I thought of this as a fun game to help my child learn the parts of speech and get him moving around! It's pretty simple and here is what you'll need :
construction or white paper
marker
list of nouns, verbs and adjectives
All you do is write a noun, verb or adjective down on a piece of paper. One word per paper making sure there's a good mix of each. Then, set them up like a puzzle board or maze. Throughout the puzzle board, put some of your child's favorite stuffed animals / toys. Have the child start at one side of the board and call out "noun" or "verb" or "adjective". The child must move to that part of speech. Make sure you call out a part of speech your child can actually move to and help them navigate through the puzzle collecting animals.
We're going to try this tomorrow so I'll let you know how it works. Or feel free to comment and let me know how it works for you guys! There's a bunch of variations you can come up with so have fun!
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Friday, November 29, 2013
Christmas Around the World
I'm excited to start preparation for the our Christmas around the world lesson plans. I'm only going to door three countries, and then the week before Christmas focus in the United States. I've decided to go with Italy, Israel and Mexico because I found them the interesting and think my son will enjoy learning about their traditions.
So how do you go about making a Christmas Around the World Lesson Plan without spending a lot of money? First, as always, start with google. :) This was a good site to get the ball rolling:
http://www.santas.net/
First, I'm going to get three brown paper bags (old Whole Food bags) and decorate them with the flags of the country that we'll be focusing on for the lesson. My son will get to open up the bag and inside will be the items I want to highlight. So for Italy, I decided to focus on the Urn of Fate and Befana, the kind witch. I'll use a regular kitchen mixing bowl for the Urn and while it'd be cool to have some sort toy witch (you may have one, although I don't think we do) I may just have to print out a picture and paste it on a Popsicle stick and use it as a puppet. We'll go over the traditions and he'll pick something from the Urn of Fate. Very simple, short, but for a small child with a short attention span, effective.
I'm thinking of getting some books from the library about Christmas in the various countries, then doing Venn Diagrams to compare and contrast them with the US. I may also use one of his stuffed animals and pretend the animal is from that other country. Then the animal can introduce the tradition. I know it's a simple idea, but anything that involves stuffed animals keeps my kids attention way longer than if it's just me talking.
So that's my jumping off point. I only have a few days to get it together, so I better get to it! Pictures to come....
So how do you go about making a Christmas Around the World Lesson Plan without spending a lot of money? First, as always, start with google. :) This was a good site to get the ball rolling:
http://www.santas.net/
First, I'm going to get three brown paper bags (old Whole Food bags) and decorate them with the flags of the country that we'll be focusing on for the lesson. My son will get to open up the bag and inside will be the items I want to highlight. So for Italy, I decided to focus on the Urn of Fate and Befana, the kind witch. I'll use a regular kitchen mixing bowl for the Urn and while it'd be cool to have some sort toy witch (you may have one, although I don't think we do) I may just have to print out a picture and paste it on a Popsicle stick and use it as a puppet. We'll go over the traditions and he'll pick something from the Urn of Fate. Very simple, short, but for a small child with a short attention span, effective.
I'm thinking of getting some books from the library about Christmas in the various countries, then doing Venn Diagrams to compare and contrast them with the US. I may also use one of his stuffed animals and pretend the animal is from that other country. Then the animal can introduce the tradition. I know it's a simple idea, but anything that involves stuffed animals keeps my kids attention way longer than if it's just me talking.
So that's my jumping off point. I only have a few days to get it together, so I better get to it! Pictures to come....
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Novmber Update
Yes, it's been awhile. Let me tell you a little bit about what we've been up to for the past few months:
First off, I've been doing much more writing, including NaNoWriMo. This has made it a bit more challenging to keep up to date on my blogs. However, I'm about 29,000 words into my second first attempt at NaNoWriMo (if you're curious why it's my 2nd attempt, follow my blog 1hundredthousandwords.blogspot.com).
Second, we've been very busy church shopping...again. I'm happy to report that we've found a great contemporary service that we're settling into. Let's hope this works out!
Ok, and now for homeschool. I continue to use the Saxon Math grade 3 for my little man. He's in kindergarten, but he's very good with numbers so I find myself working with Saxon and supplementing with fun online worksheets, or homemade activities. We're up to our 5 multiplication tables and I show him the School House Rock videos each class to help get him reciting the tables a bit quicker. Saxon has us doing temperature, money and fractions in addition to the multiplication.
He loves to play math baseball with some really simple paper bases I made. An addition problem answered correctly lands him on first, a subtraction gets him to second, a multiplication is third and a word problem or fraction lands him a home run. Since he's an only child, I usually play along with him asking me math problems, or we use his animals (he asks his animals questions and cracks up when "they" get them wrong.)
We've taken a detour from Saxon K Reading. It's all basically a letter a day, which we focused on in preschool, so I'm making it up as I go along. Should I admit that? :) I have a bunch of workbooks, just really basic things you can get at Target, that introduce parts of speech and types of literature. Then I went online to see what my state's common core guidelines for grade K state, then I basically just go down the core list and teach it off the top of my head.
This method has actually proven rather effective. We've learned nouns, verbs, couplet poems, and the difference between non fiction and fiction. We've mapped a few stories with Venn Diagrams, also. In addition, I make him read all the instructions whenever we do worksheets. He's not a fan of reading, and I don't want to over push, so unless he asks to read a book, I usually read during story time.
His reading has improved on it's own. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but over the summer we created a 100 Book Read challenge. If, as a family, we collectively read 100 books over the summer break, we'd have a big family sleepover. Our son loved it and that's really when he started to pick up on sight words and sound blends. His reading blossomed over the summer so I'm not as worried about it as I once was. I'd saw that he's right on track with his grade K peers.
I also do health, a bit of science and history, although I'm looking for a really good history curriculum. Any suggestions?
As far as my organization skills go, they've completely gone down hill. I used to grade everything right away and mark the grade in my planner. Now, once a month, I sit down to a pile of his work and grade it in one night, then mark it in my planner. But I figure as long as I'm keeping track, does it really matter if it takes me a few extra weeks? :)
So that's where we are. My only suggestions at this point is to explore co-ops if you haven't already. We've been loving ours!
First off, I've been doing much more writing, including NaNoWriMo. This has made it a bit more challenging to keep up to date on my blogs. However, I'm about 29,000 words into my second first attempt at NaNoWriMo (if you're curious why it's my 2nd attempt, follow my blog 1hundredthousandwords.blogspot.com).
Second, we've been very busy church shopping...again. I'm happy to report that we've found a great contemporary service that we're settling into. Let's hope this works out!
Ok, and now for homeschool. I continue to use the Saxon Math grade 3 for my little man. He's in kindergarten, but he's very good with numbers so I find myself working with Saxon and supplementing with fun online worksheets, or homemade activities. We're up to our 5 multiplication tables and I show him the School House Rock videos each class to help get him reciting the tables a bit quicker. Saxon has us doing temperature, money and fractions in addition to the multiplication.
He loves to play math baseball with some really simple paper bases I made. An addition problem answered correctly lands him on first, a subtraction gets him to second, a multiplication is third and a word problem or fraction lands him a home run. Since he's an only child, I usually play along with him asking me math problems, or we use his animals (he asks his animals questions and cracks up when "they" get them wrong.)
We've taken a detour from Saxon K Reading. It's all basically a letter a day, which we focused on in preschool, so I'm making it up as I go along. Should I admit that? :) I have a bunch of workbooks, just really basic things you can get at Target, that introduce parts of speech and types of literature. Then I went online to see what my state's common core guidelines for grade K state, then I basically just go down the core list and teach it off the top of my head.
This method has actually proven rather effective. We've learned nouns, verbs, couplet poems, and the difference between non fiction and fiction. We've mapped a few stories with Venn Diagrams, also. In addition, I make him read all the instructions whenever we do worksheets. He's not a fan of reading, and I don't want to over push, so unless he asks to read a book, I usually read during story time.
His reading has improved on it's own. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but over the summer we created a 100 Book Read challenge. If, as a family, we collectively read 100 books over the summer break, we'd have a big family sleepover. Our son loved it and that's really when he started to pick up on sight words and sound blends. His reading blossomed over the summer so I'm not as worried about it as I once was. I'd saw that he's right on track with his grade K peers.
I also do health, a bit of science and history, although I'm looking for a really good history curriculum. Any suggestions?
As far as my organization skills go, they've completely gone down hill. I used to grade everything right away and mark the grade in my planner. Now, once a month, I sit down to a pile of his work and grade it in one night, then mark it in my planner. But I figure as long as I'm keeping track, does it really matter if it takes me a few extra weeks? :)
So that's where we are. My only suggestions at this point is to explore co-ops if you haven't already. We've been loving ours!
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Maybe "unhomeschooling" is the way to go?
Things continue to progress. I woke up feeling rather ill today so my husband took my son to his co-op classes. So far, my son is enjoying the lessons at his school and I've really excited with what I've seen as well. Last week, he came home with a bottle of pretend blood. His class has been learning all about the body - brains, lungs, heart - and so they used candy and some lima beans to reconstruct the elements of blood. How fun is that?? And it was a fantastic hands on activity I'm sure he'll remember for some time.
I've been thinking a lot about school and lesson plans lately. Basically, I've been thinking about unnecessary they really are and I've been considering switching to a more liberal approach. Liberal meaning that we don't sit in the classroom as much. In fact, I don't even tell him that what we're going is school, but rather just let him play and explore and learn on his own, much like I did up until the beginning of kindergarten. And to be fair, we still do a lot of that hands on, self directed learning. But we also meet in the school room three days a week, sit down, and get to business. Frankly, it's boring but effective. After all, at some you just have to sit down and learn the proper way to the write the letter "p", right?
But I love how excited my son is about the world around him. I love that we go outside and he can instantly get distracted by a the bird nest in our tree and start asking me all sorts of questions about baby birds. That's so much more fun that sitting in a classroom.
I keep telling myself that this is a great approach for this age, but what about when he gets older? Do we need to start sitting at the desk and focusing more in order to get prepared for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, ect. ect....If anyone does this sort of "unhomeschooling", what do your days look like? I'd love to hear about it.
I've been thinking a lot about school and lesson plans lately. Basically, I've been thinking about unnecessary they really are and I've been considering switching to a more liberal approach. Liberal meaning that we don't sit in the classroom as much. In fact, I don't even tell him that what we're going is school, but rather just let him play and explore and learn on his own, much like I did up until the beginning of kindergarten. And to be fair, we still do a lot of that hands on, self directed learning. But we also meet in the school room three days a week, sit down, and get to business. Frankly, it's boring but effective. After all, at some you just have to sit down and learn the proper way to the write the letter "p", right?
But I love how excited my son is about the world around him. I love that we go outside and he can instantly get distracted by a the bird nest in our tree and start asking me all sorts of questions about baby birds. That's so much more fun that sitting in a classroom.
I keep telling myself that this is a great approach for this age, but what about when he gets older? Do we need to start sitting at the desk and focusing more in order to get prepared for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, ect. ect....If anyone does this sort of "unhomeschooling", what do your days look like? I'd love to hear about it.
Friday, September 6, 2013
The Saxon Review
Ok, so it's time to review the Saxon curriculum. I know, you're very excited :)
I got the Saxon Phonics for grade K and the Saxon Math for grade 3. Let's start with phonics.
The book whole Saxon phonics program comes with workbook, flash cards and letter strips the help reinforce the daily lesson, which is basically A Letter A Day program. The lessons consist for saying a word that starts with the letter, having the student repeat the word, write the letter, and even map the word to identify short or long sounds. As the lessons progress, you build on previous sounds. So one day you do the short o, and the next you do t and then on the t lesson, the words you learn incorporate the short o sound.
It's a bit tedious, especially for my child who cannot sit still. It does have some ideas about going on letter hunts, where the child searches for objects that start with a certain letter. But most of it is taught while the child is sitting at a desk, listening to you and working on a worksheet. If your child can sit still, I would recommend this. If you're kid is more hands on and out of their seat, I recommend using this as a guide and adding various activities on your own.
For my kid, I follow the basics of the Saxon program. I do a letter a day, we write it and say it out loud, but we don't map letter sounds or do the worksheets. We do the letter hunts, or hangman, or I write of words on the board and we figure out which have short or long vowel sounds.
Overall, I do like the Saxon phonics program, but it needs to fit your kid and for mine, it's a bit too formatted.
Now for the Saxon Math grade 3. I don't know if all Saxon math programs are like the grade 3, but it's a different way to approach math than I'd been doing previously. Instead of working one concept for many days then moving to another, the program does mini lessons on various subjects everyday. So for example, one day we learned about clocks and reading time. The next day we did doubles additions then reviewed our clocks by doing some simple "what time is this?" sort of problems. The next day we did greater than, less than, equal then and we also reviewed our doubles. See the pattern?
I'm truly interested to see how this program effects my kids math skills. He's pretty good with numbers and really enjoys this subject. Before starting the Saxon program, we already did addition, subtraction and multiplication up to the 3s table, plus we did money and clock work. So for us, this is review, but it gets into more complicated material a bit later. Still, I wonder if this sort of approach will prove more effective than just sticking with one subject until he masters it completely, then moving on.
It seems a bit scattered, but on the positive side it does keep math more interesting because we're doing something different everyday. But is he learning it in these little bursts? I know Saxon has been around for a while so it must work. I'm going to keep with the program and see how it goes. I've been supplementing a bit here and there, just to make sure he doesn't forget what he's already learned.
Overall, I'd say give the Saxon math a try. It's worth a go. I'll do another review when we get into more difficult material.
I hope you found this a little helpful. Feel free to leave reviews of the programs you like!
I got the Saxon Phonics for grade K and the Saxon Math for grade 3. Let's start with phonics.
The book whole Saxon phonics program comes with workbook, flash cards and letter strips the help reinforce the daily lesson, which is basically A Letter A Day program. The lessons consist for saying a word that starts with the letter, having the student repeat the word, write the letter, and even map the word to identify short or long sounds. As the lessons progress, you build on previous sounds. So one day you do the short o, and the next you do t and then on the t lesson, the words you learn incorporate the short o sound.
It's a bit tedious, especially for my child who cannot sit still. It does have some ideas about going on letter hunts, where the child searches for objects that start with a certain letter. But most of it is taught while the child is sitting at a desk, listening to you and working on a worksheet. If your child can sit still, I would recommend this. If you're kid is more hands on and out of their seat, I recommend using this as a guide and adding various activities on your own.
For my kid, I follow the basics of the Saxon program. I do a letter a day, we write it and say it out loud, but we don't map letter sounds or do the worksheets. We do the letter hunts, or hangman, or I write of words on the board and we figure out which have short or long vowel sounds.
Overall, I do like the Saxon phonics program, but it needs to fit your kid and for mine, it's a bit too formatted.
Now for the Saxon Math grade 3. I don't know if all Saxon math programs are like the grade 3, but it's a different way to approach math than I'd been doing previously. Instead of working one concept for many days then moving to another, the program does mini lessons on various subjects everyday. So for example, one day we learned about clocks and reading time. The next day we did doubles additions then reviewed our clocks by doing some simple "what time is this?" sort of problems. The next day we did greater than, less than, equal then and we also reviewed our doubles. See the pattern?
I'm truly interested to see how this program effects my kids math skills. He's pretty good with numbers and really enjoys this subject. Before starting the Saxon program, we already did addition, subtraction and multiplication up to the 3s table, plus we did money and clock work. So for us, this is review, but it gets into more complicated material a bit later. Still, I wonder if this sort of approach will prove more effective than just sticking with one subject until he masters it completely, then moving on.
It seems a bit scattered, but on the positive side it does keep math more interesting because we're doing something different everyday. But is he learning it in these little bursts? I know Saxon has been around for a while so it must work. I'm going to keep with the program and see how it goes. I've been supplementing a bit here and there, just to make sure he doesn't forget what he's already learned.
Overall, I'd say give the Saxon math a try. It's worth a go. I'll do another review when we get into more difficult material.
I hope you found this a little helpful. Feel free to leave reviews of the programs you like!
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Yup, my kid is weird.
I ran into a mom I know from church who told me she's also interested in homeschooling her two little girls. I love getting the opportunity to gush about the amazing benefits of homeschooling, especially to someone open to the idea. As I began to tell her a little about what my son and I do, she stopped me and asked the inevitable question :
"What about socialization?"
(whack my hand against my forehead)
Ok, I've talked about this before in previous blog posts and in the FAQs, but I'm going to talk about it again. I know it's a bit concern for a lot of parents interested in homeschooling and I know it's a key point used by those who oppose homeschooling. So let's get down to it.
What everyone really wants to know is.....if I homeschool, will my kid be weird?
Yup. You're kid will be weird. Now let me define "weird" according to what I've seen by my own kid, his friends (what?? he has friends as a homeschooler??...I'll wait while you pull yourself together after this startling realization :) ) and those he goes to his co-op thingy with.
Your child won't know who Miley Cryus, Justin Bieber, One Direction or Selena Gomez is. Frankly, I don't think they'd care to know even if given the chance.
Your child probable won't use the term "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" until an appropriate age. Weird, right? I mean, can you imagine your second grader NOT talking about having a boyfriend or girlfriend?
Your child will be able to talk to adults. In fact, he or she will be rather comfortable talking to adults. My kid orders for himself at restaurants. I wasn't doing that as a kindergartener because I was too shy.
Your kid will like school. Why? Because chances are, the parent teaching is working at the kid's pace, taking time to go over difficult subjects, and doing enhancement activities that public schools simply don't have the time and resources to do. (This isn't a diss on public schools. I think teachers are way under valued and under paid for their hard work.)
Oh, and here is the weirdest thing of all that I've seen from homeschoolers. THEY ACT THEIR AGE! Really take a second and think about this one, because frankly I think it's what people find the weirdest. Five year olds are suppose to act like kids, not mini tweens. I personally think our kids grow up way too fast these days so when someone sees a child acting their age, they think they're "weird." No, they're just being a kid.
Ok, so I know that my list may upset some people. I'm not saying that ALL homeschoolers follow these trends or that ALL public school kids don't. Every kid is different and they're all parented differently, so I know that this doesn't apply to everyone. I'm just saying somethings I've seen.
Oh, and one more thing. Does anyone else notice that the first thing homeschool parents are asked is "What about socialization?" It's NEVER "what type of curriculum do you use?". It's never about education, also about socialization. Weird, right?
"What about socialization?"
(whack my hand against my forehead)
Ok, I've talked about this before in previous blog posts and in the FAQs, but I'm going to talk about it again. I know it's a bit concern for a lot of parents interested in homeschooling and I know it's a key point used by those who oppose homeschooling. So let's get down to it.
What everyone really wants to know is.....if I homeschool, will my kid be weird?
Yup. You're kid will be weird. Now let me define "weird" according to what I've seen by my own kid, his friends (what?? he has friends as a homeschooler??...I'll wait while you pull yourself together after this startling realization :) ) and those he goes to his co-op thingy with.
Your child won't know who Miley Cryus, Justin Bieber, One Direction or Selena Gomez is. Frankly, I don't think they'd care to know even if given the chance.
Your child probable won't use the term "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" until an appropriate age. Weird, right? I mean, can you imagine your second grader NOT talking about having a boyfriend or girlfriend?
Your child will be able to talk to adults. In fact, he or she will be rather comfortable talking to adults. My kid orders for himself at restaurants. I wasn't doing that as a kindergartener because I was too shy.
Your kid will like school. Why? Because chances are, the parent teaching is working at the kid's pace, taking time to go over difficult subjects, and doing enhancement activities that public schools simply don't have the time and resources to do. (This isn't a diss on public schools. I think teachers are way under valued and under paid for their hard work.)
Oh, and here is the weirdest thing of all that I've seen from homeschoolers. THEY ACT THEIR AGE! Really take a second and think about this one, because frankly I think it's what people find the weirdest. Five year olds are suppose to act like kids, not mini tweens. I personally think our kids grow up way too fast these days so when someone sees a child acting their age, they think they're "weird." No, they're just being a kid.
Ok, so I know that my list may upset some people. I'm not saying that ALL homeschoolers follow these trends or that ALL public school kids don't. Every kid is different and they're all parented differently, so I know that this doesn't apply to everyone. I'm just saying somethings I've seen.
Oh, and one more thing. Does anyone else notice that the first thing homeschool parents are asked is "What about socialization?" It's NEVER "what type of curriculum do you use?". It's never about education, also about socialization. Weird, right?
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
The Schedule.
As you can see, I still lack the ability to stay on track....but let's face it, homeschooling is awesome because we're able to change subjects on a whim based on our child's curiosity.
So I try to map out three days worth of lessons. We do Monday, Wednesday and Friday then he'll go to a co-op the other days. I color code based on what we do that day, and as you can see we often switch lessons around. Flexibility is key as a homeschooling parent! Also, my son wanted to do some water experiments on Thursday so I turned that into a science experiment.
I made sure to document how many hours we did, which is really important. You need to keep accurate attendance and you need to adhere to your state regulations. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get 4 hours of instruction time in (my kid can't sit still for 4 hours) but I found that it's actually pretty easy if I work with him and allow him to explore in depth his interests, instead of adhering strictly to what I intended to teach.
I know this sort of flexibility can be a bit intimidating. What if he starts asking questions I don't know the answers to? What if we spend all day doing math and never get to reading? How will he ever learn his letters? As far as the latter is concerned, if he goes off on one subject on Monday, I make sure to start with a different subject on Wednesday so he gets both subjects in for the week. Now for the first question. Yes, he's asked questions I don't know the answers to, but we just look them up and continue learning. It's ok to not have all the answers.
How do you keep yourself organized? I always love to hear tips from fellow homeschool parents!
Sunday, August 11, 2013
First Week of Kindergarten!
Well, it's that time again. I was a bit more apprehensive this time to get school started. In fact, I bumped it back a week out of anxiety. My son is in kindergarten and it makes me nervous to think that this year counts. Not that preschool didn't, but this year we're accountable for what we teach.
I planned my lessons in advance and took advantage of a local used curriculum sale where I scored Saxon Math and Reading lessons and materials for a combined total of $40. Pretty good deal, right? The Reading is similar to the "letter a day" concept, and we're going to supplement with addition state requirements. The Math is 3rd grade level and I'm going to work through it as is for as long as my son is interested.
I've also added Bible Studies and a geography lessons where we built a car and take "trips" around the US learning about different states. I wanted to start music but I'm having trouble working it in. In addition to our planned school, my son is doing soccer and gymnastics as well as a co-op that teaches science, pe, art and history.
So yeah, it's a lot.
But the first week went pretty well. As I figured, all my hard work and planning got basically thrown out the window immediately as my son had a mind of his own and things he wanted to learn that I hadn't planned. That's fine with me as long as we hit the math and reading I have planned.
I'm looking forward to posting some projects and lessons we did, although it may be a few more days. We've just been so busy!
On a side note, if you aren't signed up for couponmom.com, I highly recommend. School supplies are on sale now and coupon mom provides tons of additional coupons. This is the time of year that we get totally stocked on markers and paints, which tend to get used up rather quickly in my house.
Also, if you're thinking of using Saxon, I'll keep posting about how I like the curriculum as the year goes on.
Ok, that's all for now! Happy first day of homeschool!
I planned my lessons in advance and took advantage of a local used curriculum sale where I scored Saxon Math and Reading lessons and materials for a combined total of $40. Pretty good deal, right? The Reading is similar to the "letter a day" concept, and we're going to supplement with addition state requirements. The Math is 3rd grade level and I'm going to work through it as is for as long as my son is interested.
I've also added Bible Studies and a geography lessons where we built a car and take "trips" around the US learning about different states. I wanted to start music but I'm having trouble working it in. In addition to our planned school, my son is doing soccer and gymnastics as well as a co-op that teaches science, pe, art and history.
So yeah, it's a lot.
But the first week went pretty well. As I figured, all my hard work and planning got basically thrown out the window immediately as my son had a mind of his own and things he wanted to learn that I hadn't planned. That's fine with me as long as we hit the math and reading I have planned.
I'm looking forward to posting some projects and lessons we did, although it may be a few more days. We've just been so busy!
On a side note, if you aren't signed up for couponmom.com, I highly recommend. School supplies are on sale now and coupon mom provides tons of additional coupons. This is the time of year that we get totally stocked on markers and paints, which tend to get used up rather quickly in my house.
Also, if you're thinking of using Saxon, I'll keep posting about how I like the curriculum as the year goes on.
Ok, that's all for now! Happy first day of homeschool!
Monday, July 15, 2013
Clearly not organized
Clearly, by my lack of blogging, I'm not really organized. I'm working on it. :)
Monday, June 24, 2013
Back to it!
June is coming to an end and with that brings homeschool curriculum fairs. I recently attended one, searching specifically for Life of Fred math books. I came away with two complete Saxon curriculums, one for reading and one for math, plus a whole bunch of useful booklets.
I didn't intend to teach from a curriculum. In fact, I received TONS of advise saying NOT to buy a curriculum for kindergarten. So what changed my mind? Well, I spent my son's preschool years designing my own curriculum. It was fun, for both of us, but it was overwhelming. As you can tell from some of my previous blogs, I sometimes felt a bit rattled by the whole process. So I decided to help myself out a bit. Now, I only have reading and math taken care of with Saxon. My son is in a homeschool group that will teach him science (the human body and astronomy), history (the classics), art and physical education. The rest is still up to me, and I'll be designing my own curriculum for those subjects.
I'll be teaching Bible, Music, and Geography along with reading and math. I really love science and would like to teach that as well, but we'll see how the homeschool science class goes.
The Common Core has also been an issue. So many states have adopted it, and I will be looking through the requirements in detail and deciding what I need to incorporate into my teaching.
So that's where I am right now with homeschooling. I'll be doing some planning and remodeling of this blog, moving all the preK stuff to one tab, that sort of thing.
Stay tuned!
I didn't intend to teach from a curriculum. In fact, I received TONS of advise saying NOT to buy a curriculum for kindergarten. So what changed my mind? Well, I spent my son's preschool years designing my own curriculum. It was fun, for both of us, but it was overwhelming. As you can tell from some of my previous blogs, I sometimes felt a bit rattled by the whole process. So I decided to help myself out a bit. Now, I only have reading and math taken care of with Saxon. My son is in a homeschool group that will teach him science (the human body and astronomy), history (the classics), art and physical education. The rest is still up to me, and I'll be designing my own curriculum for those subjects.
I'll be teaching Bible, Music, and Geography along with reading and math. I really love science and would like to teach that as well, but we'll see how the homeschool science class goes.
The Common Core has also been an issue. So many states have adopted it, and I will be looking through the requirements in detail and deciding what I need to incorporate into my teaching.
So that's where I am right now with homeschooling. I'll be doing some planning and remodeling of this blog, moving all the preK stuff to one tab, that sort of thing.
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
A Light in the Darkness
I love to write...clearly. I just finished my first novel entitled A
Light in the Darkness. It's a Christian Suspense Romance novel about
coming to Christ in the face of tragic events. Here's a taste:
"Her throat started to close. She could barely register the information before a sense of dread coursed through her body, one that she long ago bottled away. She pushed the emotion out of her mind and forced herself to breathe...in...out...in...out"
Lily Stover always protects her younger brother from harm, except for now. After receiving a phone call informing Lily that her brother suffered from a viscous attack, Lily travels to the Byron Ranch, the crime scene, intent on revenge. Brett Byron, owner of Byron Ranch, insists on teaming up with Lily and investigating together. Reluctantly, Lily agrees but can she trust this stranger? Can Brett break down Lily's emotional walls that she's spent years guarding? Will they be able to find the attacker before he or she strikes again?
If you're interested in checking it out, or buying my book, please just click on the "Buy Now" icon to the right! I hope you enjoy the story!
"Her throat started to close. She could barely register the information before a sense of dread coursed through her body, one that she long ago bottled away. She pushed the emotion out of her mind and forced herself to breathe...in...out...in...out"
Lily Stover always protects her younger brother from harm, except for now. After receiving a phone call informing Lily that her brother suffered from a viscous attack, Lily travels to the Byron Ranch, the crime scene, intent on revenge. Brett Byron, owner of Byron Ranch, insists on teaming up with Lily and investigating together. Reluctantly, Lily agrees but can she trust this stranger? Can Brett break down Lily's emotional walls that she's spent years guarding? Will they be able to find the attacker before he or she strikes again?
If you're interested in checking it out, or buying my book, please just click on the "Buy Now" icon to the right! I hope you enjoy the story!
Saturday, May 11, 2013
We're Getting a Make Over!
Come back in a few months to see all the changes as we transition from preK to K! Note: some lessons will be erased from the site.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Summer Reading Challenge
We've slowed down in the past month. Haven't really done a whole lot, not on a schedule. But I wanted to keep up my son's reading so we started a summer reading challenge. As a family, we have to read 100 books by August 1st and if we do, we'll celebrate with some sort of family related prize.
This means that my son has to read books independently, and my husband and I also have to read books in order to get to the grand total of 100. Hopefully, this will encourage everyone to start doing more reading!!
This means that my son has to read books independently, and my husband and I also have to read books in order to get to the grand total of 100. Hopefully, this will encourage everyone to start doing more reading!!
Monday, April 22, 2013
School House Rock!
I LOVE School House Rock! I learned my mulitiplcation tables by memorizing their songs so you can imagine how pumped I am that my son is FINALLY into them! Check it out:
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Apparently, I'm a President
So this chunk of school hasn't been as productive as I hoped. For starters, we've been crazy busy with non-school related obligations. A lot of public schools are beginning to slow down, the weather is getting nicer, kids are outside playing more often, the feeling of summer is everywhere. We're just getting a bit slower, a bit more lazy, and a bit more excited to go outside and play soccer than to sit and do verbs.
But that's to be expected. I know it will be up to me to really buckle down and focus when we have the freedom to throw aside the books and hit the soccer field. Frankly, I'd rather be outside also. But I have found one of our subjects that has caught his attention. It's the Presidents. Now I think I mentioned this earlier....I dress up like a President, give a little speech and then I teach him something patriotic like the Star Spangle Banner or the pledge of allegiance. I have to admit....I feel really silly dressing like George Washington or Abe Lincoln. And it didn't seem like he was getting much out of my speeches. I basically tossed my idea aside as a failure and figured we'd revisit the Presidents next year.
Then he asked me what President is coming to school tomorrow.
So I guess I'm a President again. Tomorrow I'll be Teddy Roosevelt. I don't really have a plan other than to read off the interesting facts I found about him but I know as soon as I tell him about Teddy Roosevelt being the inspiration behind the Teddy Bear, he'll get excited.
I really didn't think he liked my whole President lesson plans, but it was the one thing he asked for. I guess it just goes to show that you never know what's going to spark your kids attention.
But that's to be expected. I know it will be up to me to really buckle down and focus when we have the freedom to throw aside the books and hit the soccer field. Frankly, I'd rather be outside also. But I have found one of our subjects that has caught his attention. It's the Presidents. Now I think I mentioned this earlier....I dress up like a President, give a little speech and then I teach him something patriotic like the Star Spangle Banner or the pledge of allegiance. I have to admit....I feel really silly dressing like George Washington or Abe Lincoln. And it didn't seem like he was getting much out of my speeches. I basically tossed my idea aside as a failure and figured we'd revisit the Presidents next year.
Then he asked me what President is coming to school tomorrow.
So I guess I'm a President again. Tomorrow I'll be Teddy Roosevelt. I don't really have a plan other than to read off the interesting facts I found about him but I know as soon as I tell him about Teddy Roosevelt being the inspiration behind the Teddy Bear, he'll get excited.
I really didn't think he liked my whole President lesson plans, but it was the one thing he asked for. I guess it just goes to show that you never know what's going to spark your kids attention.
Friday, April 12, 2013
It's been awhile...
It's been a bit since I've blogged. I had a bad case of food poisoning, then my messed up my lower back and have been recovering from that.
We started our new round of classes and so far so good. I bought a cheap white wig from a party store which I use to dress up as various Presidents from the past. I'm not sure if my son is retaining any of the knowledge in regards to the Presidents, but he gets such a kick at having a "president" come visit.
Our "Day in the Life" until is going fine. Nothing to spectacular. Our first one was a photographer and we learned different types of pictures people take (sports, nature, portraits....) then went around and tried to take tons of different types of pic.
I have to admit, I'm not as pumped about these classes as I've been about past, but my son seems to enjoy them well enough that I'll keep going with them.
We started multiplication, which I'm super excited about because I got to introduce my son to School House Rocks. Do you remember those videos? I loved them as a kid. In fact, that's how I learned my multiplication tables. So right now, we're up to our 3s.
I sprinkle in geography, since he still doesn't know all the continents by memory. Also, I sprinkle in some shapes to review the harder ones like hexagon and pentagon. We started our Bible lessons, which my son seems indifferent about but it's important so we'll keep it up. I started to introduce some literature and reading comprehension in my Reading lessons. Last class, we read the Turtle and the Hare and acted it our with finger puppets. Then we worked on answering some questions about the text.
I'm starting to get nervous about teaching kindergarten. It's going to be a big change for both me and my son. We'll have to increase school hours and whether I'm sick or not, we have to keep more on a schedule. I can't take time off for a back ache like I did this week.
But I know that it's doable. After all, I only have one kid and there are so many homeschool families with multiples. If they can do it, so can I.
We started our new round of classes and so far so good. I bought a cheap white wig from a party store which I use to dress up as various Presidents from the past. I'm not sure if my son is retaining any of the knowledge in regards to the Presidents, but he gets such a kick at having a "president" come visit.
Our "Day in the Life" until is going fine. Nothing to spectacular. Our first one was a photographer and we learned different types of pictures people take (sports, nature, portraits....) then went around and tried to take tons of different types of pic.
I have to admit, I'm not as pumped about these classes as I've been about past, but my son seems to enjoy them well enough that I'll keep going with them.
We started multiplication, which I'm super excited about because I got to introduce my son to School House Rocks. Do you remember those videos? I loved them as a kid. In fact, that's how I learned my multiplication tables. So right now, we're up to our 3s.
I sprinkle in geography, since he still doesn't know all the continents by memory. Also, I sprinkle in some shapes to review the harder ones like hexagon and pentagon. We started our Bible lessons, which my son seems indifferent about but it's important so we'll keep it up. I started to introduce some literature and reading comprehension in my Reading lessons. Last class, we read the Turtle and the Hare and acted it our with finger puppets. Then we worked on answering some questions about the text.
I'm starting to get nervous about teaching kindergarten. It's going to be a big change for both me and my son. We'll have to increase school hours and whether I'm sick or not, we have to keep more on a schedule. I can't take time off for a back ache like I did this week.
But I know that it's doable. After all, I only have one kid and there are so many homeschool families with multiples. If they can do it, so can I.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
The next semester
We do school for two months, then take two weeks off. I call each two month block a semester and we've just completed the last one. I gave my son an evaluation and he still struggles with some concepts I'd hoped he would have mastered. Now, I'm not exactly sure if we should continue working on those concepts or move forward with brand new subjects. On the one hand, we're both pretty tired of doing the same old stuff. But if we move on, will he lose traction?
For example, he learned his basic shapes - triangle, circle, square, rectangle, trapezoid - but is still in the beginning phases of learning a hexagon and pentagon. If we move on, will he completely forget how far he's coming in learning hexagons?
But I've decided that it's time for some new subjects and hopefully I'll be able to incorporate the things he still needs work on into the new topics. So we're going to bench the calendar, geography, shapes and extinct animal lessons. I'll leave them up on the blog if you're interested in taking a look. We'll keep reading and math and we're going to add 50 States, Presidents, Spring Science, Bible Studies and A Day in the Life.
I'm excited about each of the new topics, although we'll see if these are too many subjects for my little guy. I may have to bench some of them until the next semester.
The 50 States is pretty straightforward. I bought a giant floor sized sketch book that we're going to make into our big book of states. I wanted it to be really big so he can feel free to fill each page with tons of information and pictures and I wanted it to be something that we can keep and use again next year. We'll probably go in alphabetical order and learn some basics - state bird, flag, ect. - then something interesting and unique about each state.
The Presidents is an "play pretend" subject. I plan on dressing up like a different President each week, then going over basic information - birth day, state where they were born - then tell something interesting about each. My son loves animals so I've already found lists of pets various Presidents had in the White House.
Spring Science is going to be divided into two blocks. The first is the life cycle of a butterfly then the second ....well, I was thinking the life cycle of a frog, but maybe I'll do the life cycle of a seed. That way we'll learn about plants and animals.
Bible Studies is something new for us. I bought a book from a local Christian book store and plan to do the lessons in order.
A Day in the Life is another "play pretend" subject. It's basically like career day once a week. We'll dress up like a specific job, learn what they do, then actually do an activity based on the profession. I think he's really going to enjoy this one.
As I get the lessons together, I'll start posting them. I'm hoping that with each semester I get a little more organized!
For example, he learned his basic shapes - triangle, circle, square, rectangle, trapezoid - but is still in the beginning phases of learning a hexagon and pentagon. If we move on, will he completely forget how far he's coming in learning hexagons?
But I've decided that it's time for some new subjects and hopefully I'll be able to incorporate the things he still needs work on into the new topics. So we're going to bench the calendar, geography, shapes and extinct animal lessons. I'll leave them up on the blog if you're interested in taking a look. We'll keep reading and math and we're going to add 50 States, Presidents, Spring Science, Bible Studies and A Day in the Life.
I'm excited about each of the new topics, although we'll see if these are too many subjects for my little guy. I may have to bench some of them until the next semester.
The 50 States is pretty straightforward. I bought a giant floor sized sketch book that we're going to make into our big book of states. I wanted it to be really big so he can feel free to fill each page with tons of information and pictures and I wanted it to be something that we can keep and use again next year. We'll probably go in alphabetical order and learn some basics - state bird, flag, ect. - then something interesting and unique about each state.
The Presidents is an "play pretend" subject. I plan on dressing up like a different President each week, then going over basic information - birth day, state where they were born - then tell something interesting about each. My son loves animals so I've already found lists of pets various Presidents had in the White House.
Spring Science is going to be divided into two blocks. The first is the life cycle of a butterfly then the second ....well, I was thinking the life cycle of a frog, but maybe I'll do the life cycle of a seed. That way we'll learn about plants and animals.
Bible Studies is something new for us. I bought a book from a local Christian book store and plan to do the lessons in order.
A Day in the Life is another "play pretend" subject. It's basically like career day once a week. We'll dress up like a specific job, learn what they do, then actually do an activity based on the profession. I think he's really going to enjoy this one.
As I get the lessons together, I'll start posting them. I'm hoping that with each semester I get a little more organized!
Monday, March 11, 2013
Chompastompasouras
So this morning my son comes to me all excited and says, "What animal are we learning about today?"
"Um......"
I totally forgot to research a new extinct animal for our lesson. In fact, the only thing I had planned for the day was a St. Patrick's day craft. Wow, I wasn't prepared at all and he was super excited. I considered looking up an animal quickly, but I didn't really have the time or energy (I've been a little under the weather) to put together a whole lesson. So instead, I said, "Today is going to be awesome because we're going to make up our own extinct animal!"
Meet the Chompastompasouraus:
We played a little "20 Questions" to come up with all the details. This particular extinct creature is larger than a hotel, has sharp teeth, is blue, has scales, and wears clothes. Oh, and he has 100 legs...of course. In the picture, you'll see the hotel on the right with some scared people looking out. The animal's legs are as tall as the hotel with his little body sitting on top.
Now under the legs, you'll see a person. Legend has it that one brave individual attacked the monstrous creature and struck his left leg! The leg instantly broke. Taking advantage of the beast's weakness, the hero quickly struck the other leg! Down went the Chompastompasouraus! And as my son puts it, "That's what made him extinct."
:)
"Um......"
I totally forgot to research a new extinct animal for our lesson. In fact, the only thing I had planned for the day was a St. Patrick's day craft. Wow, I wasn't prepared at all and he was super excited. I considered looking up an animal quickly, but I didn't really have the time or energy (I've been a little under the weather) to put together a whole lesson. So instead, I said, "Today is going to be awesome because we're going to make up our own extinct animal!"
Meet the Chompastompasouraus:
Now under the legs, you'll see a person. Legend has it that one brave individual attacked the monstrous creature and struck his left leg! The leg instantly broke. Taking advantage of the beast's weakness, the hero quickly struck the other leg! Down went the Chompastompasouraus! And as my son puts it, "That's what made him extinct."
:)
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Shameless Plug
Ok, Ok....I know this has nothing to do with homeschool and it's a complete shameless plug but I added a button to advertise my brand new Etsy shop. In order to relax, I took up a new hobby called needle felting. It's SO much fun and I've crafted a bunch of fun creations that I wanted to share!
On a side note, if you're looking for a hobby needle felting is an awesome way to get out some stress. You take some wool and stab it with a special needle over and over while configuring it to the shape you want. As you stab, it gets denser and turns to felt! Cool, right? And on those days when you're exhausted from teaching, planning, parenting and being a wife, it's a nice way to get out some steam!
On a side note, if you're looking for a hobby needle felting is an awesome way to get out some stress. You take some wool and stab it with a special needle over and over while configuring it to the shape you want. As you stab, it gets denser and turns to felt! Cool, right? And on those days when you're exhausted from teaching, planning, parenting and being a wife, it's a nice way to get out some steam!
Saturday, March 2, 2013
The beginning of March and I'm exhausted!
How do you homeschooling families do it?
I'm starting to run out of steam but my little guy is still charging full speed ahead! I get frustrated when he doesn't pick up lessons as quickly as I want, I run out of fun ways to teach the same thing a hundred times, I feel bad handing him worksheet after worksheet because I'm sick with a migraine and can barely keep my eyes open....
This is hard work!!
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE homeschooling. I'm grateful for the path we have been placed on that led us to the decision to teach our little man ourselves, but the weight of his education rests squarely on my shoulders and sometimes, that's a lot to handle.
Take for example, reading. Everyone on the planet seems to want to know if my son is reading yet. He's five so apparently, according to society, he should be reading. He isn't. He's come a long way and I think he will be able to read independently within the next year, but it's taking some time. Ninety percent of the time, I'm perfectly ok with the speed in which he's learning his letters and words. But it's that 10% that sneaks up and gets me. It's usually followed by a mother of a younger child whose kid is in preschool bragging to me that her kid has been reading for a year. Then I make the terribly mistake of comparing my child to hers.
But then I remember that one of the great things about homeschooling is that our kid can take his time without pressure. So what if he isn't reading at age 5? He'll get there and I'll be able to work with him as much as he needs without the added pressure of fitting into the common mold of his peers.
I also remind myself that while it may feel as though I'm alone in this, I'm not. My husband helps teach our son concepts that I'm not clearly conveying. Also, I'm part of several homeschooling groups. If you haven't had a chance to look online for some support groups, I HIGHLY recommend you do so right away. Whether it's a co-op, playgroup, or just a message board where you can post questions, it's good to have some sort of support.
And last, I remind myself to relax and remember that I'm not going to mess my kid up for the rest of his life just because I forgot to plan a lesson and handed him worksheets instead of doing a game. He'll get to where he needs to be. All homeschooling kids do or else no one would homeschool!
I'm starting to run out of steam but my little guy is still charging full speed ahead! I get frustrated when he doesn't pick up lessons as quickly as I want, I run out of fun ways to teach the same thing a hundred times, I feel bad handing him worksheet after worksheet because I'm sick with a migraine and can barely keep my eyes open....
This is hard work!!
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE homeschooling. I'm grateful for the path we have been placed on that led us to the decision to teach our little man ourselves, but the weight of his education rests squarely on my shoulders and sometimes, that's a lot to handle.
Take for example, reading. Everyone on the planet seems to want to know if my son is reading yet. He's five so apparently, according to society, he should be reading. He isn't. He's come a long way and I think he will be able to read independently within the next year, but it's taking some time. Ninety percent of the time, I'm perfectly ok with the speed in which he's learning his letters and words. But it's that 10% that sneaks up and gets me. It's usually followed by a mother of a younger child whose kid is in preschool bragging to me that her kid has been reading for a year. Then I make the terribly mistake of comparing my child to hers.
But then I remember that one of the great things about homeschooling is that our kid can take his time without pressure. So what if he isn't reading at age 5? He'll get there and I'll be able to work with him as much as he needs without the added pressure of fitting into the common mold of his peers.
I also remind myself that while it may feel as though I'm alone in this, I'm not. My husband helps teach our son concepts that I'm not clearly conveying. Also, I'm part of several homeschooling groups. If you haven't had a chance to look online for some support groups, I HIGHLY recommend you do so right away. Whether it's a co-op, playgroup, or just a message board where you can post questions, it's good to have some sort of support.
And last, I remind myself to relax and remember that I'm not going to mess my kid up for the rest of his life just because I forgot to plan a lesson and handed him worksheets instead of doing a game. He'll get to where he needs to be. All homeschooling kids do or else no one would homeschool!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)