And So It Begins… Day One

 

Thirty days without added sugar, grains, legumes (including soy and peanuts), and dairy.

Thirty days of lots of meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts, and healthy fats. No portion limits. No counting calories.

Why? To get out of a horrible cycle of low energy, carb cravings, eating unhealthy food, and generally feeling miserable. And to kick the Dr. Pepper addiction. (I’ve already been off Dr. P for almost two weeks!) Losing a little weight would be a bonus, but I don’t lose weight easily and have no expectations in that department. (I bought a scale just to get a starting weight, however, so we’ll see.)

Side bonus? No eating out. I have to go grocery shopping and plan meals. No unhealthy drinks and snacks out for the boys to snitch.

My husband, sister, and brother-in-law are doing it with me!

I will try to post a weekly update here on my blog with recipes. Here are my food ideas so far:

 

Breakfast:
Eggs
Sauteed veggies
Bacon/Sausage/Chicken Apple Sausages
Spinach Smoothies (banana, pineapple, huge handful of baby spinach, coconut milk, frozen berries)
Sliced banana, coconut milk, and chopped pecans (roasted in coconut oil) dusted with cinnamon

Lunch:
Leftovers
Tuna salad on tomato (soy- and sugar-free mayo)
Chicken salad on lettuce
BLT salad with guacamole dressing
Taco salad (lettuce, taco meat, tomato, olives, avocado)
Shrimp crunch salad (with shredded carrot, celery, sunflower seeds, and mayo-lemon dressing)
Cauliflower and broccoli salad (with chopped artichoke hearts, black olives, cubed chicken, and vinaigrette dressing)

Snacks:
Celery with almond butter
Almonds with a tiny amount of chopped dried apricots
Sweet potato chips
Sunflower seeds

Dinner:
Panama pork stew
Grilled tri-tip and bacon-wrapped asparagus
Bun-less burgers (with bacon and avocado) and sweet potato fries
Shrimp and veggie stir-fry
Pecan-crusted tilapia and roasted veggies
Chicken strips with marinara sauce and green salad
Spaghetti meat sauce over thinly-sliced sauteed red cabbage
Swiss steak over cauliflower ‘rice’ and green salad
Seasoned pulled pork over shredded lettuce with diced tomatoes, olives, and avocado
Chicken and veggie soup
Crab bisque and green salad
Various grilled meats and roasted veggies (brussels sprouts, French green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, yams, etc. with olive oil and sea salt)

Sweet Treats:
Pumpkin milkshake (frozen pumpkin puree, coconut milk, and pumpkin pie spice in vitamix)
Chocolate banana milkshake (frozen banana, coconut milk, and unsweetened cocoa powder in vitamix)
Fried apples (thinly sliced in coconut oil, topped with cinnamon and nutmeg)

In Desperation:
Lara Bars

I would LOVE it if those of you who are participating would post food and meal ideas in the comments and just generally let me know how things are going and what is working well for you. It is so much more bearable with the company and support of friends!

 

Life is not merely to be alive, but to be well. 

~Marcus Valerius Martial

A Conversation With Leif…

[…my cookbook fanatic four year old, while I’m in the shower.]

Mom, do you have chives?

What?

CHIVES!

No, I don’t think so.

Then we’ll have to buy some. Do you have black olives? Yep. In the mud room. We’ll have to open the can and put them on the cutting board. Do you have pizza sauce? WAIT. You have basghetti sauce. That’s like pizza sauce, right? We have tomatoes, right? Do you have sliced mozzarella cheese?

No, I don’t.

We’ll have to buy some. You have sausages, right? We’ll have to put them in the refrigerator to cool, because they aren’t ice cream.

[The sausage is in the freezer and has to thaw in the fridge, but ice cream never goes in the fridge…]

Do you have one clove garlic?

No, but I have minced garlic.

What color is it?

Whitish-yellow.

Okay. Do you have a French bread stick?

No.

We’ll have to get one. And sliced mozzarella cheese. And pesto.

…… Mom, do you like Triple-Decker Dagwoods?

Easter 2011 (And Lots of Lola)

   

Turn Up Your Volume

Whole30

LIFE. It’s my One Little Word for 2011. And LIFE has been good. The boys are, well, vibrant. Little Miss is, well, I don’t even have the words to describe her. We have had months of productive lessons. Russ is back to work. Spring is here, and I’m positive glorious weather is on its way. I have interests and passions. I have an amazing family. My friends are awesome. Life is right on track. Except…

My eating habits are ATROCIOUS. I want to (and do) eat all. day. long. I’ve been hungry since the day I was born. The only time I’ve lost my appetite longer that the 48 hour flu has been during the first few months of pregnancy and the couple months I was at my worst battling anxiety/depression. My whole life I’ve craved food that I shouldn’t be eating. Lately that has escalated. Something must change. Telling myself to eat smaller portions doesn’t work. Convincing myself that veggies are tasty doesn’t work. And fighting the cravings is unbearable.

On top of the craving and eating, my energy is almost non-existent. I constantly feel like I’m coming down with a head cold. That stuffed-up, head-achy, foggy-brain sort of feeling. I don’t want to live LIFE like that.

I’m participating in the Whole30 to reset my system. Thirty days of no sugar, grains, soy, dairy, or legumes. It will be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. (I don’t think I’ve gone that long without a Dr. Pepper in twenty years!) After thirty days, I’ll re-evaluate how I feel and decide where to go from there. I suspect I’ll need to be on some version of a Paleo diet to feel at my best, but we’ll see.

I chose to work in two-week increments. Last Saturday I stopped drinking Dr. Pepper and eating M&Ms while gradually reducing my carb intake. I’m spending another week working on my menu and grocery shopping lists. Friday the 29th is officially my day 1 of Whole30, at which time I will only be eating meats (including fish and eggs), fruits, vegetables, nuts (-peanuts) and healthy fats. Two weeks after starting Whole30, I plan on adding in some form of exercise.

I’ll be sharing menus and recipes here on my blog, but if anyone is interested in doing this challenge with me, I’ll share a few links to get you started:

The Whole30 2011:: Details on the Whole30 challenge.

Everyday Paleo:: Lots of great information and awesome recipes.

Paleo Diet Lifestyle:: More great recipes.

 

And some extra credit reading for you. {grin}

 Is Sugar Toxic? @ The New York Times (It’s a long article, but every word is worth it!)

If Lustig is right, then our excessive consumption of sugar is the primary reason that the numbers of obese and diabetic Americans have skyrocketed in the past 30 years. But his argument implies more than that. If Lustig is right, it would mean that sugar is also the likely dietary cause of several other chronic ailments widely considered to be diseases of Western lifestyles — heart disease, hypertension and many common cancers among them.

Speaking of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer…

The Fiscal Toll of Treating ‘Lifestyle Diseases’ @ The New York Times

For the first time in history, lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart disease, some cancers and others kill more people than communicable ones. Treating these diseases — and futile attempts to “cure” them — costs a fortune, more than one-seventh of our GDP.

Let’s add epilepsy and kidney disease to the conversation, shall we?

Low-carb, high-fat diet could replace dialysis @ Health on MSNBC.com

A type of low-carb, high-fat diet that's typically used to manage seizures for children with epilepsy could reverse kidney disease in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics, a new animal study suggests.

As long as we’re talking about health, how about a good night’s sleep?

How Little Sleep Can You Get Away With? @ The New York Times

Not surprisingly, those who had eight hours of sleep hardly had any attention lapses and no cognitive declines over the 14 days of the study. What was interesting was that those in the four- and six-hour groups had P.V.T. results that declined steadily with almost each passing day. Though the four-hour subjects performed far worse, the six-hour group also consistently fell off-task. By the sixth day, 25 percent of the six-hour group was falling asleep at the computer. And at the end of the study, they were lapsing fives times as much as they did the first day.

The six-hour subjects fared no better — steadily declining over the two weeks — on a test of working memory in which they had to remember numbers and symbols and substitute one for the other. The same was true for an addition-subtraction task that measures speed and accuracy. All told, by the end of two weeks, the six-hour sleepers were as impaired as those who, in another Dinges study, had been sleep-deprived for 24 hours straight — the cognitive equivalent of being legally drunk.

(Emphasis mine…Lola, did you hear that?)

Lola Colette

Yesterday morning, Lola woke up from an early morning nap (too early). I was in the middle of something, so I asked the boys to go get their sister. I continued with my task while the boys were suspiciously going up and down the stairs with arm-loads of ‘stuff.’ I figured everything was fine as long as there was no crying. When I finally finished, I headed up the stairs to see what was going on.

Levi and Luke had spread blankets all over the floor, set up an elaborate play area with their playmobil, and set Lola in a pillow throne to watch and be entertained by their play. Did I mention that they live for loving on Lola? Awesome.

I’m loving the four-letter L words. Levi, Luke, Leif, Lola, Life, Love. Yep. That’s as good as it gets.

In other Lola news: She’s 6 1/2 months. That just slays me. She is sitting well on her own. She grabs at toys (and puts them straight in her mouth). She puts her arms out when I go to pick her up. She adores her Daddy and boys. She is very observant of all that goes on around her. She loves attention. She loves to be loved on. She is extremely good-natured. Oh, and she LOVES the warm-water swimming pool!

On the not-so-great side: eating solids isn’t going so well. And she doesn’t sleep any more. Seriously. Not during the day. Not at night. How did that happen? She used to sleep more than any baby I knew. I’m tired.

In other, other news: Russ started a new job this week. After 6 (1/2) months of being off/working from home/flexible (chaotic) schedule, this is going to be a huge adjustment for all of us. We have been SO BLESSED to have him around so much for this time, and blessed that he found a new job in this rough economy.

I’m still planning on starting the Whole30 food challenge next Friday. I’d start earlier, but I have THREE food-related events next week. I’d rather not sabotage myself right out of the gate. I’ll post more about this in a few days.

Hmmm. What else? I think that is all for now. Any general questions for me? Anything going on in your life you’d like to share? I’m feeling chatty today. Maybe it is the lack of sleep. Or creative procrastination…

Mt. Hope Academy 2011 ~ Week 14

Classical Conversations: Week 24 (Final Week of the Year!!)
Bible memory, U.S. Presidents, presentations (public speaking), science experiments, music, geography, history/science/Latin/grammar/math memory work, and social/gym time.

CC Memory Review

Faith:
Bible Memory:
Sing the Word From A to Z  (Verses V-Z)
Independent Bible reading:
Levi: Day by Day Kid's Bible
Luke: The Children's Illustrated Bible (DK)
Leif:  The Early Reader's Bible

Math:
Teaching Textbooks daily

Science:
The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia: Electricity
The Magic School Bus Chapter Book: Electric Storm (Luke)
Bill Nye: Forests (DVD)




Fine Arts:
Piano practice and lesson (Luke)
Two Scarlet Songbirds: A Story of Anton Dvorak by Carole Lexa Schaefer
Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists: Georges Seurat
Seurat and La Grande Jatte by Robert Burleigh
Sunday With Seurat by Merberg and Bober
A Child’s Introduction to Poetry: Edgar Allan Poe
Poetry for Young People: Edgar Allan Poe

Language Arts:
IEW Writing Primary Arts of Language Writing: Story Sequence
IEW TWSS/Student Writing Intensive A: Key Word Outline
IEW Poetry Memorization (poem #8)
Interjections! (Schoolhouse Rock on YouTube)
Building Language (stem lesson 8)
Sentence Island (sentences 28-31)
Practice Island (pg 147-178)
All About Spelling Level 2 (step 1, 2)

Latin:
Song School Latin (ch 25-27)
Latin Review Game at Headventure Land

Geography/Cultures:
Countries Around the World: South Africa (DVD)
Around the World Coloring Book: South Africa
Geography Songs: Southern Africa (CD)
DK Children’s Illustrated Reference Atlas (Africa)
Misoso: Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa by Verna Aardema
Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove

History:
The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History: Rights for All
The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia : South Africa

Literature:
(Finished unabridged audio recording of Pilgrim’s Progress)
Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe adapted by Marianna Mayer (+ animated DVD version)

Levi’s Assigned Reading:
Old French Fairy Tales by Comtesse De Segur
The Boy Knight of Reims by Eloise Lownsbery

Levi’s Free Reading:
The 30 Clues: Vespers Rising by Riordan, Lerangis, Korman, and Watson

Luke’s Free Reading:
Dragon Slayers’ Academy: The New Kid at School by Kate McMullan

 
Family Time:
Playing our new favorite game: SET!
Read Aloud: Man of the Family by Ralph Moody (ch 13-15)
Movie Night: Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Family Night at the swimming pool (with Bambi and Poppy, too!)

 

"The main part of intellectual education is not the acquisition of facts

but learning how to make facts live." 

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

P.S. Thank you, thank you Sheryll and Elaine for suggesting Windows Live Writer. I think it is going to work perfectly!!! Wahoo!

Life in Color

I realized I haven't posted many photos of regular life lately. I guess that's because I've been too busy living it! {grin} But I was in the mood to snap a few today while we were working on lessons. I adore the photo above. It perfectly captures life right now. A blur of motion. The boys were marching around Lola while saying their memory work. She is so entertained by them, and their favorite activity is to entertain her.

We do most of our lessons in the living room now. (When you live in a little house, there aren't many options...) The boys curl up and read or watch videos. We sit on the couch together to do our language arts books. We have two white boards which we use for spelling (the magnetic letter tiles) and grammar while the boys sit at the little white table. Our writing program is now on DVD, so Levi also works on that while sitting at the little table. I play all our memory work CDs while we review. Every surface is covered with books, every inch of space used. The school room is used mostly for storage and computers (on which the boys do their math and I blog).

This is Levi's little wooden dagger. It goes perfectly with his wooden bow. I love his creativity.

Since Lola isn't sleeping much lately (sigh) she spends most of her time hanging out with us. This exersaucer is so darn ugly, but it has saved my sanity with all four children.

And I felt like taking a few pictures of 'pretties.'

I should have taken a close-up photo of the cool wreath my fabulously creative sister made for me with pages out of books. Next time.

Bravely Sharing a Bit of Reality

A lovely blog reader recently emailed me with a question. I thought one or two of you might be interested in my answer, so I’m posting it here.

Q: I am curious what your schedule has looked like this year. You had a sketch back at the beginning of the year. I feel like I am constantly losing to the clock. There just never seems to be enough time. I am not a stickler to 20 minutes here or we have to be at the desks at this time. But am wondering if I need to be. Writing and Science seem to get left out, and Math and workbooks seem to take center stage. Open for suggestions…

A: You're singing my song. We've had very little routine this year. I have an idea of what I want to get done each week. Doing the weekly report on my blog at the end of each week has really helped me keep on track. Classical Conversations was a God-send this year. Other than that, I just fly by the seat of my pants, unfortunately. I'd really like to have a solid routine, but... the boys are chaotic, I'm undisciplined, the baby's schedule is all over the place, and my hubby has been in and out of the house all day every day for the last 6 months (unemployed/self employed).

It helps to have everything handy in our living room. At the beginning of the week I try to grab all the books we will need and stack them by theme (literature, fine arts, science, history, miscellaneous library books). I put bookmarks in the encyclopedia-type books so I can immediately find the pages. All our school-related videos go in a stack on top of the tv cabinet. I have a holder with all our school-related CDs on top of the cabinet as well (CC memory work, poetry memory work, Bible memory songs, hymns, geography songs, Latin songs...). The desk behind the couch holds all our other books.

There is absolutely no order to what we do each day. Does that surprise you? :) I grab one thing at a time and we just do it. If there is something we haven't gotten to in the past day or two, I try to start with that. When I have to get up to deal with the 4 yo or baby, I hand a book (science, history, whatever) to the other boys and say, 'Read this until I come back.' If I leave them to do anything independently other than reading (such as following along with the Latin CD), it is usually chaos when I return to the room. So they do A LOT of reading. And videos. Math used to be a huge struggle (couldn't get uninterrupted focus time). We just started using Teaching Textbooks on the computer, and a miracle has occurred. I now have to ask them to *please stop doing math* so we can work on something else.

I TRY to buckle down and be really focused as soon as Lola goes down for a nap, but she hasn't been sleeping all that well recently so I can't count on any length of time for that. When we go somewhere in the car (which isn't very often these days!), I grab the CD folder and just rotate through the CDs for as long as we are driving.

So, you see, I'm not the person to ask. {wry grin} But we've been making progress, and that's the important thing. Russ goes back to work this next week, and I'm praying Lola settles down into a routine soon. I'm guessing we'll find our rhythm...about the time summer starts.

I Might Be Crazy Enough…

But I’m waiting until the end of this month to begin. Anyone daring enough to try it with me?

Only meat, eggs, vegetables, and fruit for 30 days. (And nuts and good fats.)

No sugar, no processed food, no grains, no soy, no dairy, no peanuts, no white potatoes, no alcohol, no legumes.

I think that eliminates about 95% of what I eat and drink. Scary.

Life

I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be "happy." I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all, to matter and to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.

~ Leo C. Rosten

Mt. Hope Academy 2011 ~ Week 13

Sigh. I'm about ready to give up here. This post looks just fine in compose mode. Then I publish it and there are no line breaks. Arghhh!! I don't know how to do Html and it takes too long to put in all those tags when I give it a try, plus it seems to not like me going between compose and html mode. And I can no longer embed YouTube videos. Something is really screwy. Maybe it is a sign. A really bad sign for blogging. ;-P
Classical Conversations: Week 23 Bible memory, U.S. Presidents, presentations (public speaking), science experiments, music, geography, history/science/Latin/grammar/math memory work, and social/gym time.
CC Memory Review
Faith: Sing the Word from A to Z
Fine Arts: Bill Nye: Architecture (DVD), Masters of Art: The Story of Architecture, Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin, A Weekend With Winslow Homer by Ann Kay Beneduce, Winslow Homer picture study on YouTube, IEW Poetry Memorization
Language Arts: IEW Student Writing Intensive (SWI) A (key word outlines), Building Language (stem lesson 8), Practice Island (sentences 23-27), All About Spelling (Step 24, review. Finished with Level 1!)
Languages: Rosetta Stone, Song School Latin (chapter 23,24)
Geography: Geography Songs: Former USSR, Colored maps of Central Asia, Map drawing (blobbing) continents
Math: Singapore workbooks daily, Practiced Associative, Commutative, and Distributive Laws, Teaching Textbooks (Wahoo!!)
Science: Bill Nye: Heat (DVD), Conduction, Convection, and Radiation Rap on YouTube, Bill Nye: Fluids (DVD), Bill Nye: Farming (DVD), Popular Mechanics for Kids: Radical Rockets/Slither and Slime (DVDs)
History: Usborne Encyclopedia of World History: War in the Middle East
Literature: Pilgrim's Progress (unabridged, dramatized audio book), Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels (DVD - full length movie version)
Luke's Assigned Reading: The Robinson Crusoe Reader (Christian Liberty Press), Eyewitness Classics: Robinson Crusoe (The classic story, plus fascinating background facts and photographs), The Family Pilgrim's Progress by Jean Watson, Gulliver in Lilliput (Step Into Reading Level 3), Gulliver's Adventures in Lilliput by Jonathan Swift, retold by Ann Keay Beneduce, illustrated by Gennady Spirin
Levi's Assigned Reading: The Skippack School by Marguerite de Angeli, The Tinker's Daughter: A Story Based on the Life of Mary Bunyan by Wendy Lawton, The Little Pilgrim's Progress by Helen L. Taylor, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (unabridged), Jonathan Swift's Gulliver retold by Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Chris Riddell (love!)
Luke's Free Reading: Magic Tree House: Revolutionary War on Wednesday, Twister on Tuesday, Earthquake in the Early Morning, Civil War on Sunday
Miscellaneous: Games with distance learning program teacher, Wacky Bounce House with friends, Family Swim Night, Birthday party, Lots of archery, Luke piano practice and lesson

Just For Fun

Levi finished the unabridged version of Robinson Crusoe today, and I thought it might be a good idea to surprise quiz him a little just to make sure he truly read it.


I took the book from him and asked how it ended.


He said, 'Pantaloons, men's tight trousers, reaching to the ankle. Pieces of Eight, Spanish silver coins marked with figure eights.'


What?!


'Mom, there is a glossary at the end of the book.'


Ohhhhhhh.

One Thousand Gifts

Quite possibly the most pencil-marked, dog-eared book in my collection, One Thousand Gifts is a book of wild emotion, shocking vulnerability, unsettling convictions, breathtaking hope, life-changing challenges, dawning epiphanies, quotes of masterful wisdom, and spot-on truth.

pg 57

But in this counting gifts, to one thousand, more, I discover that slapping a sloppy brush of thanksgiving over everything in my life leaves me deeply thankful for very few things in my life.

pg 67

I speak it to God: I don't really want more time; I just want enough time. Time to breathe deep and time to see real and laugh long, time to give You glory and rest deep and sing joy and just enough time in a day not to feel hounded, pressed, driven, or wild to get it all done--yesterday.

pg 120

I'm reluctant to untether from the moon. The world I live in is loud and blurring and toilets plug and I get speeding tickets and the dog gets sick all over the back step and I forget everything and these six kids lean hard into me all day to teach and raise and lead and I fail hard and there are real souls that are at stake and how long do I really have to figure out how to live full of grace, full of joy--before these six beautiful children fly the coop and my mothering days fold up quiet? How do you open the eyes to see how to take the daily, domestic, workday vortex and invert it into the dome of an everyday cathedral? Could I go back to my life and pray with eyes wide open?

[emphasis mine]

pg 124

But there's always the descent from the mount. The meeting of the crowd, the complaining, the cursing. Obvious and immediate transfigurations exhilarate the faith, but the faithful can forget transfigurations...

pg 136

"Feel thanks and it's absolutely impossible to feel angry. We can only experience one emotion at a time. And we get to choose--which emotion do we want to feel?"

pg 143

Worry is the facade of taking action when prayer really is. And stressed, this pitched word that punctuates every conversation, is it really my attempt to prove how indispensable I am? Or is it more? Maybe disguising my deep fears as stress seems braver somehow.

pg 157

God reveals Himself in rearview mirrors.

And I've an inkling that there are times when we need to drive a long, long distance, before we can look back and see God's back in the rearview mirror.

Maybe sometimes about as far as heaven--that kind of distance.

Mt. Hope Academy 2011 ~ Week 12

Okay, this formatting thing is really frustrating me. What am I doing wrong?!!! Why did it work before and now it won't? Sigh.

Classical Conversations: Week 22 Bible memory, U.S. Presidents, presentations (public speaking), science experiments, music, geography, history/science/Latin/grammar/math memory work, and social/gym time. CC Memory Review Fine Arts: IEW Poetry Memorization Geography: Geography Songs: Central America (CD) Countries Around the World: Guatemala (DVD) Map drawing (continents and tracing/coloring Central America) Language Arts: Practice Island (sentences 17-22) Building Language (stem lesson 7) Sentence Island (chapter 3) IEW Student Writing Intensive A: Key Word Outlines All About Spelling (steps 22, 23) Languages: Song School Latin (chapters 20-22) Rosetta Stone Spanish Math: Singapore workbooks daily Science: The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia: Light (Reflection and Absorption, Refraction...) (Levi) The Story of Science: Newton at the Center (Chapter 15: Newton Sees the Light) Predator and Prey (Disney Nature DVD) Migration (Disney Nature DVD) Bill Nye: Invertebrates (DVD) History: The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History: The Fall of Communism The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia: Architecture, New Nations Levi's Assigned Reading: Voyage to Freedom: A Story of the Atlantic Crossing 1620 by David Gay Sarah's New World: The Mayflower Adventure (1620 Sisters in Time) Luke's Assigned Reading: A Mouse Called Wolf by Dick King-Smith Levi's Free Reading: The Red Keep by Allen French Miscellaneous: Luke piano practice and lessons Prepared presentations for CC week 23 Swimming at pool with Dad (Archery, mud digging, bike riding...)

I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

~Abraham Lincoln

Wisdom is knowing what to do next; Skill is knowing how to do it, and Virtue is doing it.

~David Starr Jordan

Half a Year of Lovely

Mt. Hope Academy 2011 ~ Week 11

Arrrrgh! The formating on this post is all wonky and it won't shape up. I'm tired of working on it. Maybe I'll try to fix it again later. It's been another interesting week of life at Mt. Hope. Sure is a good thing it's spring break. Lola's had a rough sick-week with three of her worst nights EVER. Bad cold, throwing-up, major diaper issues, and last night (all night) during which she let me know in no uncertain terms that she was NOT happy I had eaten split-pea soup. I need an extra week of sleep. The boys have been consumed with archery. Handmade bows, cardboard box targets, and old arrows from Grandpa. It's all good. Leif has still been spending a huge amount of time on his new bike riding skills. We spent an evening at Chuck E. Cheese's for my father-in-law's birthday (the boys were thrilled!!). Then an evening at my parents' house for a joint birthday party for the sisterhood (all three of us were born in March). Our friends just got two baby quail to raise, and we went to see them. They are so tiny and sweet! I followed and read up on a theological/scientific/homeschooling controversy until I thought my brain would explode. Missed several more hours of sleep. And then our fabulous pastor's sermon was perfect for the occasion, and I missed it due to having not slept last night. Guess I'll be listening to it online this week. It looks as if I'll be lucky to read a book a month this year. Lola won't nurse if I'm holding a book. It's a good thing I'm in a book club, or I wouldn't even read one a month! So far I've read The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, The Five Thousand Year Leap: 28 Great Ideas That Changed the World by W. Cleon Skousen, and this week I finished One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. All books that stretched me and made me think and feel deeply. Good stuff. Many hours were spent researching, planning, and organizing the next few weeks and months of school. There are changes ahead as CC ends in two weeks. Russ also accepted a job which will start in a couple weeks (making a significant impact on our routine) and we hope to take school on the road and get away for a bit before he begins. Oh, and some learning, thinking, reading, and watching woven through our days. That's life, folks. CC memory work review Fine Arts: IEW Poetry memory Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists: Winslow Homer by Mike Venezia (Levi: Morisot lapbook page for CC) The Music Box: The Story of Cristofori by Suzanne Guy and Donna Lacy Adventures in Architecture: Joe and the Skyscraper by Prestel 13 Buildings Children Should Know by Prestel Gargoyles, Girders & Glass Houses: Magnificent Master Builders by Bo Zaunders What's Inside: Fascinating Structures Around the World by Giles Laroche Math: Singapore workbooks daily Science: Bill Nye: Light and Color (DVD) Bill Nye: Light Optics (DVD) Safety Smart Science with Bill Nye: Fire (DVD) History: Great Americans for Children: Abraham Lincoln (DVD) The American Presidents: The 12th-25th Presidents (DVD) Levi's Assigned Reading: A Piece of the Mountain: The Story of Blaise Pascal by Joyce McPherson Literature: Winnie the Pooh (audio CD) House at Pooh Corner (audio CD) Levi's Free Reading: The Secret School by Avi Redwall: The Sable Quean by Brian Jacques The Traditional Bowyer's Bible (Volume Four) Malu's Wolf by Ruth Craig Misc: Luke piano practice and lesson Prepared presentations (poetry recitation) for CC Week 22

It is while you are patiently toiling at the little tasks of life that the meaning and shape of the great whole of life dawn on you.

~Phillips Brooks

Mt. Hope Academy ~ Lesson Plans 2011-2012

(I really apologize to my readers who come here for something other than homeschooling. But I post about my life, and that's life right now....)

As we finish up our year of Classical Conversations, I'm evaluating where we're at and where I want to go for the rest of this spring, over the summer, and into the next school year. I also wanted to gather in one place the links to my main resources. This is mostly for my benefit, but maybe one or two readers out there will find this interesting or helpful.

We are on "spring break" this week (though doing some light school work), and then we have three CC classes remaining. I'm proud of how we held it together last fall despite more than a month of illnesses, a new baby, and Russ losing his job. And we've done some really solid work the last couple of months.

The boys are all pre-registered for Classical Conversations 2011-2012. We are also currently registered with a distance learning program. They help pay for some of our non-faith-based materials and activities as well as administer the standardized testing which Levi was scheduled to take this year as a homeschooler (and has now completed).

I hope to keep up our current pace (minus CC, but adding in some resources) through the spring and then very light lessons over the summer, and picking back up in September when CC begins again.

It has come to my attention that my boys need to be kept busy and quite structured if I wish to keep the house (and its inhabitants) from being destroyed. Now that I look at my list, however, I'm not certain there is enough Dr. Pepper and chocolate in the world to keep me alive... (And, oh Lola, please be an angel toddler...)

Much of our work will be done together (with allowances for individual abilities and attention spans) unless otherwise noted.

LEVI ~ 4th grade

LUKE ~ 2nd grade

LEIF ~ Kindergarten

Classical Conversations (Cycle 3) (One morning each week for 24 weeks; includes social time and public speaking.)

Faith:
Bible Memory:
CC Memorize John 1:1-7 (in Latin and English)
Sing the Word From A to Z until completely memorized, then A New Commandment (CDs)
(Finish independent Bible reading:
Levi: Day by Day Kid's Bible
Luke: The Children's Illustrated Bible (DK)
Leif: The Early Reader's Bible)
Telling God's Story
Passion Hymns For a Kid's Heart
Hymns For a Kid's Heart (Vol. 1)
(Luke: weekly hymns on piano)
(weekly patriotic hymns/songs)
(Christmas: The Handel's Messiah Family Advent Reader)

Math:
Teaching Textbooks (Luke: 3, Levi: 4)
Supplement with Singapore workbooks (Leif: Singapore only)
CC weekly memory work (skip counting/formulas/laws) (solidify memorization, practical application of formulas)

Science:
Christian Kids Explore Chemistry (finish)
DK First Human Body Encyclopedia (human body unit study)
CC weekly science memory work (human body and chemistry)
CC weekly science projects and experiments
Christian Kids Explore Physics
The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia
Supplemental books and DVDs

P.E.:
Swimming
(mini trampoline)

Fine Arts:
CC drawing, tin whistle/music theory, fine art/art projects, composers/instruments of the orchestra
Monthly Fine Arts Study (one composer/artist/poet each month)
Piano lessons (Luke) (loving this piano book series!)

Language Arts:
IEW Writing (Luke: Primary Arts of Language Writing, Levi: TWSS/Student Writing Intensive A/Fables, Myths, and Fairy Tales Writing Lessons)
IEW Poetry Memorization
MCT Poetry, Grammar, Writing, Vocabulary (finish Island level and move on to Town)
CC grammar memory work (verbs, parts of sentences)
All About Spelling Level 2 (and 3)
Handwriting Without Tears workbooks
TYPING (need a program...)

Latin:
Song School Latin (finish)
Prima Latina
CC Latin memory work

Spanish:
Spanish for Children A

Geography:
Maps & Globes
CC U.S. geography (states, capitals, mountains, rivers, lakes, features, and more)
Continue map drawing and 'blobbing' continents (CC)
(review CC cycle 2 geography)
(history related maps)

History/Literature:
The Story of the World: Early Modern Times (finish) (with Activity Guide)
The Story of the World: The Modern Age (with Activity Guide)
CC weekly history memory work (American history)
The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History (Luke)
The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia (Levi)
DK Children's Encyclopedia of American History
CC Veritas History Timeline Cards and U.S. Presidents (solidify memorization)
Supplemental books and DVDs
Assigned reading and read-aloud lists (Need to compile these!)

Lots of free reading

Review CC memory work from cycle 2

Leif:
"Grammy School" (one or two afternoons each week at Bambi's house)
(reading, phonogram cards, handwriting workbook, math workbook, cooking/baking, crafts)

Mt. Hope Academy 2011 ~ Week 10

Classical Conversations: Week 21. (Only 3 weeks left!)
Bible memory, U.S. Presidents, presentations (public speaking), science experiments, music, geography, history/science/Latin/grammar/math memory work, and social/gym time.

CC Memory Work Review

Faith:
Independent Bible Reading
Sing the Word from A to Z (memorized verses M-Q)
Singing:
Amazing Grace
(America)

Fine Arts:
IEW Poetry Memorization (poems 1-4)
Poetry for Young People: Robert Browning by Eileen Gillooly
Instruments of the Orchestra @ SFS Kids
Read about Brahms @ Making Music Fun
Brahms: radio shows @ Classics for Kids

Geography/Cultures:
CC geography review
Map drawing (blobbing continents)
Geography Songs: West Indies

Language Arts:
All About Spelling (steps 20,21)
Sentence Island
Practice Island (sentences 13-16)
Building Language (stem lesson 6)



Latin:
Song School Latin (ch 17, 18, 19, review)

Spanish:
Vocabulary Flashcards

Math:
Singapore workbooks (daily)

Science:
Homeschool Day @ Evergreen Aviation Museum (classes about the sun and moon)

History/Literature:
History Encyclopedias: The Cold War and The Space Race
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis
Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents: George Washington (DVD)
" John Adams "
" Thomas Jefferson "
The American Presidents: The First Eleven Presidents (DVD)
Lots and lots of U.S. Presidents books




Levi's Assigned Reading:
Helen Keller: From Tragedy to Triumph by Katharine E. Wilkie
Who Was Ronald Reagan? by Joyce Milton
(and various free reading)

(That would be a cake spatula 'sword' in the beltloop...)

Luke's Assigned Reading:
Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat

Family Read-Aloud:
Man of the Family by Ralph Moody (ch 11-12)

Family Movie:
Fellowship of the Ring
October Sky (the space race in 1957)

Miscellaneous:
The Story of Saint Patrick by James A. Janda

Luke piano practice

"Education would be so much more effective if its purpose were to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they don't know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it."

~Sir William Haley

Little Leprechauns