Ooooh, Cool!

If you aren't currently subscribed to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, but are interested in checking it out, they have a super-cool deal here. A two year subscription for less than half the regular price, plus the entire Expo to Go, for free! It's a very sweet deal! But this offer expires Sunday night (August 1st) at Midnight PST, so hurry!

School's Out!!!

Whew! We are finally finished with one more year of school. The big kids had their Exams today. My original intention was just to ask them a few narrating type questions and write their answers like we did last term and the one before. But apparently, someone has been reading books about children taking exams because Kaytie had a lot of input on the way things should go today. First, she informed Nate that Exams are fun, but they had to do well, because if they didn't, they would not be able to move on to the next grade in the fall. Secondly, all through the question and answer period, she kept asking, "What are my results?"
So in the end, this is the way it went.
They answered almost all of their questions orally, however, I wrote out test sheets so that they could put a cool stamp beside every well-answered question. This was a BIG HIT. They loved doing that. I typed in their answers and "eye-balled" grades for each answer and subsequently each main subject. By this time, they were all about their results... so I pulled out a couple of index cards, and made Report Cards for them. They were thrilled!!! They carried them around, compared them, and showed them off to everyone who would stand still long enough.
And of course, to top it off, after Daddy saw them, congratulated them and bragged on them, he pointed out that such hard earned good grades should be rewarded with ice-cream. So everyone got a dish of strawberry ice-cream. Too bad Exam Day doesn't come around more often!!!

I won't bore you with the actual exams unless someone professes an ardent desire to see them, but here are their cards.

Planning Kinder Math

Why oh why does math have to be so hard??? If you've been reading this blog for long, you know that I've struggled to find the right mix for Kaytie and Nate's math. You also know that we found Math U See and loved it. The kids love it and I love it. Even better, they are learning and progressing. So naturally, I decided that for Daniel's (Ok, I'll go ahead and say it, Abbie's, too. Anybody want to take bets on whether she stays in preK or journeys through kindergarten with Daniel this year???) kindergarten  math I would start him with Math U See Primer. Gentle, simple, practical, and starting as we intend to continue... perfect, right? Well, yes, except for the $50 price tag. I've been haunting Ebay and Amazon and the MUS yahoo swap board and just not coming up with any good-enough deals.
Finally, last night, as I was boring my long-suffering husband with yet another conversation about math curriculum I remembered... I'd done my "own thing" with Kaytie and Nate in kindergarten and they'd turned out alright, right? My poor husband gave me an exasperated look and muttered something about them excelling under such a system since Kaytie is a year ahead and Nate two years ahead.
So now I have another fun thing to do... plan an exciting, educational, and yet simple year of math! Whoohoo!

Go Into All The World

I don't know if she is being an evangelist or a teacher... 

One Little Monkey

This is the result of mixing a small, reckless boy with a bunk bed in the same room together. He says he was just sitting there on his bed, but this is not a believable story because he has NEVER "just sat" any where at any time EVER in his nearly six and a half years of living. He is either moving or he is asleep.

At any rate, he and I spent a couple of hours reading books together in the ER on Sunday evening; he had pictures taken of his bones (fun stuff!); and the report is that he has a "greenstick" or "buckle" fracture. Once the splint was snugly secured on his arm, the pain was gone. After that, he declared his "warm and cosy" splint to be "COOL!!!" and became the swaggering hero amongst his siblings.
Yesterday, he had a visit to the doctor to get a permanent cast put on.

The doctor was friendly and entertaining. He spent the entire time joking and teasing Nate. I was entertained, but the kids just stared at him blankly. Right before he left, he told them, "When my niece was little, her favorite song was Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. So here you go... the doctor is telling you 'No more monkeys jumping off the bed!'" 

They just watched him go out and shut the door behind him.

Then they erupted into laughter.

Later, I asked Kaytie and Nate, "Did you think Nate's doctor was funny?"

"Oh, yes!" And they started laughing again.

"You did realize that he was trying to be funny on purpose, right?"

Their eyes grew wide, "No! Really? Ohhhhhh!"

Poor guy, he thought he'd found a tough audience and they were just trying to be polite and not laugh in his face.

Continents, Oceans, and so much more...

Our first TOS Crew review is a module from the Schoolhouse Planner. It's called Travel The World and it is basically a unit study of world geography. Although it comes with the Schoolhouse Planner it can be a stand alone unit study and you can purchase it individually for $7.95. Since it is an e-book, it is an instant download and there won't even be any shipping costs! :) 

We used this as a quick review and a way to wrap up our around the world studies. It is an overview of the seven continents and oceans with a discussion of latitude and longitude, the three climate zones, and seasons thrown in. It took us about three days to work through it, with an extra day for the coloring pages, lapbook pieces and worksheets at the end.
Although we put our globe and atlas to good use, the only additional products you absolutely need for this study is a computer and a box of crayons.
Since it is 56 pages long, I did not print anything except for the pages they actually wrote/colored on... we just read it off the computer, which actually worked well with clicking on the links as we read through the material. There were tons of links to click! The links were all safe sites and if my children had been a little older, they could easily have worked through this unit on their own, reading and clicking and reading some more!
There is no given age-range for the study, and I got the impression that it was designed to be adaptable for all ages. There is a high school extension, which, although we naturally did not use it, I looked through. Having worked with high school students last year, I think it would work well for them. But I'll be confining my discussion to how it worked with early elementary students, since that is how I used it. If the extension is something you want to read about, you can find reviews from other members of the crew on the Review Crew Blog.
What I liked about this product was that, although it was not organized into daily lessons, there were obvious spots to break it into manageable sections. I found it easy to read aloud and the flow was conducive to adding in bits of explanation for my "younger" kids without chopping it up or losing their interest. We all enjoyed the Internet links scattered throughout the text. And I loved the printable maps of each continent with pictures pertaining to that continent scattered over it.
What I didn't like was that, although there were TONS of links, and we greatly enjoyed the ones that led to some fun and instructive games, most of them were merely dictionary definitions or just repeated the information we had just read in the text. I was also irritated that the above mentioned printable maps of the continents did not include all seven continents; for some reason there was only four.
I asked the kids their opinions, and this is what they said: Nate said he enjoyed it and he learned from it. He would recommend that other moms buy it for their children. His favorite part was the games and his least favorite part was all the reading. I gave him the options of 1 thumbs up, 2 thumbs up, or thumbs down, and he rated it a 2 thumbs up! Kaytie said she liked it and learned from it. She thought for a minute, but then said she would recommend it to other moms. Her favorite part was learning about longitude and latitude. Her least favorite part was nothing... she liked it all. She rated it a 2 thumbs up.

This product was given to us free for the purpose of this review. The opinions are my own.

Sweet Sofie

Our newest member of the family moved in tonight.

Her name is Sofie, and she's a Bassett Hound. She has the energy level of one of Daniel's beloved snails, but she is over the top adorable.

Looking Forward

This week, we are wrapping up the last of our schoolwork for the year. Which means that I am already planning next year! I am both anxious and excited about the new year.
I'm excited because I always like planning, and I enjoy the fresh start that every new year brings. I love to wipe away the mistakes and struggles and memories of the things we never quite got around to doing last year and start all over with a clean slate. THIS will be the year that we do great things! :)
I'm also excited because this year, my wonderful husband is helping me sort and organize the schoolroom. I crave organization, but I am not that great at setting it up. Also, I am a hoarder, and he is not. So tons of useless things will be removed to make way for the stuff I need. Which means, maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to find stuff this year! But if nothing else, it will look better when he is finished.
I'm anxious because I'm planning for 3rd, 2nd, Kindergarten and Preschool. It was a juggling act this year, when Daniel and Abbie were still mostly just "playing school". Now, they are both kicking it up a notch (I have no illusions on my ability to keep Abbie out of Kindergarten, if Daniel is doing it, she will be, too!) and yet the big kids are still pretty dependent on my supervision and support. I'm trying to figure out a good, workable schedule that still gives us lots of free time to just be kids (for them) and to hide in the closet in a fetal position (for me).
Planning for Kaytie and Nate is turning out to be fairly easy, because we are just going to be doing a lot of "more of the same". History and Science are mostly my only planning-intensive subjects. I write my plans by typing into tables in Microsoft Word, and I'm doing a lot of "copying and pasting" in their tables.
Planning for Daniel and Abbie is a bit harder. I'm struggling with re-using as much as I can from Kaytie and Nate's Kindergarten year, while tossing all the stuff that didn't work or won't work with Daniel and Abbie, and trying to keep in mind that teaching Kindergarten with two babies napping is far easier than teaching Kindergarten while teaching two older kids. I'm struggling with tailoring my ideas to fit them while not re-inventing the wheel. And I'm struggling with giving them a quality of curriculum while keeping it as streamlined and simplistic as possible.
After a lot of internal debate, I finally settled on doing a sort of Letter of the Week with them. I didn't want to, but it seems to be my best option. A lot of it will be review, because they know most of the alphabet sounds, but I finally conceded that they need to solidify what they know before they move on.
Soon, I will post the details of our plans for next year. Also be looking for a new and improved schoolroom post, and two reviews for the TOS Crew. (One next week, and one in August) Oh, and I haven't forgotten that I promised to tell you what I think of Story of the World and All About Spelling; I just haven't gotten to it yet. Sorry about that.
Meanwhile, if you have any suggestions, advice, or consolation on the above anxieties, please feel free to leave a comment. Oh, and something else for you to weigh in on: we are going to be doing a "real" co-op with the cousins this year, (yippee!!!) in which she will be teaching Art (YIPPEE!!). She is great with Art. So does this mean that I am personally off the hook with Art this year?

Mooing for Our Supper

My niece is a manager at our Chick Fil A, and she looked out for us today. This morning, she brought us cow headbands and let us know that today was Appreciate A Cow Day. This meant that if we showed up in cow costumes, we would get free meals.

The costumes were easy...  I cut head and arm holes in Walmart sacks (you can't beat free). I took a couple sheets of black construction paper and cut them up in "jigsaw puzzle" style pieces. Then I taped them to the sacks, and used some of the scraps to add spots to their legs.

Once Nate was in his costume, he stuck out his chest and declared, "I am a proud sponsor of PBS Kids!"

I used to think that eating out in public with four small children was a challenge, but now I know it is nothing compared to the adventure of eating out in public with four rowdy calves. Other than being a spectacle on the drive over and even in the restaurant itself, it was a fun way to get a free meal, and being personally served by the best manager in Amarillo was just an added bonus.
Thank you, Courtney!

Happy Birthday, America!

We celebrated America's birthday by going to church, eating out with friends, and then coming home and changing into our newly decorated patriotic shirts. They helped me make a fruit pie, colored some patriotic pictures, and of course...

they know by now that every holiday means a photo op for Mommy.

Then we had a picnic at the park with Uncle Ken. It was a beautiful evening.

And then we secured a good spot and waited for the fireworks. This is a family tradition. We have gone to this parking lot and watched the fireworks every year since Kaytie was a toddler. It's something that they look forward to, and it never gets old. This year, they had some firecrackers of their own to set off. By the time we got home, they were so tired they passed out on the way to their beds.

Happy Birthday, America!!!!