Not a smart move Google programmers. I've heard this is a major problems from people all over the Internet. At any rate, I am going to attempt to replace some of the photos as I can. Have a great Friday!

Studying Dickens in High School

I know there are those who absolutely detest reading Dickens. And even though I am a certified bibliophile, I completely understand. Dickens has a style that can be confusing and offsetting especially to those new to classic literature and especially Dickens. On the other hand, his use of language can be absolutely beautiful.

As I planned my oldest son's high school literature course of study, I knew I wanted him to read a Dickens besides A Christmas Carol (that one he can practically quote by memory). Before 9th grade, I wrote down, David Copperfield and Great Expectations as possibilities to be included into one of his years of literature. My son (like his mama) is a writer of fiction. And I told him you have to read the greats if you really want to be a good writer. Dickens is one of those greats. What I love about Dickens is his characters. If you want to learn how to write characters, you have to study Dickens. Thankfully, my son actually enjoys watching Dickens period drama films. We've viewed many of them and so the next step is to read of few them in their entirety.

As I am now planning this coming year and we are doing World History, I decided we will do a World Literature course as well. This is a good time to add in Dickens. I went back to the two possible book choices I chose a couple years ago and I began to research which one would be a good fit for my dyslexic boy. Ultimately, I chose a title that I hadn't considered before but which is often taught in high schools around the country. A Tale of Two Cities. 

Why is A Tale of Two Cities usually chosen above others. Well, to begin with it is less complicated in story and in character and it's shorter. It's also a great way to get into a study of the French Revolution and not focus on just the facts but on the people and how it all came about. His French history coming from Thomas Carlyle. It is much more serious than the bulk of Dickens work, but it will definitely incite lots of great discussion. We'll also be viewing the 1989 miniseries as we go along.

Will we eventually get to David Copperfield and Great Expectations? I certainly hope so. There are great characters in there that he needs to study and will enjoy the journey of doing so.

Designing Your Homeschool Schedule

I hadn’t intended for my next post to be about scheduling, but it seems everywhere I look in social media or blogs that people are talking about scheduling. Maybe it’s the New Year and everyone is trying to make a fresh start to finish out their homeschool right.

I know new homeschoolers especially are looking for that perfect sample schedule to follow or adapt which will set their homeschool off to a successful start. Today, I am going to give you the magic recipe for that impeccable and seamless schedule.

READY…

Just about every school year (and we’ve been doing this for over ten years now) I have tried to put together a working schedule. More often than not, I sit down with paper and pen and work out how to balance my children into a flow that will work so that I can see to both of their needs. I then take the time to key it into an Excel chart. I might even color code it by child, print it out and post it in the rooms for my two boys.

Are you all set to do that???

And do you know what will undoubtedly happen each and every time after I’ve spent all that energy on my precious schedule? That schedule will get thrown out with last nights table scraps only to be usurped by a better working schedule. A natural schedule. That’s the magic to making a successful schedule. Organically, one will come together.

So stop stressing!

I’ve found that a starting schedule is good. It makes me think about the needs we have in our school. I encourage you to do the same. You might even type it up, but at least write it down. Then as you actually get to schooling, you will find that your children will really choose their best schedule with your guidance. And you will naturally flow into the best schedule for you. Keep in mind that you still need to be in charge here (especially with multiple kids) but without becoming some kind of schedule police.

For example, I have found that my 9 year old will work best on independent work first thing in the morning. He’ll do some reading, working on papers such as handwriting and go into his math lesson. Meanwhile, I can work with the high schooler doing subjects we need to do together (like Algebra) while he is at his most lucid. This is not how I had it planned. Originally, I was working with the elementary student first and had the highschooler working independently, but that schedule just didn’t work.

I’ve also found that they don’t need to follow the same schedule everyday. In fact, it works better to mix it up and let them do different subjects in a different order most days. It keeps it fresh and then they won’t think, Oh, great, it’s 11am. Time for math…again. 

Invite your children to figure out what they like to work on and when. Once they get to a certain age (3^rd grade or so), they really do have great insight on what works best for them. It also makes them feel more a part of their education and they might even develop a better work ethic to keep within the schedule you've put together.

Best wishes to you all as you schedule (or not) or allow it to naturally occur. Just remember moms and dads, don’t stress over the perfect schedule because honestly it is about as tangible as the Abominable Snowman. Some are convinced they’ve found it, others don’t believe it exists and the rest of us stumble around just wondering and keep on searching it out.

Happy Schooling from HWJ!

Creating High School Literature Units

I love literature--I always have. So when my oldest reached 7th grade, I decided to forgo the literature book and start creating my own literature units. Now I did teach 8th grade English in a Christian school before I started homeschooling.  In my teaching experience, we used whole book studies more than literature book studies. That made it much easier taking what I had done before and putting together a book study in our homeschool.

You can go about studying literature in two different ways. You can buy or find free online a prepared study guide for the book you intend to study or you can create a study from scratch all on your own. (Go to Glencoe Literature for free study guides.) In my case, I might do one or the other depending on the book. But many times I do a little of both. I'll give you some tips here on how to go about doing this.

Picking Books for Study
For a high school study, choose a theme--something you could put on their transcript such as Ancient Literature, American Literature, British Literature, World Literature, etc. This year, we are studying American Government & Economics. When I went about putting his literature study together, I picked books that went with a study of government. For example, this year in addition to reading Fellowship of the Ring, we are reading The Epic of Gilgamesh, Oedipus Rex, Julius Caesar, Animal Farm and Pride and Prejudice. He is also learning literary analysis.

Setting up the Study

Once you have chosen the books to study, you have to figure out what to do in your study. Go to one of the online book study sites such as Sparks Notes online. Copy or download the background information they have listed for your book. For example: Context, plot overview, Character List, Analysis of Major Characters, Themes-Motifs-Symbols. Go over these with your student as you introduce the book. Then from Sparks Notes, copy/download the chapter by chapter summaries and analyses.

After your student reads through a chapter of the novel, you can go over the summary and the analysis together. As an assignment, you could have your student write a short paragraph or two summary (or written narration) of the chapter before going over the summary/analysis. Enjoy these sessions with your student and try to bring out some great discussion between you and your teen. You could have them complete a quick reading quiz after each chapter  or a couple quizzes throughout the novel. I do not believe the quizzes are all that necessary but if you want your student to be used to taking quizzes especially pop quizzes go ahead and throw a few into the study.

Advice on Shakespeare

I do advise when studying Shakespeare to go ahead and purchase the Cliff's Complete version of the play you are studying. Go through the text with your student. The Cliff's Complete will explain historical references, Latin phrases, puns, Elizabethan phraseology, etc. as you read the text of the play. It makes deciphering Shakespeare so much easier. I would also advise if your student has had no background in Shakespeare to first read The Tales of Shakespeare by the Lambs. This will give them an understanding of the plot before they read it in the original format. And most importantly, watch the play being performed either live, movie or a recorded play. Shakespeare was meant to be watched not read.

Final Assignment
Continue going through the novel as described above. At the end, prepare a final assignment. Be creative and choose something to test your students knowledge of the material but take into account your student's strengths. For example, after reading Oedipus Rex, they could write a comparison paper between Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith and Oedipus Rex. After reading, The Hobbit, they could write a paper showing Bilblo going through the Hero's Journey. If your student, isn't a writer give them a different type of final assignment. A project maybe or something more hands-on.

In the end, make the study meaningful and memorable. Enjoy this time with your teen. You are doing more than studying a book; you are making memories.

Beefing up HOD Beyond for a 3rd Grader

Originally, I had intended to use Bigger for my 3rd grader this year. This is our first year with Heart of Dakota so after some thought and prayer I decided to go with Beyond and move into Bigger in 4th and Preparing in 5th. That way we wouldn't be in CTC until 6th grade. I also made this choice because I didn't think he was ready for the writing aspect and the more Charlotte Mason style of narrating required in Bigger. But in doing so, I knew I would have to make some changes since he would be at the higher end of the guide. Here are the additions I've made to the curriculum.

Bible Study/Music:

The HOD Bible study and audio CD are great. My son learned the Bible verse with no problem. I did make him a Bible verse puzzle. We did it on Day 3 & 4 which really aided memorization. The great part is how the Bible integrates with all the other subjects.

In addition to the curriculum, I added more songs to Bible time and a read aloud to each day. Monday: Children Demand a Verdict, Tuesday: Egermeir's Bible Story, Wednesday: Morning Bells (part of HOD), Thursday: Great Treasure Quest, Friday: Is the Bible Personally from God. We also use the Bible verse copy work that I made at www.handwritingworksheets.com. We do this M-TH. If you have a student who hates to write, only make them write one sentence a day but in their very best writing. If, on the other hand, your student loves writing, you can have them do the whole verse each day or a couple times a week.

History:

At this point in history, I have not added any text to the already great texts used in HOD. In fact, the American Pioneers and Patriots book (Christian Liberty Press) is a 3rd grade book & Stories of the Pilgrims is a 4th grade level book. In my opinion (as someone with a history degree and a previous middle school teacher), most of these readings are on a higher level than a 1st or even a 2nd grader will completely understand. They may sit for it and be able to narrate back some of what they learned but a 3rd grader really will gain more from these readings than a younger child would. If I do add more to the readings, it will be Light and the Glory for Children and the other 2 subsequent books. We do the history activity as written each week. Make sure not to miss it.

I have added some history worksheets to our week. Someone created and posted history note booking pages for Beyond in the HOD yahoo group. They are a great review and assessment of what was read all week. I will give this either on Thursday or Friday. They can be found at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HomeschoolingHODMoms/files/Beyond%20Little%20Hearts%20for%20His%20Glory/

Geography:

We have really been enjoying the geography in HOD and do every activity. Geography is only offered once a week which I think is just a enough in these early elementary years. For the 3rd grader, I have added Map Skills published by Instructional Fair (Carson Dellosa). It is a very inexpensive book and my son loves doing them. (We did the 1st and 2nd grade book last year.) We just do one page a day on the same Geography day in the HOD plans. We also include extensive use of the globe and as we move more into the United States we will use the US map and be learning the placement of the states and learn the capitals. 

Poetry & Rhymes:

We follow the poetry lesson plans closely to how they were written. I see the weekly poetry as exposure not mastery. Some of those poems would be hard to memorize in a week. If it is a long poem, we focus more on the first stanza though I will read through the other stanzas periodically. For doing the poem copy work, a HOD mom has made up some copy work pages. It can also be found in the HOD yahoo group files section. For the 3rd grader, you could have them write an entire stanza each day or the entire poem depending on their writing ability. For my 3rd grader we usually do one line a day and focus on one stanza.

Science:

The science exploration lessons and experiments have been a hit with my son. He is very excited when it is a science day. We follow the lessons as written, but I have included doing a lab sheet when we have an experiment. This is great preparation for middle school/high school science. Another HOD mom has prepared these sheets and are available in the HOD yahoo group files under Beyond. I have added Apologia Zoology 1 into our week. We do it twice a week. However, we do not do all the experiments and activities in Apologia as it would be far too much work for my guy in addition to the HOD Science and lab reports. Get additional books from the library on the topics your child seems most interested.

Art:

We follow the art section as written. I really love how these activities are incorporated into the week and integrates with the rest of the weekly lessons. In addition to the art activity, we might add an art project from Abeka Art Projects on Fridays. Once a week, we do a few pages from How Great Thou Art curriculum using I Can Do All Things. I tried using this curriculum with my son when he was 6 and in 1st grade. He hated it! Now he is really enjoying it which shows how we need to be in tune with our children's likes and abilities and be ready to make changes as needed.

Latin:

My older son started studying Latin last year and my younger one sat in on the classes and watched the videos too. He did learn a little, but I was more interested in exposure for him. This year,  the 3rd grader is using Prima Latina (the 9th grader is using Visual Latin). We are taking it slow doing it twice a week and going through a lesson every two weeks. He's picking it up and doing great with it. We will continue with this same book in the 4th grade. I would not consider doing this program earlier than 3rd grade.

Storytime:

For storytime, we don't necessarily pick a book from Carrie's list. It is not that we dislike the choices (quite the contrary), but we may not have the book or be able to get to the library to pick one up. We just pick a book from the same genre and it works great. At the beginning of the lessons, it is a biography. We read a book on Benjamin Franklin. We finished it in 9 days. So we started a second book on Sacagawea. We will have it finished before moving on to the next genre. We follow the lessons plans and I write in a composition notebook his answers to the questions in the lesson plans or his oral narrations. He can draw pictures in there too which go with his book.

Language Arts:

We do not follow the Language Arts lesson plans as we have other curriculum that works well for us. For spelling, we use All About Spelling and for grammar First Language Lessons. In addition, we use Abeka Language 2 book for writing and some worksheets for the struggling reader. If you use the curriculum suggested by HOD, start using Rod and Staff grammar in 3rd grade and do the higher level spelling lists at the back of the Beyond manual. Keep a list of words your student misspells in his writing during the week and learn those as well.

Handwriting is covered in the copy work we do in other subjects. He just has to understand that the copy work isn't busy work or just a way to learn his poem or Bible verse. It is to practice his handwriting. So, he needs to take his time and do his very best handwriting. We decided to hold off on learning cursive writing until his printing is better. We used Handwriting Without Tears last year which was great. And next year for teaching cursive, we will be using Cheerful Cursive. Other 3rd graders might be ready for cursive this year.

Math:

We do not follow the mathematics recommendation of Singapore math. We use Math-U-See. My son is in the Gamma level this year learning multiplication.  He also practices his math facts using several different means. Spend this year getting math facts cemented and use a math program that works best with your child's learning style at their own particular level which does not have to match their grade level.

Reading:

My son is an emerging reader even in 3rd grade. He has a medical eye issue that required surgery. He is finally able to use his eyes together and focus. His reading development has been slower than average but he is still doing great and he should catch up this year. We follow the emerging reader schedule but not faithfully. In addition, to the emerging readers we still practice our Abeka phonics charts and read out of another additional book along with the Emerging readers. He does some worksheets for the struggling reader as well. If you have a 3rd grade independent reader, put them into DITHOR. I would wait to put a student in DITHOR before 3rd grade. If you have an independent 1st or 2nd grader, have them read books from the 2/3 list and let them narrate, but I wouldn't put the stress on them into starting DITHOR before they are ready.

I hope this helps those of you attempting to use Beyond with an older student. Feel free to leave questions on the blog or email me privately.

HOD Beyond Week 1

This was the big week we were waiting for--our first week using Heart of Dakota. I'm happy to report that our week went smoothly and we had a lot of fun too. I've had to add to Beyond because I am using it with a 3rd grader (Comedian R) but I still think it is a good fit for my guy. There will be a later post on how to beef up Beyond for a 3rd grader.

In storytime, HOD begins reading a Biography. To introduce that a biography is a book on a person's life, they have the students go to their room and pick 5 items that tell more about them. My son picked out an American flag because he is an American, green shamrock beads because green is his favorite color, a Superman figure because he wants to be a superhero when he grows up, a Lego Ninjago figure as he loves playing legos, and a rubber lizard just because he likes it. We are reading a biography on Benjamin Franklin. The Story of Benjamin Franklin: Amazing American by Margaret Davidson. You don't have to use the title suggested in the curriculum. It just has to be a biography. All the activities and questions are generalized to work with any biography.

In history, we learned about the Spanish pioneers as they crossed the Atlantic on their way to settle St. Augustine in Florida. In geography, the curriculum says to make an outline of the world with masking tape. I just got out my large laminated world map which worked great pointing out the continents. In this picture Comedian R is jumping on one foot from each continent that I call out.

In science this week, we learned about ocean currents and whale blubber. Here he is with his paper boat making currents with a small dropper. By the way, the dropper was too small and the index card boat became water logged too soon. We got out a small plastic boat and used a turkey baster to make the current and we sailed the boat around the bathtub.

In Beyond, you start building a timeline. The curriculum suggests taking a piece of paper and creating a grid of centuries and then drawing a picture for each point on the timeline. Instead, I had this drawing paper and decided to make a more longitudinal timeline.  Comedian R is not an artist and does not like drawing pictures. So, when we can, we will find pictures to put on the time line. His brother (Creative C) helped him with the fort drawing on the timeline this week.

The last activity of the week (Day 5), we were to make a coat of arms. As it happens, I will be teaching a class on medieval times in co-op this semester so I had a book just on coat of arms. I took some thin cardboard and traced an outline of the shield. We cut it out and then traced the shield outline on the piece of construction paper. Then cut that out and glued it to the cardboard. Using just water colors we used stencils to make the figures to create the coat of arms. We glued an empty toilet paper roll on the back for a handle.

We also had a breakthrough this week. My guy tied a shoe for the first time. FINALLY! Admittedly, I haven't had him work on this as much as I should as he doesn't wear laces in his shoes at this point. Overall, it was a great week.

Setting up Workboxes for the New School Year

Last year I set up our workboxes and wrote about it last fall. This year I knew I wanted to use the workboxes but with some improvements. Attending Sue Patrick's seminar really gave me some ideas.

For my elementary student, I used the traditional workbox system using the shoe rack and shoe boxes. This is the same set up that I used last year.

This is what I did different this year. First, just like Sue suggested, I made him a way to 'clock-in & clock-out.' It seems silly and a waste of time but the younger kids really like it. If it gives them a reason to be excited to start school each morning, then that is something to utilize. My son really does enjoy 'clocking in and clocking out.' He even does it on the weekends when he is doing chores. You can use anything to make these. I just took a letter size envelope and cut it to look like a pocket. Then I laminated it. Using an exacto knife, I opened the slit. For his time card, I printed it on card stock and then laminated it.

Last year, I had a chart where he put the numbers after finishing the box. This year I decided to make the strips. It tells him what box to work on, when to take a break, do activities, play instrument, do lunch, etc.

When he is finished with a box, he places the completed label on the box. This is different than Sue Patrick suggests. In her book, she says to place everything back into the box and then stack them beside the students desk or with younger students put all the boxes into a large rubbermaid container. To me this just wastes time. I usually use a lot of the same materials everyday. So it makes sense to place everything back into the box and replace the box on the shelf for tomorrow.

I am pretty much doing the same thing with my high school student. He uses magazine files on his book shelf instead of the shoe rack. This fits into his room and works much better for an older student. I am using the strips with him too. Works great!

We have also started doing Centers which is another part of Sue Patrick's system. I will explain better how I have i instituted that in another post.

Re-visting the Workbox System Part I

Last August just before we started our new school year, I decided to give the Workbox system a try. I even wrote three posts about workboxes which you can find below (fall 2011). It's a great organizational system and I highly recommend it. Now I could have said that last year just from reading the different Workbox blogs. So what is different this year? Why am I revisiting the Workboxes? Well, because I actually got to meet Sue Patrick and attend one of her seminars.

What I found out by attending one of her seminars is that the Workbox system is not just an organizational system; it is a whole new way of presenting information. Sue Patrick came up with this idea because she had a severely autistic child. She used this system to begin teaching him basic things at the age of 12-18 months and on to the present at 17-years-old where he is a regular high school student with a drivers license and taking a Senior's course of study. Although, as Sue has said, if you only use the workboxes to organize your current curriculum, you will already be better better organized, the kids will work more independently and you will get more done in less time. But don't you want to do even more for your kids?

Sue made a statement that I just loved: "Don't asses them on their weaknesses but on their strengths." For example, if you have a reluctant writer (and in my case my son is dysgraphic) then don't put the majority of his assessment on writing. And that is exactly what the traditional school system does in testing our kids. So with the Workbox system, Sue is trying to get homeschool parents/teachers to think outside the box and be creative in finding ways to assess/teach our kids. In doing so, we not only assess our students more accurately but they too have a much better time with school and end up learning and liking it so much more.

In her seminar and book, Sue goes through how to improve your current curriculum to work better for your student. She shares what to put in your 'Centers' time which will reinforce learning and assist in assessment. I've taken her ideas and applied them to my own homeschool with my 3rd grader and 9th grader this year. In Part II, I will share a couple of those ideas.

Helpful Resource: ICR Education

Homeschool Teachers, if you are not signed up with ICR (Institute for Creation Research) go ahead and do it today. You will receive their two free periodicals, Acts & Facts and Days of Praise. They They also have some more education related resources. There are science curriculum supplements called Science Education Essentials (available for purchase), a new education blog hosted by Dr. Rhonda Forlow, and an online video program called Thats a Fact.

My Reasons for Switching to Heart of Dakota

I am a curriculum junkie, I admit it. I've tried lots of them. I'm subscribed to the different curriculum review boards and I love looking at new curriculums. In January, I usually begin figuring out what we will use the next year. We never use exactly what we used the previous year; although, I do seem to be nailing down what works best for us...finally--after 8 years of homeschooling!

This year I looked into using a more prepared curriculum for my youngest son who will be in the 3rd grade this coming year. We contemplated My Father's World for about two months. In fact, I was just weeks away from making my order. Then on a whim, I decided to go check out Heart of Dakota because I had heard that the two curriculums were similar. Within a couple hours of looking, reading and spending time on the message board; I made a complete turn around on my curriculum decision. We are going to use Heart of Dakota.

A couple months ago, I was at our local homeschool book store and I noticed a couple with some Heart of Dakota curriculum and they were trying to figure out some things. I thought I'd be helpful (I do try to do that when I can) and spoke to them about HOD. Since I've been homeschooling for so long and am now switching to HOD, they wanted to know my reasons why. The bottom line is (drum roll)--this curriculum does what I always try to do except it's even better.

Here are my reasons for switching to Heart of Dakota:
1. The philosophy of HOD matches my philosophy (mostly). You won't find a curriculum that is 100% perfect, but that is what's so great about homeschooling. You can change it to make it work. It mostly follows a Charlotte Mason philosophy mixed with a Unit Study focus.
2. It is obvious that the author, Carrie Austin, has experience both in the classroom and homeschool. She has a masters in education and you can tell by the way she put this program together that she knows what she's doing.
3. It is going to make my life a whole lot easier because most of the planning is already done. All I have to do is put together my Language Arts and Math lessons (since we use something different than the HOD recommendations) and any additional elective-type classes like Latin.
4. I love the book choices. They were books I would choose. When I look at the book choices of My Father's World and even SonLight, my choices fell more in line with HOD. (Of course, some book choices coincide with all three of these companies.)
5. The Biblical philosophy is apparent throughout the curriculum. It isn't just included in a separate Bible class but is integrated throughout all the subjects.
6. For me this year, the price was right. I had a lot of the books already and the rest I can get at the library. Mainly, I had to get the teacher's manual. The few books I decided to purchase I got with a couple gift cards that I had.
7. The way subject matter within the lessons all flow together so seamlessly from subject to subject as the learning is extended (unit-study style) is phenomenal.
8. It just looks fun. My 8-year-old is going to have a great time with this curriculum.

This Fall my 3rd grader will be using Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory. This level is recommended for ages 6-8. My guy will be 8 most of this year and so falls into this level no problem. I could have placed him in Bigger Hearts for His Glory but decided to wait. Since this is a new curriculum and style for him I knew it would be best to hold off. He isn't big on writing yet and he is reading at slightly below level due to a medical eye condition. I think Beyond will work great with him in conjunction with the extras I've thrown in there. This year I plan to blog about our adventures with HOD so stay tuned.

Learning to Love Discipline

I find with my boys that they hate discipline as they take it very personally. Most of the time it is more like correction than anything else. They aren't in trouble; I am not upset with them and yet it is like the end of the world. Today in reading my Bible, I came to Proverbs 12:1--Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. (ESV) In all truth, no one really likes to be corrected; but as illustrated in this verse, we learn from discipline. And the true goal of the disciplinarian is that those under their care learn to self-discipline. I pray today that my children learn to love discipline that it will bring them to knowledge.

This past week, my husband and I have been discussing making a chore chart for the kids and starting this new school year right--not only academically but spiritually (which I will get to in another post) and also diligently--more discipline. So today I typed up a chart with their daily and weekly chores. We sat the boys down and went over it together. Needless to say, they were not thrilled to learn about MORE chores and less game time but honestly we weren't asking for much. We will just keep on with the discipline and pray that in time they recognize the knowledge they have gained.

Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

I've been involved in a lot of recipe exchanges this summer between different mom groups and homeschool groups. The great thing is that my cooking has been infused with exciting new delicacies. I know the men in my household have enjoyed it. And I have become more enthusiastic to cook than I had been for the last several months.


One of the recipes I tried was for chicken pot pie. I've never made my own pot pie before, but I've always meant to try. This is a very easy recipe that does NOT include making your own crust--although, I'm sure you could and it would be even yummier. I tweaked the recipe a little and it turned out great.

Ingredients:
2 (9") deep dish pie crust--thawed. (in frozen section of grocery store) You need a bottom and a top.
2 cups cooked chicken cut into pieces
Mixed vegetables (either a 15 oz can or frozen) drained
a few cooked potatoes cut up (use the microwave)
1 (10.75 ounce) can of condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
a tablespoon of dried rosemary (this is a key ingredient)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Thaw the pie crusts or bake fresh.
3. Precook the chicken.
4. In a bowl, combine all the other ingredients together and then add the cooked and diced chicken.
5. Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Place the other pie crust on top of the filled pie. Seal the edges together and poke holes in the top crust to vent.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

This will serve 4-6 people.

To keep the calories and fat content down, make sure to use lean chicken breast, 98% fat free cream of chicken soup, and fat free milk. It's still just as delicious.

Enjoy!

Planning for Next Year—Preparing for High School

Summer is the time when all of us teachers—home and traditional—get ready for the next year. Honestly, I usually start planning in January but this year I actually started researching curriculums and such in November. I suppose part of it is that we will begin high school next year. How is that possible? It seems only yesterday that we started our homeschooling journey with a 1^st grader and a baby. Next year they will be in 9th and 3rd grades.

At this point, I've picked my curriculums and I have just been getting my yearly lesson planning done. I did this last summer and it was a lifesaver during the school year. We had a lot of disruptions to our school year last year and it was great to be able to go back to the plans, see where we left off, and go from there.

Of course, this year is different because I'm not just planning for one school year but essentially for the four years of high school. I need to be sure to a certain extent that what I am doing this year will lead into what credits we need for the sophomore year and so on until we graduate. That has been more of a struggle. And it seems as soon as I have something settled in my head of what we are going to do that I lose confidence in that idea and try something else. It has been exhausting and we haven't even started yet.

Thankfully I have everything set. Most of my curriculum is purchased and most of that is also planned. In about five more weeks we start our next year and the next great adventure. I'm looking forward to it...I hope they are too.

Blueberry Picking

Since moving to NC, we have wanted to do some fruit picking in the spring and summer. It's very agricultural around here and we were always hearing about the great fruit picking. Finally last weekend, the pastor's family at our church invited us to go blueberry picking with them. Interestingly, the blueberry farm was only about 5 miles from our house. So we are definitely planning to go back in a couple weeks.

We only picked one full basket worth of blueberries. And we used every one of them. We of course ate them right out of the container. But I also baked a blueberry pie with a crumb topping. I made blueberry muffins twice (2 different recipes). My husband made us blueberry pancakes one morning. And last night I made a blueberry-pineapple smoothie. It's been such fun trying new things with these huge, fresh blueberries. I can't wait to go back and get some more.

Science Experiment: Erupting Volcano

This year for science we are doing Earth Science. I picked a curriculum that was a little above my 2nd graders level and a little below my 8th graders level so that we could work together. Two days a week we do science together. Day one we learn about a topic like say 'Earthquakes' and Day three we do an experiment pertaining to the subject. Days two, four and five my older son does extended work: more reading, research and writing.

This past week the topic was Volcanoes. Our experiment was of course to build and erupt a volcano. I'll be honest with you; I've never actual done one of these before. I never had to do one in school and as science was my least favorite subject in school, I had no desire to build one of these in my free time. So armed with instructions and intuition, we went to work on it. The good thing is that my oldest son loves science and building. So I mixed up some homemade play-doh and let the boys put it together over a small water bottle. I then assisted in the mixing of the ingredients to bring about the eruption (outside of course). We had a great time! And I think we might do it again sometime.

Recipe for homemade Play-doh:

Mix 6 cups of flour, 2 cups of salt, 4 tablespoons of cooking oil, and 2 cups of water in a large bowl. This will make a volcano the size of ours as we used ALL the dough. If you want something larger you will have to double or triple the recipe.

Instructions to build an erupting Volcano:

small drink bottle
60 ml water
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/4 cup vinegar
orange or red food coloring
few drops of detergent

After building your volcano, let it sit overnight to harden. You can also use clay or other material of choice. We built ours on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. That made it easy to transport around as well as clean up. I advise you to do the eruption outside--just in case. Place water, soap, food coloring and vinegar into the drink bottle. Last you add the baking soda. The instructions we worked off of said to wrap the baking soda in tissue paper and then drop it into the bottle as the last step. I like this idea as it gives you a minute more to see the eruption take place. My advice would be to make sure the tissue paper is super thin to fit into the bottle. Then your volcano will erupt. Make sure to have your camera and video camera at the ready. Also, you can paint your volcano or decorate it to make it look like a real volcano with a city down below to be destroyed. Make it as fun as you like. We plan to make several adjustments when we repeat this experiment at some point in the future.

Workboxes Part 3: What's in them?

To finish off this series on Sue Patrick's Workbox system, I'll share what we put in them.

My 2nd grader uses the workboxes in the traditional sense as the author originally proposed they be used. We have a shoe rack and 12 plastic boxes on it.

Box 1 contains his Bible and his Bible workbook and the teacher's edition.
Box 2 contains either materials for history or science (we alternate days--2 days history/2 days science)
Box 3 contains reading and phonics materials.
Box 4 is the snack box. There is a sticker on the front which says 'Snack'. Sometimes I even put a snack inside the box.
Box 5 contains Math U See materials including DVD, worksheet and blocks.
Box 6 contains handwriting book and Explode the Code pages.
Box 7 contains the books for First Language Lessons and Writing with Ease.
Box 8 is the 'Fun' or 'Activity' box. This would hold materials for what some call 'Stations'. There might be a Lego set,  parts to a project like putting together a solar system mobile, puzzles, play-doh, educational games, wipe-off books. Really anything that you usually would not have time for during school year but wish you did. They take 20 minutes and then put it away. I include a timer.
Box 9 is the 'Lunch' box. We usually get done before lunch and so skip this box but just in case we have a slow day we can take a break and eat some lunch before finishing our last subjects.
Box 10 contains 'seat work'. I give my youngest a little bit of busy work because a.) he likes it and b.) it gives him something to do when I can't work with him at that moment. I put in what he needs for our math fact program and worksheets from an old 1st grade math book and Phonics book.
Box 11 contains whatever Read-Aloud book we are reading.
Box 12 contains instructions or materials for elective classes. Right now that is Typing and Latin.

This is what we are using in the workboxes this year. I hope it has been of help to those of you thinking about using the system. It has been a real godsend this year. We have been productive. The kids have been less whiny about their work because they know what they have to do and want to get done with the last box. Most of all they are becoming independent workers.

Workboxes Part 2: How We Use Them

Last time when I wrote about the Workbox system, I shared my decision to use it and where I went for information in understanding the system. Today I am going share how I implemented the system into our homeschool.

After doing much research, I had all kinds of possibilities circulating in my head about how I could put this theory into practice. I went to the store with ideas of what I hoped to find to use for my workboxes. To be honest I really couldn't find anything that would work without spending lots of money. So I decided for my oldest to use magazine holders and place them on his bookshelf in his bedroom. I had several plastic magazine holders of different sizes. I bought a set of the thick cardboard bankers boxes to give him a total of 12 boxes.

For the younger one, I followed Sue Patrick's advice to the tee about how to set up the workboxes. Up in my attic, I had a shoe rack that holds 12 plastic boxes. I only had to buy four more boxes which were $1 each at Walmart. So this ended up costing me very little money. Now for those of you with limited space and several students, I can see why you would chose something else. I had a spot for one show rack in our school room.

One of the resources at The Comprehensive Workbox site (post at the bottom of the page) had the little labels, charts and numbers created for you in bright colors. All you have to do is print them out on a color printer, laminate them and cut them out. Then get some of those small round velcro pieces (avaliable at Walmart in the sewing area). Put the bottom portion of the velcro on each box and on their chart. The top part of the velcro on the numbers. Each morning the numbers start on the box and when the box is completed, the number is transferred to the chart.

Each evening, I try to fill their boxes for the day. Now I have already completed daily lesson plans for the entire year. On a clipboard, I have taken the first page from each subject (it covers 6 weeks of school) for each child. Then I just have to carry around the clipboard. It also makes it easy to fill their boxes as I flip the page and see what needs to go in each box.

When a student completes a box during the day, he removes the number on the box and puts it on his chart which I have attached to a cabinet beside his desk. Then if he has a finished loose paper, it goes into the tray. Otherwise, the books go back into the box. More than likely we will need them again tomorrow. Now Sue Patrick suggests having a large tub and putting everything from the boxes completed through the day into the tub and stacking the boxes themselves together. Then when you refill the box for tomorrow you have everything there. To me it was more of a time saver to leave the boxes on the shelf and put the books and supplies back in the box.

We have been using the Workbox System for four weeks now and I have to say for both my 2nd grader and my 8th grader it has been a huge success. I chose to use this system for a couple of reasons. I am already a planner. So this wasn't about getting me organized and teaching more with ease. For us, this system works because it gets everything together we need for the day in each subject ahead of time, so we are saving time. The boys are working more independently in certain subjects which is a goal we have. They are able to skip to other subjects when mom is working with brother instead of waiting around when mom is free. For my oldest son, it has encouraged him to get up early and start school an hour before breakfast on his own thereby finishing school earlier.

Next time, I'll share what we put in the boxes.

Sue Patrick Workbox System--The Beginning

Somehow summer vacation has faded into the sunset. As it  has for many of you, the beginning of our school year has arrived. Lesson plans have been made, curriculum purchased (or created), supplies acquired, and our school area organized. It was about six days until our scheduled first day of school that I had this wild idea to implement the Sue Patrick Workbox system into our school. Now I live in North Carolina very close to where the creator of this system, Sue Patrick, lives. I’ve heard those in our homeschool support group talk about using the workbox system. In fact, Sue was at our bookfair this past July and gave several seminars explaining her system, but I was unable to attend the seminars. In fact, I didn’t even think I was that interested in her system at the time.

I believe what started it all was trying to figure out how to get my oldest son organized and able to work in a bit more streamlined fashion while communicating to him what he should be working on independently. I had purchased a planner for him. I tried writing out what he needed to do on a daily basis and it just wasn’t working for me. Hmm,what to do? Time was running out before our start date. Then while cleaning up the school room, I came to the goody bag from the bookfair and again reviewed the materials from Sue Patrick. It got me thinking. Hmm, maybe...

In short, what is the workbox system? The workbox system as developed by Sue Patrick is a way of setting up your school and going through all your work in an organized way with your subjects broken down into easily accomplished tasks. Everything needed for each assignment/subject is placed in one plastic shoebox/workbox and the student works through each box until he is done for the day. I’ll go into more detail in the next blog. 

The first thing I did was visit Sue’s website. http://www.workboxsystem.com/ It gives you some basic information on what the whole workbox system is all about and ordering information for her book which explains everything fully. In purchasing it, you are also allowed to log into her website for free downloads which are helpful in setting up your own workboxes. Well, I knew I didn’t have time to read her book. I wanted to have everything set up in the next couple days. Thank goodness for the homeschool blogosphere. (I am planning to attend a seminar later this month and buy the book eventually.)

I began searching blogs. Homeschool moms who blog are wonderful. They want to share what they’ve learned and share pictures. This was especially helpful in figuring out the practical side of setting up the workbox system in our own home. How could I feasibly put this together in a matter of days for low cost in the space we had? Well, with the inspiration in these blogs I came up an idea that works for both my 8th grader and my 2nd grader.

If you are considering the Workbox system, I would advise you to look at some blogs too. Here is a great place to start. https://docs.google.com/View?docID=dwstdgn_447mphsmf8&revision=_latest&pli=1 This is a collection of blogs explaining the workbox system and how it worked for them. This page also has some downloads made by homeschool moms to use with the system. Very helpful!

Next Time--I’ll share how we implemented the system into our school.

Math-u-See: Curriculum Review

In our family we’ve had a real journey when it comes to the study of mathematics. We’ve used not one but six math programs in the seven years that we’ve homeschooled. Now let me open by explaining that I taught middle school math for three years in the Christian school. I’ve taught very bright students and those that struggle. Here I’m going to give you a little history so you will understand the relief at finding a math curriculum which finally worked for us. You might find yourself understand exactly our circumstance.

Our Mathematical History:

 In our first year of homeschooling, I bought the complete 1^st grade Abeka curriculum. By the end of the second semester, we realized it just wasn’t working. So we switched to Alpha Omega LifePacs Math. In 2^nd grade, we used Horizons Math and that seemed to be an okay fit for us. In third grade, I put my son on Bob Jones DVD school for all subjects. He did very well. We did it again in 4^th grade and I could see him needing me more and more especially in math. For 5^th grade, I went back to teaching him all subjects and we tried Abeka for math only since that is what I taught in the Christian school. The year went satisfactorily, but I knew he was struggling. There were days we had tears and math would take a couple hours. In sixth grade, we started the year with Teaching Textbooks. That lasted a semester. He absolutely hated it. So we stopped and he just studied math facts for all operations while I tried to figure out what to use next. That’s when I investigated Math-u-See.

Basics of Math-U-See:

Math-U-See was created by former math teacher, Steve Demme. It works well with all learning styles at all levels of math learning from the struggling student to the advanced. Math-u-See is mastery based vs. spiral. That means that in each level there is a focus covered in each book. The levels are set up as follows:

Primer (which is an introduction to mathematics. It is best suited for Pre-kindergarten to kindergarten level students.)

Alpha (simple addition and subtraction)

Beta (advanced addition and subtraction)

Gamma (multiplication)

Delta (division)

Epsilon (fractions)

Zeta (decimals and percents)

That covers the Elementary levels of Math.Then there are the usual high level math classes:

Pre-algebra

Algebra I

Algebra II

Geometry

Pre-calculus

Calculus

Stewardship

The elementary levels being set up as mastery can be used at different grades levels depending on the math level of the student. For example, a fifth grader would typically be in Epsilon, but a struggling ninth grader might be using it as well. There are no grades assigned to each level.

The Math-u-See system utilizes blocks in all levels of math even through the high school levels. These are very important and really make the Math-u-See experience different than other math programs. Most of us moms, dads and teachers were taught how to do math but not the whys about math. We were taught to think of math in an abstract manner. With this program students are taught to know the whys about math and with the blocks they learn math in a concrete way and then move into the abstract. It makes math much more understandable and (even more) it takes math concepts and rules and allows them to make sense so that memorization is not really necessary.

Teaching DVDs are included with the Teachers Manual. The idea is for the teacher to watch the DVDs and allow Mr. Demme to teach you the system of Math-u-See so that you can then teach your children. However, if you have children in the 3^rd grade or above, it is completely acceptable to have them watch the DVDs with you and then you can go through the lesson together. If you have an even younger child who learns well through listening or watching, then you can view the DVDs together as well. They are a great learning tool.

Our personal experience:

I decided to give Math-u-See a try after a couple weeks of searching through other math programs. We decided to put our sixth grader into the Alpha level which can normally be used in the first grade. He moved through Alpha quickly starting in February and finishing it in April. Math now took us 20 to 30 minutes a day. He was not only finishing quicker but understanding more fully—really understanding how math works. He could now do mental math—figuring out computation in his head. The addition and subtractions facts were learned. Then we skipped to the Gamma level which teaches multiplication. He finished it that summer. This past year in seventh grade, he completed Delta (division) and Epsilon (fractions). This summer before 8^th grade, we have been going through the Zeta book—decimals and percents. We should finish just in time to start the new school year and pre-Algebra, putting him on track for grade level. That’s a lot of math in 18 months.  This past year I put my 1^st grader into Alpha. He is much more math minded than my older son, but he still did great with Math-u-See. No tears here.

Advice in using math u see:

Math-u-See books are divided into 30 lessons with a test after every lesson, four unit tests divided through the level and a final exam. Within each lesson, there are seven pages to be completed (A-F plus test). Do you need to complete all those math pages? Absolutely not. Pages A-C cover the same new material. Pages D-F are called systematic review and include the new lesson material as well as review material. With my younger son, we did math only four days a week. We viewed the lesson on Monday and did the A paper. Tuesday we did the B paper, Wednesday we moved to the D paper and Thursday he took the test. If I found that he needed more review, we could take another day to do so. My older son who was moving through the lower levels at a much quicker pace might do the Lesson and A paper on one day, the D paper the next and the test the third day. Then we started the next lesson. This is all to say that you, the parent and teacher, can decide how much time you need to take for each lesson.

Make sure to purchse the blocks (both sets). They are imperative to this math system and used through all the levels. There are other manipulatives used in the upper elementary levels which can also be purchased to demonstrate those concrete methods of teaching things like fractions and decimals which we adults never had as students.

One other thing is that it is very easy to purchase used Math-u-See items and to sell your used items. Look for a local place to sell used curriculum or there are several online places to buy and sell including a special Math-u-See Yahoo group.

Visit the website to learn more about Math-U-See http://www.mathusee.com/ . There are video segments to watch and sample pages to view from the books.

Tomorrow is Fresh with No Mistakes...

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The Good ‘Ole Summer Time. Time for refreshing watermelon, lazy days on the beach and even the sound of the cicadas. Summer is also when many homeschool teachers are preparing for the next school year. (Although, it is tempting to just relax on that beach.) During this period, when things slow down a bit is the best time to evaluate the previous year. What worked and what didn’t. It’s easy to become frustrated, disillusioned and even fearful when the school year didn’t meet expectations. Questions fill your head: ‘Am I doing a good job, are my kids learning, have we done enough, should I put them into a traditional school next year?’

First of all, take a deep breath. Exhale. All teachers have doubts in themselves whether they teach in a traditional school or a homeschool. Life happens. Maybe you had a baby this year; discovered one of your children had a learning disability or a serious illness; had a death in the family or experienced a move. All of these things and many more reasons can disrupt the whole flow of your school year. I repeat…Breathe.

I love that line from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery: ‘Tomorrow is fresh with no mistakes in it (yet).’ That really is something you have to internalize as you evaluate your previous year. Don’t be too hard on yourself. If last year didn’t go as planned…get in line. We’ve all been there. But in being a homeschooler we have flexibility on when and what we teach. If you didn’t get as much history or grammar in this year, then that can be a focus in the next year. If you plan to homeschool through high school, you have plenty of time to get everything covered. Even if you only plan to stay home one more year, that is still one more year to address the areas that need special care.

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First, make a list of everything that worked well. Those are the things you will most likely stay with next year. If your 1^st grader did well in one particular phonics program then you should stay with it. If, on the other hand, it didn’t work; you may need to search for something different.

Then make a list of those things that didn’t work for you. Those are the areas that you need to make a change in. Talk with friends in your homeschool support group. More than likely they will have ideas for you to check out. Visit some of the online homeschool curriculum groups. Post a question. No doubt you will get lots of advice and help.

After that, put together some yearly goals specific to each child. This doesn’t just have to cover academics but also spiritual, emotional and social aspects as well. If you have goals you are more likely to reach some or all of them. When you just have a vague notion in your head, it may stay just that…vague and wishful but not concrete and affecting your school.

Next, consider which subjects you will cover. Did you have too many topics to cover everyday so that you didn’t have enough time to tackle the hard or struggling subjects? Maybe you didn’t cover enough subjects. Asses which exact subjects you wish to cover with each child and try to combine the grades together as much as you can if you have multiple children.

Plan. As much as you can, plan out your days. Give your older ones a list of all they need to finish for the day. This keeps them on task with a goal to attain. The more you plan, the more of a chance you have of actually fulfilling your yearly goals.

Finally, think about your schedule. Sometimes life gets in the way day after day and that should be a clue that your schedule isn’t working. If you have younger and older children, schedule the older ones to work on independent work while you work with the younger ones in reading. And keep in mind that the schedule which worked during the 1^st quarter may not be what you need nine weeks later, so adjust and change as needed.

Tomorrow is fresh with no mistakes in it. It’s a lovely thought isn’t it? Of course, what we do each day does affect tomorrow; but we can’t get bogged down by yesterdays and what ifs. Instead, we have to keep learning and assessing for the future.