Sixth Grade Curriculum Chosen!

OK, I know. It's only October. But I've planned Tuna's sixth grade year already.

Thinking about what's worked for us and what we want to change, and keeping in mind that we want a more rigorous curriculum, I went shopping. 

I found our curriculum. 

Seriously, I can't be the only one that plans this far out, right? 

We're going to use Moving Beyond the Page for science, social studies, and language arts. And we're going to use Teaching Textbooks for math. For music, Tuna will be taking up an instrument and receiving lessons. For art, I'm not yet sure. 

I love it. It's so neat and tidy, short and sweet. And it's geared toward gifted learners, so I know it will be challenging enough, in the right ways. 

I can hardly wait to get my giant box of new books in the mail. But I'm holding off for spring fling, MBtP's annual sale. 

Yay for new book smell!

Added Responsbility

Baby Tuna with (wow, he looks so young) Daddy at The Royal Gorge in Colorado

You're familiar, I'm sure, with the expression looking through rose-colored glasses. It means seeing things optimistically to a fault. Well, I think I'm guilty of looking at Tuna through baby-size glasses. Or something like that. 

She's my baby. 

But she's also a tween. Almost a middle schooler. We're halfway through with fifth grade already. 

The other day, we got together with some friends we haven't seen in nearly a year. We've known them since Tuna and her friend were in first grade together. I watched that boy lose his first teeth, and knew his brother before he was born. We made plans to get together for dinner a few nights ago. When the boy opened the door, gone was the young boy I knew, and standing in his place was a tall, awkwardly handsome in that pre-tween way young man. I couldn't help but remark, "Wow, you've gotten so tall!"

Then, Tuna stood beside him without saying a word. 

She's taller than her friend. 

Taller than the boy I, not three seconds earlier, recognized as having matured, grown, changed. 

My baby. She's a big kid. She's nearly to my chin now. She's changing, growing, maturing. 

And somehow, I didn't see it coming. 

In an instant, my view of Tuna changed. My brain readjusted, somewhat unwillingly, and I began to view things differently. I knew it was time to start giving her more responsibility to work on her own in several aspects of her life, including her education. So here are some changes we're going to slowly make over the next several months:

• Tuna will read her math chapter in Life of Fred and complete the Your Turn to Play on her own, bringing any difficulty to me for help. 
• I'll start giving her long-term assignments to keep track of: memorization, reports, silent reading, to name a few. 
• And I'll begin researching online classes that would interest her, that she can take from home, learning from other teachers. 

It's weird, seeing her as getting big. Even in this photo above, I see my Baby. I know that others see her differently. She will always be my Baby. I will hold her hand crossing parking lots as long as she will tolerate it. I will always read aloud to her. I will always have time for a cuddle. But, for her own sake, it's time for me to see her as growing and changing. I'll be better able to meet her needs if I do. 

I wonder: Have any of you had a similar issue, seeing your baby as a baby and not quite so mature as others seem to see? 

FROGS: Our Complete Lesson Plan (Dissection)

*Important: This unit study culminates in a dissection, and this post contains photos and video of dissection. Sensitive readers should proceed with caution. 

Ever since the owl pellet dissection, Tuna has been expressing interest in continuing with biology and dissection. So, I ordered some specimens and got a lesson plan in motion. 

It was somewhat difficult to find straight-forward, middle school level lesson plans online. Most of what I could find was cutesy, lower grade, arts and crafts stuff. Knowing the end of our unit study was a pretty serious matter, I wanted to avoid the cutesy and cut to the chase. Here's what we did:

Frogs

Time Spent: 3 Days

Purpose: To facilitate curiosity of frog anatomy. To provide an introduction to middle school level biology and dissection. To explore and learn about the internal and external structure of the grass frog in a hands-on manner. 

Materials required:

• internet connection
• printer (optional, for worksheets)
• frog specimen*
• dissection pan* (or Styrofoam meat tray)
• dissection tools* (pins, scissors, scalpel, pointer/stick)
• recommended: gloves and goggles
• a strong stomach and nerves of steel

*I ordered our supplies from the Online Science Mall. 

Outline

Day 1: Familiarization with frogs

1. We watched several video clips on the National Geographic site:
   Life Cycle of the Tree Frog
   Trials of a Tadpole
   Frog Father Spits out Young
   Baby Toad Born from Mom's Back
   Bullfrogs Eat Everything
   Slow-Mo Frog Jump
2. We discussed the life cycle of the frog in further detail.

No need to be overly serious. Some fun with basic amphibian information:

A Brain Pop on amphibians (subscription required) has a good video, worksheet, and quiz. 

Day 2: Learning about frogs' bodies and preparing for dissection day

1. We used the following websites to familiarize ourselves with frog anatomy before our dissection:
   eTutor
   The entire set of links at Biology Corner
2. And, finally, we watched two dissection videos (actual dissection shown):

This one from Teacher Tube

and this set from You Tube:

Day Three: Our turn (The actual dissection)

If the videos from day two didn't scare you off, congratulations. You've got guts. Much like our little friend here. 

I, on the other hand, am very squeamish, and I'm having a hard time even typing this. My head is a little bit spinny and I keep averting my eyes. 

Throughout this process, I have maintained my badass stature. No big deal, I said. I can do this, I said. Tuna thought it was the coolest thing ever. I had to keep pace. 

So don't feel bad if you ...feel bad. I know how you feel. Really, I do. If Tuna wasn't into this, we wouldn't be doing it. This is definitely not for my benefit. 

Ready? Right then. Away we go. 

I printed this PDF Frog Dissection Manual to accompany our dissection, because the dissection guide that came with our frog was tiny print and I didn't find it particularly user friendly. 

We donned our gloves, put on play clothes, and went to work. 

We first took a good look at all the external structures of our frog: the head, the trunk, the arms and legs, the cloaca, the eyes, mouth, and external nares, the tympanic membrane, the toes and webbing, the skin (not slimy), the belly, the jaw (pretty firmly closed, not slack like I was expecting). 

Then, we look a look inside the frog's mouth. In order to do this, we had to cut his mouth wider where the jaw hinged. We checked out his tongue and manipulated it to demonstrate how it catches prey. We felt his (oh, right, our frog was a boy) teeth and looked at his eye sockets (if you poke them gently, you can open the eyes, but don't poke too hard. trust me.)

I've decided not to share more graphic images. The videos cover everything in detail. 

Tuna was able to identify almost all of the frog's parts at the end of the dissection. She was amazing throughout the dissection. Lots of guts, that kid. Pun intended. 

If I can survive frog day, anyone can. I breathed through my nose (though he really didn't stink, more psychological than anything). I wore gloves. And I put on a brave face for Tuna. 

So, we did it. Our next specimen is a perch, but that's a few weeks off yet. 

post linked to hip homeschool moms

Catch Up Week

For several reasons (in-laws extended visit, lots of awesome field trips, to name two), we've found ourselves a bit behind where I hoped we'd be by this week. In an effort to catch up to where I want us to be, I've implemented a catch-up week. Regular schedules are set aside and we work on just one subject each day for a week and a half. Here's what it looks like:

Days 1 & 2: Science. Day 1 will catch us up and day 2 will complete the current week's planned lessons.

Days 3 & 4 : Math. I'll split up the assignments over two days to catch us up.

Days 5 & 6: Art, music, and German: These will be fun days. I want to finish up with chalk pastels, and we've got a music study going that we keep setting aside.

Days 7 & 8: History catch-up. Lots of reading and hands-on activities will be completed. 

With that, we'll be caught up. Normally, I wouldn't care that we're behind, but I do want us to finish our curriculum before our move next summer, with plenty of time to pre-plan our sixth grade year before chaos ensues.

What do you do when you fall behind? 

I'm in a bad mood!

I woke up in a bad mood! I'm just irritated today, with no real cause. It happens to the best of us. So, what does a homeschool mom do when she finds herself grumpy? 

I don't want to take it out on Tuna. She's done nothing remotely wrong. So, I don't know what other homeschool moms do (we just don't talk about the bad stuff enough, you know? and when we do, it's laughingly. we should talk about this stuff), but here's what I did:

1. I sat at my desk, drinking overly-sweetened coffee, and puttered around on Pinterest (here is my Pinterest page, by the way. I think it's pretty great.) while Tuna played her bells upstairs. Until I asked her not to. Because the ting!ting!ting! was grating on my nerves. 
2. So, I asked her if she wanted breakfast. She asked what she could have, and I told her anything at all that she wanted in the kitchen. 
3. She wanted to bake cookies. I don't want to bake cookies, I thought to myself. But, wait. She's old enough to handle a cookie mix on her own!
4. I gave her simple instructions: use the microwave to soften your butter, don't forget the timer) and went back to Pinterest. I needed some time, some time alone, to feel better.
5. She set about the task of baking cookies and called me over when her whisk was full of cookie dough (why a whisk? she thought it's the tool she needed, as she's never done this before). I helped her mash up her cookie dough, and she took over from there. 
6. Ten minutes later, she presented me with gingerbread cookies, which I devoured happily. 
7. Next, she watched a movie while I still needed some alone-ish time. She was all of fifteen feet away from me, but the different engagements helped. Again, it's not Tuna, it's me. But I find when I'm cranky that working quietly alone helps. 

And that's where we are now. I'm writing, she's watching a movie. I'm hoping this mood blows over soon. I'm deep breathing, about to go soak in a tub for a while, and I'm sure I'll feel better. 

The bottom line is this: Every mom has bad days. Heck, I remember my teachers having bad days. Out came the board games, the rolling television, the indoor recess, the other teachers monitoring us while our teacher stepped out. It happens. And life goes on. And no one's education is compromised. 

So if you're cranky, go soak in a bubble bath! Pop in Home Alone for the fifteenth time this month and just unwind. There's always tomorrow. 

And for the love of sanity, share your bad days with your fellow homeschoolers, so they don't all feel isolated, alone, and bad for being cranky sometimes. 

Sunday Stroll: Kallmünz, Germany

This week found us in Kallmünz, Germany, a charming, typical Bavarian town situated on the river Naab. We didn't get to spend much time there due to needing a toilet (public toilets are few in Germany and when you do find one, it's not free). Still, we enjoyed it while we were there, and we might return to explore some more. There's a castle ruins in Kallmünz I'd like to see. 

Look at these formations on the underside of the bridge above. Stalactites! I thought stalactites only formed in caves, but they were all over this bridge over the Naab River. So cool!

Committing ourselves to weekly Sunday Strolls makes sure we see lots of Germany in the little time we have left. This short stroll was worth the 30 minute drive from home, proving you don't have to go far to see much. Where are you strolling this week?

Nuremburg Zoo Trip

"We are sure to see curious things, and for the last two months we have not had time for dullness. The last marvel is always the most astonishing; and, if we continue this progression, I do not know how it will end. It is my opinion that we shall never again see the like. I think then, with no offence to master, that a happy year would be one in which we could see everything."

-Conseil, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, chapter 19

We've been forgoing regular lessons in favor of travel a lot lately. I find tremendous value in real-life experience, and favor it over book learning almost any day. 

Being that we have such a short time in Germany, we try to make the most of it by seeing as much as possible. After all, we just learned that next summer we'll be moving back stateside. It's not what we want to do, but it's what the Army needs from my husband. 

We have ten months left in Europe. We intend to see, not everything, but as much as possible this year. So, expect lots of travel schooling over the next ten months. 

Today, we visited the beautiful Tiergarten der Stadt Nurnberg: The Nurnberg Zoo. Zoos here are different than zoos in the United States. Barriers between human and animal are more natural and less obtrusive. Landscaping is interactive: you climb, you step, you pull yourself up rocks and tree roots. You navigate rope bridges. 

This was a fantastic zoo. 

 Also, the Autumn colors in full splendor added to the pleasures of the zoo. The air was crisp, the breeze refreshing, and the sky blue, mostly. We even had sun today!

 This was a group trip that I set up for our homeschool group. Only two other families could make it, but I think that actually worked out for the best. The kids were all terrific and were wonderful to one another. And the other two moms there were awesome, too. It was great to get to know two homeschool families over the seven hours we spent at the zoo. We all had a lot of fun together. 

 We got to take in a sea lion and dolphin show. There was something special about seeing this show with the October colors in the background. 

 Tuna (and the other kids) loved the show. Watching her expressions was just as rewarding to me as watching the show itself. 

The petting zoo with its requisite goat herd was ...intense. The goats were aggressive in their per suit of grain, headbutting me and cornering Tuna on the rocks. Still, she's like the goat whisperer and they didn't give her any trouble at all. 

It was a splendid Autumn day. I'm thankful for the chance to explore new places like this zoo, practically in my backyard. The zoo's impressive animal collection was a great treat. We learned a few new things along the way, and made friends, and had fun. I couldn't have planned a better school day. 

Tomorrow: We're visiting a volcano!

A Brave Writer Testimonial

Disclaimer: I was neither paid nor given free materials by Brave Writer for this testimonial. I am simply sharing my opinion on the program. 

     When I pulled Tuna out of public school last year, she was educationally broken, jaded, and scared to be wrong. She would take no risks, either in math or in writing. The idea of math made her cry, and her writing was simplistic, formulaic, and boring. She would complain of hand cramps after just two or three short sentences, and she cried frequently. 

     This was not what I wanted learning to look like for my daughter. 

     We stopped everything. We did no lessons. Had no structure. We played. We read. We explored our environment. We became unschoolers by necessity. It was exactly what we needed to do. Tuna opened back up to me. Her creativity blossomed. She declared on a regular basis how lucky she was to be homeschooled. 

visiting Colmar and Eguisheim, France, on weekdays, of course

     It was working. But it was time to add in some structure to our days. Tuna was even asking for it! She wanted to have more school-like structure in her day, so I set about the task of finding the right balance, knowing that school-at-home wouldn't ever work for us. 

     I sought out interesting, gentle, curricula, that would stimulate her mind without hardening her heart. That's when I found Brave Writer. 

     Brave Writer, who asks me to watch movies on Thursdays, and drink tea and eat cookies on Tuesdays, and go for nature walks, and play board games, and make art, and view art, and write for my daughter when her hands tire, and to produce my own writing alongside her...Could this really work? Could it possibly be so simple?

     You bet. 

     But I wasn't always a firm believer. I was a little nervous to not teach writing like a public schooler. I trusted the process enough to try. I agreed (with myself) to give Brave Writer a go for two years. 

     Here we are, four months into our first school year using Brave Writer, and I've got exciting news. Yesterday, on the way to our geology class, Tuna wrote her teachers a letter. She wrote a full page letter, expressing her thanks, telling what she's learned so far, and encouraging the teachers to start additional classes. It was well-written, heart-felt, and showed what she has learned. It flowed nicely, used great words, and touched the hearts of the instructors (who I've asked to scan and email me a copy, and I'll post it here as soon as I get it).

     It was writing. It was a long piece of writing. It was a long piece of writing that I didn't ask her to produce, didn't help her write, and didn't ask her if I could read before she passed it over. 

And she was proud of it. 

     She got a great reaction to her writing. The instructor teared up over the letter, and Tuna felt great for making her feel so happy. 

     On the way home, Tuna composed quite a few short limericks, shared them aloud, and then revised them, asking for help with word choice and rhythm. 

     In short, my daughter was a brave writer. Reading aloud everyday from great books, sharing poetry over tea and cake, cuddling together to enjoy fun movies, walking through the woods, visiting art museums and creating art had all helped bring us to this moment. 

     And it took only a few short months of trusting and waiting and biting my tongue. 

     I love the Brave Writer program. I really can't say enough good things about it, but I think my daughter's transformation is proof enough that it works. 

     So if you have a reluctant writer, a child who's come out of the school system writing formulaic paragraphs grudgingly, or you just don't know where to begin, give Brave Writer a try. It's gentle and effective, and self-empowering. It really does work. 

Picking Pumpkins in Germany

Tuna, Bay, and I visited Jerry's Pumpkin Patch in Litzlohe, Bayern, Germany this afternoon. Jerry is an American living in Germany. The field is huge and full of pumpkins of every shape and size. We got to lug a wheelbarrow around the field to choose our pumpkins, then cut them from the vine ourselves. 

Did you know: pumpkins turn orange due to warm weather and sunlight? Those two things are a precious commodity in Bavaria, so our pumpkins are mottled green and orange. 

We like them that way. It's fitting, in a way. Different pumpkins in a different country. 

 Sameness is appreciated, sometimes, too. Like picking pumpkins at a pumpkin patch: same experience on whatever side of the globe you call home. 

Sunday Stroll: Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival

This week's Sunday Stroll took us to Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival, boasted to be the largest in the world. It's about two hours from home, which is quite a drive for a Sunday stroll, but it was reported to be quite special, so we made the trip. 

(Anyway, two hours doesn't seem like a big deal anymore. Living in Europe has changed how we view travel.)

The festival was held in the garden of the palace above. Such a gorgeous setting for a festival!

There were pumpkin carvings and sculptures all over the place. This year's theme was the Olympics. 

The best part was the food. Oh my, the food. We decided to get one of (almost) everything and sample and share. There was pumpkin soup, drizzled with pumpkin seed oil and pumpkin seeds...

...and pumpkin frites with a delicious sauce...

...and pumpkin strudel with fresh cream and chopped pumpkin seeds...

...and pumpkin popcorn, and cinnamon-sugar pumpkin seeds, and chili-sugar pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin chutney, and pumpkin jam, and pumpkin pie, and sparkling pumpkin wine. It was so much fun to try it all. 

Above is the third place winner for largest pumpkin: Over five hundred pounds of pumpkin. 

There was an area where kids could play in the hay. Kids were making hay stacks and jumping off and having hay fights. I was thankful for the Benedryl when we got home, but Tuna and Bay had a blast playing in the hay. 

There was a pumpkin carving station where parents could purchase jack-o-lantern pumpkins for the kids to carve. 

Believe it or not, this was the very first time both girls have single-handedly carved a jack-o-lantern. I was so tempted to help. I even offered a few times. But neither of them would have any of it. 

They worked diligently on their carving for about half an hour. 

I was so proud of their pumpkins. They both did a great job. 

It was a great way to spend the day. We all ate pumpkin seeds on the way home (yep, we still had room!) and stopped at a burger joint in Neumarkt just before home. 

Next Sunday, if the weather is good, I'm planning to take the kids to a treetop boardwalk in the Bavarian National Forest. 

this post linked to Hip Homeschool Mom's Field Trip Ideas Around the World

Experiencing Art: The Brave Writer Lifestyle

An important part of the Bravewriter Lifestyle is exposing our children to art. Once a week, at least, Tuna and I do something art-related. Many times, we make art. Sometimes, we watch an art documentary. Sometimes, we read about artists. Our art this week was incredible. We had the good fortune to visit the Neue Pinakothek in Munich (our third visit to Munich...well, fourth if you count the Justin Bieber concert). We saw many of the Masters: van Gogh, Monet, Cezanne, Manet, Degas, and more.

As we were walking up to the museum, I gave Tuna an assignment: Located Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh. In doing this, I connected her with the artist and painting, which she'd never considered before today. I showed her the painting in a marquee outside of the museum, so she'd know what to look for. 

Tuna found Sunflowers on her own, about two-thirds of the way through the museum. She was impressed with the detail of the painting. It's so impressive up close. The brush strokes, the build-up of the paint to create the texture, the colors which are not seen until you're up close to the painting: Being there, seeing it up close, you gain an appreciation for the talent. 

We loved that van Gogh signed simply "Vincent" on the vase. 

Here is some of the art we viewed. The museum had some 22+ rooms, with adjacent side rooms as well. I've shared just the most recognizable paintings here:

detail in Plain near Auvers

Tuna looking through the paintings directory to find Sunflowers

Tuna was embarrassed by all the nudes in this room. 

We ended our trip with a visit to Cafe Rischart, a well-known bakery/cafe in old Marienplatz (directly across from the old rathaus - city hall). They're famous for their cakes. Tuna chose ice cream, though it was in the 30s outside. 

Waiting for the train to depart for home. Can't you see the culture newly absorbed? hehehehe

 I'm so glad we had the chance to go to this art museum. It's not everyday, not every family, that gets to see the Greats in person. Before we end our time here in Germany, we're going to the Louvre in Paris. That promises to be a life-changing experience. This one was, too.