Intentionally Observing

I have been thinking more about the role that observation plays in educating our children. Observing your children is one of the most important things that you can do for them because it helps you to make educated decisions about how you approach your curriculum and your child’s learning.

I would venture a guess that you already make observations informally. You most likely would be able to describe what types of work your child gravitates toward or avoids. I’m sure you are able to list your child’s struggles and strengths. So what am I talking about? I am suggesting that you be more intentional about observing and acting on what you observe.

Create a notebook that you will keep your notes in. Record the date, time, and a description of the task at hand that you make your observations of. Take some time every day to write notes about your child’s learning. Take notice of your child’s reaction to how you presented an assignment. Observe how your child solves problems and what helps your child get unstuck when s/he encounters something difficult. Take notes during those times of the day that you find it difficult for you and your child to get through. Review your notes regularly - every day, every couple of days, or once a week depending on your situation. Try to find patterns in the data that you have collected. Perhaps the method that you are using to teach history is causing problems. Your child may need a movement break between lesson, Maybe your child is ready to take the math concepts you’ve been exploring to a new level. You might find out that your child is a visual learner. Look at things you should do more of, things you should do less of, and things that you want to keep the same. Then make a plan based on those observations. Be intentional about your choices. Then make more observations based on your plan.

You may be surprised by the power of the cycle of observation and planning. Your experiences in your home school will change dramatically when you take the time to really observe your child at work.

Mallard Math

We have practiced our math skills in a variety of ways through Make Way for Ducklings. There are a few mathematical possibilities in this particular book that you might find helpful if you are also working on this particular lapbook.

Since there are eight ducklings in the book, we have practiced counting the number eight. Since my kiddos are kinesthetic learners, I need to incorparate manipulatives into our math work, and a great manipulative for this particular lesson is plastic Easter eggs. First, we sorted the eight eggs by color and counted how many eggs there were of each color. We compared which color we had more and less of. We also dabbled in addition and subtraction by adding one more egg and removing one egg. After all of that manipulative work, we made a counting book with the numbers 1-8. It’s a graduated page book. On each page the children drew the amount of eggs that correlate with the number on the page. Creating this book is also a great way to address the unique the needs of kinesthetic learners since there is a lot of interaction involved - turning the pages, drawing the eggs, counting the eggs, and coloring the eggs. My children needed a bit of guidance with staying focused on the task, but overall, this was a hit!

We also used the song “Five Little Ducks” to talk about counting backwards from 5. We used it as a finger play while I a read a great picture book of the song, Five Little Ducks illustrated by Ivan Bates. They really love this song and adding a kinesthetic piece to it just makes it more engaging. Having the visuals (pictures) also makes the song more interesting. Lessons are so much more dynamic when you weave multiple disciplines together.

Get cracking on your math skills, homeschoolers!

Now We’re Composting!

We have finally gotten organized enough to start our very first compost pile. Here is another great instructional video about how to get started on your own compost pile.

We got started by using some plastic chicken wire and fencing off a small area for our pile. (We have a dog, and she would certainly get into our pile if she had a chance!) We, even Dad was in on the conversation, discussed what a compost pile is for and what kinds of things we would put into it. The kiddos put some of our leaves into the fenced in area, too, to get us started. Then we watched this video on YouTube. We’ve decided that adding to the compost pile is now a job for the kids in our house!

Since our garden is growing so nicely even though I have a brown thumb, I hope that our new compost pile will also be a huge success. The kiddos are really excited about it. They are even talking about how we can reduce the amount of trash that we make every day by putting banana peels and apple cores into the compost pile. Perhaps we will have kids who are more “green” and want to do more to protect the environment! I also hope that our children learn a few lessons about how God is the expert recycler, too, since He created the whole decompostition process. I’ll keep you posted on our progress!

Home School Research: Mallard Duck

In our home school we are continuing to make our lapbook for Make Way for Ducklings, and we have worked on researching Mallard Ducks this week.

We reread the book and discovered that there is a lot of true information about ducks in it, so we decided to do some research on Mallard ducks. One day we listened to songs of the mallard duck online. We looked at photos online as well, and we watched a slide show of ducklings hatching. It was really fun to see the hatching. The kids wanted to listen to the songs over and over, too!

The next time we sat down for some school work, we read a brief article about Mallard ducks and filled out a report form while I read it. We wanted to confirm information on the internet as well, so we used a “Google” search. You could try Wikipedia, too.

On another day we used many resources from Homeschool Share including the From Egg to Animal life cycle wheel and the duck parts printout. The life cycle wheel requires a third page for the back so that you can put it in the lapbook and also for ease of spinning the wheel. I cut out the piece ahead of time so that we would focus more on the life cycle rather than the act of cutting. I had the children put the four events in order and glue them in the book.

Since the children had already noticed the differences in the male and female ducks in the illustrations in Make Way for Ducklings, we colored the duck parts print out as a scientific drawing for the research and discussed the differences. I had to do a bit of directing on this lesson in order to ensure that the parts were colored correctly. Interestingly, the little one even points out the “mommy” and the “daddy” ducks when we are reading now. The children also dictated how they determine if a Mallard is a female or a male.

We also discussed what migration is and used a map to find the migration patterns of the Mallard Duck. The children dictated information about migration to include in the book. They drew a picture of a duck on the cover of the migration book. I described drawing a duck as a big circle with a smaller circle next to it and a triangle on the little circle. I think it came out nicely!

Are you going to try researching Mallard ducks this week?

Make Way for Our Next Lapbook

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey is the subject of our next lapbook. There will be a series of posts with thoughts and photos as we go through the process of this particular lapbook. I will even include titles of other books we are using. Again, I am making up my own lapbook using library and internet resources that are available for free.

I started this lapbook unit by creating a web of ideas for what we could learn about. This is a great way to get started. Based on my web, I searched the internet to see what was available. I looked at an example of what someone else had done for their lapbook on Homeschool Share, and I printed out what I intended on using for my lessons. I put together the first mini book we were going to make as well.

I introduced the book to the kids by talking about Robert McCloskey since we just read Blueberries for Sal. I read the book just for enjoyment this first time. We simply discussed the book as we went along. My kids’ bedroom is painted in a Make Way for Ducklings theme (painted by Caroline Funchion), so we talked about that connection to the book.

The next time we read the book, I wrote the ducklings’ names on our chalkboard- Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Pack, Ouack, & Quack - to use the ducklings’ names for learning about onsets and rimes. We created a flip book with the names. I wrote the letters, and my kids traced over them. The little one did not do a page for Ouack and Quack as I think it would have been too much work.

As a note for the reasoning behind this particular lesson, rhyming is a great precursor to reading. Try playing with rhymes when you’re waiting in the grocery line or at the doctor’s office. Sing rhyming songs for fun. Using onsets and rhymes is also a great strategy for figuring out unknown words when you are reading. Try pointing them out when you see a good one in a book or on the cereal box. This strategy is also helpful with writing. You can point out that a particular word rhymes with another one while you are writing and show your kids how you use that strategy.

I hope this helps you get started on your Make Way for Ducklings lapbook!

Homemade Puzzles

Here is another great idea for extra photos for those of you who have boxes lying around your house like I do. Let’s make some puzzles! You and the kids can make a few memories while practicing fine motor coordination and working on spacial relation skills. It is also a great rainy day activity.

This project is so simple and really fun for the kids. This particular project was done with preschool kids. Older kids can help you make the puzzles for the younger kids. All you need is scissors, a pen, baggies, photos, and a little time to spend with the kiddos reminiscing.  I gave the kids a pile of photos to choose from. Then I cut the photos into two, three, or four parts. I marked the back of each puzzle piece with a number (or you could use a color instead) to distinguish between the different puzzles and put the individual puzzles into baggies (or envelopes if you like). You can also make old Christmas and birthday cards into puzzles. Once the holiday is over, you can still enjoy the cards. You will reignite memories every time you put together your homemade puzzles!

Personalized puzzles are more fun than the ones that you buy in the store, and if one gets lost, it isn’t a big loss. Try out this rainy day idea with your kids and see how much fun it can be!

Homemade Books

Do you have tons of old photos hanging around the house from your days before digital photos or ones that were printed for a scrapbook but they didn’t quite make into the album? I have boxes of pictures that I am storing right now. I really want to put those photos to good use. How about you? Enhance your home school reading curriculum with this great idea.

My daughter is on the brink of reading right now, and I am trying to give her lots of learning materials that will help her along. We created books that she can “read” with old baby pictures. This project requires at least two sessions that last about 45 minutes each (depending on your children’s ages). You will need glue, mounting paper, construction paper, stapler, and a permanent marker.

I gave my daughter a few old photos to select her favorites from. Then we mounted the photos onto scrapbooking paper, and I organized them into categories that made sense for a few short books. We put each group of photos in order and glued them onto construction paper. We talked about what was happening in each of the photos and came up with a sentence for each picture that I wrote in permanent marker on each page. Then we stapled the book together and added a paper binding to cover the staples. Finally, we read the book together pointing to each word on the page. Presto! Now she has books that she “wrote” and made, and she can read them!

The key here is that making books is getting my daughter interested in actually reading the books. She is intimately involved in the process of illustrating and writing the books. Plus the books are all about her and the familiar things in her life. She is more likely to return to these books now because they are her books. Practice makes progress, so the more I can get her to reread and practice sight words, the better able she will be to apply that in other books.

When you write your own books with your children, be sure to include repetition of sight words, your child’s name, and the vocabulary that s/he uses. Your child will reread these books time and again so s/he will have plenty of practice with those critical words. The project lends itself to teaching reading strategies, too, like using the picture clues to understand the book and figure out unknown words.

Older children also enjoy making their own books. You can try having your older child write the story that goes along with the photos. You could even use the computer to type the words. There could be more than one photo on each page with much more text. You could require your older child to use particular spelling and vocabulary words in the story, too. Use your imagination and have fun making books about your family together!

Home School Gardening Project Tips

As a homeschooler, I find that preparing materials for great work that I want to do is sometimes hard. Some things just take a lot of preparation.  One way you can limit curriculum planning for your home school is by setting up ongoing projects. There is always something to do when you have a project, and you can add a lot of learning that is fun and interactive. Projects often take on a life of their own.

One great project is a garden. Gardening incorporates layers of skills, and it is great for kinesthetic and tactile learners. Obviously it is a science project, but there is so much more that you can do with it. My family has started a garden this summer, and we are having fun with it! The kids are really excited about watering the plants and making observations. We are trying to make more detailed observations about the shape and colors that we see in the garden. Here are some tips to add learning to your gardening experience.

• Do some research together about what plants grow in different kinds of light, and allow your children some choice about what to plant in the garden.
• Lookat the seeds before you plant them. Observe the shape, color, and texture.
• Use your science journals to make observations about the garden. Remember to make careful observations about the plants.
• The scientific drawings should be accurate - down to the colors. Remember to include written observations.
• Measure the plants as they grow and chart it. Make predictions about how much each plant will grow.
• Use new vocabulary when you talk about the garden. Talk about tilling the soil and fertilizing the plants. Name the tools. Find more information about gardening vocabulary at Katina’s Little Gardeners.

Your gardening experience should be a fun family project. Enjoy!

Summer Science Journals for Your Home School

Do you want to improve your science program? Are you struggling to motivate your kids to write anything let alone something meaningful, especially in the summer? Are you trying to get the most out of those educational summer vacations? Try using science journals! The benefits of journals abound! Have you tried them yet? They are great even for the littlest scientists! Here are a few tips for a summer science journal. Hopefully you will be inspired to try them out this summer!

• Use something that is portable and durable for your journal. You’ll take it everywhere and use it in messy situations. You want it to hold up. Attach a pencil on a string to the journal. Bring some colored pencils or crayons along. Put the journal, pencil, and colors in a folder or a plastic storage bag.
• Bring your science journals when you go to various vacation spots. Children can journal about the ocean, fishing, the farm, the aquarium, berry picking, hiking, and camping experiences (think star gazing, and the like).
• Why not use your journal with some ongoing science projects at home? We have a garden that we journal about. (That’s a whole other post coming soon!)
• Put a title on the page indicating what the entry is about and where the family was. Write the date. (It’s important to maintain good records.)
• Have the kids include detailed, scientific drawings in their journals. They should label the drawings clearly and use appropriate colors in the picture. For example, color the ocean the colors that you see (green, blue, white, yellow), not just blue because blue represents water.
• Write observations in each entry. Little ones can dictate a sentence or two for you to write for them.
• Make the observations interesting and relevant to the topic, too. Don’t just say, “The ocean is pretty.” Try something like this, “When the waves crash on the shore, there is a lot of white foam. The water sprays up, and there is a loud crashing sound. I saw the water pull back slowly after it foamed up. I wonder what causes the water to pull back.”
• Add a layer of challenge by posing a question for the kids to answer before going out and adding the question on the entry page. Then the child’s entry must include the answer to the question.

Have fun with your summer science journal. You may just find that your children love them and use them all year long!

Home School Handwriting without Worksheets

The beauty of home education is flexibility. You are free to try different teaching strategies to meet your children’s particular learning needs. I prefer to limit worksheets. They do have a place, and we do use them, but I want to engage my children in more active learning that is fun. It is also hard to motivate me and the kids to do repetitive practice that can be very boring. If you have an unmotivated, kinesthetic, or tactile learner, it can be particularly difficult to get him/her to do all of the practice that will help achieve mastery of skills.

This summer we have been practicing  handwriting and have tried to practice without using worksheets. These strategies are quite useful and fun. Most of these ideas are great for unmotivated, kinesthetic, and tactile learners.

• Use several pieces of string to form a letter. Trace over the string as you say the name of the letter. Sometimes I talk about the direction that your finger goes as we are moving along the letter. You could do the same thing with spelling.
• We use tub crayons to write all of the letters that we know. We write both capital and lower case letters. We try writing the letters in different colors and sizes.
• We form letters with play dough. All of the rolling, smoothing, a movement helps my kinesthetic and tacticle kids stay engaged in the work. (Try making numbers, too.)
• Write letters in the sandbox using your finger or a stick. It is less intimidating because you can easily smooth the sand if you make a mistake. This is a great strategy for kids who are perfectionists.
• We have a “magic wand” to write letters in the sky. Ours is filled with colorful sand and sparkly stars that float in some liquid. I think that watching the floating things is good for developing eye tracking skills and adds visual interest. Any kind of pointer that looks magical and fancy will do, though. Girls in particular like the magic wand.
• Finger paint is another way of getting tactile learners involved in handwriting. You can mix colors and make the letters any size you like. It also works for the artist in your family.
• We use sidewalk chalk for handwriting practice. If you are like me and can’t find a place for all of the practice the kids do, the rain washes away the work. I think that the resistance also helps build certain muscles.
• Make the shape of a letter with your body. It highlights all of the parts of the letter so on paper the kids include all of the parts. This is particularly good for kinesthetic learners.
• We have a foam alphabet floor puzzle that has different textures on it. We trace those letters while laying on the puzzle. This position also helps build arm muscles and helps with motor control. The colors and the textures add interest and helps the kids remember the work.

Have fun with handwriting!