1. August 2010 by Shannon.

I think a schedule matters. I think if you have a “default” order of things, more of it will get done. I am not speaking from perfection, only from past experience.

I’m part of the Old Schoolhouse Review Crew again this year, so I know it’s important for me to be setting up a routine plan… not a minute to minute thing, but a “wake up time” “half hour devotions” “half hour breakfast and cleanup” “chores” “school” and then under each “title” I’ll slot in what I would like to accomplish in that area for today. I’m thinking of setting up a white board with the LOOSE plan in permanent marker (chunks of time), and dry erase marker in the “expectations” for that day… so the plan is there, even if the content changes. For example, under chores on Monday it might say clean bathroom, on Tuesday it might say wash sheets, on Wednesday it might say… you get the idea).

Another friend of mine did “blocks” of schooltime, she decided on what she could do in three hours (she works shift work and her days are very different to most people who homeschool I’d think). SO, she wrote that on index cards, and she has 8 “blocks” (cards) … many subjects overlap, but each card is slightly different. So, if she has time for 1 or 2 blocks a day (she ignores repeat subjects or does something different - like if math is on both cards and she’s doing two blocks - she’ll spend one on assignments, one on math games)… I’m thinking about doing this and creating my own “morning blocks” and “afternoon blocks” (afternoon being the less urgent things, but things that would be nice to get done in addition to our basics - like a craft project, nature walk, etc.)  Then each night (when setting up my following day) I’ll grab one morning block, write it in, and IF my day allows, I’ll grab an afternoon block and put that in too… but if we have some other thing going on (like we participate in drama once a week, and soccer once every two weeks, and we try for skating once a week) then I’ll only have the one “block”. Does any of that make sense?

Anyhow, maybe that helps someone. ;o) When I get it all set up, I’ll take a picture and add it to this post. 

Blessings!

Posted in Random Thoughts, Great Ideas, General Homeschool | Print | 2 Comments »

30. April 2010 by Shannon.

I, like most homeschool moms, like to think ahead.  I think we know full well that school planning is NOT something best left for the morrow… as we know that summer races by and we’ll be left at the end of August with nary a lesson plan ready.  SO.. in light of this planning theme I’m seeing around in my friends’ blogs… I will join in.

2010-2011

Everett (gr. 10/11 - Ev is repeating grade 10 from April 2010-Dec 2010 and then doing grade 11 from Jan 2011-June/July 2011)

Switched on Schoolhouse for grade 10 Math, English, History, Science & Bible. 

Plus the electives: SOS Speech - Essentials of Communication and SOS High School Health

Switched on Schoolhouse for grade 11 Math, English, Science, Bible and using the elective SOS World Geography in place of the American History.

Plus the elective: SOS French 1

Extra Curricular: Cadets, Soccer & Youth Group

McKenzie (gr. 9)

Switched on Schoolhouse for grade 9 Math, English, History, Science and Bible.

Plus the elective SOS Family & Consumer Science and SOS Spanish 1.  McKenzie will also be doing a project of Photography Studies throughout the year.

Extra Curricular: Cadets, Soccer & Youth Group

Greyson (gr. 2)

Bible/Art - Spears Art Studio

Math - Horizons Math

Grammar - First Language Lessons 2

Writing - Writing With Ease 1

Penmanship - Reason for Handwriting T (transitions book)

Phonics - Explode the Code books 3 & 4

Spelling - All About Spelling Level 1 (and continuing on to level 2)

History/Geography - Story of the World, Story of the World Activity book & In the Begining God unit study

Music - Simply Music level 1

Extra Curricular - Cubs, soccer & sunday school

Chaeli (Sr. Kindergarten)

Bible/Art - Spears Art Studio

Math - Horizons Math

Grammar - First Language Lessons 2

Penmanship - Reason for Handwriting 1

Phonics - Explode the Code books 1, 1 1/2, 2 & 2 1/2 (4 books total)

Spelling - All About Spelling Level 1 (and continuing on to level 2)

History/Geography - Story of the World, Story of the World Activity book & In the Begining God unit study

Music - Simply Music level 1

Extra Curricular - Beavers, soccer & sunday school

I think that’s about it!

Blessings!

Posted in Chaeli, Greyson, Kenzi, Everett, General Homeschool | Print | 3 Comments »

8. April 2010 by Shannon.

… has got to be the most challenging thing in the world!  LOL!  In Canada, where it’s so cold for so many months, when those little buds start appearing and the warm breezes start blowing.. well, it’s tough going to keep the kids indoors to do their lessons.  What’s a mom to do?  Well… for one… send ‘em outside!  LOL! 

The other thing you could do (which ties into the sending them outside thing) is to break up your school day a little.  After lunch is the nicest time of the day in the spring, the sun has had a chance to warm the air nicely, and everyone is so busy lookin’ out the window that I think a little break is in order.  So I send them outside… walk the dog, muck in the garden, play on the patio… whatever.  School for a homeschooler doesn’t have to be confined to 9-3.  You can do a half day from 9-noon.. eat lunch out on the patio, then spend a couple hours (till about 3?) enjoying the warm summer sunshine… and come back inside to finish up lessons a little later on.  I mean, with the sun still bright in the sky at 6 and 7pm.. there’s no reason to eat supper early… why not just let lessons finish up, then enjoy a nice late dinner (the smaller of the gang can always have a snack on coming inside to tide them over till dinner).

In the summer, we often flip this.. enjoying the outside weather in the morning and late afternoon when the sun isn’t so overwhelming, and we come inside for lunch and to do our schoolwork.  It just occured to me to apply the same principle to the spring.  I’m hoping to help fend off the “spring fever/burnout” everyone starts feeling at this time of year. 

What do YOU do to celebrate Spring in your homeschool?

Blessings!

Posted in General Homeschool | Print | 2 Comments »

21. March 2010 by Shannon.

On the website http://earthpro.info I was reading about global warming (a topic of dear interest to a friend of mine… I got there from another link I was on that suggested this site as further reading).  ANYHOW… on that earthpro site, there was a comment left by someone called PHD101 who included a rather interesting experiment to be performed to demonstrate the effects of CO2 on the planet’s overall temperature.

I just wanted to post it somewhere where I woudn’t lose it, since I’d be unlikely to find it again as a comment on a website, you know?  And then I thought that maybe there were some homeschoolers out there who might find the experiment interesting… so I am sharing it here.

PHD101, whoever you are, thank you for your comments and we look forward to trying this little experiment out sometime soon!

” ‘The Little Experiment…’ taking two bottles and filling them with equal parts of water. The one bottle I completely flooded with Co2 making in have an air volume of approx (92% Co2.
The other bottle is just plain air from an air compressor, the air we breath consists of 0.03 percent Co2.
heating up the bottles to the same temperatures. I took the read outs and both were the same. One read out with the Co2 should have been a higher temperature, according to what is the Co2 law… The other read out was read, after removing it from the heat. Same read-outs.
No accelerant an any way co2… Nor heat retention..?

The professor @ MIT of meteorology ,came up with theses theories, “to replace the argon gas in double pane widows, with CO2 if it retains heat so well”,.. if Co2 retains heat so well, than why not fill the Styrofoam types of installation that is used in house with Co2…

Needed supplies…

2 thermometers.
1 paper funnel.
3 2 liter empty soda bottles.
11/2 cup vinegar
3/4 cup baking soda
2 large sphere balloons , just the large enough balloons that will slip over the top opening of a 2 liter plastic soda bottle.
2 equal, identical in size thickness, 20 once cups.
2 twist-up tie off’s.
a large area that has full sun, and is free of debris that might cause shadows, will explain.

You have your (3) bottles, fill one with the 1 and 1/2 cup of vinegar. Make a small funnel out of paper, and pour the backing soda into the bottle of vinegar. This will cause a chain reaction; the vinegar and baking soda mixed, bubbling up “making Co2″… Just like in elementary school, with the toy volcano’s. Immediately place the balloon over the mouth of the two liter bottle, capturing the Co2. Let the balloon fill up. You are now making your own CO2

Let the bottle fill until there is no more Co2 to hold, and or risk of balloon ripping. Now use you tie/ twist tight the balloon. Fill the second 2 liter bottle with exactly 2 cups of water. Now once filled squeeze bottle expelling as much air as possible. Place the twist tied balloon that holds your Co2 over the bottle. squeezing the bottle flat, placing the balloon of Co2 over the bottle opening, and let the bottle fill up with the Co2 from the balloon. leave the balloon over the bottle, this will keep the Co2 form escaping, and will also keep anything else for getting inside. You now have your first controlled mini-environment #1 complete.

Now follow the same steps with the third and final faze, only exception is filling the balloon with plan air, perhaps from a air compressor. You now have your first controlled mini-environment #2 complete. Once finished you will have your #2nd controlled mini-environment. Place the two controlled mini-environment in (full) sun light, say from 10:00am to 4:00pm. allow it to be exposed to it at least 4 to 6 hours to the suns light heating the controlled mini-environments . Now take off the balloons pour the water from the bottles into the cups. Place in your thermometers in each cup taking the waters temperatures of each controlled environment 1 and 2.

Compare temp read outs… what are the temperatures.. Both read-outs came out to be the same temps…

The only thing I did not add was sea-salt to produce salt water; but I do not think it would change the out-come? just need to confirm out-comes… Repeat results to become conclusive…”

Blessings - and if you do this little experiment, please leave a comment to tell me how your results match up to PHD101’s results!

Posted in General Homeschool | Print | 1 Comment »

18. March 2010 by Shannon.

I have to tell you about this product!!!!  I have just heard of (what I consider) one of the smartest, most needed products out there for families with children.  But first, I want to tell you a story.

Easter week, 1996.  Ev (who is now 16) was just under three years old.  He had some serious speech issues and most people, even in our own family, had a challending time understanding him.  We were visiting a local mall to “pet the animals” at their little Easter petting zoo display.  There were dozens of kids, some as old as 10-12, in this small area in the center of a crowded mall (okay, yes.. the obvious question is WHY did we go here??  Well, we had no car to visit the “real” countryside, so this was as close as he was going to get to farm animals as a city kid). 

I was sitting on the sidelines nursing a tiny 4-month old Kenzi, which my husband, Tony, took Ev to see the animals - firmly holding Ev’s little hand.  He decided to get some “animal feed” (kinda looked like guinea pig food), but the dial was stuck on the vending machine, so he LET GO of Ev’s hand just for three seconds to stabilize the machine while he turned the dial.  He looked back … NO EV.  Gone.  Just disappeared in a sea of big kids pushing and shoving.  He looked up at me (settled near the exit of the area, waiting for my men to come through the petting zoo) and mouthed, “where’s Ev?”… I scanned the area… no Ev! 

I delatched Kenzi, put “myself” away, placed her in the stroller, and went to meet Tony who was coming out the exit… with no Ev.  I asked him what happened while looking frantically EVERYWHERE for my precious little boy… and didn’t see him.  We walked quickly back to the entrance of the petting zoo (near where the information center was).. no Ev… so we decided to head to the information center directly… a few seconds later we spotted a crying Ev with a Very Kind Woman (but still … a stranger!) holding his hand asking him if he knew where his Mommy was (yes, of course, that’s why he’s standing crying with you???!!!  *rolling eyes*).  I left the stroller with Tony and ran to hug Ev the woman explained that he had just come wandering out the ENTRANCE to the petting zoo all alone and crying, but she couldn’t understand him at all, and she was just going to take him to the information center. 

It may have only been a minute or two, but it was a lifetime at the moment.. and if not for that angel of a woman… it might have been a lot worse..  I wish we’d had a way to let people know how to reach us… since there was no way Ev was understandable, speech issues and fear mixed together with tears do NOT make for a intelligible conversation.

I wish we’d had SafetyTats.  From their site:

“SafetyTat is a fun and colorful temporary safety child ID tattoo that’s uniquely offered either customized with your mobile phone number or blank so you can write in your cell phone number on them. When applied to the arm of your child or loved one, SafetyTat provides an immediate, highly visible form of child identification that stays in place even when wet!”

Not only for uses like my situation (and although we’re highly responsible people, we’ve also lost Kenzi on a couple of occasions, and even lost Chae once… Greys seems to be the only kid who likes to stick around! LOL!), but for any situation where your child may need something to speak for them.  What about non-verbal autistic children, or a deaf child who may not be understood by someone not familiar with sign language?  There are also tats for tweens and teens.  I know, someone said to me, “I think at 11, 14, or 16 they are old enough to TELL someone their parents’ contact information”… really?  Okay.. can I tell you another scenerio? 

Picture yourself at a public place… say, a waterslide park.  Your 16 year old decides that he doesn’t want to “hang” with Mom and the Littles.. so he goes off (with your permission) to enjoy something a little more challenging than the splash pad.  But after going down one of the slides, he’s walking back around and slips and hits his head.  Now.. he’s unconscious.  OBVIOUSLY the staff will contact 9-1-1, but this is a big park, and maybe you don’t know that an ambulance has been called to another section of the park.  Maybe they have no idea how to contact you and LET you know… because… well, your son isn’t TALKING right now.  Imagine now, a safetytat is stuck to his inner arm, something cool like a retro rock’n'roll guitar lookin’ tat has your cellphone number on it.  Now they have a way to reach you, to let you know that they are rushing your son to the hospital unconscious… and he never had to speak a word.  For that matter, even your spouse and you could have one on, with each other’s contact (or other ICE *in case of emergency* number on it), after all, he’s not invincible… even if he’d like to think he is! LOL!

When I told a friend about it, he said to me, “I think that it’s just so unlikely to happen, that I don’t see the need for something like this”.  Hmmm… so I told him, “okay.  Then, I guess following that logic, he won’t be taking out fire and break-in insurance out on his new house he’s building.. because after all, it’s VERY unlikely that his home will burn down or be broken into living way out in the country, right?” OF COURSE NOT… that’s what INSURANCE is… it’s for that rare time that it DOES happen.  Now I know nobody sets out to lose their kid while visiting the zoo, or museum, or even a crowded mall at Easter time… but it DOES happen.  Why not take out some “return” insurance on your kid?  Before you head into a crowded place, slap a tat on your kid and know that if it should be that your child gets separated from you, they don’t need to know your cell phone number or be able to talk, or even remember your name (you can have just your name put on, so should you not have a cellphone and you would like the information center to be able to at least page you by your name.  But never put your child’s name on a SafetyTat or anything visible on your child’s clothing!)  Hey… if we’re thinking insurance, would your child’s constant safety be worth a SafetyTat a week?  Once a week, slap a fresh tat on your kid so that you can go to even the “safe” places like the grocery store and local park with confidence that should your child be a “hider” (like Kenzi was) or a “wanderer” (like Ev was), someone will always be able to get in touch with you.  We put “if lost, please call” tags on our pets… why not on our most precious children??  It just makes sense to me!

As the Scouts say.. Be Prepared!  Get your SafetyTats today!!!

Blessings!

Posted in Great Finds | Print | 1 Comment »

10. March 2010 by Shannon.

Things have changed so much since I posted last, even being that it was in January and we’re only in March.  I’ve had a little bit of a homeschool mom nervous breakdown over … I’m not sure, just life in general I guess.  Anyhow, we had to change things up when the Bigs got back from England (in mid-February) so we did the Amanda Bennett unit on the Vancouver 2010 Olympics as a whole “little schoolhouse” group… Bigs and Littles (obviously working on different levels)… and it brought back some very good memories of unit studies of the past.  So, I decided that maybe I needed (for this season) to focus on the Unit Study approach. 

Now, I like Amanda Bennett’s studies, but I absolutely LOVE Brandenburg Studies… they are absolutely excellent… very rich and research oriented.  Totally adaptable to upper grades (just expect a little more, that’s all.. the research is so open-ended in layout).  I love that they come with a schedule that you can print for your older student which not only serves as a “keep on task list” for them, but an outline of what they’re learning about for Mom (or a curious Dad?).  So, with that in mind, here is a little update on what we’re up to in this thing called homeschooling.

The Bigs:

Math: Ev is doing Math-U-See Algebra 1 (yes, he’s behind in math, but it was because the program he was using wasn’t making the math “stick” in his brain the way it should have, so we switched to MUS mid-year), and Kenzi is doing MUS Pre-Algebra.

Science: right now we’re just starting a Brandenburg Studies on Cell Biology

History:  another Brandenburg Study on Robin Hood and the Crusades

Writing and grammar come into those units, as I assess the work that they do.

The Littles:

Math: Greyson is doing AOP’s Horizons math grade 1, and Chaeli is doing Kindergarten

Grammar: First Language Lessons (both together)

Penmanship: A Reason for Handwriting (G is on book A, Ch on book K)

Writing: Writing With Ease level 1 for both Littles)

Phonics: Explode the Code (G on book 2, Ch on book C)

Spelling (and phonics practice): All About Spelling level 1

Social Studies: Story of the World book 1 (Ancient Times) plus the activity guide for maps/colouring pages

It sounds like the Littles are doing much more than the Bigs, but the Bigs’ work takes much longer, and the Littles lessons are often really short and go rather quickly. 

So far things are working… next year I’ll be changing things for the Bigs… I’m considering switching to Switched on Schoolhouse by Alpha Omega for them both.  Not completely decided, but it’s looking good to me, it grades almost everything (except essay questions, but then gives me guidelines with which to grade).  It sounds too good to be true, but I do have a Very Good Friend who uses it with her two daughters and she loves it (and they don’t even mind school anymore!).  SO… we’ll have to see where this goes.

So that’s where we’re at… what are YOU up to?

Blessings!

Posted in Curriculum Choices, General Homeschool | Print | 2 Comments »

25. February 2010 by Shannon.

Celebrities who homeschool their kids

I just found this excellent article about celebrities who homeschool their children (no, it’s not just another of those lists of the hundreds of famous, SUCCESSFUL homeschoolers… it’s a real article with quotes and everything! LOL!).   Maybe as more celebrities embrace the homeschooling lifestyle, the general public will be less wary of the rest of us.  I’d like to mention that throughout history, even when schools were available, the elite homeschooled their kids with “governesses” (read: tutor!!) because they knew that it was an exceptional choice for their beloved children.

http://www.famoushomeschoolers.net/index.html

And here is a website dedicated to lists of famous homeschoolers… all categorized on the left.  So, if you want to see more Famous Parents (homeschool, that is) you click that link on the left, if you want scientists, click that on the left.  Enjoy!

Blessings!

Posted in Great Finds, General Homeschool | Print | 1 Comment »

22. January 2010 by Shannon.

Okay.. this is time limited folks… so act fast! 

One of my favourite resouces out there is www.homeschoolfreebieoftheday.com … they always have some excellent book of the past, or a link to a freebie offered by a wahm.  Every day is something new.  Well, this week it was Anna Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study (yes, that the one the Ambleside Online people always rave about.. with good reason!).  WELL… the generous people over at HomeschoolFreebie have been offering the book in chunks all week long, and now… they are opening up the entire week’s worth of links for the ENTIRE weekend!!!  Meaning?  Well, if you are just hearing about it now, OR if you missed one day this week… you can go BACK to www.homeschoolfreebieoftheday.com and just scroll down to get all the links!  What a fantastic gift!!!

One suggestion I heard for using the book (especially if you already own a print copy) is to print off pages as needed for images/etc to use in a nature lapbook… or if you are doing a Nature Notebook, you can put in 3-hole punched card stock, and stick mini-books to it.. while maintaining the continuity of your notebook.

Why is this so timely?  Well, lots of people think of Nature Study as something to partake of in the summer months, or spring through summer… maybe even into autumn… but really, the best “cycle” of Nature is to start studying it in the WINTER months… (perfect timing is right now!) since your child can then observe the entire cycle of life… winter is a dormancy time, but allows us to see the trees without all the busy foliage, we can find animal tracks easily in the snow as local wildlife searches out food during these leaner months.  Soon spring will “sprung” and with it the trees and plants will start their growing cycle… first buds, then blossoms, then fruit (if they produce fruit)… animals will be birthing their young, and we look forward to a summer of watching baby animal antics - squirrels chasing each other all over the yard, new little flyers coming to check out birdfeeders, and sometimes catch a glimpse of a baby deer following close behind his Mama.  Then Summer with it’s insects galore, flowers, fruit, and hot lazy days perfectly designed for sitting and observing the world around us.  And of course, my favourite season, Autumn.  When the weather cools to a more comfortable level, the bugs are less of a bother (sorry, but it’s my blog and I say bugs are a bother! LOL!), a bountiful harvest to be collected (if we’re blessed), and small animals scurrying around collecting up their winter stores… oh… and the colours!!! OH the COLOURS!  I love Autumn for the richly dressed foliage of the trees.  I love walking in the woods soaking in all artistic talents of my Heavenly Father!

What better time to embark on a lifelong study of Nature, in all it’s glory, than right now?  And with this fabulous resource… you won’t be left not knowing what it is you are observing… Ms Comstock walks you through with beautiful words.  Her passion for Ecology will inspire you in your journey of discovery!

While you are on the topic.. someone far more knowledgable than I has a great blog about this very book!  Check out Barb’s blog at http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/ .

Blessings!

Posted in Great Finds | Print | 1 Comment »

17. January 2010 by Shannon.

My dear friend Katrina had a pretty wordle on her blog… so monkey see, monkey do!  LOL!

Blessings!

Posted in Random Thoughts, Great Ideas | Print | 1 Comment »

14. January 2010 by Shannon.

I’ve been gone a LONG time, haven’t I?  Well, I’m finally back on solid ground.  Ah, but the journey’s been fun! :o)

What am I talking about?  Well… we’ve moved!  In face, I feel a little deceptive even blogging on this page since we are no longer “homeschool on the hill”… in fact, we’re far from any hills that I can see.  Maybe we should call ourselves “The Little Homeschool in the Town” LOL!  It’s a strange, yet wonderful, change.  We’re now “in town”… a small town to be sure, but a town just the same.  There are “local” things… like a library, a post office, a GROCER!  I can’t believe how much things have changed… but it’s all been for the good.  I do miss my trees, I miss the mountain, I do… but this new home is just what our family needed, so I am Very Thankful.

As for school.  Well, sometimes Life is enough of a learning experience, eh?  My Bigs have learned about moving, about expenses, about the work involved in setting up a new home, about all kinds of important things like that, so I’m trying to let go of my paper pushing compulsions and just enjoy this season in our lives.  We’re just now getting settled into our school rhythm.

We’ve made some changes from what we’d planned to do this year to what we’ve actually settled on, so let me give you all a little update:

Ev (16) is working through Sonlight Core 200 as planned, but we’ve switched his math to Math-U-See Algebra 1.  Apparently he has retention issues where it comes to math… and although Life of Fred was engaging and he understood it in the moment and did very well on the immediate assignment, he quickly lost what he had learned and was unable to bring back stuff he’d “mastered” earlier.  I don’t think it’s an issue with Life of Fred, I think it’s more his learning abilities.  He’s just not a mathematical kid… I remember once when he was about 8 and had a math word problem along the lines of “if Johnny has to go get 24 apples for his mother, but his wagon only holds 8 apples, how many trips will he have to make to bring them all home?” and Ev just sitting there (looking like he was daydreaming).  When asked what he was finding so hard about the question, he - looking surprised - answered, “oh, it’s not a hard problem… I was just trying to figure out how he could fix his wagon so he’d only have to make one trip!”… ya.  That’s my boy! :o) 

*Ahem* … back to lessons.  SO, he’s still working through his novel, which is complete (all 36 chapters of it!) but in the editing stage.  He’s editing it once, and then a very good Editor friend of mine has agreed to edit it in exchange for Ev working for her for a few days.  This could be a good trade off!  Then it’s through the process of manuscript submission with publishers, and lots of praying that it’s accepted.  If anyone “knows” anyone in the business who would like to encourge a young author… please let me know!

Kenzi (14) is working through Sonlight Core 5, Math-U-See Pre-Algebra and working on a huge dog training project.  She’s read some pretty hefty books on the subject and watched countless hours of DVD lessons (oh joy!).  We’ve also applied to the Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind to be puppy walkers (basically raising a pup from 7 weeks to about 18 months till they are ready to go back to the centre for Guide Dog instruction).  Attending dog obedience classes with me and the pup will be part of her project.

Speaking of projects… I stumbled across an amazing site the other day, and I’m adapting the concept to my children… I’m hoping to be able to afford to work with this gentleman at a later date, but for right now the move has eaten up our “school budget” so we’ll have to make do on our own.  Luckily there is enough information there to get me started.

Ev and Kenz will be heading off to England later this month, a gracious invitation by my father-in-law, to meet and get to know some of the family we have living over there.  They have a great-grandmother who is 99 years old who they haven’t seen since they were 6 and 4 years old!  This will be an exciting learning experience for them… just getting used to the changes in vocabulary will be interesting!  My wonderful husband has tried to give them a British Primer with some words they may encounter that are different (such as, “boot” meaning the trunk of the car, or “rubber” meaning an eraser).  We’re SUPER excited for them and can’t wait to hear their reaction and memories when they come back.

Greys (7) and Chae (4.5) are focused on phonics, play, numbers, and drawing at the moment.  I’m trying to be as relaxed as possible with them in their education… without going “unschooling” altogether.  Do I think that unschooling is bad? No… not at all.  I know several unschoolers who blow my socks off with their passions and intelligence… but it’s just not my style.  I like some structure to know I’m covering at least the basics. 

Greyson can read words such as “activity”, “platform”, “calendar” and of course most smaller words.  He is a very eager reader if he’s not asked to read… meaning, if he comes to me to show me how he sounded a word out, but not being asked to read.  Greys loves numbers and what they represent and how they all work.  Recently I was assuring a friend of mine that the main education of Littles comes from their play, and that they can learn and practice many of their “school” skills in play:

Greyson and Chaeli are sitting on the floor playing with their wedgits. No school happening here. BUT.. let’s listen in…

C: do you want to build a crystal?…

G: No.. you are the scientist. I will buy what you make.

C: okay… (builds up a pretty “crystal” with a pattern of all the wedgit colours) do you want to buy this one?

G: well, yes. But I have to check my money (counts up the small and large white “diamonds” he has). How much is that crystal?

C: 3 diamonds.

G: (I’m not kidding, he said this!) OH! I have 5 diamonds, so, if I give you my diamonds you owe me 2 diamonds back in change!

C: okay! Can I use the diamonds to make more crystals?

G: Sure! (hands over the diamonds, Chaeli makes “change” and gets busy working on more “crystals”).

That’s suply and demand/manufacturing/economics/math(subtractions),and customer service… all wrapped up in wedgits!

Chae on the other hand is starting to read blends (words like “hand” “flat” “this” and “toad”), but is definately my science kid.  She’s constantly asking questions, contantly wanting to know how stuff works… she’s learned so much on the topic of scientific classification just because she thought it was neat that scientists make groups like she does.  She loves patterning, building, all that mathy-sciency jazz. 

I’m slowly working through First Language Lessons and Story of the World (Ancient Times with the Activity guide) with them… but we’re defiantely no where near Ms. Bauer’s schedule in The Well Trained Mind.  Oh well.. if it takes me two years for each of the 4 books, we’ll still end up in grade 9 ready to start the 4 year cycle again, won’t we?  It’s all good.

SO.  That’s my update!  I will be back more often now that everything is settled down… see y’all then!

Blessings!

Posted in Chaeli, Greyson, Kenzi, Everett, General Homeschool | Print | 2 Comments »