A Mile in My Shoes

Yep, we homeschool...

Do you?

Cooking Class

Iris has been enjoying her cooking class (where the photos from the previous post were taken.)  Our homeschool group offered a series of cooking classes by Chef Paul Smitala of Kohler's Blackwolf Run's Restaurant.  Their first class was making Christmas cookies & candy (we lost the photos of that class with the old camera.)

This last class' theme was Pizza! They made small pizzas, pizza soup (yum!), and oreo pizza.  Iris loves it!  She's always loved cooking, and she LOVES eating!  But I think her favorite part of class is the hat.

For some strange and odd reason, she likes cleaning up after cooking too (she didn't get that from me!)  So of course she helped the cooks put away things after class, gathered the dirty dishes and took them to the kitchen...

where she found the industrial dishwasher!  She was in awe.  "MOM! We should get one of those for our kitchen!"  She was so enamored with it, she wanted to have her picture with her chef taken in front of it:

Then she was bummed when she saw they blocked the front opening so you wouldn't be able to see where the dishes go in.  She was excited at seeing the inside of the kitchen though.  It reminder her very much of the movie Ratatouille. 

I think the next class' topic will be Breakfast-themed, mmm-mmmm!

M is for...

Memory Verses!

Something we have started will start this year is Bible Memorization.   I'm going through Seeking Him with some friends from church, so I am working on some  verses myself.

For the kids we are planning on purchasing the Foundation Verse Pack from Children Desiring God.  Which we'll follow with the Fighter Verse Pack.  I love their little Bible bag with shiny stars as incentives.  I probably will try to make my own though, as opposed to buying one.  A little bag like that would be simple enough!

Ann, who always seems to have the right topic on the right day, has some great links for memorization help.  It's also where I found the video for this post.

Some more helps:

Memory Verses-Charlotte Mason Style

Bible Gateway

Linda Fay's ABC Bible Memory Cards (listed under "Bible")

Have fun!

We interrupt this alphabet with some Home Schooling...

Here they stand yesterday, Day 1-Year 1.

It was a smooth day, our math curriculum wasn't delivered until noon, so we started that today.  Harry joined in more than I thought he would.  His participation this year (what would Ambleside Online consider preschool?  Year "-1"?) is completely voluntary.  He flits back and forth between his latest Zoob creation and Iris & I.  Most of our schooling occurs on the couch, with us curled up around a good book.  There are a few things requiring good penmanship though, so her desk has been moved to the living room temporarily. 

After I organize things a bit more tonight I'll take a snapshot of our Home Learning Book Shelf.  Now that I finally have all of our books! 

So far there has only been one glitch.  I can't get our Math DVD to play on the computer.  Which means we are going to have to do some organizing in the basement a little sooner than planned.  I am not bringing the TV upstairs again.

For record-keeping/attendance/scheduling I broke down and signed up for the CM Organizer.  I really didn't want to spend that amount of money on a fancy online organizer when most people I know use a notebook, but organization doesn't come easy for me.  The CM Organizer makes it easy.  Very easy.  Not to mention -  right now being/feeling organized is priceless!  Until I am confident enough to create my own system, or find something that works better (that I can also wrap my brain around) I'll stick with it.

My dear hubby blessed me yesterday morning.  He knew I was feeling nervous about it all (saying "failure is not an option" over and over to myself as I was falling asleep the night before might have clued him in) he went out of his way to communicate his confidence and to encourage me.

There was a sweet card, a vanilla Latté - "to put the edge on", a chocolate bar -  "to take the edge off later", and an apple from my students all waiting for me on my desk! Oh, and some biscotti for my Latté!

Thank You Tim for being so supportive and involved!  I couldn't and wouldn't do it all if you weren't!  And Thank You Kids, for being the brightest and most wonderful class a mom could ever hope for!

(grin)

I found this here at Diane's blog.  I thought it was pretty accurate, which makes it very funny!

Q: How does a home schooler change a light bulb?

A: First, mom checks three books on electricity out of the library, then the kids make models of light bulbs, read a biography of Thomas Edison and do a skit based on his life. Next, everyone studies the history of lighting methods, wrapping up with dipping their own candles. Next, everyone takes a trip to the store where they compare types of light bulbs as well as prices and figure out how much change they'll get if they buy two bulbs for $1.99 and pay with a five dollar bill. On the way home, a discussion develops over the history of money and also Abraham Lincoln, as his picture is on the five dollar bill. Finally, after building a homemade ladder out of branches dragged from the woods, the light bulb is installed. And there is light.

Valentine Craft

So, I think I have a thing for Sun Catchers.  Either that, or I just need some color to brighten our February.  I came across this craft on my friend Martha's web-site.  I couldn't resist. 

First, we shaved the crayons.  The crayon sharpener was going a little too slow for me, so I got out an old grater.   That sped things up a little, but we had to go slow enough to be safe.  We didn't want any knuckles or fingertips in our craft.

Then I melted the crayons.   Make sure you heed Martha's advice to spread the shavings evenly and thinly.  It helps if you have the kraft paper she suggests.  We used paper bags and the creases became very annoying.  They made the melted wax pool instead of spreading evenly. 

The hardest part was finding a heart shape we liked.  One was too fat, one was too long.  One had bumpy edges.  I finally found the "perfect" one, and we traced all the hearts.  Then we cut.

I wanted to cluster them like Martha did, but decided that would be too putzy.  I wanted instant gratification.  So we used double-sided tape, like we did for the window stars.  And since we spend 90% of our time in the living room and dining room, that's where the stars went.  I love it!

I think our windows look like a kaleidoscope!

Socktober and Novembrrrrr...

There has been a lot of busyness here at Chez Sticks, and consequently, little blogging.

I did manage to finish these socks though!  It's the Friday Harbor pattern from Knitting on the Road in Mountain Colors Bearfoot.  I L-O-V-E Bearfoot!  So much! And even though I have 1.5 million other things to knit, I had an "accident."  I tripped and fell and cast on another 6o stitches on the way down.  It's the Ribs and Cables pattern from IK.  In Mountain Colors Bearfoot, again.  (I haven't ripped the Christmas Stocking yet, I will, someday....  And the little sock bag came from here.  I just couldn't resist!  Merry Christmas to me!)

As far as food goes, I whipped up a double batch of Roasted Fall Vegetable Soup too.   We have gotten a lot of squash, carrots, and potatoes from the farm lately, and out of the fear of them spoiling, I went to Everyday Food for a solution.  I love this recipe.  As easy as the tomato sauce recipe.  Although, I used a LOT more water than Martha suggested. 

On the Homeschooling Front, Tim and I went to our first Carole Joy Seid Seminar last weekend.  I adore her.  I want to become a groupie.  Everything she said made so much sense.  She takes a very classical, literature-based approach.  I highly recommend her seminar.   After that, one of the things Tim and I agreed upon is that our television is taking up too much of our time (one of Carole's pet peeves).  It's been on constantly since we upgraded our cable.  So, Saturday night, our TV mysteriously "broke."  I cannot tell you how much I don't miss it!  The kids are a different story though.  Iris is thoroughly frustrated that neither her father nor I seem interested in fixing the TV.  Flabbergasted might be a better word.  Needless to say, my firstborn decided to try to fix it herself.  She woke up early yesterday to see if there was anything she could do.  "Mom, it looks like something is unplugged back there."  Me: "Oh, noooo.  I'm sure it's just something else, the TV is broken."  "But mom, really, I saw a plug..."  "It must be the telephone or something.... The TV is really broken...."   Harrison is going through his own withdrawal.  He didn't seem to be missing it too much, but periodically throughout the day and out of the blue he'll say things like "The B@ckyardigans are next."  "Blue's Clu*s is next"  "G+, Diego, G+ is next." Just like the announcer on Noggin.  Same intonations and everything. Tim said Harry prayed for all his favorite TV shows last night before bed too.  Poor kids!  Oh, and we re-instituted nap/rest time too.  And we are following a daily schedule routine.  It's going to take a little getting-used-to, but the house has never been more orderly, and I've never been so sane at the end of a day! The kids are playing, imaginatively, and reading/being read to much more.

I'll leave you with the cute quote of the week:  I know I keep saying this, but Harrison has really starting communicating more and more.  He is definitely his mother's child!  Or at least the child of a hand-knitter.  He was with me in laundry room when he found an old pair of Iris' slippers.  He put them on and then turned to me and said "Look at my slippers, mommy.  Do you like them?  I made them myself."  Tee-hee! 

Thursday is Knit Night!

I have about 2 more inches knit on the stocking, but I won't bore you with a picture, it looks the same as yesterday.  Tonight is Knitting at Bahr Creek, just like every Thursday, and it's my goal to get to the heel before I leave.  That means no snacks, minimal talking, and actually knitting.  Ha!  Like that's gonna happen! 

Today we made window hangings out of the leaves we found on our Nature Walk yesterday. We should have made the craft yesterday, because 50% of our leaves became dried, curly and unusable overnight.   The artists, left to right, are Harry, Iris, and me.

I'm also attempting an excel spreadsheet-schedule for school.  I <3 (heart) Excel!

And in celebration of Socktober, I thought I'd share a few things from one of my favorite kid's sites: Moolka.  A bag for your sock projects, a sock-themed game for you your kids, and a little pocket sheep game that would make a cute little stocking stuffer for me your favorite knitter.

Another site you should check out (shameless plug!), especially if you have little ones, is Baby Inklings.  It's a great video done by a college friend of ours, that got mentioned in Parenting Magazine this past July! It's one of Harrison's favorite things to watch, and it's educational too!  It would make a great Christmas present for alphabet lovers of all ages!  It reminds me of early B@by Einste!n videos, before they were bought out and taken in a cheaper too-busy hyper-animated different direction by D!sn*y.