Malissa's Merry-go-round

Philemon got to take an airplane ride last week with the local homeschool group.

EAA has a Young Eagles program to introduce children to flight. Harrison Ford is the chairman.
The pilots donate the cost of the flight and their time so the children can have a free flight.

We went to the airport to meet the homeschool group. We got to wait in the pilot's lounge and one of the pilots explained quite a few things about flying to the children.

When it was their turn, the pilot escorted them out to his plane and did a walk around showing them parts of the plane and how it works. The pilot who flew Philemon is the former vice president of the EAA. Then they were off for a 20 minute plane ride. The pilot gave them a certificate when the flight was over.

Philemon loved it and told me all about all the things he saw in town. He said that flying over the lake was exactly like flying over the land only different! (lol)

Where does the time go?
We took our traditional first day of school photos by the tree.
He's excited for school to start as you can see.

Last year, we attempted to grow a sunflower house.

I looked forward to it becoming a special hide-a-way. A childhood memory that my son could cherish forever.

Here are the results from last year.

This year, we tried again.

We planted 2 types of sunflower seeds in each of the holes left behind by last year's "house".\
We bought the BIG sunflowers so we wouldn't repeat last year's mistake.

Soon, little sunflowers began sprouting and growing.
We faithfully watered them.

Oops! 1/2 of the house got mowed over.
Those poor flowers never quite recuperated.

The other ones began to thrive and grow.
I told PJ that 1/2 of a house would be ok. It would still feel like a little shelter and be a place to play.

The rabbits had other plans. They ate our sunflowers! Nothing is growing there now.

I was pretty bummed!

I realized though, that this had been MY plan all along. I was the one hoping to produce a magical childhood memory.

PJ didn't care either way. He still learned about planting and nurturing. He saw what rabbits can do. He says he'll be ok without a sunflower house.

He may still remember our attempts to produce a sunflower house. Probably with laughter at the goof ups.

We are not trying it next year.

Last week we had a Spring Break from school.
Today was back to work.

PJ is doing so well on his reading. I am so proud of him.

He went to the doctor for his checkup today. (Way behind schedule!) He's 75% for height and 70% for weight.

He's happy that he'll be tall enough for the rides at the amusement park this summer.

What more can a kid hope for!?

Susan asked me my opinion on reading.

I am a firm believer in teaching phonics.
My siblings and I were all taught to read using the phonics program from Accelerated Christian Education. Or ACE.
Now before I continue I will say this.
I am not ACE's biggest fan.
It has a lot of weaknesses and I am not advocating using their curriculum for all of your child's education.
However, I believe their phonics program is one of the best available.

All I can say is that my siblings and I are excellent readers. We read quickly with high comprehension.
I used my Mom's 1980's copy to teach PJ how to read.
It has been updated and revised since then of course.

In my experience, the program was comprehensive and easy.
Did we have a few bumps or moments of frustration? Yes, because he was learning a totally new concept.

We started phonics on September 4, 2006 and worked diligently on it each day of school.
If he needed another day to work on a concept I did that. If I felt he just needed to review all the sounds learned to date, I did that.
By the first part of February, he totally took off and is reading constantly and excellently.

He is easily reading Level 2 Easy Readers. He can read an easy reader book to himself and tell me what the story was about. He reads signs as we drive down the road.
He reads the hymns on the PowerPoint at church.

I am completely thrilled with his progress and with the phonics program I used.

I looked at several other reading programs and books and always went back to this one. It's very easy to use and makes wonderful sense to the child.

Here is the order information and no I'm not affiliated. You can order the "ABC's of ACE" 11 week program and get what you need for the phonics.

Thanks Susan for your question:)

I think that the ultimate frustration in life is playing hangman with a new reader.

Lincoln's Birthday (February 12th)

Poem to read: "Lincoln" by Nancy Byrd Turner
Books to read: "Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers" by Karen Winnick Honesdale (Boyds Mill Press); "Abe Lincoln's Hat" (Step into Reading, Step 2) by Donald Cook (Random House); "Abraham Lincoln" by Ingri D'Aulaire.
Quote to read/copy: from Gettysburg Address "That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Website for parents/older students: http://www.abrahaml incolnonline. org

Washington's Birthday (February 22nd)
Poem to read: "Washington" by Nancy Byrd Turner
Book to read: "George Washington" by Ingri D'Aulaire
Quote to read/copy: Henry Lee about Washington, "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen."
Website for parents: http://www.mountver non.org

Presidents Day (third Monday in February)
Display chart of presidents (or flashcards in a timeline)
Write a letter to the president; pray for the president.
Children's website: Presidential Prayer Team for Kids
Parents' website: http://www.presiden tialprayerteam. org

There's also Groundhog Day (February 2 - http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Groundhog_ day ), Valentine's Day (February 14),
Chinese New Year (February 18).

in the limelight.

Check out the story of Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow.

It's up this week. Take a peek and get some ideas or things to think about.

Living in the cold Wisconsin north, I have a love/hate relationship with snow.
Last week on Thanksgiving when it was in the 50's and we could have almost sat outside at the patio table, I felt as though something was wrong with this picture.

Lovely flakes in billowing mounds at Christmas is necessary.

It's just that around here once it snows, we're in for a good 4-6 months of COLD. Sometimes in January it's so cold that it physically hurts to go outside!
I hate that time of year.

I also hate driving in snow/ice. It still freaks me out.

And shoveling? Can I just say Oh my word! If we don't get out and shovel before the plow comes by, we could have a foot or two of snow packed at the end of the driveway.

And if we get out and shovel before the plow? Well, then we still have to shovel after the plow.
Sigh....

However, I still marvel at the beauty of snowflakes. I've been known to hold out my arm to catch snowflakes on my coat so we can observe them. They are beautiful.

I found a neat site to teach you all about flakes (snow not human). This man photographs snowflakes.
His site is full of activities and information. He doesn't appear to credit God for any of this magnificence, but I still found neat ideas and the photos are amazing.

You could use it just to peek at, or build a unit study with it.

And this is for those of you that don't waste too much time on the computer (bwa ha ha!)

Snowflake Maker

Have fun! Stay warm and may you always beat the snowplow to the end of your driveway!

I was reading at The Common Room this morning and found this lovely post
by the Headmistress.

We have confused real intelligence with rote memory. We think the 4 y.o.child who can write and recite the alphabet, count to one thousand, name the 50 states, all the continents and the oceans is somehow further ahead of his peers. We especially think this is better than the child who cannot do these things, but who can and does play in mud puddles, create rope traps to ensnare passing siblings, build elaborate block castles, and who can enjoy sitting and watching ants around an ant-hill for an hour or more. We are wrong.

and

The child who squanders, or has squandered for her, her `play' years can never gain them back completely. The play that occurs in the early years is invaluable, and it cannot be replaced by pen and paperwork.

There is more--go read.

Her thoughts echo my sentiments exactly.

I want my son to have a wonderful play filled childhood. Growing up comes soon enough and with it all the cares and responsibilities of adulthood. I choose to allow him time to create memories he can draw from his entire life.

Many of my friends and acquaintances have very busy children. Often, I feel that perhaps we are not doing enough. Maybe I should sign him up for this sport, or that lesson?
Then I stop and breathe and think about the type of life we choose for him.

A life full of play, delight, time, rest, peace.

That is so much more important than which soccer team my child plays for or what dance studio he could be studying with.

I am not saying those things are bad.

I am saying that children need time to be children. I think that so many parents buy into the "I want my child to do and have more than I did" philosophy.

In the process, childhood is shuffled to the corner for weekends or the 1/2 hour before bed.

Overwhelming our family with one more thing to do, or place to be doesn't move us toward our goal of a simple life well lived.

Today we went to the library to pick up my books on reserve.
Of course, I decided I had to peruse the shelves of new arrivals.

As we were looking, PJ saw the screen saver on the library's computer.
It said "Pride of Oshkosh". Our library lions--Harris and Sawyer are their names--are the mascots of the library.

(Lions/pride)

Ok back to the story.
Ahem....

PJ asked "What does that say?"
I looked and saw it was all sounds he could read.
I said "Sound it out."
I pointed out how the "e" after pride made the "i" the long sound.
He started sounding it out and then hollered as though he was disgusted,
"MOOOOOOOOOOM! I shouldn't be reading in PUBLIC!"

I burst out into a loud guffaw! What a boy. I didn't realize reading in public was taboo.

I'm just sharing some links to some nice homeschool blogs and resources
I've found.

In this post, they are Charlotte Mason blogs or have mentioned they use Charlotte Mason methods.

Ambleside Online is where I get a lot of my direction.

Higher up and Further In is a daily read

Bloom Where You're Planted has a beautiful template! and a sweet spirit

Simply Charlotte Mason I just found. Has some great links

Queen Homeschool Supplies I found in a magazine. They have some neat Charlotte Mason
resources

Cindy Rushton's Desk Top blog I just found today through my Ambleside Online email list. Great info!

The Baldwin Online Children's Literature Project has tons of old books online.

Mater Ambalis is a Catholic CM site. I am not Catholic, but I found a lot of great links there too!

Now, if you have other sites or blogs please share them with me!

I mentioned the other day about our leaf project.

Yesterday, we added another leaf.

I color my leaf and write coffee.

He writes DAD MOM and looks at me in disgust that I wrote coffee. (Just wait til you're an adult buddy!)

I said "Hey, we're doing this all month, we can be thankful about all sorts of things."

However, just knowing that he's thankful first for God and then for us is mighty special!

There has been a bit too much whining in this house lately. Mom included.

To nip it in the bud (said in my best Barney Fife voice), we are coloring a leaf each day and writing what we're thankful for.

I printed out leaf outlines last night.

Today after our phonics lesson, we colored a leaf.
I told him to think of something he's thankful for.

When he was done coloring, he needed no prompting from me.
He wrote God in his sweet little boy handwriting!

It was one of those awesome mommy moments!

The carnival is up over at Why Homeschool

Check it out. I have found some great homeschool blogs by reading the carnival entries.

We went with the homeschool group to see an old one room school house on Friday.
Stony Hill School is where Flag Day was started. The 19 year old teacher petitioned Congress for a day to honor our flag.


PJ had a blast. The children had to pretend to do school for the morning.
All the boys wore suspenders, the girls and Moms wore pinafores.


They sat at desks and used quill pens to write with. Little boy did better than me! I got ink everywhere.


They had to stand up front and recite their lessons.

Then they played an old fashioned game. Throwing the ball over the roof of the school to the children on the other side.
There was lots of laughing.


After the morning of school, we went to a Pioneer Village and toured a trading post, a hay barn, and a log cabin.
They ground coffee, used an old machine to pull kernels off the corn cobs, tasted cornbread, played a bean bag game and made butter!
Phew!

I think there was lots of learning accomplished and I even shot this awesome photo.
What a handsome guy huh?


When we came home, he dug out his Lincoln Logs and built a cabin


Don't forget to stop by on Wednesday to share your favorite holiday traditions.

Today PJ and my friend took a walk and bought a soda.

PJ chose rootbeer.

We were in the car later and he said

"mmm uh g
mmm uh g

Mug.

Mom! why does my root beer say mug? It's a can!"

I was so excited. That's the first word he sounded out on his own.

Wow!

PJ is doing so wonderfully! He is so diligent to write his words or letters.
I found a great tip that is working beautifully.

Instead of making him fill a page with his new letter, he has to write 3 perfect capitals and 3 perfect lower case letters.

He makes much nicer neater letters and many times only has to write 4 or 5 before he gets 3 perfect letters.

He is reading small stories--9 or 10 lines. He can sound out words and is pretending to read quite often. Very cute!

He knows all the short vowel sounds and 10 consonants.

We've also done a little bit of Spanish and math.

Soon we will start Math U See primer level--math for now is money, telling time, simple worksheets, measuring, etc.

We are listening to Mozart, looking at art by Pieter Brugel, and reading wonderful books.

This week we started reading Old Mother West Wind by Thornton Burgess. It's full of cute little animal stories written in excellent language.

Our Bible study is A Faith to Grow On by John MacArthur. We're learning about the creation right now. It's been rewarding to hear PJ discuss elements of this Bible learning in conversation with his friends. I heard him tell one friend "God is a spirit"

We also use Bible time to memorize AWANA verses.

This week, we're learning a bit about apples. We watched Johnny Appleseed yesterday. Today we cut a slice off of an apple and wrote down our observations about the apple.

We weighed it and hung it up over the sink to dry. (You might be a homeschooler if... lol)
In a couple days we'll observe it again and weigh it to see how it has changed.

He has been able to get outside a lot. It's super warm for October. He collected leaves for leaf rubbings.

Today he started digging a deep hole "even a person can fit in it, Mom"--his other fun thing is making rivers and ponds in the sandbox. What a boy he is!

So I think the 1st month has gone well. He has learned a lot. We have been able to enjoy wonderful art, music, and books, and he is progressing toward being a reader.

I am enjoying it a lot. I am of course spending a lot of time keeping track of things, planning what's next, continuing to read Charlotte Mason and writings about her, but it's been fabulous!

One month down many more to go.

I think I missed this "Everday Things" last week!

This week I'm so very thankful that we have been obedient to God's call to homeschool our son.

We started on Monday (officially--I've been doing many things with him the past couple years of course)

He is so ready to learn and it's truly a delight watching his diligence. Yesterday, he was enjoying school so much that he didn't want to stop.

I am feeling more rested and content than I have in a long while--interesting how obeying God produces blessings and peace isn't it!?

So today I'm thankful for several things--my little boy excited about school, the fact that God worked out all the details to put it all in place, the rest and "balance" I am experiencing.

Thank you, Lord!