Monday, February 23, 2015

{This and That}

We began Lent this week, which means our liturgical color has changed to violet.  Our backyard blooms followed suit!



Both our hebe and our vinca bloomed this past week.  I love how our garden times itself with the liturgical seasons--how very convenient. ;)

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Have you seen Brandy's series on homeshool burnout?  She didn't include my personal method for burnout: starting the school year in July so that you're halfway through Term 3 when February rolls around! But I know that's not ideal for most people, besides the fact that it might be a little hard to actually apply that immediately. ;)

So if you're in need of some freshness to get you through now until springtime, head over there and take her simple but effective suggestions!

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And speaking of Brandy's third suggestion for avoiding burnout...

Saturdays are my long-run mornings, which I usually do solo around town.  But for the past couple months, I have been meeting up with a local running group for a weekly run up into the hills surrounding our town instead.  And I have to say: are you looking to kick-start your exercise routine or get some inspiration for the week ahead?  Head up some hills!



Grueling climbs rewarded with great sunrise views make this one of the most spirit-satisfying activities I do all week!  Best of all, it doesn't matter if you walk or run--as long as you get to the top. :)

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Clicking around the web...

Because you know you've been dying to know: Why pigeons bob their heads.

Have you read Anthony Esolen's How to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child? A follow-up from Circe.

Audobon's Birds of America, free as high-resolution downloadable images.  I'm not even sure what to do with this yet, but wow.

A hymn to Our Lady from Edgar Allen Poe.  I'm saving this to read with the children in May.

Looking for math drill printables?  We use the free, super-easy, and fully-customizable Math Aids all the time alongside our Wrap-Ups.

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Baby Drew is nine months old now!


Don't let these picture fool you: although he does indeed spend much of his day toted around by one person or another, he has somehow still managed to learn to climb, cruise, and stand on his own.  He's very eager to keep up with the big kids and I have no doubt he'll be walking soon!

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Lest you think my kids spend all their drawing time working diligently in their nature journals...


Yes, they're designing their racing silks.  This is what happens when Daddy is home on the weekends!

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After our bud-forcing of the last couple weeks, I've been itching to do some more growing indoors.  Have I mentioned I have a black thumb?  I'm terrible at gardening--it's one of my (many) weaknesses.  But I've always seen these indoor "gardens" and I think they might be something even I could manage.  I've done green onions (successfully) and avocados (unsuccessfully) before, but this list is pretty comprehensive--lots of fun roots, seeds, and cuttings to try.  Anyone have recommendations for this kind of project?

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I'll be back soon to share how I organize my commonplace books and to round up our exams from Term 2 (finally!).  Until then, have a great Monday!

7 comments:

  1. I was going to ask about this on the ambleside forum! We live on a farm and I was thinking it would be better for our family to basically school year round, going fast or slower through the Ambleside curriculum based on what is going on on the farm. Different terms would be different lengths. Are your terms all the same length? What is your reason for starting and ending earlier? What do you do during your "summer break?" Thanks for all the time and effort you put into your blog, it is so helpful!

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    1. I think one of the great advantages of homeschooling is the ability to be flexible around your family's needs. So I would go for it! When my oldest two were going to start Year 1, we had a baby due at the end of that September, so I decided to start in July to get a term in before taking a baby break. We ended up only needing to take off a couple weeks for baby, so we finished the school year in April--and I loved being done "early." The next year, I had a baby due in May, so we started early again to be finished with the our school year before baby's due date. So we do an altered schedule partly because of family circumstances and partly because I just like the margin that an early start provides. If we ever *do* need to take off unexpected weeks during the school year, we have plenty of time for that.

      We do three 12-week terms (plus an exam week for each, which makes them 13 weeks), as suggested on the AO website. This year, we did July through September, October through January (since we had breaks in between for Thanksgiving and Christmas--Term 2 exams happened the second week of January), and then February through April. So even if you want to vary your start and end times, you can still use the term break-downs that AO provides. I don't think you have to make different terms different lengths necessarily; you can just break in the middle of the term. We haven't had trouble doing it that way.

      I use summer break to prepare for the next school year, take trips, get outdoors more, do decluttering, finish household projects, rework chore routines, etc. I also usually have a few schoolish goals too--like this summer, I'm planning to prioritize my 6yo's reading lessons and start up our geometry lessons with my oldest two. We do some school during summer: I aim for my older kids to hit their independent daily subjects (math, penmanship, Italian, memory work) three times a week, just to keep those skills fresh and because we only do four days of daily work a week during the school year.

      Okay, that was a novel. LOL Let me know if you have other questions, Katie! :)

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    2. Katie,
      We too live on a farm and adjust our schedule as needed to fit the flow of the farm seasons. I schedule lighter weeks to correspond to busier times (lambing, calving, planting, canning, etc). Like Celeste, we do daily work only four days per week, with room for field trips on Fridays or to provide wiggle room for unexpected farm excitement. With my sporadic lighter weeks coupled with regular weeks being only four days, we too find ourselves schooling more year-round than most folks. But it works for us :) So, I just wanted to encourage you to give it a try if you feel drawn to it.
      Best wishes, Meghan

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  2. Always love newsy posts! Those flowers are gorgeous! :) My youngest is 8 1/2 months...they sure do get into a lot!!! :D

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    1. Thank you so much, Amy. :) Yes, it is so sweet to see him trying to keep up with the big kids already! LOL

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  3. Love your this and that posts, Celeste. I have always liked the school-year-'round idea..if nothing else, to slow things down and adjust our schedule to whatever is going on at that particular time. But we plant a huge garden every spring and harvest beginning in April (early peas) all the way to October (fall crops). So it suits us better to start lessons in September when garden work has slowed down a bit. Plus, our dairy goats always kid in early spring and baby chicks and ducks arrive later in the spring as well, just as school is beginning to wind down. Hmmm..maybe I just have a bad case of the "grass is always greener" syndrome. ;) I think we'll stay with our current schedule. :)

    Your youngest reminds me of our youngest. When she was a baby, she didn't need to learn to walk or talk; her older siblings toted her where she wanted to go, and handed her everything she wanted to touch. Hard to believe she will be 8 years old in April. Bittersweet. :)

    Have a blessed Wednesday!

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    1. I'd consider many aspects of farm life as "school" too--so maybe you really are schooling year-round? ;) Thanks for your kind comments Lisa! Wishing you blessings as well. :)

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