Fall Quarter Update 2008

It has been an interesting quarter to say the least!

Reading- Sam has been enjoying ETC online and moving through books faster than I expected. I thought we had a perfect fit until I noticed that he uses a lot of visual clues and has developed a few tricks of the trade to help him get the correct answer when matching sentences to a picture. Sneaky boy! SO.....we are going to drop all reading that has any visual clues....Ha! Sneaky mama. He is spelling better than he is reading! HOW did this happen?? It was only in July that I was complaining that his reading ability is far greater than he spelling ability. So apparently I'm just never happy. I did speak informally with the reading specialist that is associated with his Speech therapy office about this and she gave me some recommendations. SO....we are dropping AAS spelling for now....he isn't having a problem spelling first grade words and there is enough spelling with the reading lessons..... and going to concentrate on reading fluency and speed. She recommended a reading program that I have never heard of before called ABeCeDarian. I did a little research and apparently it is all the rage in the gifted kids circles. Although he can spell most if not all of the words in level A and read them at a snails pace we are going to start with the Short A level and work on fluency and speed. We still get to use the letter tiles we love so all is not lost!

Language Arts- We are on First Language Lesson , lesson26, and Writing with Easy workbook 1, week 7. These have been good additions and easy for both of us. FLL is easy to use with lots of repetitions but not at all time consuming. WWE helps me to organize his copywork and his narrations....both of which are coming along nicely! He has memorized 2 poems. The Caterpillar by Christina G. Rosseti and Work by Anonymous.

Math- MUS continues to be a great fit. Currently on lesson 19. Math is an easy subject for Sam.

Foreign Language- ahhhh.....still haven't added this......

History/Geography/Natural History/Literature/Poetry- These are all going quite well now that we fine tuned our selections and pacing. Less is more! OR in Latin-Centered Curriculum circles.....Multum non Multa.

Plans for the Winter Quarter....

-Reading- build fluency and speed

-Music appreciation/Art/Nature Study- I'm not sure how all of these fell off our daily schedule...ike....but they need to get back into the weekly routine.

Other news.

Charlotte.....has met almost all the goals we set forth for her preschool years. She has been enjoying the stories from AO Year 0 and Before Five in a Row and we will continue to look to these sources for read alouds for her. It might just be time to start thinking about an informal "letter of the week" program for her. Ideally I'd like to wait until age 4 to start this so she'll be ready to start learning to read at age 5 but we might just be stepping that timetable up a notch.

Last but not least......

Sam received his Bobcat Badge the same day Big Brother got his Eagle!

Reading lessons update

We have finally got in a good pattern with our reading lessons. 100 Easy lessons was working marginally well. Developing a CM reading plan using Treadwell's readers was working marginally well. The perfect fit has been developing a CM reading plan using the readers from LLATL blue. If I did not have these available I would have purchased Pathway readers for first grade.

Sam benefits from the controlled vocabulary of these readers. There are fewer words to learn in order for him to read each new book and we have been working a steady pace of a book per week.

Each week we...

-Introduce the book and read it together.
-play games with the word cards
- sound out new words and introduce any new sight words.
-Create sentences with our word cards
-create new words using word families
-write a word from dictation

Each day...
- we read the book together having him read more and more with each reading.
-we play games with the word cards
- and we do one of the other exercises
spending a total of about 15 minutes per day with a reading lesson

His reading lessons have been reinforced with AAS spelling book 1 which we do daily and using ETC online.

We now have a perfect fit.

Updated Year 1 Booklist

We started with a Year 1 list but have fine tuned it for a much better fit.

Language Arts
Handwriting without Tears -Printing practice
Our CM Reading Program
All About Spelling Book 1
First Language Lessons
Writing with Ease workbook 1
Explode the Code Online as wanted.

How I'm putting this all together....

-Oral narrations from various subjects.
-Daily reading instruction
-Daily copywork from HWT/ Writing with Ease 1
-Memory work from First Language Lessons.


Why I changed......
Sam wasn't challenged enough with the original plan.

Mathematics -Math-U-See Alpha

Foreign Language -Phrase-A-Day Spanish

Bible- Every Day with God

Poetry
A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Now We Are Six/When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne

History
Story of the World Book 1 done at home.


Why I changed....

Co-op wasn't working out as well as I hoped. Sam gets so much more out of the reading when done at home and friends aren't competing for his attention. I restarted the series from the beginning because he is wanting to learn about Egyptians.

Fifty Famous Stories was so truncated that it was impossible for us to get a decent narration from this source.

American History Biography
Benjamin Franklin by Ingri D'Aulaire
George Washington by Ingri D'Aulaire
Buffalo Bill by Ingri D'Aulaire
Pocahontas by Ingri D'Aulaire


Geography
Paddle to the Sea by Holling C. Holling
Geography from A to Z by Jack Knowlton

Natural History/Science
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock
James Herriot's Treasury for Children by James Herriot
The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess
The Burgess Seashore Book for Children By Thornton Burgess
Christian Liberty Nature Reader book 1.
A Reason for Science A

We added Nature reader because he found it in our book closet and loves it. He gives great narrations from this book. We added A Reason for Science for the experiments which have been fun. It is a nice resource because everything is supplied.

Literature
The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter
The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Among the .....People by by Clara Dillingham Pierson

We dropped Tales from Shakespeare until a future year.

Bedtime Reading
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
King of the Golden River by John Ruskin
Peter Pan by James M. Barrie
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
Fairy Books by Andrew Lang

Also Weekly
Art- Artistic Pursuits Book 1
Music appreciation-one composer per quarter
Handicrafts - to be determined by interest
Nature Study- follow Outdoor Hour challenges.

What is really important.....

We are still living a post-Ike life. Things are not completely back to normal yet....too many folks recovering their homes and lives. I am still not back to work and not sure when I'll be heading back. Our department will be the first to restart operations.....women keep having babies....but I'm not sure when I will return. This is the longest break from work that I've had since the births of my children. I miss working with those babies and I miss my co-workers! Looking forward to getting back into a normal routine and balance for my life....

This "hurrication" has given me the time to evaluate this year with Sam and to figure out what is really important for us to do this year. I had originally planned to start AO year 1 in January with Sam giving him some time to mature. I instead just jumped in after his birthday in June....some of the AO reading are really not working for us and some of our non-AO reading are working really well.

One of my major goals for Sam this year is for him to gain confidence with oral narrations. The books that are helping toward that goal and will remain in the daily rotations are...

-Paddle to the Sea
-Just So Stories by Kipling
- Christian Liberty Science Reader book 1.
-Story of the World when read at home

Books that are stretching him in his narration ability and will remain on our weekly rotation are...
-James Herriot Treasury for Children
-Among the Meadow People by Pierson
-D'Aulaire books
-Burgess Bird Book

Books that are causing frustrations for either of us and will be dropped from our schedule are....

-Fifty Famous Stories Retold
- Tales from Shakespeare
-Story of the World with the co-op.

I will probably not add Fifty Famous Stories back into our reading rotations but instead keep it for a reader when he gets older. Tales from Shakespeare will probably be added back next year.

Our history Co-op deserves special attention. He loves the interactions with other children but finds a hour long class to be tedious. He would prefer to have the time to play with friends and I think that is important so instead of a class we will seek out park days with friends.

Another goal is to keep a workable schedule for our day. To say that this has been a challenge for the last few month is a understatement! But here is our current schedule....

Starting at 9am... we work through

Math-U-See
Poetry reading
Speech work
Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 1
Copybook or HWT
History 2xper week/ Geography 1x per week/ Bible 1x per week

( if we take a break we do it now)

Reading*
Literature readings
Spelling with AAS book 1
Artistic Pursuit Book 1 2x per week/ Reason for Science 2x per week.
ETC online as wanted #

* reading instruction has been fine tuned. We have completely dropped 100 Easy lessons. We are now doing CM style reading lessons using the booklets that came with LLATL blue. This is working better for Sam then using just Treadwell's readers.

# Homeschoolers Buyers Co-op had a deal for Explode the Code online and we are trying it out. This is just for fun and not a daily requirement. He usually does 6-9 lessons 3-5 x per week and has almost completed the equivalent to the first book in just a few weeks. He is enjoying it and it is a good easy review.

The best part of our schedule is DAILY OUTSIDE TIME!!!! We can now spend several hours a day outside again. The temperature is a comfortable mid-80s and the mosquitos are semi- undercontrolled. We've missed our outside time!

Post- Ike Life...

...is slowly returning to normal.

Before the storm......

The final decision was made to stay. We couldn't get east due to Gustav....nowhere West until we hit El Paso...ugh. Road North is blocked and detoured to Lufkin.....a shelter in Lufkin or home ....so we stay home. There are no hotel rooms available.....

So the morning before Ike comes to visit we head outside for some playtime. It was cool with a light breeze ....we watched the clouds spin counter clockwise above us.....

I bake and he mows.....an acre with a push mower! Everyone took a turn including the little kids!

John took Sam out when the tropical force winds started up.... Sam LOVED it! I think that was the reason he was able to sleep during the whole storm .....The sounds didn't scare him since he thought it was just like the winds he experienced in the afternoon..... The kids sleep soundly during the winds. Charlotte woke when the eye it...it was much to quiet for her and did not fall back to sleep until the winds picked backup an hour later...

After Ike....

The playground stands! We really thought we would lose it! This isn't storm surge just rain water.... We were incredibly lucky. We headed out the next day to visit a community a little farther north and the destruction was outstanding. We had NO damage ...just a few lost tree limbs.

Everyone gets involved with the clean up. I didn't get a picture of our neighborhood after all the limbs are on the curb. You could not see the houses ....just mounds of stuff on the curb.The levy system that we live behind saved us for the storm surge. Many communities farther inland were not so lucky....Oldtimers were amazed at how high the water line was on the levies....they have never seen it this high....

The dike was stripped bare of buildings and we were unable to drive down it on this day......But it did its job and protected our community!

Just a few miles from our home... The levy kept the debris on 1-45 and not in our backyard!

Our life is almost normal as long as we avoid a regular grocery store. Shelfs are semi-bare and folks are a little crazy because of it. I am the only adult in the family who is not able to return to work....Galveston is not open for business yet and the hospital flooded.

The kids missed their Wednesday break from school! Sam hasn't been able to keep the days of the week straight since I've been home all week...Soon things will return to normal....

Snow days

I thought we were off to a great start for the school year....until Ike took a turn. Tuesday I checked the my hospital's weather alert and Ike was no longer a concern. Wednesday at work by noon ....essential personal were being called in by Thursday pm... and by the time I left people were being asked if they felt like making a trip to Austin with the babies.....

I stopped on the way home and topped off my tank. So decisions needed to be made .... stay or go. We couldn't get to plan A due to Gustav and 2 members of the family were going to have to work Thursday so we stay. I did call my folks with a Plan B but it didn't go very far..... I woke at 3 am made a quick inventory of supplies needed( we were dangerously low on green tea and sodas.....we also stocked up on junk food. nothing makes the hours pass like chips and dip) and made a Walmart run. Great timing....shelfs were being restocked. The cashier mention that it just slowed down.....I just knew there was no way I was going to be in a store on Thursday day. Folks are CRAZY the day before a hurricane. Come on folks.....you live on the gulf coast prepare early. Why are you fighting over food and water when you should've had on your shelf 2 months ago.....

OK. I digress......Unloaded the car and it was already hot. Of course it is going to be the hottest day in weeks when we have work to do....so instead of going to sleep I start on the yard. The garage is a jig saw puzzle....how do I put all the yard stuff in it and still have room for a car. While working I think of Plan C and then my folks pull in the driveway... Plan C is shot down. Plan C was a GREAT plan......Little kids, Big Sis' and grandma head out of town.... The rest of us get the houses ready. Grandma refused to go to the location. BAH!

Ok we stay...

Rita we left. Charlotte was a newborn it was a no brainer. I was in a maternity fog and wasn't aware of such mundane things as hurricanes( I kinda missed the Katrina ordeal ) until we recieved the call that we are going to be under a mandatory evacuation order starting 12 noon tomorrow. I don't even think we boarded up the house. We received the call at 7pm and we were on the road by 4am. We also didn't have family members that had responsibilities. We missed all the humanity that was the Rita evacuation.

Yesterday... DH and oldest son headed off to work. I fielded phone calls and did all I could without them. Dh came up and we pulled up boards and started putting them up. It is hot.....steamy.....red in the face hot.

Surreal moment number #1 - We are struggling with a board and about to throw in the towel and wait for the young male in the family to come home to help us when they evacuate the nursing home down the street. A fleet of ambulance and buses file down our street. THEN we see the helicopters that are evacuating the hospital that I work at..... We laugh and get our game faces on.

Surreal moment number #2- Oldest son returns home. He spent the day boarding up 4 buildings for his employer. He has obviously done a man's work today and he is visibly glad that he isn't boarding up the house tonight. He does inspect our job to make sure it is done properly.

Surreal moment number #3- Dinner was a M. Night Shyamalan SIGNS dinner. What do you want that's in the freezer and cannot be cooked on the grill. Guess what.....that's what we are having for breakfast and lunch today as well......

So now 7 am. All day yesterday we received numerous calls....advise to shelter in place....actually I think the term they used might of been hunker down. Only in Texas. I just received a call today with the advise to follow your family plan. Apparently we are getting the direct hit.

Gotta go bake.....I am my mother's daughter. She bakes in the hours before a storm comes a shore.....

The end of summer...

In the past few weeks, millions of school children across the state have gone back to school. Instead we remodeled our bathroom and took a few weeks off..... I originally thought that we could continue school through the process but I really just didn't realize how loud and dusty it was going to be. This week we will finish up our plans for summer AND I'm remembering why I don't like to take long breaks. 3 weeks is too long....the first day back was frustrating.....the routine was off.....I felt disorganized and Sam was in a foul mood. Today was much better!

I think I found it! All-About-Spelling has answered our needs. Sam likes manipulating letters and I don't like trying to keep track of cards. All About Spelling has these great little tiles ( get the magnets!) and we can keep the letters on our new magnetic board. I just put the whole board away and voila no mess. I use the tiles for Spelling practice ( yes, following AAS book 1- how un-CM of me) and reading practice. Sam loves it! So do I.

These tiles have been an a fabulous addition to our CM-reading lessons. I can write a sentence on the magnetic board and he can use the tiles to practice each word. I erase a word and he fits a new one in. Reading practice has become so much more fun for him and less of a chore for me. I am still alternating between 100 EZ lessons ( currently on lesson 46) and my own lessons. I am finding it much easier to devise my own lesson with the magnetic board/ tiles and no longer feel confined to using just one specific book. I just choose a sentence of interest from a different subject and start teaching from it. I think the constant variation is a plus for Sam and helps keep his interest.

We need to work on narrations. I knew going into this year that this would be the hardest part and would require the most patience from me. Some days he gets it and some days he just doesn't. I have found asking him to act it out works better than just telling it back. He can remember more details with his body then with just his speech. I don't know if this is residue from his speech issue....maybe he is afraid to speak and use the wrong words or have me correct his speech?? Hmmmm something for me to think about. He is far more visual than I originally thought. He gives the best narrations with picture study and with any subject that he can see. If he only hears it he doesn't remember a lot of details. I think tomorrow I'm going to have him close his eyes to remove the visual stimulation and see if he remembers more details. Hmmm something else to think about. Overall his narrations are fair to good depending on what he is narrating.

His vocabulary has exploded! This has been a absolute pleasure for us. He has had such a limited speaking vocabulary it is nice to see him surpass his peers in the area.

Math-u-see continues to work great. We are working our way through lesson 8 this week.

Artistic Pursuits is a new favorite and we will continue it doing a lesson a week.

We'll start Spanish next week....