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I had a stack of must see resources for our trip to Boston. The ultimate preparation would have been a year long American History study, such as Sonlight's Core 3 and Core 4...but this trip didn't fit into that schedule, so here are the books I made sure we enjoyed before the trip:

Johnny Tremain by Ester Forbes: In my mind, this was the most important book to read for our trip, I read this book in 6th grade- and to me, it spoke "Boston". I was so excited to see the area myself, as an adult, and I was sure my kids would love and get as invested in Johnny's story as I did.

Samuel Eaton's Day and Sarah Morton's Day: wonderful, scenic picture-books of a day in the life of a pilgrim boy/girl, photographed at Plimoth Plantation, using period costumes. Really, really wonderful!

Tampenum's Day, a Wampanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim times:
again, wonderful photos, done on location at the Wampanoag village at the Plimoth Plantation museum.

Drive Thru History: Columbus, the Pilgrim's and early Boston DVD*
I'll fess us and say I haven't viewed this, but if I had known about it before our trip, I would have ordered it. I was aware of the longer and more expensive Drive Thru History America dvd set...and was thinking about getting it when we do American History next school year...but this is shorter, more specific to the area and not a bad price at all... Did you see that it is a DVD? I have viewed one of these on Greece, and it was very entertaining and informative, well-done, I thought.

1621-A new look at Thanksgiving: beautiful photography again. I first read this years ago, and had a little bit of a hard time with some of it's harsh tone and representation of parts of history..but, it did challenge me, and it did present a side to the colonization of Plymouth I did not know, and it presented a clear look at the historical Thanksgiving-debunking many of the myths we learned way back in kindergarten...I think it was a good addition to our reading and gave my students a chance to see the 'other' side of history lore.

We also had a booklet on the Freedom trail, which was invaluable on our walking tour. We purchased it at Border's bookstore in Boston...I'm sorry but I cannot find it now, but I am sure you can find it, or ones like it in Boston!

Of course, Make Way for Ducklings was also on our list!! How could I forget that one? If you don't know, there are statues from this book at Boston Commons...

Labels: Boston, field-trips, homeschool

I mentioned in an earlier post that our trip to Plimoth Plantation was one of the highlights of our trip...it really was, I highly, highly recommend taking in this living history museum if you are anywhere near it. If you are a homeschool family, I think it is one of the 'must sees' for American History.

We began our walking tour at the wampunoag village, which is hosted by real descendants of these native peoples. They do not speak 'parts' in this village, unlike at the Pilgrim village...but they are very open to talking to you about the past, their ancestor's way of living before and after the Europeans came, and about what they are doing at that moment, whether cooking a meal, planting corn or hallowing out a canoe.

This man was hallowing out a canoe with burning coals. I saw a real papoose board, something I have read about in books- it was a little different than I had imagined.
This is the Pilgrim village, men are building a roof. They slowed down to talk to us a bit about what they are doing, and how the village is run.
Two guys talking...
Here is the inside of one of the houses, this is a more prosperous house, we saw some that were more 'humble'.
Here are my kids pondering sitting like this every Sunday...sitting on a hard bench, having to stay awake...being hit if you are a boy sleeping, being poked by a stick if you are a girl...

they didn't sit that long....eh, these modern kids...!

Labels: Boston, field-trips, homeschool

Okay, I was only fun'in with you...during our family trip to Boston, we visited Plimoth Plantation- it was really the highlight of our trip. Plimoth Plantation is a living museum. First up was the Wampunoag village. Here are a few of their canoes parked on a bank.

What a view! Those Pilgrims had some prime real-estate, let me tell you. I liked looking out and imagining what the coast was like back then...

more to come in the next post.

Labels: Boston, field-trips, homeschool

Our homeschool plans for the up-coming school year are very different from our usual course of business, add in an unexpected program...and things are kind of topsy-turvy in my head right now.

But,

rock on....rock on...

First, Meg's run with a home-based charter school program has ended. We will either be homeschooling her under the private option here in California, or hopefully join an umbrella school (now called psp's in Ca). We have contemplated this change for a year or two now, the big factor is Meg's need of more interaction with other teens. She's feeling a little isolated, and she has always loved to be social. This psp group will have a few classes she can attend, and some social opportunities, they even have a yearbook, prom and graduation ceremonies. She is very excited.

The deciding factor was our charter school's push (for High School) to move towards text-book/online syllabus type schooling to satisfy the No Child Left Behind- 'qualified teacher' mandate. I looked over the programs they were recommending, and frankly I was not impressed...besides being dull, I saw no 'qualified teacher' involvement beyond possibly the creation of a syllabus to follow.
Dull, insipid, un-inspiring...not what learning could or should be all about. Frankly, the course of study we are planning for Meg is so much more interesting..and really a higher level of learning than what they were requiring.

So, things are being shaken up a bit, I will be taking Meg to classes possibly on two different days a week... we are hoping to sign her up for Spanish, Science and yearbook classes.

But wait! - let's shake things up a little more...

a few weeks ago I received an email about a Classical group 'community' forming in our area. I've heard of this group, but didn't really know anything about it, how it is run, how it functions...beside just the impression that it is expensive. So, I looked it up- and wow! How did I ever homeschool without a group like this!

Actually, I know how...the answer is: it probably wasn't the season for me before. Had this email reached me 5 or 2 years ago, or even last year, my reaction/impressions would have likely been different. I guess I am just at a place now where I could welcome this level of work/interaction...taking us out of our cozy home atmosphere more...

So,- I do some research and really like what I am seeing...but yikes! It is pretty costly, specially when you are talking 3 kids! (I'm not going to mention the name of the group yet, I'm not sure if I want to be searchable on this subject yet...but I am sure you can guess from my descriptions,)

I'll give you a brief breakdown so you get the idea... it's $312 per kid(for 3 kids) for two semesters, this is for the lowest level they have, add in another $312 for Josie so she can attend the afternoon session for older kids. To keep the shock factor down...they separate costs, so they also ask for a $50 registration fee per kid and $50 supply fee per kid and $35 facility fee per kid.

Okay, the extra shocker was that Sky did not faint when I added these all up! He was actually really impressed with this program. It's not totally out of the world when you divide the cost out by weeks...but the kicker is that the program asks for all of this upfront, all at once. I can understand, since homeschoolers can be notoriously fickle and flaky and of course people esteem and darn well make sure to attend- classes they pay dearly for.

Problem is....we don't have it! We already budgeted out expenses for this fall, which were unusually big, now that Meg is out of the charter, and attending a new program with new expenses. Did I mention she needs a new violin? It never rains but it pours...

I wanted to join this community so badly, I signed on as a teacher to help pay for our kids to attend.

I am really excited, I think it will be a really good year. You can see now why I didn't want this post to be easily searchable by keyword...

do they find out now or later that Bridget Jones is teaching their children?

Labels: homeschool, school year 09

I think we really lucked out in the dog department. She is such a delight, and very few faults. Okay, partly luck, and partly research. She's a labradoodle, we picked this breed because labs are known to be great family dogs, love children, are happy, love to play..tho they can get a little goofy and hard to control in the midst of a bout of excitement - so, in comes the standard poodle part...very smart, calm, quiet. The non-shedding was an added plus. Our Emma is actually more poodle, she has a labradoodle mom and a standard poodle dad.

what you get is Emma-doodle

who is doodle-icious.

okay, I'll stop....
But not before I leave you with this. This is my favorite part of her, except the nose. I can't decide if I like her big paddies or her big nose best. Right now, the paddies are winning.

Labels: Emma-doodle dog

We really enjoy visiting Cambridge, and of course touring the campus of Harvard. This is the foyer of the Freshman dining hall. You have to be a freshman to eat here. We couldn't even go inside...tho, our last visit here, I got a really good peek inside when the doors were opened for a few seconds. On one side of the foyer was the dining hall, the other side has a theater. The stained glass windows are breath-taking. And, secular. No bible stories here.
Amie in front of the statue of the 3 lies. It's a fun story. This is the founder of Harvard, or not...hence the reason they call it the statue of the 3 lies... See the shiny foot? It's tradition that if you touch the foot, that either you or your kids will get into Harvard. So, we saw lots of tourists/visitors holding the foot and taking photos. Our student guides begged us not to touch it, and it wasn't the idea of germs that prompted this warning....we heard tales later of drunken students in the middle of the night, and I'm sure your imagination can supply the rest, think of why the bronze might be shiny, beside people constantly touching it... ewww!!

We loved Harvard, weird statue story and all. It's a beautiful campus. George Washington slept there, really! Lots and lots of history, my favorite subject!

this is homeschool field-tripping at it's best!

Labels: Boston, field-trips, trips

I stumble upon The Awe-Manac a daily dose of wonder by Jill Badonsky at the bookstore, and I had to have it! It's a daily almanac of sorts, but each day it gives you creative quotes, thoughts to inspire you, and ideas to challenge you to act out in some creative way each day. It's got lovely illustrations, too. Love it!



Healthy cooking for your kids is bargained priced over at Barnes & Nobles. It's a hardback and has great photos and some really good sounding recipes.
The Dragon slippers by Jessica Day George -this series is much loved at our house. I've read the first one, it was everything a good fantasy tale for kids should be. Josie is reading book three right now.

Labels: book review, reading basket

Funny, there was a day when homeschoolers could conduct a science experiment without having the bomb squad called out on them...click here* to read about it. Disclaimer, we don't know if they were homeschoolers, the article doesn't say.
But...raise your hand if you are a homeschool mom and you know of at least 4 ways to blow up a pop bottle??!

it goes along with this article *here. Kind of a major Calvin & Hobbes moment, don't you think?

sigh, it's becoming harder to be a kid with an active imagination.

hat tip to Renee and Ed at the SL boards for these links.

Labels: homeschool

It's a crazy, crazy world here at home. I'll catch you up on all that is causing my head to spin and the root of my sleep-less nights... oh, actually the dog is the root of my sleepless nights- and the college age people at my house who stay up talking till 2 a.m....but I digress,

First, we just finished up a church week-long Bible Conference. We had 7 or 8 college-age kids stay at our house. Somewhere around that number...I never did sit down and count! Well, one goes, another arrives..kind of hard to keep track of. Bible Conference week is a whirl-wind, it goes by soo fast, and leaves us exhausted. The meetings were really, really good. Sky and I take turns going, one of us stays home with the kids and the other goes and then we switch. The topic this year was "The Gospel of Grace". The conference ended Saturday night, we now have only 4 people still staying with us, a few leave tomorrow.

Our traditional Lord of the Rings marathon started last night. We do this after the Summer Training (what the conference is called) every year. We had the college kids and some friends stop by for this. My friend Stephanie had never seen Lord of the Rings, if you can imagine that! She was hooked, and will be back tonight for the next disc.

Conference week is such a hectic time, we don't even try to do any summer home-school. Today we picked back up with our math and language arts work. It's nice to be back to a routine.

Our puppy Emma is doing just awesome, she is a great dog, almost perfect. The last few nights she has had tummy issues and had gotten me up out of bed several times to let her out. I'm going to ban peanut butter in her kong toys and see if that helps...next I will ban all treats. It's a little heart-breaking to be up with the dog at 3 a.m. -for the 3rd time, when you have been getting to bed around midnight every night and hubby needs to get up and take someone to the airport at 5 a.m. It was an exercise in love, patience, forebearance...something like that. I think there is a deep, deep reason why the Lord made puppies so darn cute.

It's so we will let them live.
The cherry on top was how Emma ended her 3 a.m trip with chowing down on a cockroach outside and then gagging in the bedroom about it.
I prayed, half delirous in sleep, half-hoping she would not up-chuck in Sky's shoes, but too tired to do anything about it.

We were called in to meet with the director for the homeschool private school (an umbrella school) we are looking at for Meg's high school years. Meg is very, very excited. They have a yearbook and prom! She was excited about this, in that order. I was excited about the science classes...!

I recieved an email this weekend about a **Classical Conversations group starting up this fall very near to us. I knew about this course in a vague sort of way, but hadn't given it much thought. Well, I checked out the website and asked around at the homeschool boards, and suddenly I did not know how I had lived so long, homeschooling without this group. I want to sign the younger 4 kids up...but it was not at all in our already stretched budget for the new school year, and it is kind of pricey. We are working on what to do...I'll update you.




Check out the fancy Irish dance dresses. Also, not in our budget...we will figure something out!
Got the shoes...I think we are doing pretty good!! And the socks!! I did not know before that there were special Irish dance socks.

that is all that is news here...
how is your summer?

Labels: Jen's world

More highlights from our Boston trip...

Labels: Boston, trips