On Captain John Smith....

Our school days have resumed....

As I was reading to the children today I ran across this paragraph that I found to be good advice for any leader. I can apply it to my life.

From the book "This Country of Ours" by H.E. Marshall:

"Many of the unruly sort were glad to see him (John Smith) go, but his old companions with whom he had shared so many dangers and privations were filled with grief. "He ever hated baseness, sloth, pride and indignity," said one of them. "He never allowed more for himself than for his soldiers with him. Upon no danger would he send them where he would not lead them himself. He would never see us want what he either had or could by any means get us. He loved action more than words, and hated falsehood and covetousness worse than death."

Another great audio resource! Several of the book for our study of the Middle Ages are found here! I'm thrilled.
My Audio School
This could come in very handy!!! When my older boys were little, on rainy days they would lazy around listening to audio books while they played Lego, K-nex, and Lincoln Logs. We don't ever seem to have those "down" days anymore. Everyone is busy with all sorts of different projects, but if I turn on an audio book, it seems people quiet down and migrate toward the story, even if the story was meant for me. I love listening to audio book while doing laundry or dishes!

History

"Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it" Winston Churchill

I'm looking forward to getting back into our more formal learning routine. One aspect that I look forward to is all the reading of history that we get to do. I absolutely love learning along with my children. And when I say "along with my children" I mean just that! I made A's in history all through school, but I don't recall much of anything about it. In fact, I didn't like it. What a shame! Thankfully, it's not too late for me to enjoy it now!

I ran across this site tonight that offers History magazines and timelines.
The History Shop

And I just ordered a print catalog from Winter Promise Publishing.

We'll be studying the Middle Ages this year. I'm so in the dark but looking forward to exploring a new-to-me part of history

Another Quote

I find that I enjoy posting little snippets of information on my blog that I don't want to forget. Today, while doing laundry and general cleaning, I've been listening to Crazy Love by Francis Chan and I've been challenged. It's free to download this month at Christian Audio.

Here's another quote I quickly grabbed pencil to copy down, "How we live our days is how we live our lives." ~ Annie Dillard

Now, I'm ready to fill out the annual homeschool forms that we are required by law to submit to our local public school superintendent. Doing this makes the new school year seem very close. But that o.k., exactly when does it end? Zeke sleeps. The rest of the kids are all water coloring.....art class is in full swing. :)

A couple new-to-me blogs

I've spent a bit of time browsing blogs this evening. I rarely do this. I have my favorites and just stick with those. I find I don't have much time to sit in front of a screen these days. I have much more important (and fun) things to do.

But tonight I found two blogs that I took note of. Maybe you'll enjoy them, too.
down to earth is full of lots of "home" information. I like practical tips and this blog is full of them. She made is to my blogroll! I love looking into other people's gardens!

I hope to use the resources provided at
Great Books Audio. My kids and I love to listen to audio books together as we're doing laundry, dishes and general clean-up. This will be an easy way to get some of the classics in.

Is your summer crazily busy? What ever happened to the lazy days of summer? Our days are good and full, but seems there is so much to "do"! I often wonder how in the world the pioneers made it. I'm certain I would have starved to death or died of heat stroke. I've told my family if we ever have to live off of our garden, we'll all get skinny really fast! :)

A few thoughts on dyslexia

"When we look at highly successful dyslexic individuals, we see that they succeeded by following their substantial gifts, not by focusing on their difficulties." - Thomas G. West, In the Mind's Eye, Thinking Like Einstein

I am a faithful reader of the blog Eide Neurolearning Blog. They consistently post scientific information about the brain that interests me. The above quote resonates with me, in that I need to take heed to it! I tend to want to "fix" things in those that I teach. Actually, I need to make more time for their "gifts" to flourish! This isn't the first time I've come across this advice. I also like the following quote from their post today:

If a child has trouble in core school subject such as reading, an equally intensive search should be made for a child's strengths and interests, remembering to specifically set aside time for gift/talent development.

And I really think this would apply to all people, not just those that are struggling in a core subject. Of course, we can all work hard at mastering different skills (not just the ones that come easily to us) but should we not strive to use to the utmost the gifts that God has given to us as individuals?

Daniel Boone

I find our current read-aloud, Daniel Boone by James Daugherty, quite fascinating, as do my children. Here's a couple quotes:

Being good members of the Quaker faith, the Boone family gave and took among themselves and their neighbors with an easy kindness that brought a quiet sweetness to the stress and strain of heavy tasks. Out of the ponderous Bible they daily read and listened and believed, striving to walk with a wise and gentle God in love and truth.

Father and Mother Boone with their eleven children were an average-sized American family of that day.....

Back to our Routine

Oh, it's so good to be back into our routine. I truly love my days. Days that are made up of minutes. I have few minutes alone. I have a wonderful family to take care of! A friend of mine always reminds me that never ending laundry, meals to cook, and dishes mounted high just mean that we are blessed. It means we have family and friends to love! And this is so very true!

Monday we spent our day cleaning, room by room. As always, we didn't get as much done as we would have liked, but we did accomplish a lot and had a great time doing it. Yesterday, we did a few activities that I suppose you could call "schoolish" but that's not what we were thinking as we did them. We watched a new Moody Science movie (Tim and I got the kids the set for Christmas.), while we ate bowls of popcorn. Oh, and we learned some new music! We've listened to Go and Tell Greater Vision Kids too many times for my to count. And we're all singing along already even though we hadn't heard any of the songs before Sunday night. (Thanks, Julie!) And there was basketball practice.

But today.....we got to read aloud, together, alone, and in pairs. Anytime that happens it would have to be a great day, right?! We just moved down our "list", which has such a comfortable feel to it. We baked together, too, and really enjoyed the new wheat bread we made! We have another Multi-grain bread raising right now. It's the kind I'll make into a round loaf, covered in seeds and bake in my new cast iron dutch oven. Can't wait. We mixed it up this morning and it will set all day, go in the refrigerator all night (to enhance the flavor) and then I'll let it rise one more time in the morning and into the oven it will go! I don't imagine it will last long after it comes out, bread never does around here.

Here in a little bit, I'll call the kids in from playing outside and we'll ready ourselves for our mid-week church service where we'll sing, pray, and worship together. And I'll thank God once again for the awesome blessing it is so meet with other believers without any fear of harm. In the mornings, as the children and I read our Bibles together, I often pause with overwhelming gratitude to thank God for the incredible privilege of spending my day, all day, with my children. I wouldn't trade it for anything! I want to savor every minute of these freedoms that I so enjoy!

A couple quotes about mathematics

I was spending some time this afternoon reviewing the new level of math that Kiersten will be starting this week. Kiersten and I have been using Right Start Mathematics this year and loving it. I say "Kiersten and I" because this is definitely NOT a curriculum that allows you to send the child off to do a worksheet. So far this year she maybe has done 10 worksheets. This aspect appeals strongly to me! I love the interaction we are having as we are making some wonderful memories together. This curriculum also uses math games heavily. Micah is happy to play these with Kiersten and they even request to play some of the games when they are not required to. What a plus!

Under the page titled "Some General Thoughts on Teaching Mathematics", Joan Cotter says, "The only students who like flash cards are those who don't need them."

Joan Cotter has spent time examining the Asian way of teaching mathematics. She lists some of the differences between their approach to education in general and the way we approach it. I'll quote a couple that stuck out to me.

"I first grade teacher has the same status as a university professor. If a student falls behind, the family, not the school, helps the child or hires a tutor. Students often attend after-school classes."

And....

"Asians and Europeans believe anyone can learn mathematics or even play the violin. It is not a matter of talent, but of good teaching and hard work."

Plans For Today

I had planned a big shopping day today but we are iced in so we'll enjoy our time at home instead. We spent our normal time reading aloud this morning. The kids and I are thoroughly enjoying our reading of Jotham’s Journey! I’ve wanted to read the book for several years and I’m sorry I waited this long. It’s definitely a favorite with all of us.

I really do need to get some baking/goody making done for get-togethers that we'll hopefully be able to go to later in the week. I have all the ingredients for caramel corn and that sounds really yummy.

I think I'll dig through my pantry and see if I can't make some tiger bark, too. Wonder what all we could make just using pantry items??? Could be a fun project! I'll post later and report our accomplishments.

The idea of making caramel corn and tiger bark came from friends. At our Thanksgiving meal I realized how every food on my table bore the influence of friends or family. Nothing was original with me. There was my Grandma’s Cranberry Salad, my Mother in Law’s Sweet Potato Casserole, my Mom’s bleu cheese/romaine salad, and Tim’s aunt’s hash brown Casserole. And a new recipe, Brown Buttered Pecan Broccoli, that Clarice recommended. I always take note when Clarice says something is yummy! I’ve never fixed anything that she suggests that my family has not loved, especially my husband. She’s just own of those ladies that knows what good food is all about!

I love food and I enjoy cooking. I always seem to have way too many new recipes to try. There aren’t enough meals to fit them all in! I so wish that over the years I would have kept track of all the different recipes that we love, but I haven’t! I make something new; we love it and I go on to something else new that we will enjoy, too, but I’m not organized in all of this. For instance when, we were first married, Tim and I had a very limited food budget. I would cook everything from scratch and I might add, I had a great time doing it! Pancakes are cheap food and we made them every way imaginable! We made special syrups for our special pancakes. One meal we remember was Scottish Oatmeal Pancakes with an orange syrup. I’ve tried many other Scottish Oatmeal Pancake recipes but none of them are like those first ones I made. Wouldn’t it be fun for me to be able to look back on all the different pancake recipes that I used in those first years of our married life?

I am making progress, though, not all is lost. I have a three ring binder with sheet protectors that I use to store favorite recipes.

Robert Frost

Nathan has been reading Robert Frost's poetry for the past 12 weeks. He chose the poem "Walking by Woods on a Snowy Evening" to memorize. Just today, I finished reading aloud to the children Robert Frost: America's Poet by Doris Faber, Illustrated by Paul Frame.

We learned that Robert's dad loved to go on long nature walks with his son, up and down the hills of San Fransisco. Before the age of eleven, when Robert's father died of tuberculosis, Robert nor his sister ever attended school. His father liked to say, "There's no need to coop him up in some unhealthy schoolroom." And when Robert had children of his own he chose to keep his children at home and traveling with him, also. All throughout Robert's life, we noticed that he sought out nature and solitude. He would continually go from times mingling with people to needing times of solitude, manual labor, and hours with nature. I had to wonder how much those early days of trekking with his father must have influenced his life!

Robert Frost, later in life, taught college English classes. I found his teaching style so interesting, quite unconventional! While he ruffled the feathers of other professors, he was often a favorite teacher with the students.

Mr. Frost was the first to speak at an Inaugural Address, invited by President Kennedy. At his death two years later,

President Kennedy spoke for all of his fellow countrymen: "He had promises to keep and miles to go, and now he sleeps."

I've been reminded, once again, of the power of "living" books! Some of my children have been inspired to write a bit more than normal this week. The writing did not come from an assignment that I dreamed up, but it came from the feelings and thoughts of their hearts. I love it when this happens. It's beautiful and it's the kind of education that Robert Frost thought most valuable!

Animal Tracks

Animal Tracks by Arthur Dorros is just a very sweet little book for young children. Apparently, Amazon doesn't sell any new copies. I don't know if it is available new anywhere else or not, but perhaps your library would have it. We checked it out at our library.

Each page has questions in the story line and there is always expectation of what is coming next. The guess can always be an educated one, because of the tracks that are shown.

I thought it was just a fun story to read with my little ones. A great science book!

Day 2 of our Wild Field Trip

We have a few members in our family who are cycling fans. All of my kids love their bikes and my husband is quite attached to his. Riding is a great stress reliever for Tim, as well as a wonderful challenge and means of staying fit. He accomplishes things on his bike that make me hurt, just to think about it.

Monday, September 8th, the first day of the Tour of Missouri ended at the Plaza in Kansas City. I didn't realize this or I'm sure we would have made our way down to the Plaza to enjoy the festivities! We watched it on the news, talked about how we wish we would have thought of that, etc.

Tuesday morning on our way home, we were just driving along when we saw a small sign that said "course" attached to a post on the side of an exit ramp. "Oh, the TOUR!" We turned around at the next legal u-turn and made our way back to the overpass. The tour was to be passing by in just 45 minutes. We were given cow bells and maps of the route. We happily unloaded and found a place to wait.

Here' what we saw:





And here's what some of us looked like while waiting.(Please look with eyes of grace, as this was a last minute trip, with lots of persons crammed in one car) By this point I felt as though I was falling apart:



We couldn't just watch at this one point. We quickly headed on so that we could make it to the next point. This intersection was in the middle of no where, on some back roads with fields on all four sides. This time there had been a break away and they weren't all in just one big bunch.

We were blessed to have such a wonderful "extra" thrown into our field trip!

Nature Journals

I believe in them. I love looking at them. I desire to faithfully keep one. I desire to lead my children in this endeavor. I enjoy drawing and writing in mine.

I don't know why I find it so hard to actually be consistent in this!

But, past failures aside. Here's today's humble entry...done right along with my children...another happy memory in our bank of many!

One Wild Field Trip

We decided at a moment's notice that we'd travel to Kansas City to see Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin. We packed in five to ten minutes, attended our Sunday evening church services, picked up a couple friends along the way, and then headed out for our four hour trip to Kansas City.

We had a blast on the way up, eating fast food and visiting about everything under the sun as we rumbled along in my fifteen year old Volvo station wagon. I love my car!

By midnight we were in the wonderful home of my second mom and dad. We visited for another hour and headed to bed....morning would come early and we didn't want to miss out on anything.

At around 5:30 a.m. I headed to the grocery store for snacks, water, and extra camera batteries. When I returned all the kids and my friend were about ready to head out.

By 6:30 we were in line behind probably 400 other proud Americans. For two and a half hours we visited with those around us and dodged some sprinkles, praying it wouldn't rain. The sky was so dark.

A lot of older people seemed proud that the kid's were there. Strangers explained to them that they were seeing history in the making. We were also going to get to see one of America's wartime heroes. My kid's knew that. They are proud of John McCain, and are thankful for the sacrifices he made for them!

Reading up to this point, you may think I'm a big McCain supporter. In actuality I don't even know who I will vote for. I am a big supporter of America and I'm very proud of John McCain and his service to our country, even though, I disagree with him on some issues that I consider very important to me. That said, there are some issues that I think he takes a wonderful stand on!

We were also at this rally to see Sarah. She didn't disappoint us!

The media reported, around 9:00, that there were 400 people in line. Ummm.....just before that we saw the line going back, block after block, and a police officer estimated that there were 8,000 in line! Gross misrepresentation, to say it mildly!

As we were entering the building, the security was tight....and then as we waited among a few other thousand people inside the building, the standing room was tight! We were in a great position, right in front of center stage, not too far back.

As you'll see from my photos, some of us didn't get to stay at our original, optimal spot! A little girl needed to use the restroom, really, really bad!!! But it worked out fine. Kiersten and I left the others and then stayed to the far right of the stage. I would hold Kiersten over my head as much as my arms would allow, and she would wave at Sarah with all her might, just hoping Sarah would notice her. AND SHE DID! She gave her a huge smile, winked, and waved at her. Kiersten was thrilled!

As Senator McCain spoke, I whispered to Kiersten, "Just think, that's the same man who weighed 100 pounds, and lay in a cell suffering, fighting for us." Kiersten said, "Mom, I'm not thinking of that right now. I'm thinking, I'M ACTUALLY IN THE SAME ROOM WITH HIM RIGHT NOW!", her eyes shining and wide with pride, AMERICAN pride!

We got to sing the National Anthem, say our pledge, practice the UNDER GOD part and pray to the God in Heaven, all with thousands of other proud Americans! We got to honor the veterans that were there, and there were MANY! I pray that our God will have mercy on America.

Here's a couple pics of what we saw. Later, I'll tell you how we finished up our field trip, a great bonus ending to our spur of the moment trip to Kansas City!

Influance of Attitude

This past year I've become friends with a lady who seems to always be positive in her attitude toward life. I don't mean to say that she portrays her life as being perfect but that she chooses to look at life with joy and hope. Not only is she positive about her own life but she bestows praise freely on those around her. Many times over the past year she has been a breath of fresh air to me. I want to cultivate this characteristic in my own life.

As I was thinking of having a positive attitude I ran across this about teaching reading to a struggling learning and I think it applies to many area of parenting, life, and education:

Limit struggle. Limit failure. Praise success. Keep your energy level high. Keep surprising him. Keep him laughing and giggling. Happy people learn faster. Have fun. He will take his cues about attitude from you. (from Joyce Herzog)

Importance of Sleep

I've always felt that when kids aren't allowed to get enough sleep that it is very close to abuse. Guess I feel strongly about this subject. Maybe I'm just overly opinionated! That is is very real possibility!

Anyhow, I just know from my very limited experience with my own four children that when they are rested, our lives progress much more smoothly than if they are sleep deprived. My baby boy who is now 2 and a half years old still takes two and three hour naps. He's much happier, content and peaceful when well rested. Life just becomes a big frustration to him when he's tired. Tears are never far away.

This afternoon Nathan and I were reviewing the new math program we just purchased. It is an Intermediate Hands-On Geometry course. I decided to let Nathan "play". He loves hands-on learning of any kind, it seems, and I'm undecided as to which direction we should go in math and so we'll just play for awhile. Nathan is thrilled with this new course of study. Back to my point, as we were beginning the program I read over the page titled "Hints on Tutoring" and ran across this statement that I found interesting. "Research shows one of the major causes of difficulties in learning new concepts for this age group is insufficient sleep" Unfortunately the author, Joan Cotter, does not site the research she is referring to. I'd be interested in knowing more.

Neuro Toxin

This past weekend I was blessed to attend a great homeschool conference. I hadn't planned to attend until I saw that a lady who works with children with certain learning difficulties would be speaking. I was able to meet her before I heard her speak and we hit it off right away. There were so many subjects we both passionately care about: living foods, raw milk, cultured foods, harm from plastics, great farm raised meats, EFA, organic products, chemical free home and body care, gardening and most of all children. Children, who we believe, have been affected by this toxic world that we live in.

In a session she taught titled "Reading and the Brain: The Neurology of Learning Disabilities and What You Can Do About It" she was asked about diet and if it mattered. She emphatically shared with the audience that she did and recommended a couple books. Then she pleaded, "Please, please, please, stay away from sugar! It is a Neoro Toxin, not a traditional part of our diets." That was all. She didn't preach. She didn't rant and rage. She just pleaded with a large group of parents to not feed their children what she believes is poison. Oh, and then she shared that she believed it to be more addictive than heroine. We really wouldn't know though, would we, since most of us rarely stay away from it for any amount of time. I'd bet the majority of Americans eat sugar every day!

This stuck with me. I want what is best for my children. There are many things in this world that I have no control over but I can limit our sugar intake and I'm going to be much more vigilant about it. I don't plan to feel deprived, either. There are a ton of foods that we'll enjoy on this journey to a more natural, poison-free diet.

I wrote this mostly for my sake, I will need the reminder!