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 Out and about at the plaza de armas... a motokar covered in Santa garb... seriously. | |
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 Christmas carols |  The Christmas story |
 Sleeping around the Christmas tree, a tradition. | |
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 Opening presents... thank you everybody! | |
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 Yummy dinner!! Martins & Nora, thanks so much for sharing it with us! | |
"...that nature and handicrafts should be pressed into service for the training of the eye and hand..."
"The points to be borne in mind in children's handicrafts are: (a) that they should not be employed in making futilities such as pea and stick work, paper mats, and the like; (b) that they should be taught slowly and carefully what they are to do; (c) that slipshod work should not allowed; (d) and that, therefore, the children's work should be kept well within their compass."
| been | feel |
| capture | diary |
| broke | history |
| deed | dozen |
| exhaust | sorry |
| inspect | pear |
| practice | criticism |
| expect | else |
| vote | fifth |
| equip | yesterday |
“Let us make him our leader! Let him protect the world!”So, he practiced Kung Fu to the highest level! He did the same with sword, ax, bow and arrow, and club fighting. But an army of infinity bad guys came. They were too much for Buck, but he fought bravely. He sent them up in the air by the dozen! BOOM! BANG! CRASH! SMACK! But he could not expect to beat those bad dudes. “Pick on somebody else!” he said. But they were very naughty dudes and did not listen. Then they captured him. They chained him between two poles and whipped him 'til his mortal wounds were many. When he was exhausted, and when they stopped laughing at him, they piled wood and hay around him and lit it. Then they threw oil on the fire. It flew high. They heard a crack, and then a roar, and out of the fire came Buck, hot chains swirling. And that was the last time we saw the bad dudes and Buck Smith.
** Written in the Kung Fu Panda style by:
Imagine if as an adult you need to do the problem 876-284, and you have to get out your base 10 blocks for each simple operation. 6-4=2, find the six block, the four block - good. Now, 7-8... oh, get the blocks out again...7 is less than 8, so I'll have to borrow from the 8 hundreds space, which makes that 8-8=0, okay, get the blocks out then 7-2=5...Yes. This must be frustrating even for the kids! Knowledge is power!IF you have your multiplication tables down, not only will you spend less time doing bigger multiplication problems, but division will be much less intimidating as well. The better you have the facts down, the more you can do in your head, the quicker the whole thing goes! Sometimes it's not really that math is hard, but that it takes too much time... more time than we want to spend on it!
When our kids were first learning their math facts, we didn't drill at all. We just kept it light hearted. Counting objects, adding some, taking some away, etc. We let them be entirely dependent on their math blocks and visual aids. This lasted at least until the boys were about 8 years old, around 2nd grade or so.Step two: When they have had ample exposure to the natural method, and you are ready to have them start buckling down and memorizing, start with short and simple. Go through the facts orally, or use addition flashcards here, here, or make your own. Find multiplication flashcards here, here, or again, make your own. Start by letting them build the problem with their blocks if they don't know the answer right off. Or, if they don't answer it within 5-10 seconds, before their face falls, quickly tell them the answer. Have them repeat it after you. "Five and five makes ten." Don't use the timer at this point (unless you have a very competitive child who likes to compete with their own time - I have one of these). Spend 10min on this 2-3 times a week.
By the time our kids had gone over all the facts, when they knew a good number of them if they had all the time in the world to think, we started drilling with flashcards. We kept it short and simple. For 5 minutes, or 2-3x through the +3s for example and that's it for the day. We did this while continuing on with our math curriculum. When I felt they had a pretty good handle on the facts I took a break from this.
We had finished Beta (Multiple-digit addition and subtraction and other topics) and recently started on Gamma (Single and multiple-digit multiplication and other topics ) when I realized, the boys were slow with their +6, +7 and +8 facts. They were having to count on fingers or get out their math blocks for these simple operations. It was taking too much time, and they were getting frustrated. I realized that it was essential that they master these facts before moving a step further in their curriculum. So, we stopped everything and decided to drill.
Here's how we did it:Step four: Once the kids have gained proficiency with their facts, decide on a day of the week or once every other week to pull out the drill sheets just for fun. Have them try to beat their old record. Keep it light and fun. This takes about 5-10 min.
We made reusable drill sheets: I found drill sheets online at donnayoung.org (in those days she didn't have so many level options available!) I made the sheets reusable by printing Drill Sheet A on one side and Drill Sheet B on the other side of a sheet of card stock, then had it laminated. The boys used overhead markers (less smeary than dry erase). When they were finished, I just rinsed the sheets off under the faucet (no paper towel mess).
We started out having the boys fill in the sheets taking as much time as they needed. After a week of this, I started timing them secretly, but I didn't tell them their times, and just kept the records for myself. I also kept track of the date, drill sheet used and number of problems missed. Download a copy of my record sheet here. They started catching on, and wanted to know their times and soon it became a great game. I intentionally never pitted them against each other, that would have been disheartening for the one boy. I would correct their sheets (or better yet, have them correct their own work) and they would make corrections. Often they would do this later in the day as they were about done after the drill itself.
After a couple weeks of this, they had their math facts down! Because we were doing this as remedial work, we actually did addition, subtraction and the x0, x1, x2, x5 at the same time but on a separate laminated drill sheets. In retrospect, I would advise doing a little bit of drill all along the way from earlier on through maintenence long after the facts are mastered. I would definitely recommend the use of LOTS of supplemental math games reinforcing the same concepts. We didn't. We just left it with that.
After my two oldest boys had spent an entire year struggling to get down their addition and subtraction facts, we spent a month or two doing no other math than timed drills in order to cement those facts before moving on in our Math-u-See book. It helped a lot!"I hate math. I can read. I can spell. I can build. I can lern everything esily, but not math. Math is not fun, it is not interesting."Because of the online contest he is suddenly doing VERY well at math. He is attempting problems he's never even done before and excelling! (I put him at the level he should be for his age, though he is a year behind to keep the boys together in their curriculum... so he's doing next year's math in the contest!) Yesterday, he actually called himself a 'human calculator'. So it seems that the timed drills handled properly can actually raise confidence levels (for him, I put absolutely NO pressure and really didn't propose for him to participate in the contest, I only offered the option to his brother who likes math, soon however, after watching his brother, he too was lured in :).
Go here for details.So, I have a post of my own in drafts with my ideas for keeping our toddlers/preschoolers occupied and learning so that the rest of us can do the same... so maybe I'll just have to get that out and finish it! We'll see. Most of my time is spent in real-life doing which doesn't leave much time for writing about it all. Anyway, good luck in the contest :)
Go here if you have a child interested in participating.
I would seriously lose my mind without my schedule!My schedule is my mind on paper. It keeps us all happy. I know what I 'should' be doing, the kids know what to expect next, and it gives me something to show Micah and anyone else who wonders what we do all day!
A schedule is so helpful as a guide. Yet, I cannot let myself become a slave to my schedule. You see, many times something happens that throws us off, and we need to be flexible enough to
realize that God sometimes ordains interruptions! We use our schedule so that when the
inevitable happens, we can get back on track quickly and easily. Sometimes we pick up where we left off, other times as the situation allows, we skip the stuff that can be skipped and just take from up wherever we are at the time, after we’ve cleaned up the toothpaste from all over the hallway and can focus again on the things at hand :)
Because I’m the main one to keep everyone on task, I’ve listed my name first, then kids in
order from oldest to youngest, and lastly Micah... he’s only on here so that I can have a general
idea of what he’s doing. He’s agreed to all of the above, and his work hours are obviously left
blank. :)
Sometimes {okay, many times}, having multiple children it is hard to keep track mentally
what everyone should be doing at any given moment & the kids are quite expert at scattering... all throughout the day, but, especially during schooltime! On the timetable, ‘table time’ is highlighted to call attention to the times that we all should be gathered together. This is mainly for me, so that with one quick glance at my watch and then the timetable, I can easily see what is coming up :)
Some days we head out at lunchtime to eat a ‘menu’. On these days the schedule will change, @ 12:30pm we’ll leave the house, to return around 2:00pm. We’ll just take our memory
box with us.
On the subject of personal exercise, I don't have it scheduled. If I were really trying to lose weight, or in need of some extra self-discipline in that area, I'd probably schedule it in on the main schedule. However, my reality is that some mornings I do try to get out for some exercise and I have an alternate schedule for those days. Otherwise, I’ll use my afternoon free time when it isn’t TOO hot outside.
Though I have all the kids chores/duties and school subjects listed here for quick reference,
we use other charts/schedules to keep track of those. {I’m ever-so-slightly-list-crazy} Technically, we should be able to get by with just this list.
** Momma’s free time is (barring all exceptions & interruptions which are all too common):
Tues, Thurs, Fri from 2 - 5:30
Mon, Wed from 4 - 5:30
** Bria and Josiah’s school is new this year and is loosely as follows:
9-9:45 (@table) Bible, color, trace/copy letters
10 (@table) Math games
11-11:15 AO Read-alouds (no required narration for Siah) & SWR phonograms
11:15 (@table) Phonograms, Rule cards, 3-5 fingerspell practice drills
Read-alouds at bedtime
by Marian M. Schoolland. And boy did He ever! I'm just SO excited when the Lord provides us with a special object lesson! He is a personal God! He was showing off his creation! Today, I think what I saw was an egg case above my door! I'm going to try to get a better picture of it a little later... We may just get an up close and personal look at mantis nymphs after a little while! Here's a kinda blurry picture of what I suspect might be the egg case. This little yellowish-brown thing is right where we saw the mantis yesterday in the crevice up between the top of the wall and the roof. 
(our Peru field guide), for mantis AND Handbook of Nature Study
... Nothing!"...mantids were created for hunting and killing prey."
"...mantids are fairly weak flyers."The mantid is an auditory cyclops, which means it only has one ear. The ear is 1mm long with cuticle like knobs at either end and two ear drums buried inside. The ear is specially tuned to very high ultrasonic freqeuncies of sound waves from 25 to 65 kilohertz. Apparently, the ears primary purpose is designed to respond to the ultrasonic echo-location signal used by hunting bats. The mantis primarily uses its ultrasonic ears while in flight. When a mantis senses a bats ultrasonic echo at close range, it curls its abdomen upwards and thrusts its legs outward creating a drag and resulting in a sudden aerial stall. This flight manuever of the mantis creates an unpredictable flight pattern for the bat, and
"...some species will eat anything from small birds to reptiles."Mantids attack by pinching, impaling prey between its spiked lower tibia and upper femur. The mantids strike takes an amazing 30 to 50 one-thousanth of a second. The strike is so fast it cant be proccessed by the human brain.
"The primary enemies to mantids are spiders, birds, snakes, mammals (especially bats), and man."
"The word mantis comes from ancient greeceMany cultures have credited the mantid with a variety of magical qualities. In the southern portion of the U.S. it is believed that if the brown saliva of a mantis ever comes in contact with you, youll go blind. This mystical saliva also has the potential to kill a horse. In France it is believed that if a lost child is ever in the woods and cant find his way home the praying stance of the mantid will direct them toward safety. The Turks and Arabs believe the mantid always prays toward Mecca. During the European Middle-ages it was thought that the mantis was a great worshiper of god due to the great amounts of time spent in prayer.
and means diviner or prohpet."
"In China it is believed that the roasted egg cases of mantids will cure bed wetting in people."In Africa, if a mantid ever lands on someone it will bring that person good luck. It is also believed that the mantis possess the power to bring the dead back to life.
--We used Miquon and it was from what I could see similar to Singapore... yikes. Teacher intensive. That was tearful for both of us (I might add though, the lady at the homeschool convention who recommended it to me really liked it! ;). We tried MEP for approximately 3 weeks... WAY too much work for me! I have too many kids for that! I did like that math, had it not been so intensive, I probably would've kept with it. I have experience with Saxon as well, too many problems! I knew that wouldn't go over well in our house!--I have two boys, the younger of which is really quick to catch on, he is good at memorizing facts... you might say he's naturally mathematical. On the other hand his alter ego is represented in my oldest boy (older by 12mos). The main thing my struggler has a problem with, is simply memorization of facts. I thought it was a problem with curriculum. Matter of fact, I even had them both redo a year (this wasn't totally fair for the one boy who was doing fine, but since he didn't really seem to care, it worked). But for my oldest, math has always been a struggle. Since day one. ALL the math facts have been hard for my boy. Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and now Division have all been the same. He knows it one day, and then I am not kidding, forgets it the very next day. It IS astounding. However, we are realizing that it IS there... somewhere... deep. way deep, deep down in there. He has this mindset problem. He thinks he can't do it, and by golly, when he's thinking that way, no matter the consequence, no matter how long he tries, he can't do it!
"Whether invisible prayer or tangible “ruts” in the brain, all of these are from God, to sanctify us, and make us like His Son." ~ quoted from article
"I believe strongly in the importance of cultivating right habits, and in the power they exert over us; but sometimes I have felt that there was a danger of putting habit almost in the place of God--of thinking that everything can be accomplished by careful training, and that a child can simply, by care and watchful oversight, be turned out a great and good character. Valuable as habit is, it cannot renew the heart, and the mother who trusts entirely to her training is in danger of sad disappointment. It seems to me that those who place too great importance on habit run the risk of leaving God no room to work.
... To change an old saying, we might say, "Habit is a good servant, but a bad master." What is done merely through habit is more or less mechanical, and there is a danger of want of adaptation to surroundings in those who are too much bound by it."I have noted that quote before, and still have yet to wrap my whole mind around the concept and place of habits. They are SO useful a tool... and yet nothing more than a tool. May habit training alone not become our whole goal and focus.
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