May 5

A few days ago, I told L that maybe we should send the kids back to public school. He knows me well enough to know that when I say this, what I really mean is that something isn't working for me. It's really helpful for me to talk to him about school as it helps me to gain some perspective and get new ideas. One thing we talked about was the lack of spontaneity in our days. I protested, saying something like, "Easy for you to say, you don't have to help five people get ready every time you leave the house!". He was right though. We finished our work quite early yesterday and I fiddled around on facebook and twitter for a while. I noticed that Darcel was taking her kiddos to the museum and I felt a little jealous. Then I realized there was nothing stopping me from going to the museum except the perceived difficulty in getting everyone out the door. So, I womaned up and asked the kids where they wanted to go. We decided to try something new and that's how we ended up at our local Homeschool Skate Day. The kids had never rollerskated before and they had such a fun time. Wren even ran into one of her friends from co-op! Sadly, this was the last session until fall, but we are planning to go back very soon with L. Is there something you could stand to add to your daily life and/or homeschool?

Playing Red Light, Green Light

April 14

Each of the kiddos is at a different stage of illness and so Spring Break has started earlier than originally planned.

March 31

Ready for Crazy Hat Day at co-op

 

There are only a few weeks left in our current semester at co-op. It's been a great year so far and I'm way more involved than I ever planned to be. I assist in one class, am a hall monitor and I've even subbed a couple of times. I really like it especially since the group is so diverse. I'm slowly getting to learn about the other moms and that's cool too. The kids love it and I'm really please we decided to join after all. Though the days can feel long, it's really nice to get out of the house and "work" once a week. We come home tired, but good tired.

March 25

We recently took a weekend trip to Washington, D.C. with my mom. It was the kids' first visit and I hadn't been in 15 years. We decided to visit the National Museum of Natural History because it looks liked the museum that we would all enjoy most. Now, I'm kind of a nerd about natural history museums having had a membership to the AMNH as a teenager. The kids and I agree that NMNH may have been even cooler.  We explored for hours only leaving before closing time because I had evening plans.

My proudest moment occurred in the Hall of Human Origins. Back when we first started to homeschool, I let the kids lead the way with science. I would ask if they had any science related questions they would like answered and make a list. I answered each person's question on a different day. That entailed doing research online, and finding books and videos about whatever the topic at hand was. I can't say I was surprised when Wren and Finch asked about the history of humans. It's something they've always found amazing. (Who doesn't?) All three kiddos became fascinated by Lucy's story and ended up spending a few days learning more about her. You can only imagine how delighted we were when we found an exhibit about Lucy tucked into a corner of the hall. I think my mom was a little shocked (but not much) and pleased when they started spouting off facts and generally gushing right there in the museum. And I had that feeling again. The "I made the right decision and this is totally awesome!" one.

March 17

I recently tweeted that I'm pretty sure Robin is learning more from his R/C car hobby than from anything that requires sitting down at a table with curriculum. He reads, he fiddles, he hypothesizes and makes phone calls. He goes online and does price comparisons. He borrows my sewing kit tools and asks for help with parts. We take trips to the hobby store where he speaks a language that only he and fellow enthusiasts can understand. He is thinking of joining a local hobbyist club. His passion for learning about this subject is astounding. He has managed to create his own unit study. ;-)

January 31

January has been an eventful month. Things started off slowly and ended up with us on the go nearly every day. We finally made it to New York and had a blast as we always do. It was the first trip that the bigger kids were old enough to actually be out and about in the snow. We even got to walk in fresh fallen snow at the BBG. They were over it after a couple of days, lol. This trip, we did things that I enjoyed doing as a child in NYC. We went to the Sony Wonder Lab which I believe was the AT&T Lab when I was a kid. We also went to FAO Schwarz and waved to Eloise at the Plaza across the street. The kids participated in a community art project for Arty Facts at the Brooklyn Museum. I did Arty Facts as a kid and spent lots and lots of time at the museum so it was nice to be able to talk to them about that. Of course, they always find it hard to believe that such fun things existed back in the Dark Ages when I was a kid, heh.



Once we were back home, I felt the need to join a co-op after all. I saw my HS mentor/friend while in NYC and she unwittingly influenced me to do it. Plus, I kept seeing all these postings to local groups and finally just said, what the hell, why not? So, we are members of a small co-op now. I assist in one of the Kindergarten classes which means I get to cut, glue, and listen to little people while sitting in a tiny chair. No, it's fun. It is! The kiddos all enjoy their classes and I like that it provides a break from our normal routine. And we get to see Darcel and crew every week now! We had a really fun field trip last week to the Virginia Living Museum's Homeschool Day and I'm already looking forward to the next such local event. On the horizon for February are a couple of day trips and some changes/additions to our curriculum. If I've learned anything about homeschooling, it's that I will continue to tweak things to meet the needs of our kiddos as time goes by. L and I discussed what we will do for school next fall and we've decided to keep them at home. I'm still anxious about testing, but it's probably like everything else in that once I'm over the hump, I'll wonder what the big deal was.

January 20

What I don't miss:

• the morning rush
• wondering exactly what it is they do all day
• fundraisers
• turning into a shrew because of homework
• guilt inducing class parties and activities
• bullying
• my son hiding work he didn't want me to see

January 6

So we're back to school and things are going a lot better than I thought they would! I just knew our week would be horrible, everyone would be grumpy and that I would be questioning why I decided to do this in the first place. Turns out I was just projecting my own "back to public school after holiday break" issues on my kids who have no such hangups. We had to postpone our planned trip due to the snowstorm that hit the East Coast. Looking back, I think two weeks was too long to go without doing any kind of school. We had a major case of cabin fever due to the snow, so I'm sure that didn't help any.

I know that January for homeschoolers tends to be a time of renewal with people either starting a completely new school year or changing curriculum. And so it is for us. Finch is now working from (and loving) Math Made Easy. He finds math in general to be interesting and the shiny gold stars at the front of the book have only helped that, lol. The gentle pace is perfect for Kindergarten. I've added Daily Language Review for both Robin and Wren but Wren's book isn't here yet. I have to admit, DLR wasn't even on my radar until a friend linked me to something else by Evan-Moor during a chat. I'm glad to have found it as Robin quite enjoys it and it takes less than five minutes a day. We're also trying to restart daily read-alouds as they fell by the wayside some time ago.

And we did not join a co-op after all. Yes, I flip flop about these kinds of things. I just couldn't shake the feeling that we need to get our daily rhythm under control before adding anything else in. Honestly, I love our days...for the most part. Usually, I get up at least an hour before everyone else (which I've always done) for some quiet time. Then the kids rise, eat, dress and get to work. We do our subjects in a certain order and when I asked Robin what, if anything he liked about homeschooling, he brought up that order. He likes that we tackle the (ahem) harder or more boring subjects in the morning and then do fun stuff in the afternoon. I like that too. As awesome as some of the co-op offerings were, there's nothing more awesome than watching my kids learn and grow right here at home. 

December 13

Many are celebrating the feast day of Saint Lucia today. It's significant to me for another reason. Though I was born in the states, my mother is St. Lucian and I lived there till I was 6. I spent the rest of my childhood and teenage years visiting my family there whenever possible. Today is St. Lucia's National Day. Today, we will light candles and bake bread among other things. Wren really loves this story about Lucia's generosity and we have already read it twice today. I think I will surprise the kids with some Lucian food for dinner.

December 10

I've done a few things recently in an effort to enhance my daily rhythm and streamline things at home. First, I started menu planning. Using alliteration, we gave each dinner night a cutesy meal name. For instance, we have Meatball Mondays and Focaccia Fridays. The kids love knowing what we're going to have and I love not having to figure out what's for dinner at the last minute. I do about two weeks' worth of grocery shopping at once, filling in with fresh fruit, veg, and milk as needed. We eat out less this way b/c I'm prepared.

The second thing I did was to buy each family member a different color towel and washcloth. I read about a variation that called for a bias tape loop attached to same color towels. That wouldn't work for us b/c everyone would claim they didn't see the loop, couldn't tell what color it was, etc. Now, no one will "accidentally" use my favorite towel and then crumple it up in a corner for me to find still damp a few days later. Ahem.

The most recent change was to our school schedule. We are not going to do every subject every day. L suggested it and really, as simple as it seems, I had a revelation. I'm going to make two week plans just like I've been doing with dinner. The first week, we will concentrate on Math/Social Studies on M/W/F and Language Arts/Science on T/T. We will reverse that the second week. The kids will continue to journal and play math games daily, so they will never have a day without math or language arts. I'm also staggering lessons. I noticed Robin works best before his sibs are up, so we try to get his work done first, then Wren, then Finch. Already, things are...I don't know how to describe it. Lighter? More fun? I no longer feel bogged down by our work load. I've also lightened up on Finch, letting him do as he'd like. If he wants to read the same Bob book every day, fine. If he doesn't want to Explode the Code, fine. I don't blame him, I find it pretty dry myself. That was also L's suggestion. I think my husband is a homeschooler at heart. An unschooler even!

December 8

Yarn Along {inspired by Ginny}

We're headed to NYC soon and the baby needs some cute new winter accessories. On the hook is a Brrr baby beanie. I can't believe this is going to be the first hat with earflaps I've ever made! I plan to add a little flower on the side. I'd forgotten how much I love to crochet and the almost instant gratification it provides. The yarn is some mystery yarn that I've had forever. I'm going to make a pair of matching mittens too as the last pair I made is way too small.

I'm still reading and loving Trust the Children. A conversation with L last night helped me to realize I need to change my approach when it comes to teaching math. I mentioned that our social studies and science lessons which are much shorter than our math lessons seem to "stick" with the kids more. We use a combination of videos, hands on material and a smidge of bookwork for those subjects while math is mostly worktexts. I was flipping through Trust the Children and came across several ideas we are going to try right away.

December 5

African-American Homeschooling On The Rise, But Why?

December 3

I've seen this on some homeschool blogs and decided to keep a little list this week so I can make myself feel like we've accomplished something. Heh.

Language Arts

• Robin read through chapter 3 of American Tall Tales and did applicable unit work per Lesson Pathways. Scott Foresman Grammar and Writing chapter 1. Spelling Workout Lesson 3. Dance Mat typing. Read aloud and then attempted to explain the poem Barter by Sara Teasdale from Silver Pennies. Daily journaling.
• Wren read chapters 4-6 of Pippi Longstocking and did applicable unit work per Lesson Pathways. Scott Foresman Grammar and Writing Chapter 1. Spelling Workout Lessons 2-3. Read aloud and then explained Some One by Walter de la Mare from Silver Pennies. Daily journaling.
• Finch read BOB Books and worked from Explode the Code book 1. He did a little handwriting practice but we are mainly focusing on reading.
• They all read countless other books that I don't keep track of but I know for sure I saw Copper and the Madeline series strewn about. And everyone read aloud to baby sister.

Math

• Robin & Wren both worked a bit from Math Mammoth and played some strategy games.
• Finch worked from his Kumon books. We also played Uno and some other games from Family Math.

Science

• We are still keeping it quite simple. After learning about the winter habits of honeybees, we did a variation of the listed project (birdfeeder with honey) which we took from this book.  We watched the backyard all week to see who showed up to eat our treats.
• Wren wondered about the origins of man in her daily journaling, so we did some research about that together. We also remembered and sang My Brother the Ape, lol.
• This led to Finch asking questions about the size of dinosaurs, so of course, we had to look that up. 
• We made tin can telephones and talked about why we could or couldn't hear one another through our "phones"

Social Studies

two years ago

• Dec 1 marked the 55th anniversary of Montgomery Bus Boycott. We discussed passive resistance, racism, segregation and did an activity from Teaching Tolerance.
• Dec 1st was also World Aids Day. We talked in simple terms about HIV/AIDS.
• Even though we know a bit about Hanukkah having an immediate member of the family who celebrates, we read a little more about its history.
• We played listening games b/c when no one is listening, things can get nuts pretty fast. We played a "hot potato" type game where I counted out musical and they passed the "potato" on different beats. I think I read about it in Trust the Children. We also played Simon Says (I bet I could get them all out...and I did eventually!).

Notes for the week:

1. Despite saying that I was opting out of all activities this spring, it looks like we're joining a small co-op. Open mouth, insert foot. Story of my life.
2. I am considering switching Wren's math program to something requiring more instructor input and less mental math. I'm surprised to see she needs so much guidance when I thought Robin was the one who would need the help!
3. My printer had a fit and decided to reject an ink cartridge that was already in use. Seriously? Maybe it just couldn't handle the now daily usage that comes from us being homeschoolers. I'm in the market for a laser printer anyway.
4. I planned on buying a large world map...until I found one in my closet!
5. I'm also in the market for some "all-in-one" language arts and I think Writing Tales will fit the bill!

November 28

A new model of public education - I found this quite interesting as the high school I attended practiced some of the ideas mentioned.

The easiest and best curriculum - I would love to be this relaxed but...

'Ready to Learn' Equals Easier to Educate

November 27

So we just finished up our 30 day trial of Time4Learning. I really liked having it in my first days as a homeschooling mom. It was especially useful for the times I was overwhelmed before I started to get my lesson plans together. Everything is organized by category so the kids can just log in and start working without any problems. I liked that I could set time limits for their work so that they didn't spend too much time online. The older kids really enjoyed it. Robin's favorite part was the Language Arts section. The wry humor used throughout was right up his alley! I think that worked against him in Math though as he enjoyed the funny stuff so much, I don't think he was paying much attention to the lessons. He was able to go back and continue to work on each until he understood though. I do wish the Science and Social Studies was as interactive as Math and Language Arts, but that didn't seem to be a problem for my kids. I heard Wren telling her brothers about her science lesson one day in the car on the way to swim. Loved that. I would continue to use Time4learning if my budget allowed as the cost is quite fair and I find it to be useful. Overall, I liked the program and would recommend it as a supplement or a even as a full program if you have a kid that loves working online.

I was invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for my candid review. The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog.

November 22

We haven't made it to any homeschool park days. We're skipping the homeschool P.E class too. Spring co-op sounds lovely, but we'll have to pass. You see, I've decided that while we're getting things up and running, we're going to keep the home in homeschool. One of our major motivations for homeschooling was to be able to spend free time together as a family. When the kids were in public school, even the empty calendar days were full. So though getting together with other homeschoolers and networking would be wonderful, it's just not a priority right now. We can't have any enrichment until we have the basics down, IMO. And the basics include a lot more (laughing, playing, movie nights, and read-alouds). All together.

November 19

Weekend Links:

I homeschool because I am selfish
"Nerd Penalty" highest for black students 
Five reasons math illiteracy is not ok

November 17

I've been waiting for us to have a "normal" week so that I could write about it. Newsflash: There is no normal. In an effort to make myself feel like we are doing things The Right Way, I forgot that we are also living our lives. We might do a little school on Sunday so we can spend the day with L on Monday. Or we take a long break in the middle of the day to grocery shop and go to the library. So what? I'll just call those a half day and math & language arts field trip. Heh. If the kids are doing well and we are all happy, that's all that should matter, right? In theory, but remember, I'm still sort of hung up on doing things The Right Way. I am constantly worried that my kids will not do well during end of the year testing causing a downward spiral of homeschool probation (yes, such a thing exists in my state) and CPS investigations. That's the way my paranoid little mind works. And I wish more homeschoolers would talk about that. The fear that first timers or even long time homeschoolers may have about screwing it up. BUT, I see things. Little things. The way Robin breezed through three pages of word problems and explained them to me with ease. He's never done that before. The discovery during spelling that he loves crossword puzzles. The realization that he is a better student when he works first (before his sibs are up) and alone. The things I never knew when he was in public school. The things that let me know that, hey, this may be working...we made the right choice.

November 9

Today:

• We played cool math games.
• Robin helped me fry plantain.
• I downloaded some blank lesson plans.
• We revised yesterday's writing.
• I was encouraged by conversations with two friends.
• Finch read to me.
• Wren and Robin played soccer in the yard with the baby (still happening).
• I signed up for the JASON science site.
• We watched a video about Pilgrim life.

November 8

Finch and Wren at work

In trying to avoid a rookie mistake by buying tons of curriculum, I've bought almost nothing.  Well, that's not entirely true. We do have Math Mammoth, a new dictionary, some Spelling Workout books, Learning Grammar Through Writing, and You Can Teach Your Child Successfully: Grades 4-8. And honestly, I think we could do without the last two! There are a couple more practical items (like a detailed world map) that I'd like, but I'm sure we could do without them if necessary.

I'm finding that we already have most everything we need to successfully go about our days. Just like in other areas of our life, I'm realizing that we don't need more "stuff" to have a better experience. I am using Lesson Pathways as a guide for Language Arts. We already have most of the books used for the reading selections and those we don't have, we'll get from the library. I just couldn't decide on a formal language arts curriculum and now, I'm glad I couldn't! I love being able to choose what will work best for each child and that there are so many options available without me spending a dime.

A friend told me about this cool notebooking thing her kids are doing for science and we're going to try it...whenever we get around to science! We haven't done that or history yet, but I bet we could get by with the "educational material" that we've collected over time. Art plays a huge part in our lives, so I also bought The Usborne Art Treasury which I thought would be a cute way to re/introduce famous works of art to the kids while incorporating something they know and love.

So far, the only downside I can see to piecing things together like this is lesson planning! I'm going to have to start doing that soon so that things run more smoothly. Already, I feel like I'm trying to play catch up when it comes to planning. I've already said "let me just get through this week and then..." a couple of times. And it's not that I want the week to be over, it's just that we are so busy living that I haven't had the time. But I will. Just let me get through this week...