Getting back to business

Goodness gracious, it's been far too long since I gave this blog some love.  Our little vacation was wonderful, but it definitely threw me off track in terms of both schooling and blogging about it.  The one thing that absolutely got done while we were out of state was PE: the kiddoes were in the pool for hours every day.  The end result is that Hulk is now both floating and swimming quite well, and Goblin is now dunking his head under the water at will and floating.  He's really close to swimming as well, so I look forward to our next chance to get them all in the water.  Even Athena improved: she worked on learning new swimming strokes and practiced lengthening the strokes she was already using.

We've been staying afloat and keeping up with our language arts and math work, but everything else fell behind a bit.  I love how easy it is for me to cover the kiddoes phonics, spelling, reading, writing, grammar, etc all in one with Logic of English.  That has really been my lifesaver over this past month or so.  Our math work is equally easy to keep up with because everything is mapped out for me.  As much as I love the fun things we add in and experience with our other curricula, it is really nice to have the most important parts of our learning not require any extra planning on my part.

Right now I'm pouring over resources for our unit on ancient Rome which we're starting to look at this week.  The kiddoes had a wonderful time studying ancient Greece, so I hope this grabs their attention as well.  Either way, we're getting back on track for school work, and now I'll be getting back on track in this blog as well.  Many more crazy adventures ahead. :)

--Little Miss Crazy

Mini Vacation

Mr. Crazy has been busy lately with a bunch of short jobs (1-3 weeks), so we decided to join him on his latest trip to Illinois.  It's a mini-vacation for the kiddoes and I (we brought along some language arts and math so no one falls behind but we're not working every day or for long).  Now we have one week down and one week to go, and we're all still enjoying our downtime.

We got a big rental SUV (seriously, I am in love with this vehicle-- I think we need one to keep!), and a beautiful suite at the hotel, and the kiddoes are spending a minimum of an hour in the pool almost every day.  We also spent some time at Starved Rock State Park this weekend; we were even able to sneak in a bit of extra fun science and history along with some major PE: they have some killer staircases along those trails!

So we are having a great time taking a break from the usual daily grind (and from blogging).  I'll leave you with a little sneak peak of our fun from this weekend:

Those little colorful specks hidden in the cliff face are my kiddoes.  They had so much fun climbing!

 

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . pride

This week, I love homeschooling because it is a source of pride for the whole family.

Earlier this week, we went into town to run errands and find some new books at the library.  When we were at the desk to check out, the kiddoes were discussing their book choices with the librarian.  Most of their chosen books were nonfiction choices about different animals.  They went on and on quoting various facts and interesting anecdotes on various animals from their studies (and also a little from Wild Kratts).  Just before we left, the librarian took a moment to let me know how impressed she was with their knowledge and interest.

After we left, I told the kiddoes what the librarian had said and added in how well I thought they had all behaved and how proud I was of them for sharing their knowledge.  I could tell they were all very proud of themselves for earning both her praise and mine.

I love it when people compliment the kiddoes.  All my days are spent trying to help them develop into the amazing little people they have the opportunity to be, and I couldn't be prouder of my contribution to their lives and their progress through the confusing process of growing into their futures. This is just one example among many of the sense of pride that homeschool has brought into our lives.

--Little Miss Crazy

Grocery Shopping Sanity Saver

Sometimes, we do something other than sit at home with our schoolwork.  ::gasp::  I know, it's a big surprise.  :)  We still have to take care of the house, feed ourselves, or just get out and breathe some fresh air.  I try to keep any non-schoolwork time as peaceful as possible.  My constant nemesis to peaceful days: grocery shopping with children.

Grocery shopping is BORING for the kiddoes (like pretty much all other kiddoes).  After about two minutes of being told I will not buy whatever crazy-expensive, sugar-coated, cartoon-endorsed munchable food  they see, the kiddoes are ready to be outta there.  Then they proceed to try to fill their boredom . . . by driving me insane (just kidding).  I've known for a while that I needed to come up with some way to keep the kiddoes occupied during our trips to the grocery store so we could get this simple task accomplished more effectively.

After the success of our zoo field trip scavenger hunt, I decided to use a similar strategy to give the kiddoes a diversion for our grocery trips.  I took my grocery list and wrote out the items on index cards (I also made up extra cards for our common purchases so that I can reuse the same system each time we go to the store).  I punched holes through one corner of the cards, separated them into three groups, and put each group onto a metal ring.  When we got to the store, I gave each child one ring of cards, and told them that they were responsible for finding all the items on their personal "list."

Everything together and ready to go.

They LOVED it.  They have never been so excited to take care of the mundane part of our shopping excursion.  I arranged the cards so that they would come up in order as we went through the aisles, so each time someone picked something up, I would have everyone read off the next item on their lists to be prepared for their next "turn."  And as an added bonus for this effort, the boys got some reading practice as well. 

Athena also had extra tasks to do for some of the items on her list.  Finding the best price for tomato sauce or deciding what size block of cheese we need to last two weeks if we eat a certain amount each day were worthwhile challenges to get her brain working for a moment or two.  In the future, I will add a list of possible extra considerations to the back of the individual cards so she (and the boys at some point) can start thinking about them in advance.

So, the sum total: Mommy got a peaceful and enjoyable trip to the store; everyone got a little reading practice; and Athena got to use her math skills in everyday situations.  It was definitely a successful "school" day.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . first day celebrations

This week I love homeschooling because our first day celebrations don't have to be confined to a classroom.


Even though we school year round, I still think it's fun to celebrate a back-to-schooling time in the fall.  Maybe it's because I love the season and what it signals, but to me fall has always felt like the season of new beginnings.  Suffice it to say, it's always nice to do something to get everyone in the mood for a new year of learning opportunity.

This year, we had some pre-first day celebrations as well as some more fun on the first day.  We started things out with a super fun picnic with our neighbors and some good old-fashioned running around in the beautiful weather.  We also continued the tradition of gifting the kiddoes with new school supplies for the year [this year's favorite item was highlighters. :) ]  Then we moved onto singing, tumbling, hanging upside down, climbing trees and ended the morning off with some crabapple picking.

It was not the most exciting way to start off a new year, but it was also not the most mundane; and best of all, these were OUR choices.  Some were planned; others were spontaneous; but all of them came from us, making it the best start to the year I could imagine.

--Little Miss Crazy

Ancient Americas

Although we had the least amount of information for this unit of all our areas AND we didn't do any kind of project, this was one of my favorite areas of study thus far.  [Story of the World volume 1 does not include any discussion of the Mayan civilization or those that came after (these are studied in volume 2), so instead we studied some other civilizations in the Americas that I had never studied before and they were just fascinating.]

Kiddoes drawing their journal entries.

First, we discussed the Nazca of South America.  This ancient tribe made pictures using the earth itself: enormous pictures that can only be seen from high in the sky.  From the ground, they look like roads or stray markings in the dirt.  But if you fly over this dry area, you can find pictures of a spider, a monkey, a flower, and so many more.  The Nazca lines present us with two mysteries: WHY were they made and HOW were they made.  Many theories exist to answer both of these questions but nothing conclusive has been found to point in one particular direction.  The Hows are most likely explained through science: perhaps using the positions of the stars or very careful mathematic plotting.  If you are interested in a modern exploration of the Whys, check out this great episode of Digging for the Truth.

Next, we moved on to the Olmecs, who lived in Central America.  They also left behind some amazing works of art: giant statues of heads.  The popular train of thought is that these were sculptures of the rulers of this civilization.  Why don't they have bodies? Nobody knows.  What was their purpose? Another mystery.

Finally, we briefly discussed the early Native American tribes in North America.  We looked at legends and folklore dating back from their earliest manifestations.  the kiddoes had a great time coloring in a comic depiction of the story "Rabbit Shoots the Sun."

 It was a lot of fun to take a brief glance across the globe and see how civilizations were starting out in different regions.  This allowed us to discuss similarities and differences between cultures from one region to another and gain a little more insight into the ancient world.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . math toys

This week I love homeschooling because math manipulatives make the best toys.

I admit it: I am a math manipulative junkie.  Months ago when our box arrived packed to the brim with RightStart's math program, I spent hours pouring over all the fun "math toys" which now have a home on our shelves.  And we use these tools during our math lessons.  I can't remember a day over the last 6 months when we have not used some of our manipulatives during math time.

But the greatest use of our math manipulatives does NOT come from our curriculum.  The kids are constantly wanting to play with our math tools, outside of school time; they are quite simply the most interesting toys in our house.  When other children (and often even adults) come over, the first thing that interests them is our math balance (it sits on top of the shelves that hold the rest of our school supplies); then they notice the abacus, geoboards, clock, tanagrams, cubes, etc.  I am now never at a loss to figure out what my kiddoes would enjoy for birthdays, holidays, and so forth.  A tool to help them learn always holds their interest better than the latest toy craze.

The items we have purchased to enrich our homeschool are utilized both during and outside of school time.  They enrich our lives on the whole, which has been a real blessing.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . progress

This week I love homeschooling because I am always aware of my children's progress.

Athena had her standardized testing this week (and I put together a little informal something for the boys as well), so the idea of their educational progress has definitely been at the forefront of my mind.

The feedback parents receive from their children's teachers always seemed completely uninformative to me.  I was always confused by Athena's weekly reports because they were either too general (informing us how the class as a whole was doing) or too specific (listing pages from the workbooks that they accomplished, which meant nothing since I didn't have access to those books).  Most frustrating was when the report came home for an average week: all the check boxes marked at their highest level and a two word personal remark: good week.  It got to the point where I stopped looking at the reports entirely because it would make me irrationally angry to see those meaningless marks as my only indications of my daughter's progress.

Now I ALWAYS know how my kiddoes are doing in their studies because I'm right there with them.  I always know how they've been behaving because I can see them and call them out on problem behaviors when they happen.  I can tell when they're not quite getting something or falling behind because these are the only kids I have to watch out for.  Good or bad, fast or slow, progressing or falling behind: I know right where they are and that's right where I want us to be.

--Little Miss Crazy

Ancient Africa

Although there is not much information about the peoples in Africa during ancient times (other than the Egyptians), we discussed the movement of people around the continent because of changes in climate (expansion of the Sahara desert) and stories passed down in African folklore.

We read a few of the stories about Anansi, the spider; the kiddoes enjoyed his stories a great deal because he is a bit of a trickster and a dreamer.  We just read the ones in SotW, but there are other books with these stories and some videos as well.

For a fun activity, we used the suggestion from the activity guide of painting hands with geometric designs.  The kiddoes traced their hands onto a piece of construction paper, then used markers (instead of paint since I wanted an easier medium for them to make their designs-- you could also use pencils like the family from Creekside Learning) to add whatever designs appealed to them.

Hulk knew exactly what design he liked and he added it big and bold on both his hands to start out.

Goblin got hooked on the idea of putting rings on all his fingers, which added something fun and funky to his hands.

Athena wanted a little bit of everything for her designs.  She spent a lot of time getting them each just right.

After the designs were finished, they cut their hands out so they could display them in their rooms.  Later on, I might glue them into their history journals so they don't get lost (if they haven't already disappeared when the time comes).

 

 

The kiddoes had a lot of fun with the stories and art from ancient Africa.  I would really have liked to try out some of the great recipes listed in the activity guide (fried plantains sounds so simple and delicious), but the imagery was so fun that we couldn't pass it up, even for food!

--Little Miss Crazy

Field trip to the Zoo

At the beginning of the month, we took the kids to the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory with my parents.  For a little something extra, we turned our family trip into a field trip.  We challenged the children to a little bit of learning and I think it made the trip more fun for everyone.

First, I made each of the kiddoes their own scavenger hunt for our trip to the zoo.  Goblin had to find animals with different physical features (feathers, fins, etc.); Hulk had to find animals that lived in different types of homes (in the water, in a nest, etc.); and Athena had to find animals based on their classifications (mammals, amphibians, etc.).  They all had a good challenge that was right on par with their learning level, and we had so much fun figuring out where to find animals that would fit their lists.  Once they found an animal that fit their question, they would draw a picture of it and/or write its name.

Next, we used maps to navigate around the zoo.  Each of the kiddoes got their own maps (one for the zoo and one for the gardens) and was able to keep track of where we were and figure out how to find areas that we needed to reach (the restroom is always a good one to quiz kiddoes on, since they inevitably need to go many more times than the adults.)

Finally, each of the kiddoes had to choose one animal to use as their nonfiction project for the month.  While at the zoo, they had to find the animal, and write down anything they could learn about it from the exhibit: what they look like, what they eat, where they live, etc.  Over the next few weeks, they've also looked up information about their animals online and found books about their animals at the library.  I can't wait to see how these projects turn out when they're all done, because the kiddoes have all learned a ton (and so have I)!

Goblin chose giraffes.  Hulk chose the poison dart frog (which we found in the new rainforest exhibit.)  Athena initially chose tamarin, but changed her mind to sea lions.

We had a wonderful visit to the zoo.  The kiddoes (and the grown-ups as well) learned a lot and had a lot of fun searching for animals.  Next time, I'll have to make up a scavenger hunt (or something similar) for the gardens as well; this time they had the map to follow but no extra activities, and they were definitely not having as much fun through those areas (except when they were able to goof around on stone bridges).

It goes to show, though, that with a little bit of planning, any simple trip (even to a place you've been many times before) can be a lot more engaging and can turn out to be a real adventure for everyone.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . maps

This week I love homeschooling because maps are considered necessary decor.

I know anyone can put a map on their wall.  Regardless of their schooling choices.  But it seems to me that anytime a homeschooling family is showing pictures of their homeschooling space, there will ALWAYS be a map.  Or a globe.  Or a slew of them mixed together (which would be my dream room :D).

Honestly, I am a little bit obsessed with maps.  Before deciding on the kiddoes current nicknames, I was strongly considering calling them Legend, Latitude, and Longitude.  If you peek into my home decorating board on Pinterest, there are a LOT of map-based items and ideas (that and a lot of organization ideas-- another regular for a homeschooling household).  Mr. Crazy and I have done our fair share of travelling and plan to do a lot more in the future, and we really want our home to represent that interest.

Maps are a little bit fun and a little bit functional, and I've found them to greatly enhance many of our homeschooling discussions.  I couldn't imagine my home without a few maps.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . schooling in pajamas

This week I love homeschooling because (if we want to) we can wear our pajamas all day every day.

Most schools have a variety of goofy fun days where students and teachers are meant to dress to a certain theme-- one of the most common themes is pajama day/ come as you are day.  When the kiddoes and I all wear pajamas for school, I call it Monday. :)

It is very freeing to know that when we don't have to go anywhere and we won't have any company during the day, we can just stay in our pajamas and be lazy and comfortable.  Honestly, I love pajamas.  I have some really fun sets (gotta love Garfield!) and some plain ones (solid blue), but all of them make me feel more at ease and cozy.  It's nice to be able to just relax and get moving a little slower some days.

Most of the time, we change out of our pajamas some time over the course of the day, but often enough, at least one of us stays in our comfy clothes throughout our school time.  We don't need to impress one another, and a little bit of freedom goes a long way toward everyone's daily happiness.

--Little Miss Crazy

Speed, acceleration, and velocity

We discussed our terms for the week-- speed, acceleration, and velocity-- but more than anything else, we just had a lot of fun using our speed.  We raced cars down ramps.  We measured distances with our measuring tape.  We used a stopwatch to time ourselves running up and down the hallway, the backyard, the road, etc.  We were introduced to another great song from Mr. Edmonds. We ran and ran and ran. 

If there's one thing boys enjoy, it's running.  They will do it every chance they get.  Throw in a couple fun tools, like a measuring tape and a stopwatch, and they'll do it even more.  And sometimes, it's just that simple.

--Little Miss Crazy

Ancient China

Ancient China is such a rich area that we could have spent months covering it.  We focused on the subjects covered in Story of the World since it is our spine for history.

First we discussed the story of how silk was discovered and made, then the kiddoes put the pictures from this worksheet in order to show the process of silk-making.

Next we moved on to Chinese writing.  First, I showed the children examples of early Chinese pictograms, then compared these to more modern Chinese calligraphy.  We used a few pages from Ancient Civilizations from Scholastic (I bought this ebook-- among others-- during dollar deals for only $1. Scholastic has a lot of ebooks that work very well as supplements; I've purchased some for nearly every subject).  For a fun, hands-on project, the kiddoes made ancient books following the tutorial from Jimmie's Collage and wrote stories on them primarily using the pictograms from Ancient Civilizations.  I was not daring enough to let the kiddoes paint their pictograms, but some good pens worked well enough and everyone still enjoyed getting to make these.

Next we discussed how the various states in China were constantly at war, similar to the other areas we have studied, and were eventually united under a conquering emperor who took the name Shi Huangdi.  He began the building of the Great Wall to keep out invading Mongols and searched for the Water of Eternal Life, until his death when he was buried in an underground city guarded by an army of life-size terracotta warriors, horses and chariots.

Building their own Great Walls to protect their side of the Lego empire

We finished up our study of ancient China by discussing the life and teachings of Confucius.

We will definitely be taking a more in depth look at ancient China on our next cycle through history.  We used some resources from Squidoo in our study, but there is a huge wealth of information available.  I can't wait until our next study of the far east.

--Little Miss Crazy

(belated) TGIF . . . full days

This week I love homeschooling because it fills our days.  (::Sigh:: I tried to get this posted on Friday before our field trip, but apparently I didn't know what I was doing, so yet another belated TGIF post . . . this time following a long blogging break.)

We are homeschooling year-round with a relatively laid back schedule.  We have had a LOT of time off this summer due to household projects, family commitments, and what I like to call "life happens" (hence my temporary disappearance from blogging).  But this week, we finally had a regular school week again, and things simply went SO much smoother than they have during our partial weeks and off weeks over the past month or so.

When we have too much unscheduled time, I think everyone gets a little bit crankier wondering what the expectations are and how to fill their time.  After a period of disruption, slipping back into regular routines is the easiest way to make everyone feel comfortable and stable again.  The kiddoes might not always love their school work, but our daily grind provides a level of predictability that can be quite soothing.

When we follow our schooling routine, there's less time for everyone to get bored.  We generally always have something that needs to get done, or at least something that we want to look into farther or take more time on.  A full day is definitely a happy day in our home.

--Little Miss Crazy

Ancient India

I decided to try to jump around the rest of the world during ancient times before running headlong into ancient Greece (even though I am sooo looking forward to covering Greece).  We started by moving farther east to discuss ancient India.

First, we discussed the mystery of Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus River Valley; I had the kiddoes come up with ideas why the region appears to have been suddenly abandoned.  The kids did an exploration game including an online tour of Mohenjo-Daro, which was pretty cool, especially seeing all the clues that show us the advancements these very primitive cultures had made, such as sewers and irrigation systems.

We moved on describing the caste system that developed in the Aryan culture; the kiddoes were especially interested in the Untouchables and the Unseeables lower than the lowest caste (probably since their names are WAY more fun to say than the brahmin and the soldiers).  We had a good discussion about the difference between the castes, which you are born into and cannot change, and classes in our society, which can fluctuate widely within a family and even within a lifetime.

I read a condensed version of the origins of the Buddha and the beginning of Buddhism then showed them pictures from about five years ago when Athena and Hulk visited Kamakura with their grandparents (Goblin was a newborn so we stayed home) and got to see the big Buddha statue there.  Athena was impressed that Buddha tried to stop people from being cruel to animals.  It is endearing to see what an animal lover she has become.

It looks like Buddha is part of the family!

We discussed the ruling family that united much of northern India into its first empire and how that process is historically always viewed as a good thing (so the individual cities are not warring on one another) even though it is generally accomplished by one king conquering the region.

We wrapped up our discussion of ancient India by trying out a recipe for curried rice.  I wish i could claim success, but our onions and spices got pretty burnt so the whole dish was a bit of a flop.  But the kids all got to help cook, so it was still a lot of fun to try.  And maybe next time we'll get it right!

The introduction of different cultures is one of my favorite parts of our history studies. It's amazing to see what else is out there and try something new!

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . exploring the world

This week I love homeschooling because it forces us all to see how much there is in the world to explore and learn.

Too often, people disregard the interesting and quite educational opportunities and experiences in our lives.

When I was young, I was fascinated by our visits to the planetarium.  I loved stargazing at night (still do) and wondering about the universe unfolding far over my head.  However, I never was driven to find out any more on the topic than what was readily available.  Like a diligent public school student, I waited for someone to give me more information about this awe-inspiring subject matter.  I didn't get more than a brief overview of the heavens until I had the chance to take an astronomy class in high school.

When my children find subjects like this that are fascinating to them, I want them to know that they should and are quite capable of finding out as much information on their chosen subject as they would like to know.  To that end, when we read a book or visit a museum or see an interesting caterpillar in our yard, I find out if my children want to learn more.  If they do, I help them find more information AND (more importantly) I encourage them to find more information on their own.  The most important lesson I can teach them is how to learn and not to let anything stop them.

--Little Miss Crazy

off-week

There will be no TGIF post this week.  It has been such a crazy busy week that I really need the recuperation time this weekend.  But, next week we should be back to our not-so-busy crazy summer schedule, and hopefully I can get a few posts online.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . perfect fit

This week I love homeschooling because sometimes we find resources that are a perfect fit for our family.

Finding a perfect fit is not easy, in any realm of life.  Clothing: everyone has their own unique body and style and meshing the two is a constant challenge (at least for people like me).  A home that suits your family, desires, and budget can take a lifetime (or a really amazing contractor).  Likewise finding the right style of learning, the right curriculum, and the right resources for homeschool can be a journey of epic proportions.

That is why it feels so amazing when you find a perfect fit.  I'm not foolish enough to think  these things will always be perfect for us, but it is nice to feel like we are doing well for right now.  Right now, math is getting done, and even getting enjoyed some days.  Right now, I LOVE the boys' language arts curriculum (and the one Athena will be moving into soon), and they are having a lot of fun with it as well.  Right now, the kids are all picking up information from history and remembering it.  Right now, we continue to have fun exploring science together, and I always come out understanding things better once I've shown them to the kiddoes at the most basic level (which should make things easier in our future schooling).

I can only hope that we will continue to be blessed in finding resources and styles that work this well throughout our homeschooling adventure.

--Little Miss Crazy

We're the Mesopotamians!

One of the ways we followed Myths, Maps, and Marvels was by adjusting our timeline to cover all of what's considered Mesopotamia together in one chunk instead of switching back and forth between this area and Egypt.  Although we had a lot of fun with this unit, looking back I took almost no pictures of our learning.

We learned that all the city states in the Fertile Crescent fought with one another, but were unified from time to time by various rulers.  The first of these was Sargon, the military dictator.

My favorite section was on Hammurabi and his code of laws; we discussed why they were considered fair for the time and what about them was not so fair (ie: the rich only had to pay in many circumstances, but the poor had no money and would have to face more severe punishments).  Afterward, the kids came up with a few rules of their own and had to explain why they thought they were fair.

We listened to stories about Mesopotamian gods and built a ziggurat out of Legos.
 
We compared Hammurabi to Shamshi-Adad, King of the Whole World, who did not follow the same laws he put out for his people.

We read a condensed version of the epic of Gilgamesh and drew pictures of what we think Enkidu might look like and other exciting moments in the story. 

We discussed Ashurbanipal's wish to be immortal and his decision to be remembered forever by building a library at Nineveh.  Also the kiddoes tried to imagine how much work it would be to gather clay tablets from all across the region together.

We built siege towers out of Legos.

We learned about how Nebuchadnezzar built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and drew our own pictures of what we thought they might look like.

And of course we listened to "The Mesopotamians" by We Might Be Giants . . . a lot. lol The kids still ask to hear this song on a regular basis and were able to easily remember most of the rulers in Mesopotamia from the chorus.

Honestly, I loved learning about this area's history; I do not remember learning much about it when I was in school, so going through it with the kiddoes was a great learning experience for me as well.  I find myself learning along with them quite often, even when we're reviewing things I have studied before, which makes our experiences doubly rewarding.

--Little Miss Crazy

(belated) TGIF . . . unscheduled time off

I love homeschooling because it allows us to take time off when it suits us, scheduled or not.  (This post was not written last week because we have been in destruction and construction mode!)

At the beginning of the week, Mr. Crazy and I realized we finally had enough extra in the budget to get to work on our big project for the summer: rebuilding the basement walls that were ruined.  So last week was spent cutting down walls, putting up new walls, taping, mudding, sanding, painting, and a little fun decorating at the end.  I am so glad we did this ourselves; things are not perfect, but it just feels so good to complete a big project and get that sense of accomplishment.  And the kiddoes all finally have their own rooms, which has made the household a LOT less tight.  We still have some work to do, but the bulk of it is finished, and I am loving the results.  (The kids each got to pick the color for their room-- they all picked pastels, or salt-water-taffy colors, as I call them.)

Athena

Hulk

Goblin

A little flexibility in our schedule goes a LONG way during days like these, and I feel so blessed to be able to jump on an opportunity like the one that landed in our lap last week.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . time for everything

This week I love homeschooling because we have so much more time for life.

When Athena went to public school, she got on a bus at about 7am and was brought home at about 3pm.  She sometimes had homework to be done and always had learning that needed to be worked on (reading practice, spelling words, etc.).  At that time, we spent 8-10 hours each school day on her schooling.  Now that we homeschool, our school day generally lasts 3-4 hours (for all 3 children), occasionally longer when the kiddoes get wrapped up in their learning.

That means that we have about 4 extra hours each day for other things that catch our interest.  More hours in the day for taking walks, planting gardens, playing games, singing songs, pretending to be pirates, building snow forts, reading books for fun, and a host of other possibilities.

But that is not the only extra time I get with my kiddoes now.  Since I am the one doing the schooling, we're together during that time, too-- and a lot of our school time is pretty fun, too, in my opinion.  Now we have all the hours of the day to enjoy the world together, both through our learning and through our play.  I get to spend my best hours and my worst hours with my children (and they get to spend their good and bad times with me), so we all get to grow together, instead of apart.  I am so thankful for the time we've been blessed with.

--Little Miss Crazy

Copywork

I started having Athena do copywork initially to work on her handwriting.  She just started writing in cursive last summer, so she is still working on getting many of the more challenging letters formed properly (especially capitals).  I don't insist on perfection, but I do insist that her work be legible, and I do insist that ALL her schoolwork be done in cursive.

Copywork has become a fun way to introduce enjoyable and thought-provoking quotes and literary snippets into Athena's week.  Or to draw attention to something from a read-aloud or other book we're using.  Sometimes we discuss what she copies and sometimes they are never mentioned again, but it is nice to know that she has been exposed to them in one form or another.

At the beginning, this process was drudgery for her; she would try to rush through and, inevitably, her work would be sloppy so she would have to fix it.  But now she does not mind it.  It certainly isn't her favorite daily work, but she likes to show off when she makes a particularly good letter or word.  She's starting to show pride in her writing instead of hustling through it and not worrying if anyone else can understand it.  Definitely a change for the better.

--Little Miss Crazy