Adventures of The Haven School for Boys: The Honeymoon is Over

Well, James is on to me. The work has begun in earnest, and some of it requires putting a pencil to paper (collective gasp, please). It may surprise you to find out that homeschool is not immune to the highs and lows that pervade any "normal" school during the first month of the year--and I include both the students AND teacher in this reality! James has been difficult this week, if I am to cut to the chase, and it has left me feeling bereft of energy and inspiration for the moment. It is not unusual for me to end a learning day feeling this way, so do not be shocked or dismayed. The evening hours have a way of refocusing my efforts and recharging my batteries. At the end of the day, I am still look forward to tackling tomorrow, which is how I know I am meant to continue on this path, at least for the time being. But, since honesty is the best policy, I felt compelled to share. That, and it's therapeutic.

Latin: We learned to ask, "What is your name?" (Quid est tuum praenomen?) and how to answer, "My name is______" (Meum praenomen est _____.) The lesson this week was a little tricky because it involved learning the vowel sounds, which do not mimic the English equivalents, for the most part. A few of the short vowel sounds are sometimes the same, such as e, i and u. But, e usually says ay, i usually says ee and u usually says oo. Say that five times fast. Also, the a says ah, and o says oh or ah. And, if that was not confusing enough, coupled vowels (such as in praenomen) are not digraphs, per se. Each vowel has a distinct sound. So, instead of the ae saying ay together, the ah and ay sounds are pronounced in succession. They blend rather nicely, but they are distinct. Another example: tuum (the first u is pronounced oo, and the second is pronounced with the short u sound--essentially to-um). I would be completely lost if it were not for the clever little ditties on the included cd. The instructional narrative tends to leave me dizzy, and then I listen to the songs and deduce the meaning behind the teaching manual. Goes to show that just being immersed in language is the best way to learn! Now, if only I could rustle up an Ancient Roman. I must say that the boys surprise me. I figured that this lesson would be the beginning of the end in our Latin quest. I mean, I still have to occasionally correct his vowel digraph pronunciation in English when he reads, for goodness sake! But, kids are surprisingly adept (this is no mystery) at picking up the nuances in language--much better than their adult counterparts. James and Joshua are indeed picking it up, and somehow not crossing their wires nearly as often as I. Upon reading sentences that include last weeks words, vale and salve, James nailed the w sound, when I continued to pronounce them with a v at first glance.

Our "Five in a Row" curriculum had us delving into a book by Robert McClosky, entitled Lentil. It is a precious little story from the late 1930's about a boy named Lentil who learns to play the harmonica because he cannot sing or whistle like the other children. His unique gift ends up coming in handy when the town sourpuss stalls a celebratory welcome for the their most-revered citizen. We studied the concept of patriotism, which led us to our very own Freedom Park, where we had the chance to view their heart-wrenching memorial (I could not help but internalize the agony of the mother) and read some of the freedom markers (star-shaped pillars with plaques), including titles such as The Star Spangled Banner, Declaration of Independence, and Citizenship. We managed to simultaneously get a pretty good workout that morning! In order to enjoy the out-of-doors during this season of suffocating heat, we have to hit the parks at 6:30 or earlier, which is just what we did.

Freedom Park

Humor me while I birdwalk for a moment--I love it when spontaneous learning connections occur. This happened on Wednesday during our CNN Student News broadcast. After recounting the record-high losses of troops in Afghanistan during the month of August, they introduced an interactive map feature that allowed us to connect the lives of soldiers lost in AFG to their hometown, with a picture and any other details that the families may have provided. It was personal, touching, and humbling. I could not have planned a more appropriate connection to the concept of patriotism (end of birdwalk). The boys learned to play "Taps" on their harmonicas (Grandma's old harmonica, Mom!), and we compared the acoustics in the bathroom compared to the living room, since Lentil claimed that the tone was improved one hundred percent in the bathtub. Some of the vocabulary words we would act out or discuss prior to each day's reading were as follows: pucker, expert, Colonel, alley, wrung, and chuckle. Joshua's pucker face is pretty cute. We studied the concepts of fractions, as introduced through Lentil's music notes. We made it more approachable by segmenting an apple (and then eating the snack during the reading). Even Sammy liked that lesson. Tomorrow (I'm writing this on Thursday), we will study the anatomy of the tongue and experiment with bitter, sour, salty and sweet receptors (a little tricky when you have kids with food allergies...but we'll figure it out). Oh, yes. The picture below depicts their block representation of a small town verses a large city. Nosey Mama decided to insist upon relocating the exotic animal zoo from the small town to the city, to the dismay of the city architect (Joshua). You can see by the look on his face that I should not have meddled. I agree entirely. Some of these lessons I learn the hard way. Remember that you can select the pics to view them larger.

Big City vs. Small Town (and one disgruntled architect)

Their Lentil character connections had to do with a) jealousy and b) unique gifts, and our art lesson was an attempt at a charcoal drawing, since McCloskey illustrates Lentil with charcoal. It is a LOT harder than it looks. Notice I am not featuring any of our works of art...Lastly, James and I dabbled in an introductory discussion about the elements of plot. We will revisit this throughout our readings all year, and I anticipate it will also help him formulate better story structures of his own! During discussions such as these, Joshua is usually bouncing to the rafters from his bed. I don't mind. Next week--Madeline.

Lentil Concept Board

Due to James' belligerence towards writing (he is fully capable and his handwriting is on-target; he just HATES it), tasks that should take no more than thirty minutes end up taking an hour. And, lest you think I am a slave-driver, we are talking about one sentence of DOL (daily oral language), two pages of Explode the Code, (a phonics workbook), and one to two sentences of either copywork or creative/ expository writing. He does not complain so much about the writing that is naturally embedded into the Latin or math lessons. My prediction is that if I hang tight with my expectations, working within his abilities and taking into account his "six-year-old-BOYedness," he will build the endurance I am looking for...and eventually be doing some personal journaling and reader response. But, we are a ways off that mark right now. I try to take heart, remembering how much he grew over the course of his kindergarden year, especially when we neared that halfway mark. Some of this struggle is developmental in that regard. I think it will be analogous to his learning how to read. At the beginning stages, he labored over every word and painstakingly decoded each letter. But, eventually it just clicked. And I am hoping I can expect the same with writing, if I am a patient and consistent coach. But, the original reason in starting this paragraph was to explain why I have not had quite the anticipated chunk of time to attack our geography and civics units as originally planned. We only managed to piece together the continents on our self-made globe (taped to a plastic ball we lined with an equator), read a book about Africa, and listen to some authentic songs and readings from various African countries. What can I say? Sometimes we just run out of time (also a problem to which we homeschoolers are not immune).

I sometimes fail to mention what the littlest Haven is up to amidst this activity. Suffice to say he is up to no good. He has fully arrived into his terrible twos, five months ahead of schedule. If he senses that he shouldn't, he does. No is an invitation to engage, and silence is the sound I fear the most. And he is so fast about it. I might be taking the pencil sharpener out of his hand in the same second he is grabbing the scissors with his other. In one of my more frazzled moments, I snatched a sharp pencil with the admonishment, "NO, Sammy! Pencils are dangerous--play with the GUN!" grabbing the plastic toy gun from the nearby table. I laughed outright at the absurdity of my suggestion. Thank heavens for comic relief amidst the chaos. But, apart from his generally naughty/ adorable nineteen-month behavior, he is becoming an expert can-stacker. The pictures are not staged! He actually pilfers them from the cupboard himself...and gets downright peeved if they do not stack in his favor.

Hopefully next week we will see a little more daylight. This wicked little bug the boys have been working out has taken forever to leave the nest. Even after just fifteen minutes of hula-hoop jumping or aerobed acrobatics (two of the indoor p.e. activities for the week), they are hacking up a storm. I have high hopes that we will make human contact soon, but we might be a bit pale from lack of exposure.

Again--my apologies to those of you who made it to the end of this post AND are not a grandparent nor great-grandparent. Do remember that my overly-detailed posts are an effort to keep the family in the loop and keep a record for myself (in a more personally rewarding format than anecdotal notes in a lesson plan book).