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.

Unplanned Break

It seems that Influenza  A  has decided that we needed a break from school.  This break will enable me to do the final touches on the lesson plan for Master's Lyceum co-op classes.  It is unfortunate though because Faith has become very ill with the flu.

Fortunately she did make it to the wedding that she was participating in but I am afraid that just eight hours later she became symptomatic with the flu.  Do you have any idea how many people shook her hand or gave her hugs?  Guess how many dance partners she had....  Oh my, we pray others do not get ill.

Her is a picture of her and the bride.

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.

WHY WE HOMESCHOOL

I do not make this post to offend anyone. I want to make it clear as it seems to get muddled up easily.  I teach my grandchildren because I feel I am called to do that right now.  I have been called upon to do many things in my life. Remember, I am a Registered Nurse in an ICU with 30 yrs experience. In those same 30 years I have been a cub/boy/girl scout leader, a homecoming picnic volunteer (yr after yr), an active citizen promoting and using a local civic center and programs for youth, a soccer mom, a dance mom, a kourey league mom, and a conservation worker within our many many campsites.  YES!  I am a Christian and so it is natural that my believes will influence my teaching.  It means that I try to find a  bit more patience when I think I might be at the end. Well, so does any good mother/grandmother, regardless of their religious convictions. 

I teach Grace and Faith because they are wonderful little sponges that have a huge potential in front of them. I teach because they would, could and will get lost in the public system and that has the potential to diminish their future potentials.  I teach because I can foster the natural love for learning that they have and help to keep it on fire. I am not happy just being the kindling but want to be the gasoline on a huge boy scout fire. (old family joke)  Our lesson times are spent making sure that the girls can meet the academic standards that they are capable of meeting. In our everyday life we teach our philosophy that we hope they take to heart and follow as well. In their church the teachings at home are reinforced. I have always openly prayed with them. BUT I am not going to take my lesson time to memorize a Bible verse.  If  there is time to memorize something I want it to be a math fact, a spelling rule, or rules of writing the English language. 

I feel it is more important to understand the message of a verse than to spit out the words my memory. Additionally, the Bible is a huge book and to take one line and think that one line holds all the meaning necessary is just way outside of my box. 

Kelley carefully monitors what type and the amount of television the girls see. She makes sure they learn to be respectful but also is good and teaching them to speak their thoughts as long as it is done with respect and understanding of each others view.  They are essentially sheltered from the many influences that they are simply not ready to receive. But I know my daughter and when she feels they are becoming more mature she will certainly open the world to them more. 

OH ONE MORE THING......  there are many people in our lives that have "alternative" life styles.  We love them dearly and would never think of removing them from our presence. I also want to go on the record and say that there are same sex couples out there who are wonderful parents and would put most to shame.  Be high and mighty about this but I am sure that it is not what Jesus would do.

Well, enough said for now.

BTW we have had a great week of lessons.  Big things happening at Geralds Learning Academy!

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.

Day Filled with Great News

Today my newest grandson went to the cardiologist at St. Louis Children's Hospital.  They felt he had a double aortic arch but too sick to further evaluate it.  So he has regained the weight and then some.

But here is the confusing part, they tell us that his pulmonary artery was narrowed on the first echo and that the double arch appeared to be low down and not likely to interfere with his trachea and esophagus as would be the primary concern.  So they do another echo and find that the pulmonary artery is improving and we should expect it to get better as he grows. Then he says some rhetoric that ends with him not having a double aortic arch but at some angles it appears to be there but overall is not visible in the other views.

See, I am not trusting when someone wants to make me "not loose any sleep" but still do not hear a commitment to the NO DAA that he is evaluating.  He tells us in the first few minutes that his specialty is cardiac cath and flow while Dr. Sing, who read the first echo, has cardiac imaging as his speciality.  So I will not loose any sleep and will use my grandmother's intuition.