Week 5 ~ Blueberries, Thomas Edison and Appointments

In My Life ~ This week was a little more stressful than recent weeks. I can't even put my thumb on why, exactly. For one thing, we had lots of appointments. Some of the appointments dealt with doing tests to eliminate some scary possibilities because Tom Sawyer's lymph nodes are still enlarged. Thankfully, the tests revealed nothing seriously wrong, and we just need to wait for his very reactive immune system to allow the swelling to go down. Secondly, the dentist announced that the time had come for Tom Sawyer to have a referral to the orthodontist. Two kids in braces at the same time stuns me. Especially so because I suspect that braces are going to be tough on my sensory boy. He, however, is very excited about having them (go figure). Lastly, we have been running around gathering Little Red Riding Hood's ballet gear for Tween Company. She finally made it into shoe size 1. She is almost 10 yet has such little feet. I can't believe my little girl has been dancing for six years. She still truly loves to do it.

Blueberry Picking ~ We went blueberry picking on a mountain top this week. The weather was almost perfect. The wild blueberries were tiny but very sweet. We put them into delicious muffins and a buckwheat-blueberry crisp during the week. The kids loved going into a very cold mountain stream after picking.

Learning Time ~ Despite all the appointments, we did get lots of learning in. Goldilocks is working her way through Prince Caspian  this week. Her book reports are showing slight improvement as the weeks go by. She is still using the word and way too much. She is also struggling with putting the sentences together so they make sense. We are hoping she will be starting reading/writing tutoring in a few weeks. She sure needs more help. Goldilocks began being tutored at her math tutor's school building rather than her home this week. She found the tutor's classroom in the middle school overwhelming even with no students present (tutoring is after school hours). I am glad we did not send her to school this year.

Tom Sawyer and Little Red Riding Hood ~ We had another great week for these two. They did lots of math including Life of Fred, xtramath.org, and Teaching Textbooks. We are almost done with our Thomas Edison unit study. The kids conducted experiments with snap circuits, learned about rubber bands and their stretching properties, and used a chemical reaction to make moth balls bounce. The kids were very busy in art this week. They worked with Grandma making pastel drawings, visited our latest building in our architecture study and made flower chains at the hospital art table. History was filled with CNN Student News and part one of The Century by Peter Jennings. We also watched a DVD on the Endurance Expedition to the South Pole.

Bouncing moth balls

Field Trip ~ We visited All Souls Episcopal Cathedral this week for our architecture study. George Vanderbilt commissioned this church and the building was completed in 1896. It was and still is the crown jewel of Biltmore Village which housed many of the workers of Biltmore Estate. The church style is from the Norman period and is Romanesque with Gothic influences. The floor plan is a basic Greek Cross. We were happy to find it open and empty. The kids enjoyed exploring the layout. They were interested in the large baptistery and enjoyed looking at all of the needlepoint kneeling cushions which have been made by many former parishioners. Tom Sawyer pointed out that the building material, pebble and dash, was used on the outside of the church. He thought it looked dirty and needed a power wash!

Blessings, Dawn

Week 4 ~ Loving Learning

On My Mind ~ This week has been filled with a huge blessing. The pediatrician who cared for my three youngest in infancy and toddlerhood has returned to our area and started a new practice. In 23 years of being a mother, he is by FAR the best pediatrician we have ever had. So now, I am now in the process of transferring all of the children over to his care. One of the things we love about him is that he is a fountain of knowledge and has superior diagnostic skills. He also plans to keep his practice small so he can maintain the personal touch. For instance, he is the person who calls the parent back after hours instead of a triage nurse (who, in my experience, more often than not tells you to go to the ER for everything). He has been an in house hospital (hospitalist) doctor for the last 7+ years, so he really understands some of the more complicated issues that come up with kids. PLUS, he's advertising that he is happy to work with special needs kids! He saved our Tom Sawyer's life years ago, and I am so happy to be back with a trusted doctor. In our first visit (a relaxed hour exam) he explained to me the findings from other doctors about Goldilocks's dizzy spells and told us how to reduce the spells. He also is concerned that she has many characteristics of Marfan Syndrome and wants her checked out by a cardiologist and geneticist. Now, we have worried about Marfan Syndrome among ourselves after researching some of her physical anomalies, but never expected that he would suggest it himself and in the first few minutes of seeing her. I really don't want her to have any syndrome (of course), but it is a relief to have someone knowledgeable look at her and be willing to check it out. It can be a life-threatening condition if it is not followed. Other doctors have commented on one or two of her anomalies, but scoffed at my suggestions of Marfan -- and made no referrals to have her further checked. We are so blessed!

Goldilocks ~ Goldilocks had a busy week. I am really seeing an improvement in her quality of work now that she has a quiet place to work. Here is what she did:

• Listened to The Horse and His Boy.
• Completed 35 pages in math, spelling and reading from Flash Kids Complete Curriculum 3rd Grade
• Read the chapter book, Orv and Will
• Did two book reports
• Kept up with her math from tutoring
• Worked at xtramath.org
• Did art projects at the Arts for Life table at the hospital
• Went to gymnastics class
• Attended our field trip on architecture
• Watched 1900 House every day with her siblings
• Visited the library
• Watched The Red Balloon and wrote a short report about the balloon's feelings
• Worked in her copy work book

Tom Sawyer and Little Red Riding Hood ~ These two are doing so well with learning this year. Here is a list of their activities:

• Played a 3 hour Monopoly game
• Started the unit study on Thomas Edison Young Inventor from Beyond Five in a Row 5 chapters
• Watched CNN Student News
• Started watching the videos of the periodic table from Nottingham University
• Did Lesson 2 of Squilt
• Baked a cake from scratch
• Attended gymnastics class
• Worked at Teaching Textbooks 3 times
• Worked at xtramath.org 3 times
• Read Life of Fred Farming 2 chapters
• Played a homemade memory game of the branches of science
• Went to the library
• Did writing prompts 3 times
• Studied two buildings in our architecture lessons
• Filled in our coloring book for the two buildings
• Ate hot dogs (circa 1916) at a real Woolworth soda fountain
• Did two lessons of All About Spelling level 2
• Packed eggs and dropped them from 15+ feet to see if they would break
• Did lots and lots of Mad Libs
• Made crab apple butter and crab apple sauce

The eggs did not break! They were packed extremely well!

These crab apples are tiny!

Making applesauce the old fashioned way.

Our Favorite Thing this Week

We really had a fun field trip this week. We took our city coloring books and went downtown to look at an Art Deco building and a Spanish Baroque building. We studied the buildings and then colored in the corresponding pictures. The kids also enjoyed the cool, calm Catholic Basilica. They lit candles and spent a few minutes praying. Our town is filled with street performers during the summer and weekends year round, so we watched them for awhile. We also had lunch at our local Woolworth Soda Fountain that is preserved to the way it would have looked in the 1940's.  Everyone (except Tom Sawyer) had hot dogs (circa 1916).  Tom Sawyer had the cheddar broccoli soup which was the only safe thing for him on the menu. I love hands-on learning and so do two of my kiddos.

One of the best examples of Art Deco in North Carolina

Blessings, Dawn

Easing into Our New School Year with a Field Trip

There has been much planning going on around here. I am filled with thoughts for next school year, but I am not completely ready to share them just yet. One thing felt certain as I started firming up our plans...we had too much to do! I decided that we needed to start one subject early and asked Tom Sawyer and Little Red Riding Hood which they would like to concentrate on first. They wanted to start with art. Our first quarter of art this year will be concentrated on architecture. We will be touring our own downtown and studying the many historic buildings. We are blessed to have coloring books of many of the more famous buildings in our little city that was put out many years ago by our preservation society. Plus, we will be studying Frank Lloyd Wright, because he is of great interest to my budding architect. Tom Sawyer. Since Goldilocks is at day camp this week and will not be doing the same lessons as Little Red Riding Hood and Tom Sawyer, it was an ideal day for a field trip.

We decided to take the historic trolley tour in our city to have an overview of all of the great architecture. We had never done the tour before and it far exceeded our expectations. A huge part of the tour was all about architecture. What a perfect introduction to our art lessons! Of course, we have seen these buildings and homes many times but didn't know much of the history behind them. I had trouble catching good pictures in a moving trolley so forgive me ~

We saw a row of Sears Roebuck kit homes.

Then there were the lovely Queen Anne homes in our most historic neighborhood. Our city became known as an ideal location to heal from tuberculosis and by the 1920's boasted 25 clinics that specialized in healing patients. Many homes in this historic neighborhood were converted into boarding homes to accommodate the families of patients at the clinics.

We learned about the first skyscraper in our city (and still the second tallest building). The neoclassical Jackson Building comes complete with gargoyles. I've been in the law office at the top of this building and the views are stunning. It is also considered the most haunted building in our city, because 13 men jumped from this building when the Great Depression started. Much to our horror, we learned that, when the brickwork was redone years ago, a bull's eye was placed to mark the spot where the men fell. I think that is a bit sick and gross. I copied the picture of the bull's eye from another website.

We also saw a modern building designed by the internationally famous architect, I. M. Pei. When this huge building was built in our city square, many residents were upset. However, it gained popularity when everyone realized that the famous Jackson Building was reflected in its windows (as you can see in the picture). The windows reflect the sky and remind visitors that our city is nicknamed the "Land of the Sky".

The beautiful home shown below was once part of the Highland Mental Health Hospital complex. Tragically, Zelda, known as the Jazz Age High Priestess and wife to F. Scott Fitzgerald, plus eight other women were killed in a fire that engulfed the hospital in 1948.    

We rode past several examples of French chateaus. The photo below once was a very large private home but is now many condominiums.

We also saw one of the two "castles" that our fair city claims. This one was built by the owner of that famous insane asylum I mentioned above.

The tour guide told us about different kinds of building materials used in the various buildings. I hadn't heard before about pebbledash, which consists of plaster mixed with either pebbles, sand, gravel or shells. The photo below depicts a pebbledash building.

The tour also went by the famous Grove Park Inn. This hotel was fashioned after a western hunting lodge and has hosted many well-known people. While I had heard of the many important people, including presidents, who have stayed at this inn, our informative tour guide told us of two people that the children and I hadn't hard about -- Al Capone and Albert Einstein.

The kids learned lots and enjoyed their first day of art. We will be going back to study these buildings again, plus many more over the next few weeks. There are so many wonderful details to discover!

Blessings, Dawn