As I alluded to last week, I've tweaked our school schedule and added a bit of a twist in hopes of keeping me from feeling like a like a ping-pong ball.   I'm alternating my teacher-instruction days between the two oldest.  

My children don't focus in tiny little bits here and there, but tend to do better in bigger clumps of time.  (They come by it from me, no doubt.) I hope this gives me time to concentrate on each child and allows them to dig in a bit better on their lessons. 

(And with the two little boys keeping me busy, I'm thinking it might be just right for this season.) 

Most likely my schedule is entirely useless for any family but my own, but it can be interesting to see how others juggle their school days, so I'll post it anyway. 

Because I made the schedule for me and mine, it might require some decoding:
We school 6 days a week, so on the circled time on the charts I meet with Kendra on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and assign for two days.  On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday I meet with Kaira--and again, assign for two days.  Then on the tapestry/Kieran buddy time they will alternate as well... some days they will do reading and other days play with their little brother for me.   (Tapestry is Tapestry of Grace--our literature, history and multi-discipline curriculum.)  In my collumn, the things listed are what I'm primarily available to do, but I bounce around. 

(When we conclude the string of birthdays next week my scholars will be ages 9, 7, 5, 4, and 22 months.)

If the schedule you made in the spring isn't working anymore, don't be afraid to switch things around.   Life changes, and the beauty (and challenge!) of homeschooling is to meld school to life! 


Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.

What do you think about when you hear the word "sushi"? Japanese? Raw fish? Exotic? Gross? ? I'm not sure what it is about sushi that either makes people become intimidated or shiver in disgust. I suppose most of it is because it's a different cuisine and because it's usually associated with raw fish. While using raw fish is traditionally in the sushi rolls, you certainly don't have to put it in there. These days, esp. if you don't live in a metropolis, finding sushi grade fish is extremely hard, if not impossible.

In the 1960's, southern California was the "hot spot" for Japanese chefs to "make it bit" in the USA. A Japanese sushi chef, by the name of Ichiro Ma****a, created what we now know as the California roll. He substituted the fish (raw or cooked) and eggs for avocado, crab meat and cucumber. He also made it "inside out", because he found that the American people didn't like seeing and chewing the nori (sea weed) on the outside of the roll. Many places today, including the ever popular Chinese buffets, have California rolls on their menu.

Since we like to experiment with different kinds of foods and we like to expose our children the many, many different cuisines that our world has to offer, we made sushi rolls (it is sometimes difficult to find things here, since we live in a backwoods, romote place, but we strive to expose our childen to the many different, wonderful foods our Lord has made us and the different cultures you find with the food). Since this was our first attempt at making them, we decided not to make the California roll (with the rice on the outside) and we made the traditional sushi roll ( with the nori on the outside). We, of course, didn't use raw or cooked fish, but used four different ingredients for the middle: acocado, egg, prosciutto and pickled ginger.

Sushi Rolls
* makes  4 logs

Sushi rice
2 c sushi rice
2 c water
1/2 c rice wine vinegar
1/4 c sugar
2  1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Combine rice and water and bring to a boil. Once a boil is achieved, turn the stove off and let the rice absorb all of the water. Heat the vinegar, salt and the sugar in a sauce pan until the sugar and salt is completly dissolved. Once the rice is cooked and still warm, mix the vinegar solution into the rice. 

1 package nori (sea weed) sheets
whatever fillings you want in your rolls
(we used avocado, eggs, prosciutto, and pickled ginger)
* wasabi or hot sauce
1 sushi mat (we used a bamboo placemat from the grocery store)
* A very pungent green Japanese condiment made from the root of the herb Eutrema wasabi

Directions:
1. Cut your fillings into small pieces or small strips (depending on what you are using). Get all of your ingredients and sauces together, for you will want them within reach while making your rolls. (for the eggs, we scrambled them with water and cooked them as a sheet in the pan, as you would an omlet. Once they were cooked, we folded them and cut them into strips)



2. Place the nori at the bottom of your sushi mat (or whatever wooden mat your are using). The nori are rectangles and sushi rolls are traditionally rolled with the small sides at the top and bottom. Put 1 cup of rice on your nori sheet and pat the rice to the edges of your sheet (having your hands wet will help to keep the rice from sticking horribly to you). Leave about 1 inch of your nori sheet  without rice at the top.

3. Place your fillings in a narrow line about 1 1/2 inches from the bottom (it works best if you put your sauce on first, then your ingredients. We didn't do that at the begining and the wasabi would stick to our hands when we tried rolling them up).

 

Take the bottom of your mat and roll carefully upward. Once the nori sheet from the bottom is touching the rice and is completly surrounding the filling, stop and sqeeze gently to make sure your fillings are in the middle of the roll. But don't sqeeze to hard, for the rice and fillings will start to come out of the sides. Finish rolling your sushi roll upwards. Once it is all rolled, sqeeze gently until the roll is a uniform size the entire length.  
4. Place your rolls on a pan and wrap with plastic wrap. Put into the fridge for about 30 minutes. Cut each log into 6 - 8 pieces with a serated knife. Arrange nicely on a platter and enjoy!

Jennifer Dewing has experience in the restaurant business. She turned in her chef's hat and donned the many hats of a stay-at-home mother 8 years ago. She is now the mother to 5 children, 7 years and under. She home schools her eldest two children. Her husband is a professional chef and in their house, food is a big part of their family. Come visit her at The Days' Dewings.

I've seen pictures of people going to New Year's Eve costume ball's and that's what made me think of this craft.  Of course, if your child likes dress-up or costume play, then this would be great any time of the year.

SUPPLIES: 

Water colors in your choice of colors

Paintbrush

Scissors

White glue

Pair of glasses

Pencil

White cardstock or poster board

Glitter Glue

Bendy straw

Tape

Lay a pair of glasses on the cardstock and draw around them.

Add a mask shape around the outlines. 

Use the water colors to paint any pattern you like, here is the order I painted this one in:

Run a bead of glue around the outline of the mask and where you traced the glasses for the eyeholes.

Dump the glitter onto the mask and shake off the excess.  Some of the glitter may stick to any of the watercolors that's still wet, but it should rub off easily once it dries.

Cut out the eyeholes and around the mask once it is totally dry.

Extend and bend the straw.  Then, tape the short part to the back of the mask.  Tape over the bumpy part to make it stronger.

This is just one design idea, you can have a lot of fun coming up with other clever masks.  Animals like a cat with pointy ears or a dog with droopy ears are two ideas.  Instead of stripes, perhaps dots.  You get the idea.  Have fun!! 

Dianna and her family are enjoying their fifth year homeschooling.  Dianna enjoys coming up with craft ideas that can use everyday items that most people have just lying around the house.  Keep checking back here for lots more fun crafting ideas.  You can also check our her other blog to get to know her a little better.

I have thoughts about this.  These are only my opinions.  I am sure there would be many CE purists who would disagree with me but I think there are a few things that set CE apart from any other type of education.

As far as the taking of latin goes, yes, latin is an ingredient of CE but taking  latin by itself does not make a CE.  The teaching of latin needs to be joined with the teaching of logic and rhetoric.  These  three subjects  make up the trivium--the language part  of CE.   The three subjects together work hand in hand in understanding word usage and vocabulary.   These three sujbects also work well together to give the best kind of critical thinking course offered.   In studying these subjects formally, a student is able to study the invention and arrangement of an idea and the logic of that idea and put it back together.  This is, I think, part of Classical Education.  Being able not only to write about an idea but to discuss the idea, to be able to deconstruct that idea and put it back together orally is also what Classical Education is all about.

This leads me to my second point.  Classical Education is all about ideas.  It is about the pursuit of wisdom and virtue through the understanding of the Great Ideas.  These ideas are given to us by the Great Thinkers of our time.  Many of these thinkers came to us during the time of the Ancient Greeks. These ideas, therefore, are tainted by their culture of many gods.  Do those ideas still stand today under a worldview of Christianity?  This is just one area in which these ideas are taken apart and examined.  A studnt of CE is enouraged to truly think about the Great Ideas through discussion.  There are two modes of discussion and intstruction, if you will.  Didactic intruction and Socratic Method.  Admittedly,  I don't know that much about the first form but Socratic discussion is the art of leading a student to fully understand an idea through a series of questions. 

To my way of thinking, in CE the discussion is the crux of the whole philosophy.  Discussion as well as writing are the two important ways for a child to learn about virtue.  Many educational methods and philosophies do not advocate discussion.  Writing is an important tenet of any method but discussion seems to be always left behind.  The student is given a textbook or a book and is told to read it then write an essay on some topic from that reading.  That is the extent of that learning.  There is little discussion.  I think that that is a big piece of the puzzle that is missing in our children's education.  In discussion, the student is exposed to various ways of thinking, not just his own.  He is able to hear the thoughts of others.  He is able to see the 'other side' of an issue.  Through discusson, an idea can be torn apart  and then put back together again to shed a different light on the topic.

I think discussion can be helpful at all ages.  I am trying to instill this in my children's education now, even though they are still young.  A perfect example took place a few months ago when I was reading  a Greek myth to my 7 and 5 year old.  We were reading Pandora's Box.  We started talking about the similarities between this story and the fall of man.  My children were able to see the similarities between Eve and Pandora.  Through discussion, they were able to tie two 'stories'  together and gain a  new understanding of each.  We had a great time of talking and understanding.

There are more characteristics of CE that set it apart from the myriad of other methods, but these two (discussions of the Great Ideas and the melding of latin, logic and rhetoric) are the main ones to me.

Julia lives with her husband on the Canadian Prairies  homeschooling her 3 children (9,7,5) and attempting to give them a Classical Education.

It's time to meet another blogger here at HSB! This week go greet Melissal89, In the Sparrow's Nest. It's a fun blog to view and read with posts on homeschooling, Charlotte Mason, and everything mommy, you'll make a new friend for the new year. Be sure to check out the sidebar, it's a treasure trove of resources!

Winter Solstice is passed, but I thought this activity looked fun and easy, even for my science/activity/craft challenged mind. Along with the winter theme, why not make some Borax snowflakes?

With today's economy, it can be hard to find fun things to do for the whole family. What's great about homeschoolers is that they always find a way to create their own fun!

I really liked this honest post about schedules and learning to let go. I struggle with it every year, forever drawn to school while my heart longs for education. Posts like this from Melissa (and you) remind me of what is important and that's why I love HSB!

Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB

It's time to find out if your little girl will receive the Reina doll from the contest for a Friends Forever Girls doll!

Welcome to a world filled with friendship, character and community! Watch as The Friends Forever Girls form lasting friendships on Butterfly Lane and, with the Butterfly Promises, create the opportunity to discuss the topics that matter most to the young girl in your life.

The Dr. Toy Best 10 Educational Toys of 2008 ~ The Friends Forever Girls *Reina doll* 5 prizes will be given. http://www.friendsforevergirls.com/ 

Many people who actually classically unschool, do it different ways.  Some people say that the subjects are  classical (math, latin, logic, rhetoric, etc) but how they are done  is more of an unschooling flavour.   Others  have  a few structured subjects, like latin and math,  and the rest of the time is spent  as how  the children want to spend it.  This is where the unschooling part comes in.

Classical Unschooling is the marriage of structure with child-led  learning.  Some people say that this is the best of both worlds.

Here are a few blogs  discussing  the oxymoron of Classical Unschooling:

The Bonny Glen

Every Waking Hour

Musings of a Prairie Girl

Enjoy!

Julia is living with her husband on the Can. Prairies, homeschooling her 3 children and attempting to give them a classical education.

We're more than half way through the 21 Days to More Godly Communication now.  Today I'd like to share with you a passage from Proverbs where the Lord talks about seven things that are an abomination to the Lord. 

"These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren." -Proverbs 6:16-19

Did you notice how many of them refer to our communication?  Four of the seven speak directly of nonverbal or oral communication.  1. "a proud look", 2. "a lying tongue", 3. "a false witness that speaketh lies", and 4. "he that soweth discord among brethren."

More than half of these things that are detestable to the Lord are accomplished by communicating with someone or, to be more specific, by communicating badly with someone.  This is significant!  Many Christians don't realize just how much of our lives we spend communicating.  Statistics show that 87 percent of what the average person does all day is communication related!

* An email to your Yahoo group

* A phone call to Aunt Mildred thanking her for your son's birthday gift

* A conversation with your husband about the children

* A discipline discussion with your daughter

* A talk with the sales clerk at the store because you want to return your toaster

* A chat with your daughter's doctor about her allergies

* Sharing about the Lord with a neighbor

* Writing a report for work

* Asking your boss for a raise

* Smiling at an old man from across the street

Everything we say and do and some of the things we don't say and don't do communicates something to those around us and God shares with us His lessons for our communication HUNDREDS of times in His Word!  The Bible has literally hundreds and hundreds of scripture verses that tell us how (or how NOT) to communicate with others.   Only a very small portion of those will I share with you during this series.

I tell you this because I learned something significant after reading the Bible through several times.  God doesn't mention every subject in His Word and the Bible only dwells heavily on a miniscule list of concepts.  So if He spends hundreds of verses telling us the importance of how we communicate with one another, it is probably a subject He wants us to give further attention and study...Amen?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

JoJo Tabares holds a degree in Speech Communication, but it is her humorous approach to communication skills which has made her a highly sought-after Christian speaker and writer.  Her articles appear in homeschool publications, such as Homeschool Enrichment Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, which also endorses her Say What You Mean curricula.  You can also find JoJo on web sites such as Crosswalk.com and Dr.Laura.com.  For more information on communication FUNdamentals and Christian-based communication studies for the whole family, please visit http://www.ArtofEloquence.com

With the New Year approaching, I've been contemplating changing around our school-day-schedule yet again.  It seems in a growing family, needs are always changing, and we tweak and flex to keep everything flowing.

I've been toying with the idea of working more intently with the older children on their independent work on alternating days, and having each child use their "in between" days be for independent follow-through.   My hope is that it will improve their focus—and my own! 

What fun it was to read Jimmie's blog and see that she's implementing something along a similar vein.

Like her daughter, Sprite, I've found my children don't focus in little bits at a time here and there.  (My girls never did operate this way, they've always liked time to immerse themselves, and not just dabble.  My little boys seem better suited for shorter lessons—at least in these early years.)  

Head over to Jimmie's post, then come back and chime in!  What do you think of her idea?  Have you ever tried alternating subjects (or, as I might do, alternating students)?

The beauty of homeschooling is that it can be customized and optimized to best suit the individual child and family.  How is your schedule uniquely suited to the needs in your  home?


Domestic Chaos Tamer and Homeschool Mom of Five, Dell writes about home, heart and hearth.

Wow! Is Christmas in only a few days already?! It's just amazing how time goes by, isn't it? At times it makes me want to hold my little ones a bit closer, for they won't be little very long. That's why I try to incorporate my children in the many things that I do. It not only teaches them important and useful things, but it also allows them time with me. I have five children, 7 years old and under, I homeschool my two eldest, I take care of our home. . .so my time is split in many different ways. I don't always get the time I want to spend with each of them. But having them do things in the kitchen with me gives me the opportunity to do things with them collectively or one on one.

One of these times this week has been to make a ginger bread house. I have never made one before and thought it would be an extra special thing to do with my children. And it was! We all had a blast! We made on big one and on Sunday, December 21, we are having our family over for supper and games. There are 10 cousins, ages 10, 8, 7 1/2, 6, 5 1/2, 4, 2 1/2, 2, 11 months. and 4 weeks old . So I was thinking for something fun the older children could do and I thought of gingerbread houses. I would make them and construct the houses before they get here, while they could decorate them how they choose to. But since I had never made one before, I figured I'd better try out a recipe and see how it all will go together.

It all went off really well! Every one had fun and they came out with some very interesting houses! Grandpa and Grandma were the judges and since there were 7 houses to judge, there were 7 categories(this way no one was the "winner" and no one was a "loser".) I forgot to take pictures of them decorating their houses, but I did get a few of the finished products. I have shared them with you at the bottom.

Gingerbread dough

6 cups of flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 baking powder
1 cup of butter (2 sticks)
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. ground cloves
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs *
 1 1/2 cup of molasses

* if you are using whole wheat flour, you will need 3 eggs *

Directions:
1. Mix all the ingredients together in your mixer and mix until well incorporated. Chill in the fridge for about 1 hour. While your dough is in the fridge, find or make the template that you want for your house. You can find templates in books and on the internet. I had an idea of what I wanted my house to look like, so I just got some notebook paper and cut it out. As you will see in the pictures below, I cut the front and back pieces out with the gables. But you can do them separately if you wish. And it is easier to cut out any doors or windows you want in your house before you cut out the dough.

2.Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. On a very well floured surface, take a portion of the dough and roll it out to about 1/4" thick. You will also need to flour your dough often to keep it from sticking to your rolling pin.

Place your template on the dough and cut around it with a sharp knife.

Place the cut out house pieces on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes.

Take out of the oven and allow to cool completely (overnight is best, but the pieces will be totally cooled in about an hour).

Royal Icing (aka "the glue")

3 egg whites
5 cups of powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Beat the egg whites and the powdered sugar together in your mixer until well mixed and thick. Add  food coloring now, if you wish to have colored frosting. Put frosting in a pastry bag with a large tip.

To put your house together, start with the front or back piece. Liberally apply the frosting to the bottom of the piece. Place that frosting side down on the the base (a piece of cardboard covered in foil works well). A second pair of hands works well at this point. Take one of the sides and liberally apply the frosting to the bottom and to the side where it meets the front/back piece. Place it onto your base, making sure the two pieces touch as much as possible. While someone else holds them down and together, fill in the gaps with more frosting. Hint : wet your fingers a bit before touching the frosting. The frosting is very sticky and thick, and will stick to your fingers if they are not wet. Your damp fingers work well to "pack down" the frosting into small opening and crevices.

Repeat the steps above for the remaining pieces. Once you get the to roof, apply the frosting to where the roof piece will touch. Apply gentle pressure to ensure the frosting sticks to the roof piece. Fill in the gaps where needed.  Once your house is together, let it sit for about 30 or so minutes, to let the frosting "set".
(You can see that the front piece broke. But the frosting works great as a glue and as you'll see below, I found a way to hide it! And you wouldn't think so, but I did have enough candy not eaten to finish my house!)

Get ready to decorate! This is where the fun begins! Use your imagination and allow your children to help. Maybe let them do it, with a little guidance from you. This will be a great time for you all and it just might be something you will return to do next year.



(And of course, your house needs a Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread!)

( My son's gingerbread house. Nice and simple, it reminds me of a small chapel.)

( My 5 year old daughters. I like the smile made out of MnM's.)

(My 8 year old niece's. That is a Christmas tree in the corner there. And her gingerbread girl has her Christmas dress on, I'm told.)

( My 7 year old's. She won "most unique". This totally represents her personality!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Jennifer Dewing has experience in the restaurant business. She turned in her chef's hat and donned the many hats of a stay-at-home mother 7 years ago. She is now the mother to 5 children, 7 years and under. She home schools her eldest two children. Her husband is a professional chef and in their house, food is a big part of their family. Come visit her at The Days' Dewings.

When's the best time to host a contest? Whenever you want really! Think about the prize, is it suitable for a holiday that is coming up? If so, and your gift is a physical one, then hold your contest a couple of weeks in advance to allow for mail time. You don't have to wait for a holiday, however. People are always looking for something fun to do.

Blog Tip Challenge of the Month

So, have you decided to host a contest yet? Then, tell us about it! The bloggers want to enter your contest and you want bloggers to enter, so spread the news right here on the HSB Company Porch. To make this even more fun, the Porch is also hosting a contest for the most creative contest! If your contest is the most creative, then you will win a one-year subscription to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine (or one-year renewal)!

Once you have your contest posted, share it with us so we can enter! Just come back here to the HSB Company Porch Blog Tip Challenge and sign up with Mister Linky. Don't forget to leave a comment as well, so I'll know you've entered the contest.

The contest rules are as follows:

• You must be at least 18 years of age to enter.
• You must live within the U.S.
• You must sign up for the contest using the Mister Linky below. Make sure it is a direct URL to your contest so that the people who want to enter don't have to search for the contest.
• Don't forget to leave a comment! This is just so I can get a notification email that you have entered.
• Your contest must be family friendly. Any contest found to not be appropriate will be deleted with no notification.
• I must have access to your email address either in your comment or from your blog. Contest winner will ONLY be notified by email.
• If after one week the winner does not reply to the notification email a new winner will be chosen.
• This contest ends Jan. 3, 2009. Your contest can end whenever you like.

I can't wait to see what kind of contest you come up with!

Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB