Results tagged “homeschooling” from Mrs. Happy Housewife

Vase With 12 Sunflowers

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Vase With 12 Sunflowers 1888

This is Vincent Van Gogh's Vase With 12 Sunflowers - painted in 1888. It is one of several inexpensive art posters we have around the house. I love the Impressionists and I love sunflowers, so here is a double blessing. (Yes, I know Van Gogh was actually a Post-Impressionist. Let's not nitpick.)

I have the children sketch a still life every other week, but D was inspired by an episode of Doctor Who (featuring Van Gogh) to instead sketch this painting using pencil with a bit of colored pencil added for clarity.

Van Gogh's Sunflowers

She wanted me to post the original painting along with her hasty sketch. I believe she likes Van Gogh's art a lot. I know we both wish someone could have calmed his tumultuous mind.

Favorite Homeschooling Blogs

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Year 6 - Tentative

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*=Term 1   **=Term 2   ***=Term 3

 

Bible

Bible Study

*The United Kindom  

**The Wisdom  

***The Divided Kingdom

 * ** ***Liturgical Year

 

World History

Stream of Civilizations Vol. 2 by

*Forward-Chapter 5  

**Chapter 6-Chapter 10  

***Chapter 11-Chapter 17

 An Island Story

 

 U.S. History

A History of US by Joy Hakim.

*A Reconstructing America  

**An Age of Extremes  

***War, Peace, and All That Jazz  

***All the People: Since 1945

 

Biographies

 

 

Geography

* ** ***National Geographic Magazine

* ** ***Smithsonian Magazine

 

Citizenship

Plutarch:

*Cicero

**Demosthenes

***Theseus

 

Current Events

 

Literature

Shakespeare: TBD 

*  

**.

***

 

Poetry

*Alexander Pope  

**William Cowper  

***Lord Byron

 

Language Arts

Two written narrations per week.

 

Math

Saxon 87

* Lesson 

** Lesson 

*** Lesson

 

Science

Apologia's General Science by Dr. Jay Wile.

*Module   

**Module   

***Module  

Lab Work

 

Nature Study

Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock.

* ** ***Birds

Nature Journal

Birds of America by John James Audubon.

 

Art

*Caravaggio (1571-1610) Italian Baroque (composer Vivaldi, Baroque)

    Rest During the Flight into Egypt, c.1595, Rome
    The Sacrifice of Isaac, 1598-1599. Oil on canvas. Princeton, NJ
    The Calling of St. Matthew, 1599-1600 San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
    The Conversion on the Way to Damascus, 1600-1601 Rome
    Supper in Emmaus, 1606. Oil on canvas, Milan
    The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1608-1609. Oil on canvas. Messina, Italy

**Jean Honore Fragonard (1732-1806) French Rococo (composer Mozart, Early classical/Rococo)

***Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) American Illustrator (20th Century American Music: Blues, Jazz, Big Band)

 

Music

*Vivaldi  

**Mozart  

***Blues/Jazz/BigBand

Folk Songs

Hymns

 

Foreign Language

Latin

Spanish

 

Free Reading

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.
The Von Trapp Family Singers by Maria Von Trapp
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.
Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott.
Little Men by Louisa May Alcott.
Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott.
The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.
Penrod by Booth Tarkington.
A Little Brother to the Bear by William J. Long. 

Year 9 - Tentative

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*=Term 1   **=Term 2   ***=Term 3

 

---------- Religious Studies ----------

* ** ***My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers.

Bible Study

*The United Kindom  

**The Wisdom  

***The Divided Kingdom

* ** ***Liturgical Year

Ourselves by Charlotte Mason.

*Part III Heart: Chapter 12-15

**Part III Heart: Chapter 16-18

***Part III Heart: Chapter 19-20 &

    Part IV Vocation

 

World History

Stream of Civilizations Vol. 2 by

*Forward-Chapter 5  

**Chapter 6-Chapter 10  

***Chapter 11-Chapter 17

A History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill.

*Chapter 33-62

**Chapter 63-90 

Current Events

***Chronicle of the 20th Century by Clifton Daniel.

*Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau. 

*Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

*Letter to Horace Greeley by Abraham Lincoln.

***Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King.

***I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King.

 

 U.S. History

A History of US by Joy Hakim.

*A Reconstructing America  

**An Age of Extremes  

***War, Peace, and All That Jazz  

***All the People: Since 1945

 

Biographies

*John Adams by David McCollough.   

**Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, a Slave by Frederick Douglass.

**Up From Slavery, an Autobiography by Booker T. Washington.  

**The Diary of Mary Chesnut by Mary Chesnut. 

**Her Little Majesty by

***TBD.

Possiblities:

Theodore Roosevelt, an Autobiography by Theodore Roosevelt. 

The Spirit of St. Louis by Charles Lindbergh. 

Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

 

---------- Geography ----------

*Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland by Dorothy Wordsworth.

**The Oregon Trail by Francis Parkman.  

***South by Sir Ernest Shackleton.

* ** ***National Geographic Magazine

* ** ***Smithsonian Magazine

 

---------- English ----------

History of English Literature by H.E. Marshall.

*Chapters 54-65

**Chapters 66-77

***Chapters 78-85

Plutarch:

*Cicero

**Demosthenes

***Theseus

Shakespeare:

*The Comedy Of Errors

**TBD

***TBD

*A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.  

*The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy.

* Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. (Skip chapter 5 in Part II)  

**Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beacher Stowe.

**She Stoops to Conquer and The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith.

**

***Faust, Book I by Johann Wolfgang Goethe.

***The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

***

Two written narrations per week.

One creative narration per week.

Commonplace Book

Public Speaking

Grammar

Composition

How to read a book

The Fallacy Detective? 

Poetry:

*Alexander Pope

The Rape of the Lock (comedic mock-epic)

An Essay on Criticism

Essay on Man  

**William Cowper  

***Lord Byron

The Roar on the Other Side

 

---------- Math ----------

Algebra I: Structure and Method

*Chapter 1-4  

**Chapter 5-8  

***Chapter 9-12

 

---------- Science ----------

Apologia's Physical Science by Dr. Jay Wile.

*Module 1-5  

**Module 6-12  

***Module 13-16 

Lab Work

Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock.

* ** ***Birds

Nature Journal

Birds of America by John James Audubon.

Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

 

---------- The Arts ----------

The Story of Painting by H. W. Janson.

*p.82-112

**p.112-142

***p.142-161 

Work on drawing skills. Illustrate a scene from reading of your choice once a week, more as desired.

*Caravaggio (1571-1610) Italian Baroque (composer Vivaldi, Baroque)

    The Cardsharps, c1594. Oil on canvas. Ft. Worth, TX.
    Rest During the Flight into Egypt, c.1595, Rome
    The Sacrifice of Isaac, 1598-1599. Oil on canvas. Princeton, NJ
    Saint Catherine of Alexandria, c.1598. Oil on canvas. Madrid.
    Martha and Mary Magdalene, c.1598. Oil on canvas. Detroit. 
    Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1598-1599. Oil on canvas. Rome.
    The Calling of St. Matthew, 1599-1600 San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
    The Conversion on the Way to Damascus, 1600-1601 Rome.
    The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, c.1601-1602. Oil on canvas. Potsdam, Germany.
    The Entombment of Christ, 1602-1603. Oil on canvas. Vatican City. 
    Supper in Emmaus, 1606. Oil on canvas, Milan
    The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1608-1609. Oil on canvas. Messina, Italy

**Jean Honore Fragonard (1732-1806) French Rococo (composer Mozart, Early classical/Rococo)

Blind Man's Bluff, c.1760. Oil on canvas. Toledo, OH.
The Swing, c.1767. Oil on canvas. London.
The Reader, or Young Girl Reading, c. 1776. Oil on canvas. DC. 

***Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) American Illustrator (20th Century American Music: Blues, Jazz, Big Band)

 

*Vivaldi Wikipedia 1678-1741

Listening selections for this term:
    Gloria (choral work);
    The Four Seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter;
    Trio Sonata in C major, RV.82;
    plus 3 concerti - Maybe one for violin, one for guitar and
    one for a woodwind instrument such as oboe or bassoon.

or selections from Classical Masterpieces of the Millenium: Vivaldi CD.

The Four Seasons
La Notte
L'estro armonico

 **Mozart

 Milton Cross' Encyclopedia of the Great Composers and Their Music p.512-543.

Eine Kleine Nacht Musik
    Requiem [A Vocal work]
    Symphony no. 41 in C major (Jupiter)
    Sinfonia Concertante
    Piano Concerto no. 21 in C major (K.467) Mozart-Archiv has free mp3 downloads of all Mozart's works; the main page is in German and offers eight identical servers, but I can only get 4 and 5 to work.

or selections from Classical Masterpieces of the Millenium: Mozart CD.

***Blues/Jazz/BigBand

 

Folk Songs:

*Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford

*When Johnny Comes Marchin' Home Again

**Three Ravens

**Yellow Rose of Texas

***Drunken Sailor

***Red River Valley

 

Hymns:

*Silent Night

**Softly and Tenderly

***The Old Rugged Cross

 

---------- Foreign Language -----------

Latin Christiana

*p.

**p.

***p.

Spanish in 10 Minutes a Day by Kristine Kershul.

*p. 52-71

**p. 72-91

***p. 92-107

 

Health

 

Free Reading

In no particular order:
The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Penrod and Sam by Booth Tarkington.
Alhambra by Washington Irving.
Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens.
The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton.
I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed) by Alessandro Manzoni.
The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter.
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.
Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter.
Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Hard Times by Charles Dickens 
The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The School for Scandal
by Richard Sheridan
History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia by Samuel Johnson
Isaac Bickerstaff and Days with Sir Roger DeCoverly by Richard Steele. Very fun.
The Importance of Being Earnest a play by Oscar Wilde (The recent movie was well done with one exception of one scene that contains some nudity and is repeated in a flashback a couple times.)
Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Gilbert and Sullivan, HMS Pinafore and others (Check out the plays on video. You really can't read a musical.) Plays also available at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad - a good boy title; sad, but a great story about honor, about doing the right thing, about being responsible for those in your care, about recovering lost honor.
Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott (her letters home detailing her experiences as a Civil War nurse)
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
Mr. Midshipman Easy (or others) by Frederick Marryat 
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain
Willa Cather - Death Comes for the Archbishop, O Pioneers, My Antonia
G.K. Chesterton any and all; all his books are wonderful!
C.S. Lewis: The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, Til We Have Faces
P. G. Wodehouse Some readers may be uncomfortable with the alcohol consumption in his books, a reflection of differing standards of culture and time. Read these for the superb humor and Wodehouse's remarkable knack for simile.
Dorothy Sayers mysteries 

Sir Walter Scott:
If the student has not yet read Rob Roy, we suggest that you begin with it.
* The Bride of Lammermoor - East Lothian, 1695
* The Pirate - Shetland and Orkney Islands, 1700
* The Black Dwarf - The Lowlands of Scotland, 1706 (Jacobites)
** Rob Roy - The Jacobites
** Heart of Midlothian - Time of George II. (Porteous Riots)
** Waverley - The Jacobites
** Redgauntlet - Time of George III.
** Guy Mannering - Time of George III
** The Surgeon's Daughter - Fifeshire, Isle of Wight, and India (1780)
*** The Antiquary - Scotch Manners, last decade of the 18th Century
*** St. Ronan's Well - Near Firth of Forth, 1812

Year 6 - Tentative

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*=Term 1   **=Term 2   ***=Term 3

 

Bible

Bible Study

*The United Kindom  

**The Wisdom  

***The Divided Kingdom

 * ** ***Liturgical Year

 

World History

Stream of Civilizations Vol. 2 by

*Forward-Chapter 5  

**Chapter 6-Chapter 10  

***Chapter 11-Chapter 17

 An Island Story

 

 U.S. History

A History of US by Joy Hakim.

*A Reconstructing America  

**An Age of Extremes  

***War, Peace, and All That Jazz  

***All the People: Since 1945

 

Biographies

 

 

Geography

* ** ***National Geographic Magazine

* ** ***Smithsonian Magazine

 

Citizenship

Plutarch: TBD

 

Current Events

 

Literature

Shakespeare: TBD 

*  

**.

***

 

Poetry

*Alexander Pope  

**William Cowper  

***Lord Byron

 

Language Arts

Two written narrations per week.

 

Math

Saxon 87

* Lesson 1 - Investigation 4 

** Lesson 41 - Investigation 8 

*** Lesson 81 - Investigation 12

 

Science

Apologia's General Science by Dr. Jay Wile.

*Module 1-5   

**Module 6-11  

***Module 12-16 

Lab Work

 

Nature Study

Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock.

* ** ***Birds

Nature Journal

Birds of America by John James Audubon.

 

Art

*Caravaggio (1571-1610) Italian Baroque (composer Vivaldi, Baroque)

**Jean Honore Fragonard (1732-1806) French Rococo (composer Mozart, Early classical/Rococo)

***Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) American Illustrator (20th Century American Music: Blues, Jazz, Big Band)

 

Music

*Vivaldi  

**Mozart  

***Blues/Jazz/BigBand

Folk Songs

Hymns

 

Foreign Language

Latin

Spanish

 

Free Reading

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.
The Von Trapp Family Singers by Maria Von Trapp
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.
Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott.
Little Men by Louisa May Alcott.
Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott.
The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.
Penrod by Booth Tarkington.
A Little Brother to the Bear by William J. Long. 

Year 9 - Tentative

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*=Term 1   **=Term 2   ***=Term 3

 

Bible

* ** ***My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers.

Bible Study

*The United Kindom  

**The Wisdom  

***The Divided Kingdom

 * ** ***Liturgical Year

 

World History

Stream of Civilizations Vol. 2 by

*Forward-Chapter 5  

**Chapter 6-Chapter 10  

***Chapter 11-Chapter 17

A History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill. 

 

 U.S. History

A History of US by Joy Hakim.

*A Reconstructing America  

**An Age of Extremes  

***War, Peace, and All That Jazz  

***All the People: Since 1945

 

Biographies

*John Adams by David McCollough.   

**Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, a Slave by Frederick Douglass.

**Up From Slavery, an Autobiography by Booker T. Washington.  

**The Diary of Mary Chesnut by Mary Chesnut. 

**Her Little Majesty by

***TBD.

Possiblities:

Theodore Roosevelt, an Autobiography by Theodore Roosevelt. 

The Spirit of St. Louis by Charles Lindbergh. 

Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

 

Geography

*Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland by Dorothy Wordsworth.

**The Oregon Trail by Francis Parkman.  

***South by Sir Ernest Shackleton.

* ** ***National Geographic Magazine

* ** ***Smithsonian Magazine

 

Citizenship

Ourselves

Plutarch: TBD

 

Current Events

 

Literature

History of English Literature

Shakespeare: TBD

*A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.  

*The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy.  

**Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beacher Stowe.

***TBD

 

Poetry

*Alexander Pope  

**William Cowper  

***Lord Byron

The Roar on the Other Side

 

Language Arts

Two written narrations per week.

One creative narration per week.

Commonplace Book

Public Speaking

 

Math

Algebra I: Structure and Method

*Chapter 1-4  

**Chapter 5-8  

***Chapter 9-12

 

Science

Apologia's Physical Science by Dr. Jay Wile.

*Module 1-5  

**Module 6-12  

***Module 13-16 

Lab Work

 

Nature Study

Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock.

* ** ***Birds

Nature Journal

Birds of America by John James Audubon.

 

Logic

How to read a book

The Fallacy Detective?

 

Art

The Story of Painting by

*Caravaggio (1571-1610) Italian Baroque (composer Vivaldi, Baroque)

**Jean Honore Fragonard (1732-1806) French Rococo (composer Mozart, Early classical/Rococo)

***Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) American Illustrator (20th Century American Music: Blues, Jazz, Big Band)

 

Music

*Vivaldi   **Mozart   ***Blues/Jazz/BigBand

Folk Songs

Hymns

 

Foreign Language

Latin

Spanish

 

Health

 

Free Reading

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Applying a Course of Study

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I know many homeschoolers are currently finishing their school year and looking towards planning next year. Therefore, I thought now might be a good time to explain how we homeschool.

First, I choose our course of study and books. I use Charlotte Mason and AmblesideOnline (AO) as a guide. Though we are eclectic homeschoolers, I would say we are Charlotte Mason followers at our core. If you have not heard of Charlotte Mason or her educational ideas, please read AmblesideOnline's Introduction page. In a nutshell, I would say a Charlotte Mason education is filled with good books and beautiful things.

Second, I don't follow AmblesideOnline's booklists explicitly. You'll notice that their Year 8 is not exactly like my Year 8. One reason for that is that I make substitutions according to what is available to me. Another reason is that AO travels through World History in only two rotations. I chose four rotations - each lasting three years. Potatoes, Potahtoes. Both choices are valid.

Third, I make checklists for each term. These checklists itemize every chapter to be read and lesson to be completed.  In a few cases, as in the Free Reading section, the checklist merely lists a book title. The date when the assignment is finished is to be written in the blank next to the assignment.

Here are our current checklists:

Year 5 - Term 2 Checklist.doc

Year 8 - Term 2 Checklist.doc

And here is a snippet for Year 8:

Utopia by Sir Thomas More.

_____ Of the Cities

_____ Of the Magistrates

_____ Of the Sciences, Crafts, Occupations

_____ Of their living

_____ Of their journeying

_____ Of Bondmen, Sick Persons, Wedlock

_____ Of Warfare

_____ Of the Religions

I let the children complete assignments at times of their own choosing. The Montessori part of me believes that it stifles a child to always demand that Geography lessons take place every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00. However, we are currently working on "Together" subjects (such as Plutarch and Shakespeare) at 2:00 each day, but we chose this time as opitmum for all, much as a college student would sign up for Intro to Criminal Justice - choosing the best fit for her schedule from the days and times offered.

A new addition to our school this term is a wooden recipe box filled with index cards. This idea was born out of my need to give my children a visual reference as to how much work should be completed each week. We all have ADD or ADHD here and it is very easy to become distracted. It would be very unpleasant to arrive at the last week of school and still have most of a seven-page checklist of assignments to complete. Not that I'm saying this has happened. Oh, no, we have never hopped down all the delightful bunny trails of knowledge to suddenly find responsibility staring us solemnly in the face. Ahem.  

Anyway, I divided each book or subject's assignments among 12 weeks and wrote one index card for each time an assignment should be completed during a week of school. For instance, Plutarch's Solon has twelve sections and one should be completed each week. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has 24 sections and two should be completed each week.

When a child completes a lesson of Solon and writes the date on his checklist, he should also move a Solon index card to the Done area of the recipe box. At the end of the week, all of a child's cards should be in the Done area. On Monday, all of the child's cards are moved back into his or her own section of the recipe box and the process begins again.

We have found the card box to be a very helpful in keeping us on track with our educational goals and it looks like we will continue using it.

I hope this post has helped explain how we homeschool and helps others on their own homeschooling adventure. Please let me know if you have any questions. You can comment here or, if unable, send a missive via email: mrshappyhousewife at yahoo dot com.

Rain Lilies

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100species.jpg

I am still working on the 100 Species Challenge (looks like Melissa Wiley is also). Now that everything is growing and blooming again, I'm hoping to work much more on the challenge. For those who have forgotten, the goal is to identify 100 species of plant life in your area.

Number three on my list are Rain Lilies

Rain Lily 4

 

I've already counted this species, but I can't help showing these new photos. Last Friday, the children and I dug up scores of bulbs around our yard to plant in pots. When wild plants show up in the yard, I try to rescue them from the lawnmower.

Closed Rain Lily

 

Digging up the bulbs was very educational because we got a chance to see how large bulbs would form bulbous growths that, with time, would separate from the mother bulbs to form bulblets.

Rain Lily 3

 

I am hoping to plant these bulbs in a flower bed next spring. As for now, they have been saved from the mower and the weedkiller spray as my husband and I do not agree on what constitutes a "weed".

Rain Lily 1

 

I do not think anything this lovely could ever be called a weed. I am trying to help my husband understand that there is a difference betwixt a plant blessing and a plant nuisance.

Rain Lily 2

 

I think he must be coming around to my way of thinking because he kindly spared mowing a Rain Lily in the front yard which I had overlooked. Or perhaps he did that just because he is so indulgent of my gardening fancies. 

Thanks, Caron Yarn

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Remember that offer from Caron for free samples of their new line of yarn? Although we understood the offer to have ended after only two days, my daughter and I sent our requests anyway.

Free Caron yarn
 
Her sample arrived yesterday. Hooray! It's "Soft Sunshine" and very soft indeed.
 
For those who are particular about the origins of the products they buy, this yarn was made in Turkey. 
 
Now I wonder if my sample will also arrive.
 
I also wonder if I can teach my daughter how to crochet so she can use her yarn sample. One would think that if I could teach a dyslexic girl to read at a college level that I could teach the same girl to crochet. She, however, shows little interest in crocheting, yet her brother is simply desperate to learn.
 
But I have sworn a solemn oath that no one will use her lovely yarn sample but her - no matter how much that yarn called out to me while I wound it into a ball last night. 

Thank You, CafePress Shoppers

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25852350v0_350x350_Front_Color-PinkSalmon.jpg

Much thanks to all of you CafePress Shoppers!

After several years, my itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny sales commissions accrued and I used the money this week to purchase three books for the children - two American histories and one music history. The music history book is the second volume of a two-book set. We picked up Volume I at a thrift store a few years ago and now we can finally read about composers M through Z!

I appreciate your help in our homeschooling adventure and I hope you find other interesting CafePress items for purchase in the future.

Thanks again and blessings to you all.  

Net Find: Catholic Icing

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Catholic Icing

When I was looking for a nice St. Patrick coloring page last week, I happened upon Catholic Icing and knew I had discovered a gem. Kid craft sites are a dime a dozen but few focus on the Liturgical Year and the many facets of our faith. While the site is Catholic, most posts are pertinent for all Christians.

To learn more about Catholic Icing, check out the About page or read about Lacy, the woman behind the blog.

I think you'll like:

the Last Supper craft,

the Lent Lapbook ideas,

the Pro-Life posts

Homeschooling Disadvantage #8

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My children receive proper medical care when sick.

Think this incident is rare? At every school in my school district, my inhaler was considered contraband. Naturally, I always chose a possible detention or expulsion rather than forego carrying my inhaler secretly in my purse. Breathing is one of my priorities in life.

4 Moms, 35 Children: Schedules

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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.

Idylls of the King Exam Question

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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.


Chopin, You Sound Good For 200

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Cast_of_Chopin's_hand.JPGBecause 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.

Extreme Shakespeare...and Van Gogh

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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?

Inside the Green Cabinet

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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.

Dining room

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. 

Inside Green Cabinet

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

Shall I tell you about each shelf?

Green Cabinet R1-3

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.   

Green Cabinet R3-5

 

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.

Great Backyard Bird Count 2010 Review

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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:

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.

Thirteen

 

A few photos from the bird count:

Common Moorhen
Common Moorhen
 
Stork
 Wood Stork
 
Five in a row
 White Ibis
 
More of my photos are at Flickr.
Photos by S here.
Photos by D here.

Extreme Shakespeare

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Shakespeare

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:

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?

New Year, New Bird Count

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GBBC.jpgIt'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. 

Mrs. Happy Housewife

About Mrs. Happy Housewife

Married to my high school sweetheart. Mother of two. A housewife.

I'm full of opinions and curiosity. I'm not an expert, but on a quest of self-improvement.

Welcome to my life.

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I Like Ike is my son's blog. Aside from pestering him regarding grammar, I have no input. Please be nice if you comment on his blog.


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