Canadianized AO Year 2

UPDATED HERE

Well, as you have probably heard, we are trying AmblesideOnline again - which means we need to Canadianize it.   There are some ideas on doing this on the AO site here, but for Years 1-3, we just didn't have access to any of the Canadian History books recommended.  I am still not totally satisfied with the history books we have found - but will make use of what is available.

My general plans for all the years, are available here, (there are some changes) - but this post will give much more detailed information for Year 2, including fitting it in the AO Year 2 schedule.  Note that we haven't done Year 2 yet - so there may be changes in the future.

Most of the year will be based on AO's Year 2

Booklist Change Summary:

• Remove - This Country of Ours.  (Used the D'Aulaire biographies where there is an option.  TCOO is not used at all)
• Add - The Story of Canada  - Janet Lunn (Note that you could also use My First History of Canada / Great Canadian Lives option - I haven't planned out the weeks for that option)
• Add - Canadian Minutes from Historica (these are the "Canadian Minute" ads from TV - we watch them online)
• Add - The Fishing Summer (authors last name is Jam)
• Add - The Fabulous Song (authors last name is Gillmor)
• Add - Owls in the Family (Fawley Mowatt)
• Optional in Free Reads - Abraham Lincoln & Brighty of the Grand Canyon 
• Note - we also don't do Trial and Triumph

Note - I generally tried not to add something without removing something, so as not to overburden the year. For History, that was generally easy, as we were not doing Trial and Triumph, and also removed the US History.   For Literature, I made 2 books optional in the Free Reads - and 2 of the Canadian additions are fairly "light"   I also looked at the number of readings each week, as well as chronology of the history, to determine where to add in the Canadian content.

Weekly Changes 
(I haven't noted the readings by week that you don't read from the AO schedule for the books that were removed.)

Week 1

• Watch the Vikings  Canadian moment on Historica
• Story of Canada - Strangers on the Coast - 1st Section, and "Where was Vinland"

Week 5

• The Fishing Summer (entire book)

Week 10

• The Fabulous Song (entire book)

Week 13

• Owls in the Family Chapter 1

Week 14

• Owls in the Family Chapter 2

Week 15

• Owls in the Family Chapter 3

Week 16

• Owls in the Family Chapter 4

Week 17

• Owls in the Family Chapter 5

Week 18

• Owls in the Family Chapter 6

Week 19

• Owls in the Family Chapter 7

Week 21  (yes, no reading in week 20)

• Owls in the Family Chapter 8

Week 22

• Owls in the Family Chapter 9

Week 23

• Owls in the Family Chapter 10

Week 24

• Owls in the Family Chapter 11

Week 33

• Story of Canada - Strangers on the Coast - Explorers Section

Week 34

• Story of Canada - Strangers on the Coast - St Stadacona Section

Week 35

• Story of Canada - Strangers on the Coast - Fur Traders and Northern Seas Section

Week 36

• Story of Canada - Strangers on the Coast - Rats, Weeds, and Viruses Section

Trying to work it all out

I know I haven't posted often this whole year - I just have felt like our homeschool just hasn't been running quite the way I want all year...  and it has caused us to be doing light homeschooling for a month or two (reading, writing, arithmetic) while I try to work things out for next year.  And I have been working hard to figure things out for next year.  Of course, my non-homeschooling friends feel that next school year is so far away.... but I feel like it is really close.

I am getting things worked out.... well, some things.  Others I'm trying to work out still.  It is amazing the number of things to decide.  Did I want to continue a CM program, or should we do something else?  If doing CM, what program - or should I try to make my own?  Do work together as a family (with level-appropriate added activities) - like Simply Charlotte Mason?  Or do everyone working on their own level - like AO?  This seemed so fundimental!  And then... do SCM? Milestones? Old Fashioned Education? Higher Up and Farther In? Ambleside Online? Tanglewood? Something else?  My own plan?

Everything had advantages and disadvantages.  And I admit - my decision on what to do kind of surprised me.

I think we are back to AO!  Yes, I hate "This Country of Ours" (which several of the CM programs use.) - and I don't like the AO Advisory's response to criticisms of this book.  BUT, that said.... as we are doing Canadian History instead.... we weren't even going to use the book.

So now, having worked this out.... I'm trying to figure out more of the implementation details for the family.  I won't have time to do all the readings to both Delta and Echo (not to mention some good readings for Foxtrot and Golf) - so we will need to use a few audiobooks as well.

I need Delta to be able to be more independent - which is something I think will work well with him.  So I need some organization which allows that... which is where I'm stuck right now.  Here are the options I'm looking at...

• planner along the lines of www.URtheMom.com 
• workboxes
• daily printouts from the SCM Organizer [SCMO] (which we already use)
• a "weekly printout" (daily printout, with various items showing upcoming assignments) from SCMO
• another paper schedule - I saw one I liked that had 3 weeks on a (2 sided) page!
• having Delta mark things off on the computer - either with SCMO or Skedtrak, or another similar

And again, there are advantages and disadvantages of each option.

• planner like from UR the Mom - I'm not sure how to go about doing the recommended goal setting when using a scheduled program like AO....  and (like all the options) - I need to have the AO schedule in some format for Delta to reference....   This does allow the most independence, including decision making (if I don't schedule each day.)  I like a lot of the ideas of this - just trying to figure out how to make it work for us.
• workboxes - this worked well for us our first year of AO, and I really like the idea of it.  I also think this might work the best for Echo at this stage.  It allows for independence - but not decision making. The problem is the space it takes.... even the various variations.  We did workbox folders for part of our other AO year - it worked ok (not quite as well) - and it had the advantage of portability....   This really is a big space question.
• Daily printouts from SCMO - we have done this in the past too - there is an issue about the amount of paper that ends up being used... 2 or 3 pages per person per day isn't uncommon!
• "Weekly printout" from SCMO - the SCMO isn't setup to do this - but you can get 3 more assignments to show up by opening up the next assignments - so that is almost a weeks worth for most things.  Less paper than Daily printouts - still more than I really want...
• The 3week mini-term schedule.  I liked this - it used 3 different colours - 1 for each week - and you setup all the assignments for the 3 weeks.  But it would take a lot of editing, as I have to make it for each mini-term.  (I'm sure the first takes the longest).  It just seems like a lot of work that I shouldn't have to do....
• Using the computer for Delta to see what is available, as well as to mark it off.  This would be great as I already have everything in SCMO - but some of the things I have done to put in the AO schedule - makes sense to me, but wouldn't to him.... plus there isn't a student login - so he could, in theory, mess something up in the schedule.   I looked at Skedtrak (which is free) that has student logins - but then.... I'll have to duplicate the work I do already in SCMO... and I think I had tried it and found it a little less convenient that SCMO....

I am also a little "scared" of the upcoming year, with 2 different levels of AO - especially since Echo is complaining about doing a couple of little subjects of school each day - and they are so used to "light school"...  I'm worried about juggling the need for my help, and the overall time that might be needed.  I guess we will see how it goes.

Out of This World!

Echo, Zulu, Major Hansen, Delta

Earlier this week, we got to meet a Real Live Astronaut!  Mike was reading the news, and discovered that Major Jeremy Hansen, Astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency, would be giving a talk at the museum to a few groups, and that the public could register for remaining seats.  Knowing a great opportunity, and the love that Delta has for all things space - how could I pass it up?   I even arrange with Bravo to have Zulu miss school so we could take him too.

Because I knew it would be a popular event, we arrive early.  We were waiting before Major Hansen even arrived.... but that worked out well as he stopped as he was coming in, introduced himself, shook all their hands, and posed for a picture.  Oh, and being the first in line, we got seats right up front.  

Major Hansen gave a great presentation about space, and had a good slide show.  (Ok, Power-point presentation.)  We learned important things like: right now astronauts HAVE to learn Russian; the module in which they travel too and from the space station is VERY tiny and cramped; because the travel is done in Russian Rockets, they land the module in the Russian fashion - like a car crash on land (not a splash-down in the ocean!); and that the ride in the air-plane that is used to simulate zero-gravity is a lot of fun.  They also learned that if they want to become an astronaut, the important things to do are: do something you truly love (for him that was flying and the military, for others it may be science, or medicine, or something else.); get a degree - probably a masters or Phd, and then watch for opportunities to apply.

At the end, they had formal pictures.  By the way.... we just wore the Scouting uniforms because it just seemed like the thing to do.

New Free Tool

I found a great little tool yesterday - and the best part is - it is free!

Anki is a flash-card program that you can use directly on your compute, from the web, and many mobile devices.  I came upon it while I was considering what to use for doing some basic spelling with Delta that he could do on his own - but it has so much more potential than that!

I have found it fairly simple to use so far, although I do recommend watching the videos to find out how to best setup your cards.  With a little customization, you can do even some pretty complicated things like "3 or 4 sided cards"  (for instance, one "side" has you saying a word (by recording you saying it), another "side" has the word typed out (the answer for spelling) - but you could also set it up so that it shows the word, and you try to remember the definition!

There are premade cards for various subjects that you can download to use - but really I think at this point that making your own can be a lot more productive.

But I haven't mentioned the best part yet....  it is designed to show you the cards at a frequency to help you best remember it based on how hard or easy you find that particular card.  I'm not claiming to totally understand the method used (I haven't seen the formula or anything like that...) - But when you look at the answer of the card, you indicate whether you got it wrong, got it right but it was hard, right and it was easy, or right and it was very easy.   When it will show you that card again will depend on things like how hard you found it, and how you have done on that card previously.


So - here is what I'm doing with it so far.... (keeping in mind I found it yesterday)

Math - I have entered in the addition math facts.  Yes, RightStart doesn't use flashcards... but I figure a few minutes a day won't hurt, and could help.  I tagged each fact with the strategy(ies) being used - so I can in theory have it select cards based on a strategy I want them to practice.  I will add other facts later.

Spelling - I have entered in a few spelling words to give this a try.  For these cards, I am requiring an answer to be typed in

Scripture Memory - I have entered our Scripture Cards into this, so that we are less likely to forget a scripture.  One thing I noticed right off, is I don't have the scriptures and their references matched up in my head - so I have added a "hint" button to the references... when I click on the hint, I get a topic or a couple of words to get me started.   I have these cards testing both ways - give me the reference and I try to say the scripture - or give me the scripture and I try to give the reference.   I may end up adding in some intermediate cards with these - ones that show most of the scripture, but with some words missing, etc...

Violin - I'm not sure if this is going to work the way I want, and I had to do some tweaking... but I've entered in the names of the violin songs we practice.  The card will come up, and the child plays the song - then evaluates how they did to give the answer a rating....  it should help us practice songs that aren't known as well more often than the ones they have been playing for years....   But I had to do some adjusting... I am hoping I have it so that the songs will be played at least once every 3 weeks no matter how mastered they are listed as...   I'll need to monitor that... if it is set so the card/song isn't due to come up for too long a time - I'll reset that card to be a new card...

Plans....

This program was originally made to help people learn languages (specifically Japanese) - so I plan to put our foreign language vocabulary and eventually phrases in.  With ASL, I'd want to find either Videos or very good pictures of the words.

Other Memory - Scouting promises/laws/mottos,  poems, other "facts" that come up...  Maybe even setup a fun one with clips of music and they have to say the group/performer or the title....  (their dad would get a kick out of that...)

One minor thing - it seems to be designed for one user... but you can have various "decks" of cards, and can import and export... so you may want to name the decks things like Delta Spelling and Echo Spelling.  You just need to make sure you keep them all with all the cards...   (for one user, you can sync cards and progress using the internet to multiple computers and devices...)

The kids can't wait to try it out tomorrow!

Oh, and in case you think I forgot... you get the program here!

The glasses are here

Golf's First Day with glasses

After 2 weeks, and the lenses being rejected twice by the optician, Golf now has her glasses.  We got a very toddler/baby friendly type called MiraFlex.  The frames are made from a flexible plastic, and are only one piece with no hinges... so they shouldn't break.  They have a little headband to help keep them on, and nothing that should hurt her.  I've been told that she can even nap in them.

So far she has taken to them quite well.  We got them early this afternoon and she wore them without complaint for quite a few hours.  It was quite interesting when we first put them on her, then showed her a mirror - as she was quite fascinated with her face.  I hadn't realized until we ordered her glasses how far-sighted she is.  Her prescription is around a  +8.  This means that most of the things she has been looking at up to now, especially close things, have been a big blurry mess to her.  (Oh, this is also why the lenses are so finickity to get right - as they had to be made out of light-weight lenses, but it is quite a strong prescription.)

She hasn't been wearing them well this evening - but I imagine her nose and ears are tired - plus it must be hard on the eyes/mind with the big change.  There is only a short time to bedtime - and so we will start fresh in the morning.  I hope she mostly wears them well, as she can be quite stubborn if she wants - and it will be a lot harder keeping them on than it was a few years ago with my 3 year old...    I've been told that usually with that strong of a prescription, the child quickly wants to wear them so they can see, and that "compliance" in wearing them usually isn't a problem.

On another note, thought I'd add a picture of the kids doing work the other day.  Golf wanted to join in.  Foxtrot was off colouring somewhere (probably on the walls, sigh)....

Cute Song

Found this little song,  sung to the tune of "On the first day of Christmas".  I don't know who created it...


On the first day of Home School my neighbor said to me, "Can you home school legally?"

On the second day of Home School my neighbor said to me, "Are they socialized?, Can you home school legally?"

On the third day of Home school my neighbor said to me, "Do you give them tests?, Are they socialized?, Can you home school legally?"

ON the fourth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "What about P.E.?, Do you give them tests?, Are they socialized?, Can you home school legally?"

On the fifth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, " YOU ARE SO STRANGE!!!!, What about P.E.?, Do you give them tests?, Are they socialized?, Can you home school legally?

On the sixth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How long will you home school?, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!!!!, What about P.E.?, Do you give them tests?, Are they socialized?, Can you home school legally?

On the seventh day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Look at what they're missing!, How long will you home school?, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!!!!, What about P.E.?, Do you give them tests?, Are they socialized?, Can you home school legally?"

On the eighth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Why do you do this?, Look at what they're missing!, How long will you home school?, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!!!!, What about P.E.?, Do you give them tests?, Are they socialized?, Can you home school legally?"

On the ninth day of home school my neighbor said to me, " They'll miss the prom!, Why do you do this?, Look at what they're missing!, How long will you home school?, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!!!!, What about P.E.?, Do you give them tests?, Are they socialized?, Can you home school legally?"

On the tenth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "What about graduation?, They'll miss the prom!, Why do you do this?, Look at what they're missing!, How long will you home school?, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!!!!, What about P.E.?, Do you give them tests?, Are they socialized?, Can you home school legally?"

On the eleventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "I could never do that!, What about graduation?, They'll miss the prom!, Why do you do this?, Look at what they're missing!, How long will you home school?, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!!!!, What about P.E.?, Do you give them tests?, Are they
socialized?, Can you home school legally?"

On the twelfth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Can they go to college?, I could never do that!, What about graduation?, They'll miss the prom!, Why do you do this?, Look at what they're missing!, How long will you home school?, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!!!!, What about P.E.?, Do you give them
tests?, Are they socialized?, Can you home school legally?"


On the thirteenth day of homeschool, I thoughtfully replied, "They can go to college, yes, you can do this, they will have graduation, we don't like the prom, we do it because we love them, they are missing nothing, we'll home school forever, WE ARE NOT STRANGE !!!!, we give them P.E., and we give them
tests, they ARE socialized, and we home school LEGALLY!"

ON the fourteenth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "How can I get started?, Why didn't you tell me?, Where do I buy curriculum?, When is the next conference?, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE'RE STRANGE?, I think we can do this, if you will help us., Can we join P.E.? and we'll home school legally!!"

Baby Glasses

Notice her Left Eye...

I figured it was going to happen....  Golf needs glasses.  This is not unusual in our family.  We have 6 people living in the house... now with Golf having a prescription, 5 of us will wear glasses.  (And most of the adult-kids wear glasses too.)  Foxtrot, at age 3, will be the only one without glasses... at least there has been no indication of a need for them with her.  When she is a bit older, I'll have her pediatrician do a screening test, as she obviously wouldn't be screened at "school"...

This is the youngest child I will have had in glasses, and I'm nervous.  We will be looking to order her glasses tomorrow... we can't use our usual place to buy glasses because they don't carry them that small. Golf is only 20 months.   I remember Delta getting glasses at 3, and it wasn't fun at all trying to keep them on him.  It did work out of course, but it wasn't fun.  Echo was almost 6 when she got them (although she saw the ophthalmologist since age 3 or 4) and it was much easier... the only problem with her is that she doesn't need to wear them all the time (close work, reading, etc) - and it is easy to forget to bring them.

So - how did I know?  Well..... her left eye turns in.  A lot.  This happened occasionally with Delta and Echo - but much rarer, and not as noticeably.  They also seemed to grow out of it while we were on the waiting list for the pediatric ophthalmologist.  I saw it happening much more with Golf though, and probably should have acted quicker.  Not that I left it a long time or anything, but you just kind of want to hope that you are imagining it.  I eventually booked an appointment to get the referral... in December.

So, Delta and Echo had their annual/semi-annual appointment for their eyes - and I knew the referral had been made - so while there I asked when they are booking for the new referrals. (Normally you have to wait for them to call... and that can be a while.) - They were booking for...... December 2012.  Yes - she would have been waiting a year.    I explained to the Assistant that I was concerned about her vision (ok, who isn't that has been referred there...) - and she asked if I'd like to be put on the "Cancellation waiting list".  I said "yes please" - and then she said... "wait..... bring her in [6 days later] at [this time]."  So at least I took almost 10 months off our wait.

So here is what happens, for those that wonder what an eye exam for a young toddler is like:

After he asked what brought us in (I brought a picture of Golf that showed the problem even clearer than the one above...), he had me sit in the examination chair with Golf on my lap. He then had a  quick look at her eyes while he asked about other family member that had similar problems. [hm, just me, Delta, Echo.....]  He then sent us into the room for eye drops (I knew it was coming)

The eye drop room.  My kids hate that room.  The child lies down on a little exam type table, and the assistant puts in a couple of drops in both eyes that must really sting - then puts in a couple of drops that helps it feel better.  The drops over the next 30 minutes make the eyes dialate so they are open very wide.  The child will be a bit sensitive to light for quite a while afterwards.

After the 30 minute wait, we go back into the exam room and I sit in the chair with Golf on my lap again.  The doctor had a little device he could hold and it would spin and make noise - he used that when he wanted her to look at him.  When he wanted her to look straight ahead instead, the screen (which with the other kids would either show a clip of a TV show, the Letters to read, or Pictures to read (for non-readers)) would show little clips of barking toy dogs, quacking toy ducks, and similar things that would interest a young toddler or baby.

So, using the devices mentioned above, he could get her to look where he wanted while he used a light to look at the inside of her eyes through various combinations of lenses.  I imagine that he needs to get the light focused properly at the back of her eyes - but that is my assumption.  He mostly held the lenses, but did at one point put a special set of glasses on her that he can put various lenses into.  He did comment that she is quite farsighted (as he kept changing the lens...)  I am curious to see how thick her glasses might be.

So - that has been our little journey on this!  I'll be sure to post pictures once we get the glasses.  I suspect it will take a week or two...

And otherwise in our life...  Mike was off of work for a month - so we went into a "relaxed" homeschool mode.  And now I've been sick the last 2 weeks... so we have been in "spring break" mode.  Unfortunately that tends to mean more TV and computer (although I try to make sure there is some educational items in there) - but I'm hoping to be better by Monday and get back into a more normal schedule.  Delta has been VERY busy during this time working on Cub badges though, so that is good.  He now has 11 badges, and 1 star.  He has finished 1 more badge, 2 more stars, and 1 award - but they haven't had time to test him to award them yet.  That should happen next week.

And one funny story....  Delta and Echo made bird feeders the other week.  We filled them up with birdseed and put them outside on the trees.  Ok - only as high as I could place them, and just hung on branch stubs - so about head-high.  The next morning the kids announced that the bird feeders were totally empty - and off the trees.  Upon investigation, we saw LOTS of deer tracks and some deer scat.  We thought they had made bird feeders, but apparently they made DEER FEEDERS!

We haven't re-filled them.  Deer are very common on our street and have often been in our yard.... but I don't think we want them encouraged to come here for food, as we have a (very small) garden in our flower beds - and our next-door neighbour usually has quite the garden and already has fun keeping the deer out.