Our Homework Hut

Building indoor forts has always been a day-long operation*** around here, but it has been awhile...until, yesterday. HRM was cloistered away in her room, as usual (The hybrid academy is such a huge blessing and keeping my academically diligent melancholic HRM working hard; her room is another story...). Miller and Jelly Bean were, in typical sanguine fashion, looking for a way to procrastinate their assignments. I went up to shower and they burst in to my room happy and excited.

"Mom, you have to come down now!"

"Wait just a minute. We have to throw in some laundry and I have to dry my hair."

(Emotions are so high and happy that they easily comply.)

About 15 minutes later and we are down the stairs as if it were Christmas morning. (Btw, I live for this stuff...) I round the corner, and to my surprise, there is a massive tent in our sunroom. It is indeed a thing of beauty.

"It's our Homework Hut!"

Both big dogs and, most, if not all, of the cats are piled in among the pillows and blankets. So, I work on the kitchen and they hole themselves in to work on spelling, math, etc....SJB Academy has really helped us deliniate a curriculum that covers the basics, yet leaves ample time for play, and other pursuits, both scholarly and otherwise.

The Sullivan grandparents are driving down from Kentucky today to spend the weekend with us. Unfortunately, the Homeschool Hut was dissembled last night because M and JB went in together to buy the new Ice Age movie.

***Truth be told, when the kids were small, often the various forts would stay up for days. Such is life in suburban America where kids do not roam around neighborhoods like we used to do.

Spyhopping

Just studying whales over here, really, that's all we're doing --wink, wink, nudge, nudge!!!

It is slam-o-rama time around here....

The past week or so has been a bit crazy around here as we are giving birth to our new house. The kids are learning and growing and JB is being a big help working on the whiteboard with her brother in math and spelling. HRM is doing lots w/K12, cooking and reading and working on her part in the upcoming TORCH play (as is JB who is in the other play). J is still reading Spongebob books and plenty of other literature. We are reading alot and doing oral narrations on what we are reading and watching and listening too.

I think the Books of Centuries will have to wait until after the move, but we shall see. Miller's 8th bday is the 20th!

I posted this on my other blog last week. I have a book list that I will post of books I have checked out of the library and from our personal library on Daniel Boone and American frontier life. This year we have studied the life of George Washington and St. Isaac Jogues. We are now on to Daniel Boone -- coonskin cap and all-- and his strong wife, Rebecca Boone. This is very sketchy but will have to do for now.

When life throws a few extra wrenches at you, homeschooling is such a source of enjoyment. It is my sanity amongst the craziness of many things going on right now, only including packing, applying for a mortgage, inspections, pondering and working on the myriad improvements needed in the old house. And, also including a bit of a meltdown in my spiritual life....well, enough of that -- we are blessed and I know it and am so very grateful and know in my heart that our Lord can make straight any crooked path.

Still going great guns....

I noted in an earlier post, and now, as we sadly come to the end to this great book, I'll say again that Guns for General Washington is not just one of the best read alouds we've done, but one of the best and most inspiring books I've ever read. Like all high caliber fiction, this book provides so much food for thought, so many nice rabbit trails to pursue. This morning we got out several of our geography resources and talked about various geographical and math topics. The Mohawk and Hudson rivers are huge factors in our tale, as well as the little colonial hamlets nearby. The true story takes place during the winter of 1775-76, and the evocative descriptions of overcoming weather and treacherous terrain have led us to discuss many important facts. Who knows, maybe we can make a family field trip to Fort Tigonderoga and Boston in 2009?

Religion: We are trying to memorize The Angelus. Most days, HRM leads it for us at lunch time or tea time. We went to Mass today and had a good chat with our pastor, who gives of himself like few other people I have ever met in my life. I am so grateful for the influence he has had in this family.

Math and Architecture: In being more attunted to the architecture around us, we are discussing and visualizing many math skills. I'd like to do something like a lapbook to put to paper many of the discussions we've had about lines, dimension, area, and perspective. We have not cracked Cathedral yet. (JB is reading Marley and Me on her own and then she is going to lend it to me.)

All in all, I had a good time with all three scholars. It was one of those rare days, when it was only the four of us, and we put in a nearly 9am - 4pm of intense learning, discussion, and good writing. It is days like today that keep me very committed to homeschooling because I see how integrated learning can be when the setting is right. We have been very social lately; and, while this stimulates lots of learning and growing, I also love to "get back to the drawing board," and have our little "one-room schoolhouse", where we do our best to tackle the 4 R's (reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic and religion).

Last, we put copywork pages in both Miller and JB's Language Arts notebooks and quizzed HRM on the geofacts that we put in the notebooks.

We want to make maps of Colonel Henry Knox's "crazy," and, wildly successful and courageous, round trip journey from Boston to Fort Ticonderoga and back to Boston again. There are so many good parallels that could be drawn between this wonderful fictionalization of history and what happens to a person when they say yes to the demands of the Gospel. There is nothing overtly Christian in the text, but it is redolent of Christian values.

Why I enjoy homeschooling...

I love the unexpected joys, the "fits of harmony," as my husband so aptly described this past Sunday afternoon when he told me what he most wanted to do (stay home and experience "fits of harmony," that is...). Of course, he always lobbies to stay home because he is away from home so much, hammering out software in a confined, and often noisy, environment. Well, as is often the case after we have had a prolonged period of pure unschooling, everyone was ready to sit down and bone up on what we call the "4Rs" -- reading, writing, 'rithmetic and religion. So, I have so much I'd like to write about, but I really want to go find a quiet corner and read HRM's Twilight novel, that I am borrowing. So, here are some notes:

Monday..............We were a whiz-bang cleaning team. We officially were off since everyone in both local public and private schools were off. Our friends came over and helped us clean and organize. I slowly took down some cherished Christmas ornaments and decorations; but, the tree and the Nativity is still up.

Tuesday..........Tonight the Magi will come to the Crib during our evening family prayer. We ate all of our meals at home today. HRM made a nice pasta sauce from scratch and led the Angelus before lunch. Earlier, Miller, Jellybean and I did a Gospel reflection and later, we were absorbed in this book, a fine start on seasonal science. J did alot of whiteboard copywork for math and LA. JB helped with that. We discussed the periods of history, planned some snowman math for Miller. As a kick-off-of-the-term treat, we went to the 2pm Matinee showing of Marley and Me and loved, loved, loved this heart-warming film. Before lunch, I read the poem, "Dream," by Langston Hughes from our poetry book The Seasons, which has an intensely lovely watercolor on every page:

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.