Creekside Wonder

Happy New Year~

2010-01-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

Well we are back from our trip to visit family for the holidays. Really looking forward to getting back on track with our schooling. I feel like we pretty much had the whole month of December off~ we did visit The San Diego Natural History Museum while we were down there. My girls love museums, thank goodness, and so do I. They had a really cool exhibit on Darwinism. We also explored the beach.

It is so nice to be home though, I spent part of yesterday looking at some homeschooling books, trying to re-motivative myself for this semester. Those Rebecca Rupp books are so great. I would like to make some small changes, want to loosen up a bit on the schedule, and try to work in a bit more exploratory learning, more kindergarden fun!

Middle Ages Finally~

2009-10-13T07:23:00.000-07:00

Well we are a bit behind in the Story of the World but we have finally reached the Midde Ages.

England in all it's glory~castles, knights, lords and ladies.

There are so many activities to consider during this period in history~

I hope to make time to do some fun ones.

We have lots of extra reading planned.

Today is a stormy day so hopefully we can hit the stack of books we found at the library.

Some include-The Legend of King Arthur, and George and the Dragon, and Knights and Castles 50 hands on activities to experience the Middle Ages.

Fall is here~

2009-10-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

Indian Summer.......around here it is so lovely. The leaves are changing and the the chill is setting in the air.
The Woolly Bear caterpillars are everywhere!

Last week we went on a leaf hunt in our neighborhood.

We found lots of beautiful specimens.

After collecting we did leaf rubbings, checked out the veins a little closer, and read some books out of the fall basket.

Classification, my favorite......

2009-09-12T16:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, I may be a Zoology nerd, but I have been wanting to do some lessons on classification for the girls for a while.

I always had wished I had a better grasp on it myself in my younger years.
Things might have made a lot more sense.

Anyway, I found this charming book called

Benny's Animals And How He Put Them In Order. It is actually a children's book that talks about how as child learns to group animals into vertebrates and invertebrates by going to a museum with a stack of animal photos and talking with a professor there.

You can check it out here.

You know how I love using living books when possible, so this was perfect, and the girls dug it.

What did we do after the book? Well we got out some animals of course.....

I have lots of follow-up activities planned for this too~stay tuned.

First week report~

2009-09-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

~Was my motto this week.

This is from a poster the British government came out with at the start of World War 2.

They never decided to use it, and I can't understand why?

It embodies the everything that needed to be said.

I love it!

So the girls did great. Sofia loved having her own schedule to follow, and really jumped ahead at times with her subjects. We added a little circle time, which was made possible because of Lucy- (or should I say triangle) where we have been doing read-alouds, talking about the day, and Sofia has been reciting her poetry to us.

This is where I eventually plan to do our artist/composer study.

Lucy had lots to choose from, lots of Montessori "jobs", puzzles and art.

The challenge was trying to grab her here and there to do a little math or phonics.

But I am pleased, I want her to have fun.

She has her own little area, and folder where she keeps her stuff,

and she really takes pride in it.

Well It's Happening.........

2009-09-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

I have two in the mix this year. Lucy is joining the madness, I mean fun.
I have been planning like a crazy woman, and I think we are ready.
The girls woke up to these boxes this morning full of school supplies.
and I woke up to this~~ a much needed cup o' coffee.

Will write more later about how things are going, and curriculum, one of my favorite topics~

Sunny Days!

2009-05-28T17:36:00.001-07:00

We have been enjoying the garden this week. The sunny afternoons have been so lovely~Yesterday we found a frog, saw a dear running down the trail, and saw an amazingly bright Bullocks Oriole!

I Love Lucy!

2009-05-17T21:15:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Lulu~5 years old~

You are a treasure. I love how you always make us laugh.

States Sofia has visited

2009-05-09T06:46:00.000-07:00

visited 13 states (26%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or another interesting project

Back to Reality

2009-05-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to check in, as we are finally home after an amazing trip, that seemed never ending.
It was so special to be with my dear friend Ana and her family again. They showed us so many lovely places, and I really enjoyed Massachusetts (gotta love those dunkin donuts iced coffees). We also were lucky enough to go to NYC, DC, and Virginia. More on all that later.....
We have been gradually getting back into the swing of things around here and I have personally been waiting for a bit of good weather to get outside. I have some things that just must go in the ground.
The girls are having a great time being back with all their doll stuff, and Sofia was over the moon to be back at ballet on Monday. The house is upside down, so I really have not been knitting much, will get back to it soon.

Can't believe the school year is almost over, and then I will have a 3rd grader and a kindergartner on my hands. These years are moving so fast. I cant believe I am still homeschooling, thought it was just going to be for a year......and we just keep going.
So happy I am able to be with these girls all the time so I don't miss too much.
Need to do some catching up with our schoolwork though, had a nice long break due to the trip. We all learned so much though, went to many museums, including the amazing American Museum on Natural History in Central Park, Plimoth Plantation, DC, Williamsburg......I am sure something sunk in.

Cape Cod, Massachucetts

2009-04-19T14:18:00.000-07:00

Such a beautiful day~We spent the day doing a 2 car caravan through the winding scenic drive in Cape Cod with our good friends. We had so much fun playing on the beaches,
eating and drinking coffee

(yes, Dunkin Donuts).

One of the highlights was visiting the Thornton Burgess Nature center. Sofia has been reading all his books, so it was a joy to see the real life storybook setting.

We even hit a rummage sale!

Plimoth Plantation

2009-04-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

What a place!~http://www.plimoth.org/

Happy Easter~

2009-04-12T10:09:00.001-07:00

Have a blessed day!

2009-03-31T07:26:00.000-07:00

This is our chicken Aziza. For some crazy reason, she laid an egg in this bamboo barrel.
by Sofia

The Promise of Spring

2009-02-25T06:53:00.000-08:00

This is a photo of my beautiful Magnolia tree in the front yard.

I have been waiting to see a bloom for weeks, and now, here they are,

along with plenty of Daffodils.

Birthday Girls

2009-02-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday~

I love you!

Window with a view

2009-02-15T16:40:00.000-08:00

View from our dinning room window, as night falls we are beginning to hear the frogs sing.

The Great Backyard Bird Count

2009-02-14T09:53:00.000-08:00

Well here they are ready to do the reporting for the Audubon Society. February 13-16 is the Backyard bird count. The girls were more than happy to go outside after many days of rain. Here are a few photos of the serious data collecting that was going on before our eyes. I think the only birds they saw were the chickens.

Wishing you a very happy St. Valentine's day

A little update

2009-02-08T06:46:00.000-08:00

School has been going good. I am finally coming to terms with the fact that everything is never going to get done. As usual my expectations are always high, and I am realizing it is quality not quantity that matters.

For example I had a stack of things I wanted to do on thursday, (latin, language arts, science), the math got done at least, and for some reason we began talking about right triangles, I ran upstairs to grab a geometry template I had, and she was off. She spent and hour making all the shapes with the stencil and labeling them. I took the opportunity to read What's your angle Pythagoras? aloud, and that was it. An official geometry rabbit trail.

I absolutely adore when something comes up and I have the materials, "in house" like that.
Next week I will pull the Montessori three part cards on triangles and let her play with some shape models I have.

We also have been really interested in what's going on with the birds in our backyard.
There is a great website, where you can post and keep track of migrations of all sorts of thing. A great way to teach about data collection.
check it out here~

Bye for now.

Roman Feast

2009-01-29T10:39:00.000-08:00

We finally finished Story of the World Vol. 1, so it was cause for celebration!

Sophia put together a "Gifts of Rome" collage that came out so great, and she gave us an "oral presentation" about all things Roman.

Then we ate, (not sure how accurate the menu was), and danced......

Gung Hay Fat Choy

2009-01-26T13:33:00.001-08:00

Moving Along

2009-01-26T06:57:00.000-08:00

Well she is moving along with the Little House books. The other day I was in shower and she left this on the bathroom floor for me to find. The note on the book says "all done!".

For schoolwork this week I have some story cards that I plan on introducing to work on some writing. We are about to finish up with Rome, so that is exciting. It took a little longer than I expected, but oh well...Oh, and she is loving cursive.

Montessori in the Home

2009-01-19T07:34:00.000-08:00

Wonderful article here by Montessori Lori!
http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com/Homeschooling-with-Montessori_ep_83-1.html

Inauguration for Kids!

2009-01-18T13:34:00.000-08:00

check it out at the crafty cow~
http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/2009/01/inauguration-party-ideas-for-kids.html

loving this....

2009-01-14T20:34:00.001-08:00

http://heartofwisdom.com/blog/20-signs-you-are-a-homeschool-resource-junkie/comment-page-1/#comment-38485

2009-01-14T19:42:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to say that we have entered the realm of the Little House on the Prairie books.

Pleased because she is reading them to me.....no.

Pleased because I am having another opportunity to experience them again. I don't really know what I remember more, the books or the TV shows, but I loved it all.

Just in case you didn't already know it existed, I found this great little website devoted to all things Little House.

http://www.littlehousebooks.com/

Having a child read you something so

poignant such as the Ingalls family

as they battle malaria is truly an amazing feeling.

Hey kitty, you are sleeping on our math books

2009-01-12T17:44:00.001-08:00

They joy of school at home......

Things got started again today after a long break.

It felt good to attempt to get back on schedule.

We took it slow~~Back to math operations, skip counting, and multiplying, some review of action and helping verbs, copywork, and a journal entry about her adventure riding a pony in Los Angeles. We even managed to get out for a nature walk with some friends at the marsh. It was a wonderful sunny day today~yay!

A little taste.....

2009-01-12T17:11:00.000-08:00

of what we were up to in Southern Ca.
This was out at my mom's in the desert. The girls love it there, it is pretty wild.

Hello 2009!

2009-01-09T05:50:00.000-08:00

Wow, I cant believe it. The holidays are over and our big trip is over too. We had a nice time in Southern CA celebrating with our family. Lucy and I got sick of course, but there were some really nice moments after we healed. My kids were blessed with lots of treats from their grandparents. Lucy even got an American Girl Doll~Kit. They had a blast!!

Our last day in Los Angeles was so fun. We spent it in Griffith Park and went to the Observatory to watch the Planetarium show. It was incredible. The view from there was just amazing and the SUN!!

http://www.griffithobservatory.org/

We even took the kids train ride and did the pony rides!

I wanted to share a picture of my first knitted/felted bag that I gave my mom. I was so pleased the way it came out.
Looking forward to jumping into this year, and getting back on schedule.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2008-12-25T10:38:00.000-08:00

Huge Weekend

2008-12-14T20:46:00.001-08:00

See my little harpist behind all the big girls? Big ballet weekend and Christmas recitals, we survived the drama, and they did so wonderful!

Feast of Saint Nicholas

2008-12-08T20:46:00.000-08:00

OK~ it is a cookie stamp~super cute, and you could go crazy with all the designs.
Have a look.

What a great start to the season. This past weekend we got busy with our craft projects, and made some shortbread cookies to celebrate the special visitor to our house on December 6th~
St. Nicholas!! The girls received a Peter Rabbit book collection, and gold coins of course.

Advent Reading

2008-12-06T21:13:00.000-08:00

I wanted to talk a bit about the wonderful Christmas books we have been reading each night since the beginning of advent. There are so many out there, I know you already know that, but a couple in particular this year have been quite memorable for me.

The first one is called The Donkey's Dream. "A donkey wakes from a dream of unusual burdens to find that he has carried Mary to the stable where Jesus was born". So Sweet!

The second one, more of a read aloud than a picture book, is called

Mary's Little Donkey and the Flight to Egypt. It is about a donkey that Joeseph buys for Mary. "The stubborn, dirty little donkey who is of no use to anyone in Nazareth becomes a quick and willing helper under Mary's care. The other animals in Mary's stable like him and together they wait for the birth of Mary's child".

And they third book that we have been loving is Take Joy~ The Tasha Tudor Christmas Book, by Tasha Tudor. What a treasure!! It is filled with stories poems, and carols, and of course her sweet illustrations. If you would like to venture into the world of Tasha Tudor, click here. It looks like it may be out of print, but the one I have is luckily from our library.

And don't forget all the gems from Tomie de Paola~

Happy and Cozy Reading

Take a gander

2008-12-05T07:39:00.000-08:00

at these!!!
simply adorable~~

2008-12-04T06:55:00.000-08:00

Here are some favorite knitting resources~

The Yarn Harlot-super funny Stephanie McPhee,

author of many knittnig books

Ravelry-an online community for knitters, with millions of patterns

Stitch and Bitch-my first and favorite book

Can we talk about knitting?

2008-12-03T14:45:00.000-08:00

I am not quite sure if it has been the change of seasons or what, but I am completely obsessed with knitting right now. I am all about starting projects, ripping them apart, doing them incorrectly, reading about knitting, looking at yarn, etc. anything related to knitting basically.

It amazes me, now that I have been knitting for a few years, there is still so much to learn in this wonderful world of yarn and needles.

Here is a hat I did for Lucy last month. It was made with a yummy baby alpaca blend.

Too cute~

A Weekend of Lovely Maddness~

2008-11-29T07:29:00.000-08:00

Our house is upside down, in a nice way. On Thanksgiving, we got out all the Christmas decorations, including the tree and the kids got every single thing out. It was funny when we pulled out the "white tree" it had yellowed for some reason. It was ok, I wanted a real tree anyway this year. We have been having a great time decorating our house, and getting everything ready. I cant believe advent begins on Sunday! We have lots of beautiful reading, and crafts planned, and I am almost finished with the Jessie Tree.

Our long awaited park opened down the street last week, so that has been super exciting. Friends have been coming over and we all head down to ther together. It is so neat. Will post pictures on of these days.

Happy Thanksgiving~

2008-11-27T18:27:00.000-08:00

We had a blessed day~Hope you did too.

2008-11-18T22:23:00.000-08:00

2008-11-18T21:43:00.000-08:00

We just spent a lovely weekend in Lake Tahoe, NV. It was great to have some family time. What a magical place! After a couple of days, Lucy said "do you have to keep saying view, view, view?" The girls collected lots of pine cones for us to decorate for Christmas, and had fun exploring the lake.

Right now I am attempting to put the house back together since the trip, and prepare for Thanksgiving. It is always so fun to go away, and so wonderful to be back home.

I can sense the Christmas madness around the corner, so much to plan and prepare.

A Fall Garden

2008-10-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

I guess it's time to say goodbye to summer.

A Picture Thought....

2008-10-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

Botany Continued~

2008-10-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

Year two and we are still

captivated with Botany.

There is so much to do!

We are using this amazing book for our journey and I wanted to share it~

Shanleya's Quest.

We read about a plant family, today we did the Mustard family, then she draws in her Botany notebook, (sort of a main lesson book)

about the plant.

here is a snipet from the book~

In a mythical world where time is a liquid that falls as rain upon the land, young Shanleya paddles her canoe out to the tree islands to learn the plant traditions of her people. Each island is home to a separate family of plants and an unforgettable Guardian with lessons to teach about the identification and uses of those plants. Shanleya's Quest is a truly unique educational book that presents botanical concepts and plant identification skills in an easy and fun metaphorical format for children as well as for adults who are young at heart. The book begins with a creation myth that parallels evolutionary concepts, where life begins as bubbles in a puddle of soup under the radiance of Father Sun and the gentle glow of Mother Moon. The evolutionary tree of life becomes a literal part of the story, buried up to its branch-tips (the "islands") in an ocean of Time that just keeps getting deeper and deeper. This is the world that Shanleya explores by canoe, learning the essential characteristics of closely related plants on each island she visits. Readers young and old can join Shanleya's Quest, learning the patterns to correctly identify more than 45,000 species of plants to their proper families.

Home Tour

2008-10-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of Sophia's performance at the Eureka Historical Society's Home Tour. She did a magnificent job.

2008-10-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, here is the Albondigas soup, and the link for the recipe.

Muy Sabroso~

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000042albondigas_soup.php

2008-10-19T16:27:00.000-07:00

CALACAS!

2008-10-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

Well today I finally mixed up the icing for our sugar skull project.

Big day in the kitchen, I also whipped up some Albondigas, a traditional Mexican meatball soup. The sugar skulls are decorations for our

Dia De Los Muertos altar.

It was great fun, it is one of my favorite times of the year.

Our family really enjoys decorating our altar, and making it beautiful with fall flowers and candles. Of course it is a wonderful way to remember loved ones lost with photos and remembrances of their favorite things.

If you would like info on ordering the sugar skull molds you can visit http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/

Here are some photos, as well as the "official" definition from wikipedia.

The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos in Spanish) is a holiday celebrated mainly in Mexico and by people of Mexican heritage (and others) living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and relatives who have died. The celebration occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November, in connection with the Catholic holy days of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day which take place on those days. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts. Observance of the holiday in Mexican-American communities in the United States has become more important and widespread as the community grows numerically and economically.
Scholars trace the origins of the modern holiday to indigenous observances dating back thousands of years, and to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl (known in English as "The Lady of the Dead").
Similar holidays are celebrated in many parts of the world; for example, it is a public holiday in Brazil, where many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain, there are festivals and parades, and at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray to their loved ones who have died. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe and in the Philippines, and similarly-themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures.

Pumpkin Day

2008-10-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

Friday we attended a wonderful field trip

to one of our local pumpkin patches.

It was a lovely day as always.

A beautiful Humboldt County fall day as you

can see in the background.

First Day of "School"

2008-10-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of our first day of school. There was a lot of anxiety leading up to the day, (I was not really ready for summer to end), but it really turned out to be a wonderful day. It was almost magical the way the praying mantis egg sac choose to erupt on that particular day for us. Nature Study in action. There must have been over 100 of them! The girls were enchanted.

The photo of Lucy's arm, and the little specks......, that is them~

Plugged Back In

2008-10-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well I finally got around to buying a uploader for my camera. Wow, that was not that hard. So here are a couple of photos from our beautiful trip to Southern CA. We stayed with my dad, and had lots of beach/swimming fun, and went to see my mom in the desert, where it was like 110 degrees. The kids did not mind the heat a bit!

Fall Ramblings

2008-10-02T06:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been going crazy around here trying to find the plug to my camera and upload photos, looks like all that organization I did in the summer went a little too far. Will look into securing a new one.

Lots to report around here, The school year went off with an explosion. That is how it felt to me anyway. Thrown back into the world of activity & enrichment classes.

Sophia will be participating in her first harp "Home Tour" where she will play 30 minutes this weekend!! We are all looking forward to that.

We just got back from a trip to San Francisco to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit a the SF Museum of Modern Art. It was an amazing exhibit, felt great to be close to her work again. The only negative, or was it a positive, were the crowds of people. A little challenging when you are trying to show the work to a 7 year old.

We spent the rest of that day perusing the Mission District for Dia de Los Muertos Goodies.

Berrylicous!

2008-07-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

A surprise day with my husband home from firefighting led us to a impromptu visit to a dear friends house (Patti) just a bit south of here. She let us loose in her beautiful yard, complete with vegetable garden, and chickens, to pick berries. The girls picked just enough for us to make a berry pie. They just ate theirs for dinner.

Here are some highlights.

2008-07-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

~I thought the crocked stem of this poppy was just lovely~

Where have we been?

2008-07-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

Well the school year came to a halt, and we were blessed with the ever increasing days of summer. I am pleased with the way my first year of homeschooling went. I have to admit, I spent most of the year terrified, over-researching and analyzing everything, but I probably would have done that if she was in school (lol).
She is doing well according to our "homeschool teacher" and she is very pleased as well.

It is summertime and I am in the throws if my catalogs and books, doing planning for next year.
For the most part, things will stay the same (classical), but I am toying with the idea of ditching the First Language Lessons for Primary Language Lessons by Serl. The repetition in FLL was driving me crazy. I am also thinking of getting rid of Shiller for Singapore, and sticking to the Montessori manipulates that I already have.
I will be adding cursive, and am trying to figure out a way to work in the Children of the World program by Winterpromise that I think is so lovely, but never had the time to get to. Truthfully, I don't really know how I am going to work it in this year either. Oh yeah, and I am thinking of switching from living learning to R.E.A.L. or NOEO science. I guess that is a lot of change actually~ahhhhhhhh. But everything with Story of the World will stay the same.
I can see my beautiful friend in Massachusetts falling over as she reads this. We both started out with the same curricula at the beginning of 1st grade.
There really is a method to my madness, I just have not figured it out yet.

Here is a photo I am sharing of our backyard in summertime.

A Country Woman~

2008-05-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

Ok~ This Beatrix Potter~Peter Rabbit thing is starting to get a bit out of hand.

Look at this fabulous place!

The World of Beatrix Potter

Beatrix spent her early years studying the two things she loved most - art and nature. Her parents were both interested in art and their influential friends included authors, politicians and artists such as Sir John Everett Millais.
Her father, Rupert, was a talented amateur photographer, while her mother Helen enjoyed painting landscapes in watercolour. As Beatrix grew older, she went with her father to art galleries, museums and auction houses and this influenced her development as an artist.
Beatrix’s parents loved the countryside and often took their family on vacation out of London. Every year they would travel north, first to Scotland and later to the Lake District, for long summer vacations. Beatrix enjoyed the freedom of exploring the countryside with her brother, Bertram. The scenery, flowers and creatures she found inspired her drawing and painting.

Beatrix’s stories were written directly for children and many started life as picture letters to children of her family and friends. The Tale of Peter Rabbit was Beatrix Potter’s first published children’s book. It began life as a letter to Noel Moore, written in 1893.
“My dear Noel, I don’t know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits ….”
In 1900, Beatrix borrowed back the letter and worked up a plan to get the story published. When at least six companies rejected her proposal, she decided to publish it herself. The privately printed edition was a great success and soon Beatrix had a publishing offer from Frederick Warne & Co.
Warne’s first edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published in 1902 and was immediately popular, selling around 46,000 copies in the first twelve months. Warne and Potter soon began to work on many more stories including, 'The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin', 'The Tailor of Gloucester', 'The Tale of Benjamin Bunny' and 'The Tale of Two Bad Mice'.
Beatrix had strong ideas about how her books should be presented, down to size, price and overall look. She also realised the wider market appeal of her characters and initiated the development of related merchandise, such as the Peter Rabbit doll manufactured by Steiff, Germany, in 1903. She always took an interest in all of the creative and commercial matters surrounding her characters and books.

Benjamin Bouncer was Beatrix's first pet rabbit.
She bought him secretly from a London bird shop and sneaked him into the nursery in a paper bag. 'Bounce' became the model for many of Beatrix's rabbit drawings. On the back of a photograph of him, Beatrix wrote "This is the original 'Benjamin Bunny'. Benjamin was extremely fond of hot buttered toast, he used to hurry into the drawing room when he heard the tea-bell!"

If you have not seen it already, I highly recommend Miss Potter

Photos and text courtesy of http://www.peterrabbit.com/

Backyard Nature

2008-05-25T16:18:00.001-07:00

We found this adorable little Tree Frog and this amazing Tiger Moth this afternoon.

After the girls had ample time to study them, we let them go. The frog was so cute!

Bunnylove~

2008-05-25T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well, we had an unfortunate event take place Thursday night. Some creature got one of our chickens, the girls favorite one of course, the Silkie Bantam. It was one of the those extremely hard parenting moments. The girls took it well, especially when I said we could maybe go to the pet store and look at aquariums or bunnies~

The bunny won over the fish~surprise! So meet Benjamin Bunny, so far he is a doll, very mellow.

The girls are in love!

Check out this precious site and get in touch with your inner Peter Rabbit.

Here is another, more educational site, with lots of amazing links.

Wow, look at this one~

"The Tale of Benjamin Bunny continues the story of The Tale of Peter Rabbit as Peter and Benjamin venture into Mr. McGregor’s garden to retrieve Peter’s jacket and shoes. However, the two young cousins end up trapped in a basket that Mr. McGregor’s cat decides to take a nap on. They are eventually rescued by Benjamin’s father who is very cross with them for straying into the garden without him.We see Benjamin again, this time as a father, in The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies and The Tale of Mr. Tod. Both stories see him having to rescue his children, The Flopsy Bunnies, from Mr. McGregor and Tommy Brock respectively".

Hey, this could turn into a summer unit study, combined with Botany~

The Simple Woman's Daybook~

2008-05-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

FOR TODAY~

Outside My Window... the flowers are gradually opening, my roses are simply amazing, and my peonies are finally blooming, I have been waiting three years!

I am thinking... about my family in a tender way, we have recently experienced a loss.

I am thankful for... my family, our home, friends.

From the kitchen... summer soups, just made carrot curry bisque tonight and it was wonderful!
and we had salad from the garden~

I am wearing... flannel pj's my husband bought me for Christmas.

I am creating... two needle felted sea fairies for my girls, and a knitted hat.

I am going... near future, nowhere hopefully. I am really wanting to stay put for a while and catching up with things.

I am reading... Living Crafts magazine, Waldorf & Montessori curriculum books .

I am hoping... to find an inner sense of calm with my house and homeschooling.

I am hearing... a documentary on FDR

Around the house... things are lying everywhere, books, and craft supplies-we have been spending way too much outside time to pick up.

One of my favorite things... seeing my little girls dance, exploring a city with my husband.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: a pool party, my dance class, Spanish co-op, an important meeting Thursday........

Here is picture thought I am sharing...Peace.

Please visit Peggy at The Simple Woman to read all the other inspiring entries ~

Vase Done~

2008-05-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the photos from the Greek vase project.
We had a good time creating it, we listened to Greek myths while painting and doing the paper mache'. Then I found this great site that had little movies of the myths, and theses funny images that we put on at the end.

Lucy, I Love you!

2008-05-19T17:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday~4 Years

First Recital

2008-05-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

On April 13th my Sophia, the family musician had her first Harp recital. She was just amazing of course, and it was a very special day for all of us.

Here she is with my mom, husband and her harp.

More Zoo Fun~

2008-05-19T17:44:00.001-07:00

recognize anyone?
these Polar Bears were incredibly active!
This is absolutely Sophia's favorite animal.
Cuties~

What's going on here?

2008-05-19T17:16:00.000-07:00

That is not the nesting box!
Free Range Eggs~

An unexpected trip~

2008-05-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

We suddenly found ourselves back in the car driving to Southern California

again for a family emergency.

I decided to make the most of it and take the kids to see some animal life,

Lucy is the one who requested it. Luckily the San Diego Zoo,

where I used to work by the way, was nearby.

Here are some photos from our day at the zoo.

We walked in to see this peacock in all of it's glory.

I will make some entries about some of the things that have been going on this month,

as you can see I have not written in a while.

In addition to the sudden out of town trip, my mom was here,

husband off for two weeks, and then my dad "surprised" us.

Whew~Now it's catch up time.

Magical Montessori Manipulatives

2008-04-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

We have been having a great time this week playing with the beginnings multiplication. We have been using the bead box to show how multiplication is simply adding groups together~I am always amazed at how Montessori can be so simplistic yet so higher level at the same time~just elegant!

San Francisco Trip

2008-04-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

We went down to the city to celebrate my dear husbands birthday. Tried to squeeze in some learning with all the fun. Here are some photos of what we saw at the
Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park~
We also visited the Japanese Tea Garden, and of course the Children's Play Park.
It was the most amazing warm and sunny spring day.

~GREECE~

2008-04-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

We got back into things today finally diving into Ancient Greece, I have to admit, I was ready for a change of scenery from Egypt. We studied about Grecian vases, did some mythology, and looked at books about Crete & Greece. We took on the Greek vase project, and I am hoping to get all the paper mache off my kitchen counter before my mom gets here Friday~

Another sick day.....

2008-04-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

Spent time playing games....
This one is a favorite around here.
We also played Somebody. but this one is her fave.
Good for sum practice and strategy.

Spring~~

2008-04-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

Well I am back after a hiatus of writing. We went on a trip to see family, got sick, went through Easter, and all got sick again.
I feel like I have been reborn as an unschooler, and I am liking it.......no really, spring fever has set in, and we have been relishing in the glory of nature, Charlotte Mason style really~
We have been to the pond down the trail many times to catch tadpoles. Ok~my kids have the lifecycle of the frog down, but somehow it is always magical.
We planted a "Peter Rabbit" garden the other day complete with carrots. Will post pictures when it starts to look a bit more exciting.
And Sophia had been very busy making fairy houses everywhere.

2008-04-03T22:07:00.001-07:00

“Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."- Christopher Robin to Pooh by A.A. Milne

I love this~it is so true~

Weekend Report~Candlemas

2008-02-04T07:11:00.000-08:00

We had such a nice weekend. It was a rainy (normal) sort of day and we had planned on making new candles with some old ones we had laying around. We had a great night watching solid melting to liquid. They turned out really nice.
Then on sunday, we went to the youth symphony. They did Babar complete with a slideshow. Very charming. A very nice weekend~

We are gearing up to start the learning about the human body, and before long we will be visiting ancient Greece & Rome through our reading.

A Low Tide

2008-01-27T15:05:00.000-08:00

A magical afternoon at the beach after much rain

Did not see many creatures, but the kids had a blast~

600 Pieces of Fun

2008-01-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

This is what has been going on at our house.
Geography mania~I got this puzzle and when I opened it and saw the sizes of the pieces, I thought, that is never going to get done~well it looks pretty good doesn't it??
Sophia and her dad have been working very hard on it every night, and I am really proud of them. See that pesky little missing piece? Can you believe it? Oh well........

A good week~

2008-01-13T13:39:00.000-08:00

This week has been good, I have to say, after the break, it felt pretty good to get back into our routine. We got back into a flow with Story of the world. We are slowly coming out of Ancient Egypt, and spent some time with Ancient India, and China.
We also had some fun doing the snake game and playing with the math manipulatives.
She practiced her skip counting with 2,3,4,and 5's with the chains.

Geography has taken on a new life with our map and figures from Winter Promise.
You can check it out here .
It has been fun, because whenever we learn about an area, there are cute stickers to put on the map. I purchased their children around the world unit, and really love it, but can't seem to fit it all in. I wonder why?

Plans for the new year.....

2007-12-30T22:09:00.000-08:00

1. More art projects
2. Composer study
3. More fun~can it be possible?
4. More nature walks
5. More tea parties

We do field trips too!

2007-12-30T21:49:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of our great field trip to a local
bakery that I mentioned. I think the parents learned just as much as the kids. There is nothing quite like bread when it comes out of the oven is there?

Reflections on Christmas & New Year

2007-12-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

We have been having such a nice time this season. We have read lots and lots of Tomie dePaola books in preparation for Christmas, and following up with lots of crafts. Our educational plan has sort of shifted into holiday mode, which has been good.

Christmas was very blessed with my dad here. The girls had a wonderful day!
They both got American Girl doll clothes and beds. Just what they told Santa about. So perfect.
We spent about 4 days here in the rain, cooking and making merry.

I have had lots of relaxing time over the holidays to evaluate or plans for the new year. I am looking forward to our work starting with the beads. They are just beautiful.
And we both have been having so much fun with her globe that we have sort of dove into geography up a bit more. We will continue with First Language Lessons, and Story of the World, and trying to mix in the Montessori wherever I can.

The education (& the tamales) are happening~

2007-12-19T16:17:00.000-08:00

I have been overhauling the office/schoolroom this week while everyone has been down with various sicknesses. It has been great for me to re-vamp.
I am trying to get things sort of all together again, instead of that stuff completely all over the house method. I would like to actually start using the dining room table again for~eating. Since I have decided to incorporate mas Montessori, I have noticed my needs have changed. Of course I need more shelving, but I will tell Santa about that.

We have really been having a good time celebrating the Advent season this year. Lots of crafts and feasts. We made Guadalupe grottos for our altar. Anything that requires glitter & sequins in a hit around here. A very nice morning....

During the weekend, we prepared tamales. The girls really got into it. So adorable. It was an all day project.

I remember how much I loved making tamales with my grandma. I would try my best to study everything she cooked~prepare the masa....if it floats, it is good to go. Then the big job of spreading the masa on the husk, placing the meat, folding them, steaming them... Little packets of fun and goodness.

Ok, back to modern day...Lucy had such a good time helping, and Sophia really did some great ones!! We read Too many Tamales
and went to bed.

For some info on Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Hispanic Fun
check out this http://www.casaq.com/

Golden Beads~

2007-11-27T07:14:00.000-08:00

I have put a lot of thought in the past month into acquiring the montessori bead material. Currently I am using Shiller math, and it is OK. I just would really like to get a bit "deeper" into mathematics. So I have decided to just go for it and order them, I was originally hesitant because of the cost, but I think it will be a superb investment. I am finding that the more active way of montessori works well for us. She has been working really well with different 3 part cards that we have. Today She put Roman numerals in order form 1 to 20. Fun~

Ahhh Kauai~~

2007-11-18T13:10:00.000-08:00

I guess I should talk a bit about Kauai, it seems it is all I have been talking about lately, but there were some learning moments to mention :)

Learning moment # 1- We went to a very sweet lei making class on the west side of Kauai. About a 45 minute drive from where where we were staying, so it seemed a bit of a hassle when we were getting ready in the morning, especially with the beach calling us, but my husband was determined to get us there~there were a few thrift shops in it for him......
When we got there, I walked into the museum to see a table full of tropical flowers waiting for us. The scent was intoxicating. The lady welcomed us, and we got started right away. Sophia and I were the only ones in the class! I wish I could remember the names of the flowers. Anyway, she was so sweet, and after talking for a while about all the tropical fruits on the island, she got into her car, and drove down the road to a friends house to pick me some fruits she wanted me to try~I could not believe it! We had a great time~~well worth it to see the beautiful leis that Sophia made for her and her dad. I made one for me and Lucy.

Learning moment # 2- Snorkeling~magical fun under the sea. This is science right??? We saw amazing & colorful fish, and creatures. She saw sea stars, urchins, and an eel. I think it really gave her a taste for the undersea world. She wanted to do it everyday. Me too! After our beach adventures, we looked up the kinds of fish we saw.
I am sure there were many more learning moments that i have not mentioned, especially the one when we woke up to an unidentified sea creature on the floor in our house......

This week we did a lot of catching up after Kauai. It feels pretty good getting back into the swing of things. We began the week learning a bit about St. Martin on his special day. We made lanterns in honor of the occasion, and it was a lot fun, we have kept on doing it all week, even Lucy has been into it. I can tell things are about to get crafty around here for the holidays.

We had a field trip this week with the local homeschool group to a fabulous local bakery. A superb field trip. Especially the warm focaccia samples at the end.

Brown and Furry....

2007-11-10T08:03:00.000-08:00

Caterpillar in a hurry;
Take your walk
To the shady leaf, or stalk.

May no toad spy you,
May the little birds pass by you;
Spin and die,
To live again, a butterfly

The Caterpillar
by Christina Rosetti

This was the first poem Sophia memorized with First Language Lessons. I think it is so sweet, and she loves to say it.
We have been loving our caterpillar nature walks lately, as there have been hundreds of these Wolly Bears, on and around our trail this fall. Soon they will "spin and die to live again" as an Isabella Tiger moth.

Landform Fun

2007-11-10T07:48:00.000-08:00

You know them, you love them, landforms~
today we spent the morning exploring the landforms of our planet with clay and blue water.
We worked with our Montessori cards for guidance and created archipelago, a strait, bay & lake (the picture above is a strait by the way). It was great fun, and perfect for our pre-study time before the Hawaiian Islands.

Project Time!

2007-10-27T20:15:00.000-07:00

Today we did a project that went along with our history studies of ancient civilizations. We have spent quite a bit of time on Egypt. She has covered the fertile crescent, hieroglyphs, mummification, and pyramids. We build a pyramid out of sugar cubes and Elmer's glue. Very fun, we worked together and I really thought it came out good. I think she is ready to move on to the Greeks~

The Loved Person~

2007-10-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

From The Secret of Childhood by Maria Montessori

When the child goes to bed in the evening he calls the loved person and begs him not to go away. When we go in to dinner the tiny child that still feeds at his mother's breast would like to come with us, to stay near to watch us, not to eat. The adult passes by this mystical love without perceiving it. But the little one who so loves us will grow up, will vanish. And who will ever love us as he does? Who else will ever summon us on going to bed, saying, "Stay with me"? When the child is grown, he will say an indifferent "Good night". Who then will be eager just to watch us while we eat, though he eats nothing? We defend ourselves against this love that will pass away, and we shall never find anything to equal it. We in our turmoil say, "I haven't time, I can't, I have a lot to do," and we think in our hearts, "The child must be taught better, or he will make us his slaves." What we want is to be free from him to do what we ourselves like doing, so as not to give up our convenience.

I Heart Maria~

2007-10-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

I am finding I have renewed passion in anything related to the Montessori method.
I love to see the way my daughter responds to it. I spent some time figuring out how to do the stamp game this week, with her former teacher, and friend. Sophia picked up where she left off with it last year at the school and jumped right in. She really was able to show me the way. I want to utilize as much as possible ways of learning that already make sense for her. It was fun, and it is really fun for me to explore what is out there as far as Montessori resources for homeschooling.

Oh my gosh, there are books everywhere!

2007-10-14T23:55:00.000-07:00

They seem to be multiplying as fast as I can get bookshelves in here.

Between my 3 year old hauling in about 20 books each night for bedtime, school books in every room, and Sophia's piles of reading, I spend the first part of every day putting them all back, just to have it all over the place again the next day.