Composer Study: Our method

We have Composer Study scheduled once a week, on Wednesdays. At different times, though, throughout the week, it is my goal to have us listen to the term's composer's work, at least once a day... we rarely achieve this, but we always ought to aim high, right?

Wednesdays, which are also our Geography and Artist Study focus day, we take a closer look at AO's term composer. For example, AO had scheduled Liszt for the 2008-2009 winter term. We have just finished reading a mini-biography and have listened enough to his work to be able to recognize some of our favorites of his pieces.

Steps 1 - 3, I get done on a Homeschoolplanning Day at some point long before I need them, as soon as the links are available. I usually do this as part of my planning at the beginning of the year.

Preparation:

1. Check the Ambleside Online Composer Schedule page, for the music selections for the term. Note the selections on paper or in a Notepad file.
   
2. I go to the library and check out some cds containing the composer's works. (Of course, that's what I did when in the US.) I tried to find one cd that had all or most of the term's selections.
   
3. When the library is unaccessible, I look online for free downloads. I usually first google the name of the work... "Mahler: Symphony 1 (Titan) free download" It turned up this link from last.fm which you can mark to listen online & this one from classical archives - you can play a preview online or buy.
4. When I can't find anything free online, I buy mp3 downloads from amazon or walmart. The nice thing is that you can buy ONLY the music you want, but you do have to sometimes buy it in several parts. For the Symphony no.1 I found 4 separate downloads, but for the no.9, I was able to find all four parts in one. Yay! :) However in this case, I opted for buying an entire mp3 album (Mahler: The Essential Orchestral Works), because it had ALL the symphonies I was looking for, for $7.49... less than I could buy them all separately for.
   
   • Mahler: The Essential Orchestral Works
     
     
     
   • Mahler: Symphony 1 (Titan):
     
     
   • Mahler Symphony 9
     
     
   • Bruckner Symphony no.4:
     (these are the same, just by different orchestras... choose between these two - if you're like me, you'll choose by the cover art ;)
     
     
   
   
5. After I've gathered/purchased my term's music selections, I can burn a cd. I haven't done this yet... I just make a file on my computer under 'My Music' with the composer's music in it. For example, I make a new folder, Mahler_Bruckner. But burning a cd would be VERY convenient if we had a stereo! ;)
   

Weekly Study

1. I have a cd case that has all our AO music in it. For some people this is their regular listening... we are not so refined as yet. :) This cd case is accesible to the kids and they are welcome to ask for any music at any time - as long as it doesn't unreasonably distract anyone else. We have a rule that the kids don't handle the cds, to minimize scratching (it still happens inevitably, but it cuts done on the damage!).
2. On Wednesdays, we officially have scheduled Composer Study suring our reading time 10:30-11:30. During this time I put on the music for a little bit and then we read from The World's Great Men of Music Story-Lives of Master Musicians by Harriette Brower or Getting to know the World's Greatest Composers" books by... Mike Venezia, if we have one on the term's composer. We read just a little section to divide it up over the term.
3. As this is one of those 'icing on the cake' studies I do NOT stress if it doesn't happen every week.

Someday Ideas:

1. We do occasionally look up the term selection on YouTube. That's fun. There are a lot of well done informative videos with bio information on the composer with their compositions as background music.
   
2. Sometimes, I look up sites on the internet that are safe for all to peruse.
   
3. I'd love to take the kids to a symphony... someday
   

Our materials:
Recordings of the Composer obtained from internet, library cds or home cd library.
Getting to know the World's Greatest Composers" books by... Mike Venezia.
The World's Great Men of Music Story-Lives of Master Musicians by Harriette Brower
Internet searches on the term's composer.

Composer Study: Links

Link to AO's composer schedule:
Ambleside Online Composer Schedule

Online (free) Books with bio information on many of the composer's lives.
The World's Great Men of Music Story-Lives of Master Musicians by Harriette Brower

Listen Online:
http://www.kcme.org/ One Advisory member's favorite. No ads, wide programming, friendly announcers.

Other related links:
A super complete SQUIDOO page on Charlotte Mason style Composer Study by Jimmie!
Composer timeline figures
Composer Lapbook by Amy Pak from Homeschool in the Woods, music included. I'm very interested in this to use as a supplement. I have not used it yet though.
Free Artist/Composer Notebooking pages - has some coloring pages as well.
Classics for Kids - Very cool interactive site with many activities for kids. There are lesson plans and an interactive composer timeline. They have all their broadcasts archived as well as podcasts on many composers. Interesting.
Composer Study 102 - Higher Up and Further In - a post on Composer study in their homeschool
MFW discussion

Artist Study: Our method

Seeing as I knew NOTHING of art (except for boxes of colored pencils, fat crayola markers, crayons and the like that can be found in every crook and cranny of our house at any given moment), I didn't pick up on this subject until several years into using Ambleside Online.

But I am SO glad we've decided to give it a whirl and have now really started to get the hang of it. The kids enjoy it very much (surprise, surprise), as do I.

Here's what we do. It's a smattering of things I've picked up from here and there, and let me tell you it WORKS for us... hopefully, you will find a little something that will work for you too.
Steps 1 - 3, I get done on a Homeschoolplanning Day at some point long before I need them, as soon as the links are available. I usually do this as part of my planning at the beginning of the year.

Preparation:

1. I download the prints from one of the following places:

• AO Prints - All the AO recommended works for the term's artist in one handy pdf file
• AO_HEO_PictureStudy 8 1/2 x 11- ALL the AO recommended works for all the years, plus extras for the term's artist available in individual pdf files - also has images for timeline figures.
• AO_HEO_PictureStudy 4 x 6 - Same as above, just different size.
• AO Art Schedule page with links to the works on different sites, to download to your computer in jpg file, differing sizes.

(I had to have jpg files in order to get prints at a photo developing place here in Peru... I don't know what the file type requirements are for Kinkos, Office Max and the like. Check with your local photo printer or copy store - ask if they can print on photo paper from pdf, or if it has to be jpg.)

2. I take the files on a zip/thumb/USB drive to the printers and order the files to be printed as 4x6 photos. You can e-mail them to some places, I know of.

3. I write the information I will need on the back of the photos with a photo marking pencil (water soluble pencil) - Artist Name, Year of work, Name of work. This is very handy as I cannot remember who we're studying sometimes from week to week... ;) I'm telling you, I'm that bad!

Weekly Study:

1. I keep the prints accessible, and occasionally they pull them out, or sometimes I do when I notice them and feel like perusing my favorites. I let the kids look at the prints whenever they want to.
2. On Wednesdays, we officially have scheduled Artist Study from 12-12:30 just before lunch. During this time I set out the prints on the table.
3. Week one: If I have any bio info on the artist or the period they fall into or the style of art (boy I'm grasping for the right terms here... I don't know art, yet.) I read it to them... I use A Child's History of Art, or Lives of the Artists - both can be downloaded for free at those links. They can look at the prints while I'm reading. I only read small sections (15 min, or a page or two, depending on the total size of the reading. I kind of mentally divide it up so that I'll have more to read on subsequent weeks.) They then narrate these back.
4. Week two: We do picture study. A) Either I or one of the boys will choose which print they'd like to look at. B) I let them look at the print for about 2 minutes in order to notice as many details that they can memorize in their minds' eye about the painting. C) I take the picture and look at it as one narrates back to me what he remembers about the painting. At the end the other boy tells what he noticed that might be different from what the other said and anything he can add that hasn't been mentioned. Oh they both love this! They are both so competitive, even if I don't allow for any competition, they still try to outdo each other in subtle ways. That's it!
5. Week three and four: We just rotate between the above two steps until the term ends, or we run out of bio info, then we revert to just picture study each week.
   
6. As this is one of those 'icing on the cake' studies I do NOT stress if it doesn't happen every week. The kids like it, so it has been happening more often than not... they remind me. Often they would choose this instead of playing.
7. I have coloring sheets of some of the artist's works that I use as sort of a reward for good behavior kind of activity. If we've run out of bio info, or maybe just for variety, or one of those rare days I feel no stress about mess, I pull out a coloring sheet and they can use whatever medium they want... of course our artistic material box at the moment boasts only of colored pencils, crayons, watercolor paint box, felt tip markers, and water color pencils that we don't know exactly how to use yet... but hey, we're not complaining. I am rarely brave enough for temperas (like once a year rarely if you catch my drift).

Someday Ideas:

1. I think my kids would enjoy attempting their own replicas of the artist's works. Someday we'll branch out to this. We're moving slowly towards the hands-on expression part. We are just beginning to express our artistic talents with our nature journals... one step at a time.
   
2. I would REALLY like to take them to some art museums in the States. Someday.
3. I'd also like to have my favorite prints printed in 8x11, framed and then displayed somewhere in our house... if I had anything on my walls at all, it would be nice! (I have moved AGAIN since I wrote this... but it still reflects my current status!)
4. Of course if we lived in the US, I'd be at the library (every day all day... oh wait, I'd need to go home for meals...) checking out those books that are like coffee table quality... with the really big prints! Oh, sad. No. I will not give in to the temptation to complain...
   

So, there you have it.
Hopefully, you've picked up an idea or two to add to your family's Artist Study.

Please add any unique ideas that you do in the comments section. I always like to hear about what works for you.

Amy



Related Posts:

A Child's History of Art - Hillyer
Artist Study: Caspar David Friedrich
Artist Study: Van Gogh
Artist Study: Links

Artist Study: Van Gogh

The AO advisory team has chosen Van Gogh for this term's artist.
If you'd like to have access to pdf files for printing off your own copies go to: AO Art Prints

please visit vangoghgallery.com
That's my FAVORITE Van Gogh: (I also have it as the background on My Desktop)

I'm sure glad that we are using this curriculum, and this is one of the biggest reasons why! I love the exposure we're getting to some of the world's greatest artists. Not just to study them, but we are learning more appreciation for art in general... our own artistic talents, those of all kinds of people around us, as well as the classics. I love how it expands our world.

Most people have heard of Van Gogh, but I wonder how many people could identify his art? I can confidently say that I could not, previous to our AO artist study experience.

When we do artist study, we don't really worry too much about what period we're studying, or what type of art it is. We are appreciating art. Maybe it should be more appropriately termed picture study. When possible, we study something of the artist's life, but without a library, that is sometimes impossible. We do have Hillyer's A Child's History of Art (do you want it for free too? Go here), so we try to read that during our Artist Study time every other week (we have it scheduled for Wednesdays). Sometimes though, we go online, as we don't have a lot to work with here.

There is an incredible online photomosaic of the same painting above HERE.

And here, you can put it together in an puzzle! How cool is that?!

Links to some awesome coloring sheets to make your own version of a few of Van Gogh's paintings:
Starry Night
Starry Night
Self-Portrait
The Night Cafe
The Chair and the Pipe
Sunflowers

Here are the links to the paintings we're studying this term:
1. The Starry Night, 1889, Museum of Modern Art, New York City
2. The Chair and the Pipe, 1888, National Gallery in London, England
3. The Night Cafe, 1888, Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut
4. Self Portrait as an Artist, 1888, Paris, Arles, St. Remy, Auvers-sur-Oise
OR Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
OR Los Angeles County Museum of Art's LACMA West (maybe part of a traveling exhibit?).
5. The Vase with Sunflowers, 1888, Paris, Arles, St. Remy, Auvers-sur-Oise
6. Bedroom at Arles, 1889, Musee d'Orsay in Paris, France

Fun. fun. fun.

Amy

Nature Study Focus: Insects, Part I

So, the other day when we were doing nature study using Outdoor Hour Challenge for hints, we chose our Nature Study Focus: Insects.

We chose insects partly because we'd been recently inundated by dragonflies because of a flood in our backyard caused by excess rainwater (they lay their eggs there). The other reason being that there are amazing amounts with unending variety of insects found here in the tropical climate of this part of Peru. And then, we were also inspired by our reading of Jack's Insects on the subject, a great book used by Charlotte Mason. So far we're all really enjoying this focus.

We're starting out with:

Insects of the Brook and Pond -

Dragonflies
and
Mosquitoes

Both are plentiful around here. However, you can't exactly tell them to come around only when you want to study them, so we haven't had a close look at either during actual nature study time. Of course, nature study isn't only accomplished in the hour or so we have allotted for it each week. So, when we do see one, we drop everything for a few minutes and take a closer look.

Today, during our nature study hour (we have this scheduled for Mondays), J found a cool beetle. It looks like a combination between a grasshopper (because of its huge back legs) and a stinkbug or box elder bug. It had wings that when lifted revealed a brilliant red body. Its legs are orangey-red also with little black spines (we call them porkies... hahah, it's an inherited term, meaning pokies). We watched it and photographed it, and tried looking it up, but without using the internet, weren't able to come up with much. Here's a picture though:

The lady who helps us a little around the house called it a "chinche" in Spanish.

Spiders are not insects, but this one was interesting nonetheless. I found it crawling on my kitchen counter while I was washing dishes. Its front 2 legs on either side seemed much too long in proportion to its body and back legs with which it walked. When it was blown or swept, it would fling those long legs straight out to either side, and it made itself look somewhat like a flying insect. It was very tiny. Here it is:

Enjoy!

Amy

Rosetta Stone - Latin... CONTEST

We will someday study Latin. If I win this contest, I promise to start studying Latin as soon as we get it. We own Rosetta Stone Spanish, and it's real good! But if I don't win, the person I'd next like to win it would be you, so go enter! It's easy ;)

the blurb ~

Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update.

This is a $259 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!)
This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.

To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page http://Jeneralities.com and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post. And good luck!

Amy

Nature Study in your own backyard

Grow your OWN tree!

I've always wanted to grow a tree from an avocado pit! Ever since as an adult I learned that you could. It's every kids' dream (or should be) to grow a tree from a seed... and I've never done it...
'til now.

Avocados are SO good - though only one of my kids is smart enough to eat them.
They are SO good for you!
...and it's educational! :)

We're going to do it!

If you want to do it with us, post me a comment - we can compare notes :)

Instructions: Get yourself an avocado. Peel and eat it. Clean the pit, stick 3-4 toothpicks (or in our case nails) strategically about 1/2" into it to hold it over water in a cup (or jar as you can see I did). The idea is to keep the bottom half in water so that it can grow roots and the top (pointy) part out of the water in order to sprout. (I've tried putting the whole thing in, it doesn't work!)
Put in a sunny window. I'll update when I get to the transplant stage...

Links with how-to's:
For kids: Click here
For grown-ups or kids: Click here

Thoughts on Copyright

So, what can a person say that has never been said before?

What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there a thing of which it is said,
"See, this is new"?
It has been already
in the ages before us.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

A discussion of copyright led us to a little bit of research as to what's okay to copy and what's not.

According to US law, anything written "privately and originally" after 1989 is pretty much safely protected whether or not the author has registered a copyright. Legally, you may not copy someone else's stuff and they could come after you, unless you are just commenting on it, making fun of it, teaching it, etc, and then you can only use short and attribuited "quotes" from the original work.

This seems like an amazing piece of legislation to me. Nowadays there is SO much being written and blogged and in other ways communicated, that how can one know or better yet, prove that what one writes is one's very own? I can sit here and type this entry about copyright, but I've just come from several websites explaining copyright. Who's to say that some of what I'm thinking wasn't because of what they wrote... what if what I say sounds a lot like what they said, even though it's been through the mill and spit back out again? Would that be an infringement of copyright? What if someone is thinking the very same thing as I am and writes it on their own blog at this very moment? After all, someone has said, great minds think alike!

Sheesh. I don't get it. How does anyone write anything that hasn't been said or thought of before, and perhaps somewhere written down? Once they do write something, how do they prove to the world that it is original to them... are there any original thoughts?!

We started looking into copyright laws and I ended up perhaps a little foggier than before.

Here's what we did learn though:

1) All copiable (written, digital, photographic, printed, tape recorded, etc) information created after 1989 -1978 according to other sources, is copyrighted unless expressly noted that it is in the public domain.

2) Yes, one may never actually be called to attention by the author themselves or punished by law, but it IS still very much a matter of respect for others and of the law.

3) We should still be creative... but, honestly... not taking advantage of another's creativity, yet learning from it. Always giving full credit where credit is due.

4) Copyrights can expire. 70 years after the death of the author, the copyright expires. (But I remain foggy about whether widows, kids, grandkids, executors can renew?)

Maybe I've brought up a question or two that remain unanswered that have piqued your curiosity... Go for it! Research it for yourself.

A few links to explanations of copyright:

10 Big Myths About Copyright explained
US gov't site for Teachers and Students
Brief intro to Copyright by Brad Templeton
US gov't site on copyright
The Copyright Website

Amy

Eek a Bat!

After we found a bat in our kitchen last night, we all did nature study in great depth and with great interest! We needed to find out if it was a vampire bat!! It seems that we have a bat colony living in the roof over our kitchen (we live in the jungle in Peru). Javen was afraid to go to sleep, not because of the bat, but because he was afraid I would kill it! My policy living here is, I appreciate the role that the yuckies (snakes, spiders, toads, bats, etc) play in bug control; as long as they are performing that role OUTSIDE. They come inside...they will die.

We searched our field guide and online for pictures to compare... today we'll do more research using HONS... hopefully, there's a section on bats?! I haven't looked yet. I was too concerned about the rabies factor ;) But, I must say I know WAY more about bats than I did the day before!

I think it's a black bonnet bat (not a vampire).

From Nature Study

Even though I don't think I could bring myself to kill the thing, I am very much against the idea of encouraging it to live in my roof!

**UPDATED - 5/20/09** The bat did die on its own the following day. We had another bat visitor several days later, whom we did not retain for study, but after a few pictures, immediately released to his outdoor happiness. Though he too seemed sick and did not fly off, but squobbled. We are hoping not to have any more surprise guests of this nature any time soon. :)


Amy
Tarapoto, Peru


Links to bat pages online:

Oh my word! Did you know there were ever so many bats?! Order Chiroptera
Keeping bats out is harder than it seems it would be... Bat Conservation tips
This page has a mini bio on the black bonnet bat - Mammals of Iwokrama

Nature Study

Nature Study has definitely become for us a day-to-day if not moment-by-moment happening around here (yay!!). Since we came to stay here in the jungle, you would not believe me if I detailed out all that we've seen and studied! I have killed LOTS of spiders, and let some live... (those that are smart enough to stay outside)

There is amazing variety! We have ants (at least three different species... do you use the term species with ants?!), centipedes, millipedes, ants, moths, grasshoppers of amazing size, crickets, beautiful butterflies, ugly ones, did I mention ants? We have a frog/toad (he's outside), wasps, praying mantis, flies, mosquitoes, gnats, geckos of varying sizes, a turtle...
We even have bats and possibly rats.

And all these are co-habitating with us IN our house!! Aren't you envious?! oh yeah! hahahaha.

Nature study at a whole new level.

We don't even have to go out our backdoor!

Amy

A Child's History of Art - Hillyer

Okay, I NEED the book "A Child's History of Art."

You know, in the same way I NEED every other book. :)

But I really know nothing of studying art. I'm just learning, and really don't know where to begin to teach my kids... well, okay I could start out where I start researching any subject known to man - google.com. I actually have already done that... but I love books best! And this seems like a subject you should read from a book about, not off the computer screen.

That said, I've been all over the internet looking for this book cheaper than $30. Everything I can find is either that expensive, in bad shape and really old, or more expensive, in bad shape and really old. So, I finally found a copy for $15! woohoo! Trouble is there was no description other than Child's History of Art, and there are several books with the same title but with different subtitles meaning they are actually only a part of the book (CHOW: Architecture & CHOW: Painting, for example). So, I went searching to figure out why this copy of the book was only $15 when I kept finding books that were upwards of $70!

Well, when I was searching I found it! There's a copy free online! Jackpot!

Now, why didn't anyone tell me this before I spent all this time searching?!


Without further ado... please go here and print yourself a copy too!
***Apparently, this book has been removed from archive.org.  
I'm thinking it's probably because of copyright issues...  I'm sorry about that.***



A Child's History of the World by V.M. Hillyer


I just made my own day! :)

Amy

PS. You can buy the book for around $25 at amazon.com or alibris.com
There is also a full course based on the text (includes the text) offered by Calvert School HERE.

Artist Study: Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840)

Our Artist Study for this term is, Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840).

Our favorites of the selections from his work are:

The Wanderer Above the Mists

and


Woman at the Window

Here's a page with more of his works and a link to his biography on wiki.

We're REALLY enjoying Artist study this term because we're finally actually doing it! In previous terms and years I'd print off the AO selections of the artist's different works but we rarely did anything formal, just took them out once in awhile. But this time it's on the schedule.
I took the files to the photo store and they printed them off as 4x6 photos. I'm going to get 8x10s of the ones above and maybe get them framed and find a permanent place in the house for them.

This is one of the subjects that adds a lighter element to our day and the kids probably enjoy it almost as much as I do ;)

In my imagination, I think the woman is waiting for her Wanderer to find her. The man is searching the world over for his Woman who will always wait in the window for him :)

Amy

Nature Study

An American Sparrow-Hawk paid us a visit this week WHILE we were doing nature study! What beautiful timing the Lord has!



As the kids and I were sitting reading in Handbook of Nature Study by Ann Comstock, the kids decided we'd learn about reptiles. After all, just last week they brought home a 10+ foot skin of a Montona snake from the Amazon regions of our jungle. So, we read the whole section on snakes. EEEUWWWW! I do NOT like snakes. But I find reading about them in a book a thousand times more pleasant than studying the live version, let me assure you!

Just as we were finishing up the section, a spotted sparrow hawk landed on our brick wall. It was there just for a few minutes, and I could not be dissuaded from attempting to retrieve my camera to get a permanent record of our welcome and admired guest... however he would not be persuaded to sit still for the photo and promptly left. Sad. Oh well, we will not soon forget him.

Then, as Science/Nature Study was on our schedule for Mondays, we finished our reading in the morning and then had a time-slot for an hour in our city's Botanical Garden in the afternoon. We witnessed them feeding the pigeons (they have several nests where they breed them, and harvest their eggs... they eat them!). We got up and close to the llama, but mostly just really enjoyed the pigeons. We proceeded to read the section in HNS on pigeons and answer the questions. All of us formed a relationship as Charlotte would say, with pigeons... which was a huge gain. I will post photos later on...

Amy


What a pleasure Nature study was for us this week!

2008-2009 Winter Composer Study - Liszt

Franz Liszt
Another AOer made up this playlist on youtube:


This one's fun for the kids to watch... Tom & Jerry cartoon - Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 Liszt



This one shows paintings/photos of Liszt while it has text of a mini biography of his life -
Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 Orchestra in C sharp

New FREE CM resources from SCM

Oh my wow. I'm extremely excited about FREE and I am really enjoying learning more and more about Charlotte Mason. SimplyCharlotteMason.com has recently offered 2 free e-books, today, The Swedish Drill Teacher and a week or two ago, Masterly Inactivity (it's still free).

As I write I'm printing off the Swedish Drill one. Over the past week with my older 2 boys gone on a trip with my Beloved, I was able to listen/watch the All-day Charlotte Mason Seminar on DVD. It was not free, but it was really great. I highly recommend this for someone who loves what they've heard about CM methods but maybe is struggling to put them into action in their homeschool. It's pretty practical and the accompanying workbook has some great lists and ideas as well. And if you don't have it already, you can order it with the Laying Down the Rails (an indispensable book on habit training) as a package deal! It goes through all the subjects and Sonya gives ideas of how to teach each subject CM style, plus answers questions. I learned.

You'd think I was getting a commission or something, but nope. I just am really enjoying SCM's resources as I am really digging in to learning more about CM and applying her methods in our homeschool. :)

Have a great day and go download some freebies!
Amy

Artist Study: Copywork method

Masters Copywork

1. Get a sheet of thin tracing paper.
2. Place it on top of the print of the chosen artist's selection.
3. Use a light pencil to trace as much of the painting as you can.
4. Use whatever art materials you have available: watercolors, colored pencils, and chalks work the best.
5. Try to make yours look as much like the original as you can.

or

1. Look carefully at the print of the chosen artist selection.
2. Draw freehand the main subject and things that stand out from the picture.
3. Finish with whatever art materials you have on hand.

Is the new CPSIA law hurting you?

**UPDATED below**
Have you heard about the new lead law? It potentially could put many small businesses out of business including many beloved family-run businesses that sell educational products to homeschoolers. If you own a small business being hurt by the new law please read the following and contact the HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association). For more info on the new law and regulations to be put into effect Feb. 10, read HERE and HERE.

From the Desk of J. Michael Smith

Will New Consumer Product Regulations Affect Your Business?
Dear HSLDA Members,

Help Us Protect You

If new consumer product regulations will harm your business, tell us
so we can tell federal officials. Contact HSLDA's Federal Relations
Department at 540-338-5600 or federalrelations@hslda.org. Many of you
have contacted us with your concerns regarding the impact of the
federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), and the
forthcoming regulations. We have addressed some of these concerns in
the online analysis, "Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of
2008."

However, we are concerned about the effect that this legislation and
the proposed regulations will have on small family businesses. It
appears that many of these vital businesses could be forced to close
due to the high cost of compliance with the CPSIA.

HSLDA is trying to help protect such family businesses, as well as
the homeschooling families who may purchase educational items from
such a family business.

We will be meeting with the commissioners of the Consumer Product
Safety Commission on Wednesday, February 4. It would help our efforts
if we had actual accounts from family business owners who will have
to go out of business, or make drastic cutbacks, as a result of this
legislation and the proposed regulations.

If you are interested in having us use your family business as an
example, please send us your contact information and a one- or two-
page summary of your family business, the impact of the CPSIA, and
what the likely harm to you will be. You may send this information to
Eric Lansing at federalrelations@hslda.org. You may reach Eric and
the rest of the HSLDA Federal Relations staff at 540-338-5600, if you
have additional questions. We will only share your first name, name
of your business, and your state of residence with the CPSC.

Thank you for your help. We are committed to doing all we can to
protect family businesses, and are ready to begin lobbying Congress
for an exemption to the CPSIA, if the commissioners are unhelpful to
our cause.
Sincerely,

Mike Smith
HSLDA President

Hey! They've grated a one-year reprieve! Thanks to all the calls, letters, etc. "The commission has been bombarded with thousands of calls, e-mails, letters and visits from people upset about the law, Martyak said." Great :) Here's a link to an article with more info.

Sincerely,
Amy

Notes on Habit Training

Is habit training more for me or for my children?

Anyone who has children will notice sometime that what we do, our children do also, in one form or another. If I were more perfect, I think I would naturally have better children. Of course, we know that we are all sinners. Yet, monkey say, monkey do. No?

Do your kids dawdle? Do you? Do your kids treat each other impatiently? Do you?

Now, I don't know what it's like in your family, but when I started contemplating some of the complaints I have about my kids, I mean really thinking about it, all of a sudden it dawned on me and I started getting a little nervous. I began to realize I too struggle with the same things in some form or other. That's not the worst realization, but the truly horrific was that they probably learned their bad habits from me in the first place!!
Yikes!

So, I started to realize and feel the burden that if I expect my kids to work on forming good habits, I've got to show a little reformation in my life as well.

At this point, I started realizing how important habit training really is, in all of life. No matter how young or old we are, there will always be areas to improve. I think habits are a life-long concern.

Stay posted, more thoughts coming on this whopper of a subject. I cannot say exactly when...someday is as close as I can get :)
Amy

A Charlotte Mason Education

We use AmblesideOnline! Want to know more? Click Here Ambleside Online is an online guide to a comprehensive Charlotte Mason education. The site has lists for study and reading at every level. There are lots of links to living books online, great tips and several e-mail groups that offer amazing support. Also on site are the original Homeschooling series by Charlotte Mason in their original language as well as a modern English version. I really feel this article written by Anne White gives a thorough look at what a CM education looks like. Download a printable brochure on the great features of AO.

A brief biography of Charlotte Mason HERE.

Books on Charlotte Mason's methods of schooling:
Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola - very good
Penny Gardner's Charlotte Mason Study Guide - only $5, haven't read yet.
Catherine Levinson has several books as well as many great articles on the subject on her site - I have one of her books ordered, received in Ptld... haven't arrived here to Peru yet.

Simply Charlotte Mason has a WONDERFUL growing selection of SUPER GREAT CM resources in paper and electronic format. I am using quite a few of their items. Jack's Insects, Your Business Math Series (living math), Laying Down the Rails, and Spelling Wisdom are some of the titles we are currently using. We just LOVE SCM. They have a planner/calendar that I just think would be great, but I made my own and it works just fine for now. They also have a free e-book
on how to create an atmosphere of learning CM style.

I found a site today that has a bunch of links to articles on CM methods here. I'll definitely be back there to have a read when I have a few moments. Another Amy from Heart of the Matter Online posted "How to Homeschool the Charlotte Mason Way" and had some great links as well.

I enjoyed reading this brief synopsis of some benchmarks of a CM education at HS unlimited.

Personally, our favorite things about CM homeschooling are
the emphasis on the importance of habit training (my fave ;),
short lessons, nature study as a subject,
and having lots and lots of books as friends...
among many, many, MANY other things :)

Enjoy!

Amy

Character/habit training links & resources

Okay, now I'm putting my links up here for this subject for easy access. Habit Training the Charlotte Mason way.

I will attempt to write more about each one later :)

Laying Down the Rails - A Charlotte Mason Habits Handbook @ Simply Charlotte Mason

“Laying Down the Rails is useful and practical and worth owning. Parents would do well to have it close by in order to refer to it often. Recognizing how powerful habits are and their potential helpfulness in the home school is the first step. Using this resource is definitely the second. Charlotte Mason had much to say on this valuable topic and this book has captured her vast wisdom and presented it in a friendly and easy to use format. I consider this work to be indispensable and will recommend it to all home schooling parents.”

—Catherine Levison, author of A Charlotte Mason Education, More Charlotte Mason Education, and A Literary Education

Free Habit Training Cards
Character Training Notebooking pages

http://www.characterjournal.com/

Plants Grown Up & Polished Cornerstones
We also use: For Instruction In Righteousness

An article on Habit Training by Catherine Levinson at CharlotteMasonEducation.com

Forms for an organizational freak... like me

Forms, forms and more forms. I am a listy girl!

A super amazing organization site is: donnayoung.org She has every form under the sun available. It is simply amazing. Most everything is free, but she does sell a cd of the website with even WAY more stuff on it. Cool stuff.

Some of the pages on her site:

Home Homeschooling Homeschool Planner Household Calendars Art English Handwriting History Math Science Planner Guide Planning Help Lists Administrative Lesson Plan Forms
High School Extra Sets Weekly Term & Subject By Columns Journal Unit Excel Weekly

Site CD

Have a great evening,
Amy

Kids Communicate

As we live far away from family and friends, my kids need to maintain relationships over long distances. I've recently downloaded a tool that I think will make the time that they are online with their grandparents, family and friends more fun and personalized.

Go have a look, check out if it's something that your family could use.
It's Skype for kids! Skypito

It's fun. The interface is really kid-friendly.
It's safe. Parents approve a list of people their kids can call/chat with.
It's free. Skype to skype calls are free!
(that means when we call someone else with Skype to their skype account it doesn't cost a thing!)

From the website:

Skypito is the world's first safe Internet chatting solution for kids, created in cooperation with Skype. It was designed to mimic the Skype application but created specifically for younger users, ages 2-14.

The idea behind Skypito appeared when we noticed that a safe chat and online communication tool for kids was missing from today's market. Being a company that focuses on family-friendly technology we felt it was our calling to make one.

Skypito was funded exclusively by EasyBits, and it can be enjoyed free of charge by children all over the world.

Have fun!
Amy

Commit this to memory

Memorization.
We've been kind of hit and miss with this important subject. Sure, we've done LOTS of memorizing, just not in an efficiently organized fashion. There are two systems that I think are the BEST and we have tried them both on and off. One of the most important aspects of memorization are the tactics used for review. After all, what good is it to you if you memorized a verse a couple of months ago but you can't remember it when you need it? Continual consistent review will lock these truths in forever!

Scripture Memory System FREE - this is great, the only downfall is that you have to write or type out the verses. We have used this inconsistently to review the verses we've already committed to memory, to try to retain them. If we would've used it more like recommended we'd have had better results. This is better if you're trying to memorize whole passages from the Bible.

Memlok Bible Memory System $20 - this really is SUPER, all the work is already done for you.
You can download and print the whole thing off at your leisure, or for $5 more you can order a CD... and they send you the plastic holders for review + 2 more downloadable gifts and shipping is free! This has verses in a topical format. Someone gave us the older version complete with a 3-ring binder. It is definitely the coolest memory system I've seen. Oh, did I mention that you can choose your favorite version!? You can add a version as well for only $8. You can also choose whether or not you want the visual prompt images on the cards.

Of course, we haven't fully put it into practice... yet. But it is something that we plan to do, starting this new year.

Are you planning on making any changes or starting anything new this year?

Amy

Links:
Here's an article by Ruth Beechick on Family Scripture Memorization

Nature Study Links

These are my favorite Nature study places posted here for easy reference...

AmblesideOnline's Nature Study schedules and info

Fantastic site in general and home of the Outdoor Hour (helps on how to do nature study):
http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/

Awesome for nature journaling:
http://www.creatingnaturejournals.com/

Coloring pages of birds and insects
http://thecoloringspot.com/birds/index.html

E-mail support group (not currently very active)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UsingHONS

Full text of Anna Botsford Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study
same book on Google books

For my Texan friends: Outdoor Kids printable journal

If you know of other great links, please post them in the comments!

Amy

Artist Study Links

Here is where I'm storing all my links for artist study as recommended at AmblesideOnline.org. I'll be back here to post just as soon as I find another interesting one :)

So without further ado, here's the first one!

A site where you can print off coloring pages of some of the famous artists at colormeonline.com
Affordable Picture Study by Sheila Carroll
Links for getting images of the artists' works to print:

• AO Prints - All the AO recommended works for the term's artist in one handy pdf file
• AO_HEO_PictureStudy 8 1/2 x 11- ALL the AO recommended works for all the years, plus extras for the term's artist available in individual pdf files - also has images for timeline figures.
• AO_HEO_PictureStudy 4 x 6 - Same as above, just different size.
• AO Art Schedule page with links to the works on different sites, to download to your computer in jpg file, differing sizes.

Online (free) Books with bio information on many artists:

A Child's History of Art, V.M. Hillyer and Lives of the Italian Artists, Giorgio Vasari


Fisher Academy's Artist Study posts:
Artist Study: Caspar David Friedrich
Artist Study: Van Gogh

Dinosaurs!

At 8:30pm on Saturday evening Javen and Cullen were heading to bed with both arms full of books... this was not terribly out of the ordinary, except it WAS 1/2 hour past bedtime and they looked ready to spend the night in research for a thesis...
Cullen came to me and said, "Do you know of any more books about dinosuars? Mom, I'm going to look up in EVERY book that we have about dinosaurs. Then Javen and me are going to write everything down. We're going to do all kinds of research!"

2 problems.

First, I'm regularly pretty strict about bedtime, and it was Saturday night, meaning church tomorrow. It was on the tip of my tongue to say so... but I'm SO glad I didn't! They were up for another hour or so, scouring their books. Sunday after church they came back to their studies, and today they are still working on it! Javen has written several pages of notes. Did I mention he's a 10 year old boy? Cullen is 9 and he's become an expert on the Dodo bird.

I am very impressed.

The other problem is, that we don't do unit studies. We have regular stuff to do... you know, interesting stuff. Imagine the scene: It's 10am and 10 & 9 year old boys sitting on the couch buried in books, with their notebooks out and copying down interesting dinosaur facts... We have had a late start and I call to them to get started, "Come on, boys, we've got to do school!" Hahah. Joke's on me. Javen calls back, "Hey mom! We've been doing school all morning! I have to write more about the Lochness monster. I'm going through all the books' indexes looking for the Lochness and then writing stuff down. I've done that for a whole bunch of dinosaurs!"

I was SO impressed, actually that I kind of got into it too :) Here are some links that I thought were worth a second look, so I'm posting them here:

Cool interactive site with lots of different categories of dinosaurs : Genesis Park
Online Audios by Ken Ham at Answers in Genesis
Very cool 20 min. video online about dinosaurs by Christiansanswers.net
Kids 4 Truth Creation video online
Dinosaur quiz by Christiananswers.net
Article about Behemoth (long, I didn't read it all...)
Bible references to Dinosaurs by sixdaycreation.com

Enjoy!

Amy

2 things I can't live without... (figuratively speaking) ~ a memoir

Okay, honestly and to make sure I never come across as 'holier-than-thou', I admit to you that I seriously can not handle life, let alone school, without the Lord. I'd be a basket case. While many moms can and do probably go without spending much time with Him, I'm not that good (or crazy as the case may be :) . I get impatient with my kids, I say mean things, or even get just plain angry with my kids if I'm not regularly hanging out with the Lord.

I mean, I need time with Him and in His word like crazy.

Second to time with my Lord, is time with my man. My man is so sensitive to my weakness that he takes me out on a date weekly. I need him. This is the MOST valuable way he helps with homeschooling. Without this time, emotionally I break down. I just can't handle all that life and ministry, and these crazy & yet amazing kids can throw my way.

Now, this sounds like I'm somewhat dependent, and yes, yes I am. The Lord is my strength and he's my strength through provision of a strong man who loves me too :) I am so thankful.

The verses that I repeat over and over are:

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you."
Is.26:3

"Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Mt.10:28-30

"Since ancient times, no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God like you who acts on behalf of those who wait for him."
Is.64:4

Boy, Scripture is so powerful, daily I read verses that are a constant help to me.
Living and active. YAY!

Amy

Free e-books from Trivium Pursuit

Special Offer from Trivium Pursuit and Christian Logic

Our readers have the opportunity to receive two free ebooks from Trivium Pursuit.

You will receive both of these ebooks when you subscribe to the Homeschooling with the Trivium newsletter.

1.The 73 page ebook of the entire text of Chapter Twelve: Ten Things to Do With Children Ages Ten Through Twelve from the book Teaching the Trivium: Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style by Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn

2.The new 94 page ebook Ancient Literature: Significant Excerpts from the Books of Classical Authors Which You Can Use to Supplement Your History Curriculum - Volume Two: Alexander the Great.

This offer is only for new subscribers to Homeschooling with the Trivium and is good only through November 30. Go here to subscribe: http://www.triviumpursuit.com/list/


In addition, if you subscribe to Christian Logic's Fallacy Detective News you will receive two lessons from the logic textbook The Thinking Toolbox by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn (Lessons 12 and 13, along with exercises and answer key).

This offer is only for new subscribers to The Fallacy Detective News and is good only through November 30. Go here to subscribe: http://www.fallacydetective.com/news/

2008-2009 Fall Composer Studies - Bach

Songs on playlist:
Jascha Heifetz plays Bach Chaconne (part 1)

Jascha Heifetz plays Bach Chaconne (part 2)

1. Bach: Magnificat in D major (BWV 243) / McCreesh

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750).

I. Choir: Magnificat.
II. Aria (Soprano II): Et exsultavit spiritus meus.
III. Aria (Soprano I): Quia ...

2. Bach: Magnificat in D major (BWV 243) / McCreesh

V. Aria (Bass). Quia fecit mihi magna.
VI. Duet (Alto, Tenor): Et misericordia.
VII. Choir: Fecit pote...

3. Bach: Magnificat in D major (BWV 243) / McCreesh

XII. Aria (Alto): Esurientes implevit bonis.
XIII. Duet (Soprano, Bass): Virga Jesse floruit.
XIV. Cho...

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos No.6 - i: Allegro

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos No.6 - ii: Adagio ma non tanto

Bach - Brandenburg Concertos No.6 - iii: Allegro

Nageeb Gardizi plays Bach Art of Fugue Contrapunctus 1

Nageeb Gardizi plays Bach - Art of Fugue Contrapunctus 2

J. S. Bach (1685 - 1750): Contrapunctus 3 (Fugue) BWV 1080

bach - art of fugue - contrapunctus 4 - glenn gould

The art of fugue: Contrapunctus V, VI, VII (Koopman, Mathot)
The art of fugue BWV 1080
Counter-fugues, in which a variation of the main subject is used in both regular and inverted form
Contrapunctus V
Contrapunctus VI, a 4 in S...

The art of fugue: Contrapunctus 8 (T. Koopman, T. Mathot)
The art of fugue BWV 1080
Contrapunctus VIII

Ton Koopman, Tini Mathot, harpsichord

Nageeb Gardizi plays Bach - Art of Fugue Contrapunctus 9

The art of fugue: Canon alla Duodecima, Contrapunctus 10, Canon alla Decima (Koopman-Mathot)

Koopman and Mathot play Contrapunctus 11

The art of fugue: Contrapunctus 12-13 (Koopman-Mathot)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

The art of fugue BWV 1080

Art of fugue(Contrapunctus XIV)

Canon alla Ottava, alla Decima, alla Duodecima (H. Walcha)

Ritalin alternative: Nature Study

(photo taken in Cajamarca on Mother's Day, 2005)

"The researchers found that a “dose of nature” worked as well or better than a dose of medication on the child’s ability to concentrate. What’s not clear is how long the nature effect can last." Read the full NY Times article HERE.

Well, isn't this interesting? No wonder we have so many medicated kids out there. God's creation is not only enjoyable but being out there is healthy too! Too many kids live incubated lives. Go to school, go home, watch tv, go to bed... repeat the next morning.

Just another GREAT reason to enjoy homeschooling and to get out and enjoy the outdoors.

Amy

Follow the Drinking Gourd

This term's Folk Song:
Follow the Drinking Gourd


Love this guy!

Amy

The Tuttle Family: A Memoir

This week we're supposed to come up with our own lyrics to the following tune, describing our own family...





Here's my rendition:
(with not a whole lot of thought given, mind you)

We live down in Peru
We'd love to chat with you,
5 kids plus parents two,
The Tuttle Family

Working for the LORD,
We daily use our Swords,
We can't ever get real bored,
The Tuttle Family.

We're always together,
can think of nothing better,
you should send a letter,
to the Tuttle family

Hope you join in!
Amy

an update...

I am going to attempt to get caught up on the Homeschool Memoirs posts, but beyond that I do not even aspire to daily blogging for now.
Our life is just SO full. I would apologize for not having blogged for some time, but I don't want to be always apologizing, since I know that this is not the last time that some time will pass between posts. As I was telling a friend recently, my blog exists to serve me, not the reverse.

So, here I am. I have about 2,546 post ideas swirling about in my head and no time for writing them all down.

If I can get myself on a routine of sorts for awhile, it may be possible to establish regular blogging time. But as it is, I just have too much going, and there is nothing in my life right now that can give so that I might maintain a well-read blog.

After the memoirs, I think the first thing that I will attempt to write will be on nature study. We are beginning this wonderful subject again, after having taken a lengthy hiatus. We will use Outdoor Hour Challenges found here and Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study. We started with the first challenge (which was sadly disappointing), which I will blog about soon.

Next, in my ample spare time, I want to write on the subject of habit forming... as I have previously mentioned. But since my abundant spare time is occupied cleaning this huge house, cooking 3 meals a day, backing up my awesome husband, teaching my wonderful children,
and doing ministry... that subject will be left to marinate until further notice :)

God is SO good.
Amy

Study spot... a memoir

(this is a catch-up post from 10/08)

Our favourite spot to study...

We are always doing different things. We are so portable, so flexible, so adaptable that we're not all that regular! We do certain subjects in the same places (sometimes), but we don't stay in the same place all day, nor do we seem to spend more time in one place than another! whoa, we're weird!

We usually do math at the table all together (but not always... heheh :).

We do read alouds wherever we feel like it: on the couch, in the car, on a bed, at the table, or near the closest outlet if the laptop needs charging :)

The boys do their copywork/math, anything that requires writing at their desks or up in the office where it's quiet. They can't seem to concentrate on these subjects if there's even the tiniest noise.

We actually have an official schoolroom, but basically it only serves the purpose of housing all of our learning materials, because not much school actually takes place in there.

So there's not a favorite study spot really... except I must add that we LOVE that we study at home or at the park or in the car or wherever it may be and that NOT at a school!

Amy

Favorite snacks? a memoir

(this is a catch up post from 10/01)

Okay, snacking is not going to be a regular subject on this blog, and that's because, I don't think it's that interesting of a subject. Besides the fact that we don't really snack around here. Oh, don't get me wrong, we love to eat, but we discourage snacking between meals. When we snack inevitably, it seems we don't eat our meals or we become picky and don't eat all of our meals... I'm sure you know what I mean. And living here in Peru there just aren't as many snack-y things available. Unless I make them from scratch... and I don't have much time for that :)

But when we snack this is what we eat:

Frozen mango
Frozen grapes
Vanilla ice cream w/ milk or Chocolate w/ peanut butter
Trail mix (sent from the States)
Graham crackers (also sent from the States)
Bran muffins
Homemade strawberry shortcakes with homemade whipped cream!!! -our favorite
Cookies
Popcorn
Apples quartered
Bananas
Mandarins
...all kinds of fruits available

I'm getting hungry...

Amy

We'll try to aim for our regularly well-intended "school-ish" themes soon.

Favorite sites... a memoir

(this is a catch-up post from 9/17)

This week we are invited to share a few of our favourite things - er - sites. The list of favourite things could be never-ending... Just copy this list and add your favorites underneath the appropriate category.

• Magazines/Carnivals - In the homeschool category, I enjoy the CM blog carnival, Heart of the Matter, The Old Schoolhouse magazine. If we're talking non-homeschool, I like Better Homes and Gardens and Family Fun magazines the most!
  
• Freebie sites - I LOVE librivox.org, and I also frequent Currclick.com and homeschoolfreebieoftheday.com when the freebie is something I think we might use. I also subscribe to scrapgirls.com weekly newsletters where they give away free digiscrap stuff.
  
• Homeschool news/informative - As for news, I'm totally out of the loop. For information, I read blogs, and subscribe to yahoo groups applicable to my CM style.
  
• Forums/book clubs - same as above
  
• Networking, Blog “About” (sites that offer tech-support or tutorials for computer/internet) & Quick Links - no time for that these days :)
  
• Mom site - a sites just for moms
• Inspirational/encouraging/motivational - holyexperience.com is super inspirational to me, along with my friends' blogs.
  
• Youth/kid - sites geared towards youth/kids or owned by them
• Memes - Homeschool Memoirs, Heart of the Matter, Simple Woman's Daybook, My Husband Rocks and Thursday Thirteen are some of the meme's I have participated in with varying regularity.
  
• Organizing/crafts - sites that you look to for organizing tips or crafts - Familyfun.com, Simplemom.net - I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this site!!
  
• Homemaking/Homesteading - blogs, New Harvest Homestead digital magazine
  
• Bible-focused - sites mainly about God’s Word - Biblegateway.com
  
• Homeschool Method - sites that offer a lot of info on a certain method - Amblesideonline.org, Simplycharlottemason.com
  
• Family blog - sites that give you a glimpse into another family’s life, run by a family - I sometimes go to titus2.com
  
• Businesses, particularly homebased - no time... :)

All this must be tempered with the realization that I really have no time to look at all this stuff regularly. If I do, I'm sacrificing time with my kids/husband or my home gets messy. I really can't afford much time online at all. So, there you have it :)

Amy

Summer in pictures... a memoir

(this is a catch-up post from 9/24)

Well, there are a number of reasons why I'm NOT going to write a post for this week's meme. One is, it's not summer here in Peru :) The other is that we school year-round so even if it were summer, we wouldn't be doing summer like most people ;)

But I am going to give you a link to my photo essay on our trip to the jungle that did happen during y'alls' North American summer. It even felt like summer there since it was SO hot.

So here you are: (go to the link below for more pictures)
http://fisheracademy.blogspot.com/2008/09/jungle-school.html

1. Siah eating a itty-bitty banana for snack on the way... 20 hours driving - one way! woohoo!
2. Grill found in open market with fish (Lisa) displayed on a leaf for a plate; grilled banana slices; and I can't remember what all else... probably chicken foot shish-ka-bobs ;)
3. Cull posing in the ice cream store (where we spent a good amount of time).
4. Jungle beauty on the church's campground property.
5. Cool thatch roof. Micah wants to build a house with a roof like this someday... uh, well, okay.
6. My guys dreaming of river ministry... or swimming, or riding on motorboats... or something.
7. Amazing sunset in approaching storm clouds.
8. River Boat. Micah will spend a lot of time on a boat like this if we move to the jungle. He wants to regularly visit the really small villages along the river to encourage & teach the believers.

Amy

Hymn Study for October

This is the hymn we're studying for October with Ambleside Online...
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring:


And with both verses:


Enjoy!
Amy