Poetry Teatime: A new element

Poetry Teatime

This year we added a new element to our plans: Brave Writer! I totally wish Julie would adopt me, and show me her homeschool ways. Fortunately, because she has a writing program, she is a fabulous writer that often shares her wisdom on her blog and via Facebook [and The Homeschool Alliance!].

One of the elements of the Brave Writer Lifestyle is Tuesday Teatime. We didn’t get out our finest china this time, but I may have to dig it out. I already know my boys love being read to. I didn’t know how they would like reading poetry to each other. They both actually had a lot of fun!

Poetry Teatime

I collected some of the poetry books Julie had recommended. The boys really enjoyed these. I hope to collect a few more along the way.

I made Lemon Cream Scones as our snack because what proper tea wouldn’t have a proper scone? These are very simple, but every time I make them someone asks for the recipe. They’re not dense like typical scones, but rather more biscuit-like [see Tara’s recipe!].

Poetry Teatime

My boys love chai lattes. I heated 2 bags of chai in water on the stove, and then added some sugar and soy milk. Yum!

~Tara

Read more at Tara’s blog, Monarch Room.

Images shared with permission.

Poetry Teatime

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Copywork Transformed!

Copywork Transformed

Hi Julie!

I have to tell you that we are one week post-copywork/dictation seminar and our copywork experience has been completely transformed! We had a pretty dry/boring routine previously, whereby I would assign passages from their readings, and they would copy them onto loose leaf pages that I would insert in their “Language” binder. It was pretty uninspired, and a bit of a chore. After your webinar I told them we would do things differently and they would have much more ownership over the exercise.

New to copywork? Learn more here.

Skip to now: the kids are ready with their own personal, sparkly notebooks and fancy pencils, jotting down whole pages from the books they are reading. For when they lack their own inspiration, an old jar has been dug up, dusted off and filled with quotes from our favourite books – Harry Potter, Pippi Longstocking, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Phantom Tollbooth! Last night after my kids had gone to bed, I saw my youngest daughter doing copywork by the glow of the hall light, propped up on her elbows in bed. Of course, I let her turn her light back on.

Such a difference! Thank you for the tips and inspiration to make this a much more pleasant and meaningful experience!

Copywork

Just to add – my only rule is for them to write their passages down with the correct grammar, punctuation, etc from the original passage. Despite their best efforts, sometimes mistakes are made, and handwriting is not always perfect. I am overlooking this right now to keep their enthusiasm up. There will be time for that as we go along, I figure. I know that they are already learning from it, since my 8 year old keeps telling me, looking up from her page, that, “Mom, I think I know how to spell ‘business’ now…”. Or, “forgotten” or “Hermione.” What a gift to see such results so quickly!

The marvel isn’t really mine – that’s the best part. I actually just handed it over to them, and told them to utilize the materials that were meaningful to them – and look what happened! Relinquishing the control and trusting the process was obviously the key, and the transformation unfolded organically from there.

~Jennifer

P.S. I am starting my own copywork journal today! I am excited to start!

Brave Writer Arrow and Boomerang Programs

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Friday Freewrite: Proud

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-little-preschooler-girl-displaying-her-picture-preschholer-proudly-image32935740

List all the ways you are proud of yourself this week.

New to freewriting? Check out our online guide.

Image © MNStudio | Dreamstime.com

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“Fine tuning my philosophy of homeschooling”

I_can_I_ought

“The Homeschool Alliance and Julie have been a great resource for fine tuning my philosophy of homeschooling and parenting. Often I’ve found myself lost in the logistics of schedules, lesson planning, and curricula purchases that I have almost lost the original intent. These past two and half months I’ve been able to really focus on the essentials of learning as a family, and finding a more organic rhythm that has nothing to do with a curricula publisher’s arbitrary schedule.

“What Bravewriter has done to give freedom to language arts, the Homeschool Alliance has for all of family life. I love that it is not set up in a forum format. I can just simply read and reflect, or interact with other members as much as I like. After spending time on the site, I feel as though I’ve accomplished a task rather than simply lost track of time.”

~Rebekah

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My family culture

Thanksgiving 2014-blogCaitrin, Liam, Jacob, Johannah, Noah

This weekend, my five adult kids were home for Thanksgiving. This is remarkable to me as it is the first time the entire family has celebrated Thanksgiving together since 2008. Yes, 2008!! They are such travelers that too often someone has been out of the country or off in another state when the holiday rolled around. This year, we did not expect Jacob to be home, but thanks to a scholarship interview, he was flown to the states from Bangkok in time for the the big day.

Much hilarity ensued. And ensued. And ensued.

Oh my goodness, I had forgotten how LOUD these five people are! It was a long weekend fest of traded inside jokes taken from pop culture, song lyrics, books read, movies we’ve all memorized, favorite Shakespeare quotes, and Seinfeld.

There was much SINGING at the tops of their lungs (or rapping, or some hybrid of the two), paired with dancing.

We played endless (I do mean endless) games from Ticket to Ride Europe expansion set to card games like Sushi-Go, a Moroccan version of “I Doubt It” (aka B. S.), Nertz, and Rummy, and Settlers of Catan, ping-pong, and Spoons.

We had too many cooks in my kitchen which was AWESOME. We had more than enough help with the dishes (I even got a text from the one kid who lives with me saying, “Don’t touch the dishes; I’ll do them when I get home from work”). (Yes, there’s hope that they will all one day be GLAD to help you in the kitchen.) Recipes were vegan and not vegan. Noah used his bartending skills to introduce us to new festive drinks.

The catching up on each other’s lives was expansive from learning about the properties of Hindi to the strange lives of the people of ancient Sparta, how ancient Greek compares with modern languages, what it’s like to live in Thailand, how the “system” is rarely fair to under-resourced kids in Brooklyn, and how to become a better and better programmer without going to school at all.

Books were traded, book titles were entered into phones to look up to read to discuss with a sibling via Skype later this year.

Many travel plans were laid so that much intersecting could continue.

Some poignant discussions surfaced in one-on-one times as there were moments available to probe a little deeper, to reflect on past painful interactions that had found their way back to the surface and needed some support or care or understanding that hadn’t been available back when X happened.

It was this weekend where I watched my adults be more of who they are—I recognized them, I was surprised by them, I was proud of them, I was humbled by them.

Kinda cool, actually. All of it. The next step in the parenting journey. We may never have one like this again—no one is married yet so it was just “them.” Love those big kids.

Thanksgiving 2014-blog_2

Cross-posted on facebook.

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