My day began at 4:45. It should have been 5am but an alarm clock mix up got me out of bed 15 minutes early. I don't do snooze so I figured I might as well get started. First act of business was to start a load of clothes in the washer. Then make a pot of coffee. I prayed the rosary while the house was still quiet.
After prayers, I still had time before the children woke up so I gathered clothes and folded, swept and mopped the kitchen and hung clothes to dry from the washer. I sat down to drink a cup of coffee while the older boys ate the leftover pancakes from yesterday. I read a chapter in The First Christians. I have planned the major reading during breakfast, lunch and tea/snack time. That way if the little ones are awake, they'll be less noisy if their mouths are full.
We had to take the baby to the dr in the middle of last week and didn't have as much study time to prepare for spelling and Latin quizzes so those subjects today involved rewriting the spelling words for practice and studying to get to the quizzes tomorrow. We also went through some segmenting words in All about Spelling. During these activities, I have a box of activities like colorful toys, games, playdough, etc that can be rotated as often as necessary to keep the little ones entertained.
The boys practiced piano and did some work in their math workbooks. This independent work allowed me to help the little ones with going potty as well as some more chores with another load of laundry and vacuuming. I also made a batch of Rice Krispy treats for my husband to have a mid-morning snack before heading off on some work-related business that might last past lunch.
They studied their Latin while I fed the baby and had a little down time. I'm working on a crocheted nativity play set so I got through a few more rows of the background blue.
We fixed lunch and sat down to read Famous Men of Greece. We passed the Ipad around to read the kindle version. James was comparing all the characters to the ones he knew from the cartoon Hercules. We also noted how the nymphs were similar to the fairies from Tinker Bell.
After lunch, we had a little down time to play games, knit and crochet. David has almost finished a coaster with two colors. Can't wait to share his finished project. The boys took time working on new math skills in Khan Academy. I took some time to write down the completed assignments in my daily log book. I also traced a few art pages for the art lesson.
We sat down for a snack and read for about 45 minutes in The Hobbit. We are really enjoying the story. One word that we read was ambling. I asked the boys what the word meant and what Latin word it came from. James remembered that ambulo meant I walk and so ambling must mean walking. David is usually quick to answer Latin questions so James was thrilled to finally beat him with the answer.
Art normally is done on Friday. However, the little ones were in need of an activity and I had traced four so they could participate. We learned about pottery made in Greece which was a fascinating three fire process. We also studied the negative and positive space used on some vases. They each had two vases to color one emphasizing negative space and another emphasizing positive space. While they colored, I reorganized our crafts area of the computer desk. Our pencils, colors, scissors and such were overflowing.
The boys asked for a cup of peppermint tea while they finished up their art and map skills assignments. Homeschool Advantage and Grammar are normally afterwards but they had lost a grammar book and the living room was in need of tidying so that became a whole-family activity. We found the grammar book and I gave them an assignment of a story prompt that would be due Thursday. We put up the Lego Duplo blocks and some interlocking hexagonal toys and brought down the bin wooden blocks and toys.
We ate supper. My husband took one boy to taekwondo. The other boy stayed behind to clean his room because he misplaced some of his sparring gear. The little ones were thrilled with the wooden blocks so I took advantage of the time to clean the kitchen and tidy the little ones room. I was on a roll so I vacuumed some more and cleaned the windows in the living room.
6:30 pm - I'm calling it a day. We have our bedtime routine to finish by 8pm. That will include diaper changes, brushing teeth, vitamins, Bible reading, prayers, hugs, and blessings.
So this seems a little intense after reading it over. But Monday through Thursday are our academic days with Friday through Sunday is devoted to fun, errands and rest with a few necessary chores in the mix. What has helped me most is the detailed schedule that I've been tweaking to work for us. I was inspired by this schedule. I can't keep all of what needs to be done in my head. A schedule makes sure it all gets done but also that we don't burn out. In my schedule, I have 7 15-minute breaks in addition to meals and movie/game time. This gives us time for potty breaks, drinks of water and buffer time so that if one activity goes over a few minutes then the whole schedule isn't a wash. I'm not rushing us into burnout to get everything in my head done. It's on the schedule and it'll get done when the time comes.
Now for some family time before a well-deserved rest after a very productive day.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Friday, August 15, 2014
Knitting
I am beyond thrilled with what we have accomplished the first two weeks of school. The baby and I both had to be on antibiotics and yet my daily log is full of completed assignments. Can't wait to see what we can do at 100%. We are doing a 4-day school week of the basic reading, writing and arithmetic. Friday is for field trips, science experiments and art projects. So today we are heading out to do some geocaching.
The most thrilling part of the past two weeks has been watching my oldest fall in love with knitting. He got a book from the library. I got him some dowels and he made his own knitting needles. He practiced all the time. He carried his bag of knitting supplies wherever we went. I had to remind him that math came before knitting and knitting books were not to be read in bed when he should be sleeping.
Last night he completed a triangle. He learned the pattern all himself. He did a great job with the decreases. He's inspiring his siblings to join in on the fun.
Why is knitting important?
First of all, it's not a girl thing. Creativity is universal. But just to be on the safe side, I asked my husband for his blessing before proceeding with teaching knitting. When I was homeschooling our boys along with my niece and nephews, I made all parties aware of my desire to teach knitting as is done in Waldorf schools. Neither my brother nor my husband objected. At that time, only my niece learned to knit.
Waldorf schools teach knitting at every age. It comes before the alphabet. Knitting improves concentration. It perfects fine motor skills. Knitting is all about numbers and patterns which is part of why my pattern-thinker loves it so much. It teaches problem-solving because you will try to figure out a way to fix a mistake before undoing fifteen rows of work. It allows you to create something useful. David is making triangles and plans to add fringe to use as cat toys for our four strays who chose our family. Best of all, knitting is a social activity. People get together all over to knit. I've met quite a few people just based on our mutual love of fiber arts. Ravelry is a superb resource for bringing patterns, ideas, events and people together.
Off to do some treasure hunting!
The most thrilling part of the past two weeks has been watching my oldest fall in love with knitting. He got a book from the library. I got him some dowels and he made his own knitting needles. He practiced all the time. He carried his bag of knitting supplies wherever we went. I had to remind him that math came before knitting and knitting books were not to be read in bed when he should be sleeping.
Last night he completed a triangle. He learned the pattern all himself. He did a great job with the decreases. He's inspiring his siblings to join in on the fun.
Why is knitting important?
First of all, it's not a girl thing. Creativity is universal. But just to be on the safe side, I asked my husband for his blessing before proceeding with teaching knitting. When I was homeschooling our boys along with my niece and nephews, I made all parties aware of my desire to teach knitting as is done in Waldorf schools. Neither my brother nor my husband objected. At that time, only my niece learned to knit.
Waldorf schools teach knitting at every age. It comes before the alphabet. Knitting improves concentration. It perfects fine motor skills. Knitting is all about numbers and patterns which is part of why my pattern-thinker loves it so much. It teaches problem-solving because you will try to figure out a way to fix a mistake before undoing fifteen rows of work. It allows you to create something useful. David is making triangles and plans to add fringe to use as cat toys for our four strays who chose our family. Best of all, knitting is a social activity. People get together all over to knit. I've met quite a few people just based on our mutual love of fiber arts. Ravelry is a superb resource for bringing patterns, ideas, events and people together.
Off to do some treasure hunting!
Monday, August 11, 2014
The first week
Last week was our first full week back to homeschooling. So far so good! I have created a detailed schedule that is mostly a 45/15 breakdown of the day with school or play in the 45 min sections and chores and breaks in the 15 minute sections. Unfortunately last week, I had a cold turning into a sinus infection. I had used every over-the-counter remedy that I could as well as some essential oil solutions that seemed to help at first. Not sure if it was a placebo effect or just too little too late but ended up having to get antibiotics to clear this out. I wasn't on top of my schedule so the older boys felt free to be lax as well. Even so, with the schedule as the guide we still got most of the first week's schoolwork completed and even ahead in some areas.
I'll continue to tweak our schedule with more activities for the little ones. When they start getting loud and into things, I know they are bored and we need to grab some coloring books or playdough. I've pinned several ideas on Pinterest to add more variety to their day.
Last summer, we started this curriculum that I had planned. In history, we had covered the ancient history of Chinese, Egyptians and Phoenicians. This week we went ahead into Greek civilization. We are also covering Greeks in Famous Men of Greece and the Aeneid. Hopefully, we'll get into Homer as well. We found a Trojan horse craft on DLTK kids. A lot of fun!
For grammar, we are using an older text Intermediate Language Lessons. It is less busy work and more of the nitty-gritty of proper grammer.
Math requires a little tweaking for the second week. I have both some workbooks for practicing. We are also using Khan Academy just for it's thorough explanations of all the math concepts. David loves it. He uses it in his spare time to learn computer programming and science. I wanted them to complete two pages of Math in their workbooks a day. When I realized that David had a lot of 2-4 digit multiplication problems, I reduced his assignment. He didn't have trouble doing them, but he did have trouble sticking to it. It wasn't challenging or interesting but he does still need to practice math concepts to be proficient at it. This week, we are going to stick to a time for math worksheets. Do all he can in 30 minutes. Hoping that takes a bit of the drudgery out of doing things that he already knows how to do.
We learned about hieroglyphics in Art. We added hieroglyphics to our timeline in the 35th to 31st BC section. We wrote out our last name in the illustration section. We are also using an app called This Day in History to add other interesting bits of history.
In science, we are doing some experiments about insects. We learned about compound eyes and why bees use hexagonal patterns.
In literature, we are reading The Hobbit. With my cold, my reading aloud ability was greatly inhibited. So we passed the book back and forth between the three of us. It'll be great to get through the book before the third movie comes out in December.
We started on the 4th grade and 6th grade spelling lists. Both boys got A's and B's on their quizzes as well as their Latin quizzes. We are using Latina Christiana for Latin. I love having the CD to help review the material especially since my voice wasn't up for doing it repeatedly.
We are using All About Spelling to help James with his phonological weakness. This past week, we worked on segmenting words with 2-3 sounds. No doubt that he sees words first and foremost before he processes the sound. Even when a word ends with a silent e, he would try to say the e sound because that is what he saw at the end. All About Spelling is going to be a great resource for strengthening his listening skills.
Looking forward to all we'll be learning and accomplishing this week.
I'll continue to tweak our schedule with more activities for the little ones. When they start getting loud and into things, I know they are bored and we need to grab some coloring books or playdough. I've pinned several ideas on Pinterest to add more variety to their day.
Last summer, we started this curriculum that I had planned. In history, we had covered the ancient history of Chinese, Egyptians and Phoenicians. This week we went ahead into Greek civilization. We are also covering Greeks in Famous Men of Greece and the Aeneid. Hopefully, we'll get into Homer as well. We found a Trojan horse craft on DLTK kids. A lot of fun!
For grammar, we are using an older text Intermediate Language Lessons. It is less busy work and more of the nitty-gritty of proper grammer.
Math requires a little tweaking for the second week. I have both some workbooks for practicing. We are also using Khan Academy just for it's thorough explanations of all the math concepts. David loves it. He uses it in his spare time to learn computer programming and science. I wanted them to complete two pages of Math in their workbooks a day. When I realized that David had a lot of 2-4 digit multiplication problems, I reduced his assignment. He didn't have trouble doing them, but he did have trouble sticking to it. It wasn't challenging or interesting but he does still need to practice math concepts to be proficient at it. This week, we are going to stick to a time for math worksheets. Do all he can in 30 minutes. Hoping that takes a bit of the drudgery out of doing things that he already knows how to do.
We learned about hieroglyphics in Art. We added hieroglyphics to our timeline in the 35th to 31st BC section. We wrote out our last name in the illustration section. We are also using an app called This Day in History to add other interesting bits of history.
In science, we are doing some experiments about insects. We learned about compound eyes and why bees use hexagonal patterns.
In literature, we are reading The Hobbit. With my cold, my reading aloud ability was greatly inhibited. So we passed the book back and forth between the three of us. It'll be great to get through the book before the third movie comes out in December.
We started on the 4th grade and 6th grade spelling lists. Both boys got A's and B's on their quizzes as well as their Latin quizzes. We are using Latina Christiana for Latin. I love having the CD to help review the material especially since my voice wasn't up for doing it repeatedly.
We are using All About Spelling to help James with his phonological weakness. This past week, we worked on segmenting words with 2-3 sounds. No doubt that he sees words first and foremost before he processes the sound. Even when a word ends with a silent e, he would try to say the e sound because that is what he saw at the end. All About Spelling is going to be a great resource for strengthening his listening skills.
Looking forward to all we'll be learning and accomplishing this week.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
A new school year
This summer has been tough with their schooling plan up in the air. We had applied to a private Catholic school. We knew they weren't equipped for severe special needs. We were hopeful after David was on the honor roll all year and his special education teacher gave such a glowing recommendation saying that there really had been only two times during the whole year that he really needed to leave his mainstream classroom. After reading his IEP, they didn't agree.
So we went about the plan B which was public school again. We really have no complaints about their elementary school last year. James would be in the same school with possibly the same teacher moving from third grade to fourth grade. David would be in middle school. Katie Rose would be in pre K. But there were a few issues.
When going to the orientation for sixth grade, David was excited but not really paying attention. I was not feeling good about expecting him being younger than most 6th graders with the challenge of ADHD to be able to pay attention and keep track of all his assignments. My husband challenged, "but he has to learn sometime." I agreed, "yes, but is he capable at this point?" I have no problem with high expectations. The boys say that I am harder than public school teachers. I just don't want to have unrealistic expectations and set them up for failure.
Katie Rose's language had greatly improved over the summer. There was more social language. Asking appropriate questions. Answering with full understanding of what had been asked. Her conversation was smoother. I had really doubted that she would qualify. She barely fit in under the umbrella of developmental delay which probably had more to do with the ability to follow their instructions rather than her ability to actually do what was asked of her. But I knew there was a social delay that could be helped in the right classroom like David in attending the reverse mainstream preschool at MSU.
I had been disappointed with the services available to her. They would only give one day of service a week with all developmentally delayed children. The funding had been drastically cut so that there were very few spots and no reverse mainstream classes. Reverse mainstream is a special education class where normal peers are brought in as models for the developmentally delayed. David had been in both a regular special education class and a reverse mainstream. The difference was astounding.
James would do well in school but I had him evaluated for dyslexia. He did have a phonological weakness that would not be addressed at school because it was too mild. He had compensated enough with a good memory and hard work to be one of the top 5 readers in third grade for his school. We had been working on segmenting words over the summer. A little more work on this area of weakness would go a long way to helping him excel in the future.
I really do appreciate having the option of public school last year. Although I might could have continued homeschooling, I wasn't feeling confident in my ability to manage it all. I was able to get professional assessments of how well the boys were doing and where they really needed extra guidance. I had felt like it was really myself that was being graded. I can move forward knowing that all the efforts were effective and worthwhile. I loved the Leader in Me training they used at the elementary school. I read the book and we are implementing a lot of the ideas at home to encourage leadership.
In the end, the only option that truly felt right was going back to homeschooling. Yes, my house is still a bit crazy. But I've learned to schedule better to make sure everyone has something to do at any given time so that they aren't looking for trouble. Our newest baby is very laid back. He can get into trouble but he really didn't add a whole lot to the craziness. Plus after the boys were on honor rolls all last year, no one can argue that I'm not doing a good job. This is my calling. I take it seriously and I do it to the best of my ability covered with a lot of prayer. We now have boys scouts and taekwondo for frequent opportunities to socialize along with all church and homeschool functions.
Since I had planned out a Charlotte Mason curriculum last year but didn't use it, most of my planning was already done. There were a few tweaks for math and spelling. We started a timeline in a binder which is really cool. You can find it at Mater Amabilis at the bottom of the page.
We decided to choose a patron saint for this school year. I read an article that suggested that St Teresa of Avila might be a good patron for those with ADHD because of her disorganized writing style. Focus, responsibility and follow-through will be high priority this school year.
So we went about the plan B which was public school again. We really have no complaints about their elementary school last year. James would be in the same school with possibly the same teacher moving from third grade to fourth grade. David would be in middle school. Katie Rose would be in pre K. But there were a few issues.
When going to the orientation for sixth grade, David was excited but not really paying attention. I was not feeling good about expecting him being younger than most 6th graders with the challenge of ADHD to be able to pay attention and keep track of all his assignments. My husband challenged, "but he has to learn sometime." I agreed, "yes, but is he capable at this point?" I have no problem with high expectations. The boys say that I am harder than public school teachers. I just don't want to have unrealistic expectations and set them up for failure.
Katie Rose's language had greatly improved over the summer. There was more social language. Asking appropriate questions. Answering with full understanding of what had been asked. Her conversation was smoother. I had really doubted that she would qualify. She barely fit in under the umbrella of developmental delay which probably had more to do with the ability to follow their instructions rather than her ability to actually do what was asked of her. But I knew there was a social delay that could be helped in the right classroom like David in attending the reverse mainstream preschool at MSU.
I had been disappointed with the services available to her. They would only give one day of service a week with all developmentally delayed children. The funding had been drastically cut so that there were very few spots and no reverse mainstream classes. Reverse mainstream is a special education class where normal peers are brought in as models for the developmentally delayed. David had been in both a regular special education class and a reverse mainstream. The difference was astounding.
James would do well in school but I had him evaluated for dyslexia. He did have a phonological weakness that would not be addressed at school because it was too mild. He had compensated enough with a good memory and hard work to be one of the top 5 readers in third grade for his school. We had been working on segmenting words over the summer. A little more work on this area of weakness would go a long way to helping him excel in the future.
I really do appreciate having the option of public school last year. Although I might could have continued homeschooling, I wasn't feeling confident in my ability to manage it all. I was able to get professional assessments of how well the boys were doing and where they really needed extra guidance. I had felt like it was really myself that was being graded. I can move forward knowing that all the efforts were effective and worthwhile. I loved the Leader in Me training they used at the elementary school. I read the book and we are implementing a lot of the ideas at home to encourage leadership.
In the end, the only option that truly felt right was going back to homeschooling. Yes, my house is still a bit crazy. But I've learned to schedule better to make sure everyone has something to do at any given time so that they aren't looking for trouble. Our newest baby is very laid back. He can get into trouble but he really didn't add a whole lot to the craziness. Plus after the boys were on honor rolls all last year, no one can argue that I'm not doing a good job. This is my calling. I take it seriously and I do it to the best of my ability covered with a lot of prayer. We now have boys scouts and taekwondo for frequent opportunities to socialize along with all church and homeschool functions.
Since I had planned out a Charlotte Mason curriculum last year but didn't use it, most of my planning was already done. There were a few tweaks for math and spelling. We started a timeline in a binder which is really cool. You can find it at Mater Amabilis at the bottom of the page.
We decided to choose a patron saint for this school year. I read an article that suggested that St Teresa of Avila might be a good patron for those with ADHD because of her disorganized writing style. Focus, responsibility and follow-through will be high priority this school year.
St Teresa of Avila, pray for us!
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
And so it begins
Joseph, our baby, is 9 months old. He is a commando crawler. He goes so fast that he looks like he is swimming across the carpet. We have had to run to catch him before he gets to the bathroom or the older boys' bedroom with all the Legos and rubber bands. It is a scary thought of what things will be like when he actually does start running.
This week, he has started pulling up on the furniture. And so begins the falling backwards and sideways because they how to get up but it takes more than a few hits to the noggin before they figure out a better way to get down. We learned after the first two boys that coffee tables are just not worth all the boo-boos.
And so begins the prayers that none of the falls cause any damage. It's not easy to move easily from the protect-the-head-at-all-costs infant stage to the rough-and-tumble toddler stage. And a few tears will be shed because they grow way too fast.
I think this boy needs lots of older siblings. He is non-stop movement. He has been ever since in the womb. He'll need children to play with and use up all that energy. We went to the free movie at the theatre. Joseph bounced up and down on my lap the whole movie. My arms were sore. Surely that counts as weight training, right?
This week, he has started pulling up on the furniture. And so begins the falling backwards and sideways because they how to get up but it takes more than a few hits to the noggin before they figure out a better way to get down. We learned after the first two boys that coffee tables are just not worth all the boo-boos.
And so begins the prayers that none of the falls cause any damage. It's not easy to move easily from the protect-the-head-at-all-costs infant stage to the rough-and-tumble toddler stage. And a few tears will be shed because they grow way too fast.
I think this boy needs lots of older siblings. He is non-stop movement. He has been ever since in the womb. He'll need children to play with and use up all that energy. We went to the free movie at the theatre. Joseph bounced up and down on my lap the whole movie. My arms were sore. Surely that counts as weight training, right?
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
When life gives you lemons.....
You make lemonade.
When life gives you a German Chocolate Cake terribly stuck in a bundt pan, you make German Chocolate Cake Crumble!
I made my husband a cake for Father's Day. I knew I should have greased and floured the pan but instead took a chance that the recipe was right and I could just spray a nonstick bundt pan. I am busy and always desperate for shortcuts. Unfortunately, this one didn't work. I realized it was stuck. I used a spatula to loosen the edges. Then a third of it fell out leaving the rest still stuck.
The baby was fussing with Daddy so I needed to get finished quickly. I grabbed a 9x13 pan and dumped it all in. I broke it up a bit with the spatula so that it fit in like a sheet cake. I poured the frosting over it. You would never know by looking at it what a mess it really was.
It was delicious. I got several compliments. And it was quick. I was able to get to a baby fighting sleep much quicker. Who knows? I might let it stick on purpose next time. Here's what's left of it.
When life gives you a German Chocolate Cake terribly stuck in a bundt pan, you make German Chocolate Cake Crumble!
I made my husband a cake for Father's Day. I knew I should have greased and floured the pan but instead took a chance that the recipe was right and I could just spray a nonstick bundt pan. I am busy and always desperate for shortcuts. Unfortunately, this one didn't work. I realized it was stuck. I used a spatula to loosen the edges. Then a third of it fell out leaving the rest still stuck.
The baby was fussing with Daddy so I needed to get finished quickly. I grabbed a 9x13 pan and dumped it all in. I broke it up a bit with the spatula so that it fit in like a sheet cake. I poured the frosting over it. You would never know by looking at it what a mess it really was.
It was delicious. I got several compliments. And it was quick. I was able to get to a baby fighting sleep much quicker. Who knows? I might let it stick on purpose next time. Here's what's left of it.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Lowe's Build and Grow workshops
I have seen the announcements at Lowe's for these workshops. We never seem to be in town when they happened. And honestly, I didn't really know how cool they were. A few months ago, we started going to them and the kids love them.
One month, we made a recycling truck. Another, we made a flower truck for Mother's Day. This month they made Toothless from How to Train a Dragon. I love How to Train a Dragon. One of the greatest children's movies, hands down! We're going to have plenty of movies to see this summer with the free movies in the morning at the local theatre. And it would make so much more sense to wait til it's out at Redbox. But I'm tempted to go see How to Train a Dragon 2.
They are having a lot of cool projects this summer from How to Train a Dragon, Turbo and Monsters vs Aliens.
I've been tempted to go to the Home Depot workshops but for some reason or another, it never seems to work out. And the disadvantage to Home Depot is that only the two older boys will be able to do their project. I've been super impressed with the staff at Lowe's. They have been super helpful in making sure all four are able to complete their project. After the first workshop, I found a store manager to give a compliment for making the project so fun for all of them.
I ended up sewing the patches on and then ironing. Not sure if I am not ironing long enough or my kids are just too rough on them but we lost one patch. If you sew patches, make sure you have a thimble to push the needle through and a sticker (like from the end of the spool of thread) to pull it when the thimble can't quite it through.
And lesson learned......Never where white shoes to a home improvement store.
One month, we made a recycling truck. Another, we made a flower truck for Mother's Day. This month they made Toothless from How to Train a Dragon. I love How to Train a Dragon. One of the greatest children's movies, hands down! We're going to have plenty of movies to see this summer with the free movies in the morning at the local theatre. And it would make so much more sense to wait til it's out at Redbox. But I'm tempted to go see How to Train a Dragon 2.
They are having a lot of cool projects this summer from How to Train a Dragon, Turbo and Monsters vs Aliens.
I've been tempted to go to the Home Depot workshops but for some reason or another, it never seems to work out. And the disadvantage to Home Depot is that only the two older boys will be able to do their project. I've been super impressed with the staff at Lowe's. They have been super helpful in making sure all four are able to complete their project. After the first workshop, I found a store manager to give a compliment for making the project so fun for all of them.
I ended up sewing the patches on and then ironing. Not sure if I am not ironing long enough or my kids are just too rough on them but we lost one patch. If you sew patches, make sure you have a thimble to push the needle through and a sticker (like from the end of the spool of thread) to pull it when the thimble can't quite it through.
And lesson learned......Never where white shoes to a home improvement store.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)