Rolling Over

Kieran started rolling onto his belly around 12 weeks old. He rarely stays on his back for long which can make changing his diaper a little challenging. Kieran still hasn't rolled from his belly to his back, but I think that is because as soon as he starts to fuss on his belly one of us picks him up. He thoroughly enjoys spending time in our arms and we are thrilled to have him there.

On another note, the children are convinced that Kieran already knows my name. About a month ago, he started to say, "Mum, mum." Now, he seems to say it when he wants me to pick him up and hold him. I have to say that I think that the children might be correct.

Blueberry Picking

Impromptu days are so much fun. This morning, we received an email from a mother in our homeschooling group, letting us know that she and her children were going blueberry picking. I couldn't resist accepting the invitation to join them.

We were supposed to meet Michaela and her family at noon at the blueberry farm, but I lost my keys and we only arrived around 12:30. Unfortunately, our late arrival resulted in our not meeting Michaela. Both of our families were at the farm, but with 20 acres of tall blueberry bushes, we didn't see each other. We did have a great time picking over 12 cups of blueberries though.

Elizabeth surprised me by filling her little pail over halfway. She even picked a few blackberries that she saw growing.  She ate very few of the berries until we arrived home.

Video courtesy of Catherine

This evening, Catherine made a blueberry pie for dessert. It tasted absolutely delicious with vanilla ice cream. Tomorrow, she plans on making a blueberry cobbler, assuming we don't eat all the remaining blueberries first.

Tomorrow, in addition to eating blueberries in our cereal or pancakes and for dessert, we will be reading Blueberries for Sal and possibly Peter's Adventure in Blueberry Land too.

Pondering

“We have placed in our care for a few short years precious immortal souls who belong to God, whose destiny is an eternity in and with God, and who depend entirely upon us for the formation of a way of life which will lead them surely to God. And woe to us if we fail in this charge.”

We and Our Children by Mary Reed Newland*

As a new homeschooling year begins, I am pondering this quote. I am looking forward to falling into a flexible routine once again. I am hoping that doing so will help my younger children who have been testing the waters lately. I know that I need to teach them to "swim" not just for my sanity, but for their well being.

*We and Our Children was republished by Sophia Institute Press as How to Raise Good Catholic Children. While I prefer the quality of Sophia Institute Press' republication, which I purchased several years ago, I like the fact that Angelico Press reprinted We and Our Children in its entirety.

Why Homeschool Sermon

A couple of nights ago, my husband and I listened to this sermon on Audio Sancto. I know that many other people have done so too because I am seeing it recommended everywhere. If you have not already listened to it, you might want to take the time to do so.

"Every task is an opportunity to grow in holiness. The only evil in the world is when our will is not in union with God's. Is God able to give an imperfect gift? God loves us and would never do anything to harm us. Peace in the home is not always possible, but peace in the heart is. Homeschooling is so valuable because your children see love and self-sacrifice in action."

Homeschooling Helps Foster Brotherly Love

May God bless your family as you begin another year of homeschooling!

2012-2013 2nd/3rd Grade

Morning Routine

Catholic Calendar 

• Saint of the day

Morning Prayers 

• Child's Treasury of Daily Prayers

Saint Stories* 

• Miniature Stories of the Saints
• Once Upon a Time Saints
• More Once Upon a Time Saints
• Around the Year: Once Upon a Time Saints
  
• Picture Book of Saints
• Saints for Young People for Everyday Volumes 1 and 2 (We have older copies of these books.)
• Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints by Alban Butler (online)

Composer Study 

• Classical Kids: Collection
• Music Masters
• Opal Wheeler's Books

Poetry 

• A Child's Garden of Verses illustrated by Tasha Tudor
• A Child's Garden of Verses illustrated by Eloise Wilkin
• The Child on His Knees by Mary Dixon Thayer
• Other poetry books

Art

• Artistic Pursuits
• Art 1 for Young Catholics
• Various art supplies as needed

French

• Bonjour Les Amis! (All of my children have watched and enjoyed these DVDs over the years.)
• First Fun with French
• First Thousand Words in French
• Various French song CDs from my brother

History

• The Catholic Faith Comes to the Americas
• Maps, Charts, Graphs Level B
• D'Aulaire's biographies
• The Columbus Story (and other history picture books by Alice Dalgliesh)

Language Arts

• 2nd Grade Faith and Freedom Readers
• Handwriting 3 for Young Catholics
• Phonics 2 for Young Catholics
• English 2 for Young Catholics
• Spelling 2 for Young Catholics
• Journal Pages with Draw the Day

Literature

• Aesop's Fables for Children: Includes a Read-and-Listen CD (Dover Read and Listen) illustrated by Milo Winter (We have an earlier hard cover edition of this book which did not include a CD.)
• A Treasury of Children's Literature
• Various picture and chapter books from our personal library and the public library

Math

• Flash Cards
• Calculadders MasterPak 1 (addition practice sheets)
• Mathematics 2 for Young Catholics

Music

• Classical Music
• French CDs
• Religious Music CDs
• And more

Religion

• A Year with God
• Bible Stories for Little Children
• Catholic Children's Treasure Box
• Leading the Little Ones to Mary
• Religion 2 for Young Catholics
• Fr. Lovasik books
• Angel Food for Boys and Girls
• Along the Paths of the Gospel saint books
• St. Catherine's Gazette (The Wilson family puts together this newsletter each month and CeAnne shares it on her blog.)

Science

• Science 2 for Little Folks
• James Herriot's Treasury for Children - This title is also available as an audio book, but I suggest staying with the actual book. My children delight in looking at Ruth Brown's and Peter Barrett's illustrations
• The Year At Maple Hill Farm and Our Animal Friends At Maple Hill Farm
• Other story books
• Butterfly Lifecycle (order caterpillars for Lent)
• Nature Notebook (maybe)
• Vegetable Gardening

Field Trip Possibilities

• Beach
• County Fair
• Farm
• Flight Museum
• Mountains
• Science Center
• Zoo

*Please note that while we are all present for our morning routine, the selection of saint stories are added to  as the children get older because I have found that my younger children tend to not really listen to some saint stories until they reach a certain age.

2012-2013 Kindergarten/First Grade

Morning Routine

Catholic Calendar

• Saint of the day

Morning Prayers 

• Child's Treasury of Daily Prayers

Saint Stories 

• Miniature Stories of the Saints
• Once Upon a Time Saints
• More Once Upon a Time Saints

Composer Study 

• Classical Kids: Collection
• Music Masters
• Opal Wheeler's Books

Poetry 

• A Child's Garden of Verses illustrated by Tasha Tudor
• A Child's Garden of Verses illustrated by Eloise Wilkin
• Poems to Read to the Very Young illustrated by Eloise Wilkin (I prefer the out-of-print 1980s hard cover book)
• The Child on His Knees by Mary Dixon Thayer

Art

• Artistic Pursuits
• Art 1 for Young Catholics
• Various art supplies as needed

French

• Bonjour Les Amis! (All of my children have watched and enjoyed these DVDs over the years.)
• First Fun with French
• First Thousand Words in French
• Various French song CDs from my brother

History 

• American History 1 for Young Catholics
• D'Aulaire's biographies
• The Columbus Story (and other history picture books by Alice Dalgliesh)

Language Arts

• Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
• Primary Phonics Storybooks
• Kindergarten Handwriting for Young Catholics
• Phonics 1 for Young Catholics
• Journal for God's Littlest Ones

Literature

• Aesop's Fables for Children: Includes a Read-and-Listen CD (Dover Read and Listen) illustrated by Milo Winter (We have an earlier hard cover edition of this book which did not include a CD.)
• A Treasury of Children's Literature
• Various picture books from our personal library and the public library

Math

• Montessori materials
• Flash Cards
• Calculadders MasterPak 1 (addition practice sheets)
• Mathematics 1 for Young Catholics

Music

• Classical Music
• French CDs
• Raffi CDs
• Religious Music CDs
• Wee Sing CDs
• And more

Natural History

• Days on the Farm
• James Herriot's Treasury for Children - This title is also available as an audio book, but I suggest staying with the actual book. My children delight in looking at Ruth Brown's and Peter Barrett's illustrations
• My Little Book About God
• The Year At Maple Hill Farm and Our Animal Friends At Maple Hill Farm
• Other story books
• Butterfly Lifecycle (order caterpillars for Lent)
• Nature Notebook (maybe)
• Vegetable Gardening

Religion

• A Year with God
• Bible Stories for Little Children
• Catholic Children's Treasure Box
• Chats with God's Little Ones
• Leading the Little Ones to Mary
• Religion 1 for Young Catholics
• Fr. Lovasik books
• Saint Bernadette: A First Book for Little Catholics (and others in this out-of-print series)
• St. Catherine's Gazette (The Wilson family puts together this newsletter each month and CeAnne shares it on her blog.)

Field Trip Possibilities

• Beach
• County Fair
• Farm
• Flight Museum
• Mountains
• Science Center
• Zoo

These resources are similar to the ones that I will be using with Elizabeth with a few exceptions. Finnian and Elizabeth enjoy listening to stories together.