Maddie's New Glasses

Hmmm...

Blogger has a new layout for blogs. On one hand I think it's really neat, bascially you can see all my past posts on one page, but on the other hand I think it's takes away from it's indiviuality. I am going to leave up the new format for awhile and see what I think. I may change it back later.

We have had some ups and down in September. Our van finally died last month and we have spent the past month trying to get a new one. We managed to get one from a questionable car lot and it ended up giving us more trouble than it was worth. Since we had 30 days to return it, we went ahead and cut our losses....*lesson learned*. The only problem is that left us with out a car. I know in some areas living without a vehicle is doable, this is not one of those areas. It was very hard for a couple of weeks. We didn't have the money for a car, and didn't really have any way to get it. We had to rely on our wonderful friends for rides every where. I started a Novena to St Jude. I prayed that he would help us come up with the money, and a vehicle that would be worth what we were paying. With God's blessing St Jude came through for us. The power of prayer is beyond amazing.

Maddie and I are about to start our second month of homeschooling. It is going alright. I feel very overwhelmed at times and wonder if this was the right decision. Academically she seems to be doing well, although, she does push me a lot and she tries to do as little as she can get away with.

This seems to be a busy season in our lives. We are overloaded with activities right now. The kids are in lots of sports and clubs, plus, I am taking several classes at the church. I am glad the kids are really involved but, I will be happy when things slow down. Then again, with the holidays coming up, I am not sure when that will happen.

Maddie's 10th birthday and Our alter for Our Lady of Sorrows

Our Lady of Sorrows Sept 15

Maddie and I found this craft at Cahtolic Icing and made a little altar to honor Our Lady of Sorrows

Best Chocolate Cake Ever!!!!

May all you wishes come true

Happy Birthday to my sweet, wonderful, loving, kind, beautiful, young, lady I hope your next ten years are full of everything your dream them to be.

I'm a mama!!!

About a month ago we began our journey when we sent off for our caterpillars. They arrived in a container with enough food in the bottom to get them through the caterpillar stage. For about a week they hung out in their container making webs, getting fat. Notice in the photo one is hanging upside down. This is what they do right before they form their chrysalis.

See all the brown in the bottom? That's what they eat.

Very quickly, while we were out one afternoon they all formed their chrysalids! The next stage seems to take an eternity. I think it only lasted ten days, but we were impatient! Every once in awhile I worried they were dead and would poke them. When they are bothered they shake back in forth to scare off predators (and to ease my fear that they have died during metamorphosis.)

Yesterday evening we came home and a beautiful butterfly was sitting beside his now empty cocoon. Then last night while we slept the other three made their entrance into the world. I hated we missed them coming out.

I have cropped this photo due to the nasty amount of blood we now have on our net. It looks like we slaughtered a small rodent inside their home.

She is my first baby. You can tell they still aren't good using their wings. They will start flapping them violently and end up flipped over on their back. I have really enjoyed this project. I am dreading releasing them in a few days, but I know they will be ready to "spread their wings and fly" *sniff*.

Curriculum ordered? *check*!!

After weeks of spending about three hours a day researching curriculum I have finally got everything ordered. Luckily I have come across some awesome sites with free worksheets and lesson plans. I found a really neat online site SkedTrack, it is a lesson planner/record keeper. You can also print out reports cards, and generate transcripts. Best of all it's free!! Here is a run down of resources we will be using this year:

Science-Behold and See 3 from Catholic Heritage Curricula

Math- MCP Mathematics

Handwriting/Copy Work- Worksheet Works is a free site to generate works in print or cursive. I am generating various Catholic prayers for Maddie to copy in print, then, later in the year I will switch it to cursive.

Spelling/Dictation- Spelling Wisdom

Grammar-Grammer-land, I will also be pulling worksheet off various websites.

Reading- We will be pulling from Ambleside online and Open Court Reading.

Geography/map skills- pulling from my Tanglewood Planner.

Social Studies- History through the Ages

Art-Ambleside online We will also do monthly classes at the Art museum.

Music-Ambleside online

Computer- K5 Computer Lab

PE-We don't really have a set lesson plan yet. I am waiting to see what our Homeschool Group does. I know we are doing Swim and Gym at the YMCA.

Health- Pulling from our Tanglewood Lesson planner.

Religion- Ordinary People Extraordinary Lives, for learning about saints and their feast days. Catholic Tradition, to help with the liturgical year and the St Joseph Baltimore Catechism.

Foreign Language- Prima Latina, Ecclesiastical Latin.

Nature Study/Walk- Charlotte Mason recommends going on a nature walk everyday and keeping a journal. I have printed journal pages from Nature Rocks.

Vocabulary- We will pull words from the classical novel we are reading each week for our vocabulary words. If I feel this isn't working, I am going to order Wordly Wise.

Since this is my first year I have back up material ready in case something isn't working out. I would rather be over prepared than under prepared.

We our now an official school!

We submitted the paperwork for our school this week and received conformation that we are now legally allowed to operate. We named the school Saint Thomas Aquinas Academy. St Thomas Aquinas is the patron saint of education. As far as curriculum, I am going mainly with the Charlotte Mason method. Charlotte Mason believed students should learn from "living" books not from text books that offer nothing but dry facts. To give you an idea of Miss Mason's teaching method, I took the paragraph below from Ambleside Online, Ambleside is a site that offers free curriculum using the Charlotte Mason Method.

Based on Miss Mason's writings, a CM education would include:

1.Narration, which consists of the child telling back a story.This takes the place
of composition in the early years.

2. Copywork, or the transcribing of a
well-written piece of literature as handwriting practice.

3. Nature
study with an emphasis on close, focused observation of creation as a means to
knowledge of God.

4. Outdoor life is necessary to teach nature
first-hand, which means plenty of time spent out of doors each day in all
weather and in different environments for students of all ages. "School" for
children younger than six consisted almost entirely of time spent outdoors.

5. Habit training as a discipline of the child's will and behavior.
Children are trained to develop the will, which is manifested in a strong
resolve to act in a right manner.

6. Living Books rather than textbooks
to convey ideas. Living books, whether fiction or non-fiction, are more than
just interesting books that make a topic come alive. A true Living Book has the
best material, from the best minds, or at least the real story from someone who
was there or has a real interest in their subject. There is a high standard in
literary excellence and, while she advocated the use of many books, quality is
to be preferred over quantity.

7. First-hand exposure to great and noble
ideas through books in each school subject, rather than rote memorization of dry
facts. Besides books, children are exposed to great minds through art, music and
poetry, which was read to the child daily.

8. Memorization was used, not
to assimilate facts, but as a means to have material to meditate on, so her
students memorized scripture and poetry.

9. History is taught with
primary sources and well-written history books.

10. Literature is taught along with history. For example, if one is studying the Civil War, one would at the same time read works of American literature written at that time.

11. Once children are able to read fluently, they read the lessons
themselves, except for books that need editing like Plutarch's Lives.

12. Reading instruction was primarily based on sight vocabulary, but did
include use and teaching of phonics. Even beginning readers, she thought, one
ought to have something interesting to read, like nursery rhymes, rather than
dull first readers, so she taught the sight words necessary to allow them to
read real books.

13. Schooling is teacher-directed, not child-led,
though the child can pursue any number of personal interests during their free
time (and her students had all afternoon free).

14. Short lessons with
an emphasis on excellent execution and focused attention and variation in the
day's scheduled activities so as not to over-stress the brain on one task.

15. In the teaching of mathematics, the ability to reason is emphasized
over "working sums", so emphasis is placed on story problems and working with
numbers that are within the child's comprehension, therefore, a
manipulative-based instruction is desirable.

16. CM encouraged
proficiency in at least one other language, specifically French, as well as
study in Latin.

17. Charlotte Mason set aside time each day for some
form of physical fitness routine which included daily walks and a "drill" which
included stretching, breathing exercises, calisthenics, dancing, singing, and
games.

18. The knowledge of God, as found in the Bible, is the primary
knowledge and the most important.

I have spend the last week ordering materials and setting up our classroom area. Our school is going to coincide with the Charter School calendar. I know it will be easier if Maddie and Chandler have the same days off. Our first day of school is August 15th, only four weeks to go!

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I went to the doctor yesterday about the foot pain that I have been experiencing for a few months now. She discovered that I have Plantar Fasciitis and a heel spur in my left foot. The good news is while it has caused me a great deal of pain, it's very treatable with the right exercises and orthopedic inserts.

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These days I spend way to much time day dreaming on Pinterest. For those who aren't familiar with Pinterest here is a blurb from their website.

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests

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Someone has dropped yet another kitten off at our house. We don't have the room or means to take care of the several that have already shown up at our door. This poor baby is barely old enough to be away from it's mother. If anyone wants a kitten or cat *please* contact me!!

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I picked up some really pretty yarn today. This weekend I am going to attempt to teach myself to crochet.

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The kids went to a really neat sports camp at a local church this past week. We love taking full advantage of all the free programs offered for kids during the summer. Tomorrow we are taking the kids bowling for free. :)

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I am so, so thankful for my best friend. I feel like she is the only person that truly gets me. Don't get me wrong, my husband is amazingly, wonderful, and I am thankful that he loves me and tolerates all my quirks and awkwardness. But, whenever I am in despair and feel like "it's me against the world", I know I can talk to her and afterwards I feel like it's *us* against the world.

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At night Maddie can't sleep in a completely silent room so we play books on CD to help her fall asleep. Today I picked up Bridge to Terabithia on CD at the library. When I was a child, it was my all time favorite book. I hope the kids enjoy it as much as I did.


I hope everyone has a blessed weekend.