This month is our seasonal official break from the daily grind of the everyday part of school. We mostly homeschool year round. The kids retain a lot more and it's just a part of our life anyway. On the Meyers-Brigg personality chart, I am an ENFP. I can't stand a normal daily schedule. It cuts into my need for spontaneity and creativity. Yes, officially, there are things we do every day on an official schooling day. But I don't want my kids to be in a box and only think "learning" is in a timed increment. I guess that is how I saw school growing up. I have learned a lot through homeschooling.
November is probably our busiest month this year. It's amazing how much their minds process during a break from the workbooks. But with homeschooling, even though we don't "officially" do workbooks and projects on break, there is still so much natural learning that is just a part of the homeschooling mentality. There is always discussion for something new. We don't need "official" time to learn.
The Nutcracker is going very well. The kids have been very dedicated and attentive. I can't wait to see the shows. The kids have been SO happy lately. I love seeing their happy faces and hearing their infectious laughter.
We have a family reunion coming up over Thanksgiving that will be a time of family togetherness. That is so important!!! Feeling like one belongs and is loved is such a blessed thing! I can't teach that in the workbooks so I think this month will be very successful!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
End of October Notes
These months are flying by! I cannot believe it's already almost November!!! I feel so behind in everything!
School is progressing. The kids are begging for more science. I haven't been faithful with driving them to all of their various classes all over two counties because of recent gas prices. But now that isn't an excuse anymore!
We are getting through Greek mythology and minor versions of the Iliad and Odyssey. The kids, at times, remember which character is a greek or a trojan more often than me! Elizabeth still loves her Junie B. Jones but will actually now consider a different type and a more challenging book! Marie is reading some of the "Star Wars" books. She's way ahead in her other reading so I've let her pick what she wanted to read next. Josiah is coming along... slowly. His artistic skills are becoming very refined! I have hope that maybe that will lead to proficient writing soon! Reading is slow with him but not as frustrating. He's excellent at critical thinking and is very good at putting things together relationally.
Math and grammar are coming along. Elizabeth loves personal application in terms of math and analyzes, computes, and measures about the house. She is learning measuring systems and is getting quite independent. What I love so much is that she is beginning to think for herself and have personal application in her studies and applies a certain flair.
Marie continues flying through school books and work books. Sometimes I feel I am dealing with a fifth grader and not a third grader in terms of her reading.
Pizza HUT coupons are a GREAT REWARD! Thank you Pizza Hut!
School is progressing. The kids are begging for more science. I haven't been faithful with driving them to all of their various classes all over two counties because of recent gas prices. But now that isn't an excuse anymore!
We are getting through Greek mythology and minor versions of the Iliad and Odyssey. The kids, at times, remember which character is a greek or a trojan more often than me! Elizabeth still loves her Junie B. Jones but will actually now consider a different type and a more challenging book! Marie is reading some of the "Star Wars" books. She's way ahead in her other reading so I've let her pick what she wanted to read next. Josiah is coming along... slowly. His artistic skills are becoming very refined! I have hope that maybe that will lead to proficient writing soon! Reading is slow with him but not as frustrating. He's excellent at critical thinking and is very good at putting things together relationally.
Math and grammar are coming along. Elizabeth loves personal application in terms of math and analyzes, computes, and measures about the house. She is learning measuring systems and is getting quite independent. What I love so much is that she is beginning to think for herself and have personal application in her studies and applies a certain flair.
Marie continues flying through school books and work books. Sometimes I feel I am dealing with a fifth grader and not a third grader in terms of her reading.
Pizza HUT coupons are a GREAT REWARD! Thank you Pizza Hut!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Where Did September GO???
I blinked and then it's October. Where did September go? All in all, it was a good learning month. Josiah is progressing on reading and math. The girls are doing outstanding with reading. Pizza Hut has a monthly rewards program that we are utilizing. If the children complete their monthly reading, they get a coupon for a free personal pan pizza. It's great. My kids were thrilled. Marie has finished the Narnia Series and is now reading, "An Ordinary Princess." Elizabeth is still stuck in the Junie B. Jones books and has even been spending her hard-earned money buying them. I have been able to add the Jigsaw Jones books and she likes those but not quite as much as Junie B. Jones. If they ever make a tv series, Elizabeth qualifies for the part. Josiah can sound out the basic words if he's agreeable. If he's not... well... I'll get back to you. The kids are LOVING the Iliad and Odyssey and I am really enjoying reading them. I am adapting a curriculum for K-3 graders so they can be familiar with the idea of "epics," although so many are so familiar in our society (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Narnia, Lord of the Rings, etc.). All three have created their own epics. I am using the curriculum I have been developing in our newly founded church's homeschool cooperative and it's gone over well. The kids and I should be moving on to ancient Roman history but learning all the Greek history is so fascinating. A plus for homeschool, I guess, is we can pause and enjoy.
Josiah turns seven this month. We have (outside the home) science classes, Nutcracker rehearsals (Marie is a Polchinelles in the Mother Gigone and her children scene - one of my favorite scenes! Elizabeth is a little party girl in the party scene, a big mouse in the battle scene, and a baker in the Mother Gigone scene. Josiah is a little party boy and a soldier!), soccer practices, soccer games, and dance. We've really worked hard to cut down our busy-ness and our budget. It seems to be working well for us!
Our goal for the month is: Daily spelling tests through AVKO. I have kind of not picked up a routine yet for this.
Josiah turns seven this month. We have (outside the home) science classes, Nutcracker rehearsals (Marie is a Polchinelles in the Mother Gigone and her children scene - one of my favorite scenes! Elizabeth is a little party girl in the party scene, a big mouse in the battle scene, and a baker in the Mother Gigone scene. Josiah is a little party boy and a soldier!), soccer practices, soccer games, and dance. We've really worked hard to cut down our busy-ness and our budget. It seems to be working well for us!
Our goal for the month is: Daily spelling tests through AVKO. I have kind of not picked up a routine yet for this.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The Boy
I can't figure my youngest out... he's almost seven (first grade) and has the most unusual reading technique. I know that he is a kinesthetic and auditory learner... which has made learning to read challenging from his visual and kinesthetic mother. Yesterday, Josiah and I were at a coffee store working on his reading book together. We had 1:1 time for an hour working through words. He got silly... asked him a question, he thought about it, and replied, "Umm... I got nothing." When sounding out letters from pictures, he had to add to the picture his own artwork. I got frustrated. Maybe 1:1 time for reading at a coffee store with frappe's doesn't meet his learning style. Today, we stayed home with his sisters. We had the same book out, I cleaned the kitchen, and he was all over the place on the couch but completed SEVERAL lessons - he worked about an hour and a half. I had music going on, his sister was reading out loud next to him, the vacuum on and off. It didn't matter. But he was reading all sorts of words AND spelling them. YEA!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Our Schlearning Year 2008/2009
According to the dictionary, here is the definition of socialization: "The process by which a human being, beginning in infancy, acquires the habits, beliefs, and accumulated knowledge of his society." My children will continue to be "socialized" as we school at home.
Here is a rough outline of what we will be studying this school year 2008/2009:
Math: We are continuing Singapore Math... I love it and the kids love it.
Science: We get the basics from Singapore, fun science learning books, but the kids mostly learn through zoo classes, Discovery Center classes, and classes through the American Museum of Science and Energy.
Grammar: "First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind" by Jessie Wise, "Beyond the Code," and other workbooks with practice sections. Mad Libs have been a great source of fun for the kids learning the parts of speech. I also have the children journal and write "books" with illustrations just to get them to enjoy the writing process!
Spelling: AVKO Sequential Spelling... I highly recommend this!!!
Writing: "Handwriting Without Tears" and "A Reason for Handwriting."
Reading: Phonics, "Explode the Code" and a variety of classic literature mixed in with the children's personal preferences - Marie loves the classics like "Black Beauty" and "Anne of Green Gables." Elizabeth loves the "Junie B. Jones" series. They all love the Narnia books and we are currently reading adapted versions of the Iliad and Oddysey.
Logic: Critical Thinking workbooks... I need more in this area for them.
History: "A Story of the World." We are still currently in Volume One and I have decided that they are enjoying it too much to rush through. We are going back through the book this year and doing many more of the activities. We all LOVE history!!!
We are also beginning a homeschool cooperative within our church which should be a fun outlet. It is a small endeavor and hopefully will not defeat us as did the huge homeschool coops we attended in the past.
The children will continue their outside activities in dance, gymnastics, fitness, and soccer. They have all been cast in The Nutcracker.
Here is a rough outline of what we will be studying this school year 2008/2009:
Math: We are continuing Singapore Math... I love it and the kids love it.
Science: We get the basics from Singapore, fun science learning books, but the kids mostly learn through zoo classes, Discovery Center classes, and classes through the American Museum of Science and Energy.
Grammar: "First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind" by Jessie Wise, "Beyond the Code," and other workbooks with practice sections. Mad Libs have been a great source of fun for the kids learning the parts of speech. I also have the children journal and write "books" with illustrations just to get them to enjoy the writing process!
Spelling: AVKO Sequential Spelling... I highly recommend this!!!
Writing: "Handwriting Without Tears" and "A Reason for Handwriting."
Reading: Phonics, "Explode the Code" and a variety of classic literature mixed in with the children's personal preferences - Marie loves the classics like "Black Beauty" and "Anne of Green Gables." Elizabeth loves the "Junie B. Jones" series. They all love the Narnia books and we are currently reading adapted versions of the Iliad and Oddysey.
Logic: Critical Thinking workbooks... I need more in this area for them.
History: "A Story of the World." We are still currently in Volume One and I have decided that they are enjoying it too much to rush through. We are going back through the book this year and doing many more of the activities. We all LOVE history!!!
We are also beginning a homeschool cooperative within our church which should be a fun outlet. It is a small endeavor and hopefully will not defeat us as did the huge homeschool coops we attended in the past.
The children will continue their outside activities in dance, gymnastics, fitness, and soccer. They have all been cast in The Nutcracker.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Welcome
I've decided I needed a website to be a host of my thoughts of various schooling curriculum and learning techniques... thus the word, "schlearning." Ergo... this site. So welcome to all those who visit. I will aim to review curriculum, vent my ideas, and share what I have learned during our school experience. Savvy?
For anonymonity reasons, I have selected nicknames for my children. I have three and on this site they will be referred to as Marie, Elizabeth, and Josiah. Marie is registered third grade, Elizabeth is registered second grade, and Josiah is registered first grade. Although we "schlearn" on a daily basis, we will begin official school on September 2nd.
Enjoy the fall of 2008!
For anonymonity reasons, I have selected nicknames for my children. I have three and on this site they will be referred to as Marie, Elizabeth, and Josiah. Marie is registered third grade, Elizabeth is registered second grade, and Josiah is registered first grade. Although we "schlearn" on a daily basis, we will begin official school on September 2nd.
Enjoy the fall of 2008!
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