During our fall break I kept a list just to see what kinds of learning was going on even without official homeschool work happening. I kept the list on a piece of scrap paper, but I have it organized here into categories. Not everyone participated in everything on here, and many of them were just a one time, short thing.
Life skills
1. ironing
2. interpersonal skills--with adults and kids
--conflict resolution, forgiveness, repentance
--working together to solve a problem
--patience with a sibling
--taking turns
3. laundry--sorting, starting wash, folding
4. sewing
5. cooking and baking
6. babysitting and childcare skills
--changing a diaper
--dressing a child
--cleaning up a potty accident
7. how to order food at a restaurant and talk to servers
8. how to set a table
9. finding cities on a map, discussing latitude, and weather
10. fitting in exercise
11. playing pretend
12. practicing gratefulness and contentment
Math
1. measurement in recipes
2. multiplication and division when dividing up stickers among siblings
Art
1. drawing and painting at a class RJ and AG took
2. more drawing that went on at home after the class and with MA too
Language
1. reading to self
2. being read to by us and with books on CD
3. narrating a story
4. writing poetry
5. writing notes and spelling words for the notes
6. practicing our Latin prayer at mealtimes
History
1. listening to Abraham Lincoln: A Photobiography on CD
Science
1. hiking at a local park
I was surprised to see how much learning went on in our daily life. Writing it down helped me see that there really is a lot going on even when I feel overwhelmed by having four young children.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Monday, October 27, 2014
Looking ahead to Harvest term
Harvest term will be more like a half-term. It will go until the week before Thanksgiving. Holiday term will come after Thanksgiving and will be kind of like the second have of the term.
Many things will be the same this term--Bible, Math, Piano, etc. A few things will change:
1. RJ will start Writing Strands 3. We will not do All About Spelling for Harvest term in order to have more time for WS.
2. I'm moving RJ's copy work out of her mommy time into her handwriting time. She will now do copywork in cursive--a line each day of homeschool.
3. AG will have Word Ladders added to her loop in her mommy time.
4. We are done studying Mozart and will now start studying the artist Renoir. How we will do it is another post--after it's done, and I see what works.
5. Read alouds during rest time--with tea some days.
6. Lunch helpers--each of the girls will have a day (or two) to help me with lunch making and clean up.
7. A new chore and allowance system--we will share if it works later. :)
Many things will be the same this term--Bible, Math, Piano, etc. A few things will change:
1. RJ will start Writing Strands 3. We will not do All About Spelling for Harvest term in order to have more time for WS.
2. I'm moving RJ's copy work out of her mommy time into her handwriting time. She will now do copywork in cursive--a line each day of homeschool.
3. AG will have Word Ladders added to her loop in her mommy time.
4. We are done studying Mozart and will now start studying the artist Renoir. How we will do it is another post--after it's done, and I see what works.
5. Read alouds during rest time--with tea some days.
6. Lunch helpers--each of the girls will have a day (or two) to help me with lunch making and clean up.
7. A new chore and allowance system--we will share if it works later. :)
Fall term assessment
I used Sarah Mackenzie's three "B's" from her talk "Whose 'Well Done' Are You Working For?" to help me think through our first term.
1. Be Realistic--what is working, what needs to go
--Read aloud rest time--Read alouds just got shuffled around a lot this first term. They didn't have a good spot, so they often got skipped even though they are one of my favorite things to do with them. They will work better during rest time. I'm not getting much of a restful rest time anyway, but this might be a way to at least have some down time reading together.
--Skip Pentathalon games unless they ask--they just aren't working on Fridays and aren't happening.
--Memorizing state capitals is sort of happening, but it doesn't have a good place to fit in right now. Put it on Fridays, our extras day. Let them do the capitals app, play USA Bingo with capitals, do Duplo capitals, etc.
--Reading narrations kept getting pushed aside. Aim to have 1-2 books read and narrated (AG oral, RJ written) per term (6-7 weeks).
--Morning time is working well. I'm glad we are doing it. Everyone seems to like it.
2. Bring your basket--what do I have to offer--what can I do well--how am I not taking responsibility for the things that are really God's job
--I like reading aloud and talking about books. Putting this during rest time can be a good thing. We can even have tea some days for extra fun.
--I am planning and prepping well. Doing all my planning and prep on Friday is helping our week go well (or as well as it can go with a toddler in the house).
--Get to bed and up on time. Try to exercise in the AM. I am more rational and realistic when I am a little more rested.
3. Build a cathedral--how can I keep being faithful in the little things--how can I help us move to the next step and not get caught up in checking things off
--Remember to be faithful where God has me right now. I've had many moments of worrying that we aren't doing enough. I just need to be faithful to do the next thing and focus on the relationships. I need to think of the long term.
--I'm going to slow down on our read alouds. Not just rush through them but take the time to discuss when they have questions. To ask the "should" questions (should he/she have done that? for example), to compare one character or thing to another, to define words. Read fewer books, but go deeper. It's okay if it takes us longer than a "school year" to get through a core, and it's okay if we don't read every book in the core. I'm going to let the resources serve us.
1. Be Realistic--what is working, what needs to go
--Read aloud rest time--Read alouds just got shuffled around a lot this first term. They didn't have a good spot, so they often got skipped even though they are one of my favorite things to do with them. They will work better during rest time. I'm not getting much of a restful rest time anyway, but this might be a way to at least have some down time reading together.
--Skip Pentathalon games unless they ask--they just aren't working on Fridays and aren't happening.
--Memorizing state capitals is sort of happening, but it doesn't have a good place to fit in right now. Put it on Fridays, our extras day. Let them do the capitals app, play USA Bingo with capitals, do Duplo capitals, etc.
--Reading narrations kept getting pushed aside. Aim to have 1-2 books read and narrated (AG oral, RJ written) per term (6-7 weeks).
--Morning time is working well. I'm glad we are doing it. Everyone seems to like it.
2. Bring your basket--what do I have to offer--what can I do well--how am I not taking responsibility for the things that are really God's job
--I like reading aloud and talking about books. Putting this during rest time can be a good thing. We can even have tea some days for extra fun.
--I am planning and prepping well. Doing all my planning and prep on Friday is helping our week go well (or as well as it can go with a toddler in the house).
--Get to bed and up on time. Try to exercise in the AM. I am more rational and realistic when I am a little more rested.
3. Build a cathedral--how can I keep being faithful in the little things--how can I help us move to the next step and not get caught up in checking things off
--Remember to be faithful where God has me right now. I've had many moments of worrying that we aren't doing enough. I just need to be faithful to do the next thing and focus on the relationships. I need to think of the long term.
--I'm going to slow down on our read alouds. Not just rush through them but take the time to discuss when they have questions. To ask the "should" questions (should he/she have done that? for example), to compare one character or thing to another, to define words. Read fewer books, but go deeper. It's okay if it takes us longer than a "school year" to get through a core, and it's okay if we don't read every book in the core. I'm going to let the resources serve us.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
RJ's Marco Polo narration
Marco left for China with his father and Uncle he was 17. It took them three years to get to China. When they got there Marco started to work for Kublai Khan. The Polo's got very rich in China. When the Polo's left China Marco was in his 40's. When they came home their friends wouldn't believe it was really the Polo's, but the Polo's showed them the riches they had brought back home with them from China and then they believed it was them! Marco Polo is called the Father of Geography.
Shared with permission from RJ. Edited for spelling only.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Fall term: Week 7 notes
This week was better than last week. We spent some of the week celebrating MA's 4th birthday, which added a little festiveness to the week. We got three decent days of school work in and ended the week with a spontaneous trip to the orchard to join our friends in apple picking.
We missed out on our homeschool co-op this week because MA got sick Monday evening, and I would rather err on the cautious side when it comes to stomach bugs. It ended up being a one-time-thing (Praise the Lord!), so we just treated Tuesday like a normal day at home.
MA had a couple of times with me this week. We did a math activity called Domino Parking Lot.
She liked that a lot, as have all my girls, and it gave her the
opportunity to work on counting and sorting by number. Later in the
week we played the ABC fishing game again (her request). She has been
consistent in knowing the same eight letters that she knew from last
time. We've also been reading aloud a lot, and she has spent time with
her sisters putting together her new Lego friends set.
RJ and AG finally did narrations for me from their reading books. AG orally narrated after reading the first four chapters of The Littles. RJ re-read Marco Polo and wrote a long narration on that. Maybe I'll add a post later with her narration.
AG finished Step 3 in All About Spelling Level 2. She continues to do very well with spelling. I probably could skip ahead, but she seems to enjoy it, so we'll just keep going through it at a good pace.
I've been a little frustrated at RJ's slow memorization of her remaining parts of speech definitions. For all she's memorized, you'd think this would be easy. I think we'll start Easy Grammar 3 and 4 next term even though she is still finishing up memorizing. I might evaluate her to see which ones she knows, and then just review the ones she is still learning before each Easy Grammar lesson.
During Morning time we finished Lesson 3 in Prima Latina by each of the girls doing a written quiz alone with me so I could spell words for them. We also finished memorizing Passage 1 from A Midsummer Night's Dream (Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 257-266). I found out this week that MA has been listening while we practice the passage, and that she knows most of it!
On Wednesday I tried something different with the read alouds. I read one during lunch, but then I saved the rest for rest time. I figured that since I'm not getting much actual rest during rest time, I may as well read aloud. Reading out loud to my kids is something I enjoy anyway, and I'm hoping this will be a somewhat restful time of being cozy in the living room and enjoying some books together. We might even have tea or hot chocolate some days. I'm still hoping to find some time to sneak away for a half an hour and recharge for a bit during the afternoon, but for the next term, we'll try this new thing.
This week will be our fall break. I don't know how break-ish it will be, but I know that I will enjoy a break from the normal routine, and some time to get some other things done, like those costumes I'm sewing for RJ and AG.
We missed out on our homeschool co-op this week because MA got sick Monday evening, and I would rather err on the cautious side when it comes to stomach bugs. It ended up being a one-time-thing (Praise the Lord!), so we just treated Tuesday like a normal day at home.
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| AG doing her math in the rocking chair with a cozy quilt |
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| Building Lego friends |
RJ and AG finally did narrations for me from their reading books. AG orally narrated after reading the first four chapters of The Littles. RJ re-read Marco Polo and wrote a long narration on that. Maybe I'll add a post later with her narration.
AG finished Step 3 in All About Spelling Level 2. She continues to do very well with spelling. I probably could skip ahead, but she seems to enjoy it, so we'll just keep going through it at a good pace.
I've been a little frustrated at RJ's slow memorization of her remaining parts of speech definitions. For all she's memorized, you'd think this would be easy. I think we'll start Easy Grammar 3 and 4 next term even though she is still finishing up memorizing. I might evaluate her to see which ones she knows, and then just review the ones she is still learning before each Easy Grammar lesson.
During Morning time we finished Lesson 3 in Prima Latina by each of the girls doing a written quiz alone with me so I could spell words for them. We also finished memorizing Passage 1 from A Midsummer Night's Dream (Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 257-266). I found out this week that MA has been listening while we practice the passage, and that she knows most of it!
On Wednesday I tried something different with the read alouds. I read one during lunch, but then I saved the rest for rest time. I figured that since I'm not getting much actual rest during rest time, I may as well read aloud. Reading out loud to my kids is something I enjoy anyway, and I'm hoping this will be a somewhat restful time of being cozy in the living room and enjoying some books together. We might even have tea or hot chocolate some days. I'm still hoping to find some time to sneak away for a half an hour and recharge for a bit during the afternoon, but for the next term, we'll try this new thing.
This week will be our fall break. I don't know how break-ish it will be, but I know that I will enjoy a break from the normal routine, and some time to get some other things done, like those costumes I'm sewing for RJ and AG.
Monday, October 13, 2014
A Graeter's Ice Cream double scoop kind of week
It was a double scoop of ice cream kind of week around here. For our date night on Friday night Nate ran out after (most) of the kids were asleep to get us Graeter's. I would have taken a picture, but I ate it rather quickly--cookie dough chocolate chip and cinnamon (Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal in ice cream form). Nate got Snickerdoodle which was equally amazing. We sat in our bedroom eating ice cream and watching documentaries on Chipotle, Lego, and people who build and live in tiny houses. We live exciting lives. I know.
It was just the thing I needed to wind down from a particularly frustrating week. Here are some of the things that frustrated me this week:
--getting up late
--not having Nate there to do math with RJ and AG because we got up late
--having Bible time without Nate because we got up late
--not having much time with MA because I was helping RJ and AG with math
--the drama, oh, the drama
--not accomplishing much of the older two girls' individual work
--three-year-old temper tantrums, which take up a lot of time because I often sit with her through part of them
--my children freaking out about yellow jackets (they might come by that one honestly--I'm not a fan either)
--the clutter that I just can't get to getting rid of or putting away
--only feeling like I'm getting the bare minimum done
--tired, grouchy attitudes (mine included)
--a one-year-old who is waking up to nurse and be comforted more than normal at night
--three-year-old who is waking up at night and joining us in bed
I should balance it with the good things that happened:
--a fun field trip to Tuttles orchard with friends--it barely rained and we got to bring lots of apples and pumpkins home
--helping MA start a new embroidery project--A star-shape on a towel
--a good morning at homeschool co-op
--RJ's willingness to do her work
--both RJ and AG finished a step in All About Spelling
--we are enjoying reading Sticks Across the Chimney as one of our Sonlight read alouds
--morning time is going well--RJ and AG mostly love Latin, get into memorizing the Shakespeare passages, enjoy hearing about Mozart, and like hearing the poems I pick out to read
--we had one morning time outside this week--minus the one yellow jacket that came around every 5 minutes, it went well
--the clothes shopping and dinner date RJ and CN and I went on was very fun
--I have continued to be consistent, by God's grace, in reading a chapter or more from my Bible each night (in Numbers now) and praying
--I worked out a few times
--Nate helped me in more ways than I noticed, I'm sure
--Nate initiated having our Bible time at breakfast, so he could be there a couple of mornings
--RJ and AG enjoyed working on some American Heritage Girls badge requirements on Friday
--the Tenderhearts seemed to enjoy our time in our unit at AHG this week
--Saturday was a good day--Farmer's market, the girls helped me clean, RJ and I did a baking lesson and made granola, I finished the aprons and hats for RJ and AG's costumes, I had a good walk to the park with RJ and the littles, we had a campfire
I know we are going to have good and bad mornings, afternoons, days, and weeks. Even this weekend I was reminded that one bad day does not mean that every day will be bad, since Saturday was a really good day. On days when we are headed in a bad direction, maybe I just need to stop and institute a "bad" homeschool day routine. Getting our work checked off is not the most important thing. People are more important with things, and having a good relationship with these people in my house is important to me.
I must remember that these frustrating interruptions, immature emotional outbursts and such, are not pulling us away from our real life...they are our real life. Sitting on the stairway holding my tantrum-throwing three-year-old is part of my real life. Helping my oldest two work through their conflicts is part of my real life. Getting up a third time at night with a one-year-old is part of my real life. God has called me to be faithful, with his help, especially in those frustrating moments. We had lots of opportunities to learn this week. It just wasn't all academic.
I think we are all ready for a break. This coming week was supposed to be our fall break, but due to scheduling with our co-op, I pushed it over to the next week. This coming week will be lighter because of co-op again and MA's birthday festivities and RJ's horse riding lesson (her third of four we gifted her). I hope to get in two solid days of work before our break.
Anyway, onto the specifics of the week that I want to record.
Monday we went to Tuttles orchard for the apple tour and the pumpkin tour. The tours weren't anything special. We got to tour behind the scenes a little bit. The girls enjoyed all of it except the yellow jackets. We got to pick five apples each as a part of the tour. Then we went on a hayride to the pumpkin patch and each chose a small pumpkin. When we got back the kids wanted to go through the corn maze and play in the play area, which were both included in our package. It was a good deal ($7 each for everything). We considered picking apples before we left, but it started thundering, so we picked up some apples and cider from the store.
Tuesday was co-op. I used some exercise cards called Fit Deck Junior for the beginning of PE time with the 1st thru 5th graders. I think I'll keep using them. RJ, AG, and I use them on days when we can't walk outside. We've been trying to exercise together three days a week for at least 20 minutes. We're working toward a reward of a book when we each reach our goal.
We finished memorizing our first passage from A Midsummer Night's Dream: Act 2, Scene 1, lines 257-266. We have all been enjoying it so far. It's Passage 1 from How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare.
Friday I worked with RJ on the Dawn of our Country badge for AHG. We found pictures of Dolly Madison to print and cut out so she could color them for a stick-puppet skit about when Dolly saved a painting of George Washington and some papers from a fire in the White House. We also reserved a book from the library. AG and I checked off a few of her requirements for the Sign Language badge. We found a video that taught us how to sign the "Happy Birthday song".
After writing this post I realize that this week was really not as bad as I thought it was :)
It was just the thing I needed to wind down from a particularly frustrating week. Here are some of the things that frustrated me this week:
--getting up late
--not having Nate there to do math with RJ and AG because we got up late
--having Bible time without Nate because we got up late
--not having much time with MA because I was helping RJ and AG with math
--the drama, oh, the drama
--not accomplishing much of the older two girls' individual work
--three-year-old temper tantrums, which take up a lot of time because I often sit with her through part of them
--my children freaking out about yellow jackets (they might come by that one honestly--I'm not a fan either)
--the clutter that I just can't get to getting rid of or putting away
--only feeling like I'm getting the bare minimum done
--tired, grouchy attitudes (mine included)
--a one-year-old who is waking up to nurse and be comforted more than normal at night
--three-year-old who is waking up at night and joining us in bed
I should balance it with the good things that happened:
--a fun field trip to Tuttles orchard with friends--it barely rained and we got to bring lots of apples and pumpkins home
--helping MA start a new embroidery project--A star-shape on a towel
--a good morning at homeschool co-op
--RJ's willingness to do her work
--both RJ and AG finished a step in All About Spelling
--we are enjoying reading Sticks Across the Chimney as one of our Sonlight read alouds
--morning time is going well--RJ and AG mostly love Latin, get into memorizing the Shakespeare passages, enjoy hearing about Mozart, and like hearing the poems I pick out to read
--we had one morning time outside this week--minus the one yellow jacket that came around every 5 minutes, it went well
--the clothes shopping and dinner date RJ and CN and I went on was very fun
--I have continued to be consistent, by God's grace, in reading a chapter or more from my Bible each night (in Numbers now) and praying
--I worked out a few times
--Nate helped me in more ways than I noticed, I'm sure
--Nate initiated having our Bible time at breakfast, so he could be there a couple of mornings
--RJ and AG enjoyed working on some American Heritage Girls badge requirements on Friday
--the Tenderhearts seemed to enjoy our time in our unit at AHG this week
--Saturday was a good day--Farmer's market, the girls helped me clean, RJ and I did a baking lesson and made granola, I finished the aprons and hats for RJ and AG's costumes, I had a good walk to the park with RJ and the littles, we had a campfire
I know we are going to have good and bad mornings, afternoons, days, and weeks. Even this weekend I was reminded that one bad day does not mean that every day will be bad, since Saturday was a really good day. On days when we are headed in a bad direction, maybe I just need to stop and institute a "bad" homeschool day routine. Getting our work checked off is not the most important thing. People are more important with things, and having a good relationship with these people in my house is important to me.
I must remember that these frustrating interruptions, immature emotional outbursts and such, are not pulling us away from our real life...they are our real life. Sitting on the stairway holding my tantrum-throwing three-year-old is part of my real life. Helping my oldest two work through their conflicts is part of my real life. Getting up a third time at night with a one-year-old is part of my real life. God has called me to be faithful, with his help, especially in those frustrating moments. We had lots of opportunities to learn this week. It just wasn't all academic.
I think we are all ready for a break. This coming week was supposed to be our fall break, but due to scheduling with our co-op, I pushed it over to the next week. This coming week will be lighter because of co-op again and MA's birthday festivities and RJ's horse riding lesson (her third of four we gifted her). I hope to get in two solid days of work before our break.
Anyway, onto the specifics of the week that I want to record.
Monday we went to Tuttles orchard for the apple tour and the pumpkin tour. The tours weren't anything special. We got to tour behind the scenes a little bit. The girls enjoyed all of it except the yellow jackets. We got to pick five apples each as a part of the tour. Then we went on a hayride to the pumpkin patch and each chose a small pumpkin. When we got back the kids wanted to go through the corn maze and play in the play area, which were both included in our package. It was a good deal ($7 each for everything). We considered picking apples before we left, but it started thundering, so we picked up some apples and cider from the store.
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| The apple grader--where they separate the apples for cider and selling. |
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| The cider-maker--I wish we could have seen this in action. |
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| The clouds were amazing at the orchard. |
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| They ran through the whole maze. |
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| We only did a little picking this year. |
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| Collecting her apples |
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| Climbing the hay stacks in the play area. |
Tuesday was co-op. I used some exercise cards called Fit Deck Junior for the beginning of PE time with the 1st thru 5th graders. I think I'll keep using them. RJ, AG, and I use them on days when we can't walk outside. We've been trying to exercise together three days a week for at least 20 minutes. We're working toward a reward of a book when we each reach our goal.
 |
| Our oh-so-fancy reward chart and the FitDeck Junior cards |
Friday I worked with RJ on the Dawn of our Country badge for AHG. We found pictures of Dolly Madison to print and cut out so she could color them for a stick-puppet skit about when Dolly saved a painting of George Washington and some papers from a fire in the White House. We also reserved a book from the library. AG and I checked off a few of her requirements for the Sign Language badge. We found a video that taught us how to sign the "Happy Birthday song".
After writing this post I realize that this week was really not as bad as I thought it was :)
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Fall term: Week 5 notes
Here's how our week was:
Monday--very good morning; AG broke down in the afternoon when I crossed out her one wrong Latin answer on her quiz--going to give that one orally from now on since I spell almost every word for them anyway. Also, note to self, don't cross out wrong answers.
Tuesday--much harder day, grumpiness all around, distracting toddler and preschooler
Wednesday--pleasant for most of the morning
I'm not sure about Thursday and Friday.
I did snap a picture to show that when you homeschool there is often not time to clean up the kitchen until after lunch. You really can't do it all! This picture is just before lunch, which I hadn't made yet.
On Monday AG finished Level 1 of All About Spelling. Yay! RJ also skipped ahead four steps in AAS. She was bored and kept saying the words were too easy, so I tested her on some words from each step and found she really knew them.
AG says that her favorite part of her time with me is copywork. It's because I started letting her use the Papermate felt tip pens. She is very careful with her work. Right now she is both copying and memorizing "The Codfish", which is a cute poem about how it pays to advertise. Before that one she copied and memorized "The Eagle" by Alfred Lord Tennyson. These have both been her choice from a poetry book we are reading during morning time. She continues to review "The Eagle" while she learns her new poem. I'm hoping she will retain what she memorizes that way.
I have also let her do her cursive practice in pen if she is very careful. She is quite willing. It's so pretty, isn't it? It's the New American Cursive from Memoria Press.
Thursday morning the girls pulled me outside to see the sunrise. It was actually lighter than this, but my camera took a darker picture because of the light.
It was a mild, lovely morning, so I let them have their breakfast outside.
Then we did worship time outside, complete with swinging.
And math.
The fun and flexibility of homeschooling is nice sometimes.
During our time together this week I thought of a new way to practice RJ's grammar definitions and lists besides Fiddlesticks: Go Fish. RJ added to my idea by putting paper clips on the cards and using our "fishing rods" with magnets on the end to "fish" for the cards. I had a paper with the definitions and lists out on the table, which made it less frustrating for RJ. The confusing part was that you weren't supposed to ask for a card that said exactly the same thing as the one you needed, but for the card that either had the term or the definition, the list name or the actual list of words. For example, if I had a card that said, "noun", I would say, "Do you have 'A word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.'?" If I had the definition of a noun on my card, I would say, "Do you have 'noun'?" It took RJ awhile to get it straight. I think it was good to have variety, though.
MA and I read some library books together some of the days. We also played a fishing game with ABC cards. We played it two days in a row. The first day MA was frustrated because I wouldn't let her keep a card unless she knew it. The second day I let her keep cards as long as she repeated the name of the letter after me. I found she knows A, B, C, O, P, R, X, Z.
Morning time continues to go well with Latin, Shakespeare, Poems, and Mozart. They have enjoyed the Mozart book: Mozart: The Wonder Boy by Opal Wheeler. We played Race to the Colosseum for the first time this week. That was fun. I have heard both of the older girls reciting the passage we are learning from A Midsummer Night's Dream at random times. "I know a bank where the wild thyme blows..." It's fun to see them excited about learning lines from Shakespeare. I do like using How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig, but it takes a little planning on what to read from the book and how to teach it.
RJ finished her Thomas Jefferson stamps for the Dawn of our Country badge requirement for AHG. AG and I worked on her Sign Language badge, reading a Helen Keller book together called Helen's Big World, which was quite good. We have a biography that is longer to read next week.
We are reading a great historical fiction read aloud right now called Sticks Across the Chimney.
RJ mentioned tonight that we are switching blocks around a little too much. She is my stability girl, so I understand her frustration. She asked if we can keep things in order one of these terms. She was very calm about it, but obviously she was bothered by it. I'll have to think about it. I've been trying different schedules and also have adjusted based on our other activities for the day or week. Maybe I can try and stay with something this coming week.
Monday--very good morning; AG broke down in the afternoon when I crossed out her one wrong Latin answer on her quiz--going to give that one orally from now on since I spell almost every word for them anyway. Also, note to self, don't cross out wrong answers.
Tuesday--much harder day, grumpiness all around, distracting toddler and preschooler
Wednesday--pleasant for most of the morning
I'm not sure about Thursday and Friday.
I did snap a picture to show that when you homeschool there is often not time to clean up the kitchen until after lunch. You really can't do it all! This picture is just before lunch, which I hadn't made yet.
On Monday AG finished Level 1 of All About Spelling. Yay! RJ also skipped ahead four steps in AAS. She was bored and kept saying the words were too easy, so I tested her on some words from each step and found she really knew them.
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| AG and her certificate for completing Level 1 |
AG says that her favorite part of her time with me is copywork. It's because I started letting her use the Papermate felt tip pens. She is very careful with her work. Right now she is both copying and memorizing "The Codfish", which is a cute poem about how it pays to advertise. Before that one she copied and memorized "The Eagle" by Alfred Lord Tennyson. These have both been her choice from a poetry book we are reading during morning time. She continues to review "The Eagle" while she learns her new poem. I'm hoping she will retain what she memorizes that way.
I have also let her do her cursive practice in pen if she is very careful. She is quite willing. It's so pretty, isn't it? It's the New American Cursive from Memoria Press.
Thursday morning the girls pulled me outside to see the sunrise. It was actually lighter than this, but my camera took a darker picture because of the light.
It was a mild, lovely morning, so I let them have their breakfast outside.
Then we did worship time outside, complete with swinging.
And math.
The fun and flexibility of homeschooling is nice sometimes.
During our time together this week I thought of a new way to practice RJ's grammar definitions and lists besides Fiddlesticks: Go Fish. RJ added to my idea by putting paper clips on the cards and using our "fishing rods" with magnets on the end to "fish" for the cards. I had a paper with the definitions and lists out on the table, which made it less frustrating for RJ. The confusing part was that you weren't supposed to ask for a card that said exactly the same thing as the one you needed, but for the card that either had the term or the definition, the list name or the actual list of words. For example, if I had a card that said, "noun", I would say, "Do you have 'A word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.'?" If I had the definition of a noun on my card, I would say, "Do you have 'noun'?" It took RJ awhile to get it straight. I think it was good to have variety, though.
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| The cheat sheet I have out during the game |
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| RJ catches a "fish" |
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| My cards and the "pond" |
MA and I read some library books together some of the days. We also played a fishing game with ABC cards. We played it two days in a row. The first day MA was frustrated because I wouldn't let her keep a card unless she knew it. The second day I let her keep cards as long as she repeated the name of the letter after me. I found she knows A, B, C, O, P, R, X, Z.
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| We put them in alphabetical order first. |
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| Catching "fish" |
Morning time continues to go well with Latin, Shakespeare, Poems, and Mozart. They have enjoyed the Mozart book: Mozart: The Wonder Boy by Opal Wheeler. We played Race to the Colosseum for the first time this week. That was fun. I have heard both of the older girls reciting the passage we are learning from A Midsummer Night's Dream at random times. "I know a bank where the wild thyme blows..." It's fun to see them excited about learning lines from Shakespeare. I do like using How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig, but it takes a little planning on what to read from the book and how to teach it.
RJ finished her Thomas Jefferson stamps for the Dawn of our Country badge requirement for AHG. AG and I worked on her Sign Language badge, reading a Helen Keller book together called Helen's Big World, which was quite good. We have a biography that is longer to read next week.
We are reading a great historical fiction read aloud right now called Sticks Across the Chimney.
RJ mentioned tonight that we are switching blocks around a little too much. She is my stability girl, so I understand her frustration. She asked if we can keep things in order one of these terms. She was very calm about it, but obviously she was bothered by it. I'll have to think about it. I've been trying different schedules and also have adjusted based on our other activities for the day or week. Maybe I can try and stay with something this coming week.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Fall term: Week Four notes
Here are the two notebooks I use for my planning. One is my notebook for all four blocks, plus Friday activities, and the other is specifically for Circle time. My planning will look a little different this coming week because I have switched Blocks Two and Four with each other. Also, I've started putting my prep to-do's on a separate piece of paper.
MA and I read some library books for some of her time with me. I liked all three of them, so I have them pictured below to share.
We also did some patterns with beads and with Duplos. I had made these cards for one of the other girls a couple of years ago. MA liked getting all the beads set up right on the card before stringing them onto the pipe cleaner. She went through all five cards on her own. Then she found the Duplo cards I had made and wanted to do them.
We tried Geoboards another day, but she lost interest quickly. I think we played a game instead, but my notes are downstairs, and I can't remember exactly.
CN liked trying markers on paper in his chair. He mostly got marker on the tray, but he enjoyed it.
On Friday we worked on some AHG badge work. RJ finished three out of four of her stamps she designed for the Dawn of our Country badge. She made a stamp of Monticello, the Declaration of Independence, and a Thomas Jefferson profile with the dates of his term in the office of President. AG finished up her Music Appreciation badge work, and she has chosen to do the Sign Language badge, so we talked about that and what we need to get to work on it. She also got out a place mat with the ASL alphabet on it and tried signing her ABCs. I worked with each of them for half an hour.
I found a fun way to practice the state capitals the girls are learning: Duplos and wet erase markers.
RJ has been bored with her All About Spelling lessons. She says the words are too easy. This weekend I went through the next few lessons and pulled out words to test her on. If she can spell them, we'll skip a few steps.
That's all I can remember this week. Off to bed so we can start the day well tomorrow!
MA and I read some library books for some of her time with me. I liked all three of them, so I have them pictured below to share.
We also did some patterns with beads and with Duplos. I had made these cards for one of the other girls a couple of years ago. MA liked getting all the beads set up right on the card before stringing them onto the pipe cleaner. She went through all five cards on her own. Then she found the Duplo cards I had made and wanted to do them.
We tried Geoboards another day, but she lost interest quickly. I think we played a game instead, but my notes are downstairs, and I can't remember exactly.
CN liked trying markers on paper in his chair. He mostly got marker on the tray, but he enjoyed it.
On Friday we worked on some AHG badge work. RJ finished three out of four of her stamps she designed for the Dawn of our Country badge. She made a stamp of Monticello, the Declaration of Independence, and a Thomas Jefferson profile with the dates of his term in the office of President. AG finished up her Music Appreciation badge work, and she has chosen to do the Sign Language badge, so we talked about that and what we need to get to work on it. She also got out a place mat with the ASL alphabet on it and tried signing her ABCs. I worked with each of them for half an hour.
I found a fun way to practice the state capitals the girls are learning: Duplos and wet erase markers.
RJ has been bored with her All About Spelling lessons. She says the words are too easy. This weekend I went through the next few lessons and pulled out words to test her on. If she can spell them, we'll skip a few steps.
That's all I can remember this week. Off to bed so we can start the day well tomorrow!
Rough week
We had some rough moments this past week. I might have cried or wanted to cry more than once. It was discouraging.
I think it would help to get up on time in the morning. If I get up late, everyone else does too, and then we feel the time crunch on our morning.
We're switching things around (Sonlight read alouds are going into the Block Two slot and Morning time will become Circle time and go in Block Four after lunch). We tried it one day, and I think it will work better. CN is usually asleep after lunch, so that makes Circle time a little less hectic. I can always nurse during read aloud time if he gets cranky.
We're also dropping our Apologia Science read aloud. This is the second time I've tried and failed to use an Apologia book. And that's okay. They just weren't interested, and it wasn't worth forcing it. We're picking up composer study (it's during Circle time) and reading a book called Mozart: The Wonder Boy by Opal Wheeler. We read it one day last week, and that went well.
I don't think this will eliminate our rough days completely. We're simultaneously saints and sinners, forgiven and yet still struggling with our brokenness. Being together all the time gives us more opportunities to have those hard moments. I am praying that God will give us grace to have more encouraging days than discouraging ones.
I think it would help to get up on time in the morning. If I get up late, everyone else does too, and then we feel the time crunch on our morning.
We're switching things around (Sonlight read alouds are going into the Block Two slot and Morning time will become Circle time and go in Block Four after lunch). We tried it one day, and I think it will work better. CN is usually asleep after lunch, so that makes Circle time a little less hectic. I can always nurse during read aloud time if he gets cranky.
We're also dropping our Apologia Science read aloud. This is the second time I've tried and failed to use an Apologia book. And that's okay. They just weren't interested, and it wasn't worth forcing it. We're picking up composer study (it's during Circle time) and reading a book called Mozart: The Wonder Boy by Opal Wheeler. We read it one day last week, and that went well.
I don't think this will eliminate our rough days completely. We're simultaneously saints and sinners, forgiven and yet still struggling with our brokenness. Being together all the time gives us more opportunities to have those hard moments. I am praying that God will give us grace to have more encouraging days than discouraging ones.
Get moving!
Even though I do like doing things like taking walks, riding bikes, and being active, I struggle to find a way to fit it into our schedule. At the end of this past week I decided to take a step to get us moving more. I hope to do a Barre3 workout in the morning by myself too, but if I don't make it up, at least we'll have our walk.
I asked each of the older two girls (mostly RJ, but AG wanted to try too) to be my walking buddies. Our goal is to get out three days a week to take a walk. I'll pull MA and CN in the wagon. RJ and AG can either walk with me, run, or go on their scooters. Our goal is eventually to go for a full 30 minutes each time. We have a chart for each of us. Our first goal is to make it to 12 times, and then we each get a new book. After reaching that goal, we'll bump it up to 18 or 24 times.
We've been once so far. Our first time was a 15 minute, 1.25 mile walk/scoot. Half the time I'd like to go, but no one complained, and I got to walk fast, so I was happy.
I asked each of the older two girls (mostly RJ, but AG wanted to try too) to be my walking buddies. Our goal is to get out three days a week to take a walk. I'll pull MA and CN in the wagon. RJ and AG can either walk with me, run, or go on their scooters. Our goal is eventually to go for a full 30 minutes each time. We have a chart for each of us. Our first goal is to make it to 12 times, and then we each get a new book. After reaching that goal, we'll bump it up to 18 or 24 times.
We've been once so far. Our first time was a 15 minute, 1.25 mile walk/scoot. Half the time I'd like to go, but no one complained, and I got to walk fast, so I was happy.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Fall Term: Week Three Notes
This week we had three days of our full schedule for fall term (that is what I'm calling this first seven-week term). On Thursday we went to the Children's Museum.
MA and I had four 20-25-minute morning times together this week. We did:
--Math--Lauri shapes stacking sorter--M stacked them by color and then by shape.
--Math--Super Sorting Pie--I was a bit distracted this morning, but I think she sorted them by type.
--Read aloud--I read The Mitten by Jan Brett. We had a paper mitten pocket with animals that she had made last year at homeschool co-op, so she used that to act out the story with me.
--ABCs--I buried the capital letters from the Lauri letter puzzle in her rice bin. She had fun finding them, naming them (with my help), and putting them in the puzzle. This was a favorite activity, and she continued to do it even after our time together. She took out the lower case letters too and buried those along with the capital letters.
Something else we also tried this week was to read through some nursery rhymes in hopes that we could start having her memorize them one at a time. I printed out a cute printable of nursery rhymes for that.
Block Three (RJ's and AG's times with me and their piano practice and handwriting time) went pretty well for the first week. I think we are getting the kinks worked out.
This week was a lot of review. I reviewed both of their mastered All About Spelling cards and moved the ones that needed more practice back to the review section. A is at the end of Level 1, and RJ is halfway through Level 2.
I decided to skip the rest of Level 2 of First Language Lessons with RJ. The main thing I wanted her to get out of it was the memorization of the rest of the definitions of the parts of speech, so we are playing games to memorize and review them before moving onto Easy Grammar 3 and 4.
Both RJ and AG were very into their copywork this week, which surprised me greatly. AG copied the whole poem called "The Eagle" by Alfred Lord Tennyson in the first week and even wants to memorize it. RJ coped the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and Mark 10:14.
We did not get through all of our Sonlight read alouds this week. The part of me that likes to get all the boxes checked cringes a little at the thought of continuing them next week, but I know it is good not to rush through them just to get it done.
One reason we didn't get them done was that RJ had a horse riding lesson on Wednesday afternoon. She loved her second lesson almost as much as the first. The instructors said she had not forgotten anything and even worked some things out that had been confusing to her before. I'm so glad it went well.
Tuesday I gave in to RJ's requests to take out watercolors in the afternoon. They had fun creating many paintings. Watercolors are by far my favorite paints. They are the only ones I consistently allow upstairs instead of in the art area in the basement.
Thursday morning I woke up later and ended up letting everyone sleep in later too. I decided to take them to the Children's museum. We went to the museum store first, which was a fantastic idea. Usually we go when I'm exhausted and grumpy, and it's packed. At 10:30 am it was empty, and I had plenty of energy. We spent time in the China exhibit, then had lunch, played in the Playscape area, the carousel area, and Science works before heading home. I was pretty spent after all that, but I think everyone had a good time.
On Friday we did not work on American Heritage Girl badge requirements because a friend came over to show the girls how to make paper. She spent three hours with them and was so sweet, patient, and encouraging to them. Even MA tried making paper and did pretty well. I spent the time pulling CN and her daughter in the wagon and figuring out other ways to keep the young ones occupied.
MA and I had four 20-25-minute morning times together this week. We did:
--Math--Lauri shapes stacking sorter--M stacked them by color and then by shape.
--Math--Super Sorting Pie--I was a bit distracted this morning, but I think she sorted them by type.
--Read aloud--I read The Mitten by Jan Brett. We had a paper mitten pocket with animals that she had made last year at homeschool co-op, so she used that to act out the story with me.
--ABCs--I buried the capital letters from the Lauri letter puzzle in her rice bin. She had fun finding them, naming them (with my help), and putting them in the puzzle. This was a favorite activity, and she continued to do it even after our time together. She took out the lower case letters too and buried those along with the capital letters.
Something else we also tried this week was to read through some nursery rhymes in hopes that we could start having her memorize them one at a time. I printed out a cute printable of nursery rhymes for that.
Block Three (RJ's and AG's times with me and their piano practice and handwriting time) went pretty well for the first week. I think we are getting the kinks worked out.
This week was a lot of review. I reviewed both of their mastered All About Spelling cards and moved the ones that needed more practice back to the review section. A is at the end of Level 1, and RJ is halfway through Level 2.
I decided to skip the rest of Level 2 of First Language Lessons with RJ. The main thing I wanted her to get out of it was the memorization of the rest of the definitions of the parts of speech, so we are playing games to memorize and review them before moving onto Easy Grammar 3 and 4.
Both RJ and AG were very into their copywork this week, which surprised me greatly. AG copied the whole poem called "The Eagle" by Alfred Lord Tennyson in the first week and even wants to memorize it. RJ coped the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and Mark 10:14.
We did not get through all of our Sonlight read alouds this week. The part of me that likes to get all the boxes checked cringes a little at the thought of continuing them next week, but I know it is good not to rush through them just to get it done.
One reason we didn't get them done was that RJ had a horse riding lesson on Wednesday afternoon. She loved her second lesson almost as much as the first. The instructors said she had not forgotten anything and even worked some things out that had been confusing to her before. I'm so glad it went well.
Tuesday I gave in to RJ's requests to take out watercolors in the afternoon. They had fun creating many paintings. Watercolors are by far my favorite paints. They are the only ones I consistently allow upstairs instead of in the art area in the basement.
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| I even painted--you can see my flower on a card I made for a friend |
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| Two of AG's paintings |
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| RJ's last painting |
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| MA's painting of a cave, according to her |
On Friday we did not work on American Heritage Girl badge requirements because a friend came over to show the girls how to make paper. She spent three hours with them and was so sweet, patient, and encouraging to them. Even MA tried making paper and did pretty well. I spent the time pulling CN and her daughter in the wagon and figuring out other ways to keep the young ones occupied.
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| AG tipping the paper onto the cloth |
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| RJ getting ready to tip her paper onto the cloth |
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| Round pink paper drying on the line |
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