Maria is not dressed up because she decided she was too old for it this year. She went along to help with the little ones, though.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
In case you were wondering...
...my kids did finally get to go trick-or-treating last night :)
Maria is not dressed up because she decided she was too old for it this year. She went along to help with the little ones, though.
Maria is not dressed up because she decided she was too old for it this year. She went along to help with the little ones, though.
Posted with Blogsy
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Library Saturday
We've been going to the library on Saturdays pretty regularly now. The kids love it! Our library doesn't have the greatest selection, but we are able to get many books through inter-library loan. We definitely take advantage of it. I recently taught the 3 older kids how to reserve books from our library on the computer so they can do their own research. The librarians actually recognize us when we walk in. We're the family with a bunch of kids that always has dozens of books on hold behind their desk. We walked in today and librarian saw us, and without me saying a word, said, "I'll go get your books." :).
We do take time to hang out in the children's section for as long as Giuseppe can stay calm. Here are a few pictures from our trip to the library today.
*******************************************
NaNoWriMo word count update:
Maria: 2108 - Cati: 715 - Matteo: 453
We do take time to hang out in the children's section for as long as Giuseppe can stay calm. Here are a few pictures from our trip to the library today.
 |
| 3 older kids reading |
 |
| Giuseppe looking for the best book to throw |
 |
| Matteo reading to Chiara |
Our library has these giant bears in the children's section that Elena LOVES! She sits them at a table and reads them stories :).
 |
| Elena reading to the bears |
NaNoWriMo word count update:
Maria: 2108 - Cati: 715 - Matteo: 453
Friday, November 2, 2012
7 Quick Takes, Vol. 1
It turns out that going trick-or-treating during a diminishing hurricane sounded unpleasant to most people around here. Go figure! So, the city has rescheduled it for this Saturday. It's still supposed to be chilly, but not raining!
I've enjoyed seeing lots of pictures of family and friends dressed up for Halloween! Such creative people I'm surrounded with! Maybe it'll rub off on me. By far, my favorite had to be my little nephew, the banana, whose costume was inspired by his older cousin's love of bad knock-knock jokes when he was 3 :)
 |
| Chiara checking on her reading progress |
Chairs is doing so well with her reading! She's reading short vowel words with consonant blends and diagrams now. She's getting close to the end of Level 1 of her reading program. I caught her checking on her progress chart where she puts a sticker after completing each lesson.
It's always exciting to see the kids finally begin reading! It's hard work for them (and helps me practice a lot of patience!). A whole new world opens up for them when they can read!
 |
| Giuseppe tries to use the pencil sharpener |
Elena just crawled into my lap and said, "Can you smell my piggies? I need to take a bath."
For the record, she had a bath last night, and her piggies smell fine. I think it's time for a story instead.
I love the Blogsy app that let's me blog from my iPad. It's even easier than blogging from my computer! I can drag photos from my iPad photos right into the post. It seems to be a very well-done app. I would love to be able to do everything from my iPad. It's so portable and easy to use. I just need to find a good word processing app that uses Dropbox.
NaNoWriMo word count update:
Maria: 1674 - Cati: 573 - Matteo: 365
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
NaNoWriMo
First things first! Happy All Saint's Day!! Today is the day when we especially remember that our family is much, much bigger than those we see on earth. We remember those who have made the same journey we are making now, good times and difficult times, and are now enjoying eternity with God in Heaven. We remember our favorite saints who have been canonized by the Church and those saints known only by those around them who are not known to the whole Church. We thank them for their examples and their prayers, and ask them to continue praying for us. As our priest at Mass this morning reminded us, the only thing standing in the way of us becoming saints also is ourselves! We know what is necessary to become saints, we just have to do it!!
November 1st marks another event for us this year: NaNoWriMo! No, that's not a typo. NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writer's Month (and it's much more fun to say!). It is a program for adults and young writers encouraging them to write a first draft of a novel in a month. At the end of the month, you get a great feeling of accomplishment for the big task you completed and a coupon code for a few free copies of your novel in paperback.
Cati often writes stories in her free time, so when I heard about this, I asked her if she was interested. Not only did Cati say yes, but Maria and Matteo said they wanted to do it, too. After talking with some experience participants (a.k.a. other homeschoolers who had done this for several years already) we set what we hope are reasonable word count goals for each one:
Maria: 6,000 (though, she says she actually wants to double this)
Cati: 5,000
Matteo: 1000
To put this in perspective, we looked up some word counts on the Internet of other popular novels. You might find this interesting:
War and Peace - 587,287 words
Gone with the Wind - 418,053 words (the longest book I've read, apparently)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - 76,944
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows - 198,227
Charlotte's Web - 31,938
Stuart Little - 18,841
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi - 5,896
I'm looking forward to reading the kids' stories! They have been working hard over the past few weeks plotting their stories, deciding on characters, conflicts, and themes. It's a wonderful opportunity for them to practice many writing skills and and to use literary elements that we've discussed. It's also a good chance to set a big goal and to then break down that goal into small pieces to help them accomplish it in the end. I can't wait to see how it all unfolds this month!
The kids were very excited to get started today! Here's a look at a couple of the writers hard at work! Matteo is not pictured because I didn't think of taking a picture until he was already done for the day :)
Today's word counts:
Matteo: 140 Cati: 277 Maria: 515
A pretty good start, I think! I'll try to update these totals regularly.
When talking with other moms about NaNoWriMo, I discovered that many of them join their kids in this novel-writing challenge. I don't have the time to jump into such an endeavor, but I found out about a few spin-off ideas similar to this: take a photo everyday, do an art project/drawing/painting everyday, and post to your BLOG everyday. This last one hit me as a worthy challenge, since I know many family and friends miss seeing and hearing about the kids through this blog. So, I've made it my goal for the month to post something everyday! I can't imagine they will be posts as long as this one, but hopefully, I can manage SOMETHING!
And, so far, I'm beating the kids in word count for the month: 658 words in this post!
November 1st marks another event for us this year: NaNoWriMo! No, that's not a typo. NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writer's Month (and it's much more fun to say!). It is a program for adults and young writers encouraging them to write a first draft of a novel in a month. At the end of the month, you get a great feeling of accomplishment for the big task you completed and a coupon code for a few free copies of your novel in paperback.
Cati often writes stories in her free time, so when I heard about this, I asked her if she was interested. Not only did Cati say yes, but Maria and Matteo said they wanted to do it, too. After talking with some experience participants (a.k.a. other homeschoolers who had done this for several years already) we set what we hope are reasonable word count goals for each one:
Maria: 6,000 (though, she says she actually wants to double this)
Cati: 5,000
Matteo: 1000
To put this in perspective, we looked up some word counts on the Internet of other popular novels. You might find this interesting:
War and Peace - 587,287 words
Gone with the Wind - 418,053 words (the longest book I've read, apparently)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - 76,944
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows - 198,227
Charlotte's Web - 31,938
Stuart Little - 18,841
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi - 5,896
I'm looking forward to reading the kids' stories! They have been working hard over the past few weeks plotting their stories, deciding on characters, conflicts, and themes. It's a wonderful opportunity for them to practice many writing skills and and to use literary elements that we've discussed. It's also a good chance to set a big goal and to then break down that goal into small pieces to help them accomplish it in the end. I can't wait to see how it all unfolds this month!
The kids were very excited to get started today! Here's a look at a couple of the writers hard at work! Matteo is not pictured because I didn't think of taking a picture until he was already done for the day :)
 |
| Maria working hard on her first day of NaNoWriMo |
 |
| Cati typing away at her first NaNoWriMo novel |
Today's word counts:
Matteo: 140 Cati: 277 Maria: 515
A pretty good start, I think! I'll try to update these totals regularly.
When talking with other moms about NaNoWriMo, I discovered that many of them join their kids in this novel-writing challenge. I don't have the time to jump into such an endeavor, but I found out about a few spin-off ideas similar to this: take a photo everyday, do an art project/drawing/painting everyday, and post to your BLOG everyday. This last one hit me as a worthy challenge, since I know many family and friends miss seeing and hearing about the kids through this blog. So, I've made it my goal for the month to post something everyday! I can't imagine they will be posts as long as this one, but hopefully, I can manage SOMETHING!
And, so far, I'm beating the kids in word count for the month: 658 words in this post!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Happy Halloween 2012
Happy Halloween!
Today's weather forecast: 70% chance of rain and snow in the morning, changing to all rain in the afternoon. Winds of 10-20 mph. High near 40. Low of 37.
Doesn't sound like pleasant Trick-or-Treating weather, does it? When we saw this forecast this past weekend, we decided to have a small family Halloween party at home on Sunday. The kids dressed up and came knocking at doors where Dany and I were waiting to hand out candy. We all had lots of fun (and we still got candy, so who can complain?)
A few weeks ago, Cati decided to study more about ancient Egypt and checked out a bunch of books at the library. The interest spread through the family and lead to costumes for Halloween this year that the kids (mainly Maria) made themselves!
Here is the picture from one of the books that inspired them:
We went to Joanne's and got supplies: 15 yards of muslin, fabric markers, and poster board, andthe kids Maria got to work!
Here are the kids dressed up, make-up and all! The girls were excited to experiment with make-up, but soon decided they didn't like it. They washed their faces soon afterwards.
Elena had no interest in being an Egyptian princess. She loves this blue princess dress we have that Cati was given many years ago!
No costume for Giuseppe, but who needs one with post-nap hair like this!
Today's weather forecast: 70% chance of rain and snow in the morning, changing to all rain in the afternoon. Winds of 10-20 mph. High near 40. Low of 37.
Doesn't sound like pleasant Trick-or-Treating weather, does it? When we saw this forecast this past weekend, we decided to have a small family Halloween party at home on Sunday. The kids dressed up and came knocking at doors where Dany and I were waiting to hand out candy. We all had lots of fun (and we still got candy, so who can complain?)
A few weeks ago, Cati decided to study more about ancient Egypt and checked out a bunch of books at the library. The interest spread through the family and lead to costumes for Halloween this year that the kids (mainly Maria) made themselves!
We went to Joanne's and got supplies: 15 yards of muslin, fabric markers, and poster board, and
 |
| Making a model for the paper mâché crown |
 |
| Adding paper mâché layers |
 |
| Fitting the Pharaoh's crown |
Here are the kids dressed up, make-up and all! The girls were excited to experiment with make-up, but soon decided they didn't like it. They washed their faces soon afterwards.
 |
| The Pharaoh |
 |
| An Egyptian princess |
 |
| Another princess |
 |
| Group photo with scary faces! |
 |
| Enjoying the treats! |
Sunday, September 16, 2012
First 3 Weeks of School
I posted briefly a week or so ago about how well school is going for us so far. Everything is still going very well. Things are getting even better for me! I'm figuring out how to get more grading done during the day and I got next week's assignments planned by Friday night this week!! So, that means I have some time this afternoon to show you some pictures of the kids' work.
Here are just a few things that Maria has done. I photograph much less of her things than anyone else. She does a lot of work, but I guess it's just not as "cute" as the younger ones, so it doesn't occur to me to take pictures. I did post a poem on Friday that she wrote for a spelling assignment.
This is a sketch Maria did of Mary based on the picture below it. We try to do art, either instruction or imitation (this is imitation) 30 minutes per day after supper is cleaned up in the evenings.
Here is a picture of Maria's first science experiment, or model, rather, of this school year. She is studying Earth Science this year. This is a cross-section of clay that she took core samples of to see if she could determine the different layers.
And here is her report on this model.
On to Cati...
This is some map work she did...
Cati's first science "experiment" of the year was somewhat disappointing to her because it didn't involve working with clay like Maria, or planting flowers like Matteo (see below), but rather it was graphing. She is studying ecology for the first part of this year and she had to graph the average rainfall and temperatures of a rainforest and here. It was great practice in presenting and evaluating results, but that's hard to appreciate as a 9-year-old :)
Cati's primary grammar program for this year is "Fix-it Grammar" by IEW. She reads a paragraph from a story 4 days per week and finds errors (spelling, punctuation, etc) and evaluates the use of good verbs, adjectives and adverbs that make for interesting writing. She also finds the definition of one word per day. Then she writes a correct copy of the paragraph in her notebook. She really enjoys it, except for the copying part :)
It has been really great because it is available as a PDF download, so she can do the editing on my iPad using the Notability app ($0.99). Here is a screenshot of her first week of work.
Here is some more science work from Cati. At the end of each chapter, I have Cati draw a picture as a summary, in addition to answering some questions. Here is a picture of an ecosystem that shows some of her vocabulary from the chapter: community, environment, population, abiotic, biotic, niche, and habitat. I always love her drawings :)
Cati did get to do something fun for science this week. She made a model of the earth showing how ground water collects into lakes.
In literature this year we are using "Teaching the Classics" (by IEW) to study literature. For this first month we are working altogether reading some children's stories while learning about different aspects of literature analysis. So far we have read "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to learn about literary devices like alliteration, onomatopoeia, imagery, and others. Then we read "The Adventures of Peter Rabbit" to learn about plot and conflict. We write out the plot on a chart like this, and while we're learning this altogether, we are using that handy Notability app on my iPad again to do it. Once they start using this for their own books, I'll have them write it out on their own charts. The third story that we read and are still discussing is "Rikki-Tikki Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling. We are using it to study setting.
Since this process of really analyzing literature takes a while, I only plan on the kids delving into 3 or 4 books of their own this way during the year. They will also choose some other books to read from a list I've compiled and then journal about. They will make a page like this (this is Cati's):
It will include the title and author of the book, the date read, a picture of the cover, a summary, and a rating based on a system of their choosing. You can see what Cati chose here: a different color star for what she thought of the book ranging from "best" to "worst".
Cati's just so cute with that wild hair and funny face, that she deserves another picture :)
Onto Matteo...
As I mentioned earlier, Matteo got to plant some flowers for his first science protect of the year. He was studying ecosystems and how different elements work together. By removing one element of the system, you can hurt the living parts of the system. We intended to remove light from the system by leaving one plant outside and one in a dark cupboard for 4 days. Well, the lack of light didn't seem to affect this plant, but since we didn't cover the plants with plastic wrap as we were supposed to, the one outside became wilted while the one in the cupboard stayed damp. So we actually removed water from the system. Our mistake turned out to be a good lesson!
Here's the drawing he made of his flower and the layers of rock, sand, and soil that he planted them in.
Here is his sample literature journal page that I wrote about earlier. I'll try to remember to post a picture of an actual journal entry once they do one. Right now we're spending all of our literature time working through the elements of literature analysis so that they can move onto their own grade-appropriate books for analysis. They are keeping a record of the books they are reading.
Here is Matteo studying Latin.
Here he is practicing his math facts with the XtraMath site (free!). He has mastered addition and subtraction facts and is working on multiplication now.
For math lessons, I used to use a lap-sized dry erase board, but I always worried about the kids writing on themselves with the dry erase marker and making a permanent mark on their clothes. This year we are using this (free!) chalkboard app on my iPad (can you tell we're making good use of the iPad this year?). Completely mess-free!! Here are a couple of screenshots from a math lesson with Matteo.
I don't have a picture, but another thing I use my iPad for is spelling practice. We use the "A+ Test" app. I type in and read their weekly words into it and it helps them practice their words once a week. For their spelling tests each week, they have to write sentences from dictation that test the current lesson's words and reviews old words. For this I read their sentences into my Voice Memo app on my phone that they can listen to. This allows them to be independent for this work instead of having to wait for me to read their sentences to them.
Well, there's a glimpse of our first 3 weeks of school. I'm planning a post soon (maybe tonight??) of how the younger 3 stay busy during the school day.
Here are just a few things that Maria has done. I photograph much less of her things than anyone else. She does a lot of work, but I guess it's just not as "cute" as the younger ones, so it doesn't occur to me to take pictures. I did post a poem on Friday that she wrote for a spelling assignment.
This is a sketch Maria did of Mary based on the picture below it. We try to do art, either instruction or imitation (this is imitation) 30 minutes per day after supper is cleaned up in the evenings.
Here is a picture of Maria's first science experiment, or model, rather, of this school year. She is studying Earth Science this year. This is a cross-section of clay that she took core samples of to see if she could determine the different layers.
And here is her report on this model.
On to Cati...
This is some map work she did...
Cati's first science "experiment" of the year was somewhat disappointing to her because it didn't involve working with clay like Maria, or planting flowers like Matteo (see below), but rather it was graphing. She is studying ecology for the first part of this year and she had to graph the average rainfall and temperatures of a rainforest and here. It was great practice in presenting and evaluating results, but that's hard to appreciate as a 9-year-old :)
She did a great job, though!
Cati's primary grammar program for this year is "Fix-it Grammar" by IEW. She reads a paragraph from a story 4 days per week and finds errors (spelling, punctuation, etc) and evaluates the use of good verbs, adjectives and adverbs that make for interesting writing. She also finds the definition of one word per day. Then she writes a correct copy of the paragraph in her notebook. She really enjoys it, except for the copying part :)
It has been really great because it is available as a PDF download, so she can do the editing on my iPad using the Notability app ($0.99). Here is a screenshot of her first week of work.
Here is some more science work from Cati. At the end of each chapter, I have Cati draw a picture as a summary, in addition to answering some questions. Here is a picture of an ecosystem that shows some of her vocabulary from the chapter: community, environment, population, abiotic, biotic, niche, and habitat. I always love her drawings :)
Cati did get to do something fun for science this week. She made a model of the earth showing how ground water collects into lakes.
In literature this year we are using "Teaching the Classics" (by IEW) to study literature. For this first month we are working altogether reading some children's stories while learning about different aspects of literature analysis. So far we have read "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to learn about literary devices like alliteration, onomatopoeia, imagery, and others. Then we read "The Adventures of Peter Rabbit" to learn about plot and conflict. We write out the plot on a chart like this, and while we're learning this altogether, we are using that handy Notability app on my iPad again to do it. Once they start using this for their own books, I'll have them write it out on their own charts. The third story that we read and are still discussing is "Rikki-Tikki Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling. We are using it to study setting.
Since this process of really analyzing literature takes a while, I only plan on the kids delving into 3 or 4 books of their own this way during the year. They will also choose some other books to read from a list I've compiled and then journal about. They will make a page like this (this is Cati's):
It will include the title and author of the book, the date read, a picture of the cover, a summary, and a rating based on a system of their choosing. You can see what Cati chose here: a different color star for what she thought of the book ranging from "best" to "worst".
Cati's just so cute with that wild hair and funny face, that she deserves another picture :)
Onto Matteo...
As I mentioned earlier, Matteo got to plant some flowers for his first science protect of the year. He was studying ecosystems and how different elements work together. By removing one element of the system, you can hurt the living parts of the system. We intended to remove light from the system by leaving one plant outside and one in a dark cupboard for 4 days. Well, the lack of light didn't seem to affect this plant, but since we didn't cover the plants with plastic wrap as we were supposed to, the one outside became wilted while the one in the cupboard stayed damp. So we actually removed water from the system. Our mistake turned out to be a good lesson!
Here's the drawing he made of his flower and the layers of rock, sand, and soil that he planted them in.
Here is his sample literature journal page that I wrote about earlier. I'll try to remember to post a picture of an actual journal entry once they do one. Right now we're spending all of our literature time working through the elements of literature analysis so that they can move onto their own grade-appropriate books for analysis. They are keeping a record of the books they are reading.
Here is Matteo studying Latin.
Here he is practicing his math facts with the XtraMath site (free!). He has mastered addition and subtraction facts and is working on multiplication now.
For math lessons, I used to use a lap-sized dry erase board, but I always worried about the kids writing on themselves with the dry erase marker and making a permanent mark on their clothes. This year we are using this (free!) chalkboard app on my iPad (can you tell we're making good use of the iPad this year?). Completely mess-free!! Here are a couple of screenshots from a math lesson with Matteo.
I don't have a picture, but another thing I use my iPad for is spelling practice. We use the "A+ Test" app. I type in and read their weekly words into it and it helps them practice their words once a week. For their spelling tests each week, they have to write sentences from dictation that test the current lesson's words and reviews old words. For this I read their sentences into my Voice Memo app on my phone that they can listen to. This allows them to be independent for this work instead of having to wait for me to read their sentences to them.
Well, there's a glimpse of our first 3 weeks of school. I'm planning a post soon (maybe tonight??) of how the younger 3 stay busy during the school day.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Maria's Spelling Assignment
On Fridays for spelling, Maria blindly chooses phrases from a group and puts them together to make a sentence that becomes a writing assignment in which she is supposed to use as many spelling words from this week as possible. Today she turned it into a poem, and I like it so much that I have to share!
Assignment: Write a
silly short story about a bossy burglar who lives in a tree fort.
Once
there was a burglar who lived in seclusion
When
he saw a tree fort, he reached a conclusion
He
would live there
Even
when the trees laid siege to conquer him
And
their cannons made such a din
He
would live there
Even
on the occasion
That
it was nearly impossible to stop their invasion
He
would live there.
Even
when the trees reached a decision
That
they should make trouble without supervision
He
would live there
Even
when there was an explosion
That
made a huge erosion
He
would live there.
So
he defeated the trees in a fight
And
bossed them around all day and all night
And
that is my version
Of
the decision
Of
the burglar that lived in seclusion
By Maria E Arcara
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)