Teaching Our Kids To Read

This school year, Alex and Olivia will be doing a combination of preschool and kindergarten work together. At 10 1/2 months apart, they are close enough for me to school them at the same grade level. So we'll be starting with preschool level work and moving on to kindergarten as the year goes on.

One of the top things on their curriculum list for the year is learning how to read. They are excited about this. I am excited about it too, but also a little hesitant.

Isabelle learned to read fairly painlessly. We used a combination of Christian Liberty Press readers and Bob Books. We worked hard and had many sessions that ended in tears for both of us for about a week. Then I loosened up a bit and within a month, everything just clicked for her and she was reading like she'd been doing it all her life.

I would love to have a repeat of that experience, minus the first week of crying of course. But I'm not getting my hopes up. I have heard many times that teaching a boy to read is a much different process than teaching a girl to read. So, I'm just trying to be realistic. I want to be optimistic, but I'm also prepared for a possible struggle.

We do have one thing going for us though - our kids love books! They love being read to and they all can sit with a pile of books and look through them for hours without complaint. Alex already claims that he can read. He can't, but he does recognize a word or two every now and then. I am counting on this love of books to really boost the learning process.

My plan for now is to start with simple letter recognition and printing, move on to simple word and letter combination recognition and printing, and then slowly introduce the early readers. I haven't decided which early readers to use yet though. I would love some suggestions if you have any. And I am more than open to any other tips or ideas you may have for me. Is teaching a boy to read really that different from teaching a girl to read?

Stop by Five J's for Joy's awesome series, Thirsty Thursday.

Read more...

Frugal Homeschooling

We are getting ready to begin our sixth year of homeschooling. Over the years, we've kept a pretty tight budget for our homeschooling supplies. And I've definitely learned a thing or two along the way to help us provide a quality education for our children while still keeping our finances in check. There are so many wonderful homeschooling resources and catalogs out there that it would definitely be easy to over spend.

1. Look to the future. If you only have one child you are going to homeschool, you can definitely skip this step. But if you have younger children, consider buying books and materials that every one will be able to use at some point. The initial expense may be a bit more, but it will really pay off in the long run.
   
2. Save everything. I have boxes and boxes of books and workbooks from Isabelle's previous years of school. Most we'll be able to use again with Alex, Olivia and Gracie. The rest will just serve as inspiration for me as I lesson plan or help my buying decisions. Some of the books we've saved are only somewhat used. That's because not everything we buy always works out. But just because it doesn't work well for one child doesn't mean it won't be a perfect fit for the next child. And for those programs that you know will just never work for your family...
3. Sell what you're sure you won't use again. There are tons of options available for selling those materials - garage sales, online, homeschool fairs, or within your homeschooling group.
4. Scour the thrift store shelves. Most thrift stores that have a book section will be like searching for hidden treasures. It may take a bit of time to dig through the selections, but it's usually very worthwhile. I don't think I've ever walked through a thrift store without walking out with at least one book we could use in our homeschool at some point.
5. Learn to love the library. There's no denying it - the library is a homeschoolers best friend! In addition to books and materials you can check out, see if your library offers used book sales and if they have assigned dates when they give away old magazines. We probably have a whole bookshelf filled with books and magazines that we've gotten by taking advantage of these programs.
   
6. Use scrap paper. Homeschoolers go through a ton of paper. Whenever possible, use scrap paper, including junk mail that has a blank side. If you, your spouse or even any friends or family members work in an office, ask them what they do with their paper. Nowadays many offices have piles of paper that they set aside to shred. Depending on office policies, most are more than happy to give away that paper instead.
7. Split up expenses. If the investment for a whole year of schooling is too much at once, buy some materials at the beginning of the year and some halfway through.
8. Go online. The plethora of homeschooling information and materials online is mind blowing! You could feasibly build an entire curriculum around free or low cost materials you find online.

Here are some great online resources for homeschoolers:

• Cindy Rushton offers a host of valuable products for homeschoolers. Some of our favorites are The Ulitmate Homeschool Expo and the Basic Drawing and Art Class.
• The Old Schoolhouse Magazine has a fantastic collection of homeschooling ebooks.
• The folks from Knowledge Quest offer a great workshop called Homeschooling ABCs that includes 12 bonus gifts of curriculum products.
• My friend Joy created an amazing resource in her ebook, Learn the States and Postal Abbreviations. And her site Five J's is full of tons and tons of great homeschooling ideas.
• The Happy Housewife just launched a new site called Homeschool 365 that is going to be an invaluable resource. Also, be sure to listen to the Frugal Coast2Coast BlogTalk radio show where Toni shared tons of great tips on homeschooling frugally.

There are so many other fabulous resources online and so many blogs on rely on to help with our homeschooling. But I'd be here all night if I was going to list them all. I'll try to share more over the next few days.

What are your favorite ways to save money on schooling materials, whether homeschooling or not? And I'd love to know some of your favorite online homeschool resources.

Stop by Cents To Get Debt Free for more Finding Freedom Friday and Life As Mom for more Frugal Friday.

Read more...

Homeschooling Reevaluation

If there's one thing I've learned over our past 5 years of homeschooling, it's that near-constant reevaluation is necessary. That is both the beauty and the bane of homeschooling.

As homeschoolers, we're constantly reevaluating our schedules, our curriculum, our goals and our methods. Chances are good that what works one year or for one child may not work for the next. For that matter, what works today may not work tomorrow. So we are always paying attention to all those little nuances throughout our days.

So here at our house, this summer is a time of reevaluation. Eric and I have noticed some areas where our homeschooling is thriving beyond our wildest expectations and other areas where it's not doing so well.

This reevaluation is a little different and more difficult than those in the past. Our discussions are delving deeper than curriculum. And to be honest, it's been a somewhat painful experience for me. But I've seen a renewal of the partnership between Eric and I and that has been a wonderful side affect.

Discussions...thinking...watching...listening...reevaluating. That's what we're doing this summer. I'll let you know our conclusions when we reach them.

This makes wonder though...what does a reevaluation process look like for you? If you are a homeschooler, how do you deal with the deeper discussions on the overall success of homeschooling for your family?

Don't forget to stop by FiveJs to join Thirsty Thursday.

Read more...

Join Me!

Our family lives in a 1000-square foot house. We have 4 children whom we homeschool. Do you see the problem?

Actually, I say that it is a problem, but I really don't mean it. After 5 years of homeschooling, we've learned to make the most of our small space by schooling simply, yet substantially. Space just isn't much of an issue for us because when we really need a new space for something, we always find a way somehow.

To read the rest of this post, please stop by at Keeper of the Home today, where I am honored to be guest posting.

Read more...

Weekly Wrap-Up - Friday, Nov. 21

This was a very interesting week around our house. There was definitely nothing normal about it! Next week is going to be exactly the same way too. But that's okay with me! I believe that one of the best things we can do for ourselves as moms and for our children is to sometimes throw the schedule completely out the window and just be. So that is what we did this week - a lot of just being and enjoying life and each other.

I started the week not too sure if we'd do any formal schooling because of all the plans we had. I didn't write out lesson plans like I usually do on Sunday evenings. So on Monday morning, I set Isabelle up with a few projects that corresponded with what she has been learning and let her have fun.

Monday afternoon was our monthly craft club with our homeschooling group. The children are divided into 2 groups: preschoolers through age 5 and 6-9 year olds. This works out perfectly for us as all 3 of the oldest kids get to be involved at the same time while Gracie gets to stay home with Eric for some special daddy time.

The kids made really cool place mats using scrapbook paper, leaves (real, artificial and paper), paper pilgrim hats, and contact paper. They all did a great job. I felt a little bad for Alex and Olivia though because as it turns out, this mama is not very good with contact paper! Isabelle did a better job on her own then I did. But everyone had fun, so I guess that's all that matters. Alex and Olivia also got to make their first ever turkey hand prints!

On Tuesday we were out of the house pretty early. We had a field trip with our homeschool group planned for two o'clock and we wanted to take advantage of the location where we would be to finish our Christmas shopping for my family. We managed to get 95% of our shopping done too.

The field trip was at Great Harvest Bread and it was fantastic. The kids got to see how the gigantic mixer and oven worked. They heard a little talk on why whole-grain brown breads are better for you than traditional white breads. They got to participate in a reading of The Little Red Hen. They even got to knead some bread dough at the baker's table and have a thick wedge of bread to sample. We got home just in time for me to start warming dinner and for Eric to head off to work. It was a long but fun day.

On Wednesday I had a lot of catching up to do around the house. Everyone helped me with doing chores. After that, we spent some time discussing Thanksgiving and working on a few of our own Thanksgiving crafts. Fortunately for my un-crafty self, Isabelle loves all things crafty and even does a great job with it all. So I often let her take the lead with some of our projects.

Thursday and Friday we began making cookie dough. So far we have 6 varieties and 8 batches of dough made. We'll finish up the 6 remaining varieties of dough over the weekend and start baking on Monday. The plan is to have cookies to give my family for early Christmas gifts while we are visiting for Thanksgiving. I am also making lots of extras at my sister's request so that she can have plenty on hand for entertaining.The kids love to help me in the kitchen and it is a great time for mini math lessons, life lessons, and just talking. I consider our time in the kitchen one of the most important elements of our homeschooling days. So on days when we spend more time in there than usual, that's even better in my book.

With the reduced workload this week, Isabelle tasked herself with lots of writing assignments and spent a lot of time on her blog creating some wonderful stories. I love seeing her voice and creativity blossom through her blogging.

That about sums up our week. How was your week?

Head over here for a chance to enter my MobiStories giveaway.

You can read more weekly wrap-ups here.

Read more...

This Was Too Good To Not Share Right Away

Just in case any of you homeschoolers haven't heard about this yet, I wanted to pass it on. What a great offer for homeschooling groups!

Register Now for Free Art from
National Endowment for the Humanities

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends,

We are excited to share a fantastic learning experience for homeschool families.

The National Endowment for the Humanities has launched a new project aimed at inspiring Americans about our history through art masterpieces.

Entitled "Picturing America," the program offers free art prints and educational materials to homeschool families. HSLDA will supplement this with a free course and DVD, along with online materials, quizzes, and teacher's guide—all from a Christian perspective. Our free course will be available in April 2009.

The NEH will send you 40 huge, high-quality color reproductions (24 by 36 inches) of famous paintings and other art in March 2009. You will also receive a teacher's resource book with a wide range of ideas and background information to help you use the works of art in core subject areas. View the program's American masterpieces here >>.

Due to the high cost of these materials, and the fact that there are only 18,000 available, the reproductions will only be sent to groups of two or more families. We encourage you to work with local homeschool families and homeschool support groups to find homeschoolers in your area who also wish to take advantage of this program.

You will need to register online before Wednesday, November 12, to receive these materials. Your art collection and teacher resources will be sent to your group directly from NEH. Your information will not be shared with any other government agencies.

We hope that you take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn more about our nation's history and to encourage learning about fine art. Please contact us at generationjoshua@ hslda.org or 540-338-8608 if you have any questions.

__._,_.___

Read more...

Weekly Wrap-Up October 13-17

This week was pretty routine for us. On Tuesday though, Isabelle and I both woke up with colds. Fortunately, hers only lasted for the day and none of the other kids got sick. I felt much better by Wednesday, but my cough and runny nose have stuck around. Ever since I was a child I've had the tendency of developing bronchitis from any cold of any kind, but that did not happen this time, at least not yet.

Monday
Isabelle began her 5th week of fourth grade on Monday. This meant that she had tests in a few of her subjects. These periodic tests are something new that we are doing this year. I felt that since she was getting older and more independent in her work, I needed a good way to judge just how well she was comprehending everything, beyond just her daily work. I have to admit, I have been pleasantly surprised with how much she retains.

Her first test for the week was in Wordly Wise 3000. I just created a 2 page test for her of multiple choice, matching, and a "use this word in a sentence" section. The test was pretty easy to create, although Joy told me that she purchased a Wordly Wise test packet, which would be even easier. However, the homeschooling store where we bought our supplies from did not sell the tests. I think I'll have to look for them next year though.

Mondays are also the days when Isabelle works on Manners Made Easy. This week's lesson was about introducing yourself to other people and included tips on shaking hands. We worked on this lesson with Alex and Olivia also, and it was fun to watch the 3 of them shaking hands and introducing themselves to each other.

Alex and Olivia began week #4 of the Letter of the Week curriculum. We are working through the preparatory curriculum right now, but I think we might start doubling up our weeks so that we can move into the regular program sooner. The preparatory lessons just don't give us enough to fill up our week and by the end of the week, I think Alex and Olivia are starting to get a little bored.

Anyhow, on Monday we discussed the letter D, eyes, and we read the D page in their A Is For Adam book. They also colored an outlined D and the corresponding coloring page from A Is For Adam. We read the Dr. Seuss book, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut and tried walking around with our eyes closed.

Tuesday
Isabelle wasn't feeling great, but she was able to get through all of her school work, by choice. I love seeing how much she is enjoying her work this year. Most days she can't wait to get started. In conjunction with her Mystery of History lesson, she spent researching modern-day Istanbul. I really wanted to play a copy of this song by They Might Be Giants for her, but I couldn't find my CD (to date myself...I got it in high school, sophomore year, and yes, I still could sing the whole thing by memory) and I wasn't feeling well enough to take the time to find it online.

Because of how I was feeling, I curled up on the couch with Alex, Olivia and Gracie and we read some books about fall from the library. Then Alex and Olivia colored a scarecrow picture and a pumpkin patch picture. We called that school for the day.

Wednesday
Isabelle finished one book for her assigned school-related reading time and moved on to the next one in the series. She is reading through The Roman Mysteries series. The writing isn't stellar by any means, but she is really enjoying the books and they are helping her get a real feeling for the time period she is learning about in History.

With Alex and Olivia, we reviewed the letter D and colored some pictures of the number 4. We also sorted out 4 of various things, including cheerios, crackers, counting bears, and books. This little task is way too easy for them, but it's still fun. We also made and named some shapes on their geoboard. Then we read Apples To Oregon, which was such a fun book.

Thursday
Thursday's are Isabelle's favorite day of school. She makes her timeline figures and does a science experiment/activity. The experiment for this week was to grow crystals with Epsom salts. We'll be watching it and charting the progress for the next ten days.

Alex and Olivia learned about the color blue, which fit in perfectly with the rest of the week since they have blue eyes. We went through the house to point out everything blue that we could find. We also read a poem about eyes, did "head, shoulders, knees and toes" about a dozen times, and drew faces.

After Isabelle was done with school, all 4 kids worked together to make four paper jack-o-lanterns to hang in our front window, one for each child. Isabelle drew and cut out the pumpkins, Alex and Olivia helped me cut out various eyes, noses, and mouths. Then each child got to pick their and place their faces on the pumpkins, and Isabelle helped everybody glue everything down. It was a great cooperative project.

Friday
Isabelle had her first Latin test of the year. She has really grasped it this year. We switched curriculums between 3rd and 4th grade and she has learned more from this book already then she did in all of last year. She also was treated to a day off of history. She spent the time making some more fall decorations for the house. She made a really neat paper chain and attached cut-out leaves on each link. It was really cool.

I wrapped up the week with Alex and Olivia by reviewing everything we did this week, and coloring some more pictures. They also worked on some pre-printing practice and some cutting practice. Alex is remarkably adept at using scissors but Olivia is still struggling a bit. I think it might have to do with her chubby little fingers, although I might be entirely off base.

After school, the 3 older kids helped make some more applesauce for apple leather while Gracie napped. They are so in love with this entire process. I know they will be sad when we finish the last of the apples.

Head on over to Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to participate in this awesome new meme, and share all about your week.

Read more...

One Week Down - A Lifetime To Go

It feels so good to have the first full week of school completed. I love the work leading up to, and the excitement surrounding, the first week, but now that it's over, we can really get back to just living.

Most of the kinks have been worked out of the schedule throughout this week. Everyone has settled into this new routine. I'm not foolish enough to believe that the adjustment phase is entirely over, but I know that is the direction we are headed at least.

As expected, all of the kids just love the new schedule. It sounds like an oxymoron, but my children flourish on a schedule. I, on the other hand, seem to fight it at every turn. This is when it pays to be smart and understand that if a schedule is the best thing for my kids, it's also the best thing for me in the long run. I think I can suck it up enough to just deal with it. After all, I'm a big girl, right?

Anyhow...back to school. Isabelle is really enjoying all of her new books. She was a little unsure the first day, and did a little complaining about the amount of work, until I reminded her that she is now in fourth grade and every year will get a little harder than the last. After that incident, there have been no problems whatsoever. I am so proud of the work she's already done this week. I have a feeling it will be a great year for her.

Here is my school in-box, full of all the work I have to check from this week. That top picture there is a squirrel Isabelle shaded for art today. She loves all things artsy and her talent is really starting to blossom.
Alex and Olivia are Crazy (yes, with a capital C) about school. It's the first thing I hear when I wake up in the and the last thing they ask before bed - "are we going to do school again?" I'm not sure how they'll handle it tomorrow. I've tried to explain to them that it will be the weekend and we don't "do school" on the weekends. I think they understood, but whether or not they will actually remember this remains to be seen.

We are using Letter of the Week as our core curriculum. We are also going to read through A is for Adam, which ties in perfectly with Letter of the Week. This week we focused on the letter A, Adam, cows, the number 1 and squares. I think their favorite activity was when we spent 20 minutes crawling around the house pretending to be cows. The second favorite would have to be these cow puppets that we made.Gracie is having the most difficult adjustment phase. You can not tell that little girl she can't do something her brother and sister are doing. I swear it just breaks her heart. So I pulled out an extra notebook from our stash, gave her a couple of markers, and set her up at her own little table next to Alex and Olivia. That is working so far. I'm going to have to brainstorm so more ideas to keep her occupied yet still involved while we are working. Fortunately she is easy to please as long as she is included.

Read more...

This Is So Cool!

I came across an awesome resource tonight called "Living The Story - Bible Adventures for Kids."

Here is what the website says:

Living the Story awakens kids' mental, physical, social, spiritual and artistic faculties in fun ways while inviting them into the big Story (and all the little stories) of God's love and interaction with his creation.

Readers of Living the Story meet the God who loves them and learn to see him at work around and through them.

They have 12 issues on the site that are free downloads. Each issue is 8 pages. I am in the process of downloading and printing them out right now. They are very color-heavy. So far I've done one issue in color on quick print setting and one in black & white on normal setting. Neither one is great, so I might have to do them in color and normal setting. They are definitely worth printing out though.

These are just awesome and I can't wait to find a way to work them into our school plans for this year!

Read more...

WFMW: Homeschool Assignment Sheets

For the past few years of homeschooling, I have been writing out Isabelle's daily assignments in a binder for her. Each day I would write out all of the subjects she was doing for that day and underneath each one I would list the specific assignments. I would draw a little checkmark square next to each assignment so that she could mark things off as she went. This always felt way too tedious though.

So this year I finally got smart and created forms on our computer. Because some of her subjects rotate and she only does them on certain days of the week, I created one sheet for each day of the week. I included each subject with lines and little bulleted boxes underneath to write in all of the daily assignments.I printed off 10 weeks worth of sheets (we are splitting our school year into quarters this year), 3-hole punched them, and put them in Isabelle's binder.

It is such a simple thing, but I already see how it is going to make my life much easier. The time it used to take to write out everything, even though it was only minutes in actuality, was enough to make me put off writing out assignments until the very last minute. Plus, this whole system just feels more streamlined and "official" now. And that definitely works for me!

You can find more Works For Me Wednesday at Rocks In My Dryer.

Read more...

Setting Up A Homeschooling Space

I spent a few hours this weekend tackling Isabelle's new homeschooling work space. I decided to wait to organize her desk until after I had written out all of her plans and assignment sheets. I figured by waiting I'd be able to determine how to make the best use of her space. I think I was right.

What began as this
and this:
has now turned into this:
and this:
Half way through her first day of a full work schedule today, when we took a break for lunch, she asked if she could eat at her desk because she loves it so much. And let me tell you, she has BIG plans for this desk. She told me that one of these days she wants to get her own computer so that she can do her blogging (and look at educational websites too, of course) at her own desk. Oh, a girl after my own heart!

I also tackled organizing the preschool boxes for Alex and Olivia. They are stored in a cabinet and will be pulled out each day before "school" time. I forgot to take pictures of those, so I'll have to share them another day.

Don't forget to stop by 5 Minutes For Mom for more Tackle-It Tuesday.



Get your FREE sample of Crystal Light, Purell, Blistex, plus many more samples from REMEDY Magazine just for joining REMEDYLife. In addition to FREE healthy samples you'll get coupons and special offers absolutely FREE. Click here to Join Today!

Click Here

Read more...

An Exciting Week Ahead

I am really excited for the start of this week. We are starting into full-schedule school mode. Although our official first day was last Wednesday, we didn't really begin much of the actual work. I introduced things to the kids so that they would be comfortable with all their new books once we got into it for real. Isabelle also read "The Boxcar Children" for her first unit in Learning Language Arts Through Literature.

I also created a new schedule for us. We went without a schedule throughout the summer. At that time, I realized I don't function as well when I feel over-scheduled. However, the kids really thrive on a schedule. So we're compromising. We'll have a loose structure throughout the day, mainly as it applies to the kids, and I'll continue to work off of daily to-do lists.

This should give us the best of both worlds, I hope. The kids will be happy knowing what is coming next in their day and I'll not feel the need to rebel against my too-heavily scheduled time.

Here is the schedule we'll be using:

• 8:30 - Morning chores
• 9:00 - Breakfast
• 9:30 - Isabelle: start school; Alex, Olivia & Gracie: play time/help mom in the kitchen
• 10:30 - Alex, Olivia & Gracie - Leap Frog videos (Isabelle - school cont.)
  
• 11:00 - Alex & Olivia school; Gracie - coloring, rotating toy time, stories w/ A&O (Isabelle - school cont.)
  
• 12:00 - Alex, Olivia & Gracie - Playtime (Isabelle - school cont.)
  
• 1:00 - Lunch & family devotions with dad
• 2:00 - Alex, Olivia - table time activities; Gracie - nap; Isabelle - finish up any schoolwork/free time
• 3:30 - Isabelle one on one computer time with Alex or Olivia
• 4:00 - Isabelle - computer time; Alex, Olivia & Gracie - help mom fold laundry, tv time, playtime
• 5:30 - Clean-up time; showers/baths
  
• 6:30 - Dinner
• 7:30-8:00 - kids bedtime

We'll see how this works for now and make any adjustments that we need.

Read more...

Revisiting A Forgotten Tradition

Our homeschooling journey began when Isabelle was about a month into kindergarten. We pulled her out of public school for many, many reasons. Initially, we thought we would just hold her back a year and send her back to kindergarten the next year.

At the time, Alex was only a few months old and I had just officially quit a full-time job as office manager at a Title Insurance company. I began to reevaluate many things during this time period and I remembered how interested I had been in homeschooling while I was pregnant with Isabelle. I began to research.

I quickly realized how large homeschooling had grown. There were three very full and active homeschooling groups within a 20 mile radius for us. I requested some catalogs and checked out some books on homeschooling from the library. Meanwhile, Isabelle was eager to learn.

Eric and I came to the mutual decision that homeschooling was a very viable alternative for us. We were both excited at this new prospect. We figured we'd try it out for a year and see how it worked for us.

A few days before we officially began homeschooling, I took Isabelle and Alex (who slept in his stroller the whole time) out to lunch. Isabelle and I discussed the new plans. She was full of questions, but definitely also excited with the idea of homeschooling. It was a very special day for us, and I think it was a great way to start this new period in our lives. As we drove home, I remember thinking that this would have to become a tradition for the start of every year.

Obviously, homeschooling worked beautifully for our family. Our reasons for homeschooling have evolved far beyond what they were initially. We now look back and realize what a blessing the events that led to our decision were, even if it didn't seem that way at the time. While we do take some time to reevaluate our situation each year and would never boldly say that we will homeschool all of our children through high school, no matter what, I honestly don't see us ever wanting or needing a different avenue. We all flourish as a homeschooling family.

Anyhow, the going out to lunch tradition got put on hold for a while - until today. This afternoon, Eric stayed home with the 3 younger children while Isabelle and I went out for lunch, just the two of us. I took my planning notebook along so that we could discuss the upcoming year. We went over the daily schedule, the goals for the year, and some new things we are instituting.

And we also got to enjoy each others company over a very girlie lunch. Isabelle had tomato basil bisque with a breadstick and I had mushroom & brie bisque in a bread bowl. Isabelle also had chocolate sorbet for dessert. It was just wonderful! I can't even begin to describe the emotions as I thought back to the little girl I had lunch with 5 years ago as compared to this young lady. (Please, I use that term very loosely as the elbows on the counter and dirty fingernails of said "young lady" do not exactly fit the name.)

We are absolutely doing this again next year. Hopefully we'll find other occasions to celebrate also so that she and I can enjoy some more one-on-one time like this.

Read more...

Friday Night Fun

I have big plans for tonight, and I am so excited to get to work.

On Thursday, we bought this for Isabelle.
For the past five years, she has been doing her school work at our breakfast bar. This counter faces the kitchen but is actually in our great room. Since she is now getting to the point where she'll need quiet to concentrate better for some subjects, we put her desk in a corner of our master bedroom. She'll still be doing some work at the counter or at the couch with all of us together. But this will be a nice private space for her. She can close the door when she really needs extra quiet to help her focus, yet still know that I am just in the other room if she has any questions.

So, I want to start getting that organized for her tonight.

Then, I have this project to tackle.
We picked up all of our books for the year today. I want to read through things, familiarize myself with all the new materials, start figuring out our daily school schedule, and start writing out lesson plans for the first few weeks at least.

Fortunately we are not officially starting until Wednesday next week. That's a good thing since I don't think there are enough hours left tonight for me to do all of this. But I do hope to get a good start on it all.

Read more...

Decisions, Decisions

Even though we haven't gotten our school books for next year yet, I have been trying to decide on a few changes. I'm a creature of habit, so I really like to stick with what works, but I also like to keep things fresh and exciting, especially when it comes to homeschooling. I've found that is one of the best ways to avoid burn-out.

I already know that this year will be much different from last year; with Alex and Olivia doing some more formal "schooling," Gracie being more mobile, and Isabelle moving on to more advanced materials and becoming more independent in her work. Now, I need to figure where the changes need to be made and what different approaches I will have to use to keep the household running smoothly.

For the past two years, I have written all of her daily assignments down for her in a to-do list fashion. As she finishes each thing, it gets crossed off the list. She is able to work in any order she chooses so long as everything gets finished that day, and within a reasonable amount of time. Usually, I will spend Saturday or Sunday nights going through all of her books and writing out her assignments for the next week.

I am thinking of doing that differently this year though and would love some input. Would it be easier to write out her assignments a month at a time, or even create a general outline for the whole year right from the start? I'm also considering giving her weekly assignments instead of daily and giving her a set amount of time per day to work on what she wants, when she wants, as long as it is all done by the end of the week. If anyone has done this, I'd love to hear how it has worked for you.

Another thing I am trying to decided on is whether or not I should schedule a bit of time daily, or maybe every other day, for Isabelle to work with Alex and Olivia. They have been playing school every morning and all 3 of them are really enjoying it. I'm thinking she could do some reading aloud with them, or maybe some flashcards. I know teaching something is a great way to reinforce your own knowledge, but I'm just not sure if Alex and Olivia are old enough yet that it would be beneficial. Again, I'd really love some opinions on this.

Okay, I'm done being needy and demanding for today. Maybe tomorrow I'll have some answers for you all instead of so many questions, but I make no promises!

In the meantime, make sure you stop over at Happy To Be At Home to share some of your homeschooling plans or ideas for this upcoming year.

Read more...

Homeschooling "Preschool" Plans

I have finally gotten most of my school plans set for Alex and Olivia for this coming school year. I really use the term "school" loosely though. Their formal learning time is done at their request and because of their desire to be like Isabelle. With both of them having just turned 3 and 4, I don't really see a need to do anything truly formal with them.

Also, Eric and I have made the decision (along with some wonderful input), to school Alex and Olivia at the same grade level. They are only 10 1/2 months apart, so it isn't too much of a stretch. And considering that Olivia is the younger one, it will be easier to push her a slight bit ahead. Since we are combining their schooling though, I am beginning this year with the notion that we will do two years of preschool-level work, and start kindergarten when they are 5 and 6. We'll see how this year goes before we make any official decision though.

Here are the things I am going to purchase for their schooling, at least at the start. I'm sure we'll add in many more things as the year progresses.

Three Bear Family Counters
For color recognition, size recognition, and grouping.
A is for Adam
For a fun bible read-aloud, and to reinforce the alphabet
Classifying Game
Just because they both love this kind of stuff

Little Dover Coloring Books
2 of each.
They both love to sit at their little table and do "presook" with crayons and coloring books.



Leap Frog Letter Factory
I have heard fantastic things about this series and can not wait to use it with the kids.

We will also be loosely following the Letter of the Week program. We began doing some of this last year, but we will be starting over from the beginning anyhow.

I also plan to continue bible memorization with them. They really enjoyed this last year and shocked me with what they were able to memorize.

Some of the goals I have for them this year are:

• Recognition of upper and lower case letters
• Learning to write their names
• Recognition of all shapes and colors
• Recognition of numbers
• Counting to at least 25, without "eleventeen" being every other number after 10 (It pains me to say that though because I REALLY love eleventeen!)
• Scissor skills
• Drawing shapes
• Character training
  
• At least 30 minutes/day of read-aloud storytime
• Dancing/activity time every day (This is another favorite. We have some great CDs with classic, traditional kids songs that they just love to dance to and sing along with.)
• Beginning reading skills, only if the desire and motivation is there.

I am also looking into other table-time activities and ideas for them, as well as possibly some other ideas for Gracie. I've gotten tons of ideas over the past few weeks from many great blogs. Now I just have to sit down with it all and come up with my own list. I'll let you know what I decide on.

What are some of your plans for this year? Please come share them over at Happy To Be At Home's Homeschooling Wednesday.

Read more...

The Postcard Project

Isabelle and I both agree that one of the most fun homeschooling projects we've done is the "Postcard Project." It has somehow been forgotten about, but now that I am looking through it, I would love to revive it, if my mom is willing to do it a second time.

The postcard project was pretty simple. It consisted of postcards sent to Isabelle from my parents when they went out of town anywhere, whether for business of pleasure.

Here is just a handful of postcards that I was able to find in 2 minutes. I know there are plenty more somewhere. Because my parents travel frequently, this project was very successful. If they didn't travel much, I would have had to be more resourceful.
On the back of each postcard, my mom would include a mini history lesson about the area where they were staying. Isabelle and I would follow each postcard up with a geography lesson and a trip to the library where we would get some books on each state or country.

My ultimate goal with this project was to create a scrapbook with each postcard getting a 2-page spread. Isabelle would write out some information on each area and we'd also scan the back of the postcard to put in the scrapbook. I also wanted to put a small world map picture on each page with the location highlighted, as well as a larger map to mark every location.

As you can probably tell, this hasn't been done yet. I think we might have to do that this year though. It would be fun to go through all of this with Isabelle again as the postcards are from almost two years ago. And maybe I can talk my mom into doing it again throughout the next year so that we can have even more to add to our scrapbook.

This creativity is one of our favorite things about homeschooling. There are lessons to be learned all around us every day if we are open to them. I love the fact that almost every time we eat a sandwich Isabelle reminds me that the Hawaiian Islands used to be called the Sandwich Isles and that they were named after Captain Sandwich. Even better than that is the fact that she learned this information in a postcard from her Nana. Learning and building memories - a perfect combination!

Stop in at Happy To Be At Home to share some of your homeschooling plans, tips or ideas.

Read more...

A Great Homeschooling Resource

Remember my nervousness a few weeks ago upon discovering that our local homeschooling store was closing their storefront? Well, a bit more research led me to their website and I ordered a catalog. They also have pick-up at their warehouse, which is only about 20 minutes away from us.

I received the catalog about a week ago and I've been going through it and writing out our curriculum plans for next year, including some more formal "schooling" for Alex and Olivia. I finished my list up today and decided to do a little price comparing just to make sure that I wasn't sacrificing money for convenience. And boy was I shocked when I discovered that not only was I NOT sacrificing money, I was actually saving money.

I compared the prices from Homeschooling Books (which is the catalog from Mott Media, the one that is by me), Christian Book Distributors, and Rainbow Resource. I compared the CBD catalog and didn't think to write the prices down, although everything I looked at was either the same as or higher than the prices in the Homeschooling Books catalog. That was the same thing I found when comparing with Rainbow Resource.

Here is a breakdown of some of the things we are purchasing:

• Mystery of History, vol. 2 - $35.90 at HB, $38.00 at RR
• Writing Strands, level 3 - $15.95 at HB, $16.75 at RR
• Christian Kids Explore Earth & Space - $23.90 at HB, $24.50 at RR
• The Fallacy Detective - $12.55 at HB, $19.95 at RR
• Bear Counters - $12.75 at HB, $14.75 at RR

And because I was so excited after reading that, I decided to look into a few other things, even though they are not things that we are purchasing this year.

• Saxon Math 54 (full kit) - $54.80 at HB, $56.95 at RR
• Apologia Textbooks - $23.50 at HB, $26.50 at RR
• Little Hands to Heaven - $23.95 at HB, $31.25 at RR
• Drawing Basics - $47.92 at HB, $48.36 at RR

As you may notice, some of the price differences are pretty minor. However, when you are buying a lot for many children, even a little bit really makes a difference. The only caveat with Homeschooling Books is that you do have to pay shipping, unlike Rainbow Resource where it is free after a $150 order. But I think it's definitely worth doing the comparisons. Although if you decide you want to go with Homeschooling Books and not have to pay the shipping, I have a floor you can sleep on!

Read more...

The Mystery of History: Vol. 1

Last year we used The Mystery of History for the very first time. Isabelle and I both fell in love with this book and its approach to history. While I have always been a fan of history, this book really opened my eyes to many new things that had never occurred to me before. I think it would be safe to say that I probably learned as much last year as Isabelle.

I think Isabelle was instantly smitten when she heard about the timeline we would be working on every week. Then, when she heard that each day also included an activity, she was over the moon. As a child that really loves and learns best with hands-on projects, this was a perfect match for her.

We both really enjoyed the way Linda Hobar writes. She makes history seem familiar and understandable, even for an 8 year old. I am impressed with her ability to write in a way that neither talks down to nor above her readers. Because each book is meant to be read three times, she really had to make it relatable for all age levels, and she did that remarkably well.

I am excited with the prospect of being able to use this book (and the other two in the series)with all the children at the same time. After each days lesson, there are several activities listed for each age group - younger, middle, and older students. There are also lists of additional resources and book suggestions in the back of the book that are age-specific, which will make it that much easier when we are all learning together. The geography and time-line sections that coordinate with each week's lessons are also easily adaptable to all ages.

My style of learning is very different than Isabelle's in that I've always been a take notes, copy everything down, kind of girl. And you know what? That is part of MOH too! Each week there are memory cards to be written out based on the three lessons from that week. There is also a follow-up quiz/activity each week.

I honestly just can't say enough about this program, and I'm excited to get our supplies for next year so that I can start reading through Vol. 2. You can read more about The Mystery of History on their website.

Read more...

Looking for Opinions and Input

As I have been going through the process of picking our homeschooling curriculum for next year, I've run into a conflict of conscience. I would love to hear your opinions and input on this!

As a Christian, with a strong desire to act with integrity in all matters, is it wrong to purchase used curriculum? I suppose I don't feel too guilty when it comes to bigger name publications, or even to novels and non-fiction books. But what about curriculum like Mystery of History or other family written curriculum options?

I spent some time on eBay the other day, just trying to get ideas and see what kind of prices things were listed for. But then it hit me: could I, in good conscience, purchase Mystery of History from eBay? Wouldn't that be taking money out of the pocket of the mom who wrote the series? Something about it just doesn't seem fair.

I also realize this is a slippery slope. If we are to say that in that instance it would not be okay, why then is it okay to buy used books of any kind? Or for that matter, isn't there even then something inherently unfair in our public library system? See what I mean...it's a slippery slope.

On the reverse of this argument, let's say that a family is selling some of their used homeschooling materials because they REALLY need the extra money. Wouldn't buying it from them be the compassionate and Christian thing to do?

I posed the original question to Eric, about buying MOH from eBay as opposed to buying it directly from the source, and he seemed as perplexed as I feel. He suggested I do a post about it to get input from others. Honestly, I am not leaning one way or the other right now. But I am conflicted and curious what your opinion is on this matter. Please let me know your opinions. Thanks!

Read more...