The Big Buy

Every year around this time we get a tax refund, and it's time once again to make our big homeschool purchase.  The project of deciding what books and supplies we need for the coming school year has been consuming all of my spare time for the past week and more.  It was a little more work than usual; in the past I've mostly just ordered the next book in each of the series that I've liked over the years.  This year, though, I felt a need to make things more challenging and comprehensive for Primo, as he goes into 7th grade.  And after six years of trying to put together something on my own for science that I can be happy with, I'm going to cave and try a textbook-based curriculum for Primo.  I think I've almost settled on what we're getting (for all the boys and all the subjects) after *many, many hours* researching various curricula, previewing books through interlibrary loan, reading reviews, and taking stock of what we already have (and what sorts of things I buy and then find we never use-- that's right, I'm talking about you, art supplies).  This may change a bit, there's no hurry to order since we won't start our new school year until May 1st.  Here it is then, for anyone who is curious:

Math:
Singapore 5A/5B workbooks (Radish, he won't need them until early 2015 but I like to have everything I'll need for the next 12 months when I place my order)
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra Expanded Edition
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra: Zillions of Practice Problems (both of these for Primo)
Learning Wrap-Ups: Multiplication (Radish)

History and Geography:
History Odyssey- Early Modern (Level 2) (for Primo, but some of the literature units I'll use for Radish as well)
Yo, Millard Fillmore!
Yo, Sacramento!
The Little Man in the Map (these last three mostly for Radish, to work on memorization)

Science:
Holt Science And Technology, Life Science, Homeschool Package (Primo)
Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia (both)
Microscope Adventure! Unit Study (both)
World of the Microscope (both)
ScienceWiz DNA (kit, for both)
Bridges! (mostly Radish, although I think Primo won't be able to resist 'helping' with some of the projects and experiments)
spring scale (Radish, needs for Steck-Vaughn Science by the Grade, which we already own)

English:
Daily Grams 4th Grade (Radish)
Daily Grams 7th Grade (Primo)

Practical Arts:
Life Skills for Kids (Primo)

Art:
1-2-3 Draw People (Radish)

Philosophy:
Thank You For Arguing, Revised and Updated Edition (both)

Planning for High School and Beyond:
Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook (me)
College Without High School (Primo, very unschool-y but I want him to be exposed to these ideas)
Setting the Records Straight: How to Craft Homeschool Transcripts and Course Descriptions for College Admission and Scholarships (me)
Homeschooling the Teen Years (me, on the fence about this one because it's the same author as the Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook above, might be repetitive)

Snorzy, toddling at home:
water table
My Fairy Princess Palace (because I want it, and he'll want me to play with him, and this is the compromise we're going to come to-- I'll play with him, if we can play things that I like and am usually deprived of in my boy-centric world)

So there you have it, and that's what's been eating all my time lately.  (don't ask about the craft challenge, I had to let it slide this past week or go crazy! hoping to continue the sweater project as this week's 'craft')

Pyramid Bean Bags

I'm feeling a little more inspired around the craft challenge this week, since my lovely mother sent me a big box chock full of colorful, patterned fabric remnants from her stash, as well as a bunch of spools of colorful thread.  This week I used some of that bounty and made these pyramid bean bags, as a birthday present for Snorzy (I made a second set at the same time for a little friend, so each set has 5 bean bags in two different fabrics).  I found these on Pinterest as 'pattern weights', which would also be useful next time I sew something with a pattern since I hate pinning.



The very clear and easy tutorial is here, on a blog called Five Green Acres.  In order to close these up with the beans (I used split peas) inside, I had to use a blind stitch.  I have tried to do a blind stitch before, but this time I found a good tutorial here, at Positively Splendid (the directions are for a pillow, this was the same idea but in miniature), and really managed to do it well.  Next time we finish a box of tissues I'm going to convert the box into a little storage case/bean bag toss game to go with these.  Then I'll be all set with a handmade gift for Snorzy's birthday!  I hope he'll like them, I think he will if Radish's reaction is any indication-- he couldn't stop fooling around with these until I put them away.

Struggling in February

This time of year is the pits, every year at this time I get at least a little fed up with everything.  Many years I entertain the idea of sending the kids to school, in February, but come March I love homeschooling again and wouldn't dream of doing things any other way.
I'm trying to keep things a little bit light and fun over here...the boys are doing plenty of math and all the other core subjects, but I'm making sure I keep some lighter things injected into our school day-- for example, today we started with a Valentine-making workshop (which included lots of practice in negotiation and working together, and for Milo also the skill of finding an unknown zip code--so, not completely noneducational).
Another way we're keeping it interesting is by doing science experiments, like this one on crystals:

And later in the week we're going to view some videos on Khan Academy and Ted Ed (or is it Ed Ted? never can remember) about plate tectonics, earthquakes, Pangaea, and Fibonacci numbers.  I've been thinking about how to incorporate these online resources into our homeschool, and what I've hit on this week is that I'll have them do their usual books-and-papers work on these topics, and then add watching the videos (and, as always in our hs, writing and drawing about what they've learned) late in the week as enrichment.  Up until now I've resisted using videos in the boys' lessons, going with the Well-Trained Mind idea that learning from books is a different skill that should be acquired first.  However, some of the home educating moms whom I respect the most (Hi Jen S. and Ariel D.!) use Ted Ed (Ed Ted?) and Khan Academy videos with their kids, so I knew it was time to re-think this and see what using these could do for my family.
Craft Challenge news this week: well, this time of year really is getting me down, and my week was, once again, almost up without anything to show for it (craft-wise, that is).  So, last night on Primo's advice I grabbed my fabric scissors and a big bag of felt scraps, and made some shapes and animals for Snorzy's felt board.  Radish agrees with me that the baby would probably just eat the felt shapes right now, so this will be put away and likely show up next under the Christmas tree later this year (when Snorzy will be almost 2)

Next up: remind me to get around to the post that I've been meaning to write about learning styles, Radish, and multiplication.  Also, I'm going to try to do a more involved and interesting craft this week-- not needle felting yet as I don't have the supplies, but something engrossing and fun.

Pesky Inch

I wasn't feeling inspired about the craft challenge this week, so I decided to allow myself to use it as an incentive to finish something that had been plaguing me. While I was pregnant with Snorzy, and before I knew if I was having a boy or a girl, I bought a few skeins of really lovely Lorna's Laces yarn, rainbow colored. I started a sweater, knitting the back first, which had to be knit to 14 inches high. For awhile I was going along well, knitting two rows at a time, once or twice each day (any more and my hands hurt me). Somewhere along the line, though, I ran out of steam and put the project aside. It was a good thing I changed my mind about making it size 6 months to one year, as I originally intended. Thank goodness for smart knitting friends like Ariel, who suggested at the outset that I size the sweater up quite a bit (I ended up with the 3T size) both so that I could knit it slowly, and so that Tiny Baby (as I called Snorzy before I knew him) could wear it longer. The unfinished back panel has been dormant for months, while Snorzy himself is creeping up toward one year old. I just couldn't get myself to knit the last inch and a half of the panel. Here it is, about 12.5 inches, just needed a few more rows to hit 14 inches and allow me to put this dull plain knitting part aside to work on front panels, sleeves, etc.   Ten minutes of knitting interspersed with resting my hands and rolling a hot rice pack on them, I finally hit 14 inches and can move on to the more interesting parts of the project (this will be, incidentally, my first sweater). Now, where did I put my stitch holders? :)