Apple story

This was a story that my son's speech therapist gave us along with some apple coloring pages and craft ideas. At the bottom, it says to go to Mommy Nature.com for more apple activities. All the children enjoyed the story. The ending had the older boys saying, "Whoa, Cool!"

The Little House with No Doors and No Windows and a Star inside

Author unknown

(Have an apple, a cutting board, and a knife ready for the ending. Enjoy the apple slices after this story)

Once there was a little boy who had played almost all day. He had played with all his toys and all the games he knew, and he could not think of anything else to do. So, he went to his mother and asked, "Mother what shall I do now?" 

His mother said, "I know about a little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside. You can find it, if you go look for it. 

So the little boy went outside and there he met a little girl. He asked, "Do you know where there is a little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside?"

The little girl said, "No I don't know where there is a little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside, but you can ask my daddy. He is a farmer and he knows lots of things. He's down by the barn and maybe he can help you."

So the little boy went to the farmer down by the barn and said, "Do you know where there is a little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside?"

"No," said the farmer, "I don't know, but why don't you ask Grandmother. She is in her house up on the hill. She is very wise and knows many things. Maybe she can help you."

So the little boy went up the hill to Grandmother's and asked, "Do you know where there is a little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside?"

"No," Grandmother answered, "I don't know, but you ask the wind, for the wind goes everywhere, and I am sure he can help you."

So, the little boy went outside and asked the wind, "Do you know where there is a little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside?"

And the wind said, "OHHH! OOOOOOOO!" And it sounded to the little boy as if the wind said, "Come with me." So the little boy ran after the wind. He ran through the grass and into the orchard and there on the ground he found the little house - the little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside! He picked it up, and it fille both of his hands. He ran home to his mother and said, "Look, Mother! I found the little red house with no doors and no windows, but I cannot see the star!"

So this is what his mother did (cut the apple across the middle from side to side, not top to bottom) "Now I see the star!" said the little boy. "Do you?"

Why I choose NFP

In learning all that goes into being a Catholic, reproductive health is definitely one that requires a lot of thought. As Protestants, we weren't given any guidance about family planning. The idea that God chooses the size of our family is a scary even foreign topic. We had taken several years off from having children to help our oldest with overcoming some difficulties with autism. We had somewhat settled on having four children and then I would get my tubes tied. Well when we were in RCIA classes, we were pregnant with our fourth.

We decided against getting tubes tied and proceeded to learn about  NFP. Not even a year later, we were surprised with a pregnancy. I was in shock for a week. This would make five kids in ten years and I very well could have 10+ more years of fertility. I won't go into deep details of our personal lives but there are at least five reasons why we shouldn't have been able to get pregnant. But how much joy has our little Joseph brought to our family. Life wouldn't be the same without him. God knows what He is doing.

A few months ago, I began having trouble with my cycles. I had a premenstrual migraine, much heavier and longer periods as well as mid cycle bleeding. I wondered if my hormones were all out of whack and searched for a solution. From friends, I heard the expected solution of birth control pills. I hoped that I could get hormone level testing at my dr and find solutions naturally. My doctor wouldn't even test for it because the only solution that had research to back it up was birth control pills which I couldn't and wouldn't take.

During my doctor visit, we took care of the regularly yearly visit stuff. The nurse called with results of what they had found on my Pap smear and was calling in a prescription. I freaked out for a minute and asked, "What was found?" "Yeast." I thought it was odd that I hadn't had the typical yeast infection symptoms but I researched a bit and found that yeast can disrupt a lot of things. My next cycle was perfectly normal.

Now if I wasn't Catholic, I would have been on the pill with the increased health risks for who knows how long without ever knowing what a simple fix my problem was. Or, I would have had my tubes tied and missed out on a most precious blessing. That would be tragic!

Our busy life

Life has been busy. Homeschooling is hard work. I go back and forth between worrying we aren't getting enough done and amazed at how much we are getting done. I think that means I'm striking a pretty good balance. We've gone on some cool field trips including a history museum, natural science museum and art museum.

Katie Rose is gaining confidence in taekwondo. She often has a helper to put her body in the right positions but the last class she didn't. Without a helper, she started doing more on her own. She loves it!

John Micah is talking a lot! I am looking forward to the speech therapist's visit on Thursday. We've texted back and forth about his improvement but I hope she hears a lot for herself.

Joseph is walking and gaining more confidence and strength everyday. He's cutting all 4 molars at once. He's still a sweetheart but not quite as bubbly.

James is doing well in taekwondo. He really enjoys the sparring. I bet he will do very well at tournament in November. James might be too young for the intensity of Latin. I have taken it slow with lots of reviews before quizzes and tests but his scores were still way below David's scores. I looked for recommendations on a Catholic Charlotte Mason homeschooling Facebook group and got some recommendations for easier programs that I may get with the younger ones I have that could also use it. For the mean time, I am only testing him on vocabulary. We'll test on conjugations and declensions next year. They are surprised when they find Latin words in everyday life even Angry Birds. Their vocabulary included Stella which means star and Angry birds has a character named Stella as well as my grandmother's middle name Estelle comes from that Latin word. Science is always giving us examples. I read recently that learning Latin makes almost every other subject 50% easier. I believe it!

David is knitting up a storm. The book he borrowed from the library has been renewed. He made a blanket and pillow for his Scooby Doo. He made kite bookmarks for himself, his brother and me. He is now working on a doll for Katie Rose. He bought four new skeins of yarn at Michael's. He is in full-swing birthday and Christmas mode.

Khan Academy: more fun than Candy Crush!

I have a very addictive personality. It's why I've never dabbled in alcohol (other than communion), drugs, and tobacco. I'm even super careful with pain meds after surgery. I know that it doesn't take much for me to go overboard. Case in point: Candy Crush and other Facebook games. I have to go on game fasts, uninstall the games, time limits, etc. But inevitably I get bored or sick and they get reinstalled. But I have recently discovered a very worthwhile substitution.

Three years ago, I enrolled myself, my two older boys and my niece in Khan Academy. We used it quite a bit for a while. Then new babies and other things got us off track. When we started back homeschooling this year, I scheduled thirty minutes per day for Khan Academy. What a surprise! Khan Academy has gotten infinitely more awesome.

There are videos about computer programming, building robots, history (Crash Course isn't for younger children because of some semi-crude humor), science (I appreciate him attempting a reconciliation of intelligent design and evolution as opposed to equating evolution or natural selection with a mandated atheism) and more.

I started checking out some of the fourth grade and sixth grade math skills on my account so I would know what the boys were expected to learn. I was curious if the K-2 would be suitable for my 4 yr old. She needs to be able to read a bit before it would be useful. But on each of these grade levels, they have a grid showing how much of a percentage has been completed and what is left to go. I wanted to see it 100% so I started doing math problems instead of playing games. I was earning points and getting badges for being persistent and speedy. 500,000+ points and 5 grade levels, I think I have my new addiction.

But that's ok. I would much rather my kids see me enjoying math (which is by far not my favorite subject) and learning instead of playing pointless games. I will keep Candy Crush because it is something that I can do offline when I'm waiting for the boys in taekwondo class. But where I have internet, I prefer Khan Academy. I'm participating in my second team challenge which puts 5 players together to earn a collective 35000 points from practicing math (not from badges or watching videos). Fun! The boys are disappointed that only 13 and older can do it but I understand that has to be for privacy reasons.

Now some will avoid Khan Academy because it is aligned with Common Core. But the things that I have recognized in there from the boys' public school workbooks last year are so much better logically presented on Khan Academy. I agree that there are things that I don't like about Common Core but lets face it, no one is going to pull the plug on this because of the sheer amount of money that has been put into it. And if this affects college entrance exams, we have to prepare our kids for that.

Learn. Have Fun! The two aren't mutually exclusive.

Grocery store math

One of the greatest advantages of homeschooling is more opportunity to see how we use knowledge in everyday circumstances. A great place to practice math is at the grocery store. Publix is really great for that with their 2 or 3-for deals and bogo deals. After a few examples of how we calculate how much one costs, they were doing it all through the  store.

This had a secondary purpose of teaching James why we couldn't just use the calculator for everything. Sometimes we need to quickly make calculations in our head.

Our first task was to find the best deal on apples. They wanted the shiny red ones. I explained that not only were the red apples dyed to be that uniform red but it was 50 cents more per pound than the Gala apples which taste better to me anyhow. We got 5 apples which ended up being almost 3 lbs. I walked them through rounding up the 1.49 to 1.50 and multiplying it by 3 to make it 4.50. My literal thinker, David, complained that it wasn't 1.50 but 1.49. (When talking about the cost of 99 cents that morning, James said, "That's a dollar." David corrected, "No, that's a dollar minus a penny.") I agreed but explained how much easier it is to multiply 1.50 for us non-mathematical geniuses. He noticed a bag of apples for $4.99. Another example of using math because we could compare that 3 lbs loose was 4.50 (or there about) but in a bag was 49 cents more.

Another good example was finding the cost of one pack of lunch meat. They were 3 for $11. That was a difficult calculation to do in our heads so we rounded up to $12, divided by 3, then subtracted 33 cents to find the cost of one.

When they got to the Little Debbie snacks, they calculated that 2 for $6 meant 1 for $3 or 4 for $12 (hint, hint). They used all their powers of persuasion to explain that 10 for $10 was expensive for lunchables but $1 was very cheap! I think they are finding real life opportunities to use math without the calculator.

Sensory overload

First a couple of funnies...

Katie Rose got out a pack of Joseph's diapers. I was busy with laundry so I just let her be. I came back to the living room and she had them lined up side by side all across the length of the room. She was covered in a blanket beside them and exclaimed, "It's a pajama party!" I really do question why in the world we buy the kids toys. The best games to them seem to be using just regular stuff they find.

I swear the older boys see my mouth moving but do not hear what comes out sometimes. We were leaving the grocery store. When I got to the light, I switched to the lane to go straight because the turn lane was changing to yellow and I wanted to get home by a side road rather than wait for another light. David said, "We're going to Para (the building with the local library branch and swimming pools)!" I explained my reasoning for taking a different way. As soon as I finish with my explanation, James pipes up, "We're going to the library?" I just hung my head and David got so tickled over it. Repetition is definitely necessary. Who knows what they got the first time?

Katie Rose went inside and participated in her first Taekwondo class. We had tried several times before but she was not having any of it. I was so disappointed because she would practice punches and kicks with the boys at home. We gave up for a little while but after watching her interact with a little girl at the park, I wondered if maybe she was up for taekwondo now.

We went to class and Mr. S came up to her to try to put on her belt. She ran over to the seats and would not get up. He said to have her come in when she was ready. Instead of trying to convince her to go inside, I went over and sat down with her to watch the other little kids in class. They were doing lots of jumps. I was asking her, "Doesn't that look fun?" We sat for a few minutes and I decided to take it one step at a time. I asked if she wanted to put on her belt. She enthusiastically said, "Yeah!" James helped me get her belt tied. I asked if she wanted to go in with the other children and she started walking towards the training room door.

Mr. S came to the door to greet her and all of a sudden, she was not going in. I realized that it must be intimidating to her. Mr. S is a tall man that simply looks like a kind instructor to us but to Katie Rose, he must look like a giant. I asked if I could go in and sit with her in the back of the class. They agreed so we sat down and Katie Rose clung to me. The noise level was severe. They encourage the children to yell, "Yes, sir!" and the room seems to amplify the sound. Katie Rose has improved so much in language and social skills that I'm sure that she would never qualify for an official autism diagnosis but I can see the sensory processing is still a challenge. But I'm so proud of her for trying to overcome it.

I prompted her to participate in the stretches that the other children were doing. When the children lined up, I asked Katie Rose if she wanted to sit with the other children and she looked back several times but ended up lining up and then participating in the rest of the class with a few prompts from the instructors. I even saw her mouth move when they yelled, "Yes, sir!" I don't think any sound came out but she knew what she was supposed to do.

I sat inside the class for a few minutes so that she could look back to me for confidence. So thankful that Joseph was asleep so it was easy for the older boys to look after him. And thankful that John Micah didn't pitch a fit that he couldn't go into the training room. He still has a year and a half before he can take a class. But he's already copying the stances. After watching the boys for another year and a half, he'll be quite advanced starting out.

We gave Katie Rose a lot of praise afterwards and when Daddy got home. This morning, she brought me her white belt and talked about her sticker which says, "Future BlackBelt." Starting out this early, who knows how far she'll go!

Reading aloud

One of the hallmarks of the Charlotte Mason method is reading aloud from living books. We have read chapters and chapters in the past three weeks. This morning, I can see a real improvement in the boys' narrations. They are recalling more and more facts from each reading.

But I'm thinking that this reading aloud is having a secondary benefit. Over the weekend, John Micah (2 yr old) exploded with language. He was saying "door" and going to shut the door. He repeated things we pointed to at the park like bird and pecan. I called for my husband saying, "Babe!" He went running through the house saying, "Bay, Bay, DAD!" I asked him to go get some wipes. He ran off calling for his brother, "Day(Davy), Day, Wipes." During Children's Liturgy, he was fascinated with the glue stick so he kept saying, "Glue" to get it passed back to him. He probably added about 25 words this weekend.

The speech therapist that has been helping us try to get John Micah to grow his language through games and other techniques. We've agreed that there is a whole lot more language in there than is coming out because he understands so much. If you ask him to do something, he immediately responds correctly. But the older children were all talking for him. I would ask him what he wanted to drink and others would be telling me what they thought he wanted. Little Momma (Katie Rose) will still do this but the older boys are trying more to get him to use his words.

We've had no big breakthrough during his speech therapy time so it must be due to hearing a whole lot more words during his typical day as well as a few more preschool activities. I had to text the speech therapist with how awesome he was doing and she agreed that when it was natural for him, we would get the most from him.

So we are beginning our fourth week of this homeschool year. We are planning a zoo trip this week. We're reading more in the Aeneid including a part this morning about a little boy with fire around his head which showed how he was favored by the Greek gods. This was neat since we could compare that story to the story of Pentecost with the Holy Spirit coming down and fire appearing above the Christians' heads which we read about recently in The First Christians. I love these overlapping concepts which have happened several times. It gives us more than one occasion to study a concept and recall what we've learned.