Injured Monarch

We went out for a bike ride yesterday and didn't make it too far up the road before Madeline jumps off her bike in the middle of someone's driveway to look at something on the ground.  I thought it was probably a big spider or some other nasty bug.  When Travis and I caught up, we saw that it was a Monarch butterfly, slowly flapping it's wings.  I scooped it up and it walked a little in my hands, but couldn't fly.  We knew we couldn't just leave it there, so we carried it home and built a habitat for it.

Madeline and Travis gathered a few sticks and leaves to put in the container while I cut holes in the lid.  Madeline knew we needed to add a couple flowers since monarchs feed on nectar, so she snipped some from the bouquet the kids got me last week.  She also knew that this butterfly was a female, because it lacked the lower pouches on the wings that the male monarchs have, so she kept correcting me when I called it an 'it'.  I'm not positive, but it appears her wing is broken.  She can still flap both wings, just cannot fly. I did an internet search and also found that sometimes they act like that when they are ready to die.  Monarchs only live for about 6-8 weeks and this one may have hatched early due to the crazy hot weather and earlier blooming milkweeds.

We took her outside again later in the day and opened the lid of the container to see if she would fly, but she only flapped her wings a bit and didn't move much.  We'll do the same thing randomly throughout the day to see if she'll fly... if not, we'll bring her to the Children's Garden tomorrow morning to see what can be done, if anything.  If it is just time for her to die, then at least she'll be placed in the beautiful flowers of the butterfly garden.

Madeline had to run downstairs to say goodnight to the butterfly after she was all tucked in last night.  I really hope this butterfly doesn't die today.

A very concerned Madeline

Middle Kingdom of Egypt

Chapter 12 in SOTW delved into the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.  The first section discusses how Egypt invades Nubia.  Egypt's new ruler, Amenemhet, a government worker -- not a pharaoh, was determined to make Egypt  bigger, so his first target was the kingdom of Nubia in Africa.  After fighting many battles, Amenemhet finally won, and the Egyptians renamed the land of Nubia to "Kush".  Over the next seven hundred years, the Nubians began to think of themselves as Egyptians, and some went on to become pharaohs in Egypt.  One Nubian woman even became the queen of Egypt through marriage.

The next section explains about how the Hyksos invade Egypt. At this point in time, Egypt was very weak and couldn't keep control of all the land.  The Hyksos were a wild and strange nomadic tribe that lived in Canaan, and they were always looking for new land to conquer. They used weapons that the Egyptians had never seen before and then took over the pharaoh's palace.  When the Hyksos became the new rulers of Egypt, it also became the end of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.

After a hundred years, the Egyptians were able to take control back by fighting the Hyksos by making the same weapons that the Hyksos used.

Our craft project for this chapter was making our own Nubian style golden bracelet!  We cut up some toilet paper tubes and spray painted them gold.

Workbox revisited

Ever since I heard about Sue Patrick's Workbox System a couple years ago, I have tried to figure out a way to make it work for us.  From what I've read about it, there are so many ways to use the idea and adapt it to your specific needs.  The first time we tried it was for preK; I spent too many hours cutting, laminating, and sticking velcro on little cards that I hoped would be helpful for Madeline, and it wasn't really useful for us at that time.  The idea worked out much better in my head than it did in real life. It felt like I was forcing her to do these "things" in the box that she would happily do not in the box, and I was getting frustrated when things didn't go as planned (like anything *really* goes as planned with a preschooler!)  Needless to say, we stopped using them.

When we got the schoolroom/playroom all set up in the beginning of the year, I thought we'd give the workboxes another try.  I had enough boxes for each subject to be stored in, and thought we'd use those little cards for the material we were to do that day.  Again, it didn't work out the way I was hoping it would and I wasn't about to force it.  The boxes were useful in the sense that each drawer held the book we were using and any corresponding material that was needed.  Madeline usually chooses which subject she wants to do, and although I completely support that choice, she hardly ever chose math.  Reading and math are the 2 subjects that are done every day, and the others are done a few days throughout the week.  When it came time for me to say we need to do math, or that math was to be done first or something, there was usually an attitude that came along with it (hers, followed by mine).  Especially being in her early learning years, I don't want her to associate learning with frustration, and I don't want Travis to view that "school sucks" notion.

Fast forward to the past 2 weeks.... I found an incredible deal on a little Step 2 art desk at a yard sale.  There's no way I would have paid the $80 retail price, but couldn't pass up $5 (actually, that was my mad bargaining skills price... original asking price was $15).  I squeezed it in the corner of the living room, as tacky as it looks, because I hoped it would get the kids (Travis mainly) more interested in coloring and drawing with all the crayons, markers, and colored pencils on display.   Fast forward to the first day of school and guess where Madeline wanted to do all of her work?  That's right... on the tacky little desk.  I could foresee many trips up and down the stairs to the school room switching out the different subjects, and although my butt and calves would have thanked me, I was just not that thrilled about the idea.  So... I cleared the bookcase that is used as an end table and put the workboxes on the top shelf and cheapo Ikea magazine holders to store the additional subjects on the bottom shelf.  This makes it very convenient to switch out the material in the workboxes each night. Ideally, extra books associated with material we are learning about will be on the middle shelf. 

I am thinking the 3rd time is going to be the charm with the workboxes and really feel it will work out, for now anyhow.  I just have 6 'boxes' out instead of the 10 we had upstairs.  We're using the little laminated cards again, only this time, I switch them out on the box each day for what subjects we are doing instead of keeping all the materials in separate boxes.  For example, today we did 6 subjects so they were all on display for her.  She knew exactly what needed be done, yet still had the freedom to choose which order she wanted to do them.  When she finishes one workbox, she flips the card over so all you can see from the outside of the box is the white paper of the card.  That way, it's easier to see how many things she has finished and what she still needs to do.

Tacky little desk and workbox set-up squished into the corner of the living room.

Left side shows work to be done; Right side shows work completed

Storage for most of the subjects and binders.  I guess I could have straightened out the books on the middle shelf before taking this picture.

This set up has worked well for Travis, too.  I'm able to play trucks or puzzles with him easier downstairs while Madeline does her stuff, without it being too much of a distraction for her or her feel like I'm not there to help.  He gets really excited about a specific math puzzle he has, and always plays it when Madeline does her math. I'm amazed at his counting lately, too!  He has definitely improved on numbers and counts objects to 14, then skips around in the teens, then counts all of the 20's, most of the time.  My favorite number of his is twelveteen.... it's used quite frequently.  The kids' co-op starts next week, and I'll be teaching the preschool class.  The focus will be the letter of the week with associated fun crafts.  I'll continue working with him on letters at home, too.  We are starting more preschool material, but I don't have any specific curriculum for that.  Mostly just learning through songs and play.

The kids used to start the morning with a cartoon or two, mainly so I have a chance to get lots of coffee in my system, and I think that set the mood for arguments when it was time to turn it off.  Our new rule now is absolutely no tv until school work is done.  When I explained this to Madeline, she was initially worried she wouldn't get any breaks.... I reassured her she can take all the breaks she needs, but not to even ask me for a cartoon unless we are finished.  I anticipated this being more of an issue than it actually is, and I really think has a lot to do with how smooth things have gone the past week.

After doing the first 3 subjects today, I gave the kids some string cheese as a snack.  Normally, I can pretty much get them to anything for a piece of string cheese.  Madeline took 1 bite, then set it down on her desk and said she'd eat it when she finished all of her school work.  I couldn't believe it, she disciplined herself with her favorite snack!  With cooperation and focus, she was finished with her entire school day in less than 2 hours, and that was taking our time and making sure she comprehended the material.  I know that sounds like such a small amount of time compared to institutionalized learning. I assure you, a little goes a long way when some of the only distractions are your little brother.  Not to mention it helps tremendously that the curriculum is tailored specifically to you and your learning style/capacity.

The thing I like best about our set up, and homeschooling in general, is that I know what the kids understand and are capable of learning, and that it doesn't take up much of the day.  We were finished by 9:30am, and that gave us plenty of time to explore other things based on the kids' interest, go on a bike ride, read together, play games, nap, meet up with friends, cook together.... etc. That was just one day.   I don't know how long we'll end up homeschooling, that will be re-evaluated yearly based on our circumstances, but I do know that I'm going to enjoy every step of this path while it lasts. This may sound crazy, but the past few days have been incredibly joyous and I really feel proud to be able to say that I love homeschooling my kids!