Three Plus Two

Reading so far this year

(The books I read about homeschooling high school are here.)

Books Finished:

The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size

I have all of Julia Cameron's books, so I felt the need to have this one, too.  I didn't like it as much as some of her other books (most notably The Artist's Way and The Right to Write), but that might have been because I kept grumping about the conventional dieting advice she gives, such as using artificial sweeteners (see Nina Planck's Real Food for why these are bad, and why conventional dieting advice may not be so great.) While I am fairly sure that some of Cameron's other advice is bang-on -- the basis of the book is the same as her other books, namely that doing three pages of freewriting every morning will help you figure out problems in your life, including problems with food and weight -- I also felt that she really focused quite a bit on deprivation.  I don't think she meant to, but it seemed to be there as an undercurrent throughout the book.  She did list a good set of questions to ask before snacking, though, using the acronym HALT: "Am I hungry/angry/lonely/tired?" (I'm not sure what you do if you answer yes to all four, as I do sometimes. Does that mean you're allowed to eat chocolate?)

The Golden Goblet (Newbery Library, Puffin)

A YA mystery set in Ancient Egypt, written by the author of Moccasin Trail, which Andy read to the kids a couple of years ago. We seem to have skipped ancient Egypt this time around in favor of hitting ancient Africa and ancient China -- by kid request. I wondered if either of the kids would like to read this book on their own, so I read it one afternoon while I rocked Chipmunk. (Lest you think I am a speed reader, you should know that I usually have to rock him for hours.)  Good book.  I enjoyed it.  And I liked all the little details about goldsmithing, too.

Li Lun, Lad of Courage (The Newbery Honor Roll)

Another juvenile novel, which I was trying to decide whether or not to read aloud. I ended up passing it along to Katydid, but I think she may be too caught up in her current Harry Potter phase to care too much about it. It would be a good read aloud.  It's part Sonlight's Core 5 program, the story of a young Chinese boy from a fishing village who does not want to be out on the sea.

 The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief

I actually started reading this one last year. It's by the director of the Human Genome Project, and is sort of a spiritual memoir (he talks about his conversion as a former atheist) as well as a justification for an evolutionary view which does not deny the existence of God OR assume a literal creationist or intelligent design stance. In the end, though he is not Catholic, he holds up John Paul II's writing on evolution as a paradigm for the way in which evolution ought to be viewed -- a perspective he calls biologos.  Worth reading. 

Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft

I started reading Kon-Tiki because I saw it on the Kolbe elementary literature list, and I was thinking about having Gareth read it and wondering if I could read it aloud to both him and Katydid.  After it gets going I think it would make a fine read aloud for older kids, but in our house, with our level of chaos, I think it would take forever.  So I'm hoping to make this Gareth's first "assigned" reading.  Coming from an unschooly, Montessori-ish background as I do, the whole idea of assigned reading makes me squirm in my seat, but Gareth is the kind of kid who needs a little nudge now and then to expand his horizons. And I think he would enjoy Kon-Tiki, as it combines many of his present and past interests: archaeology, fish, weird animals, ships and sailing... I have to admit that I've avoided the idea of assigned reading, because required reading often makes me treat a book like work, which I dislike... but then, I have a lot of school baggage I still carry around with me. I really enjoyed Kon-Tiki  -- Thor Heyerdahl has a companionable understated sense of humor and a gift for description -- and will probably pass the book on to Andy as well as Gareth. 

Great Books

Some notes on this one here.  Now I want to read all the books he read.

Books in Progress:

Second Nature: A Gardener's Education

I love Michael Pollan's writing.  This book is no exception. And I could completely understand why he tried to napalm the groundhog that was eating his tomatoes.  Funny, thoughtful writing.

The Imitation of Christ (Dover Thrift Editions)

This is the first time I've read this book.  I don't know why I have put it off until now; what a wonderful, helpful book of meditations.  I think I had some weird mental block given me by high school English classes.

The Faith Explained

I'm reading this along with the Baltimore Catechism, which the kids and I work through in the mornings. 

Religious Customs in the Family

I've been reading this one here and there, according to season (which is how it's organized).

Winter Term, Week 11: CAT Testing

Our focus last week was the required standardized testing New York requires every other year in 4th through 8th grades.  This is when one discovers that the state thinks social studies is all about reading charts that tell you how many students belong to various school clubs. And that an important math concept is being able to read a TV schedule.  I used to think -- before the kids took their first tests two years ago -- that the tests were probably totally useless, but I've made my peace with them now. They sometimes point out hitherto unknown problems, such as that one of my children has trouble reading charts (probably due to visual issues, but maybe not), or that another of my children's spelling trouble probably does qualify as a learning disability.  But mostly what we can take from standardized testing is that the relaxed, eclectic learning we do around here is more than enough to match the schools. 

My biggest problem during testing week is keeping the little ones quiet.  Because we're not usually going our separate ways with academic work being done in the morning, being quiet in the morning is a novel experience for my little ones. I could have turned on the TV, but I didn't.  I also could have -- probably should have -- made plans, but alas, I didn't do that either. (The way things have devolved lately is probably yet another post that I won't have time to write, but... maybe.) Instead, I set the microwave timer for the big kids and hovered like a hawk over the little ones, taking their lead.

 

One of the things we did was to make a big mess on St. Patrick's Day by making some homemade playdough.

 

Green, of course.

 

Chipmunk dumped out half a box of cornstarch on the table, but since he was happy and quiet, I left him at it.

   

Which made him happy.

The little boys also had a bit of a knights kick last week, when they spent quite a bit of time perusing knight books and coloring knight coloring books.

Fortunately, we had some nice days during testing, which was good for everyone.  Since Gareth and Katydid decided to do more tests a day than I had originally planned on, they got done early and were rewarded with most of Thursday "off".  Katydid spent her Thursday holiday writing a report on red-tailed hawks and birdwatching, birding journal in hand.  Gareth built Lego space ports.  But of course all I have are pictures of the little boys:

Construction begins again, photo courtesy of Katydid.

What part of spring are you?

You Are Blooming Flowers

You are an optimistic person by nature. In even the darkest times, you are hopeful about the future. You feel truly blessed in life and can sometimes be overwhelmed with emotions. You have an artist's eye. You are always looking for beauty in the mundane. You have a good sense of aesthetics, especially when it comes to shapes and color.

What Part of Spring Are You?

 

(HT: Dawn, of course :)

Winter Term, Weeks 9 and 10: The Flu Strikes Back

Simple pleasures -- coming up with cheesy titles for blog posts. Actually, this one's not too far off the mark, as a lot of what the little boys did in week 9 was sit on the couch and watch Star Wars.

 

During Week 10, Gareth and Katydid focused on preparing for the CAT/5 tests, which arrived in the mail from Kolbe that Monday.  (We used the Spectrum Test Prep books.) But you can't prepare for those tests all day long, and the little boys had to have something to do, too.  Since I was just coming back from the flu, and the twins have suddenly plunged into extreme out-of-controlledness again, I have almost no recollection of what we did in week 10.  But I do have a few pictures...

 

Katydid took pictures. I always enjoy looking at what's on the camera at the end of the day.  It's almost always a pleasant surprise.  So now I remember that Week 10 had a few sunny days and it seemed like maybe we really were on the cusp of spring...

Another of her sunset pictures that I like:

 

A while back, I showed Katydid the Pilgrims of the Holy Family program and asked if she would like to earn any of the badges. Girl Scouts was a rousing failure a couple of years ago, and I haven't had any luck getting in touch with anyone about 4-H.  Gareth has been doing Boy Scouts, but Katydid has, I think, felt a little left out.  She jumped on the opportunity to do the Pilgrims program, and in fact, earned her first badge -- Reading-- during Week 10.  To earn this badge, she kept a reading journal for about a month, read one of the gospels, spent 10 hours (actually more) reading aloud to Farmerboy, and memorized and recited a poem of 14 lines.  One of the badges in the program is for photography, but she was disappointed to see that it focused so much on film and not digital.  So we ordered the Boy Scout merit badge booklet for Photography and will probably rely on it for her Photography Badge. I have had plans for a loooong time to actually print, frame, and hang some of her work, but -- that adult ADD is at work here.  One of Katydid's career goals at the moment is to become a wildlife photographer, and I need to find ways to support both interest and ability.

 

We also got the clay out again.  The little boys can concentrate on clay, which is a blessing... although Chipmunk still has a tendency to try and eat it.  He was quite happy at being included, though:

  

The one problem I have with keeping this clay is that when the Rubbermaid containers are closed for a long time, the clay starts to get moldy? I've never had this problem before. Anybody know how to solve it?

Chipmunk was also happy to finally get to play outside -- as were the rest of us (including the chickens)!

We had a huge delivery of firewood, since we ran out this winter.  (No, we would not be good pioneers.) Everyone helped stack it.  We couldn't get it back to where we usually keep firewood because it's too muddy, so Andy decided to build a windbreak in what will hopefully be the location of a brand-new, larger chicken coop.

 

 

 

Homeschooling High School -- a book list

I have been puttering around on a reading post for the past few days but realized that glumping all the books I've read so far this year into one long post probably wasn't the best I could do.  In the first place, most of the books have had to do with homeschooling junior high and high school. A giant list of these books doesn't make for the most interesting reading post, but it probably does deserve a post of its own, especially considering I promised one a long time ago.

Anyway, here's my list of books, with a few highly subjective notes:

Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook: Preparing Your 12- to 18-Year-Old for a Smooth Transition

One of the most helpful books of the group. Clear and encouraging, with a more eclectic and unschooly feel than some of the others, peppered with stories from homeschoolers in "How We Did It" sidebars, and full of examples of actual transcripts and essays created by homeschoolers who applied and were accepted to various colleges, including some of the Ivies.  On the other hand... the transcript examples in particular were all chosen from kids with high SAT scores, and after reading the book you may panic because you have no idea how your child is going to be involved in all those "eye-catching" activities when you live in the middle of nowhere and have the needs of 5 younger siblings to consider as well.  In that case, remind yourself that it will be okay and start breathing again.

And What About College?: How Homeschooling Leads to Admissions to the Best Colleges & Universities

Cafi Cohen's first book, which I picked up used before I bought the one mentioned above. If you have the Homeschooler's Admission Handbook, you don't need this one.

Homeschooling High School: Planning Ahead for College Admission (New and Updated)

This is another book worth having.  It includes the results of a survey of college admissions officers regarding the strengths and weaknesses of homeschoolers who'd applied to their colleges, what they looked for in a homeschooler's high school education, application, etc. It also includes a brief section on special needs, more about transcripts, and how to design high school classes, write course descriptions, etc.

The High School Handbook: Junior and Senior High School at Home

I like this book because it also deals with junior high.  In fact, I really like the way Mary Schofield thinks of junior high -- as a time to do more work in basic skills for kids who need it, and a time to try out high school without actually being in high school.  In other words, if kids are ready for high school level work, let them; if they're not, don't worry about it.  But junior high is a good time to experiment with record-keeping, planning, and the forms study will take during high school.  Not very unschooly, but with lots of good advice for the planning impaired who may need to plan for a child who needs planning.  Not that I would know anything about that.

Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+La

I think that Barb Shelton's book may have been one of the very first books about homeschooling high school specifically.  You can find it used now.  Basically, it contains a lot of forms to use in planning high school classes, making transcripts, etc.  Her style is very chatty, and that makes the book longer than it probably should be.  I liked the other books better, but you know, I think it is important to be aware of the fact that Barb Shelton was one of the first wave of homeschoolers, who had homeschooled teens during the 1980's.  I did find it interesting that she set up five years of high school for her kids, basically naming 8th grade as another year of high school.  Since it seems like that's what a lot of homeschooled kids are doing anyway, I wonder why we don't often think of the 8th grade year in those terms?

CHC's High School of Your Dreams

This is basically a big collection of resources for different subjects (earth science, biology, theology, etc.) often studied in high school, to help you in planning your own courses.  If you need a big book of lists, it might be helpful.  If you don't... there's really not much more to the book than the lists. It won't really help you in the process of making plans very much, and it has very little advice on how to do high school.  It does put much more emphasis on students who may not want to pursue a college education, so if your child fits that profile, you may find some good resources here.

Well, that's about it. I am awaiting delivery of From Homeschool to College and Work: Turning Your Homeschooled Experiences into College and Job Portfolios, which I'm interested in because I really liked Allison McKee's other book, Homeschooling Our Children, Unschooling Ourselves.  But now that I know some of the basic details of the end-process, I've spent more time mulling over how junior high and high school should be approached from a philosophical standpoint.  Considering that it is so easy to fall into the "traditional" trap when reading about college admissions... and also considering that whenever I think about "requirements", I get my homeschooler dander up... how does one approach the high school years? Fodder for another post, of course... 

 

The end of winter, by Katydid

***Spring-like temperatures mean that our snow is almost all gone and Katydid can get out with a camera. She spent many hours watching birds and walking in the woods this week.  Here is a brief scrapbook of those hours.  All photos by Katydid.***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fridge and Pantry Cleanout Challenge

(HT: Christine at Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother, whose mention of food blogs directed me to some new reading material!)

Discovering Organic and Thrifty couldn't have come at a better time, as I really needed to clean out my fridge and I really need to do a better job of planning meals around what needs to be used up now. I've found that the most difficult thing about eating from our stores (garden produce I've frozen or otherwise perserved; local produce and meat we've bought in bulk; and all the eggs the chickens are laying) is planning.  Planning to use the potatoes before they sprout, using more onions when they start sprouting, using the squash in the pantry before the green beans in the freezer so the squash doesn't go bad, rotating hamburger with lamb with chicken with beef roast so that all the hamburger doesn't get used up right away... not eating the bacon ALL IN ONE MEAL... that kind of thing. So I was happy to find this challenge.

Here are the rules:

1) List "Notable Items in Fridge to Use Up" (feel free to post a pic as well)

2) List "Notable Items in Freezer to Use Up"

3) List "Notable Items in Pantry to Use Up"

4) Either list your menu plan or at least 2-3 meal ideas with which you'll use those items.

5) E-mail me the URL to your post and I will add it in to my post for more "link love" for you. (If you don't have a blog, feel free to leave a comment!!!)

6) Link back to my weekly fridge & pantry cleanout post.

So. Andy was out of town last week when we had the flu AND he had a company retreat to attend on Saturday for 13 or 14 hours.  Sunday the weather was "nice" (i.e., above freezing), so I justified cleaning out the fridge on the grounds that a walk to the compost pile would be nice.  I was really embarrassed at the amount of food that was taken to the compost, but at least it will be put back into the soil and not just thrown away. After I came back from the compost, I resolved to do a better job of using up what I had, starting then. Here are my lists:

Items in Fridge to Use Up:

After I got done cleaning out all the science projects... er, leftovers... I wasn't left with much. Monday has recently become our shopping day, and we were quite low on a few things. But here's what I discovered after I emptied and reorganized the fridge:

• Feta cheese
• EGGS. I have 4.5 dozen in the refrigerator right now. Our girls work hard!
• 4 packages of tortillas (the kids eat cheese quesadillas for lunch quite often, but apparently we had gotten ahead of ourselves a bit.)
• celeriac

 

No, it's not very pretty. I don't imagine that you have any in your fridge. But if you can find it in the fall and winter (its other name is celery root), it's good in soup or stew.  And it keeps practically forever. I've had this celeriac in my refrigerator since November.

• 1 grapefruit

Items in the Freezer to Use:

• 1 turkey carcass and 2 chicken carcasses I saved for stock
• vegetables frozen in the summer: broccoli, green beans, corn, squash. I need to use these before others.

 

Bit of a mess right now, actually. The meat is mostly beef, with a little lamb and pork mixed in. We have about 5 chickens left, I think.

 

The door held mostly fruit, which we are making a dent in now with the Vita Mix.

Items in the Pantry to Use:

• potatoes. Some of them may be past the point of use, though, and might be better off left for planting next month.

  

(We have to figure out a better way of storing potatoes. Digging up the ones in the middle our bottom of the pails is almost impossible.)

• sweet potatoes

The sweet potatoes are actually in pretty good shape... which was surprising to me, because I haven't checked them in a while. But we need to eat them.  Next to the sweet potatoes are onions, which -- as you can see -- are sprouting.  Our storage conditions aren't ideal and/or we didn't cure the onions enough last summer.  I can't use all of them up, so I might try planting a bunch of them next month -- just like the potatoes.

Menu Ideas:

Since I did my clean out on Sunday, I've already used some of this stuff. I made turkey stock with the turkey bones, some onions, and 2 of the celeriac on Sunday.  For dinner Sunday, we had Mustard and Black Pepper Braised Beef Shanks (seriously adapted from a recipe in the Williams Sonoma catalog) with baked sweet potatoes. (Farmerboy ate 3.)  Monday was spaghetti, with extra spaghetti sauce to freeze. Tuesday was Turkey Divan, using up some leftover frozen turkey plus the meat that came off the bones when I made stock -- and some of the broccoli from the freezer.

Meals for the rest of the week,..

Wednesday: busy day, so... frozen shrimp, salad, tropical fruit

Thursday: quiche or a puff pancake... something that uses up A LOT of eggs. Fruit on the side. Peas with quiche.

Friday: Black bean tortilla casserole, corn, fruit.

Saturday: I'd like to try to recreate a sweet potato -bacon soup I saw at our local farm store, grilled cheese sandwiches.  I'll use some of the turkey stock.

Sunday: Braised beef tips, mashed potatoes, green beans, fruit.

Hopefully taking stock of fridge and freezer won't be so much of a challenge next week!

 

Did the Groundhog lie?

A fiddlehead poised and ready to break through its brown casing.

I'm not making any predictions yet (considering that after a string of 40 degree days we're forecasted to drop back into the 20's again.) But this weekend has felt a lot more like early April than early March. Especially considering this:

 

Crocuses or snowdrops? I'm not sure.  But plants. I must tell you that seeing these little sprouts awakens two different emotions for me: one, I am elated because -- obviously -- spring! And on the other hand... oh, I hope these little guys don't get walloped by a snow storm or a bad freeze. I must remind myself, however, that our crocuses have survived far worse and are probably going to be okay. I also have to confess a secret hope that they will time their bloom this year so that we don't miss it.  The kids and I will be heading south in a few weeks, and we won't be back until after Easter. While I am desperately looking forward to warm weather and green, growing things, I do enjoy our first blooming bulbs a great deal. It would make me a little sad to miss them.

A few more pictures from our garden time today (and let me tell you, being able to go out into the garden again makes everyone much happier):

 

The ditches are running rapidly again and will need to be dug out this year.  Our garden lies at the bottom of a hill, and in New York that means all the snow melt collects there.  (Being from drier, more southern climates, we had no idea how this worked when we chose our garden site.  The first April, Andy spent a long, rainy day frantically digging emergency ditches to save the trees he'd just planted.)

The ditches serve other purposes, of course, when you're a boy:

 

And, of course, Mom and Dad are probably the only ones who cringe a little when you mention Mud Season.

 

(Yes, he does have mud on his face. By the time we went in he was pretty well covered with it.)

In case you're wondering why we need the ditches:

That's a new pond in the other plot we plowed up last year, where Gareth's Three Sisters garden was. (Just ignored the trash bag in the foreground; I have no idea why it's there, but it's not full of trash. I think it may contain straw or pine shavings. Just, you know, a little reality check here.) That's where all the water from the ditches empties. Oops.

No ditch-digging today, though, unless you count the boys' efforts. Instead, Andy pruned some of the berry bushes.

It's nice to have a few garden chores again -- even if this thaw doesn't last. Winter can't last forever, after all. At least... I don't think it can.

This Year's Garden

Last year's garden

I started to write a post about how I order seeds way back in January. Obviously it is still in my drafts folder, and probably most of you have already ordered your seeds.  SOME people are even starting to plant their gardens. (But, hey, it's gotten up to 50 degrees here today. Some of the snow in our yard -- which is, apparently, a Zone 4 microclimate -- is even melting.)  Our seeds are beginning to trickle in.  We order from several different seed catalogs, so the boxes come in here and there for a couple weeks. I love to read lists of what people put in their gardens (hint, hint), so I thought I would post my own -- just in case any of you are really curious about what we actually grow and eat.

Before I post the list, keep in mind that we live on 15 acres, most of which is field, and we have a big family. Our garden is probably about a half an acre, and last year Andy plowed up another section of field so he could use his new tractor as a test plot. (Last year Gareth tried a Three Sisters garden in that space, then Andy sowed it to crimson clover.  This year hopefully it will have a little more nitrogen, and I hope to grow sunflowers there -- for bird seed.)  One of our biggest challenges has been in figuring out how much to plant if we're going to have enough to preserve until next year's garden. It's very hard to find figures for a family of our size. Usually I end up being overly optimistic about what we can get in the ground, but we often end up underplanting.

We also have an orchard and berry patch in addition to the garden.  We divide responsibility for ordering and planning like this: Andy has the orchard (because that's what he likes best) and I have the vegetable garden (because that's what I like best). We do put in "orders" with each other, though, and the kids also have their input.  So when all's said and done, the yearly orchard and garden lists are truly a family affair.

Now - finally - the list:

Vegetable Garden: Spring

• Spinach (Olympia)
• Swiss Chard (Bright Lights + another variety I can't remember offhand)
• Kale (Territorial's Wild Siberian mix + Nero de Tuscana to try)
• potatoes (planting from our own stock - Yukon Gold, Katahdin, Rose Finn Apple, All Blue)
• onions (our stored onions are sprouting, so we may end up just planting them)
• leeks
• peas (Wando - the only variety that seems to produce in my garden)
• strawberries -- Ozark Beauty (I think)
• lettuce - mixes from Baker Creek
• carrots -- (Thumbelina, Purple Haze, Red-Cored Chatenay)
• amaranth -- an experiment

Vegetable Garden: Summer (planted around Memorial Day, or started inside)

• sweet corn - (Kandy Corn, Peaches and Cream)
• flour corn, as an experiment (Painted Mountain) 
• bush beans -(a Romano variety, Roc d'Or - yellow)
• shell beans and cowpeas -(Coco, California Blackeye)
• Long Beans -(Chinese red noodle --an experiment of G's)
• pole beans- (a purple, Missouri Wonder)
• okra (Cajun Delight)
• cucumbers -(Straight 8)
• peppers, hot and sweet (plants bought at farm)
• eggplant (from farm)
• tomatoes (from farm)
• melons (Jenny Lind, Cream of Saskatchewan, Blacktail Mountain,Sweet Dakota Rose, Charentais)
• summer squash (Zucchino Rampicante, Striata D'Italia, Horn of Plenty)
• winter squash (Delicata)
• pumpkins (Lil Pump-ke-mon, Magic Lantern, New England Sugar Pie, Big Max)

Orchard:

• currants (white and pink)
• jostaberries
• elderberries
• blackberries ( to replace the bush that died)
• paw paws
• goosberries

(We already have the standards, but Andy likes to plant stuff. I wanted the currant bushes.)

We'll also plant green manure cover crops like buckwheat and clover. Some of the seeds are left over from last year -- the shell beans, for instance, were never planted. And the reason I have so many melons and pumpkins? We got not a single melon last year due to bugs, and in the years before that -- we got melons, but none of them ripened before frost. This year, since we won't be starting tomatoes and peppers indoors (the kids and I will be out of town), we will instead have lots and lots of space to start okra and melons in May... and I am hoping (!) that giving them a less cramped start in my dining room will lead to pickled okra and most importantly WATERMELON come August.

Because last year I ate not one single bite of watermelon. And you know what? That is just plain wrong.

Katydid Loves New Guinea

We're all still sniffling, but on the mend. As you can see, my mending hasn't extended to my ability to come up with catchy or meaningful titles. Or catchy or meaningful blog posts. I subscribe to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Twitter updates, and this morning they sent through a link to an expedition to New Guinea undertaken by members of the California Academy of Sciences. Katydid maintains that when she grows up, she is going to study birds of paradise in Papua New Guinea -- thus the title.  And also, thus my pleasure at finding such a nifty link to Papua New Guinea.

Do explore the link -- gorgeous pictures of caves, birds, bats, arachnids, and snakes. 

(And, yes, in our house, all of the above-mentioned creatures merit the adjective "gorgeous".)