Madeline: A Lapbook

The last two weeks we have been 'rowing'* Madeline.  If you're not familiar with Five In A Row (FIAR), you read a book each day for five days and complete learning activities.  This is our first year with FIAR & our first year creating lapbooks.  A lapbook is (taken from web):

An educational method that involves (usually younger) homeschoolers making "mini-books" about what they are learning. It provides space for drawings, writings, timelines, pictures, graphs, or stories on any topic of current study, and is designed to fit on a child's lap.

Over the past year, I had been looking for more unique, creative & fun ways to homeschool my littles.  I read blogs, peeked on Pinterest, visited many curriculum sites & consulted with other homeschooling Mommas.  Lapbooking is the one that I thought & prayed about continually.  It wasn't too expensive.  The kids could regularly use scissors, markers, paint, glue, hole punches & more.  So it was decided.

As I started bookmarking sites & pinning ideas, I kept running across common books, like Madeline, The Story of Ping & more.  It triggered something a fellow homeschooling mom had told me about, FIAR.  FIAR is a curriculum, or rather unit plans for 70 books over 4 volumes!  That really appealed to me.  I'm not a huge fan of lesson planning.  So, having suggested activities & discussion points for books . . . it was just what I was looking for!  I have more to say about lesson planning & prepping for lapbooking, but I'll save that for another day.

Here are La & AMP's Madeline Lapbooks:

I have the kids print/sign their names to the covers & date them.  I have a basket in the living room where they will place their completed lapbooks.  The love showing their work to guests & grandparents.  After this school year, or when my basket starts overflowing, I'll relocate the lapbooks to my filing system.

La begs & pleads to do school - every day!  Even after I've been up all night with a croupy twin or have 20 lbs. of tomatoes to process, she's at my feet begging to do school.  This year she is so proud to be working right along side her big brother & I love having her there!  She is so much fun to teach . . . unless she's having a "like Momma" day.  She can be stubborn . . . like me, and only want to do things on her own terms.  Definitely something to improve upon over her years at the Academy for the Absent Minded & Seriously Silly.

 La does everything AMP does in our lapbooks, but often in a slightly different way.  For example, I write titles, verses, lists & passages out & she traces them.  In math for Madeline, we talked about symmetry.  She  could grasp it enough to classify pictures into symmetrical & asymmetrical piles.  But she struggled with completing shapes to make them symmetrical.

AMP, on the other hand, grasped the concept of symmetrical & quickly completed the other sides.  He then went a step further & turned his symmetry cards into common objects.  The upper left to right:  a package that arrived in the mail, a face, the Red Cross logo.  Lower left to right:  pizza, a heart --> AMP ♥ MOM, and last but not least, an oyster cracker.  I love his creativity.

I am in awe of how proud La is of her work!

In addition to our symmetry discussions, we had handwriting using a passage from Madeline, we rhymed, looked at the major organs in the body so we could learn what an appendix is, discussed the importance of & proper hand washing and ordering from largest to smallest (and the smallest one was Madeline).

AMP loves to cut.  We used to have a box of scrap paper that I would let the older two cut.  That turned into a confetti mess at least twice a week.  Much to their disappointment, I put it all away after Christmas.

Scissor Ninja, AMP.  He often will say, "Thanks for not having us do workbooks all the time."  ♥

We spent 2 afternoons exploring France.  We read a few books from the library about France & found a video to watch.  We all loved it!!  Afterwards, we made a flap book about where France is, another with the flag of France & a third book containing facts about France.  The little Tour of France book with the bow was fun!  It includes real printed photos of famous places in France that can be seen in the illustrations in Madeline -- such as Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, 

AMP is pointing to his favorite part - the maze.  He loves mazes so much that the tooth fairy brought him a book of mazes instead of money.

There is a line in Madeline, "They smiled at the good and frowned at the bad."  So I brought in some scripture - Philipians 4:8-9.  We discussed it - specifically identifying good things to think about.  And that when something goes wrong, we should find the good & be thankful for it.  We also read Colossians 3:12 & 1 Peter 3:10.  

If you're interested in making a Madeline book like ours, you can find 100% of these mini-books & such at HomeschoolShare in FIAR Resources Volume One.  Here if you have problems locating it.

Bibliography:

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmanns

France by Rachel Grack

Eiffel Tower by AV^2 - Virtual Field Trip

The Human Body by Sonja Black (not available on Amazon - our library had it)

Nature Math by Penny Dowdy

Patterns Outside by Daniel Nunn

Video: France - Countries Around the World (not available on Amazon - found at our library.  Amazon does have the Activity Packet for the video series.)

* rowing - to study by reading a book each day for 5 days via FIAR & other fun learning activities that you                                        can create!

Some credit on the photos go directly to AMP & La.

A & B Scrabook Pages

I'm trying to get caught up on some important moments in our life.  First to tackle was the birth of the twins. I always want to get it down on paper so I don't forget.

 Credits for all 3:  Sahlin Studio - I'll Love You Forever

It's been so enjoyable to get these completed.  And so bittersweet.  We're pretty sure they'll be our last babes.  Lots of tears shed while working on them.

As I post this, I hear my littles through the baby monitor.  They're upstairs playing school.  A&B are only 2, but AMP & La are working on addition with them.

La:  What's 1 + 2?

B:  uh?

La:  It's three.

B:  Tree?

La:  Yes, three.

B:  Tree.

LOVE them!!

Solo

J is going to be gone for a few days.  He asked months ago to attend a workshop on design that will be held across the state.  I know how useful this information will be to him, so I gladly gave him my blessing.  He will be gone for 2 nights, 2 days, but 3 bedtimes.

The day has arrived for Him to depart.  It really snuck up on us.  I didn't start prepping the kids for his absence like I normally do.  I really hit us last night.  Now he has just over 3 hours before leaving.  I'm pretty sure he's napping with the kids right now.

And the worst is that I'm mourning or anxious or something . . . I can't quite put my finger on it.  I know I'll be fine while he is away.  I know that God is more than able to do immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine.

But my chest is tight - if feels like both twins are sitting on me.  And I want to cry.

We're not apart over nights . . . like hardly ever.  The last time was while I was crafting at a weekend retreat with the gals.  I can handle that, even though it is hard to say goodbye.

And before that, a few other crafting retreats . . .

At least he's not flying to New York again & gone fore 5 days.  That was hard.

I don't sleep well when he's not here.  Or . . . really I don't fall asleep well.  My strategy has become to read or watch TV until I fall asleep in the process.  I can't just turn off the lights & lay down.  My mind starts racing then.  I noodle.  The "what ifs" zoom around in my brain until I'm planning on how I will be able to keep homeschooling our 4 while being a single parent.  It's awful.

So, if you think of it, pray for me.  For my almost overwhelming anxiety over J's absence.

Our Upcoming School Year

Well, we actually started 2.5 weeks ago.  And we are trying something new.  I can't wait to start documenting our journey this year!  It is so much fun & no one has yet to complain!!

7: Food Fast Wrap Up

My husband & I completed our 7 food fast about 3 weeks ago now.  If you happened on to the blog & started reading my daily posts, I apologize for suddenly ending them. It just got to be too much to blog every day with the kids around.  Try writing deep thoughts & more profound truths when the 4 littles are in the background or you're just simply exhausted.

So, how did it go?

Not as bad as I thought.  The first 2 weeks were the most difficult - coming down off sugar & caffeine along with some pre-menstrual hormone garbage - I would just be plain mad that I couldn't have chocolate.  Mainly chocolate.

The last 2 weeks + odd days weren't so bad.  After 'cleansing' the system, I was doing well sticking to our list of 7 foods/categories.  We went to a handful of other gatherings & ate what was there.  J & I felt very strongly that we shouldn't be placing our burden of 7 on other people.  It was between us & God, not our hosts & God.

And then we were especially careful when his mom & stepfather visited.  I ate sweet rolls because we didn't want to deal with the questions & doubt & criticism.  It would have taken away from their time with the kids (& driven me crazy) b/c it's all she would have focused on.

What did I take away?

After 4 weeks of almost no sugar, complete absence of caffeine & little variety, I felt more energetic & healthier.

Meal planning & grocery shopping were easier & faster!  You may not have heard this before, but I "shopped the edges."  It refers to just shopping the edges of the grocery store - produce, dairy, meat & bakery departments that are always on the edges.  The only exception is running to the interior to pick up dried or canned beans and the occasional snack for the kids (like goldfish).

Meal planning was a snap.  I didn't have to think about seasonings.  It was always salt & pepper.  Our protein was always chicken or beans or both.  We ate whatever veggies came in our box & truly did enjoy them!  We feasted on fresh berries & cherries . . . oh & when the fresh fruit truck came to our area with boxes of ripe-picked peaches . . . OH!!  There were days when I ate 4-5 delicious Georgia peaches!!

I felt good about what I was eating.

But what I didn't expect was this enormous weight off my shoulders.  I didn't realize the guilt that I carried around all the time because I would be eating . . . 'garbage' - sweets, fat-laden deliciousness or processed goodness filled with preservative.  It must have been so consistently there for so long that I just didn't notice the weight. My body & brain slowly changed it's homeostasis to include this burden as normal.

The aftermath?

I'm purchasing more produce & whole foods.  I'm cooking with more whole foods.  I'm eating less (close to zero) processed (though the leader VBS snacks are going send me into a 7 tailspin!).  I'm sticking with baking my own fresh ground, whole wheat bread.  I'm eating less sugar, drinking less caffeine.  Right now I'm having a cup of half-caff, determined that I will not go back to full caff.  Unfortunately, I see it a necessary evil to combat the drowsiness from my allergy medicine since Ragweed season is just beginning.

But I'm going to be praying about all of this.

In hindsight, I'm so thankful for my fast.  I hope that I always remember what the Lord taught me.  I don't want to be filling my temple with junk.  I don't want to be carrying around guilt.  And I don't think He wants me to either.

Just thinking about how my kids will be eating & living . . . making better choices & in greater freedom.