For Little Miss, Z and C we are using resource: Evan-Moor's Earth Science & Geology.

Boy did the light bulbs  come on when we made these layers of the earth out of Sculpy and then cut them in half.

Coloring a page for their notebooks.

J is doing science on his own this year and is loving it.

He is using The Geology Book and companion study guide for the spine and Earth Science for Every Kid for his expiraments.

Hi fans of Kendra!

She’s just the coolest, isn’t she?

Kenj, you’re too kind, really. I’m flattered.

So here’s where I found my favorite PE resource, at a reasonable price.

It is the Awesome-ist

Now get out there and move your kids!

And yourself.

Or grab a lawn chair, and a drink.

That should count too.

Our days are busy with school, chores and athletics. I'm not too good at forming complete sentences late at night, so posting hasn't been an option. (Some of my shotty attempts at up-dates have happened long past when my brain has long past shut down.)

Somehow I managed to get a few minutes this afternoon to say hi, before dinner and a baseball game to show you something I love doing with the kids and yes, they dig it too.

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Last year we started a poetry program from IEW, called Developing Linguistic Patterns Through Poetry Memorization. Click here to get the low down on it. (You can buy the book & cd's or just the book. I bought them both to help with pronunciation of not-your-everyday-words, and frankly my kids like hearing Andrew Pudewa recite the poems.)

The boys have memorized 12 + poems. Little Miss has about half by memory

Naturally, this led us to discuss different types of poems.

I pulled out the beautiful book, R is for Rhyme  which we use to learn more about the poems and the tools, terms and techniques to create them.

Of course, we then had to try our hand at writing something resembling a poem.  Armed with Evan-Moor's Writing Poetry with Childen , we have attempted to a .... well, write poetry.

If that's what you call it.

We crack ourselves up.

 It's a good time anyways.

 *The above picture of J coloring his poetry page, shows the old cover of Evan-Moors poetry book. The link will take you to the revised book.

*Also, I was asked how much time in my school day this takes. I'd say 5 minutes in the beginning and 15 minutes now that we have 12 poems to recite each morning, which we do during circle time.

We are easing back into the swing of things and getting serious about our studies.

Counting by fives

Out by the river, on a nature day field trip watching for wildlife.

Z & his buddy painting leaf art

Little Miss and friend doing the same.

It's pretty obvious who the homeschooled kid is in the crowd.

He’s the one,

who when asked to pass out waters

to the thirsty Giants fans in his family,

counts them out,

in Latin.

I'm almost there. The end is in sight.

But those Olympics are slowing me down. And then the Germans showed up.

Of course my list could be a little over ambitious.

C doing Zoology

I ran out of Tejava  and was feeling a bit desperate. My brain was overwhelmed with planning this next term of our new school year. I called upon J to please get me a new bottle from the mudroom fridge. He kindly retrieved it, and poured it into my glass, which I saw as going beyond the call of duty.

Me: You know, I'm going to step things up a bit for you this school year.

J: I know. That's why I'm pouring this out for you. I'm hoping you'll go easy on me.

He turned walked toward the piano, sat down and began playing one of my favorite songs.

Sweet. But no such luck. He, he, he .....

Here we were last Friday …..

At Lorina’s Edible Garden potting plants and talking herbs. Lorina grows some unique herbs which we picked up for our garden the likes of cinnamon basil, greek oregano and rosemary, as ours didn’t take this year. She walked us through her organic herb garden and the kids were given permission to freely pick, smell and taste her organically grown plants. The boys, especially C (9) plotted to plant and talked shop with Lorina, she even seriously offered him a job to help her in her garden. Ummm, no. He’s mine thank you.

For those in my area, Lorina is down at our local farms market selling her plants if you don't want to drive all the way out to Escalon.

As the farming world turns, Mike figured out that he sold walnut trees to Lorina, her father and her grandfather who has since passed away.

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From there we went to a lavender farm. The farm was planted 6 years ago and opened to the public 2 years later. We use a lot, and I mean a lot of lavender oil around here. So my kids were intrigued by the different varieties and their use-ability.

C again picked out 3 varities of lavender (pictured) that he wanted for the garden. I requested it be planted in the first row, out side my bedroom window so I could wake up to its beauty.

Not too much to ask, I think.

Who has used the Hymn’s for a Kid’s Heart before? Me (raising hand).

Who loves these books? Me (raising hand).

We are on our second book and I want to show you some of our work and how we have incorporated our Word for the Day into our hymn study.

Each week we read through the story behind the hymn written by Bobbie Wolgemuth and the “From my heart to yours” written by Joni Eareckson Tada. Then we sing the song (throughout the week) with the accompanying CD. In the back of the book there is a list of words that are in the hymns with a definition-that relates to the hymn.

We have been taking the word(s) and using it for the Word of the Day. I use the same sheet from our Evan-Moor e-book. The kids write the vocab word, the definition from the book and from the dictionary. We do the synonym and antonym and then we all attempt to use the word in a sentence and everyone else says if they think we used the word correctly. Then they write one of the sentences and illustrate it.

Our vocabulary words are sticking in their brains because they aren’t just random words but from hymns we listen to and often times sing in church. They are also gaining a better understanding of what they are singing.

The above picture has the Word for the Day paper on the left for the word ‘bestow’ which was chosen from the song Trust and Obey. Then on the right is an illustrated picture of the bible verse, found in the book under ‘A verse for my heart’ chosen for that hymn.

 I have the kids illustrate it to help them “hide it in their heart”.

I also put it up on our white board – and by the end of the week it is memorized just by seeing it daily.

Our Word for the Day study happens during our circle time and I make this the last thing we do before I read aloud, so I can be reading while they are illustrating.

What do you think? How have you been using Word for the Day?

A question though: With so many children, are each of them doing different unit studies/theme or same?

I only have 2, and I love to have both of them doing similar theme. But, the lesson planning zap me.

Cheers,
Delci
homeschooling mummy to 6yo and 4yo

Good Question:

We do as much together as we can. The circle/together time category at the right shows much of what we do together.

History and Science are easy to mold to different ages and levels.

For example: The spine (main book used for the study) is geared toward my older kids and then I try to find something for my younger 2 that fits with what we are studying. I usually end up at the Evan-Moor web site, buying a literature pocket. I also like the Hands and Hearts web site - they put together history kits that are fun and adaptable.

Ages 6 and 4 are super fun ages to do thematic units with. Last year, my two youngest were 3 and 6 and we did a study on butterflies while the older two did more of an insect study using Exploring Creation with Zoology - much more in-depth.

We painted butterflies, dot to dotted butterflies, 'grew' painted lady butterflies, read lots of books about butterflies, watched the Magic School bus video The Bog Beast (about butterflies), we hung butterflies decorated with tissue paper from the ceiling. I even found butterfly paper plates at the dollar store that we ate snacks on.

I do enjoy doing little theme units with my 4 soon to be 5 year old. We usually work on it 15-20 minutes a day. Recently, we did a farm unit togther. We made a lapbook from In the Hands of a Child, colored a book, read lots of books, made up plays using animal puppets.

Hope that helps.

Another late night, another good movie, another memory made.

You can find part 1 here

First, I looked over the next 6 weeks and counted how many days we were at home for school and not on a field trip or in this case celebrating someone’s birthday – that is of course a holiday.

I made up a schedule by days not dates (Day 1, Day 2 …). Of the 3 subjects that I can assign and the kids for the most part can do on their own – ( math, grammar, and writing for the 10 and 9 year old; For the 7 year old- math,  phonics and sight word pages and handwriting/copywork),  I wrote down every lesson.

This saves me from having to look over the lesson the day of and saves the kids from waiting on me before they can do their assignment.

I filled in the schedule with all the assignments and tucked it into their folder.

This allows to them to see what is expected of them over the next 6 weeks.

Next, I designed a  daily check off chart. This is for the child and I to see at a glance what he has accomplished on any given day. If they messed around or had to spend extra time on an assignment, they can make it up on a lighter school day or on a Saturday. This has really put the responsibility on the child. There have been a few Saturdays that schoolwork was being done so the child wouldn’t have to do it while the rest of us are on vacation at the end of this term. .

The chart also allows me to see if I am trying to accomplish too much in a given day, expecting too much from the child and  I can see if we need to spend extra time on, lets say history because the day before we only did science and it took longer then expected or we got on a tangent.

I attach the charts to the front of their plastic, pocket folders. (I love the durability of these folders and each child has their own color.)  I clip my chart onto my clipboard. This holds me accountable to my days and gives me a sense of accomplishment.

On my clipboard are the day charts for history and science, the subjects we do all together as well as a circle time check off chart.

Hope that makes good sense. Leave a question in the comments if I wasn't clear.

Also if your interested in an excel file copy of these lists, e mail me and I'd be happy to share.

In my next post, I'll show how I use a file box to organize weekly papers.

*The boys' checklist (the one I attach to the folder)is for me and them to see what they have accomplished each day. Mom's checklist (the one on my clipboard) is for the subjects we do all together and individual subjects I need to accomplish everyday with my early learners. The Subject checklist is a play by play of what is to be done over the the course of our 6 week term - we have a separate sheet that gives them and me an idea of what we are to do on each day of the week.

A few weeks ago, Mike and I had a date night to discuss our homeschooling year. We are coming up on our 5^th year of schooling the kids and this was the first time we  have sat down together to see the ebb and flow of educating our kids, farming, vacations and sports activities. Some would say, “First time? Really?”

Really. Our kids are at completely different stages than when we first started (obviously). Mikes farming schedule has changed quite a bit, the kids have more sports related opportunities and we continually dream of our next state in the union to explore. I also have more of an idea of what I am trying to accomplish.

Mike suggested I take 2 days before each 6 week term to plan, with a fresh vision for where we are headed and what it will all look like. I can also plan around field trips, farming days and other appointments. The past few summers, I have tried to plan most of our school year, but this just didn’t work over the long term. I really have to be more flexible, which planning in smaller chunks facilitates.

Planning in 6 week chunks will give me a chance to evaluate the kids’ progress and change up anything that isn’t working to meet their needs. After all, that’s what we’re doing here, giving our children a personalized education. I am still taking an hour every Sunday evening to look over my week, making sure I have all my copies (though I did make most of them during my planning day) and just getting a feel for the week..

A while back I was voicing to Mike about a calendar/planner I wished I could find – one with the months tabbed, and then behind each month, the week(s) at a glance on a two page spread and  I figured I was going to have to make one and have it bound. Nope. He knew exactly what I needed and where to get it. Love that man. And he was quite proud that he could offer a suggestion to his organized living, loving wife. Oh yes he did. It’s the little things …. Just gets me all fired up.

So now with 3+ weeks (of this 6 week term) under our belt, I can say this is working out fantastically. Knowing I have this chunk of time and then I will have a chance to plan again, frees me up to focus on the now. No wait – I’ll actually get  a 3 week summer break. Even better.

 In my next post, I’ll share how I communicate the plan for the weeks ahead with my kids and how I attempt to keep myself organized. It’s a mess of ideas I have gleaned from my organized homeschooling friends, tailored to fit my family. Until then …. Happy spring fever! Oy!

We made a deal. If he read the book we would watch the movie together.

“But what about my brothers?”

“When they read the book, they can watch the movie.”                                           

So J read and read and read. He devoured The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and the day he finished, I drove down to the video store and rented the movie Lord of the Rings.

 That night, we got everyone else tucked into bed, including the bewildered 9 year old who rarely does anything without his older brother, and was a little miffed by the ‘got to read it first’ rule, even though he was challenged by the  whole idea,

..... and the thankful 7 year old, who was just glad not to be the odd man out, ‘cause he’s got a few years before he’ll be reading anything like that

..... and the very sleepy 4 year old who didn't even ask to see it, because as she said herself, "Its too much and I'm only 4."

 J, Dad and I hunkered down in our bedroom for a long show. There was only one scene where J covered his eyes knowing what was to come. Good for him. He didn’t want to see the death of … what’s his name? (I never remember the strange names and places in these movies.) There is no way he would have wanted to watch this movie if he had not read the book. It would have been far too much for his sensitive spirit.

We ended close to midnight and then lay there talking, with J in a sleeping bag on the floor of our room.

 It was a sweet time; like a rite that was earned with hard work and determination.

Now J is working on The Two Towers (The next one in the Lord of the Rings Series).

Just this evening I was cracking up at this scene of J wearing his umpiring t-shirt,  heading out the door to umpire a game.

  It’s a scene I’m so used to though – J heading to the car, always with a book in hand (and sometimes his booklight too.). I jokingly encouraged him to leave it in the car and not to try to read it and call the game.

“That wouldn’t be good, Mom. Can you imagine me yelling, ‘Go Gandalf in the middle of a play?!”

Somehow I think I can.

We look forward to this event every year. Our local symphony puts on a mini child friendly concert that is also educational. This year’s theme was Green Eggs and Ham/ children's stories and games. Local actors played the Grouch and Sam I Am and dancers danced to other light airy pieces.

Little Miss found the portrayal of Dr. Suess' famous rhyme a bit too much. "I am going to have nightmares Mom." I had to agree. The Grouch was portrayed as such, but a bit too mean for our tastes. We more saw the grouch as Grumpy from Snow White. Sam I Am wasn't as peaceable as we had expected. It's all in the individual interpretation. I get it.

Afterwards, we talked about how we would describe the characters and how we would have portrayed them. Some how this discussion helped to alleviate the anxiety and as a result, thankfully no nightmares.

Wow has the time whisked by. All is well here. We are in the last 6 week push to end our school year by June 13^th. I am anxious to check some goals off the list and begin on the summer house projects. My brain has been on over drive and hasn’t cooperated when I sit down to blog, I’m hoping I’m on the up-swing! Speaking of swing ….. next up-date, baseball!

The camera has a very selective eye.  And being that I am the main photographer here at the Sunny Side of the Room, I admit I try to avoid posting anything too messy. Too revealing. Maybe? But per a discussion I recently had with some friends at a  homeschool encouragement day, we have been challenged to keep it real. To show our day as it is, messes and all.

So here is what 3:30 this afternoon looked liked, before clean up began.

Three of the kids were having treat time and one was on the couch reading.

We are using Sonlight for our American History studies this year. The rich literature based lessons are great but we need a little hands-on activity to balance out the learning. Enter in: Interactive 3-D Maps for American History. It’s nothing fancy, but the kids color or paint them while I read the background information.  We've been able to put together several that correspond with our Sonlight studies. The maps are stored in the kids' notebooks, by flattening out the markers. These handy 3-D maps have been a huge help for my visual/hands-on learner's.

It has taken awhile for my guy's to learn to draw, but they are getting there. I am fully convinced that learning at least to sketch is an important part of expressing the learning process. 

The top picture was done by the 7 1/2 year old using Draw, Write, Now. This has really boosted his confidence. He used the copywork about the flamingo for his handwriting practice.

The 10 1/2 year old drew this bird showing off (courting) a female.

Both pictures were colored using pastels, the new favorite art medium around here.