We did morning prayers, Saint of the Day and Pledge of Allegiance. Then couple of books on Day of the Dead, built our altar and are about to make a couple of sugar cookie skulls. I had them paint large skulls on Friday since I didn't get the sugar skull mold. again. The littles are so jazzed about Halloween I just plumb. gave. up. on the basics I was going to have them do. The public schools here had half-day all last week for conferences so I am not going to feel bad at all.:001_smile: I'm fighting the cold that's going around so my energy level is next to nil anyway!!!1

You already have lots of posts, but the school cannot be calling itself a CM school without narration/dictation/copywork. Even if one doesn't read all 6 of CM's original works, it's also in all of the more recently written & in simpler english versions. simplycharlottemason.com has lots of free ebooks & printable schedules by age/grade.

If you looked at all that a CM education covered in her schools (I have not read all her books, I have seen the schedules/charts) you should not feel scared for your children. It is my feeling that we hsing Mothers need to embrace the "GAP Reality". There will be GAPS. Some little, some bigger, but GAPS will happen. I learn things all the time when I'm teaching my children so AP classes in HS & 2 college degrees still produced GAPS. :001_smile:The beauty of the classical model is the repeating cycle. So your children will revisit the time periods throughout their education. So there is time to fill in the dreaded GAPS. In our house, we are big on narration, nature study/nature notebooks (although this year it has been so wet that our nature walks have been less), lots of reading, history, science. For copywork we use prayers the children are working on. Our religion books have that repeating cycle so the children get more info as they get older on the same topic. I also throw Montessori methods into the mix for my younger boys. With the younger boys, switching things up between reading, something involving hands, some time on the computer learning games, it goes fairly quickly. My oldest, finishing 7th, has hit the stage where he is more independent and his time slots are longer. My daughter (finishing 4th) doesn't appreciate having to wait for me to review with her and has informed me that she would like workbooks next year. I am choosing to look at it as an individual style thing instead of ranting to her about the evils of workbooks or that it's against my personal education philosophy.:tongue_smilie: Because my #2 reason for hsing was being able to make the education fit the child. We do a set amount of things together (me and the children) that she will be CM'd enough. I actually think the hardest part of CM is the behavior of the child piece. I am working through Laying Down the Rails from Simply Charlotte Mason and it's clear that Mom has some attitude adjusting to do with the children!!!! CM had very high standards for acceptable behavior.

I got our 100's chart and some of the counters from Rainbow Resource (rather than buy the whole Saxon kit), this is my favorite place to order from as they have everything under the sun. I actually get the huge phone book size catalog so I can mark the pages.:) Another good hands-on program is Math-U-See. They use manipulatives for many years and it's good for hands-on, visual learners or children that need to work on a concept at a time. I make my own Montessori trays for my younger ones....but my 10yr old daughter likes to "do" them. My condolences on your Mom and good luck as you begin the homeschool journey! Yvonne

I'm glad to see Billy Idol up there...I almost broke my leg more than once running down the stairs to see his videos!!!! We were in a small town on the west coast and didn't get Mtv til the end of my high school years. My sister and I about wore out the vinyl on our Total Eclipse single....yes, I clearly remember walking to the store to buy the latest single for the record player. I must have blocked out the video because that is definitely creepy!!! My best friend and I had the biggest crush on the blonde Mtv guy....Alan Hunter???? Loved the rotary phone clip....we actually had a party line at one point with the rotary phone!!!! We had a one screen theatre and childrens movies were an after thought....not the franchised cash cow of today. I try and explain to my children how you had to stand in line to buy the ticket and then move to the other side of the building to stand in line to get in. Or that my sister and I were the "remote" for their Grandpa when he wanted to see what else was on the whopping 4 channels we got (one super fuzzy). Anyone else have a Beta player??? Remember all the excitement when VCRs came out??? Children today just don't know how lucky they are.....

This is week 15 for us. We don't take the whole week off because.....drumroll....we take off the WHOLE month of December. :hurray: So the first few days of this week and the last couple days of the month are on the schedule for week 15. We keep up on reading during our break a bit of math. Although my oldest will have to do more as he has some subjects which he is behind in (not core things) and I'm trying to teach him some "stay on track skills" as he is a 7th grader. Until I saw this thread....I had totally forgotten how close I am to a break I am. I'm doing the happy dance....oh yeah....doing the happy dance.:party:

Visited your blog today for the first time. Love the way you "OCD" chronicle!!!! Thank you for your generosity in sharing all the SOTW resources you make/put together!!!!

I had no idea you could watch videos with SWB....thank you so much for the info/link!!!! After watching the 2 videos...I think maybe my expectations were a little too high!!!! My oldest (who is in 7th) also struggles with writing. I too was bummed that the next level wasn't ready...but watching this I see he could do 4. We just started using IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) and he likes is soooo much better than the Lingua Mater we were using. That instructor has them pick out key words for the sentences to help them recall what was read. They are not allowed to look at the passage when they are writing from memory but rather their key word outline. While the narration/dication thing can seem tedious....the skill of being able to recall what was said or read is so helpful. Best of all....he is not hating writing anymore which I was so bummed was happening with the other program we were using. It can be hard on us as Mothers when we feel pressured to hit the grade level.....but so freeing when we teach to the skill level!!!!!!:001_smile:

We are more Charlotte Masonish in our house...so we use the Mater Amabilis schedule except for Science & Latin, I use different books. I would say that for the most part, my older 2 do not need intensive time with me. They might need help with something or for me to review....but they are beyond needing me for a lot of one-on-one time. By 9:30, the littles go and play or they can choose a Magic Schoolbus or Catholic movie to watch. I have lots of hands-on, learny type toys that I need to get better at rotating. My olders generally start with math as this is the area giving us more fits right now. English is usually in the early morning as well as this is an area where I am needed. Then they will usually start working their easier things that they don't need me constantly for. A page of spelling, Bible History, Catechism, 10 m handwriting (this will either be a prayer....English or Latin or a poem they are supposed to be memorizing), 20 m keyboarding, 20 m instrument practice, reading is a big chunk of their schedule: History both national and world and a related book per term, Shakespeare play a term, book club book a month, Saint book a term and one other religious book by grade. These are staggered and at level; but by the end of the term certain books are supposed to be done and new ones assigned. My oldest is a voracious reader and this comes easy, my daughter doesn't enjoy reading as much so I have tweaked her schedule a little. Science and Geography are 2x week. While it looks like a lot....they can easily have 7 or 8 things done before lunch and that is with a snack break thrown in. I work with the littles in the next room starting between 10 and 10:30 and we can get through the prek/K/1st grade combo in 1h 1/2. I break it up in 10 to 20 minute bites but unless my 6 yr old is pitching fits he is done before lunch. And those rotations are also about changing tasks. So if we've been sitting down doing reading. Then we'll switch to the other room and do math. Or play a game. Do some oral questions. He can do some computer time with a learning game. The littles are doing Song School Latin....they think it fun because there is a monkey on the cover. Spend some time on the artist or composer for the term. *The artist/composer thing has been harder for me to manage because each child has a different artist and composer by term. I have started combining them for my own sanity.* The older ones need me to review a lot with them (all that reading) so this is a more time consuming method for me than if they had a bunch of workbooks....but they like this a lot better. CM is really about training the children to do their work quickly and to their very best ability. As a child gets older, more time is allotted for them to complete subjects. For us, if we are doing school at 3pm and it's not because we had a field trip, then we are having a bad day. The nature walk is the funniest part of CM but can also be the hardest. If I don't schedule it....very easy to skip. I try to work it in when we are already out and about somewhere. This has been are hardest year schedule-wise since we have day things out of the house 3x per week. But I think the children are happier so they are more motivated to get their work done. If they aren't done by 3pm because they were slacking, then they have to finish their work instead of having free time. Since I look more by term, I would say by day, there are supposed to be 8 to 10 things done and there are certain things like Math, English/LA, all the daily practice things that have to be done each and every day. I am trying to give them some freedom to do their schedule how they feel it works best for them (except Math....I tried to let them do that in the afternoons and it just didn't work). If things aren't getting done (which is very easy to tell by their check-off sheets) then I manage that child's schedule more. Hope that helps. For me, the chores, meal planning, shopping/errands, follow through are the things that created stress in/for me. Which trickled down to stressed, acting out children, and more bad school days. I have really been working on decluttering, planning the meals more and starting the whole dinner thing earlier; like 4 or 4:30 I am totally about "what does Mom need to have done or be doing". There is no more teacher to help you. Teacher is gone. The better I am about my role as wife and homemaker, the better my role as teacher goes. Tonight there was no follow through on after dinner chores because I went to Target to exhange/return things and try and Christmas shop without the children. So we will start the morning with a messy downstairs. I will start my day feeling behind and that I didn't do good as a wife/homemaker. That will make my mood not that great and decrease my patience. If I am not careful....it will translate into a bad school day.

Our children are almost the exact same age!!! Mine is 6 instead of 7 and is a really immature 6 so he requires my attention/time for "school". We start the school day at 9am. Hats off to all those who can get it together at 7. They get up between 7-7:30. We do cereal for breakfast most of the mornings. The older 2 are responsible for getting one younger brother his breakfast. All the daily things (room tidy, morning offering, teethbrushing, dishwasher chore) are supposed to happen before the 9 start time. We have started the same way for years and it kind of gets them settled into the day (we do Saint of the Day and prayers together). For the older 2, I made a master list of where they are supposed to be in each subject by term. I wrote it out longhand (it didn't take that long) and they can check each chapter, pgs, etc. off daily. My oldest is a boy and he is not as good as keeping himself on track but I am trying to instill that in him so I try not to be too naggy. Natural consequence, he is stuck doing school work instead of earning video game time or has to miss a Boy Scout camping trip. Next come my daughter and she loves checking off those little boxes; she likes to be a little ahead. My younger too are the big energy drainers. They are super active and LOUD. They have to be in another room or no one can think.:001_smile: If they thrash a room...they have to pick it up. They are both highly motivated by video game time so I can get them, most days, to get through the school stuff fairly quickly. Lunch is usually sandwiches which is their preference for the most part, they can have leftovers. I have been trying to have the olders help with this as well....but seriously....how can so much mayo miss the bread???? I like to be done by 3pm. I have to have some QUIET TIME before the whole dinner thing begins. When I am good, I cook meat or meals ahead to save on time and have my menu working with the weekly schedule. I do not enjoy cooking at all. Love to bake, can't stand "what should I make for dinner"!!! We use Faith & Life as well, the older ones read this independently and generally review with me rather than doing the workbook. I do the younger ones. We have Catholic Mosaic and I try and pick 2 Saints for each month that we will spend some extra time on. One just at home and one with another hsing family. They really enjoy celebrating with another family and this helps us to have some regularly scheduled playdates. I have really concentrated more on making the Liturgical Year come alive for them the last couple of years. Lastly (this is sooo long) I would say that it is not the lack of schedule that messes up my day....it is my lack of energy/excitement to actually go around and check things, did I follow through? Did the rooms actually get tidied before 9 or do I go upstairs during the lunch break and then I am the Mad Mommy? Did the littles quietly make a mess in their room that I didn't catch and they still got to watch a movie at lunch? Did chores actually happen or have I let slackerville come and rest at our house? Did I put the laundry away or do I have piles sitting on the sofa, on the floor, making the room look messy? Follow through is the killer of my day....not the schedule, lack of orginizational techniques, saved blogs on how to make the day go smooth....did I make my rounds and handle things in a nice Mommy voice when I was supposed to; rather than finding everything at the evening tidy-up when I am stressed trying to make dinner and have the house look halfway presentable for Dad. 'Cuz there is no nice Mommy voice then!:tongue_smilie:

:iagree: This is the tradition here as well.

It sounds like it went great!!! Way to go:001_smile:

We do things similar to those listed. There is also a great St. Nicolas site which has other activities and cookie cutters http://www.stnicholascenter.org. We give the children gold candy coins or (even more favored) Chuck E Cheese tokens for each of these holidays. Dora has a 3 Kings movie that your littles might like. We have a couple of books about St. Nicolas that we read that day (as part of our Advent) and the same for 3 Kings. My children also get their "special" Christmas ornament on St. Nicolas day.

We have 2 tracphones. It works for us as we do not use the phones for casual talking or texting. They are for emergencies, when children are ready to be picked up, or calling from the store to see if we are out of milk:001_smile:. If this is the kind of use you are looking for, these type of phones are great. One of our tracphones is an automatic "double the minutes" each time you add minutes for the life of the phone. This was a flip-phone that I got at Walmart for less than $20 as it was on sale. I have actually started making a couple of frivolous calls to use some minutes....don't tell the children!!!:tongue_smilie:So I have to buy a $20 card every 3 months....my minutes rollover. We have had to one phone for more than 4 years; this is a superbasic model and I only paid $12. Tracphone is much more generous about letting you keep your phone number and minutes if you forget to add minutes exactly on the right day....Netzero was not. There are "cooler" prepaid phones....mine is still a basic model meaning I can't take pictures or surf the web....but you can spend more to get that type of phone.

One of our children's Godparents remembers the day of their baptism with a small gift (rather than birthday or Christmas) unless they are invited to the bday party. My Godparents lived many states away so they sent me birthday presents and always signed "from your Godparents". At Catholic stores, you can find very inexpensive Saints books (1.50) and other small items. First Communion and Confirmation are more important; children will prepare during the year before each of these. I think the most important thing a Godparent can do is actively pray for their Godchild. :001_smile:

IMHP.....I think nature study is more about getting out there and experiencing it rather than a book or curriculum. I have the Comstock book, the Autumn study, and a host of other nature books, guides. All the books don't matter if the children aren't able to spend time in the field, amongst the trees, lifting rocks up to see what bugs are crawling around. Even the toddlers can pick up the simple names of things, bring home some treasures for the nature table. Burgess has lots of story style nature books that I check out from the library. I would have to say that even though I have a lot of books...we spend more of our nature study just out in it. I try and take the children on 2-3 guided tours a year to learn about habitats, names of things, hike in different areas. I take pictures as I don't have a lot of patient, want to sit on a rock sketching children.:glare: Each child has a nature journal to post pictures in, write, draw or dictate to Mom what they want to say about the latest adventure. It's good to visit the same place in the different seasons so the children, even littles, can see how much it changes. My littles thought that the ducks at the pond "knew them" when we went in the winter time and the ducks would run right up to you and eat out of your hands.:001_smile: Not that the cold, wet weather had greatly decreased the pond's visitors. I think a lot of people get intimidated by the books and what "should" it look like. Just get out there in the fresh air and enjoy creation!:)

I had my tonsils and adenoids out at that age. The lasting throat issues led to chronic ear infections. As time went on, I had more & more sick issues. My oldest had his adenoids removed when he was 2. He did not have sore throat issues but had lots of drainage at night, open mouth sleeping, showing as asthmatic and put on an inhaler. The ENT did an xray and his adenoids had almost completely filled his sinus space. No problem with the surgery and no problems with asthma or use of inhaler since. They are glands that are supposed to help with infections; but if they are sick, they can spread it just as easy. There is not a lot of space between sinus space and the brain. It is not a good place to have infected glands.

Our house. We have been cable free for about 4 years. Now with Netflix, hulu, etc...there are many things that we can watch. We have a converter box and get quite more stations than I had growing up!!!!! We have three OPB stations and Qubo....my children just don't know how lucky they are!!!!

I usually wait til after the 12 weeks due to miscarriage. We did have a just over the 12 week miscarriage after we told people. If the older ones can figure it out, then we would talk about it. I am a puke 24 hrs a day for months type of pregnant. My older ones know about miscarriage...but it is very hard to explain to a younger child.

Library books? Really? We have a library store that is one of the best places to get hardcover books in great shape for cheap......

My children LOVE the flannel board. I made mine with a large piece of foamboard, covered it with flannel (from the nursery section, very soft) and tacky glue. Flannel works better for the felt to stick on. I have made felt pieces and buy sets when I find them used at a hs store or sale, sometimes garage sales. I've made sequencing sets. Somehow, even though it was supposed to be a "quiet thing" for the boys to do....my littles still manage to turn it into a loud battle.:001_smile: I also made them a small one with a cake pan from the dollar store. This was when my K was on a Jesse Bear book run and I made them bears with different flannel pieces to match the Jesse Bear What Will You Wear book. The flannel pan serves as a bed/house.

We have 4 children.....2 are skinny and 2 are on the more stocky end of things. Everything else (food, exercise) is the same.:glare: I didn't have a problem with my weight til my 30's with having children. My metabolism seems to jumped into the Grand Canyon. I hadn't heard of this program but will be looking over in and the Couch to 5k. It is so hard when they are young. The childrens' Dr. said to just try and keep them from gaining weight so that their growing stretches their weight out. I have been trying to move dinner earlier, more fruit/veggies and more exercise. We talk more along the lines of being healthier versus trying to lose weight.

Traditional Grace that Parrothead posted....and sometimes in Latin like Sugarfoot. I let my oldest son lead the Latin...his is soooo much better than mine!!!

I fix my husbands plate, get him seconds, fix his dessert, if there are leftovers I will pack it up for his lunch. I usually serve the plates up at the stove, children help getting their plates to the table. It is a small thing to do for him; he works hard to bring home the money for our single income household. And yes, what Moms do at home is work and homeschooling makes even more work....but I don't get a paycheck for that. And I like staying home with our children. :001_smile: Does anyone else read the J.D. Robb detective books??? It's set in the future and there is a "stay-home Mom option" and the government pays salaries to the Moms. That would be nice!!!!!

Thanks for the link/info.