Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks

Graduation Countdown

Here's what we did during our lunch break:

Stuffing, inserting, sticking, folding, stamping...

Even little sister pitched in to help and did a mighty fine job of it.

Only in Louisiana...

Do you take a field trip to the edge of a rice field...

and watch a crawfish farmer harvesting (Mommy thinks she'd like this job)...

these cute little fellows...

and actually get to hop aboard a crawfish boat...

with your friends...

then on to a crawfish warehouse...

where you get to watch the crawfish take a carnival ride...

and slide back down again....

and smile about it.

Only in Louisiana are these little fellows considered playmates...

and consider this an appropriate item to bring for show-and-tell at school...

and play in a muddy ditch during school time...

and have crawfish fights...

Are crawfish fights legal?

Then to the alligator farm where you get to hold baby alligators...(my girls look a little gator-struck, don't they?)

And, while you're enjoying your first picnic of spring,...

visitors from the pond...

like this ol' PawPaw Nutria...

and this little wooly bear...

come looking for food at the Cajun Cottage.

Thank you for joining us on our field trip.  :)

A Simple Educational Tool

I don't know how many times I've seen this scenerio within my home:

And taken pictures of it.  This one was this morning.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

"I believe that everyone can be taught to write, and to write well.  And I believe there is a simple...extremely simple...tool to teaching one how to write.  I will tell you how right here and now and save you future reading, if you like.  The tool is reading.  Simply...reading...lots of reading."

"Reading is the most basic grammar program you can give a child.  My readers have been my best grammar students and my best writers."

Honest to goodness, I believe we homeschoolers are reading all the time...simply reading. 

Anyone who knows me knows of my admiration for Jim Trelease.  If you read his book The Read-Aloud Handbook you will be totally sold on the idea that reading effortlessly teaches the very best grammar and writing skills. 

Melissa Wiley just wrote a great post saluting Jim Trelease's Hey! Listen to This! in her household.

Grammar Questions/Answers

In Just Write, Molly asked:

Q:  "A couple of questions:
When do you think you should start to expect proper grammar?"

A:  My answer will stun any English teachers out there but I happen to know firsthand what the public schools are turning out and I have read what homeschooled children can write so I have no hesitation in saying, I wouldn't worry about proper grammar until age ten, or eleven, or twelve.  I think Charlotte Mason backs me up on this.  At the beginning of high school I definitely expect my child to have basic grammar mastered.

Reading is the most basic grammar program you can give a child.  My readers have been my best grammar students and my best writers.  And this is where I see that for some children it comes naturally and for some it doesn't.  I've had experience with both.

Let me just say I have a fifteen-year-old I'm still working with.  (homeschooled)

Let me just say I have a forty-one year old husband I'm still working with.  LOL (public schooled)

I say do gentle grammar lessons before age ten.  CHC's Language of God, Jessie Wise's outstanding First Language Lessons, Emma Serl's Primary and Intermediate Language Lessons, and Simply Grammar.

Outside of this gentle approach, just let them read.  Lots.  Read with them, using your finger as a pointer.  I'm a true-believer in the art of osmosis.  Oh, and don't leave out copywork...

Q:  "With copy work do you choose something different each day, or stick with a particular source?"

A:  This varies with season, interest, and child.

My six-year-old is copying out of workbooks at the moment.  Words and very short sentences.  Nothing fancy.

For the older ones, when I was putting together Catholic Mosaic we did copywork from the various picture books (found in CM).

I remember my oldest son doing a lot of copywork from essays in Voyages in English.  That was in our early days of homeschooling.

My ten-year-old daughter uses, primarily, Seton's 4th grade handwriting book (because of its lovely artwork and detailed copywork) and she keeps a journal of favorite quotes and poems on her own.  We have a Nature Book as well which we haven't taken down in awhile (wintertime, you know) but it's filled with quotes and poems and pictures.  That's truly a lovely way to keep track of copywork. Earlier this year she used these great quotes by Helen Keller because that was our rabbit trail for a couple of months.  I'm afraid those sheets are still sitting in our cabinet, completed but not placed nicely in a folder.  That happens sometimes.

My fifteen-year-old copies from National Geographic primarily but he has trouble dismantling what he's reading.  However, he can diagram sport reports quite easily.  That's where his interest is and so he practices what he's interested in without any prompting from me.  I see him copying sport news off the Internet quite frequently and his essays are beginning to sound very sport broadcaster-styled.  It's definitely good practice in "cut-to-the-chase" reporting. He also uses copywork suggested by Laura Berquist in Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum.  This is my security blanket that he has a well-rounded grammar exposure.

Until a child can read well, they will not master the art of grammar. 

If you want rigorous, I suggest Exercises in English.  I've used these with all my children fifth grade and over.  They are probably just a lot of busywork but they do teach discipline and they are the line I hold onto whenever I worry if my children are drowning in my own teaching deficiencies. 

If you have a child over the age of ten who is still scratching their head over grammar placement and you are overwhelmed with wanting to "do it right" I would say be gentle with yourself and your child.  Remember, frustration only breeds contempt and tears and nothing, nothing is learned during that meltdown.

One way to keep stress down and teach grammar painlessly,  is to try nicely colored picture books.  If you have A Picture Perfect Childhood you'll see a monthly listing for Language Arts.  Almost everyone's library should have copies of these books:

• January: Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss/Bonnie Timmons
• February: Monkey Business by Wallace Edwards and First Things by Betty Fraser
• March:  Max's Words by Kate Banks/ Boris Kulikov
• April: Mom and Dad are Palindromes by Mark Shulman/ Adam McCauley
• May:  The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter/ Giselle Potter
• June, July, August: Through the summer read any of Brian P. Cleary's clever language arts books or Ruth Heller's beautiful carousel-of-colors language art books
• September: Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones by Gene Barretta
• October:  Idioms books by Denise Brennan-Nelson
• November:  The Girl's Like Spaghetti: Why, You Can't Manage Without Apostrophes! by Lynn Truss/ Bonnie Timmons
• December:  There's a Frog in my Throat by Loreen Leedy/ Pat Street

I'm excited with the possibility of Jessie Wise's First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind.  Really excited.  I wish we had had it from day one.  As it stands, my youngest will be the plume recipient of its lessons.  I'll let you know how it goes.

One more note (and a sure fire way of teaching your children to write effortlessly), let them sit on the edge of your computer chair and read your blog entries over your shoulder.  They usually catch your mistakes and are thrilled when they do.   :)  Keeping their own blog is one of the best modern hands-on writing tools I can think of.

An Indulgent Sharing

Just because virtual life looks so peachy keen sometimes, doesn't mean that life behind the curtain always is.

I spoke to several ladies this past weekend at the Covington homeschool conference and I was asked how I prevent tearful meltdowns over school work in my home.

Forget what I told you dear ladies.  I'm hear to confess to you all that these tearful meltdowns over lessons still do happen in my household...for instance, after a weeklong Easter/Spring break.

I was ready to start back full-throttle.  They weren't. 

One child dissolved into a few tears and vented her feelings on several blank lines with the boldly capitalized words "I DO NOT KNOW!".  This was just not acceptable, and my German-bloodline took control over my calm, dominate French self.  I decided I needed to control this difficult personality or the rest of the school year would fade into whining complaints and "I DO NOT KNOW" answers.

Did it work?

Of course not!  My oldest daughter arrived home for lunch and sided with her younger siblings. "I don't blame them.  Don't even ask me what I learned in my first hour class.  I don't remember a thing."

She sent me to the store and I retreated.  What she said or did in my absence, I have no clue.  But I came home to happier students and more willing attitudes. 

While my logical mind pushes us ahead in our academics ever so much like Kim does at Starry Sky Ranch, there are far too many times I have looked back over meltdowns and tears and thought, "That was so not worth it.  There was no need for that."

And I abandon myself again to:  Patience and viewing Parenting as a Creative Art and viewing all aspects of life as unschooling in motion

At the end of the day, I prefer to see a day free of frustration and full of love, smiles and laughter; rather than a day filled with checked off assignments, messy answers, and "I DO NOT KNOW" attitudes.

The children are finishing up their lessons right now as I type.

It wasn't a bloggy, sweet day in our homeschool today, but I learned a thing or two.  That makes it a good day.

Marching with St. Pat and Green Eggs and Ham

We are still Dr. Seussing it through the month of March.

Today we read Green Eggs and Ham in observance of St. Patrick's day.  After reading it together Annie watched the library's DVD version.  She loved the voice-overtures on the DVD.  Then I cooked and served her green eggs and ham.  It was our little tribute to one of our favorite saints:  St. Patrick

Don't look too closely at the picture.  The food looks a little gross but she loved the ham...so much so I had to dye and fry her three more slices.

So far this month we have read

• The Cat in the Hat
• The Cat in the Hat Comes Back
• My Many Colored Days
• Hop on Pop
• The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss
• And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street

The girls and I also went Saturday evening to watch Horton Hears a Who.  We've read the book to the point of memorization and I had high hopes for this movie.

However....

....This movie clearly, demands a post unto itself but, until then, would someone please explain to me what the deal is with the totalitarian mama-kangeroo who "pouchschools" her youngster?  Is there a hidden political message here?  My mind is quaking...

Math or Play?

Thoughts on Play and its Role in Education

HT:  from Lissa

A Good School Day Sample

Late Night ---A Game of Marbles?

8:32 AM---Annie makes animal shapes out of play-doh

Garrett begins his school work.  Is he even awake yet?

Chelsea takes on science and reading comprehension quizes and a regimented glass of water.

9:51 AM---Playing with magnets.  Looks like Garrett is fully awake now.

10:41 AM---Measure cups of flour, sugar, and milk into Friendship Cake Mix given to us by friend Lori.

11:00 AM---Stations of the Cross with tea candles

After lunch and all afternoon --- Children's Museum

Exercising with the skeleton...

Immersing oneself in a big soapy bubble...

Art and crafting...

Pretending you're a monkey living in a rainforest...

Experiencing and bouncing around Bernoulli's Effect...

Weighing in on gravity...

Practicing public speaking, newscasting,  and presence...

And experimenting with the favorite project of all...the water table.

Finishing off the day with Garrett's team playing a winning basketball game!  Great Fun!

One is never too old to draw on the art easel.

Can You Have Too Many Books?

Charlotte Mason didn't think so.

Neither do I. 

Now...McDonald and Burger King toys?  Yes, you can definitely have too many of those. 

But books are the vitamins you feed to your brain.  You really don't want to deny your brain its daily vitamin, do you?  So what are you reading today?  And what do you plan to read to your child today?

Remember, it takes only 15 minutes a day to give your child his/her vitamin. 

Thank you to Dewey's Treehouse for giving us something worthwhile to think about:  Books? or School?

She writes in part:

"Charlotte Mason believed that children were able to deal with real knowledge, the great and noble ideas found in living books, without the teacher having to filter out the information for them first, or predigest it for the children and then make a sort of little mental nourishment pill for them out of what was left. She thought that teachers usually did way too much talking, lecturing, and questioning, and children not enough thinking and talking; and that schools provided way too little reading material (she complained about too little being spent on good books, and too much being spent on fancy manipulatives, models and other things that seemed to do a lot of the children's thinking for them. Sound familiar?)."

Speaking of books, prepare yourself this week for a book bonanza.   Stop here tomorrow and find out what brain foods are being served.

All Aboard!

I received formal instructions from the first mate my oldest son yesterday to take his younger sisters and younger brother on a maiden voyage back in time...

... on the Titanic.

He informed me that he read in the newspaper there is a Titanic Exhibit coming to Lake Charles next month and he so remembers being fascinated with that bit of history and reading every book he could find on it back when he was being homeschooled.

So, for a while, we will drop our Pied Piper study and Around the World with Cinderella geography study to go on another journey...with their older brother who knows more about the Titanic than I do.

He has instructed me to take them to the library and get as many books on the Titanic as I can find. We'll search for an History Channel documentary on DVD as well. I have no doubt there are plenty of websites with cool links available. Then we'll all go to the exhibit and make the maiden voyage together.

Ay-ay, Captain!

Educational opportunities and learning possibilities never cease...whether you are 40, 20 or 10 years old...and it's always nice to take a trip back in time with your oldest.