Timelines, Timelines, Timelines

When I like something, it seems like I end up with multiples of it, like when there were three kiddie bikes in the garage, when I had only one child, or when I had six car seats but only two kids. That's why I have three abacuses. That's why there are two giant maps plus two globes in the house. That's why I have three to six timelines, depending on how you count them.

I experimented with a "make your own" timeline, but decided that it just wasn't for me. I was doing all the work and there were too many questions of what figures to use, where to place them, etc. for me to actually get around to doing it. Then I had a lightbulb moment. I have fully labeled maps on the walls. When we are interested in a country we look it up on the map, where it is already colored in and labeled. Why not do the same thing with a timeline? Instead of building the timeline, just get a preprinted one and look things up on it.

Wander is also really generous with the homeschool budget. He allowed me to buy both the "World History Book and Wall Chart" and "The Classical Education Timeline" set. I removed the Wall Chart from the book, had it laminated, and stuck it to the wall under the world map on the landing of stairs. This timeline is packed with info and uses a consistent scale. However, it only goes back to 1000BC.


The Classical Education Timeline set is four different timelines, each with its own scale. It goes back to 5000 BC, but overall has less information. The set also takes up a lot of room. I have the set stretched out on our dining room table.


Sad to say, I feel that we don't use the timelines to their full potential. We refer to them when something peaks our interest. For example, on Columbus day, it was neat to find when "Columbus discovers America" on the timeline. But I don't do a history curriculum yet. Well, the timelines are there whenever I do start history.

Now, if you've been keeping track, you'll note that I accounted for only two (or five) timelines so far. I recently found out about an index card timeline, where the cards are stored loose in a box. I decided that was a method of making a custom timeline that I could manage.

Here is the box. It has lots of room to grow, and the dividers are movable.


So far, we have only about five index cards in the box - mostly composers from the music appreciation that I do informally at breakfast. I made the first two index cards, but then Sparkle wanted to make them. So, I print off a picture and some very basic info on the person. I tape the picture to the card, and then Sparkle copies the text onto the card. Here is a completed card for Mozart, and Sparkle working on a card for Tchaikovsky.


After completing the card, I had Sparkle find the item on the map (Russia for Tchaikovsky) and on the other timelines (if it's there).

Then she files the card in the box, hopefully to be seen some time again.

All of our timeline work has been informal, but so far it has been fun and I can see Sparkle start to make some connections - like who was alive at the same time and who wasn't, and how earlier people influenced later people, but not vice versa.

Piano Lessons

Early in this homeschooling adventure I decided that I wanted to teach Sparkle to play the piano. I don't know how to play, but I bought myself a book and taught myself enough to plink out a few simple tunes from the book.

I don't want to shell out the money for the traditional half-hour once-a-week piano lesson for Sparkle. I feel that at this age, I can teach her more cheaply at home. I had several false starts, but I think we have found our stride.

We usually do the piano lesson during Glitter's nap, because the few times I've tried it with Glitter around, it is impossible to keep her off the keyboard. I aim for 5-10 minutes every day, but it's a rare week when we actually do five lessons.

I got the Pianimals series to start, and then got books from two other series on PaperbackSwap. However, I wanted a book with only limited pictures, and without any finger numbers, so I transcribed the books into my own custom book, interleaving the songs from the various books.


I also figured that when I taught Sparkle to read English, I didn't teach Sparkle to read until after she had the alphabet (letter names and sounds) memorized. Why not do the same for piano? After all, it is tough enough to actually play a note without having to figure out what that note is in the first place. So, I made flashcards for each note. I resolved to not introduce any songs until she knew how to read all the notes in the song. I started with one note - middle C, and added new notes as the old ones were mastered. Once we got all nine notes from shared middle C position, I stopped introducing new notes, since it will be a while before she changes hand position. We used to play games with the flashcards, but now I just shuffle them and hand them to Sparkle for her to sort from low to high. Then I reshuffle them and have her play them one at a time.

Once I was ready for was ready to play a song, I showed her the book I had made. I had her go over the song several times before actually playing a note. The first time I had her name all the notes as she points to them. The second I have her count out the beats, again pointing at each note as she counts it. I also try to point out any patterns in the song, such as repeated sections. Only after she has shown that she can read the song does she actually play it.

Once Sparkle has a song down, I'll have her play it several times: simply play it, play it while saying the note names, play it while counting the beats, and play it while singing the words. When she can do all three well, we move on to the next song. On days when I'm tired or rushed, we might just review old songs.

At first Sparkle messed up a lot and got upset when she goofed. I've gradually gotten her to take it more in stride and understand the importance of practice. Now, when she messes up in the middle of a song, she'll scowl, and I'll gently tell her "that's okay, try again from the beginning" and she will. (Most of the songs are only four bars long, so it's no big deal to start from the beginning.) I also think that the note reading drill is really helping her when it comes to learning and enjoying new songs. I've even seen her sneak a peak at future songs in the book and play them correctly.

Rhythm is one of my really weak spots. I tried the CD that went with the textbook with Sparkle early on, as a method of teaching a regular beat, but that was a disaster. However, I recently tried gently introducing the metronome now that Sparkle has much more confidence at the piano. I only use the metronome on songs that Sparkle can read and play without hesitation, and even then not that often.

Wander's Surgery

Wander had some surgery done today. The girls and I dropped him off at the surgery center this morning. Since it would take two to four hours before he could go home, the girls and I gave him hugs and prayers and then went home for school, lunch, and play.

When I went to pick up Wander in the afternoon, it was Glitter's nap time, and she fell asleep in the car. Fortunately, a very helpful nurse wheeled a very woozy Wander to the car, and the girls never had to unbuckle.



After we got home, I helped Wander staggered from the car to the living room floor.


Eventually he felt well enough to move to the kitchen to eat something. I thought that it would be amusing to have a picture of him leaning on me, since he is so much bigger than me. So, I gave Sparkle the camera. Here is the uncropped picture she took. You can see my hand, and a sliver of my dress and hair in the picture below.


He is doing better now. He is no longer nauseous and can think more clearly. I was able to get the prescription for his pain medication filled, no thanks to the very unhelpful staff at a particular pharmacy that I'll no longer be using.

Teatime with Glitter

We had our first teatime with Glitter yesterday. It wasn't a rousing success, but it wasn't a failure either. At least there were no broken dishes, unlike the first teatime with Sparkle.

In the past I've tried to squeeze teatime in just before picking up Glitter from preschool. However, that time kept getting squeezed and squeezed by school and errands until there was barely anything left. So, I decided to try postponing teatime until after we got home with Glitter.

Upon picking up Glitter we announced to her that she would get to participate in teatime. We explained that she had to be on her best behavior during teatime. She was agreeable. It wasn't looking so good when there was an argument over who would get the "snowman" mug. Neither would give in at all. Finally, I decreed that no-one would get the "snowman" mug, and we would all get plain mugs. Then things went a bit more smoothly. Both girls enjoyed their hot chocolate. I placed a bowl of ice cubes on the table, which helped cool down the hot chocolate for them. I read from "Now We Are Six" including Sparkle's favorite, "Buckingham Palace". Sparkle accepted that I didn't want her bringing her own book of poetry to the table this time, as things were crowded, but she did read from my book. It took a while to get Glitter to stop chattering in the middle of a poem, but eventually she was able to be quite for an entire poem, if it were a very short one.



Overall, I think teatimes with just Sparkle and I were more calm and I enjoyed the poetry more. However, it was also nice not feeling rushed to hurry up and finish in time to pick up Glitter.

Zany Kids

Here are some amusing photos from yesterday.

Somehow Sparkle managed to get her hands caught in the sleeves of her dress.


I took Sparkle and Glitter to the grocery store and they convinced me to use the monster "car" cart. The main reason why I gave in and was willing to drive this tank through the aisles was because I knew that once I put them in, they would stay there. I wouldn't have to worry about them grabbing stuff from the shelves or not keeping up. I just had to worry about bumping into everything because this monstrosity extends about two feet further than I'm used to and steers like a boat. Oh, and the girls go crazy nuts over the free food samples at the grocery store.


Here is Wander feeling his skull, in anticipation of his surgery the next day.

Memory Drill

I have Sparkle do various types of memory work for school. I've played with various different methods of doing memory work, and this post describes what works for us now.

General Memory Work
This memory work is the only one I formally label "memory work." It includes skip counting, prayers, spelling rules, the Pledge of Allegiance, address, and such things. Each topic is written on a 3x5 index card. I file the cards in an index box with tabbed dividers. I organize the cards based on a spaced repetition system. The cards for the day are in front of the first divider. To start, I pull the cards for the day and move the front divider to the back. I give Sparkle the prompt for each item and help her if she needs it. If she remembers the item, I write the date on the back and file it based on my best guess for when she'll need to review it - a few days, a week, two weeks, or a month. If she doesn't remember the item, I coach her through it and then put the card back in front to be reviewed the next day.


Spelling Phonograms Drill
I used to drill the the phonograms from Spell to Write and Read every day. Each phonogram has its own mini flashcard. Once Sparkle learned all 70 of them and was getting all of them correct, I cut it down to once per week. She likes to jump on the mini-trampoline when reviewing phonograms.


Math Facts Drill
Sparkle does a math facts drill every morning as one of her worksheets. She is currently working on all the addition facts that equal ten or less. I made nine worksheets, each with five problems, and she does one worksheet per day. The abacus is available if she wants it, but she doesn't have to use it.


Chinese Vocabulary Drill
I drill Chinese vocabulary every day. Each word has its own mini flashcard. I used to drill every word every day, but that got to be too much work. Now I use a spaced repetition system in a box with tabbed dividers. The cards for the day are in front of the first divider. To start, I pull the cards for the day and move the front divider to the back. As Sparkle goes through the flashcards, I note which ones she has down and which she is still learning. If a word gives her trouble, I tell her the word and then the card goes in the front of the deck to be reviewed tomorrow. If she gets it right easily, I put a tally mark on the back of the card. Where I put the card depends on how many tally marks are on the card. Cards with one tally mark go behind the first tab back to be reviewed in two days. Cards with two tally marks go behind the second tab back, and so on. The more tally marks, the more times she has correctly identified the word, and the longer the wait until she has to review it again.


Musical Notes Drill
I drill note reading every day. Each note from "shared middle C position" has its own mini flashcard. I shuffle the deck of cards and Sparkle sorts them from low to high. Then I shuffle them again and Sparkle plays them on the keyboard. When Sparkle can get all the notes without thinking I'll cut back to a weekly drill.

Chinese for Children

For reasons specific to our family, I decided that I wanted to learn Mandarin Chinese and I want my daughters to learn it too. For a while we met with a Chinese playgroup run by a Chinese speaking mom, but then the kids became school age and the playgroup disbanded. I enrolled in a Chinese as a foreign language class at a local Chinese Saturday school, but for several reasons that school isn't a good fit for the girls.

When I looked into Chinese programs, other people discouraged me from trying to teach Chinese without a native speaker, citing the difficulty with the tones. So, for a long time Sparkle didn't learn any Chinese because I didn't have a teacher for her. She knew a few things from the playgroup, but I found that it was slipping from her mind quickly and she never really understood several phrases that she had learned by rote.

Finally I decided to take the plunge and teach her myself, even though I don't know Chinese myself. I know that I'm garbling the tones with her, but the alternative right now is for her to not learn Chinese at all.

I'm teaching Sparkle using the textbook "Er Tong Han Yu" (also called Chinese for Children, but not to be confused with the other books and programs with the same name in English). The book comes with a recording of the lesson so she can hear the language. It includes age appropriate vocabulary, simple grammar, and pin yin drill. However, the book is almost all in pinyin, and it is important to me that she learn characters from the beginning, so we are using a copy that I typed in simplified characters. Here are the original textbook (cover and inner pages) and the copy I transcribed.



I try to work on Chinese a little bit (5-10 minutes) each day. We listen to a lesson on the iPod while Sparkle follows along.



I drill vocabulary flashcards. If Sparkle knows a word at once, great. If not, I tell her and we move on. We used to do all the cards every day, but when we got to 30+ words, it became too cumbersome to drill all of them, so I started a spaced repetition system using a box and tabbed dividers.


I'm still working on a good way to practice creating original sentences in Chinese. I believe that creating original sentences with the actual characters is important because it helps make the mental connection between the character, the sound, and the meaning. It also helps practice and test grammar concepts. Seeing all the characters at once and being able to move them around also makes it easier to demonstrate grammatical concepts, such as different word orders. I also believe that it is best to have some sort of prompt for creating sentences, such as a story or a picture. It is difficult to come up with an original thought as well as an original sentence, and the student will likely come up with something that is beyond her ability or doesn't practice the appropriate concept. My current method involves cutting up little bits of paper, each with one word, and re-arranging them. I hope that it will continue to work.


Overall, I'm very proud of the progress Sparkle has made. After about two months, she can recognize 30+ words (simplified characters). She understands what the tones are, even if neither of us can produce them correctly. She can construct a simple sentence (within her vocabulary). She can ask and answer simple questions (within her vocabulary).

Glitter helps water plants

Glitter wanted to help Wander water the plants. We managed to convince her to let Wander water the plants on the counter, but if she could wait patiently, she could water the trees. So she waited her turn until Wander was done with all the other plants. The full watering can was heavy but she managed well with two hands.

Family Pix

Just some pictures of the family hanging out.


Glitter, Sparkle, and Wander watching TV


Me with Glitter


An extra picture of Glitter because she's so cute and because she doesn't get as much face time on this blog as Sparkle.

Brag

I want to brag about Sparkle. She is doing really well with her spelling and handwriting. She had been doing her writing on three-lined handwriting paper. However, I noticed that in her free time, she was writing some pretty small letters. So, on a whim last week I asked if she wanted to do her spelling on paper with narrow lines. She was excited about the idea and wrote beautifully.

Here is her spelling for today featuring her very own handwriting on regular wide ruled paper. She wrote the first three sentences from dictation. She misspelled "thank" so she practiced it three times. Then she wrote the next sentence as copywork. The final sentence was her original sentences using two new spelling words.

Glitter-isms

Glitter is speaking in sentences, and sometimes it's amusing to hear what's going on in the head of a three year old.

You Forgot I Don't Know How to Tell Time
Wander likes the toys to be cleaned up when he gets home from work. So, I often bribe the girls to clean up by putting in a movie after they are done. An added bonus is that the girls don't pull out any more toys, and I can cook supper in peace. Here's a conversation between me a Glitter one morning, well before movie time.
Glitter: "I want that movie with the car in the tree."
Me: "You want to watch the Little People movie?"
Glitter: "Yeah, the Little People movie. Can we watch it?"
Me: "Not now. It's not movie time. Ask me again when it's five o'clock."
Glitter: "Okay."
Pause.
Glitter: "I don't know when that is."
Me (being silly): "You mean you don't know how to tell time?"
Glitter: "No, you forgot. You forgot I don't know how to tell time."
Me (still being silly): "You're right, I must have forgotten that you haven't learned how to tell time."
Glitter: "Yeah, you forgot."
Me: "Hum. Well, does Sister know how to tell time?"
Glitter: "Yes."
Me: "Okay, then you can ask Sister to tell you when it's five o'clock."
Glitter: "Okay."


No Falling Down Pants
Glitter has one pair of pants that are extremely low rise. She no longer wears that pair of pants, but I keep it in her dresser just in case we run out of other pants.
Glitter: "I don't wear those pants. They are falling-down-pants."
Me: "That's right, those pants fall down too easily. We don't use them unless you have no other pants."
Glitter: "I like these pants. They are no-falling-down pants."
Me: "Okay."
Glitter: "I don't use those falling-down pants unless there are no no-falling-down pants."
Me, trying to decipher her double negative: "You mean when there's no more pants that don't fall down?"
Glitter: "Yeah"

Loves Mommy Song
We are in Wander's car, and he usually plays his favorite CDs. The girls have their favorite songs on that CD.
Glitter: "I want 'Loves Mommy' song."
Wander: "Loves Mommy? What song is that?"
Glitter: "Loves Mommy"
Wander: "What song is that? What are the words?"
Glitter: "Loves Mommy"
Wander: "I don't know that song."
Sparkle: "She's a good girl, loves her mommy."
Glitter: "Yea, Loves Mommy"
Wander: "Oh, okay, you mean 'Free Falling.' Here you go."

RightStart Math

I'm teaching Sparkle math using "RightStart Mathematics." We finished up Book A just before Christmas break and are now in Book B. This math program has good reviews and is supposed to give a good foundation in understanding place value. The lessons are completely scripted and build on each other in ways that aren't obvious at first. I also really like how it teaches multiple different ways to solve the same problem. So math remains the one subject where I go "by the book." We usually take at least two days to do each lesson, as Sparkle doesn't have the attention span to do an entire lesson in one day. Sometimes the program drives me nuts, and I'll put off the next lesson and do math games or a worksheet until I feel up to doing the next lesson.

Normally we do math as part of "afternoon school" during Glitter's nap, as the program involves a lot of manipulatives, and it's hard enough to keep Sparkle focused without Glitter grabbing at things.

Here is a picture from Sparkle lesson today. She built representations of 1, 10, 100, and 1000, then matched the appropriate place value card to each representation. It's hard to see the "1" as it's just one bead on the left side of the small abacus. The "1000" is a stack of ten abacus tiles.


I was amused when the lesson gave suggestions on what to do if you have only one abacus, considering that I have *three*. The rest of the manipulatives are in the blue tinted box next to Sparkle, and the teacher's manual is on the right. The abacuses are kept on the bookcase where the girls can play with them at will.

The abacus is the heart of the RightStart math program, and when I saw how it works I knew that I wanted to use it. The beads are arranged rows of five blue beads and five yellow beads, and the order of the beads switches for rows 6-10. The beauty of the abacus is that you can enter and read numbers from 0-100 on the abacus without counting. You can clearly see the individual beads (ones) as well as rows (tens). There are no parts to loose. It also has a second side that is useful for larger numbers (in the thousands) that we haven't gotten to yet. If you look at the middle abacus in the picture above you can see that the beads aren't in the proper pattern. My brother gave it to Sparkle as a birthday present when she was two, and the beads were in a different pattern. I recently restrung the beads to roughly match the other abacuses.

The math program uses math games to drill math facts. I never seem to find time to play them, so I have started Sparkle with a math fact worksheet during worksheet time. Right now it is a half a sheet of paper with only five simple problems. I figure that once she is used to doing a daily math drill sheet I can gradually increase the difficulty of the problems.

sharpening pencils

Since I started teaching Sparkle, the two of us use pencils as our primary writing utensils. (Prior to that I used pen the few times I used actual paper.)

I have always liked the nice points that the hand crank pencil sharpeners do. I happen to have this colorful pencil sharpener with a suction base. It even has holes to adjust to several different pencil thicknesses. However the suction base doesn't work. I also haven't had any luck finding a hand crank sharpener that uses a clamp at local stores. I finally found a method that works. I repositioned the part of the sharpener that holds the shavings so that there is room for my foot to hold the sharpener still. Then I crank as usual. It reminds me of how I used to use my sewing machine on the floor. (I'm getting old, so it is fortunate that I don't spend hours sharpening pencils the way I used to spend hours on the sewing machine.)



So, until I get an electric pencil sharpener, I guess that I'll be sharpening pencils on the floor. Luckily we have lots of novelty pencils that Sparkle has acquired over the years so that I can sharpen a batch of pencils at once and be done for the week, even considering that Glitter tends to walk off with pencils and "store" them who knows where.

Pancakes at Church

On Sunday the men's club at church was sponsoring a pancake breakfast after mass. However, Wander wasn't with us and it was 11:30 when mass let out. So I talked the girls into having pancakes for lunch. Fluffy pancakes, sausage, eggs, orange juice, fruit cocktail, and no cooking or dishes to clean up for just $4.

Glitter makes her bed

I'm trying to get the girls into the habit of tidying their room each morning. The way our house is setup, their room is just for sleeping - they don't play in their rooms. Sparkle is pretty good at cleaning up and only occasionally needs reminding. Often she forgets because she is so busy hanging out with Glitter and me. Glitter is still in training and needs lots of coaching and help.

Shove the quilt up until no more is dangling!


Get the frog and blankets off the bed. Oops, the frog fell.


Get tigger of the bed. He gets tucked into the quilt.


Make the bed. Lift and smooth the sheets. Thanks mommy for doing the other side!