Sweetness and Light

A Day in The Life ~ Snapshot School

 
(Bacon, Egg & Cheese Bake by Violet)

You asked, so I'm here to deliver :)

"A Day in the Life" of Sweetness and Light ~ back to school version. One of the things that has totally been working for us this new school term has been to create and maintain an uber-planned meal schedule that includes breakfast, lunch and dinner and mid-morning snacks for a whole month. I'm leaving weekends open for flexibility, but here's an example of a week's plan: Download Late Summer Menu Rotations Week 3 - 2010. It's been really nice having it all laid out, down to the snacks and remarkably, no one has been whining at me before lunch or dinner about when they get to eat next or what's for breakfastlunchdinner???? You know the drill ;-) So that's been working.

Other stuff:

• I've been getting up by 6:30/6:45am which has enabled me to do any morning baking or snack/lunch/dinner prep before the kiddos come up/down for breakfast. Also, I've been setting the breakfast table the night before (I know it's a no-brainer and I'm sure everyone in the world has already figured this out but me) however,  it's working and it's like a little special surprise every morning as I can do a centerpiece theme for feast days or just for fun stuff. Yeah Me!!
• Chore routines are well-established in our new digs and we're just incorporating them in to our regular day's schedule during clean-up and tidy time.
• The outdoor morning snack/break has been hugely successful. Not that we didn't do this before, but it's more fluid now and it's so nice to take a morning outside breather :)
• Everyone has their own shelf for books and notebooks, etc. and a separate display shelf for collectables and artwork.
• We are starting earlier than we have in the past and everyone really likes that.
• Everyone narrates directly after they have finished a reading, unless I've asked them to write a paper and this has been excellent!

Okay on to some real life:

6:30-7:30am ~ Mom up, sometimes showered and doing morning routine including breakfast prep, dishwasher unloading, and prayer time. Usually includes a quick email and reader check as well. 

7:30-8:00am ~ Breakfast with children (sometimes Sean-Paul stays in bed until later, but always the older three and I, hubby makes lattes as I'm sure you will remember ;-)

8:00am ~ Begin lessons for older three children - Violet, Matthias and Seamus.

• Violet is starting her day with some Natural History (either a bird or flower research or biomes work).
• Matthias and Seamus are enjoying Weather & Climate related studies and keeping weather journals.

*Note: Because we use the Short Lesson concept, they all work through their subjects at intervals alloted on their weekly schedules. Violet's subjects are in the 30-45 minute range, Matthias 20-30 minutes and Seamus 15-30 minutes. This staggers things a bit and allows me to be able to work individually with each of them rotating throughout the morning. When Sean-Paul joins us (usually around 8:30 or 9:00 he just goes with the flow after he eats his breakfast) For brevity, Violet's time is indicated in parentheses.

8:30-9:00am (8:30-9:15) ~ Begin Religion work

9:00-9:30am (9:15-10:00) ~ Begin History

9:30-10:00am ~

• Seamus Math
• Sean-Paul Free Work time
• Violet & Matthias finish up History
  

10:00-10:15am ~ All outside for quick walk/recess and snack time (even moi!)

10:15-11:00am ~

• Violet and Matthias do their Algebra,
• Seamus gets in two subjects Reading/Literature/or Poetry and Language Arts which he usually does orally with me unless it's Copywork.
• Sean-Paul does a combination of Alphabet copywork and using some of our Language Materials that have been previously presented, like the Moveable Alphabet, a Pink Sound Bin or looking at books. (Invariable he will return to his Math work several times throughout the morning :)

11:00am-12:00pm ~ During this last hour before lunch:

• Seamus practices Cello and does some free reading,
• Matthias does his Latin lesson (some of it orally with me) and then practices piano for about 1/2 an hour.
• Violet is working on Grammar (mostly Compositions, Dictation and an Editing lesson) then she does her Latin and on one day (usually Fridays) she does French with me.
• Sean-Paul is listening to stories, or poetry and helping me do miscellaneous lunch prep or a laundry load switch or we go out on the deck to do some sketching.

12:00-12:45pm ~ Lunch, more outside time, clean-up from morning.

*At this point the younger boys are pretty much finished for the day with the exception of Seamus and Matthias doing some Chemistry together. 

12:45-1:30pm ~

• Matthias Chemistry,
• Violet Earth Science.

1:30-2:00pm ~

• Matthias & Violet Reading, Literature & Poetry work (currently we're reading Pride & Predjudice together).
• Matthias is reading Twelfth Night.

2:00-2:30pm ~ Fine Arts -

• Violet is working through the Sister Wendy DVD's for Art History
• Matthias is viewing the Ancient works.
• Seamus and Sean-Paul usually have a Picture Talk time once a week at the lunch table, this is a really nice gentle way to introduce Art and capture their attention.

For Music Appreciation we have all been listening to Haydn Concertos & Sonatas.

*From 2:30pm on until dinner time, we are playing outside, catching up on chores, prepping for dinner if it isn't already started in the Crockpot. Seamus has cello one day during the week and one day during the weekend, so that changes his flow a bit, but it's in the afternoon, so he's mostly done by the time he needs to leave. Matthias' piano is now on the weekend also. Violet has resumed her ballet classes and they take up a large chunk of evening time with her personal chauffer ;-)

*Dinner happens between 5:00-7:00pm on any given night, and Violet just eats before or after her classes depending on her arrival time back home. We do miss her at the dinner table...

*Evening time is dedicated to kitchen clean-up, time outdoors playing with the dog, swimming or reading on the deck. If I need to do any lesson prep for the next day, this is when I try and get it done. I also check email or blog in the evening if hubby is working late (often). Many times we will have a special show to watch together with popcorn of course. Family Rosary happens just before everyone goes off to get ready for bed, brush teeth and begin reading or being read to :)

*Bedtime is 9:00ish with lights out for the olders at 9:30pm. I use this time between 9:30-10:00pm to set the breakfast table, breakfast prep (like making my pancake/waffle/or crepe batter or preparing an overnight breakfast bread or casserole). Then I head up to read before I pass out, I mean blissfully fall asleep.

Well, there you have it, let me know if you have any questions or want any specifics, I'm more than happy to answer questions here in the combox or in a private email! Many blessings and thank you so much for stopping by :)

Grab Bag Day!

Just for FUN, this is a re-post from a few years ago, Enjoy!!

Grab Bag Day was so fun Tuesday!! 

To mix it up a bit, I like to throw in a different schedule every once in a while and our day seemed ripe for it!  The kids love this element of surprise (who doesn't) and they flowed through their activities, chores, and routines for school with a little more vigor!  I too enjoy the break from structure, although it still ensures that we cover most everything necessary, but with a little more flexibility and creativity from my perspective! 

I try to include all our regular subjects, but with a little twist.  So here's how our day unfolded:

Everyone had their own bag with their activities, chores or assignments inside on small slips of paper.  Easily enough, they grab, and do the item listed and paste it on a fill in sheet. 

VIOLETS GRAB FOR THE DAY:

1) Set a new altar in the schoolroom

2)  Read one of our Library Books on Ancient Greece and make a notebook page

4)  Ballet Stretching and and Impromptu Dance to the keyboard

5) Research and choose a new Robert Frost Poem for memorization

6)  Do 2nd page of Latin lesson 3

7)  Say your 8 x's tables fast to mommy

8)  Conjugate "voco" and "amo"

9)  Check Banana science experiment and record any changes/findings

10)  Color and copy Bible History narration

11)  Work on your "bead" lion

12)  Read aloud a chapter of Mara to mommy

13)  Check bedroom "surfaces", de-clutter and dust

14)  Vacuum 3 stairs with dustbuster

MATTHIAS'S GRABS:

1)  Read a chapter from Story of the World, Vol 1, Narrate to mommy

2)  Piano time 20 minutes

3)  NASA site games/exploration 15 minutes

4)  Make a prayer page for Prayer Book

5)  Straighten Dresser and Desk in room, dust all

6)  Do 2nd Page of Latin Lesson 7

7)  Do 2nd page Spelling and write list words

8)  Say your 4 x's tables fast to mommy

9)  Name 10 Latin verbs and their meanings

10)  Vacuum 3 stairs

SEAMUS'S GRABS:

1)  Recite whole Squirrel poem

2)  Cover Squirrel Picture with pattern blocks

3)  Spray and wipe clean Microwave

4)  Dust the blinds in kitchen and schoolroom

5)  Play

6)  Play

7)  Read Maple Hill Farm November page with Violet

8)  Collect "Build-Your-Own-Crane" Items

9)  Listen to "Lovely Lady" with mommy

10)  Read Chessie the Long Island Squirrel w/moomy

11)  Do "Sign of the Cross" in Latin

12)  Video time with Sean-Paul

13)  Vacuum 3 stairs

14)  Puzzle Pairs

Whew!!  I can hardly believe that we actually did all of these things and got ourselves out the door to deliver Matthias to his first Cub Scouts meeting at the Parish Hall by 3:15!!  It was a blast, and I think I see a trend here, the kids are begging for Grab Bag Day every week!!  Give it a try and see how you like it and let me know what you like to Grab For!

Thanks for visiting and May God Bless you in your day!

Daily Prayer With Children

Daily prayer and prayer time with our children is one of the main foundations of the Domestic Church.  Without a family connection to prayer, it's members can seem disjointed and out of step.  It's like getting up on the wrong side of the bed.  As the saying goes, "The family that prays together, stays together."  This couldn't be more appropriate for Catholics and peoples of ALL faiths alike in our troubled and fallen world.

Establishing a tradition and rhythmn of daily prayer with our children does not happen overnight, it is a gradual adding in of thoughtful and simple prayers that the children can begin learning from a very early age.  If you can fold prayer time into your days like kneading dough into bread, it will become as natural as eating!

I would like to share what our family does for daily prayer and what has become a very nice tradition of sharing, praying and devotions at our house.

Because we are a Catholic home schooling family, we begin our gathering time or table time together after the breakfast dishes have been cleared away and morning chores have been completed. I really try to start no later than 9:00am with our prayer time, usually earlier in the late Autumn and Winter with the time change. We gather rosaries, a Saint's book, the bible and light a candle.

The tradition that we have established for devotional prayers follow a "theme" for each day.  I created some simple 9 x 12 inch poster board prayer cards to display each day with the Theme and Prayer written in large print.  They are beautiful to look at as the children helped me to decorate them with a few Holy images and symbols, but they can be simple index cards as well.  This has been very helpful for the dear children to remember what our specific focus is for the day and definately helps ME stay centered and ready to start the learning day. 

After we make the sign of the cross we pray this very simple morning offering:

"Dear Jesus, we offer you this day, our works, our joys, our sorrows and our play, please help me to be good today Jesus, I love you, Amen."

*Updated to add our Consecration to Mary prayer:

"My Queen, my Mother, I consecrate to you today, my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being without reserve, wherefore good Mother, as I am thine own, keep me and guard me as Thy property and possession. Amen."

Then we follow with the daily Theme:

Monday:  The Angels

We Sing the Angel of God prayer, Pray to St. Michael the Archangel, and ask for special protection and care for each others Guardian Angels and all those of our extended family members collectively. 

After this...we read about the Saint , Saint of the day or a Saint that one child has chosen (rotate through each able child) and then pray a decade of the Rosary, also a mystery of one child's choosing.

We close by asking all the Holy Angels & Saints to pray for us! (Monday)

We blow out the candle, clear the table and begin our learning day!

(The example in bold is what we do each day following the Theme Prayer and changes only for inclusion of prayers for either Advent or Lent, Marian or Other High Feast)

Tuesday:   The Apostles

"Dear Lord, help me to be like your Apostles and Saints, always doing your will and spreading the good news.  Help me to practice the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity, Amen." 

Then we recite the Apostles names, and ask them to pray for us.  Finish with... a short bible reading, Saint of the day or one child's Saint choice and then pray a decade of the Rosary, also a mystery of one child's choosing....

Wednesday:    St. Joseph   

"St. Joseph, model of every virtue, pray for us.  Patron of Fathers, Patron of Families, Patron of the Church, Pray for us."  "Protector of the Holy Family, protect us in all dangers.  Amen." 

Finish with... read about the Saint, Saint of the day or one child's Saint choice and then pray a decade of the Rosary, also a mystery of one child's choosing....

Thursday:    The Eucharist

We make a Spiritual Communion as follows:   Pray 3 Our Fathers, Hail Mary's, and Glory Be's, then;

"I wish Lord, to receive you with the purity, humility, and devotion with which your most Holy Mother received you, with the spirit and fervor of the Saints."  and "Lord, as I make this spiritual communion today, I believe that you are truly present in the Eucharist, Amen."

Finish with... read about the Saint, Saint of the day or one child's Saint choice and then pray a decade of the Rosary, also a mystery of one child's choosing....

Friday:   Jesus's Passion   

"Lord, I offer my sacrifice to you today and ask for your mercy for all my offenses, Amen." 

We talk about the ACTS of prayer, A-Adoration, C-Contrition, T-Thanksgiving, S-Supplication, and then we pray,

"Lord, by your cross and resurrection you have set us free, you are the Savior of the world, Amen." 

Finish with...read about the Saint of the day or one child's Saint choice and then pray a decade of the Rosary, also a mystery of one child's choosing....and any personal intentions including the aforementioned sacrifice.

Saturday:  Our Blessed Mother 

Mass if possible and we try and say the Memorare at breakfast, finish with the Fatima prayer,

"Oh My Jesus, forgive us our sins, Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee."

Sunday:  Our weekly Easter

Treated as an extra special day with Mass, and family Sunday activites, sometimes a hike or drive, and dinner which varies weekly with the liturgical calendar.

*******************************************************************************************************************************

As we are trying to model ourselves as a constant offering to God in prayer, we pray the Angelus at lunchtime before we say our mealtime Grace and we try and pray another decade or (sometimes) the whole Rosary as a family every night (God willing).

During the seasons of Advent and Lent our prayers take on a different tone and lead us into the preparation of these special times in the Church year. (This is another article begging to be written, in the meantime, please visit O Night Divine for Advent inspiration).

I also want to mention the various was to set up a prayer table or altar in your home is a nice addition to family prayer times and can help even the littlest of prayers to sit for a little longer.  Here is an example of a simple prayer corner for little ones:

A more elaborate setting can be made up higher on a shelf for older children, and I would even encourage prayer shelves or corners in your children's bedrooms, a quiet place where they can learn to be silent with the Lord and Our Lady.

~ If you think this might be something you'd like to share with your family, please feel free to print out and impliment as you see fit, and may God bless your special prayer time with your children. ~

First Day Fun, OK Well, Second Day, and Third, etc.

Here are a few highlights of the last several days:

Seamus working with his new Pink Reading Series Sound Bins "a" & "t".  He loves these and has worked through "c" & "m" already!!  I am so glad I decided to go ahead and make these up, as they are such a fun way for him to learn (and ME too) :)

A little better look at the setup!

Sean-Paul enjoying his Pink Tower work immensely!!  Notice he's holding tight to the tiniest cube, he really covets this little piece, too funny!

Oldest brother Matthias working on some Wildflower Research.  After he and his sister matched and identified all of the Three-Part Cards, they each chose a few to research and make some notebook pages!  All of the pictures were taken on hikes that we've done as a family in and around our beautiful area that we live, so this is especially meaningful work because they remember when and where we saw these beauties in nature!!

Violet doing her pages and incorporating her grammar lesson into her Research as she needed to write some sentences about things in nature, how fitting!!

Her notebook page, complete with some beautiful flowers from a hike we took a month or so ago that she preserved so beautifully for her special Nature Notebook.

Pouring rice, Cup to Cup!

Pour rice, Pitcher to Cup!

Learning the names of Dinosaur's with our Prehistoric Nomenclature Cards, the first of the Three-Period Lesson!

Lest we forget, the beloved Toob Dinosaurs to match with the cards!!

The littlest of course, could not resist a turn with the Dinosaurs!

We had a lovely celebration for Our Lady of Knock on Tuesday and then an equally wonderful day celebrating The Queenship of Mary complete with Cupcakes frosted appropriately green for Knock and Blue for the Queen!! 

I hope your week has been SPLENDERIFEROUS!!  Many blessings in your new year!

Our Learning Space(s)

We, believing that the normal child has powers of mind which fit him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, give him a full and generous curriculum, taking care only that all knowledge offered to him is vital, that is, that facts are not presented without their informing ideas.  Out of this conception comes our principle that :--

"Education is the Science of Relations"...  (Charlotte Mason, A Philospophy of Education)

One of the lovelist things about home education is just that, that I get to be home with my dear children and learn along with them.  It's such a joy to be the one to hear of their first discoveries of any given subject or at their enthusiasm at learning a new thing.

Our Learning Room is a room that was used as a guest room on the main level of our rental house and is right down the hall from the kitchen, so for me seemed the logical place for us to gather for table time.  In the past we've had our learning space closer to the children's bedrooms, and also at the kitchen table, but in this new place we've settled on the guest room!  Upon entering the room, the focal point on the adjacent wall is our Marian Shelf/Mini-Altar that we just completed and installed on Our First Day! 

Learning Room Mini-Altar/Marian Shelf:

I also put up our 2007 Liturgical Wheel Calender which won't begin until Advent, but I love the look of it and it helps to remind us of our faithful living of the liturgical year everyday of the year.  We also have a Monet wall calender that we use for picture study off and on.  I also just put up our World map and map of the United States.

We chose to go with a table and 4 chairs set up with a bench as well.  We've tried separate desks, but they seemed a little too distant and as our Learning Room is on the smaller side the chidlren seem to work better with me being able to "float" the room.  It is necessary for me to be on the floor Playing or in the reading chair with the little boys, so I am still accessible for the older two at the table.

So here are some pictures to give you a sneak peek into our school:

Reading Corner:

Little Ones Reading Corner - Board Books:

Music Center:

Math Work:

Puzzles & Sensory Work:

Small Motor Skills Work:

(Notice the missing "peg" I've had this since Violet was 4 mo.s old, so we're hoping it turns up!)

My Learning Space Shelves:

This closet goes all the way under the stairs and is directly across from the Learning Room so I am trying to move stored items towards the back and most of our Arts & Crafts items and all of my home school books are kept in here.  My dear husband was a peach and installed extra shelving all the way across the back for dual purposes!

Lacing Beads:

Varied Play - Rice Box:

Many different things go in and out of this!  Usually little trucks and tractors, but also small pitchers and cups of different sizes for pouring and transferring!!  The tube in the corner at present is a "grain silo"!

I haven't as yet been able to set up any permanent low shelves with Montessori trays as our littlest guy would just dump them all. 

Learning Room Closet:

I do have more shelf space in this closet where I have the older kids things up high and play things down low and on the floor.

When the weather is good (and not too hot) we love to take our Learning outside, especially for read alouds, or working on nature notebooks!!

So here's a look at the many items and places we like to learn with in our home.  I hope maybe some of them will inspire you in your Learning Spaces.  I'm not sure whether they are elegant, but they are simple and to me that's the lovelist thing of ALL! 

Thanks for visiting and my God Bless you in your day!

Our Assumption Day: First Day of Our New Learning Year!!

(First Day of School Photo)!

We like to begin our new cycle of learning on this very special Feast of the Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary.  It's such a special day to celebrate the passing of Our Lady from her perfect earthly domain to that of perfection in heaven with her son and Our Lord, and God the Father Almighty.

I had many special things planned for our first day of the year and it all went pretty much as planned.  In the morning after Prayers and Devotions and reading from Mary Mother of God by Tomie de Paola, we worked on our long-awaited Rosary Shelf Crafts so beautifully showcased at Alice's Cottage and by Dawn of By Sun and Candlelight.  We were unable to do these beautiful shelves during Mary's Month of May as we were moving, however, I think they were just as special for a day like the Assumption!

This is the top of Seamus's shelf. He painted special crosses on it!

Here is the top of Matthias's. We found some lovely religious stickers at JoAnn fabrics of all places!

And this is Violet's! We sealed them with Mod Podge and then an Acrylic Clear Coating over the top and here are the finished shelves with l their special things on them. As a Special gift for the Assumption the Head Master and I gave each of the dear children a new Marian Statue and (thanks to Dawn) they each have their own Holy Water Bottles atop as well!

In order again Seamus's, Matthias's and then Violet's! You'll notice on hers there is also a beautiful yarn God's Eye which we also made after we finished the shelves!

After our morning of crafts we went to a lovely 12:15pm Mass for the Solemnity and then had lunch with the Head Master, that was a real treat for us all!!  We were invited to dinner at some wonderful new home schooling friends and so we celebrated with them as well! The kids took their God's Eyes as gifts and I made Sour Cream Cheesecakes for dessert with fresh raspberries and blueberries! It was a beautiful day of celebration in honor of Our Dear Lady!

What's On Your Shelf?

As is customary this time of year, I like many other home educators are pondering our new school year ahead, or for us rather a new "round" of lessons and real learning and I am immediatley drawn to the insight and recommendations that Elizabeth brings up in Keep Your Eyes on Your Own Work and how each family home educates according to it's own rythyms, and that it's going to look different from each other's own families. Also Cay brings up several questions and concerns about how she would "like" to be more of a classical educator, but that's just not really her style. She does find comfort in some great 4Real advice!

Personally, we have come to a very comfortable way of learning that seems to suit our family's needs depending on the circumstances that are presented. I know that God has lead me down our home school path, much of it by trial and error and lots of prayer. We are first and foremost inclined towards the Charlotte Mason method, keeping short lessons in mind and a liberal dose of subjects to choose from. I have found that mixing in some Classical and Montessori and lots of Unschoolish rabbit trails is where we've found our Real Learning comfort zone.

So I'd like to fill you in on how our bookshelves shape our learning and how we use living literature and other medium to fill our minds and our days with real learning and adventures. For starters the shelves that are current and used most days are:

The Math Bookshelf
The History Bookshelf
The Nature & Science Bookshelf
The Catholic Mosaic Bookshelf
The Arts & Crafts Bookshelf
The Music Bookshelf
The Rabbit Trails Bookshelf
The Latin Bookshelf
The Poetry Bookshelf

I will add to them as we add to our learning, I'll probably need to revamp a few of my links as well, so bear with my new system. I hope you will find our new shelving system useful in your ponderings for the new year ahead, what's on your shelf?? I'd love to know!!

May God Bless you in your day!!

Lapbooks, Notebooks & Other Fun Stuff

While writing the post about our Lent plans I was persuing my daughter's Easter Vigil Notebook from last year, and I was readily appreciative of all the hard work she put into the project, not to mention the special little touches that make it truly her notebook with the inclusion of her unique art and narrations, she has "ownership" in her learning.  This is also the case with Matthias's current First Communion NB, he is making it uniquely his own and a true representation of how he is preparing for this very special sacrament.  This is something that gets me very excited about home educating my dear children.  It's also a sure way to boost my morale when looking at all we've worked on and learned together. I know that they are truly learning and enjoying their studies!  Besides, the notebooks and lapbooks are so fun for them to refer back to and give a presentation to grandparents and of course the "Principal".

I also described a little bit about how we use living books in my Carnival of Children's Literature post.  Some of our unit studies lend naturally to notebooking and lapbooking and at other times we just add our discoveries and learning adventures in their appropriate separate notebooks.  (I'll list out what we have going at the end of this post.)

If you frequent the 4real forum, you know about all the great ideas one can glean, and I have used so many of the ideas there I feel a bit like a thief in the night at times, but I know they are there for the sharing, it's such a wonderful group of individuals.  Many of the lesson plans we've used to compile our studies have come from the Rabbit Trails Forum, go ahead and browse through if you like unit studies! 

I thought it appropriate to load some of our recent lapbooks and (in the future) notebooks for specific studies we've done.  You'll see them listed in the right side-bar under "Photo Albums", click on each link and check them out.  I am a lapbook amatuer, so be gentle in your analysis, I'd love any feedback or other ideas you may have to share about how you lapbook/notebook. 

There are also some great examples at Lapaz Farm, they sure make a unit on Pirates look fun!

Please also visit the 4real A Living Faith forum to view beautiful pictures of a First Communion Notebook, click on page 2. (HT: Elizabeth Foss)

Cay Gibson has given a nice list of things to include in a Liturgical Year NB also at 4real., scroll down about 2/3rds of the way, there is tons of info here and much of it by the infamous "jenngm67", thanks!

I’ve highlighted this before: at Home School Share, there are skads of literature-based studies that all lend to some form of lapbooking/notebooking. 

Now, as a caveat, unit studies are not all we do as I am pretty CM pure, but for us, one of the fun parts of our discoveries is in the documentation and since I happen to be a closet scrapbooker, the lapbook/notebook thing comes naturally as a form of carrying out the storage of all the great stuff we're learning.

Oh, and if I had the where-with-all to follow my dear children around the house with a video camera I could record all their learning which is continually acted out in their play.  Case in point, we've been re-living our vacation through the eyes of all their beanie babies, playmobil, rokenbok, "little people", Thomas and friends, and AG dolls since we returned home!  I LOVE it!  However, that would qualify me as the "super-hero-home-school-mom-of-the-year" status, of which I have not yet reached.  We just like to be creative and have fun, so this is some of what works for us. (Book Note:  Elizabeth Foss talks about recording her dear children’s narrations on video in her lovely book Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home)

History is very fun to document and I love Home School in the Woods timeline stickers for our Book of Centuries and adding to appropriate lapbooks/notebooks.

Please visit Simply CM for a very simple way to set up a BOC, this is a great new CM site!

In addition to our Easter Vigil Notebook and the two lapbooks I have featured, we keep Nature Notebooks/Journals, Science NB's, Religion NB's,  First Communion NB (this year for Matthias), Math NB's, Language Arts NB's, Book of Centuries, Poetry NB's, Saints NB's, Geography NB's, Latin NB (Violet's), and they each have their own Book of Stories NB's.  Seamus has his very own Pre-school NB, he's very proud of it and we are too! (We also did a beautiful Japan NB last year at this time that I will upload, it was a wonderful study, check back soon). 

Now granted these are not added to every day (with the exception of our Nature journals, they are the fattest by far!) but over the course of time, naturally, and if we're doing something specific like our Artic Unit right now, we're going to lapbook it! 

So there you have it, a little of What We Do!!

Just a few more sites to browse through for "notebooking/lapbooking" needs:

Hold That Thought and Notebooking, and I imagine if you have lots of time on your hands <g> you could peruse the archives at the Five In A Row site for many ideas on organizing literature-based learning!  Have Fun!