The Year of Miss Agnes

I have not had the freedom to write anything lately. Today it is 60 here in IA; I have one boy napping and I just sent my other four outside. Glorious quiet!

I want to share with you one of my favorite books, The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill. We just finished reading it as a read-aloud from Sonlight Core 1. It is my second time reading it and was reminded again why I liked it so much!

The story is told by Fred, a 10 year old Alaskan girl. She lives in a small village near the Koyukuk River. Their village has a one-room school and they have had trouble keeping a teacher. Most teachers didn't want to put up with the village "ways": smelly, dried fish for lunches, large amounts of time off for fish camp, and slow, backward pupils. Concerned that they were losing the village children, the local pilot "kidnaps" a teacher on her way back home to England. Sam, the pilot knows that Miss Agnes is an exceptional educator and is just what this school needs. It is Miss Agnes' teaching methods that endear her to me...

Taping a time line made of adding machine paper to the side of their classroom. She would add pictures as they read about different times in history.
Reading aloud to them as they practiced their printing or cursive...books like Robin Hood, Greek Myths, and Fairy Tales
Posting a large map on the wall and encouraging them to find Alaska and then learn all the other countries throughout the year
Popping questions at any time of the day like, "How may continents are there?" and "What do you call animals without backbones?"
Because "writing is reading backwards" encouraging them to write by giving them little books stapled together in which they could write stories about themselves
Teaching spelling by making personal lists of the words they needed help to write in their books
Making a game of speaking with proper English by allowing students to catch each other speaking improperly

Perhaps this lends itself so well to homeschooling because we are truly a "one-room schoolhouse". I do incorporate some of these methods already but it was a good reminder of others I could use to make our schooling richer. AND the book has a wonderful warm, fuzzy ending. If you haven't read it yet, I would encourage you to find a copy.

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." Deuteronomy 6:6-7

P.S. There is one more book that comes to mind that also uses similar techniques of learning and that is Cheaper By the Dozen by the Gilbreths. Don't let the more recent movie turn you off. This book is also an excellent tool to help you be creative about teaching your children without making it feel like "school".

My daily schedule

It is snowing today here in IA. So I can stay home and get some things done. I have wanted to post my schedule so you could know why I don't get to post as often as I want to. But I am sure that everyone's schedules are just as crazy. :) This is a typical weekday at my house...

6:00AM Bible Reading
6:30AM exercise/plan my day
6:50AM shower
7:00AM start breakfast/make Jon's lunch
7:30AM eat breakfast (wake older boys if they are not up yet)
8:00AM everyone does chores (on W,TH,F I give my sons' piano lessons)
9:00AM start school w/Bible, memory verses, singing
9:30AM do reading, LA & math w/ Jesse (older boys begin their own school, Joe & Jason at computer)
10:00AM Snack/work w/Jeremy (Jesse takes break)
10:30AM work w/Jonathan (Jeremy takes break, Jesse finishes seatwork)
11:00AM World history, poetry with all the boys
11:30AM make phone calls, start lunch
12:00PM lunch
12:30PM clean up lunch/ pack for shop
12:50PM leave for shop (we don't always get there on time :(
1:00PM-5:00PM work at shop (boys help out, finish school, play outside, Jason naps for 1 1/2 hrs.)
5:30PM start supper
6:00PM supper (we like to listen to Adventures in Odyssey while we eat)
6:30PM supper clean up
7:00PM family time (we play games, Wii, or sometimes finish school work)
7:30PM family devotions and read-aloud (currently Mr. Popper's Penguins)
8:00PM 2 & 5 yr. old bedtime
8:20PM 7 yr. old bedtime
8:30PM reading (The Westing Game) to the older boys
9:00PM older boys in bed I try to catch up with Jon, correct math, finish reading, etc.
10:00PM bed (I may have fallen asleep before this!!)

This schedule helps me to get the priorities done though my days do have a lot of variations... Right now we are involved in a music concert and drama with our church school. So on M, W & F we practice at the church from 2-3PM. On T & TH the older boys go to drama at the same time. On M and TH, I teach piano lessons in the late afternoon so I leave work early. On Tuesdays, we go in to work at 8:00AM and work all day. This enables me to get Jeremy to speech therapy at 10:00AM at our local middle school. On Tuesdays, I also get to share lunch with one of my very close friends and her girls. It is a special treat for me to get some "Mom time".

We make very few commitments on week nights. There is just not enough time. We feel that the boys and the shop are our priorities right now. "The shop" is Rich's Auto Repair, which my husband bought from his Dad 3+ years ago. He is a full time mechanic there while I answer the phone, write tickets and keep the books.

My weekends involve cleaning on Saturday morning. This is a family affair with each of the boys having their own chores. Saturday afternoon I spend 1-2 hours planning school for the next week. This makes the school days go smoother as I don't need to find what the boys are to do next just send them to read their schedules. Sunday we go to church at 9:30AM and again at 6:00PM. I usually get a well-deserved nap in the afternoon.

I have a lot of hobbies that have been set aside during this season of my life (sewing, cross-stitching, scrapbooking). I still allow myself the pleasure of reading and now blogging, but my time spent on these is carefully monitored. I have also been working on some herb courses lately, which will hopefully allow us to open a natural health store in the near future. In the spring, my Mom-In-Law and I put in a large garden which takes most of my spare time throughout the summer and early fall. This is like a hobby to me as I love to watch those little plants grow and see all those colorful jars on the shelves.

My ultimate goal.....
"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates."
Proverbs 31:30-31