School Days

Well, I am the evil homeschool who started school BEFORE the local public schools. Yep, we started bright and early this morning. Our schedule this year is a lot more demanding than last year. It is especially tough on Nathaniel. He is in the 7th grade. He leans toward academic laziness. The bad thing he is very smart. He could be finished with all of his work by lunch if he would just apply himself. Instead it took him 20 minutes to answer ONE question in Science today. His schedule looks a bit like this(on paper anyway):
7:30-Catechism and Bible Study
8:00-Language Arts, using Shurley 6 for grammar and Writing Aids for composition
8:30- Math U See Pre-Algebra
9:00- History reading from Tapestry of Grace Selections
9:30- Science, Apologia General Science
10:00- Literature reading, TOG
10:30- Logic, The Art of Argument
11:00- Lunch, play outside, quiet time
1:00- Latin, Latin for Children A
2:00- Art, Hands-on history/geography projects, study spelling words on SpellingCity, anything that needs to be practiced/ caught up on.

Benjamin's schedule looks like this:
7:30- Catechism and Bible
8:00- read his literature selections from TOG
8:30- Language Arts- Shurley 2 and Writing Aids
9:00- Math U See Gamma
9:30- History from TOG
10:00- Science, Apologia Botany
10:30- free time, read alouds, catch up on anything undone
11:00- Lunch, play, rest (he tried to nap several times today!)
1:00- Latin for Children A
2:00- Art, hands on history/geography, spelling, anything else that needs finishing

Samuel is loving school so far:
7:30- Catechism
8:00- puzzles, songs, drawing
8:30- reading on his own
9:00- Language Arts/Reading with mom, Shurley 1, Writing Aids, assorted books from TOG and favorites off his shelf
9:30- Math U See Alpha (he has told everyone that he has *real math* this year, not just primer-he has tests and everything!!)
10:00- Science, Botany
10:30- do any skipped reading, work on phonics, read alouds, play time
11:00- lunch and play
1:30- Song School Latin, LOVES it. Anything that is based around singing is going to win this boy over
2:00- Art, hands-on history/geography, spelling (found a great site with spelling lists that has worksheets to go along with each set of words)
So, as you can see, our days are filled to the brim with great stuff. But that does not mean we don't still have time for a bit of fun. We painted big, white shirts today to look (somewhat) like Egyptian pharaohs.

Don't ask me why Samuel has on Darth Vadar's helmet. Maybe he thinks it looks like a black wig.


They are pretty good at walking like Egyptians, doncha think?

Celebrations

Finally getting around to posting the pictures from the end of our year. Hope you enjoy!!

Painting their last day of school rocks


on the couch with their model of the ISS


Singing this. Nathaniel did the speaking part.



Samuel entertained the crowd by singing the Battle of New Orleans, complete with a tennis racket banjo


Then he decided that he needed a microphone


We also went to Susan Moore High School's graduation recently. It was probably the best graduation ceremony I know of recently. Instead of a bunch of adults tooting their own horns the whole focus was on the class and their achievements. The salutatorian was a babbling idiot(let's just say she made a good advertisement for homeschooling!), but the valedictorian was well spoken enough to more than make up for it.




The boys with Uncle Jonathan


Amanda, Jonathan, and Anna Claire


Maybe I enjoyed the graduation since I got to hold Anna Claire during the whole thing!

As if the past six months weren't reason enough....

....I have a new reason to be thankful for homeschooling. The Marshall County Board of Education has been operating in the red. We have FIVE school systems in our county. (Our county is not that big) So basically, all the tax money coming from anywhere in the city limits of any of our four cities goes to fund that city's schools. The county schools are thus left with hoping enough sales are generated at gas stations and junk stores located outside of "city areas". Well, guess what? Not enough sales = not enough tax revenues to keep the schools going. So it leaves the board with tough decisions to make. Like consolidating some of the schools. We had a lower than normal attendance at church Wednesday night because of a meeting that was set at Claysville Junior High School to talk about what happens when the school closes. Yep, our local school is going to be shut down. The kids will be bused to other schools. What is ridiculous is that if my children were still in public school, the would end up going to Brindlee Mountain. To get to Brindlee Mountain they would have to ride through downtown Guntersville, passing by where the Guntersville Elementary School is located. Considering the fact that the school bus already passes by here at 6:30 in the morning to get to a school less than five miles away, who knows what time they would have to load the buses to get to the other side of town. There are a lot of angry parents. I understand not wanting things to be like this. I also understand that budget cut backs that are beyond the systems control, as well as not being able to raise enough money are to blame. I do not know how many of the teachers at Claysville will be moved to other schools and how many will just lose their jobs. Schools need a major overhaul in how they operate. I am very thankful that I am able to homeschool. I am thankful that my children are exposed to wonderful books, art, music and (gulp) Bible studies. I am thankful that it is 7:36 and they are still in bed, rather than having to get them up before daylight. I am thankful they are learning in an environment that encourages them to be smart. (you would think schools would do this, but have you ever seen a school that glorified the "nerds" while sticking the athletes off to the side? ever seen one that would remodel the science lab even if it meant leaving the gym in less than perfect condition? me neither) I am thankful that I get to learn stuff right along with them. There is so much that I did not know about Revolutionary War. I did not know that women and children would often follow where the soldiers were going to battle. I had heard the phrase "taxation without representation is tyranny" but I never knew why the states were being taxed. I have already been looking at what we are going to do next year. We are going to learn about Egypt during the first few weeks. When I was younger I can remember in church hearing about Egypt being so important and being such a vast kingdom. But all I knew of Egypt was that it was a desert and had some giant pyramids. As an adult who started watching the history channel I learned more about Egypt than I ever did in school. My kids are going to learn what made it such a vast kingdom and how it is not all desert. They are going to learn about ancient China , India and the Americas. They are going to learn about early Greek and Roman life, with the understanding that this is the culture Christ was born in, these are the false gods that the first Christians were battling. I was taught mythology in third grade. I did not realize until I was an adult that the same stories I heard and thought were fairy-tales were the same false gods I was reading about in the Bible. (granted I am a little slow sometimes, I was born blonde) I am so thankful that my children are going to get an education that I never dreamed was possible when I was a child. And hey- they get to receive said education wearing pajamas, superhero costumes (including being dressed as Captain Underpants-sweatsuit with tighty-whiteys on the outside)long-johns, sweat pants or even (gasp!) regular clothes.

A Disaster Has Occured!!

Oh me Oh my!! I have lost the cord to connect my camera to the computer! I have soooo many pictures that need to be put on the computer before the camera fills up. While we were studying about Mars Benjamin recreated the happy face crater in a bowl of ice cream, we built a salt dough model of Olympus Mons and erupted it, and we made aliens and UFOS. (okay, I admit, that last thing on the list wasn't very scientific, but it was really fun!!) We made a scale model of the solar system. The sun was a basketball. We could only space them out to Mars. If we kept going we would have had to have gone half a mile down the road!!! It is mind boggling to think that our solar system is so huge, yet in comparison to the whole known universe it is rather small!!! And God is so big that He created and controls it all!!!! We are studying about Jupiter now. We plan to make a tornado in a bottle to represent the stormy Great Red Spot. Of course I will take pictures of that, but who knows if I can get them to the computer.
We have also been having a blast learning about the Revolutionary War. We have a few books that we are reading and we are also taking advantage of the internet big time for this. I some kind of study unit where they have excerpts of letters from Abigail Adams written to John Adams. We read her telling him about the Battle of Bunker Hill. I cannot imagine witnessing a battle. Knowing that a good friend died in that battle and having to tell my husband about it would be horrible. I am sure she was a much stronger lady than I. She would have to be to just be able to survive during that time. We have been using Johnny Tremain as a read aloud. I had never read that book until we recently bought it. I have to say I really liked it. I wish that it ended happier, but then, it might lose some of the realism. I know it is fiction, but it feels so real. That might not make sense to some people, but it does in my head. I had planned to use My Brother Sam is Dead as our read aloud. Nathaniel read it a few years ago when he was in school because he could read it to get enough AR points not to have to read anything else during that six weeks. That book is utterly depressing!!! It had some parts I do not think Benjamin would have handled very well. Samuel may be the youngest, but Benjamin is the most sensitive.
We have been watching Liberty's Kids. The boys really got excited when we read about Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott and their midnight ride and then we watched that episode. One thing I like about LK is that even though it is a cartoon with some fictional characters , it sticks very close to the truth about the way that things happened.
Nathaniel made a lantern out of a soup can (yet another picture I cannot post!!:{ ARGH!!!) Benjamin and Samuel made bread. I think that we (I) take so many things for granted. During colonial days I would have never had the time to just sit down and blog. (or journal or whatever) Could you imagine having to bake your bread every day, using what you probably grew, threshed and ground yourself? Not only that, but also having to make you your own yeast?!?! Our bread took around 5-1/2 hours from start to finish. Not to mention the other things that would have had to have been done. Milk the cows, churn the butter, keep the fire going, (could you imagine having to cook on a fireplace year-round? It might be nice during a cold snap but what about in the summer???) Make all the clothes by hand, wash all the clothes by hand. Keep the garden going during the warm months then preserve foods so they would last during the cold months. Chop wood. Make candles. How did they ever find the time to revolt and defeat the strongest army in the world?? Half the time I can't seem to find enough time to get just the basic stuff done and I have a microwave, a washing machine and dryer, a dishwasher, food that I buy and do not have to cook. I even have paper plates!! I made the comment one day that I have an easy life and Mark looked at me like I was crazy. I didn't let it bother me. I get that look from him a lot!!!

Just Call The Tyrant Queen Mom

We started learning about the American Revolution yesterday. Actually we read some about the French and Indian War. And about the huge debt that needed to be payed off as a result of said war. We did not really go into a whole lot of details, just that the king thought that the colonists should be the ones to pay the debt. This morning after Bible study and Catechism, before handing them their papers I announced that homeschooling is very expensive. Since they are the ones who are benefiting from homeschooling, from now on they would pay taxes to pay off their homeschooling debts. Today there is a tax of one cent per piece of paper. And a tax of one cent per each time that a pencil is used. Nathaniel has decided that he is only going to use the backs of papers today. Benjamin is all into the idea. He is suggesting other things that could be taxed. Samuel is not too thrilled, but he is not really putting up much of a fuss. How funny, I have a Tory, a Patriot, and a Neutral. Let the revolution begin!!!!

Homeschooling Heartcheck

Ah, Christmas break. A very nice time to sit back and reflect on the whys and hows of our homeschooling journey. I know some people might think I am still in the "honeymoon phase" but I am seriously so glad that we have been able to start this. There are headaches along the way. I mean, five people being together 24/7 can seem a little cramped. We do get on each others' nerves. I wouldn't have it any way, though.

If we were not homeschooling, we would not be able to pick and choose our own field trips. We would have to do what ever the school deemed appropriate for each age, and the boys would have to go separately. There are countless times that we either had to get a babysitter or only one of us go on a field trip with the kids because siblings were not allowed to come. There have even been a few trips where our kids were the ones with no parent along for the ride because dad had to work and mom could not get a sitter. So now we are able to do things as a family. If we decided to go somewhere, we just do it. We can rearrange our schedule to fit our needs. We have done school at night, and on Saturday, just to be able to do something that we wanted during the day.

This might sound a bit selfish, but I like the fact that our kids are learning from us. They are not being forced to learn boring crap that never gets used in life. Even their word problems in math are something useful such as: there are three boys in the family. Mom cooks nine pieces of bacon. How much bacon does each boy get? Very unlike the the stuff about how one canoe left port A at 5:00 heading north while another canoe left port B at 6:30 heading south. When will the two canoes meet? I have never to this day as an adult used anything to do with canoes or trains leaving separate places and meeting somewhere. Making sure everyone gets the same amount of bacon (or candy or chicken or whatever) is something I do frequently. I don't have to worry about them being told dirty jokes by their teachers. I still remember a joke that my pervert 8th grade history teacher told our class. I think one reason that the joke has stuck with me so long was because I did not get it at first, then when I finally did get it (months later) I had one of those EEEWWWWW moments. And as far as pervert teachers go-I do not have to worry about that. My kids are here.

We have had so many moments that would not have been possible if the guys were at school. Times that are not anything magnificent- just times of laughing together about our new Captain Underpants names (I am Flunky Lizardnose and over there is my husband-Pinky) or watching a movie together, maybe just watching the older boys read a book to Samuel or Samuel read a book to one of his stuffed animal friends. We have just had a lot of good "moments".

For the most part I have been very pleased with our curriculum choices.
Math-I can not imagine ever changing from Math-U-See I have had so many aha! moments myself with it. Like for instance, I always got confused as a kid about area and perimeter. One thing MUS teaches is that a good way to remember perimeter being the rim. peRIMeter-outer edges. Cool, huh?
Science- Once again I can not imagine changing. Apologia has really great books. Nathaniel will be in the more advanced books next year, but I have looked at the sample given on their website and am very impressed. It is not stuffy, boring science. It reads more like a real book (literature) than a text book. Not that I am saying text books are all bad, but most of the time I would not want to just sit and read one like it was something by Charles Dickens. These books are different. I have to hide our science book sometimes because Nathaniel and Benjamin want to read ahead. Who would have ever thought that????
English-Nathaniel is not too wild about Shurley Grammar. He would prefer not to do English at all. So sometimes English with him is quite the chore. I have to set a timer most of the time or he will waste the whole day on a writing assignment or vocabulary words. Benjamin and Samuel, however love it. Samuel is not actually doing it, but he is in the room when I am working with Benjamin. He can spot the subject noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and article adjective sometimes faster that Benjamin. (much to Benj's chagrin)
History/Literature everything else- When I first began researching homeschooling I really like some aspects of Konos and some aspects of Veritas Press I even told Mark what I really wanted was something that had the awesome educational value and classical styling of Veritas, mixed with the unit study style and the hands-on learning approach of Konos. In the end we went with konos because it would not require me to be teaching totally different things to each of the boys at the same time. Now I have found what I was looking for. Tapestry of Grace. It is a unit study that covers k-12. It is classical. They will be exposed to great works of literature of the English-speaking world. Most importantly, it is very Christian. They got the name Tapestry of Grace because they said all of history is like the threads of a great tapestry God is weaving. Everything works according to God's plan. We might not always be able to see what He is weaving into our lives, but we do know it is for His glory. I saw something on a TOG user's blog where you could order a free three week sample. I was blown away! This feels like home, so to speak. It is very teacher involved (ah, dang! no sneaking off for a nap during the middle of the day) and very meaty. The kiddos will be learning stuff I never learned in elementary or middle school. I really think it is awesome. Our first year we are going to be studying creation through the fall of Rome. I like the way they break it down into each year having having four units. Each unit has nine weeks. So it is organized in a way that keeps you on track.

It is late, so I must leave you my blogging buddies. Before I go I would like to ask, if you are homeschooling, what are some of your favorite A) aspects or benefits of homeschooling; B)curriculum choices or curriculum changes that you have made over the years.

Homeschool Humor

Berean Wife Posted a very funny song about homeschoolers on her blog. Which led us, being the super-nerds that we are, to go to Youtube and look at more songs like it. I think my favorite is Beware the Homeschoolers:

Ha-Ha!! The homeschool kids are going to take over the world!!!!

So that reminded of this little gem I first saw several months ago:

They have the same kind of timeline on the wall in this video as we do in our kitchen!!

Found this one this morning

The line about "missing out on all the good cafeteria food" was priceless!!! HA!


This is so funny!!!!

Wish List

In the spirit of greediness that has taken over Christmas, I thought I'd share my wishlist with you. Don't worry, it does not cost a thing to fill this list. However, if you are reading this, you are probably not the kind of person who is being referred to in the following. I do not remember where I first saw this. I DO remember getting tickled about it because it vocalizes several things that I think but do not say. I have added my own thoughts in italics under the original points.


The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List
By Deborah Markus, from Secular Homeschooling Magazine, Issue #1, Fall 2007
1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?
I have been asked by several people if I had to get certified to teach. Like that has really helped some of the kids in public schools.

2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of both concepts.
ARG! My kids get out more now than they ever did before!

3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.
ARG again!!!

4 Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.
Or that we are weird and creepy like the one you know.

5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.
Ha! I like that one!!

6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.
These people are so wonderful to be around, aren't they???

7 We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.
Actually, my kids are kind of bad of asking questions to other kids (homeschooled or not) to see if they know the same things.

8 Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.
Some are not.

9 Stop assuming that if we're religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.
And that we must beat our kids and handle snakes.

10 We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.
Really, it has nothing to with you. It affects our kids, so therefore it had to OUR desicion

11 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn't have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don't need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can't teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there's a reason I'm so reluctant to send my child to school.
Even worse than "what about socialization?" is the "what makes YOU qualified to teach your kids?" Makes me want to say "Can I see proof that you are fit to breed and raise children"


12 If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that you're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.
He-he

13 Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it's crowded and icky.
Refer to my response in #2

14 Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don't have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.
Some days "school" might only last a couple of hours. Other days we work until dark.

15 Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don't get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I'm one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.
Do you KNOW how many kids get drunk and/or pregnant on prom night?!!?!?

16 Don't ask my kid if she wouldn't rather go to school unless you don't mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn't rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.
AMEN to that one!! Unless you really want me to start filling your kids in on what they are missing by being school, do not try to make kids think that they would be better off in school!!!

17 Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it's some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you're horrified. One of these days, I won't bother disagreeing with you any more.
I don't bother arguing. I usually say something to the effect of how it is not for everyone. Most of the time I am thinking "with that attitude I am sure your kids are better off in the hands of strangers".

18 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you're allowed to ask how we'll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can't, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn't possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.
What is great is when you have a kid like Nathaniel who is so advanced in science that he is above the average adult. So that way, you can say "Well, why don't you talk a little Einstein or Galileo with my son and see what kind of education my kids are getting". That's good for shutting smart-alack mouths. (unless it leaves them gaping open)

19 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child's teacher as well as her parent. I don't see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.
(((grin))))

20 Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he's homeschooled. It's not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.
Don't think my kids are weird because we homeschool. They were plenty weird before.

21 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she's homeschooled.
They struggle sometimes. Some subjects are just hard to certain people.

22 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.
I do not write all my own curriculum from inside my head. They make these things called "teacher's manuals" that are available to homeschool parents, as well as public/private school teachers. You did not think that your teachers really knew EVERYTHING did you????

23 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.
Some days I lose my temper and have to apologize for yelling.

24 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won't get because they don't go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.
Ever seen someone throw up at school and it caused a chain reaction of sympathy barfs? That happened at Mark's elementary school. The people in charge got on to the vomiting kids (cause you know they all did it on purpose) and MADE THE KIDS CLEAN IT UP!!!

25 Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!
Enough said!

Field Trippin' Part 1:The Space and Rocket Center

We are taking this week off of school to get some family fun trips (and some good fall cleaning) done. Yesterday we went to the Space and Rocket Center.

From left: 1. We don't know what this is. 2.Redstone Rocket 3.Jupiter C 4. Mercury Redstone (Thank you Nathaniel for telling what is what. Next time we have to learn what the other one is)



Blow up of the page of a Florida newspaper the day the astronauts first returned from the moon.


My favorite guys with a F-1 Engine (once again thank Nathaniel for telling us what this is)


Mark and Benjamin putting their hands in an astronaut glove trying to get an idea of how hard it is to do things in space.


Samuel and Nathaniel took a turn, too.


J-2 engine. In addition to the five F-1s, the Saturn V also has six of these! (Guess where that nugget of info came from)


This is Dawn. She was great!! She showed the boys how to make model rockets out of 35mm film canisters, alka-seltzers and water


Mixing the ingredients



Launchpad


Samuel with his rocket after it launched


Walking "on the moon"


On the Kiddie Cosmos Ride


Nathaniel checking out his favorite rocket from Project Mercury- the Mercury Atlas


I am a very lucky mom to have my very own Apollo flight crew


Nathaniel on the shuttle landing simulator


Benjamin on the Build a Shuttle Game


Samuel playing Asteroids


This is what almost all of the pictures of Mark and me togther look like, however, thanks to Benjamin......


...we now have this one!!

This trip was loads of fun. There are more pictures, but I think if you stayed long enough to see all these you are probably ready to get back to your life now. We always learn something when we go to the Sapce and Rocket Center. This trip we learned that maybe Nathaniel is not ready for Space Camp yet. He has been asking to go since he was about six years old.
I have no idea what he thought it would be like. We tried to get him to ride something called the Space Shot. (Like the Kiddie Cosmo ride only goes waaay higher and waaaay faster)He did not want to. REALLY did not want to. When he found out that Space Campers do lots of simulators that are just like real astronaut training he said. "Oh." That's all he said. So that is something that we have to consider. Can you imagine sending him off for a week, knowing that he is not going to enjoy it AT ALL?!?!? Well, we had a great time anyway yesterday.

Coming soon-Field Trippin' Part 2: The Pumpkin Patch

Homeschool update

Well, here we are in week number nine. The decision to homeschool has been one of the best we ever made. The boys are thriving. Benjamin has not had strep or any mysterious illness that no one can diagnose. Outside of the fact that my children are actually healthy, they have learned so much. We are taking a kind of laid-back approach. Not a whole lot of strict curriculum. Speaking of curriculum, I really feel like we made wise choices in what we picked. I was a bit worried at first about English. We ordered first grade english for Benjamin (who is in second grade) and fifth grade for Nathaniel(who is in sixth). Looking through the teacher's book, I was well pleased with Nathaniel's, but Benjamin's seemed a bit beneath him. For the first month he was supposed to classify pictures of things. We did that for the first week and he said, "Mom, this is kind of like Kindergarten stuff". Which is true. By the end of the week I decided we would skip the rest of that type stuff and move into the harder stuff, hoping it would better suit him. It did. He loves English. Also during the first week, Nathaniel made it very clear how much he hated our jingle time. (for those who are not familiar with Shurley English-you have little jingles to chant to help memorize the different parts of speech.) Being the super-dork that I am I like to give the little extra "oomph" into jingle time with motions and just really getting into it. Mr Serious however is not into that sort of thing. (He will not even sing at church!!) So we made a deal; if he could remember how to label his sentences he did not have to sing. If he got them wrong on a regular basis he'd have to sing "loud and proud" (as Samuel says)Needless to say, he committed every little part of speech to memory and rarely makes below 100.
Science is so cool!! Astronomy has always fascinated me. It is great to see the boys getting so interested in it. I love the way that Jeannie Fulbright has written this book so that it sounds like a conversation, rather than a textbook. The weird part of it that there is more information than what is found in some elementary textbooks. The fact that almost every page gives glory to God is wonderful!!
Konos is great. I can see why so many people say it is a lot of work and do not want to do it. I think sometimes good things are worth the trouble. Konos is definitely worth it. Our kids are learning about things like the electoral college (which might I point out I did not learn until 12th grade, and still did not really get it until later) and about all the presidents of the past. I love the way that Konos uses a character quality to jump start learning. And everything is done with God as the main focus. Wisdom (our current unit) comes from God, and should be used to glorify Him. I think that studying David and Solomon has caused em to examine myself. If they could mess up and do some really stupid, sinful things just because they got their focus off God, I need to be careful about what I fill my day with.
I never pictured myself saying this, but I really like math. Math U See, anyway. Wow, I have learned hows and whys that if I had known them when I was in school, I could have been considered a genius. Instead I lived in fear of math and hated it. I look forward to learning more. Who'd have thunk?
Adding Catechism to our Bible studies has been great so far. We are only in our second week of that. I have a book ordered that Annemarie suggested to me. It is called Training Hearts-Teaching Minds by Starr Meade. What is really neat is that Amazon has the first two questions available to read on their "look inside this book" feature, so we are able to go ahead and start using the book before we get it. The study that I am using only lasts through question 28, so I am going to have to find something else. At least I have most of the school year to do it.
Starfall is great for supplementing a reading program, but not so much as an independent, stand alone. We got Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It is not like anything I am used to. It seems to be working with Samuel, though. It is not a colorful book with all the bells and whistles of some reading programs, but he is learning. I say whatever works. Road signs for Nathaniel, shampoo bottles for Benjamin, this for Samuel. I almost got the Veritas Press Phonics Museum for him. I am sort of glad I did not. It says in the reviews I have read that it takes about an hour to do each day. Plus it costs almost $200.00! I have seen several on E-bay that said they still had the entire first grade workbook, and half the kindergarten workbook. When I saw the first one, I wondered why they did not finish the program. Then I kept seeing more and more like it. Kind of made me think that maybe it is not as awesome as it looked in the catalog.
We still do not have an art or music program in place. The boys all like to draw and paint. We all listen to music. Some of us sing. So that will have to do for now. We are happy, healthy and together. Who could ask for anything more?

Long rambling post.....

We have been busy with school lately. Doing a unit study on past, present, and future presidents is very time consuming. Although, school in general is just time-consuming. At least we get to pick our own hours. Up until this week our history has pretty much just been looking at different presidents. We are going in order. We are just in the reconstruction era. We have not gone into too much detail about the civil war. (that is planned for two years from now, yes I do have that far away planned) However, Nathaniel read a biography of Stonewall Jackson, which led to Mark also wanting to read one. Some of the things that people had to endure just to survive back then are unimaginable to those of us who have always had it easy. We tend to think of our lives as stressful, but we really have no idea. So many of our early presidents were either widowed or married to widows. Many of them had children who died young. Not to mention, they all lived in the time before indoor plumbing, electricity, microwaves, telephones and other things we take for granted. Like well-trained medical staffs.
Anyway, we are adding to that the election coverage. Yesterday we started a poster of John McCain. We thought we were putting enough stuff together that it would cover the whole poster, but it did not. So we'll finish today. We have been looking at his campaign issues. My little Republican kids are happy studying about him, but they are not happy about studying about B. Hussein Obama. Even though they do not have to pay taxes, they are not happy about someone who says they plan to raise taxes.
Which brings me to another point. I have been going to the candidates websites to get info on them. Obama has a place where you can contact him by e-mail. I sent an e-mail asking where he stands on homeschooling. I got a response (if you could call it that) that no more answers my question than I can fly(without an airplane). His response said to tell other people to register, and get out to vote. So I am doing as asked: If you are not registered, please do so. Also, don't forget to vote. (but please do me a favor and do not vote for a man who refuses to give anything remotely close to an actual answer when he is asked something)
During our study, we are letting each of the boys be "president for a day". They are loving this. They were really excited at first, thinking that it meant they could just kick back and rule the roost for a day. Then they started realizing that being president is not all about fun. They have to use wisdom in running a country, er, household. The president has to make sure that everyone does their schoolwork. The president has to be sure everyone does things like brushing teeth and getting into bed at a reasonable time. This has been kind of neat. They are not tattling to me on each other. They are heading straight to the pres. Of course he does get to do fun stuff like pick out his favorite meal for supper. Everyone has to refer to him as "Mr. President" How's this for funny; Nathaniel's VP was me, Benjamin's was Mark, and Samuel's was Benjamin. Nathaniel has been a secret-service man and Secretary of Defense, Benjamin has served as a secret service man. Samuel has been both a secret service man, and a SNIPER trying to assassinate the president (Benjamin).
Today they are going to draw pictures of their favorite presidents on poster paper with chalk. (wonder if any of them are going to draw themselves) We are going to attach these pictures to the volleyball net outside. Each boy is going to be a secret service agent in charge of protecting his president. Mark and I are going to be snipers hiding behind trees with water guns and water grenades to assassinate the presidents. It will be the boys' jobs to jump in front of the bullets to protect their president. Whoever has the least water on their president at the end wins. Wins what I don't know. They just win.
We are reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a family read aloud. Lots of choices between wisdom and foolishness there. We are attempting our first lapbook on this. I'll post some pictures when the boys get finished.
Speaking of pictures, I have a ton of pictures where we burned holes in leaves studying the sun, (yes, I am the mom who actually shows her boys dangerous stuff) and where we went to the Space and Rocket Center to watch Fly Me to the Moon. However, since this post is already about five miles long and I am still uploading the pics to phototbucket, they'll have to wait until next time.
Hope your week has been great. If not, it's only half over. Maybe something good will happen.

I WIll Survive

Saw this on another blog this morning. It is sooooo funny!!!

Wonders of the Universe

We have been working hard on the science so far. Of course the boys think doing science is more of a treat than a chore, so that is very nice. One thing that they had to do is to come up with a mnemonic phrase to help them remember the order the planets in the solar system. I gave them the option of working together or each one coming up with their own. So they chose each man for himself. Benjamin wrote: My vary exsited monkey jumped six new patterns.(HMMM... methinks we had better get to work on spelling) Samuel said: Mom Vader excelled at many jumping stations under Nathaniel's presidency. Nathaniel came up with My very excited mom jumped seventeen unbreakable non-horizontal poles. Nathaniel and Samuel even illustrated theirs.


Today we made a model of the solar system using balloons to represent the planets and sun.


Yesterday we read a book about Galileo. In the book it talked about him dropping two balls of different weights off the leaning tower of Pisa. We do not have anything that tall, but we still decided to try it from the fort.

Dad instructs the boys on what to do


Oops! They let go at different times. Try again!!


Better. Would have been even better if mom had snapped the camera just a second sooner so you could actually see the balls.

Truely Loving Homeschooling

Homeschooling is going great!! So far the biggest bump in the road is just getting Samuel to do stuff. He told me he does not like to color. He is telling me some of the same stuff that Benjamin used to say when I was doing preschool with him. (my little hands are getting tired, see how tired they look) He is getting better about it though. He knows that if he does his coloring and handwriting practice that he gets to do his math. (I think there must have been a mix-up at the hospital or something-MY CHILD would NEVER be excited to do MATH!!)
One of my biggest concerns has been our local library. We live in a small town. That's okay, we've lived in small towns before. We kind of like the peace and quiet. However, our town's library is a big disappointment. As far as the staff goes, you could probably not find a better one. When Mark had his sinus surgery, we forgot to take some books back. When we did take them back, the librarian asked if I realized they were overdue. I apologized and said that I stuck them on a shelf intending to bring them back before the surgery and then forgot about them. She looks and me says "Your husband had surgery? Oh well, we make exceptions for that" and TOOK OFF OUR FEE!!!!! Amazingly nice, just not a lot to offer. When Nathaniel decided that he would read a biography about about Stonewall Jackson, there was not one. We are in Alabama. I thought this was the Confederate hotzone or something. I mean there are people around here that salute the Confederate flag over the US flag. They had biographies on Ben Stiller and Beyonce, just not Stonewall Jackson. The directors of our cover school recommended that we try the Huntsville Library. We were already in Huntsville at the time so we decided to just go and take a look. Oh. My. Goodness!! I have never in all my life seen a library like this one. Their children's section alone is enormous compared to our entire library. We asked about getting cards, but since we are outside of Madison County we would have to pay a fee and show a piece of mail that has our address on it. Since we do not generally carry around mail with us, we had to wait. We did however case the joint, uh, I mean discover what the library had to offer. WOW!! We went back the next day (even though it is about a 35-40 drive).
So far this week, we have not had a "normal" day of school. Monday and Tuesday we made trips to Huntsville. Monday we waited about school until we got back. Tuesday we did our morning lessons (Bible, Handwriting, Math and English) before going to the big library and did our other stuff afterwards. Yesterday, Benjamin needed to leave by 1:00 to go spend the night with my sister. So we started school early, he did two Math and English lessons and we did all of our Konos for the day, getting finished by lunch time. Today Samuel and Nathaniel are going to really only do a half day of school because we do not want Benjamin to be behind on learning about the presidents. Samuel can focus more on phonics than usual, and Nathaniel can read his Stonewall Jackson book(from the big library). When Benjamin comes home on Friday, he will not have missed anything. Why did we not start homeschooling sooner??????

My Blunder Turned Out To Be A Blessing

I am a member of two e-groups that are for homeschoolers in north Alabama. One of those had an event listed taking place on the beach at the state park near our house. So, we took a break from school for a few hours and headed out. This may sound bad, we have lived in Guntersville for a year now, and have never gone to the state park. So we head out with a picnic lunch, a little unsure of exactly where we are going and what we will see when we get there. Ok, this may sound moronic, but I was just thinking "beach" not "beach at the state park". We found the right street and seemed to drive forever. The street was lined with trees on each side. I was beginning to wonder if we would ever see any signs of civilization. Mark kept questioning if I was actually leading them the right way. Samuel(who is five) even piped in with "Mom, crack is whack, and you are crack."
We finally got the beach entrance. As we pulled up to the beach, we hear Samuel say "I'm going to do everything just like the white people at the beach." Say whaaaat?!?!?! Nathaniel told him he was being racist. We asked him what he meant by what the white people do at the beach. (I'm thinking, burn? wear bermuda shorts and dark socks? what?) He tells us he did not say WHITE people, he said HAWAII people!!!! How funny!
The first thing we noticed is a lack of people. Almost no one.
So we wondered if maybe it got called off for some reason. But we decided since we were there already to go ahead and stay a while.

And yes, that is a pine tree, not a palm tree.




Like our castle? You can tell boys built it when it is complete with a moat monster.

I was reminded of why we never go anywhere on a boat. Some of my guys were getting seasick,on a boat ramp, especially Benjamin. What a bunch of land-lubbers!

We decided to try to leave the park a different way than we got there. We passed a pretty look-out point and decided to stop. Benjamin would not get out of the car, though.

Like my hair? I did not realize that it looked like that and went into an office to pay a bill, and to the library.
We did not find a bathroom to wash our hands at the beach, so we went to a different park for our picnic. The ducks really wanted our food.

I wish the picture would show the crumbs on this duck's beak. Benjamin dropped a Dorito. The duck really liked it.(don't tell PETA)

Notice the duck sticking his tongue out at me. He did that several times.

I am not sure what breed this duck but I think it is pretty. Actually, I think it looks somewhat like a turkey.

Mr. Turkey Duck again.
When we got home I checked the message board again to see is the beach party had gotten called off. It turns out that the party is not until next week. Mark stills thinks that this was some elaborate plot just to get to go to the beach. Whatever it was, we had a really great day.
Until our next misadventure...Blessings to you and your family.

An Interview For Homeschool and Unschool Folks

Candy Cook at Raising Explorers has posted an interview for homeschool and unschool parents to complete.
Q1: Have you home studied (whether unschool or home school) from the beginning or after removing your child from public or private school? If the latter, go to Q2. If always home study, go to Q3.
We homeschooled all of our children for preschool, but the older two went to public school after that.

Q2: Did you remove your child from public or private school during the school term, or during the summer break? Please describe the transition period. Did you and your child(ren) require a long transition before becoming comfortable in your decision and new lifestyle? We let them finish out the school year so that we could get all the legal stuff in order and make a decision about what type of curriculum to use. No, they did not require a long transition. Don't get me wrong, they did not ask to do summer school-they just did not make a big issue when time came to actually start.

Q3: Which method of home study has your family chosen to follow? Home school, unschool, or something completely different? We homeschool with a unit study approach. All three of our children are learning the same subjects (presidential history and electoral process) but learning on different levels. Example: we read from several books about George Washington. Kindergartner colors picture of Washington and tells me he was the first president. Second grader (who has recently lost several baby teeth) reads The Tooth Book by Dr Seuss. He focuses on taking good care of his teeth so that he never has to wear dentures like George Washington. Sixth grader reads in books and on Internet about George Washington's life. Discovers that even though Washington fought for freedom in Revolutionary War, he owned slaves. Leads to discussion on human rights which lead to talking about freedom and lack thereof in the world today. All of the boys together are working a book that will cover all the presidents. All of this fits under the category of wisdom, so we are also reading books like Petunia, Little Babaji, The Three Little Pigs, Peter Rabbit etc...to show other characters who either show wisdom or do not show wisdom, and what the consequences of their actions are.

Q4: I can see many benefits to making the change, though I am sure I am unaware of all of them. It’s more difficult for me to see possible negative effects this may have. Can you list any negative effects that removing the child(ren) from school has had on your family, in any way?
Has home study had any unexpected positive effects? If yes, please list a couple. Our only negative effects of homeschooling have so far been comments from people that can range from funny(are you smart enough to teach your kids?) to uninformed (can you just pull your kids out of school?) to rude(well I don't think homeschool is what kids should do. They need to be in school with other kids. Homeschool is wrong!!)
Positive effects have been that they do not get picked on and bullied by anyone other than their brothers. Yesterday one of the boys was having stomach problems. He did all of his schoolwork lying down. (had to take several bathroom breaks) This could not have happened at school. They would have sent him home for being sickly, yet would complain if he misses too much class time. My youngest child really likes to sing. All the time. That is yet another thing he would not be allowed to do during school, if he not homeschooled.

Q5: What is the most difficult aspect, in your opinion, of your home study method (home school or unschool). Knowing where to draw the line on a subject. Like I said, our unit is wisdom. Example: We read Petunia. (a book about a silly goose finding a book. She thinks having the book makes her wise.) In this book, there are several animals featured, each having their own problems. We could probably spend a week or more studying the animals, their problems and how to solve them. (For instance: the hen is worried she has lost some chicks. The farmer told her she had nine chicks, but she cannot count. She asked the "wise" goose to count for her. The goose says "there are 3 here, 3 there and 3 over there. 3x3=6. 6 is MORE than 9, she tells the hen. We have to decide to have the math lesson less and more, addition verses multiplication or not, in addition to studying about the live cycle of chickens)We can go over the top and school would never end.
Q6. Did you make the decision to home study with your child(ren)’s input about their schooling preference or did you decide to do this without your child(ren)’s opinion about public/private schooling? Why did you decide to include or exclude your child(ren)’s opinion in this matter? We made the decision without actually asking them, but we did talk to them about it. We did not want to just spring it on them, "Oh, by the way you are not going back to public school this year" We saw and heard tooo many things going on in their school to just sit by and let them go there day in and day out. Our middle son was coming home every day with a back pack full of homework, yet they were watching PG rated movies (in the first grade. Yes, we watch PG and PG-13 at home, but at home we can monitor what goes into the DVD player, we had no control what they were watching at school. The school had a cable subscription and some classes were allowed to watch Family Guy during school.)

Q7. Do you ever have the feeling that maybe you’re not living up to the standard, in education, you wish for your child? Why or why not? My children are very intelligent. They are capable of going above and beyond the "national standards" set by the Dept. of Ed. I feel like most kids are capable of going above and beyond those standards. However, in a school setting, most kids are not allowed to reach their potential because A.) they learn in a different way than the standard textbook approach. B.) they can get a teacher who is not fit to be around kids and it kills their love of learning (let me point out I am not saying all teachers are that way. Some are fantastic. Some aren't-you never know what you might get stuck with.)

Q8. How does your family supplement social interaction (with other children) in your home study method? We live next door to our church. We are active members of said church. So there are several opportunities for them to be around other kids there. (Especially since kids come here frequently-even during nonchurch times) There is a local co-op that meets weekly that has both academic time and playtime for friend-making opportunities.

Q9. Are there any subjects or topics, common in public school curriculum, that you either refuse to teach your child or believe and teach very differently from public school curriculum - or believe to be inappropriate for the age which it is introduced in public school? For example, first grade public school introduces slavery, which I believe to be inappropriate for the age of my son.
We do not teach evolution as fact. It is discussed, but only as one of the ways people think the world may have come into existence. We look at evidence that makes evolution hard to believe. Most of which can not be found in a school-approved textbooks. Last year at public school my fifth grader was shown a movie and given a pamphlet that talked about growing up and it was more mature than he is. (to put it mildly) We do not teach our children that abortion is a form of birth control. For us, looking at science books etc. we feel life begins at conception. School teaches if you do not want a baby it is your right to kill it.

Q10. Has your child ever shown interest in something that you just don’t know anything about - and would take a long time for you to learn? What was it and what was your solution for aiding them in learning about it? For example, if your child wanted to play an instrument that you do not know - it’s very expensive to get lessons (I would not be able to afford this), where as it is free, outside of instrument cost, in public school. So far we have not run into hey I learn an instrument, but there are books and dvd courses available for that. My oldest son is a space nerd. (I mean that in the nicest way possible) He owns several books about space. He gets books from the library about space. We have visited the US Space and Rocket Center. He actually got to go to Take Your Child To Work Day with a lady from church who works for NASA. He visits websites about space. He gets e-mails from Astronomy Magazine. I think you are getting my point. There are ways for your child to learn things that you do not know or just have no interest or experience with.
Thank you for your time, thoughtfulness and consideration in completing this interview. It will definitely help my family and I make the right decision for the education of our children.

Benjamin's Tooth and Other News

Last night after going to bed, Benjamin got up said, "Look Dad." In his hand was a tooth. You have to understand something: This is the same kid who only last month had to be threatened with "You better let me get that tooth out or you are going to be in HUGE trouble!!" Wow, he is growing up.He made two funny observations about his toothlessness.
1. If he keeps losing teeth he is going to look like George Washington. (we are studying presidents)
2. The holes in his mouth look like a gun.

As far as other news goes: Homeschool is going fairly smooth. As far as getting our schedule down, it is not down to the point where I can say we do this from 8:00-8:25 and this from 8:26-9:14, but it is working out. We cut our day a bit short Monday on account of Mark having to go to the doctor. We skipped PE, but we made up for it yesterday.
I have been very appreciative of little things since we are not public schoolers any more. The day that would have been the first day of school Benjamin saw three hummingbirds outside of his window. We have since noticed that they really seem to like the bush outside of that window. We tried a recipe for potato gnocchi that was in Family Fun Magazine. We tried it for lunch on a day that they would have been at school. It was good, but the really good thing was just being in the kitchen together making a mess and having a good time. Yesterday the big boys did school in pajama pants and cut off sweats. Very comfy. Samuel wore his Dash costume. He wore his robe part of the time so he could open it up to reveal the Incredibles symbol. They could not be doing all that if they were in public school. As a matter of fact, I really could not imagine putting Samuel in public school. It is not just because he is the youngest and oh my little baby is not ready. He is bold, fearless and ready for anything. I do not think public school is quite ready for Mr. Samuel Joseph Gilliland. He is a very opinionated nonconformist. Definitely marches to the beat of his own drum. Sings to the beat of said drum, too. I think he would stay in trouble all the time, just for being himself. That would most likely lead to him hating school. I am so glad we have started this journey where learning is an adventure, not a chore. I could kick myself for not starting this sooner.

Almost Ready!!!!!

School is going to start very soon here at the Gilliland household.We have been getting ready for this for a few months now. I have been spending pretty much all my time with last minute details of gathering supplies, making lists of what is needed to buy, (you should have seen Mark's face when I said we had everything other than paper, pencils, a few folders, poster board, balloons and plaster of paris-PRICELESS!!!)


For our main core of curriculum we are going with Konos. It is a unit study that incorporates pretty much everything other than math and phonics. Some of the units are heavy on history, some on science, some on art. We are studying Wisdom, which covers electoral process, Founding Fathers of our country, and Safety for the first semester. The Bible portion covers David (which also covers Saul, Bathsheba, Abigail and Nabal and David's sons), Solomon, and Kings of Israel and Judah.For the second semester we are studying Courage which covers the early Christian church, Reformers, and the American Revolution.




We will be doing lots of reading of stories that talk about Wisdom (or lack thereof)


One of the coolest things about Konos is their timeline.

It helps to show where everything "fits" in history. The only disappointing thing to me was that not all of the presidents were represented by a timeline character. So being the perfectionist mom that I am I have created the missing ones. Some of them look pretty good. However, JFK looks somewhat like the mutant love-child of Mr. Spock and Ronald Regan.

from left: Chester A. Arthur, FDR, Eisenhower, JFK


We are planning to read about presidents and their families during this semester.


Since our unit study is not going to cover much in the way of science, we are using Apologia Exploring creation With Astronomy. I must be insane for picking this one. Don't get me wrong-it is fabulous!!!! It is very informative and very God honoring. It is just that my kids (Nathaniel especially) are already such space enthusiasts that I am probably never going to go a whole day without hearing space facts.


Nathaniel and Benjamin really got behind on their English last year at school. (they started saying things like much instead of many etc..) So we are using Shurley English (a year behind their actual school grades) to compensate.


We are using Math U See this year. Nathaniel is doing Zeta, Benjamin is doing Beta, and Samuel is doing Primar. Reading reviews of this you quickly learn that everybody either LOVES or HATES it. There is no middle ground. So far I am in the camp of loving it. I have always thought of myself as being bad at math and that I just could not "get" it. Spending just a few minutes looking at the teacher's manual and watching the video and I get things that I should have gotten many moons ago. I was all excited the other night saying "I can't believe it!!! I GET math!!!!" Mark warned me not to get cocky and I said that I was not being cocky-I was excited and there is a big difference.


One thing I really like about Math U See is the blocks. You can actually see your math problems being built.


For phonics Samuel is learning with Zac the Rat and pals at Starfall. We ordered him some books and and a game, but they also have tons of stuff on their website for FREE. I also like to go to DLTK and Kidzone to get him worksheets for free. I have even used the custom tracer page maker to print Benjamin cursive worksheets of his name, memory verse, and individual letters.


For Bible time, we are supplementing what is suggested by Konos with Faith To Grow on by John MacArthur and using some Beginner's Bible activity cards.



Last but certainly not least- here is what what keeps it all together. My trusty big binder. It has several pockets so I can have one for things to do immediately, plus separate pockets for different types of worksheets (a pocket for colors, one for shapes, one for letters, one for numbers, one for cursive, one for holidays, and more). Without something to keep me organized I can really fall apart quickly.


So there you have it. This is what I have been the last few months. We have learned to hunt and gather supplies. I learned when I got my Rainbow Resource Catalog that I could have saved tons of money by ordering things from them. Of course it came after we already had everything.