Footprints on the Fridge

I've Found the Cure

I didn't know what I had until until Elizabeth named it--blogging ambivalence is what it's called, and I've been suffering terribly.  But I'm happy to announce I've found the cure.  Planning!  Planning is the cure.  Last night, as I snapped photos of books and post-it notes, my husband looked at me quizzically and asked, "People really want to see that?"  I exclaimed most assuredly that you did, dear readers, so don't let me down!

I must admit to you, I am a lesson planning geek.  I blank slate for the year, a pile of great resources, and a touch of inspiration sets my heart all a-flutter.  When I was a teacher way back when, I was thrilled at the thought of summer and a blank lesson plan book.  The glitch is that five little people have made it their mission to need me directly in the middle of every coherent thought I think.  I am not a teacher, spending my summer student-free with lots of time to plan.  I am a mom, turning a million thoughts over in my head at once while changing a diaper and refereeing a battle, one-click ordering with one hand while feeding a toddler with the other, talking ideas over with friends while preparing dinner.  But even in the midst of all that, it eventually comes together.  And when it does, I'm like a planning junkie--driven for the next chunk of time when I can map out another subject.  So here's how my thoughts came together this year:

First, the vision, the big picture: Maybe it's a particular educational philosophy, a core curriculum, or a decision on what history you're studying, that begins to make your thoughts take take shape.  For me, it was a deep pull back in the direction of my Charlotte Mason roots and and conversation with friends feeling much the same way.  That coupled with the fact that the second half of American history was already a given and Quinn's request to study Greek mythology began to shape a vision. 

Next, make some key decisions: Once I had an idea where we were going and how we were getting there, I began to think about core subjects for each student and choose resources.  I thought about faith formation and how I wanted it to look this year.  And I got excited about our family studies and spent hours searching for book lists and recommendations.  This was when my brain clicked into overload and ability to communicate anything in written form came to stunning halt.  I could not find an uninterrupted time to get things out of my brain and into the neatly linked, shareable format I wanted them.  There were pages of lists and thoughts, spotted with sticky finger prints and coffee rings.  Notes were scribbled in catalogues and my Amazon shopping cart was a dumping grounds for title overload.  Finally, I could take it no longer.  Even though I was could not find a nice afternoon to run away to a quiet place, I had to get some of this out of my head.  So I powered through, creating Google book lists for family studies and mapping out a subject by subject plan for each of my students in the evenings that Greg was at class, while the kids ran around wildly engaged in constructive play.

Map it out: Once I cleared my brain clutter, I began to desperately desire the chance to map out a weekly plan and see if this was going to work.  I had a knot in my stomach worrying that I had decided on too much and was going to need a major edit.  It would've broken my heart.  I had this nagging fear that I was going to need to clip and cut at the beautiful educational story I had written until it read like an easy-reader version of a classic novel.  Elizabeth reminded me of the the beauty of post-it note planning and how easy it would be to move things around and edit that way.  A quick stop at CVS on the way to go the kids happy meals a nutritious white-meat trans-fat free dinner, and I was good to go.  So last night, I gathered my supplies:

post-it notes, a pen, two manila folders, the journal that held all those notes and ideas, a cup of spiced chai, and my workhorse: the laptop

I piled up key resources that we already own, tabbed Amazon on my browser, and kept favorite catalogues nearby for a reminder of key purchases.

Then I laid my manila folders out to create a master grid for the week based on this sample.  The columns are for the days of the week and the rows contain blocks for family work, faith formation, and each of my students.

I took my subject-by-subject list and started to map out the week.  A focus for daily faith formation came first, each students core subject lessons next, and family study blocks last.  And it all fit!

   There was no need for major revision! I was so relieved I went on a full-fledged planning binge that kept me awake until 2 am!

From the weekly list, a daily rhythm was born:       With those two things in place, I can now start to map put individual subjects and break down resources into lessons, mapping out the year week-by-week, day-by-day.  I was getting tired at this point, but I wanted the satisfaction of doing at least one subject, so I broke down Quinn's weekly Spanish lessons for the year and our Liturgical Tree plans through Advent. I fell asleep buried under fine arts plans.

It was SO satisfying to get so much done.  I feel like I can finally articulate a coherent thought again.  And I'm on a roll--today's plans: blog it, type it up, and keep mapping. 

I hope to be able to share what all those little post-it notes say and just where that Liturgical tree is headed in the next few days.  I'm so glad I got diagnosed and found the cure for my blogging ambivalence, I sure have missed hanging out in my little corner of cyberspace!   

Summer Reading

The summer book study is underway at Elizabeth's and we're getting back to our roots.  So if you haven't already visited Simply Charlotte Mason and downloaded their FREE e-book Education is...you'd better hurry on over there and do so! Don't get behind on your summer reading.

This introduction to Charlotte Mason's ideas is based on one of my favorite quotes from her, "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life."  What I love about this study of that idea is the emphasis on the fact that one of these factors alone is not enough.  It takes all three to form our children properly--the atmosphere created by the principles that govern us as parents, the discipline of character training that we carry out in our homes, and the life of thought and ideas to which we introduce our children.

The first of this tripod that we consider is the atmosphere.  Six points are developed as we think through what Charlotte Mason spoke of when she used the term "atmosphere"

• Children should grow up in a natural home setting, not an artificial, adapted "child environment." (Education Is, 10)  Now Charlotte Mason was talking to families in England who appointed lovely little nurseries and sequestered the children there under the watchful eye of the nanny or the governess while home life was carried on by adults somewhere far away.  This is clearly not a challenge for most of us.  However, it is good for me to be reminded that my home life needs to be a complete picture of being engaged with the children and their education and running a home that does all the things a home should do--one that nurtures the adults who live in it as well as the children, one that welcomes friend and stranger alike, one whose door opens to the world beyond and shuts to the tight circle of family as life leads.  If I allow the fact that so many children live here to be the excuse for why things are poorly kept, poorly planned, or poorly run, I have falsely adapted the environment to them.  Charlotte Mason was advocating that children be welcomed into the adult sphere of the home so that they could be nourished by the richness of that environment, not so that the environment could be forsaken because of their presence.  It is my job to maintain the atmosphere of "home" with my kids as an active presence in it, not a home where I have despaired to bring order and comfort because the sheer number of little ones makes it difficult.
• We must be careful how we live, because our children pick up attitudes and ideas from us that will affect the rest of their lives.  Well, there's an examination of conscience at the end of the day--what ideas and attitudes have my kids witnessed in me today?  Have I influenced them for good?  What can I do to reinforce the good and wash away the bad tomorrow?  In a Catholic home, it is most important that we live in such a way that our kids know without a doubt that holiness is our path and heaven is our goal.  And when they witness us stray from that path, it is doubly important that they see repentance, mercy, and the faithful return to the journey.  There are so many attitudes and ideas we hope our kids will glean from their life on our home, but of all of them, the pursuit of heaven through holiness is most important.  Charlotte Mason said our attitudes would excite in our children "a vague appetancy" toward something--I hope my children are hungry for heaven.
• The atmosphere of our homes is formed out of the ideas  that rule our lives as parents.  There is no getting over the fact that our homes will reflect what's important to us and that those ideas will be like the very "air" of our kids lives.  It will be part of them before they are aware even that it exists.  Have you ever stepped into a place and gasped quietly at the holiness that surrounded you?  Without seeing a person or hearing word spoken, but just in the atmosphere around you, there was holiness.  That's my goal for our home.  I bet it was like that in Therese Martin's home.  And I hope it will be in mine.
• Atmosphere is only part, not all, of a child's education.  We must give the discipline of good habits and the living ideas of a generous curriculum.  Our next book study will be all about the discipline of good habits and we are working on creating a generous curriculum of living ideas for Serendipity next fall.  But I think something worth mentioning here is that the people who questioned the notions of atmosphere mentioned here were intuiting that the pursuit of the perfect atmosphere was a single-pronged goal, when in truth, it is part of a much bigger picture.  But it is a valid part, and there is atmosphere either way.  Our kids breathe the air of our home, whatever it is.  Seeking order, comfort and loveliness is our way of insuring that the air they breathe is of the highest quality.  We take the life-giving air of our faith and filter out any allergens and pollutants that may have gathered in it so that what our families breathe is pure and healthy.
• The atmosphere of home should encourage freedom under authority and obedience.  Well, I'll be chewing on that one for a while. 

                Charlotte Mason wrote: "But due relations must be maintained; the parents are in authority,the children in obedience; and again, the strong may not lay the burdens on the weak; nor must we expect from children that effort of decision, the most fatiguing in our own lives, of which the young should generally be relieved." (quoted in Education is, 13)

                 I know we'll talk more about this one later, but initially, I think it is a noble and beautiful thing to think on obedience as a gift we give our children.  We carry the burden of authority.  We shoulder the worry and concern over their moral, spiritual, physical, and intellectual development.  We shudder at the influences we strive to shut out while they continue on, blissfully unaware.  These burdens are not theirs to shoulder.  It is obedience that frees them to be children.  When we leave them to decisions that are our own to make or leave room for negotiation, or worse yet, give in to the tyranny of their emotional reactions, they are not happier--they are fretful, confused, and anxious.  Obedience is not a demand we make on poor unsuspecting creatures, it is a gift we give the ones we love, the gift of a free childhood, consumed with childish thoughts and dreams and imaginings, not the cares and concerns of the adult world.

Well, keep reading.  Summer has just begun!

            

Like Coming Home

The first homeschooling friend I ever made, I've never actually met.  She's from England.  And she lived her life to its full way before I was even born.  Her name is Charlotte Mason. 

You see, about eight years ago, I had a two and half year old child and was pregnant with a second.  A good friend announced that he was getting married and would be moving away.  He invited us to lunch to meet his then fiancee.  This was no chance meeting.  This was one of those moments in life that you never know the weight of and can never fully count the blessings from.  I was mesmerized by the description of this school principal's guiding philosophy and by her plan to build a school that fully espoused this philosophy and to one day build a network of such schools.  A few days later, a package containing this arrived in the mail from Mary Ellen.  It was a gift that has never quit giving.  I drank up its ideas and chewed its content as a most satisfying feast.  I couldn't stop thinking about it.  I started searching online for information about homeschoolers using this philosophy.  And I found this.  Okay, not really that but its ancestor.  We've been at this for a while now, some things have changed.

As a young mom, still in the preschool years, I gleaned so much encouragement from the conversations there, from women I grew to respect and admire in so many ways.  And I gained a circle of support.  Just as my oldest was approaching kindergarten and I was finally ready to embark on our homeschooling journey, God sent us a surprise.  First, we embraced a call to foreign mission service, sold our home and our possessions, and moved, first to a mission base and then to a little island in the Southern Caribbean.  And, we welcomed our third son into the world just seven weeks before we left the country.  September found us not at the library gathering up armfuls of living books as I had expected, but far away from home in a new world, with only what would fit in five suitcases.  And yet, my conviction that this was the best way to educate my child stayed firm, and the support of those online friends remained.

And so I spent my evenings in the Caribbean devouring this book that had just been released and cheering for joy that Elizabeth had done such a wonderful job taking what was a perfect philosophy for me and letting me see a very real picture of it.  And of convincing me that my life as a missionary was not mutually exclusive with a Charlotte Mason education for my child.  And so we began to spend our mornings in the Caribbean praying and learning: devouring the few books we were able to bring along, working out of our Math workbooks (Singapore Math from Singapore because that's how little I knew what I was doing : ) and learning to read.  We worked hard at life, and we rewarded ourselves with frequent trips to the incredible beaches, where we wrote letters in the sand, counted waves, and spotted some of God's most beautiful creation.  At Christmas, when Granny and Pops came to visit, we asked for more books.  They brought some of these. 

The next few years led us to two more mission posts, another in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and one in Costa Rica: those trips included a fourth pregnancy, a stint teaching and learning in a bilingual school, and trips back and forth to the States.  Then, just before the birth of that fourth baby, we decided to return to life in the States.  We rented a house, and not knowing what our income situation would be, enrolled our oldest in the local Catholic school.  A week later, Katrina devastated the lives of most of our family members and we spent a month living it with them.  Then Hurricane Rita took its toll on our neck of the woods and by the time its aftermath had cleared, we were welcoming a baby into the world.  And then four months later moving into the home we purchased, and four months after that, another baby on the way.  And then the decision to bring the boys back home for school followed shortly after. 

In the midst of all these changes, the aforementioned book list was our constant friend.  Wherever life took us, we referred to it often for inspiration and found it.  It was our constant, as were the ladies at 4real.

In August, I geared up for the school year by manipulating an in-person meeting with my long-time online friend Cay.  I brought Alice in on the action, and the next you know I was planning a weekend get-together.  And that was where I shared these thoughts about learning in a Charlotte Mason lifestyle.  I've reread them a lot lately.  I've thought about the ideas we embraced and the changes we made when we fell head over heels into Serendipidity.  I have thanked God over and over for the fact that Virginia lies between Louisiana and Pennsylvania, and a dinner stop and a face-to-face meeting were the beginning of a blessed friendship.  And, as I promised, I prayed a lot.  And I realized that while I took some invaluable gifts from all the experimentation and discovery this year, I missed my old friend a bit.  She has still been around, but the learning room has been a bit crowded, I think.  She is my oldest friend on this homeschooling adventure, Miss Mason.  I know her best and she suits me most.  And I wanted to sit with her over a cup of tea--like old times.  Then conversations about plans for next year began in earnest with Elizabeth and some very inspiring friends.  And without any prompting from me, this happened. 

As it turns out, I think we were all ready for a visit with our old friend Miss Mason--ready to soak up her wisdom once again, ready to put habit and character training in the foremost position in our homes, and ready to drink deeply of living ideas and fresh air.  And so I have found that the Spirit has led me back to my homeschooling roots, not to a wider picture of what education in my home can be, but to the original picture, the one that stayed the course with us through what has been a very wild ride.  As I reread my own thoughts in those earlier posts, I hear my own voice, tried and true, firm with conviction and enflamed with excitement.  It sounds good to me.  It feels comfortable. 

In years past, life has carried us far away from what we knew well, and I have held onto a little golden nugget the whole way, guarding it safely, because I wanted my children to have it no matter where life took us.  And then this year, the first year where we were in our own home, in our own country, without any major upheaval, that little nugget was placed safely on the learning room table while we sorted through new gems.  We didn't have the need to choose only one thing to take along on our journey.  We weren't limited in the amount of bags we could fill.  And fill them we did.  And some of our new finds were wonderful.  But in all honesty, it's time for a little decluttering--in our philosophy, that is.  And when I begin to pare down and decide what I really can't part with, it's that well-traveled treasure I choose, the wisdom of my first teacher, Miss Mason.

I have been planning up a storm.  And reading.  And having tea.  And I have loved every minute of it.  I feel like I've traveled farther this year when I had nowhere to go than I did in all those other years when I was so far away.  And while I enjoyed all the new faces and places, it feels good to come home, and to find an old friend and a cup of tea waiting.   

Spirit-Led Learning

While it seems much of the discussion on educational philosophies and methods of homeschooling seems to be dying down, my thoughts on the matter are becoming clearer by the day.  I've been thinking a lot about my kids lately, where each is right now-- academically, spiritually, emotionally.  I've been trying to make some decisions about which activities and interests we'll pursue during the long, hot summer afternoons, and about what will work best for next year.  I've made lists, chatted with friends, and eyed curriculum websites.  I've thought long and hard about our need for labels and how strange it is that we think and talk so much about this.  And yet here I am thinking and talking about it.  Again.  And all the labels, all the discussion, all the philosophy--none of it seems to provide a complete picture of my kids as individuals, of our needs as a Catholic homeschooling family.  There isn't a single idea out there that I could grab onto wholeheartedly and say, "This is it.  This is what will work for all of us, forever."   And I've finally realized why.

I'm not the author of this story.  This journey I'm taking with my kids--parenting, homeschooling, the whole thing-- is God's plan for our family, not mine.  Sure, He has charged me with the day to day upkeep, but I'm not in charge here, He is.  He sends me constant reminders of that--sickness right when the routine is clicking along smoothy, toddlers and babies who need us in the middle of an hands-on project,  kids who need me to go slowly and kids ever ready for another challenge, gorgeous spring days when I am determined to catch up on math and spelling, and rainstorms when we've planned a picnic.  And yet, why when it comes to thoughts and discussions on the best path to take on this journey, do I leave myself to human ideals and philosophies and forget to do the most important thing--pray?

If I want to know what my kids most need, why not ask Him who made them?  If I need to grasp the lesson in a particular season of our lives, why not consult the Changer of the Seasons?  If my goal in raising this family is truly to gain entrance into eternal life for us all, no one's philosophy but His will do.  Now, don't misunderstand.  I love educational philosophy.  I love developmental psychology.  Almost pursued a post-graduate degree in it.  I could never get tired of reading and talking about ideas.  However, I could easily get dismayed and overwhelmed.  Because there are so many good ways to do this and none is the complete answer.  And if I find myself frantically trying to glean the best of everything, I find myself struggling to keep it together.  And I realize I've made a fundamental mistake.  I've put human thinking at the head of what is a spiritual quest.  There is only one Idea that can guide us to where we hope to find ourselves at the end of this journey, only one Spirit who can infuse our home life with all I hope it will be full of.  Only He knows what each child needs most today, only He knows which virtue should be built, which memory should be made, which trail should be followed.  If I commit myself and my family into His hands daily and listen for His promptings, there will assuredly be days when He prompts us to drop everything and meet Him outside or seasons where He asks us to bring order and structure to the forefront of our lives.  There will be children from whom He draws forth a hunger for classical knowledge and children with whom He endows a spirit that resists all labels and charts its own path instead.  And there will be a mother, who without a daily awareness of what He is asking of her, will find herself swimming in the large pool of human ideas without an anchor to hold on to.

And so as I sit to take stock of where we are and where we are going these days, I find myself reading less and praying more.  I find myself talking less and listening more.  I am seeking  wisdom more than ideas, the fruits of the Spirit more than the best reading list.  Oh, I'll get around to those books and lists once again.  But for now, I'm into a new homeschooling philosophy, the only one that seems have all the answers.  Im calling it Spirit-led learning.  And my only resource for this one is prayer.

Coming Soon...

I'm trying to update sidebars and post a February overview but Typepad is nt cooperating tonight.  Bear with me until construction is complete.

Hi Ho! Hi Ho!

It's off to work they go! The gnomes are back to mining some math fun over at Serendipidity and this time, the littlest members of the family are invited to play along.   Go see what happens when Elizabeth figures out how to make the swirl of ideas running around in my head make sense! 

Lovin' Our January Book Baskets

We are having so much fun with the books in our baskets this month.  The kids are reading like crazy (and since Quinn's the only one who reads, that means I'm reading like crazy!)  But there has been such joy in the sharing of these books, I thought I'd share it with you!

First of all, Quinn is reading the Jean Fritz books over on the sidebar and making a Revolutionary Heroes section for his history notebook.  He loves to narrate those books back to me and see if he can remember the information accurately.  He almost always has questions about the historical figure afterward and he's off to research.  We love this site for all things Revolutionary.  We are watching the movies there, learning about music, and looking at Paul Revere's original newspaper engravings for art study.  I could read about the Revolution non-stop, and it appears Quinn feels the same.  We are also working on a little report on the derivations of the names of the 13 original colonies as well as being able to locate them on the map.

I chose three separate trails for the boys this month, one aimed at each of the older three .  We love them all!

Sheila Hebert Collins' Cajun Fairy Tales are a hit with Quinn.  He has read and re-read the first batch I got from the library and asks every day if we are going back.  We are making a compare/contrast page for each tale comparing its setting, characters, plot and tone with the traditional version of the tale.  Today Quinn asked if there was a Cajun version of Rapunzel.  I noted that there wasn't and suggested he write one of his own.  He loved the idea and began planning his story immediately.

Gabriel is reading Jan Brett books this month.  Of course we are all enamored with her and many of the stories are old favorites, but we are paying particular attention to all the side illustrations and the extra information they provide.  We are learning the terms foreshadowing and personification.  The books also work nicely with his geography goal for this month: naming and locating all the continents.

Brendan's book selections this month are the Jerry Pallotta ABC books.  These books are so cool, full of great information, and so appealing to boys.  They are in demand at our house and the cause of many an "oooh" and "aah" as well as the occasional scuffle.  The beeswax creations that have accompanied them are amazing.

The kids are just beginning to take off on a lot of rabbit trails and I couldn't be happier to overhear them trying to decide amongst themselves which is the best book in the basket.

More on our January learning in another post.

Here's A Little Peek

at how a Maps and Mankind works in our house.

Today we were wrapping up our studies of Columbus.  During our morning school session, I finished reading Jean Fritz's Where Do You Think You're Going Christopher Columbus?  out loud to the kids.

They modeled ships out of beeswax, and even some little Columbus look-alikes to ride in them. And then added little birds from our seasonal display to be his parrots!

   

Then I helped Quinn brainstorm and draft a writing assignment for our Book of Centuries.  I gave him this scenario:

Pretend you are Columbus on the way home from your last journey.  You have received word that Queen Isabela is ill and you may not see her when you return.  Moved by all she has done for you, you write her a letter apologizing for your failures and reminding her of your accomplishments in her name. 

We brainstormed and drafted the letter today and will work on revisions and editing throughout the week. 

Then we settled in for a little map work, tracing Columbus' path and the paths of the other Spanish explorers that followed him: Vespucci, Balboa, Ponce de Leon, and Magellan.

We folded up our map hiding the continents of the Americas to see what Columbus expected the world looked like, then slid out the continents and measured with our fingers how much larger the world actually was.

At lunch, we read Columbus poems from Joaquin Miller and Stephen Vincent Benet.

This afternoon, I read the story of St. Edward the Confessor to Gabriel and Brendan while Quinn did a math lesson and some grammar exercises.  We looked at Denmark, England, and France on the map and noted how close they were to the countries we had marked for our Columbus work in the morning.

At teatime, we finished reading D'Aulaire's Columbus.  All that looking at the map sparked a discussion about plate tectonics and much animated pointing and investigating as to the way in which the continents could be put back together into one piece. 

It was a good day.  We read a lot, talked a lot, learned a lot.  It exemplifies what my daily rhythm and weekly plan can create in our home and why they really work for us.

Lost and Found

Since I posted about our daily rhythms a while back, I really have gotten into the groove and been quite happy with the flow of our days.  However, when I tried to move beyond that to the larger picture and plan out a week's worth of learning or even more, I would feel once again overwhelmed and frenzied.  Somehow I was losing the gentleness of the daily rhythm in the translation to the big picture.  I was stumped as to how it was happening, but it seemed in order to cover all the areas I feel are important with each child and still leave that daily rhythm intact, I'd have to cram an awful lot down their throats in each day during our lesson times.  That left me playing drill sergeant rather than mom and co-learner, and that seemed to miss the philosophical point completely.

So I reflected, I pondered, I threw my hands up in the air and spent the day at the park, talking to Cay and Alice on my cell phone and another friend who wandered over from her house across the street.  Then I prayed.  Then I read blogs, schedules, and other info.  Then I prayed some more.  Then I let it sit for a while in my spirit.  And then the "aha" moment......

I can't exactly explain to you why catchy alliterative titles clarify things for me, but they do.  If I can give it a fun title, I can achieve it.  I began to think about our days in terms of a single focus for that day...with main lessons, seat work, and read-alouds all focusing in one area rather than trying to fit in everything every day.  Then I began to think of these catchy little titles, and somehow was re-inspired by that.  I had found my groove again!  So here is the rhythm of our week, cheesy alliteration and all.

On Mondays, we'll focus on Maps and Mankind (history and geography)

• history read-alouds and working on the book of centuries for Quinn
• lives of the saints with narrations and illustrations placed in the book of centuries for Gabe
• poetry about historic figures at lunch
• map work and games in the afternoons
• tea-time snacks and read-alouds focused on our Monday Night Football Geography (Elizabeth's idea)

On Tuesdays, we'll focus on Nature and Nurture

• early mornings are for nature walks, backyard study, or a nature-related outing
• then making pages for our seasons book or nature notebook (which also has new twist I'll share in another post)
• afternoons are for home comforts: handcrafts and baking
• and household tasks: larger chores than our daily scheduled jobs
• there'll be nature poems at lunch and read-alouds from the autumn basket at tea

Wednesdays are for Reading, Writing, and Re-Telling

• mornings will include copywork or dictation and spelling work for Quinn, phonics and reading work for Gabe
• read-alouds from the younger kids' literature unit and narrations and activities
• at lunch, there'll be oral story-telling (narration of a recent outing, joke-telling, dream narrations--my boys love to describe their dreams, etc...)
• the afternoons will focus on writing enrichment for Quinn and handwriting for Gabe
• then read-alouds from Quinn's literature unit, narrations, and activities
• tea-time will be for art study and checking over our library list
• a late afternoon trip to the library will end our day

Thursdays are Sums, Spaces, and Solutions

• mornings will be for math stories for Gabe and drill work for Quinn
• then math games for everyone
• then a bit of building and constructing
• at lunch, there'll be mathematical poems
• in the afternoons, a bit of math book work
• and some problem-solving activity
• tea-time will include a math read-aloud and a bit of mixing and measuring

Fridays are Faith-Filled

• in addition to our regular prayer time, mornings will include an activity based on the Scripture we are reading and a Catholic Mosaic read-aloud and discussion
• noon mass and a picnic at the park (weather permitting)
• afternoons will include lessons from Faith and Life and an activity and discussion on developing a particular virtue
• tea-time will be our change to celebrate a liturgical feast of that week

This rhythm gives me such peace.  I feel calm and joyful writing it out, yet satisfied that I am giving the kids a well-rounded education.  I have finally been able to translate the gentle rhythm of our days into a weekly schedule that works for us and have discovered an added benefit: if one day gets skipped due to appointments, field trips, illnesses, etc..., I just make sure we don't skip the same subject area the next week, that way no one thing gets completely left behind and I don't feel like I'm behind in everything simply because we missed one of "school".  This is weekly rhythm was definitely designed by God, because, I assure you, I was completely deflated and stumped until I brought it to friends and prayer.  I hope it inspires any of you who are feeling "lost in translation" to do the same. 

In Our Main Lesson Books

Well, the weather simply refuses to budge down here in the Deep South.  I've done everything I can to prod it along.  I've shopped for cool weather clothes for the children and dutifully hung them on hangers waiting to be worn.  I laid out a lovely seasonal display and sprinkled the kitchen with decorations.  I started cooking hearty, comforting meals and stacked up the ingredients for great a great autumnal baking festival.  And still the thermostat reads 90 degrees and the air conditioner blasts artificially cool air at my face.  I looked for gourds and mums for the front steps yesterday, but got too hot and left.  The extended forecast bears no good news.  However, our main lessons wouldn't even hint at the fact that autumn has not yet really arrived here.  They're bursting with seasonal fun.

My initial thought when I planned to do the seasons was to let everyone make his own book for each season, but as I thought through the lessons, I realized it works quite nicely for us all to contribute to one collective book as some of the children are able to do more than others.  So, while my new plan sways quite liberally from true Waldorf main lessons, it is working beautifully for us.  We are doing something different and interesting each day, and the kids are really enjoying recording it with beautiful beeswax crayons and watercolor paints.  I thought I'd share a little of what is going in to our autumn book. 

Autumn Stories and Poems

• Narrations and illustrations from the picture books we are reading (see side bar) : Quinn and Gabriel both contribute a picture and narration for each story
• Poetry copywork: Quinn copies the poems from Elsa Beskow's around the year as well as some other Autumn poems and Gabriel decorates the edges of the pages.
• I write out some of our circle time songs and rhymes and Brendan colors the page.  We have reworded some old classics to fit with the season.  If anyone is interested I can post them tomorrow.

Autumnal Foods and Recipes

• I have had the kids notice what items are on special display at the store, what foods are pictured on the fronts of magazines, and what produce is available.  We are keeping a page of autumn foods, small drawings of different foods that are associated with the season.  As of now there are apples, pumpkins, yams, turkey cranberries.  More will be added as the kids discover them.
• We are baking together at main lesson time once a week and then Quinn copies the recipe onto a card which one of the smaller kids decorate.  These are added to our book.

Local crops and culture

• Because we live in a rural area and drive past farms every day, I want the kids to notice what is happening with the crops.  We have been simply watching as we drive here and there and recording things with drawings, but next week we are going to visit some farming friends and get a more detailed idea of what is happening.
• In Louisiana, fall is festival time.  There is a festival every weekend celebrating everything from cattle to rice to meat pies and back again.  Quinn has drawn a map of Louisiana and labeled the cities where the festivals are located and Gabriel is drawing small pictures of the items around the edges.

Calendar Holidays, Church feasts, and family celebrations:

• We are creating a page for each holiday as it passes and including it in the book.  And we are doing the same for saints' days.
• We are going to make a page of family birthdays, name days, and other celebrations that take place in the fall with the dates to remember.

Autumn Around the World:

• We are researching autumn festivals from other parts of the world and including narrations and drawings in our book.

Family Journal:

• We have been taking a lot of family outings on the weekends and really enjoying them.  We hope to get in a few camping trips (if the weather would ever cool), and we are planning a trip to Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts in November.  The kids are making pages with drawings, recorded narrations and memories, and little mementos from these trips t include in our book.

I think you can probably see by now what I have noticed as these plans solidified: we are not only learning  a lot and making a main lesson book here.  We are also creating family traditions and memories and this book, I hope, will become a treasured piece of family history.  That being the case, I have decided to use a page protected scrapbook and either watercolor paper or acid free cardstock for the pages.  I chose a neutral colored one and we added these leaves to the front.  I am not using patterned papers or other scrapbooking doo-dads.  I want the feel of it to be totally natural and only the kids' work to be featured, but I needed something that was going to facilitate every one working on different items and also last through the years as a family keepsake. 

Can I just say, I love this path we're on...thanks to my inspiration moms.  I've linked you enough, you know who you are ;  ) !