Besides the normal school etc…, we had a fun week. Here’s a taste.

This picture wasn’t taken this week, but it was perfect for Mother’s Day – all four of my boys in one photograph. 

We found a pond just a few blocks from where we’re staying right now, and there are lots of ducks and geese who live there. The boys have had a really fun time going to visit them. We went twice last week, and it’s really neat to see them interacting with nature so freely. We took some bread one day (old hamburger buns) and taught Small Fry how to tear it very small so that his portion would last a long time. By the end, Will and Seahawk had some of the geese literally eating out of their hands. That was pretty cool. Small Fry tried to let one of them eat from his hand, and it nipped at his fingers even though he did everything right and held his hand very flat. After that he was happy to just toss the bread.

When we ran out of bread, we walked around to the other side of the pond where Seahawk and Munchkin skipped some rocks. Seahawk is a natural at that (at most athletic things, actually) and was able to get 5+ skips a few different times.

After we left the pond, we were going to go to a local ice cream place where they have lots of different (unusual) flavors of ice cream. Will and I went there a week or so ago and had the rose petal flavor (it tastes mostly like vanilla, but there’s an aftertaste that is just what you’d think roses taste like based on their scent). Unfortunately, they were closed by the time we got there, so we went to Dairy Queen instead. Small Fry was pretty excited about the Guardians of the Galaxy cutout there and wanted his picture taken, so we did that for him. He has a photo album that he loves to look at full of pictures of some of the experiences we’ve done together. I’m sure this one will end up in there at some point.

That night, after we’d been asleep for a few hours, Small Fry came into our room crying. I woke up to find out what was going on with him; he said his lip was hurting a lot. I took him into the bathroom so I could turn the light on without bothering anyone else and take a look. He had quite the fat lip and was bleeding just a little bit up underneath. The blood wasn’t severe, so I got him calmed down and back into bed so we could all get enough sleep and deal with it more in the morning.

The following morning, when neither of us were as tired, I got the full story out of him. Turns out he’d fallen out of bed during the night, and because the boys are in such close quarters (all four are sharing one room temporarily), he slammed his face into Seahawk’s bed frame when he fell, hence the fat lip and bleeding. It was very sore all that day, and the next afternoon he came running up to give me a hug and very gently bonked into me. Even though it was hardly any pressure at all, it was enough to break open the scab under his lip and he started bleeding profusely. We got that under control, and everything’s been fine since then.

The last picture I have to share is Munchkin in his new glasses. The boys qualify for their annual eye exams each spring, so we make sure to get them done every year. Seahawk and Small Fry don’t have any issues, but we get them checked anyway. Dragonfly is small enough that he doesn’t need exams yet, but the eye doctor said starting next year, he will. Munchkin, though, wears glasses. He has since he was 5, when he was diagnosed with an astigmatism. He tells me that he doesn’t remember a time that he didn’t have glasses. I remember his first pair of glasses, and that was a magical time. He was small, and didn’t even realize he hadn’t been seeing very well. We took him to pick up his glasses a few days after the eye exam, and as soon as he put them on, his face lit up. He could see so well! That really was a wonderful moment.

Blessings,

Sometimes it doesn’t feel like we’re doing much in the way of school, but I know we’re just fine :). Here are a few pictures showcasing some of the things we’ve done recently. Most of these are review items for which you’ll get to read my thoughts soon (later this month in many cases).

Small Fry has continued working on Eclectic Foundations to learn to read. We also received a set of the newest Kwik Stix no-mess paint sticks: Thin Stix. In this picture, he’s making a get well card for Will, who had surgery a couple of weeks ago.

One of the blessings of living with my in-laws is that they have an electric piano. Will has taken Seahawk’s desire to learn seriously, and they’ve had a few lessons. Besides the lessons, Seahawk practices nearly every day.

We were blessed with a biography of Jacob de Shazer from YWAM to read. He led a fascinating life, and I’m so glad we get to read about it. In this picture, we’d just finished reading about his involvement in the Doolittle Raid during WWII. The book mentioned that there were reporters on the aircraft carrier with the soldiers, so I looked on YouTube to see if there was any of that footage. Instead I found a newsreel from the event, so we watched that.

Besides what you see here, we’ve also been doing “boring” things like math and science. Also, the boys are learning to type with The Typing Coach.

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Literature is one of my favorite subjects to teach. There are just so many good books out there, and by using a wide variety of curricula, my boys are exposed to books that are American classics. Sometimes the books we read are new to me, too. But the best thing of all is when they learn to read beyond just the book – critical thinking along with reading comprehension. This last point is something I tend to struggle with (which is a big part of why I started my virtual book club). But Debra Bell from Apologia Educational Ministries is great with it, and she’s developed a literature curriculum called Readers in Residence Volume 1 (Sleuth). Munchkin and I have had the pleasure of working through this during the past few weeks (when we weren’t busy moving, that is).

What it is

Readers in Residence is a companion to Apologia’s Writers in Residence program, but you can use them independently of one another. Readers in Residence is designed to help kids problem solve their way through books, starting even before they open to the first chapter.

The student book is huge – 562 pages in an 8.5×11″ spiral bound, consumable book, and there are 6 units for students to work through. In the odd numbered units, students are given a book to read, and in the even numbered units, they choose a book of their own in the same genre as the book from the previous unit. For example, the first unit is Sarah, Plain and Tall, and the second unit is the studen’s choice do a historical fiction book. After reading Charlotte’s Web, they choose an animal fiction book. And upon finishing Because of Winn Dixie, the entire fiction section of the library (or book store) is free reign. Each unit has a different focus, and those with an assigned book have a big unit project as well.

The book includes a suggested daily schedule, covering 4 days a week. I found this really helpful in trying to wrap my mind around the gigantic volume. Knowing where to begin and how much to do in a a given day was super helpful. After I studied the schedule and felt like I had a handle on what to expect from this curriculum, I passed the student book on to Munchkin.

How we used it

Munchkin, who is nearing the end of 5th grade, was pretty much given free reign over this curriculum. I was around when he needed help, but he pretty much did it all on his own. I just went over his answers each day when he’d finished. He dove right into Unit 1: Sarah, Plain and Tall. He’d read this book before, bit it had been a few years, so he was happy to read it again. 

The subtitle of this curriculum is Sleuth, and that’s very fitting. The opening module of the unit teaches students about becoming an expert reader – both what that means and how to become one. They start by exploring the cover of the book and looking for clues as to what the book might be like based on the cover. There’s a diagram showing the different parts do the cover (title, author, illustrator, awards, etc). Then they’re taught the difference between fiction and nonfiction, and this section is where the first exercise is. Students are instructed to find books of both genres at home and write down their titles. The module  continues in this manner, until they’re given instruction to actually pick up the book to read. At that point, they use the information learned to analyze the book before they begin reading.

I had Munchkin follow the schedule laid out in the beginning of the workbook, just for the sake of ease. This fell apart a little bit when we were in the middle of the move, but he’s right back into this book now that we’re settled.

What we think of it

We didn’t make it as far into the curriculum as I’d hoped and expected because our move was sudden and unexpected right in the middle of the review period. Despite that, I really like what I’ve seen so far. I like the 4-day week, I like the methodology behind the program, and I like that my son is learning to take an active role in the books he reads rather than staying a passive reader. I think it’s important to do things deliberately, and Readers in Residence helps students learn to read with a purpose. This is a definite win in my book (pardon the pun).

Blessings,