Mission: Homeschool

There are as many ways to homeschool as there are homeschoolers. The flexibility that is possible is just one of the many reasons that this style of learning fits our family so well.

In California, 4th graders study California History. That means missions, ranchos, and the gold rush. Oh, and did I mention missions?

We started our study of our state's history last year, when Jelly was in 6th grade and Doodle was the official 4th grader. Because we split our Social Studies time by also finishing a study of World History, we decided to give California History a little more time this year. It fits perfectly this way because at Wonderwood Academy, the explorers have now found the New World, and the colonists have arrived on the East coast. So we're learning about what happened with the Spanish padres and the Native Americans on the West coast while the settlers were working things out with the Eastern Woodland "Indians" in Jamestown.

Last week our learning adventures took form as one of our extended field trips, and managed to combine it with some great family visits. We learned a lot, had a great time, and made some wonderful memories.

Since we covered the missions to the south of us last year, it was time to go north. Saving the two closest to us, because we can do those in a couple of day trips sometime when we need a spur-of-the-moment get-away, we left Friday after work and drove up the coast to Lompoc.

No offense to Lompoc, but there isn't much there. Well, there's a federal prison, an air force base, and a mission. Our visit was confined, pun intended, not to jail or base, but to pursuits historical.

We got to our hotel in time for the girls to enjoy the pool.

After a breakfast that would have been more satisfactory had I been able to enjoy it WITH my family, rather than at the bottom of the stairs above which the breakfast room was located (NO elevator, thus no access), we trekked out to the La Purisima Mission State Historic Park. Our visit was timed to coincide with very infrequently held "Village Days." In retrospect, it was the girls' favorite of the trip. Location allows it to feel more like it probably felt during the mission era than the other missions we've visited so far. AND, Village Days are highly interactive. MUCH to see and do... with DO being the keyword. The girls carved soapstone charms, wove baskets, made reed ducks, tried their hand at a Chumash game, decorated toy bull roarers with pictograms, created palm frond brooms, chatted with costumed docents and authentic mountain men, and explored top to bottom. It was a blast! See for yourself.

It sprinkled, almost, as we were on our way to Buellton, CA, home of the famous Andersen's Restaurant. It poured buckets while we sipped split pea soup, gazing out through a beautiful picture window onto a rain-washed garden. When we were ready to leave, the downpour slowed to a drizzle and then was over.

Perfect timing. There was a wedding going on at Mission Santa Ines, so we enjoyed the gardens before going inside the mission church.

I have no picture evidence, but our next stop was Goleta Beach. The girls enjoyed their customary pier walk with Papa, and then we enjoyed his and his wife's hospitality for the night. The girls were introduced to the story of "Brigadoon" and it made us wish even more that we'd been able to see goddaughter SwimChick, who lives in Vancouver, WA, in a recent youth production of the musical.

More traditions kept as the girls picked fresh citrus the next morning before we said our so longs. We like to take oranges and lemons from Papa and Dorothy with us to the cousins, who are usually our next stop.

We couldn't leave Santa Barbara, though, before a visit to the Queen of the Missions.
It was exciting to learn that the lone woman of San Nicolas island, on whose life the book Island of the Blue Dolphin is based, is actually buried in the cemetery of the Santa Barbara Mission. We are currently listening to/reading, and very much enjoying her story as part of A New World of Adventures unit study curriculum.

Our last night, but NOT our last evening, was spent with the aforementioned cousins. We had a great visit, and since the twins weren't starting school until Tuesday, we extended our visit time by taking them with us to our final mission of this trip.

I can't believe it, but again I have no pictorial evidence for this part of the trip. We did, though, thoroughly enjoy visiting with the twins' family, including a loving mama, a big brother who introduced Jelly to the awesome world of rpgs, a big sister who has since started her first term at UC Berkeley, and a new baby brother, adorable but with one of those sensitive level sensors that activate fussing unless he's being held by someone completely vertical, slightly bouncing, and who is preferably serenading him softly so that he knows he has their complete attention. Their daddy, unfortunately, we did not get to visit with, as he was on the road. One of our tradtions here is to exchange hand-me-downs. It's a wonderful system. Oh, for the record, the lemonade and orange juice, freshly squeezed by the kids, was delicious, as always.

Before heading home, we spent our last evening of this mini mission trip visiting with family on the Woody side. I think the girls were suprised at how much fun they had with just boy cousins. LOL The kids were having the kind of fun that moves too fast to be caught on film. I believe it involved an uncle and the kind of fear that induces laughing so hard you almost can't breathe.

Our mission for this mini mission trip was a complete success.

Good Start

UPDATED WITH WORKBOX PICS Sat., Sept. 12, 2009 We have now had six WEEKS of school, rather than the six days of this original post. We have also met with our homeschool support group for the first time. We're still going strong!!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here at Wonderwood Academy, we have had, as of this morning, six and a half days of the 180 minimum required by the state of California for the 2009-2010 school year. It has been a good start to the year. We actually started on Monday, the 3rd, and had VERY full (details to follow) school days Monday through Wednesday. Life intervened on Thursday (including a flat tire on our way to pick up a box of frozen blueberries arriving by special order from Oregon), so we turned it into a half school day. Mrs. Woody needed Friday to review and revise, so we quickly scheduled a student-free day. After a Saturday filled with House Blessing and weekly organizing, and a busy Sunday schedule (which included a talk given in Primary by the Doodle), we have again this week, as we did last week, had VERY full school days Monday through Wednesday.

Our VERY full school days have come about for three reasons that we can identify. First, the girls are growing up and need a more rigorous academic schedule. Second, we have been told that the first couple of weeks of A New World of Adventures curriculum has longer days than are usual. Third, we have implemented a modified version of Sue Patrick's Workbox System, and the structure gives us the ability to accomplish MUCH ("Children using this system stay more focused and are more successful in learning and completing their school work independently.") while making sure we don't lose the fun in learning that means so much to us. ("It will then be easier to set up a school day of curriculum, variety and fun...")

Our subjects this year include, in alphabetical order (at varying grade levels from 5th to 12th):
Art Appreciation - including artist studies
Basic Drawing
California History
Choir
Daily Devotional
Early American History
Geography & Map Skills
Home Economics
Language Arts - reading, narration, copywork, spelling, grammar, writing, vocabulary
Library & Research Skills
Literature
Logical Thinking
Math
Music Appreciation - including composer studies
PE
Piano
Science - currently Marine Biology, later we'll add Meteorology and Physics
Spanish - Level 1
Typing (on the computer)

Whew! No wonder our days are long! (And we haven't added in our local homeschool support group, which usually meets once a week, Wednesday afternoons beginning in September.) Now, we don't do all of these subjects every day, but some of them we do. I am still reviewing and revising our schedule/s nearly every night as I prepare to fill the girls' SmartFiles, which is what we choose to call our workbox system. Rather than the many actual boxes required for use in the original system, we use some very cool hanging file boxes that we found at Walmart for less than $10 each.


We use three fileboxes, one for each girl, and one for me.


These are the coolest! The flip-up lid has these great compartments. We use the compartment in the upper left corner to store task cards either not being used that day or cards for tasks/activities that have been completed. There are supposed to be scissors in there, too, but Doodle is a grand paper crafter, and her scissors are often in use!

Besides the files, another vital component of the system is a schedule grid. We don't do it exactly as the original Workbox System, but that's one of the beauties of homeschooling. The girls each have their own daily schedule grid. These show at a quick glance what they will be doing in a single school day. When I get our task cards finished, I'll post a picture of what the grids look like. We ARE using them now, but they're not in their final form. As we work the system, we are learning what works best for us and making modifications along the way. Basically, the grids include cards for things that we do together and that are the same from day to day, and they also include numbers that correspond to file folders that contain assignments that are individualized for each of our (two) students. As a task is completed, it is removed from the grid and placed in a tray contained in the lid of the filebox. You can easily see what you've done and how much is still to be accomplished. Very cool.




The grids are made from two pieces of cardstock, colors chosen by the girls, laminated, and then hinged together with clear packing tape. The girls get them out of their fileboxes in the morning and set them up on our mantel, where we can ALL see them. It's easy to see in the pictures when we're working together and when the girls are on their own. You can also see how I staggered their subjects so that, for example, they don't both need the computer at the same time. Also note, the girls take turns making lunch. In these pics, it's Jelly's turn to make lunch and Doodle's card just says "Break." I really need one that specifies a lunch break, but oh, well.

What's REALLY cool is that not once at the end of these extra-long days has either of our students complained. They are having a GRAND time learning. (See this post for evidence!)

It's their teacher that isn't handling the long days quite so well. Don't get me wrong... I'm LOVING that they are loving "school." I just need to find the balance that will allow me to get some other things done.

We'll get there. We always do.

In the mean time, we're enjoying the adventure.

Wonderwood Academy 2008-9

Jelly – 6th grade
Doodle – 4th grade

Math-U-See
Learning Adventures –- A World of Adventure & A NEW World of Adventure
Piano Classes
Nature Walks
Swimming
LOTS of library books on LOTS of topics,
because we’re still quite partial to Charlotte Mason and her living books!

Our main course of study:
Learning Adventures – A World of Adventure
Middle Ages and Botany
Renaissance and Astronomy
Explorers and Marine Science

After last year’s late start, it was especially good to get back to school in August, as we are accustomed to doing. We had just gotten started, though, when we took a time out for the Summer Olympics. How could we not?

Check out what’s on the screen in the background. (The braids, btw, are a fun-and-more-comfortable-than-curlers way to get gorgeous wavy hair for church on Sunday.)

In trying to figure out how to do our school year in review, I decided that this year it would be easier to do by subject. If you read this to the end, you’ll get a good idea of how we covered things. We don’t always go from A to Z, but we get there!

Here we go!

We use a combination of things for our devotionals, including personal scripture study as well as the Bible study in Learning Adventures. Add in the Faith in God program and more recently Personal Progress, and fairly regular Family Home Evenings. Jelly is getting really good at planning those! The girls really made some wonderful strides in growing their testimonies this year.

Reading and other language arts (vocabulary, grammar, spelling, writing, etc.) are also covered in our unit studies. (Thank you again, Dorian!) Reading good literature, no twaddle, really has been a fun way to learn what CAN be not-so-fun skills. We did add in regular journaling, which the girls usually enjoy very much.

We continue to use Math-U-See, and both the girls are making good progress. Math probably will never be their favorite subject, but at least it doesn’t cause tears anymore.

We made it through three complete (more on the incomplete later) units in our Learning Adventures this year, which means we have finally finished the first volume, A World of Adventure. We studied the Middle Ages and Botany, the Renaissance and Astronomy, and Explorers and Marine Science.

Jelly wasn’t ready to give up learning about the ocean when we finished that unit, so we’re going to continue that next year. We’ll use Jeanne Fulbright’s Exploring Creation with Zoology 2, Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day.

So we covered science: in our unit studies (Botany/Herbology See post 9/13/2008) and also added Beach/Pier Nature Walks, and picking fruit (botany) with Papa, and swimming (marine science), swinging (physics - centrifugal force), and making juice (more botany) with cousins whenever possible!

We took field trips, like hikes at the El Dorado Nature Center (both in the fall and in the spring), checked out the Irvine Park Pumpkin Patch and Orange County Zoo (10/15/2008 post), traveled north for a Liahona Field Trip to Griffith Park Observatory, and took a tour of a local PetCo in February with a knowledgeable animal specialist as our guide. We celebrated Woody’s 25th Anniversary at Boeing in April, and a couple of days later, Jelly also had a chance to go with him to the Boeing Plant in Huntington Beach for their annual “Take Your Kid to Work Day.” Next year Doodle will be old enough to go, too!

Some of our favorite science adventures this year came about because we bought a membership at the Aquarium of the Pacific when we went there for Homeschool Day. (See post 9/12/2008) We tried to get there once a month and enjoyed every visit except our last one. It was recent, during the summer, and was just too crowded for us. We are so spoiled to being able to go places for school when most other kids are “in” school.

Our Social Studies started this year with the Middle Ages, (See post 9/19/2008), but we also began our concurrent history study of the California Missions when we went to San Diego to celebrate Woody's birthday. Later, in the spring, we also toured the mission at San Juan Capistrano. We have plans to visit many more, if not all, the missions in the next year or so.

For Halloween, Jelly and the Doodle dressed as Renaissance witches, probably influenced by our Middle Ages/Renaissance studies. Another dress-up opportunity came when we went to Koroneburg, the German Renaissance Faire in Corona, in May of this year. The girls were both “knighted” into the Order of the Fabled Readers. Great fun!

We actually try to avoid some “Current Events”, but in November we did a Civics Field Trip. After discussing the issues, we voted and then watched the returns come in. You win some, you lose some. It was a learning experience. Enough said.

We had a HUGE focus on Fine Arts this year, mostly because of the fact that the entire family was involved in the Savior of the World production (See 10/13/2008 post.) In addition to weekly angel choir rehearsals, the girls took piano lessons beginning in September. Our holiday concert season began, as usual, with the Messiah Sing-Along, sponsored by the Yorba Linda Arts Alliance. Because Woody is their tenor soloist, it's a tradition that has opened our Christmas season on the Sunday after Thanksgiving for five years now. During December, the entire Woody family was busy rehearsing, singing for or attending special Christmas concerts.

Rehearsals for the SOTW intensified after the holidays, exponentially each month until opening night, March 25, 2009. Jury duty for Mrs. Woody (and MANY field trips to the court house) complicated everyone’s lives beginning the last week of February and continuing three to four days a week through the opening week of the production of the Savior of the World. There were 10 shows. We are SO thankful that we were able to share that amazing experience as a family. It is something we will always treasure. We also were able to share the experience in May of attending a live broadcast (on Mother’s Day) of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir -– Music and the Spoken Word. What a blessing! Concert season ended for this school year with the annual Patriotic Community Concert in Anaheim Hills –on the Saturday before the 4th of July. We are blessed to be Americans…………. . . and occasionally proud, too.

Life skills are daily events at Wonderwood Academy but we had a few focus events this year. In November, Liahona took a free field trip to Albertson's - with a focus on learning to be "Healthy Eaters". That same month, Liahona had a quilting class under the trees at Heritage Park. We got a fabulous intro and mini history of quilting, a hands-on opportunity for kids and grown-ups to use a rotary cutter, and made decisions on what kind of quilts we wanted to make. We had planned on actually MAKING quilts this year, but family difficulties for our instructor left us hanging. The new plan, at least for our family, is to make a quilt square as we study each state this year and put a quilt together when we finish the 50th one.

November was definitely the month for a focus on life skills. On the 15th, the Freeway Complex fire burned closer than any fire we've experienced before. Our bishop's family, as well as two other families at church, lost their home. Half the ward was evacuated. Jelly was packed and ready to go. Doodle handled her fears by escaping into one of her favorite movies. Though it's been amazing to see the strength and love of our ward family as people step in to serve each other, I hope we never have that experience again. If we do, we ARE more prepared to handle it. We continue to work on our emergency preparedness supplies and plans.

In December, our baby, the Doodlebug, turned nine years old!! This was a year for a family celebration, so she got to plan the entire day's menus. She developed a love for hand sewing when she was tiny, watching her Grandma Joy, and still talks about how she used to "help" put in some of the stitches. Watching Aunt Debby work on her current project revived Doodle's desires for a project that she can do "by herself." So, her special birthday gift was to select a printed cross stitch project. She's making a pillow case with a princess design.

Also in December, Christmas School was in session at Wonderwood Academy. We participated (along with God daughter, SwimChick) in a special HOAC Co-Op on the Twelve Days of Christmas and combined that with Christmas Around the World. In conjunction with that, for at least the third year (I need to check on this) we attended the Orange Stake's Creche and Christmas Concert. It was especially fun this year to look for nativities from the countries we studied in our Christmas unit at Wonderwood.

The New Year, and January 2009 brought renewed goals, 15 min. at a time!!!

Having survived the spring, we made plans for and took what we called the Big Loop Expedition – It was a HUGE Field Trip, motivated by our granddaughter’s baptism in Minnesota. We traveled and explored for nearly three weeks., which included visiting MANY national parks, monuments, and memorials. That trip really deserves a post all its own.

Add in Girls’ Camp, and nearly weekly Mutual activities for Jelly now that she has turned 12, cooking, continued trips to our local libraries (two of them now), and play days and family adventures whenever we can arrange them, and you have what we are pleased to call a very well-rounded school year.

Can’t wait for the next one to begin!

Adventures I Should Have Blogged

No posts in nearly two months means that LOTS of life here at the Woody Hacienda and Wonderwood Academy has not been documented. There have been way too many adventures between then and now to attempt to even highlight them. I have to be satisfied with a list. Here it is, in chronological order:

October 12, 19, and 26 Angel Choir rehearsals - We're loving the experience!

October 17-19 Trip to San Diego to celebrate Woody's birthday. Of course, it was also an "extended field trip." We had a great time adventuring at Balboa Park, Old Town, the trolley tour, missions, the Point Loma lighthouse, and the Wild Animal Park.

October 23 The girls had their last piano lesson until after the holidays. Life is already starting to get crazy!!

October 25 Aunt Debby hung out with us and then joined us for the annual Trunk or Treat party at church. Jelly and the Doodle dressed as Renaissance witches. (Possibly influenced by our current Middle Ages/Renaissance studies, and the fact that Jelly wanted something a bit more "Halloweenish, but not scary." When Doodle saw the pretty costume, SHE wanted one JUST LIKE IT! To Jelly's credit, rather than being annoyed, she immediately responded that, "No, I don't mind. We can be twins!" I just pray that their close relationship endures the teen years.

October 29 Liahona Field Trip to Griffith Park Observatory - We're studying astronomy and this was our first trip to the observatory since it reopened after a HUGE renovation. It is amazing!

October 31 Our new family Halloween tradition is to let the girls dress up and then we have a family adventure. This year we utilized our membership to the Aquarium of the Pacific and hung out with our aquatic friends. Pumpkin pancakes at IHOP were a tasty treat to top off the holiday. (The girls definitely didn't need more candy - more than sufficient was obtained at the church Trunk or Treat.)

November 1 Woody began rehearsals (as the tenor soloist) for the 5th Annual Messiah Sing-Along, sponsored by the Yorba Linda Arts Alliance. It's a tradition that opens our Christmas season the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

November 4 Civics Field Trip - We voted and then watched the returns come in. You win some, you lose some. Enough said.

November 5 Liahona had our first quilting class at Heritage Park. We got a fabulous intro and mini history of quilting, a hands-on opportunity for kids and grown-ups to use a rotary cutter, and made decisions on what kind of quilts we want to make. We'll get supplies over the holidays, and begin in earnest after the first of the year. Cool.

November 8 and 13 Woody auditioned, was called back, and got the part of Zacharias in the Savior of the World presentation. Our enthusiasm continues to build as we share this experience as a family. His beard is really coming in and it's going to be a busy winter and spring!

November 9, 23, and 30 Angel Choir rehearsals continue as we prepare for a concert in December. Everyone is still enjoying the experience and the girls are getting an awesome musical education. It's a little daunting, but they're loving it!

November 12 Liahona takes a free field trip to Albertson's - with a focus on learning to be "Healthy Eaters". We weren't sure what to expect, but a great time was had by all, and we gots LOTS of free stuff!

November 14 The Primary kids had a special practice for their Sacrament Meeting presentation, "I Am a Child of God." This was Jelly's last. Next year at this time she will have been in the Young Women program for several months already. She is truly growing into a wonderful young lady.

November 15 The Freeway Complex fire burned closer than any we've experienced before. Our bishop's family, as well as two other families in our ward, lost their home. Half the ward was evacuated. Jelly was packed and ready to go. Doodle handled her fears by escaping into one of her favorite movies. Though it's been amazing to see the strength and love of our ward family as people step in to serve each other, I hope we never have that experience again.

November 16-19 Though the smoke was still in the air, we knew we were safe. After a unique Sacrament Meeting (folks were still evacutated from many areas) Woody traveled to San Francisco on business.

November 23 The Primary Sacrament Meeting Program, having been postponed a week due to the fire, was a resounding success. Both Jelly and Doodle put their whole hearts into singing and their speaking parts. Looking back on past programs, my mama heart was prilled (proud and thrilled) to see the way they have progressed each year to overcome their shyness and fears. Yes, the shyness and fears are still there, but did NOT stop them from sharing their growing testimonies through music and words.

November 27 We have SO much to be thankful for!!!

November 30 5th Annual Messiah Sing-Along. Aunt Debby spent the Thanksgiving holiday with us and joined us for the first seating of the sing-along. The girls and I are Woody's best fans, so we were there for BOTH seatings. We love supporting Daddy and we also love the way this experience helps to usher in the Christmas season with a jubilant spirit.

December The entire Woody family is busy rehearsing for special Christmas concerts, but none is busier than Woody himself!

December 1 Christmas School is in session at Wonderwood Academy. We are participating (along with God daughter, SwimChick) in a special HOAC Co-Op on the Twelve Days of Christmas. More on this later.

December 2 Our baby, the Doodlebug, is nine years old!! This was a year for a family celebration, so she got to plan the entire day's menus. She developed a love for hand sewing when she was tiny, watching her Grandma Joy, and still talks about how she used to "help" put in some of the stitches. Watching Aunt Debby work on her current project revived Doodle's desires for a project that she can do "by herself." So, her special birthday gift was to select a printed cross stitch project. She's making a pillow case with a princess design. So far, she's stitched two of the butterflies and is VERY happy.

December 5 For at least the third year (I need to check on this) we attended the Orange Stake's Creche and Christmas Concert. It was especially fun this year to look for nativities from the countries we have been and will be studying in our Christmas unit at Wonderwood. We'll be adding some of the pictures we took to the girls lap/notebook projects. The concert, featuring the Anaheim Mormon Chorale (where Woody sings tenor), brought even more of a truly tangible spirit to our holiday season.

December 6 In a new joint effort, the Chorale joined with the Yorba Linda Orchestra for a combined concert. We weren't sure just what to expect, and so were VERY pleasantly surprised at the quality of the orchestra's sound. Conditions were less than ideal for the chorale members, but in spite of staging challenges we thoroughly enjoyed yet another wonderful holiday musical experience.

December 7 An amazing testimony meeting set the tone for a special Sabbath. We then basked in the spirit of a quiet afternoon at home, followed by an earlier-than-usual Angel Choir rehearsal. Only one week left before we sing in our stake's Christmas Concert. The day was capped by the First Presidency Christmas Devotional broadcast from Salt Lake. We normally watch it at home, on BYU TV, but since we were already at church, we stayed to share the experience.

There is a place in our family traditions for the secular side of Christmas, but I've been really pleased with the out-of-balance emphasis that we've been able to maintain with the sacred, spiritual, "real reason for the season" so far this year.

Not to worry - the girls have had and will continue to have opportunities for the just-plain-fun parts of the holiday, too. Our tree is up and has lights on it, so far, and our family tradition of holiday movie watching has also begun. (A little later than usual this year, but finally begun.) We're decorating a bit at a time, so there are red and green boxes stacked in a couple of corners. Shopping is almost done, and crafting and baking are on the horizon.

Stay tuned for updates. :o)

All-American Sale

I just couldn't resist sharing this one with you!!! Check it out soon! Too good to pass by. If you've wanted to lapbook and haven't done it yet, here's your chance.


Bringing Laughter and Learning Together

It's In the Hands of a Child's



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Pease Porridge Hot

...Pease porridge cold,
Pease porridge in the pot, nine days old;
Some like it hot, some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot, nine days old.

It's amazing how much you can find about this lowly little rhyme if you google it! This one is my favorite for general overall historical information, but this one is my REAL favorite.

Our version of Pease Porridge came from a recipe (which we only adapted a little!) included as part of the Learning Adventures curriculum, A World of Adventures, the Middle Ages unit. Rather than celebrate in high style, we marked the completion of the unit with a more "common" meal - the very commonly consumed Pease Porridge, accompanied by Bannock, for dipping.

It was recommended that the bannock rest for at least six hours before being sliced, so the girls and I followed THAT recipe (also in the curriculum) the day before we made the pease porridge, which we planned to eat WAY before it was nine days old!

Cooperative cooking - Jelly added the buttermilk to the dry ingredients while Doodle did the kneading.

Jelly watches, glad it's not HER hands in the bowl, as the Doodle enjoys really getting into mixing the dough. The right child for the right job is critical!

"Hands-on" takes on a whole new meaning!

Doodle made sure to remove her ring before plunging whole-heartedly into the messy mass.

The toothpick hole in the center proved it was done.

Letting the completed loaf of bannock rest overnight was SO hard for both the girls - they were VERY anxious to taste the results of their labors!

It was even harder the next day... at first the cooking peas smelled, uh, like cooking peas. Our fire came from the gas stove rather than a stone fireplace, and our bubbling cauldron was stainless steel, but it still FELT like medieval times!

As the flavors melded, and the aroma filled the house, everyone was more than ready for dinner when the time finally came.
We gave the pot a final stir - this is a Day 1 image of our Pease Porridge, which we made with corned beef, because that's what we had on hand.

Doodle, dipping!

Jelly's ready for a medieval adventure in eating, too! (*Note: Daddy and the girls built the Harry Potter/Hogwarts Lego castle in the background and it worked well as the set for acting out some of the stories we read!)

Our pease porridge didn't last nine days, but we did get three meals out of it! Yummy! I'm sure we'll be using those recipes again in the future, just because.

Now let me back up a bit, though, and describe a bit of the adventures that took place during our study of the Middle Ages.

Because we were focusing on a fairly in-depth lapbook for the botany we learned during this unit, the girls added pages to their Books of the Centuries instead. As we notebooked, we listened to lots of Gregorian Chant - the only recordings of Middle Ages music that we could find. The girls can now identify that style no matter what the setting. :o)

We used Amy Pak's timeline figures, (we have the CDs - so excellent!) and then did notebook pages and minibooks which the girls put on cardstock pages. Doodle is a HUGE paperdoll fan (like her Grandma NanZ), so we also added a pocket page to store some Medieval Costume Paper Dolls by Tom Tierney that we got from Dover Publications.

The recommended books in this unit are The Door in the Wall, by Marguerite De Angeli, the story of a medieval boy who loses the use of his legs, but discovers a door in the wall, and Adam of the Road, by Elizabeth Janet Gray, a story of a father and son wandring minstrel team who are separated from one another during the Middle Ages. We enjoyed both the stories very much.

Because the main character in The Door in the Wall learns to whittle, so did the girls!


Their projects were done in Ivory Soap rather than wood. They first traced the soap to make sure their project would fit, then created a design, which they then outlined on the soap.

Doodle made a shining star - and hadn't had enough carving, so she also made a castle, which I don't have a picture of... yet.

Jelly's first creation was a lovely heart. She, too, hadn't had enough - she's still working to finish a carving of a jumping dolphin.

I highly recommend this project... it was a big hit!

Jelly (my voracious reader!)and I also read the Midwife's Apprentice and Matilda Bone, both by Karen Cushman, and from the Royal Diaries series - Eleanor, Crown Jewel of Aquitaine. Since the Adam book was from a boy's perspectice, Eleanor and the two Cushman books gave us the chance to "see" life from a girl's point of view.

Another extra book that the three of us read aloud together was a short, but fun, one from the the Time Warp Trio series by Jon Scieszka called Knights of the Kitchen Table. Good general information in a light-hearted book appropriate for younger readers.

Our homeschool/family friends from Vancouver, WA, also studying the Middle Ages, recommended a series of videos from Schlessinger Media. Thanks, guys!! We were fortunate to find them at our local library - a series of six. The first, Life in the Middle Ages, is a good overview. The other five each focus on one type of person and their life - we learned about nobles, knights, serfs, monks, and doctors.

The "picture books" we read together and the other videos we watched are too numerous to mention, but they included most of what our library had (or could get for us!) on the Middle Ages, knights, castles, cathedrals, King Arthur, Camelot, the Prince and the Pauper, etc. A couple that really stood out were Kids in the Middle Ages, by Lisa A. Wroble, and A Medieval Feast, by Aliki.

A fantastic resource was a book we discovered called Knights and Castles, by Avery Hart and Paul Mantel. The subtitle is 50 Hands-On Activities to Experience the Middle Ages -- extremely cool! There is information presented in an easy-to-read-and-understand format and then corresponding projects and activities to go with many of the mini-articles - a winning combination.

The girls each designed and created a personal coat of arms, illustrated an "illuminated manuscript" with a huge letter of their first name, and did a comparison study of the armor of knights and the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).

We jumped into our study of the Middle Ages from an intense focus on Cinderella Stories Around the World - so very "princess-y" - and I wasn't sure the girls would enjoy a time in history when the focus was so NOT on women. We learned a lot, and had castle-sized fun.

Truly, it was a wonderful Learning Adventure!

Botany, Herbology... A Rose by Any Other Name

We've officially wrapped up our study of botany/herbology, at least for this year. We started last spring during our "Cinderella Stories Around the World" unit study. (Ohmygosh! I still haven't posted about that -- soon!) Science was Herbology, focusing, naturally, on pumpkins. "Cinderella Stories" kind of morphed into our study of the Middle Ages, a la Learning Adventures, and we continued our study of botany, focusing more on herbs. So we began in April with an interactive experience in square-foot gardening and finished this month by making a fairly extensive lapbook.


Square-Foot Gardening is a passion of one of the families in our homeschool group. In April, they invited us all to invade their backyard and gave us our introduction to Mel's method for growing good things. The first step is to mix up a blend of three ingredients to use in place of regular old backyard variety soil. You can read all about it in Mel's book.

Because we're notoriously NOT green thumbs around here, we decided to start small. We took the soil blend, and the girls each planted two crops, in 1-foot-diameter pots.

Using the blended soil, the girls prepared the containers.


Then each girl planted two different kinds of seeds, one type in each container.


Jelly chose squash and cucumbers. Doodle chose tomatoes and carrots.

The girls faithfully watered, the sun shone, and the plants began to grow. You may need to look VERY carefully to see Doodle's tiny sprout.


The girls were thrilled!

In July, we went to the Orange County Fair. One of the highlights was attending a class and investigating the demonstration garden of Mr. Square-Foot-Gardening himself, Mel Bartholomew. The girls loved seeing the gardens.


The girls have "notebooked" most of their actual gardening experience as part of their "Cinderella Around the World" unit study. (I really will post about that sometime soon!) Their academic (as opposed to hands-on) study they lapbooked.

The Hands of a Child project pack, HOCPP 1116, Botany, was our main lapbook source. There is an Answer Key for this pack that outlines a complete lesson plan. Cool!

We also used a free sample module from Live and Learn Press that is part of their product that accompanies Jeannie Fulbright's excellent book, Exploring Creation with Botany. If you are looking for an awesome elementary science series, you should definitely investigate her books.

Our third source for minibooks was Homeschool Helper.

As always, we also added in miniaturized pages from miscellaneous sources that I've collected over the years. Some of them came from Evan-Moor's Theme Pockets - May Book. I'd like to list credits for all of them, but it's just not possible.

So, without further delay, here are the Botany Lapbooks that the girls put together after our four-month-plus study.


I especially love the tulips the girls drew on their covers, using a step-by-step how-to-draw-a-tulip page. I'm afraid I don't know it's source.



The folders for these lapbooks were originally intended to be used a minioffices, but we somehow ended up with too many. The colors were perfect for botany, so we appropriated them! The girls did their own layouts, so each book is unique. They do both use brass brads to add in their "notebook-style" pages and extensions.



Jelly's creative style usually involves adding in small drawings and her own humorous cartoons appropriate to the theme.

Doodle chose to label each page that begins a new section of her lapbook.


On the left side of this pic, you can see one of the EMC pages we reduced to 50% and printed two-to-a-page. Still big enough to see the details.

On the right side of this pic, you can see the sample minibooks from the Apologia Elementary Botany lapbook available from Live and Learn Press.



That's our botany study, from cover to cover.

From the beauties of the Earth, we're moving on to the heavens. Astronomy is our next science topic, because it is such a natural fit with our study of the Renaissance. We'll be admiring gorgeous art - both of the earthly and heavenly varieties.

Stay tuned for our adventures in star-gazing!