National Aviary

Over the 4th of July weekend, (while visiting Nina and Grandpa) we all got to go to Pittsburgh's National Aviary. The kids had a great time there and they got to see many interesting and unusual birds... here are some pics of our time there!

Planning for 2011-2012 Part 1

I know it's a little early for this post but in the last couple of weeks I've had some time to think about where we've been and where we are going as far as school choices and I've made some decision that I want to record here as part of my brainstorming.

When we first started homeschooling A9 was still in Preschool, in fact she had two weeks of preschool left when we started.
Back then I made a four year plan. I planned for K, and 1st through 3rd grade. Now that A9 has finished 3rd grade it is time to evaluate where we are at and what direction we want to take for the next four years 4th to 8th grade.

Five in a Row was a Godsend back when we first started homeschooling. Four volumes with book lists and lessons for each of the books. All I needed to supplement it was math and phonics... later I added spelling and language lessons and this year we started vocabulary.

Now that I'm looking ahead I realize that I no longer need the Five in a Row approach. A9 is past picture books, don't get me wrong, she still enjoys them but she is very happy with chapter books than you very much!
We don't need to do Beyond Five in a Row since I no longer need to follow an unit study approach to our school. Beyond uses chapter books but it is more intensive, were you are taking four to six weeks going through one book.

Also, I have been branching out from the unit study philosophy. I have embraced a more Charlotte Mason/Classical approach to school lately. It seems to be the right fit for A9 and I at this moment in our school journey. This Charlotte Mason/Classical philosophy is of course books, books and more books... read good living books for EVERYTHING. It is also more history centered than literature centered.. although in most cases it uses literature for history as well.

Both philosophies are very similar except when it comes to language lessons. Were Charlotte Mason likes a more gentle approach to grammar and a later start (around 10 or 4th, 5th grade), Classical likes to start grammar nice and early (around 6 or 1st grade).

Charlotte Mason also likes to do lots of nature studies and arts at an early age, were Classical likes to pay more attention to grammar early on. We have done nature studies from the very beginning in our school and we have had a more gentle, later approach to grammar as well.

Classical likes to start history early on as well... they like to cover history in four year cycles starting in 1st grade.
1st, 5th, 9th -Ancients, BC 5000-400 AD
2nd, 6th, 10th - Medieval/Early Renaissance, 400-1600
3rd, 7th, 11th- Late Renaissance/Early Modern, 1600-1850
4th, 8th, 12th - Modern Times, 1850-Present

Charlotte Mason takes a gentler approach as well, btw don't confuse the term gentler with doing less, it is not like that at all. Instead of doing history in four year cycles you have the choice of doing it in 5 or 6 year cycles and instead of doing it three times in 12 grades you only do it twice, giving the earlier grades time to do nature studies and more creative stuff.

I like this approach as well.. I don't see the point of reading about ancient history to a 1st grader...

Taking all of the above into consideration, I have started to map out how the next four years are going to look. I have all the curriculum for the next four years beleive it or not :) history,science, math, language lessons, writing, spelling, vocabulary, and we are starting Latin as well as continuing with spanish.

My one concern was literature, how am I going to do literature now that I will no longer be using FIAR? Well, after reading about Susan Wise Bauer author of The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home. I have downloaded her audio lectures from Peace Hill Press, specifically What is Literary Analysis? When, Why, and How Should I Teach IT? and Great Books: History as Literature, I know this is the way I want to teach literature.

Stay tuned during the next few weeks as I start to plan our own Dampf Homeschool book list for the next 4 years of A9's schooling. This will be fun!

BTW X6's schooling will remain the same, we will still use FIAR but I am giving Reading made easy a long break and sticking with the code books and of course math! We need to get this child to start reading!!

Book Lists and Other Happenings

Today was A9's ballet recital.. she looked like a Princess onstage, it was very emotional for me to see her like that! Yes.. I cried!
The performance was very good! At the end all of the girls danced together on stage, they all had the same routine, it was wonderful to see all the older girls dancing along with the younger ones.. I know A9 had a blast!
Things to remember for next years' recital.. bring her snacks and her DS. She spent the whole time there in the changing room waiting her turn onstage.

I have also been working on a book list for her, now that she is in 4th grade all we need to do for literature is read as many books as possible and pick one book out of every three for her to write a short summary on.
It doesn't get any easier than that!
The best part is, we can start right now... during the summer months! I have a feeling I am going to start having to go to the library more.. there is no way I'll be able to buy that many books... although I'm willing to try!!!

Ballet Recital

Today was A9's rehearsal for her ballet recital tomorrow. We are not allowed to take any pics or video during the performance tomorrow but we can during the rehearsal...

Here's a few pics of our morning.... we were there from 9am to 1pm... It was girlie heaven!!

My New Printer

For Mother's Day this year my family gave me the best gift ever!! A new laser printer!!! I have been wanting one of these for a while, since I heard how much cheaper they are in the long run compared to ink jet printers. Well, we found one that had a wireless network, which means all of the computers in the house can use this printer.

It is not a color one.... only black, but that is perfect for all of my homeschooling needs. I already printed A9's notebooking journal for next year and some forms for our co-op. I love it! The high capacity toner can print up to 2600 pages, I use the economy setting which means many more pages! The printing is so nice... very professional looking!

I am very happy with my gift... thanks guys!

Nature Study Club Post 11

Even though school is over learning never stops... the kids found these leaves with butterfly eggs on them... we are looking forward to our new friends this summer. Hopefully we'll be able to find a couple of caterpillars and watch them transform into butterflies!


We also have a pic of a squirrel visiting our deck feeder, he was so cute eating the bird seeds... A9 was not amused!

Meet our New Pets

About a month ago we got some new pets... two bunnies! Coco and Coconut are the new additions to our family of pets which include two dogs, two birds, one hamster, and a now deceased fish.

We got the bunnies for free and our neighbor gave us her old bunny cage for free as well.
We went ahead and made a new cage for them so we would not have to worry about them while we are away during the summer.
Now if it's raining they have their other cage to go into! This was a $30 project that turned into a $100 one, but we are very happy with the results and we know it will last for a very long time!

Yes, we built it ourselves... it took us one day to do it.... we are very proud of this box!!

Suzuki Book 1 Recital

Here are some pictures of A9's piano recital.
This was back in April but I never posted them.. so here they are!

School Is Done!

We are done with everything! Tests, evaluations, portfolio... everything! I've spent the last two weeks working on some specific things for next fall and got those done and of course getting ready for my colonoscopy and that is done as well!

I have a ton of pics to post and a few ideas to explore, I also need a break. I need to be outside enjoying the sun and in a few days the pool will be open!

I will be up early tomorrow morning and work on all the posts that I've missed the last couple of months!

Stay tune!!

School Week 36 2011

We are reading book 3 An American Spring. What a wonderful series this was! I'm so happy we decided to approach American history this way.

What a wonderful way for A9 to learn about how this country was founded. To read about it through the eyes of these fictional kids. At the beginning of every series the kids were the same age as her. It was so easy for her to relate to each of them. A9 has started to read all of the books again all on her own!!

I hope I can find a similar way to introduce X6 to American history. He is rowing his last book The Bee Tree this week!

What a year this was... but we are done!!! I will post my evaluation of the kids later this week... or the next!

School Week 35 2011

This week we are finishing book 2 of the My American Sofia's Immigrant Diary: Home at Last and we will start book 3.

Last week for language lessons, although lost of testing this week. A9 has her math u see unit 3 test. She has to complete her California Achievement test which will take two days to complete. Mrs. Kathy Long will be administering that test.

She is also going to have a few review worksheets for her synonyms, antonyms and homophones.

The boy is rowing the book I Am an Artist. We are continuing the code and his readers! Finishing the telling time unit this week.

Please pray for my endoscopy this Thursday. Please pray that the doctors will find whatever is wrong with my stomach finally!

School Week 34, 35 & 36 2011

These are our last three weeks of school. The way I schedule our school year I try to do subjects in blocks rather than have a whole year worth of them...

We do spelling for 15 weeks, we do vocabulary for 15.. math for 30... you get the point. This semester A9 had vocabulary, cursive copywork, narration and dictation, language lessons, math and of course American history. We have 18 weeks to get all that done.

Vocabulary is DONE!
Cursive copywork is DONE!
Narration & dictation is DONE!
Math is DONE! (unit test next week)

We have one more week of language lessons and two more weeks of American history, which really means we have two more books to read of the My America series.


This week we started to read the last My America book series, Sofia's Immigrant Diaries: Hope in My Heart. This series is different from the previous ones. It's a bit more grown up, but with the same heart as the others! We have been reading a lot more than just 10 pages a day, which means we will get them all read in less than three weeks. We already started book 2.

The thing is, I'm having a procedure done at the hospital next week. It will only be a one day thing (God willing!) but we won't get any school done that day so I want to be ahead on our reading. A9 is going to be taking her California Achievement Test for two days next week. She is going to have her evaluation on the 23rd, which means I need to be done with everything by then!

X6 is rowing the book The Runaway Bunny, he is done with math, but we are working on telling time which is actually part of the book but not an actual lesson.. I guess its meant to be optional. Well... he really wanted to do it so we are! He has two more books to row this year.

As far as reading and phonics, we will continue to do that through out the summer, that won't stop for him. He is really excited about his reading books and not too excited about phonics (RME) but I can't take a three month break right now...

I am just going to go at his own pace the way we've been doing it so far... summer vacation will not interfere with that. I'm dropping reading made easy, it's just not working for him right now.... we will continue to work with the explode the code books. We are still using book 1, then we'll do book 1 1/2 during the summer months and come fall start book 2.

It is Mother's day weekend, I hope you all have a Happy Mother's day! I can't have my meal at a restaurant this year but I'm hoping for at least a movie this weekend!

Nature Study Club Post 10 Spring is Here!

Spring is here and that means lots of nature study for us! We have been visited by so many different critters in the last few weeks. I will post all of the pics we've taken in the last two weeks.

Our tree is finally blooming, this is the only time of year it blooms so I really wanted to take a pic of how beautiful it looks!

My favorite bird, the cardinal and the female cardinal! The visit all the time but they scare so easily... they are starting to get used to us.. I hope!

I finally got a pic of the very elusive chickadee, he never stays at the feeder long... but I got him that time!

The house finches are always around, the truth is we are not sure if they are house or purple finches, A9 says house, so I guess that's what they are!

The mourning doves are always around as well, they have no problems being near us!

The robins, of course they are around all year!

We had another visitor to our feeders... a squirrel.. this little guy is very brave!

The Mallards visited us during a rain storm!

This is a male cowbird... they are pretty cute!

This is the female cowbird.

We found an egg sack on one of our bushes!

I have no clue what type of egg sack this is, praying mantis maybe!!

This afternoon we found a groundhog on our neighbors yard, turns out they have been trying to catch him for a couple of days now. Well, they got him!

No worries though, they are going to take him to the woods and release him there.

These guys are always around, the grackles.

One more pic of the groundhog before they take him away, we feed him some apple slices.

One last pic of my fave... the cardinal!

We keep seeing a blue heron, I'm trying very hard to get a pic. I love watching birds from my deck, I love hearing their songs. I will try to get more pics soon!

School Week 32 & 33 2011

My last school post was on the last week of March. We had just started Book 1 of the next My America series Virginia's Civil War Diaries. Then we were forced to take a two week break due to illnesses... and here we are! back to school again!

School Week 32

Last week we read book 2 of My America Civil War Diaries, After the Rain. It was nice to get back into our school routine, A9 is really enjoying this series as well. A9 has 3 more weeks of math, she is done with vocabulary and will soon be done with her cursive copywork.

We were able to get back to our narration and dictation exercises and our language lessons.
We took it easy the first few days, but instead of having a light school Wednesday, she worked very hard on all her subjects so that we could have Friday off for a field trip to the movies. We went to see African Cats as part of Earth Day.

BTW, before she got sick, A9 had another field trip to see The Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet at Wilson College. I was already sick so she went with Mrs. Long! She loved it!

I took it easier on X6 since he had a harder two weeks than his sister. We went through an ordeal with him, but thank God and all who prayed for us he is doing great!

He worked on his math, his reading and phonics... that's it. That is all I required of him this past week. We read the book The Legend of The Three Trees for Easter.

School Week 33

This week we are reading book 3 of My America Civil War Diaries, A Time to Dance. We are also reading the book Meet Abraham Lincoln. Since the Civil War deals heavily with him I thought this would be a great time for A9 to learn all about our 16th President!

Two more math lessons and we are done for the year... well, she needs to take a final math test the following week! She will be done with cursive copywork this week, and we will continue to do narration and dictation because we have fun doing it and we have about two weeks left of language lessons.

The boy will be rowing If Jesus came to my House and doing a Jesus lapbook. He has two more books to row and he will be done! I think he has two more math lessons as well. Like I said before, he won't be done with reading made easy, we will continue to do this throughout the summer.

We did a lot of nature studies the last few weeks, we've had so many new visitors to our feeders. A9 has a new blog where she talks about all of the birds visiting our backyard. I will post some pics as well since her blog is only available to a couple of people.

Here's praying we finish healthy!

No School Week

We are taking an early Easter break, I've had a chest cold that turned into a high fever that kept me from my endoscopy this morning. Now I have no fever(Thank God) but still have a chest cold, sore throat and a stuffy, runny nose.... not ideal for the amount of reading we usually have for school... so we are taking our break early! and I'm back on my vitamin C!!!!!

School Week 31 2011

This week A9 and I are starting the next series in the My America books, the Civil War diaries.
It takes place in Gettysburg, which is great since we live about a half hour from Gettysburg!

I will be posting more later, right now I need to get back to school.

The boy and I are rowing the book Papa Piccolo.

School Week 30 2011

This week we are reading the last book on the My America Underground Railroad series, Message in the Sky.
The next set of books deal with the Civil War, we were planning to go to Gettysburg after finishing the underground railroad series.

We wanted to visit The Dobbin House Tavern(In the mid-1800's, a secret crawl space, featured in "National Geographic", served as a "station" for hiding runaway slaves on their perilous journey to freedom on the "Underground Railroad." After the battle of Gettysburg ceased, and the armies had departed, it served as a hospital for wounded soldiers of both the North and the South).

However, If we wait till we are finished with the Civil war books then we can make a whole day out of it and visit some of the places mention in that series as well.

Of course that would mean that Daddy would be coming along as well!! and the weather will probably be a bit warmer by then.

X6 is rowing the book Abuela.

School Week 28 & 29 2011

Last week we started the Underground Railroad Diaries part of My America series. Book 1 Freedom's Wings was such a great read... we finished it in four days, only because we didn't get to read on Wednesday. I was a little concerned about how this series was going to deal with slavery, but I have to say the book was excellent.

This week are reading Book 2 Flying Free. I have a feeling we are going to go through this one in less than a week as well.

Spring is almost here and we have had many new visitors come to our feeders in the last week. I will have to post some pics for our Nature Study Club Post!

X6 rowed the book Mr. Gumpy's Outing last week and this week we are rowing the book The Caboose Who Got Loose. We are also doing some fun crafts for St. Patrick's day!

Busy Week

We are still here! We have had a busy week so far, between meetings, piano, play dates... you name it. Coop is starting this Friday so I have been trying to get ready for that. That's what happens when you leave things for the last minute.

We are also working on revamping our future coop, it will be completely new, we may even have to write our own curriculum... how cool is that!!

I went to a classical conversations meeting with other Moms from our coop and we were all inspired by what we saw and heard! It will be a lot of work in the beginning, but once everything is set up, it should run a lot smoother. I want to be a part of the planning since I feel very strongly about the curriculum I use with my kids and don' really want to switch to something inferior.

Every Mom realizes that it will take a lot of effort from everybody involved to make this a success!

I will post our plans for this week soon.