How we do it: History

History

We have 2 history days each week. On the first day, we watch an episode or two from the Liberty Kids series through Netflix Instant Watch. While my kids are watching an episode I check out the episode information on the website. Here is a link to the first episode: The Boston Tea Party. Each page for the episodes tells the real historical events and people, what will happen to the fictional characters, and what lessons can be learned. From this, as well as listening to the episodes, I can get dates and names to add to our timeline: To make our timeline I used a poster with lines faintly printed on it and a permanent marker, and put it on a door in our main rooms. Through the episodes we have also learned about the events leading up to the Boston Tea Party and beginning of the war so I made sure we had room at the beginning to put those in as well.

A couple years ago I invested in History Through the Ages Timline Figures complete collection on CD. It is definitely the investment - I can print new figures any time I need them for any projects that we are doing - timelines, notebook pages, etc., so I feel it is worth it.

Following an episode I have my kids tell me what happened (Charlotte Mason - Narration), we discuss what events and people are real, which are fictional but true to the time period, and what probably wouldn't have happened. Then they draw a picture of their favorite part in their History Journals - sometimes its about real events and sometimes its about the fictional characters. I purchased hardback, spiral bound sketch books from a local art supply store for $10-$15. We have been using these journals for a couple years, and there is still room for more journaling, so we don't need to purchase a new journal every year.

Here is an example of a picture from A's journal - nothing fancy.

Depending on what happens in the Liberty Kids episodes we will also do other activities. For example, after the episode about Paul Revere's ride we read the Longfellow poem. We have read Patrick Henry's speech and the poem for The Shot Heard Round the World - Concord Hymn by Emerson, and other things like these that relate to the episodes.

On our 2nd history day of the week, I read from a biography from the time period we are studying. We are currently reading George Washington by the D'Aulaires.

While I read my kids can color a picture, which I made from our timeline collection or they can do another picture in their History Journals about what I am reading.

Summer Series #3 - Summer Weather

Outdoor Hour Challenges - Summer Series - #3 Summer Weather Observations

We wanted to follow up with our Shadow Stick observations from the Spring Series Challenge #2. I meant to have the kids do this in June, but I was 9 months pregnant and it didn't happen. Before we started we talked about whether they thought the shadows would be in the same place or not. They predicted they would be different.

Watching the sunrise:

For their journal pages we talked about trying to draw the skyline as much like the real one as they could. They decided to try it a few times before doing one in their journals.

N's journal page-
A's journal page

We observed the sunset on an outing to a local park

Fall 2010 Curriculum - Update

My plans for school this fall were a little too ambitious. With 3 girls 3.5 years and younger I quickly discovered I need to simplify. This isn't to say that we won't be doing all I originally planned, but for now our load will be lighter. I'm also going to include our daily schedule in this post. I try to keep things on a time schedule, but for the most part I have a daily outline that we work through. I have also built in time-cushions with most subjects for interruptions.

Here are our updated plans:

I try to start school around 8:30 with a 30 minute outdoor time. Gotta get some of the energy out.

School Block #1 - 1 hour

Devotional- 15 minutes: Discover the Scriptures: Old Testament Grades 1-3. We also sing a primary song, work on scripture memorization, and read from the Friend or other character building book, such as those listed in my first post.

Habit Training/Character Building- 15 minutes: We practice life skills and manners/appropriate behavior. For example, right now we are working on good bathroom habits- flushing, washing hands with soap and warm water, turning off the light and closing the door, etc. - which my kids were getting lazy about. For character building we are working on speaking politely to each other, during squabbles that start when someone takes away toys, teases, pesters, etc.

Math- 30 minutes: We are working through Math-U-See's Beta. We have been going very slowly through math the last couple years to make sure they are mastering the concepts. I know Austin is ahead in comprehension compared with Nyah, and knows many concepts we haven't yet covered with Math-U-See. However, because the teaching style in Math-U-See is unique I haven't tried to skip him ahead because I want him to be familiar with how concepts are taught in Math-U-See -- if that makes sense :). I believe when he can work more independently he will zip ahead on his own.

Preschool Block #1 - 30 minutes - I read picture books with the little girls. Right now we are reading favorites we have and I get some from the library on this list. During this time I ask the older kids to do a couple chores and then have a break time.

Recess/Snack Time - 30 minutes - "Recess" is what my kids call our break times. I try to get them outside again, but if they want to play inside they can.

School Block #2 - 1 hour

A days (Mon and Wed)- Science and Geography - 30 minutes each: Science we are doing Exploring Creation with Astronomy, following the schedule in the Notebooking Journal. Geography we are reading a chapter in Minn of the Mississippi each day and mapping the turtle's journey.

B days (Tue and Thu)- History and Nature Study - 30 minutes each: On one history day we watch a Liberty Kids episode, draw about it in our History Journals, and put events and people on a timeline. On the other day we read from George Washington by the D'Aulaires. For Nature Study we are doing the Handbook of Nature Study's challenges - right now we are trying to finish up the Summer Series.

Preschool Block #2 - 30 minutes - Singing time, action songs, math games, etc. - very relaxed!!! I am using Fun with Mommy & Me, Number & Logic Games for Preschoolers, and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Older kids do a couple more chores and then have break time.

Lunch, Chores, & Recess - 1 hour

School Block #3 - 1 hour

Literature - Monday thru Thursday - 30 minutes: We will continue reading chapter books, poetry, and Shakespeare, but we will be doing them one at a time instead of trying to do them all at the same time. Fridays we will be doing the grammar lessons (15 minutes) from Milestones: English for the LDS Child Level A, but not any of the other lessons.

A days (Mon & Wed) - Composer Study - 15 minutes: Handel right now. Listening to The Story of Handel and Hallelujah Handel during breakfast or lunch. Super easy

B days (Tue & Thu) - Artist Study - 15 minutes: Finishing up Van Gogh until our art appreciation class starts in September. We will be studying Renoir. I will probably still do artist study at home as well - its a favorite subject around here.

We end our school days around 2pm with a 1 hour Quiet Time in bedrooms while the younger girls nap. This has been hard to implement during the summer, but will be easier once all the kids in our neighborhood are in school (our neighborhood has 2 public school districts, a charter school, and several families who attend other private/charter schools - no one starts at the same time!!).

Extracurricular - My kids also participate in Liberty Girls and Knights of Freedom twice a month. There is the art appreciation class being hosted by another homeschool mom. Austin does Boy Scouts weekly and Nyah has Activity Days twice a month (these are both church groups). We have weekly park days with our homeschool group. And the kids are also taking ice skating lessons right now.

I plan on posting more about juggling my little girls during school, what my older kids can do while I am reading, as well as showing more details about how we do specific subjects. That's the plan anyways and we all know how flexible those have to be!!!

4 Moms Open House - Living Areas

4 Moms Open House - Living Areas

Start at Smockity Frocks

We spend most of our time on our main floor in these 4 rooms - front room, school room, living room, and kitchen/dining. Please don't mind the mess or kids or tv - our little S is having one of those days where she is waking up from her naps every 30 to 45 minutes, and I'm at the point where I've pretty much given up trying to do anything but survive. I've probably "started" cleaning up a dozen times at least. And it took me hours to get down to the basement to mop up the flooding. Yeah, a lovely late-summer storm blasted through here today. So I've been counting down to when the babysitter is coming for the last 6 hours - she's be here in about an hour so I can take my older two kids to ice skating lessons (baby will come too) while hubby is out of town.

View from front door-

View from back door

Front Room - I confess this room is mostly used by the 2 & 3 year olds who like to pull the cushions off the couches and play for unimaginabley long periods of time. I try to put it back together when we are expecting visitors.

A mess? Who me? Couldn't be!!

We call this the school room even though we do school all over the house - here, on the couches, in the kitchen, etc. because its better than "formal dining room that we use for something else."
Living room is super simple - couch, recliner, and tv.

. . . and dog bed, car seat, dirty laundry, and toys :)

Hallway & stairs to our family room - the hallway goes in a big circle which comes in handy during the winter when the kids are rowdy - we can send them to run laps!!

Family room which we don't use very much. We have another tv here with the Wii and the kids have a Friday movie night.

Phew! Finished just in time - S is awake again!

Summer Series #9 - Evening Primrose

Outdoor Hour Challenges - Summer Series #9 - Evening Primrose

We were so excited when we realized we had Evening Primrose growing in our wild side yard that we did this challenge over the weekend. Here A and N are looking at the plant during the day when the flowers are closed.
Later, after baths and pajamas, we headed outside to watch the flowers open. There were many excited exclamations of "Mom, it moved!"

A flower up close - we also headed out later, when it was darker, to watch for insects. We saw a number of moths coming to drink from the flowers, but weren't able to get any good pictures!

We found this flower in our book A Pocket Guide to Herbs. The kids enjoyed learning about the Native Americans, as well as people today, using it for medicinal purposes.

Several Evening Primrose plants

We were reminded of flowers that open during the day - such as Morning Glory, or Bindweed,

We really enjoyed this challenge and the kids keep asking when they can go out at night to watch the flowers again.

School Pictures

Today is our first full day of school. We've been building up to our full schedule for a couple weeks now. This week we will be working out the bugs in our schedule - occupying and entertaining the younger two being the biggest challenge!! They liked some of the pre-planned activities and found their own ways to entertain themselves, but they weren't exactly activities that we encourage, as you can see-O & J are going to be doing some preschool this year.

N is in 3rd grade
A is in 4th grade

Hard at work!!

***I forgot to include the link - Not Back To School Blog Hop: School Pictures

Hello Stranger!

A few weeks ago while talking with one of my sisters said she was shocked to find out I read blogs of people I don't know - COMPLETE STRANGERS. Its true. I do. All the time. Every day. And I like LOTS of them. I've decided to post some of my favorites. I'm posting it here on my homeschool blog because many of them are homeschool related, but not all. I don't read them ALL, EVERYSDAY. Mostly I read a couple on my phone in the middle of the night when I'm up with S - helps me stay awake! I started out ambitiously trying to list them in alphabetical order, but practicality took over :), and the rest of them aren't!


Asking Jane - LDS mother of 11 answers everyday mothering/parenting questions. A recent favorite: Do You Ever Have Down Days


NieNie Dialogues - Stephanie Nielsen, an LDS woman who survived a plane crash but suffered horrific injuries, blogs about her continuing journey through recovery and life.



C Jane Enjoy It - Jane, who is the sister of Stephanie Nielsen- I love her writing style, quick wit, and how I feel we are friends even though we are strangers.


Chocolate on My Cranium - LDS homeschooling mom with lots of homeschool ideas, as well as cute tutorials and family home evening lessons. My recent favorite article of hers was actually published on a different blog: The Highest Education We Can Receive - a must-read for ALL parents about teaching our children to recognize the Holy Ghost. In September she is hosting a month long focus called "Celebrate the Family" in honor of the 15 year anniversary of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" - can't wait to check it out!!





Eric Carle - The author - He doesn't post much, but I love the short insights into his life and career. Recent favorite: Reading the Funny Papers.


Freebie of the Day - Free homeschool resources and ideas Monday through Friday.



Gentle Art of Chaos - LDS homeschool mom blogging about life and homeschool.


Handbook of Nature Study and Harmony Art Mom - love the nature challenges put together by Barb, as well as Art ideas, and all the practical homeschool advice. She is homeschooling her youngest two boys in high school - someday that may be me!!

In the Sparrow's Nest - Another homeschool mom with lots of nature study and general homeschool ideas.

Homeschooling a Houseful - Another homeschooling mom with 7 soon to be 8 kids



Preschoolers and Peace - I'm constantly trying to figure out the whole preschoolers and peace thing!! What Are Your Most Helpful Posts? gives links to some of her most helpful ideas!


4 Moms & 35 Kids Group: All of these moms give wonderful, practical advices for managing kids, homeschool, and life!
The Common Room - this is the first homeschool blog I ever found and started reading
Smockity Frocks
Raising Olives
In a Shoe

Sidenote: I'm trying to figure out why I am attracted to blogs of large families? Maybe because their craziness is just that little bit more than mine? I don't know.

See Jamie Blog - Christian, Charlotte Mason-style homeschool mom - I've been following this blog for a long time! I like the new series she is doing about Adoption Stories, the latest here.


Latter-Day Homeschooling - LDS perspective, lots of Guest Writers sharing a wide range of ideas, hints, and strategies.

Confessions of a Homeschooler - Lots of ideas for toddlers and preschoolers!

AND I could list so many more!! This is just a sampling!

How do I find blogs that I would like to read?

Blog Carnivals: These carnivals can be about anything, but my favorites relate to homeschooling. Some of the ones I like to read (the links are to the latest issues of each carnival)-
The Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival
Carnival of Homeschooling
A Homeschooling Carnival
Homeschool Showcase


Other sites that share lots of blogs:
Mormon Mommy Blogs
Latter-Day Homeschooling