Sometimes despite any planning on your own part, any good thoughts, and any attempts to "do lessons" as we call it, the world has it out for you. And at some point you just have to accept that things aren't going to go the way you planned and salvage what you can.
This was a week like that. My car tried to kill me, Jason woke up one day in excruciating pain, and one of my good friends went through something amazingly hard and all I could do was pray for her and her family. Plus we were just really busy. We've spent hours at doctor's offices, had several playdates and other things just kind of happen.
So this week we packed up the work we could into bags and backpacks, tried not to lose too many papers, and soldiered on.
Harry worked on his math--it's still review, so that was good. He started Heidi but didn't get too far with it. I know he read Story of the World about Paraguay and Canada, but we haven't done the maps or other work that went with it. As for science, he did the book work, but we haven't had a chance to do the experiments that go with it. He's had ample time to read The Fellowship of the Rings while sitting and waiting in offices and we started Music of the Hemispheres. That was fun. Really. We sat yesterday waiting for Jason to finish at the doctor's office and made "whooshing" and "ssssss" sounds. That may be the best thing I take away from the week.
Sam read and read. He started Little House on the Prairie and Pippi Longstocking. I only assigned the first, he found Pippi and started to read. He worked on his math--skip counting by 10s. I know he read his history, but again we haven't done any of the activities for it. Sam did some science at the beginning of the week, but nothing since then. He also finished some grammar and writing lessons.
Both boys read a book from the library about the gross things through history. Now they keep coming up to me asking me if I know things like where people went to the bathroom throughout history. Yay. Harry and I have had some good discussions about slavery. We've talked about slavery throughout history and how it lead to slavery in the US. We talked about the time after the Civil War and how things didn't just become happy and good for everyone the moment the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. It's interesting to see him realizing that there are gray areas--slave owners weren't universally evil and northerners universally good. Again, I feel privileged that I get to be the one having these discussions with him and introducing these topics to him.
So, if I'm keeping score do I count this week as a failure or a success or something in between? We didn't get close to all of the work I had scheduled for the week finished and I there were a lot of frustrations. On the other hand, we did have some good discussions about slavery and the Civil War and the kids read a bunch of books on their own. I don't know. I know I like our weeks better when things are organized and things go smoothly, but I am pretty proud of what we did do.
But I won't mind at all if next week gets back to normal.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Week Five?
I think I lost a week in there somewhere. It may have been while we were traveling because I know I didn't skip any chapters in their books. Oh well.
So, back to work. I think I'm going to do this like a Top 10 list, rather than going into a lot of detail about everything. You're welcome!
10. Learning everywhere:
Harry doing his math while hanging out at Emma's dance class. Some subjects, like math, are more "portable" than others. Art, for instance and piano are not good lessons to take places.
9. Studying hard things together.
Harry's history program this year covers the 19th and 20th centuries. Those are years full of examples of man's inhumanity toward other men. I love that I can be the one to introduce those things to the kids. Right now we are all learning about the Civil War. Sam is enjoying the maps we color and the facts. Harry is trying to really understand slavery and what it meant for people. They are both studying the same thing, but they aren't learning it the same way. And that's cool, I don't expect them to. Sam will ask the same questions Harry is when he's ready.
I can say that now, but the Holocaust is going to be really, really hard on all of us.
8. Books, books, and more books.
Our homeschool is based on books. For the most part we don't use texts, we read real books. You can go back and tell me that Singapore Math is a text and even Story of the World is. And you would be right. But the basis of our homeschool is reading books. Harry just finished Little Princess and is still reading The Fellowship of the Ring. On Monday he'll start Heidi. Sam reads faster than any other second grader that I know, so it's hard to keep him in books. He reads a variety of books--from picture books to novels. He recently finished Beowulf (and loved it). One of his assignments this week was Owl Moon and he's reading Emil by Astrid Lindgren. At bedtime we are reading Little Men. Those are our major, assigned books, but there are others popping up here and there.
I love that the kids have time to read. It also helps, though, that the kids all really like to read.
7. Trying New Things.
Harry and Sam just started piano lessons this week with the son of a friend from Church. He's been taking piano for a long time and is great with the kids. Harry also started tennis lessons from his Uncle Adam and discovered a love of the game. I'm sure the Jamba Juice Adam got him afterward helped too.
6. Finding the "perfect" Curriculum.
Harry and Sam get lumped together a lot. They aren't quite two years apart and they are both boys. So it seems pretty easy to teach them together. But they aren't the same at all. Sam loves stories and making things up. He loves drawing and creating and seems to have a natural eye for that kind of thing. Harry likes stories too, but he prefers for them to be either fantasy or completely grounded in reality.
Sam likes to get his work over and done with so he can go back to playing with his Pokemon or creating something with Playmobil. I don't spend a lot of time trying to make it super-fun, but just get him through what he needs to do and back to his "real life." That's also a function of his age--he's not going to sit and work for a long time. We do short lessons that get a lot of info into him. Writing with Ease and First Language Lessons work really well for him.
We tried WWE and FLL with Harry and it was a complete bust. He hated them and it made both of us miserable. This year I got smart and started using Michael Clay Thompson's Language Arts program. So far, it's a huge hit. We all love it. Sam perks up when he's in the room and we are reading it, Harry thinks it's just a lot of fun, and he's actually remembering what he needs to.
5. Fun Stuff.
Harry's Literature book mentioned making buns. So he did.
4. Math.
I never thought I'd say that. Ever. But when you start giggling over place value notation and estimation it gets a mention in the Top Ten.
3. Brothers and Sisters.
She's not a true student of our "school" yet, but she really likes to do what her brothers and sister do. In fact, they all kind of run as a pack. It can be a little frightening, but overall it's good.
2. Art.
The school my kids would go to doesn't offer art. There isn't enough money for it. Fortunately we do have art in our school. This week Sam read Owl Moon and did an art project to go along with it. The best part is that I got some paints out and worked right along with him. But I'm not going to show you mine. That's the difference between a seven-year-old and a thirty...-year-old.
1. Looking out the back window at our bird feeder, noticing the birds and having the kids identify them by their calls. Something you learned together several years ago.
So, back to work. I think I'm going to do this like a Top 10 list, rather than going into a lot of detail about everything. You're welcome!
10. Learning everywhere:
Harry doing his math while hanging out at Emma's dance class. Some subjects, like math, are more "portable" than others. Art, for instance and piano are not good lessons to take places.
9. Studying hard things together.
Harry's history program this year covers the 19th and 20th centuries. Those are years full of examples of man's inhumanity toward other men. I love that I can be the one to introduce those things to the kids. Right now we are all learning about the Civil War. Sam is enjoying the maps we color and the facts. Harry is trying to really understand slavery and what it meant for people. They are both studying the same thing, but they aren't learning it the same way. And that's cool, I don't expect them to. Sam will ask the same questions Harry is when he's ready.
I can say that now, but the Holocaust is going to be really, really hard on all of us.
8. Books, books, and more books.
Our homeschool is based on books. For the most part we don't use texts, we read real books. You can go back and tell me that Singapore Math is a text and even Story of the World is. And you would be right. But the basis of our homeschool is reading books. Harry just finished Little Princess and is still reading The Fellowship of the Ring. On Monday he'll start Heidi. Sam reads faster than any other second grader that I know, so it's hard to keep him in books. He reads a variety of books--from picture books to novels. He recently finished Beowulf (and loved it). One of his assignments this week was Owl Moon and he's reading Emil by Astrid Lindgren. At bedtime we are reading Little Men. Those are our major, assigned books, but there are others popping up here and there.
I love that the kids have time to read. It also helps, though, that the kids all really like to read.
7. Trying New Things.
Harry and Sam just started piano lessons this week with the son of a friend from Church. He's been taking piano for a long time and is great with the kids. Harry also started tennis lessons from his Uncle Adam and discovered a love of the game. I'm sure the Jamba Juice Adam got him afterward helped too.
6. Finding the "perfect" Curriculum.
Harry and Sam get lumped together a lot. They aren't quite two years apart and they are both boys. So it seems pretty easy to teach them together. But they aren't the same at all. Sam loves stories and making things up. He loves drawing and creating and seems to have a natural eye for that kind of thing. Harry likes stories too, but he prefers for them to be either fantasy or completely grounded in reality.
Sam likes to get his work over and done with so he can go back to playing with his Pokemon or creating something with Playmobil. I don't spend a lot of time trying to make it super-fun, but just get him through what he needs to do and back to his "real life." That's also a function of his age--he's not going to sit and work for a long time. We do short lessons that get a lot of info into him. Writing with Ease and First Language Lessons work really well for him.
We tried WWE and FLL with Harry and it was a complete bust. He hated them and it made both of us miserable. This year I got smart and started using Michael Clay Thompson's Language Arts program. So far, it's a huge hit. We all love it. Sam perks up when he's in the room and we are reading it, Harry thinks it's just a lot of fun, and he's actually remembering what he needs to.
5. Fun Stuff.
Harry's Literature book mentioned making buns. So he did.
4. Math.
I never thought I'd say that. Ever. But when you start giggling over place value notation and estimation it gets a mention in the Top Ten.
3. Brothers and Sisters.
She's not a true student of our "school" yet, but she really likes to do what her brothers and sister do. In fact, they all kind of run as a pack. It can be a little frightening, but overall it's good.2. Art.
The school my kids would go to doesn't offer art. There isn't enough money for it. Fortunately we do have art in our school. This week Sam read Owl Moon and did an art project to go along with it. The best part is that I got some paints out and worked right along with him. But I'm not going to show you mine. That's the difference between a seven-year-old and a thirty...-year-old.
1. Looking out the back window at our bird feeder, noticing the birds and having the kids identify them by their calls. Something you learned together several years ago.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Cool...
For today's coolest thing, you don't actually have to homeschool, but it's a nice perk.
Sam's assignment was to paint and draw in the same manner as the book Owl Moon. It's one of my favorites. The kids think it's okay, probably because it's such a calm, quiet book. Sam read the book and we have a few things to do that mirror what's in it.
I sat down and painted with both Annika and Sam. It's just a nice thing to do sometimes. Sam really gets into it though. He knows how to make things look like he wants them to. In that way he really takes after Jason.
But it's always fun to take a while in the middle of the day to paint.
Pictures to follow when I have a chance to take them and the camera batteries are charged. In other words, maybe never.
Sam's assignment was to paint and draw in the same manner as the book Owl Moon. It's one of my favorites. The kids think it's okay, probably because it's such a calm, quiet book. Sam read the book and we have a few things to do that mirror what's in it.
I sat down and painted with both Annika and Sam. It's just a nice thing to do sometimes. Sam really gets into it though. He knows how to make things look like he wants them to. In that way he really takes after Jason.
But it's always fun to take a while in the middle of the day to paint.
Pictures to follow when I have a chance to take them and the camera batteries are charged. In other words, maybe never.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Today's Coolest Thing
So, not every homeschool day is perfect and some of them just need to be gotten through, but today... today has been a good day.
Today we...
laughed our way through Grammar Island. I never, ever thought that might happen.
giggled while talking about place values up to the ten thousands
read book after book to a boy about to get a cast on.
It's a chilly, rainy day and we're about to make buns for dinner, ala Sara Crewe in A Little Princess.
Today we...
laughed our way through Grammar Island. I never, ever thought that might happen.
giggled while talking about place values up to the ten thousands
read book after book to a boy about to get a cast on.
It's a chilly, rainy day and we're about to make buns for dinner, ala Sara Crewe in A Little Princess.
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