The Simple Womans Daybook

FOR TODAY... February 8, 2010

Outside my window...a dreary February morning. Chances of rain.

I am thinking...I need a vacation somewhere sunny and warm.

I am thankful for... healthy, active children.

I am wearing... long sleeve green t-shirt w/cowboy boots & hats printed on it, jeans, slipper socks w/moose on them that my hubby brought me from Wyoming and slippers.

I am remembering... that I need to follow God's plan for me.

I am going... to a homeschool curriculum store this week to try and sell some extra curriculum.

I am currently reading... Anne of Green Gables, The Bible, A Charlotte Mason Companion, The Original Homeschooling Series-whew!

I am hoping... to finish Anne of Green Gables today and start another fiction book.

On my mind... taxes, still...

From the learning room....making a slow transition to Charlotte Mason's methods.

Noticing that... I forgot to send a birthday wish to a dear friend of mine:(

Pondering these words... habits.

I am creating...nothing at the moment.

I am hearing...the boys playing Legos before school.

From the kitchen... crockpot chicken jambalaya and green salad.

Around the house... cleaning out for a garage sale and trying to simplify.

One of my favorite things... naps

From my picture journal...a picture of Silvy I took around Thanksgiving-she discovered a visiting baby's pacifier.


Have a wonderful day!

Back to Basics Part 2

I spent a good part of today in the schoolroom again. This urge to simplify seems to have taken on a life of its own!

I cleared out and boxed up extra workbooks that we'll probably never use, some learning resources the kids have outgrown, curriculum we've tried and didn't like, various supplemental items that I thought we're neat, but now just nag at me because I haven't used them yet......

Hopefully now that I don't have to look at them, I can concentrate on what we're trying to accomplish here.

Blakester is excited about trying his new cursive copywork, so hopefully it'll show up this week.

I spent some more time reading at the Simply Charlotte Mason website and they suggest you add one new activity per week if you are wanting to switch to CM. I decided to add in dictation once a week. So last night I ordered and downloaded the e-book Spelling Wisdom for Lulu and Blakester. I'm starting Lulu on Book 3 and Blakester on Book 1. These are books from which we can work on dictation and should have enough activities to last about a year and a half.

This is the prepared dictation method that Simply Charlotte Mason uses to work on spelling. The child looks at an excerpt, preferably from a living book, and determines if he can spell all the words in it. He is given some time to study the passage, either a few minutes or a few days, as necessary. When he is ready, I read the passage aloud and watch while the child writes it out. If I notice he spells something wrong, I place a small sticky note over the word while he continues to write. Once he is done, I have him study any misspelled words and then write them correctly on the sticky tab. Similar to traditional spelling, but instead of word lists, the child reads words in context. Ms. Mason emphasized that a child should not be allowed to look at the misspelled word for any amount of time, because that spelling is what they will remember.

In the spirit of simplifying, I've also decided to spend less time on the computer. I tend to check in on e-mails during the day and surf the net looking at new ideas when I have a moment. I'm going to relegate computer time to in the morning before school, once at a break in the afternoon and do my blogging and research in the evening after the kids bedtime. Hopefully this will free up more of my time during the day.

Till tomorrow-

Back to Basics

I don't have any great "cheap finds" to report this week as I wasn't out purposely hunting them down. The only things that might qualify are a few books I got for trade at our local second-hand bookstore. I took in a bag of books yesterday and came out with a Star Wars book that Blakester picked out, a Ted Dekker book for me and Julie of the Wolves for our home library.

Today was blueberry pancakes for breakfast, sheet changing, grocery shopping and a great amount of time spent purging some unnecessary curriculum and workbooks to sell. Now it's homemade chili and cornbread for dinner.

If you noticed my sidebar, you'll see I'm on to a couple of new reads. I'm revisiting A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola and The Original Home Schooling Series written by Ms. Charlotte Mason herself. I've been drawn to the CM method since I started researching homeschooling. As I went back through my other homeschooling books, I noticed one of the first pages I had bookmarked was on her method. I've tried to implement it here and there, but never fully. After talking with my oldest kids today, I think I'm prepared to ease into it full-time.

When we started back to school a few weeks ago, I was excited with the extra group time we were going to do. Now after trying it out, the consensus is that it is too much time! Our goal has always been to try and do our work completely before lunch and leave afternoons open for free time. But extending group time and adding in extra stuff, like the dictionary skills, makes our day drag out. We decided to nix a few things that added up to just busy work. Why do I need a workbook to teach dictionary skills? Why don't I just send them to the dictionary and have them look up some words? Because I'm a curriculum junkie and always on the lookout for something "extra" to add in.

Back to Charlotte Mason. She believed in short lessons; not a lot of busywork, afternoons spent out of doors and in handicrafts (that are useful) and instilling "habits" in the children. Right up my alley. If I can give up the checklist syndrome!

Right now I'm doing some more research and planning to get my ducks in a row. I'm pretty sure I'm going to follow the plan, especially for history, that is laid out by Sonya at Simply Charlotte Mason. The one thing we're going to change right away is Blakester's handwriting. He's almost done with his Rod and Staff penmanship, so we ordered Pictures in Cursive Book A for him from Queen's Homeschool. This will enable him to do a picture study along with copywork for his cursive writing.

You can read more about Charlotte Mason and her methods at these websites:

• http://www.simplycharlottemason.com/
• http://www.amblesideonline.org/
• http://queenhomeschool.com/
• http://www.charlottemason.com/
• http://www.charlottemasoneducation.com/
• http://www.pennygardner.com/

There are also a lot of blogs out there about Charlotte Mason methods. You can see a list of some here:

• http://www.squidoo.com/best-CM-blogs

I will post my changes as I go. Please pray for my endeavor to get "back to basics".

Wednesday Nature Study

This morning while they were having breakfast the kids spotted a pair of birds outside the kitchen window. Blakester pointed out the star-like markings on them and Lulu was quick to find them in our field guide. They were European Starlings. We tried to get a photo for our journals but they didn't hang around very long.

Since our focus is still on birds, we chose hummingbirds to read about in our Handbook of Nature Study. We learned some new facts about them, including that they do not survive on nectar alone. They are well equipped to eat insects, sometimes catching them in mid-flight. You just never know what one will learn new each day.

This afternoon the sun was shining beautifully so we took a short walk around our property and down the canal bank hoping to see something new for our nature study. Since it is still cold, there's not a lot out and about. We did spot a pair of our Anna's Hummingbirds at our feeder again. We were not the only ones that spotted them:

Way above our treetops we found a flock of Ring-Billed Gulls. The kids wanted to know what they were doing here, since we live about 2 hours from the nearest coastline. Our field guide informed us that these gulls are found all over California during the winter, usually in garbage dumps and parking lots. They are mostly scavengers.

Conman added this little cone to his collection. I did a serious search on the net and I think it belongs to a tree from the Cypress family.

That was our nature study today. The kids still need to log in their findings and we need to decide if we want to take the Outdoor Hour Challenge for this week. We are on #7 and the challenge is to make our own field guides. I need to run it by the kids and see what their opinion is on this project before I go gung ho!

Till tomorrow-

Random Ramblings

I have just a short post tonight. I was absent from the blogging world over the weekend. My husband returned on Saturday from a 9 day (yes, I said 9 day) trip to Wyoming with some friends. I spent my weekend readjusting to life with a spouse.

I'm not a night owl by nature. I used to go to bed when the sun went down. Which in the winter could mean 5:00. Just kidding. But I've always been an early to bed, early to rise, kind of gal.

But because I was flying solo last week I wasn't able to get everything done before bed that I had aspired to. So, quite by mistake, I discovered the joy of the wee night hours. Well, maybe not extremely wee. Only till 1:00 at the latest and that was because I was digging through tax preparation stuff.

I never could understand my friends who would stay up late scrapbooking, cleaning, reading....But last week I had several AH HA moments! There was no one up at that hour to interrupt my book time. I could actually finish a whole chapter! Even two if I wanted! I was able to surf the net without someone standing over my shoulder waiting for their turn on the 'puter. (Like right now when they should have been in bed 15 minutes ago.) I could eat popcorn and watch "The Biggest Loser" without having to share my snack or give up my t.v. show for one that was more preferable to others. I assembled file folder games & mini offices for the kids. I even did my bible study every night! Wow, what joy! What freedom! I reveled in it!

I also discovered how difficult it is to get up in the morning when one has been puttering around half the night.

I'm still trying to decide if the sacrifice is worth the gain....

Giveaway at Peace Creek on the Prairie Blog

I just came across a giveaway at Peace Creek Prairie's Blog. She is giving away a license to an online spelling product called SpellQuizzer. You can read about the giveaway by clicking here.

Then spend some time wandering around her blog and getting to know her~

For Today....February 1, 2010

Outside my window... a hint of sun, some sparrows and finches flitting around and my fluffy cat lying on a lawn chair.

I am thinking... about what direction to take with our schooling.

I am thankful for... a place to live.

I am wearing... workout pants, t-shirt and tennies. Monday-exercise day!

I am remembering... what it was like when life was simpler.

I am going... to be extra frugal this month.

I am currently reading... Anne of Green Gables, The Hurried Child, The Bible

I am hoping... for a peaceful day.

On my mind... taxes.

Noticing that... I don't have a lot of energy these days. Cutting out caffeine will do that to you!

Pondering these words... "Not that I ever was in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have."

From the kitchen... Chicken and artichoke casserole, rice and cooked carrots

Around the house... still piles of stuff to be completed.

One of my favorite things.... chocolate pie

From my picture journal...this is actually a picture my husband took while in Wyoming last week. The contrast of the white tree against the blue and red background is amazing!

Enjoy your day!