Memory work box

Our Memory work box is one of my favorite homeschooling tools, and I am so very thankful to Kendra for the idea! This box holds most of what we do for our daily Circle Time* (school we're all doing together).

Last year this is what we worked on:

Mon: verses, catechism
Tues: verses, 10 commandments
Wed: verses, states
Thurs: verses, landmark cards
Fri: verses, art cards
Sat: OT/NT books of the Bible (review)

I upgraded our Memory work box to a larger size this year, and I love it.

(Notice our theme verse, right there in front?)

Here is what lies behind those tabs for our 2010/11 school year:

Monday: Catechism questions
Tuesday: Ten Verses cards (also Kendra's idea. I'll share more about this in my next post.)
Wednesday: Romans 12:9-21, our theme passage
Thursday: Sign Language cards, and I am SO coming back to that topic, in just a minute.
Friday: The Apostle's Creed, and after we memorize that: some Family Rules Mark and I are working on.

Now. The sign language cards: I am super excited about these, so if you'll bear with me I'm going to rant about them for a minute. I wanted so much to have something visual for the kids in our memory work box because of how much they really enjoyed the pictorial Landmark Cards last year, but I couldn't think of anything similar to that for *this* year. I briefly considered doing a Greek or Hebrew alphabet, but I just couldn't really get pumped about that. Then I wondered: "...Maybe I could find some sign language alphabet flash cards..."

Imagine my delight, then, when not only could I find some sign language flash cards, but I found SIGNING TIME flash cards (!), with pictures of Alex and Leah and Hopkins and Rachel on them, no less! Which thrills me to no end because not only do my older kids adore Signing Time (and have for years), but even Adelia (2), is into them. The faces of Alex, Leah and Rachel are pretty beloved around here, so they are going to LOVE these!!! (But shh! It's still a surprise to them, so don't say a word!)

I bought two sets.

I just now remembered that I had planned to post a bit more about our theme passage in this post, but it's late and this is already a long post, so I'll get to that next time.




*The whole concept of Circle Time came from Preschoolers and Peace.

*More about what Circle Time looks like in our home, here. (Or you can just click on the "Circle Time" label on the sidebar and it will bring up any other posts I've noted as Circle Time posts.)

Banana-Oat Smoothie

{adapted from a recipe found in an Everyday Food magazine}

Banana-Oat Smoothie

1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 banana*, cut into thirds
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp honey

Blend until smooth.
Double, triple, or quadruple the recipe as needed! :)

This was a hit when I tried it this morning. Even I liked it, and I am not-so-much a banana lover (unless we're talking banana cake with cream cheese frosting, that is. Or banana bread... those I can do!)

We will definitely be making this one again, and it's such a great recipe because these are ingredients we always have on hand!

*I used frozen bananas, and next time I may add some ice cubes, too. :)

Our theme verse

One of the things I prayed about in terms of school for this coming year is our relationships with one another here at home.

It is paramount to us that the character of our children remains more important than any academic successes they might achieve.

With that in mind, I selected a theme verse for our school year.

Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

We will also be memorizing several verses from that chapter in addition to just our theme verse.

I'm going to introduce the year with it (a mini Bible study on the verse), and we'll continue to say it each day together and it will be posted for visibility.

I imagine we'll be referencing it quite a bit, too- in our day-to-day goings on, and talking about ways we can honor one another above ourselves and what that could look like, or what it does look like when we catch someone doing so and can commend them for it! I can't wait! :)

Homeschooling TO-DO list

My homeschooling to-do list a couple of months ago looked like this:

HOMESCHOOLING TO-DO:

-to BUY: nature notebooks, slate/chalk for cursive practice, ABC letters for the boys?

-copywork selections (Bible, poetry, literature, hymns? history?)
-narration plan
-theme verse/passage memory cards
-select picture study artists/paintings
-new memory verses
-prepare timeline cards
-pairing-up plan for older kids/little girls?
-gratitude/thankfulness family plan: each mealtime? around the table, one thing? three?
-nature study ideas?
-classical musicians?
-daily school checklist/schedule
-cursive plan?
-poetry selections?
-Isaias-K work? (*continue Super Star speech)
-Isaac- 1st grade work?
-math lesson plan (daily)
-english lesson plan (2x/week)

As to-do lists always do, this one grew to about three times this size, as I broke down general items into more specific items and added those on there, too.

I've had snippets of time with which to plan for this coming year, and Mark is taking a day off this week for me to finish up. Finishing up in one day would be a miracle, since the big ones, and the not-so-fun ones, in my opinion (Math lesson plan and English lesson plan) are still sitting on that list. But that's okay! I'll get done what I am able to get done and we'll roll with it. :) I imagine we're going to have several kinks to work out of my "schedule" in the first couple of weeks (months!) anyway, with two very busy toddlers in the mix!

We start school next week and I'm going to kick off September by filling you in on all the new things we're doing, so stay tuned.

A worthwhile read for mothers with young children and messy houses

[Oh, that's you? The one with the little noisy ones and the cluttered house? Thought so. Me, too!]

This was just what I needed this morning.

As a matter of fact, I am going to print this out and post it into the front of my journal so that I can read it *frequently*.

Again, head over to Ann's. It's the first letter she posts. The one that begins with the words

Dear Ann,

All of my chicks have left the nest...

You can click on the link above to read it.

And then smile at your own mess and go laugh and play with your children. They are so precious.

Update on our chickens

It has been a long time since I've talked about our backyard chickens. The little chicks we got back in March have all grown up and are beginning to happily lay eggs for us.

Here they all are, all nine of them, with one of their doting farm girls:


{From L to R: Missy, Millie, Della, Honey, Polly, Bawk-Bawk, Lucy, Flora, and Elizabeth.}

Audra is completely unafraid of the chickens, and the picture above is a typical sight. Either that or her toddling after them in the yard, babbling and patting their feathers. She's pretty cute.

Ella is responsible for the care of our chickens. In addition to talking to them, singing to them, and holding/petting them, she feeds them and gives them water, collects their eggs, and lets them out each morning. [Mark cleans the coop, for now, and puts them in for the night during the summer months since they go to bed after Ella does.]

Flora is our only hen left from our initial flock three years ago. It took some serious work to get them all acclimated to one another. I thought we were going to have to get rid of Flora because she was such a bully.

We kept easing her into it. First we put the box of chicks inside of Flora's coop so that while she could hear them and get accustomed to their noises and presence, she didn't have access to them. (The box was covered.) For the next phase we put up chicken wire in the coop, separating it right down the middle. Eventually we removed the wire and then watched very carefully to make sure that they were all doing okay together. Other than a few early squabbles, they seemed to be fine. Flora just kept herself apart from the other birds for the most part, and they kept their distance from her, too. She was a little fierce when they all went into their house to roost at night, but Mark helped a little with the arrangement and it was all going smoothly.

Until the younger birds began laying, that is.

Then Flora began picking on (literally) Honey whenever she sat in the nesting boxes. We had to remove Honey from the flock in order for her to heal, and once she healed up we placed Flora into her own area (think of it as a long time-out) and now we're mulling over what to do. We don't want Flora back in with the other birds if she'll just bully them. I think we're hoping that once they all start laying and get into the groove of it, she'll realize it's a lost cause to keep bullying each of them whenever one is in the nesting box and she'll give up.

Anyway~ it's fun to be getting eggs again, although the eggs themselves are still super tiny.

I maintain that chickens are the easiest pets, ever. They're very tame and gentle with the kids and our kids love them in return. AND they give us fresh eggs, which is of course why we have them.

Oh, and I was so happy this year that I was finally able to get some Buffs, because I've always wanted some. I think Buffs are a pretty bird (as far as chickens go) *and* I had heard they were calm birds, so I thought they'd be perfect for our kids.

Wouldn't you know it, though, but my favorites this year are our black hens. (If I remember right they're Australorps?) They are very docile (moreso even than the Buffs) and I think that's a good quality to have in a backyard chicken.

Okay... I'm done with my chicken ramblings...

Please do chime in on any advice you may have for our Flora-situation, or your favorite breed so far for backyard chickens!

Friendship

These are powerful words about friendship. Please read them.

Ann's words reminded me all over again about the power of word and deed when relating to women.

It made me grateful for the wonderful women God has woven into my life, and it made me want to treasure them, and to exhibit the same kind of love and faithfulness that Ann's friend showed to her when she made her that promise of friendship.