Showing posts with label life lessons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life lessons. Show all posts
8/23/11
Well, Now I Know . . .
that Princess M is allergic to fish. She's had it before - and always spits it out. We always require them to eat at least a bite of everything though. She's never had a reaction. Tonight, however, was different. She broke out in welts and her lower lip swelled up. She started itching her face like crazy. Her nose was stuffed and runny at the same time, and her eyes were so swollen shut she looked Asian. So we made a trip to Urgent Care and now she's flying high from an Epi pen shot and Prednisone. Poor thing - but she was none the worse. She was laughing and silly even while trying to itch her skin off. And Princess L is now very jealous that her little sister no longer has to eat fish.
8/18/11
When You Just Don't Understand
This has been a tough week. We had a funeral for one great-grandmother. The other great-grandmother suffered a badly shattered broken leg and high risk surgery. Princess L has been under the weather for three days. We've had some difficult issues going on in our family. And just tonight I learned some shocking news that makes me want to shout "Why God?! It's not fair, God! What are you thinking, God?"
For me, when I just don't understand, all I seem to be able to do is cling to that which I know from my experience. I'm beginning to think, however, that it is the clinging to what I know through experience that is keeping me from growing. If God were in a nice neat box, and if His plans lined up with mine, and if I were faithful to that which I know I ought to do - perhaps I would understand. But God cannot be contained, and His plans are beyond understanding, and I can never be faithful enough. So I am left with my prayers and questions, and instead of clinging to my experience, I will cling to the Truth - the Word of God. And His promises are new every morning, and His plans are to prosper me (and my family and friends) and not to harm us, and He is the same yesterday as He was today and will be tomorrow. The LORD giveth, and the LORD taketh away. Blessed be the LORD!
For me, when I just don't understand, all I seem to be able to do is cling to that which I know from my experience. I'm beginning to think, however, that it is the clinging to what I know through experience that is keeping me from growing. If God were in a nice neat box, and if His plans lined up with mine, and if I were faithful to that which I know I ought to do - perhaps I would understand. But God cannot be contained, and His plans are beyond understanding, and I can never be faithful enough. So I am left with my prayers and questions, and instead of clinging to my experience, I will cling to the Truth - the Word of God. And His promises are new every morning, and His plans are to prosper me (and my family and friends) and not to harm us, and He is the same yesterday as He was today and will be tomorrow. The LORD giveth, and the LORD taketh away. Blessed be the LORD!
6/30/11
Entrepreneurship
What can we do to teach this to our kids? Wait until you have a day that is 95 degrees with a heat index reading of 105. Then let them have a lemonade stand with the neighbor kid.
5/28/11
What I've Learned From 3 Years of Tapestry of Grace
I just finished my third year of TOG. I did year one during the 2008/2009 school year. Princess E was UG, Princess S was LG (though she did read many things on her own), Princess L was three turning four and Princess M was one year old. I only glanced at the Teacher's Notes most week, preferring to get what I needed to know from reading many of the girls books a week before they did. It was just more interesting and easier that way. We did maps the easy way - I gave them the teacher map and they copied in the answers. They didn't color the maps unless it was necessary for understanding. We did several cookie dough maps, several hands on projects and that was all I could handle. During the 2009/2010 year, I started Princess L in preschool (which was really MFW K done over two weeks per lesson) and that made me busier. We did year two. The big changes were few. We added in The Story of the World, which I purchased the audio CDs for and we listened to them over lunch. Because I was busier with Princess L, Princess S did the LG reading on her own. Princess E did three units at the UG level and then transitioned to some D level work that last unit. We did a few hands on projects, not as many as I would have liked, and called it good. I began to see how unprepared Princess E was for the D level. I began to see some skills that needed to be built up.
For the 2010/2011 year, I decided to skip year three in order to join a TOG co-op that was a half hour away. Princess E did full time D level, Princess S did UG level work, and though I intended to do some LG with Princess L, I just didn't have time. Princess L did MFW 1st Grade. Princess E and I struggled, all year long, with the Socratic Discussions that are done at the D level. She fought the work load - whining that she couldn't find the answers in her reading and not reading for understanding but reading to get Mom off my back and have her free time. I grew weary of the argument. Needless to say, I realize that I've got some more work to do in order to get Princess S ready to transition to D in another year.
Next year we will again be doing year one. Both Princess E and Princess S seem to remember many of the facts they learned the first year. Actually, I'm kind of surprised by that. It tells me that they were probably reading and understanding more than they let on. One thing I did then, that I am planning to continue now, is something I learned from MFW. That is the concept of the book basket. When I went to the library to pick up the books I had reserved, I would look at the call numbers and go to those sections. I would pick up other books in those sections that looked interesting. Then I kept them in the library basket. I didn't assign those books, but inevitably, the girls would pick them up and read them. I think the majority of their learning came from the reading they didn't have to do. But, since the books had the facts that were deemed important on the Threads pages, I was fine with that.
Here are some of my learned strategies. First, the LG level is all about the fun. I'm planning to make sure I get to the History Core book each week. I plan to read it with Princess L and have her narrate back to me - a la Charlotte Mason - and do one of the LG Response Pages for the book. I have the History Scribe books, and I will pick out one or two that go with the threads for the week to have her copy and draw a picture for. If I have the History In Depth book, or if it looks interesting to me and our library has it, I may add that in if we have a lighter week. I want to make sure to get in at least one hands on project every other week with Princess L and Princess M. And instead of doing the paper maps at this stage, we're going to do one cookie dough map per unit. I also have a map skills workbook that I purchased from Sam's Club years ago that I will be using with Princess L.
Second, for Princess S, this will be her last year at the UG level. I have identified some skills that I want to build up so that she is able to transition to the D level by the end of the year. I plan to have her do a KWO - a la IEW - for her History Core book each week. She is going to fight this - but I think that it is a skill that will help her to find the important facts in her reading. She has had great trouble with that this past year. She will narrate from her KWO what she has learned. For the History In Depth books, I will not require the KWO, but I will require her to narrate the book to me, and complete some type of response page. I will be using the History Scribe pages for her as well, more for the fact that she needs the handwriting practice, but she might as well practice on something that has meaning. I am considering having her do some of the D level literature books. She certainly can read at that level, and I think she would have an easier time transitioning in this area than learning to do the AQ/TQ questions and discussions. That would give us less to have to deal with next year. I won't have her do all of them, but I will have her do at least two D level books per unit.
For Princess E, this will be her second full year at the D level. Next year, she will be doing the LLC for her history discussion. For the moment, I am planning on being one week ahead of the LLC for our reading. That way she is assured of getting her reading done. We run our TOG week from Friday to Thursday. Her online discussion day will be Wednesday. So she will have time on the weekend to catch up on anything that she is missing. If that proves to difficult for her, we can switch things up easily. I will be requiring her to do a KWO for her History Core as well. She will have to read the History In Depth, as there are often AQ/TQ questions from those as well. I'm debating whether to require the KWO for that as well, or just to have her narrate them to me. I will have her turn in her written AQ/TQs to me and look them over. She usually does these on her netbook as she can type much faster than she can handwrite. She won't have to do any copywork, but I will be adding in some dictation for both my elder princesses, as I have determined that their ability to listen and put down what they heard on paper is sorely lacking.
I have come to the conclusion that Charlotte Mason's idea of Reading, Narrating, Copywork and Dictation are all skills that my eldest two have been lacking. We are going to use her ideas at a much higher level next year. And I know how to focus my efforts with my little two in the future.
I've come to embrace the idea that TOG is a smorgasbord. There is so much there, but I just don't have time to do it all. I need to use the TOG materials as a springboard to build up the skills that my kids need, and how I use it will be determined by what skills they need. I also will worry a lot less about getting every thing in at the early years, and even with my older two, and instead focus on the Threads pages. If they can understand the two or three concepts I think are most important, I'll call it good. I'll worry less about whether we've completed all the SAPs we can, or whether we've read every book. Instead, I'm going to focus on their listening skills, and their ability to comprehend what they read and communicate it back to others.
For the 2010/2011 year, I decided to skip year three in order to join a TOG co-op that was a half hour away. Princess E did full time D level, Princess S did UG level work, and though I intended to do some LG with Princess L, I just didn't have time. Princess L did MFW 1st Grade. Princess E and I struggled, all year long, with the Socratic Discussions that are done at the D level. She fought the work load - whining that she couldn't find the answers in her reading and not reading for understanding but reading to get Mom off my back and have her free time. I grew weary of the argument. Needless to say, I realize that I've got some more work to do in order to get Princess S ready to transition to D in another year.
Next year we will again be doing year one. Both Princess E and Princess S seem to remember many of the facts they learned the first year. Actually, I'm kind of surprised by that. It tells me that they were probably reading and understanding more than they let on. One thing I did then, that I am planning to continue now, is something I learned from MFW. That is the concept of the book basket. When I went to the library to pick up the books I had reserved, I would look at the call numbers and go to those sections. I would pick up other books in those sections that looked interesting. Then I kept them in the library basket. I didn't assign those books, but inevitably, the girls would pick them up and read them. I think the majority of their learning came from the reading they didn't have to do. But, since the books had the facts that were deemed important on the Threads pages, I was fine with that.
Here are some of my learned strategies. First, the LG level is all about the fun. I'm planning to make sure I get to the History Core book each week. I plan to read it with Princess L and have her narrate back to me - a la Charlotte Mason - and do one of the LG Response Pages for the book. I have the History Scribe books, and I will pick out one or two that go with the threads for the week to have her copy and draw a picture for. If I have the History In Depth book, or if it looks interesting to me and our library has it, I may add that in if we have a lighter week. I want to make sure to get in at least one hands on project every other week with Princess L and Princess M. And instead of doing the paper maps at this stage, we're going to do one cookie dough map per unit. I also have a map skills workbook that I purchased from Sam's Club years ago that I will be using with Princess L.
Second, for Princess S, this will be her last year at the UG level. I have identified some skills that I want to build up so that she is able to transition to the D level by the end of the year. I plan to have her do a KWO - a la IEW - for her History Core book each week. She is going to fight this - but I think that it is a skill that will help her to find the important facts in her reading. She has had great trouble with that this past year. She will narrate from her KWO what she has learned. For the History In Depth books, I will not require the KWO, but I will require her to narrate the book to me, and complete some type of response page. I will be using the History Scribe pages for her as well, more for the fact that she needs the handwriting practice, but she might as well practice on something that has meaning. I am considering having her do some of the D level literature books. She certainly can read at that level, and I think she would have an easier time transitioning in this area than learning to do the AQ/TQ questions and discussions. That would give us less to have to deal with next year. I won't have her do all of them, but I will have her do at least two D level books per unit.
For Princess E, this will be her second full year at the D level. Next year, she will be doing the LLC for her history discussion. For the moment, I am planning on being one week ahead of the LLC for our reading. That way she is assured of getting her reading done. We run our TOG week from Friday to Thursday. Her online discussion day will be Wednesday. So she will have time on the weekend to catch up on anything that she is missing. If that proves to difficult for her, we can switch things up easily. I will be requiring her to do a KWO for her History Core as well. She will have to read the History In Depth, as there are often AQ/TQ questions from those as well. I'm debating whether to require the KWO for that as well, or just to have her narrate them to me. I will have her turn in her written AQ/TQs to me and look them over. She usually does these on her netbook as she can type much faster than she can handwrite. She won't have to do any copywork, but I will be adding in some dictation for both my elder princesses, as I have determined that their ability to listen and put down what they heard on paper is sorely lacking.
I have come to the conclusion that Charlotte Mason's idea of Reading, Narrating, Copywork and Dictation are all skills that my eldest two have been lacking. We are going to use her ideas at a much higher level next year. And I know how to focus my efforts with my little two in the future.
I've come to embrace the idea that TOG is a smorgasbord. There is so much there, but I just don't have time to do it all. I need to use the TOG materials as a springboard to build up the skills that my kids need, and how I use it will be determined by what skills they need. I also will worry a lot less about getting every thing in at the early years, and even with my older two, and instead focus on the Threads pages. If they can understand the two or three concepts I think are most important, I'll call it good. I'll worry less about whether we've completed all the SAPs we can, or whether we've read every book. Instead, I'm going to focus on their listening skills, and their ability to comprehend what they read and communicate it back to others.
4/29/11
TOG Year 4 Week 33
This week we learned about the eight years of life during Clinton's presidency. One thing that I noticed is that, although I read through the teacher's notes that TOG provides, I really didn't have any "I didn't know that" moments like I have in the past. Perhaps that is because these were the years that I really started paying attention to what was going on in the world and made a serious attempt to understand it. These were the years when I graduated from college, looked for my first full time job, worked a full time job (and a part time job), lived completely at my own expense for the first time, got married and had my first child. All the while, I began to realize that the sheltered little world I had created for myself really didn't exist. So, I was forced to grow up, become an adult, and decide once and for all if the things my parents, schooling, church and personal faith taught me were true. Amazing that the things I learned from my parents and from the Bible have been the thing that were true and have served me the best. (I know you always said it would be true, Mom. You were right!)
Princess E - 6th Grade - Dialectic
Latin for Children Primer A: Finishing lesson 32 - just the last page of the book.
Math-U-See Epsilon: Working on lesson 8 - this is adding more than one set of fractions - and she's had a time with it. We've done the first three worksheets, but I'm not satisfied that she knows yet what she's doing. She knows the right steps, but is either being very careless, or just working too fast.
IEW: We are going to take a break from this to finish our TOG studies, then take the last two weeks of May to finish our IEW, MCT and science.
Foundations 1: Finish IN-
MCT Language Arts: See IEW above
Practice Island: Sentence 81-85
McCrabbs: We have now finished book A. We will not start book B until next fall.
Science: See IEW above
TOG Yr4 Wk33: Timeline; SAPs; AQ/TQs; Reading - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Homeland: The Illustrated History of Israel; Idiot's Guide; Joni: An Unforgettable Story; Understanding Jewish Holidays and Customs. Read Aloud - none.
Princess S - 4th Grade - UG
Growing With Grammar 4: Chapter 7.11-8.1
Math-U-See Delta: Finish lesson 7
IEW, MCT Language Arts, McCrabbs and Science: same as above
TOG Yr4 Wk32: Quizlet vocab; important people; SAPs; Reading - All the People; Countries of the Middle East; The 19902: From the Persian Gulf to Y2K; The Indian in the Cupboard. Read Aloud - same as above.
Princess L - K - LG
MFW First Grade: Lessons 98-102.
Math-U-See Alpha: Continue lesson 7 +2 - We added in the online drill at Math-U-See. The other thing we are going to start is Calculadder. I forgot I had a CD with the first three books on it. So far, she has just done the first level which is writing the numbers 0-9 ten times each, correctly, in under two minutes.
Explode the Code Book Two: Lesson 8
Princess M - PreTOGger
This little one is so excited to become a Cubbie next year. We have one week of Awana yet, and her big sisters are telling her that she can consider herself a Cubbie after the closing ceremonies. And of course, they are practicing being a Cubbie with her. She is going to show up in September on the first day knowing the song, the key verse and the verses for the brochure.
Princess E - 6th Grade - Dialectic
Latin for Children Primer A: Finishing lesson 32 - just the last page of the book.
Math-U-See Epsilon: Working on lesson 8 - this is adding more than one set of fractions - and she's had a time with it. We've done the first three worksheets, but I'm not satisfied that she knows yet what she's doing. She knows the right steps, but is either being very careless, or just working too fast.
IEW: We are going to take a break from this to finish our TOG studies, then take the last two weeks of May to finish our IEW, MCT and science.
Foundations 1: Finish IN-
MCT Language Arts: See IEW above
Practice Island: Sentence 81-85
McCrabbs: We have now finished book A. We will not start book B until next fall.
Science: See IEW above
TOG Yr4 Wk33: Timeline; SAPs; AQ/TQs; Reading - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Homeland: The Illustrated History of Israel; Idiot's Guide; Joni: An Unforgettable Story; Understanding Jewish Holidays and Customs. Read Aloud - none.
Princess S - 4th Grade - UG
Growing With Grammar 4: Chapter 7.11-8.1
Math-U-See Delta: Finish lesson 7
IEW, MCT Language Arts, McCrabbs and Science: same as above
TOG Yr4 Wk32: Quizlet vocab; important people; SAPs; Reading - All the People; Countries of the Middle East; The 19902: From the Persian Gulf to Y2K; The Indian in the Cupboard. Read Aloud - same as above.
Princess L - K - LG
MFW First Grade: Lessons 98-102.
Math-U-See Alpha: Continue lesson 7 +2 - We added in the online drill at Math-U-See. The other thing we are going to start is Calculadder. I forgot I had a CD with the first three books on it. So far, she has just done the first level which is writing the numbers 0-9 ten times each, correctly, in under two minutes.
Explode the Code Book Two: Lesson 8
Princess M - PreTOGger
This little one is so excited to become a Cubbie next year. We have one week of Awana yet, and her big sisters are telling her that she can consider herself a Cubbie after the closing ceremonies. And of course, they are practicing being a Cubbie with her. She is going to show up in September on the first day knowing the song, the key verse and the verses for the brochure.
3/5/11
St. Stephan's Men's Shelter Meals
Every first Saturday of the month, our family goes to the Rohr's house. They graciously open their home to a host of families who come together to prepare a meal to serve and goodie bags to distribute to the men at St. Stephan's Men's Shelter in Minneapolis. This is such a fun way to teach our girls about serving the LORD by serving others. And we get to have such fun doing it! These pictures were taken by my friend, Tara. I'm so glad she sent them to me so that I can share them all.
Some of you might notice the girls from Our Family for His Glory. Princess L was so glad that her friends were able to join her. If you haven't checked out Jessica's blog, be sure to click over there.
Some of you might notice the girls from Our Family for His Glory. Princess L was so glad that her friends were able to join her. If you haven't checked out Jessica's blog, be sure to click over there.
12/11/10
Thinking Out Loud
You really are happy that you only have a 20 year old 3HP snow blower that was given to you. Because if you didn't have it then you'd be shoveling all that snow.
You really are happy that you have sidewalks that must have the snow removed via city ordinance. Because if you didn't then the kids wouldn't have anywhere to ride their bikes or walk safely.
You really are happy that the radio stations keep playing the song "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" over and over and over. Because if they didn't then you'd have to listen to "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch!" played over and over and over.
(Just trying to be a little bit Pollyannaish on our extremely snowy day. Going to go out to rid the driveway and sidewalks for the second time - even though the snow isn't even close to stopping. Because if I don't then it will take me even longer when I get up at 1am to do it so that the hubby can go out into the unplowed streets to deliver the newspaper to a bunch of people who don't seem to care that we have the snowstorm of the decade they just need their newspaper delivered by 6:30 am on a Sunday morning.)
You really are happy that you have sidewalks that must have the snow removed via city ordinance. Because if you didn't then the kids wouldn't have anywhere to ride their bikes or walk safely.
You really are happy that the radio stations keep playing the song "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" over and over and over. Because if they didn't then you'd have to listen to "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch!" played over and over and over.
(Just trying to be a little bit Pollyannaish on our extremely snowy day. Going to go out to rid the driveway and sidewalks for the second time - even though the snow isn't even close to stopping. Because if I don't then it will take me even longer when I get up at 1am to do it so that the hubby can go out into the unplowed streets to deliver the newspaper to a bunch of people who don't seem to care that we have the snowstorm of the decade they just need their newspaper delivered by 6:30 am on a Sunday morning.)
10/13/10
Rest in Peace Peanut
Tonight, Princess S discovered that her beloved hamster, Peanut, had ended her stay with us. She found her lying on her side in her cage next to her food dish. Princess S is our animal lover and this is hitting her very hard. Princess E's hamster, Sweet Pea, seems to be fine. We cannot see anything that would have caused it, but small rodents, I imagine, are a bit touchy. We will be holding a "funeral" for her tomorrow morning, but I have a feeling it is going to be a long night.
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