...If You Lived in Colonial Times by Ann McGovern

We read this today and thoroughly enjoyed learning about life in colonial times. I have posted what Josh, Joe and Ellie wrote about colonial times. I had asked them to write a page and so there are some "filler words" but it is interesting to see what impressed them. We used 2 different publishings and so the pictures in the books were different and it was wonderful to see different artists pictures.

This is what I learned:

• That colonial times begins in 1565 with the first Spanish colony in St. Augustine Florida and ends in 1776 when the English colonies become the United States.
• That babies wore puddings - pillows around their midsections to keep them from getting hurt.
• The colonist' wore colorful clothing - yellow, red, purple, blue. I thought everything was brown and white or maybe gray.
• Schoolmasters used more than dunce caps to make children (boys) behave, they would use both punishments that hurt your feelings and made you feel foolish along with the ones that just HURT>
• Some of the "medicines" were quite weird and even harmful - bag of the sick person' s fingernails tied around the neck of an eel should bring down a fever when the eel dies. Or bloodletting - ouch and dangerous.
• Some of the crazy laws included ones that said it was against the law for a baker to bake bad bread, or a brewer to brew bad beer. Or the one that said a poor man can't have clothes as fancy as a rich one.
• Many of the laws were punishable by hanging. Some by whipping, ducking (this one was for wives who talked back to their husbands) being put in the stocks.

We learned many more things but these were my favorites.

We will continue to learn about this time in history and finally finish the year with the American Revolution.

The Stuff I learned about Colonial Times by Josh

I learned that if you were a boy you would be done with school at the age of twelve years old. I also learned that girls only learned how to read and write while they went to school. This is because most people in that time didn't think it was important for girls to go to school after that. Those people thought girls should know how to cook, clean, and sew more. But some people said that girls should learn to do all the things a twelve year old boy should know. I also learned that there were a bunch of laws. Like it is against the law to swim, and to fall asleep during church, if you do you might get a fine. Boys at school had to stay good or they would have one of these punishments like getting put into the coldest part of the room during the winter, or having to sit in the dunce chair with a dunce cap on. Or wear a thing around you neck that said something stupid like "BITE FINGER BABY".

Colonial Times by Ellie

Age 9

You could not talk at the table. You could not smile at church or talk or move. You would have to stand or sit on uncomfortable benches. Only Mom and Dad can sit in chairs. Only the men can vote for the laws. The people work all day long. The boys even have to hunt. They have only one room, the bigger kids sleep in the attic. The little kids sleep in the kitchen where they work and cook and eat. Boys went to school longer than girls. There were no bathrooms, no running water so they took buckets of water and stood in a big bucket and poured water on them. They drink beer and the little kids too. they had to make their own things. The boys and girls wore weird clothes. They ate a lot of corn and meat.

What I learned about Colonial Times by Joe

If you lived in colonial times kids could drink rum and beer. Kids didn't have much time to play. Kids couldn't move in church. Kids wore funny looking clothes. Boys and girls got out of school early. There were lots of punishments. Girls were only allowed to wear dresses. You weren't allowed to work on Sunday. You couldn't even smile or giggle in church or you could be fined. Kids had to stand while they were eating because they didn't have seats. Men were the only people to make the laws. Men and boys hunted while the women and girls cooked and cleaned. And men and boys fished as well. If you fell asleep in church you would be smacked in the head. In Boston the first person to be put in the stocks was the person who made them.

Cranberry Thanksgiving

Today at the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store I found Cranberry Thanksgiving and I paid ..........$5.00 for 5o books and this was included! So very cool. Cannot wait to use it next year for FIAR.

God Bless,
Christy

What did you learn in history?

I have been reading "Lies My Teacher Told Me" and "People's History of the United States 1492 to Present" both books are fascinating. I am often taken aback by what I was never taught in school. Both books are written by very liberal thinking gentlemen and it is obvious in what they present. However, I had never learned about Columbus' atrocities, I learned the term "carpetbagger" and certainly received a skewed teaching of many historical events. It was mindblowing almost to read a different view than what I was taught. I am intregued to learn more. I recommend these books as an informative read. I don't think you should take as gospel everything these men write but I don't think they want you to either. They both say that they want students to think about history and when their is conflict of stories to make their own informed opinions. But informed is the keyword I think. Don't just take their word for it, or the textbooks, or event the encyclopedia or wikipedia - read many sources and then decide. Well, that is if you have time . Sigh, once again something to fill my free time with. Wait, what is free time??????

God bless,
Christy

Dan Morgan, Rifleman

Dan Morgan Rifleman
By Josh

After a day of hunting Dan was coming home when on his way he saw a trail of foot prints. Dan thought that he was the only one that knew the trail.
So he started to follow them for awhile and as he did he thought maybe his father was out looking for him or a farmer who lived near the Morgan’s was near.
But their was some thing about them that was strange but what was it Dan thought.
Then he dropped to one knee to get a better look at them.
The footprints had no heel marks in them so the man that was wearing moccasins.
Then he jumped to his feet the thought that Indians were around instead it was Jed.
That is when he met him after that he would see him every once and a well.
Then after many years Dan and Jed were in the army then Dan became General Morgan.
He and his 1200 man went to Quebec and lost the battle and became prisoners they were released months later then he became Colonel Morgan and fought hard in many battles.
He died of old age in his bed.

Davy Crocket

DAVY CROCKET BY Joe


When Davy was a boy all he wanted to do was hunt. The first time he did it was when he was 10 years old. It was Christmas and when his dad thought he was big enough he got to shoot. The first time he did it he missed but his older brother asked his dad to give Davy another try. His dad said yes and Davy hit the bulls-eye. When he got older he ran away sometimes. When he got married He had two kids. Then he became a colonel. Everybody knew Davy because he was a great hunter. Davy became a congressman and moved to Washington .This was around the time when we were fighting for Texas. So Davy went to Fort Alamo and that’s where Davy Crocket died.

The end

Our January Read a loud

We have begun reading this book by Jean Lee Latham and totally love it! It is a suspenseful book about the founding of Jamestown. It is told from the perspective of a young nobleman who was "dared to be a man" by Captain John Smith. My kids are loving this book and it certainly gives a different view of the story than the one from Disney's Pocohantas movie. It was hysterical when they realized that Capt. John Smith and Powhatan and even Pocohantas were real people.

I highly recommend this book as a great read aloud.

Katy and the Big Snow

DD#4 and I are excited to get back into the FIAR swing of things. We will be doing Katy and the Big Snow. We read it tonight while we were waiting for dinner to be done cooking and we loved the book. I don't have any big plans but am certainly hoping for a snowstorm this week so she can go plow some snow with her dad or stinky oldest brother! Will keep you updated on the fun.

We have really enjoyed the FIAR method of learning. DD4 struggles to read and this is a nice way to still read picture books but not seem too babyish for a "3rd grader". Reading the book every day seems to really help her learn.

Surprise Fog Day

What is a fog day you may ask? Well in the area where we live (New Haven IN) when the fog is so thick you cannot see your car in the drive or whether a car is coming on the road they cancel school. That is right - no school due to fog. But wait, didn't I say I homeschooled? Well, yes that is a true statement but I have older ps going children who got the day off. Well, we decided it was only fair to take the day off also.

I went garagesaling with ds2 and had a great time. Then went and played tennis. We ended the lovely day with Conquest Boys Club and K4J (apostolates of Regnum Christi) at our house and then Football at the highschool.

Speaking of football my ds1 had a great game - he caught the ball in the endzone and scored a touchdown -- yes the crowd went wild and his momma rang the cow bell loud and long.

Go WARRIORS!!!

How to bake an Apple Pie and See the World

We are rowing How to bake an Apple Pie and see the World this week. We began today with map work, learning where the different countries are. We also went over some vocabulary words. DD4 dictated a recipe for apple pie, we will do another one at the end and see how different the two will be. We will be doing the following in the next week or so:

Graphing our favorite apples, after taste testing them.
Each of us will get a different apple to describe using as many adjectives as possible after learning about our apple with our 5 senses.
Play a game with pictures of the different ingredients - matching them to their country.
We MIGHT put eggs in a baggie and see how long they last - still deciding that one.
We will be reading about Johnny Appleseed and hopefully visiting his tomb at Johnny Appleseed Park in Fort Wayne, IN. (update - we looked and looked and couldn't find the tomb )
We will also go apple picking at an orchard down the road.
We will be doing an experiment about salt water.

Webpage about St. Rose of Lima in case you are interested.

St. Rose of Lima

We began this book ages ago, on her feast day August 23rd. She was an amazing woman who suffered and sacrificed much to save souls from Purgatory. What struck us most was that when she was young she carried a large crucifix around her back yard on Fridays making the Stations of the Cross. Another thing we learned was that she was never taught to read - when she was small Jesus infused her with this knowledge. How cool is that. My struggling 3rd grader would love to receive that grace! After she became a Dominican Tertiary she built a hut in the back yard to live in. 4'x5'x6' Yes that is right. The door was on the ground and it had only one tiny window. She did this to discourage visitors. She often spoke with Jesus and Mary and her guardian angel. She was the intercessor for many miracles both in life and in death.

From her life we know the importance of prayer, sacrifice and suffering for souls.

St. Rose of Lima, pray for us.

Madeline

We did the cutest thing today. We made a Madeline out of a TP tube. Then we pasted a drawing of her insides to it which we got from EnchantedLearning.com . We all thought it was sufficiently gross!

6 weeks into school

Well, the best laid plans of mice and men get me in trouble every time. We are moving ahead slowly but surely but not according to plan. Sigh. I don't think I have ever followed a plan. I either have toooooo much planned or not nearly enough.

We just began Latina Christiana last week and the son of a friend is joining us. It is rather fun, I get to teach for real, something my kids think is funny but something I have been training for since I was 7 and played with my sisters in the basement. I took 4 years of Latin in high school but don't remember much. That is my only real credentials. We will see if we get past : amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant.

I have been using FIAR for my dd4 and we have really enjoyed it. First we "rowed" Ping. A wonderful living book about a duck that lives on the Yangste River in China. We learned about China, went to the zoo and learned about ducks and geese and what makes them different. We also learned that ducks don't get wet. It was great fun.

This past week we rowed Madeline and have had great fun with this book also. We learned about France and the Eiffel Tower, appendixes and other gross innards. We learned about things that are asymmetrical and symmetrical. We counted to 48 by groups of 6 little girls in 2 straight lines. We multiplied up to 6x6 with these little girls. We even learned the following fractions: 1/2, 1/6, 1/12, 3/4, 2/3 to name a few. We will end the week on Monday by watching a movie about families in France.

DD3 is smarter than a whip and is doing most of her work on her own. She does resist reading real, wholesome, living books -- she discovered teen books this summer and now rarely "wastes her reading time" with the good stuff. At least that is my opinion.

DS2 Is learning about the solar system, partly motivated by his desire to build a rocketship and go into outer space when he is older. A time machine is also on his list of things to do. He is reading American History about different Indians. He has asked some very serious questions about how the white man treated the Indians. Questions I am not sure I answered well.

DS3 Is also learning about the Indians and also wonders about how they were treated. He is learning about ants in science and we just got our ant farm in the mail. We have to send away for the critters. I wonder how they come??

DD5 is only 29 months old but she is also learning many things. She can tell all her colors - who taught her I am unsure. She "reads" Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you See?. She even has her puzzles she works.

All in all it has been a good 6 weeks. Maths we are behind but that is it.

God Bless to all who may read this.

School Thoughts

I have been working and organizing and attempting to get everything together for school. We have decided to begin homeschooling when the 3 older kids start at the local high school. That will be August 22nd. It will be a Wednesday which bothers my organizational midget mind but at least we will all begin and then end together.

I had hoped to follow modg syllabi but just can't seem to conform. I have too many other books that are near what they suggest and so am too tight to purchase the exact books. Some I have and will follow but the rest will be "on a wing and a prayer". I prefer this looser method, I just have to be vigilant that I don't fall into a "lazy unschooler", not to be confused with a real unschooler who could never be accused of being lazy!

In case you are interested:

8th grade dd will be using the following:
Saxon Alg. 1/2
Our Pioneers and Patriots -- from Civil War until the end and then will start Christ the King and Lord of History. I have many books from the Civil War Era up until the present time that she will be reading also.

Easy Grammar Plus

Wordly Wise

Latina Christiana - we will all be using this level this year. I know it is recommended for the younger children but she has had no exposure to Latin and so this should be fine for her.

Science - still unsure but will be reading a book about lives of famous scientist.

The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide Spelling Power

Religion: Baltimore Catechism, Catechism on tape by Fr. Corapi, National Catholic Register, the Catholic Bible.

Current Events: National Catholic Register

Lives of the Saints -- focusing on Modern Saints.


This is the plan so far, along with Greenleafs book about Rome and some different poetry and dictation and copywork.

Marie Bellet in Ordinary Time

Countdown to School!

I know that we learn every day, and that we will be homeschooling not schooling at home, however, we like to take a first day picture of each student and make a big fuss of our new books and pencils and all that jazz. So, we have chosen August 13th to be the official day. Hurray! We all are excited. I have decided to put it off until then so we can all anticipate and look forward to the grand event! I am planning on taking pictures by our statue of the Blessed Mother, going to mass, and then having only a "half day" to ease into the routine.
God Bless!

Our Catholic Homeschooling Adventure

We home schooled for 2 years using an eclectic method leaning heavily on MODG the 2nd year. The kids went back to our local parochial school 2 years ago. For many reasons we are discerning homeschooling again next fall. I would like to blog the journey in case it may help someone else. I will be once again using MODG as a sort of spine for the journey but substituting when either necessary or availability is the issue. I get very caught up in the planning and can spend hours putting together a curriculum and then life happens and it all goes out the window. I hope to have an outline for the children before school will start. I need some serious organization this time. I feel like that was one of the main hindrances last time.