History Plans

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In a note to me yesterday, Marilyn shared survival strategies for pregnancy bedrest. One of the things she recommended was  " School - get watertight lesson plansso it will run without you - though the good thing is that you will have time to read and “couch school. "

Nothing like the threat of bedrest a little nudge to get things moving! Actually, these plans were pretty much finished (I didn't write eight detailed posts this morning). I was going to publish them after we did them, but I figured there might be someone else out there who is looking at an uncertain fall and would like to have plans that are pretty watertight and leave lots and lots of suggestions for reading and couch school. There are eight weeks of plans up on Serendipity today. Click here for the bunch of them. Soon, we'll (Cindy will) have these better organized for you to make them easily accessible without scrolling. They're not complete. Remember this is my rough draft.  There will be typos and mistakes. Shortly, I'll publish a booklist that Paula has lovingly put together so you have one neat list to take to the library that covers all eight weeks. I just need my computer to understand what I'm telling it. Also, we are going to add a Michael and Mr. Applebee history-themed, original story each week. But we have to get going first in order to do that, so I'll update those as I go.  Now, I'm off to address the other things on Marilyn's list.

Have a very blessed day!

News Flash!

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0744523354_2Elizabeth wrote to tell me that Rosie's Babies is not out of print. It is readily available at Amazon in paperback. This book is so dear to our family that I was tempted to buy one for each of my children, to save until their children become big siblings. (I didn't, but I wanted to.) As a rule, I dislike "big sibling" books. They tend to introduce negative feelings that just don't happen here. This book is charming and delightful and focuses on four-year-old Rosie, who nurtures her stuffed "babies" as her mother takes care of the new baby of the house. Rosie is right alongside her mom, chatting all the while. There is a precious picture of Mom discreetly nursing the wee babe.This one is a keeper. In our house, a tattered, worn, well-loved keeper.

My Heart's at Home Daybook~July 21

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I've really enjoyed The Simple Woman's Daybook--be sure to visit Peggy for the latest entries. 

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Outside My Window ...the sunflower house is a bust. I wish I'd recorded what we planted last year so we could be sure to plant them again, and what we planted this year so we'd never plant them again. And my green tomatoes have black bottoms. Need to research that.
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Towards a daily rhythm ... I need to recreate the chore chart. I lost all my home management files in the lightning strike.
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I am thankful for ... medical technology.
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From the kitchen ...
for breakfast:
oatmeal and blueberries
Lunch:
Pasta, tomatoes, and zucchini
and for dinner:
 something with pork chops....

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To live the liturgy...On the Optional Feast of St. Lawrence of Brindisi
Collect: Lord, for the glory of your name and the salvation of souls you gave Lawrence of Brindisi courage and right judgment. By his prayers help us to know what we should do and give us the courage to do it. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
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I am wearing ... a pink tiered skirt,  a CAMISOLE (necessary for all maternity shirts these days), a floral blouse and bare feet.
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I am creating ...a cookbook for Michael to take with him when he lives in an on-campus apartment this year.
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I am going to breathe deeply ...Not sure about the exercise plan. Need to make a call to the midwife to see if anything has changed following last Friday's sonogram.
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Bringing beauty to my home ...Mike is going to finish painting the kitchen this morning. He's been out of town and wasn't real keen on me climbing ladders and countertops.
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I am reading ... about an hour's worth of picture books to Karoline at bedtime every night. Her current favorites include: Rosie's Babies, Rain Makes Applesauce, Nighty Night, Hush Little Baby, and Angelina Ballerina. I'm amazed by her attention span. With the exception of Angelina, who didn't appear until Mary Beth did, all of these books have been on our shelves since Michael was a baby. I love to read them again and again and recognize how much they are a part of our family culture. I'm so sad to see that Rosie's Babies is out of print. Every one of my children has loved this book. Michael was in the doorway when I was reading to Karoline not long ago and recited it word for word, much to her delight. 
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I am hoping ...for a peaceful week.
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Around the house ... I need to keep on keeping on. My goal is to have finished my nesting by mid-September. There's a chance bedrest is in my future and I don't want it to catch us unprepared.

One of my favorite things ...the general pandemonium that breaks out in our house every single time Mike pulls up in the driveway. Makes me want to leave for a day or two just to see if I get greeted with shrieks of glee..

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A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: The refrigerator repair guy is due here on Wednesday. The dishwasher guy is coming Thursday. No promises that either appliance will be functional this week--just that said repair people will show up and assess the situation. I need to make calls to the orthopedist and physical therapist to get Patrick all scheduled. A pizza date with some of my favorite people to kick around ideas for another conference next summer.Thorough closet cleanouts. Christian will be home, so maybe Wednesday he and Mike can assemble those bunkbeds and get them out of the living room. All the history plans for the first eight weeks should be up on Serendipity later today. Oh, and Cindy is working on big things to make Serendipity plans much more accessible.
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Here is a picture thought I am sharing~

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Window "dressing" in the girls' room.

More Serendipity Answers

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I feel guilty asking you a question right now, but it concerns the AmericanHistory trail.  Did you do something previous to this year's plan?  I had already planned on doing that time period with a lot of real books, but was going to start with Leif Ericson and Columbus but would like to catch up to your plans when we get that far along.  Just wondering if you did, could you direct me to some resources (or maybe they are already online somewhere?) I didn't remember seeing it on Serendipity last year.

This is the first year year we've published history plans at Serendipity. The simple answer to your question is only going to make sense for my family. I started with Colonial America because we have two soccer tournaments planned in the Williamsburg area in October. I wanted to be fully immersed in the time period to make the most of a trip to Colonial Williamsburg. My older children will do some reading and watch some videos about the earlier time period (it's in the plans) and the younger ones will catch it next time. It's Real Learning in the context of our Real Life and it's one of the reasons that I set aside the prewritten plans. These suit my timetable:-).

I am very excited to use some of the plans that you have so generously shared with all of us. My question to you is what do you define as little ones and middle children? Where is the age separation there, in your opinion?

The way the plans are written, you can make the call with each individual component. A strong reader but poor handwriter might read in from the "Middle Ones" selections and do copywork from the "Little Ones" selections. There are three different "spines" in the history plans for the Big Kids in order to accommodate the different learners in my house. We'll use all three--but three different children will each do one of them. I deliberately didn't use age or grade separations because I really don't think that way at home. And the categories I settled on are really just loose organizers.