5th Grade Calvert has arrived

 Eagle's school year starts in January.  This is because I made him repeat the third grade...when he was in third grade.  With only two months to go to complete his third grade year, I just didn't feel he had learned or retained enough to progress at that time.  The beauty of homeschooling is, he has repeated a year...but so far, has never failed a grade.  I still do not regret my decision, as I feel it was by far one of the best homeschooling decisions I have ever made.  He has come so far since switching to Calvert!  We have worked very hard to try and recover from the half of the year we fell behind when repeating that third grade year and we've advanced a few months.  He has a complete 12 months to complete his curriculum but we do hope to finish "early" to get him more "caught up" to his peers.  

Nothing is more exciting than starting a new year and today Eagle's boxes arrived!  

We are seasoned Calvert users so unpacking and getting things organized is a very quick process for us!  Here's what was in his box.

Everybody has their own shelf to keep all of their curriculum.  This is our shelf.

This is Eagle's shelf

Basically, all of the worksheets and manuals are stored in a crate.  All of his textbooks and workbooks are to the right on the shelf.  All of his novels and other materials are kept up out of reach because of the little ones.

The older kids are able to do a lot of things independently so we are moving back to the workbox system.  Eagle will use his system independently and Macaw will be training for the second semester of this year so that next year she will be able to work more independently as well. This system always worked well for Eagle, but we have not always had the space to do it so we haven't used this system for a while. We got a nice rolling cart for Eagle's workstation.  All of his assignments will be loaded into his boxes.  Each box will contain the things he needs to complete each assignment.  Any work that needs to be completed with me will be marked with a * and he will know that is a teacher led assignment.  He will complete his independent work (I answer questions and help as needed when I am available).  Teacher led lessons will be taught at our scheduled times.  At the end of the day I will grade his work and fill his boxes for the next day.  Any work that needs to be corrected will be worked on the next day.  He is responsible for filing away any graded work and keeping his notebook neat and orderly.  

Here are his workboxes

I immediately set up his boxes and he quickly got to work! Here is his first day of boxes...

Math

Close up of Math box

Close up of Grammar Box

Close up of Spelling Box

 Close up of Science Box

 Close up of History Box

Close up of Reading Box

Close up of Art History Box

Hope this helps those who are always asking how we set things up.  Hopefully soon I can give a more detailed look at how our classroom is set up now since we have moved.  

Tips for Homeschooling with a TODDLER!



How to entertain and incorporate a toddler/preschooler into an older child’s school day!

Anyone who has tried to school an older child when there is a toddler in the house, knows that this is quite a task! As a homeschooling mother of 6 children (three of whom are all almost exactly 1 year apart) I have learned some creative ways to keep the little ones busy!

Someone was asking for tips and as I typed this up for them, I decided there may be other people who would find some of these tips useful, so I decided to share it with everyone.

When I had the room, I had a big storage bin of rice with sand toys, and also a play doh bin with tons of cookie cutters, etc. I sat the box in the center of a plastic baby pool. It kept my little ones entertained for quite some time and when they were done, I just swept the rice up and dumped it back in the bin. Now we have about half as much space as we used to, so we have a plastic shoebox bin full of beans instead. They use measuring cups and bowls and just dump them back and forth (if you put them on a cookie sheet, clean up is easy). It is sometimes hard for them to control themselves, but when they start throwing the rice it gets taken away.

Keep a box of toys that they are only allowed to use during "school time". I always reserve more educational toys such as shape sorters, puzzles, lacing beads, stacking cups, building blocks, Lincoln logs, legos, etc.

I have found that if I spend some one on one time with my younger ones first thing in the morning…read a story, do a workbook page, play a game or something...and they will tend to entertain themselves much better and you can work with the older one.

I also take full advantage of nap time!!! You can sometimes get half or more of your school day done while a little one is sleeping.

It's amazing how much the little ones pick up just by sitting in on lessons. Here are some ways to include them:

Have some scrap pieces of paper and let your little one write when the older kid is writing something, assign the younger one something to write too…be sure to give them a stamp or sticker for their hard work and job well done!

Try and find a color page for whatever you are reading about in LA and let the little one color while you read the story.

We almost always find some craft or activity to go with the story we are reading and the little ones understand that if they don't sit and listen to the story they don't get to make the craft...it helps to let them turn the page.

Go to the $1 store and get some magnetic alphabet and numbers and if you don't have an old cookie sheet, get one of those. When you are doing phonics let your little one either play freely with their own "phonics" kit or you could pick out the letters you are using that day and limit him/her to using those letters just like you.

Put shaving cream in a gallon size Ziploc bag and zip and tape it shut (to keep them from being tempted to open it). Put it on a cookie sheet (just in case it leaks or breaks and to provide a nice flat surface) Let them use their finger to copy the letter you are working on (chances are they will get caught up playing with it and forget all about you an your phonics lesson (don’t be offended).

My little ones also have their own whiteboard to write on and they love that or you can get wipe on/off board books with letters and let them use those during phonics as well

Let them use their magnetic numbers and cookie sheet during math. It’s fun for them to try and find the numbers and model the numbers you are working with.

If you are using manipulatives with your older one, try dividing them and allowing your little one to work along side or you, or get them their own counters, etc. Just today, my little ones had a blast with the plane figures, they even built a castle.

During math, let your little one use pattern blocks, there are a lot of free printable templates for them to use…my little ones stay busy with these for quite some time!

We love “Learning Resources” learning toys…we have the Counting Cookie Jar (teaches numbers and counting), Rainbow Color Cones (teaches colors and counting), Sorting Shapes Cupcakes (teaches shapes and matching).

Dinosaur counters are a great tool for math

Lacing beads

Plastic sorting buttons

Little ones love to cut! Give them a pair of safety scissors (the ones that will ONLY cut paper) and draw some lines on a sheet of paper….this will buy you lots of time!

Join or start a Preschool Activity Bag Swap and if you can’t, make your own! A few hours of your time will provide your toddler/preschooler with countless hours of self entertaining! If you have a toddler or a preschooler, activity bags are a MUST have, trust me! ( I will have a list of activity ideas at a later time).

The MOST important thing you can do is reserve these things ONLY for school time! Rotate your ideas so that they do not get bored and NEVER give in and let them play with any of these things outside of school time.

Get about 6 plastic shoebox storage bins from the $1 store. Pick 6 things from the list above and put one activity in each box. Let them sit in with your older child and pull the boxes that coordinate best with your older child’s lesson.

There are many wonderful sites/ideas out there…here are of my favorites:

http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/preschool_activities.htm

http://www.preschoolpalace.org/

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/

http://www.dltk-kids.com/

http://www.preschooleducation.com/

http://www.preschoolprintables.com/

I hope you find some of these ideas useful and it gives you some ideas as you experience and try to survive homeschooling with a toddler in your house! Remember, you are blessed and you will get through these days!  I often have to remind myself of that!

~Mother Goose

Macaw alters her own curriculum!

The power of a 5 year old! 

There is nothing more amazing than watching my children learn...except watching them come up with their own way to learn!

Yesterday, Macaw and I were working on Language Arts.  Our lesson was interrupted and I returned to find this on her desk!

I see my foot.

She is working on high frequency words with word and pictures as part of her Calvert curriculum.

As you can see in the picture...there is an entire stack of "picture cards".  She set up her sentence using a piece to her new pedicure set she got the other day.

This routine continued as she changed her sentence simply by adding a new object.

I see my cup.

We went on to read..."I see my nail clippers", "I see my pencil", "I see my nail file"....

This small alteration made this lesson so much fun for Macaw!

It's wonderful to see her make changes to her own curriculum.  That's what homeschooling is all about...tailoring the curriculum to meet the needs of an individual child and there's nothing better than seeing them tailor it themselves!

Great Job Macaw...now on to today's lesson!

This is the way days should be :)



Today, Falcon started a new job.  This change will help us stay more on schedule around here because my day is guaranteed to start somewhere between 5:00am and 5:30am. 

This morning, Macaw woke up at around 6:30am.  This is very early for her, but she couldn't go back to sleep because the poor thing was so disturbed about a horrible dream she had.  So, after I did a few morning chores we started her school day!  She was finished with school at 9:30am  at which time Eagle had already begun his work.  Since Eagle doesn't take to change very well, he had quite a struggle today with us being back on a strict schedule.  His day took much longer than it should have, but he managed to get all of his school work done, including Art!  In Art, he studied the life and art of Henry Rousseau.  Rousseau was born more than 150 years ago in France.  He was an artist who loved to paint rainforests filled with wild animals.  Eagle studied some of Rousseau's paintings and he learned about how he used different colors, shapes and patterns in paintings.  He also learned how to use "overlapping" as a way to show distance in his artwork.  He did a fabulous job on his Exotic Animals Project in which he put his overlapping skills to work.

So, our day is halfway over...two kids are schooled, one is sleeping.  Eagle is trying his hand at making a batch of cookies all by himself (and it seems to be going well)!  Emu and Macaw are eagerly waiting to do an art project (rock painting) and I'm going to take advantage of the quiet time to get a few chores done before dinner.  It's about time for Cardinal and Hawk to begin their school day...this cold and gloomy weather has made them quite lazy today (that and the fact that Hawk isn't feeling well).  Our entire school day should be done by now, but that's the beauty of homeschooling...we can adjust our schedule as we need to and even though we are quite off schedule, we are having a picture perfect day!

Good to be back on track!

Whew....for the past 3 months, we have been living in complete disarray!  We no longer started school and we were packing for our vacation.  When we returned from our vacation, it was time to switch out fall/winter clothes...then there was catching up on all that school work, more clothes, doctor appointments, surgeries.....and well, yes...we are just now back on track around here!  Most people don't understand why it would take so long to get life back in order, but then again, most people aren't large homeschooling families!  We are especially busy this time of year, so it's such an awesome feeling to be back in a routine!

Last Friday, we met with our small homeschooling group and made Greeting Cards that we donated to be sent with care packages for soldiers for Christmas.

Each month we participate in events with our deaf community.  Unfortunately, this year we have not been able to attend most of the events (due to illness or schedule conflicts).  On Saturday, we were able to celebrate Christmas with this wonderful community of people!  The young members of our flock especially enjoyed visiting with the signing Santa!

On Sunday, we were suppossed to meet with a few of our close friends and visit a Christmas Lights Display, but the weather didn't cooperate and we had to postpone our outing.  It was a good thing because Hawk came down with a sore throat and a terrible headache.  We took advantage of the unexpected time at home and got all the cleaning done that we could.

Eagle's lesson on Igneous Rocks

We are finally back in the swing of things around here!!  Which means that we are finally able to add supplemental activities to our lessons.  This is one of the reasons we homeschool!  As a homeschooler, there is nothing better than being able to provide my kids with a style of learning that works for them!  Not only am I able to cater to their individual needs but I can also incorporate more than one child into a lesson as well, offering a younger child a head start and an older child a fun review!  My kids learn best with the Multisensory Technique .  I have always taught with this hands on learning approach well before any of my kids started Pre-K, it has always been a teaching style that came naturally to me.  Anytime we can fit a trip to the zoo, a museum, etc. into a lesson, it is an added bonus but we can often be found supplementing with hands on activities at home!

Friends (both in the blogging world and local homeschooling friends) are often asking what kinds of things we have been doing.  I promised to make more of an effort to post some of the fun things we've added to a lesson, this way when someone is looking for ideas, they can easily find a few here!

This week, Eagle has been working on his "Rock Hound" unit in Science.  He has learned about the different layers of the Earth and he has explored many different rocks in his rock kit.  Today, he learned about Igneous Rocks and how they are formed from volcanoes.  We found some great recipes to go along with this lesson!  First, we made a model volcano.  This was quite simple as we lined a cookie sheet with wax paper, then we took a piece of foil and crumbled it up and sat a toilet paper tube in the middle of it.  Then we took a small piece of wax paper and put it on top of the toilet paper tube.  We took a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and melted them in the microwave.  We discussed how rocks melt in the Earth's Mantle and this melted rock is called Magma.  When the chocolate chips were melted, we added 1 tsp. of vegetable oil and mixed it well.  Eagle then poured the "Magma" onto the top of our volcano.  Then, the "Lava" poured down the sides of the volcanoes.  We discussed what would happen as the Magma cooled and formed into Igneous Rock.  We sat our project aside to work on our next project.   

We began working on our next edible assignment... 

Igneous Rocks1 can evaporated milk (6 oz.)
1-1/2 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chopped nuts
1-1/4 c. mini-marshmallows
1-1/2c. chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla

Grease an 8" or 9" pan. Combine evaporated milk with sugar and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring for 5-9 minutes. Remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients and stir gently. Pour into prepared pan. Let cool. (refrigerate) 1 pan (8") makes 30 (1") squares.

We found this recipe, along with links for lapbooks and other useful information here.

As we waited for this assignment to cool, we made a salt dough volcano.  Eagle allowed his younger siblings to assist him in making his model.  They were quite eager to flatten the dough for him.  When he added the baking soda and vinegar, we didn't intially get the result we had hoped for, but regardless...they were able to see the volcano erupt a few times. 

We then returned to our first project, which we ended up putting in the freezer to make the hardening process go faster.  They enjoyed eating the Igneous Rock that was formed and they thought it was really cool how it peeled right off of the wax paper.

We are still waiting for our other Igneous Rock recipe to completely harden...wow, sometimes Lava takes a while to make Igneous Rock...but it will definately make for a nice snack later!

Tomorrow, he will be learning about Sedimentary Rocks and Fossils.  So, we have another exciting day to look forward to.  Friday, we will be going Fossil Hunting, something that my kids have always wanted to do!

***I did take a few pictures of our fun today, but unfortunately, my card reader is broken.  We are heading out soon to work on Christmas Wish Lists, so maybe we'lll pick one up!

Time to REFOCUS!!!

We've spent the last month around here trying to get back into routine, catching up on school work and doing some "fall cleaning".  Our family is always so busy, each of us doing our own thing and it seems we don't have a lot of time to spend with each other.  This tells me that it's time to refocus big TIME!!!  My kids are growing up way too fast and I don't want to miss a moment with them!  Our weeks are so busy with school and our homeschooling group.  Last month, we started having "Family Days" with a few friends.  Once a month or so, we get our families together for a family outing.  It's nice to have time to do these things with our friends!

Now, that things are getting back in order and as we reestablish our routine and get back to our strict schedule, we will be finding more time to enjoy our own family!  As a large homeschooling family, following and sticking to a strict routine and schedule is the only way that we can sucessfully function!  We've had a lot of fun the past few months and surprisingly, not only have we stayed caught up on our school work, but we have also been able to start and organize a small life skills group with a few local homeschooling friends.

 I have had a few requests from some of my blogging friends for me to do a post on how we manage our days and how we do our workbox system.  I am currently updating our workbox system and will be working on that post very soon!  We have lots of exciting things to look forward to in our studies and I will do my best to share what we are learning!  Thank You for following us on our journey! 

~Mother Goose

FriDay-in-the-life

Whew!  We made it to Friday :)

Wow, what a busy week...it just flew by!  We usually try and have "Free Day Family Friday's", but we planned on working today, as we are trying to "get ahead" for the weeks we will be gone.  

As always, my morning didn't go as planned.  I was not feeling well at all last night, but ended up sleeping it off and getting a good night's sleep while I was doing it.  My alarm went off at 6am and I was actually ready to get up, but Duckling had other plans for me.  I snuggled with my little nursling for about 45 minutes...then it was time to get busy.  She started her day with me (way to early for her)...but she had a bananna and a cup of milk and enjoyed watching Elmo while I did a few chores.  She soon drifted off to sleep on the couch for a bit until the others started coming down.  

Macaw and I started her day with the story of "Three Billy Goats Gruff".  While she made a Goat Toilet Paper Tube Craft, I read her the story.  She enjoyed acting out the story afterwards with her new little goat friend.  Next, we worked on her letter for the day, which was letter "Bb".  She practiced writing and also formed letters Aa and Bb with clay.  We then moved on to her rhyme, which was Jack and Jill.  I found a few crafts/activities so while Emu and Duckling worked on a color-by-number , she worked on finger puppets and sequence cards.  We then took a break for a while before making a pail craft (we just took small bathroom cups, punched two holes on opposite sides and attached a pipe cleaner handle).  I then wrote the rhyme on the cup.

Then, it was off to the Pulmonologist with Eagle.  We packed up the netbook and a few workbooks, but we didn't get much accomplished....oh well, I guess we get an "A" for effort.  Eagle's lung condition has held fairly steady since January, so he had a great visit!

Cardinal and Hawk took their day off and by the time we had dinner, the rest of our day was shot.  Apparently, the little ones have adjusted to our school schedule because by 7:30 they were starting to beg to go to bed.  At 8:30, poor Emu just couldn't wait anymore.  He had been begging for his shot for at least a half hour, so....he got his injection and off the little ones went to bed.

Our house hasn't taken too bad of a beating this week, so it's time to tidy up a bit and get ready for our weekend.  It's another weekend away for us...sigh....busy, busy, busy! 

We've linked up with the "Not" Back to School Blog Hop this week, so hop over there and give them a visit!  I've enjoyed visiting the blogs of fellow homeschoolers this week :)

Jack and Jill

We are loving the Calvert Curriculum that we are using with Macaw!!

Today's rhyme is "Jack and Jill"...

I am always adding extra activities in where ever I can and with every story or rhyme, I try to find at least one craft.  I can not believe that I have not discovered http://www.makinglearningfun.com/ sooner!  This is a wonderful free site for my little ones...and to think I was going to pay for Enchanted Learning!  Ahh...anyways, Macaw has been working on different enrichment activities this morning. 

Here she is trying to recite her new rhyme with her finger puppets that she made.  Hey, not too bad considering we had only read the rhyme a few times before she felt ready to try to recite it!

She also made sequence cards

She's taking a break for now...but when she returns, she will be making a pail before trying to recite her new rhyme!

ThursDay-in-the-life

Uggh!!

Again, my morning started much later than it was suppossed to...but, storms last night sent five visitors to my room.  Hours went by and finally, I was able to get to sleep, but not long after...my alarm was making a very poor attempt to get me up.

I finally made my way downstairs at around 7am.  My coffee just isn't the same when I'm out of creamer and I didn't have the heart to wake up Falcon, as I knew he didn't get any sleep either.  So, needless to say...my morning wasn't off to a great start.

The kids started waking up on their own as early as 7:30...the muffins were just coming out of the oven.  You'd think our school day would have gotten off to an earlier start, but for some reason things were just very chaotic this morning.  Hawk was not very happy when he came down to find out that he was not going fishing, but at least his school work was done for the day. 

Macaw received all of her Calvert Curriculum/Supplies at around 11:30am. 

We unpacked and went through all of her stuff and got her things organized.

 

She was so eager to get started, so we dove right in.  To my surprise, she was not very willing to allow the smaller ones in on her lesson.  She has always worked extremely well with the kids, but after all...she understood that she is starting Kindergarten.  She knows that this year is the "real deal" and that all these wonderful things came to HER, so I couldn't blame her for wanting the attention all to herself.  It was a rough afternoon trying to get her lessons done, but she was able to enjoy most of her day and at times, she did allow her younger siblings to sit at the table with her. 

Duckling eager to sit in on a lesson

Duckling working on her letter "A" worksheet

Emu showing off his worksheet and Macaw hard at work on her workbook

We made puppets of Goldilocks and The Three Bears after we read the story

Tomorrow, I will wake her up early and try and get most of her things done before Emu and Duckling wake up.  I wonder if other veteran homeschoolers have to do as much "tinkering" with their schedules as I do!

Cardinal worked almost completely independent today.  I love her attitude and her drive...she is so eager to learn!  She is very much enjoying her Life Science.  It was thrilling to see her excited to learn something new and the "oh" factor that comes with figuring out how and why certain things happen.  She read about plants and how they form a wax like substance to protect themselves when they get cut or injured.  She rushed right out to the field to find a dandelion to experiment with.  I love that she is in an environment where she has the ability to learn hands on...where she can get right up from her desk and set foot outdoors to actually "see" what she is reading about and to be able to watch things happen, instead of just reading about them.

By the time I was finished teaching Macaw her lessons, I had a terrible migraine headache.  I was unable to work with Eagle, so he had an "off" day.

The alarm is set to go off at 6am tomorrow.  The goal is to have Macaw up by 7:00.  I went to the store and got creamer and the kids were all in bed at a decent hour tonight, so there should be no excuses in the morning!  Tomorrow shall be a better day!  

Hop on over to the Not Back to School Blog Hop and see how other homeschoolers spent their Thursday!
We'll see you tomorrow!

WednesDAY-in-the-Life

We have linked up to the Not Back to School Blog Hop this week, sharing "A day in the life..."

Today is Wednesday!  We are not quite in full swing of a "normal" school day, but we knew as we started this year, that we'd have a rough beginning.  With so much going on and so much to do, we aren't really going to get into the swing of things until near the end of September.  For now, life and making precious memories awaits us! 

You see...my mother is nearing the end of her life and we are preparing for a very special trip with my entire family.  One last "horrah" for my mom, her last vacation...our last chance to make precious memories that will hopefully last my kids a lifetime.  It's a very bittersweet trip, but one we anxiously await! 

Today, my day started later than I wanted it to...but since life is always happening around here, I didn't get much sleep last night.  I went to bed much later than I should have and Duckling and Macaw both paid my room a visit at around 3am.  From 3am until my alarm went off at 6:30, I didn't get much sleep so I didn't crawl out of bed until nearly 7:00am.  I sipped a cup of coffee while enjoying the nice morning breeze and great conversation with Falcon and soon later, the flock made their way down the stairs.  Breakfast, which was just cereal and fruit this morning, was served by 8:00am and by 8:30am or so today's lessons had begun.

The little ones were busy with play, Eagle got busy with his spelling lesson, Hawk worked on Math and Reading and Cardinal squeezed in part of a History lesson before we had to rush off to her Dr. appointment.  Falcon stayed behind to teach the others, while I took Cardinal to her appointment.  On our way home, we stopped off at a few places to gather some items we need for our upcoming trip.  We were gone for about 4 hours, but when we returned, lunch had been served and Hawk and Eagle had completed all of their daily lessons.  Eagle learned about writing numbers through 10,000 in Math.  Reviewed a bit on identifying the four kinds of sentences in LA.  He was introduced to Vocabulary (WordlyWise3), he enjoyed a classic story in Literature and did a bit of Geography.  I'm not sure what Hawk's day brought him, but I know that he completed all of his assigned lessons. 

Macaw had received a package from her school which contained some lessons concentrating on her fine motor skills.  She was so excited and she got right to work writing and cutting away. 

Emu was busy sharpening colored pencils...it's a tough job, but someone has to do it!

Cardinal worked hard on a research paper she had to complete for Science (Madagascar Organisms).  It seemed pretty easy for her, but she didn't complain...she took some great pictures!

After dinner, we spent some time outside.  The little ones were excited to find a grasshopper and so they learned a bit about him.  I love watching my kids in the great outdoors and I love that our classroom isn't contained to those four walls that enclose that one room in our house that we call our "classroom".  I love watching my children learn about the great world that surrounds them.

Emu was not too sure about this little fellow...

Duckling, on the other hand, was busy explaining to Mr. Grasshopper that they were "Best Friends"...

...and look at that smile!  Mr. Grasshopper must have agreed!


So, now our Wednesday comes to an end.  The little ones have been down for about an hour, recharging for whatever tomorrow will bring.  Hawk just completed tomorrow's lessons because he wishes to spend his tomorrow out fishing with Falcon.  The big ones are off to bed and Falcon and I will end our day, similar to the way we begin it...sitting outside, enjoying the cool breeze, only this time instead of the fresh morning sun, we'll enjoy the stars in the sky. 

Not Back to School Bloghop!

I am a little late jumping into the Day-in-the-life series linked to the Not Back to School Blog Hop, but hey...better late than never right?

I don't think there is a "typical" day in our house.  With 6 kids...a lot of "life" happens around here.  Our house is a very hectic one, anyone who follows my blog knows this for sure.  Usually, we are rushing off to hospital and/or doctors appointments or something else comes up.  Our new school year has slowly begun.  Our goal was to start weeks ago, but...as always...that "life" sometimes gets in the way.

In the last month or so, Cardinal, Macaw and I have all had a surgery and Duckling was admitted in the hospital for a day of testing.  Once that was all behind us, we were busy planning an upcoming trip. 

We had decided to "officially" start our year this past Monday...but, guess what!  Yep, that darn "life" once again.  You see, we went out of town to take our van to our mechanic on Sunday.  Since things don't always go as planned, when we were on our way home, our engine light came on...yes, as we left the mechanic.  So, back to the mechanic our van went and we went back to my parents to spend another night. 

So, this week...we have had those "life lessons".  The ones where you learn that life isn't perfect and things do not always go as you plan.  As homeschoolers, we take every opportunity to learn and every opportunity to have fun.  So, on Monday, Cardinal and Hawk enjoyed a day at the waterpark with some friends.  Monday night, Hawk and Eagle enjoyed learning about stars, planets, storms and weather.  Falcon and I worked all morning on our September preschool lesson plans and tonight, we are back home!  We have finished dinner, made a dozen Uncrustables and now it is time to get the little ones in bed!  Cardinal is working hard on a Composition lesson.  I'm so proud of her independence and her drive to learn.

Tomorrow...we WILL be back in the swing of things...Mother Goose will drag herself out of bed very early and the flock will be soon to follow!  Of course...we will be calling the Dr. in the morning as it should be no surprise that someone in our house needs to be seen for something.  I look forward to sharing our day with you tomorrow.

Ready for our new school year!

We always get excited this time of year!  There is nothing like getting new folders, pencils, notebooks, etc. and of course the new school books!  I love to watch the excitement as my kids get all their new things for a new school year and I love their eagerness to get started once everything is organized.

Our classroom changes a lot, but I always try and make it a bright and inviting place to be, afterall, we do spend most of our time in there!  All of my friends are always envious of our classroom and often call on me to help them organzie their stuff for them.  I always try and make the most of our space.  My family thrives on routine and structure and while we do some work away from our desks, it works best for us to have a structured "classroom" environment.  Unfortunatly, we seem to move a lot and we've always been lucky enough to have the space to have a classroom, but currently, we've had to give up our dining room in order to have our classroom but no one seems to mind eating meals in the family room in front of the tv.

This year, Macaw officially starts Kindergarten.  She is actually less than excited, as she knows that it's time for some serious work around here!  I hoped to find a loophole to get Emu "officially" registered for K, but he just doesn't make the birthday cut.  He will still work with Macaw in her K lessons and he will just start on an advanced level next year.  So, we will have an 8th grader, 6th grader, 3rd grader, 2 K'ers and 1 preschooler this year.  It's gonna be a busy year, so it's time for us to get started!

See pics of our classroom here

We are looking forward to a great year :)



Because learning is more important than progress...

...and it is sooooo worth it!

I homeschool my children through a statewide "virtual" academy.  I am very fortunate to have this "public" school option available to us.  It definately has it's many perks, such as, each student is assigned a licensed teacher and students can work at their own pace.  It also has it's disadvantages, such as students being assigned to a "newbie" licensed teacher or one who is insistant that you work at a particular pace.

I have been using the same virtual school for 8 years now.  We have had some absolutely wonderful teachers, some of whom I have developed lifelong friendships with...and we have had some horrible teachers.  Some of which have pushed me further and further away from the idea that this is the school for us.  My children are very bright (bragging, I know), our curriculum is extremely advanced (the reason I chose it).  My children learn best through a multisensory  hands on style of learning (one of the biggest reasons I keep my kids at home) and they thrive in an environment in which they can learn at their own pace and when they are taught with a learning style that is taylored specifically to them.

We have always been able to work at our own pace...sometimes working ahead and sometimes getting very far behind.  We have always been met with understanding, support and the proper guidance.  This year has been very different with just one of our teachers.  I thank God for the support and encouragement from our other two teachers, as they have kept me sane in dealing with this other teacher.  You see, our school, being a public school; recieves state funding for their students.  However, they only recieve this funding if the student has met certain criteria...so some teachers push you to work at their pace.

We almost always add something extra into each lesson.  We may go to a museum to get a hands on look at what is in our history or science book, or we may make a craft, build a model, take a walk outside, visit the library, or we may even "visit" another country and bring back souviners from our trip (currently, we have one tour bus learning all about New Hampshire and one tour bus visiting our friends in the UK).  These "extra" things are not built into our curriculum, but yet they take a lot of extra time.  Sometimes, by doing so many extra things to go along with a lesson, we would get a tad behind.  This year, we have taken a lot of pressure from one particular teacher.  Not because we are falling behind in our required studies, but because we are falling behind in "extra" things that they are requiring students to participate in.  In an effort to get state test scores up, my 7th grader is required to do up to 5 hours of additional work that does not count towards her required work.  This has caused us to not have the time available to do the extra things that we are so accustomed to doing.  So, we ceased some of these hands on learning experiences so that we could be sure to keep our % up.  We've done a fabulous job, as Cardinal has just about caught up on subjects that she fell behind in over the course of the last few difficult years.

Eagle seemed to be suffering the most.  I've watched him just go through the motions of his lessons, passing through each of his history lessons, but not appearing to really be "retaining" the information he was being taught.  I've struggled for months watching this behavior and with the support and encouraging words of one of our teachers...I decided that it was time for me to take a stand and stop worrying about our darn %.  Not just Eagle, but all of my kids were missing out on the superior education that they deserve...for what....a higher state standardized test score?!  The very reason I homeschool and it was being robbed from them.  So, this past week as Eagle studied "The Rise of Islam" we went back to one of our older hands on tools..."Lapbooking".  We had to stop using lapbooks because quite simply...they take a lot of time....A LOT!!! 

Now, this past week, I spent a good extra 2 hours a day, sometimes 3 printing templates, cutting, gluing, etc. and setting aside pieces that Eagle would use to create his lapbook during his unit review.  Each day, Eagle would use these pieces to review the lesson from the day before.  He would help create some of the pieces and those key points of the lesson would not be forgotten.  He was so eager to work on History lessons this week and he would gleam when he knew an answer during review time.


We spent our Friday night assembling his lapbook and he had so much fun, you would have thought he was building Legos.  He was so full of pride, I was afraid he might burst.  Now, as he finished up this unit about Islam, he actually learned something and he remembers it! 

Front cover

1st opening

Middle page in 1st opening (flap book an a matchbook)

Right side page in 1st opening (matchbook and a single flap book)

Fliped pages to 2nd opening

Left page of 2nd opening (mini book of flags & mini envelope containing answer to question on envelope)

Top flipped page of 2nd opening (single flap book, foam flip cave, map shape book with movable pages)

The cave opened up

2nd flip up page with flap books opened to show answers

View of entire book opened up (except the bottom page on right corner isn't flipped open in this pic)

This is the green page that is between the two yellow pages above (shown here with accordian book and triangle books opened)

Bottom flip from 2nd opening (Circle book and index with answers on filed on index cards)

Bottom right corner of 2nd flip (sorted picture cards)

 His lapbook turned out awesome, he is so proud of it and well...he should be, we worked really hard on it!  This is why learning is so much more important than "progress" because on Monday...we are moving on to the next unit (all the while he could tell me all about Islam) and to me, that IS progress!