Another wonderful summer (2014)

Oh my goodness, where did the summer go? The girls' summer this year was full of fun and activity. They've enjoyed everything from going to camp, to visiting with family , to just some down days thrown in between with cooking smores and hot dogs over the open fire. 
I definitely can say I don't regret having such a busy summer. Though sometimes its just nice to rest and relax before jumping into a new school year. 

Marilyn started off her summer with going to her Aunt Erica's house in the city. There she spent one week taking the YMCA Lifeguard course that they hold each summer for the kids that are 16 and up. There, Marilyn learned how to become a lifeguard and got her license to become a lifeguard. We were very proud of her and she starts her new job here pretty soon. 

Shortly after this Marilyn went off to do the Catholic Hearts Workcamp. Is a very nice church camp activity for the kids in high school. They go to an area and help families who are in need to fix their homes. Marilyn had a wonderful time and she made life long friends , even though they live very far away.  
In the meanwhile, we decided to buy a slip and slide. For a short time we had a warm summer so we enjoyed it while it had lasted. 

Thankfully a little bit in between Marilyn had some time to rest and relax. Then before we knew it my sister came to visit us with the kids. At one point we had  10 children in the house. It was fun of life and fun and the girls really enjoyed having tons of fun. 

                                                  Maggie and Nay, Nay  both age 7 

                                          Having a picnic outside on our brand new picnic table

                                    Little Banana  enjoying being a country girl (age 11months) 
Then before the kids new it they were off to Miracle Mountain Camp for another year of camp. This was their 4th year of going and they've always enjoyed going and learning new things, making new friends.  They usually would go earlier in the summer but for the first time all of the camps were full and they had to go on a different time.  It was nice because not only did the girls go but they had their cousins with them at camp this time too. 

While the girls were at camp their cousins from their dad's side came to visit for a little bit. So Maggie had some time to spend with them doing Vacation Bible School and taking a visit to the Audubon Society.

                                                      Kora ,Collin and Maggs

Say hello to Liberty the Eagle. She was rescued when she had an infected wing and has to live at the sanctuary because she cannot fly long distances anymore because of it. She is a beautiful bird. 

A very pretty butterfly that flew by us and landed on the ground. 

Quick strike a pose! 

                                          Bet you thought that turtle was real! Ha, ha.  Actually it was part of the                                           pretend fishing pond inside the Audubon Center. 
After the week was over , we went to pick the girls up from camp, and they got to show off some of what they did.  Its always nice because they have a fun family picnic for everyone and the kids who take horse camps get to show off some of their skills. 

                                           Marilyn surprised us in taking vaulting this year. It was her first time 
                                       and she wished she would have done it sooner. 

                                                Hannah's 4th year doing Horse Vaulting 

                                             Maggie  the little country girl at camp. She saved enough money to buy                                   a cowgirl hat and canteen. 

                                         One of the many things the girls enjoy doing at camp,,, Trailrides. 

Now that we are done with all the camp and activities we are now settling down and enjoying the rest of the dog days of summer. 

Hannah and Daddy cooking some hot dogs over a fire. 

                                     Marilyn and Maggie spending some time with each other

                                        Of course we can't forget the ice cream truck. They've been enjoying that all summer. Thankfully our ice cream truck guy doesn't charge you out of existence for ice cream. 


I can definitely say we've had a great summer this year.  Now that we're winding down we're also starting to prepare for school.  I am still in the midst of figuring out what we plan on using with each of the girls, yet. Usually I'm very on top of what we plan on using before the new school year starts. What we do know is we'll be using Saxon Math with the girls. Other then that I'm leaning towards piecing things together.    The one thing we are sure of is that we are done with cyberschooling  as they are going Common Core now. So back to traditional homeschooling we will stay.   
                                              So here is to another wonderful summer! 

The End of the School Year and Happy Father's Day!

This week has been a wonderful week to start our summer out. First off we have our very first official lifeguard in the Reed Family. We are so proud of M. Not only did she go and stay at her aunt's house in the city for a week without us, she passed her lifeguard test. Now she can work for our local Y for the summer and finally earn some money that she will faithfully start saving for college.  I will say even though she was gone for a week we missed her very much. I am not looking forward to the day she moves away.  I definitely don't feel ready for that, but its going to come whether I like it or not.  So , yes, I am a mother to a lifeguard.  I can't wait for that first picture too.

                                  Marilyn packed up and ready to go for lifeguard class 
While Marilyn was gone we finished up the rest of our school year. We were so glad to be done. This year we had thought going the cyber school route would make life easier for us since Maggie had to have surgery in September. Sadly, it made it far more stressful.  We felt trapped this year, like prisoners in our home because we were beholden to the computer schedules for their classes. The first child started at 8 am for classes and we would go down the chain , with the next child at 9 am , and the next at 10 am and school would not end until 3. That did not include the home work and so most days school did not end until after 5 pm or even later some days. This is how I felt about our year: 
  Mare:   was bogged down with so much work there was just no time for extra stuff and the very little extra stuff she did have, like band felt more like work to her than something to be enjoyed because she had so much home work to do for the classes.   Mare's math teacher was 100% awful as in most everything she learned in class we had to turn around and relearn somewhere else because she taught over their heads and never did any practice with the kids in the class. It was a total joke.   She barely passed the class. I was not happy because it truly was the first time she's done poorly with a math class. 
For Language arts again I was disappointed. No grammar was taught at all. None. It was read, and do a bunch of Power point assignments where some made very little sense at all. Marilyn did a very good job with them but the teacher knit picked everything so much that she lost all want to ever write again. Sigh.  Marilyn did enjoy her Chemistry class, which actually she did very well in and her History were she took a 1960's History class and World Religion that she really enjoyed. 

Katie just didn't do well over all at all period. Whether we tried self paced or online classes the curriculum just didn't make sense to her and to be honest neither to us because her grade level was phasing in Common Core. Or should I say Common Crap?  It was horrible , her math made no sense at all and we all struggled to help her.  The only teacher she liked was her social studies teacher. Her science teacher believed in learning through osmosis pretty much giving them assignments where the work wasn't taught to them in the books or through lecture. 

Hannah did well with virtual class , though I was very disappointed in how the math was being taught. She passed all of her classes but hated it. Hannah is my child that wants to learn and move on. She hated waiting for everyone to finish up on the computer. Some days I found her playing with her Nintendo 3DS or crocheting while waiting. 

Maggie did well but she absolutely hated her work. There was far to much writing for 2nd graders , and was not age appropriate at all.  To me 2nd graders should be learning how to write sentences properly. Not worrying about writing persuasive essays  and 5 page research papers at the end of the school year. The math was so horrible that I had to pull out the Saxon math to finally get her to remember her math facts and actually learn math.  Everything , even the reading , was just boring and we had no time at all to veer off and just learn more if something caught our interest. Which was extremely rare. 

We just found ourselves just wanted to get work done. There was no enjoyment in it at all for us. I know cyber schooling can work for some families. It just did not for us at all.  Not to mention doing this with four children was just very tough. I found myself shifting from helping a 9th grader, then helping the 2nd grader, and helping the 4th grader and then the 7th grader. I was constantly shifting gears, reteaching things that were taught during the day.  Just , not for us.  

                                          Our end of the year school pictures. Yay! 
With all of that said we are just so glad that its summer time. We are spending this summer on doing some lite homeschooling. Meaning remediation in subjects that were totally wasted this summer not learning from , like math , science and writing.  I guess after this, you live and you learn and move on. 

So right now I'm in the process of trying to figure out what we'll be using for this upcoming school year. I'm not 100% sure yet but we do know we'll be using Apologia for science like we always have and Saxon for math. 

So far we've started off this summer on a great start. The weather has been less than great though but its just the start of summer so I'm hoping it will improve.  We've had a lot of rain and I'm hoping my garden doesn't die on me here because of it.  
While Mare was gone we had a few things go on. First, was their end of the year Girl Scout banquet. We had a nice little get together. The group was very small this year so it went very quickly. The girls received their awards and I accepted Mare's. 

After that a few days later we celebrated Hannie's birthday. She is 11 now!  Wow, has time flown by.  My girls are growing up to be such beautiful young ladies, and may I add, crazy funny too. 

Yesterday we had a parade for our festival here where we live. Everyone but Katie was in it this year.  After being gone over a week Mare fell into step in the parade with the flag. She was so happy that they had gotten done one day early as well as I.

Fest parade 2014 

Of course the weather was very cold. I almost had to wonder if it was summer or fall. So they were pretty cold marching especially Maggie. We made sure we dressed her the warmest we could. Hannie, well we're convinced she had no nerve endings because she said she was just fine. 

Last but not least we don't want to forget to say Happy Father's Day to all those dads out there who make life crazy and fun for our children. To all those dads out there that help with homeschooling and are just all around great guys.   To all of you , thank you for all you do to help shape our children into what they will be someday. Along with all the goofiness. 

Pennsylvania dialect.. or poor grammar? You decide

Okay, so today I came across a post on Facebook on a Catholic homeschooling blog. It was of course one I had to join in.  The question of the post was .... "  Question time! Consider this an opportunity to vent. Whether you have lived in an area all your life, are new to an area or are still seething from an area you once lived, we ALL know colloquialisms in use in particular areas that drive us insane (grammatically speaking). What bothers ME the most locally is the use of the word "left" in place of the word "let" as in, "She left it go." What is yours? Go!!"

Of course I had to jump in on that because , face it, people from Pennsylvania have a talk all of their own.  No where else can you go and hear the words yins, yinz, youns and you'uns. No where, because  from Pittsburgh up to the Northwest we speak Pittsburghese, or otherwise known as " Steeler Talk".   Though the dialect isn't as strong here as it is in Pittsburgh .It has somehow managed   to travel up our way.

  The Urban Dictionary defines Pittsburgese as :

The Pittsburgh English dialect, or "Pittsburghese," derives from influences from the Scotch-Irish, German, Central European and Eastern European immigrants. The dialect is somewhat similar in tone to other nearby regional dialects (ie, Philadelphia, Baltimore), but is noted for its somewhat staccato rhythms (a result of the Eastern European influence). The lexicon itself contains notable cognates borrowing from Croatian and other Slavic and European languages. Examples include babushka, pierogi, and halushky.

Emblematic of Pittsburghese is "yinz" as the plural of "you", with "yunz" as a variant. Locals who speak the Pittsburgh dialect are often referred to as "yinzers".

Speakers of the dialect also often compress the pronunciation of words and phrases. For example, "up there" becomes "up er." Speakers also often end a sentence with "and that", pronounced as, "n'at." For example, a local "yinzer" might say, "We went dahntahn to go get some beer n'at."

 Though we are not total yinzers we do use many of the words ,and little did we realize until today how many we do use in our daily language. Words that no one else really uses or very few ever do if you move outside of Pennsylvania. 

So let me know hit you in the head with some ( not all mind you) of the Pittsburghese we speak here.    I know my daughters got a kick out of hearing what I wrote (before I typed it on the blog here) and realized that we actually talk this way.  Here goes :

 We drink pop (soda). I didn't realize that was different until we were in Cincinnati , Ohio.  When I asked my daughter if she wanted some pop , someone said " I love it when I hear that."
  My girls own doll babies ( baby dolls ) that they love to walk around with in their buggies ( baby carriages) , we have dunky eggs( eggs over easy) in the morning , We love kelbassi , ( you'd better love kelbassa if your Polish like we are) with pierogi ( a large noodle stuffed with potato filling)  , and dippy( anything you can dip into) sauce to go along with it . Hoagies ( submarine subs) are a must in the summer time when its so muggy outside. Also nothing better than city chicken ( pork on a skewer and fried) when your funds are low . If you go on picnics don't forget the chipped chopped ham ( thin slices of ham). If its cold outside then don't forget to wear your babushka ( head scarf). If you decide to travel to the 'Burgh' ( Pittsburgh) you may encounter yous, yins, yinz , youns , you'uns ( which really can mean a whole lot of things) . When you get back from your trip and get home you may want to wash your car so you need to turn on the spicket ( outside faucet to the hose) and then go inside and yinz better redd up ( clean up) the room. If you send your child out to school , you are sending them to the el-e-men-tar-y  ( elementary)school. Which that is more of a dialect in our area rather than Pittsburgese.  We also worsh (wash) our clothes, and hopefully you get along with your neighbor because if he's not so nice he just maybe a jagg off.


 We are very guilty of using, whenever to much in our sentences 

 My sister, whenever she gets here, will come over soon.

And we use, anymore, way more than whenever. 
 It seems like I don't understand her anymore.
"I don't get my neighbor, to much , anymore.

 We're also guilty of taking the the g's off of INGs in our area. 
Ex: Talkin, Jumpin, Walkin .

 We have a tendency to forget to add the words such as , to be, and just use :  need , want and like ,
 The car needs washed,
The cat wants petted, babies liked cuddled" , yeah and we're also guilty of " the room needs vacuumed.

We also have different intonations to vowel sounds too. Its no wonder we all learn to read and speak up here. Of course you might not hear some of the other words used in Pittsburgese here like jimmies , gumband, jumbo and the other ( check this website out for more: http://pittsburghspeech.pitt.edu/PittsburghSpeech_PgheseOverview.html) So as you can see. After typing this all out , honestly we Pennsylvanians have a funny way of talking. 

If you want to know what word drives me totally nuts that people say? Ax, like in for instance " Can I ax (ask) you something?"   Drives me batty.. 
So what are some words that drive you batty or are part of your everyday speaking in your area?

Our first really nice day

Just recently I had been reading a book about Geometry. Okay before you say to yourself what does the title have to do with Geometry , well let me tell you. 
I had been researching some books to help us with math. Oh math , let me tell you the ways. As much as I've tried to understand higher math.My old brain just refuses to comprehend. Why ? I  will never understand because I kind of actually like math. Its just that adding letters and numbers seems to send my brain into a huge tizzy for some reason.  I'm sure its easier than what I make it, but still I struggle.  Which is tough having an older child doing Algebra this year. 

                                        Admit it, who doesn't feel like this about higher math?

Okay, so I'm straying a bit from the point. Though it still ties in with the title of this blog post.  So I'm researching a few books that came highly recommended to me for girls, that help with math. These books were written by Danica McKellar. Of course the cover and the titles are a bit risque like Kiss My Math or Math Doesn't Suck , but the one thing I have to remember is its geared towards teenagers and we were all once there looking at our Teen Beat Magazines when we were a teenager. Granted the covers look like something off of a Seventeen magazine the information seems to look very good in the books. I was able to read a small sample on Amazon to get the general idea that Ms. McKellar wants girls to love math just as much as she does. 

                       Of course Math wouldn't suck if you can find 20 ways to beat stress in the book

So as I checked out the samples I also checked out her book for Geometry. The first chapter talked about logic and reason.

One of the things the chapter  discussed was  conditional statements.   So what is a conditional statement?  That would be in a nutshell cause and effect.  So if "A" then "B",or how about A implies B? 
So for example  :    If it is 83 degrees outside then homeschooling outside is a total must. 

                                 See how that conditional statement works?  Cause and effect
And that is how our day went today. It was the first beautiful day we've had since, well, I don't know when.  Here were we live ,summer is extremely short lived. So I decided to move everything outside today.  I couldn't justify staying indoors when it was so beautiful outside. 

After we were done with school work I went inside to get things ready for dinner and when I came outside to check on the kids we managed to gain two more.  Our neighbor has been baby sitting and they saw there were kids out here and like always , we seem to attract them. 

            

The kids seemed to make up their own game. Not sure what it was called.  

Of course with the heat there is consequences ,well at least for Maggie. Since she is on medication for her bladder she tends to overheat very easily. So we had to dig the cooling vest out and put it on her because she was starting to look red in the face. It helped to cool her down. 

                                                    Yes, her face really was that red.

 Though we usually go from 0 to 60 with the weather here ( one day its freezing and the next day its 80 degrees). We always, always look forward to this time of the year. Bring it on summer! 

 

Spiral vs. Mastery , what is it?

The end of the school year is slowly creeping on us. I will admit that I can't believe its almost May.  May is always a nice time of the year with the weather starting to get warm and the sun shining bright. Living where we do we don't usually get much sunlight or warmth, and what we do get is very short lived. So we have to enjoy it all while it lasts. 

This time also signals another time. Getting ready for the next school year time. Right about now most homeschoolers are getting their nice shiny catalogs in their mail boxes.  I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. The catalogs with happy moms and children on the front of the covers yearning to learn. 

 If your like me you spend countless hours pouring over them.  Ooohing and Awwwing over the next new and latest thing. All the super cool books(yes, I'm a book nerd) and cool science stuff.  Trying to decide if your going to stick with the same thing or change to something else.   The one thing that always leaves me pondering, next to what in the world can I get for my children who hate to write, is what math program to get.  

I'm ashamed that we've tried out far to many. Calvert, K12 , Saxon, Christian Light to name a few. Honestly I think we've tried almost all of them at some point.  All in the name of trying something new or trying to find what works for each one.  Sometimes I've had to combine math programs to get the desired effect.  The one question I also notice the most on homeschool boards  this time of the year is : What is the difference between spiral and mastery math?   What is the answer to this time old question I see year after year being asked by parents? 

So after eleven years of homeschooling I think I'm pretty confident in being able to explain what the difference between the two programs are.  Hopefully this will help you decide on what style is right for your family. 

Mastery Math Program  

Singapore Math -mastery math program 

What is a mastery math program?  Mastery math programs sway on the side of discovery. They play with numbers and show children that there is more than one way to solve a math problem.  They tend to focus on one topic or a set of topics for a length of time before moving onto the next .  Meaning each chapter will focus on a different topic.

  Some math programs break them up into chapters or into small work texts.

Lifepac from Alpha Omega divided chapters into worktexts 

One particular math program ( Math U See)  for example focuses on one topic for the entire year. 

If your using Math U See level Alpha will focus only on single digit adding and subtracting

 With mastery math programs some cumulative review can be included with the  program and sometimes not. 

 

Miquon is discovery based and includes no review or math drill 

 Thought its encouraged math drill is not generally focused on with mastery math programs. Its usually something extra for the parent to include and to remember to do.  From my years of experience I have found that mastery math programs work great with children who need to focus on one full concept at a time. They work well with children who love to play with numbers and generally are good with math. 

Here is a general list of Mastery Math programs that are available today. Of course this list is not limited to , but are the most popular ones used by homeschoolers today. Also remember since the advent of Common Core, if you are against using a curriculum that follows these standards to do your homework and check and make sure that its not following Common Core Standards.  Also these are not listed in any specific order.  

Mastery Math 

Singapore Math or Math in Focus 
Calvert  
K12 
Math U See 
Miqon 
Modern Curriculum Press  
Seton Math (grades K-4) 
Math Mammoth 
Touch Math 
Life of Fred 
Right Start Math 
Math on the Level 
Developmental Math
Khan Academy 
Key to Series.... 
Making Math Meaningful 
Time 4 Learning 
Ace School of Tomorrow 
Alpha Omega Curriculum (Lifepac and Switched on Schoolhouse)
Bob Jones Math 
and Rod and Staff math 

Spiral Math Programs 

                                                    Saxon Math program for K-12th grades
What is a spiral math program? This is a good question actually, because within some spiral math programs , some maybe incremental in nature , and some may show the topic but continuously bring the subject back for review so that the concepts are mastered.  

Spiral programs consist of daily review. Most will start with the lesson and end with math drill to practice math facts so they are not forgotten and mastered.

Horizons Math program by Alpha Omega Curriculum 

 Also most spiral programs will have the drill included with the package, very few require you to purchase a separate drill sheet and only one does not include drill which would be Teaching Textbooks. 
Some are divided into worktexts  that continually review past concepts and have drill included. 
                                                         

Spiral/Incremental Math Programs 

Saxon Math ( spiral and incremental) 

Christian Light Education 

Teaching Textbooks 

MEP 

Abeka 

Horizons 
*This list is not limited to all the possible math programs out there, but consists of the most widely used programs with homeschoolers.  Also with the advent of Common Core be sure to thoroughly check the math programs  that they are not aligned should you chose to not want to use Common Core



Now the fifty million dollar question after getting this far is:  Which one is best for my child(ren)?  Well, it depends. It depends on how your child learns best. It depends on what your child's goals are , it depends on just works best in your home.  Some math curriculum come from secular publishers, some from Catholic , some from Protestant, and so forth.  Some families have children that learn rather quickly and like to play with numbers. Some families have children that struggle with math, need a lot of practice , or have learning disabilities.  All these things need to be taken into account in deciding which is best to choose. Is anyone curriculum better than the other? No.  Which one is better? The answer to that is the  one that truly works for your child is  the best.  

One thing I want to leave you with is , there are a lot of homeschoolers who have a wide range of beliefs of what they believe is truly 'THE BEST". Use what YOU think is the best, and what is working for your child. Don't let others talk you out of it because they are using what is the latest 'craze' at the time. Don't talk yourself out of using what is best all in the sake of using what other people think is best. 
 It all boils down to helping your child understand math ,and at least trying to help  them have some confidence in learning math and using what truly works best for them. 

Crocheting for the Fun of it

Sometimes some hobbies come to us later in life. I can definitely say without a doubt that the crochet bug has hit me hard. I remember as a young girl learning from my grandmother and mother how to make simple single chains and single crochets. It never really had extended beyond that because for one reason or another I think my mother thought we'd learn it all through osmosis.

Sadly, I never got the chance to really learn what I wished I could have from my mother. She was so talented, so crafty. She could decorate homes, create some of the most beautiful crafts, make wedding cakes, sew , crochet. You name it my mother could do it. Between my mother and grandmother I never wore a store bought dress when I was a baby. I never wore a store bought Halloween costume, ever, and my prom dress was made by my grandmother.  My grandmother made all her children's brides dresses  ( she had 7 children ) and brides maids dresses.  So as you can see I had the crafty gene all along. It was just hidden for quite some time though it came out from time to time in our homeschool work.

 It wasn't until last year when another mom ,from one of the support groups I'm on through Facebook, that I caught the crochet bug. I marveled at this lady's  creations and I knew I wanted to do that too. I had a few H hooks and a few balls of yarn around the house that I had used with Girl Scouts and crafts before hand. So I thought, I'll go on Youtube ( thank you Youtube) and see if I couldn't find how to crochet videos on it. To my surprise I sure did. Lots and lots of them. From there I taught myself so much more and I created my first hat.  It wasn't fancy. It wasn't cute. It was just a hat and it was pink.

Not half bad. Right? Especially from someone who really never crocheted anything like that. Only just single crochet scarves.  So my girls went around wearing it like it was the best gift I ever gave them.
After I caught the bug  I continued on. Once I mastered that and a few other little hats,  the next challenge was my Minion Hat.
It has since become my greatest seller ... along with the owl hat . Since last year I've made countless number of hats for children , adults and even American Girl Dolls. 

                                                                         Minion Hat

                                                      American Girl Doll Minion Hat

                                                         

          I even challenged myself by making a sweater, bootie and hat set too for a family member



My next challenge has become making head coverings. There are many little girls that love to wear them on spring days at least around here. We see them often with the Amish girls so its not a foreign concept.  We know there are Catholics that wear head coverings to church ,though our parish does not take part in wearing veils.I find I enjoy the challenge of being able to crochet and create them.  This is my first head covering for little girls to wear. My youngest loves wearing it , even to go outside and play in.

 These were made from a pattern that I adapted a little to fit my daughter's head. The original pattern was to fit a smaller child.  I do plan on making them in white and black and maybe add some roses at the top. I know these are different, but I love all things different and that's what makes them Simply Cute. That is what we decided to call our little crochet business. Simply Cute- by Tracy

The crochet bug has hit hard my friends. Even my daughters have taken up to crocheting and making some of their own little creations too. Sometimes I catch them crocheting when they are actually supposed to be doing school work. Sometimes they put it down and don't touch it for weeks and sometimes I find balls of yarn with half started chains that I know weren't my own doing. 
                                               

Now if I could just mix crocheting with exercising. There has to be a way to do it, there really has got to be. Its so easy to find yourself just sitting, and sitting and sitting while you crochet.  So if anyone out there has any ideas on how to keep from being so sedentary with the hobby, feel free to share.