Catching up #3. Our dig has begun

Finally I get to the point that our own archeological dig has begun.  I know I know I have you on your seats waiting.  If you have not read post #1 and #2 then be sure to scroll past this and get caught up with the process. 

We have about six acres, live in a log kit home that is about thirty-five years olds.  It is not one of those fancy log houses. I tend to chuckle that I live in a cabin so dusty floors are only natural.  There is a space to the south of me that is large open space and I call it the pasture.  There was a fence before we moved here as well and the prior owners had horses.  Long ago I met a man in a nursing home who was telling me about his hog farm when he was a younger man.  He did not know where I lived and we came to understand that this space was part of his holding.  Much of the surrounding area has been river edge fishing cabins and in the roaring times there was a honky-tonk down here that was only accessible via the Kaskaskia River.  I thought we would find a something of interest but had no idea just how quickly we would hit pay dirt.

We did not use some scientific method to choose our area to dig. It was merely determined by the geographical location of the property.  I knew we could not dig in the back half or we would be bothered by the donkeys the entire time.  If I wanted the blessing of my husband it would require not being part of his yard that he enjoys.  I picked a spot to the far south of the front pasture and away from groves of trees so I did not hit tons of roots.  I chose a spot that is near a peach tree that struggled and finally died.

 

I went to great lengths to let the children know that it would be weeks before we find something, if we ever did.  Then, suddenly, only a few moments into the process we hit a rock.  Not some small rock but we were pulling up rocks quickly that were small and white.  They reminded me of landscaping rocks. Not sure why but the large rock was gently cleared away.  We kept going as they got all excited and below that rock was another rock. Wait!  It is not a rock. It is a stone and they belong together. The area next to the stone will not dig away. We head to the left of the first stone instead of the one that it was stacked upon and decide that there is another stone there and the dirt that will not dig between them is not dirt but some form of mortar.  We brush away the dirt from the bottom stone and see that is has been manipulated to have a grove of some sort. 

You see in this photo the stones as we begin to uncover them.

 



As if that was not exciting enough we also found treasures within the dirt.  At Cahokia Mounds the girls learned to look at the dirt. Observe for color changes that might indicate something other than dirt had been there.  The watched for color changes in the soil. 

While we did find one really cool thing to be revealed tomorrow when I can get the photo uploaded that is a cool archeological find we also found a colony of some sort.  There were various stages in the larvae stage.  We then found an adult beetle.  "COOL!"  Better than that. As they tore into the dirt that they dug up gently they also found it in a pupae stage.  This photo is from that find as well.  This dig is not just about finding the history of our soil but we explored the layers of soil and live we found within it.  Science along with history makes homeschooling extra spectacular. 

Here is the photo of our insect stages.

 

 

 

 



 The best part of this day was that we shared it with some new, old friends.  A new homeschooler was six days into the process. She was a girl in my Girl Scout Troop as a child and now has three of her own children.  I met her kiddos and they all played together and got to know each other.  We will continue this dig as the months go on. 

I never did get to the Bird Man Tablet today. Guess it will wait for our great find within the clay on the next entry.-

Catching up #2

Let me first say that I certainly attempted to get back on to work on the blog entry. I struggled a bit to get this silly blogger to upload my files.  I do not make my entries via my goggle+. I don't really head to the main page for that part of goggle either.  It seems that the only way to get the photos to load from my current storage to this blog is to sync more of my computer to the web itself.  It seems I am forced more and more into this automated system of collaborating programs to get what I want done. I fear one day, my dell wake up and be found sitting in this spot, demanding that I actually dust it out.

Back to our trip to Cahokia Mounds and the experience the archeological dig in our pasture:

Let me first share this photo with you.  It is of Grace and Faith with a 250 cake.  This is the 250 birthday of St. Louis and in commemoration there are 250 birthday cakes that are placed throughout the region, yes even in Illinois.  The cakes are made to represent a "point" of significance for STL. 

It goes unsaid to realize that Cahokia Mounds is indeed a significant point.  I am a bit saddened by the fact that they did not place one near some of the sites not far from here.  They went some wide distance but did little to acknowledge that without Kaskaskia, Illinois and the French forts, STL would not even have existed.  With that said here is the picture.





I have learned that it often takes a spark from another to kindle the fire. That is the case with the choice to do our own dig.  During our experience at Cahokia Mounds we participated in a FREE docent lead tour. It takes about one hour to take the tour. You walk some, stop and chat some, then move on to the next leg of the tour.  There was an elderly man that lead our tour.  I would like to say that the girls were perfect, attentive students that I was proud of but the fact of the matter is that they were children who find interest in the bugs and stones that they see more than what the man is talking about.  Well, that is at least what it looked like. UNTIL we began our journey home and the two start talking about the tour.  It was this elderly man, whom I am certain felt underappreciated at the moment that kindled their fire to know more not only about the Mississippian culture but about the process of archeology.  It was his words that helped them to find more interest in the displays within the building itself.  Had we not attended the tour then the experience at the top of Monk Mound would have been much different. 

Grace stood at the top of Monks Mound and looked out to find the structures he had spoken about to us.  I know he thought that she did not hear a word that he said but it was clear she had.  I of course know that Grace and spin on her toes and listen at the same time but the general public expects students who are use to sitting in a desk all day and afraid to fart.  So that brings me to the next part of our picture display.  He taught them about the Bird Man Tablet, about Woodhenge, and the chief that was buried at Mound 72.

Here are some photos to share with you from that follow up experience.  Stay tuned for the next posting as we go further into our own archeological dig experience.



Stock photo of Woodhenge from the Mounds web site



Faith asked me to dance around the pole at Woodhenge. This is the center pole. We danced together then I captured this fabulous photo of the experience.



Nearing the end of our day we are finally going to climb Monks Mound.  The girls stopped along the way to recall the information that our guide had shared.  Grace recalling a fact about how it got its name and Faith recalling why the first platform of the mound is higher on the left than the right.



This was the view that day of St. Louis.  It was a yellow air quality day in the city.



The girls drew their own versions of the Bird Man Tablet in the dust of the rock path on top of the mound.  They chuckled that perhaps somebody will think an Indian place it there. 
 

So there you have it.  More on the Bird Man Tablet and our own site very soon.

  

Just a quick WHATS UP

The end of co-op semester has come and gone.  The joy the girls feel on co-op day is wonderful.  I know most kids are ready for school to end but co-op days, while educational, are very enjoyable.

Grace's classes were advanced sign language, piano, lego machines and Narnia. Each class had great educational value offered in a relaxed environment.

Faith's classes were Art around the World, American Girl, Jr. Math lab and French II.  I know they will miss our Thursday classes but it does give me another day to get us up to date with current status.  I do not imagine we will see an official summer break. 

We just have too much left to do.  This week the girls will have their last class at the St. Louis Zoo.   I get the feel that I need to hunker down and get very serious about getting the year done.  Then as soon as I let myself think those thoughts then I remember what my goal is about.  Outcomes are important and to have the outcomes I shoot for then I know need to keep our lessons fun and focused.
Other plans for the week will include decoupage of Easter eggs. I am not very good at adding in craft and arts but this will be fun.

Next week they have a field trip to the Riverlands area for a water sampling class conducted by the Corps of Engineers.  Their programs there are always first rate.

I almost forgot to mention that the girl completed their geography fair projects and presentations. I was so proud of them.

Nothing exciting to post or talk about and trying to do it on this laptop is awkward for me.
May your days be as blessed as mine are.

Stay the Course

I feel like a ship navigating the seas. I remind myself that I must stay on course. I begin the week with a plan that has been very carefully thought out and placed in a nice neat format called A Beka Curriculum Guide.  All that is required of me is to read the lesson plans, copy the material on the board and tell about it. 

Stay the course, I think to myself. Today I will cover all subjects exactly the way it is designed. I will use all of my visual aides that go with the program. I will be sure to get it set up the night before so that I look like I have it all together. I will not fumble around and look for things. The room will begin neat, clean and organized every Monday morning. Yes indeed, this week I will stay the course.So I wake on Monday and discover that my body is not use to some crazy time shift. I am not yet recovered from working my weekend shifts in the ICU. I will wake. I will go to the room and be sure it is all neat, clean and organized. I will gather the material that will be needed and set my sail to the wind. I plan to hold tight to the wheel and stay the course.

Then the telephone rings. "Good morning mom" she says. "he left for work and did not move the car seat to my van".  "I am exhausted, my feet are aching something terrible and I really do not feel like coming to pick up the kids." I say.  "Tell you what" I continue, "the temperature is going to be wonderful today"  I convince her that they will not even be able to concentrate.  See how quickly the tide can change?  The wind blew one way and I let it carry me over that edge.  I wanted to stay the course, I just could not control the tide and the winds that change them.

Suddenly, I have sunk to the level that I am afraid happens far to often some days. Then I see them in a co-op classroom with others their age and feel confident that we are doing very good overall. Sure the public schools had just celebrated their 100 days of school. We will too in 38 more days. We don't have a calendar that tells us what to do, I think to myself. 

Oh no!  I look at the calendar and it tells me that we have homeschool classes at the St. Louis Zoo at 11:30 today. I had just suggested to my daughter that she take the kids out for a walk and get some yard work accomplished as a family. After all, that has educational value as well.  I must call her.

Ring, ring...."you have reached the voicemail..."  Let me try again. Let me try again. 

"What?" she says as she picks up the phone.  "Are they dressed" I ask. "Yes" she replies.  I am elated because as it turns out I can now once again stay the course.  It was planned months ago that school today was not my responsibility.  I have paid for classes to be taught by professional zoologists.  I hop in the ship and head to her house. All would be fine if I was not feeling rushed.  If only, in my charting the course for the week I would have turned over the page on the calendar last week and discovered the plan.  Oh well, I can't bother with that now.  The day was going to be sunny and actually hot, so this is a win-win sort of day.  Again, the winds have shifted the tide but we are back on a course that was plotted out by a much more rationale person than I am now. When I plotted that course the year was fresh and new.

Load in girls, we have to get on the road but wait a moment. Here comes the two year old. He heard the word zoo and put on his foot braces and shoes while I was on the way.  Seems we are now all going to the zoo. 

Arrival is a success with fifteen minutes to spare. That is provided that the rest of the St. Louis area was not out on a spring break and all those crazy parents who took vacation time to spend the week with them have brought them to the zoo.  The presence of my daughter becomes very evident and I use her.  Two hop out of the car while the rest of us head to the south parking lot.  The north lot is full and the parking down the roads make it difficult to navigate the streets of Forrest Park.  Being a zoo member means free parking, trust me, it pays for itself in no time at all.

Educationally speaking we are on course again. The pain in my feet is about to feel like hot, sharp razors slicing through my skin. Being the driver I was left with the car seat child. That child becomes a stroller child as soon as the car door opens.  We make our way toward my daughter and find that they are still waiting for the teacher to gather the children and head to the classroom. 

Next comes the dreaded stop. Well, I say dreaded but it was a promised stop months ago. This is the month that Grace was promised she could go to the Build-A-Bear in the zoo. She saved up money and even chose to avoid a souvenir at the Disney on Ice show.  Owen wants a flamingo.  Really, does he need a flamingo? He did not count every penny and help clean my house to earn money.  He was a fish tossed onto my ship today when the wave came through. So he gets a pink flamingo but no clothes or other items. Thankfully he is not into such things.  He loves his flamingo so much. Names it FeeFee and later that night sleep with him.

Now that we have accomplished this I must eat.  I did not have anything and I feel like I could pass out.  Another wave comes over my ship and we realize that the hundreds of people at the zoo will also be hungry and thirsty. Normally there are plenty of venues to accommodate such a crowd. That of course is provided that it is after freeze time zone. The calendar on the wall says that things are still locked up and the pipes have been winterized. 

A short time passes and it is time for Faith to get out of class. We have one hour to wait before Grace's class will start. Glass cuts into my feet.  My back muscles begin to weaken and I am stooping over in my steps. Faith will need to get a snack as well, so I can stop and sit.

I must have let go of the wheel because havoc breaks out. Grace dropped her hippo into the prairie dog  area.  I grab a child by the ankles and hung them upside down. I do not plan to drop the sails yet, there is still wind a blowin'.  Crisis averted. 

Fortunately it is time for the next class.  I take a child and leave everybody behind.  Upon my return I discover they have left the area. No problem, with modern technology I will just send her a text and find them.  Modern technology has not yet figured out how to be sure that I have a charged telephone when I leave the house.  Truth be known, I had lost the thing in the car and it was only while we were looking for a parking place that it was found and put on a charger in the first place. 

I turn to these nice city folks and ask if perhaps I can call my daughter, as I show them my dead telephone.  Turns out that I could not find a nice city folk. Being the captain of this voyage I am able to problem solve.  I will go to my car where I can sit and relax. I can charge the telephone and when the class is about over I will drive over to the north lot pick up area. I will send a text to my daughter so she knows the plan. 

In my ship, that we affectionately call Bessie, I make several turns of my rudder and get to the pick up point. I never hear back from my daughter. What in the world? I get a text from a co-op buddy who is with my family and she tells me the cell is dead.  Class is about to be over and they need to know where I am and what the plan is going to be. Text messages back and forth.

First set of children arrive to car. Daughter goes in the building again to gather Grace from class. I find myself at car seat duty again. I teach Faith how to change into her gymnastic clothes in the car, un-noticed.  She is finished and buckled in when the next child arrives. She knows the drill about how to change.

We again catch a good tide that take us back out to sea. I have managed to get back on course several times today. We arrive at gymnastics class with three minutes to spare.

I find it is pushing 6pm.  I am on my way home. The telephone rings.  Honestly, I do not know how he knew I had found my phone but I hear on the other end, "What do you have planned for dinner?" 

HA!  Turns out that I never completed the plan from Friday so I was able to appear as if I had managed to stay on course as a wife too. 

I do think there is a moral to this very true story and turn of events. Let me begin with the fact that I know we are not on schedule for the typical school year. This day only goes to show that if you just steady your course from time to time, the wind and tides that will distract and move you in a different direction will also give you an exciting journey as your reach your final destination. We all reach our destination at one point in time. I will not worry about the time, I will be sure to keep us on point and most of all, I will enjoy and endure the journey.

Wordless Wednesday/ Bee Keeping Lesson

After Visiting the Vendors

I do not have any desire to attend a homeschool expo and listen to a bunch of speakers. I looked at the list of the local exposition and honestly felt that I did not need or want to listen to them telling me how to manage the children or how to put Christ first in my life.

Simply put, I believe I am balanced in those aspects.  I did want to visit the vendors. We know that we are not changing from our A Beka Book  curriculum.  I wanted to touch and feel the Math U See program that everybody tells me I should try.  Kelley and I both wanted to see what other hands on activities we might find or other items to supplement what we currently do.  We expect great things from the children. They are bright and eager learners.  One may wonder what I thought of what I saw.

The hands on activities are things I can already find in locations as less cost.  Price gouging a group of people who are desperate to find items for their children at a one stop shopping place is horrible.  They even have the audacity to claim expo discounts. I know what we need to begin deliberate but playful learning with Owen and Kelley is already doing it.  I didn't see a lot of purchasing taking place but many people will return for the conference speakers over the next two days.  I was disappointed to see that the expo information did not cover all speakers that would be present as it was clear that many of the vendors also will be speaking.  That would have been a calmer way to learn about if they have something of interest to me.  It does sound like we were shopping for a change but we were shopping out of curiosity for enhancing or incorporating something new into my method of teaching.  What I found was that I love our choice.  For instance, so many talk about SonLight Curriculum.

Well, they are not a complete program and suggest Teaching Textbooks for math.  They do a lot of reading to your child as well.  My grandchildren love to read at their age. They learn so much more about language because they see the words on the page, the punctuations used and the proper formation of a sentence. 

Teaching Textbooks doesn't have any new or unique way to teach math.  In comparison I like the entire lesson plan books as well that I get with   A Beka Book.  The new way to teach math was with the Math U See program.  It sparked an interest in Kelley but left me irritated with the sales representative.

(Dear Grandma Jean-- Google search Math U See and watch the demo videos of addition and multiplication)  I would put the link here but I really would rather just promote the program we use.

The representative performed a simple multiplication problem on the board.  She treated me as if I am not smart enough to understand it.  I told her that I get it but that is a long, drawn out method and asked when do we teach them the correct way to multiply.  She challenged me by asking me if the answer was wrong. Of course it was not incorrect but it was not computed using simple multiplication steps. Then she asked what I meant and it force Kelley to write it on the board for her.  Well, long story short, I do not like condescending sales people. That normally would have had me walk away but Kelley was intrigued and we left with a demo video for Matt to watch. 

This morning I had grandpa watch the video and performed the same problem on the board for him in the same why that was shown.  His response?  Bull....bologna!  It has however sparked an interest in working on our school house/room and has he gave me some ideas to reinforce some prior material each day. 

I am sure this program is a good program for some and maybe it would be a good fit to help Grace more.  Still, I can do that without a complete change in curriculum for math.  If we actually had more children the current math would be better as we could use the games they suggest. I think I will look more at that as well and see if I can convert the games a bit to fit our tiny group of two. 

I did find a book set that I liked as an addition to our class library.  It was a history book that was like a coffee table book.  I like books that take history in a great concise timeline.  It was too brief to call it a true history curriculum but a great item to add.

Today is a field trip to the Nature Institute where the girls will learn about insects and get dirty. The programs we participate in there are never a disappointment.

  

Our Style of Homeschooling

I so often read about styles of homeschooling.  I fully understand the difference when a family is choosing a 100% unschooled style.  Clear as a bell as to what that it is, but when I read on other blogs about how somebody is unschooled I discover that they are often not able to find themselves using a100% approach.  I read on about other methods/styles of homeschooling. I find others question me about what style/approach do we use.

After much consideration I have decided that there is a STRONG style of homeschooling.  We go at it deliberately, with full intent and we accidentally stumble across learning opportunities and new methods to understand.  We go against the norm by not keeping a grade book, avoiding a book totally for the day, digging in the dirt, walking in the wetland, planting a garden, raising animals, observing birth, playing in an amusement park, planning routes to the next field trip, and the list can go on and on.  We go at it in a very traditional method as well, using the chalkboard, charts, text books, workbooks, test books, (OK they don't even get the test until I know they can master the subject) days of expecting them to remain seated and days of willy nilly movement.  We go STRONG in all we do. 

For example let's look at what we did today.  We discussed what a nutritious breakfast would be to sustain us for the morning activities that were planned. Needing to reinforce that there is no mid-morning snack for us today. Good choices were made as we talk about our choices like it is an every day conversation. No lesson plan to check off the list.  We get to archery class for the second session and Grace is instructed to get into the wallet and count out thirty dollars, then Faith does the same.  Why?  Well they had to pay for the next six weeks of lessons and suddenly we have more learning that is taking place in a STRONG fashion but again does not have a lesson plan to it and the act was spontaneous on my end. They attend class where they talk with groups of friends between shoots and then focus on the target when needed.  Notice that the benefit here is that they learn how to suddenly focus onto the target amidst all sorts of other distractions that are present. That round is over and they are back to the same conversation they were having.  Spontaneously a card game of crazy eights begins and they leave the table for the shoot and come back  again to pick up where they left off.  I call this a STRONG style of learning. They are going STRONG at all that is taking place around them.  Following archery we go to lunch with three other families at the local Wendy's.  On the way we make choices about food again and each girl makes sure they have included more than a burger and fries. Why? Because we always talk about our food choices and although the burger and fries are good choices they also offer side salads there and apples and baked potatoes.   Gab, gab, and eat. Manners as we are a large group with lots of elderly eyes watching the behavior of "those kids that are not in school".   Chuckle between adults as we know that the presence of these children mid-day is an upset to many of them.  But we make a good impression that will reflect on other homeschoolers they come across later in life.  This is the accidental learning portion. Nobody has a lesson plan about conduct in Wendy's at noon with seven children around a table and four adults at the neighboring table. 

The next step is to come home and get me a little rest before we dive into a few important subjects.  Now they girls learn about helping a person in need. This is a big day for me.  I have been going nonstop and still recovering from the hospital stay.  They play for a moment around me and do so in a gentle fashion. Then they begin playing "store".  They bring out items and create shelves, place price tags and get the school money.  I sit back and observe.  I had planned to do some math in the next few moments but they accidentally fell into it themselves.  They created an inventory and determined a fair price for each object. Then they went shopping.  They made change and worked together to determine how much change they needed to give.  What did they do with the objects they purchased from their toy box?

They then brought it to a show and tell. Each girl began a presentation about what they bought. One moment the presentation included a description of what they were holding, the next it was about why they chose that item and how it made them feel or how they were going to use it.

It was a STRONG approach to homeschooling today. In the course of this they even made the choice to open their language book and each completed a lesson without direction or a request from me to do it.  During the presentation portion of their day they each read a book out loud as well. 

So, are we Unschooled?  Do we Charlotte Mason?  Do we school at home?  Do we accidentally learn?  We do that all and so much more.  Therefore I declare a new style of homeschooling.  It is the STRONG approach.  It works on so many levels for me.  It leaves a legacy for me while speaking volumes to the definition of the word alone.

Plans for tomorrow will be a trip to the Nature Institute to learn about symbiotic relationships and have some hands on time with the naturalist that teaches there.  Car time will be using flash cards.  The afternoon will be a very traditional lesson time that they will be in their seats and focused on a text, a workbook and even one quick quiz in history.  I will use the chalkboard, some charts and other visual aids. 

SPREAD THE WORD!  A new style of homeschool has been named!

Wordless Wednesday (with small captions)

All these photos are from this past year.

Faith agreed to hold it

Sea Lion Sound @ St. Louis Zoo (a free zoo)



Planting comes natural to her

 The day the butterflies opened

The day the ducks hatched

Sleeping in the hay loft

We went to a friend's stable to witness the birth of her newest foal.  The hay was stacked high enough that we could look into the stall, be laid blankets out and my friend was a perfect hostess. 

 

 

As it turned out, we had to stay for two nights to witness the event. Finally, we were able to rejoice!

 

 

 

 

I cannot say it enough, when you homeschool you have the freedom to take on learning opportunities that would otherwise be missed.  The foal had immediate contact with humans and the girls had to be disturbed in a deep sleep.  The first night they were up late. During the day they played hard on the farm.  In true form the foal arrived a few minutes after midnight and they were exhausted.  The good part is they missed the "worst" part and got to see the very end of the process.  They called her Jasmine but of course she was not going to be our horse.



Post that I should have made but didn't do until now.....

So I really need to buckle down and do more real school.  At least that is what I tell myself then I look back at some pictures sitting on the camera card and see that we have been doing lots of school even if we aren't at home.

I have mentioned the St. Louis History Museum before and they have attended a program on the Civil War in Missouri and St. Louis stance as well.  They also attended a great presentation on George Washington.  Here are a few pictures of those moment.

I have more to post from the past year but here are a few from just one half day at the museum curing the Civil War program.  As I look at them I can see we indeed DID do school.

So Much A Happenin'

So here we are, one week into April and I know that we have months left of school. No worry on my end as I know that what the girls are getting is a top notch experience. So you wonder what we are up to this past week?

Yesterday we did an entire field trip day. I planned it to fill one entire day so that it would not take too much away from our book learning as well. It began the night before with a sleep over at my mother's house. The girls then get to spend time with great-grandmother. Then in the morning we went a few blocks down to a llama and alpaca farm. I was not sure what to expect but found it was by far one of the best experiences for them. The observed two teens (who are home schooled and come there to learn) shaving an angora rabbit. The girls then picked out the leaves and particles from some llama fleece. The learned how it was washed and died and then they saw a young girls with a foot pedal spinning wheel make it into usable yarns. They walked through the fields feeding carrots to each animal and spent time in the barn with chickens as well. The day ended with a craft, it was a walking stick and decorated with beads and llama and alpaca fibers.  Faith was a sweetheart when she noticed the two toes she shared with me that it was an even-toed ungulate but then a dozen mothers asked her age and did not know what an ungulate was.  I laughed and told them neither did I until I had to teach it but I worry sometimes as many of their children were 10 to 14 years old.

Secondly, we went to a friends farm to have hands on time with the new colts. We keep trying to catch the birth but we have been unsuccessful so far. There are still ten more colts to be born in the next month or so. The learned about impressing a human handprint to the new colt. At the end of the day a two day old colt came to Grace with little hesitation. We stood in the corral with seven horses--all trotters-- and four of them had new babies. One had just been born that morning.  While there we also gathered several goose eggs.

It seems our duck eggs are about to hatch. The beaks are visible in the air sacs and there are small vibrations noted. When they hatch we will add the goose eggs next. 

Grace's approach to math continues to be a huge success again. Today she shocked me with some of the independent work she accomplished. She is getting rather bored with he language but still loves to read. I know that the language is helping her as today her sentence structure was great and had some real substance in them. No telling what they will be like tomorrow but I expect consistency there soon.

Faith is doing well in all areas but she is upset that we are not further along in her books. I reminded her that I do not expect to see her go to the next grade level this year but maybe part way through next year. I then remind her that she cannot begin kindergarten until September in the public school. 

Next week will be back to the routine again. Lyceum will resume after a few breaks.  There are only four more sessions of  Master's Lyceum this semester. 

On a final note, great-grandma got Grace a hamster for her upcoming birthday. She is excited!

How I Have Come to Love Mondays

Another Monday has passed and it was once again painless. We continued with the lessons about penguins since Faith had requested it a few months ago. We have now spent time watching the movie MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, visited the zoo for the specific purpose of going through the penguin display. It is amazing how much more we all enjoyed the display with a lesson prior to going. The display of written material made me look really smart too.

So last Monday we worked on some globe issues and found where each penguin lives. Today we read and reinforced the material so that we could begin a lapbook. I love the "Hands of A Child" lapbooks that I come across but I also have found lots of other material that are lesson related to enhance the experience. I imagine it will take two more weeks to complete the lapbook.

We discussed it and feel that perhaps it would be good to learn about Arctic animals. There is a new series on Discovery Channel called Frozen Planet and I saw the premier last night. Girls think it sounds like a great idea. Lots of books to get in from the library as I rarely pay $20 for a book but found several at the zoo we all liked.  I tend to write down the ISBN and then go look it up. I can often find it at a much reduced price as well if I choose to buy it.

Today we also did a homeschool class at the zoo. One of the classes at Lyceum includes bird study and recently we took a great field trip that introduced the girls to bird nesting habits. They seem to be pretty fascinated with the topic as well right now. You know if I teach them how to have many irons in the fire now they should learn the skill of multitasking.  SO they attended a class called BIRDS FOR BEGINNERS and loved it. It got them into a classroom environment totally away from a parent. They made a book of observations, they handled three different kinds of birds and made a cute set of binoculars. The class for both girls (using my zoo membership) was only $32.  Of course, this is not something we can do often so we generally take advantage of the free stuff at the St. Louis museum scene. 

Duck eggs have not begun to stink so I imagine we are free of any rotten eggs and the experience will be a positive one. I must get the chicken coup repaired as I am suddenly down to only three chickens left out of thirteen. This is disturbing to me but fortunately the chicks are cheap right now. (ha ha to myself  ..cheap cheap little chick) 

Other projects we have recently done to reward the days work is to plant the strawberries. They are growing and in one more week the roots should be settled enough to hang them as they are intended. I also got a roll out butterfly garden that we will put around the tree when the get their work done this week.  I will plan to do this on Thursday with them. These things cost little as I get lots of things from the dollar store or plant starts from friends. 

I cannot express the joy I feel getting this opportunity to teach the girls. Soon Owen will be crawling around and of course learning begins with play.

OH yes!  We are absolutely going to move school back to my house. The classroom is going to be a toy room for the girls things that Owen will have the potential to get into. It was a toy room before it was a classroom.  I have a nice sized out-building that is attached to my back deck. We are going to make it into an old fashioned one room schoolhouse but with modern technology. I have Internet so they will have access to lots of things. I have a large wooded yard that is near much to explore. They have a nice big yard but it is surrounded by corn/soy/wheat fields and it use to be a wheat field. Their swings and toys are fun but recess here will be OK too.  The room will have storage as well so that items can be saved and brought out in cycles. I am excited as it means that I will stay here and they will need to come to me. I know it is a whole eight miles lets face it. I am not getting younger and walking down to their basement lately has been more difficult for me.  I am playing with some floor plan ideas to place things. 

Lyceum is all ready half over and I am working on enhancing the class I have planned. I am pleased with the content so far but find one boy not so enthused. You know that means I need to find a way to touch him.

That is all for now!

Upcoming week

Tomorrow we will have a KTM with some discussion of penguins and a review of butterflies. We are watching the movie March of the Penguins and going to do a lapbook as well over the next several Mondays.

This week we will finish up the book Who Was George Washington with Grace and order the next one on Adams. If you have not tried this series I really do recommend them. Not only are they good books for specific historical figure lessons but also great lessons of the period. 

WE also will be going to the Butterfly House this week for MARCH MORPHO MADNESS on Wednesday.  WE have learned about butterflies in the past be reinforcement is always great. It also makes them feel very wise when they know the answers already.

I have made several good choices with my money in joining the St. Louis Zoo and the Missouri Botanical Gardens. It permits us to participate in member only events like the Morpho Madness presentation.  Next week Grace and Faith will attend a homeschool class at the Zoo at a decreased rate as well.  Without intending it, we have learned about birds and nests in general. One of the classes at Lyceum that they attend is beginning the bird component and the zoo class is "Birds for Beginners".  I find Grace being pulled by some force of gravity to the books about birds and their nests recently.  I hope to find an eager learner in Faith soon. So far she continues to be an easy learner but could care less if she sticks with the entire lesson. I keep reminding myself that she is only five years old but she tends to act so much older--then suddenly I am taken back by a typical five year old behavior. 

They have begun the duck egg incubation experiment. We are making sure Grace keeps records of the event. I think it is good practice for her to try this. I expect her records to be fragmented but it is a good step forward.  I may be surprised! 

AS the weather is becoming nicer I hope they will be motivated to get early start so we can have an early finish.  WE will plant strawberries tomorrow as well.

So I will wrap this up for now as I am actually at work and having a "slow" day.

Long time between posts

It is not like me to be away this long. It seems that I am forever busy and when I have a moment to play on the computer I find myself on the laptop working on my Master's Lyceum lessons.  So let me see if I can summarize what has taken place in three weeks.  I will begin at the current and work my way back.

Yesterday Kelley gave all class instruction while I saw my physician. I then grabbed the girls and took them to a friend's house to get them acquainted with the lay of the land. She has a huge horse farm and is expecting several new colts.  The plan is to spend the night in the barn and experience the birth of a horse. While there Grace gathered eggs from the hen house and found several duck eggs as well. She has brought them home and we will put them in the incubator for our surprise. Debbie, the friend, has several different varieties of chickens and ducks. 

Back another day, Kelley and Grace took a field trip to tap Sugar Maple Trees and make homemade maple syrup. They seemed to enjoy the event greatly. The group that held the event is a very nice, warming, and accepting group of women. Some also belong to our co-op but not all.  It was a different atmosphere indeed as there are not any noticeable "clicks".  I stayed home with Faith and Owen. I am getting a bit old for the baby stuff but he is only three months old so took a great nap. During the nap Faith and I had school time together and played games. It was also National Read Out Loud Day so I read her all the books that she wanted.  My mouth hurt by the end of the day.

Last week both girls and I went on a field trip to learn about bird nest and hike to observe several different types of nests.  It was with the same group I had just mentioned and the quality of the trip was remarkable.  I love it when they clearly learn and have fun.

We went to the final homeschool Monday at the Magic House as well. I had recently injured my foot so I sat on a comfy couch and played with the baby while Kelley and the girls enjoyed the day together.  Grace was excited to find that they had updated the pizza place to a vet clinic.

We have also attended the Mammoths and Mastodons homeschool day at the Missouri History Museum.  It was a crowded but great day.  Only Grace was able to participate as the last time I took Faith her behavior was so poor that she was not permitted to go to this event. I do believe she learned a lesson. Additionally, Grace was very engaged in the activity but she missed her sister.  I find that funny since she feels her sister can be such a pest.

So that brings me to around my last post as far as activities go.  In class we are clearly far behind for the year since we had so much going on. Faith got the flu during this time as well and had a terribly high fever. The rest of their household became ill but the severity was controlled by Tamiflu.  Speaking of which, $500 to treat the entire house with Tamiflu!  (and that is with insurance)

The girls continue to make progress. Faith's reading has once again begun to flourish. For a while there, she seemed to stall but these days I am pleasantly surprised each time she sits down to read to me. He comprehension is also doing very well. 

Currently we are in week four of this semester's Lyceum.  I am teaching two classes. Each revolving around material the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has available. The younger group seems to enjoy the class, the older group has been on the edge of enjoying the class but last week they really bloomed and I think I have figured out how to get them engaged.

The girls are well aware that school will go into the summer but they do not seem to mind. Afterall, they know that it does not take all day to have school and I am sure that the pool and trail hikes will keep them motivated to get the work done.

Another Magic House Monday

Within this children's museum is an interactive display that supports our recent lessons on Lewis and Clark.  I told the girls that since that is a topic we have recently studied I would like them to go there first today.  They knew exactly how to get there and they spent one hour in that area.

They dressed in period dress and did all of the activities including a few that they imagined on their own. Overall, it was once again a great experience. Following that area they went to the Magic Tree House area once again and enjoyed themselves very much. While Faith spent most of her time being Clara Barton, Grace spent her time a a Pilgrim and being Sara.  Eventually they made their way to the other story area but did not go through the rest of the museum this time.  They were very focused in the quality of the experience. 

It seems that Grace wants to learn more about Egypt and Faith wants to learn more about penguins so just as I had been anticipating the girls lessons are beginning to separate according to interest and learning ability.

As usual my camera is out in the car so I will post pictures of today's activity tomorrow.

We enjoyed a lunch with friends as well. I sure wish that we did not live so far away from each other but then again we are both so busy with our own home school schedule that even if we lived down the road it probably wouldn't be much different.

On a side note the girls got a good Samaritan lesson today. On our way home a man was a hit and run victim on the interstate and I did CPR until EMS arrived.  I do not think he was going to live but I had to try anyway.  Poor Grace was upset by the blood that I got on my clothes and hands.  Sometimes you cannot shelter them from all of life but there was one lady there that did a great job at talking to the girls and distracting them from watching me.  So they did not see a lot and a few others went ahead and stood right behind me to help shelter the girls from seeing the horrible sight.  I cannot believe that someone would drive away from such a terrible accident. Let's face it, no one expects a person to be in the middle of an interstate so an accident is just that, an accident.

Oh yes, we also decorated the boxes for the valentine exchange with the coop.  I call it a good day.

Some belated pictures of activites

Westward Expansion Museum at the Arch



Looking into a prairie dwelling



I wrote about our trip to the arch but never took the card from the camera.  Funny how in the old days I did not take the film to the photomart and now that I have all these modern conveniences I still procrastinate in the picture department.

Missouri History Museum Trip

Today we all attended a homeschool day put on by the Missouri History Museum at Forest Park, St. Louis.  They conduct a free day most months and wrap it around a theme they are currently displaying.  We have several we intended to participate in but have not been able to do so. Finally, we went to the one today.

The topic was the Lindbergh flight across the Atlantic Ocean. By the time Charles Lindbergh was an adult and began this journey he was a local man and had lots of St. Louis backing so it was natural for the museum to have a gallery and classes.  They have several other displays as well right now but we stuck to the theme. After all, next month will be the Mammoths and Mastodons theme and we will be sure to attend.

So back to our trip. The museum is an original building of the 1904 World's Fair with newer additions of course.  The building alone can be an education process and we did go into the Fair Gallery.  Grace seemed to be truly interesting in the material and was a good student. Faith was not poorly behaved in the museum but during story hour she was horrible and had to be removed. It is clear that her age she is not ready for a lesson in this structure so next month I will take only Grace.   We enjoyed a display and discussion about "Bessie" Coleman from a wonderful woman who dressed in character and told her story from the first person.  We learned about oil spills and how to clean a feathered animal who has been effected. Of course we explored much about the flight and the overall life of Lindbergh.  In the galley there was a replica of THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS airplane that he flew.  This was an entirely new subject that we had never touched on but since we have been learning about pioneers to the west it was still a great blend as we realize that he was a pioneer of his time. 

Later this week is a homeschool roller skating party and next week is another Magic House Monday. I have lots to get covered in lesson times this week. At the end of last week Grace had begun to learn how to carry in subtraction.  Faith is moving forward in her reading and getting faster each day.  We are also reading a book about Sacajawea together as she was fascinated by her in the Lewis and Clark movie. 

I continue to prepare my Master's Lyceum classes onto the PowerPoint presentation and really look forward to the classes. It is time consuming but once they are done I will never have to spend time preparing again when I offer the class in rotation of others I have done.

Can I keep the momentum going?

It has been a very eventful and progressive learning environment at the Geralds Learning Academy.  There are eager learners and a teacher who is on a roll.  Now that it has calmed down again the girls are easily focused on what needs to get done.  So what have we done in the past two days?

Since Monday was Chinese New Year we stayed true to the theme of our studies and did not have our KTM (Kitchen Table Monday) activity. KTM usually involves lots of cutting and we could not use knives or scissors so I had to do something else. My mind wondered what sounded like a spur of the moment field trip and I chose the eagle watching along the Mississippi River around Alton and Grafton, Illinois.  As we drove that way the girls caught a glimpse of the Arch. At the same time the asked me if we could go to the Arch instead.  It did not take me but half of a second to reply "yes".  Eagle watching was going to be a cold event and a long drive to reach our destination. We got a later start as I am dragging on Monday's and the Arch was only ten minutes away from us at the time. 

I know that God intervened in our day as it was a much better choice considering our class time lessons. We have been reading and discussing the move to the west. It was rather light hearted as it was intended to be the first introduction to the topic.  For those who do not know this, you enter the Arch underground and there is a large museum, two shops, and three theatres in that area. The museum is called The Great Westward Expansion Museum.  Lets face it, there were very few people there this time of year. We attended the National Geographic movie about Lewis and Clark. We meandered through the museum viewing wagons, buffalo, bear, yokes, peace medals, typical prairie home layout, and a replica of the wharf of St. Louis where supplies were bought. That is only a small list of what they experienced.  Best of all, it was all  about things we have been learning about in class.

Following the museum experience we continued on with our Chinese New Year celebration by eating lunch at a Chinese Buffet.  The girls were bothered by the fact that the ladies had to work on their holiday.  We did have a discussion of how many times ones culture begins to blend with another when they leave their homeland. But wait, there's more.....they recalled the lesson when the pilgrims first went to Holland and left because of the influence on their children and the Indians and pilgrims who realized their children were influenced by one another and the changes that took place.  OH YES!  It appears we have begun to understand sociological impacts. 

Our class is decorated for the Chinese New Year as well and they made a dragon puppet yesterday. G played with the puppet in front of the new baby and realized he liked it a lot. It was brightly colored with yellows, reds, blues, and other unknown blends.  It also was capable of a variety of motions. 

I feel so blessed to have such rich experiences with my grandchildren. K is ready to return to teaching, so she says, but I find she is still so busy with the business of a newborn, busy house, and grabbing some sleep that I think she should relax and enjoy the fact that her mother is handling it.  Well, that just sounds silly!  She knows we are having a blast and knows she is missing out on the little things that are happening.  She wants to be a part, even if it means a little bit dirtier house or a little less sleep. I do wish she would nap a bit when the baby does but she keeps pushing through each day without a nap.  I do not know how she does it but so many other mothers of many do.  Me?  Well, I spread my simple two children out by six years which is so much different that her experience.

We did hear a little about our Master's Lyceum this semester.  It will be at a different location and will begin MAYBE Feb. 17th.  This is driving me crazy as I hate last minute plans. I love spur of the moment activities but this is too big of an event to have so much dangling this late in the game.  The schedule has not yet been released since they just got the approval for the new location.  I look forward to the semester to teach the classes I have planned. I have heard from several parents who plan to participate if the schedule permits. Sometimes there are ongoing classes that get scheduled at the same time so a choice has to be made.

Well this is a long enough post for now.  I hope others are feeling the winter revival that we are experiencing.

Magic Tree House interactive display

The Magic House is a children's museum in St. Louis area. They have created an interactive display themed around three different Magic Tree House books. I took G and F on Friday to the Magic House. I knew G would enjoy it since she is crazy  about Jack and Annie's adventures. I also discovered that they would have Mrs. Clause reading a story and sharing cookies and hot cocoa in the early evening. SO WE MADE A DAY OF IT.

Even without these special events the girls love The Magic House and would have enjoyed the day but it was so much better than I had expected.

As you enter the display you walk through the woods and Frog Creek, PA. Then you enter a wooden tree house with three different gates that open to the period of the book. They represented Twisters on Tuesday, Civil War on Sunday, and Thanksgiving on Thursday.  Along the walls of the tree house are books lined along the wall that  compliment each topic.

The first on that we went to was the Civil War period. There both girls dressed up as Clara Barton while the boys present had drummer uniforms.  F began using the sticks to beat the drum to a marching beat and she broke out in the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy.  G went right to the first aid tent and bandaged up soldiers. There was a wooden wagon to represent an ambulance and it was made to create a bouncy rough ride along with a wooden stretcher. The walls to create the back drop of this display showed encampments and soldiers along w/ Clara Barton herself. 

The second on their list was the west and a rough one room school house with a shelter to enter into. The girls dressed up as pioneer children. Once in the shelter it was as if you were hiding from the twister. It was loud and rather scary if you really permitted yourself to feel it. Then there was a huge coal steam engine train to climb on, ring the bell, pull the whistle and shovel coal of course.

Finally, they went to the first Thanksgiving period.  There was a sandy beach with a boat where of course you dress as pilgrims and pretend to be Jack and Annie gathering clams and eels. Once gathered you to to Priscella's kitchen to prepare food and outside of her kitchen is a garden to gather corn, squash and other items. After preparing the meal in one huge pot in the fireplace you carry it out to the large table for a feast. In another area a back drop display has Squanto bent on knee to show what to do with corn. There the girls learned how to grind corn with period tools.

G was explaining the stories to F as she was going through but F was just enjoying the moment while G was reliving her story.

F sang a song on stage for Mrs. Claus and G and F were the only young children present for the first story hour.  Perhaps there was a confusion about where the story would be as we had been told several different locations. They had hot cocoa and a gingerbread cookie with Mrs. Claus as well.

We did take advantage of all the other multitude interactive learning activities offered and also went to the art studio where they created wonderful snowflakes and a painting. Seems odd, we have paint and an easel but they wanted to do this anyway. We go to the Magic House a few times a year of morning homeschool program but we still discovered a new area that we did not know existed. It is a hidden hallway behind a secret panel bookcase and then a huge evidence/detective room and a new slide.  Perhaps they have that section closed off during the short homeschool days but we will find out in February when another day is scheduled.

Vet for a day.

So I have always used the first initial to protect the girls on the Internet. Their mother tells me that this is not necessary and to share who they are. Still I have not done it. UNTIL NOW. WHY?

Grace made a picture I had to share and it has her name clearly written on it.  We took a field trip to a vet clinic this morning. Grace always says she will be a vet when she grows up. After the trip she has created an elaborate clinic in my bedroom. Found items suitable to be used in daily vet use and attire. Then she sat back on the bed and made a picture to illustrate her day.  Here it is.