Aug. 11, 2009 - Stick Figuring through the Bible with Grapevine
The first month of using the Grapvine Bible Curriculum has been nothing short of phenomenal! My plan was to blog about how my family has been blessed by the content, ease of use, teacher's guide, review process, exceptional customer service and adherence to the Word without a lot of 'fluff.' But...I've been overruled. Here's how it happened:
I was filing my 5yo's stick figuring Bible pages in his notebook when I heard some very mild murmuring behind me about having to file things away. With my back still turned, I said, "I thought you liked stick figuring" (after all, they are always excited about Bible time now). The quick response from my serious 10yo was, 'No, I don't." The 8yo was quick to chime in, "Me either. I don't like stick figuring either." Surprised, I turned around to look directly at them. "Don't you like this better than what we've done in years past?" Together, the two older ones replied a simple, "No." After seeing my dumbfounded expression, my 10yo jumps up from his spot on the floor, throws his hands high in the air and yells, "I don't like it, I LOVE it. It's FANTASTIC." My 8yo was quick to join in with his own exclamations of praise for the program while jumping to his feet and waving his hands on the couch (I can live with the couch as trampoline for a few moments when my kids are this excited about studying the Bible
). After removing the wool from my eyes, I said to my 10yo, "I was going to blog about how much we look forward to stick figuring every day, but since you're so excited about it, I think you should be the one to blog about it instead." So he's in. Look for his blog about Grapevine when he gets back from grandma's next week.
BTW, I am not an affiliate of Grapevine...don't know if they even have an affiliate program. But they did send a postcard stating that if you refer a friend, your friend gets 20% off of their order and you get a $10 credit towards your next purchase. I will look into this before ds posts his blog so he can include the info on how to get 20% off for anyone interested. I wont' say I don't care about the $10, but that's just icing. I'd really like anyone thinking about taking the plunge into this program to get the % off. If I figure it out before he gets back, I'll update this post.
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jul. 30, 2009 - A (Mostly) Distraction Free School Zone
Do the distractions in your day painfully prolong your school hours? They sure do here! Explaining this until I'm blue in the face is useless. Middle of a science lesson? Good time to get a drink. Writing assignment? Interrupted by seeing the dog walking neighbor and HAVING to go pet the pooch. Grammar? The mail just came by. Bible time? Need a potty break. Which leads to 'just checking the computer.' These don't even include the phone, UPS man, or the occasional fire truck driving peacefully down the street. Yes, there are discipline issues here, and yes, that process, though necessary, also contributes to prolonging the days.
The Lord is good. He has put on my heart to move our schoolroom out of the dining room and up to our bonus room. Windows face the backyard, the bathroom is connected, and they get one cup of water to take upstairs in the morning which must last them 'til lunch. We have literally had up to 2 hours of uninterrupted school time. I am amazed at how much we can accomplish in just 2 hours when the distractions are gone. As a bonus, my formerly mess of a DR is actually available to enjoy meals again w/o me having to rearrange all the 'stuff' twice a day just to eat. TheLord has shown me how the many distractions in our school day contributed to the general chaos and disorganization I've cried out to him about for so long.
What changes did I have to make to my bonus room? Actually, very few. The kids do their schoolwork at the coffee table, on the couches, or sprawled on the floor (so much for posture
). I cleaned the shelves of our lesser used games and puzzles and put 4 plastic bins (the Sterlite/Rubbermaid variety) in their place. Each child has a bin for their workbooks/notebooks/other daily work and I have one bin in which they put their completed work to be checked. The desk DH moved from a bedroom into the bonus room is great for my teaching supplies, manuals, etc. Since the house is on the market, I don't really want to hang the white board, so I've pulled the old chalk/white board easel out of the attic. Chalk side for daily assignments. Dry Erase side for daily lessons.
When they called to show the house today, it was unbelievable how quickly school got picked up, including the easel back in the eaves. Of course, getting the cups, dirty socks, and army jeep put away was another story entirely! And the boxes of games and puzzles? Still sitting there until I find a box (or boxes) big enough for them.
Alas, it's not perfect, but we've been doing school for about two weeks now and for the first time in years, I can honestly say we are all having (mostly) fun in a relaxed, organized environment that is free of outside distractions. Aaaaahhhh. So this is the peace that comes when I finally submit my plans to the will of my Heavenly Father.
• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jul. 3, 2009 - "You are Either a Mission or a Missionary"
Just found this quote from Hudson Taylor in an activity book from Voice of the Martyrs about China. The book is chock full of great historical info. They have activity books for about 10 different countries that are downloadable. We will definitely be using these when they are available for the countries we're studying! They are available from the VOM's kid's site at www.kidsofcourage.com. They are free, but you do have to provide your email address and allow cookies.
So, back to this thought provoking quote, while my kids are my mission now (making me a missionary at home), I continue to homeschool and train them so that they can be missionaries now (under my wing), and later (when they fly not with me, but soley with God). And in being reminded of this mission I (we) have been given to homeschool our (His) precious ones, I am aware again of how diligent I must be (and often fail) to seek Jesus first in everything, all the time. So glad He continues to mold and shape...even when the clay (His mission) doesn't cooperate so well.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jun. 27, 2009 - A new twist (for me) on planning curriculum
I'm sure this will seem so obvious to the naturally organized teachermoms(and dads) out there. As I've been scouring the 'net to find the best curriculum fit for my family this year, I came across a post on the Well Trained Minds boards that gave me an 'aha' (or perhaps a, 'well, duh') moment. It suggested that rather than choosing curriculum first, that my first step should be planning my use of time.
This seems so obvious, yet in my 5 years of hs'ing, I've never done, or even considered this. How much time do I want to spend on LA each day? Math? Bible? I've always figured how many days per week we'll do History and Science, but never put time parameters on those days.
So, before placing any more curriculum orders, I'll be backtracking a bit to formulate my schedule, then get curriculum to fit my schedule. I've learned that making my schedule fit my curriculum makes for very long, and often chaotic days.
So my question to you - Do you operate under a 'fit the curriculum into my schedule' model or under a 'fit my schedule to match my curriculum model'? Or some of both? And how does this work for you? For you master schedulers that regularly have free time, or time for games and 'funschooling', what exactly does that look like? Can you share your daily schedule?
Indebted for your help,
Shelli
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jun. 5, 2009 - Diamonds in the Rough
Based on my last post and some other treasures I've encountered since, I'm going to be actively looking for 'diamonds in the rough.' These gems will be curriculum options that are either outside the box (i.e. Life of Fred math) or have similarities to pricey programs at a fraction of the cost (i.e. KidSpeak Languages). It may be a program that gets smart kids who fear 'hard' to tackle the hard in such a unique way that they don't even realize they are doing 'hard.' (i.e. TimezAttack for learning multicplication tables). These diamonds may commit long lists of seemingly random data into music (i.e. Geography Songs). Perhaps a website that takes a mundane subject and spices it up a bit (i.e. SpellingCity.com).
This is the deal, though. I'm not an expert. A veteran homeschooler who has scoured what's out there? Sure. But I haven't seen it all, much less tried it all. Truly, I believe that literature based education based on living books is the way to go. But even here, for the books I am qualified to dissect, there's not enough time. And frankly, there are scores of books I am unqualified to dissect. So when I see Progeny Press or Total Language Plus offering a program that really delves beyond the surface a book, I'm sold! I haven't tried these...this will be new for this year. But they look like diamonds.
If you have discovered a 'diamond in the rough,' will you post it here and comment on why it is a diamond? I'm hoping that most of the diamonds will have cubic zirconian pricing, but consumability and number of children with which a program can be used are certainly factors (i.e. I Can Do All Things art).. These diamonds can run the gamut...from academic to the arts to manipulatives to games...whatever you have found, used, and has been loved by you and your children.
I will try to post links to some of the 'diamonds' I've mentioned and others that you share, but since I will not likely be able to post them all, please be sure to include either a web address or an exact product name for your recommendations.
Looking forward to unearthing some homeschool treasures together.
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
May. 23, 2009 - Kids hate math?
Well, our kids don't really hate math....
A friend and I have been searching and brainstorming about curriculum while enjoying our beach vacation together. She has a rising 9th grader who doesn't mind doing math with obvious application, but really does not see the point in algebra and geometry since they lack daily function in her delightfully creative, non-technical world. I have a rising 5th grader who loves math, but has a polar reaction to anything that is hard and cannot be deciphered and fully grasped in 5 minutes or less. This has been a major issue these last couple of months as we've entered some geometric principles that are umm...hard.
Well, we stumbled upon 'Life of Fred' math texts. These are ridiculously silly math texts that teach serious math. A cute story about 5 year old genius Fred is interwoven throughout the series to show practical application. And when 'fun' is mixed with 'hard' the perserverance tends to hold out a bit longer. There are mastery steps placed at the end of each unit, and tests, so progress is measureable. The site claims that once all books in the series are completed, a student can enter a college at the junior level in math and claim a math major. Sounds pretty impressive. Especially to giggle the whole way through. Isn't this why we homeschool?
I'll keep my 8yo on Math U See for now since "Fred" starts with Fractions, but I can already tell this will be a favorite all my boys.
The clincher? Non-consumable, all-in-one text curriculum, $19. If I remember right, the site even boasted free shipping. There is also an optional, and very reasonably priced, 'home companion' guide for the high school subjects. The author invites you to call him personally if there is anything you don't understand as you go through the books.
The author of the GuestHollow.com blog met the 'Life of Fred' author personally and has a great write up that really got me off the fence on this curriculum: http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/reviews/review_life_of_fred_math.html
Let me know what you think!
