Today, N and I got more than normal learning in today.  We read for 10 minutes this morning our Nature Reader.  Our nature reader talks about spiders and wasps.  It was amusing to myself of course, to watch N be so excited about reading about spiders and how some spiders hide in flowers from their prey.  So tomorrow, we will hunt down my magnifying glass to go out an look in the flowers to see if we can find any spiders hiding. Then for about 20 minutes was addition math to the hundredth place on the window and an 8-word problems worksheet. Then was spelling, which is copy work, and writing on N's skeleton project. N was pretty excited that we finally worked on that project.  And then N on his working on his spiderman drawings.  I am trying to talk him into making up a story to go along with the pictures.  That's not happening, but oh well.

Someone last night was questioning me as to N's reading capabilities.  How do you know he's reading at this level?  Is he being tested, blah, blah, blah.  For guided reading as, they call it in the system, we read a set of readers from Pathway Readers, and he is reading at a certain level.  Before we left the system a year ago, there was mention of sight words students need to know for certain grade levels.  So since I was questioned about it, and probably questioning myself, I went and found this website and had N read the words to me, http://www.ccsd.edu/littletor/classes/second_grade/sight_words.htm and he  did excellent.  And then of course I was questioned about his social life.  Ignorance of the general public.

Let give you the history of how he became to participate in the program.

As many of you know, N likes to perform in front of people.  I just recently had some exchange students where I take N along with me to the participate with the students.  Well, while we were in class on a break, sure enough, N started singing and performing songs from High School Musical for the students.  Then one of the students even egged him on more by giving N the microphone.  My partner who worked with me with the exchange students was watching him and was amazed.  She invited him to participate.

Well here he is giving his first public address:

http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2009/01/19/news/centralcoast/news04.img

I have gotten many, many compliments about how well he had read the small Biography on Martin Luther King, Jr. from the audience.  Many also inquired of his grade; of course came my response: "He's homeschooled."  :)

We have started a new sport I suppose you can say, geocaching.  We have gone out on three caches and have yet to find one.  Actually went out on the same one twice, because it's so close to my house supposedly. 

N is enjoying going out on them.  I explained to him that this was like a treasure hunt.  And while we were out on one yesterday, I realized this is a good way to get out to discover nature, or just discover what's in the community.  But I want to find the one near by.  And since this is a new sport, I don't if the treasure that is hidden is actually hidden in the ground tree, is it marked or unmarked.

N likes to perform, as some may know.  One day he was performing as usual for our Japanese exchange students.  The students were mesmorized by his performing and adults.  One adult was so mesmorized she asked if he could perform or read something at a Martin Luther King Day celebration.  So for days I thought of how I could make this assignment simplistic for me to put together for him.  Ah, I went onto Unitedstreaming.com and found a video segement that someone had put together on Martin Luther King for elementary age children.  N watched this video that had about 4 segments.  The segments were very short, no more than 2 minutes each.  After the first segement, I had him recite to me what he had heard in the clip.  He recited back good enough for his little attention span.  Then, an idea came to me to have him recite what he viewed to me, and I would type just what he recited back.  N really enjoyed doing that activity.  I would be typing along, and he'd be reading over my shoulders.  And if I didin't get something the way he wanted it, He'd tell me to do it a different way.  So anyways, we typed it up, and I am having him practice reading it in place of doing his regular reading, which takes about 10 minutes.

Like most of you -- I'm assuming -- I try and focus some of N's learning around what he is interested and what I feel he should learn.

Way back in August I had inquired of N what he wanted to learn about.  He said the solar system, which we just finished up doing, and the human skeleton.  Wow, so I ponder to myself, how can I do this where he will understand at his age level.  One would only need to gloss over the information. The solar sytem was simplistic.  The skeletal part is -- doesn't seem to be too simplistic to me.  I mean it could be simplistic, but for some reason I'm trying to make this harder than it needs to be.

He is into the drums and music and performing.  I have so far read a couple of books on the different types of drums.  Ah, and I've just came up with an idea.  Since I have N do copywork, I will gather pictures of different types of drums and copy a sentence about each one.  I will use Unitedstreaming.com to find clips on people playing the different types of drums.

Our learning this week will be about Japan, as We will be interacting with students from Japan.  I've been talking about the group with N for a couple of months now.   N is excited about seeing the students and being able to go on afternoon excursions with them this week.   I plan to give him an assignment for this week, to have each student write down in his journal where they are from so that we may find that city on the Japan map.  And hopefully we will make it to the library this week to find a book on Japan.

Bang, Bang, Bang, that's what we'll be hearing a lot of this day forward. See, N has a bit of music interest.  One day he made a drum out of a cylophone bowl that had a lid and was banging on it like a drum.  So, one of my quests was to find him a drum.  I did find him a set, a toy set that is.  He was over joyed to have received this instrument.

I have decided that these set of noice making equipment will be put to good use.  So as part of learning, I will be having N watch some musical show and listen to the drums and try to play the sound of the drums he's listening to.  By no means do I expect that he will be able to complete such a fete, but at least by doing this exercise he will be learning beats, and listening to music.  I have already started him out on this exercise once.  See we have a favorite musical movie called Drumline, a perfect start.

And in the next month or so, we will be researching the other types of drums and learning about them.  He already knows of the bongo drum.  I think I will search out a concert that features drums.  Although I don't know that I'll find such variation here in the Santa Maria/Orcutt area. (one of the many reasons I miss the Bay Area, it's cultural learning) 

Who says that learning has to be during the daytime.

Well, I had given N some cough syrup, Dimetap.  This medicine is keeping him up.  It's now 11:30 p. m. on Friday evening.  So since he wouldn't go to sleep, I decided to have him read a tad bit to me. From our A-squared curriculum a history for little folks.  After he read that for a bit.  He said he enjoyed reading it.  So I decided to print out the first 13 pages to read later on in the week.

We then went online to look up information for our Space project that we have been working on of and on over a 2-month span.  Tonight we are working on Pluto.  We have been using this website to complete our project, http://library.thinkquest.org/5014/.

Happy Kwanzaa to you everyone.

Kwanzaa is an African American holiday celebrated the day after Christmas.   This is a holiday celebrating family, community, purpose, creativity, works, spirituality.

N is excitedly looking forward to celebrating Kwanzaa.  This year I introduced him more to the holiday by us creating a simple lapbook about the holiday.

In my update, I was remiss in mentioning we have learning something new.  I thought we would learn the states of the Union, So I found this song that I remember that my 16 year old sang when she was in grade school.  And N can sing almost the whole song by himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivpUBvOeD1s

Well, I haven't entered an update on homeschooling for a long while, only because we've been doing the same old paper learning.  I have introduced the math concepts of borrowing and adding of tens in three levels.  That's what we'll continue to work on the rest of the month. 

Reading, I am trying to get us through our first book of the Pathway Reader 2nd level.  Hoping to finish that before L is out of school for the school break.  I have simplified our reading.  There is a workbook that comes accompanies the book, but we haven't been doing it.  So I decided to have N retell the stories he reads to me, which he has been doing pretty well.  And then do a book log of drawing his favorite part of the story.

We're still reading Pinocchio.

And for story time I read this book that N wanted me to read twice through.  It's a history  book, and the readings are poems.  He seemed to really like the book.

N is now doing Swimming and parkdays on Wednesdays for PE.  And tonight, we will be observing a cub scout den to see if N is interested in it.

We've been out of it the past month, N and I.  Well, the whole family actually.  Chest cold going around and around.

We've been doing a tad bit of learning.  I feel like we are behind in our learning.  You know, you have these workbooks that you have to finish.  And even though I am changing our curriculum, I spent tons of money on curriculum, that I feel we need to finish the workbooks.

I read Genesis Chapter 7 to him for Bible study.  We did our Language Arts.

This morning he saw a blue jay in our yard, so for nature study, I had him draw a picture of a blue jay. 

For math today I was going to give N a page from the Grade 2 Saxon workbook.  But before I could even find where the book was, N made a suggestion to me for his math.   He made plus signs on a piece of paper. ++; +++, ++++, +++++.  I had to think about what he was communicating to me. "Mommy, I want to do this kind of math."  Kind of flabergasted, I replied,  "Oh, you mean like 3+5+5." "Yeah."  I have no idea where he got the idea.  So he and I proceeded to look for a math generator free, on the internet, that could make that kind of math for him.  Couldn't find one.  So I just made up simple little math sheet for him.

Then later in the day History was my reading a book about Frederick Douglass to him.  Before I started to read, he wanted to see what the book was.  And was kind of disappointed.  "I wanted York."  So I told him that I would find some books on York for him, which I did at abebooks.com. 

This post has nothing to do with homeschooling, but in a round about way it does.

All this week, as President of the Santa Maria High School PTSC (another acronynm for PTA), I have been getting calls and emails about the violence happening on the high school campus.  So I am working on putting together a meeting for our high school community so that parents', and students' concerns can be addressed.  And from speaking with one of our principals, it's supposedly bad.  But according to another principal, it's not as bad as last school year.  Well, I'm thinking, violence is violence.  And it's not your typical student scuffle, it's gang violence, girls jumping girls, boys jumping boys.  And then I also sit on the high school's SITE Council.  This is the committee that oversees the school's budget and make sure the all students educational needs are met.  Right now the budget is geared toward those students who are below the threshold.  Practically every fun program is being cut so that math and science and reading can be improved., (more like be taught to the battery of test the school gives).

But through this, I have been thinking to myself that by the time my ds gets to high school, things will be worse.  I don't want them to be, be I see it.  Of course, I have about 10-11 years before I reach that threshold, but it keeps me thinking.

I have to remember to put my blogs in my real journal, as this is journaling I feel.

Anyways, today's learning is a musical field trip to Westmont College for N and I.  N likes to sing and perform, so it will be a good learning trip for him.  Although, I don't expect him to be attentive the whole trip.   I am being a chaperone for my L's Choir class.  The class is going to a festival at Westmont College to perform.  It's going to be a long field trip.  So as usual when I do one of my on the whim trips, I am -- well, not this morning, scurrying around getting things together, especially items to keep N busy if he becomes bored and lunch for us. 

N and I went on this same trip last year, except last year it was much cooler.  It's going to be hot today, so I'm making sure I pack enough cool water more than anything.

Well, today's school was way cool.  No paper learning, or coercing N to do any work.  I decided on a whim this morning that would would go to the HSC campout for the day.  I packed us up food, changed clothing, and zoomed, zoomed  to the Lopez Lake we went.  Lopez Lake is about 20 miles north of us.  There were lots of homeschoolers there camping out from all over California, even met a lady from Stockton, where we had just moved from 3 years ago.  We also  ran into other local homeschooling families that we often do things with, or our kids are involved in almost the same activities outside of homeschooling.  One family we got to hear about their 2-month trip across the Western United States, they took.  This is the same family that introduced me to York through a postcard they had sent us.  N played in their fort with the girls, and played at the make-shift beach.  Almost got in a swam, I think if I was a bit more skilled at swimming I would have swam.  It was very warm out there, about 90 degrees I would say.  But it was very peaceful and quite.  Nothing like communing with nature.  N enjoyed himself, also.  He told me he really enjoyed that the lake didn't have any waves hitting up against the surf and making noise. Never new that the waves of the ocean bothered him, and he goes to the beach pretty regularly.  We say a deer and by feet got about 10 feet from it.  I was trying to get its picture.  N wants to go camping next time out there.  I think if it weren't for having to tote older high schooler L around we would camp with the rest of the homeschoolers. 

 I talked to a lady who is homeschooling an only girl, and a talking to her about homeschooling an only put me at a bit more ease.

 I  just finished reading this book to N.  I rather enjoyed the book more than N did.  This is about a Black Slave who was on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.   I had never heard of this story until another homeschooling mom was on her across the United States travels and sent N. a York postcard from Missouri.  Since Black history is our main American History studies, I decided to go to the library and find some books on him.  York was a slave to Clark.  And since Clark went on this expedition, York had no choice but to go on this expedition.  This was quite a trip for them.

Since I have a desire to take N on an across-the-country trip, this sounds like a good trip to plan for.  http://www.lewisandclarktrail.com/ . I couldn't imagine taking this trip by boat.  This book is one of my favorite childrens' book.

After its ending, I awaken from my stupor.  It was a dream that awakend myself.  A dream where N and I are on our walk to school.  We have arrived for the first day of school in a darken classroom.  The classroom was not only dark from no lighting, but it was bare from wall to wall.  Parents of students and students looked around the classroom in astonishment.  The room was a bit frigid, also.  From out of the darkness walked a young dark-headed teacher with a gray heavy coat on.  "Hello, everyone," she tried to greet us with no concern.  Everyone walks into the classroom trying to find a place to sit, but there is a problem with that, there is nothing to sit on.  A parent asks, "When will you have your supplies?  The young lady answered, "When the school budget is solved."   Well, N and I turned around to leave the school grounds.  With a parent from the same class walking besides us, I quipped with great consternation, "I can just homeschool."  The parent hearing my statement, "Well, why would you want to come to public school when you can have more flexibility at home and more fun?"  That's when I awaken.

Been thinking about this dream off and on all day.

It's 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.  I've been up since 5:30 a.m., very unsual for myself; with N waking for the day an hour later.  We puddle around the house for a couple of hours. "Come on, N, let's do an assignment," was the half-hearted remark from Momma.  "Ahhh, I don't feel like it," quipped the remark from N.  Momma takes a long sigh.  Then a light bulb lights  up Momma's thought.  She scurries around to gather a bit of paper learning work, extra clothing for both her and N, prepared three peanut butter sandwiches for snack, as Momma is not stopping to buy any food cause she only has enough money to pay to get in to the park.  Momma shouts to N, "N, get dressed. We're going hiking."  See N had been asking ever since the last time we went to Paradise Road off 154 to go hiking.  "Where you and daddy, and L and you went?" N asks.  "Yes."  "Okay, but I'm still eating." came a reply from N.  "Alright.  Finish eating."  Momma finishes scurrying around gathering things.  And about 9:30 a.m. we are off and running in the Volvo to Paradise Road.  It was a an hours drive from home to the end of Paradise Road, as that's where we were headed.  We had heard that there is a dam out there a 2-3 mile hike.  Well, we didn't make it to the dam, as we ran into a fella who was, (the only person walking out there by the way.  It was real freaky for me), and I inquired about the distance of the dam.  Well, we had another hours walk to go, so we just stopped at a pond that was 2 minutes away.

 This is the path to the dam, that we were hoping to get to.

This is our nature study for the week.  I inquired of N what he could put in his nature journal about what we've seen out here, water, rocks that he was much fascinated with, lizards.  Oh wow, we saw a 5 inch lizard out there.  It was freaky.  Being out there just N and I was freaky enough.  I watch too many movies where someone is being chased and killed I kept telling myself.  It was a very fun, out of shape, energized walk.  The bugs were driving N crazy, so he wanted to go.  We found some shells like clam shells out there near one of the ponds.  Very minute size.  I told N that we are going to go back out there and camp, get a feel what it is like to be an Indian living out in the wilderness.  Ah, but of course we got some paper learning and reading completed while driving in the car.

Discovery, that's what our journey of homeschooling is.  I am learning that at the very beginning of homeschooling, a family tries and finds what fits your child's learning style.  I am finding that N doesn't mind paper work every now and then.  But then he really enjoys hands on learning, also.

Then I learned about another curriculum Robinson Curriculum.  Robinson Curriculum is literature base learning, except for math, and is for K-12 levels.  In my research of this, found A Squared Curriculum, http://www.accelerated-achievement.com/800books.htm#literature very similar to Robinson's Curriculum with some of the same books but more books, and these books are old fashioned books, books I've never heard of, probably seen them on some store bookshelf but didn't pay attention to them.    So I decided to go around to the local used book stores today to search for some of these books: Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, the Rover Boys, none of the stores had them.   Well, I found Tom Sawyer and bought it.  I thought I would peak to see what the wording is like.  Now, I am into the story.  So anyways with this curriculum, one would need to be creative, also.

 Have any of you used this curriculum?