Lessons Learned Part II

Another lesson from this year of homeschooling is that it is not necessary to follow your curriculum to the letter. Please understand that I really do love our curriculum, My Father’s World. It is well organized, thorough, and easy to use. However, that does not mean that my kids need to do all of the work or that they have to move just because the curriculum says so. I have learned to do the work that my girls need to do and to change the method of delivery to address the kids’ needs’ and interests. Let me explain.

MFW includes a very thorough phonetically-based reading instruction component. I think the methods used are great and do teach your child to read. You teach 6 types of lessons during the week and then cycle through those types of lessons each week. The specifics in each lesson change as you work through the weeks, but the structure remains the same. At some point in the school year we tired of the repetitiveness of the lessons. At that point I decided to change things around a bit. Sometimes we played games that addressed the same concept to be taught. Other times I added an element of surprise to the original plan. For example, when we sort picture cards by initial sounds, sometimes I have a kid run down the hall with the picture card and match it to the correct letter at the other end of the hall. Once all of the picture cards are gone, we flip the pictures and check the letters on the back and correct any mistakes. My take on the lessons kept things fresh and kept the kids engaged while teaching the necessary concepts.

There were studies that we have been very interested, so I decided to extend the learning. MFW includes lessons on cows, horses, and goats. I added to that by creating a unit on the farm. We visited a couple of farms. We watched videos of the three animals included in our curriculum. We read many books about the farm. We compared cows and goats as well. We even created a very large farm diorama. We completed work for a lapbook on the farm (which I still need to construct). We learned about the farm far longer than we were “supposed” to according to MFW, but that worked for us.

An important part of the curriculum is the math calendar. This includes, among other components, learning the days of the week, the months of the year, and counting the days in school using straws on a hundreds chart. I decided to add Zero the Hero to our school experience. The idea is that every tenth day Zero visits your classroom and leaves something for the children to count and sort. On that day the children count to 100 by ones, twos, fives, and tens and sing special songs and read books about Zero or even a letter written by Zero. It can be a lot of work, but it is so much fun! Zero helps the kids learn place value and counting by running with the kids’ imaginations and by being repetitive (every tenth day you are visited by Zero).

My lesson: Use your curriculum as a guide and add or subtract according to your kids’ needs and interests.

Lessons Learned This Year

I have some lessons that I learned while homeschooling my kids this year. These insights might help you, too.

This school year we started off with a pretty strict schedule, and I worked hard to ensure that we had school time every day. I was sticking to the curriculum, My Father’s World. I wanted to be sure that we covered everything. We got to work at 8 am and worked until 11 am with a snack in the middle of our schedule. We also had dance lessons, soccer practice, doctor appointments, Mom to Mom, and small group on top of maintaining our home and going to the gym. It was very intense, and we were all exhausted!

I learned my lesson a few months in. Nobody could maintain the rigid schedule I had set up, and homeschooling is supposed to be flexible. Besides, one of our goals this school year was for our children to work and play independently so that I would not have to constantly monitor them. I loosened up on our start time, so that the kids would have more time in the morning (their best time of day) to play together without my interference. I played around with when and where we did school work and streamlined a few things from our curriculum, especially on days when we had things going on outside of our home. I took a long look at the things that we were doing outside of school time and realized that those things really are considered school work, too. For example, we cook and experiment with recipes often, and I read to my kids all of the time. Even when we were not “officially” doing school work, my kids were engaged in educational experiences.

Our relaxed routine has helped me focus on other aspects of my children’s lives. I have been better able to help C6 with her sensory issues and anger management. I can help my kids process problems that come up between them. I can also model social behaviors that I want to see in my children’s interactions with others such as treating others the way you want to be treated, introducing yourself, introducing your friends to each other, and using good manners. These are issues that are as important if not more important than academics.

My lessons: 1) Be more flexible with your schedule and your curriculum. 2) Focus on what is important for your kids.

Photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks

Catching Up with NEWS

It has been such a long time since I have posted. Please forgive me, dear readers!

This year has been a fun-filled, busy year of homeschooling Kindergarten and Preschool using My Father’s World (Kindergarten) as our curriculum. I have so much to share with you about our homeschooling experiences this year. I will be writing many posts to let you in on our successes and failures as well as the ways that we worked out problems that popped up.

I also have great news – I’m pregnant with baby #3! We are thrilled!

Our news changes things a bit for us next year, though.

I have really enjoyed homeschooling this year, but next year we will be sending both kids to school. The baby is due December 1st, and I know that I will not be able to do it all. I will miss the time I’ve had with C and A, but I am looking forward to spending time with just our new baby. I plan to stay connected to the homeschooling community, though. I do hope that we can home educate our children again in the future.

Look for more posts on all of the great learning we have done this school year!

School Room Preparations Continued

The school room is painted and decorated. We chose a beautiful pale green for the walls and a periwinkle for the chalkboard. I am missing a few minor things for the room like a couple of lights and a rug, but otherwise everything is up. My cherubs were even helpful with the set up. I will post pictures very soon.

We are ready to get stared with school!  Maybe we’ll start this week…

Reorganizing Our School Room

Our school room is tiny, so I have to find ways to make the most of the space we have. Yesterday I reorganized our room and supplies and found some much needed space! Here are a couple of things I did:

~ I took our math manipulatives, science project supplies, and other supplies out of their boxes. Instead they are stored in plastic, zipper bags and categorized in baskets that will be labeled. It was amazing how much space I saved by eliminating the packaging materials.

~ I removed our puzzles from the school room. (We have two big boxes of them.) Each puzzle is stored in plastic, zipper bags with the picture of the finished puzzle inside. Now they are more compact and can easily be stored in our living room where we actually do puzzles.

~ I had to relocate my scrapbooking supplies. Even though we will use some of those supplies in school, I really don’t need them to be readily accessible every day. That in itself eliminated a whole book case and a few bags.

~ I rearranged the furniture so that the wall we will use as a chalkboard and for our math calendar will be more accessible and usable. I also have more wall space for posters, artwork, and the like. I plan to buy a rug to put in front of this wall, too. That will add another dimension to the space.

~ It became apparent that I had to put the art supplies including crayons, glue sticks, and scissors out of reach. Formerly those items were stored in each child’s school supplies basket. I changed my mind after the kids emptied the white glue bottle all over their table and tried gluing scraps of paper I had let them cut up the day before. Now these supplies are in a very large basket up high on a bookcase. I used recycled plastic yogurt cups and sour cream containers to store paint brushes, markers, and glue sticks within that basket.

~ I now have two shelves for the kids’ books and one shelf for my books on my bookcase. I just have to fill up the space! That won’t take long at all.

Now that the room is better organized, I can paint the walls with the beautiful paint that we bought today! I will post pictures once the painting is finished.

Photo courtesy of MiRo740

Preparing

I am in the process of preparing for next school year. I have been organizing curriculum materials, decorating, and trying out different schedules. I still have a long list of things to do including painting our school room.Once the school room is painted, I can set up the math calendar and hang maps. I cannot wait because once all of that is up, the room will really feel like school to us!

This whole process is really exciting to me. I LOVE to plan. Thinking through all of the possibilities makes me feel like we can do anything! I am already searching for books and thinking about extension activities that we can try out. I think E is tired of hearing about what my plans are for the fall, but the kids cannot wait for it to start!

Now if I could get E to help me out with the set up, I could get it finished in no time…

My Homeschooled Kids are Weird

Newsflash! Yes, it is true that homeschooled kids are weird. At least my kids are.

We have all been sick for a couple of weeks, so life has been a bit slower than usual. Now that the kidlets are feeling better, they have been begging me for school work! Do kids in regular classrooms do that?

This morning C5 demanded that she read a book to me before my morning coffee. She was not going to wait to read it to me either. In my blurry-eyed state I listened and coached her as she read. Even though I thought that the book was not the right match for her, she insisted on finishing the book. Alas, we got through it. I must say her persistence will get her far in life!

The begging continues throughout the day, too, but sometimes it just isn’t feasible to give them work. For example, they desperately wanted some work during that awful time of day right before dinner. I had to give in to the pleading tonight, though. They just wouldn’t back down despite the fact that we were running late on dinner, and they were starving. Amidst all the rushing around the kitchen while Daddy prepared dinner and I cleaned up, the kids worked on a puzzle together at the kitchen table. (It was the best thing I had on such short notice that didn’t required much supervision.) It was a sight to see. C5 was giving A2 a lesson on the letter names and sounds. She was instructing her little sister in the shapes of the letters, too. I heard a lot of, “Good job!” while they were working together. It was so cute!

I just shake my head in these moments. Thank you, God. My children love learning. My children are weird.

Photo courtesy of milena mihaylova

Summer Vacation Planning

Summer is approaching and lots of families are planning vacations, and it is truly a wonderful idea to travel with your children. Go to Playground for Parents to read an excellent guest post by Renee from Mothers Raising Boys on why it is such a great idea to take your kids on trips. Even though travel with your kids can be difficult, you can be successful.  Here are some tips to improve your chances of having fun together while you travel.

Photo courtesy of twodolla

~Pack carefully for the traveling part of your vacation. Kids get bored easily in the car or on a plane. Here are a few things to take with you:

-A DVD player with a few movies your kids never get to see is a great thing to pack with you. It can provide much needed peace and quiet.

-Audio books and headphones can keep kids of all ages entertained for a while. You can also pick an audio book that the whole family will like.

-Lacing cards are a fun way to keep little ones’ hands busy. They don’t require a lot of supplies . Plus lacing cards help your children improve fine motor skills and hand/eye coordination.

-Take a trip to the local Dollar Store and fill a bag with cheap toys. The kids will like the fact that they are new. You won’t care if they get lost.

-A fun retro idea is to give your kids a Rubix cube. It’s compact and won’t make a mess. It will keep your kids’ attention and will keep those hands busy.

-Mad Libs are a fun and educational activity for the whole family. Everyone will have a few laughs!

-I give the kids gum. It keeps them happy!

-Little kids love lift-the-flap books. They keep small hands busy and little minds engaged.

-Create a scavenger hunt for your kids. You can use the printable lists found on MomsMinivan, too.

Photo courtesy of Andy and Tracy Sidesinger

~Be realistic about what you can do on your trip. PLAN!

-Young children get tired and cranky, so plan the things that you absolutely don’t want to miss for early in the day.

-Discuss lunch and dinner options before you head out for the day. You don’t want to have that discussion while the kids are melting down and you are famished.

*Remember to bring healthy snacks with you. You’ll save money, and the kids will have good food to fuel them throughout the day. Avoid the sugar crash!

*Don’t forget to bring water for the whole family – including you. Staying hydrated will make everyone happier and healthier.

-Bring a change of clothes for the little ones in case of an accident.

-Bring sunblock, hats, and sunglasses.

-Pack a map. It can save you!

-Let the kids help you decide on activities for the day.

-Plan for a place to meet up at a certain time if someone gets lost.

~Remember that your vacation is supposed to be FUN for everyone. If you aren’t having fun, then you need to change something!

Make some memories this summer!

Building Excitement for Homeschooling

Montessori school is out for the summer, and we are homeschooling both kids full time this fall. I planned on taking some time this summer to really get my head wrapped around our schedule, goals, and the like while having a few minor summer projects for the kids. As I started organizing my things for school, I decided to show the kids our school supplies in order to build excitement for school at home. (There have been some negative comments about the idea of home education directed at the kids recently.) They thoroughly enjoyed the sneak peek! We have talked about school at home a bit recently, too.

Despite the fact that the kids have been sick with fevers and coughs this week, there has been much enthusiasm about starting school at home. Apparently the kids want to start the school year now. They demanded school work today. A2 kept asking for a project. I think she wanted to do one of the mosaics from a kit that we have been working on. (They each take about an hour to complete with a lot of assistance from me. I just didn’t have it in me today to do it.) They wouldn’t back down until I found something for them to do. We did puzzles together for a long while. C5 also read a book to me, and we reviewed some sight words. We even talked a bit about place value today. All of that work was on top of cleaning our home. It was definitely a productive day for us!

It looks like I was successful in making the idea of homeschooling positive.

Photo courtesy of tiffanywashko

Ponder Thought

I am pondering thought.

1. I spend a significant amount of time processing with my children. After a mistake has been made, we talk about alternatives to the misbehavior as well as possible outcomes if Mommy hadn’t stepped in. I try to talk the children through the decisions that they might make in different situations in an effort to think things through before hand. We talk about good choices that they have made, too. I try to emphasize what the right choice was and why.

2. I answer millions of questions all day long. Children are naturally curious and will ask questions as long as you answer them. I take the time when it is feasible to explain things. For example, we have discussed a very elementary version of digestion. We also talk about how and why the leaves change color. I try to give the kids concrete analogies, too. When we talk about what tree roots are for, I explain that the roots work kind of like straws and pull the plants food up into the tree.

3. I help the children work through their disagreements. Usually there is a miscommunication between the kids when there is an argument. One thinks the other took a toy on purpose when in reality they toy was laying on the floor and it looked like no one was using it. I try to get the kids to talk through the disagreement and resolve it. We talk about different ways to handle the problem in the future. They apologize and hug each other.

4. When I ask a question, I encourage my children to take advantage of think time. Many times they need a moment to process the question and retrieve the answer. You might be surprised to find that your children can answer your questions more effectively if they have more time to mull it over.

I am grateful that I have the time to spend on thinking skills. Ponder how you are addressing thinking with your children.

Photo courtesy of ???PRANAV???