Long Overdue Update 3/31/14

My blogging has been pathetic!  I think the only thing I blogged about lately has been that one field trip to Bloomington,  so I am going to try to make up for it by posting pictures and stories from 2013 - present.  I think part of the reason I'm lazy about blogging is because of the time involved, so  I'm not going to pressure myself to be perfect. The pictures are in random order.

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Justin and Ryan are both  in love with science.  As a matter of fact, Ryan has confiscated one of my house-coats that looks a lot like a science lab coat.

The first picture below was taken March 7th, 2014.  Ryan decided to dig up a lily bulb out of the yard and make it grow.  He said, "I'm going to study botany today."

The second was taken today, March 31, 2014.  He has faithfully watered it every day as far as I know.

When Ryan dug up the bulb, Justin decided he wanted to try it as well.  He has been adding all kinds of weird chemicals into his plant.  He also planted a sun-catcher in there.  

 Speaking of chemicals, that reminds me of a funny story: 

We did the popular celery/food coloring science project not too long ago.  You know, the one where the food coloring goes up into the leaves.  After a few days the celery wilted, so Justin decided to add some pickle juice.  The next day the celery looked new!   He was just experimenting and didn't have a clue that would happen.  So we did some research and I guess some plants love acid!  Of course after a couple of days the salt dried it out, but I think that was a great lesson.

  Jonathan created a bust of his favorite Lego character.  

 I have recently felt encouraged to let the kids have some allotted time for interest-led studies.  I do allow this during the school day and yes, I  write it in my record-keeping notes.  We haven't gone off the deep end and chunked all of our curriculum. We still use textbooks, but for history, especially,  I allow them to read real books instead of textbooks. Though I don't directly buy from this vendor, or use every one of the same books, I love having these guides to give me some ideas for what books are out there that the boys can read:

~Living books~

and

  this.  

This site has amazing book lists using the living books method (and for all subjects for that matter).

 I have come to realize that interest-led learning really sticks.  I have also realized that real books written by people passionate about a topic is exciting and draws children into the story.   It's exciting to realize that children can have the freedom enjoy learning.   

  Especially if you tell a child to narrate to you what he has learned after he reads, and later on, he will easily know how to write an essay since he has been practicing it orally for a long time.

I am so thankful for the freedom to educate this way.  I am currently enjoying Lee Binz' book that explains how to create excellent transcripts. 

 Ryan, enjoying an interest-led study:

I love how kids just naturally pursue their interests if they are given the time.   Without pressure, and even in his free time, Ryan has been reading a lot of science material from the library.  With our screening, supervision, & interpretive help, and moderation, he is learning to spot different worldviews at a young age. 

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It's  so fun to watch the boys grow up and see their interests develop. 

  Jonathan is now interested in learning the guitar.  He says he doesn't want lessons right now.  He just wants to teach himself.  I'm o.k. with that.  We do have a book and a DVD, and we will see how that goes.  He mentioned that he might eventually want one of his favorite people at church to help him out if he gets stuck.   I'm not sure how long his interest will last, but my thoughts are that if I just let him play around with it, that he might discover that he has a talent.  Incidentally, he has already taught himself to play parts of a couple of fun songs using one strings.  

 Jonathan & Ryan being hilarious on a cold, snowy day:  

 I'm told this is who they were pretending to be.  I don't understand the obsession with weird stuff.  This is some character that they totally made up themselves.

 Justin got on an Angry Birds sketching kick.  We checked out a How to Draw Angry Birds art book from the library, and I think he did a great job.

 Justin's latest Lego mansion creation.  He worked on it for several days.

 Ryan has always enjoyed making paper creations.  He made this paper castle is from several months ago:

He made this ship after seeing pictures of the ships in Pearl Harbor:

 Jonathan likes to draw & create weird- looking creatures.  This is a corn starch dough sculpture.  These harden very quickly and last a long time. Yes, more weirdness, but that's just Jonathan.  He said this was his mad scientist lab assistant.  

 Ryan made this one:

I love my young man.  I'm just amazed that I already have a teenager.  I enjoy him so much.  I love being able to have great conversations with him. He is a real blessing to me!

Winter fun!  You can't see her very closely -she is on the sled- but the Lord has really helped us to minister to this young lady.  I have felt a burden to reach out to her. She is a 11 year old neighbor whom I felt that the Lord laid it on my heart to show her hospitality.  The very day I took this picture I had prayed, "Lord, help me reach my neighbors."  The roads were iced-over and the schools were closed, so I was very surprised when not long after praying she called and asked if she could come over and play with the boys in the snow.   She is a sweetheart who lost her dad and now lives with her grandparents.  

 Hiking to Donaldson Cave right after the snow had almost completely melted.

 This is at the nature center at Spring Mill.  Intense game of checkers!

 Jonathan's new panda hamster

  Justin loves to draw these types of things. He has always been fascinated with astronomy.

 This winter = snow, snow, & more snow! 

 Some close-ups at Spring Mill Park.  They are growing up so quickly!

Monroe County History Center.

Today was quite full for us.  This morning we went to Bloomington to a Child Evangelism Prayer meeting.  It was wonderful to be together with believers.  There were several from other churches praying together for our communities, for each other, and for revival. 

After the meeting, we completed a tour of the warehouse that will eventually become a Christian community center.  The building had been donated to a Christian media company, but that company/ministry has allowed several other ministries to use the offices.    It was very exciting to hear what they have planned.  I felt a wonderful presence the minute I walked through that door.  

After the tour, we helped our CEF director load some boxes into the new area she is going to use as a library for child evangelism materials, and we spent some time talking about our ministry and our plans for the future.  

  

I decided that since we were already going to be in Bloomington, we'd make a day of it and also have a field trip.  I chose to take the boys to the Monroe County History Center.

  We enjoyed the displays.   I decided to add the silly pictures as well as the serious ones.  

 This was a flag from the 27th (?) Regiment.  

Union uniform. Silly faces.

 Justin & Jonathan were pretending they didn't believe Ryan when he is trying to tell them a giant Kodiak bear is about to eat them.  This bear had been in one of the old local gun shops for several years.

 Posing with John Dillinger

 In an old schoolroom display.  I loved the old desks.  The boys were pretending they didn't want to be there.

 Yes, that is a dunce hat on that chair in the corner.  I can only imagine what the boys were carrying on about.

 An old cabin

 I could not get a clear picture of this for some reason.  Maybe it was the lighting in this room, but it is filled with old muskets and lots of Civil War items. Justin said he loved these guns in particular.

Charlotte Mason for High School

I'm in the process of researching how to home school through high school the Charlotte Mason way.  I'm very excited about this, since most students actually enjoy learning in this fashion.  I've been using this style (eclectically to a degree) for elementary, and now junior high.  We like it so much that I want to make sure we can do it through high school as well.

http://simplycharlottemason.com/2010/03/17/basic-mainstays-homeschooling-through-high-school-the-cm-way/

http://www.amblesideonline.org/ 
I'm including the link for Ambleside online  because it actually has book lists, and since a lot or most of the books are classics, they can be obtained mostly for free!


One of the biggest things that hooked me with the Charlotte Mason education is that we use living books.

"What is a “living book”?

Living books are usually written by one person who has a passion for the subject and writes in conversational or narrative style. The books pull you into the subject and involve your emotions, so it’s easy to remember the events and facts. Living books make the subject “come alive.” They can be contrasted to dry writing, like what is found in most encyclopedias or textbooks, which basically lists informational facts in summary form."

The student uses narration to show if they retain the information from the material they have read.

"Narration requires a much higher thinking level than fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, or true or false. And if we saw the value of this method during the earlier grades, how much more should we require this higher thinking level now that our children are older?" 

 Oral narration eventually transitions to written narration.

This is a biggie for me.  I made high A's in high school  language arts, but when it came to writing an essay to be placed into a college level English class, I didn't make it.  I was placed into a college prep English class to learn the things I already knew.  It was very discouraging for me.  I hope that, even if my boys do not choose the college path, that they will be able to express themselves in written form.

Local Exploration- Friday, October 5, 2012

These are some pictures I took of the boys when I took them to Williams Dam.  For some reason, I didn't post most of the pictures I took and I didn't publish it.  It was in my drafts folder.  This was a Friday getaway. We tried to do this on Fridays.  Very enjoyable!  

Thanksgiving 2012

Around Thanksgiving, we always try to do some kind of activity where we write down what we are thankful for.  This year, I used Ann Voskamp's printable.  One side has a Bible verse and the other side is used to write down the things for which we are thankful.
We traditionally listen to Focus on the Family Radio Theatre Squanto, and we also use Barbara Rainey's Thanksgiving CD's.  We enjoy them so much.  This makes life easier for me because we can do other things while we listen.  Barbara Rainey's CD is wonderful because it has a drama on one side and nice instrumental music on the other. What a blessing, this time of year is so busy!

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