Boy, Do We Have The Snow!!!

We've got lots of snow here in NE Ohio!!  LOTS!!!  The picture below was taken out the window of my back room.  There are bushes directly below the window ledge, and snow piled high on top of that!

Venturing out the back door...

Most of the schools around here were closed.  Since we homeschool, I don't follow the snow schedule.  We can work same as usual here even when the snow is up to the car's headlights.  Munch is unhappy with this.  I keep having to remind her that we take plenty of "nice weather" days and play outside or go on outings instead of working indoors at home.  Ahhhhh.  The beauty of homeschooling - setting your own schedule.

Do you have lots of snow?

Thinking About School

There has been a touch of fall in the air lately.  It's kind of nice, on the one hand.  Fall is my favorite season.  On the other hand, it naturally induces some sort of panic deep inside me.  Fall is the time of year we batten our hatches for the winter.  Although we are not quite at that point yet, this weather has been making me very aware of it's impending arrival.  Fall is also the time school traditionally starts. 

As a homeschooling family, we are a bit more free to work out our own schedule.  We never start officially working until after Labor Day, and even then it's loose until the harvest has been completely pulled in and taken care of.  During this time, we focus more on independent learning, reading, arts, etc - things the kids can do without much guidance from me.

Our homeschooling atmosphere has changed every year since the beginning.  Each year we seem to find a new spot that suits us better.  My husband's cousin picked up a couple of old desks a local school was getting rid of, and she gave them to us!  The kids were so excited to have these "new" desks.

Sweetpea graciously cleaned them all.  There are 2 new-to-us desks like this:

And the old wee one I picked up out of someone's trash 6 years ago.

After they were cleaned, we set to finding places each kid will be comfortable working.  Sweetpea's stayed where it has been for the last 6 years - in one corner of our dining room, where Munch used it when she first started, where Boy used it last year, where she will do all her most difficult work for the year.

Working hard and staying very very focused, as every 3 year old must do.

Sweetie, your shoes are on the wrong feet...

What?!?!

Boy chose a place to work in another corner of our dining room, directly under one of the wall sconces that he considers his own personal light.

Since he is entering the first grade (hard core work, to be sure), he is anxiously awaiting the start of the year.  He did ask if he could have Saturdays and Sundays off each week since Daddy is home those days.  Of course.  That can be arranged.

Munch, who is starting 5th grade, is not so anxious to begin.  She's very content to read the Narnia series and the first Harry Potter book over and over and over and over again.  She has chosen (if she must choose) to work by the window in the living room, providing plenty of scenery for her weary eyes.  As the child of 2 parents who wear glasses, she is quite determined to Never Ever have to wear them in her life.  I hope she can do it!

We are on the lookout for a new and cute thrifted chair to replace this one for her.  Something cute and girly to entice her into her studies!

Our homeschooling style has been very eclectic from the beginning.  We don't purchase any curriculum packages.  Instead, we go to the library and search the shelves for any old textbooks we might be interested in using.  Then I search the web for used copies of these books using http://used.addall.com/ to find what I am looking for.  We tend to use many workbooks for the younger grades, and then move to the used textbooks as they get older.  For many subjects, our only resources come from the library.  We choose a topic and then search out the computerized card catalog for books that will teach us about what we want to know. 

It does take some effort to piece together materials like this, but we find it rewarding.  It gives us the freedom to custom tailor each subject to our children.  And we save a lot of money (not to mention natural resources) by purchasing used books and utilizing the library.  Afterall, that is what the library is for!

Many Monarchs

Over the last few years, we have raised many many monarch butterflies from egg to butterfly.  Monarch butterflies are one of the most interesting butterflies.  Their life cycle is so very interesting!

A single monarch butterfly will go through four stages during their life - egg, larvae or caterpillar, pupa or chrysalis, and adult butterfly. They start out as a wee itty bitty egg that is about the size of a pinhead.  Female monarchs only lay their eggs on the milkweed plant.

After they hatch from the egg, they enjoy their first meal - the egg shell.

Then they feast on their favorite (and only) food - the milkweed plant.

Monarch caterpillars grow at an alarming rate!  They molt, or shed their skin 4 or 5 times during their caterpillar stage.  Each time, they emerge bigger.

It takes about 2 weeks for the caterpillar to reach it's full size, which is about 2 inches.  When it's ready, it will attach itself to the underside of a leaf.  If it's in captivity, it will attach itself to anything sturdy it can find...

like the shelf of our hutch.

They hang in this "J" formation until they are ready to form their chrysalis.

If you are lucky enough to actually catch them in the act of forming the chrysalis, you should watch it!!!  It is fascinating!  Don't bother trying to run for your camera, you will never make it back in time.  It's better to just watch and enjoy.  This is what the chrysalis looks like right after the caterpillar has wriggled off it's skin, but before the chrysalis has had a chance to harden into it's beautiful jeweled loveliness.

Now after it has hardened.

You can just make out the jeweled parts of the chrysalis in this photo.  It does not do it justice at all. 

After about 2 weeks, the chrysalis starts to change.

It's thinning out and becoming transparent.  You can just see the butterflies wing.  It gets more and more translucent as time goes by.

Until it starts to split down the side.

Until... woosh!

The butterfly pumps it's wings full of the fluid it's been storing until they are fully expanded.  It takes several hours for the wings to completely harden.  After a couple hours, the butterfly will not mind being gently held.  This is a good time to let your children (if they are careful) hold the butterfly.  We have just as much fun releasing the butterfly as we do watching the life cycle changes.

They will sit for a long time out on a flower before they are capable of flying away. 

Here is a picture of a female monarch.

And, here is one of a male.  Notice the 2 dark spots on the backs of each wing.  These are glands that only the males have.

Raising monarchs has been such an enjoyable task for us and for our children.  If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend it.  You need a constant fresh supply of milkweed plants at your disposal.  And you will want a nice safe place for them to munch and grow.  Here's our basic setup - a large couple gallon glass container with a screen fitted on top.  Inside we have a jar with water where we put fresh milkweed leaves.

Monarchs are special because they migrate each winter.  The species goes through 4 different generations each year.  The first, born in March and April, are the offspring of the fourth.  The second generation butterflies are born in May and June, and the third in July and August.  Each of these generations lives only as long as it takes to lay eggs - 2 to 6 weeks.  The fourth generation, born in September and October, will migrate to the warm climates of Mexico or California.  They will live for 6 to 8 months, and begin their journey back to the place of their forefathers.

You can learn more about monarch butterflies at these sites:
http://monarchwatch.org/
http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/index.html
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/
http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/monarch_butterfly.htm
http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/butterflies/monarch/

August Blues ... and Elders

August came tip-toeing up behind me only to leave me startled and wondering what happened to summer.  Not that it's gone already.  But it is August.  For so many families, that means summer only has a few weeks left.  School will be starting.  Everyone is trying to squish what they can out of the bits of time they have left.  Over the next couple days, I'm trying to squish what I can out of the blueberries we picked over the weekend and this morning, and the elderberries my sister-in-law picked for us yesterday.  I want to make blueberry jam using the no sugar recipe in the Pamona's pectin box and elderberry jelly.  And maybe some elderberry syrup.  (Probably dreaming on that one, but why not?)

The tomatoes are starting to come in full force.  So, I expect to make our first batch of salsa at the end of the week.  I've been harvesting and freezing green beans.  We are having the best pepper harvest we have ever had.  My garlic and onions are drying and awaiting storage.

As a homeschooling mom in Ohio, it's time to start putting together our notifications.  That means deciding on our materials for the year, making sure the evaluations are in order, and putting it all together and in the mail to the Board of Education.  We are lucky in that our county is very easy going about homeschooling.

This week will be filled with canning, piecing together our homeschooling materials (even though that is flexible), and squeezing in some visits with friends and family who will be going back to school in a couple weeks.  Swimming, sleepovers, sharing meals, and just plain having fun!

What fun will you be having this week?