Each child has his or her own space. (very important to a family that shares almost everything)
Each desk is set at the proper height for each student….making it much easier for writing.
They each have a black student chair that is just the right size, too.
The desks make keeping track of books, supplies, and notebooks much easier.
They are fun.
The children LOVE their desks. My heart is happy when I see my little students.
Rich hung it up last night and wrote: “The one who writes first on the chalkboard is probably the one who hung it up. The children will always remember their school…..and their beautiful teacher.”
I am happy to say that we had another great day of school. I worked with Caleb one on one, just the two of us. I let him use the chalkboard to practice his letters. Then, later on, when Seth and Sarah took their naps, I worked with David, Jacob, Ethan, and Grace. We read about Roger Williams, the founder of Providence Plantation (Rhode Island). I was impressed and touched to read that Roger Williams respected the Indian’s right to personal property, and when he offered to purchase land, the Indians GAVE it to him.
The children made a campfire this morning and the older three boys have been busy blacksmithing during every free moment. They find pieces of metal, heat it up, and pound it with hammers to make (of course) swords. I found a poem in McGuffey’s third reader about blacksmithing and read it to them. I also read them an essay from the same book, on Beavers. These two impromptu lessons were greatly enjoyed. I need to remember to use their current passions as teaching opportunities.
It’s the end of another day and thinking back on it, I am happy with the way the day went. I was tired out and overwhelmed all morning but we did end up getting our core subjects done. David worked on reading, cursive writing (the letter L), and spelling. I have been waiting for his math book to arrive for almost a month, I think I will call A beka tomorrow to see what’s going on. Grace did cursive, Language Arts, and reading. She didn’t get to Math but she did practice piano. Jacob and Ethan completed all of their subjects, including Math. They just started their new Teaching Textbooks Math…Jacob with Algebra and Ethan with Pre Algebra. Caleb worked on printing the lower case “n” which was nerve wracking. He would write the strangest lines and upsidedown n’s. I showed him over and over how to do it and finally he got it. He does better if I put aside the practice paper with all those lines on it and just let him use a blank white paper. He did great with his numbers.
I’m most especially thankful for all the time we spent outside today in the sunshine. The leaves are bright and colorful and the air is perfumed with the scent of drying leaves and cool breezes. The robins are getting fat on the wild berries. I also saw a small woodpecker up close in a bush. I overheard Grace and David make-believing. They were playing the “Bambi” story. We listened to the unabridged audio book on vacation and it’s all the rage now. I heard Grace say to David, “Now, I don’t want you eating anymore sticks again until winter.” I’ve been chuckling over that all afternoon.
I was so happy to get all the children gathered together for a walk. We took some pictures, too.
And, best of all…..we got to see a beaver! There is a beaver making a dam down at our stream and we heard it chewing, just like carrots. We inched closer and closer and saw it in the shrubs, in the edge of the water, chewing away….busy as a beaver. I got to watch it swim down the stream, with it’s stick in it’s mouth and it’s tail behind it, gliding along silently. Beavers are very interesting animals and are actually a benefit to our ecosystem. Did you know that the dams they make actually filter the water and make it cleaner? We are all very interested in beavers, now, and read about them.
Every day we work in the kitchen. Today Jacob made hard boiled eggs for egg salad. David made himself scrambled eggs for dinner and his own peanut butter sandwich for lunch. One of our men at church just came back from Iraq and brought the teen boys some army meals. Jacob and Ethan had a great time trying them this evening.
We all cleaned and cleaned, too. I am happy to say that the kitchen and livingroom are clean and we are all hoping for a much calmer morning tomorrow.
Rich is over at our schoolroom, hanging up our chalkboard. I sent Grace over with some chalk to tell him to leave me a surprising love note for tomorrow. I wonder what he will write.
Seth is to bed, Sarah is nursing as I type (I just gave her a bath in the kitchen, by candlelight). Jacob, Ethan, David, and Caleb are at the table, drawing by candlelight.
The boys have been calling Sarah BALDO all day.
8:15…my eyes are dropping shut. Peace and love to all who stop by here tonight~
I came across a paper that Ethan wrote and I almost died laughing.
Each Chicken Equals 5%
10% of our chickens lay green and blue eggs, while 50% of our chickens lay brown and speckled eggs. The last 40% don’t lay either because they are chicks. 45% of our chickens stay with our rooster, and there are groups of other chickens that prefer staying in little groups without our rooster; a 10% group, a 30% group, and another 10% group. George dislikes some chickens but out of all 95% George only chases 5%. The exact amount of laying hens is 60%. About 5% lay behind the haybale, 5% in the barrel, 10% in the corner, and 40% in the nesting boxes. 15% of our chickens are roosters.
I read this article this morning at my friend Christie’s recommendation. Very interesting! Thankfully I have boys who love to read, but I have noticed that they seem to prefer the DS lately. Time to hide it for a while!
Jacob is in the middle of Tom Sawyer and loves it!
