Crystal Garden

As part of Quinn’s Scientist requirements (one of the few things he has left to complete before he can cross-over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts), he needed to grow a “crystal garden.”

I was really surprised to see the quick results, since Jason and the boys set up the tray just yesterday.

This method is far [...]

Thomas Jefferson Education

I truly am an eclectic homeschooler. I love Charlotte Mason, I wish I had been educated with a Classical method, and Unschooling really speaks to me. I try to incorporate all of these – so is it any wonder why I keep finding myself drawn to the Thomas Jefferson Education methods? It really takes the [...]

That’s a big bullet hole in your foot…

Okay, bad Mom confession (no, I’m not an extension-cord-waving crackwhore, but…): On Tuesday I left a *small* list of things for Quinn to accomplish school-wise while my sister was watching him, and he drug his feet taking forever to get those few things done. Yesterday, Quinn and I went head-to-head about piano practice all because [...]

Minimalism

I am so completely, overwhelmingly, hideously busy for the rest of this month. My work schedule is insane until the 18th, I must complete about 4 or 5 online courses to acquire my prerequisites and education credits for the IBCLC exam application by February 28th, and I have to do my taxes before the end [...]

Times Tales

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that Quinn’s math progresses slowly because he doesn’t have his times tables memorized. He understand it conceptually, but gets bogged down in the details. A couple friends recommended Times Tales–a system of using mnemonic devices to memorize the higher times tables (6s through 9s).

I purchased the “deluxe” edition, with [...]

Home-what?

We’re supposed to be doing what? Homeschooling? Not a chance. We have the plague. We may never be well again.
Well, I did sign up for the Cosmeo trial and Quinn and Liam watched Bodyworlds today. They count, right?

Quinn Writes

Quinn (age 10) had to write a 50-word “report” on a famous American for his Citizenship badge for Webelos. Here is his writing on President Lincoln (cliche, I know):
These are the ways I think president lincoln is a very good american.
He grew up very poor and still became a president.
He freed all of America from [...]

Monday’s News From the Trenches

In general, we’re good homeschoolers on Mondays. I feel ready to hit the ground running, these days Jason is off on Mondays, and our only out-of-the-house commitment is in the evening. Snowy and bitterly cold Mondays are even better.

I’ve decided to really accelerate the Ambleside Online schedule of Our Island Story. At their rate it [...]

Ah Ha!

Quinn oftentimes struggles with math.

Sometimes I think it’s because Singapore doesn’t have them memorize multiplication tables and the like (any thoughts about supplementing with that?). So, he has to reason out every simple problem (simple division in this case), every time he does it.

Once he stops lamenting his misfortune, though, he puzzles it out pretty [...]

Our Week

Well, it was kind of a crazy week around here, but I did manage to prioritize homeschooling during it all.
Some days, like my midwifery study day, we accomplished very little. I am going to address that by creating a planning page for the BOYS to use (as opposed to me) so that when I’m gone [...]