Art At Home

I think I have written before about the wonderful art class Madeline took this past year.  She really enjoyed it, and is looking forward to taking it again this next year.  Isabella is also looking forward to it as she will now be old enough, and I am even considering letting Hailey take a few classes herself since she has been saying that she would like to go to art class too. They do have a preschool class as well.  

I really think that art and creative expression is very important and I don't want the girls to think they have to wait for art class to do art, so not being a great artist myself I have located several art resources.  One that the girls really enjoy is Atelier.   It is a video-based program.  The girls spent more than an hour last night working on a lesson.  Truly they should have been in bed, but art won out.  The lesson involved the creation of work similar to Starry Night.  After they finished, Isabella wanted to do another lesson, so I let her choose another video lesson.  Madeline also decided she wanted to create more art.  She decided to go her own way and create her own artwork, entitled "A Sunny Day".

This is Hailey working on the swirls in her "Starry Night" picture.

Isabella working hard on her masterpiece.

Hailey's finished piece.

Isabella's picture.

Madeline's version of "Starry Night."

This is Hailey's picture "The H Family."

Isabella's "Cat in the Hat"

Madeline's "The Sunny Day"

Madeline's "The Little Flower"

Socialization

It is amazing to me how many people feel the need to comment about our decision to homeschool.  It also amazes me that the concern is never about the academic side of things.  No one has ever said, "oh, they will miss out on so much academically."  Instead the concern is always for "socialization".  Even Bill has noticed this when he mentions to people that we are homeschooling the girls.  I think this is quite strange since there seem to be so little time in school to actually socalize.  I have even had parents tell me that their children are not allowed to talk during lunch at school.  The school day is filled with so many tasks, and socialization is just not a priority for teachers who are asked to teach a multitude of students at varying levels and ensure that they are all up to par by the time standardized testing time arrives.  I certainly do not envy the teachers.  I am glad that I am home, teaching my own children, instead of in the classroom with all of those pressures.  They have an incredibly difficult job!  Socialization is just not part of it, though.  

I wonder, though, if people mean something different than learning how to be social beings when they say "socialization".  I wonder if they really mean "how will you teach your kids to follow all of the societal norms and the beliefs that we hold as truths as Americans."  School is a very good place to learn how to sit still and wait.  It is a good place to learn how to follow directions and how to listen to adults/authority figures.  It is a great place to learn about the "values" of America.  I am not saying that any of this is bad, but I'm still not sure that it is necessary to go to school to learn these things, nor do I think that learning these things is essential for success.  

As difficult as it is at times, I want my children to learn to question authority, respectfully.  I want them to know about many different world views.  I want them to learn in the way that is most appropriate and effective for them.  I want them to be active members of the community who are able to make their own decisions and who define success their own way.  

As for socialization, I believe that happens by being involved in the community.  They are involved in sports and other activities.  We attend playgroups for both homeschooled and non-homeschooled kids.  I plan to beging getting them involved in volunteering this year.  They eet new people everyday as we go about our daily lives.  They have many opportunities to socialize with people of different ages and backgrounds.  

T-Ball is Over

Well, Madeline's T-ball season has ended.  She has really enjoyed playing this spring, and I think she really enjoyed having Bill as her coach.  They decided that she will play coach-pitch girls' softball in the fall, and Bill will again coach the team.  I think they are both really looking forward to it.  It is going to make for a very busy fall, however since both Madeline and Isabella are signed up for soccer and all 3 of the girls are signed up for dance.  Hopefully the game schedule will be such that it will not overlap with the others.  At least with the other 2 activities they are on a set day, but the Little League schedule seems to be pretty variable.  They did say that there would be very few Staurday games this spring, but as it turned out we had quite a few Saturday games.  It will be interesting to see how it all works out.  

Here are a few pictures from one of the last games this season.

Here she is waiting on second.

And running once the ball was hit.

She decided to dance with her shadow while playing first base. (We won't show Bill this picture!)

Catching a ground ball!

Organization!

In researching ideas for this year, I came across a system developed by Sue Patrick called "workboxes."  I was a little skeptical at first, but it seemed like a good way to streamline and organize our work, for very little financial investment, so I decided to give it a try.  Previously, I had given each of the girls a file box containing all of their materials and a list of what needed to be completed for the week.  This made it easy for us to learn anywhere because the girls could just bring the file box to wherever they were and to work at their own pace.  That was good, but I think not visual enough for them.  With this system the girls see exactly what needs to be done for the day, it is all organized for them, and there is no search for the materials they need.  It has also been very motivating for Madeline to work to get to the last box.  I definitely think it provides a structure that she needs.  She has been very productive, as have the other girls.  Even Hailey has gotten the hang of it!

I do have some concerns about it still.  I am concerned that we will become so focused on the boxes that we will forget about the "other" learning that goes on day to day.  I want to continue to make learning about more than just what is in those boxes.  I also need to work on being sure that the work in the boxes is appropriate.  I think it could be easy to overfill them and spend way too long working through them.  

All in all, however, I think it has been a positive change that we will continue. 

Here is Hailey beginning her "work".

Madeline is definitely more productive with this system!  

New Monarch Eggs!

I walked outside today to get the mail, and there fluttering around was a beautiful monarch.  I had seen others this year, but much earlier this spring, well before any of our milkweed was even growing.  This is the first one I have seen since the milkweed has been big enough to support any caterpillars.  She was flitting from one milkweed plant to the next depositing her eggs.  I called the girls out so that they could witness this.  They were all enthralled, as they were last year, and were eager to bring a few eggs inside so that we could watch them grow (well, okay, Madeline wanted to bring them all inside, but I limited her to 3).  So we checked out the tiny eggs and placed them in a safe location and then pulled up some of the information we found last year on the internet.   Hailey was really excited to look at the butterfly and the caterpillars.  We talked about all of the stages as we looked at the pictures.  

Later in the day, we were picking up downstairs and found a plastic Painted Lady butterfly. Hailey picked it up and wrapped it in a towel and showed us all how the butterfly comes out of the chrysalis.  Then, she found a pencil case and zipped the butterfly into the pencil case.  She then unzipped it and showed us again how the butterfly comes out of the chrysalis.  Needless to say, I was pretty impressed that she was able to come up with those ideas.  Probably better demonstrations than I could come up with!

Ancient Egypt

As I talk about in a previous post, Madeline has been studying about Ancient Egypt.  She has been very excited about this and I am amazed at the time she has spent reading books about the subject and learning in particular about hieroglyphs and the pyramids.  She decided that she would like to make her own pyramid, so she brainstormed ideas on how to make it, and came up with an idea to make a pyramid from paper mache.  Initially she was going to use wire coat hangers to make her base, but we decided instead to use a cereal box.  She had a great time making the pyramid, and it was clear that she has learned quite a bit about the building of the pyramids and the Ancient Egyptian afterlife. 

Madeline cut out the shape of her pyramid from a cereal box and taped it together.  She was careful to measure each size to be sure each side of the pyramid was the same.

She mixed up the paste - one part flour to two parts water, but we did end up adding some extra flour to make the paste a bit thicker.

She put all of the newspaper strips in place and smoothed them down carefully.

She did this over 2 days to ensure that it was strong enough.

This is her finished, painted pyramid.  She put on a base coat of yellow and then went over the wet paint with white to make it lighter.  

A Name

I have been going back and forth for a while about whether or not to name our homeschool.  There are several places where I have had to fill in a name, and I have used our last name as the school name along with Academy, but I have read that it is not a good idea to use the family name in the homeschool name because it may look strange to employers when your child applies for a job with his or her school name the same as his or her last name.  So, I have been trying to come up with a name that is appropriate and fitting.  I have posed the question to the girls several times, but they have really not come up with anything that would stick or be appropriate for the long term.  Well, Madeline and I sat down the other day and started playing with ideas.  We came up with what I think is a good name, although long and probably more prestigious sounding than we needed, but a name that I think will endure and hopefully be appropriate for transcripts.  We chose Daylily Preparatory Academy for Gifted and Creative Students.  Madeline also chose a mascot for the school... a bear.  Although I may have to work on that one because I really like the idea of a monarch.  Maybe we could use the monarch in some other way, though.  Now hopefully the other girls will happily accept the name.

A New Year

Here in Missouri we define our own school year, and seeing as the girls finished their stint at La Petite Ecole in May, I decided to make a fresh start beginning June 1. So, what have we been doing?  Well, we have been continuing some of the programs that we started last year, such as Singapore Math, and have made some other changes and additions.

I read several positive reviews on the All About Spelling program and decided to give it a try.  I am very happy that I did.  It is very easy for me to use and keep track of.  I decided to start all 3 of the girls on the first level and that has worked rather well.  Much of this level has been review for Madeline, but it has filled in some gaps as well, and strengthened her skills as well. Isabella has also enjoyed the program, and it is very appropriate for her.  I did think that she would be particularly happy about the use of letter tile as opposed to having to write all of the time since she really does not like to write, but  I was surprised to find that she actually prefers writing to the tiles.  It has also been appropriate for Hailey.  It starts with letter sounds, which is exactly what I have been working on with her.  I do not expect that she will move very quickly through this level, but that's okay.  With this program she can progress at her own speed.  

I have found that the All About Spelling program somewhat overlaps with what is being taught in the ABeCeDarian Reading program, which we have been using during the past year.  I really like this program as well, and despite the repetition I am going to stick with this program.  I have found that level A is not progressing fast enough for Isabella, so I moved her to the level A short version which has less repetition.  Madeline is continuing in level B.  I am supplementing this with Bob Books and leveled readers from  Reading A-Z. 

As I said before, I am continuing with Singapore Math.  The kindergarten program just did not seem to be working well for Isabella, however, so I decided to move her into Primary Mathematics 1A.  This has been a good fit for her so far.  I am just hoping that it does not move too quickly for her.  I may have to use more hands-on activities for her than I had to with Madeline last year.

Social studies has been an issue because Madeline is so interested in learning about the world and yet I have had difficulty finding anything that I am happy with.  We are going to try History Odyssey.  It builds on what we have been learning about Ancient Egypt and I like the sequential nature of it.  I am somewhat concerned that it uses Story of the World as one of its major resources, but I am hoping to be able to work around the religious nature of some of the text.  I am also aware that there have been some reviews that were not so positive concerning the accuracy of the content.  I am hoping that by using several resources I will be able to catch any inaccuracies as well as teach the girls about the necessity of looking at more than one source for information.  I have been happy with the beginning of this program so far.

For science I am looking at R.E.A.L Science Odyssey.  I think since they provide some lessons for free I am going to give it a try and see how we like it.  I am trying to decide which topic to study this year.  We have done so much in the past with life science that I am tempted to choose a different science topic this year and then go back to life science again next year.  I have already told the girls that we will do monarchs again next year.  I think we may try the Earth and Space curriculum this year.  I do intent to continue with nature journaling as well. 

I am also trying out Writing Strands this year.  I have both level 1 and level 2.  I have started level 2 with Madeline and plan to use level 1 with the other 2.  I have read very positive reviews of Michael Clay Thompson's Language Arts curriculum, and would really like to try it, however it is not recommended until 3rd grade, so I have to wait at least until next year.

And then, there is Moving Beyond the Page curriculum, which we have enjoyed and I really like. I really like the creative aspects of it and I am looking forward to the literature units as the girls get older.  I think that we are going to continue to use it as well, although I am not real sure how it will fit.  

Finally (although I'm sure there are tons of little things that we do that I have forgotten... like say journaling), I am using several different programs to get in art, which I think is really so important.  I am using the Atelier Art curriculum and videos that we started last year.  I really love this program!  I am also using the GeeArt16 computer program, which we started last year.  Our subscription expires soon (tomorrow in fact), but I was happy to learn that it is now available on CD-Rom, with a new name, Creativity Express.  I have ordered that and hope that it arrives soon because Madeline has been using that as her free time activity.    There are a few other things I will be using for art this year, but I will save them for another post.

All in all, I think I have designed a pretty comprehensive and challenging curriculum, but one that the girls will enjoy.  Madeline has been especially eager to get to work everyday, which I take as a good sign.  Isabella is a little more reluctant, and would rather be playing princess, but she has been working hard.  Hailey was incredibly excited to begin school, and would much rather do her work than watch tv.  My hope is to nurture a love of learning in each of them and a feeling that learning does not happen at a set time during the day, but rather is a continuous process that is always happening.

Here is a picture of the girls working last week.  Hailey was insistent that she sit at the table with her sister to do her work, even though it would have been much easier for her to build with these blocks on the floor.  The boxes in the background are from the workboxes system, which is something we have been trying out.  I will write about that in another post soon.

Camping and Fossils

We packed up and took the girls camping at Mark Twain State Park at the beginning of the month.  It was the first trip for all 3 of them, so we chose to try cabin camping.  It was a fabulous experience for everyone!

The girls got to learn how to build a campfire and cooked hotdogs over the fire.

Our cabin was right at the lake, but it was down a somewhat steep hill.  It was very picturesque.  Madeline decided to draw the scene in her nature journal on our first night there.

The girls searched for and found many fossils in the rocks by the lake.

Of course there were s'mores.

They learned about cooking on a camp stove.

We had a great hike, although the ticks were particularly bad.  Madeline says that she took 13 off of herself.  I'm not sure it was quite that many, but there were quite a few.  We were finding them days after we returned home.

We also found quite a few snails on our hike.  

And some great deer tracks.

The girls made ice cream for snack.

We went and played on the beach.

And we all enjoyed the campfire at night.

Mark Twain Lake is controlled by the Cannon Dam.  We decided to also take a trip to see the dam while we were there.  It was very interesting.  

We had to hike up a few steps to get to the look out.  Most of the areas at the dam were closed, I believe for security reasons.

This is a picture of the dam from the look-out.

A Long Winter

Clearly it was a long winter since I have not written since January.  What have we done?  Well, Madeline completed Primary Mathematics 1B and move on the Primary Math 2A.  She was very proud of herself for finishing level 1.  Isabella is also proud as she has moved to the second half of the kindergarten math curriculum.

We have also spent lots of time reading books from Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House series.  The girls really enjoyed the adventures of Jack and Annie!  We have several more to read, but we took a break to read some Greek mythology.  We found these two books to be good resources:

The interest in Greek Myths was brought on by this Magic Tree House book:

We are now about to embark on a journey into Ancient Egypt, also a topic we read about in the Magic Tree House series in this book:

We will be using curriculum from The Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary for the study.  They have published "Ancient Egypt: Gift of the Nile".  Madeline is quite excited about the study.

I have ordered several of the books from this curriculum from our library along with some other resources and videos to supplement the curriculum.

We have done lots of activities as well, including dance classes, art classes, gymnastics, and most recently swimming lessons.

Well, I think that is all I can recall at the moment.  I am glad that spring is upon us.  We have started preparing our gardens for spring.  We want to be ready to attract Monarchs when they return.  We are looking forward to watching them!  

More books to download

I was looking around the other day for a place to download some audio books for the kids to listen to on our plane ride to Florida, and I found a great website.  It is the Storynory website.  They have quite a variety of audio books, with the added bonus of having the text written right there.  There is not even the need to purchase the book!  We have been listening to "Alice in Wonderland" in preparation for our trip.

You can check them out for yourself at http://storynory.com/.

Making Disney Educational

It has been a busy few weeks.  We have decided to take trip to Orlando in February.  We are planning several days at The Magic Kingdom and then a day at EPCOT and a day at the Wild Animal Kingdom.  I have been looking for some resources to make this a more educational trip, especially the EPCOT portion.  Madeline is particularly interested in geography and world cultures.  I have read reviews of the parks, browsed websites related to the park, and read books.  I recently found these books from www.vacationeducationbooks.com, which I am going to check out:

My biggest concern about them is that they may have too much of a religious leaning.  I am hoping that they will be good resources and have great ideas that I can work with.

I will let you know what I think!

More Nutcracker Resources

I recently realized that the Ovation channel is running six versions of The Nutcracker in "The Battle of the Nutcrackers".  So I set my DVR to record a couple so that the girls could watch them and then compare and contrast them.   The girls can even vote for their favorite version online.  You can check them out at  http://www.ovationtv.com/Programs/battleofthenutcrackers/.  It looks like the winner will be shown on Christmas Eve and then there will be a marathon of all 6 versions on Christmas Day.

The Nutcracker

As a follow-up to our trip to the Nutcracker ballet, we have been listening to the CD of the Nutcracker that we purchased at the show, and reading this book.  

The pictures in this book are great, and it really simplifies the story.  The girls ask to have it read over and over again!  

Also, I found a recording of the Nutcracker, thanks to Tracie's Adventures in Homeschooling blog.  You can find it here.  I am looking forward to using it with the girls to compare and contrast the two versions of the story.

I was particularly happy to find all of these recordings since we just decided to take the girls to Walt Disney World in February, and I think I will download some of them for use on the plane ride.  Included in these recordings is a version of Peter and the Wolf, Madeline, and Alice in Wonderland.  I do plan to preview them myself as I sometimes find that some of the older recordings contain things that I do not think are appropriate.  

Preparing for the Christmas Recital

Our trip to see The Nutcracker came at a particularly fitting time as Madeline and Isabella will be performing in their Christmas dance recital on Sunday.  They have been working very hard this fall to get ready for this performance.  While it is not nearly the event that the spring recital is, it is very exciting for the kids.  Both Madeline and Isabella really love the fact that they get to perform on stage.  It is also nice that we are able to get a video of the performance, and it is a good way to see their progress through the year when compared with the video of the spring performance.

Here are some pictures from their dress rehearsals.

These are pictures of Madeline' rehearsal.  Her class is dancing to "Senor Santa".  They had to make some last minute changes because a student dropped out of the recital.  

Here are pictures of Isabella's rehearsal.  I am impressed by how much more she pays attention this year than last.  Last year at this time I was really concerned that she was just going to stand there on the stage, and even at their spring performance last year she would just miss entire sections of her dance.  She really follows along this year!  She is very proud of herself! 

The Nutcracker

One of the best things about where we live is the easy access to the arts.  With the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts (MTCA), the University of Missouri, and a wide variety of art galleries in town we rarely have to leave town to expose the girls to fabulous theater and art programs.  

Last night I took Madeline and Isabella to see the Moscow Ballet preform The Nutcracker at the MTCA.  The Nutcracker is also preformed at The University of Missouri's Jesse Hall every year.  It was their first time seeing this particular ballet, although we did go to see Swan Lake at Jesse Hall last year and I took Isabella to see a production of Cinderella, also at Jesse Hall, about 2 years ago.  We all really enjoyed the production, although the girls did get a bit antsy toward the end.  I think they both would have been happy if I had let them dance along in the aisle (we actually had to leave the production of Cinderella because Isabella insisted on doing just that).  Isabella also made up her own words to go along with the music, which I thought was interesting.

This production also had some local children in it who had spent a few months preparing for the show.  A couple of their friends were in the production, and they thought it was really cool to see their friends on stage.  That the type of opportunity I think we may take advantage of in the future.

I also brought home the CD, and I am looking forward to seeing them dance along and act out the story.  I hope Isabella remembers some of the words to her songs, because I would love to hear them!

It was also an opportunity for a geography lesson!  We spent some time looking at the map and finding Russia and Moscow, and seeing how far it was from Missouri.  I am also planning to have them locate the other countries that were represented in the show.

A Day for Making Smiles

I have been trying to find ways to include some community service or volunteering activities into our lives to teach the girls about the importance helping others and caring for people in your community.  I have considered several options, but not really settled on any, partly because they are too young for many of the activities.  

We did get a chance to do a couple of things today in this area, however.  We belong to the University of Missouri Fortnightly Preschool Playgroup.  The major focus of the Fortnightly Club in general is service.   The playgroup has adopted a Christmas family through the Voluntary Action Center this year.   The girls and I took a trip to the store today to pick out Christmas gifts for the 4 children in the family.  It was a great experience for them to go to buy toys for someone other than themselves, and I think at least Madeline understood that we were doing this because there are kids whose families do not have the money to buy presents for them.  At least it was a start!

Then, this afternoon, also as part of the MU Fortnightly Preschool Playgroup, we made some holiday cards and then took them to Tiger Place to deliver them to residents there and sing a few holiday songs.  Both Madeline and Isabella were very interested in the people there.  Isabella especially showed concern for the people who were living there.  I think she would have stayed for quite a while and visited with the residents.  She was very concerned that not everyone there may have gotten a card!  I think this might be one avenue that we may investigate further on our own for some volunteer activities. 

All in all, a good day!