scraps of me...

Back to School Interviews

I decided last week to take some back to school photos and give the kids a little "interview" of sorts...just to remember some little tidbits about them. Here's the results...
(I'll type the answers word for word, letter for letter)

Name: Austin
Nickname: Spud
Age: 10      Grade: 5th
Favorite Subject: Math
Favorite Food: Ribs, Steak, Pork Tenderloin
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Bunny Tracks
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Past time: Playing Video Games
Favorite Movie: Action ones
Favorite TV Show: Dirty Jobs
Favorite Holiday: My Birthday

Name: Meghan Diane
Nickname: Monkey Doodle
Age:9 Grade: 4th
Favorite School Subject: Math
Favorite Food: Spaghitti
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Strawberry
Favorite Color: Lime Green
Favorite Past time: Coloring, Play with Jennie, our new neighbor
Favorite Movie: Flicka, 1 and 2
Favorite TV Show: 19 Kids and Counting
Favorite Holida: Christmas because of Jesus's birthday

Name: Kaitlin
Nickname: Katiebug
Age: 6 1/2 Grade:1 Grade
Favorite Subject: Raeding
Favorite Food: Macaroni
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: BlueBare
Favorite Color: Pink
Favorite Past time: Play Barbies
Favorite Movie: Barbie and the Dimand Castle
Favorite TV Show: Imagination Movers
Favorite Holiday: My Bithday
  

My Homeschooling Lessons Learned

When we started homeschooling last November, I hoped and prayed that I was capable of teaching them, helping them grow and change...mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Now, almost a year later, I can look back and with certainty, and confidence, say "Yes. Yes I can."

 

What I didn't realize ten months ago, is how much I would learn, grow, and change...

Here's a few of my thoughts, reflections, and observations...

• It is possible to homeschool and be a home daycare provider.
• My days are busier than ever before, but not in a stressful way. I rarely sit down between lessons and the daycare kids. However, there is a difference between being busy and rushing. We don't have to hurry in the mornings to get out the door any longer. There's no more squeezing homework in during our evenings.
• I love getting snuggles, hugs, and kisses anytime during the day.
• I like knowing what they're learning...and not simply knowing it...but choosing it myself.
• I have the priveledge of learning right beside my children. And it truly is a priveledge and an honor.
• Ordering curriculum from one source is not necessarily the best choice. Burn out happens much faster when the days don't differ at all.
• Our home doesn't need to be cleaned numerous times each week.
• Wearing pj's to school is cool!
• We're all much healthier. No one caught the flu bug last year and I didn't get strep throat once (I usually get it at least twice each winter!).
• Austin, Meghan, and Kaitlin are capable of helping out so much more around the house than I used to give them credit for. I think maybe lowering my standards had something to do with that too.
• Life is school...there are lessons to be learned everywhere.
• Curling up on the couch and sharing a good book with my kids is one of my favorite times of the day.
• I have a large influence over them...both positive and negative. It's something I have to be very aware of all the time.
• I love to organize and plan lessons and activities, but sometimes I overdo it or jump in too quickly. I can be a bit too overzealous and overwhelm the kids.
• I am thankful for our home...it really has a great layout and plenty of space for all of us to spread out.
• Listen. Really listen. And then listen some more.
• Art is still my favorite subject.
• Austin, Meghan, and Kaitlin wow and amaze me so often!
• Saying "yes." is easier than saying "no." all the time.
• Go with my gut instinct. Trust myself.

And most of all...

I really enjoy being with the kids...sharing my days with them. I never realized how much I missed them while they were at school.

I'm really looking forward to our second year of homeschooling! I'm more prepared...relaxed...and experienced. I am so blessed!

p.s. And just because I don't want anyone to walk away with the illusion that each and every day is all sunshine and roses and happy faces. Trust me...we have plenty of rough days. Just ask Troy or my sister, Erin. :)

Five in a Row

The final bit of our curriculum for next year's lessons is Five in a Row.

I know a couple of friends that homeschool and use this as their core, but I need more structure and I feel like the kids need some individual studies as well.

The main idea of this curriculum is to read a picture book once a day for five days in a row. Then you do a subject each day, for example, Monday: applied math, Tuesday: language arts, Wednesday: science, Thursday: art, and Friday: social studies.

So I've decided to use it as a supplement. We're planning to incorporate it three days a week, but use each picture book for 2 weeks, instead of one.

Our schedule is going to look something like this:

Week One:
Monday: Social Studies
Wednesday: Language Arts/Vocabulary/Creative Writing
Friday: Art

Week Two:
Monday: Science
Wednesday: Applied Math
Friday: Cooking

For cooking, the recipes will mostly come from this book...

It has recipes to go along with each story, mostly related to where the story takes place.

We'll also be doing some Bible verse memorization and character study in the evenings with Daddy using this book...

I'm also going to use this set of books to help with our art and creative writing, Draw, Write, Now...

I'm so excited to start our new year...now I just need to figure out WHEN we're going to start. We've only got a few more weeks before we finish out this year, and I'm planning to let the kids take off at least a week or two before we jump back in.

Apologia Science

I stumbled across this curriculum while scouring homeschool reviews for a new science program for us to do next year. It received nothing but glowing reviews.

Apologia has six different elementary science books that can be used in almost any order and with children from 1st - 6th grade. Most of them also have a Notebooking Journal that contains activities, puzzles, vocabulary, copywork, etc.

I originally planned on doing Astronomy. I ordered the textbook for all of us to use together, and notebook journals for Austin and Meghan. They're a little advanced for Kaitlin yet.

But then, I found out from the Apologia yahoo group I joined that the author, Jeannie Fulbright, is in the process of creating Junior Notebooking Journals, for children in 1st - 3rd grade. The only one with a definite release date before this fall was for the new Anatomy book that just released a week ago.

So...we switched gears and decided to do Anatomy instead. And I'm actually much more excited about it...especially since there've been a lot of questions coming from the kids lately about their eyes and teeth and how various other body parts work.

And like Mystery of History...we'll be doing it together, with each of the kids working at their own level. The kids are excited to find out about how God created their bodies to work.  
 

Mystery of History

I thought I'd take the next few days to talk about our family's curriculum choices for next year.

As I said before, we're sticking with Christian Light for their Math, Language Arts, and Reading.

This past year, the kids have done the Social Studies from Christian Light. Austin's was difficult for even me to understand, so we stopped using it and did State Studies instead. Meghan and Kaitlin have just about finished their Social Studies...but I'm not sure they've learned anything that they didn't already know since it was mostly about your community helpers, etc.

So this next year, I wanted to completely switch gears and focus more on history vs. social studies.

After condidering a few other options and reading a lot on online reviews and blogs, I decided to go with The Mystery of History by Linda Lacour Hobar.

 

I can't explain how excited I am about starting it this fall...but I'll try.

1. Everyone will do it together, the fun pretest games and the daily lesson reading.
2. We'll be doing fun hands-on projects and activities a few times each week to reinvorce our lessons.
3. It incorporates Biblical and world history together chronologically. For example: Week 41 = The First Olympic Games (776 B.C.), Week 42: The Story of Jonah (760 B.C.)
4. We'll create a timeline together to help us visually see how history happened.
5. I'll get to learn right alongside them instead of just handing them a workbook.

It's funny, but when I read my Bible, I tend to think of all those stories as being the only thing happening in the world at that time. I'm exicted to see how it all works out together and how God had a hand in all of it, not just in Egypt, Isreal, etc.

It'll be a neat thing to discover alongside the kids! :)

Good Enough...

I have so much I want to blog about...mostly as a result of the "Girl's Day" Erin and I had last Saturday. I feel such a jumble of thoughts and ideas floating around in my head...but I'll try to sort it out so it'll make sense.

I think the Proverbs 31 devotional I received in my inbox today has helped the sorting process. It helped me simplify things. To see things in a new light.

The devotional was all about fighting the instinct to give up right before crossing the finish line. Completing what you start. Not settling for "good enough". Not living with mediocrity.

Like putting the laundry away instead of just piling it on your dresser.
Like loading the dishwasher as your day goes on instead of waiting until the sink is overflowing.

I quickly realized that I've been saying "That's good enough." for far too long. No wonder I feel like I get nothing accomplished. No wonder I feel like my "work" is never done. No wonder I feel like a failure too often.

For me, personally...it means...

finishing this weight loss journey I've been on for the past few years.

working on my "Projects to Conquer" list that's grown way too long.

finishing our school year strong and not getting lazy with our lessons.

staying focused and not allowing the computer, tv, or phone calls to distract me from what I should be doing.

making the time to have an intimate relationship with Christ in every area of my life instead of just in the "important" or "big" areas.

choosing to keep my priorities in their proper places.

changing my good intentions (which I have a lot of) into action.

This summer is going to fly by. I want to make everyday count. I want to play and have fun. I want to make memories. I want to push myself past mediocrity. I want more.

I'm still not sure exactly what my plan is to accomplish all of this...but I'm willing to try. Starting today. Doing something.

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me,
if only I may FINISH the race
and COMPLETE the task the Lord Jesus has given me..."
Acts 20:24 (NIV)

Homeschool Planning

Over the past few months, I've been researching curriculum for next year.

Last October, when we made the decision to homeschool, I went the "easy" route. We ordered everything from one company, Christian Light Education.

I love so many things about this curriculum! It's Biblical. Their Sunrise Edition workbooks make lesson planning a breeze. New concepts are introduced in small tidbits, and then reviewed many times. And the quizes and tests help me know that the kids are really learning and mastering what they need to. The format is similar to the Alpha Omega LifePacs, which is what I used when I was homeschooled my junior and senior year of high school, so it just works for us.

However, there were a few things I didn't like.

I don't like that the kids only work together on art and when we read aloud our current book of choice.
I did not like the science and social studies for 3rd grade and above. It hasn't been redone into the Sunrise Edition and it's not easily understood by the kids...or myself for that matter.

So...for this next year, I've decided to continue to use Christian Light for the "core subjects"...Math, Reading, and Language Arts.

I'm excited about doing something different for Science and Social Studies/History...which I'll blog more about in the next week or so.

In the mean time...I'll be sorting through the boxes and eagerly anticipating the coming school year...even if we're still not finished with this year. :)

 

Toast Day

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Austin, Meghan, and Kaitlin write in their journals. A few weeks ago, I found this website that has some fun journal prompts on it. Some are a little too indepth for them, Kaitlin especially. But today's was a fun one so I thought I'd share.

Today is "Toast Day".  What is your favorite topping for toast?  Explain to someone how to create this "toasty" treat.

Toast is a breakfast staple around here...usually with a fried egg and a piece of fruit. It's eaten almost daily by all 3 kids.

So for their journal entries...

Austin decided to invent a new recipe. Butter, peanut butter, honey, and chopped walnuts.

Meghan's favorite is with butter and strawberry jam.

Kaitlin likes her Daddy's "Recipe"...butter, peanut butter, with a sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar.

They wrote out recipes, complete with "how-to" instructions and a picture of their toast.

My favorite way to have toast? It's hard to choose just one....but I guess my all-time favorite would be with lots of butter and homemade blackberry (or any kind of berry) jam. Mmmmmm.

**How do you like your toast?**

Weekly Review

Language Arts:
Kaitlin just recently started language arts and she's really enjoying it. She's learning about the basics of sentence structure, the proper usage of "is" and "are", and how to care for books, because they are, after all, our "friends".
Meghan is learning how to properly form all of the cursive lower-case letters, pronouns, and the different parts of a book (table of contents, index, glossary, etc.). The coolest thing she's learned is how to properly introduce people to one another. We did a few practice rounds together, pretending to be different people. It was fun.
Austin worked on writing thank you notes and how they are different from a friendly letter. He also worked with reference books, the slant and spacking of cursive writing, and how to scan for keywords to find the answer to questions.

Reading:
Kaitlin is learning a lot of rules for spelling...I'm learning a lot too. She's also working on the long vowel sounds as well as consonant digraphs.
Meghan read a story about being thankful and answered a lot of questions about why things happened. She's working with homographs, synonyms, and antonyms as well.
Austin has been reading stories about different places...Guatemala, Hawaii, and the Netherlands. We've learned a lot of interesting things so far. He's also been learning to distinguish between facts and opinions.

Math:
Kaitlin is continuing to work on counting money. She's started learning how to tell time and add three numbers together (3+2+2=?). She had the most fun with horizontal bar graphs though.
Meghan is working on fractions (1/4, 1/3, and 1/2) and labeling polygons correctly.
Austin is doing a lot of work with measurements (in, mm, cm, etc.) and learning about equal fractions and mixed numbers. He's almost got his multiplication tables completely memorized too.

Science:
Kaitlin is learning how to care for yourself (sleep, food, exercise). Austin's current book is about the same thing, but it's going into much more detail about nutrients and what healthy food can do for your body vs. junk food.
Meghan is continuing her learning about various animals and the habitats they live in.

Social Studies:
Kaitlin is learning about different feelings and emotions.
Meghan is learning about different community businesses and services. She's learned a lot about the post office, library and different jobs.
In our state study, we did New Jersey 2 weeks ago, and Georgia this past week. I recently discoverd a dvd series at the library, one dvd for each state, so we've enjoyed watching them and turly seeing some neat and interesting things about the states. Friday continues to be our favorite day. It's when we make a special snack that relates to the state we're studying. yum.

Fun Stuff:
We haven't been doing a lot of creative art projects. We've made a few decorations for Valentine's Day, but that's about it.
We've been doing a lot of reading though. Kaitlin has finshed all the Mercy Watson books and is now working on The Cobblestreet Cousins series. Meghan is still enjoying the Judy Moody books and Austin has started the Andrew Lost science series of books.
Together, we are thoroughly enjoying Masterpiece by Elise Broach. It is such a creative book and the kids have laughed out loud at numerous parts. It's a great book so far!

01.22.2010

The last two weeks have passed in somewhat of a blur...I can't believe how quickly...and now I can barely remember what we've done.

So let's see....

Reading/Language Arts:
Kaitlin has just a few more vowel and consonant sounds to learn. She started Language Arts this week and loves it so far. She's learning the basics of sentence structure and also about plural nouns.
Meghan did her first oral book report and has been learning about accented syllables in the dictionary.
Austin has been learning about transition words in paragraphs, articles, pronouns, and different homophones (like your and you're, they're, their, and there).

Math:
Kaitlin is learning how to tell time and learning place value to 100's.
Meghan is doing a lot of work with time, calendars and measurements.
Austin is working on his multiplication tables and almost has them all mastered 100%.

Science:
Kaitlin's book is all about people and pets. How we're alike. How God made us different. How we grown and change.
Meghan's book is all about habitats and the different animals that live in them. So far she's learned about the artic, tundra, desert, and rain forest.
Austin's also been learning about animals, but mostly about their classification and the differences between birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, etc.

Social Studies:
Kaitlin is learning about families and the roles that different members play.
Meghan is learning about different types of farm communities...ranches, dairy farms, orchards, etc.
Austin is continuing his state study, with Meghan along for the ride. Last week we did Delaware. We learned a lot about this small state and enjoyed a peach smoothie on Friday in honor of their state flower, the peach blossom. This week we studied Pennsylvania. We read books about the Liberty Bell and the Amish. And in honor of the Hershey Kiss shaped street lamps in Hershey, Pennsylvania, we made Hershey Kiss cookies today for snack. Lots of fun!

Art:
We are having a lot of fun with our storybook art. Last week, we watercolored and created collages like those in The Snowy Day (which I remembered from when I was little.) This week, we read a book called The Keeping Quilt. This one made me feel all warm and fuzzy...especially because the kids and I all have quilts that BayBay made for us.

Extra Stuff:
The fun reading has really picked up around here since we've decided to start paying the kids for books read and book reports completed. Austin's on the last Stink book and Meghan has jumped into the Judy Moody books. Kaitlin has fallen in love with the Mercy Watson books which are so adorable that I'm tempted to curl up and read them too.
Austin has also been reading some books about the care of hamsters. He has decided that he wants one as a pet. We found a cage and all the accessories on craigslist.com. He got a great deal on it, but spent the last of his Christmas money on it. Now he's saving up to buy the actual hamster to go in the cage.

I think that's about it. I'm ready to enjoy the weekend....the kids already are. They're outside digging and climbing and swinging and just being kids. :)

  

January 4th - 8th

I thought I'd start a little something new. I'm so inspired by reading other homeschooling blogs, that I thought I'd start giving a peek into our week. Each Friday-ish, I'll post a little review of our week and what we've been up to in our lessons and activities.

Leisurely Reading: We've started reading the Magic Treehouse series together each day. We finished the first book this Wednesday. They completed book reports and then the kids (with Troy's help) created their very own boardgame which we played on Saturday. The most difficult part of this book was learning how to pronounce all the different dinosaurs' names.

Math: Austin is getting so quick at multiplication. Meghan is doing a lot of work with fractions and expanding numbers. Kaitlin's really getting the hang of counting pennies and dimes, and even started with nickels this week.

Science: Kaitlin and Meghan are learning about animals right now. Meghan is learning about God created animals to live in different habitats. Kaitlin is learning about pets and how they grow and change. Austin had a fun week learning about climate and temperature. On Tuesday, he had to go outside and read his thermometer every hour and record the tempuratures in both Farenheit and Celsius. The next day, he had to take the temperature in five different spots in the backyard. The well-below freezing temperatures made it very interesting.

Social Studies/Geography: We started something new this week...we're calling it "State Studies". This first week, we learned about maps...how to label them, read the legend and use the scale, as well as general information about the United States. Starting next week, we're going to study one state each week, in the order that they joined the United States of America. We'll be reading a lot, doing map work, learning about each states' history, and on Friday, making a recipe that's related to that state in some way.

Language Arts/Reading: I simply love the readers that Austin and Meghan are working their way through. The stories have such great morals, such as showing mercy, helping others, not coveting, etc. They both have done such a good job memorizing the Bible verses that go along with each story as well. Kaitlin worked on learning the sounds of /w/, /l/, and the short /u/. Sometimes I feel like it's too simple for her, but since she's already working at a 1st grade level, we'll continue with it.
We also did some vocabulary work and journaling as well.

Bible: All three kids are learning about Abraham right now. We also started doing some copywork of the say-it verse for Lifekids at church. I was so impressed...by Wednesday, they all had it memorized already!

Art: We've decided to change things up in this area as well. Each week, we'll be reading a children's picture book and learning about the illustrator and the techniques they used in the book. Then we'll be creating our own art similar to their style. This week, we read When Sophie Gets Angry...Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang. We discussed how color can affect your emotions and make you feel a certain way. Then they each painted a picture of their choice. I wish I had painted one as well because they turned out great!