Aiden starts first grade

Aiden started school on August 17th and loves it! We have enrolled him in an independent study charter school and his teacher comes over to our house every few weeks to check his work and monitor progress. It seems to be working pretty well so far. Aiden loves his teacher and enjoys showing off his reading skills to her. She seems happy with his progress so far and thinks our curriculum is great. I LOVE the curriculum too; wished I could have learned all of this neat stuff when I was in first grade! For Language Arts we are reading Aesop's Fables, Parables from Nature, a poem a day (from A Child's Garden of Verses right now, AA Milne and others later this year), Just So Stories, Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare, and others later in the year. We also have a chapter book that we read each night (the original Peter Pan right now). For history/geography we are studying Paddle to the Sea, An Island Story, Fifty Famous Stories, Viking Tales, Ingri D'Aulaire books for American history (Ben Franklin, George Washington, etc). For science we read James Herriot's stories, Burgess bird and animal books, and do mostly field work studying nature with the Handbook of Nature Study as our guide. We just took a field trip to the Natural History Museum in PG where they got to see all of the birds they have seen in the field up close and ID them for sure which was so nice... We will be making many trips over there this year. At the moment I am trying to get my hands on a good dissecting scope to really study all the bugs and critters the boys collect. For phonics I am attempting to teach Aiden the Spalding method which includes his handwriting work. Next month he will start copying poems, sentences, and verses from great literature for practice in writing. For math, he is using Right Start math which is very hands on (lots of manipulatives and games). We have been learning Spanish phrases and singing Spanish songs for language for now. With the baby we are also learning a lot of sign language which has been fun for all. Once he has a good handle on reading and writing (later this year or next year) he will start Latin instruction. For art we have been using Drawing With Children which has been a great guide. Aiden is using the skills in there as he works on his painting for the fair next month. Aiden is also learning about the life and work of a few artists this term from the 1400s which has been interesting for us both. I found a site to download and print 8 x 10 prints for his art notebook for free. They look great and are useful for studying. For music, he has started piano lessons and he loves them! He is pounding away at Mary Had a Little Lamb as I type this. We are also learning a few classical composers this term, although I have not organized this study very well yet into our schedule. For Bible we simply are reading through the KJ Bible bit by bit and discussing. For handicrafts he is learning to thread yarn through plastic canvas to make ornaments. As for life skills, he is learning to set the table, fold laundry, vacuum, load the dishwasher, feed his animals, etc. He actually keeps really busy and when he is not inside, he loves to play outside with Liam building roads and dams using bricks, rocks, pipes, and the garden hose. They come in completely covered with mud. Oh, to be a kid again, right!?

Pruning Time

Summer here in Prunetucky equates to pruning time! Caleb runs the saw and I drag the branches/debris to the burn pile out in the field. The kids had great fun with this this year. Aiden helped out a lot as he stacked logs into the wheelbarrow for firewood and helped me stack it by the shed. Then he and Liam took rides in the wheelbarrow back to the pruning site. The kids had a blast. Of course, mom and dad were exhausted after 2 days of this! Liam cracked us up when he independently placed his earplugs behind his ear (like you would a pencil) and said, "Ready, ma!" Wishing I had a picture of that! We spotted many oak apples (mutation of the oak caused by gall wasp larva). My kids love cracking these (and the oak marbles) open to find the baby wasps! Good times...who needs Disneyland, right!?!

Harvest Time

Been enjoying snap peas and carrots at our dinner table and harvesting them is one of Aiden and Liam's favorite activities! Liam loves to point out the new pumpkins, "Ook, ma - punkin!"

Day at the Beach

Took the kids to Lover's Point on a sweltering day in Prunedale and it was pleasant and almost warm in PG! The kids loved building and collecting. Aiden organized a very nice seaweed collection that he and Liam pieced together. Budding naturalists! After watching surfers riding the waves Aiden now wants to surf!