(10.16.21) A Birth Center Birth Story

 Our fourth daughter is quickly approaching TWO YEARS OLD and I am FINALLY sitting down to write out the details I can recall of her pregnancy and birth.  It feels like a lifetime ago in many ways, and yet she still feels so new to our family.  We knew we were pregnant quickly, because I have routinely had intense morning sickness right away.  I was still nursing our third daughter at the time and once again had to wean her more for my sake than anything else.  We were seen by the same OB/GYN practice we used last time at about 7 weeks along since we had one previous miscarriage.  We asked my parents to watch our oldest two daughters, claiming we needed to take our youngest to a doctor's appointment.  She came with us to our first ultrasound and when we saw a healthy baby squirming around on the screen and heard a steady heartbeat, we were so relieved and thankful to God for the unbelievable gift of doing it all over again :) When we got back to pick up our other girls, we showed my parents the ultrasound pictures, to their great surprise, and the celebration began!  One of my favorite memories was telling our three daughters about their new sibling by having Naya read a riddle in the form of a poem.  She had just begun reading with ease and it was so fun to see her try to figure it out as she went.

Because we had a history of miscarriage, our OB/GYN recommends progesterone injections and regular blood draws.  That meant that, similar to our pregnancy with Zara, twice a week my husband gave me a shot (so uncomfortable and awful for both of us) and once a month I went to a lab to get my levels checked and my dose adjusted all in the hopes that the extra progesterone would keep Baby growing. In my dread to begin this protocol again, I hadn't picked up my prescription or started the injections right away. We later learned that my level was an 11 at that first blood draw.  Our midwife commented that in her years of experience, anyone with 10 or lower almost always miscarried.  She was very surprised that our pregnancy continued along well, especially considering we hadn't start the injections on time.  I tucked that comment away in my heart as evidence of God's hand alone sustaining this child.  I had been vomiting constantly, eating almost nothing of nutritional value, and not taking the medicine and yet He had kept this baby safe and growing, regardless. What a beautiful reminder of his care!  This pregnancy we ended up doing the shots for more weeks than we did last time, and my levels did improve some, but they were still always lower than what is considered the normal range. 

One key difference in this pregnancy was that we knew from the beginning we would prefer to deliver at the birth center instead of the hospital.  The providers we were seeing deliver at both places, but previously our insurance hadn't covered the birth center so it wasn't feasible for us.  Now, after our insurance had changed, that was one of the biggest things I was looking forward to:  less interruptions, less prodding, less explaining.  I knew they were comfortable with how I liked to labor and they wouldn't question or burden me.  

At our 20 week ultrasound I was alone because my husband got called for jury duty, of all things!  We were both disappointed, but I was able to record video and send pictures to him as a second best option.  We decided we wanted to be surprised about Baby's gender (as we had in the past), but as a funny twist, I actually ended up watching the entire ultrasound by mistake! I was so paranoid that I had ruined the surprise by accident, but I honestly didn't know what I had seen either way. They did comment that they couldn't get a clear picture of Baby's feet to rule out club feet, so they wanted another ultrasound to double check later. I was hoping that meant my husband would get to come along and see the baby, so I didn't mind too much.

But, what we had no way of knowing at the time was that the very next week, my husband would suffer a major injury that would change the course of our year.  He ruptured his Achille's tendon, and had surgery to repair it soon thereafter.  He was in a lot of pain initially and our lives really changed as we tried to figure out how to have him work from home, how to make our home accessible for him, and how a pregnant woman could do things that an able bodied man normally did around the house, ha. Anyone who knows him can imagine how difficult it was for him to feel like he was burdening me as I was pregnant.  And anyone who knows me can imagine how difficult it was for me to feel like I couldn't help him or comfort him, either. A memory that sticks out to both of us is one evening our girls were playing outside and we were both sitting in the garage chatting and watching them. We hollered to our nearly 2 year old to turn around and walk back towards us, and instead she took off running the opposite direction.  We looked at each other and realized I was going to be the one to have to catch her.  You can visualize my pregnant body hobbling as fast as I could down the sidewalk as our neighbor about fell over laughing at it all. Oof.  It was a very hard season for us, and I largely put the pregnancy in the back of my mind for a season as we focused on the more immediate issues for our family.

The older girls enjoying some outside time as Dad props up his leg.

Baby was cleared of club feet by the following ultrasound. Great!  Then I failed my glucose test for the first time.  Bummer. After many more pokes and prods I passed the 3 hour test.  Great! Then our doctor's recommendation about the new vaccine changed and I should get it before delivery instead of after.  Bummer. Then I got super super sick from that dose (like almost passed out at the grocery store, sick). Big bummer.  It felt like one thing after another for weeks;  nothing major, just something else that added some complication to our very strained, very limited energy and time.

I purchased a online pregnancy workout, a few resistance bands, and even a door anchor (very cool!) to feel like I was training and prepping my body for labor, but I think my husband ended up using the supplies more for his physical therapy than I ever did. As he strengthened and stretched his tendon and went to his appointments, I went on as many evening walks as I could, did lots of stretches, spent loads of time on the exercise ball, and also went to chiropractor appointments much earlier in my pregnancy than I had before. We went to an additional educational class to make sure we were prepared for birth at the birth center, and we hoped and prayed that AJ's ankle/foot would feel strong enough to support me in whatever form labor took.  

I remember overanalyzing lots of feelings/symptoms in the final month or two of pregnancy, and trying to determine if that really meant labor would start sooner, or if it just meant I would feel like it was the end for a longer amount of time.  Our last pregnancy had surprised us by ending in labor starting right at 39 weeks, so part of me assumed that might happen again this time! My one sister was going through a major move and living with my parents for a brief time, and since my parents were our plan for our other children when labor started, there were a few weeks when the timing might have been a little tricky to say the least.  However, in God's good timing, nothing really progressed until right at 40 weeks.

38 weeks 

I woke up early the morning of Saturday, October 16.  I felt a few contractions as I got ready in the morning, but they didn't seem stronger or more concerning than the few I had felt at various other points throughout my pregnancy, so I didn't pay much attention to them. Around 9am I wondered if my water had broken, but it was nothing dramatic, and not much changed afterwards, so I decided I wanted to finally finish the second curtain for our bedroom.  I began pinning, ironing, and sewing.  For the first time, I realized how often I had to stop my work to sway through a contraction or lean over the ironing board.  I remember mentioning to my husband that labor was definitely starting as I headed back to try to hang up the curtain around 11:30am.  I ended up laying on the bed in the dark room as my husband hung up the curtain and our curious girls gathered around, wondering why I was acting so strange.  At this point, I began using the app "Full Term" to time and keep track of my contractions.  I called my midwife to touch base with her, and I called my mother to ask what her day was like, just in case.  The timeline is a little fuzzy to me now, but at some point my mom decided they would leave their house right after lunch and come get our three girls.  My sister was able to ride with my mom, so that someone could then drive our vehicle full of car seats.  By the time they got there and we chatted and got everyone loaded up, I had made up my mind that we were leaving right after them to make the hour drive to the birth center.  

I know that as we arrived at the birth center close to 3pm and walked inside, I was so surprised and relieved to be taken seriously.  The midwife met us, did a quick assessment, and never even performed a cervical check.  She said she could tell I was in active labor by how I was talking, and they could get a room ready for me right away.  I decided I wanted to go on a brief walk outside, because I wanted to get my mind off of everything and relax, plus it seemed like my contractions weren't consistent.  They were sometimes 10 minutes apart, or even a little further, and then every two or three would be much closer together, more like 2-4 minutes apart.  My midwife watched the machine and said it seemed like I was having smaller contractions in between the bigger ones, and sometimes I wasn't even realizing I was contracting because they never got as intense as the others. After a short walk (and picture :) ) in the cool breeze, squeezing my husband's hand, we decided to go back inside and settle in. 

Walking around 3:50pm after arriving at the birth center.

 I know I got in the shower fairly quickly and labored with the warm water hitting my lower back.  I had enjoyed that throughout my pregnancy, so it was a "go-to" when labor started to pick up.  I really thought I'd like to give birth in the tub, so they started to fill it, just in case.  For a while, I got out and dried off, and walked around the large room.  I remember an assistant, a nurse and our midwife popping in every once in a while, but they largely left us alone, as we had mentioned we would prefer.  I held on to my husband's shoulders and let my head hang down, as I tried to relax through contractions and let him support me.  I used a birth ball for a while:  me on my knees, draped over the ball, rocking through contractions.  At one point, I remember two of the ladies coming back into our room and saying, "Ok, that one sounded different! We're just going to get some stuff ready for you." I smiled as I realized how in tune they were with the whole process, even though they were out of sight.  I did get in the tub for a while and it felt so relaxing, but my contractions started stretching back out and lessening, so we decided to try the shower again, instead.  I have a distinct memory of looking at the clock right across from the tub and realizing whatever time it was (5:30ish?) I mentioned to the birth assistant that all our other children had come between 7:45-8:45pm, and I was discouraged that it might still be that long.  She looked at me with a smile and said, "Oh, I think this one will be a bit earlier than that!" I remember hoping she was right and feeling so encouraged that she thought things were progressing.  

Things get blurry for me at this point, but as I made my way to the bed, I remember the midwife herself suggesting that I kneel next to the bed (because I had labored that way at some point).  I thought it would be difficult for her, so I was attempting to get on the bed, but she insisted she could sit on the floor and see just fine.  I remember feeling the urge to push as the contractions got much more intense and I felt so much pressure.  My husband sat on the bed holding my hands and rubbing my neck and encouraging me, as the midwife sat on the ground behind me, applying counter pressure to my hips some and reassuring me that Baby was coming soon. I still couldn't tell how close I really was, but I remember AJ saying as one contraction ended, "OK, Alison, this is your last chance.  Final guess: boy or girl?!" I looked at him incredulously and shook my head saying, "I can't even think right now! I don't even know!" and everyone laughed.  Maybe three or four pushes later, our baby was born. I sat back a little as I pushed and reached down to catch Baby myself.  What sweet relief! This exact moment was unique because I was sitting on the floor and wanted to get up to the bed.  The only issue was, Baby's umbilical cord was much shorter than the others I was used to.  I remember having difficulty holding/picking up the baby because I could only get them as far as my belly button instead of all the way to my chest.  With some help, I got up to the edge of the bed and sat with my eyes closed just soaking in the feeling of a precious little body in my hands, thanking God for this miracle of life.  When I finally looked at the Baby for the first time, we discovered we had our fourth daughter! We were both laughing, shaking our heads in disbelief and so so happy.  

We named her Indie Jill, and later found out she weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 20.5 inches long.  She did break our "norm" of later evening births and was born at 6:22pm, less than 3 and a half hours after arriving at the birth center.  Shortly after she was born and we were just getting settled, our midwife had to go to another room quickly because three of us were delivering all about the same time!  She had ended up calling another midwife to help because she realized how close we all were going to be.  We heard the familiar newborn wail not much longer and rejoiced alongside whoever else was celebrating a new life down the hall :)  We ordered dinner from one of my favorite restaurants, took pictures and made phone calls, and before long we decided to leave.  We could have stayed up to 6 hours, but we left at about the 4 hour mark because we felt good and we had an hour drive home.  

The only slightly negative things I remember about our otherwise ideal experience at the birth center, was when it came time to deliver the placenta I felt like they sort or rushed or forced it more than I was expecting.  Perhaps they were concerned for some reason and just didn't tell me, but I assumed I would be allowed to do that on my own, and instead I think they pulled on it and I wasn't a fan.  Additionally, we quickly found out in the days to follow that Indie had a prominent lip tie that greatly impacted our breastfeeding experience.  I didn't know to request them to check for that at the time, but knowing what I know now I'm surprised they didn't.  I had a decent amount of discomfort (not the excruciating pain others describe) and Indie had a hard time controlling the flow of milk, so she often spit up a lot, coughed, sputtered, etc.  We met with lactation and our pediatrician and then drove to a specialist to have it revised and follow up with more lactation help .  They made the comment that if I hadn't already breastfed three other kids, they suspect Indie would have struggled to gain weight or we would have had more issues, but my supply ended up compensating for how inefficient we were at the start.  It was a headache added to postpartum that I wish we would have gotten a head start on instead of waiting four weeks to get it all figured out. 

We praise God for sustaining us through this difficult season in our family and bringing us to the point of having Indie here with us on the outside, safe and sound, growing and thriving.  AJ was healed enough to be comfortable and unrestricted while supporting me during labor, when even two or three weeks earlier it would have been more challenging for him.  We are so thankful for the freedom that our providers advocate for and celebrate in their practice.  They trusted us and largely stayed out of our way, while being there when we needed them most.  God is good. God provides.  

 

Homeschooling: Form 1A (Lower) Term 1: (2021-2022)

God was gracious to us in allowing us to finish our schooling for the term before our fourth baby joined us, despite many distractions and interruptions. We started our second year of school on July 12, very quickly after having finished our first year on July 1, because we knew we would be welcoming this baby in mid October.  I am glad that we had the option and ability to push through, because at this point of the pregnancy I am certainly not feeling up to any extra amount of work for...anything! We are relieved and enjoying a different pace of our days, now, as we prepare and wait for our little one's arrival.

If you want more background on how we chose to homeschool, and what guides some of our decisions and methods,  feel free to read a more detailed explanation here.  Before the term started, I made sure to get out the Curriculum Template I had purchased last year from A Delectable Education. I read through each subject listed and read or listened to the additional resources they provided, and then made a list of what books I needed to purchase or find at my library.  This document is saved on my laptop and one of the best parts is, I can use the same template for 3 years before needing to purchase another one. In addition to what I save on my computer, I also bought a simple planner in which I wrote down each day what we accomplished or how our schedule played out. I liked this one better than what I had last year as it had more room to write down notes, reminders and to-do lists in addition to the weekly layout. I can only make use of a planner like this with the help of the Scheduling Cards I bought last year and used once again. Before each term, I lay them out all over my table and arrange them to help me visualize our week.  Then I take a picture on my phone so I can make sure we are getting every subject in as directed. I could not imagine scheduling our days without these;  they take something that can be so overwhelming and make it seem so simple!

Her first day of school for her second grade year!

Below, I will break down subject by subject what we covered this term.  I enjoy doing this for my own benefit:  I can step back and see how much progress we have made over the past 12 weeks, AND I can come back to this post in future years to prepare for my other children's education. If you enjoy reading the long, detailed, report, I am happy to share it with you, too :) Reading similar blogs is what originally helped me understand how to find books and approach each subject.

Bible-Most days of the week, we start our school time by reading our Bible and discussing it together. This year, we are working through the books of Exodus and Mark, alternating days between the Old and New Testament. This term we read through Exodus 1-12, and Mark 1-9.  Each day, one of us would read the passage aloud and then Naya would try to summarize our reading with as many details as she could remember.  I enjoyed adding a new component to our Bible time this year:  we occasionally looked at a beautiful painting based on our reading and discussed what we noticed in the painting and how it correlated to our passage.  To decide which pieces to use, I referenced the lists provided by Simply Charlotte Mason, but instead of ordering them, we simply viewed them on our laptop after we had completed that reading. 

To help me prepare as the "teacher" I had purchased J. Patterson Smyth's commentaries for these two books, but to be honest I did not use them much at all this term.  I did listen to the "Help Me Teach the Bible" podcast episodes that discuss Exodus and Mark, and I found Kevin DeYoung's sermon series on Exodus to be particularly helpful. I also bought Jen Wilkin's Ten Words to Live By and have been slowly reading it to prepare for when we get to the Ten Commandments portion. For our time in Mark, I learned a lot by listening to the Faith Improvised Podcast series on the "un-gospel" of Mark.  Naya sometimes listened to God's Big Story when it applied to Exodus and she loved the DVD's of What's In the Bible, too. 

Naya reading out loud for our Bible class, as her younger sisters listen in. 

Math-At the end of our final term last year, we had not quite finished Book One from Simply Charlotte Mason.  So, we began right where we had left off, and spent the first three weeks of this term finishing up last year's book.  I purchased Book Two, and we began as soon as we were ready, continuing to use the same Gridded Notebook we had from last year. I will admit, it felt like a rough transition to progress from working on numbers in the 90's and 100's to beginning with simple addition and subtraction tables of 1-10. I will not say that Naya had them all perfectly memorized, but it really frustrated her to be moving so slowly and dealing with such simple problems compared to what she had been working on before. After about a week of frustration and attitudes, I was able to modify the book to suite our needs a little better. We moved very quickly through the tables, only taking a few problems from each section while still incorporating one or two double digit addition or subtraction problems for her to work on her markerboard.  When we drove to appointments with our midwife, I printed a few money worksheets and she really enjoyed the change of pace. At the end of our first term, Naya was learning numbers up to 1,000 and how to add and subtract with dollars and cents.  

Once this term, she decided how many apples we could pick with the money we brought, and how much change we should get back. 

Drawing- We used this time each week as another form of narration.  I would ask her to draw a picture of something from a specific subject (ie:  "Draw something we read about in our history time this week.")  She mainly used plain paper and colored pencils or markers, but sometimes drew on the chalkboard.  Then, at the  end of the allotted class time, she explained why she included certain details, and we displayed her drawing for the rest of the week.  I think this exercise helped Naya recall information from further back in the week and think critically about how she could represent it, since oftentimes she had only heard me read about it and had not seen a picture to represent the information. 

Physical Education- This term, we did not have much structure for our Physical Education time.  Often, Naya spent this time biking outside, jogging for 1-2 minutes at a time, and practicing skills such as hitting when pitched to and throwing/catching different sizes of balls. Sometimes we used it as time to go on a longer family walk.  Once or twice she even got to go swimming at her Mimi and Bumpa's house :)

Enjoying a bike ride!

We went to our local reservoir and hiked a one mile loop while her sisters napped at home with Dad.

Singing- We learned to sing The Star Spangled Banner and She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain this term, in addition to the hymns we practiced as a family:  Not What My Hands Have Done and Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder.  We always value the direction that Happy Hymnody provides for free (schedules, printable words and music, a little bit of background on the author and a video to sing along with), but this time we especially enjoyed buying the Fall Hymn Guide and benefitting from the deeper lessons on vocabulary, the biography of the authors, and the Scripture and family devotions that corresponded so well to the theme of the hymns. I really enjoy making a Spotify Playlist of ALL the songs we are learning for the term, not just in our singing time, but also our composer study and any songs that echo things we are learning in other subjects and then playing that during the afternoons, on drives, as we draw together, or whenever we have time to listen. 

Literature- This subject took a slight adjustment this year as compared with last.  We began reading Pilgrim's Progress, very slowly, once a week and discussing it together.  As shocking as this may be, I don't think I had ever read it before, so it was a lot of fun to read it alongside Naya and learn with her. The language is particularly difficult;  I made sure to practice reading aloud before each of these lessons.  Yet, Naya has surprised me with how much she has understood the overall storyline. Again, after each reading she summarizes what she understood back to me.  This practice of narration really helps her solidify her memory of the episode and recall it much later. We also began reading Tales of Troy and Greece, but this term we only worked on the very first story.  I opted to then read one fairy tale from our Blue Fairy Book we purchased last year:  Snow White and Rose Red.  Naya always LOVED these fairy tales last year, and I wanted her to still have that deep enjoyment, even if it was just one story this time. Another change from last year is that we dropped our formal reading lessons this year, and instead Naya had the responsibility of reading from one of our other subjects each day.  I attempted to alternate this between Bible, history, geography, and natural history, depending on what was most appropriate.

Sometimes, Naya read aloud as we waited at a doctor's appointment. 

History- This year we are attempting to cover from 1607-1800, though I'm fairly certain we will stop before the Revolutionary War.  Our overall spine for this term was Exploration and Conquest by Betsy Maestro, which was a beautiful, well done book I was happy to purchase. As this book introduced other topics such as the slave trade, the life and impact of Pocahontas and the influx of the pilgrims from England and other areas, we took small breaks to read other books that expanded on those topics more. So, our history time also included portions of Circle Unbroken, Bound for America, Building a New Land, The True Story of Pocahontas, and Meet the Pilgrim Fathers.  We also enjoyed watching Disney's Pocahontas movie after we had read about her and discussing what parts of the story seemed accurate, and what parts seemed invented, based on what we had read from our other books. 

Geography- This subject also had an added level of difficulty this year.  In addition to reading lessons 18-20 from Elementary Geography, we added more of an emphasis on maps this term.  We focused on the continent of North America:  from Canada moving southward to Central America. So, I printed multiple blank copies of a map of North America, as well as a map that was labeled with the countries and seas. Then, I printed blank maps of each country/region in North America, zoomed in for easier viewing.  We spent some time reading books from each region, and then each week we would focus on 3-4 specific details from the labeled map to add to our blank map of that region. We read Discover the Continents, Carson Crosses Canada, Canada, and a few excerpts out of Hungry Planet that specifically addressed families in the United States (all of which we checked out thanks to our local library!) We didn't get to Mexico and Central America long enough to read books from those places, so we are now checking out as many as we can and continuing to read and learn on our break. Every two weeks or so, I would hand her a totally blank map of the entire continent, with a word bank I made, and ask her to fill it in as much as she could remember.  Nearly every week, we were also doing some basic "map questions."  These were 6 questions I wrote and asked her BEFORE our reading, such as "which country borders Alaska?" or "what countries are south of Mexico?" She would answer them looking at the labeled map in front of her. I noticed these questions helped focus her attention more on certain details, and often those were the places she remembered when it was time for her to label her maps. 

Some of the books we used this term for Geography. 

Spanish- This year, we have the opportunity to use the curriculum from Charlotte Mason Simple Languages, as I am helping to test/review the Spanish and French curriculum as they develop it. It has made SUCH a huge difference in the structure, consistency and variety of our Spanish class. Naya truly loved learning Spanish this term, and her biggest accomplishment was in her ability to produce much of the language, with beautiful pronunciation, on her own. Last year I could not have said that! We took extra time on each unit (there are SO MANY things to cover in each one!) and so this term Naya finished Units 1-3. She learned a poem, Bible verse, song, challenge phrase, vocabulary about nature, and action phrases with motions for each unit AND she completed the book ¿En Qué Trabajan?  This book was a beautiful addition to our home library; we loved the flaps that folded out and how the pictures helped guide us to be able to say so many things in Spanish! The curriculum comes as a link to a Google Drive, so you can print all the materials at your house, as you need them.  The QR codes for each part are also very helpful, as you are able to listen to all the audios quickly without having to search for the links each time. I would highly recommend any family that is homeschooling to consider this curriculum, even if you aren't adhering to other Charlotte Mason methods.

Some of our Spanish materials for this term!

Play-  Three times a week, she enjoyed a short free play break with her sisters.  Sometimes I would specify that this was to be outside, but other times they played Barbies or with their baby dolls or used their imagination.  I set a timer so that Naya came back to the school table on her own, without me having to go get her and interrupt the fun :)   I intentionally kept this part flexible in our schedule, looking to her cues as to when she needed to get up and move and using it as a reward earlier in her schedule if she had given a lot of focus to a difficult task.

Natural History- Our main spine for this subject was Birds of the Air, and we finished chapters 1-11 this term.  At the end of each short chapter it gave us a simple idea of something we could watch for, listen for, or do to learn more about the birds around us.  We ended up buying A Nest is Noisy and An Egg is Quiet and reading those as the topics came up in our main text. The books in this series are absolutely stunning.  I think every single one is worth buying!  Even though they are a quick read (1-2 lessons for us, typically), the incredible illustrations and the added details provide us with a lot of rich ideas to come back to later. I also really enjoyed using a lesson idea from A Delectable Education to have Naya observe and predict how bird's beaks relate to their food and environment.  Besides our focus on birds, we spent our other science lessons during the week learning about our garden. We read Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons (quickly becoming one of my favorite science authors!), A Tree is a Plant, and The Dandelion Seed, among others, thanks to our local library's resources.  We did a few experiments and observations with how seeds grow and how water travels up the roots of the plant to the leaves, but to be honest none of them quite turned out how we hoped. We spent a day at the apple orchard, and then compared the varieties of apples in their color and size and ranked them on levels of sweetness, tartness and crispiness, before choosing our overall favorites. We tried to spend time outside enjoying nature, observing what was around us, and connecting what we were learning in our books to what we saw and heard on walks. This is a subject I have SO MUCH to learn about, but it truly brings us both a lot of joy when we prioritize it. 

Working on creating nature patterns from items we collected in our yard.

Naya's finished nature pattern. 

On a creek walk with cousins. 

Comparing and contrasting three varieties of apples we picked at the orchard. 

She trapped a bee in a jar and spent A LOT of time observing it.  She wrote down 2 pages of notes!

Handicraft- Naya's main project for this term was learning to crochet.  She's been asking for a while, and I love to crochet, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to teach her how to do it from the most basic beginning steps.  These videos became very helpful to both of us, as I (right-handed) tried to teach my daughter (left-handed).  I felt like I was learning it all over again, too!  This term she mastered maintaining proper tension, the slip knot, chain stitch, single crochet, double crochet and how to turn. She really enjoys it and has all kinds of ideas of what projects she can do in the future. A day or two a week we also spent this time baking breakfast for the next morning, helping with laundry, or doing other projects around the house. 

Naya's very first successful chain. She made one as long as our couch!

Brush Drawing- We finally began nature journals this term!  They are nothing magnificent, but we set aside some intentional time to paint birds we saw, wildflowers we found on walks, or vegetables/leaves from our garden. This is a subject that I know we could use some more help in mastering, as I have very little understanding of how to improve our watercolor technique.  I plan to purchase a video course of some sort in the future, but for this year I am trying to discipline myself to have the habit and consistency of sitting down and dedicating time to this subject, when often I would rather avoid it due to how incompetent I feel. Naya enjoys it, but also gets easily frustrated when she makes a mistake, so I know she would benefit from an instructor with more tips for her to improve. 

Painting the different shapes and colors of the leaves of various vegetable plants. 

Adding the cardinal she observed in our backyard to her nature journal. 

Poetry- We read 1-3 poems aloud most days, purely for enjoyment.  I purchased A Children's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, and we liked the variety it offered, although I preferred the book we purchased last year, personally.  We also checked out a few different anthologies from our library, such as a book of poems all about reflections.  Naya enjoyed being the one to choose the poems we read, although occasionally I picked out one that was related to the weather or season or another topic we were discussing that day. 

Picture Study- According to the schedule from Ambleside Online, we enjoyed observing the paintings of Jan Van Eyck this term.  I print them at our local UPS store, thanks to the resources provided by A Humble Place, and we look at one painting a week.  Naya points out details she notices, describes the people and animals and setting, and then tries to describe the painting to me without looking at it, relying on her memory.  We displayed the painting throughout the week and then spent time reviewing it before moving on to a new one. Her favorite painting this term was Van Eyck's Crucifixion.   

Comparing three of Van Eyck's pieces she has studied so far. 

Recitation- I start preparing for this subject by looking at this document from A Delectable Education and choosing passages based on what we were reading in our Bible lessons this term. I also selected a Psalm I thought was appropriate and a hymn we had never learned to sing before. Then, two weeks into the term, I asked Naya to choose a poem she wanted to practice reciting.  Each day she rotated between reciting Exodus 3:1-6, Mark 1:21-28, Psalm 103:1-7, "At the Seaside," by Robert Luis Stevenson and four verses of God of the Ages. Our Spanish curriculum also prepared her to recite an entire poem in Spanish this term!  The overall goal of this subject is for Naya to practice not just reading robotically from a paper, but rather reciting with emotion, emphasis, eye contact and gestures.  It is still challenging for her to vary the tone of her voice or change something once she has practiced it a certain way, but I can tell she is improving on her pace and trying to communicate the meaning of the words she is saying. 

Composer Study- Ambleside Online provides a rotation for this subject, too, which we follow for now.  This term, we listened to compositions by Camille Saint-Saens. I compiled all the selections on our Spotify playlist and each week we spent time enjoying one of them.  Often we tried to make our body mimic the sound and emotion of the music or identify the instruments we heard.  Then, throughout the week we would have that music on in the background of our brush drawing or handicraft time.  

Writing- Each day, Naya spent time copying down a passage of Scripture, a few lines from a poem or part of the hymn we were learning.  This year, we added an extra layer of difficulty: once a week we did what Charlotte Mason referred to as "dictation."  I chose 8 words from her writing sample for the week and said them aloud to her, and she tried to write them correctly from memory.  From the beginning, this subject has been trying to get her to observe words carefully, picture them in her mind and copy them down without having to check back at the example every other letter.  So, in dictation, we evaluate whether the student has paid careful attention to the spelling of the word.  She is not told which words I will ask her to write, so she is motivated to go slowly on her writing and give extra effort to words she thinks are difficult. 

Fresh haircut, toothy smile, and seeming older all the time.  What a gift to learn with her.

We had a full term! There were a few weeks where we only did school 4 days of the week, so there were other weeks where we did school on Saturday to balance it out.  We had lots of appointments to travel to (me seeing a midwife and chiropractor and my husband still working through physical therapy) so our school day had to be flexible around those things.  Many weeks, we spent Friday mornings taking her younger sisters to library story time so they got to enjoy something targeted more to their age.  In early September, Naya was able to begin Bible Study Fellowship alongside myself and her sisters, where she is reading and studying through the book of Matthew this year with other students of her same level.  She is responsible for reading and answering questions throughout the week, and we commute about 2 hours round-trip to make that happen.  Dad and Mom each had days this term where we were sick and unable to do our normal responsibilities, so Naya had to manage more of her school work independently at times.  We have noticed a lot of growth in her so far this school year and although we know the adjustment will be rough at first, we look forward to continuing to educate her at home after her youngest sibling joins us! For now, she is newly 7, on a huge Lego kick, reading chapter books more quickly than I can produce them for her, and enjoying sending mail to lots of friends and family :) 

We thank God for the way He continues to teach and grow us all. And we thank Him for Naya <3

 

Homeschooling: Form 1B, Term 3 (2020-2021)

We FINALLY finished our third term, and thus our first full year of homeschooling!  Our final day was much later in the year than we planned, but it was a term filled with learning and growth for both the student and the teacher.  

Fruit pizza to celebrate the end of the school year!

If you want to read about our first or second terms this year, I would encourage you to do so as it helps give more context for why we did what we did this term.  We continued with all the same subjects as before, with each subject having different durations and frequencies throughout the week.  Charlotte Mason believed it was important to provide even the youngest of students with a "wide feast" of topics to learn from, so we tried to cover many very different things. This ended up being both one of my favorite aspects of our year, and one that caused the most frustration/effort.  To help me plan out what each day looked like, I purchased the Scheduling Cards from a Delectable Education at the beginning of our year.   They were only $5 and they were a great fit for what I needed.  This term I decided to keep our weekly schedule consistent (as opposed to the "A" and "B" weeks I tried last term) but one key difference was that we often skipped a day of school during the "school week" and chose to make it up on Saturdays. This flexibility allowed us to meet up with friends, enjoy time outside in the mornings and have more of Dad's help distracting younger siblings during school time.  

As I've mentioned before, I purchased and would recommend the Curriculum Template for Form I from A Delectable Education.  It helped me track which books we needed for each subject and what other resources I had found all in one place.  Then I used this simple planner to scribble down my daily/weekly notes, and often I simply recorded AFTER we finished our school day, what we had completed.  In the following paragraphs I am going to record in detail what we covered in each of our subjects this term.  This will help me plan for future years/children, but if anyone else wants to read my very long summary they are certainly welcome to do so :)

Bible-  This was generally the first subject of our day. We finished the books of Genesis (CH 37-50) and Matthew (CH 21-28) this term, alternating which days we read each one. I started our time by making 1-2 statements about our previous reading and asking her what she remembered from last time.  Then, I would simply read out of my ESV Bible to her, stopping periodically to ask her to tell me what she understood. To help check her comprehension, and because she just really loved doing it, we would spend one day a week doing the Level 1 Bible Study Fellowship questions on the book of Genesis during her reading time.  I know this sounds almost too simple, but we both learned SO MUCH through our discussions together, and it really felt like a big deal that she listened to and talked about two large books of the Bible this year.  She REALLY wanted the Genesis story to keep going...so I'm excited to start on Exodus together, soon! 

A common occurrence:  finding Naya reading ahead in her Bible, among a heap of other books.

Math-  We continued using the Simply Charlotte Mason Level 1 Math Book and  Grid Notebook that we have been using all year.  We really love the method this book uses, but this term I found we didn't need all the problems in each section to master the concept.  She works slowly and gets distracted often by younger sisters, and then feels very discouraged when we haven't moved on from one page/set of numbers.  So, I intentionally selected a few problems from each section and made sure she answered those before moving on.  Days that she worked more quickly, we went back and finished the whole page.  Even with less problems, it was very obvious to me if she was understanding the concept and ready to move on, or not. She much preferred to work with money, so we did that more often this term. She had already made it part way through the 40's last term, so we started there and progressed through just introducing the 90's before the term was over.  Next year, we will start where we left off in this book and then begin the Year 2 book whenever we are ready for it. Additionally, she completed many pages from a first grade subtraction math workbook her aunt got her from Target at the beginning of the year.  This was more for "fun" or on days when she did math with other people for whatever reason.    

Sometimes, math class just needs to be outside in the sunshine.

A very typical math time:  using coins, writing equations on the markerboard.

Physical Education- The biggest accomplishment of our exercise time this term was that Naya learned to ride her bike!  It brought hours of fun and was such a confidence boost for her as she tackled something she has been scared of for a while.  We spent many days riding in the church parking lot, at Mimi and Bumpa's house, exploring nearby trails or just up and down our road. Besides that, our other main focus for PE was expanding her knowledge of Swedish Drill from last term.  She became more precise in her movements and did them more confidently without me modeling them for her. In addition, we did some calisthenics, and continued to work on jumping jacks, balance, hitting a ball pitched to her, and a few fun yoga videos throughout the term, too.   

Singing- This continues to be one of Naya's favorite subjects (and mine!)  This term we learned the hymns "Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me," and "This is My Father's World" thanks to Happy Hymnody's schedule and resources. She also learned to sing "America the Beautiful" and "Polly Wolly Doodle" and really enjoyed them both.  Generally, we just print the lyrics out, repeat them at first and then slowly sing a Capella together.  Sometimes I would learn the hymns on the piano and try to accompany us, or to switch up our practice time we would find a video and sing along that way.  It was helpful to create a Spotify playlist of all Naya's songs for the term, including MANY different versions of each one, and then shuffle that during our handicraft, drawing, or writing time. 

Reading- By the time children can read confidently, according to the Charlotte Mason philosophy, formal reading lessons are dropped and the student instead reads from another school book each day as their practice.  I think Naya would have been ready to do this at the start of our third term, but I opted to give her a little more practice and make that jump next year.  We started this term by picking picture books from the library that complimented what we were learning in our Natural History time (often about a particular animal or habitat.)  She simply read aloud to me from something that she had not listened to before. Each Friday, she spent this time reading aloud and answering comprehension questions from Genesis that I referenced in her Bible Class. Later in the term, she was introduced to the wonderful world of chapter books, and our house has never been the same! She loves Junie B. Jones, and Cam Jansen books, but she is also enjoying many other series.  It became common to hear, "Mom, remember that book I started yesterday? I just finished it!"  Her excitement and independence in reading is a true joy to witness...she even sleeps with a chapter book by her pillow to sneak in some morning reading time before her sisters wake up :) 

Very invested in her new chapter book from the library.

History- We spent our history time this term alternating between finishing our Columbus biography (p.33-end) and finishing Meet the North American Indians (CH 2-3, 7-9, 13-15).  We really enjoyed both books and how they helped these people seem more "real" and relatable. Naya especially benefitted from the map in the front of Payne's book that shows where each people group lived.  Her mind really latched on to that and used it as a reference point for other discussions this term.  When we finished "Meet the North American Indians" before the term was up, we went back to a previous book: "Children of the Longhouse."  We only got through the end of Chapter 3, with lots of additional review since it had been so long since we had stopped reading it.  We both want to continue and finish this book eventually, but I'm not sure if we will fit it in to school time or simply use it as a family read aloud.  I tried to balance our history time with important details about the European people who traveled here as explorers, and the Native people who were living here already with a well established community, culture and way of life.  We often got out a simple map or globe to show where these different people were coming from and the paths they took.     

It was a fun coincidence that the day we read about "Strawberry Thanksgiving" in the book "Children of the Longhouse" we had just gotten back from our trip to pick strawberries!

 Spanish- We practiced Spanish everyday for a short amount of time, with a different focus each day of the week.  Generally, on Mondays, we read through the book "Mi Papi Tiene Una Moto." This book tells the story of a little girl who always looks forward to time with her dad, riding on his motorcycle throughout their city.  She reflects on all she sees, hears, and smells as they pass various people and locations.  It was definitely above my daughter's comprehension, but the beautiful pictures, emphasis on family relationships, and some additional scaffolding from me helped her glean some understanding from it overall. We bought this book, and I'm thankful we will have it in our home library for future discussions as she progresses in her Spanish. Another day of the week we would specifically practice some vocabulary from the book, often with motions.  One day a week we read through poems and nursery rhymes from our book, "Pío Peep." She definitely favored a few poems and even came very close to memorizing a few that we read frequently. Another day of the week, I tried to focus on her conversational use of Spanish in some way.  This was the hardest for both of us.  We played "Pesca" (like "Go Fish" in English) so she could practice a few key phrases, we used UNO cards to answer questions about colors and numbers, or I tried to get her to generate some more vocabulary phrases without my help.  I could have planned a lot better in this area, and it sometimes felt scattered for her and I, both.  The final day of the week we spent practicing songs in Spanish.  This term she learned "Los Pollitos Dicen" (3 verses) and "Dios Bueno Es" (4 very short verses).  For the first song we used the YouTube video often to help us sing along, but with the second song, I decided to translate my own lyrics for verses 2-4, using the English verses to help me. We sang "Él me cuida," "siempre me oye," and "amo al Señor"  for those verses. I have a new plan for our Spanish time next year and I'm SO EXCITED to try it out and share it!!

Natural History-  Our main two books for our science time this term were "By Pond and River" (which we purchased) and "African Critters" (which we checked out at our library), alternating days.  We finished both books, and although I would use them both again in the future, Naya particularly LOVED "African Critters" and the vibrant, real life pictures and stories it contained.  I also purchased this Spring Journal, and while it is STUNNING and very well done, we did not make the most of it this term.  I will consider purchasing more products from her in the future and reusing this journal when it fits with our reading.  Instead, we spent time observing and discussing the sparrows that nested on our back porch.  We tried to imitate them, paint them, and notice their different sounds/personalities, but we never were able to see the hatchlings.  One of my favorite additions to our study of nature was to incorporate supporting books into our Reading Time, like I mentioned previously.  Some of our favorites that complimented our pond/river study were "On Duck Pond," "Soar High, Dragonfly," and "Over and Under the Pond." During Reading Time she also read "How Do Birds Find Their Way?" which helped us review the concepts of migration we learned last term in Natural History.  One day this term, we also spent time at a friend's house exploring around their pond and noticing the different plants and animals that lived there and how they reminded us of things we had studied. 

Naya following Ms. Diane around her property to explore the pond and creek. 

Tales- This time is spent reading fairy tales, unabridged, and also some of Aesop's fables.  We both really enjoy the beautiful literature that we experience during this class!  We had already purchased the Blue Fairy Book, and this term she listened to The White Cat, Cinderella, and Felicia and the Pot of Pinks. She LOVED each of these stories and really remembered the details well when asked to recite them later.  She also learned about the following fables:  The Bear and the Bees, The Wolf and the Kid, and The Wolf and the Ass. As during Bible time, we simply read the stories aloud and then I ask her to tell me what she heard in her own words.  The more she recites in the moment, the more she tends to remember later.     

Geography- We based our geography time off of CH 12-17 of Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography.  This is a book that Miss Mason intended to be spread over the first 3 years of school, so we will read more in the future.  The overall emphasis was on how Earth's tilt gives us four seasons, depending on where you live.  We checked out additional books from our library, like The Reason for Seasons by Gail Gibbons, to help solidify the concepts we were learning.  We often got out our globe to help her visualize what we were talking about.  This term she learned about the poles, the equator, the hemispheres, the axis, and learned to locate many different countries based on our reading and the conversations it brought up.  Miss Mason's book also gives many object lessons to help the student understand the concepts.  We utilized a stuffed animal (Earth) and a can of spray paint (the Sun) to show how the Earth moves around the Sun and how its tilt affects the seasons.  On our other day of geography each week, we finished up Paddle to the Sea that we had begun last term.  While I definitely would recommend this book for its detailed account of traveling through the Great Lakes and the surrounding cities, in the future I will likely wait until my student is older to work through this one.  We did print out a blank map of the Great Lakes and the surrounding states/countries and practice some basic questions about what states she knew, the names and shapes of the lakes, and how to describe things with cardinal directions.        

Handwriting- This time each day was spent copying a few lines of a song, a poem or a psalm.  Her objective was always to take enough time focusing on the word she was looking at, that when she went to copy it down she could do so from her visualization of the word, without having to look back and forth to check the spelling.  I could tell this term that she made great progress in this area, and often could do multiple words at a time this way.  I think this paper was still very helpful for her to practice her letters clearly, but in the future I like the idea of having a notebook where she could keep her whole year's worth of writing together.  I liked to play the pieces from our composer for the week during this time quietly in the background as she worked.  

Here, she is working to copy a poem from our library book. 

She is copying down a psalm from my Bible while her sisters play outside. Sunshine helps us all :) 

Poetry- Most days of the week we read 2-3 poems from the anthology we purchased at the beginning of the year or one of the anthologies we checked out of our local library.  Naya really enjoyed this quick, light hearted part of our day.  Some days I had pre-read and selected ones that were seasonally or topically appropriate, and other days I let her pick whichever ones looked interesting to her.

Handicraft- This was another subject that I felt like I did not prepare well for this term.  We continued working on origami (which she really liked most days) based on the videos from Gary Easy Origami or Red Ted Art.  Her favorite project was learning to make "corner bookmarks" into the shapes of different animals and then gifting them to friends and family members (and using plenty of them in her own reading!)  We also tried to spend a day or two a week doing household projects like laundry, helping bake, or work in the garden.  Lastly, we spent some of this time writing birthday cards or notes of encouragement to the families we support through Samaritan Ministries.  I hope to have more concrete and intentional plans for this time next year, as I know Naya really enjoys learning new skills with her hands and seeing her projects come to fruition. 

 

She learned to help Dad blow off the driveway and pump up tires on the cars.

Brush Drawing- This time was not utilized as often as it was scheduled to be, nor was it as enriching as I know it could have been.  We practiced based off the practice videos from Bestowing the Brush, and then we simply used this time to "draw" (with a paint brush) the things we had seen outside, something we were reading about, or an item we sat on the table.  It was really hard for both of us, and we got frustrated when we couldn't make something look the way we wanted to.  Naya really enjoyed experimenting with the water colors, and I could tell she looked forward to this time.  I have considered buying the course from Bestowing the Brush to spur me along in my learning, but I think next year we will try to set more goals of things to learn to paint and practice more intentionally on our own, first.

Recitation- I prepared for this subject by looking at this document, organized by A Delectable Education, and selecting Bible passages that corresponded with what we read this term in our Bible time.  Instead of simply reading or memorizing these passages, however, the goal of recitation is to learn to pronounce the words clearly and beautifully and read in a way that others can understand and enjoy.  She would stand tall, and recite in a clear, loud voice, as if giving a presentation to a group.  This term, since she was reading confidently, I printed her recitation passages for her and she practiced using the paper as a reference but continuing to make eye contact with me as she spoke.  This term she practiced reciting the following selections:  The Church of Christ in Every Age (a hymn new to us), Psalm 150, Genesis 37:18-24, Matthew 22:34-40 and a poem she selected called, "The Rain."  

Composer Study- We loved listening to works by George Frideric Handel this term, thanks to the rotation prepared by Ambleside Online. We played his music and listened intently for different instruments and tried to mimic the mood of the music with our movements.  After spending one day intentionally listening to his music without other distractions, we often played these pieces in the background as we worked on other subjects (handicraft, brush drawing, handwriting, etc.) throughout the week.

Drawing- This time was spent often with paper and crayons or colored pencils, simply allowing Naya to draw something she was thinking about from any of our reading.  It was interesting to see what had stuck out to her each week that she wanted to try to recreate.  At the conclusion of her time, I would ask her to explain to me what she drew and then we would post it somewhere we could look at it throughout the week.  Essentially, this is another version of narrating her learning and thus cementing it into her memory.

The top picture is a practice session for brush drawing.  The bottom two show her drawing from her reading:  a dragonfly from Nature History and the orbit of the Earth around the Sun from Geography.

Practicing drawing in chalk, from some flowers and grasses we found outside.

Picture Study- Our artist to study this term was Rembrandt van Rijn, as suggested by Ambleside Online's rotation.  I love that Rebecca from A Humble Place regularly makes picture study aids that correspond with Ambleside's rotation, so once again I printed her material out at our local UPS store.  I so value the thought and care that she puts into the simple explanations of each painting and the background information on the artist. Each week, we looked at one painting, observing the colors, characters, surrounding items/scenery and predicted what was going on in the painting.  Then, I would share a few details from Rebecca's study aid to supplement Naya's observations.  For the paintings that had to do with biblical scenes, we looked up the corresponding verses and had Naya read them aloud to help give her additional background information.  When our time was up, we displayed the week's painting where we could see it often throughout our school day.

We were so glad to have made it all the way through our first year of homeschooling together.  When asked if she would prefer to try public school next year or continue this way, Naya emphatically chose homeschooling.  I am growing more and more convinced that it is something we will be doing long term with each of our children, but my husband and I both are open to changing our minds and adjusting our plans, as the Lord wills. This term began late due to about a month of EXTREME morning sickness (ugghhh) as we found out we are expecting our fourth child (YAY!!)  We started back very gradually with just a few subjects at a time, and eventually worked up to our full schedule, as I was able.  We also had more appointments out of town for our younger daughter to further investigate her eczema and food allergies. We enjoyed lots of visits from family that live out of town or out of state, and we prioritized more time outside as the weather got nicer.  Late in the term, Daddy tore his Achille's tendon, needed surgery, and has continued to have appointments and physical therapy from that point forward.  All of these things factored in to how and when we were able to do our school time.  One thing that we continued to learn and remind each other is that our world does not revolve around any one person or thing.  Our family has to work together to do what is best for ALL of us, whenever someone needs us.  And in the midst of hard transitions and physically demanding days, our God is in control and able to sustain and help us as we work hard to faithfully follow Him.  

Wanting to have a "work set-up" like Dad (note all the origami on display on the mantel, ha). 

I wanted to remember a very average school morning:  cold coffee, stacks of books, Naya half standing to complete her math, and younger sisters working on puzzles nearby. 

We are thankful for the unique student and human being that our oldest daughter is, and we have LOVED seeing her growth and learning this year.  We give God all the glory and we depend on him for all her future holds.

Lost another tooth on this walk waiting for Dad to meet with the surgeon!  Naya Renee, you are such a leader and caretaker.  We love you.