Mount Vernon

A couple weeks ago, we went back to Mount Vernon. It is one of our favorite local field trips! ... And so lovely in the fall! Because it was a spectacular day, we decided to take the river tour. It was well worth it. 

First Day of School

Today was our first day of school and marked the beginning of our 6th year of homeschooling. 3rd, 5th, and 7th this year.... 

I am dying at how old my kids look in these pictures.

And this was just five short years ago!? Slow it down, people!

Classical Conversations : Faces of History

Will and Hannah's Classical Conversations Essentials class
concluded the year with a Faces of Medieval History celebration. 

Here's Johannes Gutenberg

And Lady Jane Grey presenting her paper

We did it! Completed our first year of Essentials!... sadly, Hannah's only year.
Next year she is on to Challenge A. 

The very impressive feast complete with a pig's head centerpiece. 

I grabbed a tutor board for a backdrop
and took a quick photo of the diagrammed mugs
we made for our amazing tutor.  

Tap, Tap... Um, Hello?

This fall has been zany. Period.

I only have a few minutes before I literally collapse into bed - oh, but it's a what-a-full-and-amazing-day kind of collapse. The best kind.

A few glimpses into our fall...

Will enjoyed his first season of kid-pitch as a pitcher for his team.

Farm fun with our Classical Conversations group. 

Peter decided to be a farmer-cowboy for the day.

He always seems to incorporate some sort of costume drama into our days. Love his spunk!

  

The big 4-0 for my husband!

And Hannah celebrated her 12th! She requested homemade apple pie for her 'birthday cake.' 

Love this laugh. 

And, of course, there has been a lot of soccer going on around here. 

Back to School

We began our fifth year of homeschooling yesterday
and our eighth first day with 'The Sign' I made way back when Hannah was four.
That feels so very long ago.

Sixth grade. Crazy. And wonderful. 

The fourth grader who declared yesterday the best first day of school ever. 

Second grade for this cutie! I love second grade.  

I'm working on a post with our curriculum line-up for the year. We are thrilled to be joining a Classical Conversations community this year. All three will be a part of the Foundations program; and Will and Hannah will be in the Essentials class. I will be jumping right in also and tutoring a Foundations class. The summer practicum, tutor training sessions, and parent meetings have been exactly the boost I have needed in this classical homeschooling journey! More to come...

A Wall Timeline

For months I tried to think of a creative way to have a wall timeline in our homeschool room that wouldn't be too paper-taped-to-the-wall-looking and that the kids could build themselves. This was the solution for us. I love it because (a) the kids made it, (b) it's adjustable - I can move dates and events around making more space for the time period we are studying, (c) it looks great in the school room.

We started with four 24" x 36" budget canvases from Michael's (when they were 50% off - which is often) and craft paint. Green was their pick. I thought an stylized earth with blues and greens would be fun, but my idea went nowhere... and it probably was a bit much. When it was dry, I attached the back of the 4 canvases with brackets, making a giant canvas. Bigger canvases would work, but they cost much more. I cut the pre-painted white molding board (from Lowes - very inexpensive and already white) and the kids spaced and nailed the boards to the frame of the canvas.

Then we printed timeline figures on heavy white card stock. I LOVE these timeline figures from Homeschool In The Woods. We only printed the people and events we had studied this past year, we will be adding to this for years. And I'm sure we will have some of our own black and white drawings to add in months to come, but the cd of figures we have is pretty exhaustive. I also printed dates to cut out and stick to clothespins (adjustable). After coloring and cutting, we just stuck them on with a little masking tape (easy to move). 

I thought about moving the dog crate, but that's where it lives (sigh)... and Henry was sleeping. 

He's totally into that timeline. 

We're looking forward to adding many more dates and figures this year! 

I'm very excited about what we will be studying this year... posting that soon. 

  

May Days

We spent our days wrapping up the school year...

... and getting outside as fast as we could.

And there were carpools, practices, scrimmages, tryouts, soccer games, baseball games, playoffs... 

and a lot of takeout pizza for dinner.

Hannah and I were able to get away for a few days to The Homestead. 

Very sweet time with my girl.

These three treated me like royalty on my birthday. 

Hannah-made pancakes for breakfast and a spectacular picnic lunch.

My birthday was also the last day of school! 

Summertime! 

Our Homeschool : 1st Grade : 2012/2013

Oops! I never posted what Peter has been busy doing around here. Here it is.

This is my third time teaching first grade. So at the beginning of the year, I sat down do get started with Peter on what first grade looks like around here. After a few weeks, I decided to make some changes. Each change proved to be a perfect fit for Peter. Just one of the million things I love about homeschooling: a custom-fit education.

Peter : 1st Grade

Math

• Math-U-See, Alpha. We started the year using Saxon 2, but switched to Math-U-See and the change has been a perfect fit. He loves it!
• I still do a Saxon-like "Math Meeting" with him everyday - working with weather graphs, the calendar, skip counting, money, telling time, math facts, patterns, etc.

Phonics/Grammar/Writing

• All About Reading, Levels 1 and 2. This program is brilliant and so easy to use. We have both enjoyed the readers more than any others I have found - beautifully illustrated, sweet stories.
• Expode the Code workbooks. This is one thing that all my kids have enjoyed. Solid phonics reinforcement. I just subscribed to Explode the Code Online for some extra "fun" practice. Peter is loving his new computer time. 
• First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind: Level 1. I have used this for all 3 - love it. 
• A Reason for Handwriting: Level A
• Poetry Memorization
• Lots of reading aloud to me (or Hannah or Will). 

And we all do Bible, Memory Work, History, Geography, Science, Art, Music, and PE together. Those subjects can be found here: Our Homeschool : 5th Grade : 2012/2013

Soaking Up Spring

This week has felt a bit more like summer than spring. Good thing we didn't have to stay inside. 

We joined up with some friends at the Natural History Museum...

... and visited the butterfly pavilion (free on Tuesdays!).

Then we walked over to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms. 

It was too crowded around the trees, so we jumped on a paddle boat. 

Much better.

Ice cream on the mall and a quick metro ride home. 

I love this city.