Wrapping Up Week One of Oak Meadow 4th Grade

This week we have reviewed our math facts, been on nature walks, sketched fruit from different angles, learned about the seven laws of drawing perspective, read the first five chapters of Stuart Little, examined library books on South Carolina topography, began planning our landscape/topography project by drawing maps, learned about types of maps, reviewed our basic grammar, and focused on some new sounds in our reading program.
I am sure there are other things I could add, but that seems like a pretty good list.
We have made good use of the main lesson book this week. I would like to see us add some daily summaries next week as suggested in our syllabus.
Today, on our second day of The Woodland School co-op, my son's class had some time to play games together. It was raining outside, so recess was on the screened porch with games to play. The weather was unseasonably cool for Columbia in August. I was very grateful for the break from the heat. It made me think of fall and good things to come.
Today we added in the music component of the curriculum. We are fortunate to have a music teacher in our co-op. She is teaching them the recorder, voice, percussion, and other musical lessons.
This week we will be doing some more detailed work on our topography project. I still have not decided if we are going to try and build the box or just use a plastic bin for the assignment. I would prefer the wooden box and the experience of making it, I am just not sure we will have the time to get that detailed with it.

Music class on the screened porch in the August rain.

Game time with friends at The Woodland School

 

Observation and Discovery - Sketching Fruit in Our Main Lesson Books

Today we practiced our observation skills by examining fruit and then sketching it in our main lesson book. We passed around the banana, apple, peach, orange, pear, and kiwi. The children commented on the different ways to describe the fruit. Then we cut them in half and observed them from a different perspective. The children sketched the fruit from the side, the top, and then the middle.
We also took a nature walk and observed the land (contours, plant life, etc.).
We read the book, Seven Blind Mice. It seemed like a perfect fit for talking about observing things with our senses. They are also reading Stuart Little for the next three weeks.
We reviewed grammar terms, practiced for "Battle of the Books" this weekend at the library, did self-portraits in our journals, and had a pleasant first day of school. The children will continue doing activities from the syllabus this coming week at home. Next Friday we will do some more work on the topography project.

August Book List for Fourth Grade

Suggested Titles for the Topography Project:

Be Your Own Map Expert by Barbara Taylor

South Carolina: An Atlas by Kovacik, Charles F., Steinke, Theodore R., South Carolina Geographic Alliance, University of South Carolina. Department of Geography

Topographic Maps by Ian Mahaney

Mapping Your Way by Anna Deboo

How to Draw South Carolina Sights and Symbols by Fein

Literature Selection:

Stuart Little by E.B. White

Other Titles:

Seven Blind Mice by Young

First Week of Fourth Grade - Oak Meadow Style

As I was planning my lessons for fourth grade this year, I came across this in my Oak Meadow syllabus, "This curriculum is not intended to be a rigid set of guidelines. It is a tool to help you enter into the subject matter in a creative, experiential way. Use it accordingly, adding and subtracting as best suits your child's needs and interests." (Oak Meadow Fourth Grade Syllabus, Introduction)

I like to see this kind of creative license mentioned in a curriculum syllabus. I prefer hands-on, experiment based learning, and Oak Meadow offers a perfect blend for our family of prepared lessons and open-ended creativity. So, it is with great excitement that we begin the fourth grade program this week. My daughter will also be doing Oak Meadow, but she will be doing the high school curriculum. I plan to try and post about our progress in each.

I read ahead a few weeks in my syllabus to get an idea of how to plan the first weeks of school. This program uses the main lesson book, a blank book for capturing the written work of each student. We have used main lesson books for many years and I LOVE having a written record of the student's work in book form. It is a portfolio that builds itself. I ordered some of the main lesson books Oak Meadow sells for this purpose. I like the onion skin between the pages to keep the work safe from smears. I also like the size of the pages and the quality of the paper. The information in the syllabus about journaling is excellent. I plan to have journaling time daily that will go into one of these main lesson books.

The first big assignment is the topography project. This idea lends itself to studying maps, your local landscape, and a bit of local history. Because I work in the Children's Room at our local library, I can always find fantastic books to bring home on the topics we study. I will try to remember to post our book lists as we go along.

Friday is our first day of our Oak Meadow co-op. The 4th graders will be going on a nature hike of the property to observe the land. This is the beginning of their topography project research. We plan to examine some books about physical and topographical maps. We are going to look at a tray of items and then draw a "map" of the items on the tray. Hopefully this will help them think about how it might feel to "look down" on something and draw what you see. We have plans to look at google maps of the area to give us an idea of what an aerial view would look like.  There is much more going on this week, art, music, math, geometry with fruit, cursive practice, reading practice, etc., but this gives you a little peek into the fourth grade life. It looks like it will be a great year! Here is a sneak peak of the fourth grade co-op class for Friday:

Book to read aloud to the group for discussion: Seven Blind Mice by Young

Journal topic for Friday: perspective

Book to read at home and prepare a book report project (3 week project): Stuart Little by White

 

 

 

Gummy Snakes, Water Parks, and Hamlet

It is the last week of June. Summer solstice is upon us, the days are long and warm. Whit has been participating in STEM camp this week. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) He has been building bridges, making snap circuits, learning about robotics, fishing, hiking, building rockets, and doing archery. Yesterday he was named, "the fish champion", after catching four fish in the camp pond!

Addie has occupied herself reading Shakespeare. She decided to take the opportunity to turn some of her fall classes into honors classes by adding on assignments. So, she has been cozied up with Hamlet and is currently working on her essay.

The Woodland School met last Friday for the high schoolers to go to their "business lunch" to discuss a documentary they want to make about the coming school year and to brainstorm about the cooperative blog they are working on. The younger students walked around downtown and went out for frozen yogurt followed by a trip to the local candy store to spend their allowances. Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans were a big hit along with the three foot gummy snake... ahhhh, the thrills of childhood.

Two weeks ago we took a trip to the local water park and hit the waves with our friends, the Block family. The children and I loved the lazy river and floated around for hours. I can't tell you how restorative it was to just let go and ride the current for awhile. The big water slides were a bit hit with the kiddos as well.

June has been full of sweet moments. We went to a family wedding and Addie read a passage of scripture. Her sweet voice reading I Corinthians 13 was a treat for me. She looked so grown up and so beautiful and poised.

The children have played outside on the rope swing that Papa put up for them. There is nothing like a rope swing in the summer!  I stand at the window and watch them soar above the earth and remember what is was like to be a child (and not get seasick from swinging). We have visited my brother and his wife in Charlotte, took my husband to Ikea for Father's Day, and visited the State Museum.

We plan to start back to school early this year. The first day of The Woodland School Cooperative is August 9. In the midst of all of this summertime frolic, I find time to plan lessons for the upcoming year. We will use Oak Meadow curriculum for both children this year. I hope to be able to blog more consistently about the experience. Memory is fleeting, but being able to look back on the blog is priceless.

Once Upon a Woodland School: A Visual Blast from the Past of Co-op Days Gone By...

Enjoy these photos from The Woodland School back in January 2012...Has this really only been a year ago? Back then we met in a church building and met weekly. This past year we met monthly in a city park. This coming year we are meeting in a member's home. Each year things change to accommodate the organic nature of our co-op.




   

Co-Op Mom Guidelines

Say yes as often as possible * Let them express themselves, but keep a guiding hand * If they are crabby, offer a hug *If they act unlovable, love them anyway * realize how important it is to be a child * read books out loud with joy* remember how really small they are * say no when necessary * laugh a lot * surprise them * teach feelings * learn about active learning * think about different learning styles when planning your lesson * eat snacks and offer coffee (or water) to yourself and the students * make school safe for shy children * plan to build things and do it * imagine possibilities * make forts with blankets * search out the positive * keep the gleam in your eye * encourage deep thoughts * stop yelling * express your love * speak kindly * remember we all have special needs * pray for the students * teach them the way you wish you had been taught * remember to hug the other moms * model the fruit of the spirit * expect great things from our teens and tell them so * turn the other cheek and surprise the one who wrongs you * be the change you want to see * assume positive intent * share your hurts, maybe another mom can help * enjoy this season of life – it passes quickly

Peace, Love, and The Woodland School Cooperative

For several years we have been involved with The Woodland School Homeschool Co-op. I cannot say enough good things about the wonder of bringing people together to learn in community. It is messy, it is difficult, it is tiring, and it is a many splendored thing.

My husband and I used to want to move to a communal living farm and hug trees and other people on a daily basis. A homeschool co-op can be kind of like this, minus the farm animals (though in some places, you could keep this aspect as well!)

I know this because we have experimented with communal living in several different ways over our 20 years together and I have experimented with homeschool co-ops for the past 13 years. I have a lot of experience with this "community" thing.

First of all, people are beautiful and complicated.  We all need each other to make good things happen here on earth. Recognizing and appreciating our individual geniuses can be a joyful discovery in a co-op. People are also messy and have a lot of baggage. All people, regardless of creed, nationality, political leanings, religious convictions or whatever have their "stuff", myself included. Not to mention personality types, levels of commitment to the group, ideas about education, ideas about parenting, ideas about everything. Throw in hormonal changes in children, teenagers, and the mom's and you pretty much have a perfect storm. I remember a song that I learned at Koinonia Farm, a communal farm we spent some time at in Georgia. It goes like this:

"Turn the other cheek and surprise the one that hits you, turn, turn, 

Turn the other cheek and surprise the one that hits you, turn, turn, turn.  

First the log and then the speck, first the log, and then the speck." 

This pretty much sums up the best rule of co-op life. Surprise your co-op sisters and brothers with an amazing capacity to turn the other cheek. I have never had anyone hit me at any homeschool co-op (unless, do toddlers count?), but the message of being able to turn away from misunderstanding or anger in the face of something you may take personally is a priceless piece of wisdom for co-op life (or life anywhere).

 

Which brings me to my second gem of wisdom about living in community. Assume positive intent. Always. These are three words that my family lives by. Do this and you may save nations - I am not kidding.

 

These little lessons with big implications are a bigger deal in terms of learning than any lab experiment or group project. We do the group projects and lab experiments, but the entire experience of learning as a community is the experiment. My daughter often says, "The journey is the destination." (I know she didn't make that one up, but she says it a lot.) Part of taking the journey in community is not being threatened by another person's ideas and values. You have to be strong enough in your own thinking to entertain other ideas without having to absorb them as your own or criticize someone else for holding them. This is crucial to a co-op experience that does not just scratch the surface of human relationships. We can all hang out with people just like us. It is boring, but we do it all the time. We tend to surround ourselves with people who think, act, dress, and talk just like we do. But, the gift of living in a true community is to get past that.

 

I know that the group we are in for this coming school year will look different at the end than at the beginning. The group may stay together, some may come and some may go. Some may have life experiences that take them elsewhere and some may love it and some may not. All of that is okay. The coming and the leaving, the loving it and not loving it are a part of the experience.  All of this and the way we react or don't react is an education.  The Woodland School is an experiment in community - a community with boys and girls, grown-ups and children, democrats and republicans (and some who don't know what we are), Christians and Jews, Evolutionists and Creationists, right and left, up and down, and some in the middle. This, my friends, is socialization at its finest. Just don't forget to turn the other cheek and assume positive intent.

 

 

Medieval Feast at The Woodland School Cooperative

Our monthly homeschool cooperative met for a medieval feast. This was probably the high point of the fall semester. We ate chicken legs like barbarians, jousted with pool noodles, and generally had an amazing time. Here is a group shot of some of the merry-makers. I can't say enough about this fabulous group of friends.

Literary Cupcakes

My daughter and I made these cupcakes for a recent end of the school year party. We printed out book covers (in miniature form) and made tiny books on sticks to put in the cupcakes. They were a big hit at the literary themed party for our homeschool group. I used the Namaste vanilla cake mix (allergen free) and marshmallow cream and cream cheese icing. They had a wonderful light texture and noone seemed to notice they were gluten and nut free.