Recently in Homeschooling Category

Much like Emma Woodhouse in Jane Austen's "Emma", I love to make plans. I don't always follow them, but I sure do enjoy making them. Schedules and routines are some of my favorite plans to make and what better way is there of finding new schedule ideas than peeking into the schedules of four moms with a total of thirty-five kids.

The moms linked below have kindly offered a view into their lives and detailed their daily schedules:

The Common Room

Life in a Shoe

Raising Olives

Smockity Frocks

I suddenly feel a planning yen coming on.

We are having exams this week and I wanted to share part of D's exam from yesterday. I thought other homeschooling mothers might enjoy it. We read "Idylls of the King" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson for poetry this term. It's Authurian stories told in verse. Very fun stuff, but I kept my dictionary close as I read. The two poems about Geraint were my favorite. Anyway, D's exam question was to write a spontaneous poem based on a tale from the book. Here is the result:

And Arthur lay upon the field

Sore wounded, no more his sword could wield.

Modred too lay on the field, slain,

A fruitless bid the throne to gain.

The Knights that filled the table round

Are passed now unto the ground

Save one, Sir Bedivere, who carries his lord anon

To the borders of Avalon.

The dying King gives one last command

To throw Excalibur in the lake, to the white hand

And Bedivere stood long and hid the sword

Saying, such a blade should not be given to the lake as ward.

He returns to his King and tells

The sword now at the bottom dwells.

Arthur knew of the betrayal and told the Knight

To go back once more and do it right.

A second time Bedivere's greed

Betakes him and his king's wise word he did not heed.

He hides the sword once more

And lies to the king dying on the floor

And Arthur reproached him rightly

For behavior less than Knightly.

Bedivere throws the sword unto the lake

And a white hand the sword did take.

And Arthur was borne to Avalon

As the New Year dawned.

Because it is the 200th birthday of Frederic Chopin, a free album of his music is available for download from Amazon.

Free - I like the sound of that. And isn't that cast of Chopin's hand really creepy? But not near as creepy as what happened to Chopin's heart. Click on his name to find out what it was.

Don't forget that today begins Extreme Shakespeare.

I also wanted to mention this post regarding Vincent van Gogh and his love of the Bard. Thanks to the internet we can read Van Gogh's letters and we find that he was very pleased to own his own book of Shakespeare and reread it often.

Not too long before his death, Van Gogh writes that he read this passage from Henry VIII (Act III, scene ii):

'And when I am forgotten, as I shall be,
And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention
Of me more must be heard of, say I taught thee;

Appropriate for Shakespeare...and Van Gogh, don't you think?

I've posted photos before of the Green Cabinet in our Dining Room, but I don't think I've ever shown the inside of the cabinet.

Here is the Green Cabinet shown again standing in the corner with our wine rack which holds decorative bottles.

The cabinet holds some of our school supplies but had gotten quite messy lately. I decided this week that it had to be tidied. Let's take a look at the results. 

Not perfect, but better. I really should have taken a before photo.

Shall I tell you about each shelf?

Here are the top three shelves: 

The top shelf holds two free brass planters - one with colored pencils and the other with markers. I plan to spray paint these planters soon. I'm thinking a blue or green.

The second shelf holds pens and pencils. The white milk glass cup holds pens and highlighters. Ten years ago, it held toothbrushes in our bathroom. The large white jar used to be part of a kitchen canister set and now holds our unsharpened pencils. The blue star tin cup is where we keep the sharpened pencils and erasers. The tin cup is from Target's dollar section.

The third shelf holds our stapler and tape dispenser. The white tub has our scissors, staple remover, calculator, hole puncher, and compass, but it held baby wipes long ago. It was long, long ago because my youngest child is nearly twelve-years-old. This sturdy container has been very useful all these years.   

The fourth shelf has a large, blue metal bin from the thrift store with all of our crayons in it. The little blue tins has our Crayon Twistables. It came from Target just like its twin above.

On the fifth, and bottom, shelf we have our watercolor pencils, a box of index cards, and our index card binders. The box for the index cards actually was part of a small paper shredder years ago. The part that sat on top broke ages ago, but I saved the the hard plastic box and it has been very helpful. 

So, that's my tour of the Green Cabinet. I hope you enjoyed a look inside this useful (and free) piece of furniture.

Monday we participated in the GBBC 2010 and enjoyed ourselves much. This was the most I have exerted myself since my brain surgery in November, so I was very tired afterwards. We stayed in our own neighborhood and didn't travel the local trail, as we usually do. Because of this, we didn't spot as many birds as in past years, but I think we still did well.

Here's our tally:

• 12 Muscovy ducks
• 32 Mallard ducks
• 1 Snowy Egret
• 1 Great Egret
• 1 Little Blue Heron
• 1 Green Heron
• 5 White Ibis
• 1 Wood Stork
• 1 Turkey Vulture
• 4 Common Moorhens
• 1 Northern Mockingbird
• 1 Palm Warbler

See? Not too bad. As you can see, we found many water birds - thanks to the three ponds in our tiny neighborhood.

The best part of the bird count was that we got a chance to see a newly laid clutch of Muscovy eggs.

A few photos from the bird count:

Shakepeare's plays are an integral part of our homeschooling curriculum. We typically read three of them per year - one play during each school term. After four years of this, we've read most of the most famous ones:

• Henry V
• The Tempest
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• King Lear
• Hamlet
• Othello
• Julius Caesar
• The Merchant of Venice
• Richard III
• The Taming of the Shrew
• Macbeth
• Twelfth Night
• The Winter's Tale 
• As You Like It
• Much Ado About Nothing

We will finish this school year with Romeo and Juliet and something else.

The reason for all this Shakespeare is for enjoyment, yes, but also because these plays influence our world. From the World War II miniseries Band of Brothers (Henry V) to the TV show Lost (The Tempest), the Bard of Avon touches everything.

If you also enjoy Shakespeare, you might like to participate in Extreme Shakespeare and read 38 plays in 38 days. Sounds fun...and hectic. I'm not sure I have the time. For those interested, the 38:38 group reading challenge begins March 1 and ends on April 7. Check the calendar for the schedule of books. Oh, I just realized something. If the challenge had begun yesterday, it could coincide with the 40 days of Lent - though I don't think Shakespeare would actually qualify as a Lenten sacrifice. 

The picture above is a lovely blank journal I found at a thrift store. I was attracted by the graphic, but the pun makes me smile.

I took a poll of the children's favorite plays. D chose Twelfth Night and The Tempest. S chose Henry V and Twelfth Night. I think I love all of the soliloquies and monologues the best.

Do you have a favorite Shakepeare play?

Today is not Presidents Day (or, Presidents' Day). We are actually celebrating Washington's Birthday. Sorry, Abe, no Federal holiday for you.

But Washington's Birthday isn't celebrated on George Washington's actual birthday. We celebrate it every third Monday in February to give many Americans a three-day weekend. Washington was really born on February 22, 1732 - according to the Gregorian calendar. We use the Gregorian calendar now, but when the stork brought baby George to Augustine and Mary Washington the world was using the Julian calendar. Thus, George was really, truly born on February 11, 1731. Confused? I think I am. This Slate article attempts to clear up things.

Poor George! His birthday keeps moving around the calendar and he has to share his special day with a gaggle of other guys - most of whom he never knew and probably wouldn't like.

Speaking of George Washington, we had so much fun visiting his house, Mount Vernon, during our DC vacation last spring. I think it is one of the best homeschool field trips we've taken. Few things compare to touching a tree planted by George Washington.

It's almost time for another Great Backyard Bird Count. Seven more days, to be exact. This year's count will begin on Friday, February 12 and end on Monday, February 15. There will be prizes for the photo contest and a general prize drawing among all the participants. How nice! All of the prizes look great and would be helpful teaching aids in our homeschool; however, we love to participate in the count each year, regardless of potential prizes. It is great fun to look for birds and to contribute our collected data.

To participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, print a tally sheet for your area. Next, you will need to spend at least 15 minutes counting the birds in your area. You can observe in your own backyard or at the park down the street. Just make sure to keep a separate tally sheet for each location and for each day you participate. After you count your local birds, enter your tally at the Great Backyard Bird Count website.

After the bird count, scientists will use the data collected to answer many questions. That's why the bird count is so important.

Teachers and homeschoolers might like the free classroom materials available.

Here are the rules for the photo contest. Here are the galleries of photos from previous years.

If you don't have a bird guide book to help you with identification, you can look online for help. I often use eNature.com for identification. I take the closest photo possible and use it as a reference when I return home. In fact, I identify most flora and fauna in this manner.

I hope you all will join the Great Backyard Bird Count this year. Remember: it begins in only one week. 

I know it's a bit late in the season to think of snowmen, but I wanted to show you this adorable miniature that D made for me. He's only 1 3/4 inches tall!

I asked her to make him look like a traditional snowman and she did. However, this little guy is made of polymer clay and toothpicks and he's been baked in the oven so I can keep him forever. No melting in the sun for this snowman.