One of the greatest advantages of homeschooling is more opportunity to see how we use knowledge in everyday circumstances. A great place to practice math is at the grocery store. Publix is really great for that with their 2 or 3-for deals and bogo deals. After a few examples of how we calculate how much one costs, they were doing it all through the store.
This had a secondary purpose of teaching James why we couldn't just use the calculator for everything. Sometimes we need to quickly make calculations in our head.
Our first task was to find the best deal on apples. They wanted the shiny red ones. I explained that not only were the red apples dyed to be that uniform red but it was 50 cents more per pound than the Gala apples which taste better to me anyhow. We got 5 apples which ended up being almost 3 lbs. I walked them through rounding up the 1.49 to 1.50 and multiplying it by 3 to make it 4.50. My literal thinker, David, complained that it wasn't 1.50 but 1.49. (When talking about the cost of 99 cents that morning, James said, "That's a dollar." David corrected, "No, that's a dollar minus a penny.") I agreed but explained how much easier it is to multiply 1.50 for us non-mathematical geniuses. He noticed a bag of apples for $4.99. Another example of using math because we could compare that 3 lbs loose was 4.50 (or there about) but in a bag was 49 cents more.
Another good example was finding the cost of one pack of lunch meat. They were 3 for $11. That was a difficult calculation to do in our heads so we rounded up to $12, divided by 3, then subtracted 33 cents to find the cost of one.
When they got to the Little Debbie snacks, they calculated that 2 for $6 meant 1 for $3 or 4 for $12 (hint, hint). They used all their powers of persuasion to explain that 10 for $10 was expensive for lunchables but $1 was very cheap! I think they are finding real life opportunities to use math without the calculator.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Sensory overload
First a couple of funnies...
Katie Rose got out a pack of Joseph's diapers. I was busy with laundry so I just let her be. I came back to the living room and she had them lined up side by side all across the length of the room. She was covered in a blanket beside them and exclaimed, "It's a pajama party!" I really do question why in the world we buy the kids toys. The best games to them seem to be using just regular stuff they find.
I swear the older boys see my mouth moving but do not hear what comes out sometimes. We were leaving the grocery store. When I got to the light, I switched to the lane to go straight because the turn lane was changing to yellow and I wanted to get home by a side road rather than wait for another light. David said, "We're going to Para (the building with the local library branch and swimming pools)!" I explained my reasoning for taking a different way. As soon as I finish with my explanation, James pipes up, "We're going to the library?" I just hung my head and David got so tickled over it. Repetition is definitely necessary. Who knows what they got the first time?
Katie Rose went inside and participated in her first Taekwondo class. We had tried several times before but she was not having any of it. I was so disappointed because she would practice punches and kicks with the boys at home. We gave up for a little while but after watching her interact with a little girl at the park, I wondered if maybe she was up for taekwondo now.
We went to class and Mr. S came up to her to try to put on her belt. She ran over to the seats and would not get up. He said to have her come in when she was ready. Instead of trying to convince her to go inside, I went over and sat down with her to watch the other little kids in class. They were doing lots of jumps. I was asking her, "Doesn't that look fun?" We sat for a few minutes and I decided to take it one step at a time. I asked if she wanted to put on her belt. She enthusiastically said, "Yeah!" James helped me get her belt tied. I asked if she wanted to go in with the other children and she started walking towards the training room door.
Mr. S came to the door to greet her and all of a sudden, she was not going in. I realized that it must be intimidating to her. Mr. S is a tall man that simply looks like a kind instructor to us but to Katie Rose, he must look like a giant. I asked if I could go in and sit with her in the back of the class. They agreed so we sat down and Katie Rose clung to me. The noise level was severe. They encourage the children to yell, "Yes, sir!" and the room seems to amplify the sound. Katie Rose has improved so much in language and social skills that I'm sure that she would never qualify for an official autism diagnosis but I can see the sensory processing is still a challenge. But I'm so proud of her for trying to overcome it.
I prompted her to participate in the stretches that the other children were doing. When the children lined up, I asked Katie Rose if she wanted to sit with the other children and she looked back several times but ended up lining up and then participating in the rest of the class with a few prompts from the instructors. I even saw her mouth move when they yelled, "Yes, sir!" I don't think any sound came out but she knew what she was supposed to do.
I sat inside the class for a few minutes so that she could look back to me for confidence. So thankful that Joseph was asleep so it was easy for the older boys to look after him. And thankful that John Micah didn't pitch a fit that he couldn't go into the training room. He still has a year and a half before he can take a class. But he's already copying the stances. After watching the boys for another year and a half, he'll be quite advanced starting out.
We gave Katie Rose a lot of praise afterwards and when Daddy got home. This morning, she brought me her white belt and talked about her sticker which says, "Future BlackBelt." Starting out this early, who knows how far she'll go!
Katie Rose got out a pack of Joseph's diapers. I was busy with laundry so I just let her be. I came back to the living room and she had them lined up side by side all across the length of the room. She was covered in a blanket beside them and exclaimed, "It's a pajama party!" I really do question why in the world we buy the kids toys. The best games to them seem to be using just regular stuff they find.
I swear the older boys see my mouth moving but do not hear what comes out sometimes. We were leaving the grocery store. When I got to the light, I switched to the lane to go straight because the turn lane was changing to yellow and I wanted to get home by a side road rather than wait for another light. David said, "We're going to Para (the building with the local library branch and swimming pools)!" I explained my reasoning for taking a different way. As soon as I finish with my explanation, James pipes up, "We're going to the library?" I just hung my head and David got so tickled over it. Repetition is definitely necessary. Who knows what they got the first time?
Katie Rose went inside and participated in her first Taekwondo class. We had tried several times before but she was not having any of it. I was so disappointed because she would practice punches and kicks with the boys at home. We gave up for a little while but after watching her interact with a little girl at the park, I wondered if maybe she was up for taekwondo now.
We went to class and Mr. S came up to her to try to put on her belt. She ran over to the seats and would not get up. He said to have her come in when she was ready. Instead of trying to convince her to go inside, I went over and sat down with her to watch the other little kids in class. They were doing lots of jumps. I was asking her, "Doesn't that look fun?" We sat for a few minutes and I decided to take it one step at a time. I asked if she wanted to put on her belt. She enthusiastically said, "Yeah!" James helped me get her belt tied. I asked if she wanted to go in with the other children and she started walking towards the training room door.
Mr. S came to the door to greet her and all of a sudden, she was not going in. I realized that it must be intimidating to her. Mr. S is a tall man that simply looks like a kind instructor to us but to Katie Rose, he must look like a giant. I asked if I could go in and sit with her in the back of the class. They agreed so we sat down and Katie Rose clung to me. The noise level was severe. They encourage the children to yell, "Yes, sir!" and the room seems to amplify the sound. Katie Rose has improved so much in language and social skills that I'm sure that she would never qualify for an official autism diagnosis but I can see the sensory processing is still a challenge. But I'm so proud of her for trying to overcome it.
I prompted her to participate in the stretches that the other children were doing. When the children lined up, I asked Katie Rose if she wanted to sit with the other children and she looked back several times but ended up lining up and then participating in the rest of the class with a few prompts from the instructors. I even saw her mouth move when they yelled, "Yes, sir!" I don't think any sound came out but she knew what she was supposed to do.
I sat inside the class for a few minutes so that she could look back to me for confidence. So thankful that Joseph was asleep so it was easy for the older boys to look after him. And thankful that John Micah didn't pitch a fit that he couldn't go into the training room. He still has a year and a half before he can take a class. But he's already copying the stances. After watching the boys for another year and a half, he'll be quite advanced starting out.
We gave Katie Rose a lot of praise afterwards and when Daddy got home. This morning, she brought me her white belt and talked about her sticker which says, "Future BlackBelt." Starting out this early, who knows how far she'll go!
Monday, August 25, 2014
Reading aloud
One of the hallmarks of the Charlotte Mason method is reading aloud from living books. We have read chapters and chapters in the past three weeks. This morning, I can see a real improvement in the boys' narrations. They are recalling more and more facts from each reading.
But I'm thinking that this reading aloud is having a secondary benefit. Over the weekend, John Micah (2 yr old) exploded with language. He was saying "door" and going to shut the door. He repeated things we pointed to at the park like bird and pecan. I called for my husband saying, "Babe!" He went running through the house saying, "Bay, Bay, DAD!" I asked him to go get some wipes. He ran off calling for his brother, "Day(Davy), Day, Wipes." During Children's Liturgy, he was fascinated with the glue stick so he kept saying, "Glue" to get it passed back to him. He probably added about 25 words this weekend.
The speech therapist that has been helping us try to get John Micah to grow his language through games and other techniques. We've agreed that there is a whole lot more language in there than is coming out because he understands so much. If you ask him to do something, he immediately responds correctly. But the older children were all talking for him. I would ask him what he wanted to drink and others would be telling me what they thought he wanted. Little Momma (Katie Rose) will still do this but the older boys are trying more to get him to use his words.
We've had no big breakthrough during his speech therapy time so it must be due to hearing a whole lot more words during his typical day as well as a few more preschool activities. I had to text the speech therapist with how awesome he was doing and she agreed that when it was natural for him, we would get the most from him.
So we are beginning our fourth week of this homeschool year. We are planning a zoo trip this week. We're reading more in the Aeneid including a part this morning about a little boy with fire around his head which showed how he was favored by the Greek gods. This was neat since we could compare that story to the story of Pentecost with the Holy Spirit coming down and fire appearing above the Christians' heads which we read about recently in The First Christians. I love these overlapping concepts which have happened several times. It gives us more than one occasion to study a concept and recall what we've learned.
But I'm thinking that this reading aloud is having a secondary benefit. Over the weekend, John Micah (2 yr old) exploded with language. He was saying "door" and going to shut the door. He repeated things we pointed to at the park like bird and pecan. I called for my husband saying, "Babe!" He went running through the house saying, "Bay, Bay, DAD!" I asked him to go get some wipes. He ran off calling for his brother, "Day(Davy), Day, Wipes." During Children's Liturgy, he was fascinated with the glue stick so he kept saying, "Glue" to get it passed back to him. He probably added about 25 words this weekend.
The speech therapist that has been helping us try to get John Micah to grow his language through games and other techniques. We've agreed that there is a whole lot more language in there than is coming out because he understands so much. If you ask him to do something, he immediately responds correctly. But the older children were all talking for him. I would ask him what he wanted to drink and others would be telling me what they thought he wanted. Little Momma (Katie Rose) will still do this but the older boys are trying more to get him to use his words.
We've had no big breakthrough during his speech therapy time so it must be due to hearing a whole lot more words during his typical day as well as a few more preschool activities. I had to text the speech therapist with how awesome he was doing and she agreed that when it was natural for him, we would get the most from him.
So we are beginning our fourth week of this homeschool year. We are planning a zoo trip this week. We're reading more in the Aeneid including a part this morning about a little boy with fire around his head which showed how he was favored by the Greek gods. This was neat since we could compare that story to the story of Pentecost with the Holy Spirit coming down and fire appearing above the Christians' heads which we read about recently in The First Christians. I love these overlapping concepts which have happened several times. It gives us more than one occasion to study a concept and recall what we've learned.
Friday, August 22, 2014
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
.......that's a pretty accurate description of our day.
This morning was great. My coughing wasn't bad so I decided to take advantage of the hot day for some water fun before the weather starts to turn cool. The deal is that we'll go do something fun each Friday if they follow their schedule and get their school assignments and chores done. The living room needed tidying so the boys quickly wrapped that up while I made sandwiches and packed the bags.
It was very hot but the shade and the splash pad were perfect. We really enjoyed ourselves. The highlight was Katie Rose leaving her brothers and engaging play with another little girl about her age. They picked up sticks and walked around together. This is the first time ever that she has engaged someone other than brothers and cousins. Mike, my husband, met us there for lunch. He was thrilled to see her not just playing along side another child but really playing with her. Katie Rose didn't even notice he was there and she is a huge Daddy's girl.
We got home and attempted naptime. Joseph stayed in the infant seat and slept. I've got to get him a new car seat! John Micah had caught a cat nap on the way home. I tried but neither him nor Katie Rose were having nap time today. We made strawberry banana smoothies for snack. According to James, I was the "best mom ever!"
But oh how quickly things can turn around......sigh!
A couple days ago, Davy came home and said that someone had stepped on his foot in taekwondo class. He thought he needed an xray. I'm thinking, "really....from someone stepping on your foot." At the splash pad, I noticed him slightly limping but then he pointed to the other foot feeling bad instead of the one that he was favoring. He was limping worse after snack time so I looked closely and sure enough it was slightly blue on top but really purple underneath. I called his orthopedic dr (yes, he's broken a toe before by dropping a 1 liter soda on it) as well as his pediatrician but both had already left for the day. It appeared that I had let this go for two days already and I wasn't comfortable letting it go for the weekend. So all 5 kiddos and I head to the ER.
They were pretty swift at the ER. They xrayed it and confirmed there was one toe fractured. They splinted it between two other toes and gave him a special shoe to wear. No kicking and sparring for a week.
The little ones had been running. I told them to stop or they would fall. I took them to the bathroom to go potty. I come back out to sign the discharge paper and in less than a minute, John Micah runs across the room and barrels into the wall. He has a huge goose egg on his head. I asked the nurse discharging if I needed to have him seen as well. He had witnessed it and said that he was fine since he got right up and cried. Poor thing! But I did tell him so!
After the day we have had, someone else was cooking supper. I went to McDonalds to pick up Happy Meals for the kids. They were thrilled. I asked my husband to pick us up a couple burgers from Logans. Every time I eat there, I get the Route 66 burger. Love it. Today, we discover they don't make them anymore! Don't they know I need one today. So anyhow, he got supper at Chili's.
That's life! It's not all good, all bad or all ugly. Sometimes it's a crazy mix of all!
This morning was great. My coughing wasn't bad so I decided to take advantage of the hot day for some water fun before the weather starts to turn cool. The deal is that we'll go do something fun each Friday if they follow their schedule and get their school assignments and chores done. The living room needed tidying so the boys quickly wrapped that up while I made sandwiches and packed the bags.
It was very hot but the shade and the splash pad were perfect. We really enjoyed ourselves. The highlight was Katie Rose leaving her brothers and engaging play with another little girl about her age. They picked up sticks and walked around together. This is the first time ever that she has engaged someone other than brothers and cousins. Mike, my husband, met us there for lunch. He was thrilled to see her not just playing along side another child but really playing with her. Katie Rose didn't even notice he was there and she is a huge Daddy's girl.
We got home and attempted naptime. Joseph stayed in the infant seat and slept. I've got to get him a new car seat! John Micah had caught a cat nap on the way home. I tried but neither him nor Katie Rose were having nap time today. We made strawberry banana smoothies for snack. According to James, I was the "best mom ever!"
But oh how quickly things can turn around......sigh!
A couple days ago, Davy came home and said that someone had stepped on his foot in taekwondo class. He thought he needed an xray. I'm thinking, "really....from someone stepping on your foot." At the splash pad, I noticed him slightly limping but then he pointed to the other foot feeling bad instead of the one that he was favoring. He was limping worse after snack time so I looked closely and sure enough it was slightly blue on top but really purple underneath. I called his orthopedic dr (yes, he's broken a toe before by dropping a 1 liter soda on it) as well as his pediatrician but both had already left for the day. It appeared that I had let this go for two days already and I wasn't comfortable letting it go for the weekend. So all 5 kiddos and I head to the ER.
They were pretty swift at the ER. They xrayed it and confirmed there was one toe fractured. They splinted it between two other toes and gave him a special shoe to wear. No kicking and sparring for a week.
The little ones had been running. I told them to stop or they would fall. I took them to the bathroom to go potty. I come back out to sign the discharge paper and in less than a minute, John Micah runs across the room and barrels into the wall. He has a huge goose egg on his head. I asked the nurse discharging if I needed to have him seen as well. He had witnessed it and said that he was fine since he got right up and cried. Poor thing! But I did tell him so!
After the day we have had, someone else was cooking supper. I went to McDonalds to pick up Happy Meals for the kids. They were thrilled. I asked my husband to pick us up a couple burgers from Logans. Every time I eat there, I get the Route 66 burger. Love it. Today, we discover they don't make them anymore! Don't they know I need one today. So anyhow, he got supper at Chili's.
That's life! It's not all good, all bad or all ugly. Sometimes it's a crazy mix of all!
Naps
Some of my kids sleep well. Some don't. My oldest never slept well and even now will stay up til ridiculous wee hours of the morning without melatonin. My daughter is much the same. And my youngest still wakes up in the night at nearly a year old. I don't mind so much because I am enjoying every minute of baby time before it's gone for good.
When my oldest two were small, I would set them down for a movie after lunch. They would fall asleep. Maybe not ideal but hey, it worked. My daughter didn't quite get the memo. Once she moved to a toddler bed and my fourth began climbing out of the crib, naps became almost nonexistent. My fourth is not interested in sitting and watching a movie, period. When put in their rooms, they were climbing all over the furniture. I was pregnant with my fifth and just gave up. They caught a few naps if we had errands in the afternoon. Sometimes after I got the baby down for a nap, I could rock John Micah (my fourth) to sleep. And then just as I would get him to bed, the baby would be up again.
The baby is moving to one nap instead of two so I am determined to reclaim nap time. The two toddler beds and crib are in one room. I laid them all down and sat on the floor. I played Mozart on the iPad. They weren't happy and it was a pretty miserable 45 minutes. I decided to try again tomorrow.
The next day, I tried again. They were much calmer and by 30 minutes, the little boys were asleep. I waited a few more minutes but Katie Rose wasn't winding down. She and I tiptoed out. I cleaned the kitchen and got me a shower. Felt like a mini-vacation.
Looking forward to nap time today!
When my oldest two were small, I would set them down for a movie after lunch. They would fall asleep. Maybe not ideal but hey, it worked. My daughter didn't quite get the memo. Once she moved to a toddler bed and my fourth began climbing out of the crib, naps became almost nonexistent. My fourth is not interested in sitting and watching a movie, period. When put in their rooms, they were climbing all over the furniture. I was pregnant with my fifth and just gave up. They caught a few naps if we had errands in the afternoon. Sometimes after I got the baby down for a nap, I could rock John Micah (my fourth) to sleep. And then just as I would get him to bed, the baby would be up again.
The baby is moving to one nap instead of two so I am determined to reclaim nap time. The two toddler beds and crib are in one room. I laid them all down and sat on the floor. I played Mozart on the iPad. They weren't happy and it was a pretty miserable 45 minutes. I decided to try again tomorrow.
The next day, I tried again. They were much calmer and by 30 minutes, the little boys were asleep. I waited a few more minutes but Katie Rose wasn't winding down. She and I tiptoed out. I cleaned the kitchen and got me a shower. Felt like a mini-vacation.
Looking forward to nap time today!
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Ceramic tile coasters
I had really wanted to make some super colorful unique coasters to keep our cups separate and prevent us from using more than one cup a day just because we couldn't remember where we had left it and which one was ours. After reading up on the most durable sharpie to use, I decided against buying the nice new pack of colored sharpies and instead used the silver that we already had on hand. Still pleased with how they turned out, except for David's didn't have much thought. He was obviously doing something else he felt was much more important so he just filled up the space quickly and went back to his agenda. Mike and I have one each as well. That is handy since often we use Dickey's BBQ cups which all look the same.
I got the ceramic tiles at Lowe's for 16 cents a piece. Score for less dishes to wash!
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Draw your design with Sharpies. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool inside the oven so that they don't break because of the rapid change in temperature.
I got the ceramic tiles at Lowe's for 16 cents a piece. Score for less dishes to wash!
Draw your design with Sharpies. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool inside the oven so that they don't break because of the rapid change in temperature.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Sorting clothes and finger knitting
This morning, David finished his cereal first so I asked him to read the next lesson in the St Joseph Baltimore Catechism. It was about angels. He showed confidence in asking questions and leading the discussion.
The boys had spelling quizzes. A's and B's again. I had meant to have them play Scrabble yesterday but the day got away from us. I brought it down and said that if they could use one of their spelling words, I would add a point to their quiz score. That was harder than I thought. Noone got extra points. BUT it was fun and it worked on vocabulary, spelling and math (tallying up points).
We did an oral Latin quiz for Lesson V because my printer needs new ink cartridges. For the rest of this week and next, they will study for the test for the first five lessons. It's a lot to remember especially with the conjugations and declensions.
The boys worked on some questions at the end of the chapter in Founders of Freedom. I got a whole set of history books for 4th-8th grade at a used book sale at our Catholic homeschooling cover school faculty meeting. This lady was graduating her last child and sold me the whole set of the Land of our Lady set. It's has a lot of great comprehension and discussion questions. She even had the answer key to make checking their work much faster.
They practiced piano using the Dust Buster app. It has a concert option. David was able to get Bronze medal status. So competition kicked in and James practiced til he was a Bronze medal with a little higher score than David.
I worked on folding clothes and sorted through all the older boys pants. A few pairs needed to be put into storage for the little boys. A few pair went to the thrift store box. I heard a wonderful idea about determining whose clothes are whose. This lady recommending putting one dot on the tag for the first born, then two for the second, three for the third and so on. How awesome is that! I'm constantly having to get the boys to switch pants because David got some that were too short and James got some that were too long. It'll make it easier to put them away in separate drawers. Perfect for our family because initials would never work with all our J names. Next project will be putting the dot system on all our coats, jackets and sweaters. Did I mention that I'm looking forward to fall?
I taught Katie Rose to finger knit today. I wrapped the yarn around her fingers loosely just as if they were pegs on a loom. And after demonstrating it to her, Katie Rose was able to lift the stitches over. She enjoyed it and loved her own ball of pink yarn. I weaved the ends in for her and joined it to make a little necklace for her pink stuffed monkey. This is a great resource for handwork.
Here's a pic of her necklace and David's changing color practice swatch.
Next task: teach James to use the loom.
The boys had spelling quizzes. A's and B's again. I had meant to have them play Scrabble yesterday but the day got away from us. I brought it down and said that if they could use one of their spelling words, I would add a point to their quiz score. That was harder than I thought. Noone got extra points. BUT it was fun and it worked on vocabulary, spelling and math (tallying up points).
We did an oral Latin quiz for Lesson V because my printer needs new ink cartridges. For the rest of this week and next, they will study for the test for the first five lessons. It's a lot to remember especially with the conjugations and declensions.
The boys worked on some questions at the end of the chapter in Founders of Freedom. I got a whole set of history books for 4th-8th grade at a used book sale at our Catholic homeschooling cover school faculty meeting. This lady was graduating her last child and sold me the whole set of the Land of our Lady set. It's has a lot of great comprehension and discussion questions. She even had the answer key to make checking their work much faster.
They practiced piano using the Dust Buster app. It has a concert option. David was able to get Bronze medal status. So competition kicked in and James practiced til he was a Bronze medal with a little higher score than David.
I worked on folding clothes and sorted through all the older boys pants. A few pairs needed to be put into storage for the little boys. A few pair went to the thrift store box. I heard a wonderful idea about determining whose clothes are whose. This lady recommending putting one dot on the tag for the first born, then two for the second, three for the third and so on. How awesome is that! I'm constantly having to get the boys to switch pants because David got some that were too short and James got some that were too long. It'll make it easier to put them away in separate drawers. Perfect for our family because initials would never work with all our J names. Next project will be putting the dot system on all our coats, jackets and sweaters. Did I mention that I'm looking forward to fall?
I taught Katie Rose to finger knit today. I wrapped the yarn around her fingers loosely just as if they were pegs on a loom. And after demonstrating it to her, Katie Rose was able to lift the stitches over. She enjoyed it and loved her own ball of pink yarn. I weaved the ends in for her and joined it to make a little necklace for her pink stuffed monkey. This is a great resource for handwork.
Here's a pic of her necklace and David's changing color practice swatch.
Next task: teach James to use the loom.
Monday, August 18, 2014
A day at our house
My day began at 4:45. It should have been 5am but an alarm clock mix up got me out of bed 15 minutes early. I don't do snooze so I figured I might as well get started. First act of business was to start a load of clothes in the washer. Then make a pot of coffee. I prayed the rosary while the house was still quiet.
After prayers, I still had time before the children woke up so I gathered clothes and folded, swept and mopped the kitchen and hung clothes to dry from the washer. I sat down to drink a cup of coffee while the older boys ate the leftover pancakes from yesterday. I read a chapter in The First Christians. I have planned the major reading during breakfast, lunch and tea/snack time. That way if the little ones are awake, they'll be less noisy if their mouths are full.
We had to take the baby to the dr in the middle of last week and didn't have as much study time to prepare for spelling and Latin quizzes so those subjects today involved rewriting the spelling words for practice and studying to get to the quizzes tomorrow. We also went through some segmenting words in All about Spelling. During these activities, I have a box of activities like colorful toys, games, playdough, etc that can be rotated as often as necessary to keep the little ones entertained.
The boys practiced piano and did some work in their math workbooks. This independent work allowed me to help the little ones with going potty as well as some more chores with another load of laundry and vacuuming. I also made a batch of Rice Krispy treats for my husband to have a mid-morning snack before heading off on some work-related business that might last past lunch.
They studied their Latin while I fed the baby and had a little down time. I'm working on a crocheted nativity play set so I got through a few more rows of the background blue.
We fixed lunch and sat down to read Famous Men of Greece. We passed the Ipad around to read the kindle version. James was comparing all the characters to the ones he knew from the cartoon Hercules. We also noted how the nymphs were similar to the fairies from Tinker Bell.
After lunch, we had a little down time to play games, knit and crochet. David has almost finished a coaster with two colors. Can't wait to share his finished project. The boys took time working on new math skills in Khan Academy. I took some time to write down the completed assignments in my daily log book. I also traced a few art pages for the art lesson.
We sat down for a snack and read for about 45 minutes in The Hobbit. We are really enjoying the story. One word that we read was ambling. I asked the boys what the word meant and what Latin word it came from. James remembered that ambulo meant I walk and so ambling must mean walking. David is usually quick to answer Latin questions so James was thrilled to finally beat him with the answer.
Art normally is done on Friday. However, the little ones were in need of an activity and I had traced four so they could participate. We learned about pottery made in Greece which was a fascinating three fire process. We also studied the negative and positive space used on some vases. They each had two vases to color one emphasizing negative space and another emphasizing positive space. While they colored, I reorganized our crafts area of the computer desk. Our pencils, colors, scissors and such were overflowing.
The boys asked for a cup of peppermint tea while they finished up their art and map skills assignments. Homeschool Advantage and Grammar are normally afterwards but they had lost a grammar book and the living room was in need of tidying so that became a whole-family activity. We found the grammar book and I gave them an assignment of a story prompt that would be due Thursday. We put up the Lego Duplo blocks and some interlocking hexagonal toys and brought down the bin wooden blocks and toys.
We ate supper. My husband took one boy to taekwondo. The other boy stayed behind to clean his room because he misplaced some of his sparring gear. The little ones were thrilled with the wooden blocks so I took advantage of the time to clean the kitchen and tidy the little ones room. I was on a roll so I vacuumed some more and cleaned the windows in the living room.
6:30 pm - I'm calling it a day. We have our bedtime routine to finish by 8pm. That will include diaper changes, brushing teeth, vitamins, Bible reading, prayers, hugs, and blessings.
So this seems a little intense after reading it over. But Monday through Thursday are our academic days with Friday through Sunday is devoted to fun, errands and rest with a few necessary chores in the mix. What has helped me most is the detailed schedule that I've been tweaking to work for us. I was inspired by this schedule. I can't keep all of what needs to be done in my head. A schedule makes sure it all gets done but also that we don't burn out. In my schedule, I have 7 15-minute breaks in addition to meals and movie/game time. This gives us time for potty breaks, drinks of water and buffer time so that if one activity goes over a few minutes then the whole schedule isn't a wash. I'm not rushing us into burnout to get everything in my head done. It's on the schedule and it'll get done when the time comes.
Now for some family time before a well-deserved rest after a very productive day.
After prayers, I still had time before the children woke up so I gathered clothes and folded, swept and mopped the kitchen and hung clothes to dry from the washer. I sat down to drink a cup of coffee while the older boys ate the leftover pancakes from yesterday. I read a chapter in The First Christians. I have planned the major reading during breakfast, lunch and tea/snack time. That way if the little ones are awake, they'll be less noisy if their mouths are full.
We had to take the baby to the dr in the middle of last week and didn't have as much study time to prepare for spelling and Latin quizzes so those subjects today involved rewriting the spelling words for practice and studying to get to the quizzes tomorrow. We also went through some segmenting words in All about Spelling. During these activities, I have a box of activities like colorful toys, games, playdough, etc that can be rotated as often as necessary to keep the little ones entertained.
The boys practiced piano and did some work in their math workbooks. This independent work allowed me to help the little ones with going potty as well as some more chores with another load of laundry and vacuuming. I also made a batch of Rice Krispy treats for my husband to have a mid-morning snack before heading off on some work-related business that might last past lunch.
They studied their Latin while I fed the baby and had a little down time. I'm working on a crocheted nativity play set so I got through a few more rows of the background blue.
We fixed lunch and sat down to read Famous Men of Greece. We passed the Ipad around to read the kindle version. James was comparing all the characters to the ones he knew from the cartoon Hercules. We also noted how the nymphs were similar to the fairies from Tinker Bell.
After lunch, we had a little down time to play games, knit and crochet. David has almost finished a coaster with two colors. Can't wait to share his finished project. The boys took time working on new math skills in Khan Academy. I took some time to write down the completed assignments in my daily log book. I also traced a few art pages for the art lesson.
We sat down for a snack and read for about 45 minutes in The Hobbit. We are really enjoying the story. One word that we read was ambling. I asked the boys what the word meant and what Latin word it came from. James remembered that ambulo meant I walk and so ambling must mean walking. David is usually quick to answer Latin questions so James was thrilled to finally beat him with the answer.
Art normally is done on Friday. However, the little ones were in need of an activity and I had traced four so they could participate. We learned about pottery made in Greece which was a fascinating three fire process. We also studied the negative and positive space used on some vases. They each had two vases to color one emphasizing negative space and another emphasizing positive space. While they colored, I reorganized our crafts area of the computer desk. Our pencils, colors, scissors and such were overflowing.
The boys asked for a cup of peppermint tea while they finished up their art and map skills assignments. Homeschool Advantage and Grammar are normally afterwards but they had lost a grammar book and the living room was in need of tidying so that became a whole-family activity. We found the grammar book and I gave them an assignment of a story prompt that would be due Thursday. We put up the Lego Duplo blocks and some interlocking hexagonal toys and brought down the bin wooden blocks and toys.
We ate supper. My husband took one boy to taekwondo. The other boy stayed behind to clean his room because he misplaced some of his sparring gear. The little ones were thrilled with the wooden blocks so I took advantage of the time to clean the kitchen and tidy the little ones room. I was on a roll so I vacuumed some more and cleaned the windows in the living room.
6:30 pm - I'm calling it a day. We have our bedtime routine to finish by 8pm. That will include diaper changes, brushing teeth, vitamins, Bible reading, prayers, hugs, and blessings.
So this seems a little intense after reading it over. But Monday through Thursday are our academic days with Friday through Sunday is devoted to fun, errands and rest with a few necessary chores in the mix. What has helped me most is the detailed schedule that I've been tweaking to work for us. I was inspired by this schedule. I can't keep all of what needs to be done in my head. A schedule makes sure it all gets done but also that we don't burn out. In my schedule, I have 7 15-minute breaks in addition to meals and movie/game time. This gives us time for potty breaks, drinks of water and buffer time so that if one activity goes over a few minutes then the whole schedule isn't a wash. I'm not rushing us into burnout to get everything in my head done. It's on the schedule and it'll get done when the time comes.
Now for some family time before a well-deserved rest after a very productive day.
Friday, August 15, 2014
Knitting
I am beyond thrilled with what we have accomplished the first two weeks of school. The baby and I both had to be on antibiotics and yet my daily log is full of completed assignments. Can't wait to see what we can do at 100%. We are doing a 4-day school week of the basic reading, writing and arithmetic. Friday is for field trips, science experiments and art projects. So today we are heading out to do some geocaching.
The most thrilling part of the past two weeks has been watching my oldest fall in love with knitting. He got a book from the library. I got him some dowels and he made his own knitting needles. He practiced all the time. He carried his bag of knitting supplies wherever we went. I had to remind him that math came before knitting and knitting books were not to be read in bed when he should be sleeping.
Last night he completed a triangle. He learned the pattern all himself. He did a great job with the decreases. He's inspiring his siblings to join in on the fun.
Why is knitting important?
First of all, it's not a girl thing. Creativity is universal. But just to be on the safe side, I asked my husband for his blessing before proceeding with teaching knitting. When I was homeschooling our boys along with my niece and nephews, I made all parties aware of my desire to teach knitting as is done in Waldorf schools. Neither my brother nor my husband objected. At that time, only my niece learned to knit.
Waldorf schools teach knitting at every age. It comes before the alphabet. Knitting improves concentration. It perfects fine motor skills. Knitting is all about numbers and patterns which is part of why my pattern-thinker loves it so much. It teaches problem-solving because you will try to figure out a way to fix a mistake before undoing fifteen rows of work. It allows you to create something useful. David is making triangles and plans to add fringe to use as cat toys for our four strays who chose our family. Best of all, knitting is a social activity. People get together all over to knit. I've met quite a few people just based on our mutual love of fiber arts. Ravelry is a superb resource for bringing patterns, ideas, events and people together.
Off to do some treasure hunting!
The most thrilling part of the past two weeks has been watching my oldest fall in love with knitting. He got a book from the library. I got him some dowels and he made his own knitting needles. He practiced all the time. He carried his bag of knitting supplies wherever we went. I had to remind him that math came before knitting and knitting books were not to be read in bed when he should be sleeping.
Last night he completed a triangle. He learned the pattern all himself. He did a great job with the decreases. He's inspiring his siblings to join in on the fun.
Why is knitting important?
First of all, it's not a girl thing. Creativity is universal. But just to be on the safe side, I asked my husband for his blessing before proceeding with teaching knitting. When I was homeschooling our boys along with my niece and nephews, I made all parties aware of my desire to teach knitting as is done in Waldorf schools. Neither my brother nor my husband objected. At that time, only my niece learned to knit.
Waldorf schools teach knitting at every age. It comes before the alphabet. Knitting improves concentration. It perfects fine motor skills. Knitting is all about numbers and patterns which is part of why my pattern-thinker loves it so much. It teaches problem-solving because you will try to figure out a way to fix a mistake before undoing fifteen rows of work. It allows you to create something useful. David is making triangles and plans to add fringe to use as cat toys for our four strays who chose our family. Best of all, knitting is a social activity. People get together all over to knit. I've met quite a few people just based on our mutual love of fiber arts. Ravelry is a superb resource for bringing patterns, ideas, events and people together.
Off to do some treasure hunting!
Monday, August 11, 2014
The first week
Last week was our first full week back to homeschooling. So far so good! I have created a detailed schedule that is mostly a 45/15 breakdown of the day with school or play in the 45 min sections and chores and breaks in the 15 minute sections. Unfortunately last week, I had a cold turning into a sinus infection. I had used every over-the-counter remedy that I could as well as some essential oil solutions that seemed to help at first. Not sure if it was a placebo effect or just too little too late but ended up having to get antibiotics to clear this out. I wasn't on top of my schedule so the older boys felt free to be lax as well. Even so, with the schedule as the guide we still got most of the first week's schoolwork completed and even ahead in some areas.
I'll continue to tweak our schedule with more activities for the little ones. When they start getting loud and into things, I know they are bored and we need to grab some coloring books or playdough. I've pinned several ideas on Pinterest to add more variety to their day.
Last summer, we started this curriculum that I had planned. In history, we had covered the ancient history of Chinese, Egyptians and Phoenicians. This week we went ahead into Greek civilization. We are also covering Greeks in Famous Men of Greece and the Aeneid. Hopefully, we'll get into Homer as well. We found a Trojan horse craft on DLTK kids. A lot of fun!
For grammar, we are using an older text Intermediate Language Lessons. It is less busy work and more of the nitty-gritty of proper grammer.
Math requires a little tweaking for the second week. I have both some workbooks for practicing. We are also using Khan Academy just for it's thorough explanations of all the math concepts. David loves it. He uses it in his spare time to learn computer programming and science. I wanted them to complete two pages of Math in their workbooks a day. When I realized that David had a lot of 2-4 digit multiplication problems, I reduced his assignment. He didn't have trouble doing them, but he did have trouble sticking to it. It wasn't challenging or interesting but he does still need to practice math concepts to be proficient at it. This week, we are going to stick to a time for math worksheets. Do all he can in 30 minutes. Hoping that takes a bit of the drudgery out of doing things that he already knows how to do.
We learned about hieroglyphics in Art. We added hieroglyphics to our timeline in the 35th to 31st BC section. We wrote out our last name in the illustration section. We are also using an app called This Day in History to add other interesting bits of history.
In science, we are doing some experiments about insects. We learned about compound eyes and why bees use hexagonal patterns.
In literature, we are reading The Hobbit. With my cold, my reading aloud ability was greatly inhibited. So we passed the book back and forth between the three of us. It'll be great to get through the book before the third movie comes out in December.
We started on the 4th grade and 6th grade spelling lists. Both boys got A's and B's on their quizzes as well as their Latin quizzes. We are using Latina Christiana for Latin. I love having the CD to help review the material especially since my voice wasn't up for doing it repeatedly.
We are using All About Spelling to help James with his phonological weakness. This past week, we worked on segmenting words with 2-3 sounds. No doubt that he sees words first and foremost before he processes the sound. Even when a word ends with a silent e, he would try to say the e sound because that is what he saw at the end. All About Spelling is going to be a great resource for strengthening his listening skills.
Looking forward to all we'll be learning and accomplishing this week.
I'll continue to tweak our schedule with more activities for the little ones. When they start getting loud and into things, I know they are bored and we need to grab some coloring books or playdough. I've pinned several ideas on Pinterest to add more variety to their day.
Last summer, we started this curriculum that I had planned. In history, we had covered the ancient history of Chinese, Egyptians and Phoenicians. This week we went ahead into Greek civilization. We are also covering Greeks in Famous Men of Greece and the Aeneid. Hopefully, we'll get into Homer as well. We found a Trojan horse craft on DLTK kids. A lot of fun!
For grammar, we are using an older text Intermediate Language Lessons. It is less busy work and more of the nitty-gritty of proper grammer.
Math requires a little tweaking for the second week. I have both some workbooks for practicing. We are also using Khan Academy just for it's thorough explanations of all the math concepts. David loves it. He uses it in his spare time to learn computer programming and science. I wanted them to complete two pages of Math in their workbooks a day. When I realized that David had a lot of 2-4 digit multiplication problems, I reduced his assignment. He didn't have trouble doing them, but he did have trouble sticking to it. It wasn't challenging or interesting but he does still need to practice math concepts to be proficient at it. This week, we are going to stick to a time for math worksheets. Do all he can in 30 minutes. Hoping that takes a bit of the drudgery out of doing things that he already knows how to do.
We learned about hieroglyphics in Art. We added hieroglyphics to our timeline in the 35th to 31st BC section. We wrote out our last name in the illustration section. We are also using an app called This Day in History to add other interesting bits of history.
In science, we are doing some experiments about insects. We learned about compound eyes and why bees use hexagonal patterns.
In literature, we are reading The Hobbit. With my cold, my reading aloud ability was greatly inhibited. So we passed the book back and forth between the three of us. It'll be great to get through the book before the third movie comes out in December.
We started on the 4th grade and 6th grade spelling lists. Both boys got A's and B's on their quizzes as well as their Latin quizzes. We are using Latina Christiana for Latin. I love having the CD to help review the material especially since my voice wasn't up for doing it repeatedly.
We are using All About Spelling to help James with his phonological weakness. This past week, we worked on segmenting words with 2-3 sounds. No doubt that he sees words first and foremost before he processes the sound. Even when a word ends with a silent e, he would try to say the e sound because that is what he saw at the end. All About Spelling is going to be a great resource for strengthening his listening skills.
Looking forward to all we'll be learning and accomplishing this week.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
A new school year
This summer has been tough with their schooling plan up in the air. We had applied to a private Catholic school. We knew they weren't equipped for severe special needs. We were hopeful after David was on the honor roll all year and his special education teacher gave such a glowing recommendation saying that there really had been only two times during the whole year that he really needed to leave his mainstream classroom. After reading his IEP, they didn't agree.
So we went about the plan B which was public school again. We really have no complaints about their elementary school last year. James would be in the same school with possibly the same teacher moving from third grade to fourth grade. David would be in middle school. Katie Rose would be in pre K. But there were a few issues.
When going to the orientation for sixth grade, David was excited but not really paying attention. I was not feeling good about expecting him being younger than most 6th graders with the challenge of ADHD to be able to pay attention and keep track of all his assignments. My husband challenged, "but he has to learn sometime." I agreed, "yes, but is he capable at this point?" I have no problem with high expectations. The boys say that I am harder than public school teachers. I just don't want to have unrealistic expectations and set them up for failure.
Katie Rose's language had greatly improved over the summer. There was more social language. Asking appropriate questions. Answering with full understanding of what had been asked. Her conversation was smoother. I had really doubted that she would qualify. She barely fit in under the umbrella of developmental delay which probably had more to do with the ability to follow their instructions rather than her ability to actually do what was asked of her. But I knew there was a social delay that could be helped in the right classroom like David in attending the reverse mainstream preschool at MSU.
I had been disappointed with the services available to her. They would only give one day of service a week with all developmentally delayed children. The funding had been drastically cut so that there were very few spots and no reverse mainstream classes. Reverse mainstream is a special education class where normal peers are brought in as models for the developmentally delayed. David had been in both a regular special education class and a reverse mainstream. The difference was astounding.
James would do well in school but I had him evaluated for dyslexia. He did have a phonological weakness that would not be addressed at school because it was too mild. He had compensated enough with a good memory and hard work to be one of the top 5 readers in third grade for his school. We had been working on segmenting words over the summer. A little more work on this area of weakness would go a long way to helping him excel in the future.
I really do appreciate having the option of public school last year. Although I might could have continued homeschooling, I wasn't feeling confident in my ability to manage it all. I was able to get professional assessments of how well the boys were doing and where they really needed extra guidance. I had felt like it was really myself that was being graded. I can move forward knowing that all the efforts were effective and worthwhile. I loved the Leader in Me training they used at the elementary school. I read the book and we are implementing a lot of the ideas at home to encourage leadership.
In the end, the only option that truly felt right was going back to homeschooling. Yes, my house is still a bit crazy. But I've learned to schedule better to make sure everyone has something to do at any given time so that they aren't looking for trouble. Our newest baby is very laid back. He can get into trouble but he really didn't add a whole lot to the craziness. Plus after the boys were on honor rolls all last year, no one can argue that I'm not doing a good job. This is my calling. I take it seriously and I do it to the best of my ability covered with a lot of prayer. We now have boys scouts and taekwondo for frequent opportunities to socialize along with all church and homeschool functions.
Since I had planned out a Charlotte Mason curriculum last year but didn't use it, most of my planning was already done. There were a few tweaks for math and spelling. We started a timeline in a binder which is really cool. You can find it at Mater Amabilis at the bottom of the page.
We decided to choose a patron saint for this school year. I read an article that suggested that St Teresa of Avila might be a good patron for those with ADHD because of her disorganized writing style. Focus, responsibility and follow-through will be high priority this school year.
So we went about the plan B which was public school again. We really have no complaints about their elementary school last year. James would be in the same school with possibly the same teacher moving from third grade to fourth grade. David would be in middle school. Katie Rose would be in pre K. But there were a few issues.
When going to the orientation for sixth grade, David was excited but not really paying attention. I was not feeling good about expecting him being younger than most 6th graders with the challenge of ADHD to be able to pay attention and keep track of all his assignments. My husband challenged, "but he has to learn sometime." I agreed, "yes, but is he capable at this point?" I have no problem with high expectations. The boys say that I am harder than public school teachers. I just don't want to have unrealistic expectations and set them up for failure.
Katie Rose's language had greatly improved over the summer. There was more social language. Asking appropriate questions. Answering with full understanding of what had been asked. Her conversation was smoother. I had really doubted that she would qualify. She barely fit in under the umbrella of developmental delay which probably had more to do with the ability to follow their instructions rather than her ability to actually do what was asked of her. But I knew there was a social delay that could be helped in the right classroom like David in attending the reverse mainstream preschool at MSU.
I had been disappointed with the services available to her. They would only give one day of service a week with all developmentally delayed children. The funding had been drastically cut so that there were very few spots and no reverse mainstream classes. Reverse mainstream is a special education class where normal peers are brought in as models for the developmentally delayed. David had been in both a regular special education class and a reverse mainstream. The difference was astounding.
James would do well in school but I had him evaluated for dyslexia. He did have a phonological weakness that would not be addressed at school because it was too mild. He had compensated enough with a good memory and hard work to be one of the top 5 readers in third grade for his school. We had been working on segmenting words over the summer. A little more work on this area of weakness would go a long way to helping him excel in the future.
I really do appreciate having the option of public school last year. Although I might could have continued homeschooling, I wasn't feeling confident in my ability to manage it all. I was able to get professional assessments of how well the boys were doing and where they really needed extra guidance. I had felt like it was really myself that was being graded. I can move forward knowing that all the efforts were effective and worthwhile. I loved the Leader in Me training they used at the elementary school. I read the book and we are implementing a lot of the ideas at home to encourage leadership.
In the end, the only option that truly felt right was going back to homeschooling. Yes, my house is still a bit crazy. But I've learned to schedule better to make sure everyone has something to do at any given time so that they aren't looking for trouble. Our newest baby is very laid back. He can get into trouble but he really didn't add a whole lot to the craziness. Plus after the boys were on honor rolls all last year, no one can argue that I'm not doing a good job. This is my calling. I take it seriously and I do it to the best of my ability covered with a lot of prayer. We now have boys scouts and taekwondo for frequent opportunities to socialize along with all church and homeschool functions.
Since I had planned out a Charlotte Mason curriculum last year but didn't use it, most of my planning was already done. There were a few tweaks for math and spelling. We started a timeline in a binder which is really cool. You can find it at Mater Amabilis at the bottom of the page.
We decided to choose a patron saint for this school year. I read an article that suggested that St Teresa of Avila might be a good patron for those with ADHD because of her disorganized writing style. Focus, responsibility and follow-through will be high priority this school year.
St Teresa of Avila, pray for us!
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