BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

That's how it's been since we started a new year of homeschooling this month.  And I'm loving (almost) every minute of it!  We've settled into a nice routine.

At 8:30 a.m., I work with Cakes at her reading, writing, and math.  Then, starting at 9:00, Bean and I do math and language arts (reading, writing, grammar, spelling, and story time).  We break at 11:00 in the morning, when I make lunch and the girls have playtime.  Lunch is at noon.  Then, at 1:00, Bean does a quick math review worksheet.  Then, the two girls have instructional time together.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, we have science and art; on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have history and music.  School ends at around 3:00, when we unwind (and have phys. ed.) with a quick dip in the pool, followed by getting supper ready, eating, relaxing before bedtime, and then bed.

On Monday, we learned about earthworms and set up an earthworm farm to see how worms mix the soil to help plants grow better.  I got an absolutely fantastic book about worms at the library that is a must-read for any kid interested in worms.  It's full of fantastic information about worms, great collage-style illustrations, and big, easy text.  It's called Wiggling Worms at Work, and I highly recommend it (you know it's good, because I used a lot of italics in the description)! 

You know we're all "yankees," but when I read that all worms are both male and female at the same time, Bean let out a huge, Southern, "WHAT?!" that made me laugh out loud.  That was one of her favorite pieces of information gleaned from this amazing book.  Other useful tidbits include the benefits and uses of worm poo,  the fact that worm eggs incubate for three months in cocoons (they are relatives of the butterfly, after all), and why it's bad for worms' skin to dry up.

And, Peanut just emerged from my bedroom chewing on a nipple shield, which is my cue to get off the computer and get started with my day.

IT'S OUT!

Bean was rather reluctant to wiggle her tooth.  She said it made her mouth feel funny.  She was content to let her first loose tooth (a bottom canine tooth, which I thought was a little weird for a first loose tooth, but what are you gonna do?) wobble about on its own while she went about her daily life.  But, that all changed when she had a chance to impress someone who was not related to her.

Big Daddy's business associate, Mr. Kobe, was over working on a bid with Big Daddy.  Bean saw her chance to show off a little bit, and she set to work wiggling her tooth for him.  Well, Mr. Kobe acted so excited that he got her worked into a near frenzy, and she finally gave that tooth a good, hard yank!

HOW TO KEEP THE PEACE

If the girls are generally helpful during the day and do a clean sweep of the living room and their bedroom before bedtime, they each get a quarter.  Weeks of saving resulted in a trip to Super Target yesterday to spend the change that was burning holes in their pockets.

Bean picked up a Sleeping Beauty Barbie and Cakes got an Ariel Barbie.  When we got home, the cherubs shut themselves in their bedroom and played for five hours without one fight!  It was heavenly!  Makes me want to buy them a new Barbie every day ....

GETTIN' GIDDY ABOUT SCHOOL SUPPLIES

As you know, we started homeschooling Bean this past year.  We're loving (almost) every minute of it!  There are, of course, the occasional days when motivation is sorely lacking on the part of my cherub.  But, for the most part, she has been an enthusiastic participant in learning.

I know there are many homeschool philosophies out there: unschooling, classical, Goddard, Montessorie, etc.  It's worthwhile for anyone who is serious about homeschooling to take some time evaluating each philosphy to find out which is the best fit for his/her own life view and his/her child's unique personality and learning style.  Classical education turned out to be the best fit for us.  It relies heavily on the written word, uses original texts rather than scholars' interpretations of those texts, and accentuates the fine arts.  Using The Well-Trained Mind as a guide, we are coming to the close of our first homeschooling year.

While our particular school district requires enrollment by August 1, we choose to have school year-round.  I don't like the idea of summer undoing everything I have worked so hard to teach, and I don't want to spend the first month or so of every year reviewing last years concepts.  So, we start our school year in June, and Cakes will be joining Bean at the kitchen table for her studies.  Since we're almost halfway through May, I'm scouring the internet for my curriculum and getting that high that comes from sniffing pencil shavings and new binders.

For those who are interested, here is a list of the curriculum I will be using this upcoming year:

For Cakes, we will be covering the basics (sort of a pre-school level education).  For math, we will be using Saxon Math Homeschool for Kindergarten, complete with the K-3 manipulatives kit.  Bean enjoyed it immensely, and my little Cakes is a very hands-on kind of kid.

For reading, we will be using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.  It is a phonics-based approach that makes teaching reading unbelievably easy.

For handwriting, we will be using the Handwriting Without Tears book Letters and Numbers for Me.  We originally tried the Zaner-Bloser curriculum, but Bean's fine motor skills were better advanced with the Handwriting Without Tears program.

Class for the first year usually only takes 45 to 90 minutes per day, and was a great way to ease Bean into her state-mandated four-hour school days.

Bean, having mastered the basics, will begin to branch out beyond just the three R's.

We will continue to work through the remainder of The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, but we will supplement her reading education with The Bob Books, Dr. Suess, and any other simple children's books that I think she can work her way through with relative ease.

We will also start grammar lessons with First Language Lessons, and spelling lessons with Spelling Workout A and B.

We will move on to Saxon Math's Grade 1 homeschool kit, which builds directly on what was learned in the Kindergarten kit.  Fortunately, the manipulatives kit is good through third grade, so there's no extra purchase required.

We will also start learning history and geography, beginning at the beginning with the Ancients.  We will use The Story of the World Volume I with its accompanying workbook.  Supplemental materials include Blackline Maps of World History, the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, and the Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History.

Science will begin with the study of plants, animals, and people, and it will be very hands-on and experiment-oriented.  The curriculum we will use includes Green Thumbs, the Kingfisher First Animal Encyclopedia,and the Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia.

Bean will be introduced to the fine arts with a study of classical music and its composers, a study of various artists, piano lessons using John Thompson's Teaching Little Fingers to Play, and art lessons using Drawing with Children.

Both girls will continue with dance lessons and community soccer for physical education.

What do you other homeschooling parents use for your curriculum?

NOT SO ADVENTUROUS ANYMORE

Back when I was dating Big Daddy, I had very few expenses and a very spoiled pooch.  Malik and I had matching coats and sweatshirts (yes, I was one of those people).  I used to take him to PetSmart and buy him whatever he sniffed interestedly.  I also used to get him all manner of gourmet dog treats: carob-dipped rawhide lollipops, vanilla yogurt drops, doggy breath mints.  And, Big Daddy used to make me laugh by sampling every pet treat I brought home.

Big Daddy was always an adventurous eater, whereas my family and I were run-of-the mill eaters. Big Daddy would try things at restaurants that I would never dream of putting in my mouth!  I, on the other hand, would find one dish I liked and order the same thing every time.  After we got married, I would impulse-buy little interesting tidbits for him at the grocery store (like alligator and stuff).  And I was always experimenting with our gourmet cookbooks; some of the meals were disgusting, but some were really good.

I guess Big Daddy has lost some of that adventurous culinary attitude in the past few years, because he was less than impressed when I came home with these:

Those would be frog legs.  And they looked like someone had cut a very little person in half at the waist.  There were even little toes *shudder*!  But, because he loves me, he reluctantly breaded and fried them up.  Let me just tell you, I have never smelled anything quite so objectionable!  And I live near cows and horses!

I, of course, refused to taste them, but Big Daddy tried them.  He said they tasted like a chicken wrapped in a fish.  The spectre of a frog was with him the entire time he tried to eat them.  We ended up throwing them out and spraying copious amounts of Oust around the house.

And, thus ends the era of adventurous eating.

GENDER-SPECIFIC TERMS

As the daughter of a retired English teacher, I am always looking for ways to expand my children's vocabulary.  We have a plethora of books for ages birth to 5 years, which are available to the cherubs any time, but we also read more advanced books every night at bedtime.  It's part of the classical education model.  I've been surprised at how much the girls are starting to pick up from the books in terms of plot and vocabulary.  We just finished reading "A Little Princess" and are working through "The Secret Garden" now.

In reading, Bean just finished a unit on vowel combinations that produce long vowel sounds, and she likes to define the words as she reads them.  One of the words she learned to read recently was "male."  We talked about the difference between "male" and "mail," and about the opposites "male" and "female."  Apparently, Cakes was listening closely, because today she announced, "Uncle Ney is a male, and Aunt Kimmy is a email!"

MY OWN PERSONAL DON KING

When I was younger, I always said I wanted to marry a guy with curly hair.  When I met Big Daddy, his hair was short and straight.  Little did I know that his sister, a cosmotologist, had recently straightened it.  I remember seeing the roots start coming in curly and yelling, "You have naturally curly hair?!"

Needless to say, I strongly urge him not to get his hair cut short (even though he frequently comes home with drywall dust or fiberglass stuck in his 'fro), because I think his hair is so beautiful.  Occasionally, he'll go all out to make my day by doing something like this ...

How awesome is that?!

THINGS I HAVE PULLED OUT OF MY BABY'S MOUTH

It doesn't matter how clean you get the floor or how much you babyproof, babies will always find the one little thing you missed and put it into their mouths.  Add a five-year-old and and almost-four-year-old to the mix, and it's an adventure waiting to happen.  Here are some things I have pulled out of my baby's mouth:

potting soil
Hershey's kiss foil wrapper
crayon
crayon paper
Play-doh
used Barbie Band-aid
grass clippings
mud
hair
Barbie shoe
tissue
toilet paper (unused, thank you very much)
dime
Saxon homeschool math manipulatives (counting bears and pattern blocks)
Dora Christmas ornament

So, what are some things you've pulled out of your babies' mouths?

LIFE LESSONS - HIDE THE SCISSORS

I must admit that I was a bit self-congratulatory every time I heard one of those nightmare stories about little girls cutting big chunks out of their hair.  After all, I'd made it 5 1/2 years without so much as an attempt by my children at self-styling.  I invested in Melissa & Doug safety scissors that were guaranteed not to cut hair, clothing, or skin (they don't even cut paper that well, but such is the price one must pay to save one's children's hair).

I guess what happened was really a result of several different events, a "perfect storm," if you will.  First, I noticed that the cherubs' hair was getting long and, consequentially, harder to brush without tantrums.  So, I off-handedly mentioned to Bean that she and Cakes were going to need haircuts.

Later that day, Bean was helping Grammy in the garden, using scissors to cut weeds while Grammy planted vegetables.  As Grammy watched Bean, she was reminded of the time I cut my own hair when I was three years old.  She chuckled as she shared this story with Bean.

Now, combine the last two paragraphs with a five-year-old's (non-existent) patience level, and disaster is sure to ensue.  I'll blame it on the shingles, but somehow no alarm bells went off when Bean later said to me, "Mom, I'm going to go pray to Jesus," walked into her room, and shut the door.

When she came out 15 minutes later, she was missing several large chunks of hair, including a big piece from the front, and was carrying a hairball roughly four inches in diameter.  Well, the deed was done, so there was no use panicking after the fact.  I calmly explained to her that only grown-ups who know how to cut hair should cut hair.  Then I made a quick call to Aunt Kimmy, who is a hairdresser, and had her come fix everything.  Six inches of hair was removed from Bean (and Cakes, who was not about to be left out of the hair-cutting festivities), and we all assumed she had learned her lesson.

But yesterday, Grampy was complaining of a headache.  Bean offered to rub his head to make him feel better.  After rubbing his head for a few minutes, Bean observed, "Grampy, your hair sure is getting long."  From behind her back, Bean pulled out a pair of scissors ...

I'M B-A-A-A-A-CK!

It's been quite a while.  We have been battling one illness after the next here in the Crazy Lane.  First, we all got colds.  That turned into RSV.  After we recovered from that, we were hit with Strep.  As the girls got better, I actually got ... are you ready for it?  Shingles!  Shingles?!  I'm not 80, for goodness sake! 

At any rate, the shingles have just about cleared up, right in time for ... PINK-EYE!  Cakes, Peanut, and I have all been stricken with goopy, itchy eyes.  Are you ready for my treatment?  BREASTMILK!!!  I learned from a friend of mine that breastmilk works wonders when it comes to ear infections and pink-eye. 

As soon as Peanut woke up with her eyes fused shut, I immediately took aim and fired with my organic home remedy.  However, as you can imagine, the "guns" were not designed for accuracy.  The result was 15 minutes of screaming and spraying before I achieved the desired result.  After that, I wised up.  I now collect the homemade antibiotic in a cup, line up the children, dump it into their eyes, and have them blink to flush their eyes out.  I even added Bean to the assembly line, as a pre-emptive strike.

It's working!!!!  Peanut's in much better spirits and is losing that goopy, glassy-eyed look that accompanies pink-eye.  Cakes' pink-eye has been contained to one eye, which is clearing up nicely.  And Bean has yet to be stricken.  My eyes are also clearing up nicely.

And so Mommy, the human pharmacy, carries on and is trying to catch up on the blogging.

THE MYSTERY SHINER

Bean hasn't been feeling well.  She's had a fever and swollen glands.  Then, this morning, she woke up with a black eye.

(That would be Bean's supermodel face).  At first, I thought it was just bags under her eyes from being tired and sick.  Then, the bags went away and the shiner stayed.

I asked Bean what happened.

"To my eye?"

"Yes."

"I don't know.  Cakes hit me in the eye with her hand."

"She did?"

"No."

"Well, what happened?"

"I was crying and I rubbed my eye and now it hurts."

"It looks more like you bumped it or got hit."

"Nope.  I just rubbed it.  Now it hurts."

Well, that must've been some vigorous rubbing!  No further information was forthcoming, so the mystery remains.

PART OF THE PROCESS

Like I've said before, I have very strong political views.  But, I don't want to be partisan on this blog (believe me, I'm partisan in pretty much every other aspect of my life, right, Tanya?).  But, really, you'd have to be living in a hole somewhere to not recognize the historic implications of everything that is going down in D.C. right now.

Now, I'm an enormous proponent of being well-informed.  So, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone to find out what's in the Senate bill.  Don't take everyone else's word for it; go read it yourself!  The House wants to vote on this bill as-is, word for word, by this weekend, and it is incumbent upon every American citizen to know what is in that bill and to contact their Congressman/woman in the House of Representatives to voice his/her opinion.

So, get out there and research that healthcare bill, and call your House Representative to tell them how they can best represent you!  The number for the Congressional switchboard is 202-224-3121.  Go get 'em!

ON THE MOVE

Peanut has recovered from her RSV.  That was not fun, let me tell you!  Have you ever heard of deep suction?  It involves tubes, nostrils, and a vacuum pump.  And LOTS of mucus.  And a very unhappy baby.

Anyway, Peanut has recovered, her double ear infection is clearing up, and she is on the move!  She started crawling on Monday and was pulling herself up to standing by Wednesday.

Now we're really in for it!

"HEY, MOM! DO I LOOK LIKE MULAN?"

KUMBAYA ...

Looks like Cakes has an inner hippie trying to get out ...

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - JUST A TYPICAL MORNING ...

Visit 5 Minutes for Mom for more Wordless Wednesday!

MAMA LOVES - MOMENTS LIKE THESE ...

... because moments like these are pretty rare!

For more Mama Love, visit In the Dailies!

BIG DADDY IS GIDDY!

Four inches of snow, with another 4-6 inches expected?  Here in the South?!  Big Daddy is beside himself with glee!  He has momentarily stopped pining for the Yankee winters of yesteryear.

This will shut down the state for a week!  I won't be leaving the house anytime soon, either ...

WE START THEM EARLY

One of the main pillars of classical education is reading. And we like to start 'em young ...

... really young.

KIDDIE QUOTES (... AND A WINNER)

I'm not sure where my kids are getting their cultural information, but Bean very confidently asserts some "facts" that are questionable, at best. Take, for instance, Bean's baby doll. Today, she called me by my first name, told me she was my new neighbor, and introduced me to her doll: "This is baby Molly. We call her 'Taco.' That's French for Molly."

Meanwhile, Cakes has found a new favorite book. It's a lift-a-flap book of nursery rhymes and nursery songs. She has all the poems and songs memorized ... kind of. All morning, she's been singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat":

Row, row, row your boat
Gently, if you can
Maily, maily, maily, maily
Like a butt of dream.

She also takes great delight in reciting "Hey, Diddle, Diddle":

Hey, diddle, diddle
The cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon
The little dog laughed
To have such fun
And the dish and the spoon ran away.

And, finally, I'm not sure how accurate Tanya was in answering my question about the ice balls; however, she was the only one who even hazarded a guess. So, the coffee-holic over at In the Dailies gets the $5 Starbucks gift card!!!

HUMOR IS IN THE EAR OF THE BEHOLDER

I don't like to promote potty humor in the house, especially because I have three girls. My personal opinion is that it's kind of, I guess "uncouth" is the word I'm looking for, to hear a girl making jokes about poo and gas and stuff.

My husband, however, is not of the same mindset. He gleefully teaches our little princesses how to make fart noises and sing songs about diarrhea. The cherubs have noticed this trend, as exemplified the other day after Bean used the bathroom.

She walked out of the restroom after doing her business and declared, "Pew! It stinks in there!" Then, smiling, she added, "Daddy would appreciate that; he always appreciates a good, stinky poop!"

Lovely.

BABY LOVES CHOCOLATE!

Looks like Peanut takes after her mother in her love affair with chocolate.

SOUTHERN WINTER WEATHER

Tanya sent me a really funny post from Snoodlings today. Being a South-bound Northerner, I can relate to both points of view. My kids, however, are Southern through and through (minus the accent, with the exception of a few words like "five" and "toilet"). They have no concept of a Northern winter. They have joined the ranks of kids who know how to make a good-sized snowman in an inch of snow within 15 minutes of the first flake falling, knowing full well that the snow will probably be gone within three hours. They have joined the ranks of kids who want to wear coats and sweaters in 55 degree weather. They have joined the ranks of kids who think anything stronger than a flurry is a blizzard.

So, here we are in the throes of our 2010 "winter blast." This means that school is cancelled for the second day in a row because of the dusting of snow on the ground. Almost no one is venturing from their well-stocked homes; after all, who knows when we'll be able to brave the roads for a trip to the grocery store? And the cherubs have taken full advantage of the almost-half-an-inch of snow on the ground.

There wasn't quite enough snow for even a Southern kid to erect a snowman, but Bean said, "We made the angels smile to show you how much we love the snow!"