Happy Birthday Ellen!

 

Our little girl turned 9 yesterday. She wanted an ice cream cake so I made one with soy ice cream and whip cream. Mimi came down to celebrate with us.

  

She was so excited and surprised to open her new aquarium. We took her to the pet store to pick out all the decorations and live plants last night. We'll go get the fish later tonight. We've set it up in their room for enjoyment all night long.

Our Day

I find it interesting to read about how other homeschool families spend their day. Here's a glimpse of what we are doing these school days.

Even though every day is a little different because of dance, coop, field trips, or errands, we keep the same routine. I think the pattern is important for our sanity. We keep all our school books together on the shelf in the dining room where we sit first thing in the morning. I write down a list of things they need to get done every day for a week and they keep it with their stack of stuff.

The girls usually wake up around 7-7:30. I like to get up before them so I can have coffee and read news and blogs while I wake up. Two mornings a week we have ballet classes that I teach so we try to get started with school work by 8:30. On the days we don't have dance we start at 9:00. I don't care what they do between breakfast and when we sit down for school work but they have to have done all their chores -- brush teeth, get dressed, straighten room -- by the time we get started.

We always begin with math.
I've found that since math takes so much concentration the girls do much better if they tackle it first. We use Math U See for our curriculum. Ellen is on Delta which is the 4th book and she is over half way through it. She is working on long division, finding the area of triangles and parallelograms, etc. Arianna is about 1/3 of the way through the 3rd book which is Gamma. She's memorizing multiplication facts and is just about to start all the hard ones--4s, 6s, 7s, 8s and 9s. I hear my inner cheerleader coming out a lot these days during math and especially with Ellen in division. I'm saying things like, "You can do it, I know the problem is long but isn't it cool how all these numbers fit together like a puzzle." I always liked math so I'm trying to pass on my enthusiasm.

Next is Language arts--Grammar, Spelling, cursive, copywork, writing.
We usually do 2-3 of those things listed above every day. We've been using the curriculum First Language Lessons for 4 years so we are beginning the 4th volume. The curriculum spends a lot of time memorizing parts of speech lists and definitions, memorizing classic poetry from authors such as Poe, Wordsworth, Stevenson, etc., and diagramming sentences. They both actually enjoy the structure and are very good at it. We chant the lists and poetry and seriously have fun saying them out loud together. It's very rewarding to be able to recite a list or classic poem.

They both do a page or two from their Spelling Workout books and cursive workbooks. Again they enjoy writing so this is a fun thing for them. Arianna asks to write in her cursive book even during her free time.

For copywork I keep a list of famous quotes that they can choose from to copy. This helps them learn the structure and sound of good sentences. It also increases their vocabulary and improves spelling.

On some days I ask them to summarize a part of something they are reading or something from our History reading for extra writing practice.

Reading and instrument practice is next.
We set the timer for 30 minutes and one reads while the other practices. For this read alone time they have to choose something that is of good quality and approved by me. Ellen, for example, read through the Chronicles of Narnia last year and is now on George MacDonald's fantasies. Arianna is still on beginning chapter books like the rainbow fairies or Magic Treehouse. No comics during this time. The girls read at other times of the day but this is the only required reading they do alone.

I'm still teaching Arianna violin and Ellen piano. I'm just one step ahead of them on these instruments so I'm working on finding someone to come to the house for lessons.

We do Latin at least 2 days a week. Ellen started last year using the book Latin for Children as our guide. Arianna is starting this year. We are moving pretty slow for now but I hope to pick back up with it over the next few weeks. They like learning another language.

History & Science
I don't have a specific curriculum for science yet. The girls get enough from nature studies, animal studies, baking, gardening, etc. that we encounter and experience in our daily lives.

I am very excited about history this year. We are learning about Colonial America through historical fiction literature studies. A few moms and I have collected book lists from libraries, textbooks and websites. We have pulled together a great stack of books and will be reading them at home and discussing them as a group during coop. We'll also be doing colonial crafts and other projects. I'm going to do a separate post with more information about this subject.

Kruidenier family beach trip

This was our last trip of the summer. We spent the weekend at Carolina Beach hanging out with most of the Kruideniers. I know I've said this before, but I have the best in-laws! 

9 people's stuff for a day at the beach packed in the back of the jeep. Anna--dropped your hat!

Anna and Arianna jumping the waves.

The day at the beach was so fun--everyone played in the water at some point.

Thanks to Tyler and Anna for hosting us in his parents' house where we played pool, basketball, and cruised the neighborhood on bicycles. The cousins had a great time together and played lots of games including spit and checkers

We also walked back behind the house to a pond where we ran into an alligator.

We missed you Dave, Liz and William, and thought of you often.

New York City

Ten years ago Jennifer and I were married. This past week we celebrated with a special trip to NYC. NYC had much to offer. First, it has an incredible array of vegetarian friendly eating. We weren't quite sure just how good, but we were absolutely blown away. Second, NYC had the arts. We were able to view great quantities of fabulous architecture, musicians, a Broadway play, and the Metropolitan Museum itself. Third, NYC was quite a different kind of adventure than Jennifer and I were used to: the subway, the trash, the crowds, the size, many different faces and languages.

The trip was amazing. We ate vegan food galore of so many varieties and flavors. We visited many of the major tourist attractions. We also "discovered" beautiful sites we hadn't planned on visiting. By the next Tuesday afternoon we were partied out and ready to head home. What a homecoming we received. Thanks to Mimi for staying with the girls, my mom for getting us to and from the airport, and Dave for compiling such an incredible list of restaurants.

Following are some of our favorite experiences: it's already too long but just imagine I worked really hard to cut most of it out!
Jennifer chose our Broadway play. Getting to the show and walking through Time Square was an adventure in itself. I had no clue what to expect and willingly admit my skepticism, but my soul was stirred! The music was stunning and the phantom, played by John Cudia, had an incredible voice. The costumes were beautiful. It was well worth it.

Central Park was beautiful. There were acrobats, musicians, statues, fountains, tons of ornate stone and concrete work, lakes, bridges, tunnels, playgrounds, joggers, bikers...The walk to Central Park took us through Park, Fifth, and Madison Ave. Quite the shopping district we've heard.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was amazing. Here we stand before an ancient Egyptian temple. I won't bore you with all the great paintings, carvings, and other artifacts we saw. We spent six hours at the Museum and still didn't get through the entire collection. The Museum was a huge hit.

The closest I'll ever get to Socrates...

I spent most of our walking time with my head directed upwards. I took many photos of the buildings. The mix of old and new was really enjoyable, and again the amount of attention given to style and detail blew us away. This picture was taken from the US Custom office at Battery Park in the financial district. We did view the city from the Empire State Building which was quite exciting but a very long line.
The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine was one of our surprise finds. We were gawking at Tom's Restaurant on the upper West Side when through the darkness we spied a magnificent edifice. Supposedly this is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. I include a picture below of Jennifer standing by one of a handful of central columns. The church was breath-taking inside and out. 

There's probably no show Jennifer and I have watched more often together than Seinfeld. It was fun to make a special trip to the West Side to pay homage.And, since returning the background buildings, streetscapes, and characters appear very much more rooted in NY than we had imagined.

Here Jennifer and I share a late dinner at Prada, a wonderful pizza place in the East Village. There is no way we could pick a favorite restaurant. The other pizza place we ate at in Brooklyn called Vinnies was amazing, Candle Cafe near Central Park did things with seitan we didn't know were possible, and Franchia's Korean cuisine was zen-like.

Last, it wouldn't be fair to not include the subway itself. It was muggy-hot, crowded, dirty, and confusing. Here Professor Edwardo Alvarado played some lively music while keeping his booty shaking dolls doing their thing. We must say although New Yorkers seem to have largely dispensed with cordial salutations and niceties we found no shortage of kind and helpful folks when we were lost. Whether on a street corner, at a restaurant, or staring the wrong way at a subway map, often unasked, we were directed to our next location by a really cordial New Yorker. Thanks!

All around a spectacular trip. Made possible most essentially by such a wonderful marriage. Here's to looking forward to another ten years and many more adventures.

Tennessee Trip Part 1

We took a trip to Mountain City to see my nephew Will who was staying with my mom. While we were there Mom and I took the kids hiking and exploring in Johnson County at Backbone Rock. This beautiful area had hiking trails along the creek, up to backbone falls, and over the the rock tunnel. The kids spent hours playing in the water and exploring the area.

The sign says "Danger, Bears are active in this area."

Playing in BB's studio. We all had a chance to jam...

Lost a tooth

Her first one...

One happy girl!

Family visit and trip to Charleston

We had a wonderful visit with Daddy Bill and Nana last weekend. They drove in from Baton Rouge and spent the weekend with us here in Columbia. On Friday, Daniel took the day off and we all drove to Charleston for a boat ride and tour of Fort Sumter. The ferry boat was entertaining for the kids and provided a beautiful view of the harbor and the city of Charleston. While on the ride over to Fort Sumter, we listened to an extensive history lesson over the loud speakers about the area and the beginning of the Civil War. After the tour, we also went into downtown for lunch, browsed the French Market, and walked along the river. The adults rested in the shade while the girls played in the fountain. Thanks to Daddy Bill and Nana for a great idea and for treating us to a wonderful day trip! We miss you.

A whole new room

A few months ago, we decided it was time to remove the old carpet from the playroom and replace it with tile. As with any remodel project, it is never as simple as you think it is going to be. We ended up replacing one whole side of wall board and most of the trim in the room, and re-painting the walls and trim.

Here is a before picture of the room on a regular day.

Here it is after cleaning most of the toys out.

Here we have pulled out the carpet and now in the middle of putting in the subfloor. Just in case you are wondering what is involved in the process of installing tile there is one layer of mortar, a layer of concrete backerboard (screwed in with 50 screws for each 3x5 piece), then mortar and tape over all the seams of the backerboard, then another layer of mortar, then the tile, and finally the grout and sealer.

Here the floor is done and we've installed the new wall board on that back wall. That wall had been bothering us since it looked like a previous owner had taken out a window unit (air conditioner) and put a piece of ply wood in the spot. It had been painted to match the rest of the walls but it never looked very good. Daniel tried to replace just that one section, but the big box stores don't carry the exact board that we needed so we had to replace the whole wall to make sure it all matched.

I'm not quite sure what I was thinking when I painted the playroom that gold color a couple of years ago. I thought it was going to turn out a little more neutral but I never liked it and always felt like we were surrounded by school bus yellow. So I went back to a very safe color. The girls helped throughout the process. They learned how to rip up carpet, spread a few feet of mortar, and caulk. They also painted a few parts that they could reach.

I have a little experience tiling since I have done 2 small bathrooms, but I'd never attempted a job as big as the playroom (around 250 sq. ft.). Daniel and I spent several years remodeling, renting, and selling houses when we lived in NC so neither one of us are afraid to tackle renovation projects. This project did prove to be challenging in many ways as we ran into a few unexpected delays/problems. It was hard enough to fit all of that work in during our free time. Remember Daniel is still teaching 2 classes a semester during summer school and working on his dissertation, and the girls and I are still homeschooling and dancing--oh, and there's the garden too. Somehow, we managed to find the time to get it done. I am so pleased with the results. It is not complete as we will be adding some more furniture including a couch and tv area and a large desk for our homeschool corner.

As I said, we started the project a few months ago. Besides the fact that we worked on it only on weekends (when not traveling or celebrating a holiday) and in the evenings, Daniel also replaced a toilet in the bathroom and a drain pipe for the washing machine. So, a few plumbing emergencies over the past few months held up the tile process too. Isn't it beautiful now? It feels so fresh, clean, and indestructible.

Swimming

This is a collection of pictures taken over a week or so. We have some very generous friends who allow us to use their pool anytime and so we have been over there a lot. We spent July 4th there with our good friends and ended the night with a wonderful vegetarian feast followed by the traditional Kruidenier fireworks spectacular.

Daniel played many games with the kids in the pool. Most of the time it was Marco Polo with Arianna on his back.

We've also had playgroup at the public beach area at nearby Lake Murray. A great group of friends!