Two weeks in

Two full weeks into our school year and we already have a few hits and misses.

Hits
Premlata and the Festival of Lights by Rumer Godden (Star)
The Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan (Angel)
- both girls have been begging for me to read more of these
Saint Patrick's Summer by Marigold Hunt (Star)
- catechism the enjoyable way
Maths 2XL CD-Rom (Angel
- two weeks without so much as a squeak of complaint from Angel. She likes using the computer. She likes the teacher's Australian accent. She understands the lessons. She does the worksheets happily. Can this possibly last? I wondered if this was just because the first few lessons were simple, but she whizzed through an exercise on powers of ten, a topic new to her - and new mathematical topics are usually a recipe for disaster.

Misses
Art - I like the Artistic Pursuits books, the girls like the Artistic Pursuits books, but somehow we just never get round to them. Either we run out of steam or end up doing something else.
Mother Teresa by Elaine Murray Stone (Angel) - nothing specific wrong with it, but it just hasn't captured our imagination. We are ploughing on, but without much enthusiasm.

Jury's out
Adventure of the Amethyst by Cecily Hallack (Angel) - I love this, but I knew the style would be a stretch for Angel. After a rocky start she's hanging in there, so I have hopes it will take off.
Story of the World vol.2 by Susan Wise Bauer (Star) - when I read to her she just wasn't interested enough to focus, so I switched to having her read it herself. She is only reading a small chunk at a time, but is narrating what she reads quite happily, so again, I have hopes!

The Bookworm's First Law of Homeschooling

The Bookworm's First Law of Homeschooling: all things tend towards disorder and chaos.

Lest you labour under a misapprehension that I have model children who sit at my feet eager for the pearls of knowledge that drop from my lips (or from the pages of the books I read), who have perfected the habit of attention and who apply themselves enthusiastically to their studies, while I flow effortlessly through the day, calmly and softly directing their education while maintainly an orderly household (I wish!) ...

This morning started badly. Little Cherub woke just after 6am, early enough for her to go back to sleep, but too late for me to do the same. It was also one of those days when I would have been tired if I had woken at 8, yet alone at 6. By 9am we had all eaten breakfast (sugary cereal because I didn't have the energy to cook eggs), and were all dressed except Angel. Somehow morning prayers got forgotten. Bad start. I decided to begin by reading to Star while she did her hair, giving Angel time to dress. Good plan, except Star insisted she had to do her hair in the bathroom as she needed water to get it tied back tidily. Could I please read in the bathroom? Not such a good plan, especially as Little Cherub was getting hungry. I decided to leave Star for the time being and read to Angel despite her being still in her pyjamas. We sat on my bed so I could nurse the Cherub and she could use the mirror to do her hair. We read for some time, so after finishing her hair she decided to paint my toenails. (Tevye, for some reason I can't understand, thinks painting toenails while reading schoolbooks is bizarre. I don't get this. It leaves less mess than painting anything else.) Star finished her hair and I asked her to go and read to herself for twenty minutes. She pleaded to be allowed to draw for a while - I agreed on condition she promise to read straight afterwards. She did. In the bathroom. When I had finished reading to Angel and sent her off to get dressed it was Star's turn. Could she please get something to do while I read? Yes, if she could get it by the time I counted to twenty (Star is the most distractible child imaginable). By the time I got to fifteen she was dragging a large box of soft toys into my bedroom. I just managed to pre-empt her emptying the entire box over the floor.

When we finished reading I put the now-sleeping Cherub in her bed. She immediately woke up. I gave her to Star to look after while I went downstairs to load the crockpot. A few minutes later Star appeared downstairs, dragging the box of soft toys. Where was Cherub? With Angel, who was teaching her to play the keyboard. With her feet. I finished making dinner. By this time I was beginning to feel pressed for time as I had arranged to go to my mother's for another bout of decluttering. Being short of time makes me stressed. I asked Angel to do a notebook page on the Christmas Truce in World War I. Angel groaned. Could she please do a page on St.Francis instead? I weighed up the likelihood of World War I turning into a battleground (ouch!) and decided St.Francis sounded a reasonable option. I reviewed addition with carrying with Star and gave her a few sums to do. I then gave Angel brief instructions for a very simple French exercise. Angel decided it was much too hard (!) and looked mutinous. Uncooperative children make me stressed. I turned round just in time to see Star tip the entire box of soft toys over the floor. Large, unnecessary messes make me stressed. I yelled at Star. I snapped at Angel. Star returned the toys to the box at record speed. Angel slunk off to the computer to work on St.Francis, still clutching Little Cherub. I retired upstairs to get ready to leave. Little Cherub suddenly decided she was being starved and complained loudly. I fed Cherub and shot out of the door clutching baby in one hand, bag in the other, leaving Tevye in charge for the afternoon. This meant he got the very dubious pleasure of ensuring that the French got done.

Not one of our better mornings!

Brownie Star

Star was enrolled tonight as a Brownie Guide (the equivalent of Girl Scouts for seven to ten year olds). She recited the Brownie Law and Promise, was given her Brownie pin and welcomed to the Pack. Now she is officially a Brownie she can start working for badges. She is planning to begin with Cook and Dancer.

Brownie Guide Law

A Brownie Guide thinks of others before herself and does a Good Turn every day.

Brownie Guide Promise
I promise that I will do my best:
To love my God,
To serve the Queen and my country,
To help other people
and
To keep the Brownie Guide Law.

Little Cherub made a friend

While we waited at the dance school during Star's ballet lesson yesterday Little Cherub enjoyed herself with another dancer's small sister. It was the first time Little Cherub had met another baby old enough to be both interested and interesting. They sat together on a sofa (with a little help from me on the Cherub's part!) while C poked experimentally at Little Cherub, and Little Cherub stared at C and drooled in excitement. Very cute, they looked! Also something of a contrast. C, aged almost 12 months, is already in age 2-3 year clothes; my petite Little Cherub, aged 4 months, is still wearing a mix of newborn and 0-3 month outfits.

Name dropping postscript: C has been keeping interesting company. Last weekend she went with her family for afternoon tea at a top London hotel ... where much to their surprise they met Bill Clinton. Yes ... that Bill Clinton! Small world, isn't it? He not only signed a birthday card, but stopped to chat and to give C a cuddle. He went up in my estimation, not because of the cuddle per se - politicians can be expected to have practice in baby-cuddling - but because he gracefully ignored the fact that she had been eating jam and was distinctly sticky!

The Angels of Mons

Today's Feast of the Guardian Angels was marked with a neat touch of serendipity when we came across two angelic stories in our history reading. Angel (oops! a rather confusing pseudonym for this post!) is learning about World War I, and we read a story in Usborne True Stories: World War I that was new to me - the legend of the Angels of Mons. Briefly, the story goes as follows. During the early stages of the war the British Expeditionary Force was being heavily pressed by the German Army at the Belgian town of Mons, when one of the soldiers appealed to St.George. An army of angelic bowmen appeared and fired against the Germans, leading the British forces to victory. The tale spread rapidly, boosting British morale by proving that God was, indisputably, on the side of the allies. For many years after the war the story was believed to be true. Sadly (I love a good miracle!) there are no contemporary eyewitness accounts of any supernatural occurances at Mons, and it seems there is no basis for believing the tale is anything more than legend. The most likely explanation seems to be that a fictional story was published in a British newspaper. It spread through reprints and word of mouth, and grew in the telling. Within a short space of time the fictional "Bowmen" of the story had mutated and the Angels of Mons were widely accepted as fact. You can find more detail here.

To add an extra layer of coincidence, angels also appeared in Star's history reading. She read about St Augustine of Canterbury and the blond-haired slave boys in a Roman market who were "not Angles, but angels". I must confess this part of the story sounds suspiciously more like poetic license than a genuine quick-witted play on words by Pope Gregory, so should probably be put into the same legendary category as the Angels of Mons. St Augustine, of course, was most definitely not legendary!

Noticeboard

I loved the idea of the fridgeschooling that has been taken up by various homeschoolers whose blogs I frequent, but our English-style fridge just isn't big enough - particularly given that it already displays our calendar, menu plan for the week, shopping list and assorted photos - and isn't located conveniently for family viewing. Never one to be daunted by practicalities in the face of a great plan (how I love plans!) I made a noticeboard instead. I used thick artist's mounting board in a dark blue, and added card "frames" in lighter colours. Each week I am changing the contents of the frames by sticking new printouts on with bluetack. I am using the board to display:

• the main feast days for the week
• a quotation
• a Bible verse
  
• catechism questions and answers or other items for our Fruits of the Spirit study (often but not always the Bible verse and quotation will tie in with this.)
• a work of art
• a multiplication table
• a prayer
• two British Sign Language signs
• anything else that takes my fancy

This is how our noticeboard looked last week.

Next week it will be displaying:

• Feast Days - Guardian Angels, St.Francis, Our Lady of the Rosary
• A quote by St Josemaria Escriva on guardian angels
• Matthew 18 v.10 ("See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my father in heaven.")
• The Ten Commandments (we are focusing on love for God, so will use the first four commandments for copywork)
• List of the nine choirs of angels
  
• Guardian Angel prayer
• Five times table
• St.Francis and the Birds by Sir Stanley Spencer (painting)
• Signs for "bath" and "sleep"

I haven't yet found a permanent home for the noticeboard. So far it is being propped up against a table or the sofa and put away under a shelf in the evening. Not ideal ... and not practical once Little Cherub gets mobile!

Days of celebration

One of the things I love about Catholicism is the way the the liturgical year infuses the rhythm of everyday life. Faith at Dumb Ox Academy has written an inspiring post detailing the ways in which her family celebrates both Catholic and Jewish festivals. This has been on my mind lately as this school year I have decided I want to add some new family traditions. So far I have failed utterly. I hoped to do something special for the Feast of the Archangels yesterday (September 29th), but it didn't happen. I did get as far as reading the section on Michaelmas in A Book of Feasts and Seasons by Joanna Bogle, and tried to find Michaelmas daisies at the supermarket, but they had none. Roast goose was way beyond my budget and I forgot to get blackberries for a blackberry pie or crumble. (Why blackberries? Tradition has it that blackberries cannot be picked after the feast of St Michael as on that day the devil spits on them.)

Still, all is not lost! Monday is the Feast of Guardian Angels, another that I hope to celebrate for the first time. I spotted angel cake in our local convenience store and I have some angel Christmas tree ornaments that would make nice table decorations. For me the key to successfully marking the liturgical year is keeping things simple - a cake and digging out a few ornaments I can manage. Monday is also Yom Kippur, and in the evening we will celebrate the end of Tevye's twenty five hour fast with a special meal. Without that I would have time to make my own angel cake, but I'm being realistic and opting for ready made this year.

Love that Mad Banana!

Little Cherub has a new toy with which she is very taken. What I want to know is this: what kind of mind comes up with the idea that a large soft banana would make a great baby toy? A banana of all things? But darn it, they were right! Just add in crinkly-crackly multi-coloured peel, mirrored feet, teethers for hands, plastic rings on its legs, and you have baby bliss. Little Cherub loves her Mad Banana, as it has become known.

Homeschooling hiccups

Today didn't run quite as smoothly as yesterday.

Hiccup 1: I went to the library to collect Angel's World War I book, ordered on interlibrary loan. It had been returned to its own library as unclaimed. (We were away, remember.) Then the computer wouldn't let me re-reserve it as it claimed I already had it reserved. (Well yes, I did, you silly machine, but I still haven't got the book!)

Hiccup 2: Star had a meltdown when instructed to pay attention to the story of St.Augustine. I had a meltdown over Star's inattention to the story of St.Augustine. Little Cherub nearly had a meltdown, but mercifully went back to sleep.

Hiccup 3: Star tackled her Slime Laboratory science kit for the first time. Angel played with Little Cherub while I supervised Star. We made it as far as "take lid off poly-vinyl alcohol bottle and remove inner stopper". At that point I was briefly distracted. I turned round to find Star dripping, slimily (if that isn't a word, then it should be), with poly-vinyl alcohol ... hair, nose, clothes, eyelashes, the lot. The kitchen ceiling was also dripping. The kitchen floor was dripped upon. Apparently she squeezed the bottle hard while removing the stopper. Mercifully the goo was non-toxic and non-irritant. It was, however, sticky. Very sticky. Fortunately Tevye was working at home so we were able to tackle the disaster jointly - one person to clean up Star, one person to clean up the kitchen. We decided it might be better to leave the slime making attempt for another day. If I am ever brave enough!

First day back

After dipping a toe in the water before our holiday, today was our first serious attempt at a full day of our new schedule. The acid test of whether that schedule is realistic. The verdict? Yes. I think so. Today was a bit of a scramble, but it should get easier once we are fully immersed in the new routine. For those of you who enjoy day-in-a-homeschooling-life accounts, this is how our day went ...

We started late, at 9.30, thanks to a late night yesterday after visiting Tevye's sister and her family. We said morning prayers and read a story from the Golden Bible - we are plugging on through the Old Testament, and started back in with Joshua. We mused on why some Old Testament names are still popular (Joshua) and others are not (Rahab, Zipporah). We recited the 5 times table from our noticeboard (our version of fridgeschooling), but I forgot sign language, which we are starting to learn for Little Cherub's benefit (baby sign sounds a great idea to me). Star did a page in her English book, conveniently forgetting she was supposed to write it in her notebook and writing in the text instead. In ink. I sent her off to read on her own for twenty minutes while I read to Angel from Mother Teresa and Homeless Bird, with interruptions to deal with the gas engineer who came to service the boiler and heating system. (Mercifully our ancient boiler was given a clean bill of health, for the time being at least.) Little Cherub napped. Star finished her reading and asked if she could do some music practice. I agreed and she took her baritone upstairs. Angel opted to play her trumpet before tackling English. Star then decided she was lonely and brought her instrument downstairs. Both girls played different pieces in the same room. Simultaneously. By this time Little Cherub was, unsurprisingly, no longer asleep. After the musical interlude Angel did the next section of her English book - comprehension questions on a passage on childhood obesity taken from a government website. Not that easy to follow for Angel, whose reading comprehension is erratic, and I was pleased she did it independently and without fuss. Meanwhile I read to Star from St.Patrick's Summer. Little Cherub nursed and batted at toys. By this time it was 11.15.

We took a short snack break, then started back in with maths for Star and history for Angel, who was not impressed with the introductory section of Usborne's World War I: True Stories. I told her I thought the stories would be better. "Humph. Why can't we read them then?" I meant to start reading Witness to History: World War I with her, but forgot to pick it up at the library. Little Cherub fell asleep again, and Angel moved on to the computer to work on a page about school lunch boxes for her current affairs notebook (government recommendations on what parents should and should not put in children's lunch boxes have been in the news here this week) and to finish a maths exercise. Meanwhile I read to Star from Story of the World. She complained she was tired so we went upstairs and lay on my bed to read books on India. Her concentration was shot, though looking at a world map revived interest for a while. She then drew a Celtic-style pattern while I read to her from Premlata and the Festival of Lights by Rumer Godden. Phew! Everything planned for the morning completed and it was only 1.15. By the time we got as far as lunch it was 1.40. Oops!

Back to work again soon after two. Angel did her independent reading while Star got into a sulk over Latin - it was simple enough, and we both knew she had no real problem with it, but she went into full procrastination mode over her very short exercise. Half way through she wanted to draw a pig and was most aggrieved that I insisted she finished the Latin first. I decided to turn a blind eye to her urge to write in overlarge capitals. (I have learned to pick my battles. In this case pigs - yes, dodgy but legible writing - no.). Little Cherub grizzled in sympathy, and then fell asleep again. Finally we looked at a painting in Artistic Pursuits and Star made a collage of an outdoor scene. Angel and I listened to a simple conversation in French (along the lines of "Hello, what is your name?", "My name is M.Duclerc", "What is his name?" "His name is Nicolas" ... and so on ad nauseam). We translated it, read it aloud in French, and listened again. We skipped her chemistry experiments as I had forgotten, yet again, to buy fuel for the spirit burner in her chemistry set.

Despite our slow start, we finished in time to have something to eat before taking Star to her ballet class. More maternal incompetence there - we had run out of nets for Star's hair, and I had to rush back to sew elastic onto Angel's new ballet shoes (one of my pet hates is sewing ballet shoe elastics and ribbons, and I have a bad habit of leaving it to the last minute). Monday's schedule is a full one, and I'm pleased we managed to get through it on our first full day back without feeling too frazzled, despite a late start. If I can get a good morning routine going (including bed making!) and start our days promptly, then I'm hopeful this will be a good year - busy and productive, but not frantic and stressful.

Good intentions

This morning I found this (note particularly the second line) ...


And this afternoon, Star's bedroom looked like this ...


I think we need to pay more than a little attention to morning routines. At least she has good intentions!

Blog of the Week

After holidaying in Weymouth, which will be hosting the sailing events for the 2012 Olympics, my blog of the week just has to be the S/V Mari Hal-O-Jen. Visit this family who have followed the Siren's call to live and homeschool on a boat, and vicariously enjoy life with a nautical flavour. I confess I have never, ever been on a sailing boat - rowing boats, canoes, punts, narrow boats, ferries, assorted motor boats and cruisers yes, but sails no - and I'm fascinated by this glimpse into a whole new world.

Love that baby!

No, not Little Cherub - well yes, I do, of course ... madly... but she isn't the topic of this post. We just couldn't resist this baby orang utan at Monkey World. Isn't she a cutie?




She was just tall enough to peer out of the enclosure with her mum











Then she found a blanket












Hmm! What to do with it?









Now you see me ...











... now you don't!

Problem solving

Today's exercise in problem solving: how do you fit three eleven year olds, one eight year old, one baby, a trumpet, a baritone horn, a saxaphone, a guitar, a cello and a pushchair into a small seven-seater car. Yes, it can be done. Just. And I thought sharing lifts was meant to make things easier!

We're home

... after a lovely break. Two weeks of enjoying sea air, beautiful countryside, fun trips, family time, daily swimming (in a warm pool with sauna and steam room for the adults) and lots of ice cream.

Now we are hitting the ground running. Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) started yesterday evening, Angel and Star had music school and dance classes today, and we will be getting back to schoolwork on Monday.

Gone away!

Back in two weeks ...




Weymouth Harbour








Monkey World






Chesil Beach and the Fleet











Lulworth Cove









Lulworth Castle

Holiday reading

A glimpse into my suitcase …

The Seashell on the Mountaintop by Alan Cutler
"A story of science, sainthood and the humble genius who discovered a new history of the earth". I ordered this from the library after following a link from the Unity of Truth blog. I'm looking forward to finding out more about Blessed Nicholas Steno, seventeenth century Catholic bishop and geologist.

Eden by Tim Smit
The story of the Eden Project, pioneering “biomes” - giant conservatories replicating entire ecological environments - built in a disused Cornish china clay pit. An achievement that has become one of England’s biggest tourist attractions.

The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith
I enjoyed the first couple of books in his No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series, but found that by the third it was all getting rather predictable. This one ia the first of another series about a lady philosopher and sleuth set in Edinburgh, so should be a slightly more novel novel (ouch!).

The Other Side of the Dale by Gervase Phinn
“The James Herriot of schools”. A gentle biographical account of the author’s time as a school inspector in the Yorkshire Dales I've been meaning to read for a while.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
This was lent to me a while ago and has been sitting on the shelf unread. A murder mystery told in the first person by the hero, a teenager with Asperger’s Syndrome.

Victory by Susan Cooper
Spotted on the shelf in the library while waiting for Angel and Star to choose books. Children’s historical fiction about Admiral Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar, one of the iconic moments of British history, by the author of The Dark is Rising sequence (which I have never read, but have heard good things about). The plot is based round a time-shift, a device that can be hard to pull off. I wonder how well she has managed it?

Natural Structure by Edward and Nancy Walsh
"A Montessori Approach to Classical Education at Home." I was intrigued by Montessori education when Angel was small, but never pursued it further than making a quarter of set of sandpaper letters. I'm always so impressed by the sheer neatness of Montessori learning environments. As someone who is not naturally tidy, I tend to look at them enviously. Maybe this book will inspire me.

I'm hoping for plenty of quiet reading-and-nursing time over the next two weeks. Not that I will get through all the books ... but I can try!

A perfect moment

Summer has been having a final fling this last few days and yesterday was a perfect late summer day. We were able to do some of our schoolwork outside in the garden (a good location for Star to fly around on an imaginary flying carpet wearing a bicycle helmet while I read Story of the World to her ... but I digress). After lunch I took the laptop out to the swing seat and read blogs while Little Cherub sat cooing at Star's bright pink and purple petunias (Star has managed to keep two tubs of flowers alive through the entire summer. As someone who can kill any plant in short order through lack of water this impresses me hugely ...oops! another digression!). After a while I realised what a perfect day it was, switched of the laptop and just sat and enjoyed the moment. Blue sky, green trees with just a hint of autumn yellow, silence broken only by the slight hum of cars, the cooing of a wood pigeon and at one point rather rudely by a very loud propellor plane (where did that come from?). Little Cherub sat awake and happy on my lap, and I drank it all in and thanked God for my many blessings.

Disclaimer: I'd like to say that while I was enjoying my little bit of peaceful perfection outside Angel and Star were enjoying their free time with a good book, productive craft work or some other suitably CM-ish activity. They weren't. They were watching a twaddly DVD.

First day

Our first school day went very well considering neither Angel nor Star were asleep when Tevye and I went to bed at 11pm last night - they went to bed at a respectable time, but both had one of those nights where they couldn't get to sleep (Star because she was excited about our upcoming holiday, Angel because she was hyped up after her first dance classes of the term). For once I had planned just the right amount of work, though tired children were not part of the plan!

We started the day with Mass and a trip to the library for books, drinks and biscuits. We were home soon after eleven and started work. We looked at our "fridge board" and read through the Bible verse and catechism questions on the fruits of the Spirit. Angel copied the verse and the first catechism question while I read the story of St.Nicholas to Star from Beggars, Beasts and Easter Fire. Star, in overtired mode, had the concentration of a gnat, but we made it to the end with at least something percolating into her brain. She then started writing about St.Nicholas while Angel played an online geography game and then looked at her Maths 2XL CD-Rom with me. She was rather taken with the teacher's Australian accent and pronounced it much better than the maths she had done before. How long will this positive mood last, I wonder?

After lunch and a break Star went upstairs to read while Angel set up a French notebook and looked through her new French book with me. With Star still reading we skimmed through the first Unit of Angel's Artistic Pursuits book. She then drew a picture of a girl using a photgraph on a book cover as a visual reference (see! we learnt a technical term!) while Star set up her Latin notebook and finished her page on St.Nicholas. All boxes ticked. (I do love my check lists!) Nothing too onerous, but it felt as though we had achieved something and switched into school mode. Little Cherub nursed, slept in her sling, spat milk over her sling, batted happily at her baby gym, and flipped herself from front to back. We finished in plenty of time to have a snack before taking Angel to her dance school to help with the "baby ballet" class.

Tomorrow ...

... we start our school year. We will be throwing ourself into learning mode for all of four days, before heading off on Saturday for two weeks holiday in sunny Dorset. (Sunny? There's nothing like optimism. I would settle for any weather that involved more dry than wet!) As the local schools start back tomorrow I decided I would start at the same time and use these four days as a light, introductory week ... and a trial run at fitting school days round Little Cherub. Then when we get home we will be ready to throw ourselves into work full tilt. I'm feeling pleased with myself as I have managed to get our school books and materials nicely organised, and have set up a "fridge board" - my version of fridge schooling, as our fridge isn't in a good place - and "memory boards". Watch this space for photos and an explanation!

Saint Cuthbert

Tomorrow (September 4th) is the feast of one of the great saints of northern England, St. Cuthbert. Why not take a little time out of your day to meet this Anglo-Saxon saint?




Some Facts
Born 634
664 Prior of Melrose Abbey (Benedictine)
685 Bishop of Lindisfarne
Died 687
Patronage: sailors, shepherds, England

Reading
Saint Cuthbert from Our Island Saints by Amy Steedman
Catholic Encyclopedia entry
Saints O'the Day: March 20th (in the English liturgical calendar Cuthbert's feast is celebrated on September 4th, the date his incorrupt body was moved to Durham Cathedral when Lindisfarne was attacked by Vikings).
Bede's Life and Miracles of St Cuthbert

How do we know about Cuthbert?
Most of what we know comes from the biography written by Saint Bede the Venerable. Bede also lived in Northumbria (the northernmost kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England), just fifty years after Cuthbert himself.

Virtual Tour
Visit the shrine of St Cuthbert at Durham Cathedral and the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. Walk St Cuthbert's Way from Melrose to Lindisfarne (if you have the energy for 62½ miles!).

Nature Study
Find out about St Cuthbert's Beads.

Bronze statue of Cuthbert of Farne on Lindisfarne.

Blackberry time

I love autumn. It is my favourite season - a preference I attribute (probably entirely illogically) to having an autumn birthday. One autumn treat for our whole family is blackberry picking. I'm not sure which we enjoy most ... the fruit gathering or eating the results. It may technically still be summer, but yesterday we ventured out on our first blackberrying expedition of the year. A country lane close to the farm where I grew up is a treasure trove, and this year looks like being a good one. After a short trip we came home with enough fruit to make two good sized blackberry crumbles.

Tevye, city boy that he is, has the mindset that food comes pre-packaged from supermarkets. Eating something picked from a hedge goes very much against the grain. We have managed to convert him. The combination of country walk and juicy dessert are just too tempting.

Little Cherub was intrigued - all those love fluttering leaves to watch - until she got just too comfy in her wrap and fell asleep. I love that wrap! Star helped Tevye, acting as quality control for their joint effort. Angel managed a good contribution to the pickings, but only after I suggested she put three blackberries in her box for each one she ate!

Love that American accent

Our neighbour's brother, his American wife and two year old daughter M are here on a short visit from California. Angel, Star and J-and-A-next-door are absolutely melting over M's American-toddler accent. "Oh Mum, she's just sooooo cute! Did you hear her say ..."

I can't tell you what she says as I can't type in American ;)

Next Year: Daily Routine

After trying to get into some sort of routine at regular intervals over the last six months or so, and failing equally regularly, this one (or something similar) has to stick! I'm motivated. I'm determined. I'm going to pull out every ounce of self-discipline I possess ...

7.00-7.30 Coffee / quiet time
7.30-8.00 Shower and dress / make breakfast
8.00-9.00 Breakfast / dress, make beds and tidy rooms (girls) / prepare for day, do a couple of chores from Motivated Moms list, dress Little Cherub (me)
9.00-10.30 Morning prayers / schoolwork (Mass / library on Tuesdays)
10.30-11.00 Snack break
11.00-12.30 Schoolwork (not Thursdays)
12.30-2.00 Lunch / free time
2.00-3.30 Schoolwork (not Thursdays)
3.30-4.00 Tea time / clear up
4.00-6.00 Free time or after school activities (girls) / computer time, more chores from list, make dinner (me)
6.00-6.30 Dinner (Angel has late dance classes on Monday and Thursday so will eat after the rest of us)
6.30 onwards Free time / activities / bed (Star usually goes at 8.15, Angel at 9)

Angel and Star have a fairly hectic late afternoon and evening schedule with dance classes, brass band and Brownies (Star). Fortunately the dance school is only ten minutes walk away (or a two minute drive) and Angel takes herself to her afternoon classes. We also lift share with a friend for brass band rehearsals and Star's Brownies (Girl Scouts for seven to ten year olds) is just round the corner, so transporting kids to and from classes is not too onerous.

How well this routine will work with Little Cherub in the mix, I'm not sure! I'm kind of hoping that I will be able to get her into a routine of having naps at 9 and 2. If she decides that isn't in her plan, then she will probably spend much of the day in a sling. The schools here start back for the year next Tuesday, so I'm planning a test run with a light schedule next week. We will be away for two weeks after that and will start our school year for real on September 25th.

Next Year: Character Study

I have been wanting to add some sort of character study to my plans for next year, but was at a loss where to start. I wondered about PACE (Program for Achieving Character Education) which is being enjoyed over at the Dumb Ox Academy but can't (so far as I know) get it in the UK, don't have the budget, and realistically don't have the time in our schedule for a full-blown program. But there is no doubt about it. My children - and myself, come to that - could certainly use some character training. Still, my mind was blank ... until this morning when I visited Sweetness and Light, found her post on the Fruits of the Holy Spirit and had a lightbulb moment. So next year we are going to do a study of the Fruits of the Spirit. This is the plan ...

Although the Catechism of the Catholic Church lists twelve fruits of the spirit, we are going to look at the nine listed in Meredith's 4 Real Learning post: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. That way we can focus on each for four weeks. I'm going to pick a Bible verse and a song for each week, which we will include in our morning prayer time. For each fruit of the spirit I will choose a saint who displayed that characteristic to focus on. Then I can round it all out with quotations, short activities, readings and discussion. I only want to spend a few minutes a day on this, so it will all be short and sweet. I like the idea of fridge schooling - displaying certain items weekly for the whole family - and the Bible verses and quotations would fit nicely in this display (though our fridge wouldn't work, and I'm not sure where to put it!). I had some free time this afternoon while Angel and Star played with friends and Little Cherub slept, and have started putting together some ideas. I'm enthused! I'll share some ideas later.

Blog of the Week

I keep finding new blogs I like to read and thought it would be fun to share some. So ... ... here is my new Blog of the Week spot. I can't guarantee to remember it every week, but I'm sure I'm allowed a little poetic license in the title. My first Blog of the Week is ... ...

In a Garden of Love and Light

This glimpse into living and learning with a 3 year old and an 18 month old has me looking forward to the toddler and pre-school years again. I love the calm, fresh layout and the Monet painting in the sidebar. And she posts great photos!

Another sling

Or to be more accurate, a wrap. I couldn't resist. This is my early birthday present from Tevye, in pink striped jersey. Cosier than the linen sling as the weather gets cooler. At least, that is my justification for a shamelessly slingaholic purchase. Little Cherub and I tested it out today on a trip to a children's farm. She slept. And slept. And slept. I take it she approves. And me? After carrying her for most of the day, not so much as a twinge. I'm impressed!

I finished it!

I started knitting this shawl when I was expecting Angel. I nearly finished it. I love knitting, but I don't love sewing things together. I ran out of steam part way through sewing the lacy edging onto the main part of the shawl. Angel was born and somehow I never got back to it. For eleven years it has sat in a cupboard unfinished. Before Little Cherub was born I found it, inspected it, decided there was very little left to do and I really ought to finish it ... and put it back in the cupboard. Last week I remembered it again and decided to see if I could finish it in time to use for her baptism. Do you know how long it took? A little over an hour. Eleven years in a cupboard for the sake of an hour's sewing!

For those of you interested in the details, it is knitted in two-ply yarn, very fine and soft. The main part of the shawl was simple enough. The tricky bit was the lace edging. This was knitted separately and then itself edged. Until it was stitched to the main part of the shawl and ironed it looked a holey mess, but once finished it turned out there was a pattern after all. Here is a close up:

More on hugs

I was sitting in bed with the laptop when Star brought me this note:

Just a little note to say I love you!
I love you when I'm happy,
I love you when I'm sad!
But the best way I love you is when I'm cuddling you!

by Star

Note to self. Again. Remember those hugs.

Guess what Little Cherub did today

She received the sacrament of baptism. Like her sisters she was baptised at home so that Tevye could be there. As always this was a bitter-sweet occasion for him - I talked about this a while ago when Star made her First Communion - but it was also a very enjoyable one, celebrating our precious little one's new life as a Christian with our closest friends and my mother. Amazingly she didn't yell during the service (Little Cherub is not a baby who takes anything even remotely objectionable quietly!). She started to grumble just before the actual baptism so I expected shrieks, but when Father started tipping water over her head she clearly decided it was an unexpected but welcome hairwash and produced a series of beaming smiles.

Welcome to the Body of Christ, Little Cherub!

Hugs

Thinking about gathering in reminded me of a post of Elizabeth's at Real Learning on touch, which sent me to this article on Love, Learning and Touch by Ann Voskamp. How often do you hug your children? In particular, your older children? The article suggests we should aim for twelve hugs a day. I, for one, don't come close. Although I know little about "love languages" I would bet touch is the love language for both Angel and Tevye. It isn't for me though, so I have to make a conscious effort to remember those hugs and touches that they need to thrive. Even Star, who is less of a touch person, needs more hugs than she gets. What better way of gathering in could there be than to hug your children more?

Ha! To prove the point ... Angel just came downstairs to complain she had rolled over in bed and bent her finger back. In the absence of any better suggestions she opted for a hug better.

Self: Does that make it feel better?
Angel: No, not really ... but I love hugs!

Message received and understood.

Gathering in

This coming school year will be the first in which I have had to juggle a baby with homeschooling older children - when Star was a baby Angel was a preschooler, so that hardly counts. And all too soon I will find myself homeschooling with a toddler in tow (can't believe Little Cherub is eleven weeks old already!). I have been inspired by a couple of things I have read over the last week or so. First, a thread on the 4Real forums about homeschooling with a fifteen month old that talks about "gathering in" rather than "pushing away" - having the toddler on your lap if that is where she wants to be, even if it does mean more interruptions. Giving time and attention to the little ones and fitting schoolwork around their needs, rather than pushing their needs to one side in order to concentrate on "getting it all done" with the older children. For many people this means unit studies, but I know from experience this does not work well for us. With only two school age children, whose temperaments and learning styles are quite different and with a fairly large age gap between them, I find having them work separately is easier. So can I both "gather in" and have Angel and Star on separate tracks? I think I can, so long as I keep the idea of gathering in at the front of my mind.

The other piece of inspiration was this beautiful post on practical life activities with the young ones at A Garden of Roses and Lilies. Donna Marie paints a wonderful picture of her eighteen month old daughter and three year old son helping with household chores, Montessori style. How I would love to gather Little Cherub into the rhythms of daily life in this way when she is old enough. As Donna Marie points out, this takes patience and consistency on the part of the mother:

I find that my biggest obstacle to this is being consistent with my own chores ...so working on the teacher is always a work in progress, but being AWARE that I need these precious teaching moments in my day makes me more apt to look for and find them and find time for training each of the dc. I do get rewarded for this...my ds throws his arms around my neck in a huuuge hug and with a huuuge grin states..."I DID it Mom!...I am proud"! :o)

It may be a very awkward thing for an adult to SLOW DOWN and allow the very young to have a part in things. It may take longer to get done, but they need to know NOW how to do it. Your patience will be rewarded ten fold...and you will see your little flower blossom and feel your own contented feeling because you were there every step of the way....with little toddler steps...

Lots of food for thought here! Patience and consistency are not my strong points, and too often I am focused on my own activities while the teachable moments pass me by. I know none of this will happen naturally here unless I work hard on some of my own shortcomings, but I now have a clearer vision of how I want life to look as Little Cherub grows.

This week

This week a few small lessons have been learned ...

D-next-door: Do not kick footballs when there are stones around. A stone may fly up and specatacularly smash the glass in the patio door. If you are going to do this, do it on a day when your Dad acquires a very nice new laptop from his office. This makes Dad more equable when coming home to a smashed window.

Star and A-next-door: When going on an errand to the shop, wait for instructions. If you do, you will know that you need to collect money from both your mothers in order to buy the items you have been sent for. If you do not, you will find yourself being asked for £2.65 when you only have £1.

Angel and J-next-door: If you shriek and holler too loudly when playing Frogger on the Playstation, your father will not be able to concentrate on his work. He will then send you to shriek and holler upstairs where there is (a) no Playstation, and (b) no TV to play it on, thereby rendering the shrieking and hollering redundant.

Geography Games

Look what I just found ... lots of online geography games. Locate countries, learn capitals, explore geographical regions. Have fun! Off to see how many African countries I can put in the right place. (What do you mean, it's supposed to be for the children?)

A mathematical challenge

This morning Tevye, Angel and Star went to our local shop. Tevye offered the girls seventy pence between them for sweets "but only if what you buy doesn't add up to a number ending in three or seven".

Angel: [Highly indignant] But you're trying to make us do maths! And it's the holidays! Don't do it Star!!!!

Star: Ok. I won't. That's not fair. It's maths!

Tevye: Fine. You don't have to have sweets.

Angel: [Ponders ...] I know ... Star, if we both make sure what we get is even then it will be Ok.

Star: You mean ending in 2, 4, 6 or 8?

Angel: Or zero. That's right. Then [triumphantly] we won't need to add it up!

Nice to see that she is capable of creative solutions to mathematical problems [chuckle]

What is it with maths?

I have been enjoying reading the responses to my homeschooling meme. One thing struck me. What is it about maths? Why is it that for so many people the resource they wish they hadn't bought is a particular maths curriculum?

The Lilting House - Right Start Math
Karen Edmisten - Singapore Math
Cirque de Moi and Adventures With Books - Saxon Math
Dumb Ox Academy - MathUSee
Myself - Miquon Maths
... and most thoroughly, A Room of My Own's "vast collection of math curricula"

Perhaps I should have answered the "one resource you wish existed" question with a foolproof maths curriculum, guaranteed to be a good fit for all families.

Parenting lessons

One lesson I learned today ... do not attempt to spread strawberry jam when wearing a baby in a sling. Particularly not when your baby has a lot of hair. Baby hair is not meant to be strawberry jam flavoured.

This lesson is as but nothing compared to some of those learned the hard way by mothers over at the 4 Real boards. Take a look at this Motherhood 101 thread.

Next Year: Geography

For geography we have a world tour to finish. Three years ago we studied Europe, two years ago North America and last year South America, Australasia, Japan and China. This year we will visit the Indian sub-continent, Africa and the Middle East. We are also going to take a side-trip into mountains and volcanos (on the pretext of reaching the Himalayas).

The lack of good books with a geographical theme is a bugbear of mine. Compare the amount of good historical literature for children, both fact and fiction, with books about the world as it is now ... glut and famine! Yes, there are many books about specific countries, but very few are what I would call "living" books. They convey information, but rarely bring a country or a culture alive. Travel books form a whole genre of adult literature, yet there are hardly any written for children. I am gradually compiling a list of living books for geography studies, but there are still gaps - the biggest being the lack of any up-to-date narrative survey that would provide a good geographical spine (I'm thinking of a geography equivalent to history books like Story of the World or From Sea to Shining Sea.)

Angel and Star will be covering the same topics - more or less - but with books pitched at their own level. I will be browsing through a number of country specific books with Star, but Angel will be doing her own research on specific topics using reference books and the internet. These are some of the books I have in mind (picture books for Star are largely dependant on what is available through our library):

GENERAL RESOURCES
Kingfisher Encyclopedia of Lands and People
Ultimate Atlas of the World
Children Just Like Me (DK)
Country specific books from library

INDIA
Angel:
Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan
Mother Teresa by Elaine Murray Stone (part of her religion studies, but ties in with the Indian theme)
Star:
I is for India by Prodeepta Das
Geeta's Day by Prodeepta Das
Prita Goes to India by Prodeepta Das
Stories from India by Anna Milbourn
Premlata and the Festival of Lights by Rumer Godden
What's Their Story?: Gandhi by Pratima Mitchell
Mother Teresa by Demi

MOUNTAINS
Both:
The Mountain Book by Brian Knapp
Volcano: the Eruption and Healing of Mount St.Helens by Patricia Lauber

AFRICA
Both:
Hippos in the Night by Christina Allen
Angel:
Journey to Jo'burg by Beverley Naidoo
Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope by Beverley Naidoo
The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo
African Journey by John Chiasson
Kizito, Boy Saint of Uganda by Elaine Murray Stone (if I can find a reasonably priced copy)
Star:
A is for Africa by Ifeoma Onyefulu
Bongani's Day: From Dawn to Dusk in a South African City by Gisele Wulfsohn
Nii Kwei's Day: From Dawn to Dusk in a Ghanaian City by Francis Provencal
52 Days by Camel: My Sahara Adventure by Lawrie Raskin
Star of Light by Patricia St.John
A Saint and His Lion: The Story of Tekla of Ethiopia by Elaine Murray Stone

MIDDLE EAST
Both:
Ali and the Golden Eagle by Wayne Grover
A Kid's Catalog of Israel by Chaya Burstein
Aladdin and Other Tales from the Arabian Nights trans. N.J.Dawood
Angel:
One More River by Lynne Reid Banks
? Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye
Star:
Boushra's Day: From Dawn to Dusk in an Egyptian City by Khaled Eldash
The Librarian from Basra: a True Story from Iraq by Jeanette Winter

Heaven? It has to have a chocolate fountain!

I see I am in good company among bloggers with passion for chocolate. Lissa's absent beloved made sure to leave her an emergency supply, and I have just salivated over Karen E's doubly chocolatey chocolate fondue. After sampling one for the first time recently, I contend that nothing - but nothing! - beats a chocolate fountain. Just imagine, chunks of chocolate brownie ... or soft marshmallows ... or creamy profiteroles ... or luscious fruit ... all waiting to be coated with liquid chocolate. What to choose? Let me just imagine those chocolate brownies again. Is there anything better this side of heaven?

Back to the urgently required chocolate Tevye just picked up for me on the way back from taking Angel to band practice ...

Painting the weather

Exercising its typical inconsistency, our weather has turned nasty. After warnings that August would see a heatwave hotter than the one we sweated through in July reality is closer to this ...

I blame this entirely on it being Star's birthday yesterday. Her birthday has a long track record of having a depressing effect on the weather. An August birthday, we thought. Wonderful! Outdoor parties! Picnics! What fun we shall have! Think again. At least we have learned the lesson over the years and no longer plan anything that can't be done indoors. Maybe we will have better luck with Little Cherub's June birthday.

On the bright side, while checking out the weather forecast I discovered this wonderful online art exhibition, courtesy of the BBC: Painting the Weather. To view paintings of fog, snow, sun, rain, or whatever, simply click on the relevant weather symbol. Some of the pictures have an audio file with a meteorologist's take on the painting. How cool! (Ouch! Terrible pun!) There are even some colouring pages to print out. Enjoy!

Let's hope the weather will soon be back to something more like this ...

Aside: The place shown in this picture became the setting of a well-known children's book. Any guesses?

Homeschooling meme

After being tagged for the book meme and reading Lissa's curriculum posts over at the Lilting House I have been inspired to put the two together and introduce ...

THE HOMESCHOOLING MEME
Let's have some fun sharing homeschooling resources we love, hate, and hope are as good as they look! Here goes ...

1) ONE HOMESCHOOLING BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED
Homeschool Open House by Nancy Lande. I love the peek into the daily lives of other home educating families

2) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN'T BE WITHOUT
Our library cards.

3) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT
Miquon Maths. I know many families love it, but I bought it for a daughter who wouldn't use manipulatives for maths. What was I thinking?

4) ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR
Artistic Pursuits, though we fell apart due to pregnancy and didn't get far with it. That means we can use it again next year :)

5) ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR
Maths 2XL CD-Rom (also available online as Conquer Maths). No more trying to explain maths to Angel. I hope.

6) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY
Catholic Mosaic by Cay Gibson (and all the books to go with it!)

7) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED
An up-to-date "living" geography book introducing children to countries and cultures around the world. It should have both vivid literary descriptions and vibrant photos. (Yes, that was in my book meme.)

8) ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOGUE YOU ENJOY READING
Sonlight Curriculum. All those lovely books!

9) ONE HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY
4 Real Forums

10) TAG FIVE OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS
The Lilting House
Karen E
Dumb Ox Academy
A Gypsy Caravan
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks

Book meme

She got me! I've been tagged by Cay at the Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks

Here goes ...

1) ONE BOOK THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE
For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay - my first introduction to Charlotte Mason

2) ONE BOOK YOU'VE READ MORE THAN ONCE
A City of Bells by Elizabeth Goudge

3) ONE BOOK YOU'D WANT ON A DESERT ISLAND
The original book Scouting for Boys by Lord Baden Powell. If that doesn't teach me how to survive on a desert island, nothing will! And for reading pleasure, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.Tolkien

4) ONE BOOK THAT MADE YOU LAUGH
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

5) ONE BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis. I'm with Karen E on that one.

6) ONE BOOK THAT YOU WISH HAD BEEN WRITTEN
An up-to-date "living" geography book introducing children to countries and cultures around the world. It should have both vivid literary descriptions and vibrant photos.

7) ONE BOOK THAT YOU WISH HAD NEVER BEEN WRITTEN
The Antiquary by Walter Scott. I had to study it for an exam during my school days and have never been able to bring myself to read anything by Scott since.

8) ONE BOOK YOU'RE CURRENTLY READING
Old Thunder: a Life of Hilaire Belloc by Joseph Pearce. Not getting through it very fast, though. Baby brain!

9) ONE BOOK YOU'VE BEEN MEANING TO READ
The Latin Centered Curriculum by Drew Campbell

10) TAG FIVE OTHER BOOKLOVERS
Every Waking Hour
Sweetness and Light
Ecole Buissonniere
Family in Feast and Feria
Shari (don't think you get out of this just because you don't have a blog!)

Little Flower of Lebanon

I have been desperately saddened watching the news of recent events in Lebanon and Israel, and Love2Learn's post about St.Charbel of Lebanon struck a chord. It also reminded me about another Lebanese saint whose intercession we could ask for peace in the Middle East - St.Rafqa (or Rebecca), the Little Flower of Lebanon. I would like to mention two particular intentions, one general and one personal:

(1) For the Lebanese and Palestinian Christian communities, caught up in troubles not of their own making.

(2) For Tevye's Israeli cousin Micki and her family. She is in London for the summer but her home is in Haifa, one of the areas suffering missile attacks, and her sons and grandchildren are all in Israel.

St.Charbal and St.Rafqa, pray for us!

Look what Little Cherub got today ...

... and we borrowed her first library book: That's Not My Teddy. She may not know what a teddy is yet, but she can appreciate nice bold, brightly coloured shapes when she sees them!

My tea mug

Just had to share this with you. Isn't it perfect?

Liberating the clutter

The decluttering continues apace. Conversation with the clutter monster (aka Mum) today ...

Me:What do you want to do with that old movie projector?

CM: It needs to be taken for repairs.

Me: Ah! What do you want to do with that old, broken movie projector?

So far this week I have "liberated" (released from her house and brought back to mine as a staging post on the way to a better home) a spare printer, the second desk, 200 or so psychology magazines, some books, a teach-yourself-Swedish tape ... and a broken movie projector. Wonder if there will be any takers for that one on freecycle?

How much was a beach hut?

For those like me who enjoy trivia ... in 1970 you could hire a beach hut in Sandown, Isle of Wight for between 45 and 75 shillings (now £2.25 and £3.75) depending on the season. A larger hut would cost an additional 10 shillings (50 pence). This included the hire of two deckchairs. Bringing your own chairs was strictly forbidden.

In those days the sun always shone on the Isle of Wight in August. I wonder if it still does?

Taming the clutter monster

Today I began taming the clutter monster. No, not the stuff that lurks in my cupboards and crawls out onto unsuspecting surfaces. The clutter monster is my precious, beloved mother. To my delight she has decided to sell her too-large house thirty minutes drive away and buy a small bungalow (single-storey house) near us - hopefully within walking distance, but certainly in the same town. This is a big relief as she is not in the best of health, is struggling with mobility, and is just too far away for us to be able to help her as much as we would wish - much of the time I don't have the car, so eighteen miles might as well be the moon. I'm so pleased she will be close by where we can provide whatever care she needs. BUT ... she is a clutter monster. Her house is jammed with stuff, and a good two-thirds of it is going to have to go. Last week we made a plan. Start by clearing big items so that we can reclaim floorspace and make the house look bigger and less cluttered before putting it up for sale. Today we began with her second desk. You can get the measure of the task in hand if I explain that I didn't even know she had a second desk. No surface area visible, you see. I am pleased to announce that the surface of the desk is now clear, and we are making good headway through the contents. Interesting finds include ...

• Instructions for my 41 year old brother's orthodontic braces
• A 1970 price list for beach huts (cabins)
• Books of green shield stamps (you would need to be British to appreciate that one)
• A letter I wrote to God, aged around eight (don't ask!)
• An uncashed cheque from 1976

What a task this is going to be! All being well, the desk will be freecycled next week, along with various other items. Anyone want a dishwasher? Unused for thirteen years. Believed to work based on the evidence of crockery left in it by previous house owner. Any takers? Once I have dug it out from behind boxes of papers and from under heaps of assorted stuff, that is.

Seriously, prayers for her good health (she has struggled badly during our recent heatwave and has very little energy), for successful decluttering, for a smooth house sale, and for a suitable property to come on the market in the right place and at the right time would be very much appreciated.

In the pink

Little Cherub tucked up in Angel's bed. Doesn't she blend in beautifully? I don't have the heart to spoil the Cherub's reputation by posting the picture of a major pout Angel took one minute after this one!

I have to admit the little darling at the Bonny Glen got to the pink theme first, and very fetchingly too.

I'm also thrilled to hear that the Quigley family at Family Centered Life will be enjoying the fun of lots of pink with their new little one, due in December. Take a look at these wonderful 4D scan photos of her. Aren't they amazing? Her seven brothers and two sisters must be melting already. And I wish I had looked half as good during pregnancy as her mother does!

Next Year: Religion

I have been dithering over this one. If there is one subject I really want to get right, this is it. Next year I will probably use the Level 2 (Star) and Level 3 (Angel) Mater Amabilis religious studies suggestions pretty much as written, but this year I want to fill gaps and - I hope - light fires. Last year we were reading the Golden Bible, the Lion Treasury of Saints, and Faith and Life books for catechism, with excursions into other things for Advent, Lent and Easter. We are only part way through the Bible and Saints books, so logically we ought to continue with them, but they are becoming a slog. I don't see them lighting any fires this year. We could also use a break from Faith and Life, which gets repetitive after a while, so I have a blank slate to fill. Tentatively, the result looks like this ...

Angel

• Catechism: Adventure of the Amethyst (Cecily Hallack)
• Saints: Mother Teresa (Elaine Murray Stone); Maximilian Kolbe (Elaine Murray Stone); Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI (Susan Provost Beller)
• Advent: (undecided)
• Lent: My Path to Heaven (Geoffrey Bliss); Prayer (Inos Biffi)
• Easter: A Book of Angels (Marigold Hunt)

Star

• Catechism: Saint Patrick's Summer: a Children's Adventure Catechism (Marigold Hunt)
• Bible: The Life of Our Lord for Children (Marigold Hunt)
• Saints: Beggars, Beasts and Easter Fire (Carol Greene)
  
• Advent: (undecided)
  
• Lent: Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls (Caryll Houselander)
• Easter: More Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls (Caryll Houselander)

Both

• Daily Bible Story: My First Catholic Bible (ed.Natalie Carabetta)

For catechism I have opted for a "living book" for both girls. Adventure of the Amethyst is a classic, written in the 1930s and long out of print. I hit lucky and found a copy in a second-hand bookshop a while ago - copies I have seen on the internet have all been way beyond my price range. It is substantial both in size (400 pages) and content, with a detailed explanation of the Catholic faith wrapped up in a work of children's fiction. A rare treasure. I hope Angel will like it, but if not I will save it for another time and use Saint Patrick's Summer with her as well as Star.

Angel will be reading (or listening to) a biography of a 20th century saint each term. Mother Teresa, to tie in with our study of India; Maximilian Kolbe alongside World War II; and finally Pope John Paul II. I am hoping the new joint biography of both JP2 and Pope Benedict XVI that is due for publication in September will work nicely; if not, I'll have to look for an alternative. Beggars, Beasts and Easter Fire was a lucky find in a library book sale, with twenty nicely told saints' stories, just the right length for a lesson apiece. Star will draw and narrate a page for each, making her own saints' story book over the year. This book is also out of print, but rather easier to find than Adventure of the Amethyst.

My First Catholic Bible was recommended recently on the Family Centered Learning email group and I love the sound of it, though I haven't seen a copy yet as it is still in my Amazon shopping basket. It is a devotional Bible, with five stories each week taken from the New RSV Bible (real text, not paraphrased), a weekly memory verse, and "prayer starters". I am planning to read it daily as part of our morning prayers. I also want to make our own family prayer book for the year in advance. I always intend to add in appropriate seasonal prayers, and while I normally manage it for Advent and Lent, the rest of the year often passes me by. If I can choose a specific prayer or two for each month or season and have the whole thing printed out in advance I'm sure we will do a lot better.

Finally, if you haven't read Caryll Houselander's Catholic Tales books to your children yet, you are missing a treat!

Piles

Conversation with Tevye, looking ruefully at the heaps of books on the bedroom floor ...

Me: I did clear away that pile yesterday, but I started another one.

Tevye: No, you started two piles.

Me: No I didn't.

Tevye: Ah! It's one pile split in two ... (puts one heap on top of the other) ... OK. One pile.

Poor Tevye!

Moan, moan! Whinge, whinge!

Today is one of those days. I have mastitis. Again. I do not like mastitis. Not one bit. And to add insult to injury, a speeding ticket arrived in the post. In the last few years British roads have been taken over by nasty yellow boxes on poles with cameras to catch unwary motorists who break the speed limit. Yes, I admit it. I was going too fast. And yes, I know I shouldn't. But I was late ... and stressed ... and it was only a little bit (35mph in a 30mph zone). And I have already suffered the misery of seeing the camera flash and knowing it had got me. But why did they wait just long enough for me to wonder if maybe ... just maybe ... there was truth in the theory that the cameras don't always have film in? And why did the ticket arrive on a day when I have mastitis?

Next Year: More about the schedule

Re-reading my post on next year's schedule it sounds so complicated and, well, schooly. Part of the reason it sounds so complex is my painful attempt to write down in prose what looks much simpler as a table. Also, it sounds far more formal than it is in practice. In fact, forget formal, it just sounds more than I expect it to be once we get going. Remember, we are talking short lessons here. I love short lessons! They let us cover a lot of ground painlessly (OK, maybe Angel's maths isn't painless, but speaking generally). Let me talk you through how I expect our first day to look (we charge in full tilt rather than easing in gradually - seems to work better for us) ...

After prayers and a Bible story, I will check Star understands the assignments in the first page of her English book (pick out the nouns in 10 sentences, list names of three things that can be found in various places). She will work on this and then read a book of her choice while I work with Angel. I will read her the first section of Mother Teresa: a Life of Love by Elaine Murray Stone, which we will discuss as we go, and the first chapter of Gloria Whelan's Homeless Bird (we will be studying India for geography). After that we will read through the first comprehension passage in her English book - the section in Oliver Twist where Oliver asks for more. As literary comprehension is her weak point rather than have her read it to herself we will probably read it aloud, alternating paragraphs (she is an auditory rather than a visual learner). If we are on a roll and she seems to be getting it I might get her to answer the short set of questions on the passage; if not I will leave them until the next lesson and have her re-read the passage then. I will finish off by reading and discussing the first few pages of St.Patrick's Summer by Marigold Hunt with Star for her religion lesson. Then we will take a break for a snack and a bit of down time.

The next chunk of lesson time will start with Star going off to work on her maths (she prefers to work independently) while Angel and I learn about the origins of World War I for history. As we don't have a spine text for this we will dip into two or three resources - the Witness to History book on World War I, the newspaper style report in the 20th Century Day by Day and a history encyclopedia. We will look at a map of Europe in 1914 and print it out for her history folder. This will probably take around twenty to thirty minutes. Then it will be Angel's turn to work independently on a page for the current affairs diary I'm planning to have her keep. We will make a point of discussing the news with her over the weekend and she will probably use the BBC News website for information. After that she will watch a lesson presentation on her Maths2XL CD-Rom and do the first half of the worksheet for that lesson. While Angel works Star will start her study of India. I haven't found a good non-fiction "living book", so we will probably end up browsing through a library book and printing out a map for her geography folder. For history I will read the first section of Story of the World 2 to her. It is only an introduction, so we won't have any follow up work. That means history will take all of five to ten minutes. Finally I will read her a chapter of a story book - probably Premlata and the Festival of Lights by Rumer Godden, to tie in with the India theme.

After lunch Angel will go to her room to do some independent reading while Star starts her Latin book. The first section is a short and very straightforward Latin conversation which we will translate using the vocabulary given. Again, this shouldn't take more than ten minutes. We will look at an art lesson in Artistic Pursuits and get her set up with whatever she needs to do an art project. While Star is busy being artistic, Angel will do the first page in Skoldo 3 for French, which should take around twenty minutes. Then she will finish up her day by looking through the chemistry set she will be using, learning how to use the various items safely (with particular attention to the spirit burner!) and learning the standard chemical hazard symbols.

Writing this out, it still sounds more complicated than I expect it to be in practice! I know from experience what are reasonable chunks of work to fit into short lessons, and in planning them I try to err on the side of shortness. That way our days usually flow pretty well - so long as nobody has a crisis or meltdown. Is that all clear as mud?

You are what you write

Thanks to Michele at The Family-Centered Life I just tried a bit of handwriting analysis. My results:

*You plan ahead, and are interested in beauty, design, outward appearance, and symmetry.
*You are a social person who likes to talk and meet others.
*You are affectionate, passionate, expressive, and future-oriented.
*You are a talkative person, maybe even a busybody!
*You enjoy life in your own way and do not depend on the opinions of others.

There seems to be something of a talkative theme in there. Wonder why?

Book shopping

I have been book shopping. I had some vouchers that have been sitting around unspent for a while and decided to take Little Cherub on a shopping expedition. I had forgotten just how much longer shopping takes with a baby in tow! Decision making was therefore rather rushed, but I found three books I thought looked interesting.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson is always an easy read (if you don't mind his occasionally near-the-knuckle style), and it will give me an opportunity to get back into the science reading I planned for myself at the beginning of the year.

Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong
A mystery set in Shanghai. Chief Inspector Chen investigates the murder of a prominent Communist party member. According to the blurb it "blends history, plenty of poetry and a compelling mystery".

Narrow Dog to Carcassonne by Terry Darlington
A humorous account of how a man, his wife and their dog sailed a narrow boat from England to the Mediterranean. This had the appeal of the familiar - I have both sailed a narrow boat and visited Carcassonne, so the title attracted me.

I'll report back when I've read them.