Starry Sky Ranch

Stitches in time

We are almost finished with our first redwork project - a quilt for the new baby. The girls and I have been working on these squares in recent weeks.  The two of them also started taking a sewing class locally. They are doing all handwork right now. The puppy is one of their first projects. The instructor transferred a vintage pattern and had them color it with crayon. Then she ironed it to fix the colors. The girls learned to stem stitch (and then kindly taught their mother ; )) around the lines.

After that project they got a small fleece blanket. They learned to blanket stitch around the edges and to make a chain stitch design. The redwork squares required stem stitch, lazy daisy, and french knots mostly. Now we have just to finish the last squares and assemble. Trying to get to that in November!

Montessori moments

We are getting school done in the midst of our organizing and baby prep. <g> Here are some highlights from the younger crowd:

Aidan learned to tie his shoes at the advanced age of 'just turned 7'. He has lived in a velcro world up til now. We sat at the table for several minutes last week and he figured it right out. Boy was he happy! He was overheard saying this while tying, "MAN I am GOOD!" "I have GOT to teach Kieran to do this!!"

His other feat was mastering the Roman numeral combos for  X, V and I. We printed them off from here. Here are some worksheets to practice on. I told him it would be considerate to struggle just a big so I could justify having printed and cut lol!The boy has a photographic memory like his second oldest brother.

Kieran has been playing the bank game with the base ten blocks and the place value cards.(they are at the bottom of the linked page)  He can form numbers through thousands now. We just began adding these larger numbers without exchanging. You can see he too is rather pleased with himself. We started with these when he told me he could count to 100 and could read those numbers. Actually I am not quite sure how exactly he learned to do that but I am not questioning a good thing!

Otherwise he is busy writing letters and telling everyone how many of each they have in their names. He and I both have one 'K' and one 'I' each I am told.

Brendan's new trick is to crouch over and wiggle his fingers under his face which is our cue to say something along the lines of "oooooooh scary!" He then squeals with satisfaction and runs off.  That isn't Montessori fwiw, just darn cute. ; D

The Home Mgt Journal - Education

Oops, forgot one section didn't I?  The Education section will look different in homes that homeschool vs those that don't obviously. If you don't educate at home you would want to put any information from your child's school here - important dates, phone numbers, fliers, permission slips,forms.

Here is what we have:

The paperwork from our private school umbrella program including our attendance sheet. Many states require some kind of record of days of instruction. Donna Young has an attendance form with a font very similar in style to the rest of the binder so  if you need one this is a great place to get it. A Course of Study is also extremely wise to include. Again Donna's form is perfect.

Our weekly school goal chart Download school_weekly_goal_checklist.doc   I mentioned in a back post that this includes daily work (at the top) and then the other squares are things for them to choose from the rest of the day. My high school student has this chart Download asher_weekly_goal_sheet.doc to track his work. Right now this is it for planner type forms. Donna Young has some excellent unit study and blank weekly planners if those are more your style.

Then I have some philosophy pages that briefly outline the method behind our madness. ; )  There are two Charlotte Mason files that I adapted from Simplycharlottemason.com and Ambleside Academy Online:

Download charlotte_mason_summary.doc    and Download charlotte_mason_synopsis.doc

I have my Montessori Scope and Sequences from monteaco.com. 

I also have the masters for our notebooking pages. You can print these onto cardstock and use them to make notebook pages for history, science, art, narrations etc. You can also leave them as desktop forms and type and cut and paste net images directly into the sections. There are a lot of them:

Download portfolio_text_box_1.doc       Download portfolio_text_box_2.doc    

Download portfolio_text_box_3.doc      Download portfolio_text_box_4.doc

Download portfolio_text_box_5.doc      Download portfolio_text_box_6.doc

Download portfolio_text_box_7.doc      Download portfolio_text_box_8.doc

Download portfolio_text_box_9.doc

these next couple are lined for nature notebooks and biographies: 

Download nature_journal_entry.doc   lined

Download nature_study_half_page_2.doc   lined half page only

Download portfolio_narration_page_lined.doc

There are some nice downloads of book reports, artist and composer evaluations etc at Love 2 Learn Place. Whatever you find online that you love do print and keep a master. Too many times over the years I have just bookmarked things thinking I could get them later only to find them removed. Here is a link to Historical Movies in Chronological Order. A reading list is very nice to have. Reading Your Way through History is a great resource. The Caldecott and Newberry lists are also good guides.

Ok now I am done. : )

Rebecca's binder

I promised to post links to everyone's binders and here is the first one!  Rebecca made a gorgeous journal with our divider downloads and beautiful background papers in plums, greens, and browns. Do check it out!

How to Raise an Amazing Child

Tim Seldin, president of the Montessori Foundation, has just released a new book that looks to be excellent. It's subtitle explains the book will describe 'the Montessori way to bring up caring, confident children'. This fills a void in the market because most of the available titles focus on the academics of the method and are not specifically addressed to parents. This book, in contrast, appears to focus on the home and guides the parent to creating a supportive environment - not a Montessori school - in which a child can flourish.

Montessori principles are included in a natural manner as are some standard Montessori apparatus. Also included are practical examples of modifications one can make to the home to help facilitate independence and reduce frustration. All this is accompanied by loads of DK style photographs of actual rooms and children. To me, this is the book's selling point. It is a visual feast and can serve to plant ideas firmly in our minds.

Check out the link and let the publisher know we appreciate their efforts to reach out beyond the school market and serve Montessori minded parents!

33 weeks

But whose counting?  Um - me!! This is Belly Watch - the Reality Edition. Short women don't have a lot of places to hide a 4 lb baby. I toldya girls - its not gonna be pretty from here on out <g>

The Home Mgt Journal - health and menus part two

To wrap up the health and menus section I have a master grocery list adapted from Webmomz :

Download master_grocery_list_from_webmomz.doc

There is a page of most often used recipes such as basic whole wheat bread (for sandwiches, pizza dough etc), brown rice, yogurt, and so on.

Download delicious_whole_wheat_bread_recipe.doc

There is a page of master mixes Download basic_mix_recipes.doc   to make up ahead. Much to my chagrin I must admit I seem utterly unable to teach, clean, and cook well simultaneously.  Give me any two and I am good. Add the third and I am sunk. We have done bulk cooking and mixes to solve that problem. Somehow we got away from that over the summer and boy did we suffer! It tends to not be a problem in the summer because the school schedule was lighter. Right now with contractions hitting hard in the evenings it is crucial to plan ahead. This will be even more relevant once the baby is here.

I have a leftover food safety guide Download food_storage_safety.doc  adapted from this extension office.

This link provides all the info you need to begin once a month cooking. My gripe with many OAMC sites/books is that they make 30 different dinners in that day. It did not save money because the shopping lists had multiple tiny jars of things. Instead, we take six or seven of our favorite recipes and make four of each to fill the month. Basically take one of the weekly menus and double or quadruple it. The next month try a new one.  Another option is to double all the menus each week, eating one and freezing the other. After a few weeks of this you have a month's worth of meals in the freezer.

Creative Homemaking has a nice printable menu planner that includes all three meals.  They also have some other nice ebooks you might like to print and include here such as homemade beauty care recipes.

In this section or in Other you should have an Emergency Preparedness checklist Download emergency_preparedness.doc  and go over it as a family periodically.  If you are rural like us you probably have to always be prepared for utility irregularities.

On a related note a first aid chart is essential.  A babysitter's guide Download guide_for_babysitters.doc  is also helpful. Ours is taken from here. It is easy to assume an older sibling is prepared to babysit when in fact they may not have been instructed properly.

Ok that should do it! Start printing, ladies, and please send me a note and a pic when your journals are finished!

Do You Have a Singing House?

Donna Marie posted a great story on her blog today. Which house is yours? 

The Home Mgt Journal - health and menus part one

Ok, will try this again. I started my Health and Menus post earlier then lost it.  NOT a good thing since there isn't unlimited time to post these days. I am dividing it into two posts since I need to get dinner going ironically ; )

This section of my binder has what I consider a basic assortment of resources - information regarding each child's health history, dietary guidelines, pregnancy related info, home remedies that work for us, basic menus and recipes.  I don't have a cookbook in here but rather the standby's that are used weekly or daily that we need ready access to like bread, rice, yogurt, etc.

My Grandmother told me years ago about how Rose Kennedy kept an index card box that detailed each child's health info - their shot records, allergies, history of childhood illnesses etc. I was intrigued but the whole idea remained just an anecdotal story to be filed away until recently.  Part of the problem is that the military does not release medical records these days so I have had to guess at recalling the dates of some illnesses etc. I devised this list to keep pertinent info for each child:

Download childrens_health_info_form.doc

Next I have my reference charts for pregnancy.  It's hard to imagine that there will come a day when these are no longer needed at my fingertips. Sigh! It did cross my mind when filing them though. Brings back to mind what a treasure each pregnancy is!

Download wap_diet_for_pregnant_and_nursing_mothers.doc

Download herbs_for_pregnancy.doc

Next come the weekly menus.  I am still formatting these since I added breakfast and lunches to them. I have long kept a dinner menu to shop by but the other meals were catch as you can. I think I mentioned we are now on a new 5am/5pm barn chore schedule which my husband took over. It has been such a blessing. For years I have heard women raising large families go on and on about getting up early. I always figured we weren't morning people, couldn't focus well early, yada yada. This past couple weeks proved that false. We are all doing amazingly well.

These breakfast articles motivated me to carry on in this department. Dh never complained about going it alone in the early mornings but once I really stopped to think about the ramifications of this routine it stopped me in my tracks. Most men fly out the door alone in the mornings, maybe with a handful of something edible, maybe not, and usually barely awake. They face the day empty - physically and spiritually. The family trickles out and starts their routine without a lot more thought or preparation often. The world hits those men with all the crud it has to offer. They come home hungry and tired only to be expected to jump into fixing whatever problems have been encountered at home. Nighttimes often find everyone taxed and running late. Not to say men shouldn't be shouldering responsibility for the family's day but it sure makes sense to front end the day to make that most successful. With a bit of a head start we can all eat and pray together and Dad leaves feeling well, with his family the last thing he sees. I like this much better! Hence the breakfast menus lol <g>

Download nt_menus.doc

Download menu4.doc

Download menu4.doc (will upload more of these as they are tweaked)

Download meal_options.doc  general main courses to make in bulk

more to follow....

More Montessori freebies

If you haven't already been, stop by Montessori for Everyone and get your new downloads!  I like her monthly work plans even better than the Little City plans. Very feasible! No bells and whistles but you can be sure if you cover these things you will have a good foundation upon which to add great read alouds, art/music appreciation, and notebook projects. Bear in mind when you see headings in the plan such as "long vowel/short vowel" or "synonyms" or "addition problems" you can also insert file folder games into those slots.