A bit of our homeschooling - math u see

For Carbon's math practice, we use the Math U See program, and I really like it. We've been taking our time moving through the primer, as I believe in mastery of math facts and I don't see any reason to rush him, but really this program is fantastic.

There are base 10 blocks that you can buy to go with the workbooks, and the blocks are very nice because they are ridged so you can count how many units are in each block and the ridges sort of hold together almost like a lego brick, so they are very satisfactory for Carbon to handle and please his tactile senses.

But even if you didn't have the blocks, the workpages are laid out with wonderful visual cues for the math problems. It's clear all along that the numbers represent a unit of something and the number line and place value have been beautifully shown as well.

And while Carbon is working on his math, I give Hypatia a pair of dice and have her roll them and then "build" that number from the blocks. It's always nice to have a way for the toddlers and preschoolers to stay occupied while you're trying to work with the older child. :)

Math is one of our easiest subjects right now, mostly because there is no stress in following this program. We love it!

Quote of the Day

Art instructors warn students of the deadly danger of prolonged unprotected use of certain chemicals that produce spectacular artistic results. Cutting flowers mindlessly may cause similar longterm dmage to the soul. By separating the blossom from the plant and the earth, we may become numb to how our actions can sever the link between earth, sky, and humankind. Albert Schweitzer told a cautionary tale. A farmer, he said, may rightly cut a thousand flowers while producing feed for his cows. If, however, that same farmer on his way home wantonly cuts the head of a single flower growing on the road, he injures life.

Stephen Shick, Be the Change: Poems, Prayers, & Meditations for Peacemakers and Justice Seekers

Fall Gardening

I am a bad Fall Gardener. I lose interest in the garden as the days get wetter and darker, and I tend to pull in to the house, both physically and emotionally, during this time of year. My late harvests will be left in the yard, to just rot away.

But not this year. I am really trying to actually continue caring for my garden, year round. Yes, there are more sewing and knitting days than gardening days during this half of the year, but I'm going to go outside on all the gardening days I can.

Today I harvested potatoes and beans, and made a surprise harvest of tomatillos that had been hidden by my ridiculously huge broccoli patch. I don't have any memory of planting tomatillos this year, but I do remember planting seed last year and being disappointed when they didn't come up. So they surprised me!

I also planted my garlic. I harvested so much garlic this year that I am trying out replanting from my own rather than buying any to plant. So there is one little patch of garden set to go for next year.

The rest of the beds will need some work before I put them to bed for the winter. I need to dig up the good rich ground my chickens live on top of, and stir that in to the soil. Chicken poop is very hot, so it will need the winter to cool off and be ready for planting in the spring.

It seems like it's good for the kids too that I'm trying to keep us going outside. We all need the outdoors - it's so much healthier for us.

This week's garden:

why so sad?

UU Sunday - balancing the lesson plans

I noticed something as I moved from classroom to classroom today, checking in and working with three different age levels at once. I noticed that we have fallen into a pattern in all of our classes, despite using very different curriculum in each.

In our pre-K class we are using a Montessori-based method called Spirit Play, in our 1st-3rd grade class I wrote my own lesson plans for "Dr. Seuss and Our 7 Principles", and in the 4th-6th grade class we are doing Toolbox of Faith from the UUA. All different, but they are all sharing a balance of activities in common:

1. Welcome and small liturgical element (lighting the chalice)
2. Joys and Sorrows, a chance for the kids to share and receive support from each other and the teacher
3. A Story
4. Discussion
5. Activity - game, art, etc.
6. Clean up
7. Closure of the class circle
8. Snack

The ages are all at different stages, but they all are following this outline right now, and it seems to work very well for us. Today I could walk from a room where there were little 3 year olds painting and doing yoga into a classroom where 1st-3rd graders were trying to do jigsaw puzzles with blindfolds on with a partner telling them where to put the pieces, into a classroom where 4th-6th graders were making duct tape lunch sacks. Earlier in the classes I would have walked from a story of a lazy bear into a reading of "Horton Hears a Who" into a story called "Answer Mountain".

It's very moving, to see them all in action, and to just feel the happy hum of energy in the classrooms.

ah, ebay

The arrival of a box of toys in the mail is delightful for the kids, and this month I have definitely indulged them.

Carbon was trading his bionicle parts at homeschool park days, but he didn't have enough pieces and I felt bad for him after an older boy traded him two launchers for an entire figure. Ebay seemed like a logical source to "bulk up" his bionicle collection, but I was unprepared for how much some people are willing to pay for these toys! After bidding on many lots, we finally got one. And to be fair, I also bid on a lot of groovy girl dolls for Hypatia. And then, since I was now hooked on ebay, I bid on a few lego sets and got a Harry Potter set.

At that point, I had to pull the plug on my computer. No More Ebay!

We've been reading

For homeschool, we've been reading:

From Lava to Life the sequel to Born with A Bang. Here we have the Earth story, from it's molten beginnings to the end of the dinosaurs, told to us by the Universe and with spiritual overtones.

The Dawn of Life is a the cartoon version of the story of life beginning on Earth. Without the tone of spirituality, this series tells the same story with a comic tone.

Tikal: The Center of the Maya World is a well-illustrated account of the ancient cities history.

For fun we've been reading:

Don't Forget the Bacon is a funny story of trying to remember what to buy at the store, that had the kids talking about it for weeks. They would turn to each other and say "don't forget the bacon" likes it is a little inside joke for the two of them.

The Ticky Tacky Doll is a sweet story of a beloved handmade doll, and a very wise grandmother.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets . Carbon loved this one even more than the first, and I love to see him playing Harry Potter games.

And I've been reading

The Number One Ladies Detective Agency. I finally read this, and it is a lovely book. Mma Ramotswe is obviously inspired by Agatha Christie's lady detectives, and Botswana is painted in loving prose.