Walk, Don't Run

DH invited us to the greenway this morning. Some of our greenway adventures have become infamous, others, merely legendary. So it was not without trepidation that I accepted the challenge. Of course, he sweetened the deal by including breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

DD did not want to ride her bike; she wanted to run with Daddy. They ran .5 miles together, then Daddy peeled off to finish his run and DD and I decided to take a walk: a lovely walk where we went down every dirt path, followed as many butterflies as we could, sniffed flowers, tried to taste nectar, collected flowers and leaves in the shape of butterflies and hearts and just enjoyed being together on a lovely summer's morning.

Then, coming home to a peaceful home and some blessed free time, I came across this post from a homeschool mom I admire. It was just what I needed to hear.

Our walk was a powerful reminder to slow down; we've been going at a breakneck pace lately and I've found my temper shortening  exponentially. We've not been truly lazy all summer long. I think it's about time we started.

Following the Recipe

Today's metaphor for life: cooking. More specifically, baking. DD wanted to bake one of her secret recipes. I might have mentioned the last secret recipe: the baking soda surprise. This time I supervised more carefully, even to the point of suggesting that she browse through one of our cookbooks for a recipe. "Well, I will if you want me to." Knife in heart. Twist. Twist. I put the cookbook back in the cabinet. She proceeded to make her secret recipe, which turned out to be a cake.

Sugar
Egg
Vanilla
Milk
Cinnamon
Flour
Baking Soda
Salt
Oatmeal
Cranberries
Non-pareils

All measurements approximate. Combine wet ingredients first; slowly add dry. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

So, all this baking caused me to think. How often do I slavishly follow the recipe, unwilling to deviate, even slightly, from the prescribed steps? All the time. Now we're homeschooling; definitely an off-the-recipe activity. I have the opportunity to experiment, get messy, make mistakes. Have I mentioned that I'm planning to dress up as Ms. Frizzle for Halloween next year? Seatbelts, everyone!

Gravity

When you lose control and you fall in a hole, it's Gravity. Or, it's when your four-year-old wants to play a game called ball storm and she dumps 100 balls over the side of the swingset. So, we discussed gravity, Sir Isaac Newton and that exhausted my trivial knowledge of gravity. But, I'm learning (slowly) to consciously integrate science, math and phonics into our day.

It was such a beautiful day here that we spent most of the morning outside. We took a snack, our picnic blanket and our library bookbag outside and ate and read and read and ate. We read a great book today called Twenty is Too Many by Kate Duke. The book starts out with 20 guinea pigs, then subtracts 10, then one from each until you get to one lonely guinea pig. It was a good way to start talking about taking away and adding to. Later we made some chocolate chip cookies and we talked more about how many cups, how many teaspoons, etc.

We're also continuing to work with letter sounds, particularly the short vowel sounds. According to A Well-Trained Mind, dd will be reading by the 11th lesson in Phonics Pathways. That's encouraging. Right now, she doesn't care to work with the blends, but we'll keep plugging away in fun, exciting homeschooling ways!

Under the Sea

We're back after a lengthy absence. Did you miss us? We were visiting the great state of West Virginia. We had a fantastic weekend and all of it was educational. Every single bit. Really. One of the highlights of the trip for me was watching dd catch a frog. I think I hid my feelings of repulsion fairly well. Luckily, she did not ask me to touch the frog. I had already steeled myself to do it without flinching or shrieking like the staunch amphibian hater that I am, but I'm so thankful I didn't have to!

Today was Princess game day. All day long-seemingly without cessation. First, we played Cinderella. I, of course, was the stepmother, the stepsisters, the prince and the duke. Whew! She even managed to kick off her glass slipper (aka mary jane) while running down the hall into her room. Later, she built a spinning wheel out of Lincoln Logs so that we could play Sleeping Beauty. All I had to do was move the princess' sleeping body over to the sofa cushion masquerading as an elegant bed. After Prince Teddy Bear woke her with a kiss, it was time to play Ariel. This consisted of my singing a few bars of Under the Sea over and over and over while Ariel ran and hid. While Ariel was hiding, I announced that I was going to look for King Triton (code for sneak a few minutes on the computer) but I was totally busted. "King Triton isn't in this story. We don't have enough Lincoln Logs to build him. Sing Under the Sea again." You may ask yourself why I agreed to do this. I'm asking myself as well.

We are slowly resuming a modified version of our earlier routine (do I sound like a politician or what?). On a friend's recommendation, I'm re-reading the relevant portion of A Well-Trained Mind. After skimming through again today, I can see that my initial plans were probably too ambitious for our first year. We're going to focus on letter sounds and numbers and we're going to read, read, read. I had hoped to have her reading by Christmas (and by reading I mean the Bob books, not War and Peace), but now I'm working on cultivating a more relaxed attitude. A more under the sea attitude. We'll see what tomorrow brings...

Back in the Saddle Again

So, today's lesson...definitely more organized and structured. However, it BOMBED. I was met with the classic: "When are we going to do something funner?" Not even grammatically correct! Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Of course, there's always the option that my brilliant daughter is bored because she truly does know the short vowel sounds now. I certainly do. I'm drilling them in my sleep. But I digress. So tomorrow, we start blending, folks. We'll be making actual, tw0-letter words. I'm sure she'll LOVE that.

The only part of today's lesson that didn't bomb was making cookies. We read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and then we made cookies. As she was attempting to pour the entire contents of our sugar canister into the bowl, I kindly pointed out to her that it wasn't time yet-not yet not yet not yet!!! To which she replied "Yes it is." Ordinarly, this is my cue to say "No it isn't," but today I took the higher road and said "I'm reading the directions. When you learn to read, then you'll know exactly when to put in the sugar." Yes, I did sound sanctimonious and snotty (mostly just snotty). Ugh.

Oh well, as Scarlett says, "tomorrow is another day."

Homeschool Daze

My dd and I have begun homeschooling (gulp). I've talked enough talk; now it's time to walk the walk.

We've begun by working with the short-vowel sounds. I'm using Phonics Pathways. The lessons are short and easy to follow. It's almost like a script that I can follow until I become more at ease. Maybe that will happen in another 14 years.

She is having trouble with e and i, so we're taking some extra time with those sounds. I checked out a few library books whose stories emphasize these sounds, but now I'm feeling guilty, as I've been reading a book based on the Charlotte Mason method. She is anti-twaddle and these books are nothing BUT twaddle. I guess I'll be evaluating every book against the "Living Books" criteria. I can assure you that I've read very little lately that falls into that category. I wonder what Charlotte would make of The Devil Wears Prada?

Monday we're planning to start fresh with a bit more attention to structure and organization on my part and a bit more initiative and "Gee, Mom, can I hear MORE short-vowel sounds?" on her part. We'll see...