Lionden Landing

Our week this week is very crazy and our goals are minimal.  The week is full of excitement and visitors culimating with Froggy's birthday party Sunday afternoon. We are starting our week with our annual Fall Harvest Fun Day. We will go straight from the farm to Daisy Investiture so there will be no schooling at all. Tuesday I am hoping to get in some solid learning since Tuesday night a little girl is coming to stay with us for a visit while her parents are away.  I think Froggy is  more excited about this than she is her party.  And then because our house will not be full enough the grandparents arrive on Thursday.  This week my main goal is maintaining routine.  Among all the additions, special events and visitors I will work  to keep as much of our standard activities as possible. As for academics we will continue with Handwriting and Math and Parsha.  The portion for this week is perfect since it is about inviting visitors into the ...

Monday - Still part of the weekend due to the holiday        Morning - Davening                        Handwriting - Copywork wow and cow                        Introduce new letter of the week                        Finish last week's math wrokbook pages                        Read Lech Lecha in Reading Genesis        Afternoon - Froggy Daddy Date time                           Mommy goes scrapbooking Tuesday - Daddy's Birthday ...

The latest Carnival of Homeschooling is up. Each week the carnival pulls together some great articles from around the blogosphere on all sorts of homeschooling topics. Check it out and tell me which is your favorite article or tip. I loved the article on music education and needed the reminders in the math article

While this is part three of my review it is of number one importance in our studies. We may skip science or math but not these. As the traditional school year draws to a close, many of our homeschool friends are excited to be finishing school and discussing when to restart. We school year round and I cannot imagine any other option because how could we possibly take a break from Parsha study or prayer? Tefillah Brachot before eating, Bedtime Shema and Shacarit each morning including, in order: Modeh ani - upon awakening Mah tovu Asher yatzar Elohai Morning Brachot (as written in our ArtScroll siddur- not ideal but the best compromise) Shema/Vahavta Amidah (we are still working on this one. Only the first brachot is done out loud and in Hebrew, other parts are in English or silent) Aleinu Hebrew Reading / writing - I have ordered Sha'ah Shel Menucha Alef Bet Primer but I may end up saving it for a year before using it. We will probably just continue with our more unschool...

We are struggling to find what works just right for us. Since we are only really starting Kindergarten this year that is somewhat understandable. I started this series with the hardest piece because it was the most time critical. Now I get to do the easiest. We will have no formal reading program. We read together constantly and Froggy is moving into reading independently. I encourage her to read to me as much as she is interested and that is it. Provide quality literature and talk about it. The big change planned for the upcoming year is the addition of Narration . We have been working on Laying Down the Rails and this is the next step for us. The biggest thing holding us back from incorporating it sooner has been trying to determine the right text and quantity with which to start. The answer is our Parsha study. The text is very simple and she has a grounding in the context which will make it easier. We will start with just one page for now. Writing - We will be doing ...

This week I am starting a series reviewing curriculum, classes and extracurriculars as decide what to keep, what to toss and what to add for the upcoming school year. I am starting with extracurriculars since that is what prompted the review. I have signed Froggy up for swim team for the summer. This is a test for us on many fronts. It could fail (and thus make life simpler in many ways) for any combination of reasons. The team while it says it is not competitive and welcomes beginners may decide she is not developmental ready. Froggy may decide she is not up to it or willing to put in the effort/time I may decide that the time slot and/or commitment just does not work for our family Or it could be a huge success and thus require a total revamp of how life works at The Landing. Summer Swim Team meets five times a week for one hour. My understanding is that we can easily elect not to attend all sessions each week but it is unlikely we will be able to participate and attend less t...

Our caterpillars finally arrived. (This is actually our second batch but don't tell Froggy that. I killed the first batch) We measured them when they arrived and are watching them grow. They started at tiny and have gotten much bigger than expected. We keep thinking that each molt is the last but not so. Sharing nature with my daughter is one of the finer things in life for me. We are reading some great stories to go along with our study and keep her interested while awaiting the metamorphosis. From Caterpillar to Butterfly is a Stage 1 Science book that show the life cycle in a fun and interesting way. We checked out three different books of this type and as I expected this was the only one that we read multiple times. Becoming Butterflies is part of the "Science Made Simple for Curious Young Minds" series. It is written as a story unlike the Stage 1 Science books. Froggy likes stories much better and will consistently choose these books over any non-fiction book...

The latest edition of this wonderful carnival is up over at As for My House . It features some great times and stories from other homeschooling families (including us :) I finally got my act to get together) So grab a cup of coffee and get inspired.

I love the idea of expanding my horizons and trying new things. Daring Bakers encourages me to do just that. The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen . Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca . The graham cracker recipe I used is from 101 Cookbooks . Here it is. My notes and changes are Purple Graham Cracker Recipe 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour. I did not use the additional 2 TBS 1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 7 tablespoons (3 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen. I used 3.5oz margerine since we need to be dairy- free. 1/3 cup mild-flavored honey, such as clover 5 tablespoons whole milk I used coconut milk 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract For the topping: 3 tablespoons granulat...

This month we are working on the concepts involved with money. How do we do this? We play store. Why do we do this? Because Froggy wants an allowance and I feel if she is to get an allowance she needs to understand what money is and how it works. The first time through I picked several toys from Froggy's shelves and put price tags on them. She was given twenty five cents in a variety of coins and allowed to select her purchases. Prior to this I had introduced the different coins and their different values but only barely and with very limited success. She made her selection and paid for it at the cashier (mom) who also helped her determine which coin she needed to use to pay for it. She loves this game and asks for it frequently. We have graduated to starting with a single quarter and making change from that as the purchases take place. She is getting lots of practice at her subtraction as well as working on identifying the different coins and their values. Happily linking to...

I missed entering the carnival this week. I have just been too busy with my own schooling. Melissa has done a lovely job pulling together all the great submissions with her theme - Who let the dogs out. Stop by. You can visit with her dogs, a golden retriever and a goldendoodle as well as learn lots more about all kinds of dogs while you take a tour of neat ideas, fun games, and creative tips from your fellow homeschoolers. There are tips for little ones learning their letters as well as older children taking a tour of the world. There are interviews and giveaways and lots of other things. Just because I missed out does not mean you need to.

Apollo's Academy presents a fable based fieldtrip around the blogosphere with the Carnival of Homeschooling #149 Check it out!

This is recovery week at our house. After the rush of all the Fall holidays and birthdays, we now settle into a time of calm and our menu reflects it. There is nothing fancy this week just some simple comfort foods that help us feel the calm we need. I will add more recipes as we make them. Sunday - Soup and biscuits Monday - Crab and Broccoli Quiche, Pumpkin Cookies Tuesday - Chicken Fajitas, Black Beans, Rice Wednesday - Tofu Stir Fry - This appeared on last week's menu but never got made. Thursday - leftovers Friday - Roast Turkey, Stuffing, Steamed Broccoli, Apple Crisp Saturday - leftovers For more menu ideas check out all this week's selection at Org Junkie

Our local homeschool group is pretty small and pretty eclectic. We don't do much as a group although that is changing. We have started taking hikes and some of the older girls have joined a Girl Scout troop together. What we do that we all can count on is Park Day. Every Friday we meet at a local park and let the kidlets just run. We are a hardy bunch and continue park day deep into winter. It is a young group. For most of the families, the oldest child is six or seven which makes it the perfect group for Froggy. From birth until recently, most of Froggy's friends came from a mom's group I found when desperate for support. These friends are in preschool now and not available much. I am glad she has her Park Day friends who are becoming closer and closer. I like the time with the parents who share a common world view, parents I can trust to understand.

The Halloween edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling is up. The carnival is over here this week rather than its regularly scheduled location. Get a cup of coffee and go see all the great trick or treats.

Friday's Finds Guidelines :::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Upcoming themed editions of Friday's Finds: October 31st -- The Halloween Edition The Ghosts and goblins roam tonight. What is book will you be curling up with? What is child's holiday favorite? November 14 -- The Thanksgiving Edition With Thanksgiving around the corner, post your family's favorite books--the ones that you want to read over and over again. Or is there one that we should all avoid? Let us know that too. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Friday's Finds is a new addition at the Landing. I hope it will help us all unearth some real finds. To make it easier for everyone, here are some guidelines and answers. 1. So what exactly IS Friday's Finds, anyway? Friday's Finds is a "blog carnival" (that concept is explained here ). Basically, the idea is that on Friday you post a review of a book you and/or your children are reading. Hopefully most of th...

Carnivals are a great way to meet new folks and see some stories you might otherwise not know about. Hence I bring you my Tuesday Carnival Tour. Our first stop is Life on the Road who shows us the different ways in which we are leaving a legacy as we homeschool our children in this week's Carnival of Homeschooling. Our next stop is Haveil Havalim #151 the P.S.D edition which takes us on a tour of all things Jewish from Israeli politics to holiday celebrations to family life. Real Life is our next stop with a look at that special relationship between Mothers and Daughters . And this brings us to our final stop on the tour, the Carnival of Family Life which lets us look inside all the hidden corners.

Our theme for this week is Tu B'Shevat. We decorated our learning board with a banner that read "Happy birthday trees" across the top. There was a picture of tree and a birthday cake as well as a big banner on the bottom proclaiming "TuB'Shevat". The theme, learning board and book basket are first of our New Years revamp that have been successfully implemented. This is the first one I can actually say was a success. Froggy has pointed at it and referred to it and talked about it. Using the board, I now that she understands the holiday and some of the traditions associated with it. We will see how it goes as we carry it into our second week and finally celebrate the holiday. And as we did with Hanukkah , here is my review of our TuB'Shevat books. The Giving Tree Yes the classic Shel Silverstein book. It sweet and sad with the cute line drawings for which he is known. It was a good tie-in to the conservation aspect of the holiday A Seder for Tu ...

I want to share a few of my favorite carnivals with you this week. So come along and enjoy being well-read with Carnival of Family Life . Explore a variety of Jewish and Israeli issues at Haveil Havalim #150 . Get a literary perspective on homeschooling at The Carnival of Homeschooling . I hope you enjoy this different voices as much as I do. And let them know that you visited.

With the start of the new year, we have added two classes and a coop day to our already established schedule of storytime and Shabbat observances. These added activities have prompted questions about what day it is. So Froggy is starting to learn the days of the week. We are singing a days of the week song every day since Froggy loves songs and learns so well from songs. Part of our bedtime routine now is calendar time. We cross the day off talking about the name of the day, put a star on that day if we have no potty accidents and pack our bag for the next day. I am also getting a few books like this from our library to help explain the cyclic nature of the week. We have had a great deal of success using ideas from Seven Times Around The Sun to help with the cyclic nature of each day but we are still struggling with the larger cycles.