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One of my goals this year for my 8 yos is writing solid paragraphs and short stories. We have found the 4-square method to be extremely helpful as an organizer. Thankfully my son doesn't really mind writing so it isn't much of a struggle to work on this daily. I feel the same about writing as I do reading, the more you do it the better you get at it. I found one of those marble composition notebooks with pages that are half blank and half lined. He doesn't enjoy drawing pictures much, but at least the option is there for him. This is also the first year that I have required him to answer history and science questions in complete sentences. For now, I have asked him to use as many of the words from the question in his answer as possible. We have discussed fragments vs. sentences. Also, I have found that focusing on spelling in the answers of these questions is much more effective than a list for a test. For my son, this is much more meaningful and sticks with him better because of the purpose. |
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So my 5 yo son has been learning to read. It has gone smoothly until we hit a speed bump last week. He learned using the pre-victory drill book. He has gone from sounding out words like this, "pa-t" to suddenly saying "p-a-t" I have been taking him back through the early pages of the previctory drill book to review the patterns, "pa, me, to, mu" etc. He does those fine but then when it comes time to read a book, he is back to the sounding out each individual sound. My older one did this for a while also. Is this just a developmental thing or did I do something wrong at some point that caused this? OR is he just pushing buttons? He is doing ABeka phonics pages independently and correctly. I hear him read words there just fine. Tell me what you think... |
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I so was never good at the journal thing... Well, I need to discipline myself to do it. Period. We are a full 6 weeks into our school year. This year I have a 5yr. old son and an 8 yr. old son schooling. I am wiped! My 5 yr. old LOVE school! He loves everything about school....EXCEPT the writing. He is my creatively gifted one who wants nothing to do with the constraints of lines on the paper. BUT he is taking off with the reading. His short vowel sounds and consonants are all there. We just introduced long vowel sounds. He is memorizing his Bible verses. He is learning his addition facts... Progress is being made. Now, let's talk about my 8 yr. old. He is gifted in a whole other direction. I have finally decided to give up trying to answer his grade level. It is a big old pain. I admire his boldness. The boy will talk to ANYONE (NO social dud here) about ANYTHING. He seems to have a bit of knowledge about most things and is inquisitive about new ideas. He has a fantastic ability to memorize. He hears it once, it is in the brain. He makes connnections with his knowledge that astound me. He is keenly aware of current events, such as the economy and the election. You knew it was coming.... BUT... I am frustrated by the LAZINESS. Ie. "I don't want to show my work, I do it in my head." "I don't want to practice piano for a whole half hour, that is boring." "I don't want to worry about spelling, many words don't follow the phonics rules anyway!" I read a verse on Sat. that meant a lot to me Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" I am a firm believer that what you do today will affect you 6 months from now. I suppose if I want my boys who love their Savior now to be men for their Savior later I just have to STAY THE COURSE and trust in Him. Later I will write about just how we stay the course at our house on a practical level. |
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My DH injured himself on Monday. He had ot have emergency surgery on his hand after a battle with the snowblower. Needless to say, this week has been all about making him comfortable and keeping the house quiet. Unfortunately, that has meant we have done very little schooling. I figure that is the beauty of homeschooling. My OS has definetly learned a lot about what it means to be a family. He has been serving his Daddy and helping me. I am so thankful my DH did not lose any fingers. He lost the tip of one and broke two others. The plastic surgeon reconstructed nail beds and dealt with the most injured finger. It could have been so much work. I thank God for being in control. |
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So this year is 2/3 grade and Pre-K. New challenges have presented themselves. DH has gotten real busy with his career and his schedule is erratic. A BLESSING of homeschooling is the flexibility we have with OUR schedule. Here is my quick overview: Bible-- Still absolutely loving Covenant Home Curriculum for this subject. We discovered the Bible on DVD available in KJV, by book, at one of our dollar store. My son has really enjoyed these since he doesn't need me in order to do his lesson and can follow along in his own Bible. This does not replace our time together, but I have found that sometimes he enjoys listening to someone else. Since we are in the Old Testament, some of those names and places can be rough for a second year reader. I think the narrator demonstrates a good story telling type reading of the Bible. It isn't monotone at all so I think it is a good model for him. Math--Love Love Love Saxon. We have hit multiplication and it is great! We are struglling with timed test. We are getting at least an acceptable amount done, but just as it was with Victory Drill, my son is never in a hurry for anyone. Grammar-- We finished English for the Well Trained Mind and needed something new so we went to Easy Grammar 3/4. My DS has a natural bent towards grammar. We are really taking off with Easy Grammar. Since it is really two, even 3 grade levels ahead of his natural age, I wasn't really sure how it would work. It has been terrific! It is wild to hear him talk about the "O.P." and the D. O." We memorized our prepositions to the tune of Yankee Doodle. This is out here on the web somewhere. I will look for it. More to come in the next post.
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I don't have a book title, but I enjoyed reading Susan Weiss Bauer's newsletter about a typical day in her home. Yeah, I am not the only one!!!
2) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN'T BE WITHOUT I concer, the internet. With all of its faults, it is still by far, the most used resource I have.
3) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT I can't really think of one. I am blessed with several friends to network with for materials. I research everything before buying. A good deal of the time I just borrow.
4) ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR. We LOVE LOVE LOVE "Grammar for the Well Trained Mind" I am jealous of my children- no laborious worksheets. I love the extra snuggle time with them though!
5) ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR We are using the big book of Spanish we got at Walmart. My son likes it because there are lots of worksheets with little coloring activities. We study Spanish 3 times a week.
6) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY I want my own set of McGuffey Readers. My sons enjoy the stories.
7) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED I am not a group kinda gal. I know homeschool GROUPS exist. I would however, like to find a few homeschool moms I can have consistent coffee hour with to share prayer concerns about homeschooling and ideas, and rants, and raves. I would love that hour of refreshment- even on the phone or online... Hmm..
8) ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOGUE YOU ENJOY READING Seriously? Enjoy reading??? Well, I do like getting the Rainbow Resource Catalogue. Pretty much any home school catalogue. I like to see what is out there. I am a junkie.
9) ONE HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY I come to this one often to read what other parents are feeling, doing, thinking...
10) TAG 5 PEOPLE I am coming for you! =)
Can I add one question???? Where do you find your best curriculum deals? Well, thanks for asking!!!!!!! I get sweaty palms just THINKING about a trip to Goodwill or another thrift store. I get such awesome things there. Books, kits, etc. | |
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I can't pretend to be lofty and say that we schooled all summer with our workbooks and flashcards, our victory drill and our long afternoons spent reading. No, actually, we spent the summer looking at STUFF and just living. We went to Chicago to the zoo, we swam and we swam and we swam.... We took hikes in the woods and watched water bugs, mud daubers and butterflies. We played at the park, and we swam and we swam and we swam. My YS was potty trained this summer; he just turned 3 in May. My OS learned how to swim without waterwings. My YS learned how to swim with just water wings. I learned how to watch from the side of the pool. We did Vacation Bible School. We rode on 3 boats, one train, one el...We went to President Grant's home and asked questions. We camped, learned to put bait on a hook ourselves, cast our own reel, reel our own fish in.... We learned the 23rd Psalm. We were TOGETHER as a FAMILY... and it was GREAT!! And now, as I am EVERY August, I am in a bit of mourning. I LOVE LOVE LOVE summer. I love the dirt between my kids toes from wearing sandals. I love their sweaty little peaceful faces sleeping. I love not needing to bundle up 10 minutes ahead of time to go on an errand. I love taking the trash out in my PJs instead of my PARKA! I love the freedom to just BE... to have NO particular plan for the day other than waking up and eating 3 meals. I love having time to listen to every little idea that the boys dream up and the invitation I am extended to hear such tales. SUMMER.....mmmmm SNAP!!!!! Reality!!! Oh no, did he forget all that we did in school??? Will he still know how to spell his name, whip off VD words, find the verb in the sentence??? Ah Yes, then in Sunday school OS is reciting his Bible verses to his teacher and he is squinting to READ the words off the picture cue cards!!!!! HA! Shameful, but... All is not lost! He sits down to read a book to his brother who is DESPERATELY seeking a reading buddy... YS is describing his pool ring toys by their COLORS and he is counting to 20 to play hide and go seek with his "Bubba".... MMMMMMMMM...... SUMMER! |
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Well, as planned, we took the month of May off to rest and just play. Now that it is June, we have begun keeping a nature notebook. Secretly, I am the one having the most fun with it. We have been collecting all sorts of insects in our own backyard. We enjoy collecting them in our bug box just long enough to identify them, draw them and write down some brief information about them. We have also seen quite a variety of birds. What is really neat is the two birds that are nesting in ou yard. One is a robin nesting just outside the bathroom window. So far the list of unusual insects we have seen is: a hummingbird moth, a cuckoo mud dauber, and a stag beetle. My OS is also reading Magic School bus books for pleasure and CL's nature readers.... Happy Summer! |
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So I am winding down my school year... About 3 more weeks left and we are done. We are taking the month of May off and then we march right on with just the basics for the summer.. I am a part time music and art teacher at a christian school in our town. I am wondering, how on earth do I have time to go there even for 6 hours a week? Although this spring break was complicated with the visitation and funeral, it seems every week is complicated with something. I am a scheduler, list maker, crazy woman but yet, LIFE happens.. I am trying to make a very difficult decision for next year. Personally, I love teaching. I have a teaching degree and have taught for 10 years. It is hard to think about leaving it. I know, I know, I am teaching my children.... I love that, too. This is certainly not about the money... we christian school teachers make nothing really when you consider how much of our money we put back into our school. On the one hand, I am relieved at the thought of spreading out our school day all over the day instead of working our tails off all morning to be out the door in the afternoon. I could do so many more science projects and art projects with them.. They love that stuff. On the other hand, it is only twice a week and it IS only 6 hours. My school gives me incredible freedom to be creative as a music teacher. When I started there, there was really nothing to the music program. Now each class is playing a different instrument and there is excitement and progress. I love that! There is so much more I would like to do.. I don't have to pay for sitters so the little I do make, I actually bring home. Hmmm... go ahead, hit me... what do you think? If you have been in my situation, tell me all about it. |
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My DH's aunt died the Friday before spring break so we had the funeral and visitation Monday and Tuesday. My brother-in-law and his family came up to Wisconsin. My sister in law was NOT intending on a spring break. But I got to thinking.... she certainly did not fail them... maybe they didn't do their bookwork or their read alouds as she normally would but she did teach them lessons about family. My children were thrilled to play with cousins. It was a warm week, lots of outside play. What a sad time for grandma but what a joy for her to see all of her grandchildren.
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