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.

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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.

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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.

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Narration, Dictation & Memory Work

Over at Happy To Be At Home for the rest of the summer, Joy, Toni and I will be hosting a Mr. Linky for everyone to share their homeschooling curriculum plans, ideas, reviews, and tips. We hope everyone will come join us so that we can all learn from each other.

One of the most useful things we implemented in our homeschool this past year was narration, dictation, and memory work. Isabelle just blossomed with these three areas as part of her daily routine. We will definitely be continuing these skills throughout our years of homeschooling.

Narration was easily implemented into our schedule. Every day Isabelle was assigned 30 minutes of reading time to be spent reading from an assigned book. The books were historical fiction that corresponded with some aspect of what we were studying in history.

Two days a week she had to do narration from the current book. In the beginning, she would just narrate what she read about to me and I would write it down as she spoke. For a few weeks, I had to ask her some leading questions to help move her along. Once she got the hang of it, she would narrate to me, and then write down what she said herself. This really helped her retain what she had read. It was also an immense help in improving her writing and grammar skills. We could have done it everyday, but I also wanted her to feel the pleasure of just reading a good, living book everyday.

Dictation and memory work were tied together throughout the year. Dictation was done three days a week, and memory work was done on one or two of those days in correlation to the dictation. This was our typical schedule:

• Monday - Bible passage dictation - (3 weeks out of the month she would memorize one verse from that day's passage)
• Wednesday - Poetry dictation - (These were classic, scholarly poems from some of the greatest poets. One week a month she would memorize some lines or a stanza from one of these poems.)
• Friday - Fun poetry dictation - (These were fun poems by poets such as A.A. Milne and Shel Silverstein. One week a month she would memorize the entire poem and recite it for me.)

One of the greatest experiences to stem from her memory work involved Alex and Olivia. I had been hoping to spend some time with them throughout the year memorizing a few bible verses. I had planned on this taking quite a while for each short verse. However, I didn't have to do any work. They were both anxious and excited to memorize right along with their sister. I don't know how much they've retained, but they sure did memorize one full verse every week.

The other huge benefit of dictation was the improvement in Isabelle's spelling, vocabulary and handwriting skills. I don't think there is a better tool for those three things, even though she still continued to study them as individual subjects also.

I am really looking forward to expanding on these three things next year. A large part of my planning this summer will revolve around choosing the books for narration, Bible passages I'd like to be learned/reviewed, and poems for dictation and memorization. Because I have always been a huge lover of books and poetry, I am really looking forward to the hours I will spend planning this. Once I have it all planned out, I will post my list.

Don't forget to head over to Happy To Be At Home to share your homeschool curriculum, schedule, lesson planning, curriculum reviews, or anything that might help other homeschooling moms have a better homeschool year.

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