A van Gogh moment~sort of

I was reading a story about Vincent van Gogh to my 5 year old and when we came to the part about him taking a knife and cutting off part of his ear because he had gotten into a fight with a friend she stopped me so I could tell her more about it. (Why do things like this get their attention so easily?!!) So I just explained to her that his mind must have been a bit 'jumbled' and he did it in haste and how we should be careful not to make rash decisions that could affect us for the rest of our lives. She had this look of what I thought was total understanding until she opened her mouth and said:

"Wow, he should have used scissors, that would have been way easier I think."

Not at all what I expected or even hoped to hear her say!! Definitely NOT a light bulb moment!!

Unusual Sunday morning!

It was not our usual Sunday morning chaos and I think that must have confused a a certain little someone! The morning began quietly, unrushed, calm, peaceful, no one rushing to and fro, and with quiet music being played in the background. Not always the norm, sadly for our

Sabbath mornings. Our littlest daughter came running downstairs all in a panic and said to daddy in a worried voice:

"Daddy, aren't we going to church today?" (Church was moved from 9:30 to 1 pm unbeknownst to her.)

"Yes, we are going to church today."

"THEN WHY ISN'T EVERYBODY IN A HURRY AND RUNNING AROUND EVERYWHERE? Did you guys start the mad rush without me?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

I have to thank her for opening my eyes! The "mad rush" as we call it is going to end! I would love to see Sunday mornings more enjoyable and relaxing. Something to work on!

Picture study, drawing, and copywork

I try to encourage the kids to draw from their imagination and to draw from what they see around them. Here are a few of their latest projects. One of the ways I love to encourage their study of fine art is to pick one drawing a week to 'copy' into their notebook. It usually replaces their 'copy work' assignment for that day. In this way they tend to look closer at the picture and as a result their 'study' of it seems to go more in depth. Here are some of our favorite books that help us along in our study of art. Another thing that helps us in our picture study is my notebook with 8x10 photos from Ambleside tucked away in sheet protectors. Office Max is happy to print them for .67! And on photo paper.

A spare board that Emma found lying around and decided to put it to good use. It is a permanent decoration now in our dining room.

I find that all I have to do is read a story to the kids and afterwards they automatically jump to the table to draw it out!!

What is seen across the street from where we live!

The Carl books are absolutely loved in our house. I have more Carl drawings than anything else stored safely away!

King Arthur from Discovery of the New Worlds

Here from one of our Come Look With Me books is one of the drawings Kenzie did for 'copywork'

Wonderful Wednesday~A rare find!!

I found these awesome books at a thrift store the other day. They are so cool. This is Geography like I've never seen it. My kids are already pouring over them. (Me too!) Here is a bit of info on them I found on Wikipedia. ~Just wanted to share~

Appreciating and using the Original McGuffey Readers

My intention is not to reinvent a post about the Original McGuffey Readers simply because on Large Family Mothering we have such fine posts that were written on using them. If you have plans of using them or just want to see how one family benefits from them I suggest popping over and reading her posts. I only want to share how much I appreciate the content and how it is used in the training of my children. Each of our children has read or are reading these books. I like to have them read the lesson to me so we can discuss any vocabulary words and to discuss the lesson and what is to be learned from it. Each child reads 2 lessons a week and the days are staggered for each child so that I typically only have 2-3 lessons a day to go over. This seems to work the best for us.

Here is a sample from the Original McGuffey Eclectic Third Reader that is from the lesson my daughter read to me today.

Line 4. It will cost something to be a Christian, it will cost more not to be so.

Line 6. They who deserve nothing should be content with anything.

Line 9. They that do nothing are on their way to do that which is worse than nothing.

Line 10. Christian graces are like perfumes, the more they are pressed, the sweeter they smell. They are like stars that shine brightest in the dark. Like trees, the more they are shaken, the deeper root they take and the more fruit they bear.

Line 11. Sin yields its pleasures first, but pain is sure to follow. The pleasures on sin are only for a season.

Line 17. Knowledge will not be acquired without pains and application. It is troublesome digging for deep, pure waters, but when once you come to the spring, they rise up and meet you.

Line 18. There are no principles but those of Christianity, to be depended on in cases of real distress. These are able to encounter the worst emergencies, and to bear us up under all the changes and chances to which our lives are subject.

Who is William McGuffey?

Most of us recognize the name. But how much do we know about the man. After using the McGuffey Readers in our home for 20+ years I thought it was time to educate myself on him. Much of what I found out was no surprise, but at the same it was all very interesting.

It all began as a mother's heartfelt prayers for her children. Her prayers for the education of her children were not only heard by God but also by a passerby who also heard her fervent, faithful prayer for her children to be educated. It just happened that Reverend Thomas Hughes was out scouting for students to join his school. Old Stone Academy. He joined the school when he was 14 years old. It was all uphill from there as the timeline of his life will tell us.

After completing his schooling with Old Stone Academy he desired a college education. He became an ordained minister at Washington College in Pennsylvania. During 1825-26 he began teaching in Paris, Kentucky in order to earn and safe money to complete his studies. During this time the president of Miami University in Ohio, Robert H. Bishop offered him a job as a professor of ancient languages. By 1829 he became minister of a Presbyterian church.

He was a natural born teacher and leader and that coupled with his studies is what eventually led him to the writing of the Readers. Publishers Truman and Smith needed a set of readers to be created for elementary students and asked William to write them.

McGuffey served as the Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Virginia. Which, if you have read the readers come as no surprise. The McGuffey Readers were read and studied by many leading men such as Thomas Edison, Theodore Roosevelt, and Henry Ford to name a few. His desire in accomplishing the task of the readers was to impart patriotism, virtue, morality, a love for God and anything good to all who read them. His hope was to build Godly character in our nation's children which would in turn build character into our nation as a whole. William McGuffey died in 1873 but his legacy lives on today and are found in each page of the classic McGuffey Readers.

Wordless Wednesday~The wonder of nature

A quick cast iron tip

If you own and use a Dutch Oven, chances are you know this. But if cast iron cooking is new to you or if you've forgotten how to care for your cast iron cookware then this is for you!! Personally, I value this information because my cast iron cookware products are my favorite items in my kitchen.

Cleaning your pots and pans.

After scraping out all food from your pan, use hot water and a plastic or natural fiber pad or brush to wash out the oven. NEVER, REPEAT, NEVER! pour cold water into a hot pan or you may cause permanent damage! Dry the entire oven and lid using paper o cloth towels, and then re-coat the entire pan and lid with a light coating of olive or vegetable oil. If you have an extremely greasy pan you can use a mild detergent to clean it. Be careful to use a mild detergent. Use one or maybe two drips in the pan and never more that that unless you plan on re-seasoning the pan. Be sure to rinse the oven several times to get all soap out. I recommend you NOT use detergent very often. Do not use a strong detergent or a hard wire brush in cleaning the pan unless, again, you plan on re-seasoning. Your pan will darken and the patina will improve with each use to turn your oven into the ultimate non-stick cookware! Therefore, avoid using anything inside your pan that might damage its seasoned patina!! Happy cooking!

These two could have been my twins

After all, they were both born in December!! Of all my kids these two definitely take first place when it comes to looking alike. At least in our opinion. Here is a modern day photo of them.

Mary falls asleep often in my arms and it is then that I see her sister Robyn. So much so that I am speechless. It really is like having Robyn little again. It is so very strange!! Robyn, on the left is is holding one of my 'real' twins! And Mary on the right, of course is sleeping in my arms.

We were looking at older photos of Robyn and we would ask Mary, "Who is this?" She would always say, "That's me. How did I get bigger?" She really thinks it's her. In one photo she actually was excited to be bigger and older than her older brothers and sisters. She just couldn't figure it out!!

Robyn and Mary snuggling with daddy.

Crazy, it just blows my mind!

One Room School~Involving preschoolers

For my 2nd post in my One Room Homeschool series I would like to talk about pre-schoolers. Not so much in 'formally' schooling them (a little on that later) but more of including them in and keeping them busy while schooling older children. I chose this particular photo for this post because it was then, when my twins were babies, and my boys were preschoolers that I learned the most!! Of course through trial and error.

In my last post I spoke about homeschooling with babies and toddlers. With that in mind, and while exercising those ideas here is what I found to be helpful with the preschoolers. One thing I found is that a 4-6 year old child really loves being "in the loop" with the older kids. But as we all know they aren't quite there yet!! Again, same as with the toddlers I would have a treasure box. Only the contents were a bit different than the one for the toddlers and babies. A preschool treasure box may look contain the following:

crayons

markers-washable ones

coloring books-they are now ready for the more advanced type coloring books. Books that have short descriptions that go along with the coloring page. Birds, animals, numbers, letters, bible story coloring pages, and even maps of states and countries. You will find short bursts of time in between schooling the older children in which these descriptions and explanations can be read to them before they begin to color. Our all time favorites were and still are Rod and Staff books for the preschoolers. I have gone through so many of these I think I have them memorized.

scissors and glue-if you have a young child then I don't need to tell you how invaluable these 2 items are. I sit my little ones right up to the table with the rest of us so I can watch those hands and scissors. Of course, I had to learn the hard way because more than once a child would play barber on another! There are many preschool workbooks on the market that are wonderful for cutting and pasting and coloring. Children love these little books and feel a great satisfaction in completing their simple academic pages.

Laurie Puzzles-I mention Laurie because they have so much to offer. I have used my basket of Laurie products for at least 7 of my children. I use them to teach colors, add, subtract, tracing, classifying, and so much more.

Playdough-homemade or store bought. And you can never go wrong with the little molds that you can get to use with the playdough.

Board books-I have several of these in my preschool box. Ones with beautiful pictures of the Savior, gardens, flowers, etc. If kept in the box and brought out only for "those" desperate times they should stay nice and last for a long time.

Toy dishes, pretend tea-set

Snacks-you know your child best here. Try to keep on hand some of his favorites for that special time when you need him to be settled.

A new sippy-or anything new for that matter. Something magical happens when a young child gets to drink from a new cup, eat snacks from a new little bowl and keeps them occupied while they are eating/drinking.

Toy soldiers, dinosaurs, match box cars, jacks, flash cards, (laminated ones) are all some ideas of what can be placed in the preschool box and will keep a little happy, hopefully, for the duration that you need him to be!!

Naps of course are another tool we can utilize with children this age. Again, try to save your more complicated, time consuming teaching for these times of the day. When babies, toddlers, and preschoolers are all sleeping at the same time it is amazing what you can accomplish!! We like to sit outdoors on a blanket during spring and fall to do some of our lessons and that also is a nice time to do some teaching while the little one is preoccupied with the swing or playing nearby. I would put my portable crib outside on nice days for the baby who is beginning to get around.

Again. As in my babies and toddlers post I welcome all your ideas and suggestions. I'm sure there are many I've not thought of and some I've not remembered so feel free to share away!!

Up next in my One Room School series-Keeping lessons going through difficult pregnancies.

Wordless Wednesday~Best Friends