Poem I Love

Song For a Fifth Child

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth, empty the dustpan, poison the moth, hang out the washing and butter the bread, sew on a button and make up a bed. Where is the mother whose house is so shocking? She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue (lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo). Dishes are waiting and bills are past due (pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo). The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo. Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue? (lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow, for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow. So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep. I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Remy

A cute crumb faced kid.

Beautify Yourself

Here is a great post by Nancy about changing the things we can. She gives us lots to think about, and some good motivation.

Writing Tips and a Discount

Here is an article by Susan Wise Bauer about one school that totally changed the way they teach writing...and it worked! She gives her own thoughts on why their approach worked. Her comments on this topic are always very helpful to me. Since she posted on this topic her writing lectures (download only) will be discounted from noon on Tuesday to 5pm on Friday. These are great! If you need a little boost in the writing arena check these out.

How to Get Your Sons to Read

Here is a terrific short article about how to get your boys to love reading. The author has 6 sons so I'll take his word for it :0)

How to Improve Your Writing

Well, I am not a real writer. But, I am a teacher and so I want to improve my writing. I found the article 10 Ways to Seriously Improve Your Writing very helpful. It is more for the professional writer, but I still gleaned a few nuggets.

Joyful Parenting?

Peter Leithart has a wonderful post called Joyful Parenting. How can you be joyful when parenting is so much work? Sometimes "the kids join up in ever-shifting alliances to torture one another." Dr Leithart is the father of 10 children and has many helpful things to say on this topic. Check it out:0)

LA over at Habits For A Happy Home

If you are interested in some great language arts curriculum, check out my review over at Habits for a Happy Home. Have a great week!

School

Well, the main thing that is going on in life right now is...school! So, I thought I would do the typical "What we are doing for school this year" post. Here goes!

Aiden is in 2nd grade. Alex is in 1st grade. Riley is 4 and beginning to learn to read. Remy is 2 and very busy :0)

BIBLE
The Picture Smart Bible
Topical Memory System
Reading chunks of the bible with Daddy

HISTORY
We are still loving Sonlight! This year I am doing Core 2 (World History part 2) and P 3/4 (Fiction Fairy Tales and Fun for Riley and Remy). We especially love the Geography Songs that come with Core 2. They are great!

I am not using A Child's History of the World from Core 2. I am continuing on with Story of the World Book 2 instead.

I am not joining Classical Conversations, but I am going to use much of their memory work this year. The boys love stuff set to music and little ones memorize so easily! I am reading The Core by Leigh A. Bortins (founder of CC). She said that when her two older boys got into high school they wanted to delve into some deeper literature. They were hampered because they did not know the the context of these works. Basic science facts, history markers, math facts etc give a strong base in each subject. From there you can learn more of the hows and whys. With her younger two she made a point of having them learn many of these basics. She writes about how invaluable it was. I wish I had a better knowledge base, so I am happy to work something like this in for my boys. I'll learn it too! I got:

CC Cycle 2 Audio CD
CC Cycle 2 Memory Cards
Vertias Press History Cards and song CDs
Vertias Press Bible Cards and song CDs

LANGUAGE ARTS
Ordianry Parents Guide to Teaching Reading (I still love this book)
The Complete Writer Level 1 and 2
First Language Lessons
Italics Handwriting
Dynamic Literacy Word Builder
Spelling Power and Activity Task Cards This I will start about half way through the year.

MATH
I thought I would never do it, but...
Saxon 1 and 2
I'm not doing all the little extras, but I do like it so far.

SCIENCE
Noeo Science Bioligy 1
This comes with many DK, Usborne, and other great books, AND the kit with all the experiment ingredients in it!

ART
Artistic Pursuits (I LOVE THIS!)
This has received wonderful reviews. I ordered it with the art kit that includes all the needed supplies for the year for one student. It has worked fine for all the kids so far. There are just a few things that you would need multiples of.

MUSIC

Discoveries in Music: Melody Lane (The boys love the video)

OTHER
The boys are interested in Chess so I am wanting to teach them this year. But, I have to learn myself!
Lastly, I got these two books to help me think of good "field trips" and activities.
101 Places You Gotta See Before You Are 12
101 Things You Gotta Do Before You Are 12
I have loved these two books so far. And, it is a good reminder for things to show the little boys too. Aiden and Alex have seen many of these things, but Riley and Remy have not!

We usually start school around 9 and we are done with the majority of school by noon. We have a lot on the list, but many of the things only take a few minutes. We usually have some reading left to do in the afternoon (or we can do it at bedtime).

Well, there you have it!

Picture Smart Bible

The Picture Smart Bible is one really fun tool that I picked up at my last curriculum fair. There is a detailed picture for each book of the bible that summarizes the main points in that book. For younger kids you can copy the complete picture and have them color it. For older kids or adults there are outline pages that have light lines that they are to trace as you read the scripture for that symbol and explain why they put it on the page. There is not much interpretation. Just the raw data found in each book. So, it works for many different denominations. In each book there is symbol that shows how that book points to Jesus...wonderful! AND, the copyright law is very generous. If you teach Sunday School, VBS, Women's bible study, family bible studies, or the like...you can make as many copies as you need for your group. They basically just restrict copying of the complete manual or copying for sales. They want as many people to benefit from this wonderful program as possible. I hope you like it! We do :0)

*NOTE* artistic skills are not necessary. All marks that need to be made are outlined with gray and simply need to be traced, any words written, and then colored only if you want to.