Spring Update.

Things are changing around here. Sam has grown completely out of the stage of hearing a story over and over so we have abandoned FIAR and reading 1 story each week. Instead we are reading SOTW story on Monday, Among the Meadow People by Clara Dillingham Pierson on Tuesday, Burgess Seashore Book for Children on Thursday, and a Fairytale/literature selection on Friday.

We are also planning on taking a break from 100 EZ lessons. I feel like we are nearing a wall and instead of frustrating Sam and actually hitting it we are going to do something else for awhile. He is getting bogged down with the sounding out of words as the reading selections have increased in length. I have pulled out the cards that I have laminated from LLATL and made a few more to correspond to what he has learned from 100 EZ lessons with the idea to spend some time drilling while playing games. I found a game board online and laminated it. I will see how creative I can get with this over the next few weeks. Concentration, Go Fish type games are a given. I think I can come up with a couple of ideas with the game board....roll the dice and you get to move X number of spots if you read X number of words....that sort of thing. We will also spend this time reading the booklets that we have from LLATL and the stories we have already read with 100 EZ lessons. I will also try to create some CM styled reading lessons with The Primer by Treadmill that I have on hand. Lots of ideas and I'll just have to wait and see which one works best for him.

Green Hour #10 & #11

Green Hour Challenge #10 asked us to have an outdoor picnic. My kids thought I'd lost it when I took this picture of them eating today. We eat outdoors several times a week most of the year-although usually not junk food like today!

Green Hour Challenge #11 asked us to start a seasonal tree study. Our focus area this quarter has been trees and we are ambitious and are going to try to follow 6 of the trees in our yard. We shall see how that turns out this year.....

Big Sis' joined us for a hike after lunch. We were able to climb the bike trails which is far more exciting then walking the flat walking paths. Sam calls this off-roading and it is one of his favorite activities.
We also toured a local sea turtle facility. Awesome! We've toured one during a recent trip to Florida but yesterday we were able to get up close. It was SO hot in there the kids were beet red and our clothing was drenched with sweat when we left.

Charlotte was amazed by the babies and didn't want to leave their tank. Sam was fascinated with the 2 year old turtles and we learned that in nature it would take these loggerhead turtles 7 years to reach this size.

Green Hour #9

We spent the day attempting to volunteer at the butterfly garden and chasing Charlotte which didn't work out very well. While we were there we got a chance to watch this baby armadillo do some serious rooting around in square foot area.

Be the armadillo, Sam! We did not have as much luck finding items as the armadillo but it sure was fun pretending.

Green Hour #8

Magnifying glasses have always been well used around here but our absolute favorite was a Brock Magiscope which proved to be indestructable but not toddler proof. Charlotte managed to hide the shaft so well that we have never been able to find it. Our new favorite device is the Eyeclops.
You really can see your sweat as it emerges from the gland and nothing gets our whole family involved in one activity than this cool device. Far better that an microscope because everyone can "ohhh and ahhh" at the same time. Today we looked at leaves, a couple of the wildflowers in our yard, and of course body parts....we can't seem to get the eyeclops out without trying to find something on somebody that is disgusting. It was remarkably easy to get Sam in the shower tonight after he saw how much microscopic dirt was on him after our outing this afternoon.
This week we added an entry for our Texas Ash tree. Sam disliked my attempted outline of a Blue Jay so I found a website with a picture that I printed off for him to color. He is very specific about what he wants to include in his notebook. This entry has a drawing of the bark , a leaf rubbing, a Blue Jay, and a drawing of his treehouse that is under this tree.

A pan of seeds, assorted funnels and containers to fill and refill and you have entertainment for the kids, seeds for the birds and hopefully plants in a few weeks.

Up close and personal- Green Hour # 8

Spring Schedule

Our spring got off to a rocky start with an unplanned 2 1/2 week break due to illnesses. Our daily rhythm has not changed too much since winter but we have added a few things to our week.

We are still doing our schoolwork in the mornings starting around 9am.

We work through

MUS, primer
HWT- Kindergarten
our story of the week-chosen from amblesideonline Year 0 and Five in a row
100 EZ lessons
Speech work.

We have added to our weekly schedule-

1. Composer study done informally- This season Handel. I have a a CD that I play during the little kids morning indoor playtime.
2. Artist study done informally- This season Da Vinci. I have been using various Da Vinci works as the computer wallpaper and taking a good look at a particular work once a week usually Mondays.
3. History Co-op on Mondays- Sam started participating in a Story of the World co-op and loves it so we will do a Monday SOTW reading with this group. He really felt like a big kid in this group. I have to be honest and say that SOTW isn't a favorite but it an awesome group of families and the co-op is the resource that I'd be foolish not to participate in.
4. Started reading Burgess' Seashore Book. Doing 1 chapter a week usually on Tuesdays. When finish will start Burgess' Bird Book
5. Started reading Little House in the Big Woods. Doing 1 chapter a week spread over 2 days usually on Thursday and Friday. When finish will either read another free reading selection for AO year 1 or perhaps start a AO year 1 literature selection.
6. Participation in the Green Hour Challenge doing our planned activity on Friday afternoons.
7. Poetry- poem related to our nature study that I recite to the kids several times a day. I keep a copy on the fridge so I remember to do this! No one has memorized it yet but it keeps sounding better and better each time it is read.

Our Afternoons are spent -

Monday- History Co-op 1-2 hour. 1-2 hours outside time.
Tuesday- Speech Therapy alternating weeks and 2-4 hours outside time
Wed- the kids are at grandma's while I work
Thursday- exploring various parks in the area - 2-4 hours outside time
Friday- Planned nature study time- 2-4 hours outside time

Green Hour #7

We did not have a Green Hour we had a Green Week! We have inspected, dissected, poked, prodded, virtually every wildflower, tree, insect, and bird in our backyard. Big Sis' joined in much of the adventure and has been crowned "Butterfly Catcher Extraordinaire"! In an attempt to try to keep our focus on our trees we have started playing games with our trees. "Race you to the ( name , characteristic, etc)" is a favorite with Sam.




We've set up our tree identification book differently then Barb-Harmony Art Mom suggest in Green Hour Challenge #7. We have a 2 page spread with seasonal pictures of our trees on the left and pictures of the bark, leaves and any defining characteristics such as cones, nuts, or flowers on the right. This is our first entry and I forgot to take pictures of the needles of our Loblolly pine! I have also started a nature blog that will correspond to our identification books that we will be making.....mainly to help me organize our pictures before we put it all together. The little kids have been impressing their dad with their vocabulary when talking about their trees.
We decided to let the perimeter of our property get a bit wild to see what would grow...much to the liking of my oldest son who dislikes edging the yard. Already wildflowers are taking over and Charlotte is overjoyed with all the possibilities.

Green Hour #6

This particular basket was found on a beach in Spain by Dad when he was about 6 and has traveled with him throughout is life. It makes the perfect container for Sam's pinecone collection and a lovely centerpiece. I have been wondering what do with this basket for years and Barb-Harmony Art Mom's Green Hour Challenge #6 helped me find the solution. Thanks!

It has been a rough week. Sam recovered from his respiratory ailment and was his usual active self for a day before an intestinal ailment brought him down. His participation in our green hour challenge was minimal this week. He did join us outside and walk around the yard a bit to look at our trees but he was happiest swinging so that is what he did for the hour he was outside. All our plans for identification books, etc will need to wait until next week.

Charlotte made her first pine cone bird feeder. I planned on doing this to help get Sam out of the house because this has always been one of his favorite activities. He got really tickled watching his sister make such a mess. He gave her pointers and directions from his "supervisor's" seat on the swing. " Too much peanut butter." " Charlotte,stop eating it!"

The Blue Jay family loves Charlotte. She got as much bird seed on the ground as she did on the pinecone. They have been dining in that area of the yard since we left but have not allowed me to get a picture.

Sam did help her find the perfect place to hang her finished product. We will be able to see the birds from our dining room window.