book bonanza: lots of audios

Jun 26, 2012 by tracy

We are spending a lot of time cleaning these days. Having a mama be out of commission for months on end has done a number on this already cluttered house. My children have tried hard to fill in the gaps for me, but quite frankly, what this house needs is ME! So, the last several days we have cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. We have rearranged the school room in our seemingly never-ending quest to find the most functional arrangement, we have started on the sewing room, are getting ready to tackle the storage room (do I have the courage?), and then the garage. Oh my, SO MUCH WORK! Yes, you should read those all-caps as screaming because that is just what I am feeling.

Anyway, during all this cleaning we have been listening to some great books and thought you might enjoy them if you are doing any big projects or taking some summer drives.

This morning we listened to Only Passing Through which is the story of Sojourner Truth. What a woman! I hope my children learned (once again) that God calls us to a mission and it is our privilege to step up to the plate with faith and do what He asks us to do. This story also comes in a picture book version if you would rather read it aloud.

Saturday we listened to Amos Fortune, Free Man. We must be in bit of a freedom mood, eh? Must be the time of the year to think about liberty and working for it for all of God’s children as was stated so strongly in The Declaration of Independence that was being drafted right about now 236 years ago. We loved the strength spirit Amos demonstrates again and again and his determination to make the best of his situation.

Now we are listening to The Land of Oz. I read the whole series to Blythe years ago, but haven’t revisited it since. Fisher decided he was interested in it and Blythe wanted to hear it again, so now we are immersed in Mr. Baum’s classic series of conquering our fears, serving others, and believing in goodness.

I can’t wait to listen to The Time Pirate which is the sequel to Nick of Time which was a huge hit with all of us a few years ago.

You can probably find these at your local library, but if not, they are all available on Amazon. What are your favorite audio books?

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swim camp 2012

Jun 3, 2012 by tracy

We are home from our 9th Annual Homeschool Swim Camp. I took exactly zero pictures of our fun. What is wrong with me? I hope Jessica will have a lot of pictures and let me steal them!

We are red, tired, chaffed, sore, and happy. Most of all, happy. I spent much of the week with a filled-up heart of gratitude for this week of sunshine and dear friends. I spent my days in a horizontal position which was the perfect vantage point to look around at everyone. As I looked, I remembered the varied experiences I had had with the person and would feel my heart bubble up with love for them…and then I would cry.

I am so blessed.

I am surrounded by people living full lives of service, action, dream fulfillment, vibrancy, and goodness and not only am I able to be near them, I am able to be intimately entangled in their lives. I am able to create a thriving community with them. I am able to reach out to them and they reach right back to me.

It is quite magical.

The children played hard and swam hard and slept hard. Capture the Flag was an ever-present part of every day along with catching bugs and minnows, searching through the trees, roasting marshmallows, going on hikes, and swimming…always swimming. Miss Annes spent about seven hours in the pool every day. She could not get enough of it and everytime someone asked if she was ready to get out and go get some food, she would shout out “I’m a fish!” and dive underwater. She passed Level 2 as a four-year-old! She has her back stroke, front crawl, and back float down solid and totally surprised us all with her fishy-ness. Fisher passed Level 3 and finally dived correctly instead of belly flopping. Super proud of him! Keziah finished the second year of Level 6 and much to her relief, is all done with swimming lessons. Blythe finished several years ago so she filled the role of chef for the week. It was lovely to have all our meals ready for us when we came back from the pool each evening. She needs a whole pile of gold stars!

Swim Camp Top Ten

1. The myriad of hugs I received.

2. Watching Fisher swim across the pool and his big smile when he made it.

3. Waking up each morning to the sunshine and the call of the lonely sandhill crane.

4. Listening to Mary Beth’s gentle words and remembering once again that I want to be a refined woman of truth and goodness.

5. Watching all my children play Capture The Flag like their lives depended upon making it across the line. Add to this…watching Liz play and biff it time and time again. She is one fast mama!

6. Lying in the sunshine and having wonderful conversations on everything from delicious food to the atonement of Christ.

7. Watching Bob teach his class of nine distracted little ones…permasmile, lots of energy, and superb teaching that took each child into a whole new skill level.

8. Blythe’s smile after she floated down the river. I want to remember the joy on her face forever.

9. Keziah treading water…she finally mastered it!

10. Reading the scriptures with my children at night in the dark and hearing Fisher say he would tell Korihor (an anti-Christ that is trying to convince others that there is no God and you cannot know there is a God because you cannot see him) that there is a God and he is lying…with a firm voice and a believing heart.

I love this week SO much. I am so grateful to be able to give this gift to my children and my community.

p.s. My lips are now the size of Gibraltar and full of a gazillion fever blisters. I can barely open my mouth to eat and kissing is absolutely out of the question. I am covered in Lanolin and essential oils which are keeping the burning pain to a barely tolerable level, but the second it wears off I am ready to rip the lower half of my face off.

p.p.s. Tomorrow is ozone injection number four. I am hoping it is at the pain level of injection number two and nothing like numbers one or three. Please pray for healing. Fast for healing. Visualize little pieces of cartilage knitting back together. I am so ready to have my life back.

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fiar: katy and the big snow

Apr 24, 2012 by tracy

I love this book. Today Fisher, Annes, and I curled up in my bed and read Katy and the Big Snow for the gazillionth time. We found all sorts of things on the map and Annesley cheered Katy on as she worked herself through the Geopolis snow drifts. Virginia Lee Burton created stories my children beg for over and over again and I love her for it. I would kiss her if I was anywhere near her. I remember reading The Little House to Blythe and highlighting all the sight words to help her learn to read them. I remember the first time I read Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel to Fisher and how his little boy mind latched right onto the idea of a big machine doing a big job and how he wanted to do big jobs too.

Reading to my children is one of my very favorite things to do. Infusing them with a love of literature, beautiful illustrations, and characters that speak to their hearts is a privilege I take seriously. I strive to surround them with books that will build their little souls into people who stand true, fight hard, and serve well. What are your favorite books to grow your children into their best selves?

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fiar: katy and the big snow

Apr 24, 2012 by tracy

I love this book. Today Fisher, Annes, and I curled up in my bed and read Katy and the Big Snow for the gazillionth time. We found all sorts of things on the map and Annesley cheered Katy on as she worked herself through the Geopolis snow drifts. Virginia Lee Burton created stories my children beg for over and over again and I love her for it. I would kiss her if I was anywhere near her. I remember reading The Little House to Blythe and highlighting all the sight words to help her learn to read them. I remember the first time I read Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel to Fisher and how his little boy mind latched right onto the idea of a big machine doing a big job and how he wanted to do big jobs too.

Reading to my children is one of my very favorite things to do. Infusing them with a love of literature, beautiful illustrations, and characters that speak to their hearts is a privilege I take seriously. I strive to surround them with books that will build their little souls into people who stand true, fight hard, and serve well. What are your favorite books to grow your children into their best selves?

read more

new read-a-loud

Mar 31, 2012 by tracy

A couple of weeks ago someone on an email list recommended The Wonder Book For Girls and Boys by Nathaniel Hawthorne as a great read-a-loud for a wide range of children and that boys will especially love it. Since I have a wide range of children and a boy I was looking for a new read-a-loud for since his Spies book was putting me to sleep, I thought, hmmm, I will check it out. I quickly found it for free as a Kindle download and sent it my way in seconds. Then I started reading it to Fisher. Then, I said, “Fisher, go grab Keziah, I think she will love this.” So he did. And we read. And we loved it.

Now Fisher, Keziah, and Annes hang out on my bed drawing and working on handwriting while I read to them the adventures of Perseus, Midas, and Pandora’s Box. It is exciting enough to distract me from the pain in my hip and it is written in a way that appeals to each of them. We have never spent much time on Greek Myths, although Blythe had a phase where she was slightly obsessed with them and I own and LOVE the D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths.

So, if you are in a reading rut, check out Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Wonder book and see if you fall in love as we did.

p.s. To all of you who are wondering, yes, I hobbled downstairs and typed this on my big computer. Perhaps a mistake, but I had a ton of emails to get out for gymnastics and the 3rd Annual Homeschool Read-A-Thon and it seemed a much better use of my fingers and brain to do it here. I’m hoping I won’t pay for it in the hip department.

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new read-a-loud

Mar 31, 2012 by tracy

A couple of weeks ago someone on an email list recommended The Wonder Book For Girls and Boys by Nathaniel Hawthorne as a great read-a-loud for a wide range of children and that boys will especially love it. Since I have a wide range of children and a boy I was looking for a new read-a-loud for since his Spies book was putting me to sleep, I thought, hmmm, I will check it out. I quickly found it for free as a Kindle download and sent it my way in seconds. Then I started reading it to Fisher. Then, I said, “Fisher, go grab Keziah, I think she will love this.” So he did. And we read. And we loved it.

Now Fisher, Keziah, and Annes hang out on my bed drawing and working on handwriting while I read to them the adventures of Perseus, Midas, and Pandora’s Box. It is exciting enough to distract me from the pain in my hip and it is written in a way that appeals to each of them. We have never spent much time on Greek Myths, although Blythe had a phase where she was slightly obsessed with them and I own and LOVE the D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths.

So, if you are in a reading rut, check out Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Wonder book and see if you fall in love as we did.

p.s. To all of you who are wondering, yes, I hobbled downstairs and typed this on my big computer. Perhaps a mistake, but I had a ton of emails to get out for gymnastics and the 3rd Annual Homeschool Read-A-Thon and it seemed a much better use of my fingers and brain to do it here. I’m hoping I won’t pay for it in the hip department.

read more

the symphony

Feb 19, 2012 by tracy

I have several friends in the Symphony and sometimes I am able to get cheap tickets to their performances. On a spur of the moment decision, I decided to get some $5 tickets and plan a triple date with my friends…can’t beat a $10 date, right? One friend decided they couldn’t go, then the other friend’s husband hurt his back and so they couldn’t come, so just few hours before the concert I was stuck with six tickets. I decided to try to sell them on Facebook. That didn’t work, so I decided to sell them to those in the waiting line. Then Richard decided we should have everyone get all dressed up and take the whole gang.

I thought he was crazy, but decided we could give it a shot. Maybe, just maybe, by some heavenly intervention, Fisher and Annesley could sit, not only still, but also silently, for two-plus hours.

Riiiiiggghhhhtttt.

No can do.

Now to give them credit, they did do pretty well. Well enough that at the end the people behind us thanked Fisher and Annes for being so well-behaved and not being like other children they have had to sit by at prior events.

But not well enough that the people in front of us didn’t move. Granted they seemed to be grumpy, uptight folks, but we were much too alive for their taste, so they moved to a section at the very top where the nearest person was three rows away.

Annesley loved having an almost running discourse about each instrument, each dress, each bang of the drum. She pretended to play the harp, the violin, and the cello. When our friend, Jesse, had his solo, she called out in her best excited whisper “That’s my Jesse!” She also drew a keyboard in her notebook and typed the night away.

Fisher did a little better in the quiet department, but he was definitely ready for it to be over the very moment the last note was played. He drew lots of pictures and tried to figure out when to clap and not clap (not between movements, after each completed piece, and lots and lots and lots at the end).

Fisher: What are we doing now?
Me: Clapping
Fisher: Still?
Me: Yes, clap.
Fisher: Isn’t it over? Isn’t it time to go?
Me: The music is over, the clapping is not. Right now we clap.
Fisher: Why do I have to clap?
Me: To tell the musicians thank you and great job.
Fisher: What are we doing now?
Me: Clapping
Fisher: Still?
Me: Yes, clap.

After the clapping was finally over, they were thrilled to go out to the lobby and have cupcakes and punch. I don’t know that either of them will want to go to the symphony again any time soon, but at least they will know what it is like should they ever get a hankering.

Lessons learned?

• Have a notebook for the little ones to draw in. They both drew for quite a bit of the night and those papers and colored pencils were life-savers.
• Should have brought a few water bottles so we could have given them a drink when they were certain they were going to die of thirst.
• Sit away from grumpy, uptight people.
• My children’s knowledge of music and instruments was quite helpful. I was able to whisper in their ears about what was going on and they knew what I was talking about. So, if you are planning on taking your children to a fancy-schmancy concert, put some time into preparing them.
• Sit little one, big one, little one, big one to have the wiggling, noisy children spread out between older, more responsible ones. We didn’t start out that way, but throughout the night we rearranged into that formation and it worked much better.
• Make it a big deal by dressing up. I think it really helped them to sit more quietly with Fisher in his suit and Annesley in her dress.
• Most people are enamored with little ones…at least they were with mine. We had a German lady help Fisher navigate the crowd with his punch, many grandpas and grandmas talk to them about music and what they liked about the performance, and we got smiles all night long. I can only assume people thought we were either incredibly brave and were trying to give us encouragement or incredibly stupid and they were giving us sympathy looks.
• Attending the Symphony is one piece of the musical education I provide my children. We sing, dance, write our own songs, play a variety of instruments, mingle with many musicians, attend fiddle events, bluegrass competitions, and all sorts of other types of performances (preferably down by the river where we can dance and wear our blue jeans), take music classes, attend MAT Camp, take private music lessons, practice incessantly, and attend high-brow events like the symphony. I hope this is giving them a panoramic view of what music is and can be in their lives. I’m not up to a Symphony type event on a weekly or monthly basis, but perhaps once a year we will try to add this piece into their lives.
• Parents that take their young children to the symphony deserve a lot more than a cupcake at the end! I needed a hot soak and massage!

read more

the symphony

Feb 19, 2012 by tracy

I have several friends in the Symphony and sometimes I am able to get cheap tickets to their performances. On a spur of the moment decision, I decided to get some $5 tickets and plan a triple date with my friends…can’t beat a $10 date, right? One friend decided they couldn’t go, then the other friend’s husband hurt his back and so they couldn’t come, so just few hours before the concert I was stuck with six tickets. I decided to try to sell them on Facebook. That didn’t work, so I decided to sell them to those in the waiting line. Then Richard decided we should have everyone get all dressed up and take the whole gang.

I thought he was crazy, but decided we could give it a shot. Maybe, just maybe, by some heavenly intervention, Fisher and Annesley could sit, not only still, but also silently, for two-plus hours.

Riiiiiggghhhhtttt.

No can do.

Now to give them credit, they did do pretty well. Well enough that at the end the people behind us thanked Fisher and Annes for being so well-behaved and not being like other children they have had to sit by at prior events.

But not well enough that the people in front of us didn’t move. Granted they seemed to be grumpy, uptight folks, but we were much too alive for their taste, so they moved to a section at the very top where the nearest person was three rows away.

Annesley loved having an almost running discourse about each instrument, each dress, each bang of the drum. She pretended to play the harp, the violin, and the cello. When our friend, Jesse, had his solo, she called out in her best excited whisper “That’s my Jesse!” She also drew a keyboard in her notebook and typed the night away.

Fisher did a little better in the quiet department, but he was definitely ready for it to be over the very moment the last note was played. He drew lots of pictures and tried to figure out when to clap and not clap (not between movements, after each completed piece, and lots and lots and lots at the end).

Fisher: What are we doing now?
Me: Clapping
Fisher: Still?
Me: Yes, clap.
Fisher: Isn’t it over? Isn’t it time to go?
Me: The music is over, the clapping is not. Right now we clap.
Fisher: Why do I have to clap?
Me: To tell the musicians thank you and great job.
Fisher: What are we doing now?
Me: Clapping
Fisher: Still?
Me: Yes, clap.

After the clapping was finally over, they were thrilled to go out to the lobby and have cupcakes and punch. I don’t know that either of them will want to go to the symphony again any time soon, but at least they will know what it is like should they ever get a hankering.

Lessons learned?

• Have a notebook for the little ones to draw in. They both drew for quite a bit of the night and those papers and colored pencils were life-savers.
• Should have brought a few water bottles so we could have given them a drink when they were certain they were going to die of thirst.
• Sit away from grumpy, uptight people.
• My children’s knowledge of music and instruments was quite helpful. I was able to whisper in their ears about what was going on and they knew what I was talking about. So, if you are planning on taking your children to a fancy-schmancy concert, put some time into preparing them.
• Sit little one, big one, little one, big one to have the wiggling, noisy children spread out between older, more responsible ones. We didn’t start out that way, but throughout the night we rearranged into that formation and it worked much better.
• Make it a big deal by dressing up. I think it really helped them to sit more quietly with Fisher in his suit and Annesley in her dress.
• Most people are enamored with little ones…at least they were with mine. We had a German lady help Fisher navigate the crowd with his punch, many grandpas and grandmas talk to them about music and what they liked about the performance, and we got smiles all night long. I can only assume people thought we were either incredibly brave and were trying to give us encouragement or incredibly stupid and they were giving us sympathy looks.
• Attending the Symphony is one piece of the musical education I provide my children. We sing, dance, write our own songs, play a variety of instruments, mingle with many musicians, attend fiddle events, bluegrass competitions, and all sorts of other types of performances (preferably down by the river where we can dance and wear our blue jeans), take music classes, attend MAT Camp, take private music lessons, practice incessantly, and attend high-brow events like the symphony. I hope this is giving them a panoramic view of what music is and can be in their lives. I’m not up to a Symphony type event on a weekly or monthly basis, but perhaps once a year we will try to add this piece into their lives.
• Parents that take their young children to the symphony deserve a lot more than a cupcake at the end! I needed a hot soak and massage!

read more

itunes u

Feb 16, 2012 by tracy

I recently discovered iTunes U audio downloads…wowsers! It is simply amazing. We have already downloaded hours of audio books and have been listening to a variety of fairy tales, Beatrix Potter, What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen by Bastiat, The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn, Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, C.S. Lewis’ Theology, and an Oxford University class on Tolkien. There are thousands of books, lectures, and classes available for free!

Our favorite place for audiobooks (so far, since we are newbies!) is Lit2Go, which is a collection of literature put out by the University of South Florida. You can find them on the web here or search in the iTunes U app for their offerings. They have a fabulous collection and all the ones we have listened to so far have had skilled readers.

I am so excited to discover the treasures that await us!

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fiar: hot air

Feb 14, 2012 by tracy

This week we are reading Hot Air by Marjorie Priceman. It tells the mostly true story of the first hot air balloon ride in Versailles, France in 1783. A chicken, sheep, and duck were sent up in the air and stayed up for eight minutes traveling about two miles. This particular book gives the background events and then makes up what could have happened to the three animals as they flew across the city. Fisher thinks it is hilarious and we think you will as well.

read more

fiar: hot air

Feb 14, 2012 by tracy

This week we are reading Hot Air by Marjorie Priceman. It tells the mostly true story of the first hot air balloon ride in Versailles, France in 1783. A chicken, sheep, and duck were sent up in the air and stayed up for eight minutes traveling about two miles. This particular book gives the background events and then makes up what could have happened to the three animals as they flew across the city. Fisher thinks it is hilarious and we think you will as well.

read more

fiar: hot air

Feb 14, 2012 by tracy

This week we are reading Hot Air by Marjorie Priceman. It tells the mostly true story of the first hot air balloon ride in Versailles, France in 1783. A chicken, sheep, and duck were sent up in the air and stayed up for eight minutes traveling about two miles. This particular book gives the background events and then makes up what could have happened to the three animals as they flew across the city. Fisher thinks it is hilarious and we think you will as well.

read more

there was an old lady who swallowed a fly…

Feb 8, 2012 by tracy

When Annesley was two to three years old, this was her favorite song. She sang it over and over and over. She loved singing it for strangers at the grocery store, for grandparents, for the dogs, for everyone. She loved it so much that one year for her birthday her Grandma Dorothy gave her an old woman with a ginormous mouth complete with all the animals she swallows and that doll has been played with like no other. We like to sing it all crazy and dramatic like…probably because we are crazy and dramatic (you should have heard my voices last night during family read-aloud time!).

Did you know there are lots of hilarious versions of this story? I didn’t know it until I stumbled across one of them last year at the library. Since then we have been checking them out and giggling ourselves silly.

Today in Zing! I am going to read a few of them to my students and then each of us will write our own version. Doesn’t that sound fun?

Here are some of our favorites:

• There Was An Odd Princess Who Swallowed A Pea
• I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie
• There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Trout
• There Was A Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow
• I Know A Shy Fellow Who Swallowed A Cello

What are some of your favorite writing projects? What have you found brings out the creativity in your children/students?

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there was an old lady who swallowed a fly…

Feb 8, 2012 by tracy

When Annesley was two to three years old, this was her favorite song. She sang it over and over and over. She loved singing it for strangers at the grocery store, for grandparents, for the dogs, for everyone. She loved it so much that one year for her birthday her Grandma Dorothy gave her an old woman with a ginormous mouth complete with all the animals she swallows and that doll has been played with like no other. We like to sing it all crazy and dramatic like…probably because we are crazy and dramatic (you should have heard my voices last night during family read-aloud time!).

Did you know there are lots of hilarious versions of this story? I didn’t know it until I stumbled across one of them last year at the library. Since then we have been checking them out and giggling ourselves silly.

Today in Zing! I am going to read a few of them to my students and then each of us will write our own version. Doesn’t that sound fun?

Here are some of our favorites:

• There Was An Odd Princess Who Swallowed A Pea
• I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie
• There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Trout
• There Was A Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow
• I Know A Shy Fellow Who Swallowed A Cello

What are some of your favorite writing projects? What have you found brings out the creativity in your children/students?

read more

fiar: the red hen

Feb 7, 2012 by tracy

I love, love, LOVE the books that are recommended in the Five In A Row guidebook. We have thoroughly enjoyed all of them that we have done. However, I am not a rule follower of any type, so I like to pick other books for our FIAR books as well. This week, I selected The Red Hen by Rebecca Emberley (yes, of the Emberley family fame – she is the daughter of Ed and sister of Michael and has a whole host of other artists and musicians in the family).

Of course, Fisher already knows this story inside and out, but he doesn’t know this version of it (where the hen makes a cake instead of bread) and he doesn’t know this artwork (which pops off the page and is simply delightful) and I don’t know that the message of everyone-working-together-to-reap-the-fruits-of-our-labors together has really sunk into his heart (or made him the super-duper willing helper I want him to be), so we are reading this book this week with high hopes the message will change some I-don’t-want-to-help behavior. Of course, he doesn’t have any idea that is why we are reading it…we will be talking a lot about the art of the book and making Little Miss Red Hen’s Simply Splendid Cake.

If you are a FIAR family, what are you rowing this week?

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fiar: the red hen

Feb 7, 2012 by tracy

I love, love, LOVE the books that are recommended in the Five In A Row guidebook. We have thoroughly enjoyed all of them that we have done. However, I am not a rule follower of any type, so I like to pick other books for our FIAR books as well. This week, I selected The Red Hen by Rebecca Emberley (yes, of the Emberley family fame – she is the daughter of Ed and sister of Michael and has a whole host of other artists and musicians in the family).

Of course, Fisher already knows this story inside and out, but he doesn’t know this version of it (where the hen makes a cake instead of bread) and he doesn’t know this artwork (which pops off the page and is simply delightful) and I don’t know that the message of everyone-working-together-to-reap-the-fruits-of-our-labors together has really sunk into his heart (or made him the super-duper willing helper I want him to be), so we are reading this book this week with high hopes the message will change some I-don’t-want-to-help behavior. Of course, he doesn’t have any idea that is why we are reading it…we will be talking a lot about the art of the book and making Little Miss Red Hen’s Simply Splendid Cake.

If you are a FIAR family, what are you rowing this week?

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potw: habits of the hippopotamus

Feb 6, 2012 by tracy

We started this poem last week, but only worked on it for one day and only for a few minutes. The play and a houseful of people were too much for me to keep up our regular schedule…so we are doing it again this week.

Habits of the Hippopotamus

by Arthur Guiterman

The hippopotamus is strong
And huge of head and broad of bustle;
The limbs on which he rolls along
Are big with hippopotomuscle.

He does not greatly care for sweets
Like ice cream, apple pie, or custard,
But takes to flavor what he eats
A little hippopotomustard.

The hippopotamus is true
To all his principles and just;
He always tries his best to do
The things one hippopotomust.

He never rides in trucks or trams,
In taxicabs or omnibuses,
And so keeps out of traffic jams
And other hippopotomusses.

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potw: how to talk to your snowman

Jan 24, 2012 by tracy

I was too gnome-ridden to do our Poem of the Week yesterday, so we started it today. It is so silly and Annesley and Fisher have already got it about half-way memorized. Yesterday they made a little of family of snow people and they are giggling thinking of talking to them with these words.

How To Talk To Your Snowman

by Beverly McLoughland

Use words that are pleasing,
Like: freezing
And snow,
Iceberg and igloo
And blizzard and blow
Try: Arctic, Antarctic,
Say: shiver and shake,
But whatever you never say,
Never say: bake.

read more

potw: how to talk to your snowman

Jan 24, 2012 by tracy

I was too gnome-ridden to do our Poem of the Week yesterday, so we started it today. It is so silly and Annesley and Fisher have already got it about half-way memorized. Yesterday they made a little of family of snow people and they are giggling thinking of talking to them with these words.

How To Talk To Your Snowman

by Beverly McLoughland

Use words that are pleasing,
Like: freezing
And snow,
Iceberg and igloo
And blizzard and blow
Try: Arctic, Antarctic,
Say: shiver and shake,
But whatever you never say,
Never say: bake.

read more

Yippee-Skippee!

Jan 19, 2012 by tracy

Zing! was SO stinkin’ fun yesterday. The hour before my class found me jumping up and down with excitement. Yes, literally jumping up and down. I couldn’t wait to get in there and share this passion of mine with children I love.

My students adore me (and many of them told me so!), which always does wonders for my motivation to produce fabulous lessons for them. Who wouldn’t want to teach a class full of eager learners who think you are the coolest thing since sliced bread?

I handed out our new class books and they loved them! Here are the topics I chose:

• Heroes
• My Invention and How It Will Change The World
• Interviews with Super-Cool People
• My Favorite Poem and Why I Love It
• My Journey Across The Plains
• If You Give A Boy A Sword…
• If You Give A Girl A Kayak…

Each week seven children will take home a book, guard it with their very lives, write in it, and then bring it back the next week and seven other children will take one home. They will all get five opportunities during the semester to write in our books. They are totally pumped to make these books amazing. Miss Katherine came to my rescue and sewed book covers for them. I could never hand a plain notebook to a child and expect them to turn their creative juices on, which means, she literally saved my whole class from having to wither away in un-creative slime.

We are also having a Word of the Day and a Favorite Author paper. I cannot wait to see what these kids come up with! All day long I heard them talking about their plans for stories, which author they would choose to share with the rest of us, how excited they were to discover new words, and how much fun they had. Seriously? MUSIC TO MY EARS!

Yesterday, after talking and talking and talking about all the exciting things we are going to write and learn about this semester, each student rolled the dice in our set of Story Cubes and were given the ingredients for their story of the week. They can write about anything they want, but they have to include the items they rolled on the dice. Have you seen them? They are so cool and we are going to have a blast with them this semester.

The other little gift they received yesterday were Word-Epiphany Bookmarks. While they are reading, they will write down words that sound interesting to them, words they want to use in their writing, words that they want to figure out the meaning to, words they love, etc. When they finish that book, they bring in their bookmark and share their word epiphanies with me and then I will give them a new bookmark for their next book.

One little girl said she had never had such a fun writing class before…that in all her other writing classes she was told what to write about, how long to write about it, and was expected to have it perfect for it to be worth anything. She said she was so excited to learn about the difference between writing and editing and that she didn’t have to be perfect right from the get-go. MUSIC TO MY EARS!

If I can help these children see that their thoughts matter, their writing is powerful, that words can bring magic, healing, and inspiration to our lives, and that they don’t have to be perfect at writing in order to write, then I will have changed the world. Twenty-two children will be able to move forward with an altered perception of who they are and what they can accomplish. It is humbling and inspiring to me all at the same time. This is why I do what I do…to change lives and make the world a kinder, truer, more fabulous place to live in.

p.s. Thanks to Jessica for the darling illustrations in our Class Books and for making and printing our bookmarks when my printer shut down on Tuesday night!

p.p.s. Thanks also to Jessica for taking pictures for me! She insisted on me using the one of me even though it shows my crooked teeth!

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Yippee-Skippee!

Jan 19, 2012 by tracy

Zing! was SO stinkin’ fun yesterday. The hour before my class found me jumping up and down with excitement. Yes, literally jumping up and down. I couldn’t wait to get in there and share this passion of mine with children I love.

My students adore me (and many of them told me so!), which always does wonders for my motivation to produce fabulous lessons for them. Who wouldn’t want to teach a class full of eager learners who think you are the coolest thing since sliced bread?

I handed out our new class books and they loved them! Here are the topics I chose:

• Heroes
• My Invention and How It Will Change The World
• Interviews with Super-Cool People
• My Favorite Poem and Why I Love It
• My Journey Across The Plains
• If You Give A Boy A Sword…
• If You Give A Girl A Kayak…

Each week seven children will take home a book, guard it with their very lives, write in it, and then bring it back the next week and seven other children will take one home. They will all get five opportunities during the semester to write in our books. They are totally pumped to make these books amazing. Miss Katherine came to my rescue and sewed book covers for them. I could never hand a plain notebook to a child and expect them to turn their creative juices on, which means, she literally saved my whole class from having to wither away in un-creative slime.

We are also having a Word of the Day and a Favorite Author paper. I cannot wait to see what these kids come up with! All day long I heard them talking about their plans for stories, which author they would choose to share with the rest of us, how excited they were to discover new words, and how much fun they had. Seriously? MUSIC TO MY EARS!

Yesterday, after talking and talking and talking about all the exciting things we are going to write and learn about this semester, each student rolled the dice in our set of Story Cubes and were given the ingredients for their story of the week. They can write about anything they want, but they have to include the items they rolled on the dice. Have you seen them? They are so cool and we are going to have a blast with them this semester.

The other little gift they received yesterday were Word-Epiphany Bookmarks. While they are reading, they will write down words that sound interesting to them, words they want to use in their writing, words that they want to figure out the meaning to, words they love, etc. When they finish that book, they bring in their bookmark and share their word epiphanies with me and then I will give them a new bookmark for their next book.

One little girl said she had never had such a fun writing class before…that in all her other writing classes she was told what to write about, how long to write about it, and was expected to have it perfect for it to be worth anything. She said she was so excited to learn about the difference between writing and editing and that she didn’t have to be perfect right from the get-go. MUSIC TO MY EARS!

If I can help these children see that their thoughts matter, their writing is powerful, that words can bring magic, healing, and inspiration to our lives, and that they don’t have to be perfect at writing in order to write, then I will have changed the world. Twenty-two children will be able to move forward with an altered perception of who they are and what they can accomplish. It is humbling and inspiring to me all at the same time. This is why I do what I do…to change lives and make the world a kinder, truer, more fabulous place to live in.

p.s. Thanks to Jessica for the darling illustrations in our Class Books and for making and printing our bookmarks when my printer shut down on Tuesday night!

p.p.s. Thanks also to Jessica for taking pictures for me! She insisted on me using the one of me even though it shows my crooked teeth!

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potw: winter burrows

Jan 16, 2012 by tracy

Although this is the strangest Idaho winter I have ever experienced (we have no snow and my children run around on the yellow grass every day), we are going to memorize a poem about winter this week. Winter burrows, which sound so cozy and make me want to burrow down in my bed for months on end just like our hibernating friends. This poem is especially appropriate because we have not built a single snowman, gone sledding, or gotten out our kick sled to race down the lane. There isn’t any snow!

Winter Burrows

by Douglas Florian

Beneath the pond a sleeping frog
Recalls she was a polliwog,
Once wiggling wild beside a log.

The rusty fox deep in his hole
Dreams of chasing mouse and mole,
Schemes of racing red-backed vole.

The fat-cheeked chipmunk can be found
Inside her burrow underground.
She dreams without a single sound.

And me, I’m burrowed in my bed
With cozy quilt above my head
And dreams of snowman, sleigh, and sled.

read more

potw: winter burrows

Jan 16, 2012 by tracy

Although this is the strangest Idaho winter I have ever experienced (we have no snow and my children run around on the yellow grass every day), we are going to memorize a poem about winter this week. Winter burrows, which sound so cozy and make me want to burrow down in my bed for months on end just like our hibernating friends. This poem is especially appropriate because we have not built a single snowman, gone sledding, or gotten out our kick sled to race down the lane. There isn’t any snow!

Winter Burrows

by Douglas Florian

Beneath the pond a sleeping frog
Recalls she was a polliwog,
Once wiggling wild beside a log.

The rusty fox deep in his hole
Dreams of chasing mouse and mole,
Schemes of racing red-backed vole.

The fat-cheeked chipmunk can be found
Inside her burrow underground.
She dreams without a single sound.

And me, I’m burrowed in my bed
With cozy quilt above my head
And dreams of snowman, sleigh, and sled.

read more

Zing!

Jan 5, 2012 by tracy

I am mentoring a new class at iFamily this semester. Registration was this morning and in the first two minutes of it opening, I already had 18 students. Crazy!

I am so excited to be teaching this class and to share my love of words with these children. My head is swimming with ideas about language, writing, and rhyming.

Here is the class description I wrote in a rush when I couldn’t think in anything but Dr. Seuss style (Do you ever have those days? Days where you think in the style of a certain author? I have them all the time!)

Zing!
by Tracy

Authors are silly,
Authors are fun,
We will meet some of them
One by one.

Carle, Keats, Numeroff and Seuss,
Stanley, de Paulo, Heller on the loose,
Scieszka, Anno, Harness, and Burns,
How many authors will we learn?

Adverbs and adjectives will all come alive,
Palindromes, homonyms, can you think of five?
Synonyms, similes, hyperbole, pun,
Metaphors and oxymorons are always so fun!

We’ll laugh ourselves silly,
Write up a kazoo,
We’ll create lots of sentences,
That’s what we will do.

Nobody knows all the fun that’s in store,
We’ll write as we learn and so much more,
So bring your notebook and razamatazz,
We’ll add zest and zing, and all that ZAZZ!

Doesn’t that sound fun! It is going to be…the only problem is, when my head is swimming with so many ideas it is hard for me to get anything else accomplished! I have piles of laundry, colloquia books to choose, Worldviews work to finish, children to love on, emails to write, gymnastics to plan, letters to mail, a storage room to clean, a freezer to empty and defrost, doula clients to meet with, bread to bake, bills to pay, a yard to clean, and all I can think of is how to inspire children to love writing.

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to destroy you is no loss

Dec 6, 2011 by tracy

Do you know over 3 million people died because of the actions of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979?

Do you know nearly 2 million of those were murdered in cold blood?

Do you know many, many more lives were cut short or irrevocably changed?

Do you know the Khmer Rouge’s mantra that played daily on the radio was “To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss.” and that people were told they were less significant than a grain of rice?

Do you know people were clubbed on the head with hoes and then pushed into rivers, ponds, and reservoirs?

Do you know that people who had any education at all were killed while those who could not read or write and often did not think for themselves were promoted to leadership?

This is one reason why I am a defender of liberty, an advocate of liberal arts education, and most importantly, a mother who spends her days teaching her children.

My Worldviews students and I are discussing this book this week and it has touched them deeply. My hope is that they take with them a commitment to freedom and an understanding of the methods of a communist regime. If you have not read Joan Criddle’s book, To Destroy You Is No Loss, read it…it will change your life.

read more

to destroy you is no loss

Dec 6, 2011 by tracy

Do you know over 3 million people died because of the actions of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979?

Do you know nearly 2 million of those were murdered in cold blood?

Do you know many, many more lives were cut short or irrevocably changed?

Do you know the Khmer Rouge’s mantra that played daily on the radio was “To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss.” and that people were told they were less significant than a grain of rice?

Do you know people were clubbed on the head with hoes and then pushed into rivers, ponds, and reservoirs?

Do you know that people who had any education at all were killed while those who could not read or write and often did not think for themselves were promoted to leadership?

This is one reason why I am a defender of liberty, an advocate of liberal arts education, and most importantly, a mother who spends her days teaching her children.

My Worldviews students and I are discussing this book this week and it has touched them deeply. My hope is that they take with them a commitment to freedom and an understanding of the methods of a communist regime. If you have not read Joan Criddle’s book, To Destroy You Is No Loss, read it…it will change your life.

read more

potw: when a wrong wants righting

Dec 5, 2011 by tracy

This has long been one of my favorite quotes and I am sharing it with my children this week with the hope it will become one of their favorites as well. I want my children to know that being fathers and mothers to God’s children is the most powerful and influential path they can choose in this life. I want them to know that we chose that path and are dedicated to their God-given missions. I want them to decide now to parent well and to be committed to building a healthy, functional family for their future children. This poem speaks volumes at Christmas season, for God did indeed send a baby to change the world.

When A Wrong Wants Righting by E.T. Sullivan

We fancy that God can only manage his world with battalions, when all the while He is doing it by beautiful babies. When a wrong wants writing, or a truth needs preaching, or a continent wants opening, God sends a baby into the world…perhaps in a simple home and of some obscure mother. And then God puts the idea into the mother’s heart, and she puts it into the baby’s mind. And then God waits. The greatest forces in the worlds are not the earthquakes and thunderbolts. The greatest forces in the world are babies.

read more

potw: when a wrong wants righting

Dec 5, 2011 by tracy

This has long been one of my favorite quotes and I am sharing it with my children this week with the hope it will become one of their favorites as well. I want my children to know that being fathers and mothers to God’s children is the most powerful and influential path they can choose in this life. I want them to know that we chose that path and are dedicated to their God-given missions. I want them to decide now to parent well and to be committed to building a healthy, functional family for their future children. This poem speaks volumes at Christmas season, for God did indeed send a baby to change the world.

When A Wrong Wants Righting by E.T. Sullivan

We fancy that God can only manage his world with battalions, when all the while He is doing it by beautiful babies. When a wrong wants writing, or a truth needs preaching, or a continent wants opening, God sends a baby into the world…perhaps in a simple home and of some obscure mother. And then God puts the idea into the mother’s heart, and she puts it into the baby’s mind. And then God waits. The greatest forces in the worlds are not the earthquakes and thunderbolts. The greatest forces in the world are babies.

read more

stories of the pilgrims

Nov 21, 2011 by tracy

We love Jim Hodges’ audio recordings and listen to them often. One of our annual traditions is listening to Stories of the Pilgrims at Thanksgiving time. The first time I listened, I learned so much about these stalwart people who were determined to worship their God in freedom and to raise their children according to their beliefs. They give me courage to live my beliefs more fully, to pray more fervently, and to love more purely. You can order his MP3 disks or get an audio download here.

Here is the description from his site:

Beginning with Queen Anne’s visit to Scrooby Inn, Stories of the Pilgrims tells, in story form, the everyday life of the Pilgrims in England and Holland, of their voyage on the Mayflower, and their adventures in the New World. The Brewster children and other Pilgrim boys and girls are the center of interest. This is a wonderful recording for a family to listen to together in the weeks before Thanksgiving.

I think we will start listening to ours today during art time.

If you would rather read it yourself, you can find it online for free or you can buy the book from Yesterday’s Classics.

read more

stories of the pilgrims

Nov 21, 2011 by tracy

We love Jim Hodges’ audio recordings and listen to them often. One of our annual traditions is listening to Stories of the Pilgrims at Thanksgiving time. The first time I listened, I learned so much about these stalwart people who were determined to worship their God in freedom and to raise their children according to their beliefs. They give me courage to live my beliefs more fully, to pray more fervently, and to love more purely. You can order his MP3 disks or get an audio download here.

Here is the description from his site:

Beginning with Queen Anne’s visit to Scrooby Inn, Stories of the Pilgrims tells, in story form, the everyday life of the Pilgrims in England and Holland, of their voyage on the Mayflower, and their adventures in the New World. The Brewster children and other Pilgrim boys and girls are the center of interest. This is a wonderful recording for a family to listen to together in the weeks before Thanksgiving.

I think we will start listening to ours today during art time.

If you would rather read it yourself, you can find it online for free or you can buy the book from Yesterday’s Classics.

read more

potw: the missing turkey

Nov 21, 2011 by tracy

We have loved this poem for a long time. One of the girls performed it at The Speech Festival we participated in for about ten years and we all could have recited it back then, but I don’t think my younger two have ever heard it. It isn’t the most reverent look at Thanksgiving, but I think we get a lot of that with our other Thanksgiving traditions.

The Missing Turkey

It lay there on the table
That turkey plump and round
But when it was time to carve it
It was no where to be found.

We looked all through the kitchen
And in the pantry as well.
We asked Kate if she had seen it
And Rose and Annabelle.

Even little Mary
We asked her if she knew
About the missing turkey – and she said
“Of course I do!

Poor turkey wasn’t feeling well
Because he lost his head.
So I put my nighty on him,
And tucked him into bed.”

Isn’t that cute!

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potw: the missing turkey

Nov 21, 2011 by tracy

We have loved this poem for a long time. One of the girls performed it at The Speech Festival we participated in for about ten years and we all could have recited it back then, but I don’t think my younger two have ever heard it. It isn’t the most reverent look at Thanksgiving, but I think we get a lot of that with our other Thanksgiving traditions.

The Missing Turkey

It lay there on the table
That turkey plump and round
But when it was time to carve it
It was no where to be found.

We looked all through the kitchen
And in the pantry as well.
We asked Kate if she had seen it
And Rose and Annabelle.

Even little Mary
We asked her if she knew
About the missing turkey – and she said
“Of course I do!

Poor turkey wasn’t feeling well
Because he lost his head.
So I put my nighty on him,
And tucked him into bed.”

Isn’t that cute!

read more

7th semiannual headstand contest

Nov 20, 2011 by tracy

How long can you stand upside down on your head? Me? Not anywhere close to as long as I once could. Yesterday we held the Seventh Semi-Annual Headstand Contest at my gymnastics classes and once again, my students amazed me. Each time I hold this contest, they find some inner reserve of strength and balance and stay up for far longer than they ever have before. I am so proud of each of them!

In the 5-to-6-year-old class, Paige stayed up for five whole minutes and looked rock solid the entire time. This little Paige is one of the babies I have been blessed to help enter this world and it brings me joy every time I see her do hard things. She started out her life on earth by being life-flighted to Primary Children’s Medical Center because of a heart arrhythmia and that day we had no idea what her life would look like. I forgot to take pictures in this class, but I will try to get one from Paige’s parents.

In the 7-to-8-year-olds, Paige’s older sister, Adrienne stayed up for 7 1/2 minutes, barely beating Trey, who has won several times in the past.

In the 9-to-11-year-old class, we had a quite the competition! These students were required to keep their legs straight in the air and it was a challenge for most of them. Keaton was able to stay up the longest, but lots of students gave him a run for his money.

In the 12 and up class, there is a fierce competition between Caleb and Spencer (the reigning champion with a time of 31:29) and somehow Spencer pulled it off again. Eilee, Grant, Keziah, and Courtney all stayed up for a long time as well.

Caleb

Spencer

We had an impromptu adult contest and Ryan, father of six, stayed up the longest with a time of 3:15. Green-smoothie Liz was a close second at 3:08. Two minutes did me in. If my life depended on it I could have stayed up longer, but it didn’t, so when my shoulder started throbbing I lost my balance and came down.

Ryan

We had so much fun! All the children won prizes and the winners in each class received a Jamba card. I am proud of their courage to do hard things and to push themselves to improve. Way to go gymnasts!

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paul klee

Nov 16, 2011 by tracy

The Nazis hated Paul Klee. That was enough to pique my children’s interest in this artist. Anything or anyone hated by the Nazis is elevated to hero-status pretty quickly around here.

Paul Klee was a musician…a violinist to be exact (another huge interest-piquing bit of info since we have two violinists and two wanna-be violinists)…but he decided to study art instead. He went to Germany to study, but after the Nazis came to power he had to flee because they decreed that modern art was degenerate or corrupt and banned it. He was forced to return to Switzerland.

Klee loved modern art because he felt art should be about ideas, beliefs, and feelings, not about people, places, or things. He wanted his art to evoke emotion and filled it with symbols and writing fragments to suggest a more magical world.

Here is one of his works, The Golden Fish

He wanted all the focus to be on the golden fish in the middle, but the entire painting is filled with sea life. He used watercolors and oil paints. We used oil pastels and watercolors as we don’t own any oil paints.

Here is Keziah’s

and Fisher’s

For those of you out there wishing to learn what it is like to be an artist, I loved My Name is Asher Lev and The Gift of Asher Lev, both by Chaim Potok. These were the first books that helped me see into the soul of an artist and what it can be like to need so desperately to create something that you are not you without the art. I am certainly not that kind of artist, but I have a daughter who is very much an artist and these books helped me understand the artists behind the art and some of the struggles and triumphs they experience.

read more

paul klee

Nov 16, 2011 by tracy

The Nazis hated Paul Klee. That was enough to pique my children’s interest in this artist. Anything or anyone hated by the Nazis is elevated to hero-status pretty quickly around here.

Paul Klee was a musician…a violinist to be exact (another huge interest-piquing bit of info since we have two violinists and two wanna-be violinists)…but he decided to study art instead. He went to Germany to study, but after the Nazis came to power he had to flee because they decreed that modern art was degenerate or corrupt and banned it. He was forced to return to Switzerland.

Klee loved modern art because he felt art should be about ideas, beliefs, and feelings, not about people, places, or things. He wanted his art to evoke emotion and filled it with symbols and writing fragments to suggest a more magical world.

Here is one of his works, The Golden Fish

He wanted all the focus to be on the golden fish in the middle, but the entire painting is filled with sea life. He used watercolors and oil paints. We used oil pastels and watercolors as we don’t own any oil paints.

Here is Keziah’s

and Fisher’s

For those of you out there wishing to learn what it is like to be an artist, I loved My Name is Asher Lev and The Gift of Asher Lev, both by Chaim Potok. These were the first books that helped me see into the soul of an artist and what it can be like to need so desperately to create something that you are not you without the art. I am certainly not that kind of artist, but I have a daughter who is very much an artist and these books helped me understand the artists behind the art and some of the struggles and triumphs they experience.

read more

genevieve foster

Nov 16, 2011 by tracy

This woman’s work is amazing.

Really.

If you don’t already own her books, you need to know you are missing out.

Her maps are oh, so lovely. Her stories are lively. Her illustrations are the perfect blend of whimsy and simplicity. We have been reading The World of Columbus and Sons and have already learned so much. Did you know Spain wasn’t even a country when Isabella was born? Did you know she had a corrupt older brother? Did you know she had integrity at a very young age and would not accept the queen-ship when her corrupt older brother was still king, even when the Archbishop begged her to. Did you know Columbus was named for St. Christopher who was given the job of carrying people across the sea?

I can’t find many of her illustrations online and my camera batteries are dead, but here is a taste of what is inside:

One of her maps…oh, I wish I could draw like this!

Through Herculean efforts we are going to try to read three of her books this year, The World of Columbus and Sons, The World of Captain John Smith, and George Washington’s World. Keziah is doing The Beautiful Feet Early American History program and somehow it covers The Vikings to the Civil War…a very long time period, so we are going to try to cover the same eras in Foster’s books. But each book is about 400 pages, so we will just try our best and see how far we get.

read more

genevieve foster

Nov 16, 2011 by tracy

This woman’s work is amazing.

Really.

If you don’t already own her books, you need to know you are missing out.

Her maps are oh, so lovely. Her stories are lively. Her illustrations are the perfect blend of whimsy and simplicity. We have been reading The World of Columbus and Sons and have already learned so much. Did you know Spain wasn’t even a country when Isabella was born? Did you know she had a corrupt older brother? Did you know she had integrity at a very young age and would not accept the queen-ship when her corrupt older brother was still king, even when the Archbishop begged her to. Did you know Columbus was named for St. Christopher who was given the job of carrying people across the sea?

I can’t find many of her illustrations online and my camera batteries are dead, but here is a taste of what is inside:

One of her maps…oh, I wish I could draw like this!

Through Herculean efforts we are going to try to read three of her books this year, The World of Columbus and Sons, The World of Captain John Smith, and George Washington’s World. Keziah is doing The Beautiful Feet Early American History program and somehow it covers The Vikings to the Civil War…a very long time period, so we are going to try to cover the same eras in Foster’s books. But each book is about 400 pages, so we will just try our best and see how far we get.

read more

kandinksy concentric circles

Nov 16, 2011 by tracy

Color is a power that directly influences the soul…color is the keyboard…the artist is the hand that plays.

We are using our Art Treasury book to study artists and on Monday we studied Vassily Kandinksy. We learned that he was born in Russia in 1866 into a musical family. He began his career as a lawyer and in his thirties he started painting. He loved to study how colors blend together and how they contrast with each other. He believed colors expressed emotions and feelings in the same way as music and he felt the effect of colors so strongly that just looking at them caused him to hear musical sounds.

Since we are surrounded by music in this house, we talked about that idea for a while, and everyone agreed they had never heard music when looking at colors. Maybe we just aren’t artsy enough?

Keziah’s circles

One thing I hope they learn from this focus on artists is that each of us is an artist and we all have a message to share with the world in our own unique way. I hope they experience a wide variety of styles and learn that the best way to get their message out is to be true to themselves.

Fisher’s circles

Annesley’s circles

We have spent more time painting in the last few days than we have in months. Its something all three of the younger ones can do together and it is so fun everyone is excited about getting the paints out the next day. I can already see I need some oil pastels and watercolors for the two younger ones because sharing Keziah’s self-purchased ones isn’t working out as well as I hoped. She guards them a little too carefully and the two little ones don’t feel as free to explore as I would like because they are so worried about breaking or wasting her supplies. When they use normal crayons and crayola watercolors their results aren’t what they want and they are no where near as vibrant, so I need to get them their own and then not freak out if they get broken.

This is good for me. It is good for my brain to get out of the heavier academics and turn on the creative side for a few weeks.

read more

kandinksy concentric circles

Nov 16, 2011 by tracy

Color is a power that directly influences the soul…color is the keyboard…the artist is the hand that plays.

We are using our Art Treasury book to study artists and on Monday we studied Vassily Kandinksy. We learned that he was born in Russia in 1866 into a musical family. He began his career as a lawyer and in his thirties he started painting. He loved to study how colors blend together and how they contrast with each other. He believed colors expressed emotions and feelings in the same way as music and he felt the effect of colors so strongly that just looking at them caused him to hear musical sounds.

Since we are surrounded by music in this house, we talked about that idea for a while, and everyone agreed they had never heard music when looking at colors. Maybe we just aren’t artsy enough?

Keziah’s circles

One thing I hope they learn from this focus on artists is that each of us is an artist and we all have a message to share with the world in our own unique way. I hope they experience a wide variety of styles and learn that the best way to get their message out is to be true to themselves.

Fisher’s circles

Annesley’s circles

We have spent more time painting in the last few days than we have in months. Its something all three of the younger ones can do together and it is so fun everyone is excited about getting the paints out the next day. I can already see I need some oil pastels and watercolors for the two younger ones because sharing Keziah’s self-purchased ones isn’t working out as well as I hoped. She guards them a little too carefully and the two little ones don’t feel as free to explore as I would like because they are so worried about breaking or wasting her supplies. When they use normal crayons and crayola watercolors their results aren’t what they want and they are no where near as vibrant, so I need to get them their own and then not freak out if they get broken.

This is good for me. It is good for my brain to get out of the heavier academics and turn on the creative side for a few weeks.

read more

creating the five e’s

Nov 15, 2011 by tracy

ToriAnn, from Utah shared this thought over a year ago on a homeschool discussion board and it has floated in and out of my consciousness ever since.

I create an environment where my kids are exposed to great things in an engaging way so that they can explore and experiment.

I love this thought and it keeps coming back to me, so I must need to revisit it. I love that it sums up my role in my home in a succinct, catchy way. It helps me know what to focus on. My job is to create the environment and to expose them. Their job is to explore and experiment. All of us need to engage together. I think that middle E is where I need to focus.

At first glance, creating an environment of learning and engaging may seem easier than creating a schedule and list of requirements, but it isn’t easier, at least not on the surface level. It is a much deeper, much more organic process that requires more thought, more heart, and more connection to really make it all come together.

It requires more me.

And that my friends is hard.

It is hard because I have to learn to give myself fully to my children and to their hearts.

I think I have a pretty amazing learning environment in my home. I have lovely books (hundreds and hundreds of them), math manipulatives, beautiful wooden blocks, dress-ups, puppets, hundred-number charts, letters, music, instruments, games, science kits, audio books, magnets, puzzles, lacing beads, rocks of all types, paint, glitter, glue, clay, paper, and so much more. We have a wonderful family devotional in the morning. We have learning time. We memorize things. We read books. We have family read-aloud time at night. We have deep discussions on issues of our day. We are immersed in learning. But, there is something that is sometimes lacking.

It is plenty easy to fill a home up with educational materials, to read to them, to make plans with them and for them about what their education is going to look like. It is another thing entirely to be present with them on their learning journey.

Presence. I think that needs to be my new mantra. The mantra that comes to me when my brain is thinking of other things while I am teaching. The idea that will pull me back to connection with their hearts. The concept that will keep me focused on the magic of learning.

Presence. For me this means, being present, not only with my body, but with my whole soul.

And that is what is sometimes lacking. I can be reading a story, complete with different voices for each character, and still find my mind wandering to what needs to happen next, what phone calls need to be made, what emails need written, what blog posts need to be written, what food needs to be prepared. I want to train my mind to stop all the focus on the future and instead be fully engaged in the present.

I think it will make a world of difference in our learning environment and in our relationships.

P.S. anyone know any Buddhist classes around here where I can learn this?

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