Ft Harrod Field Trip

Weddings

It seems like everyone I know is getting married or having babies. Something that can get very expensive, and seems to take a lot of precious time, is wedding invitations. You have to buy wedding invitations, save the date cards, RSVP cards, thank you cards... Someone has to buy wedding shower invitations. Who buys those, by the way?

You want something that fits the theme of your wedding and your personality. It can be very difficult to find something. Today I was browsing 123print.com. They have some beautiful products. It is, in my opinion, inexpensive, also. I cannot vouch for the quality, as I have never purchased their products. They are definitely worth checking out, though. I love the 'Green Earth' and 'Charming Elegance.' It almost makes me wish for a wedding to plan... Almost.

How Dominic Learns His Forms So Fast

He practices them everywhere and all the time.

Traveling with Baby

After 12 years of traveling with children (I started a week after Gabriel was born), I can state without doubt that the easiest, and cheapest, age to travel is when they are babies. I can also say that having a baby travel bed would have made things easier, before he started sleeping with us.

Gabriel's Birthday

First, we went bowling.

Obviously, the boy grew over the summer. Oh, wait, did I mention that he grew 2 inches between June 22nd and September 6th? Maybe that's why his jeans are 3 inches too short.

Then, we had dinner, cake and opened presents. We celebrated Gary's and Gabriel's birthdays together.

Decorating Rooms

We're currently moving and dispersing children. Gabriel is moving out of his room to make room for Xavier. Gabriel will be moving into the old school room, and we are going to have to completely redo his decorating. What he currently has is really for a younger child.

In searching for decorations, we have enjoyed the fact that it is back to school time for college students. We have been able to take advantage of all the ideas available for storage, decorating themes, and color schemes. Do you have any idea how many dorm accessories there are out there? There is an amazing selection.

The selection varies from downright trashy to extremely elegant. I think we'll go with something in between. After all, he's only 12.

School 2009-2010

During the 2008-2009 school year, we did a lot of experimenting to see what worked for us. We finally settled on a Charlotte Masony bent, with the plan to slowly work our way to complete unschooling. We have come such a long way in two years.

Gabriel is not comfortable with unschooling. That is fine, I am not completely comfortable with it, either. Xavier and Dominic would do very well with unschooling. They learn very well using the 'scatter' method. This method consists of scattering what you would like them to learn about around the house in the hopes they will pick things up and read them. Those two always do. They also tend to think of a subject and go after it wholeheartedly and learn everything they can about it. As a result, they get a deep understanding and a wide base of knowledge about the subjects they become interested in. Luckily, they are interested in everything. It doesn't take much to get them interested. They can see a picture of a wildfire and suddenly have an all consuming need to know about wildfires. They can hear a song that includes the word 'foehn' and suddenly be consumed with the need to study wind.

This year, we are continuing to use living books from Ambleside Online. We are continuing to use Math-U-See and Life of Fred for math. At some point this year, I plan to start supplementing that with The Art of Problem Solving series. We are studying Chemistry and Physics. Chemistry, we are doing using MIT's open courseware, Kitchen Chemistry. We'll be using Backyard Ballistics and The Art of the Catapult for Physics. We'll be doing two different things for geography. We'll map out what we read about, plus do map drill work each week. We'll also be studying Latin and Spanish. Xavier will be using Minimus. Gabriel will be using Latin Prep. (Here's a plug for Ray at www.horriblebooks.com - He got my books right to me. I was very impressed by his service. I will definitely be ordering from him again!)

Now, to the part that's changing this year. What? You thought it would all remain the same? But, then how would we move into unschooling? We're using the same books that we would have. Instead of having a set schedule and lesson plan, I am allowing the boys to choose what books to read, when. I have set up their book shelves with the books I want them to read this year. These are the parameters for their school day. Daily activities: Reading ('assigned' books)- 1 hour, Spanish/Latin- 30-45 minutes, Math- 30 min, Writing. Weekly activities: Science twice weekly for two hours (this will include both the planned Chemistry and Physics, as well anything they want to study and nature study), history twice weekly for two hours (any books they want to read about history), fine arts (art, art appreciation, music appreciation) weekly for as long as it takes, geography 10 minutes weekly. Electives: Typing, handicrafts (Xavier and Dominic are dyeing to learn how to knit!), Plutarch's Lives.

The goal is to be done with 'formal' school by lunch so that they have the afternoons free to play, explore, continue something they found interesting during school hours, and do outside activities.

I'm very excited to start this schedule. Now, if I could just get Xavier to stop reading the books I have set aside for next year, I wouldn't have to buy a bunch of new books before October!