Gearing up for 2008-2009

While we're taking a break from "school" mode, I'm taking the opportunity to prep when and if I feel like it. I enjoy the oppotunity to do it without pressure, and of course with MFW prep is at most getting supplies together for the year.

Our 2008-2009 year will be MFWK and MFW 1st so when I'm done with the supply lists, I'll post them as resources for future use. I plan on putting the supplies for each week in a labeled Ziploc bag so that when we get there, we just pull it out and do it. I also plan on making all copies and everything else needed for the entire year otherwise we'll jsut skip over those things!

To Do
1) Spend some time in prayer asking the Lord for guidance and leaving the next school year in His hands.
2) Make lists of supplies needed and copies to be made.
3) Schedule a shopping trip (without kids!) where I can buy everything needed.
4) Scheulde an appointment with hubby to enlist his help with the tweaks needed (e.g. cutting plywood to size etc).
5) Create a daily schedule.
6) Decide on extra curricular activities.

I'd love to hear how you get ready for the coming school year, so if you stop by, please be sure to mention your number one prep step!

Avoiding burnout

I have more or less been in school mode for the last 3 years, without any defined breaks/vacations. I just kept going because we've been very loose with our schedule, and wanted the flexibility. But now I'm ready for definition on our calendar, and I think the kids are too!

I think part of the problem was trying to fit our Jan to Dec calendar in with everyone elses summer fun.

What better way than to start than in Summer Vacation mode? So we'll be taking July off, then the first week of August is VBS, and then we'll take a week to get into "the mode". After that, it's school time! So for the next month or so, expect posts to be about fun, field trips and summer time.

We'll have a Kindergartener and First Grader. What a blast!

The cutest "Amazing Grace" ever!

This is proof that our 2 year olds can memorize something as long as Amazing Grace :)

Baltimore Orioles in our front tree!

We are so excited to find that we have a nest of Baltimore Orioles in the tree in front of our house! There are two chicks and mom and dad are very busy keeping them fed. They are incredibly noisy, but it's such a pleasure to hear them. I know they won't be there for much longer, since the babies are actually leaving the nest. You can see the two babies and one adult in this (rather amateur!) video:

Memorization hints, tips and techniques

I went over to my much loved WTM forums and asked the question "How do you begin teaching memorization?" This is a compilation of the wonderful ideas that I got from the ladies over there.

• The most important components of successful memorization are consistency and review. (Thanks, Jessica from Trivium Academy)


• Use the memorization system at Simply Charlotte (Thanks, Jessica from Trivium Academy)
  
• Set up a notebook with a tab per year (Thanks, Jessica from Trivium Academy
  
• I think you need to make sure that memorization naturally grows out of the joy and beauty of poetry, and that it doesn't squelch that joy and beauty for the kids. So make sure that you're *reading* and *enjoying* poetry together as well as "just memorizing" (which I think is a really important aspect of kids' educations). Be consistent. Use repetition. And demonstrate *joy* in doing the memorization. Discuss the beauty of the words themselves, the meaning of the phrases, make sure they understand as much as they can... And pick a variety of selections -- the short and silly, the deeply profound, etc, etc...(Thanks, abbeyej)


• Record the selections onto MP3 or CD and listen to them. (Thanks, abbeyej)


• Have the kids repeat one to two lines after you. (As much as they can hold in their heads at once...) Once it's familiar, start leaving out key words for them to fill in, or ends of lines. (Thanks, abbeyej and Ravin)


• Write it out on a white board. Read it together a few times. Erase one word and see if dc can say it all anyway. Then erase another word. One at a time and soon all the words will be gone from the board and yet be in your dc's short term memory. Repetition from there will help to get it into their long term memory. Another option is to replace the words you erase with pictures. (Thanks, Kathie in VA)


• Put each word on a different index card. Mix them up and have dc put them in order. (Thanks, Kathie in VA)


• My kids have learned to memorize anything by just repeating it five times a day. We just recite it together. For longer passages, we do it line by line, adding one sentence or phrase each day, until it's all memorized. Our routine (for longer passages) is to read it all the way through once, then recite what we've learned from memory. Then, we read our "new" line five times, reading at first, but trying to do it without looking. Then, we recite the line before and the new line together (trying to do it from memory). Last, we recite from the beginning, from memory, up to the new line we just learned. (Thanks, Suzanne in ABQ)


• I put copies of anything we're learning on CD(hymns, math facts, etc) and record my own version of anything I can't find professionally recorded (memory verses, poetry). We play the CD every morning first thing, while I'm setting out books, etc. I usually play it again later in the day. Once dd can recite with no help, I replace it with something else on the CD. Completed memorizations go in a review notebook, divided into 20 tabs - we quickly recite the old stuff behind the day of the month we're on (four weeks a month x five days a week = 20 days). (Thanks, Keri)


• There is a book and CD with Andrew Pudewa reading the poetry. We just go over the poems several times a day. We were also part of a Classical Conversations program for a year. The kids had over 1000 facts to memorize during the 24 week school year. It is very doable. There are 8 areas of study- bible, latin, grammar, science question, history sentence, math fact, geography,VP history cards.You can buy the guide and the CD's without being part of a CC community. We learned a lot, including how to memorize vast vaste amounts of information . Our "big techniques" for memory work are:
  1. flash drill
  2. white board (write out the info, erase a bit at a time and continue to "read" the info as if it was still there
  3. card games (with the VP cards, we'd learn 8 a week. We flash drill, then I'd shuffle them and take out 2- the kids would have to put them in order and let me know which ones were missing.
  4."jeopardy" type games
  5. Drama - GREAT for learning how to memorize
  6. getting the info set to music and listen to the CD (Thanks, Lisa)


• Put a white board on the wall right by our kitchen table. At some point during all three meals, work on memory. Just by having the children face the white board while they eat, they are able to memorize great quantities rather quickly. It is the visual, the frequency and the repetition that works for us. (Thanks, Pam)


• Break up a chosen passage into smaller parts. Repeat the part for the day, 3 times that day. Do this for a week. Once that portion has been learned, add the next portion by reciting the old portion once and then the new portion 3 times each day. (Thanks, Camy)

These are all excellent ideas, and I plan on implementing some of them. Now, off to choose our first piece...

Roger Williams Park Zoo

We just got a membership to the Roger Williams Park Zoo and we plan to use it to the full! Coming from Africa, I had a really hard time seeing the animals behind fences for the first time. Funnily, the elephants didn't really bother me. It was more the wild dogs and the big cats - they cover so much ground so fast (although elephants also cover many, many miles in a day.)

However, the Roger Williams Park Zoo is actively involved in the Endangered Species Breeding Program and are currently trying to breed the elephants through artificial insemination.

They have been to Kenya and will soon be going to Madagascar to procure some of the endangered animals from there. Many of the animals are from rescues (e.g. one bald eagle was hit by a car, and the other flew into a power line) and all the others were bred in captivity. It's good to know that none of them long for the wild...

That being said, we had a fabulous time with 78 deg weather, and 2 very excited children!

Giraffes (who are both currently pregnant)

Moon Bear

Penguin Exhibit

Bald Eagles (Endangered Species)

It's a good thing we have a membership - perhaps he'll see some of it next time!

A "Can-it-be-like-this-every-day" Day!

I walked into the school room this morning, and this was the sight that greeted me:

My little bibliophile (reading her MFW 1st Grade Bible Reader, waaay ahead of where she's supposed to be reading):

My little builder (making Animal Patterns):

And my little man, who's simply concentrating on growing (see those new teeth!)

We did: bible, reading, math, art appreciation, and some more reading.

And at the end of the day, DD came to me and said, "We didn't do school today!"

If only it was always this easy

Ta da!

I have had the most fabulous time over the last week working with Darcy from Graphically Designing on a new blog template. It took a while for my creative ideas to kick in, but with Darcy's help I think my blog is beautiful.



I really wanted to link to my African roots, as well as touch on the fact that an African minute is about as long as 10 American minutes - or so it seems. And I want to teach my children not to get so caught up on being overscheduled that they miss the joy in the moments of life.

So thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, Darcy, for a wonderful blog home

P.S. Darcy's personal blog is also wonderful - she's a real laugh, so go get a pick-me-up over at My 3 Boybarians.

Memories on "paper" - Digital Scrapbooking

I have just discovered digital scrapbooking, and what's so amazing about it is that you can get two completely different looks for one layout simply by switching a paper. Obviously this isn't possible if you're using real paper because you would have to redo the whole layout.

I have thousands of digital photos spanning 8 years that we don't get to enjoy because they're stuck on the hard drive. I hope to take them and do something with them - even if it's just to get them printed so that we can enjoy them. If I'm able to make up some scrapbooks for the kids, then that'll be even better.

This is my first attempt. It's made with "Spring Jellybean" by Miss Mint. One of my new favorite sites is Peppermint Creative. I think I prefer the first one.

Think on these things

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." Phil 4:8 (NASB)

"If only" thoughts about the past and "what if" thoughts about the future can rob us of our peace and joy in the present.

As I go about preparing for the year ahead, I am learning that it's important to reign in my thoughts to make sure I think on that which is true. I need to trust God minute by minute, and reap the richness of right thinking and faith in Him for each moment.

As I think more on this verse, I can see how it might also direct our studies, and how we may not go into myths, foreign religion etc as deeply as I might have initially planned. We may just touch on these things to the level of "being informed."

Wordless Wednesday

Do you think this can count for PE/fine motor skills...or something!?