Friday, August 27, 2010

Could this adorable boy be your son?--more info added

Philip


Look at that smile!  How adorable and handsome!

This awesome young man needs a mother and father to love him unconditionally and forever.  Phillip’s special need is a spinal tumor and scoliosis.  He is in a wheelchair, paraplegic and incontinent.  The more important part is to remember how special this young man is.  His Chinese name is Li Rui, from Hanzhong orphanage, his birthday is June 7, 1999, and he came to us in September of 2009 after having a surgery on his back.  He came already speaking English and continues to improve with each class.  Phillip loves legos, transformers, fried rice and fried chicken.  He is loyal to his friends, is a good brother and a natural leader.  He loves back rubs and snuggling on the couch.  His smile is contagious and he is competitive.  His upper body works fine, He can change diapers on his own, feeds himself, bascially he can do everything with his hands like other people do, he can shower himself, he can't bend over nor move from one place to another on his own, he needs help to put on and take off his brace


  Philip's time to find a family is running out.  He's already 11 years old and if he isn't adopted by the time he turns 14, he will never know the love and joy of a family to call his own.  His original orphanage has not done his adoption paperwork, but they have told SFCV that if a family comes forward to adopt him, they will do his paperwork!  Please search your heart and see if you might be this young man's family.    If you have any questions or would like to adopt Philip, please contact me and I'll put you in touch with the SFCV liasons. 

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Not Back to School Blog Hop: School Room week!

This week, we're sharing a glimpse into our homeschool rooms at the:

Not Back to School Blog Hop



This is a hard one for me.  Although we have plenty of rooms for a school room, I don't like school being separate from life.  Life is learning and learning is life.  

Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life.
(Charlotte Mason)


That said, this is our FAVORITE room of the house:  our sunroom!  During most of the year, we have a fabulous view of the outside.   During the winter, we snuggle up in front of warm cozy fire and read. 

If you pass through the door at the far end of the sunroom, this is the "room" you'll walk into 
(and NO, it's not always this neat):

 I don't know if it actually qualifies as a room.  It's about a double wide hallway at one end and single wide at the other.  We had these shelves built to hold our supplies from year to year.  I have been going through them and trying to get rid of things I know I'm not going to use (as in I have held on to them for years and still haven't used them!)  The more I get into Charlotte Mason, the less hold textbooks have over me and I'm able to prune the shelves.


We also LOVE being outside when the weather is bearable.  Sometimes we sit under the cabana to the left, butour favorite thing to do outside is to spread a blanket by the swingset (far right) and swing and read and listen to audio books.  This is also our view from the sunroom!



We are trying to sell our home and move to our BLR house.  We sometimes spend weeks there and so school comes with us.  This is our home school room there.  Sorry this picture was right after it was built, so it's lacking some character!

and our outside classroom at the river!



So where do you homeschool?

Monday, August 2, 2010

What "curriculum" am I using this year?

I know this is a popular topic, one that every homeschooler goes through yearly!  I love that I have settled into the Charlotte Mason philosophy and that my school years seem to get easier and easier to schedule.  Books and lots of them!  Don't feel overwhelmed when you see the quantity of books we use.  We don't use them every day and we may not even use the whole book (that is OKAY!)                           



After you check out our year, hop on over to 
to see what other families are using!


This chart shows each child, the subjects, and what they're using:

Subject
 Connor
Jacob
Shaoey & Grace
Bible
One chapter a day
One chapter a day
Bible story a day
Devotions
Streams in the Desert
Streams in the Desert for Kids
ABC Vible Verses
Bible Study
Preparing for Spiritual Leadership
Increasing in Wisdom
------------------------------
Scripture Memory
Simply Charlotte Mason                               Scripture Memory pack
Simply Charlotte Mason                               Scripture Memory pack
ABC Vible Verses
Literature
Read and narrate independently
Independent Reading
Learning to read
Math
Saxon 8/7
Saxon 6/5
MUS Primer
Language
Analytical Grammar
Jr. Analytical Grammar
Language Lessons for Little Ones
Spelling
SpellingWisdom2
SpellingWisdom1
------------------------------
Copywork
SpellingWisdom2
SpellingWisdom1
------------------------------
Dictation
SpellingWisdom2
SpellingWisdom1
------------------------------
Writing


------------------------------
History 
Module 4:Famous Men of the                              Renaissance and Reformation
Module 4:Famous Men of the                              Renaissance and Reformation
------------------------------

American History                                               Module 5 or Beautiful Feet 
American History                                               Module 5 or Beautiful Feet 
------------------------------
Science
Nature Journal &        Apologia General Science
Nature Journal &        Apologia General Science
Nature Journal
Poet of the year
Robert Browning
Robert Browning
Robert Browning
Composers
Liszt, Schubert, Verdi,                                                 Brahms, Debussy, Shostakovich
Liszt, Schubert, Verdi,                                                 Brahms, Debussy, Shostakovich
Liszt, Schubert, Verdi,                                                 Brahms, Debussy, Shostakovich
Artists
Michaelangelo, Ansel Adams, Vermeer, Homer, Picasso                               
Michaelangelo, Ansel Adams, Vermeer, Homer, Picasso
Michaelangelo, Ansel Adams, Vermeer, Homer, Picasso
Hymn Study
Hymns for a Kid’s Heart
Hymns for a Kid’s Heart
Hymns for a Kid’s Heart
Latin
Latina Christiana
Latina Christiana
Songschool Latin
Logic
The Fallacy Detective
The Fallacy Detective












This one shows how often we do each subject:

Subject
Times per week
Bible
Daily
Devotions
Daily
Scripture Memory
Daily
History 
Daily
Literature
Daily
Math
Daily
Copywork
Daily
Language
Daily for 11 weeks
Spelling
T/Th
Dictation
T/Th
Writing
1 x week
Bible Study
1 x week
Nature Study/Science
1 x week
Poetry
1 x week
Composer
1 x week
Artist
1 x week
Hymn Study
1 x week
Latin
1 x week
Logic
1 x week
Art
1 x week
Missionary Stories
1 x week
Book of Virtues
1 x week
Parables From Nature
1 x week




And lastly, this is what this term (6 weeks) looks like, what we HOPE to accomplish.  This is just a guide.  I have learned that it is ok to not get to it all.  It can always be reevaluated, moved back, or dropped if it's not working for us!  It serves us, not rules us!  (Sorry for the extra space.  Green is my 12 year old's independent work, and red is my 10 year old's.)


Week 7                 Aug. 2-6
Week 8                 Aug. 9-13
Week 9             Aug.  16-20
Week 10                Aug. 23-27
Week 11                                  Aug. 30-Sept.  3
Week 12                                Sept.  6-9
Scripture Memory             Daily
SCM Scripture Memory System          M  T  W  T  F
SCM Scripture Memory System           M  T  W  T  F
SCM Scripture Memory System          M  T  W  T  F
SCM Scripture Memory System          M  T  W  T  F
SCM Scripture Memory System          M  T  W  T  F
SCM Scripture Memory System           M  T  W  T  F
History:                             Middle Age, Renaissance, Reformation, & Epistles                  Daily
Read/Narrate/BOC                  70                                 71                                   72                                        74                                  73
Read/Narrate/BOC                                                  75                                76                                   77                                        79                                  78
Read/Narrate/BOC              80                                 81                                   82                                        84                                  83
Read/Narrate/BOC              85                                 86                                   87                                        89                                  88
Read/Narrate/BOC                90                                 91                                   92                                        94                                  93
Read/Narrate/BOC             95                                 96                                   97                                        99                                  98
Monday                                          Latina Christiana 
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Lessson 7
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Lesson 10
Monday           Artist           Ansel Adams






 Tuesday                   The Book of Virtures for Young People 
The Sword of Damocles      p. 104
The 10 Commandments       p. 107
A Time to Talk           p. 113
Childhood and Poetry p. 113
Damon and Pythias  p. 115
Hellen Keller and Anne Sullivan p. 118
Wednesday                                         Logic--Fallacy Detectives 
Lesson 6:                 Ad Hominem
Lesson 7:          Genetic Fallacy
Lesson 8:                 Tu Quoque
Lesson 9:               Faulty Appeal to Authority
Lesson 10:        Appeal to the People
Lesson 11:          Straw Man
Wednesday Missionary Stories with the Millers 
Ch. 24       Raymond L. Bush
Ch. 25           Ralph Palmer
Ch. 26         Roman and Amanda Mullet
Ch. 27             Alvin Schlabach
Ch. 28 Alvin Frey
Conclusion  Ralph Hartman
Thursday   Composer      
Schubert
Schubert
Schubert
Schubert
Schubert
Schubert
Thursday                Art                                   
Lesson 6
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Lesson 10
Lesson 11
Friday                 Nature Study                           
Journal
Journal
Journal
Journal
Journal
Journal
Friday                Hymns For A Kid’s Heart                    
Amazing Grace
The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want
Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart
Take My Life and Let it Be
America the Beautiful
Our God, Our Help in Ages Past
Friday                  Poetry                                
Favorite Poems Old and New      
Favorite Poems Old and New    
Favorite Poems Old and New    
Favorite Poems Old and New    
Favorite Poems Old and New    
Favorite Poems Old and New    
Bible & Devotions                       Streams in the Desert                 Daily
One chapter and devotion                    M   T   W   T  F
One chapter and devotion                    M   T   W   T  F
One chapter and devotion                    M   T   W   T  F
One chapter and devotion                    M   T   W   T  F
One chapter and devotion                    M   T   W   T  F
One chapter and devotion                    M   T   W   T  F
Bible Study for Connor                           Spiritual Leadership:  A Bible-based Study for Young Men                     1 lesson/week
Lesson 7      
Lesson 8
Lesson 9   
Lesson 10
Lesson 11
Lesson 12
Connor’s Math                                          Saxon 8/7                                    Daily                  (2 days/lesson)
L. 52, 52, 53, 53, 54
L. 54, 55, 55, 56, 56
L.57, 57, 58, 58, 59
L. 59, 60, 60, Investigation6, 61, 
L. 61, 62, 62, 63, 63
L. 64, 64, 65, 65 
Connor’s History Reading                  Daily                               -------------------Magna Charta          &                               In Freedom’s Cause
M:  p.55-61                     T:   p. 63-68                     W:  p. 69-76                          Th: p. 77-85
M:  p.87-99               T:   p. 100-108                     W:  p. 109-115                      Th: p. 116-121
M:  p.122-130              ------------------            In Freedom’s Cause                    T:   Ch. 1                   W:  Ch. 2                       Th: Ch. 3
M:  Ch. 4                   T:   Ch. 5                      W:  Ch. 6                           Th: Ch. 7
M:  Ch. 8                   T:   Ch. 9                      W:  Ch. 10                           Th: Ch. 11
M:  Ch. 12                   T:   Ch.  13                    W:  Ch. 14                          Th: Ch. 15
Language                    Analytical Grammar                   Daily for 11  weeks
Unit 7                        M  T  W  T  F
Unit 8                        M  T  W  T  F
Unit 9                        M  T  W  T  F
Unit 10                      M  T  W  T  F
Unit 11                      M  T  W  T  F

Spelling/Dictation                      Spelling Wisdom2                         T/Th
Ex. 31, 32
Ex. 33, 34
Ex. 35, 36
Ex. 37, 38
39, 40
Ex. 41, 42
Bible & Devotions                       Streams in the Desert                 Daily
One chapter and devotion                    M    T    W    T    F
One chapter and devotion                     M    T    W    T    F
One chapter and devotion                    M    T    W    T    F
One chapter and devotion                    M    T    W    T    F
One chapter and devotion                    M    T    W    T    F
One chapter and devotion                      M    T    W    T    F
Bible Study for Jacob  Increasing in Wisdom  Daily
One page/day           M  T  W  T  F
One page/day           M  T  W  T  F
One page/day           M  T  W  T  F
One page/day           M  T  W  T  F
One page/day           M  T  W  T  F
One page/day           M  T  W  T  F
Jacob’s Math                                           Saxon 6/5                                  Daily (2 days/lesson)
15, 15, 16, 16, 17
17, 18, 18, 19, 19
20, 20, 21, 21, 22
22, 23, 23, 24, 24
25, 25, 26, 26, 27
27, 28, 28
Jacob’s History Reading                  Daily              --------------------The World of Columbus and Sons
T:  p. 5-10                   W: p. 11-13                  Th: p. 14-18
M:  p.19-20               T:   p. 21-23                    W:  p. 24-28                    Th: p. 129-35
M:  p. 36-40               T:   p. 41-47                 W:  p. 48-51                  Th: p. 52-55
M:  p .57-59                T:   p. 60-64                 W:  p. 65-68                    Th: p. 69-75
M:  p. 76-78               T:   p. 79-81                   W:  p. 82-86                    Th: p. 91-94
M:  p. 95-100             T:   p. 101-104                   W:  p. 105-109                 Th: p. 110-114
Spelling/Dictation                      Spelling  Wisdom 1                         T/Th
35, 36
37, 38
39, 40
41, 42
43, 44
45, 46
Language                    Analytical Grammar                   Daily for 11  weeks
Unit 4--5               M  T  W  T  F
Unit 5--6                   M  T  W  T  F
Unit 6--7                   M  T  W  T  F
Unit 7--8                   M  T  W  T  F
Unit 8--9             M  T  W  T  F
Unit 9-10            M  T  W  T  F
(Sorry, I know the last column is cut off, but I think you get a pretty good idea of what we hope to get done.)


We do 6 week terms with 3 weeks off.  These are pretty flexible.  For example, we should be back "at school" today, but we have friends visiting, so we'll start our second term next week.  Friendships and relationships are an extremely valuable part of life!  

God bless!