The Switchman

Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
    but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 19:21

I begin each school week with high ambitions to accomplish much. Sometimes, things derail, or rather the Switchman puts us on a different track. I think that is what happened to us this week. But I am fairly certain it turned out more fruitful than anything we may otherwise have done.

Our usual Day 1 (Tuesday) was scratched because Daddy had an extra day off and I was still recovering from the weekend's birthday festivities for Alice (now 7!)

Wednesday (this week's Day 1), we managed to get everything done in a timely manner, with just a few minutes to spare before three friends arrived for their first Spanish lesson. Royal and Alice joined in with their friends while Almanzo napped, and we had a fun time of singing and playing and acting out things in the foreign language.

Thursday also went well. It was a shorter day, lesson-wise, so we got everything done. This afternoon, Royal decided he wanted to sew some buttons on his pajama pants to make them look like thermal underwear or something (like in the olden days), so I let him. The plan for his handicraft was to do some leatherwork with his Grandpa this evening while Alice was at volleyball practice... Well apparently Grandpa was watching a show on the Alaskan frontier and so the leatherwork didn't get touched. Royal enjoyed it, of course. (And it just fueled his desire to be a backwoodsman when he grows up).

Friday for some reason didn't work out to be as efficient and we ended up having to postpone a couple of lessons (Parables of Nature and A Drop of Water) because we were running behind and needed to get to our first piano lesson by 2:30. Oh, and Almanzo refused to nap today. But I was able to coax him into at least staying in his room to play until I went to get him. (I think we must be transitioning into the age of no-daily-naps soon, sniff-sniff).

The first piano lessons went great and the kids enjoyed them. This is really a God-send and I thank the Lord for sending us our new friends and neighbors. Our kids play well together and we both homeschool. I bought our keyboard from them, and now my friend teaches our kids piano in exchange for me teaching her kids Spanish. Sweet!

Saturday we had early volleyball games. My plan was to return home to do a regular day of school; however, the weather was SO glorious, I just couldn't bear to be inside at the table. I sent the children outside for the remainder of the morning to play and explore until lunch. As it happened, they chanced upon a wonderful patch of milkweed vine with a number of monarch caterpillars! 

I toted the nature journals out there and had a little impromptu nature study, talking about the visual difference between a Queen and a regular Monarch caterpillar. 

Alice's sketch

Isn't this just the cutest sketch ever?!?

We saw 2 Queens and one Monarch. The children wanted to bring one inside to our habitat, but as we already have one, I wanted to leave the others to enjoy their natural surroundings. I suggested we just go check on them every day. After lunch, however, Royal came rushing back to me and said the fire ants had eaten the two Queens! Fantastic. So this evening I wanted to go poking around some more out there to see if I could spy any more. Fortunately I did, and this one (also a Queen) was so tiny! I think I even found a couple of monarch egg sacs deposited underneath one of the milkweed vine leaves.

During Almanzo's nap today we did get a little school done; however, due to our morning adventures and discoveries outside, we fell far short of a full day of book-learning. But really, I am ok with that ... especially when Royal makes his own written entry in his Nature Notebook alongside his drawing and later tells me that Nature is his favorite thing and how glad he is that we don't live in a city.

Royal's sketch and entry

I have been reading a bit of what Heather over at Bent Leather has been writing this week (and in this post particularly) ... and after today's experience outside, I am further encouraged that women, children (amateurs) can take away so much more from the world of science if they are actively curious than they can from whole volumes of scientific material produced by the experts.

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What blessings have you experienced from a week of "failed" plans?

{Keeping} :: August's Firsts

I really enjoy taking photos; however, for some reason August came and went without much evidence to supplement my Calendar of Firsts. I hope to remedy that the month of September.

Anyway, for a run-down of items I included in August, here 'tis:

8 - mourning dove feather collected and identified (with entry into our nature journals as well)

Alice's entry

Royal's entry

   - low ruellia blooms in dry, rocky creekbed: Creekside Trail Route

9 - sumac blooms

10 - prickly pears on cacti
     - western ironweed patch along roadside

12 - lots of crickets chirping

16 - snow on the mountain blooms

19 - rainy and cool! High: 72 degrees. WOW. Rained for 5 hours straight!

28 - Wilson's Warbler spotted at parents' home in central Texas. They are migrating south to the tropics.

30 - lots of Texas Frog-Fruit in the open fields up the hill

{Keeping} :: Spanish Notebook

I have been meaning to do a post on our (or my) Spanish Keeping Notebook for awhile. Now with Celeste's September Keeping Company Invitation, I have the impetus to go ahead and put some words and observations down in a post here.

This is something I desire to do consistently as a record, as well as a future resource for my children. 

First I must say that back when Royal was a wee 5-year-old, I actually started a crude version of a foreign language notebook where we would enter a new vocabulary drawing each day. I wrote the Spanish word at the top of the page:

More recently I began two books, one for each of the older two since they have been doing Spanish together since forever.

These spiral-bound books I already had on hand, initially to be purposed as a home for Royal's toddler art. After our move back to the States, I lost my "round tuit". ;-P 

As for the set-up, I just found a typical Spanish image to print off and set as the cover art to distinguish it as something special. The children colored their pictures, then I added the letter stickers to spell out "español":

As far as practicality goes, it really has fulfilled that purpose even thus far. I have had so many loose flashcards and papers to deal with. The keeping aspect of this notebook really lives up to its name in this case! Lol :-)

From various web searches and Pinterest posts on foreign language, I have seen the emergence of something called interactive notebooks. I took this idea as something to incorporate into our Keeping and hope it finds use as the children grow to use their books as a source for personal review:

And now with the numerous series we have been learning in our Around the House unit, I have a place to record the series as well as illustrate the vocabulary (with room to add more vocabulary that may belong to each of these rooms of the house):

So there it is!
A work in progress, for sure.

So now I want to see some of yours!

Drop me a line with a link if you've got a post highlighting your special foreign language Keeping.

History Alive: the Alamo!

Last week our family enjoyed a week away from normal. We ventured south a bit to enjoy some time with the grandparents and to make a visit to the Alamo.

This past year's Ambleside Year 3 readings of American Tall Tales has sparked a wonder-filled world of frontier life and awestruck fascination with Davy Crockett.

Let him ... linger pleasantly over the history of a single man, a short period,

until he thinks the thoughts of that man, is at home in the ways of that period.

-Vol 1, p280

As Royal's interests gravitated toward this hero of the 19th century, I began to keep my eyes open for books he may enjoy and found a handful at various thrift stores:

Davy Crockett, Young Pioneer

Davy Crockett, Defender of the Alamo

The Story of Davy Crockett

Susanna of the Alamo

I also ordered Davy Crockett's Own Story, As Written by Himself.

I confess I did this because I was inspired by my son's interest, along with the notion that this book could be an option for Year 10's biography selection.

From my Commonplace:

(I can't help but think that Charlotte Mason would be proud to read this as well!)

What a pity it is that these theaters are not contrived that everybody could go;

but the fact is, backwoodsman that I am, I have heard some things in them that was

a leetle too tough for good women and modest men;

and that's a great pity, because there are thousands of scenes of real life that might be exhibited,

both for amusement and edification, without offending.

p168

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Let a child have the meat he requires in his history readings, 

and in the literature which naturally gathers round this history, 

and the imagination will bestir itself without any help of ours;

the child will live out in detail a thousand scenes of which he only gets the merest hint.

-Vol 1, p295

With all the past year's talk of Crockett and the Alamo, playing at frontier life and singing the Ballad of Davy Crockett, my kids were ripe for a visit to this shrine of Texas history.

Photos are not allowed inside the mission, but it was amazing to view relics once used by so many involved in the Texas Revolution...a Bowie knife, Crockett's rifle, a large wood piece from his Tennessee home's chimney, and his leather wallet (which we sketched to try replicating in the future, as Royal is now beginning to do leatherwork). 

Talking with various museum attendants:

... we learned where Davy Crockett's battle position at the Alamo was and where his body was found afterwards 

... we enjoyed handling a real flintlock rifle and .69 caliber round balls 

... and did you know Phil Collins (he was seriously my favorite rock star growing up!) is an Honorary Texan because of his generous donations of Alamo relics he has collected over the years? He has amassed around 250 articles relating to the Alamo and the Texas Revolution. A select few are already on display at the Alamo, but the rest Mr. Collins has asked specifically that there be a place where the entire collection can be housed together. These plans are in the works now.

For a bit of History in the Headlines, read this article: Phil Collins has always Remembered the Alamo

my little Davy Crockett & Jim Bowie

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The Church of San Fernando,

one of the oldest cathedrals in the USA

and the marker for the official center of the city of San Antonio lies on the floor of the back chapel:

Besides being beautiful on the outside,

the inside is quite lovely as well:

And in the entrance on the left side of the church,

another piece of history:

History is now alive in our minds!

"Education must be an appeal to the spirit if it is to be made interesting."

{Science} with a Drop of Water

Although we are in the final term of Year 3, when I saw that there had been added a science component using the book A Drop of Water, I didn't want Royal to miss out.

We began the book during our first week of Term 3 and have been enjoying the wonderful photographs along with the succinct, yet informative description for each topic.

Since week 1, the kids have been begging to do the "floating steel" experiment. Well today we finally got to that portion.

After reviewing some basic properties of water molecules and discussing the reasons why and how a steel pin can float, there was a lot of excitement when I gathered all the materials for the experiment.

I have to say it was pretty amazing that we were all successful at floating the pin!

After a first attempt fail, we tried a different way of lowering the pin into the water, balanced carefully in the cradle of a paper clip, held in "V" formation, so as not to disrupt so much of the surface tension:

Really amazing to see from below how the pin is held suspended on top of the water...

And then to float the paper clip:

If you are using this book, how are you all enjoying it along with the experiments?

{Foreign Language} :: Around the House + Printable

We have been using the Cherrydale Press book Speaking Spanish with Miss Mason and Francois for awhile now. I began using it as-is; however, after the first two or three series, I wanted to begin using the book more as a jumping-off point for other original series. After we complete a unit, sometimes I am at a loss as to what to focus on next so I will return to the book for another idea.

Our current unit is "Around the House". 
I have broken the unit up into rooms of the house, each room with their separate series to learn and act out.

Series 1: the bathroom
* I take off my clothes.
* I take a shower/I take a bath.
* I dry off with the towel.
* I put on my pajamas.

Series 2: the bedroom
* I put on my pajamas.
* I get into bed.
* I sleep.

Series 3: the living room
* I walk to the couch.
* I sit down on the couch.
* I turn on the lamp.
* I read the book.

Series 4: the kitchen
* I cook the food.
* I serve the food.
* I wash the dishes.
* I dry the dishes.
* I put away the dishes.

Series 5: the dining room
* I set the table.
* I put the food on the table.
* I sit down in the chair.
* I pray.
* I eat the food.

Series 6: the garage
* I get in the car.
* I start the car.
* I drive the car home.
* I park the car in the garage.

We spend about two weeks on each series, and include review of all previous series throughout the week as well. At some point during the course of the series, I have been making entries into their Spanish Notebook (more on that in another post sometime).

Besides regular review, I like doing games or activities on the last day of school each week to have a fun way to reinforce vocabulary and verbs. Some of the my routine go-to games include Simon Says, Charades, Karuta, Rock-Paper-Scissors and Bingo.

This last week we used Bingo in a fun way to review all the series. I made up several Bingo cards, numbered randomly with the numbers 1-6 so the enumeration would correspond to the dots on dice.

Instructions for Bingo: Home Edition are as follows...

1. Roll the dice. Each number (1-6) corresponds to one room of the house.
     1=the bathroom
     2=the bedroom
     3=the living room
     4=the kitchen
     5=the dining room
     6=the garage

2. Whichever number the child rolls, they must say an action or sentence describing something they do in that room.
     Ex) The child rolls a "4", signifying the kitchen. They can say something like "I cook the food" or "I wash the dishes." Once one phrase has been said, the next time that number is rolled, a different phrase should be produced. (You could even print a list of all the series and mark off phrases as they are mentioned)

3. If the child says a correct action or phrase, they may place a marker on that particular number of the Bingo board. If not, they must wait until another turn.

4. The first child to get 5 markers in a row wins :-)

Here are my Bingo cards if you'd like to print, cut & play this game too! The middle gray space is the FREE space:

Weekly Focus on Nature

As a part of our new scheduling plan, I wanted to make sure to incorporate some intentional nature focus once a week, apart from our regularly scheduled nature walk and study. My hope is that my children will find some nature friends to become acquainted with right outside our doors ...some friends they have not met yet (or don't know very well) ...some things they have not noticed before. Additionally this helps ensure we have focused nature time for those weeks where one of the school days may get absorbed into life, such as doctor appointments, grocery shopping trips, visits with friends, etc.

On the first school day of the week (usually Tuesday) I send them out during the morning for half an hour. I have them take their nature journals and colored pencils in case they want to sketch anything they see. However, I do not require it. I want them, at the very least, to observe and to be able to tell me about something after the half hour is up.


Week One :: August 4
Royal sketched some lichen growing on a fallen dead tree trunk.

Alice quickly drew a tumble-weed like grass head. (Not sure what it is)

I did lots of sketching and painting throughout this week. I think I was still on a high from the previous weekend's Hill Country Retreat and Heather's watercolor lessons! :-)

Week Two :: August 11
I made a point to remind them that when they draw, they should be observing the piece of interest at the time...not doing it from memory or what they think it looks like. (This is what Alice had done last week)

Royal said he didn't want to sketch anything; however, I had him take his notebook just in case. Turns out he did find something to draw, and did a mighty find job of it as well! 

Afterwards, I had him tell me about it in order to record his observations alongside the sketch. This is what he said:

I took a bucket and went out in the woods and I turned the bucket over and sat down.

I was looking around when something caught my eye. 

It was an elm tree where the roots had grown out sideways at the base and had formed two dens.

I looked for an animal in the dens, but there was nobody there so I thought that maybe I should draw that.

Alice didn't draw anything today, but she did point out a teeny-tiny spider in its web sitting right next to me that I hadn't noticed.

A Dewdrop Spider

Almanzo came over from his play, after which I went to retrieve our magnifying glass to have a better look at that spider. I showed him, then he wanted to look at some other things. He and Alice wandered around together looking at things then, while I ventured to record a few notes from the morning's observations. This is what I wrote:

Bluebirds in our front yard.

Lots of cardinals, as usual. Many high-pitched chips up in the trees: "ch-ch-ch-ch"

A teeny-tiny spider has spun its web on the yard swing. It has a silvery-white abdomen.

We used a magnifying glass to get a better look. It was so tiny!

Ant lion "traps" are everywhere.

Week Three :: August 19
Another successful morning outside!

Royal related to me the following (no sketch today):

Today I got the closest to a bird that I've ever gotten in my life.

It was literally like a foot away from me. I was just being real still.

It was on the branch beside me. It was a sparrow.

It was light brown all over with a white belly, black and white tail feathers and black around the eyes.

And then the other cool thing was I saw a squirrel in a tree about 20 feet away from me

and then all of a sudden I heard it make sounds. It was kind of a "chip-chip" sound.

Alice drew this that Almanzo brought to her. Apparently it is the same thing she hurriedly sketched from memory in Week One. She just didn't realize it! This time a closer look. (Still don't know what it is though):

And my entry into my sketchbook today:

...which is a rendition of the rouge-plant: 

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So how is Nature Study going over at your place?