A Week in the Life of Legoboy: Thursday - Upper Elementary Montessori

Today ended up being a very low-key day. Not the intent. He and I both had big plans for how the morning would go. It didn't materialize - no particular reason, we just needed to be more laid-back. I have found that when we don't honor this need, we end up sick or with headaches, or we otherwise crash & burn in such a way that following days are even worse. Honor it when it happens, and our bodies and souls get the rest and nourishment they need.


Woke up to reading - lots of historical fiction in the pile.
He'd already opened his Advent calendar.

Morning prayer together

UPS came early today - Legoboy helped put a new shelf together for the kitchen
     We have been almost agonizing over what to do in the kitchen. We have somewhat limited counter-space, no counter space at all by the stove. I did put a rolling cart (already owned) between the fridge and stove; but there was still need for something to cooking utensils nearby. And we'd already added shelves to the closet to make it a full pantry. Well, Legoboy helped organize all of this, so perhaps a post to itself. Short story for now - we needed something. Over and around the stove. We found an over-the-stove microwave shelf, but at over $100 for ONE shelf that is the width of the stove... it didn't sit right with either of us. We finally found a tall shelf with adjustable shelving, option of castors or levelers. Sure, it's wide

breakfast
Minecraft
Read for the umpteenth time: Here There Be Dragons
Reading Upper Elementary Challenge Math (just reading it - not doing the math --- he did this during part of dinner last night too)
Life of Fred Geometry - just reading it, although he had a notebook in which he was taking notes.

lunch - leftovers

Seems like it is going to be a "reading" day!

head to Atrium - play Minecraft while I led a sacramental preparation session - when the other older children arrived, he joined them for a game of tag and word plays

2-hour atrium: opened with all the children from infant through 14 in level 3 to review the Advent Wreath and sing the next verse of the song; Prophecy of Light, learn and sing the associated song (learned the prophecy last week). Level 1 children went to their atrium, while the level 2 and 3 chilren stayed for another 40 minute presentation going through 7 more prophecies and what they mean for us as we prepare, not for Jesus to be born as a baby, but for Jesus' light to grow in us more and more each day, until His light fills the whole world and He returns as a glorious king at Parousia.

Legoboy and another level 3 boy planned Communal Prayer for the level 2 and level 3 children. Favorite song: All God's Critters (message: everyone has a place in the Plan of God - God loves all and so should we).

Afterward, he helped clean up, re-set each atrium for Sunday class, and ensure all tasks were completed.
He really wanted to get home and have some popcorn ;)

He cleaned out the car, played some piano, wrote some e-mails to a few people, and read some Lord of the Rings (The Two Towers).



These descriptions still aren't getting all the in-between stuff - checking the mail, checking the time, random e-mails. But I hope it is a peek into the life of an upper elementary Montessori boy ;)

A Week in the Life of Legoboy: Wednesday - Upper Elementary Montessori

Wake-up - he wants to snuggle with me for a bit (morning prayer) then play "throw me off the couch" which is where he requests and begs and pleads that I please throw him off the couch or down the hallway or (his newest one) "throw me down the stairs" - all to help him wake up. NO I do NOT do these things, though sometimes I will ROLL him off the COUCH. He is always so disappointed.

Speech at the local school - He is still has speech therapy for his /r/ sounds (minimally on /ch/, /j/, /z/). Note to all other parents - when your instincts tell you something is wrong with your child, don't let any evaluation or expert tell you otherwise. I was told he was in normal range until age 4 and the waiting lists for therapy were LONG at that time. Now, 6 years later, we are STILL at it. This is so much easier addressed with little ones.

Breakfast - cold pizza. Some days I should call him "Pizza-boy" instead of Legoboy ;)

piano practice - just review of past lessons. He's not been practicing as much lately, so needs to get back into it if he wants to move ahead (which he does - he keeps saying when listening to particular selections, "I want to play like THAT!"

Friends over for some elementary math tutoring - he helps or distracts depending on the day - today he helped - long division ;)

errands to the parish office - taking over a jumpdrive with a St. Nick video for the priest and a Sedia image for the CRE

re-organize electronic components - new storage container. He'll get there. Eventually.

Primary Grade Challenge Math - chapter 8 - "How many legs?" (lots of multiplication, intro into squaring/cubing/powers, careful step by step work)
He threw a fit about not having his facts memorized - he gets them, then he loses them - a throwback to not utilizing the memorization sequence properly in primary.

He is kind of tired of me taking photos ;) 

He also likes to rush through; with this work he needs to slow down and look at each step. He continues to do the math accurately for what he sets up, but continually skips a step from the original problem in his "rush".

lunch

more piano practice
He really wants to sound "excellent". He has not progressed too far, but is going back to more thoroughly perfect previous lessons.

Electronics - try out more ideas from EEME Dad's e-mail - and create more circuits, finding the one that makes the brightest light.

Confirmation notebook card - continuing work, reading from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and noting key concepts about the sacrament of Confirmation itself.

help clean up basement - sand spilled on the stairs, more baking soda for the old oil smell (from the oil heater that has now been replaced) and (shhhh! don't tell him!) we are looking to convert one half of one of the basement rooms into a tae-kwon-do practice area.

Magician's Nephew notebook and lapbook - slow but steady progress. He loves the stories and he really wants to do these studies, but they are just NOT as interesting as they could be. If these were ALL we were doing, we could probably focus on pulling in more interesting resources for the suggested activities... and they're not UNinteresting - it just doesn't pull together as well as we had hoped. He is adamant he wants to do it though. I think his goal is to DO it, then write his own version! We have been SLOWLY working on a Narnia cookbook of our own, since the only one published is currently not in print, unavailable at a reasonable price and the company refuses to re-print it, despite a list of over 1,000 purchasers --- because they say "last time we printed, it did so poorly" - well, the last time they printed was before the recently-made Disney versions of the movies, which only incite more interest.... people are BEGGING the company for a re-print. Seriously!? They won't re-print. Bad business practice, folks.


Battling invisible enemies. Yep. Our home is a safe, that is for sure - thanks to my valiant warrior. Today's weapon of choice? a curtain rod. Sigh.

Honey for a sore throat. Yelling at the bad guys will do that.

Free-time:
Legos. Why not. Then...
"Legoboy, what are you diong?"
     "Eating! Reading math!" I hear his voice from the library.
            I truly thought he said "Reading! Eating Math!" at first. Not an impossibility.

Hiding by the ONE empty bookcase.
No worries. We have boxes left to unload onto the shelves. ;) 

Evening Mass for him while I prepped for atrium; during atrium this evening he helped a bit with the level 1 children, but apparently mostly sat in the material-making room doing pencil fights with himself and napping. He was supposed to either play Minecraft, work on Consecration in Truth or offer further assistance. He does not join Wednesday evening level 3 atrium because I already have too huge a class and he attends on Thursdays in addition to helping me prepare materials and our home faith studies.

After atrium he spent time with friends while a few catechists worked on a project.

Dinner Prep: Back at home, we made alfredo sauce with pasta, mixing in a bit of leftover Thanksgiving turkey. I love having his help in the kitchen and typically require it. We are a family - we do things together. He participates in all aspects of meal preparation to varying degrees on varying days. Sometimes he might put an entire meal together himself (he IS 10 and has been helping in the kitchen since he could sit in the sling and dump stuff into a bowl for me; and setting tables since he could walk while carrying an object) - most days we work together and I give him the opportunity to work on different aspects of meal preparation, so that he has experienced all of it, has practice with all of it, but in bits at a time. Then, when he started with simple entire meals, he had the confidence to know when to ask for help and when to get creative in problem-solving.

I always add leftover veggies of one kind or another to our alfredo sauce
he never notices the cauliflower though he claims to hate it. 

yummmmmmmmmm

Evening prayer

Now we are researching models of Jerusalem together.
I want this for our atrium:

Now if we could just find an affordable replica of Jerusalem - the entire city itself. I want something 100% accurate. We have representations in the other atriums, these older children want to really see it - experience it.


He fell asleep right at midnight, trying SO hard to stay up until midnight so he could open the next door on his Lego Advent calendar. Oh well - maybe in the morning ;)

Note on bedtime here: we do shift to a later than typical schedule - because of our evening activities and the desire to unwind at home before bed. We typically do not have morning activities (speech is at 9:30, so late enough we don't need an alarm; Sunday mornings we have atrium and do set an alarm; Tues-Fri he has the option of setting the alarm to be up for early morning Mass - some days he does, some days no). In the end, he sleeps no more than a child of his age SHOULD sleep (which yes means he probably gets more sleep than the average 10 year old in our area - they too have evening activities AND some have to be on the bus between 6:40 and 7 to be starting school by 8am).

This week is an exception because of how it started, but typically he is in bed by 10 (Tuesdays at 11:05).

A Week in the Life of Legoboy: Tuesday - Upper Elementary Montessori

We started with a different sort of Monday, ending with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (Jesus) at the local parish from midnight to 1 AM - something we normally don't do at that time. We did get to hear "Holy God We Praise Thy Name" at the fastest pace EVER. No funeral dirges or slow meditative chants from this priest at 1AM with his favorite song ;)

And now - at 9:57AM, Legoboy sleeps. With this National Night of Prayer running form 9PM to 1AM, I am not sure how many other children were able to participate due to the need to be at school by 8AM. Blessing of Homeschooling.

By the time he woke up, USPS had been here to deliver some Christmas gifts for others. He made breakfast for both of us and we finished prepping and wrapping the gifts. We both found it funny that we received two mail deliveries today - one with packages, the other with regular mail.

Morning prayer

Watched some more Once Upon a Time - honestly, looking for plot holes to create a list of questions to send to the creators.

Confirmation card - on the effects and responsibilities of Baptism and the gift of Grace by the Holy Spirit.

EEME - Work on some of the follow-up questions/suggestions he received via e-mail from the creator of EEME. Legoboy created what EEME Dad calls a "dumb light" (gets brighter in bright locations and dimmer in dim locations). He is working on the suggestions and a response e-mail to EEME Dad


Clean up the hall and landing upstairs - we are mostly beyond the unpacking mode but are still in the "slowly getting specific items where we actually want them and find them the most useful". We are working in stages so we can keep going with the rest of life.

Missing two shelves from moving helpers...
Organizing still a work in progress. 

Eventually we'll have these games organized.
Apparently we like games around here. 

Free-time: Legos and tae-kwon-do practice

Come up with a thousand ways to ask about opening Day 10's Advent Calendar.
No.
(Can I blast a hole through an iceberg? Can I do light-saber target practice? Can I make a sky-light?)
The #10 slot in question is located above an ice-cave opening. On Day 1 he asked such questions as "Can I be-head Darth Vader? Can I give Darth Vader a new helmet?" and the like because the top of Darth Vader's helmet overlaps the Day 2 slot.

For the record - I do not see this as a sign of commercialism or materialism - merely a young boy who LOVES jokes. He will argue with ANYthing just to get people thinking and riled up.

Early dinner - LOVE tortellini here :)

Tae-kwon-do - running a bit late, ordinarily before class is hang-out time with friends. Just one class this evening. Because during Advent we have:
...Children's choir - Tuesday evenings leading up to Christmas. He'll be singing at the 4pm children's Mass Christmas Eve. He's not a singer in the spirit of having good pitch matched with others - he sounds great singing by himself with his own renditions though. So this was a surprise to me. He wants to sing at that Mass and serve the altar at midnight.
(the file below has now image - I had the phone facing down on the pew while recording - so it is a video, but it is ok you don't "see" anything ;) )

Get gas - pick up pizza
Yes, I let him go across the street from the gas station we were at, to one of our other local gas stations (their pizza is the BEST) while I pumped the gas. I then picked him up from there. I love this area - I can see his every step, we know on some level every employee of all 3 local gas stations (and both banks), and the sheriff was on duty watching traffic right there ;)

Home for bedtime prep and two of our shows (both in winter finales)
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD
Forever
Watch the news to catch the weather (the ONLY time we watch the news - ever - is after our shows)

Evening prayer

Throughout the day we also played Quik-Sane and a few rounds of W'FF. Because yes, we do like playing games. Legoboy always has some set of cards out to play in between other stuff. Our latest favorite? Rivals for Catan.





Not much math happening here - but lots of using it in real life

• cooking - measuring water and oats, adjusting for wanting 4 servings (the instructions have 1, 2, 6 servings)
• how many miles per gallon gas, how many miles can we go on a tank, how many gallons are left when the low-fuel light comes on. Yeah, we had one of THOSE evenings. While at choir practice, I also drove over to the choir director's home to get her reading glasses she'd accidentally left there, so we *really* needed gas after practice was over ;) 
• he wanted to know when the mail would be arriving; a friend texted to tell us their mail had been delivered, he calculated the miles, the speed of truck with it stops, added to the time of the text message. He was off by 10 seconds - "And that my son is called estimation. We can't predict every delay or package or which houses he can skip for having no mail that day."
• Estimating wood branches usage to see how many Friday fires we can have throughout the winter with current supply. Yes, this one was just plain hilarious - what if we want a longer fire, what if it burns slower or faster, what if we want a bigger fire? But at least he's trying - and thinking. 
• I weighed a package for a Garden of Francis order - he plays with the buttons every time to see what it is in grams compared to ounces then re-calculates to get me to believe that the scale is inaccurate. It's NOT inaccurate, but he "plays" with the numbers to get it looking that way. The thing is - to do what he is doing, he has to KNOW what he is starting with; otherwise he might happen upon the "right" answer and end up looking foolish ;) 

Writing these up, I don't feel like we're hitting on everything - that would take a book each day ;) All the little conversations we have, tossed in between and during everything else....

Interesting to see.

A Day in the Life of Legoboy

Caveat: We no longer have a work-cycle as such at all. We live according to the rhythm of life - so school happens when/how it happens, integrated with the entirety of our lives. This is not unschooling (we still have specific experiences and a guide to those lessons/experiences; I present key experiences, we discuss plans and outcomes together, while the ultimate responsibility is for Legoboy to take those key experiences and construct himself into his own person.

CAVEAT 2: I wrote and scheduled this post before having the bright idea to document a whole week. I will leave this post scheduled on the day it is, but with the note that these events took place the Tuesday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Wake up and build with Legos. Yes, he really does that. He jumps out of bed, combs his hair, uses the toilet, gets some breakfast and reads - then does some work with Legos (or drawing out Lego or Minecraft plans).

This photo is actually from the Lego KidsFest. I need a
photo of Legoboy's Lego Cave ;) 

Review the interdependencies chart - Biology

He reviews this chart from time to time - just for the fun of it. Sometimes he draws pictures based on it or from other studies, adding more details. The first time he received this chart as a 6 year old, he re-created the chart on his own paper (tracing it to scale); at 8, he created it identically but smaller. At other times he has done a variety of other follow-ups. On this day (at age 10), he chose to simply talk it out with me, explaining how each component is interdependent upon each other - and how we, the humans, have created a supranatura that we are now dependent upon as well. This led to an interesting discussion about those people (Legoboy would LOVE to do this) who live off-grid, some attempting to be completely self-sufficient. What is the reality here?

The reality is that modern technologies, human progress, etc. have actually made it MORE possible to live "off-grid" - but that "off-grid" now looks VERY different than it would have 100 years ago, 500 years ago, 1000 years ago. Ancient people lived more in harmony with nature, to be certain - but consider that now we have an understanding of the microscopic world and what it can do for us (and against us), microfibers, and so much more. Thus "all-natural" living has a different understanding than it did centuries in the past.

Lots more to discuss there ;)



Outdoor work: 

• pull loose branches from the trees
• gather sticks and branches from all over the yard (we have 1.13 acre ;) )
• set up 2 outside burn piles (one next to the storage shed on the north side of the yard, one next to the compost heap on the other side of the yard) - and 1 indoor in the garage ---- we have a fire-pit already (although we might move it just slightly closer to the house)
• clean off the porch - clear storage tubs (some to compost pile, empty ones to tub to wash), sweep off the porch, clean out the big storage bin and organize gardening items on one side, outside toys on the other)
• set up the compost pile to our personal liking

He started before I went out so I could work on dishes -
trying to tease some loose branches out of the tree above

Errands across the street

Out the side-front window ;) 

He runs a variety of errands across the street, and to the landlord's house (kiddycorner to our back-yard) and other neighbors. I love this area - on the one hand, we are definitely rural, but we do have some people/places nearby.

Horses live beyond our back fence
(the fire pit, in this photo, is the brush-pile towards the right side)

Laundry
Because we can ;)



Apologetics class

He signed up for the monthly unlimited subscription - not doing the live classes, but watching many of the recorded classes. This works out more affordable, but limits access to immediate feedback from the instructor (although some instructors offer such feedback for a very small fee). Legoboy is currently working through a middle school introductory apologetics course, which is VERY good.


Herbal Cold Care















Continuing our herbal studies, we recently signed for Herbal Cold Care through LearningHerbs.com. A series of 10 videos walk through straight-forward use of herbs and normal foods for the prevention, cure, treatment and follow-up healing from colds and flu. AWESOME stuff here. And lots of downloads of recipes, monographs on particular herbs and more. We got in on about half-off the cost because we also participate in Herb Mentor. Among our other herbal studies from Learning Herbs and other resources, these two have been so straight-forward, real and useful. I can't say enough about using natural remedies for our health.




Sherlock

Legoboy and his godmother are both way into Sherlock. He has been reading the original stories for a couple of years now. We have been hearing talk of the BBC show - and finally watched it on Netflix (Seasons 1 and 2) - HOOKED.


Confirmation card
He is preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation and one of our resources we are using at home is a workbook I divided up into activity cards so he can create a notebook on various topics and experiences. Each week he does 2-7 cards, with 70 altogether, leading him through prayers, reading the Sacred Scriptures, studying sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, studying prayers in the Roman Missal, applying Church teaching to real life, etc.



Reading general books
He reads. And builds with Legos. And reads some more. Then asks for movies. Yes, we watch a lot of movies of late - all related to what he is reading in one way or another with LOTS of discussions. I love it :)


Locate Narnia binder and flip through previous work
He wants to re-begin a Narnia study we started quite a while back (which is actually what prompted the Sherlock reading above).
I think if this were the ONLY thing we were doing for school (adding in a math component only), it would be something we would work on more routinely. As it is, we are barely finishing up Magician's Nephew (first book in the study - it presumes you have read the books already, and are re-reading them for the study) and we started WAY back when (3 1/2 years ago???). we don't even do all the activities, we just get started down a rabbit trail or we have our other studies.



Some stuff w do together; some we do side-by-side with moments of cooperation. Some things we do in entirely different locations. We really work together - as a community - building on each other and around each other. Living life :)

"Education as an Aid to Life" - that is the them of Montessori - and the best place to do that is at home (home = with family).

setting up the bead cabinet for visitors and future co-op 

A Week in the Life of Legoboy: Monday - Upper Elementary Montessori

Monday, December 8 in the life of a Catholic family - Legoboy was on the schedule for 6:30 AM Mass for the Feast Immaculate Conception.

Our biology study of the day: recalling that a newly created baby girl in the womb of her mother already has eggs forming in her brand-new ovaries - all the DNA that will become her future children is already separating itself out into eggs. Indeed, those eggs are actually mature enough, even while their mother is in the womb of their grandmother, that a British group has had serious discussions about the feasibility of harvesting said eggs from the ovaries of aborted female babies for use in fertility treatments: in-vitro fertilization. 

The main drawback? that those children will grow up and find out that their "birthmother" was "never alive". 

Really. Wow. So the egg that has now become my son was created in my ovaries before I was "alive"? Eggs can grow in something that isn't alive? I had ovaries before I was alive myself? 

Tongue-in-cheek. In reality, I cry for all the pain that is out there because of mis-information about when life begins. 

In the end, science informs our faith. Life begins at the moment of conception. Period. 

Legoboy loves talking about this stuff. 

It was not this light when we left.
In fact, it was not this light when we returned home. 

I did not sleep well last night. In fact, I didn't sleep at all. No particular reason, I just couldn't sleep. Bleck. I couldn't focus on anything this morning when we got back, so Legoboy made himself some oatmeal and I laid down for 3 hours - and finally slept.

I am pretty sure we did not do morning prayer today. Since Mass is the greatest prayer we have, I suppose we are ok ;)

He worked on some Minecraft while I slept, working around the reality that he is not allowed to kill "humans" even in the game. Zombies and animals are fair game. The one is already dead and is attacking him; the other is needed for food and other commodities.

He also worked with Legos. You know - hands-on Minecraft ;)

I woke up and checked e-mails. We had a nice response from the gentleman who offers EEME - Monthly Electronics Projects. After each thing we do on there, we receive an automatic request for a survey/feedback. This last one I put in a couple of requests, pointed out what we loved and shared that Legoboy was having trouble getting the photoresistor to work properly in other configurations (it is actually going brighter when it should go dimmer, and vice-versa). Mr. Pien "EEME Dad" offered for us to send him a photo and he'd see if he could provide some feedback. He loves that Legoboy is experimenting with alternate methods. Very cool.

So he got a photo ready to send over (I just took care of responding this evening, so no response yet as of the time I type this).

 Randomly took a picture of himself walking. Cute.

We have been slowly working on our Jesse Tree ornaments for this year - set up the tree this morning, but have not yet hung the ornaments. Last year, Legoboy made paper ones each day. This year, we'll be doing wood-burned ornaments again.

For Advent, he has a Star Wars Lego Advent calendar. In the past, he has had a Kingdoms Lego Advent Calendar which was really neat. The City version never intrigues him for some reason.

He did use his St. Nicholas gift with some Legos today - after a couple of hours of experimentation, both yesterday AND today. He received a box with a battery pack with a switch that allows the current to go either way or off, a motor with a piston that turns either direction based on the switch, wires with 2 lights, and something else (can't remember off-hand). A few small extra pieces too. Anyway, today he built this - he says he has more to add to it to make a non-water boat.

Our Advent prayer table. Using a red candle for Gaudete Sunday - he can't seem to find the rose candles and I have not had time to look.

All the Legos he is getting for Christmas either from me or from others? I got some free packages mixed in ;) To be clear - those freebies? they're mine ;)

History: He and I reviewed his progress on his Mystery of History Wall of Fame. He was half-way done, looking forward to finishing up two months ago, then had the idea to convert all his images to the computer. He wants to learn how to use Paint.net really well and thought this would be a great to do so. He is about 20 images in so far (doing 2-3 a day, about 3-4 days a week) - and his skills are definitely improving! He won't let me share until it is entirely done.

Confirmation Preparation: He worked on a card in his Confirmation notebook. He does 1-2 a day, 4-5 days a week, with about 4-5 cards actually done each week. (more information in another post)

Outside to gather up more fallen branches and sticks, sweep away some leaves, before snow falls again.

Natural creations: Made new batches of deodorant and toothpaste. Yes, he helps make this stuff.

We did some afternoon chores together, cleaned up the living room, discussed the most recent episode of Once Upon a Time and how grateful we are to have the movie Frozen with substantially fewer loose ends now. Elsa, Anna and their aunt (who also has ice powers) have been on Once Upon A Time this season - the aunt is something else, and it came to a sudden conclusion that at first made us all think, "What!? That was IT!? That is all it took? That was WAY too simple!" But if you go back to the "Love Experts'" (the trolls') song in Frozen:

"People don't really change... People make bad choices if they're mad or scared or stressed, But throw a little love their way - and you'll bring out their best. True love brings out their best!"

We only watched the movie this past summer when there was an intro of Elsa at the end of OUAT Season 3. I LIKED the movie, surprisingly enough, but SO MANY loose ends.

Most of them are now tied up. Why the parents left. Yes they threw a message in a bottle before they drowned. Are the powers genetically passed on or was Elsa cursed? Does Anna's love really withstand all things? Could she ever do something to harm Elsa? What is Christoff like when HE is grumpy? These and so much more. Legoboy appreciates the further depth to the story now! He is NOT a Frozen fan in general.

Faith Formation: Two lessons of Consecration in Truth - below his actual grade level, but the teaching is so meaty that he asked to go back to where we stopped. He did level 1 when he was in kindergarten-age, but we've not used it since then. So he picked up with level 2 today and we did the first two lessons.


Then it was time for tae-kwon-do.

Mystery shop at Dairy Queen. My favorite mystery shop ;) Legoboy's too.


45 minute drive home - yuck. Stuck behind 10-15 mile per hour traffic for NO apparent reason (two police cars in front of the traffic slowing everyone down).

Evening prayer.

Considered a nap. We had adoration at the church from midnight to 1 AM, tonight, in honor of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the upcoming Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe when Mary appeared to St Juan Diego with the unborn Jesus in her womb ---- this vigil/adoration is for the sake of all unborn children in our world.

Legoboy took a nap. When I woke him up, he stumbled around for about 5 minutes, then came to me and asked, "Did I fall asleep?" Yeah, just a little, kid ;)

after everyone in front of us left

That was his Monday (and a small part of mine).
Lots of faith formation. Can't complain ;)


I'll add: I looked up Fractals and we both discussed them. People keep mentioning them and it IS in the Frozen song "Let it Go". My personal opinion? Totally cool, totally fun. No need to introduce lesson plans or new materials for Montessori-educated children - just have a book or a chart about them to entice interest. These seem more a follow-up, a connection to art for sure - not necessary as a "key experience" because the key experiences that already emphasize patterns and history and further studies will lead the children down that path.
And if the children don't go there in elementary - then they have adolescence for it. 

Montessori Math - Word Problems - Option: Zaccaro's Challenge Math

Legoboy and I received our copy of Upper Elementary Challenge Math two days ago and all I can say as I go through it is YES! Yes, yes yes yes yes yes!

As I suggest in the comments on my first post on the Challenge Math series, I find that for typically developing Montessori children, we can add 1-2 years to Mr. Zaccaro's age suggestions. These books were designed for gifted children and they tie in wonderfully with our math and geometry experiences.

This book says grades 3-5 - and I say YES! Adding two years puts it at Montessori "grades" 5-7 (misnomer there but bear with me ;) ). My son is "5th grade" and I would say he is just about ready for this book, the first levels of each chapter. I have a few more reviews I would like him to do in the first book (Primary Grade Challenge Math) before we dive into this one; if we hadn't been waylaid by other life events, he would be entirely ready for this book.

Now the difference between Upper Elementary and Primary Grade? There are additional problem sets (3-8 pages of them!) before even getting to the "levels". Both books have the same levels - Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and Einstein. Primary Grade did not have the additional problem sets though and at times I feel like there are not "enough" word problems... to the point I re-wrote a few (just a few in the end) with different numbers, just for more practice. This book fills it ALL in. If I had known what was coming, I would have let it go and just enjoyed the Primary Grade Challenge Math for what it is, holding out for Upper Elementary Challenge Math.

Well now I know. And I love it.

I could see this book carrying us through the rest of elementary and getting us started in adolescence. Then moving into the original Challenge Math book. At the time we started Primary Grade, the next step available was Challenge Math - so this Upper Elementary Challenge Math fits a nice little transition stage perfectly!


I LIKED math growing up - because I always knew there was something more there - I picked up pieces of it here and there, but mostly missed the boat.

This is ONE EXCITED Montessori Mama - I get to do all of this too!

Upper Elementary Montessori - New work journal and work plan

Work Journal - really it's nothing new, a bit more detail in some areas, a bit less in others. We are simply looking for a record of general time spent. Questions and thoughts now go into their own notebooks rather than in here, though sometimes things pop up in here too.

Just to have a cute photo
for the upper elementary montessori
work plan post ;) 

So we use a spiral notebook; note the date, then list general times spent on general studies/activities. We might have 2 days on a page; or it might be a full page for 1 day.


Work Plan - we are going full-monthly now. Legoboy has his plans and we still have the remainder of the albums.
Truly, as we moved into upper elementary (click that link for a related post), I thought the remainder of the albums would be done rather quickly. Nope! What has happened is that I am presenting FAR less. He receives a new presentation and has two courses of action:

1. Runs with it. Uses it. Practices it. Builds a small (or large) study around it.
   
2. "Gets it." Then returns to his other small or large studies he is doing, integrating the new presentation wherever is appropriate.
   

I am even MORE grateful that we didn't go with more detailed upper elementary albums. As schools start up in my area, I am continually asked "so when do you start school again?" When I say, "We never stop learning," most people are appalled (thinking of textbooks for 4-8 hours every.single.day all.year.round). Nope! We have keys-based Montessori albums that require us to live life to its fullest ;) 

So we are still meeting each week to go over the schedule for the week (I don't mean school schedule - I mean our family schedule: tae-kwon-do, church events, Mass times, events at the Legostore, anything scheduled with friends or family (lots of pool parties lately!)). We then go over the non-scheduled things that need to be done this week.


By "go over" - this means we discuss it. I don't dictate "here are the things that need to be done" (unless there IS something that needs to be done, but honestly he tells ME those things even when I already know). We have our routine of what we discuss and he runs with it. He'll come up with things that should/could be done, or share an insight on how something could be done, etc.

For example, 2 weeks ago, he suggested we attend the early morning Mass at St. Martin so that we can work on the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd sacristy items at St. Paul on the way back, followed by St. John's which is also on the way back, saving a short trip of gas. His actual motive however, was to assure some time in the schedule to play a new game: Settlers of Catan. Well, ok, I can handle that ;)


So we now have a list of monthly goals or "themes" with our weekly conversation of what will be accomplished in each given week. If he feels he needs more time to accomplish a goal, we can discuss and I will support or nix an extension. I want him to learn to meet deadlines, but at 10, Legoboy should not be up until midnight or 3am finishing projects just to meet a deadline either.




As the mother and head of the household, I do have final say on all decisions, but I cherish these moments of discussing age-appropriate experiences with my son, allowing (encouraging!) him to be part of the thought-process behind life's little and large decisions; thereby knowing that when he is an adult and fully responsible for himself, I know that I have equipped him with all that I can including my prayers and my entrusting him to God.


There are a good number of anti-Montessori adults who want to emphasize adult control and adult direction to the point of denying that God has given our children any capabilities of their own. Thus, they hold on too tight until it is time to release the child to the world, then they are devastated by the results when the now-adult child looks to find another authority to "listen to" because he or she is incapable of making one's own decisions. These children spend their 20s (sometimes longer) getting their lives straightened out, when they could spend that time living a wonderful life by having learned all those adult life skills in tiny increments as growing children.
(end soapbox ;) )


August themes/plans:

• My Temple of the Holy Spirit health study (Catholic-based, but could be done by any Christian denomination)
• Study each topic in this book, adding desired activities from Blood and Guts; coloring pictures in two anatomy coloring books (the two we have are high school level, really)
• Dissections where appropriate
  
• Finish up My Pet Store Math (a Charlotte Mason offering) - we had to take a break from this a while back. He would like to finish it up.
  
• Work of Water: create the river model by himself
• Catch up on astronomy newsletters and spend at least 1 night a week outside under the stars
• Come close to finishing Mystery of History (because of his love for ancient history, volume 1 has taken FOREVER to do! This is fine because
  
1. he has the Great Lessons, thus the overview of Cosmic Education;
   
2. he has taken each (or almost every) short lesson and done some further follow-up work beyond selecting at least one of the included activities (usually more), creating the timeline cards and creating a Wall of Fame in a notebook of his own);
   
3. this is the only volume we plan to do. As Catholics, there are 2 specific locations that brought up some interesting discussion for us. Volumes 2 and 3 veer from how we understand the revelation of God. We'll have those discussions, just not with any particular history textbook. 
• Review work with decimal fractions. He has had some minor trouble with decimal places with the Pet Store Math - mostly in understanding when/why we don't need extra zeroes after a final decimal, unless we have something like 90 cents. And he wants to finish reviewing that material/section for me for the math album.
  
• Further music presentations. We have stalled on these, not because we don't LOVE them but because of time and space. He has been playing the piano but no real lessons. We'll look into picking up lessons next month, but our goal this month is to get the tone bars set up again and proceed forward with those album pages.
  

That's it! Think block scheduling, with lots of real life connecting it all.

We are not covering other subjects this month either because we naturally do them and don't have any particular plans/goals (growing and using herbs; prayer/faith studies (we are prepping the atriums for classes to start this September); or because he has goals for those areas in September or October. These later months aren't fully planned, but he set up a page for each to move things over that won't fit for the month of August. Organizational planning skills ;)  

So how did we spend our time today? Discussing the brain, the eye and the heart (topics of his own interest) - then doing a dissection on a cow's eye (post to come later this week!) - all of his own accord, on a deeper level than if I'd required it, but still with my requirement that he learn it thoroughly and all related ethics. I shared that information with a woman who thought I was crazy to not have starting/ending dates for school - she is a retired nurse and she insists he is doing high school level work (with the terminology he used to explain to her what he did today, yep, maybe it IS high school level work. He's 10. What does that say about high school offerings? Of course, I did the same work in college...).

Negative Snake Game - Signed Numbers - Upper Elementary

He wanted to build a snake that would definitely be negative - gray - and deep negative - lots of gray.

So he did. 

But see - he is actually just slightly beyond this work. He is 10, but started this work in lower elementary - he was just ready (LOVE that about Montessori ;) ). He needed (and requested) review before we move into operations with signed numbers (negative numbers) and it has been a while since he has worked with the negative snake game. (see disclaimer regarding the name of this material at the end of this post).

Thus, being this work is not a challenge for him, he MADE it a challenge. Instead of bringing down two bead bars at a time and doing this work based on math facts and number lines, he found various patterns:

• all positives/negatives that cancel each other out - eradicate and move on
• grouping together a series of negatives, getting one answer (such as negative 38), then grouping together some positives and balancing it out
• groups of beads (3-bar and 4-bar in positives, eradicate those with a negative 7-bar
• verified by finding all those matches again, grabbing them in matching groups rather than aligning one positive and one negative - definitely a sign he's beyond the work ;) 

Well, hey, he's using his math facts ;)

When he wrote the work on paper, before beginning to change the color of the snake, he grouped together each "set" of positive and negative bars, writing -16 for a -4, -7, -5; then writing +12 for +9, +3; etc. 

His idea:
use the underside of the boxes for the bead stairs.
Glue felt underneath the boxes, he says. 

Final answer. 

I started to sort the bars to actually match;
then realized, better to show what Legoboy actually does ;) 

So the final value of the snake is the positive (colored beads) matched against the negative beads;
what is leftover from either side should match what the snake turned into. 

He did this whole process with two snakes - which is a lot. One long snake is usually sufficient - providing a worksheet full of math facts, but he very clearly stated he wanted practice, he wanted good photo ops (to him, these are fantastic photos ;) ), and he wanted to prove his smarts. He said that. Goof.
(Again, I emphasize: ONE long snake is sufficient for one day. Really.)





***Disclaimer: My AMI albums have the following snake games:
1) Addition Snake Game - primary
2) Subtraction Snake Game - primary
(children can review these in lower elementary)
3) Negative Snake Game - later lower elementary or early upper elementary; other signed numbers work can come later

I have heard of other snake games, but these all seem to be one of the following:
1) an extension of one of the snake games listed above
2) a form of verification on one of the snake games listed above
3) unnecessary for most children
4) another NAME for one of the snake games listed above (I have seen the subtraction snake game for the primary level called the "negative snake game" - which makes no sense, because we are subtracting at that point, not "adding negative numbers")

Link to Montessori Nugget on Snake Game names. 

Upper Elementary in AMI

Upper Elementary in AMI

Every once in a while I hear that AMI does not "seem to have much for the 9-12 year old." I have to admit I am perplexed by that statement. As a mother of an almost 10 year old boy who is in the middle of upper elementary right now and "started" elementary a bit "early"... well, he's still pretty busy. On the one hand, I am entirely amazed at what we have accomplished, but we also started elementary at 5 1/2 (giving us more time) and he's an only child of a single mom who runs two businesses from her home and off/on has part-time work outside the home (read that as: lots of free time to avoid school work and play with Legos instead). On the other hand, now the DEEP work is part and parcel of our everyday lives, I can't imagine adding anything MORE to what we do ;)


Here is what I see when I look at AMI albums compared to other albums, in no particular order:

• AMI albums have a general presumption that a child has done all or most of the work in the primary albums. 
• A child not coming primary IS given remediation sections in mathematics and language to "bridge" into elementary without that previous background. These DO NOT repeat the primary albums, nor do they take as long. A normally developing 6 year old starting elementary Montessori can anticipate being less than a "year behind" his peers by the 3rd year of elementary, and likely not even that much. I say "behind" in quotes, because no child is truly behind - he is where he is and we work with the child in that place (this is what following the child means - following his NEEDS).
  
• I personally strongly encourage use of the sensorial album with new elementary children; utilizing the presentations as "challenges" rather than presented work. It generally takes less than a month of daily sensorial activities to lay a strong foundation (while doing other subject areas of interest/need). But that is just my personal experience speaking.
• In general, AMI has fewer materials, with more use of the same material in a variety of ways, going deeper with the one material rather than spreading out to more materials.
  
• AMI lays the foundation and expectation for a child to go deeper with his work, ask his own questions, seek out answers and collaborate with others. There are cues along the way, begun in primary and continued throughout elementary - we do not provide all the child's math problems for example, but provide prompts of the sort of math problems to create on his own - we can monitor his work and prompt areas that need attention.
  
• Upper elementary (ages 9-12) does not entirely repeat 6-9 - but all concepts are reviewed. Since personal research is encouraged from the get-go, by the time a child is in upper elementary, he should really be going much deeper with his work. Review concepts in history, for example, and most if not all upper elementary students should be delving into their own personal study of local national history, state/province history, and another area of choice (generally children have an area of history they flourish in - GO with it).
  
• AMI does NOT bog a child down or remove his imagination, creativity, or passion for learning by dictating every single study he does. AMI provides keys - a foundation and a framework - then provides guides for following particular interests (Goings Outs, history question charts, reading great literature and delving into the language used, music experiences with the tone bars, economic geography, etc.). If a particular child or family has a particular interest or value, there is now time to follow that particular pursuit because you do not have 6 hours of schoolwork dictated to you for every day of upper elementary.
  
• AMI does not utilize some materials in lower elementary that WERE used in primary, that some other albums say are still necessary at lower elementary (some of these items, such as the small bead frame, are not even used in AMI remedial mathematics at the elementary level - yet it is a "crucial" material in other elementary albums --- all those concepts can be covered with the large bead frame and NOT slow a child down) ---- thus beginning to go deeper, sooner and freeing up time/effort at the upper end of the age spectrum, when children in the well-run AMI schools DO get into algebra in 6th grade (not ALL children do! even at the best top-notch schools - again, we follow the child --- but here is another point: many children do NOT get to all the presentations in the math album and have more to do as they enter the adolescent plane of development.... so how can there not be enough in math?)
• I can ALMOST see the concern in language - there is less "dictated" - there are less "direct lessons". This is a benefit to the child if they have done most or all of the official lessons in the language album before getting to upper elementary. Now they can explore IDEAS, delve into speech, debate, drama, writing papers in one style, then re-writing in another style for comparison ---- hitting on all those extensions of the early album pages that they weren't ready for in lower elementary or didn't have time for (because of all the personal research they were doing).
  

In summary, AMI is so RICH with the actual keys and with the individual paths of the children, that the only thing I can fathom in trying to understand "there's just not much there for an upper elementary child" is that "there is just not much there for an upper elementary child's parent to directly teach (if all the "lower elementary" work is done)". If all the lower elementary isn't done - well, there is what an upper elementary child can jump into, have fun and explore!



If a child has done ALL of the suggested work for the lower elementary child, here is a generic (not near as detailed as it could be) run-down of the work for an upper elementary child:
(please keep in mind that most children will not get to all suggested topics in lower elementary, because their interests and needs are elsewhere; some will delve into upper elementary topics earlier, but will need to get the other topics later)
(music is not included here - follow the child entirely on this one)

Geography

Chapter I: Creation of the Earth/Idea of the Universe

God with No Hands - experiments - follow-ups

Additional Creation stories

Composition of the Earth

Further Details of the Composition of the Earth (stages)

Formation of the Mountains

Chapter II: Nature of the Elements

Further States of Matter

Different Ways of Combining

Separation, Saturation, Super-saturation

Attraction and Gravity

Extensions of all of the above

Chapter III: The Sun and the Earth

Time Zone Chart

Tilt of the Axis: Solstice, etc

Seasons and the Two Tropics: terminology from tilt

Chapter IV: The Work of Air

Review entire chapter; cover anything missed; select follow-ups to research

Chapter V: The Work of Water

The River

The Rains - Erosion

Ocean Waves

Ice

Spread of Vegetation

People in Different Zones

Chapter VI: Human Geography

Human Geography (Economy)

Overview of Local Government

Follow-Ups

Study of Natural Resources - Introductions

What is Produced and Where

Study of Consumption

Study of Consumption - Follow-Up (extensive)

Comparison of Production and Consumption

Imports and Exports:

Volume of World Trade

World Commerce

FINAL NOTES: Children should be studying in areas of interest (astronomy, physics, geology, etc.) Topics of less interest will be covered in middle/high school.

Biology

Biology – Botany and Zoology

Botany Experiments and Exploration

Story Material

Dissection of Animals

Biology: Classification

Kingdom Vegetalia: Classification

Genera

Familes: Continuing Classification

Geneaology of the Plant

Tree of Classification:

Kingdom Animalia: Classification

Biology: Ecology

Ecosystems - variety

Language

Chapter I: History of Language

The Story of Communication in Signs

The History of Written Language

The History of Spoken Language

Chapter II: Grammar and Syntax

Compound Words - Conversations

Additional Grammar Symbols

Verbs - Simple Tense: Present

Verbs - Simple Tense: Past

Verbs - Auxiliary Verbs

Verbs - Simple Tense: Future

Verbs - The Perfect Tenses

Verbs - The Infinitive and Moods

Verbs - Negative Form of the Verb

LA: Simple Sent w Extensions - box 2

LA: Simple Sent w Extensions - on paper

LA: Verbal & Nominal Predicates (linking verbs)

Elliptical Sentences

Order of Sentences

Voice of the Verb

Voice of the Verb - Dictation

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Compound Sentences

Complex Sentences - Adjective Clauses

Complex Sentences - Adverbial Clauses

Complex Sentences - Noun Clauses - Direct

Complex Sentences - Noun Clauses - Indirect

Complex Sentences - Noun Clauses - Subject

Complex Sentences: Degrees of Dependence

Chapter III: Written Language

Written Language Part I & 2

Historical Investigation

Heraldry

Runes

Calligraphy

Decoration

Illustration

Illumination

Variety of paper

Exploration of grammar books

The Content of Children’s Work

Factual Writing - Various forms

Imaginative Writing - Various forms

Research and Note-Taking

Chapter IV: Spoken Language

Discussion

Reports

Speeches

Debates

Poetry Reading

Dialogue

Dialogue 2: Interviews

Chapter V: Literature

Introduction to Literature

Linguistic writing research

History of English Literature - research

Book of Kells

Chaucer

Etymology

Songs and Verse

Beowulf

Hymn of Caedman

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

American Literature

include selections in the classroom

studies of authors and lives

Children’s Literature

older literature selections (pre 1900s)

1900s literature selections

Children’s Literature in the United States

Read and listen to books

Timelines

Biographies of authors

Goings Out related to literature

Other explorations

Chapter VI: Style

Style

Mathematics

Operations

Group Division

Group Division & Word Problems

Decimal Fractions

Relative Size of Terms/Numbers

Division of a Decimal Fraction by a Decimal Fraction

Leading to Abstraction of Multiplication of Decimal Fractions

Division of a Decimal Fraction on Paper

Squaring and Cubing

Squaring with a Hierarchical Value: stages

Pass From One Cube to Another

Cubing a Binomial

Cubing a Trinomial

Cubing a Quadrinomial

Cubing a Trinomial having Numerical Value

The Story of the Three Kings

Cubing a Number with Decimal Value

Square Roots

Square Roots - Abstraction stages

Special Cases - stages

Square Roots: review process and rules

Cube Roots

Cube Roots: Review concept and rule

Other Topics

Signed Numbers: Negative Snake Game

Signed Numbers: Operations (stages)

Powers of 2

Powers of 3: Full work

Powers of 2 and 3: Combined

Powers of 10

Operations Using Exponential Notation

Expanded Power Notation - Intro and Operations

Word Problems

Distance/Velocity/Time

Principal/Interest/Rate/Time

Non-Decimal Bases: Intro and Operations

Conversion of Number Bases

Balancing an Equation using operations

Solve for Unknown: Operations

Algebra Word Problems

Solve for Two Unknowns

All stages in upper elementary typically

Geometry

I. Introduction to Geometry

Various Geometry Stories from History

II. Congruency, Similarity, Equivalency I

Review all concepts in Upper Elementary

IX. Equivalency III

Equivalency with Iron Material: stages

Euclid’s Plate

X. Area

Concept of Area

Deriving Formulae with the Yellow Material: stages

Deriving Formulae with the Iron Material: stages

XI. Circle I

The Circle Nomenclature

Relationship Between Lines and Circumferences

Relationships Between Two Circumferences

XII. Circle II

Area of a Circle (stages)

Relationship Between the Apothem and Side of a Plane Figure

XIII. Solid Geometry

Concept of Volume

Equivalence as Related to Solid Figures

Three Important Dimensions

Equivalence Between Prisms with Various Bases

Derivation of the Formula

Solids of Rotation

Volume of the Pyramid

Volume of the Cylinder and Cone

Polyhedrons

Lateral and Total Surface Area of Solids

FINAL NOTES: Use 6th year to review and consolidate all concepts

History

The Coming of Life Story with Timeline

The Black Strip

Fundamental Needs of Human Beings – Charts --- some portions start in year 4

History Question Charts

Three Phases of History

Second Timeline of Human Beings

Migration Charts

Four River Civilizations

New World Civilizations

Timeline of Civilizations

Timelines for Memorization

American History (National History)

Clock

Personal Timeline

Calendar

BC-AD Timeline