Piney Woods Homeschool

Previous blog posts working through the math recommendations from Charlotte Mason's Volume 1: Charlotte Mason Math: Vol 1 Pgs 253-264 More Charlotte Mason Math, Volume 1 pp. 253-264 More CM Math from Volume 1, pp. 258-259 – Place Value More CM Math from Volume 1, pp. 259-60 – Weighing and Measuring (This post saves having to look up each of the old posts individually.)

This is not a timeline for purists.  It's a timeline that fits in a binder.  Perhaps timeline isn't even really the right name for it!  This is a way to keep track of people and events as they fit into various historical periods rather than listing them along a strict line of dates.  It allows each child to have a separate journal and to add his or her own words and pictures to it.  This requires very little parent help.  Although this is not as visual as a true timeline, I've found it to be invaluable for helping my kids place people and events in history and remember them. The website I found this on appears to no longer be available, so I'm posting this so the instructions will still be available online. For this timeline, you will need looseleaf paper (I use unlined printer paper), a hole punch (if the paper doesn't already have holes), and a three-ring binder of some kind (so additional pages can be added later as needed). On the front of each sh...

I haven't put a lot of thought into Advent this year.  However, I did pull out the resources I have. (Not candles, though; I'm not sure I have candles yet.  Oops.) One I haven't used before, although we've done a Jesse tree in various forms for many years, is the Jesse Tree book.  I need to go through it and match it with the sheets I printed to supply us with inspiration (and tracing patterns if needed) for the pictures for each story.  (We've done lots of different types of images in the past; this year I thought we'd draw or trace pictures onto plastic cut from milk or vinegar jugs, then color them.)  Since I'm using our tabletop tree for a baby shower the first week in December, it won't do for our Jesse tree this year, but it isn't big enough to handle four daily ornaments for 25 days anyway.  We usually use it for our weekly ornaments.  (See next paragraph for more on that.)  We have a larger tree that is still small that we rescued fr...

"No plan survives contact with the enemy" and no school schedule survives the first few days of school.  Accepting that as true, I am still thrilled that our new scheduling system has survived the first *day* of school.  Every year, and sometimes more than once a year, we have to completely revise our way of tracking schoolwork and managing its implementation.  This year we had students in three separate years plus a challenging (sometimes deliberately challenging) preschooler.  Our previous methods of managing students and work simply wouldn't do. We are still using the chart format schedules I've described before.  I have a copy of each student's schedule, and the older two also have their own copies.  This year I categorized the work on each schedule so that all of the work that didn't merit its own separate line item in our daily work list was combined with other work to make three or four (or in a few cases five) days of assignments.  Then I...

In preparing for this carnival, we were exploring the ideas encompassed in Charlotte Mason's principles #2, 3, and 4 : 2. They [children] are not born either good or bad, but with possibilities for either good or evil. 3. The principles of authority on the one hand and obedience on the other, are natural, necessary and fundamental; but 4. These principles are limited by the respect due to the personality of children, which must not be encroached upon, whether by fear or love, suggestion or influence, or undue play upon any one natural desire. The assigned reading was the text of Volume 2 .  Volume 2 applies to children of all ages (some of the other volumes are more age-specific).  This volume lays out principles for parents rather than instructors.  Should you want to discuss this volume with a group online, check out the Ambleside Year 0 Yahoo group , where it is not currently being read but often rotates with Volume 1 .  (The CM Series list may read it...

Recently I visited a local health food store, seeking out a particular employee for advice on choosing a pro-biotic for my youngest child.  A friend recommended this employee for two reasons, both because she is knowledgeable about these products and because she "talks to Papa."  I waited quite awhile to speak with her as she was in conference with other customers, but when I had my turn she listened attentively as I described our issues and what I hoped the pro-biotic could help us avoid.  She asked some questions, spoke to the boys with interest (only the boys were with me), and took us to find an appropriate pro-biotic.  Her advice, however, was not what I expected. "Here is a pro-biotic, and here are digestive enzymes.  These may help for a time, while you wait.  But I can't tell you what to do.  You will have to ask the Holy Spirit what you need to do.  It may be inconvenient, what He tells you, and it may be very difficult, but that isn't ...

I did not write this post; it is not about my own family.  I thought this might inspire some of you, so I requested permission to reprint this since the author did not at the time have a blog of her own. This post is reprinted with permission from a Year 0 post by Sarah in AR.  One day, I was referring to a parenting book for advice b/c I'd been noticing my children's behaviour and obedience weren't what I thought they should be. As I was reading, they included the scripture Prov 29:15, "a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame." Somehow, that verse pricked my heart, as I realized how often I was telling my kids "Just go play while I get my housework done," and then feeling guilty b/c there never seemed enough time left over to work on forming habits or teaching them how to do helpful things around the house..... Well, here was the answer! I was "leaving them to themselves" too often, while *I* tried to do everything myse...