Our Favorite Midday Snack

I've been in the midst of planning for next year (as well as enjoying summer) so I don't really have a lot of time to update this blog right now.  I still have some purchasing to do, but I think I feel pretty good about the upcoming school year. We have some fun stuff to work on!

However, I thought I'd pop in and share our favorite super-cool snack since the weather is really hot right now. We sometimes try new things, but this is our old standby. Everyone loves this smoothie and it is super easy (and inexpensive) to make:

2 FROZEN bananas (peel before freezing)

1 1/4 c. milk

3 T. chocolate protein powder (or 1 pkg. chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast)

3 heaping T. of Greek yogurt (plain!)

Aaaaand... blend. That's it. So easy!

Makes 3 small smoothies or 2 big ones.

(Warning: Do not try with unfrozen bananas. Resulting smoothie will be gross. Also, do not try to be creative and add instant coffee. Resulting smoothie will be even grosser.)

It's Em-approved! Really, it is. She was so busy drinking that she couldn't be bothered to appear enthusiastic for the camera. ;)

History of Civilization Timeline

I have been wanting to make a timeline for the past few months. We have been using one I made at the beginning of the year but it is really small and to scale, which means it has virtually NO space for the modern era. I knew I needed to make a not-to-scale timeline, despite the fact that not-to-scale timelines make me want to bang my head against a wall. A few days ago, inspired by the ideas on this site, I set out to make my own timeline.

First of all, I wanted a top-bound spiral notebook with nice drawing paper and a plastic spiral binding (the metal doesn't seem to survive daily use and ends up tearing up my bookcase or injuring a fidgety-fingered child.) I couldn't find what I was looking for for under $11, so I purchased a cheap $2 tape-bound drawing book at Staples, ripped the tape off, and had them put a spiral binding on the top for $3.99.

I took the book home and drew a line down the middle of each page. Then I marked off years. The earliest pages show 500 year periods and are marked with 100 year blocks, while later pages show one decade marked off in 1-year blocks.

I color coded each section corresponding to the history periods we will study in our 4 year history cycle. (Em helped label the years.)

I then used scrap paper and to decorate the cover on the front and the inside so that the cover would be sturdier. I created a title for the book.

El thought we needed a table of contents, so I made one...



Also, I glued our old timeline to the back of the book so that we could continue to reference a properly scaled timeline. (On the opposite page is an envelope for any loose or unglued pieces.)



I'm pretty excited about our new timeline. It should last us though at least one 4-year history cycle and we will be able to add artists, musicians, scientists, and literature along with traditional historical events. The kids were excited to start in on it-- by adding their birthdays, of course. ;)

Total cost, with tax: $6.47
Total time to complete, with children: A few hours, but totally worth it.

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday: Break Week

Pizza Box Math: Multiplication

Naked Egg

Reading (and hiding from the camera!)

....and the most exciting thing of all: Bike riding without training wheels!

What I Learned in Year One of Homeschooling

I am extraordinarily thankful for:
My library (and its nifty online catalog & my account feature)
The internet
My supportive family (I mean, really. How many homeschoolers can say that their entire family is behind them?)
My "Hey, why not? I'll try anything!" son
My constantly-hugging-me daughter
The freedom to homeschool
Things that are spiral-bound

I don't really like:
Big binders
Cheap pencils
Neverending supply/book shopping
Constantly buying printer ink!
Things that are comb-bound

I totally forgot to teach:
Test prep

I feel like _____ went really well this year.
Math
Language Arts (with the exception of writing)

I feel like _____ did not go as planned this year.
(Sigh) Writing
Planned group activities

Things I might not have learned if I didn't homeschool this year:
If I'm at home, I cook while I'm waiting for someone to finish a task.
El loves bird-watching.
El loves Latin.
Em loves poetry.
Em hates nonfiction, but is okay with biographies.
El is incredibly easy-going and mature (as long as Em isn't around.)
Em is incredibly thoughtful and patient (as long as El isn't around.)
Increasing a child's capacity for memory work does not increase a child's capacity to remember to do the same thing you have been asking him to do every single day for the past few years.

Next year, I would like to do more:
Notebooking
Games
Nonfiction writing practice

Next year, I would like to do less:
Trying to do it all. (Covering state standards and Classical Education while trying to incorporate the best of Charlotte Mason and reading every book suggested.)

Em learns to sew

A Brief and Incomplete Update

El started his new math book, and with that we began keeping a somewhat "interactive" math notebook. He will use this throughout fourth grade.

Em lost another tooth so she is sporting a whole new smile, of which she is very proud:

We discovered that our 15 year old Betty Crocker Essential Cookbook is good for more than just sauce recipes:

Three Cheese Pesto Pita Pizzas, before...

and after.

Yesterday was our last day of school for two weeks. This will be our longest break since Christmas. I am forcing myself to take time off and focus on the house. In fact, I should be cleaning right now so that's where I'm off to. Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Summertime Thoughts

When we made the decision to begin homeschooling, one of the things I was looking forward to was schooling year-round to avoid playing giant catch-up in the fall. Having finished 157 days, we are on target to hit our goal of 180 somewhere in July (assuming a 2 week June break followed by three-day weeks) which is perfect.

There are a couple things I didn't count on, though: 1.) We plowed through nearly everything already. We've been taking it slow in every subject all month, just to draw out what we have left (which has actually been quite nice); 2.)  Given the choice, El would rather do school than just about anything else. I actually told him about his upcoming 2 week break followed by 3-day weeks and he stared at me blankly and said... "Why?!" I told him, "You know, so that you can enjoy the summer." He just said, "Okay," and smiled, "It's just that I really like school." What? Apparently we have done too much of this

Nutty Stuffed Mushrooms- recipe here

and this

Planning his own country, inspired by this book

and this

and not enough cursive. :-p

Really, though, we accomplished a huge amount this third grade year, but the most important thing is that El is excited about learning again (something he had started to lose during his second grade year.) He still hates writing, but I'm not pushing it right now. He has made awesome progress in math, Latin, grammar, reading comprehension, and retention. History is his favorite subject on the history days (thank you Story of the World.) Science is his favorite subject on science days, art & architecture on Fridays, cooking on Tuesdays... There's always a new "favorite." I love to see him so excited about everything we do.

So, what are our summer goals, as far as school goes?

Em:
Math Work through Singapore 1A Intensive Practice. She has completed the regular 1A workbook/textbook but it was a bit of a fight to get through it. I want her to feel really confident about the material in 1A, and I also just want her to do a little math here and there so she doesn't have to go over a lot in the fall. We didn't get much afterschooling done this year, and she will be going into 1B in the fall instead of 2A. I'm not worried about starting out a little behind. She'll get there when she gets there.

Other than that, she's not doing anything she doesn't want to do. She completed her full year at public school and worked very hard. Summer is "deschooling" time for her. Play away, Emmabean!

El:  
Latin Keep pushing through our current program at El's desired pace. I think we have about 30 more lessons, so we will probably be on the same book until the fall, which is preferable since I love it (and also because I haven't yet purchased the new program.)

Math Work on 3B. I'm learning that the Singapore "B" books contain the year's easy, awesome, hands-on stuff, so I'm glad to be on 3B during the summer rather than 3 or 4A.

History Finish up Story of the World: Ancients. I think we only have 4 more chapters, so this will be happening very soon.

Geography Continue with North American waters and the Holling C. Holling books. We have LOVED Holling C. Holling's Paddle to the Sea and Great Lakes study, so I was really excited to see that our library also carried his other books.

Grammar Finish up FLL. I think we have 10 lessons left so this will also be happening very soon. We start Junior Analytical Grammar in the fall, which is pretty intense and short so I'm in no hurry to start this early. Once FLL is done, we will take a couple of months off from formal grammar.

Reading Like I really need to set goals here. If anything, I should be setting limits!

Writing and drawing throughout the week. Nothing formal or new begins until the fall.

Other stuff as requested by kids.

That's pretty much it. It's going to be a light summer, as far as school goes. Now, if only I could find a decent non-toxic bug spray we could do all of our schooling outside by the river!

How I found the Great Books

I love good music. When I was 12, one of my favorite tapes was Les Miserables. I hadn't seen the play or read the book, but I had the 2-cassette audio set of the Broadway show and I listed to it over and over again. At some point, I discovered that the musical was based on a book. And since I couldn't see the musical (yet!), I just had to read the book.

And that is how, at 12 or 13, I discovered French literature. I probably would not have come across it in school or anywhere else. Les Mis lead to Leroux's Phantom of the Opera (also a book! Who knew?) Phantom lead to Camus, La Fontaine, Nin, etc. I never really had anyone to discuss these readings with (though I'm sure I tried!) To my knowledge I never managed to convince my friends to read these amazing (and often scandalous and sometimes totally inappropriate) stories.

High school happened, though I'm not sure I actually learned anything in the typical classroom setting. I did, however, have one totally non-traditional class. My Honors English/Humanities class consisted of one pupil: Me. It was a small school, and only a handful of us qualified for Honors classes. I was the only one who chose Honors English, so I was stuck in the back of a Senior Humanities class by myself and given independent projects. My teacher knew what I was capable of so these were not easy projects.

She demanded more and more of me to the point where I couldn't stand her at all. We fought often and I'm sure I was awful. Looking back, I realize she was probably the best teacher in that school. Sure, she wasn't my favorite at the time, but no one else consistently put challenging work in my hands and then was thoroughly disappointed in me if I didn't pull it off. I was terribly defiant: I listened to no one. I learned from books, so books she gave me... for years.  I was given a book or stack of books, a list of expectations, and left alone (until semester review time came.) Still, I guarantee I learned more in those 5 hours a week than in the rest of the time I was in that building.

When the time came to search for colleges, I fell head over heels in love with Shimer College. It was exactly what I had wanted all along: Read books, then discuss. Period. I visited the campus (this was the old Waukegan campus of the 90's, not the urban Chicago campus of today) and it was a perfect fit for me. Shimer is one of the two main "Great Books" schools, along with St. Johns. There are no lectures, and the classes are based around the "Great Books" & "Great Discussion" and inspired by the work of Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler in the 1950s.

I applied and was accepted. I was offered a decent financial aid package, but it still didn't work out for me. Life changed a lot between 17 and 18. In the end, I decided to go elsewhere. However, how I viewed education was forever changed. I approached learning differently. I read the books recommended at the end of the college history texts. I read the books mentioned by my freshman biology professor. I took charge of my own education. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. But I knew that "lecture-test-forget" had not worked for me.

I want my kids to have the opportunity to have a Great Books education. If it doesn't work, if they don't love it, if they aren't thriving within it as I hoped them to, we will try something else. But it was Shimer and the Great Books that led me to thinking about alternate ways of educating/self-educating which, several years later, led me to Mortimer Adler, Dorothy Sayers's The Lost Tools of Learning, Classical home education, and the many wonderful ways to create a literature based education. This may not be the path on which we complete the journey. However, it was the path which gave us the courage and inspiration to begin.

Other links to helpful sites:
Where We Came From, Where We're Going by Andrew Kern (a good primer on classical education, this piece also discusses the newer "classical Christian education movement." However, it is an informative read for anyone interested in classical education, regardless of religion.)
The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy Sayers
For gifted and highly motivated high school students: Shimer College Early Entrant Program
For self-education: The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had by Susan Wise Bauer and Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book