Homemade Alphabet Book: B

B is for buttons, butterflies, blankies, and blocks.

A Charlotte Mason Reading Lesson

Spelling out the words written on the board

Lately, I have been reading through Volume 1 of Charlotte Mason’s Original Homeschooling Series again.  The description of the first reading lesson inspired me.  We have been working through The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading.  We’ve gone through all the lessons on the alphabet and simple CVC words and it is good, but a bit boring.  So I decided to switch up our phonics instruction for awhile and do a few Charlotte Mason inspired lessons.

Here’s what we’re doing:

1.  I chose two poems; one for X-man (“Forgiven” by A.A. Milne) and one for Princess K (“The Swing” by Robert Louis Stevenson).

2.  For our first lesson, I did not have magnetic letters, so I ordered them from Amazon and wrote the letters from the words of the first two lines of each poem on index cards and cut them out.

Spelling out his words

3.  I gathered a little dry erase board (I got from the dollar bin at Target!), a dry erase marker, and the letters I had cut out.  Now I was ready for our first lesson.

4.  I worked with one child at a time.  I wrote a word from the poem on the dry erase board and had them look closely at the word.  I said it out loud for them and they repeated it.  Then I had them look through their letters and spell the word.  We did about 6 words that first lesson.  Then we quit for the day.

5.  The next day, we learned about 6 more words and reviewed the previous words.

6.  Next, I wrote out the words from the first line of the poem three times on index cards and cut them out.

A word treasure hunt

7.  The next lesson, I wrote each word (not in the order you find them in the poem) on the dry erase board.  The children read the word off the board and then looked through their words and found three matching words.  Then I spoke the words of the poem in order and had them find the word and put the first line of the poem together.  They then read the line they had just created.  They enjoyed this lesson- it was like a game or a treasure hunt!

8.  Then, with X-man, we took one word from the poem (“name”) and we came up with a list of words that rhyme, to reinforce the idea of the “silent e” rule which came up with this word.  So we read frame, tame, came, same, game, and flame.  X-man did not know what “flame” meant, so I lit a candle for him.  Then Z-urchin came over and put his blankie in the flame.  I quickly removed that and blew out the flame, but the acrid scent of burnt blankie lingered.  He really learned that word with all of his senses that day.

9.  Today, we reviewed the first line of the poem and worked through the second line of the poem (with Smethport magnetic letters which are so nice!), spelling out the important words.

Reading the words from the first line of his poem

10.  In our next lesson, we will do a treasure hunt for the words and put the second line of the poem together.

I think I will continue to do a mix of pure phonics instruction with the OPG and Charlotte Mason-like lessons (as best as I can tell from my reading) with quality literature (I have some good folk tale picture books that are well written that I think I might use for this).

The other thing that has been fun with phonics instruction is Leap Frog’s Talking Words Factory Code Word Caper video.  We watch it occasionally and the rules put to catchy tunes is quite helpful and fun.

It is so exciting to see my children beginning to be able to read!  I look forward to the exciting world that will open up to them as they learn to read and as they learn to love to read.

He’s got the whole thing put together

Spelling out the words to the second line of the poem “Forgiven”

 

Monday Musings: Count Your Blessings

Walks in the park

The words of the song my mom sang to me often throughout my childhood, “Count Your Blessings,” are reverberating in my head.  “Count your blessings, name them one by one.  Count your blessings, see what God has done.  Count your blessings, name them one by one.  Count your many blessings, see what God has done.”  My mom thought it was very important that we have thankful hearts.  I’ve written about gratitude and thankfulness here before- it is a transforming attitude.  I’m thankful that my mother decided to take the time to implant thankfulness in my heart.

It is a very appropriate time to reflect on thankfulness, as we just had Thanksgiving- a time where we remember to give thanks for the bounty God has supplied for us- and we are embarking upon the Christmas season- a time where we celebrate God’s great gift to us!  So I am going to count my blessings this year and name them one by one.

So, I’m looking through my Facebook albums from this year and these things are the things that strike me.

Brushing my hair

Thirteen Blessings of 2012:

1.  The park near my house that is full of trees and other plant life, animals, nature, and a creek- a beautiful natural oasis in a very suburban area.

2.  Chocolate & Chai Tea.

3.  A daughter who likes to brush my hair (my head tingles at the memory!).

4.  X-man’s Mario Party.

5.  Our new-to-us minivan & our new home that has a nice backyard and two bathrooms (Hallelujah!).

6.  Our new baby boy!  (And the epidural that helped bring him into the world so happily!)

7.  My 10th anniversary trip to Lake Tahoe- and especially that lovely hot tub that had a waterfall.

8.  My family who has been a great blessing to me- my sister came and visited and played with the kids, my cousin came and helped my mom move and played with the kids, my mom watched the kids a lot while I had the new baby and while we were in the middle of the move, and my mother-in-law who watched them while we were in Tahoe and who came with my sister-in-law to help me get my pictures hung up on my walls!  I am very blessed to have a wonderful relationship with my family- both on my side and on my husband’s side.  Praise the Lord!

9.  Our camping trip in the redwoods.

10.  Z-urchin’s leg healed so well.

11.   Family fun night and the kids’ knock knock jokes.  (I’m so thankful that the Lord blessed me with four delightful, fun, funny, and adorable children!)

Our 10th Anniversary Trip to Tahoe

12. The e-book Maximize Your Mornings and the emails from “Inspired to Action” that encouraged me to begin developing the habit of waking up at 5:45 every morning (I’m not perfect with this- but I manage to get up at this time on the majority of my mornings)- and this habit has been a life changer for me.  I am so very thankful for the peaceful, quiet time alone with God and my thoughts.  It really helps the days go smoother.  These emails also encouraged me to read 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life, which has been very inspiring as well.  (While I’m on the subject, another incredibly helpful book for me this year was Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider)

13.  Lastly, I am so very thankful for my community of dear friends.  They encourage me, inspire me, rescue me, show me grace, and generally embody the quote from the Watermark song, “More Than You’ll Ever Know”: “Something about just being with you, when I leave I feel like I’ve been near God.”   I do not think I could have made it through this year without them.  My dear neighbor, the lovely ladies from my Bible Study, and several wise women in my homeschool group have been such a blessing in my life this year.  I am so thankful that God has graciously allowed these women to be a part of my life.  Another song -from my junior high years- is playing through my head as I think of three of these women who have moved away this year- to different parts of the world- “And friends are friends forever, if the Lord’s the Lord of them. …Though it’s hard to let you go, in the Father’s hand, we know, that a lifetime’s not too long to live as friends.”

Four delightful and very funny children

It’s Pumpkin Season

I absolutely love the scents and flavors of fall: the cinnamon and spices, the applesauce & apple cider, chai tea, and pumpkin pie!  Fall is quickly passing- stores are already displaying Christmas goods and playing Christmas music, so I need to get my fill of these treats before it’s time to move on to mint hot chocolate, wassail, and gingerbread.

Last month, we took a trip to a local pumpkin patch and had all kinds of autumn fun.  Each child selected a Sugar Pie Pumpkin to take home.  In the last few weeks, I’ve managed to figure out how to cook and puree the pumpkins so that we could bake some delicious fall pumpkin treats.

How to Bake a Pumpkin:

1.  Cut the pumpkin in half.

2.  Dig (and scrape) the seeds and stringy stuff out of the pumpkin with an ice cream scoop.

3.  Place each half in a baking dish in a half inch of water

4.  Bake it in a 375 degree oven for 60 minutes or until tender

5.  When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and mash or puree it (I used our Beaba Babycook– one of those baby appliances I would not like to live without!)

Pureed Pumpkin, thanks to our Beaba!

I was told on several websites that I should save the seeds, wash them, dry them on paper towels, and then use them for planting or roasting.  I found a recipe for maple-spiced roasted pumpkin seeds and it sounded quite tasty.  However, let me tell you, step number 3 is all wrong.  Do NOT use paper towels!  The pumpkin seeds stuck horribly and I had to rub paper towel bits off of each seed.  This was a lot of work and took a lot of time (and time in this household with four small children is quite precious).

Do NOT try this at home! Don’t use paper towels to dry them on unless you want to spend a LOT of time peeling paper off each seed.

Well, I labored over each seed and then was quite excited to try out the roasting recipe.  Unfortunately, I must not have let them dry thoroughly because when I placed them in a baggie to save for roasting in a few days (when I had time for such a project), they got covered in mold.  Grrrr.   I decided not to attempt this again with the next two pumpkins.  Maybe next year.  After I do a bit more thorough reading on this process.

However, I did end up with several cups of frozen pumpkin puree and I have have used about half of it so far for pumpkin bread (with chocolate chips in it!) and pumpkin pie.  Both were quite the hit with my children.  Even my husband, who is not a big pumpkin pie fan, thought the pumpkin pie was good.  I used my mom’s spiced pumpkin pie recipe and truly, it is delicious. The only thing I need to do differently next time is the crust.  I got a pie crust mix in a box and it had directions for a no-roll pie crust.  I thought it would save time and effort.  Nope.  Next time, I will roll out the crust.

Mom’s Spiced Pumpkin Pie:

The crust was a bit unattractive, but the pie was delicious and the pumpkin was just the right texture.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup (or 1 can) pumpkin

2 beaten eggs

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp cloves

3/4 cup milk

This slice was served on a football plate- which is totally Thanksgiving-thematic!

Steps:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.  Stir pumpkin into beaten eggs

3.  Blend sugar, salt, and spices and add to pumpkin mixture

4.  Gradually stir in milk

5.  Pour into 9 inch pastry shell

6.  Bake until knife comes out clean (45-60 minutes)

Monday Musings: Natural Wonder

“…Stand and consider the wonders of God.”  Job 37:14

The natural wonder of a child is a beautiful thing.  They delight in picking little flowers in the grass, chasing waves on the sandy beach, rolling in crunchy autumn leaves, stomping footprints in the snow.  Everything is new and an amazing mystery.  There are plenty of things inside that can capture their wonder, but there really is something so special and refreshing- for mom and kids- about being outside.  There we can “stand and consider the wonders of God.”

There is something about feeling wonder and awe in nature -while standing in the midst of the towering trees in a forest or watching the antics of a scampering squirrel- that somehow brings peace, humility, and gratitude.  When I get outside, I have a chance to escape my messy kitchen, the pile of laundry, and my to-do list for awhile.  It is a chance to recharge and gain some perspective.  Patrick Thrift, in a post reflecting on recent loss said, “To find peace inside, go outside.”  True peace is secured in Christ and is not dependent upon circumstances or environment.  But it is true that stepping out of doors can help me to find and feel that peace I already possess.

This week is Thanksgiving.  It is a time where we all gather with loved ones and give thanks for the blessings we have been given. So it is a good week to get outside and marvel at these wonderful works in nature.  His glory and power and character shine through His creation.  In nature we see the bountiful gifts of grace He has bestowed upon us so that we can “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  (I Thessalonians 5:18)

Memorable Moments: Weeks 11& 12- Italy

First taste of food: butternut squash (he loves it!)

The last two weeks have been quite eventful over here.  We visited a fire station, Shortstop turned 6 months old and we began feeding him some solid food,  Z-urchin and I took a trip to the ER (he fell out of bed and then had a barking cough and couldn’t seem to catch his breath… turns out he had croup and the next day the cold symptoms showed up), mild illness swept through the house, and my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came and helped me get some frames and decorations hung up on the walls of my house.  (Oh, what a blessing that was!  Now as I am finally feeling settled!)

Poor guy, first a broken leg and then a trip to the ER and a middle of the night X-ray. I wonder if he and I will become quite good friends with the hospital over the years.

We managed to get some school done in the midst of our crazy life, though:

Bible- We are reading slowly through the story of Moses and memorizing our Awana verses.  I am teaching them “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” (very slowly) and my princess perks up every time she hears the line, “Thy compassions, they fail not,” because she is so very excited that she knows what that word means (from our virtue-of-the-month discussions).  I am so very excited that she remembers and is delighted in knowing.

Trip Around the World- We read Italy in the Blastoff Readers, Exploring Countries Series.  We found Italy on a map (and traced a path from Greece- our last country studied- and Italy).  I was especially encouraged by their memory of Greece’s name and their ability to point out and name “island.”  Cool!

Literature- We also read a number of Italian tales, including Strega Nona, Big Anthony, Strega Nona Her Story, The Mysterious Giant of Barletta, Pome and Peel, and The Canary Prince.  They enjoyed the silly stories about Strega Nona and Big Anthony and the pasta pot (to keep with the theme, we were sure to eat a lot of pasta these past two weeks).  Princess K loved The Canary Prince because it reminded her of Rapunzel.  

We listened to a CD of Verdi and read a little blurb on the CD cover about his life.  We’ve also been reading through The Adventures of Pinnochio for our bedtime stories.  Princess K did not at first enjoy this book and I haven’t heard yet if she has changed her mind.

We’ve worked through the lessons in Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading, getting through the lessons on simple CVC words.  Then I happened across a blog post on teaching reading “The Charlotte Mason way,” and was intrigued by the idea.  So we’ve done a few Charlotte Mason style reading lessons and we are all finding them enjoyable and a nice break from our normal phonics lessons.  I think I will now be crafting lessons like these, using the Guide as a… well, guide for me on the rules of phonics.  I’ll write more about this in a separate post, sometime in the next week or two.

We also played with Halloween candy during math and played math games like a “War” inspired game with number flashcards and memory with number flashcards.

We spend some time out-of-doors (when it wasn’t raining)- taking a walk in a nearby park and completing our final “Getting Started” Outdoor Hour Challenge.

I already have my books for our next country, Germany (including the German tale, Rapunzel), although it will take a few weeks to finish, as we will take some time this next week to focus on Thanksgiving!

Taking a walk

It’s a beautiful day

Surprised (but only he knows by what)

Rest on a rock

Smile in the sunshine

Outdoor Hour Challenge #10- Picnic

Searching under a rock for bugs

After a few weeks of rain and sickness and sporadic outdoor time, we finally managed to complete the last “Getting Started” Challenge– We had an outdoor picnic!

It was a beautiful day and I packed a lunch and we headed to a park.  We met some friends and played awhile first.  Z-urchin conquered his recent fear of slides (ever since the fractured shin incident) and the older kids ran around with their friends searching under rocks and in the grass for bugs.  They were all very excited to find ants, spiders, caterpillars, and roly-polies.

Conquering his fear of slides- it really didn’t take him long.

Shortstop was delighted to watch all of the action around him and then, exhausted by the effort, he fell asleep.  I am personally amazed at the many contorted positions in which babies can sleep!

Awake and eagerly watching his siblings have fun!

My little princess found a sweet, humble flower that she decided to take home.

A sweet little flower

After our friends had to go home for lunch, I gave X-man and Princess K a mission: find the perfect spot for a picnic!  They chose a place under a big tree and we spread out our blanket and our feast of sandwiches, oranges, string cheese, and carrots.  As we sat, we looked around us and listened.

Finding the perfect spot

Picnic lunch

Having some simple silly fun

First, we heard a crow cawing.  Then we spotted a dog- a mammal to add to our (currently quite short) mammal list!  We spotted a couple of squirrels (another mammal!) darting through the grass and then watched in wonder at the sight of leaves falling all around us in the gentle breeze.  We collected a few leaves to take home with us.

Listening to crows and imitating the “Caw!” sound

Squirrel

After lunch, we decided to gather up a bunch of leaves in a big pile to jump in!  We all worked hard to gather as many leaves as we could.  We made a big pile and they jumped, rolled, and laughed.

Gathering leaves

Gathering plenty of leaves

A good start on a good sized pile

Rolling around in the leaves- giggling and loving it!

We decided when we got home to figure out what the name of the tree was.  I pulled out a handy tree guide and matched the leaves to the Red Oak.    We then used the leaves we collected to do crayon rubbings in our nature journals.

It’s a match

Our nature journals

Recently, I have been rereading Volume 1 of Charlotte Mason’s Original Homeschooling Series.   She says, “A child learns from things…. An observant child should be put in the way of things worth observing.” (p 67, 69)  My immediate thought was that I need to find or create a list of all things that I must put in front of my children so that they could learn from them.  Then as I thought that idea over, I realized it was a bit far-fetched.  I might as well get out a dictionary and just delete a few abstract items.

The oak tree

Since I trashed the list idea, I realized I have yet another reason to be thankful for the Outdoor Hour Challenge.  The author, Barb, chooses a different focus each month and gives tons of ideas for real things and creatures to look for as we complete our nature walks and nature studies.  So, as we complete the outdoor hour challenges this year, we will have opportunities to encounter a variety of real objects.  And as I see the focus each month, I will be given an opportunity to think about where to take my children so that they can see real things in each different focus area.  I’m excited!

Ah, the great outdoors!

I also realized, as I watched my children play in the rocks in our front yard that plenty of free time -with the television and computer firmly turned off- really does provide children with the time they need to explore real things.  Now when I read the story of David and Goliath, my children will really know what smooth stones feel like.

Experiencing real things

So this outdoor hour challenge gave my children the opportunity to encounter and experience:

1.  A caterpillar in the grass- now my children know where these bugs like to live

2. A roly-poly under a rock- now my children know where to start looking for bugs

3. Falling leaves- now my children know why this season is called fall

4.  Brown leaves- now my children are interested in why the leaves change color

5.  A scampering squirrel- now my children can identify this mammal by its shape and tail

We can see the sky between the branches and watch the leaves fall

And now I have completed my list of Getting Started Challenges!  (I really am a list-girl, I tell you what!)  Now I feel like a have a good handle on how to carry out a nature walk and the very important nature talk that must follow so that the children are given words and vocabulary for the real objects (and creatures) they’ve seen.  I am excited to keep learning and keep going outside- it is fun for us all!

Bird Mystery Solved!

In my first Outdoor Hour Challenge post, I  mentioned near the end that there was a beautiful black and brown bird that was a frequent guest in my backyard.  I wondered what it was.

I have spent a good deal of time in the last 2 months trying to figure out what it was.  Finally, thanks to the bird feeder drawing him here and giving him incentive to remain a few minutes, I was able to snap his picture and therefore discover what type of bird he is:

A Chestnut-backed Chickadee!

Isn’t he cute?

I found this better picture on an Idaho Birding website:

Homemade Alphabet Book: A

A is for apples, apple green, animals, apricot, and alligator.

Fire Station Field Trip

A Fire Truck

Last week, we took a trip to a nearby Fire Station.  We had a few mishaps: a lost water bottle, a close encounter with a muddy puddle, and a hunger meltdown.  Overall, however, the outing was interesting and fun.

Where they practice

We learned the difference between a fire truck and a fire engine.  The fire truck has a ladder, the fire engine has a pump.  The firemen are on duty for two days, and then go home for four days.  While they are at the station, during normal work hours they practice, exercise, run field trips, take classes, and do fire station things.  After five, however, they can watch television in a room full of recliners or do whatever they want, as long as they are at the station, ready to go out whenever they get a call.  They have a kitchen where they prepare their meals and a big table where they eat.   This station has three different refrigerators- one each for the three teams who work there.

We went outside and saw their practice equipment- a tall tower (X-man was very impressed with it) with stairs, a pretend roof to practice sawing through, and doors to practice getting through.

Inside the barn, they showed us the heat camera they use to identify people in burning structures.  The captain placed his hand on the ground for a while and then lifted it and showed that you could see the hand print on this camera.  Wow!

Then the kids got to take turns practicing what to do if your clothing catches on fire: Stop, drop, and roll.  My little princess refused to do this, but X-man enjoyed it.  Then they got to slide down a fireman pole!  Even K got into this activity!

They each got a fire fighter’s had and we thanked the fire captain and headed out to a park to solve the hunger problem.  It was a lot of fun!

Another fire truck

It’s shiny

Staring at their reflections

Crawling around with the fire fighter in his gear

He breaths like Darth Vader through his breathing mask- he has about 30 minutes of air

Stop, drop, and roll!

Time to slide down the pole!

The princess wanted to participate in this fun activity

Everyone has fun sliding on the pole

Fireman hat

He got one too!

By the fire engine

What a fun field trip!