In the Midst of Chaos (CC Cycle 3 Week 11) : Half a Hundred Acre Wood

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This week we finished one of our Long-Term Projects, An Overview of the 18th Century Lapbook.

Completed Overview of the 18th Century Lapbook

Now we can check that off the list.

Stephen has been enjoying the Adventure Tales of America Student Activity Book this week (to be used with Adventure Tales of America Vol 1 and Adventure Tales of America Vol 2), which includes a bit about the Civil War, although Adventure Tales of the Civil War and Reconstruction has a lot more detail.

Stephen studies the graphical representations of events surrounding the Civil War in Adventure Tales of Civil War & Reconstruction

Stephen really analyzed the pie graph charts depicting the number of American lives lost in different wars, which led to some great discussions. We also found a Timeline of U.S. Wars & Casualties and Price of Freedom: Americans at War Learning Resources. Let me just say that these resources thrilled me, as it ties into many different weeks in our history memory work and is just what a visual learner like me needs for studying U.S. Wars.

The Harriet Tubman Mini-Book contained little flaps for hiding the slaves, which made it an instant favorite. The boys were already aware of who Harriet Tubman was and the events & history behind the Underground Railroad because we had completed those in a previous week. (Scroll to the bottom for additional links.

Instead of doing a regular Saxon assignment, I let Stephen plot Abe Lincoln on this Mystery Graph of Lincoln.

Reading:

Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln by Doreen Rappaport

Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale (Introducing His Forgotten Frontier Friend) by Deborah Hopkinson

Abe’s Honest Words was in the $5 Value Bin at Wal-Mart for those who want to see if it is also available at their location.

I’ve made a few changes to some of our long-term reading/listening. Though I let the boys listen to some excerpts from the free audiobook, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, it has mature themes and language that would be better to postpone until high school. Plus, we are already reading Amos Fortune, Free Man, which is a bit lighter than the former, and we are still reading Dear Levi: Letters from the Overland Trail, as well. (I had never read Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and because we had listened to very little of the book, it was still on our to do list over the past couple of weeks. I have since listened to a few chapters on my own and decided it was NOT something to be shared with my children at this point.)

I also have decided to use American History Stories instead of A Short History of the United States because it is more conversational, and the boys like it more. However, American History Stories is only available as a pdf (not an audiobook) for the Civil War Time Period. Still, Stephen requests American History Stories over any other history book (including SoTW) at this point. (American History Stories Volume 4: Abraham Lincoln through the War Between the States by Mara Louise Pratt-Chadwick.)

What about David & Levi? I somehow don’t have many photos of them doing school work this week. Which leaves me wondering if they did anything? (Oh, wait! Yes, they did. But most of the time David is in his underwear. Why won’t that boy keep his clothes on?!)

Levi did help me take apart the box fans and put them back together again.

A fun review game!

We played the States Game: I have… Who has… in the grade 5/6 class this week. It’s already been requested again for review next week… (We play this together as a family, and I’ve used it in the grade 3/4 class. It really is a great review of States & Capitals!)

Our field trip this week: Whistlestop at The Adventure Science Center in Nashville

What I was lacking when I decided to take the boys to Whistlestop at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville.

We are planning to build a model train around the ceiling of the boys’ rooms when Gary gets home…

Which scale will we choose? Decisions, Decisions!

Oh, how I wish Gary could have been there with us!

I conquered my fear of Tin Whistle (sort of) when I taught the grade 5/6 class this week, though the only music theory practice our children got was when they played the big pipes at the Adventure Science Center.

Levi conducted a little gas exchange in the alveoli.

A huge heart in which we pointed out the arteries and the veins. Of course I found a way to tie in our memory work while we were at the science museum!

Though Stephen was intrigued with fixing up this ailing dummy, Levi was a little unsure of himself here..

Circumstances this week…

They actually installed the wrong carpet. Would you believe that Gary and I picked out the one carpet that is incorrect on all the Mohawk carpet samples scattered throughout the U.S.? I can’t believe some people in Pleasant Shade, TN would wreak such havoc down in Atlanta! And we thought we were just simple quiet folks living in the country…

I find it ironic that the house will be finished this coming week. I will have worked as a tutor for nearly the entire semester (since I’ve substituted all but one week while we’ve been here) during the chaos of building onto our home… I still argue that I am NOT cut out to be a tutor. God designed me to be just a mom – a tutor’s helper. I’m already praying that tutor positions will be filled next year well in advance…

Reality for us

I keep getting this question:

“How do you get so much done?!?”

The fact is, I don’t. Many times I post what I hope our school day will look like at some point, but this year has proven that we don’t stick to the plan. For example, if you’ve read how we’re surviving Essentials this year, I started writing what we were doing in Essentials, only to realize that we weren’t doing all of that… just yet! (Gary calls this “Hopeless Optimism.”) At one time we were kind-of-sort-of following the plan, but that was before the reality of life hit us upside the head. So, here’s how we do what we do in the midst of chaos:

Because my husband is gone, we have the flexibility to do school at night without interfering with “family time.” You’ll notice in many a photo that it looks kind of dark outside… That’s because it is! We’ve completed science experiments at 10 o’clock at night and sometimes use weekends to “catch up” on activities that we really wanted to do.
We are still working towards our goal in Essentials. The main thing is – we sing the songs and orally complete charts. That’s been our survival mode this year until our home is back in order.
Our oldest son loves to do what he considers “fun” activities. All I have to do is leave something lying on the table (like a mini-book or science craft), and he usually will do it without my ever asking. I would not have much of an “educational” (or “inspiring”) blog if it weren’t for him. He inspires me. Seriously.
Again, our oldest son is very independent. He works through Saxon Math 5/4 on his own. All I have to do is coach him and remind him to stay on task. Our kindergartner works through Saxon Math 1 very well, so it only takes about 10-15 minutes to complete his math assignments. Levi usually plays or colors or uses his dry-erase boards during that time.
My oldest son and I sit together to do IEW, which is really the only task that he needs my undivided attention on. Usually, David and Levi will play (or argue, but mostly play. Kind of, sort of) while I work with Stephen.
Sometimes I forego something so that we can do a “fun” activity. We are only on Saxon Math Lesson 29 at this point. Though David is a bit farther than Stephen, it just was too much to concentrate on math while chainsaws, circular saws, sanders and other extremely loud equipment was running in our home.
We usually limit ourselves to one extracurricular activity per child per semester. I can’t spend all my time on the road going to and fro and stay sane while Gary’s gone. I just can’t do it. I don’t even enjoy my time with the kids when I’m having to drive all over the place. So, we don’t. And that leaves time open for “fun” activities.
Though we watch videos, we do not subscribe to network television. So, what might normally be time we spend watching tv is spent watching a video on the nervous system, for example. That does not mean we don’t watch other videos, but if I don’t have to watch “CSI” (which gave me nightmares the one time I watched it, by the way), that’s time I can spend doing other stuff, like blogging.
I bribed my children to finish a lapbook this week. Thank goodness for Whistlestop!
Blogging is my hobby. Others have more productive hobbies, but when I wind down for the night, I try to write a little bit on here every day (though I only publish once or twice a week). It’s my gift to my husband and children (for when we publish our Blog2Print memory books). And, as I’ve said before, it is my mediocre form of ministry to other stressed out moms out there.

So, you see… life is not perfect for us. And we don’t get much done by my standards. But we try to make the most of life, and sometimes that means not doing anything. This year has been one of those seasons where I had to just learn to let go and enjoy life as it is – in the midst of the circumstances. The key is to not compare to others, which is really difficult as we try to be the best mom and teacher in the world. But you ALREADY ARE the best mom and teacher in the world for your children. God gave your children to YOU to work out His specific will for their lives. So, it’s okay to not be like us. Believe me, IT IS OKAY!!! Just check this out:

The real me

It’s been so chaotic this school year. Three months of destruction, reconstruction, and interruption has left me totally on-edge, over-reactive, and at a state of utter frustration at times. I’m disappointed in myself, not because I couldn’t stay on plan or because I failed to “do” such-and-such, but because I didn’t always react and behave the way I should. I’ve had to seek forgiveness from my children on days when I just about blew a gasket and did not hold myself together the way a good role model should. The coming week will show the final product of that which I’ve allowed to stress me out beyond belief (and, in essence, succumb to a heart of ungratefulness.) And yet, through it all, words cannot express my gratitude that God would allow us to build onto our home and give each of our boys their own space. That we can now have an area to conduct school without being crammed around the kitchen table is more than I ever expected in this life. And, more than anything else, I am thankful that God has granted me eyes through which to see my precious children in the midst of the chaos.

As I look at my oldest son and see how much he’s growing up, I relish these evenings when he puts on his PJs, yells, “Ready for the surprise?!?” and then comes running at me from around the corner, acting out whatever it is he’s wearing. All too soon, these memories we only be memories. I am so very thankful for this precious moment that still exists…

Take a moment in the midst of your own chaos to recognize the little things, for all too soon, they will fade into memories of times past.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. -Philippians 4:8

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We never get around to doing much on our “to do” list, but all of the following are available on this Resources Page. It’s broken down into subjects and then weeks, so you must scroll down for each subject, but you’ll be missing out on a lot if you don’t scroll through each subject to the current week… We will continue to try to make a dent in this list because there are so many neat activities available for this time period!

Civil War History Activities

Civil War Soldiers

Civil War Connections

Civil War at-a-glance

Who Am I? Military History Game

Compare Two Worlds: North vs. South 1861

Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life

HSITW Time Travelers Civil War Sample

PBS Freedom: History of Us – A War to End Slavery

Ten Mile Day and the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad

Free Caddie Woodlawn study guide

Notebooking & Creative Writing Pages, Fact Pages, Biographies at ABC Teach (worksheets at top of page are free)