Wednesday, August 7, 2013

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
 
 
 

Monday, August 5, 2013

That Moment Before You Reach the Top of the Hill on a Roller Coaster...

I have always loved the "back-to-school" season. I love the school supplies. I love the end of summer when your thoughts begin to turn to picking apples and buying new pencils with fresh erasers. I usually feel energized and excited. So, it is with a sense of bewilderment that I write this entry. Our co-op starts back this Friday and the overwhelming feeling I have is that of being on a roller coaster that is about to crest the hill and begin the free fall. Is it really true that the older you get, the faster time flies? I am beginning to wonder. Can it really be August already?
I am not depressed that school is starting back, but I am not my usual excited self about it either. I am seeking some source of inspiration to help me get my mojo back.
Maybe the weather still feels too hot and muggy. Maybe I need some more down time. Maybe I just need to increase my coffee consumption.
Sometimes when I read blogs and facebook updates, everyone else's life sounds so lovely and uncomplicated. Glossy photos of special moments, well-written descriptions of crafts and special projects - I know that I also post these moments. Most of us do not post the pics of our family in disarray, the dirty dishes, the scattered unopened mail, the laundry pile up. I will admit that I like to stay positive online. Reading depressing commentary is not what I like to take in when I have free time to spend on the computer. However, maybe it is alright to mention that our lives aren't always an endless parade of Kodak moments and creativity. Sometimes we are tired. We are uninspired. We have too much to do and not enough time to do it. Sometimes life is like that. So, I am taking this opportunity to claim my feelings - to own up to feeling not quite ready for the coming school year. I wish I had a month to organize my home. I wish I had some vacation time to take off of work. I wish I had some more funds in the larder to create possibilities. I wish all of these things, but I know that, somehow, things will work out, even without wish fulfillment. Even in the writing of this, I feel better. Sometimes the fear you feel before the drop on the other side of the hill is worth the exhilaration of the free fall on the other side. So, here it is, August 5, 2013. Who knows what is to come this school year? Sometimes it is in the letting go of the ideal that we find out what we really need and what we can get by without, and this is not a bad thing. So, I wait for the free fall and hope for inspiration.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Homeschool Portfolios

 
It is time to get the portfolios cleaned out and ready for a new school year. Portfolios are our record keeping method of choice. Keeping samples of projects and papers is perfect for charting progress as well as providing well documented keepsakes. I suggest ordering address labels from a site like Shutterfly. I ordered those shown above when they were running a special and I got one sheet free. Simply choose a template, put in a photograph of your child, add your school name and the year and/or grade. This gives you a set of stickers to label items for your portfolio. If your child does a shoebox diorama, label it with your portfolio sticker. Not only will you have them labeled for display at homeschool fairs, library exhibits, or wherever your homeschool group showcases their work, you will also always have it labeled for your homeschool records. It is amazing how much children change in one school year. I enjoy having the photo on the sticker to go with the project. The children can also use their stickers to decorate notebooks or items they take to homeschool co-op. Of course, these stickers are great for children who attend traditional school as well. What better way to label their belongings and keep track of the artwork that comes home? You can always make these at home with your printer, but when they are on sale, Shutterfly is a good deal and I like the quality.
Enjoy! 

Sunday, July 21, 2013

A Visit to Seven Acres Farm

Some dear friends of ours have a lovely fledgling farm in the mountains of North Carolina. It was Whit's birthday wish to go spend some time with them (and their animal friends). It was a quick trip over the weekend, but the children enjoyed making S'mores, camping out in the barn loft, sliding down the mountain in a muddy waterslide, running with the dogs and goats, and making friends with the chickens.
Even the big girls enjoyed playing in the mud! It was a great chance to let your hair down and get good and dirty.


 Getting clean was a lot of effort after sliding down the mudslide.


Here is Whit making friends with a chicken. Whit has wanted to own chickens for years, being able to play with them on the farm is the next best thing.
 

 
This was a perfect fit for a birthday weekend after reading Farmer Boy. Whit got to help with the chickens and goats and experience life in the country. Many thanks to our sweet mountain friends who made this weekend possible.

 

 

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Parenting Books Part Two: The Young Child

The previous post contains my favorite parenting books to read when you have a baby or toddler. As your child grows and changes, here are a few more titles to consider.

Beyond the Rainbow Bridge: Nurturing Our Children from Birth to Seven by Patterson and Bradley


This book is a delight to read. It is full of ideas on how to provide your child with a wonder-filled, nurturing, early childhood experience.

Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka
This title was a life-saver when my daughter was two and three. She had intense mood swings and tantrums that seemed to come from nowhere. I felt powerless to help her with her "big feelings". I credit this book with teaching me some emotional coaching skills that have served me in every age and stage since. Mary Sheeda Kurcinka also has other titles to explore. If you are struggling with how to deal with your child's emotions or intensity, this may be just the thing.

I have linked the titles of these books to Amazon. I hope that helps you read more reviews or buy a copy for your personal library. Speaking of libraries, your local library may have these titles on tap, so check there first. I hope these titles inspire you towards gentle and conscious parenting. Enjoy the journey!

Baby Steps: Returning to the Cradle, Parenting Books Part One

Working in a library, I get many requests for book recommendations. This week, I have had several people ask me about parenting books. I am always a little hesitant to recommend parenting books. As someone once said, "The problem with parenting by the book is that you would need a different book for each child." I believe this is true. There is no book that will give you every piece of wisdom needed for parenting your little one. Your heart wisdom, a deep knowledge of your child, and a little common sense goes a long way. That being said, there is a selection of books that I found helpful at different ages and stages along my parenting journey. I caution you to take each book with a grain of salt. I am not saying I did everything these books suggested - some may even contradict each other in places. But, I believe there are nuggets of genius in these titles and a wealth of things to add to your parenting toolbox. So, here are a few of my favorites from my baby years. I hope you can be encouraged and inspired.
The Attachment Parenting Book by William and Martha Sears

You Are Your Child's First Teacher by Rahima Baldwin Dancy

Montessori From the Start by Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen

Friday, July 5, 2013

Farmer Boy


As a child, I had an obsession with the Little House books. I read them repeatedly and dreamed of petticoats and covered wagons. We played Little House all the time. When I did my chores, I pretended to be Laura Ingalls. It made the chores much more fun.
When my daughter was younger, we read the Little House books together. I even made her a prairie dress, bonnet, and pinafore. It was over the top cute.
I have a long time love affair with the books. (Though I must admit, my obsession is only with the originals. I have tried, but can't get into the series books that were written later. I am a sucker for the originals only.)
So, it is with great pleasure that I picked up Farmer Boy to be the next read aloud for my son. This is another book that gets high ratings from me to be read during the nine year change. Almanzo begins the book as an eight year old and turns nine right away.  His adventures and struggles are perfect for the third grade Waldorf child and they fit so well into a main lesson about farming.
The detailed descriptions of life in this time are charming and addictive. You find yourself wanting to eat pancakes and make things by hand!
This book is chock full of opportunities to blend in handiwork with literature. From making a tin can lantern to braiding a whip - from making homemade candy to growing a pumpkin - there is no shortage of activities to tie in to the story.
As I write this, we have tin cans in the freezer. We are going to use a hammer and nail to punch designs in the side. You simply wash out a can and fill it with water. Take the label off. Put it in the freezer till it is frozen through. In the meantime, use the can label to cut yourself a piece of paper that will fit around the can. Draw a simple design on the paper. When the water is frozen, tape the paper around the can and use a hammer and nail to poke holes in the can following your design. The ice should keep the can from becoming misshapen. Also poke two holes near the top so you can add wire to make a handle for your lantern. Allow the ice to melt and you have a lovely punched tin can lantern. Add a tea light candle and enjoy!
Farmer Boy is full of opportunity for history, crafts, and life lessons.
I have been delighted to discover that the Little House books can be just as much for boys as for girls. Give it a try!