My Sister's Flood Story

Now to my family for a moment. Sometimes it's good to know the ending and outcome of sad events.


If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might remember that my sister/bro-in-law and their family were victims of the May 2010 flooding in Nashville. They spent 12 hours moving as much as they could from the first floor of their home to the second. As you can see from my photo last summer, the first floor starts about 12 feet off the ground! The flood surpassed the 500 year flood mark, rising up to bed level on the second floor (the top windows of the house). They lost most everything--except things like pots and pans, dishes and the like. My sister's family was fortunate, everyone was safe though they lost a lot of chickens and one of their pet cats.  They had flood insurance unlike many in their vicinity. 

Well a couple of days ago (December 1st) their house (which was condemned) was demolished. There's a photo at the bottom with half the home destroyed.  But in all my sister, brother-in-law and their kids have come out happy. They have a new home -- a farm they bought last summer with a three-acre lake.  It's pretty (beautiful, in fact!) and they plan to buy horses and cattle this next spring.

So here are a few pictures. 1) Their destroyed living room (May 2010). 2) The house as it was last summer in June 2011 (condemned). 3) The house half way through the demolition process --Dec. 1, 2011.

And now their new farm:

A picture of their farm from this summer (house is up beyond the trees). And  below a picture of their lake from last week.

Below is a picture of the lake and their house (taken last week).

My sister and brother-in-law were inspiring through this whole event. Their resilience was amazing. They were so grateful for anything that survived the flood, for the help they got from their community (and the Red Cross) and the new beginnings it opened for them. 

Losing Someone

I just found out that one of my dearest friends, Debbie, died.  My heart is so sad, I'm having a tough time quelling the tears. Debbie was one of the most beautiful people you'd ever meet -- someone who was an inspiration in the way she lived her life. She  had a deep faith that kept her going through the loss of her husband and raising her three young children alone. She lived her life simply and with love for her children, her family, friends and her students. I spent many long evening hours grading papers and talking about life with her by the light of a kerosene lantern after her kids were in bed. She was my friend, my role model and an inspiration in how I want to raise my own precious children.  I'm going to miss her so much.
~Liesl

LD turned 8

LD turned 8 almost two weeks ago.We had a family celebration on his big day since my brother-in-law and nephew were here on LD's birthday.  Then we had a small party for friends last weekend.

He likes Harry Potter and is reading through those books -- thus the Hogwart's Castle cake (or my attempt!!)

Earthquake

The east coast just had an earthquake.  The news says it was 5.8 on the richtor scale -- and what that meant for us was lots and lots of shaking and rattling. A few things fell of our shelves in the pantry, but we don't see any other damage at this point. We read that the Capitol, Pentagon and White House are being evacuated.  It sure scared us!

My Special Day

Today's my birthday, so this post is about... well me!

I am so happy! Not that I wasn't happy in Australia, but I was ready for a change and boy is life wonderful here! I've managed to find a musical outlet here (I played the oboe in a wind ensemble for 10 years in Australia).  Here I'm singing in my church choir and have had the opportunity to play the oboe in a small ensemble and as duet.

I've met some great people and made some close friends. Not only that, but my best friend from Colorado (where we lived 13 years ago) is moving to a house just FIVE minutes from me!  AND we just found out last week that our close friends from Australia have joined the same company as my husband and they plan to move close by.  My kids have known their kids since LD was 3 and DD was 1! Next year I won't feel like quite the wallflower at the company Christmas party!

And how amazing to see our family so often -- we've seen the grandparents on both sides no less than four times this year already (for us this is an amazing blessing). My sister, her husband and kids lost their house and most everything they own in a flood in Nashville last May. They decided not to rebuild (they homeschool, my sister works full time, while my brother-in-law goes away for weeks at a time with the Nat'l Guard. They have a busy life). Just a couple weeks ago, they closed on a 33 acre farm with a lake. They are very, very happy! My sister is amazing and I am lucky to be very, very close to her (as I am with my sister-in-laws as well). Truly, I have a wonderful family!

I'm not playing soccer or field hockey these days, but we got a used treadmill when we moved here and I use that regularly.  It's a great outlet for me!  ED is actually old enough to let me do that.

I've read some wonderful books (just for me!) lately. Can you imagine??!

 This spring has been a wonderful gardening adventure for me and the kids. I had a small garden in the Outback, but as you can imagine, it never did real well.  Our garden is doing well and we find the whole process is pretty miraculous and amazing! The kids are thrilled to be eating their own lettuce.

We sectioned off the garden (so that the kids could claim certain areas).  The boards have been fabulous because they allow the kids and their young friends explore the garden freely without me having a heart attack. The kids are great about just walking on the boards!

I have two areas which are covered with mulch where the kids can stand as well.

We have a wonderful crop of lettuce -- and have lots of other things growing well (peas, beans, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes and sunflowers so far).

We have quite an eclectic garden because everyone wanted some of each. So if you look closely, you'll see there's lettuce in various places all around the garden!

 

We all love spending time out here and plant something new nearly every other day!

DD and I are memorizing this poem. I just love it! 

Don't worry if your job is small,

And your rewards are few.

Remember that the mighty oak,

Was once a nut like you!

     ~Anonymous

I might not be growing 'mighty' but I certainly am still growing in wisdom. 

So that's about it.  Have a great day!

~Liesl

Designing Your Homeschooling Curriculum -- Balancing it All

I've been having a thoughtful discussion with a blogging friend of mine. We've been talking about the reality of homeschooling... how it really works with a three year old in tow, what curriculum we use and things like that.  I would love, love, love to hear your comments about how your day goes -- and how you arrive at your homeschool curriculum decisions!


Here's part of my email letter to my friend... I'll add in a few pictures too!

You were talking about how difficult it is to work with your five year old when your 3 year old is playing. Goodness, I know how that is! My little one wants to be in the middle of things.  It's slightly easier to involve her now that she's older. So, if I'm playing a math game with DD (5) then I'll let ED turn over the cards or spin the spinner, etc. and ask her to identify the numbers. (top picture)
Sometimes I just reach into the cabinet and bring out five activities and spread them around us hoping something will catch her attention (second picture). And sometimes, I wind up homeschooling with ED climbing on my back and head (no kidding!!).  Ugh!  So, it's often a challenge -- and I'm often left feeling that I haven't "done enough" quality work with DD (or LD).  The other 'problem' is that the kids play so happily that it's hard to draw them back to what *I* want to accomplish.

Just now, for example, I was playing math games with DD.  LD came in and wanted to play. Once the game was over that sparked an idea in their heads and they ran off to play robot wars with the glass bead math manipulatives we had been using.  Sigh... what *I* wanted to do was have them finish some math-workbook time.


And ED? She is happily occupied, BUT is taking out thing after thing and creating a picnic with all the stuff.  Just a half hour ago, the carpet was picked up and clean.

Writing -- DD has worked in some random store-bought workbooks for handwriting, but I haven't yet had her work regularly in Handwriting Without Tears. It didn't resonate with her -- and she preferred the preschool workbook I had picked up somewhere else. She is happy writing notes and letters to people on her own -- and I want to encourage that free form kind of writing.  Every now and then I pull out a particular letter (a worksheet on the letter "n" for example) if I see her writing it improperly. But she doesn't do much in the way of formal writing lessons yet.  I'm not going to start her on cursive at any point soon. I'll re-evaluate that in another 6 months or so.

I will probably start working with her on "All About Spelling" level one once LD is done with that book (he has one more lesson).  I really, really love that program and would highly recommend it.  LD has really come far with it (he is a very, very reluctant writer).

I have been using Write Source Skills Book grade one with LD to help him with his writing. I like it a lot and ordered another Grade One workbook for DD to start using.  (I am using the skills book/workbook ($7.15) NOT the student book or teacher's edition.)

It talks about some basic rules of writing like
*starting a sentence with a capital letter
*leave a space between your words
*end each sentence with an end mark
*use complete thoughts (with a subject and verb)
*. ? !
*commas ,
*contractions

These are all basic rules -- and then I expand on them in another blank book -- creating various exercises for LD. Sometimes I write sentences and having him put in the correct punctuation, fix the capital letters, etc. (I put in an example to the left.) Or sometimes I have him write sentences on his own paying particular attention to the rules we've gone over. In other words, I use that Write Source workbook as a jumping-off point. I also try to add in other language activities that compliment what we're working on like this contraction sort from Oceans of First Grade Fun, for example. The more hands-on I can make things for LD the better.

I just ordered First Language Lessons from Amazon and ordered Writing with Ease from the library by Susan Bauer after reading some wonderful reviews. I'll decide whether I want to incorporate them into our day/week.
**I'm adding in later -- I got Writing With Ease from the library and have read through and glanced through most of it.  It emphasizes copywork and narration especially in the first years.  I had LD do a lot of copywork in first grade, but I'm not sure I would do this again (exclusively) with my other children. It did not seem to help him much with getting the flow of writing words (if this makes sense) or learning to form words on his own. In my opinion, the skills he has taken from All About Spelling has served him MUCH better than all the work he did copying sentences.  I *did* take some things from this book and may incorporate some aspects of her narration exercises, but for me personally I will not use Writing with Ease as a curriculum for writing.
**And also adding in a few days later that First Language Lessons arrived and I can see that'll work really well for our family.  DD already memorized the first poem!

Let's see -- we obviously do our unit studies all together.  The kids work on music separately (DD does the glockenspiel, LD does the piano).  We have music classes with friends. I am hoping to re-start our German lessons together very soon. DD is particularly keen to learn that. I have some new books and really hope to incorporate that into our routine.

You were asking if I follow any "guidelines."  That's a difficult question to answer.  I am an eclectic homeschooler, so I really use lots and lots of sources. I regularly read and look through books like "What your Second Grader needs to know" or look through the Typical Course of Study for kindergarten or second grade -- -- but rarely use that when designing our curriculum. I just keep those kinds of things in the back of my mind.

Oh--and I also get a lot of advice and wisdom (not to mention printables) from various teacher's blogs out there -- such as Chalk Talk (kindergarten), What the Teacher Wants or Oceans of First Grade Fun.  ( I have some of my other favorite teacher's blogs listed here--scroll down to the green section.)

For history I have just been gradually moving forward through time.

For science I spend a LOT of time looking at the Montessori 6-9 science general topics and look through the contents of various curriculums out there (Noeo Science- or Real Science 4 Kids).  Our units often stem from the topics covered in these other curriculums, but more often than not, I pull things together myself. And I also ask the kids periodically what THEY want to study.  When LD said he wants to learn plants, plants, plants, plants (!!)... I kept my ear to the ground and jumped on the Junior Master Gardener curriculum when I heard about that. But our lapbooks (like DD's lapbooks on penguins and sunflowers this semester) came from what she said she wanted to study.

By the way, by time I finished writing this email to my friend every cabinet door was open and DD had helped herself to board games, puzzles, math manipulatives, stickers and more.  Creative mess. And -- self entertaining.  Yes, embrace these traits, right?!!! And get them to happily help me clean up afterwards!  :-)

My time is about up.   I really enjoy hearing from others. knowing I'm not alone in the homeschooling adventure!! Please leave a comment if you have the time! Can't wait to hear from you.

Hope You Had a Lovely Mother's Day

I was treated like a star on Mother's Day. The kids brought me breakfast in bed complete with homemade cards and crafts. I looked like a queen with the bright yellow crown DD made for me!

Later in the day, hubby rounded up all the nuts, bolts and parts and put together my favorite swing -- a Mother's Day Gift three years ago! (We disassembled it to bring it back from Australia and we never had the time to put together up til now.)

So here's the swing out on the deck, so that I can look out with my morning coffee at this pretty view of our backyard...

The day ended with some beautiful cuddle time reading some of our favorite children's books together.  A lovely day. Hope yours was as nice!

Other Things We Did While on Holiday

Lots and lots and lots of rides... including "It's a Small World" (left)

Checking out the alligators.

 

A bit of mini golf.

A wonderful children's science museum type place called Wonder Works.

The kids LOVED the ropes course at Wonder Works.

Kennedy Space Center -- we were SO sad not to see the launch (which was postponed to four days after our visit instead of while we were in Florida).

Check out the garden now!

DD checks out the gardens...

but sadly it's not ours. Any guesses as to where we are?

Here are a couple of other hints.

Yes, the past 10 days or so we've been down in Florida with Grams and Gramps. (Posts were set to go off automatically during that time.)   We had such a wonderful time! We were all healthy and enjoyed getting away. Best of all I feel much more rejuvenated.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I definitely get tired and worn in this homeschooling life and always need a shake up to the routine to help me appreciate things all the more.

What to Know When You Buy Salmon...

There is so much to consider about buying salmon. I sure didn't realize any of this so thought I'd share.

1) Salmon are carnivores. In the wild they start eating microscopic plants and animals. As they get bigger they eat tiny crustaceans (krill) which gives them their pink color and then larger fish.

2) Farmed salmon is a nice gray color.  Hmmm... but salmon farmers resort to cosmetics to change it to that nice pink color in the grocery store.  Dye is added to feed pellets. Salmon absorb this into their flesh.  Farmed salmon is *supposed* to be labeled "color added" but many sellers ignore this. 

3) Farmed fish eat the equivalent of dog food -- tiny pellets with soy protein, wheat, vitamins, fish meal, meat and bone meal.  Fish meal (ground up fish) and fish oil in the feed have much higher levels of PCBs. Farmed-raised fish eat these pellets from the beginning and so accumulate PCBs and other pollutants from the time they are tiny. So, farmed-raised fish accumulate higher levels of PCBs than the wild ones that roam the ocean.

4) Most salmon is imported. The coasts off of Europe have much higher levels of PCBs in their waters than elsewhere. Just something to keep in mind when you shop for fish. Fish is *supposed* to be labeled with its country of origin (though US ships fishing off the coasts of Europe would be labeled American... so ultimately it's a bit difficult to trace exact origin).

I've just brought out some highlights from a small section of an amazing resource book I've been reading called, What to Eat by Marion Nestle. I've had it checked out of the library so long I think I might need to buy this to have my own copy!

One last thing, the book  also said that pregnant women and children should probably not to eat albacore tuna (along with swordfish, shark, tilefish, and king mackerel) because of the methylmercury (from industrial waste). The tuna lobby worked hard to keep these recommendations/advisories widely known.  Albacore tuna is the expensive canned kind... and seems to have up to 3 times more methylmercury than the "chunk light" (cheaper) tunas you find in cans.

Reorganizing The Homeschool Den's Links

I developed this blog in large part for me.  It helps me keep a record of what we've done and it also helps me stay organized and keep track of websites where I've gotten activity ideas and printables.  You should see my drafts!!  Whenever I'm cruising around trying to find information and activities for new units I create a "draft" and link lots of the websites I come across. I have about three or four times as many draft posts for myself as "real" posts about what we're doing.  That way if I come across a wonderful activity about money or a cool website about Native Americans that we won't use until later I can keep tabs on it.  I always wonder if other peoples blogs are as much of a mess as mine is behind the scenes!

Anyway,  I had lots (and lots and lots) of links on the side bars, so I could simply follow my own links to the websites I wanted to visit.  It was starting to look really sloppy, though, so I placed all my favorite websites on another page. The links at the top left will take you there and it's organized in sections by color:

Homeschool Blogs I Enjoy (pink)

Useful Homeschool Websites (purple)

Teacher's Blogs (Blue)

Random Websites I like to Visit (art, music, stories, file folder games, etc.) (peach)

Montessori Websites (yellow)

So, there you have it. A tad bit of organization here at The Homeschool Den. Now I'd better go tackle the house and dishes! :) 

Sisters and Happiness

I turn to my sister when I need to share news--the good and the bad, the gross (right Sis?!!) and the funny. I turn to my sister when I need to complain. I turn to my sister when I'm overwhelmed (like the many many phone calls at 2 or 3am from Australia when things were overwhelming on our move... luckily for her it was mid-day then!).  She's the one ultimately that I can always lean on.  Here's a wonderful article that explains why sisters are so important! New York Times Oct 26, 2010    I can certainly attest to the importance of the sister-bond!

Oh--and I came back to add in how inspiring my own sister is. She also homeschools her kids. Her three kids are now hitting the late elementary to early high school years so she has lots of advice for us.  She works full time, is writing a book and has had to deal with long stretches (10 or 11 months or so) when her husband was deployed overseas in Kuwait/Iraq.  Even as we speak her husband is overseas for "just" five or six weeks.  Oh--and if you've read the blog for a time, you'll remember that she and her family lost their house last May in a major flood. Her positive attitude (we'll assume we lost everything and anything we salvage from the house is a bonus) was nothing short of astounding!!

Creative Play

 The kids usually get up in the morning, eat breakfast and then play for a while (at least an hour if not more) on their own before we delve into any school-type activities.  This is often some of the most creative play of the day -- and I was particularly impressed by LD's idea today.  He took this little jack-o-lantern and some yarn and said he wanted to be able to send secret messages.  So here's what he devised:

1) the yarn extends from inside one room to the inside of the other room
2) a piece of string is attached to one side of the pumpkin and wraps around a door knob so it can be pulled into his room
3) another piece of string is attached to the other side of the pumpkin handle and is wrapped around a knob so that DD can pull it into her room

They spent well over an hour ringing a bell to let the other person know that a secret message was ready to be retrieved!

So much of what I share are the more school-related activities and crafts, but those are just brief snapshots.  To be honest, the kids spend much more of their day at play.

Although I'm like every else and stress that I'm not doing enough in this or that subject, I recognize and value the importance of play (and try to take comfort in that when the pace of our day isn't what I would like it to be.)  I've read a couple of good articles about how important play is for children to process and learn from the world around them (sorry, I don't have any good links to share).  And, I take comfort in the Steiner School philosophy of gentle, natural play during the early years (okay, so LD loves to build Lego ships whose main job is to blow up other things, but you know what I mean!) 

LD's Lego Submarine Creation (about 9 or 10 inches across)

There's nothing that noteworthy about this picture except that it's typical of their play--using a smattering of all kinds of things to create their stories and games.

And yesterday, I just loved hearing their shrill screams of joy as they tried to catch leaves as they fell off the trees! 

The Prepared Environment

I love visiting people's blogs when they share a good overview of their daily activities (workboxers call it "What's in the Box?"). It's been in the back of my mind to share what's in our workboxes, but haven't gotten around to that.  Instead, I'll share some the other aspects of our homeschool environment.

Montessori talks a lot about having a prepared environment, one in which the children can choose from materials that are set up in such a way that fosters independent learning.  But it's not simply having materials out, the environment is to be ordered and calm and the materials should allow them to charge of their own learning.  I've also heard the prepared environment described as calm, beautiful, accessible, and structured.  Personally, I also want an environment that encourages the kids to play creatively.  Now I'm not so sure our set-up is beautiful (we're making due with what we have since we've just moved from furnished accommodations overseas), but it is functional for us.  I am impressed by how much the kids do on their own.  I'll set things up the night before and find that the kids find activities and do them on their own -- often without me noticing. 

Anyway, here are a few generic photos of our set-up. Much of this is geared for ED and DD. (This is in addition to what I've placed in LD and DD's workboxes.)  I'll be sharing some of our fall theme related activities, crafts and experiments sometime soon; that's been our big focus this past week or so.  Grams and Gramps are here for a visit, so I'm not blogging as regularly, but instead am trying to unpack and settle in a bit more--hanging pictures, etc.

We have just moved and are using what we have on hand to create an environment where the kids can be self-directed.  We have some very low tables and I bring out new things daily or every other day.  For example, in the picture above, I set out a board game and a bead stacking activity.Other things I've set out recently include board games, Montessori cards, sorting and tonging activities, pattern blocks, dress-up bears, card games, and so forth. I've seen other people set out their materials on bookshelves, but I find that the kids actually stand/sit at these tables and do the activity right there (or on the floor nearby).  That works well for us.

Our craft table is a major source of activity.  Each morning I make sure the paper (a huge ream of butcher paper) is fresh and often I set out a craft they can do independently (though unfortunately I can't yet trust ED with scissors or glue so that only comes out when I'm in the room).   Lately the girls have been enjoying coloring pages too, so I often set out a couple new pages if they're interested.

There have been times when I set out theme tables, but lately I've just been going through the cupboards and rotating in various materials they haven't used since our move. It's been a joy in particular, watching ED (2 1/2) who now does so much on her own with little or no direction/help from me leaving me free to work with the other kids as they need it.

I'm always asking myself if I've set out things that pique the kids' interest, are challenging enough, foster independent-learning in some way, allow them to feel a sense of accomplishment and things like that. 

3D Castle Maze

LD read a book called "The Knight at Dawn" and decided he wanted to do some sort of knight-related craft.  We built castles.  I mostly did the big castles (with bits of help from the kids) while they used the scraps to build elaborate small castles (which unfortunately this photo totally obscures!)

Dad used the castles as the entrance and exit of an elaborate 3-D maze. It became more and more elaborate as the weekend wore on!

This wasn't part of an elaborate unit, but LD did request lots of books on castles and knights which we checked out from the library.