And it's Summer Fruit Jam for the Win!

When I go grocery shopping and put all my stuff up onto the checkout conveyor and it's all spread out and piled up it looks like a crazy amount of food.  Anyone passing by and glancing at my haul would come to the natural and obvious conclusion that I was feeding the Mongol hordes.

  

This time of year, a passerby would glance my way and conclude that I was feeding the Mongol hordes and that Genghis Khan and his army must be on a fruit cleanse diet. 

I just can't stop buying fruit.  I know that pretty soon the melons and plums and peaches and all manner of summer fruits will be gone.  (At least there's apples, squash, and winter citrus to look forward to!)  For now, I just buy fruit like crazy, knowing that these are the last few weeks we'll have to savor it.  

This was an especially fruit-filled summer and I was able to work some kitchen magic to get the most out of it...  (any time I have a success in the kitchen, it's automatically labeled magical because there's no other reasonable explanation for it. Skill doesn't happen for me in the kitchen, so therefore, it must be magic.)

It started with June strawberries - you can check out our picking days here.  And you can read about my specialty strawberry freezer jams here.  Since then, we were blueberry picking three or four times, bought untold amounts of peaches and apricots from farmers' markets, and were generously gifted with mounds of pears from Mary and her sweet family!  (Oh, I can't even tell you how generous they were and what a blessing it was to have that extra fruit - local and organic, too!)  

Even though I've managed to do some baking with most of this bounty, the real winner of summertime fruits this year has been my freezer jam.  I've made freezer jam for three or four years now, but this was the first year where I tried to fancy it up a bit and created some delicious-beyond-what-you'd-expect-to-come-from-Theresa's-kitchen jams.  I will not list out any recipes here, because what I've learned it you don't need a special recipe.  Just follow the instructions on whatever instant pectin you happen to be using and when you add extra ingredients, flavors, herbs, etc... just don't allow it to change the amounts/proportions of the main ingredient too much. 

Here are the jams that I made that turned out the best.  I can testify that these work as no-cook freezer jams, and I'm practically ready to roll out my personal guarantee that you'll love every one of them.  

Strawberry Basil Lime

Strawberry Mint

Blueberry Raspberry Lime

Blueberry Lemon Lime

Apricot Lime

Pear Vanilla

Pear Raspberry Lime

Basically, the main point you should take away from this list is... Lime will make a good jam a great jam.  If you're going to make jam, be sure to have your citrus zester and juicer on hand! 

Now, I have to admit that the downside to making these amazingly delicious fancy freezer jams, is that you may end up eating more carbs than you did in all the previous years of your life... combined. You'll want to purchase fancy things like croissants, butter rolls, and baguettes upon which to put your fancy jam. And another thing, you're probably not going to want to waste your specialty jams on kids' peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  So adjust your health-o-meter to account for a very tasty, very high carb diet, and take an extra day or two to make your kids some plain old jam for sandwiches.  Enjoy!

  

And, incidentally, if you do see me in the grocery store and I have jam up on the counter - slap me and tell me to go home... to this...

*  *  *  *  *  *  

*  *  *  *  *  *

Oh brother... I better stop writing stupid blog posts I'll look back on with dismay and ask, "why did I ever do that?" and go do something real and productive - making dinner and lesson planning come to mind...

Labor Day Family Hike

A (mostly) pictorial account of our early morning hike on Labor Day... My parents joined us for a hike to the Eternal Flame, Chestnut Ridge State Park. (And I'm just getting around the posting about it now...) Beautiful weather, delightful company, a walk in the woods, a unique natural gas "leak" tucked away behind a waterfall - it was the perfect way to spend the holiday!

I'm so irritated that my camera focused on the foreground and not the background, but I still like this shot.

Sometimes the waterfall is much more water-full. It was just kind of drippy when we were there.

Ruth realizes her ultimate goal.   Early in the hike, my mom had encouraged Ruth to look for little critters as we walked.  Ruth's reply was, "No, Grandma.  This is not an animal finding hike.  This is a flame hike."  So there you have it.

Clare didn't care that this was such a fascinating natural phenomenon and just wanted to splash in puddles and eat raisins.

trying to catch a minnow before we had to leave.  It didn't work.

"Back to School" Photo Shoot

You know we've been hittin' the school books for several weeks now, but the boys started back at their homeschool study center today, so it was the closest things they'll get to a "Back to School" day.  I tried to make it as classic and iconic as possible - hair cuts and scrub-behind-your-ears showers last night and photos with their backpacks this morning.    

I really appreciate the educational combo that we've got going here - lessons at home and additional tutoring with other homeschoolers in a practically perfect scenario - a Christian environment, lovely families, tutors, and administrators, solid academics, and it's just a few hours a week.  I love that we're still home most of the week and get to create our own schedule and pace, and I love that the boys are involved in something worthwhile and engaging outside of the home.  They have exposure to things that I could never manage at home right now (like, I heard they may make candles next week??) And I got to do a quick grocery shop with my two sweet girls this morning, instead of tackling the grocery aisles with a gaggle of children hanging off my cart.  I'd say it's a win / win!

Seven Quick Takes (Random Edition)

Seven Quick Takes

(in which I reveal how random and disjointed are my thoughts...

but it IS Friday, so what did you expect?!)

(1)

Who came up with the spelling for Worcestershire sauce??? Seriously, WHO?  Was that really necessary??  I think about this every six months when it comes time to put it on my grocery list...  (but it is oh so delicious!)

(2)

The fact that I usually have no idea what my children are doing outside for hours at a time is simultaneously a case for pride, guilt, and fear.

(3)

I'm thinking of starting a study which will determine if large amounts of peanut butter chocolate pie can have a positive affect on pregnancy headaches.  I will be the test group.  I have not found anyone willing to be the control group...

it's all Mary's fault for pinning this a couple weeks ago!

(4) 

If peanut butter pie isn't your thing... how about these little Chobani Greek yogurt Bites?  These things have been one of my favorite snacks this summer.  It's like a dessert, but I call it lunch.

They even recently added a mint chocolate flavor, which I was first skeptical about, but now I realize that it is kind of like eating mint chocolate chip ice cream in the middle of day (except it's yogurt.)

(5)

I knew when I became a mom I'd have to put up with some rather unpleasant things - obvious stuff like messy diapers and kid vomit (the kind doesn't make it into a toilet or pail) had crossed my mind.  But some stuff is so gross it still takes me by surprise.  Like the diaper of a toddler a few hours after blueberry picking.  No one should ever have to change one of those.  Or how about little bits of gross nature that your kids think are fascinating and really want you to take a picture of, even though there's a very good change you might vomit on the sidewalk with nary a toilet or pail in sight.  Here's an example of what we've been scouring the neighborhood for on morning walks...
   

WHY is Ruth smiling at this???

Oh. my. gag...  Sorry I even put this on here.  But really, I'm subjected to it... you may not claim an exception ;)

(6) 

The boys don't play enough games on the iPad to necessitate an entire post on games... but the two they do play I think are worth mentioning.  (aren't Quick Takes convenient?  Jen's a genius.) 

Game boys like #1 - Rush Hour

The player is presented with a board of cars and trucks (apparently in a rush hour traffic jam) which you have to move in as few moves as possible to get your red car out of the vehicular jumble.  We have the actual physical version of this game, which the kids play as well(and I also recommend), but the app comes with tons more puzzle cards per level.  I'm a huge fan of games like this - you know, the kinds that require kids to think, strategize, plot and plan.  AND it can be played independently, so it's perfect for afternoon quiet time.  I'm always interested in expanding our collection of this type of stuff, so I'll take your recommendations of similar items very seriously.  

Game boys like #2 - Trains, Boats, & Cars (kids version)

This is another spacial planning/strategy game in which the player has to lay track, road, or waterways for the various modes of transportation.  They have to intersect at appropriate places so the vehicles don't crash, and you also get to pick up coins along the way to use toward "clues" as the levels get harder.
My only complaint about this game is that both the boys finished every level, so even though the recommended age was 4 - 12, I don't think they boys were challenged too much even as the difficulty supposedly progressed.  I still haven't checked out the version for  older players, but because they enjoyed this one so much, I may consider it for the cold winter months!

(7) 

I've been reading Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child (Anthony Esolen) - along with a great group of ladies, which makes for stimulating adult conversation - oh so highly prized among stay at home moms.  Anyways... I leave you with this thought to ponder:

...boys simply will not develop their characters if everything is always kept perfectly safe for them...

How refreshing, to be assured that allowing for investigation, exploration, initiation, and wacky inventions (usually involving rusty nails, fraying ropes, and an entire roll of scotch tape) despite the hazards that all conscientious moms are keenly aware of, is actually part of character development.  I always thought it was just a convenient way to get some quiet time to myself ;)


* * and there ends the randomness * * 

Until next time, friends.

P.S. Thanks, Genius Jen, for hosting... and in fact for making it super cool to fill an entire blog post with random disjointed thoughts ;)  Click on over to Conversion Diary for a dizzying array of 7 Quick Takes!

Curriculum Plans, 2013-2014

September is nearly here... fresh notebooks, unmarked workbooks, crisp covers, full boxes of crayons, and brand new No. 2 pencils. I'm dizzy with delight!  I love back to school time!  I love new school supplies and books - there's so much promise. And I love school plans - there's so much possibility. 

And that's important to remember.  A plan is what's possible. It's not what will definitely, absolutely, without a hitch transpire.  It's just a plan.  It's not an anvil hanging over my head, waiting to drop at the first sign of not happening.  But for me, having a plan at the beginning is important because it offers direction and an element of certitude that I may need to rely on in the future: "yes, I did actually think this through at one point and believed it was not only possible, but was good." 

I love reading about other home schooler's thoughts, and book recommendations, and plans.  And I'd love to chat about our choices if you want to comment here!  But, I say this to myself as much as to anyone else - feel confident in your decisions; use what works for you; don't keep looking for the next best thing if you've already got something that's working well; you can't use every wonderful program out there; make changes when necessary; don't compare kids and curricula; enjoy your kids' education.

There's a million different ways to homeschool.  Here's what works for us.  Here's how we've enjoyed lessons so far. Here's what we're planning on... 


Aaron, Grade 2

Math

Math U See, Beta Level (This level looks fun!  I can't wait to start it, but we are still finishing up the end of the Alpha Level - you can read about that and our summer school here.)

My Book of Telling Time, Learning About Minutes, from Kumon. 
Telling Time With the Judy Clock, and Geared Student Clock
I bought these things last year, but Russ teased me saying, wasn't I smart enough to teach the kids how to tell time without fancy workbooks and stuff.  So I returned them aaaaannnnnnnnnd... no one learned how to tell time last year.  So we're taking the workbook route this year - and the iPad route - we'll use Freefall Time for extra practice.

Handwriting

Handwriting Without Tears, Printing Power

Copy Work - in the past, this has included portions of books we've read and songs we've learned.  This year, I also purchased Quotable Saints to use for copy work.  

I think I am going to start cursive with Aaron in our second semester.  But I'm not crazy about the HWT cursive program... so I'm going to try it on my own, or use a generic cursive book. I'd appreciate any suggestions or recommendations on this one!  

Reading

Still working on proficiency.  We'll continue to work our way through the Books to Remember, Decodable Literature from Flyleaf Publishing.  I've reviewed the series here - I LOVE them, so if you're looking for K - 2 readers, check 'em out!  

We'll probably also do plenty of Frog and Toad, which Aaron really enjoys.  

Language Arts (for extra practice)

Language of God, Level A from Catholic Heritage

Daily Language Review, Grade 2 - despite the title, we probably won't do this daily, because that just sounds maddening - doing one or two questions a day - We'll probably try to finish a lesson in a week's time, even in one sitting if possible.  

Spelling

Grammar of Spelling, Grade 2 - I'm really looking forward to checking out this series.  I was attracted to the fact that it's no frills and that it's reproducible.  So, if we like it, I'll stick with the program (I think it goes through 6th grade?) and I can use it for the other kiddos.  (psst - I linked to Amazon, but it's cheaper at Rainbow Resource Center.)



Dominic, Grade 1

Math

Math U See, Alpha Level (I have a suspicion that we'll be taking it very slowly, and using the MUS on-line worksheet generator for a lot of extra practice.  And that's ok!  I'm trying to remember not to compare my own kiddos, let alone bringing their friends into the "game.")  

My Book of Easy Telling Time, Learning About Hours and Half Hours, Kumon.
and the Judy Clock stuff... (see above explanation for the necessity of fancy telling-time equipment)

Handwriting 

Handwriting Without Tears, My Printing Book 

Copy Work, I'm thinking this year it might be nice to use the poems he memorizes for copy work, but I haven't decided yet. 

Reading

Again, we're taking it slow.  We'll keep working through the CHC Little Stories for Little Folks AND....
  
I'm so excited!  I finally decided to buy the Emergent Reader Series from Flyleaf Publishing!!!!!  If they are as great as the Decodable Reader series, you can bet I'll be writing up some fabulous and gushing and bordering on Flyleaf Publishing Stalker reviews.

Language Arts (for extra practice)

Daily Language Review, Grade 1


Spelling

Last year with Aaron, I used the first grade spelling lists from AAAspell.com.  I planned on using the same for Dom, but at the last minute I decided to buy Building Spelling Skills, Grade 1. Knowing Dominic, I think he'll do better with a workbook to use and I think it will be better for him to start off with the shorter lists.  This book starts with lists that are only 5 words and the lists grow as the book progresses.  


Combined Lessons for both boys:
* indicates subjects they will cover at tutoring with review at home

* Grammar

English for the Thoughtful Child, Volume 1

* Latin

Song School Latin, Books 1 and 2 

* History

Story of the World, Volume 4

* Literature

Book list from Tapestry of Grace, Year 4, Lower Grammar Level - typically follows along with, and is related to, the History lesson.  (The Study Center the boys attend follows the Tapestry of Grace classical homeschooling curriculum - so we're along for the ride as far as history and lit are concerned.)


Science

In the Fall the boys will take two classes at our local science museum - I think the topics are sort of physics related - simple machines and how to move stuff by natural and man-made means. Right up their alley! 

In the Spring, we'll very casually read aloud from Exploring Creation With Astronomy, from Apologia, and perhaps do a few experiments here and there.  

Nature Study - we'll keep looking for flora and fauna (and rocks, of course) around the neighborhood, collecting what we can for our nature tray, using our field guides, and adding to our Nature Notebooks.  

Geography

Daily Geography Practice, Grade 3  

We've also been working on identifying the continents, oceans, large countries, and other places of interest.  I'm not sure where I'll take this, but I'm hoping to add some map memorization in with our other memory work.  

Religion

Jesus Our Life, Faith and Life Series 

Child's Bible History, Rev. F. J. Knecht, D.D.

New Catholic Picture Bible - We read through this last year, about a story a week, and I was just going to do it again this year.  But I obtained a copy of The Children's Bible through a curriculum swap, so we'll probably use parts of it also.

The New St. Joseph First Communion Catechism - Well, actually, we're still waiting to hear if Aaron will be able to make his First Communion this year, but we'll be starting Sacrament prep so that he can receive his First Reconciliation at our parish. 

The Weight of a Mass, a Tale of Faith,  Josephine Nobisso

The King of the Golden City, Mother Mary Loyola

Narration

I typically only ask for narrations after we read Bible stories. This year I may also consider using them as we read some of the other books for religion, and perhaps for the Apologia Astronomy.  

Poetry and Other Memory Work

A year and a half ago I would have scoffed at the idea of memory work but it's actually become a significant part of our school work.  In the future I may consider a program like Classically Catholic Memory.  For this year, we are just going to wing it and use our poetry anthologies and these CD's:

World Geography Songs
States and Capitals Songs
Grammar Songs
Math U See Skip Count CD
First Language Lessons, Level 1 and 2, Companion CD
Audiobook of Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses
Favorite Poems for Children (Classic Literature with Classical Music)

Art

Last year I found that instead of one artist a month, we did better with one a quarter.  This year we will study American artists Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Norman Rockwell.  "Studying" an artist involves library books and picture study using prints from wall calendars. (TIP!  I get current year calendars in the summer discounted at 50% or more from calendars.com)  We also try to do an art project in the style of the artist.

For drawing, we use the Draw Write Now Series.

Music

Like art, we'll study a new composer each quarter.  We're pretty much going in chronological order - last year we covered the Baroque and early Classical period.  I haven't decided for sure yet, but I think this year we'll focus on Beethoven, Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Brahms??  Maybe?  As for resources, I don't have anything finalized yet, but in general, I recommend the Classical Kids series of stories on CD, the Masters of Classical Music series (because it covers all the well-known favorites of each composer), and the Music Masters series which includes music and short biographies.  And library books!

For singing we'll do the same as last year.  We'll learn patriotic songs, folk songs, and hymns.  For patriotic songs I like Wee Sing America (even if you don't go for children's chorus recordings in general, I still recommend this because the words and pronunciations are very clear and they sing several verses of the songs that most people only know the first of), for folk songs we've used the easy piano book Go In and Out the Window, and for hymns I borrowed a hymnal from church and made some photo copies - for personal use.  

The assessment we're using this year is the California Achievement Test.  Hope I don't regret it...  


Ruth, "pre-K" 

Ruth enjoys being part of the school day, so she gets some lessons to work on if she shows interest.  Last year she joined in for music, art, poetry and memory work, religion, and science. I'm assuming it will be the same this year.  She has a handwriting book and a vast array of letters and numbers activities.  Anything else she learns is probably because she overheard it while she was looking for leftover breakfast food under the table ;)  


We'll also continue to use our fancy shmancy iPads!  Here's my post with the apps best suited for our school lessons. 
Whew.  I think that's it.  We've already started this year (I'm calling summer school "early first quarter") and I'm hoping to finish at the end of May.  Dragging on into June this past year was just too painful for words.  We'll probably take off a good chunk of time at Christmas and Easter.  And we'll see what we can hold together around the time our sweet baby is born in January! 


Questions?  Comments?  I love this stuff!  I could chat books and resources all day, so let's talk! 
And thanks to Micaela at California to Korea for the fun (for us nerds) linkup!

A Few of My Favorite Things (My 100th Post!!!!)

Just celebrating my 100th post by sharing a few of my favorite "things"...  

Our 17-week old!! (due in January)

(ps - Russ is really at the top of my "favorites" list, but he was at work and missed the mediocre photo shoot.)

Who Wore It Best? (my first linkup!!!)

Even though I'm usually really good about avoiding celebrity gossip and "news" on the internet, once in a while I'll get sucked in by a "Who Wore It Best?" headline.  I know I shouldn't care, and I actually really don't, but... once in a while it seems like an entertaining way to spend 90 seconds.  

A few months ago, Tricia at Making It Feel Like Home, posted a "Who Wore It Best" and I knew that I'd have to follow suit at some point!

No celebrities here. Not even any gossip.  Just one Gymboree shirt from their Spring 2007 collection...

Who Wore It Best....?

Aaron, Spring 2007 

Dominic, Fall 2008

Clare, Yesterday

and I tried like the dickens to find a photo of one-year-old Ruth wearing this thing in the Summer of 2011, to no avail.  But so that she wasn't left out, we put it on her this morning...

Sassy Miss Ruth, today

It's not really a competition.  I mean, really... do you think I'm going to take kindly to someone picking one of my cute children over the others??  It's more of a commentary on the life of a hand-me-down.  

Do you have pics of an item of clothing being sported by two, three, four, or more of your kiddos?  Link em up here and put it to my discriminating readers... Who Wore it Best?  

* * * * * *