TGIF . . . homegrown learning

This week I love homeschooling because we use our everyday activities as learning opportunities.

I know this is something I could do if my children were schooling outside of the home as well, but I really never jumped on those opportunities the same way I do now.  As soon as my daughter started kindergarten, I think I fell into the mindset that the school was responsible for education and I should just leave it to them.  I laugh now at what a ridiculous notion that is.  My kiddoes' education is too important to ignore, and even if all I taught in our home was general life skills, that would be of great value.

This week was spring cleaning in our house, and a LOT of work needed to get done (we rearranged a good deal of the house and turned a formerly storage-filled laundry room into a pantry space).  The kiddoes all had their individual jobs to do, and they helped in some way with nearly every major job.  We planted vegetables that the kiddoes need to keep watered and observe growing.  Mr. Crazy likes to bake bread, and the kiddoes get to participate with the process.  Learning how to do all these things and learning what happens in the world around us are very valuable lessons; lessons that I am glad my kiddoes and I have a chance to explore together.

--Little Miss Crazy

Telling time

Hulk's latest math unit was on telling time.  He has primarily been following Math Mammoth because he enjoys the workbook style program, but we supplement with games from RightStart for extra practice and just because they're fun.  This unit was more of a 50/50 split between Math Mammoth and RightStart however: I wanted to focus on clock time more than calendar concepts, so I filled in a lot of activities and extra learning from lessons in RightStart A and B related to telling time on an analog clock.

After a week of learning about telling time to the hour and half hour, I felt like Hulk would fly right through the activity to place the hour numbers on a blank clock face.  Actually, he had to repeat this activity quite a few times to remember which number was in which spot.  By the end, this became very easy for him, but I'm glad we spent the time with it (I almost skipped this activity thinking it would be too simple).  Now I know he has a strong idea in his mind of what a clock looks like and how it works. Later on in the lessons, he used a clockface with numbers and had to figure out which number of minutes corresponds to each number place.  This activity was a new challenge, but he was able to excel at it after much practice and exposure to the clockface as well.

I loved that we had a geared clock to progress the minutes and hours and give Hulk a more accurate idea of how time looks.  Athena still struggles with time when the hour hand moves far past the hour, which I believe is due to always being instructed with a clock where you had to move the minute hand and the hour hand individually (the minute hand would not progress the hour hand around the clockface like a real, geared clock does).  I could already see Hulk having an easier time understanding how the hour relates to which number the hour hand has passed, rather than the hand needing to point directly at the number.

The greatest benefit to using RightStart is the easy implementation of the games.  They are an integral part of the lessons and learning, and the kiddoes beg to play them-- literally BEG.  At this level, many of them are variations on standard games using nonstandard cards (pictured above is a matching memory-style game using cards with clockfaces and clocktimes to match), but that is even better: the kiddoes are already familiar with the game, but now they can do it with a new concept in mind.  This keeps it simple, fun, and still a challenge-- a winning combination in our house.

 

I really never imagined this level of excitement over drilling basic math concepts, but RightStart's activities and games have really turned my thinking (and the kiddoes') around.  The best part is that I can really see how much they're learning, which makes me a very happy mama indeed.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . sick days

This week I love homeschooling because we always have time to cuddle on a sick day.

Goblin zoning out when I took a picture of him watching movies on the laptop in bed.

Goblin woke up not feeling well on Tuesday.  It had mostly passed by lunchtime, but we still had a lazy day cuddling and watching movies.  Could the other children have had a normal school day? Absolutely.  Could Goblin have gotten back to his schoolwork once he was feeling better? Certainly.  Was it nice to have a day in the midst of a rainy, gloomy week to simply relax and take in some goofy video entertainment? I can't even express how nice.

We don't keep a particularly gruelling schedule, but I do get caught up in the cycle of getting things done and getting things planned out until the free time all disappears from the week (at least for me).  Having a restful day in the middle of the week, regardless of the reasons, can be a much needed relief, especially when the weekends have been filled with obligations.  As much as I hate to know any of my kiddoes are not feeling well, it does force me to sit back and relax, which is often exactly what we all need.

--Little Miss Crazy

Moving on into LoE

I mentioned in a previous post that I was very excited about the plans for the boys' language arts starting after we finished up our letter-of-the-week curriculum.  Well, the time has finally come to get started on something new; we have now officially started on our Logic of English curricula!

Originally, I planned to start both Hulk and Goblin into the Foundations program, but since that plan was made months ago, I now realize that Foundations A (which is the only part currently able to be purchased-- I did not find this curricula early enough to get involved in the Beta) is far too easy for Hulk.  He is very motivated and many reading milestones have already flown right by, much faster than I anticipated from my years of tutoring.  So instead of my original plan, Goblin started out in Foundations A and Hulk started into the Essentials curriculum instead.

Foundations is a great fit for Goblin; whenever it seems like he is getting bored or tired, we switch to a new section of the lesson and his interest is regenerated.  Or we come to an active exercise, such as acting out the words after I sound them out (which he always loves).  We work through one lesson each day, covering all the sections.  Sometimes we make it though in one sitting, and sometimes we need a break or two to get little-boy-jumpiness out, but we do complete a full lesson each day.  Goblin's fine motor skills are not yet prepared for writing on paper, so for the handwriting section, we use the tactile letters, sometimes use the whiteboard (mostly for visualizing and for my examples), and write in the air with fingers.  I love that he can begin learning the steps for the letters without needing to put pencil to paper.

I bought the Essentials curriculum to use with Athena next year, which makes it seem like it would be a little advanced for Hulk, but it is actually quite versatile.  Before Foundations was due to be released, I was thinking of starting the boys both into Essentials at a slow and easy pace.  They already have possible schedules laid out for both younger ones learning to read and older ones needing remedial help (and even ESL students and adults).  We're going through one lesson per week, skipping the dictation and composition sections (at least until Hulk's handwriting is ready for constant use).  Hulk is also following the handwriting sections from Foundations at an accelerated pace, generally learning a new letter each day.

I should probably mention that the boys are learning cursive.  These programs do give a choice of cursive or manuscript, but suggest cursive first, which falls in line with my plans.  I chose not to include any handwriting with the letter-of-the-week curriculum because the boys' fine motor skills were not ready for handwriting.  They do sometimes choose to write block letters, but I don't require it or encourage it for school work.  Any written work that Hulk and Goblin have completed up to this point, they explained to me and I wrote out for them.

I am so excited by the progress I already see from Hulk and Goblin in their new curricula.  These programs are teacher-intensive, but right now we are getting into a good routine which should make it easier, and I truly believe this is the best move for us.  I cannot wait to see what is coming as we continue through these programs.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . craft time

This week I love homeschooling because I have creative time with my kiddoes.

This may seem like a silly consideration to some people, but I really love having the time to do arts and crafts with my children.  I have always been a bit of a crafter, so early on I started making crafts with the kiddoes, for holidays and for learning and just for fun too.  It didn't always turn out the way I wanted or the way they wanted, but I have so many wonderful and crazy memories of those times together.

When Athena started public school, she did art there, so repeating a similar craft at home just wasn't fun.  And the hours when she was home were always filled with getting dinner on the table and the house cleaned (my best fun-with-the-kiddoes time is early in the day).  I also felt guilty for "leaving her out of the fun" when I did projects with the boys while she was out of the house.  So our crafts dwindled down to almost nothing.

Now we have lots of opportunities to make things together to go along with our studies, which makes me very happy.  Sometimes I do a lot of the work, and sometimes they can do it mostly by themselves, but we still are creating together, and that is a truly special thing.

--Little Miss Crazy

Geography and Globe-making

I added in one additional unit before jumping into our Story of the World history curriculum: geography.  This seemed like a great time to discuss the world, since at the end of the last week, people were scattering all across the globe.

Since Hulk and Goblin are still kindergarten/ preschool age, we did a very simple geography unit, focusing on oceans, continents, compass directions, and how to read a map.  I used a lot of free resources from around the web as well as a couple books we had around the house.  The biggest necessity for teaching geography is a big colorful world map-- as soon as I put our map on the wall, the kids were hooked.  They wanted to know everything about it.  Their questions were my jumping off point, and most of our unit formed simply from that interest.

We started our studies with one of my favorite projects to date: a paper-mache globe.  It was messy, a lot of work, and we didn't do a very good job of it in the end; but it was soooo fun, and the kids loved doing it (well, the parts they did do and didn't leave to their over-worked mommy).  I followed some simple instructions combined from a few websites, such as Enchanted Learning  and this museum website.  There are a number of different versions to be found.

I used a punch balloon to get a decent round shape (regular balloons tend to have their own shape rather than being spherical).  We made up some glue, dipped newspaper strips into it, and draped them around the punchball.  We coated the punchball 3 times (Athena did most of the first coat, Hulk did a little of the second, Goblin did some of the third, and I did whatever was left).  I put the ball outside to dry for a few hours between coats, and left it outside to dry overnight when the last coat was done.

The next day, I drew on the continents freehand with a Sharpie marker.  The kids painted in all the landmasses (Antarctica white, the rest green), then filled in the oceans with blue.  They got a bit overzealous and attached Australia to Asia, but other than that, they did a very good job with their tasks.  The whole thing could have used another coat or two of paint, but I was pretty tired and frazzled from policing little ones with paint-covered fingers, so I declared it complete, and we left it outside to dry another night.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention: the punchball (being a lot thicker than your average balloon) did not pop after the paper mache dried, so we left it there to use its handle to hang our globe.

And voila! Our finished product:

It might not look like much to anyone else, but we had a ball (pun intended) making this little beauty, and everytime I look at it, it makes me smile from the memories. 

--Little Miss Crazy

Where to start history?

I hemmed and hawed about where to start our history studies for a long time.  At first, I was planning to jump right into Story of the World and start in on nomads settling on the rivers in the Middle East.  Then I thought the kids would appreciate some time to talk about the dinosaurs.  Then I realized my kids really care very little for dinosaurs (so little that they were happy to skip them entirely).  Finally, I realized that the only thing that made sense was to start at the very beginning.

Now I know not everyone agrees on what that was, how it happened, and how quickly it happened; but since this was meant to be a very brief overview of time (and also give me time to get resources together for our following units), I chose Bible stories to cover our first few weeks into official schooling.

I'm not big on Bible studies. You'll notice that I don't include any religious study in our daily or weekly schooling like many families who homeschool do.  And if you knew me at all, you'd know it was a tough decision to claim the Christian timeline and teach it to my children.  But in the end, I am very happy with this decision, and I think I did relative justice to my children and the subject at hand.

Week one, we covered the seven days of creation.  The kids each made a book with one page for each day, which was really fun.  The backgrounds were all made from ripping paper so the kiddoes had a blast doing that.  We cut out a few of the harder shapes, and I let them use markers to draw in the most complex additions.

 

 

I also read them a variety of other creation myths from different cultures around the world. We briefly discussed similarities and differences among the stories.  They were really fascinated with some of the stories, and Athena was able to understand how each tale was based on facts people knew about their world.  She was truly convinced for some time afterward that the Cherokee myth must be right because it explained nocturnal animals, and that was an idea she could understand.

Week two, we dedicated to Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel.  This was a difficult week for discussion because the subject of sin is so challenging to pinpoint; I didn't want to oversimplify or overcomplicate it. In the end, they had a pretty good idea of the events and why things unfolded in this way and how this would affect things in the future.  Honestly, it was a pretty hard week to get through, and I'm proud that they understood what was covered.

Week three was definitely the most fun of the four because we covered Noah and the ark.  We read through the Bible story, and then although it is not very true to the Christian story, I let the kiddoes watch a short Disney cartoon of Noah's ark (part 1 and part 2).  We discussed the reasons for the flood and the agreements made between Noah and god.  For art, the kiddoes painted rainbows, after we talked about the symbolism of rainbows from Noah's story.

 

Week four, we went over the Tower of Babel.  Since I have a couple little builders,we had some fun with the tower (most of the idea originally came from here).  First, we built towers out of wood blocks.  I gave each child the same number of blocks to build.  No one could make one very big.  So I told them to put all their blocks together so they could build a much higher tower.  Then I made an earthquake by shaking the table and knocked the tower over.  Then I started speaking bits and pieces of other languages (heaven knows, I am not fluent enough in anything to pull off more than a few words here and there).  They got confused, but then thought back to the story.  They understood how confusing and difficult it would be to stay with people who spoke a different language.  Then I showed them the countries and regions of the world where some of the words I had been speaking came from (okay, okay, I did teach them a couple words of Klingon too, but luckily no one asked me to show them that area on the map), and we discussed how people spread all over.

I couldn't resist adding in one more activity. I printed off some bricks from 1+1+1=1, put numbers on them, and had the kids build a tower with them on construction paper-- making sure to glue the blocks on in order.  (None of them wound up in order on paper, but they did actually glue them on in numerical order.)

All in all, I think this little diversion into Bible history went well.  It made for a lot of fun projects to start our first year off with, and the kids and I were able to get into the spirit of things without pushing too hard.

-- Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . School in the sun

This week I love homeschooling because we can have school out of the house and in the sunshine whenever the weather agrees.

Last week, it was warm and sunny every day, but also very windy and the ground was very wet from the thaw, so we kept school work in the house to prevent lost and soggy papers.  This week, however, the weather has been bright, cheerful, and mostly calm.  Perfect days to take school out onto the deck.  The kids even took some of their work out to the swings to see if they could work and play at the same time.

--Little Miss Crazy

Work and energy introduction

Kids have heard the word energy tons of times in their lives.  Mine usually hear something like, "Go run around outside and use up some of your energy!"

To kick off our energy unit, Athena read Energy Makes Things Happen which introduced the scientific idea of energy. It wasn't very hard for my kiddoes to take their basic understanding and apply it to energy in science.  We discussed different forms of energy that they are already familiar with-- light, sound, heat, etc.  We also briefly discussed fuels and where we get our energy.

Something has energy when it is capable of doing work, although the scientific definition of WORK was harder for the kiddoes to understand. We discussed work at the beginning of our simple machines unit, but it was very brief, so we learned it all over again now with energy.  When a force moves an object over a distance, work is done.

 

We reviewed distance by measuring the width of apples, height of ourselves, length of the room, etc. (and everyone loves a good excuse to play with the measuring tape). We reviewed force quickly, too, although they have a pretty good understanding of force. Then we moved on to a few easy examples of work: if I hold a feather up high, then drop it, that is work because the force of gravity moves the feather the distance down to the ground.   If I push an apple across the table, my force is a push and the distance is across the table, so I am doing work.

They really had fun when we tried some examples where NO work was done.  I asked them to push the kitchen wall as hard as they could.  Since the wall doesn't move, no work was done-- but they sure were tired for having done no work. lol

The kids always enjoy it when I can find a song related to what we're going over.  SchoolHouse Rock! has some good ones, although not much related to science.  However, we have found a treasure for physics-related songs; a science teacher made parodies of well-known oldies, rewriting them with ideas from science.  Most of them explain not only the terms, but their units and some formulas.  We are only doing a basic overview of the ideas of physics and leaving the math for our next run-through, but the kids still end up memorizing the songs and singing them all the time.  This week's song, "The Work and Power Song," was no exception.  These songs are great because my kiddoes already know the tune and because the lyrics include a lot of repetition that they can catch and easily remember.

I get excited when the kiddoes can take a concept they already know (such as energy) and bridge the gaps to understand how science defines that concept.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . Board games for school

Sigh. It's only been one week, and I already almost missed this one (I'm cutting it pretty close, but in my timezone at least, it is still Friday).

Anywho . . . this week I love homeschooling because we get to play board games and call it school work!  The kids all practiced reading, counting, and critical thinking this week when we played Dungeon.

Honestly, pretty much any game really is helping kids in one way or another.  Useful skills and especially critical thinking are an important part of most game play. We have two closets full of board games, card games, puzzles, dominoes, and dice.  The kiddoes always have access to the ones that they are old enough to use without supervision, and they get so excited when we introduce something new.

Games are my favorite way to add a little more fun to a school day that is dragging.

--Little Miss Crazy