Classical Conversations Cycle 1 Week 1

 These Classical Conversations Posts will be more for myself to chronicle my way through tutoring this year, for other parents who are using CC, and for the parents of the kids I will be tutoring this year. But anyone who is homeschooling, interested in finding out more about CC, or is curious about a CC lesson plan is welcome to take a peak too!
So, for each week, I, as the tutor, am presenting the new information (new grammar) in a fun, interactive way so that the kids start to memorize it, and then it's the kid's parent's job to drill that information and help their kids memorize it during the week. So, these blog posts will be very helpful for my CC parents so they know how I am presenting the information. That way, if they weren't present in class, they can look here and possibly repeat some of the things their kids did in class.

I am going to try to present the subjects in the same order every week, unless there is some reason we need to swap some subjects. Here is what I have planned for the first week:

Opening: Introductions, Class Rules, Reward Charts

Timeline: Teach hand motions
History Sentence: Use the song, hand motions from Choosing Today.
Geography: Find the locations using a dinosaur/fish of choice, trace, find on the big world map
English: Say definition, sing/song, game with sing/song
Latin: Tug of Words, divide class into 2 groups, one side says first word, other side says the other word, i.e. Nominative (one side)-Subject (other side.)
Science: Use visual chart, say 5 classifications, sing/song, loudest to softest with kids echoing each
Math: Count by 1's and 2's together, sit in a circle and pass a bean bag while saying numbers together
Review: Kids draw subjects out of a hat to review

If anyone has any questions about this lesson plan, just leave a comment in the comments section below! I can't believe CC starts tomorrow morning! I better go get some sleep!

Focaccia Bread

 

I have probably admitted before that I am afraid to cook with yeast. I haven't done it very much before, and when I have, it has turned out less than desirable. But when I have watched my sister-in-law, Lydia, cook breads and other things with yeast, she made it look so easy, and helped me realize that it isn't that hard.
The other day, I didn't have that much food in the house, and as I was perusing one of my cookbooks, I came across a recipe for focaccia bread. It only used like 5 ingredients, which I had on hand, and had toppings you could add, like sauteed onions and red peppers, which were some of the only other things I had! So, I though it would be a good idea to try to make it!
Lydia had made focaccia bread before, and it was delicious. It is sort of like a bread/pizza with a myriad of toppings you could add. In retrospect, I wish I would have added a spice to the top, but I'll talk about that later. For now, let's get right to the recipe!!

Focaccia Bread
The All New Good Housekeeping Cook Book

1 1/2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees) (I just got warm tap water, I didn't use a thermometer)
1 package active dry yeast (I used 2 1/4 tsp of bread machine yeast)
1 teaspoon sugar
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. table salt
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour or 3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt or coarse sea salt

1.In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup warm water, yeast, and sugar; stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 1 cup warm water, 2 tablespoons oil, table salt, and flour; stir to combine.
2. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 7 minutes. Dough will be soft; do not add more flour.
3. Shape dough into ball; place in greased large bowl, turning dough to grease top. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in warm place (80 to 85 degrees) until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
4. Lightly oil 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 inch jelly-roll pan. Punch dough down and pat into prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.
5. With fingertips, make deep intentations, 1 inch apart, over entire surface of dough, almost to bottom of pan. Drizzle with remaining 3 tablespoons oil; sprinkle with kosher salt. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; let rise in warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bake focaccia on lowest oven rack until bottom is crusty and top is lightly browned, about 18 minutes. Transfer focaccia to wire rack to cool. Makes 12 servings.

*Note: It is also a nice tough to sprinkle on some fresh rosemary, fresh sage, or any other seasoning that you enjoy! You can add toppings like sauteed onions, sauteed red peppers (I did a combination), dried tomato, olives, tomatoes, etc. The possiblities are endless! My sis-in-law also mixed garlic in with her vegetable toppings and she actually soaks her veggies in olive oil, and doesn't saute them. You choose! The veggies will be softer if you saute them, though.

I let my dough rise on top of the preheated oven, with plastic wrap over it. The heat from the oven helped my dough to rise perfectly! Which is what I have had problems with in the past!! So if you don't have many ingredients in your house, but want a filling, yummy snack, lunch, or dinner, then try this super easy recipe! Just remember it takes about 3 hours total!!

Head on over to Alicia's Homemaking for other fun, new adventures!!

Getting Ready for the School Year!!

Well, with only one week before the official start of Maddy's first grade year, I still have some more to do to prepare!! I feel like I have two different "jobs" to do for this year, or more!! I have to get Maddy's first grade year prepped, get prepared for tutoring Classical Conversations, and I also am going to start doing some "school" with Judah this year!! He is so smart, and is picking things up constantly!! I am also going to start doing Spanish with both of the kids this year.
Like I have mentioned in earlier posts, I have a LOT of curriculum from my mother-in-law who has been homeschooling since my husband was in 2nd grade and she still has 4 kids she has at home doing school!! So I began putting together what I had for this year, and ordered a few things that I needed. I have yet to go and get a Social Studies book/workbook for this year. I went to Starbucks one afternoon and worked on some lesson planning for the first 2 weeks. I decided that since I have so many little books on different topics, that we will do unit studies for science, and add what we need. So for the first unit study, we will be covering a book on birds, insects, plants, etc. We are using Saxon Math 1, History for Little Pilgrims, Sing, Spell, Read, and Write for Language Arts, a Health book, and some other workbooks for things like manners, time, and money.
Preparing for Classical Conversations is something different altogether. I have about 6 weeks of material to get together and I need to come up with games for each subject I teach to get the kids to memorize the material I am presenting. Then, it's the parent's job during the week to help their kids memorize that week's information. Over the 3 cycles, they are memorizing a plethora of material in Geography, Latin, Math, History, a History Timeline, English, and Science that they can use later on when they are older. They are pegs of information that they can later hang things on. This is the way they explain it. I also am teaching Fine Arts and Science Experiments. So for the first 6 weeks I teach drawing, the next 6 weeks are Tin Whistle (like the recorder), and the final 6 weeks are Orchestra, which is a group class. So I have my work cut out for me being new to CC and being a new tutor!!
We start a week from today! And CC starts next Tuesday! I am ready and excited to be getting into our Fall routine, chores, schedule, and back to school!! 
If you have any questions about how we do school, why we do school, or what our daily schedule looks like, just leave a comment for me below!!

Super Healthy Kids

Omelet Bites

Pinkalicious Porridge

Rainbow Oatmeal Bar

I found this super fun, healthy website/blog with some great recipes that I'm excited to try!! I googled healthy family blogs and I found this website called Super Healthy Kids. Their pictures are beautiful and they have some great ideas for how to get your family eating healthy, especially when it comes to picky eaters!! Making the food look pretty, fun, and delicious will help kids to try new things, and to figure out that they like healthy foods, even though they may not know it's healthy!! They have lots of different categories including breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, smoothies, and they even have a section where you can put together meal plans, but that costs some money.
I admit I'm not the healthiest eater, and I really want to do better so I can be healthier, and to model for my kids what healthy eating looks like. I don't want them to enter adulthood (or teenage-hood), and have horrible habits that they picked up from their mother, like eating tons of processed foods, always scrounging for junk food, eating too much after dinner, and leaving out important food categories like fruits and vegetables. There are times that we do better, and times that we do worse. I think having a vegetable for at least 2 meals a day is something I'm really lacking in.
So, if you need some new, fresh ideas and recipes to jump start your family's health, try out this fun website! You could even include your kids by letting them look at all the fun pictures and letting them pick out what new recipes they would like to try!! Try one or two new things each week, so as not to overload yourself with new recipes or tastes, and let the fun begin!! Get the kids in the kitchen and have them help you make it!
If you do try this website, let me know in the comments section which recipes look good, or which ones you are going to try!!

The Most Amazing Thing Happened

Pioneer Woman, at Barnes and Noble outside of Chicago in 2009

Last week, we were out of town because I had a Practicum, which is a 3-day training to be a tutor (which is like a teacher) for Classical Conversations. They call it a tutor because the parent is suppose to be the child's primary teacher at home. It was really good training about a classical, Christian education, training in learning Latin, learning how to teach the Foundations class, which is what I will be teaching, and we got a chance to get all our books and materials!! Maddy got a chance to go to a Geography/Drawing Camp for those 3 days, and Judah was in the nursery when he wasn't napping. Tad got off for all three days, and so he was my "manny!" Major props to him because he took care of the kids so I could take notes, listen to the seminar, and get some really good training in!!
So yes, that was all fine and wonderful, but I have to tell you about the most amazing thing that happened. I went into the sanctuary on the first morning for training and noticed that there weren't too many people there. I wish I had packed some fancier clothes, because a lot of the women were in dresses, all dressed nice and ready for the sessions. I didn't pack any dresses. I saw one lady who was helping people get checked in and seemed to be in some kind of leadership, and she looked familiar but I don't know anyone from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, so I just kind of brushed it off. I noticed one lady in the back of the sanctuary who looked interesting. I noticed her because she was especially tall, had long red hair pulled back, and was wearing an interesting top. I didn't think anything of it until I saw the lady I had previously recognized walk up to the red-haired woman and say something to her. And then, it hit me.
Who do I totally admire and blog about? Whose recipes do I cook, who lives in Oklahoma, and homeschools? Who did I wait for 5 hours while 35 weeks pregnant to meet, and have her sign my cookbook?
If you guessed PIONEER WOMAN you are correct!! I almost peed my pants!!! And the first lady I recognized was Pioneer Woman's best friend, Hyacinth, who is in her cookbook, on her cooking show at times, and was on the Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Yeah, I'm not obsessed or anything!! Her nametag said Cindi which must be short for Hyacinth!! So I wasn't gonna talk to her, since I already met her in Chicago, and didn't want to bother her or seem like an obsessed fan, but the third day, after prodding from several people, I was gonna talk to her. But guess who didn't show up the third day? Yep. I almost stole her and her kids nametags though, when I saw them on the table when she didn't come!! One of her sons was in Maddy's class, one of her daughters might have helped in the nursery with Judah, and I saw the other ones around. So surreal. Because her family has been an integral part of her blog and tv show.
The first day when I went to go pick up Maddy from class, Pioneer Woman and I (I love the sound of that!) were 2 of the only moms standing, waiting to pick up our kids from the camp. Why didn't I say anything to her!!  So I got Maddy and she started to tell me all about her camp, and then she saw PW in front of us, and her eyes got real big and she said, "Is that the lady from that cooking show?" It was awesome. She was as star struck as me!! And she does claim that that is her favorite cooking show!
So in the subsequent days, she asked PW's boy in her class, Todd, if he liked being videotaped (ha ha), and what his favorite meal was his mother made. He said pork chops! Swoon.
So, in my opinion, going to the Practicum in Bartlesville was totally worth it just because I got to see Pioneer woman for 2 days in the sessions. She checks her phone a lot. Probably checking her blog! I loved it!

Yeah, that's Pioneer Woman and I, just chatting!!!!

 So, maybe I will actually blog about the Practicum or Classical Conversations, or starting school up soon, but first things first! Just had to tell you guys about it!! See, I guess it was worth it to move to Oklahoma!

New Bible Study: True Woman 101

I am going to reference a blog that I reference all the time, called Passionate Homemaking, that is hosting an 8 week bible study called True Woman 101. When I saw that Lindsay was doing this bible study on her blog and posting weekly videos, I thought it would be a great way to keep up with a bible study and have something to work at getting done every week.
It is a really important bible study as our culture is losing its value and importance of different gender roles. You can see it everywhere you look. And the media pretty much shoves it down our throats that men and women can do the same things, have the same roles, that women can dominate over men, and that we can't be told what to do. I think that a lot of this comes from years and years of women being controlled and domineered over in a poor way, as men were not "leading" in a way that was in line with Scripture. So the result is women fighting back and trying to reestablish themselves as dominant. But as this bible study shows us, the design that God has for women is so much more important than what we do, how we view ourselves, or how we feel about our roles. It has everything to do with putting God on display, and using our specially designed roles to honor Him, and to show the world what a beautiful relationship between husband/wife, and Christ/church looks like.
If you are interested, you can check out her blog here and see her introduction of the bible study. We are currently on week three, but I am a little behind.
There are weekly blog posts for each week of the study, along with a video panel of the two authors and other godly women who discuss the study. And oddly enough, the girl who hosts the videos and writes some of the blog posts on the True Woman website was on my floor at Moody Bible Institute! So that is so fun to see her pop up on my computer and talk about the bible study I'm doing!! Go Paula!!
So if you would like to join me on this adventure of an awesome new bible study, just leave a comment so I know you are on board! It's okay that we are on week three already. I'm a little behind too, and you can always catch up at truewoman.com with the videos and blogs or go to passionatehomemaking.com and catch up with Lindsay's church as they lead the bible study and discussions there!
Either way, it has already been an excellent bible study and I highly recommend it for you women who want to reclaim biblical womanhood to further the kingdom. It is so awesome how God fashioned us for a specific purpose that goes way beyond what we could ever think or imagine! I have been amazed at God's wisdom! So come on board if you are looking for a new bible study to challenge you!

Vacation with Littles

Recently, we had a week-long family vacation with my mom's side of the family. Every other year, my Grandma and Grandpa pay for a big house for us all to stay in for a week. We are spread out across the country, and don't really get to see each other, especially since my sister moved to Colorado and we moved to Oklahoma. It is a great time of bonding, catching up with each other, seeing each others kids, doing stuff together as a family, and relaxing. Relaxing. That's a relative term when you have 3 small children. In the past, these vacations had been pretty relaxing. We got sleep. So that's what I expected this time. And although there were moments of relaxation and sleep, it was not what I had expected.
Towards the end of the trip, I got on the computer to look at one of my favorite blogs, Passionate Homemaking, and ironically, the post that was up was Summer Vacationing with Kids. I wish I had read this post before we had left. The last trip we went on, we had an enormous house because we were expecting my uncle and aunt and their 10 kids and then they couldn't come. So we had extra rooms and only 2 kids. This time, we had a house that fit the amount of people who came, and that included fold out couches out in the open. Not too ideal for kids who need to go to bed early. We actually got a room with a couch that had a fold out bed in the room, so we thought that would be perfect. But Judah had never slept in a real bed before, and now he was going to sleep with Maddy as well. Mistake #1. We were going to bring the pack and play, but we ended up running out of room. It took Judah about an hour or more to fall asleep each time he needed to nap or go to sleep for the night! It was exhausting. He kept getting up and coming out, talking to Maddy, and taking forever to fall asleep. One night he got to sleep as late as 11! And then the next day, he was exhausted and a mess. He did manage to take some 3 hour naps though, to catch up on lost sleep. One morning he woke up because he fell out of bed, poor guy!
So, we ended up shuffling Maddy around between her cousins fold out beds, put Judah's mattress on the floor and he slept there in our room, and Ruth slept in her bed in our bathroom. Gotta do what you gotta do!
So, all in all, it was a fun trip. I just wasn't expecting the ordeal it was to get the kids to sleep. And the frustration of them getting woken up. And melting the next day. It is exhausting as a parent when your kids or you don't get enough sleep. I guess I just wish I had different expectations going in to the trip. Which is why you need to read the aforementioned blog post before you go on vacation with your small kids!! It makes things so much smoother when we know what we're in for!!
Also, think through the sleeping situation before you leave and make up different scenarios that could work. That way you are not locked into one situation that has to work. Even if you are all in one hotel room, there are different options. We are doing this at the end of the month, and I'm already trying to figure out the best possible solution!!
When you go on vacation as a mom, you don't get away from mom responsibilities. Unless you are in a high class resort and literally have people waiting on you. But we were in a house, so laundry, dishes, cleanup, taking care of kids, and cooking still had to be done. One of my favorite things that was said in that blog post is that it's called a family trip, not a vacation. That is so true.

I hope this didn't sound super negative!! We really did have fun, but I guess it did shine through that the sleeping arrangements were pretty stressful! But you just have to roll with the punches I guess and not let things you can't control get you too down!! Try to enjoy those little sweet moments when you are on vacation and not let lack of sleep get you down! Needless to say, I'm so glad to be home with my kids sleeping in their own beds!!

 

Head on over to Alicia's Homemaking, one of my favorite blogs, to read more about people's fun new adventures!!