Pre-K and Third Grade Year in Review

What I’m Reading: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
My Shakespeare reading continues.  I have read Midsummer a couple of times.  We read it in high school, and I liked it then.  I probably would have continued enjoying Shakespeare at this point if it hadn’t been for my teacher.  It’s such a fun play.  I loved that I was able to pick out some of the major themes on my own now that I’ve been taking classes (not making me an expert but far more knowledgeable than before).  This is the play I’ve chosen to do with my son when our school year starts back.

Notes on My Review 

We didn’t reach the end of the last day of school before my son asked if we’d be starting school again the next week.  I think it’s because I told him we’re starting our summer break but that we’d be doing math and a few other things here and there.  Later that night he excitedly pronounced (with a wide grin) to his dad that he had finished third grade.  He then said that he was sad that it was over because he likes school and didn’t want it to end. My daughter is very excited to be starting kindergarten and kept announcing it to anyone at church who would listen. 

Before writing out this year’s evaluation, I reviewed last year’s evaluation.  We reached the goals I set for this year, so I hope the same will be true each year to come.

Pre-K

The Best

My daughter loves poetry.  She’s a fan of tea and poetry and asks for it often.  She loves nursery rhymes and folk songs.  While we were talking today, she started singing “John Kanaka” and asking where the song comes from. She loves helping with household chores and tasks. 

Our year was reasonably planned out.  I looked through my son’s planning sheets at the same age, and his are full of plans for phonics, counting, and workbooks.  I also compared the number of weeks completed, and they were about equal.  My daughter finished 24 weeks of school.  They were far more enriching and far less stressful than my first go-round.

My daughter has learned the alphabet well.  She still needs to be reminded of what a few of the letters are when they are taken out of alphabetical order.  She can write most of the letters.  We have very casually introduced writing and I haven’t laid out any expectation other than getting in the habit of following the arrows (if given) of where to start. At the beginning of the school year, she could not do a floor puzzle of an alphabet train.  She can now do it all on her own.  I think that’s the ultimate pre-k graduation test.

The Worst

I don’t think I ever got around to setting up the easel with tempura paints.  It was one of my favorite activities in kindergarten, and I would set it up for my son at least once a month when he was in preschool.  However, she always did watercolor painting with us.

My daughter didn’t quite fall in love with Beatrix Potter at the level that I had hoped.  She does enjoy it, and I think it will be something she’ll enjoy more over the next couple of years.  She definitely wants to read all the Disney books since she’s familiar with those characters.  When I reflected on this over the year, I realized it’s because my reading life has been different with my daughter than it was with my son.  My husband used to work the afternoon/night shift, so I was usually on my own to do naps, pre-dinner entertainment, and bedtime; I often spent that time snuggled in his rocker reading books.  Now that my husband shares in our evening routine, we have different habits.  My daughter also stopped taking naps at three years old, so I never enforced an afternoon quiet time like I did for my son while he was young and then when my daughter was a baby.  THIS is a big habit we are devoting time to this summer.

Plans / Goals for Kindergarten

We’re still tossing around ideas for what formal lessons we’ll include.  Every so often I casually ask if my daughter wants to learn how to read or start piano lessons.  We will continue down the pre-k path for awhile and take gradual steps as my daughter is ready for more formal lessons.  We will be reading, reading, playing outside, and reading some more.

Third Grade

The Best

Third grade has been fun. We didn’t participate in our museum’s art classes like I had hoped, but we did join a co-op giving my son some great experiences.  I was far more consistent overall in what we accomplished even though we didn’t check every box.  My son was generally enthusiastic about school and worked hard to battle through challenges.

One of the biggest achievements of the year was my son’s independence in reading and narrating, working in his engineering book, and completing math worksheets.  I have been able to hand over a checklist for him to work through on his own.  I will be doing this more and more next school year. 

My son also proved himself in character.  He has proven to be a hard worker.  He has proven to be a boy who wants to follow after God’s ways.  He’s a good caretaker and protector of his sister.  He’s ready to serve and be a gentleman. He’s quick to obey and honor.

My favorite books we read were Brighty of the Grand Canyon, Swallows and Amazons, The Jungle Book, and Stories from the Faerie Queen Told to the Children. It’s always nice being surprised by the books I read to my son.  I’m not always sure if I’m going to like them and don’t always like them to the same extent as my son.  These four books were stand outs and ones I look forward to reading again with my daughter.

I’m definitely glad I followed the advice to just keep going with our plans/weeks even if we had sickness going through the house.  We were able to complete our school year in a normal school year without the feeling of it dragging out and taking forever.

The Worst

I did not like the AmblesideOnline poetry anthology.  I do not think that I will purchase the year’s poetry in this form again.  In previous years I have bought books for each separate poet.  I will go back to doing that again in the future.

I didn’t particularly like slowing down in math. However, I don’t think I would have tried out the Simply Charlotte Mason arithmetic series if we hadn’t. I do like our new routine we’re working out of two new lessons in Saxon, completing two worksheets so that I know my son is getting good practice, a couple facts practice sheets, and one or two oral lessons from CM book 1. We may reach a point where we’re ready to do more in a week again, but I’m not going to push it for now.

On second thought, slowing down in math should be moved to the best. I am incredibly thankful that we have the freedom to go at our own pace. My son loves learning and enjoys math. What is the point in going fast and learning ALL the things quickly? Life goes by quickly enough on its own. Our current math lessons seem like brain games, mysteries.

Plans / Goals for Fourth Grade

Next school year is going to look quite a bit different from this year.  I’m pulling back on some of the things I’m teaching.  I will be lessening work in some areas and also handing over more independent work.  I’m also setting a higher priority on kindergarten.  I know that most people work around their older student and have their younger child go along with it.  However, there are some things about the kindergarten year that need to be a priority for our whole family.  (I will be expanding on this more as I write about our specific plans for next year.) 

I would say that the top priority specifically for my son will be to grow in independence in many areas of school and his education. I want him to use his time and gifts wisely. I want to see him grow in taking initiative, to be engaged in his learning. I want him to become confident in approaching learning.

Most of our days are full of life – the good and the bad. I wouldn’t trade our homeschool for another.

Term 3, Week 11

a.k.a. Early Exam Week

I typically divide our terms into 12 weeks.  I shorted quite a bit of term 3 to accommodate standardized testing and spring weather.  I had the freedom to give us more but also let us be free of some of the extras.  I’m keeping all of this in mind as I plan next school year.

What I’m Reading: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
I enjoyed this book, and I recommend the audiobook, especially. I think this is the third Lisa See book I’ve read.  I like similar authors, Amy Tan and Pearl S. Buck.  I also really like listening to them on audio when they’re available so that I can hear the correct pronunciation of Chinese names and places.  This book was different than the others I’ve read since the main character was a minority from the remote mountains.  It also inspired me to get back in a better tea drinking habit.  This book is definitely in my fun, mindless reading category.  While it does talk about important subjects of family culture and adoption, it’s modern telling doesn’t provide many layers of meaning.  However, I would still recommend this book to those who enjoy learning about other cultures and definitely to anyone who enjoys Asian American fiction.

What I’m {nature} Journaling: I am seeing the tiniest fruits of my garden labor.  I’m taking daily walks through the garden seeing the flowers of the zucchini in bloom, the tiniest starts of my lemon tomatoes, and wondering what the green will blossom into in my wildflower bed. 

School Work

We stayed on plan for math, dictation, and copywork this week.  We finished all of our assigned readings for Bible and history. We even fit in a couple of neighborhood walks.

Exams

For the most part exams went well.  The geography exam was partially questionable as my son couldn’t remember anything about our study of Latin America even though this was the part of the world we spent the most time studying.  He also had memories of a nature walk from the beginning of the school year but not our most recent walk.  Both of these instances led to a great discussion about giving attention to things that matter – like school.  We have spent a lot of time in the past couple of months discussing the discipline and habit of attention. We have also talked about our will and how we will always be battling over our fleshly wants and oughts.  AND repeating Charlotte’s motto “I am, I can, I ought, I will” over and over.

This is Charlotte Mason in real life.  Sometimes I hear contrary remarks about the things we do in our school, how some of these things aren’t important.  I struggle with that because while I agree that some things in the greater scheme of life aren’t important, I do think that the “why” we’re doing those things is very important.  We’re teaching our children to see and know God and man and the world. 

The two out of 10 (maybe a few more) questions that my son couldn’t recall doesn’t say anything about his year overall.  He grew exponentially in character and maturity.  He grew in knowledge.  He grew in observation. He grew in skill.

Celebrations

A few of our exams I turn into celebrations.  We sang this terms hymns and folksongs.  (My son said he didn’t want to stop singing.  He’s in luck because I keep a playlist each year of all we’ve been singing.)  We read through our Scripture memory and poem.  We also sang our presidents song.  It was a fun celebration.

I do the same for Spanish.  We go through the units we’ve covered for the term.  We weren’t very diligent in the quantity of our studies, but I do think we did a little better in our quality.  My son liked our frog (rana) unit.  He is also improving in his pronunciation.

Our most anticipated celebration is of our artist.  We studied Diego Velazquez this term.  My son chose to paint his version of “Portrait of Juan de Pareja.”  My daughter chose to paint “Las Meninas.” I painted the woman from “Old Woman Frying Eggs.” (I rose to the challenge I set for myself after the end of last term and decided to paint a human.  It wasn’t great, but I’m never going to get better without trying.)

Preschool Highlight

Meanwhile in preschool, we had a fairly normal week. Daily calendar, nursery rhymes, folk dance, copious amounts of books, stickers, and a few worksheets.  My daughter can now do her alphabet floor puzzle on her own.  We also read two books of note this week: “The King’s Tea” by Trinka Noble and “Bertie’s Escapade” by Kenneth Grahame (the author of Wind in the Willows).

Term 3 Evaluation

It was a good term.  It was far more condensed than any other term we’ve completed.  Having a term like this has shown me the possibilities for how we can divide next school year.  I do feel like this term was a little more disjointed from the previous terms since we didn’t have many things carrying over from term 2, and I changed around a little bit of curriculum or how we were doing things. I am proud of myself for sticking with the term and bringing it to full completion. 

Term 3, Week 10

What I’m Reading: The Venetian Affair by Helen MacInnes
I have decided that I don’t really like spy/thriller books as much as I like detective/mysteries. While I do like the intrigue and that these types of stories typically take place in great places to travel, there are usually too many characters and political subplots for my liking.  This was a great book for its genre, and I did like it.  I also think that if I were in the mood for such a book (as I usually am on an airplane), I would definitely read another by MacInness. However, I will stick to mysteries for my typical go-to book as a comfort or before bed read.

What I’m {nature} Journaling: I got the kids the Insect Lore butterfly kit for Easter this year. Our 5 caterpillars were on different growth cycles which was quite different than our previous lot. They are always fun to watch. I was finally around at just the right moment to watch the last emerge from the chrysalis. It was cool to watch it stretch and kick to emerge and rest as its wings dried. The day we released the butterflies was hot, so they quickly flew away. The time we did this a couple years ago, it was still a little chilly outside and it took quite a long time for them to fly away.

Third Grade Highlight

School has considerably slowed down as we wrap up loose ends of books and skill work.  We could probably cram it all into a few days, but instead we enjoyed days outside and extra free time playing legos.  I also tried out a little bit of a transition into our summer schedule of a focused routine in the morning and requiring a quiet reading time in the afternoon in the midst of the new freedoms.

I have started filing away weekly plans, completed work, and finished books.  I’m pulling out and organizing our summer reads and games.  I’m also placing all of next year’s school books on the shelf. I’m doing my best not to over plan but to have a plan in place to stay in a reasonable routine so that it’s easier to make the transition into school when it’s time and also to really live out a life of discipline accompanied by real rest and not just atrophy. 

Planning

Usually a month into the current school year, I’m already thinking of the next school year.  I have a list of books I want to pre-read.  I’ve already gone through several drafts of next year’s schedule! Because I’m delaying AmblesideOnline Year 4, I have deeply considered what we will be working through next year.  Do we go with an open and go, do we come up with our own system, do we chuck it all? After much consideration and prayer, I have decided that we will still use the bare bones approach of AO.  However, I am more and more encouraged in my choices for the upcoming school year as I have found more and more homeschoolers who modify AO and Charlotte Mason (without an open and go) to fit their families without compromising the principles of CM (not just becoming CM inspired but still fully embracing the full feast of living ideas without dumbing down the curriculum). [For so long on all the AO resources of forums, blogs, and comments, all I’ve seen is a push to do it ALL or that somehow your kids are missing out if you decide to substitute something.  I would love to have the time to do it all because I like the resources that AO provides.  During all of this time, I have watched or listened to other AOers and CMers and have tried to figure out how we can continue doing the fullness of a CM education without compromising the quality of our curriculum.  My YouTube algorithm has finally caught on to what I’m looking for!] 

I was going to save all of this for its own special post (and it still will be as I share each term’s selections), but planning has been on my mind for such a long time now.  Even as I’ve sat down to write out my thoughts, I can see a progression each time as I try to come up with the best way to plan our academics.  School is always on my mind.  I’m thinking about what we need to do each week, each day, each break, upcoming terms, upcoming years.  Right now my mind is simultaneously holding next week’s exams, summer plans, and next school year. I imagine that our homeschool will start to look a little different.  We are already off to a different start as we finish school early this year.  We plan to have a longer than normal summer.  My daughter is starting kindergarten.  I have always had a fire under me to use every opportunity to be fitting it all in, but now that I’m feeling more free, I’m wondering what that will look like for our more immediate future.

Term 3, Week 9

What I’m Reading: Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
This book is being discussed on Plumfield Moms and The Literary Life Podcast at some point soon and/or in the future.  It’s part of a trilogy.  I read the final book in the trilogy last year and liked it. I do like this book, but it isn’t a book I would pick up on my own accord. I am rather reliant on others’ deeper explanation of these books.  On the surface level, they seem like space and time travel books.  They are.  However, I now know that anything C.S. Lewis writes is also a treatise on education or religious philosophy or allegorical. Planet Narnia, which I read last month, did outline the significance of the planets within this series.  I did look (listen, rather, as I consumed it on audio) for references to planets, metals, and atmosphere.  I do know that this is set on Mars and is speaking on the condition of man.  The second book is set on Venus and speaks of the condition of woman.  The final book is set on earth and speaks about marriage and family.  This series is one to grow into, to read several times to be able to pick up on all the underlying messages.

What I’m {nature} Journaling:  I’m playing catch up in my journal.  Spring has been so full of observations that I’ve been putting sticky notes on several pages and going one by one drawing in a few pictures.  I would also like to attempt to paint a beautiful sunrise we had last month.

Co-op
We had family night at co-op. The kids had a talent show, art display, and market. My son played “Crown Him with Many Crowns” and “Freight Train” on the piano. I am very proud of all his hard work. He did a great job at the talent show proving himself quite the professional as he played through his (very small) mistakes and remembering to bow at the end. For the art table, he chose to display his painting of DaVinci’s Mona Lisa, and my daughter chose her drawing of a pig. My husband did a small session of sales coaching the morning of the family night. He had my son choose three great things about his potholders. They also discussed two types of customers (adults/children). We all joined in on the roll play as we went through several scenarios. He had a great time interacting with his customers at the sale and sold all fifteen potholders that he made (even selling one to his sister who had been eyeing a pink and blue one for quite some time). My daughter had a very fun time shopping and hanging out with the older girls.

My husband took a vacation day so that we could have a special family day leading up to the family night. We went out for a Waffle House brunch.  We also went to the movie theater to see the new Mario movie.  We haven’t been to the theater with the kids in a year and a half.  It was a fun treat for us all.

Third Grade Highlight

We finished The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. We loved this book! I must confess that after about 5 pages of the last chapter, I skimmed through and decided it was very boring and just ended the book.  I have been doing more research into Charlotte Mason timetables and P.N.E.U. articles about fully reading books, reading only selections, and not finishing books.  I am feeling far less pressure to make it through everything we pick up. 

I had to take a sick day this week as I developed a sore throat and fatigue at the beginning of a cold.  All we had to move around was a math lesson, which ended up freeing up more time to fit in a good nature study lesson and a fun watercolor on another afternoon. (We’ve been so busy doing our art lessons in that time slot with fun time tacked at the end that I haven’t just had a fun art play day.  This was so refreshing and fun.)

Preschool Highlight

We finished reading A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond.  I originally picked this out at the living library when my daughter wanted to get something from the chapter book shelf like her brother.  She listened to the majority of the story. Her attention span is still growing, so I had to be strategic in how I fit in our readings.  My son really enjoyed this book and was disappointed when we reached the end as he wanted more Paddington stories.  He was overjoyed when I told him we have a Paddington book on our shelves and that there are more at the library.

We watched the new Disney Peter Pan movie.  The kids have pulled all the Peter Pan books off the shelves and are now drawing pictures and setting up scenes with their dolls and action figures.  They’ve also been acting out the stories with a little mix of Star Wars.

My daughter often wants to copy the actions of my son.  We use dry erase markers on a number chart and on a gridded white board.  I pulled out the 100 number chart for my daughter a week or so ago.  She has asked to use the dry erase markers on them.  I have told her no that the practice sheet is for learning how to count to 100. (I’m wanting to make the distinction between the educational toys and tools especially as she starts making the transition from kindergarten to formal lessons in first grade.) Then she asked if she could use the markers on the gridded board.  Once again I negated the idea and let her know that once she learns how to count to 100 she will begin math lessons; when she begins math lessons, she will get to write on the gridded board.

As my daughter copied words from her alphabet coloring sheets and asked to spell words on her drawings this week, I was contemplating my son’s pre-k year.  When my son was in pre-k, I pushed far too much for him to learn his letters trying to get him prepared to learn how to read in kindergarten.  I realize with my daughter, I have the knowledge of how to teach phonics and the wisdom to be patient.  While I still feel a pull to jump all in with her to start phonics lessons, recalling the stress I was putting upon myself with my son, I keep delaying as many formal lessons as possible.

Term 3, Week 8

What I’m Reading: Behind a Mask by Louisa May Alcott
Many summers ago when my journey into my current love of classical literature began, I learned that Louisa May Alcott wrote short stories to earn quick(er) money. She wrote them under a pseudonym to protect her reputation since she was writing “scandalous” material.  These stories wouldn’t be scandalous anymore, but I can definitely see how they would be interpreted as sensational.  I enjoyed the first and third stories the best.  They reminded me of A Long Fatal Love Chase which was written by her (under a pen name) around the same time.  I would recommend reading at least one of these books if you’re a fan of Alcott.  They are very different from Little Women, but I think they give you insight into Alcott’s storytelling abilities.

What I’m {nature} Journaling: We have everything planted in our garden.  We completely overhauled the front yard as we had crimson fire that had overtaken the garden bed so much that the roots were choking out our boxwoods.  We’re trying out May night sage, shasta daisies, gerbera daisies and big blue lilitrope.  In the back I have scattered wildflower seeds all over our big hill.  I’m sticking to tomatoes and zucchini since we don’t get quite enough sunlight for many good vegetables.  I’m also trying out several varieties of sunflowers.  I planted geraniums and zinnias in a few pots, too. Every year it’s a guessing game on what will and won’t work.

Co-op
We had our final class day.  My son got to bring home his bucket and drum sticks, so he keeps giving us concerts and gave his sister a lesson.  My husband also graced us with a concert showing off his showing off her endless enthusiasm for creating.

Third Grade Highlight

Since we are only in the beginning stages of my children’s academic education, I wonder how the things I’m teaching is going to translate to the real world when my children leave my home. I also know that who my children are now doesn’t quite determine who they will be in the future, I hope that I see glimmers of the potential they’ll live out.  Academics are such a small portion of their overall lives.  I am very proud of the character my son showed this weekend.  He worked very hard helping my husband clear out the deeply rooted bushes, rake up weeds, and haul and spread mulch.  He did it without complaint. His only pep talk was the initial one where my husband let him know that in all the times he’s asking to hang out (my son to my husband) and his expectation is that they’re going to watch movies and play video games, that this is one of those REAL times when they are doing work that matters and this counts more than anything as spending time with one another.

We finished reading King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry.  I did not know what to expect except a story about a horse.  She is a good writer.  Now that we’ve read this and Brighty of the Grand Canyon, I look forward to a few of her other books that are on our free read docket. The majority of my life I have not enjoyed animal stories.  Since starting AO I have grown exceedingly in enjoying these good stories. (I even sat through the entire viewing of “The Incredible Journey” during family night last week. Big deal since I usually find chores to do in the vicinity so I can be there in spirit but feel like I’m not wasting my life away!) King of the Wind begins in Morocco and introduces a little bit of Islamic culture.  (I think this would be a great book to go back to or reference when we talk more about world religions in the future.)  Then Sham and Agba head off to France and then England.  It’s a great back and forth story of fortune and misfortune.  It’s incredible how you feel connected to the boy and the horse even though the boy is mute and the horse is an animal.

My son enjoyed another afternoon of engineering with Grandpa. They built a wench and a marshmallow catapult.  It’s a great experience for my son to have someone other than me teaching him for a little while.  He’s been intimidated by many of the kits he’s received over the years.  He wants to do the projects, but he’s overwhelmed by the instructions.  After he completed his projects, he wanted to design a storm trooper mask from one his boxes.  I think he had a good time doing that too because he wore it to play at a friend’s house the next day.

Preschool Highlight

I had two opportunities to bake with my daughter this week.  I was finally able to hang on to a few bananas to make banana bread.  Now that we’ve switched to freshly milled grain, our banana bread tastes amazing and is so filling. It’s fun to see my daughter’s enthusiasm in the kitchen. Not this upcoming school year but the next year, I’d like to find a curriculum for both kids that gets them both into the kitchen more. Perhaps I’ll make it our handicraft for a term and let the kids pick out a cookbook from the store or library that they can work from on their own.  I do have a few children’s ones on the shelf too, so I guess we’ll see what the future holds.

I also asked my daughter to assist me in making fruit pizza the night Grandpa came.  We typically have pizza and movie night on Fridays, but we’re a little tired of fast food as that’s all we ate the weekend we were busy in the garden.  (We have also been busy with extra activities and travel this year of which I have NEVER settled into a good cooking routine.  I am finally just taking charge in some of those areas.) I My daughter wasn’t quite as interested in helping in the kitchen this time since she really wanted to hang out with brother and Grandpa.  Perhaps next time I’ll put her in charge of picking what we’re going to make. 

Term 3, Week 7

What I’m Reading: Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim
This book is basically another woman voicing so many of my thoughts about being outside.  I filled several pages in my commonplace book of witty, thought provoking, and humorous quotes.  Elizabeth’s book is mixed with the perfect balance of truth and exaggeration creating a page-turning story. She would rather be sitting in her garden all day reading.  She likes her flowers scattered about rather than a row.  She likes to be with people, but she wants to limit her meetings with them for very good reason…it tends to lend to gossip or saying things you didn’t really mean to say.  The best way to get rid of guests who’ve overstayed their welcome – take them on an all day, outdoor picnic in the snow and freezing temperatures.

What I’m {nature} Journaling:  I keep tweaking how we do our special nature study each term.  While each time I think I’ve settled on what will work, I think what I’ve really settled on is making it a little different each time to suit the season.  While we studied rocks and minerals, we kept a specific page in our nature journals devoted to the topic and identified a few rocks each week.  I’m going to keep that same idea for our current bird study.  I’m drawing in little pictures of the birds who come to our backyard.  I’m asking my son to name one bird each week, but I think I will need to add in more for myself each week because my list is pretty long.

Co-op
Field trip week.  We visited a family farm to see how they process their eggs, milk cows, and got to see quite a few new baby animals.  We have been on this field trip before for their fall and spring field trips.  Weather around here has been boiling hot on the fall trips and freezing on the spring trips.  Not this time! We had a perfect day.  There was a nice cool breeze every time you needed it.  The sun was shining.  The sky was clear.  It smelled “farmy” according to my friend, which is the perfect description of hay, animals, and all that surrounds them. The kids’ favorite part is always the play area.  They’ve added more since our early days of going, so it’s always fun to see how they change things up giving us a new experience every time we go.  While we were sitting in the presentation of the cow milking, I kept recalling so much of what I’ve read in The All Creatures Great and Small series by James Herriott.  Keeping a farm is so much work, but it is evident that the family who owns this farm is passionate about what they do and about keeping the traditions alive. 

Third Grade Highlight

We couldn’t have had a more ideal weather week.  We have been able to get outside to walk and play every day.  We are also filling many pages in our nature journals with all the growth around us.  Flowers are blooming.  Bugs and birds are returning.  We also got the Insect Lore caterpillars again this year.  We haven’t been keeping a daily log like we did a couple years ago, but I feel like we’ve been far more curious watching them each day any time we sit at the school table (or even walk by).

We have exactly one month left of this school year.  We are down to the very bare minimum but also maintaining daily math, dictation, and copywork because I don’t want to squelch the momentum we’ve recently built.

We finished the Lambs’ Shakespeare retellings this week.  I think we started reading these in first grade.  We will start on full Shakespeare plays in the fall.  I have been learning an immense amount through House of Humane Letters.  My excitement for sharing with my children is growing.  (My husband is always getting an earful of my narrations that I hope he’s learning a bit too!)

We are also preparing for our co-op’s family night happening in a couple weeks.  My son is weaving potholders every day to sell at the market.  He’s practicing piano for the talent show.  We still need to pick out the art for him to display, but I’m delaying a bit since I will try to fit in one or two more art lessons before then.

Preschool Highlight

My husband has been working with my daughter to help her learn her birthdate.  It’s always nice to see him get involved in parts of the children’s schooling (he’s also been working with my son on his “P.E.”).  I have pulled out the 100 number chart for her to start looking at to see if her curiosity heightens.  She loves to count, but she hasn’t been ready to expand her counting beyond 20 yet.  I’m in no hurry.  I heard from another mother that she doesn’t let her little ones start math until they can count to 100.  I thought I might try this with my daughter, but I’m going to stay flexible and just see what unfolds.  I don’t want to start formal lessons with her for much longer even with all of her eagerness.  I will keep up my casual introduction of formal lesson ideas. I pushed far too early for my son.

Term 3, Week 6

What I’m Reading: The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
My year of Shakespeare continues.  I am participating in the Shakespeare conference that The Literary Life Podcast is offering, and I am taking advantage of the coinciding coupon and purchased a few of the Shakespeare classes. Believe it or not, I have never read The Taming of the Shrew even though it was my bestie’s favorite while we were in high school.  I remember seeing a portion of it at the Renaissance festival and wondering what was so appealing about a woman screaming!  I still don’t quite know how I feel about this play, so I look forward to learning more about it as I make my final conclusion.

What I’m {nature} Journaling: We finally made it to our favorite park for a picnic and nature walk.  I journaled the wild flowers we saw and wrote a list of all the wildlife we encountered.  Friends, we stepped across a garter snake at the very beginning of our walk.  I’m not going to lie.  I was terrified we’d come across a king snake (as we have in the past) while we explored a new path.  My fears finally calmed as we joined the part of the trail we typically walk.  There is a continual round of foot traffic on most of the paths, so it’s rare that we see snakes.  I didn’t know I was so afraid! (All started by a garter snake!  The garter snake we saw was much bigger than the ones I encountered as a child.)

Co-op

We had another class day at co-op this week.  A downside to co-op classes is the time of day.  It’s the time of day that I typically take a power nap or need a snack.  Not every day.  So that works out many times, but this week was one of those weeks when I really wanted a nap! We all had a good time anyway.

Third Grade Highlight
This was a first full week of balancing school along with our new routine of being outside as much as possible. We completed the basics of school with a little extra.  We didn’t quite make it around to all the riches, but I’m not too concerned as I plan on including this regularly during our summer season. We were successful in being outside often. 

Preschool Highlight

We have a joined a living library that is close to us. (If you haven’t heard of a living library, you can listen to Plumfield Moms.) [When we go to our local library, I set very strict boundaries for the kids (limit of 3 books and I have to approve them).  The majority of the books we get are from holds through our library system.] Now we have a library where I can set the children free to pick stacks of books with far less worry. I was delightfully surprised to see “Wheel on the Chimney” by Margaret Wise Brown.  The title caught my eye since it’s so much like “The Wheel on the School” that I read with my son.  Such a fortuitous find as it fit with what we’ve learned about Holland and our current study of birds.   

When I was doing preschool with my son, it was recommended to me to start reading chapter books (and given a list of specific books).  I tried and he didn’t seem to have the capacity to focus.  I also had unrealistic expectations that we could read a full chapter at a time (especially in my earlier days of being  a little slower as I read aloud). We finally made it through a chapter book when he first turned six.  Now that it’s my daughter turn, I feel far more prepared to handle the length in which she can focus and the types of stories she will enjoy.  I have decided she is ready for A Bear Called Paddington in small doses.  It’s a good book for my son too, so I thought I’d pick it up for us to read in little spurts once or twice a day when the three of us are together.

Also…

I realized this would typically be our midway point in the term. However, we’re more than half way there and I feel like I’m eliminating more and more along the way. I even considered just ending the school year. You never know. I may follow through with my whim and just end things.

Term 3, Week 5

What I’m Reading: Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Michael Ward
I went down a little rabbit trail of reading.  I checked out a few books about C.S. Lewis in preparation of reading the Chronicles of Narnia (again for me, first time for my son) this upcoming school year.  While listening to a few old podcasts, an interviewee was talking about some of the significant imagery in Chronicles that coincided with some ideas I’d learned in a Shakespeare class.  Planet Narnia was mentioned along the way somewhere, so that’s how I came to read it.  Much of the book is over my head as I am only beginning to understand the medieval cosmology.  However, I was still able to skim much of the book to highlight the majority argument that C.S. Lewis has drawn on specific planetary elements for each book to take us on a journey through medival cosmology.  Ward makes a compelling argument, so I look forward to reading the series and seeing what elements I’m able to see in a new light.

What I’m {nature} Journaling:  I had my first little bloom of the season.  I plant a hill of wildflowers every year. While the hill is still looking gloomy in majority winter and small patches of weeds, I should be able to see new little flowers popping through. I am finally able to mark toadflax on my checklist as it was the first time for me to see it since my first round of seeds three years ago.

Play Dates
Our local schools are out for spring break.  I purposely set our breaks at different weeks so that we can have fun without all the crowds.  However, the timing of our school schedule and the arrival of Easter made this a good week to take a semi-break.  We scheduled play dates and special errands to fill up our free time.  The flexibility of homeschool is so nice!  It rained one of the days we were supposed to be out at a park, so we went to a museum instead.  It was great to be out from the house with friends no matter what we were doing.

Standardized Testing

We had a very different week.  One of our state’s requirements for homeschooling is for each child to complete standardized testing every three years.  We chose the online, untimed version of California Achievement Testing. We do not have to turn the test results into anyone else, but we do need to keep a record within our files. The test was completed to remain compliant with our state’s laws.

I am not a fan of standardized testing.  I don’t agree with teaching to a test.  I don’t agree with standardizing education.  While I can understand creating a standard for a classroom and a nation makes it easier to assess on a grander scale, it is wrong.  We are individuals, not robots.  I also do not think that standardized testing is fair testing.  It’s a business.  You’re paying a business to come up with a test that is geared to arbitrary skills.  It does not consider a whole individual especially children with special challenges.  I also don’t agree with the limitations of the accommodations that are made for individuals with special challenges.  I have many negative things to say, so I will stop there.  Our solution around the problem is to homeschool.

Ordering Our Affections

We’re about to get a complete overhaul in our routine.  Spring has sprung.  We are not in need of a break from school as we have not hit a point of burnout.  However, we need to take advantage of the weather we will have for the next two months. 

The big question that I see asked every year in the AO forum IS: do we stop and pick up where we left off OR do we leave it and pick up fresh in the new school year?  I was once in the first camp, now you’ll find me in the second camp.  I have pared down, reduced, and eliminated as much as I possibly can from the remainder of the school year.  We’ll do what we can and delight in the world around us.

I have made a list of our daily chores and hygiene expectations.  I’ve written out goals to be outside each day for at least 3-4 hours.  We will limit indoor school to two hours and then incorporate what we can into our outdoor time.  We will continue to follow what remains on our list with Ambleside Online and fill in some gaps here and there with our riches and rotating academics.