so. i just did a really nerdy thing that will hopefully help me out A LOT over the next six months.
i made a spreadsheet with the week numbers at the top, starting right now and continuing until the end of the first grade (which will end sometime at the end of june, if all goes well). in the first column, going down the left-hand side, i put the names of the subjects we go over, plus the ones i hope to add this semester.
and then. i went through the long. and tedious. process of typing in the lessons we would cover over the course of that week. THROUGH TWENTY FIVE WEEKS. AND EIGHT SUBJECTS.
it took a while.
but now i can look at my pretty spreadsheet and know exactly what we'll be covering in week [insert number here] in any given subject.
it's pretty cool.
now all that i have to do is plan the day-to-day stuffs in each subject for each of those weeks....oh dear GOD now my head is spinning.
and the best part?
i get to do this every. year. for the next TWELVE. YEARS. always assuming i have no more children, of course.
uhm.
help?
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
gasp!
yes, i'm blogging. weird, i know.
christmas is coming! i'm UBER excited. i still believe in santa claus. most def.
something exciting happened this evening that got me blogging.
i got to start thinking about ordering new books for this semester! i'll probably be able to order the week after next...and here are the books i'm going to be purchasing:
for beau:
1 - math-u-see: alpha
2 - theory time: primer level
3 - discipleland: level one
4 - note reading for very young piano students (he MIGHT be a SMIDGE too old for this one, but we're going to give it a shot, and after all, i've got other children...)
for xander:
1 - HWT: letters and numbers for me
2 - math-u-see: primer workbook
for bella:
1 - HWT: get set for school
i MAY start bella in the math-u-see primer book this semester, too, but i really don't know. i'm thinking i'm just going to buy her a kindergarten workbook when she finishes the preschool one and see how that goes for a while. as for xander, i'm going to get a supplemental kindergarten workbook for him to work through this spring. he'll be starting first grade this summer, more than likely.
i also want to start beau with a spanish curriculum i found...and it won't hurt the others to be exposed to it.
i'm starting to get excited again. for the past month and a half, we've all been kind of sick of school, and totally avoiding doing worksheets at all costs. or maybe it's just me. but i feel like this break has done us (read: me) tons of good and we'll be ready to start back after the new year.
christmas is coming! i'm UBER excited. i still believe in santa claus. most def.
something exciting happened this evening that got me blogging.
i got to start thinking about ordering new books for this semester! i'll probably be able to order the week after next...and here are the books i'm going to be purchasing:
for beau:
1 - math-u-see: alpha
2 - theory time: primer level
3 - discipleland: level one
4 - note reading for very young piano students (he MIGHT be a SMIDGE too old for this one, but we're going to give it a shot, and after all, i've got other children...)
for xander:
1 - HWT: letters and numbers for me
2 - math-u-see: primer workbook
for bella:
1 - HWT: get set for school
i MAY start bella in the math-u-see primer book this semester, too, but i really don't know. i'm thinking i'm just going to buy her a kindergarten workbook when she finishes the preschool one and see how that goes for a while. as for xander, i'm going to get a supplemental kindergarten workbook for him to work through this spring. he'll be starting first grade this summer, more than likely.
i also want to start beau with a spanish curriculum i found...and it won't hurt the others to be exposed to it.
i'm starting to get excited again. for the past month and a half, we've all been kind of sick of school, and totally avoiding doing worksheets at all costs. or maybe it's just me. but i feel like this break has done us (read: me) tons of good and we'll be ready to start back after the new year.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
yes, we're still alive.
well. it's been almost a MONTH. for that, i apologize. i just haven't had the time.
lie.
okay, so i've had the time. i've just been using my precious downtime to play stupid, mindless games on facebook. because that's what i NEEDED. shut up.
updates!
we are horribly behind. but that's okay. we were all kinds of crazy ahead to begin with.
i noticed today that everyone does INSANELY better if i work with them individually on their worksheets. i don't know how i'm going to swing that, but i'm going to try to work with them one at a time on worksheets. i feel like that portion of our day would be so much less stressful if we just changed that one little thing.
beau is doing great. he's ace-ing all of his subjects, and he really does enjoy his work, even though getting him to actually sit down and do worksheets is a bit like pulling teeth. and keeping his focus once he's there. that's one of the reasons i want to start working with him one on one, because he seems to be able to focus much better when i'm sitting next to him. he likes that individual time. in other news, his handwriting is improving, slowly but surely. we're working on spacing now between words, so his sentences look less like one big word and more like, well, sentences.
xander is making so much progress all of a sudden i want to do a little dance of joy every time i let him up from the table after finishing his worksheets. his fine motor skills are improving like CRAZY, and he's recognizing numbers and doing so much better in his counting it's unreal. i want to shout it from the rooftops!! he zooms through his worksheets now. i'm so proud of that kid.
bella. oh, bella. is there such a thing as the terrible fours? i think bella invented them. she. has become. a terror. hitting, biting, yelling, scratching, fighting, arguing, asking the same question ten billion times even though she keeps getting the same answer. suddenly, my helpful, friendly, polite little three year old has become...some sort of monster out of a horror film. you think i'm exaggerating. i'm not. today, she has bitten, punched, slapped, pushed, pulled, tackled, and tripped both her brothers - in the last ten minutes. but as much as she can dish out, she cannot take. she can be reduced to a sobbing pile of flailing limbs with a single WORD or LOOK from anyone. she will sit and "do school," but only for a few minutes at a time, and then she proceeds to try to distract everyone else as much as possible.
long story short, it's been a crazy month since i last posted.
and now if you'll excuse me, i have to go stop bella from killing her brothers. for the eleventh time this afternoon.
lie.
okay, so i've had the time. i've just been using my precious downtime to play stupid, mindless games on facebook. because that's what i NEEDED. shut up.
updates!
we are horribly behind. but that's okay. we were all kinds of crazy ahead to begin with.
i noticed today that everyone does INSANELY better if i work with them individually on their worksheets. i don't know how i'm going to swing that, but i'm going to try to work with them one at a time on worksheets. i feel like that portion of our day would be so much less stressful if we just changed that one little thing.
beau is doing great. he's ace-ing all of his subjects, and he really does enjoy his work, even though getting him to actually sit down and do worksheets is a bit like pulling teeth. and keeping his focus once he's there. that's one of the reasons i want to start working with him one on one, because he seems to be able to focus much better when i'm sitting next to him. he likes that individual time. in other news, his handwriting is improving, slowly but surely. we're working on spacing now between words, so his sentences look less like one big word and more like, well, sentences.
xander is making so much progress all of a sudden i want to do a little dance of joy every time i let him up from the table after finishing his worksheets. his fine motor skills are improving like CRAZY, and he's recognizing numbers and doing so much better in his counting it's unreal. i want to shout it from the rooftops!! he zooms through his worksheets now. i'm so proud of that kid.
bella. oh, bella. is there such a thing as the terrible fours? i think bella invented them. she. has become. a terror. hitting, biting, yelling, scratching, fighting, arguing, asking the same question ten billion times even though she keeps getting the same answer. suddenly, my helpful, friendly, polite little three year old has become...some sort of monster out of a horror film. you think i'm exaggerating. i'm not. today, she has bitten, punched, slapped, pushed, pulled, tackled, and tripped both her brothers - in the last ten minutes. but as much as she can dish out, she cannot take. she can be reduced to a sobbing pile of flailing limbs with a single WORD or LOOK from anyone. she will sit and "do school," but only for a few minutes at a time, and then she proceeds to try to distract everyone else as much as possible.
long story short, it's been a crazy month since i last posted.
and now if you'll excuse me, i have to go stop bella from killing her brothers. for the eleventh time this afternoon.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
the truth about homeschooling.
the most annoying comment i get when people find out that we homeschool is, of course, the socialization comment.
but running a close second is this one:
"you have a lot more patience than i do! ha ha ha ha ha!"
don't get me wrong, ESPECIALLY if you have said this to me (or some other homeschooling mom or dad) at some point. i don't find you annoying.
i find the assumption that i'm some sort of uber saint - whose kids never misbehave and are always perfect little angels sitting quietly at the dinner table, doing schoolwork - annoying.
especially on a day like today.
or a week like this week.
every day this week, we have gotten started with school at four thirty or later IN THE AFTERNOON. this translates to mommy is pretty tired of kid nonsense already and kids are on some sort of crazy sugar high from afternoon snack (even if said snack contains no sugar).
it usually ends up with one or more kids screaming, "momma! i'm done with my worksheet! i need a new one!" while i'm trying to help another with his math worksheet. or one daydreaming and singing when he should be practicing handwriting. or bella crying because she doesn't have enough worksheets (and honestly, that kid could probably do worksheets all day long if i let her. it's so weird).
anyway, my point is, i have no superhuman patience. by golly, i wish i DID. that would rock.
no, i end up fussing and losing my temper and getting frustrated and ending up the day by feeling like a total failure as a teacher/mom/whatever i am.
when people say, "oh, you must be like some saint or something!" i always, always feel super guilty.
i feel like, hey, when i started this thing, i was excited. and even when i just sit around lesson planning or thinking about what we're going to do next or just thinking about what it is i'm a part of, i get really excited because i get to watch my kids learn and develop a love for knowledge.
it's awesome.
so i feel really bad whenever i lose it. when i get frustrated because beau isn't paying attention to his math worksheet, i forget that he's six and also a BOY and he would love nothing better than to run around the yard with a light saber in his hand ALL DAY LONG. i could let him get up, run off some of that energy, and come back in a bit to finish that math worksheet. because we can.
whenever i get annoyed with bella for begging for more worksheets, i could really just give her another worksheet to do instead of stressing about how the workbook she's in won't last until the end of the year if i give her more than two a day. i can buy another workbook. my schedule will survive. meanwhile, instead of holding her back from learning even more, she might even zoom ahead and surprise me by skipping a grade or something. who knows?
when xander is all, "no momma! i'll do it by myself! i don't want you to help me!" and i get upset because he gets the answer wrong...i could just help him fix it and be happy that he doesn't want me to hold the marker for him like he did in the beginning.
but i'm not perfect. and sometimes i need to take a breather and remember these things.
the truth of the matter is i have regular-sized patience.
but i do have something that maybe some people don't have.
i have a super sized love for this homeschooling thing.
and sometimes, just sometimes, i get it right.
but running a close second is this one:
"you have a lot more patience than i do! ha ha ha ha ha!"
don't get me wrong, ESPECIALLY if you have said this to me (or some other homeschooling mom or dad) at some point. i don't find you annoying.
i find the assumption that i'm some sort of uber saint - whose kids never misbehave and are always perfect little angels sitting quietly at the dinner table, doing schoolwork - annoying.
especially on a day like today.
or a week like this week.
every day this week, we have gotten started with school at four thirty or later IN THE AFTERNOON. this translates to mommy is pretty tired of kid nonsense already and kids are on some sort of crazy sugar high from afternoon snack (even if said snack contains no sugar).
it usually ends up with one or more kids screaming, "momma! i'm done with my worksheet! i need a new one!" while i'm trying to help another with his math worksheet. or one daydreaming and singing when he should be practicing handwriting. or bella crying because she doesn't have enough worksheets (and honestly, that kid could probably do worksheets all day long if i let her. it's so weird).
anyway, my point is, i have no superhuman patience. by golly, i wish i DID. that would rock.
no, i end up fussing and losing my temper and getting frustrated and ending up the day by feeling like a total failure as a teacher/mom/whatever i am.
when people say, "oh, you must be like some saint or something!" i always, always feel super guilty.
i feel like, hey, when i started this thing, i was excited. and even when i just sit around lesson planning or thinking about what we're going to do next or just thinking about what it is i'm a part of, i get really excited because i get to watch my kids learn and develop a love for knowledge.
it's awesome.
so i feel really bad whenever i lose it. when i get frustrated because beau isn't paying attention to his math worksheet, i forget that he's six and also a BOY and he would love nothing better than to run around the yard with a light saber in his hand ALL DAY LONG. i could let him get up, run off some of that energy, and come back in a bit to finish that math worksheet. because we can.
whenever i get annoyed with bella for begging for more worksheets, i could really just give her another worksheet to do instead of stressing about how the workbook she's in won't last until the end of the year if i give her more than two a day. i can buy another workbook. my schedule will survive. meanwhile, instead of holding her back from learning even more, she might even zoom ahead and surprise me by skipping a grade or something. who knows?
when xander is all, "no momma! i'll do it by myself! i don't want you to help me!" and i get upset because he gets the answer wrong...i could just help him fix it and be happy that he doesn't want me to hold the marker for him like he did in the beginning.
but i'm not perfect. and sometimes i need to take a breather and remember these things.
the truth of the matter is i have regular-sized patience.
but i do have something that maybe some people don't have.
i have a super sized love for this homeschooling thing.
and sometimes, just sometimes, i get it right.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
lesson planning.
(note: i wrote this yesterday afternoon. it is getting posted this morning. shut up. i almost died last night. but that is another blog entirely.)
*****************************************************
so we finally got started on week eight today.
at four thirty in the afternoon.
but i digress.
the point is, we made it through the first day. i'm not sure what exactly made today so flippin' hard, but yeah. it was. like trying to brush a baby dinosaur's teeth. while driving a hovercraft. in a snowstorm. while heavily sedated.
okay, so maybe i'm exaggerating. a smidge.
anyway, after we got the boring things like ACTUAL LEARNING out of the way, mommy got to sit down and lesson plan.
this is all part of my new idea: finish lesson planning during the week so i won't have to do it on sunday afternoon, thus avoiding the upsetting of the hubby by my emotional absence.
and while i was doing this, i realized two beautiful things.
would you like to know what they are? of course you do.
first. next week is week nine. which, because i went to public school and all, is sort of a magical number when related to school. it means the first quarter is over. it means that we have officially made it 1/4 of the way through the year.
we made it!
except for not yet.
second. i realized. that i am. almost two weeks ahead in lesson planning.
it made me all excited and giggly because usually i am all way behind and i have no idea what we're doing the next week until the night before. it's AWESOME to be able to kind of see things all connected and feel pretty secure that no matter what else we're doing next week, school will be a part of it.
because the folders say so.
*****************************************************
so we finally got started on week eight today.
at four thirty in the afternoon.
but i digress.
the point is, we made it through the first day. i'm not sure what exactly made today so flippin' hard, but yeah. it was. like trying to brush a baby dinosaur's teeth. while driving a hovercraft. in a snowstorm. while heavily sedated.
okay, so maybe i'm exaggerating. a smidge.
anyway, after we got the boring things like ACTUAL LEARNING out of the way, mommy got to sit down and lesson plan.
this is all part of my new idea: finish lesson planning during the week so i won't have to do it on sunday afternoon, thus avoiding the upsetting of the hubby by my emotional absence.
and while i was doing this, i realized two beautiful things.
would you like to know what they are? of course you do.
first. next week is week nine. which, because i went to public school and all, is sort of a magical number when related to school. it means the first quarter is over. it means that we have officially made it 1/4 of the way through the year.
we made it!
except for not yet.
second. i realized. that i am. almost two weeks ahead in lesson planning.
it made me all excited and giggly because usually i am all way behind and i have no idea what we're doing the next week until the night before. it's AWESOME to be able to kind of see things all connected and feel pretty secure that no matter what else we're doing next week, school will be a part of it.
because the folders say so.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
hello, my name is jessica.
and i am addicted to curriculum.
specifically, searching out new subjects to add to an ever-growing pile.
subjects we already cover: (in the order they were added)
1. history.
2. science.
3. handwriting.
4. literature. (which sounds really awesome and advanced and such, but really it's just reading aloud every night from books that i select that i'd like for the kids to be exposed to. so at the same time, it both is and is not as awesome as it sounds.)
5. math.
6. geography.
7. spelling.
subjects i want to add:
1. grammar. (starting next week)
2. language arts. (also, starting next week. this one is from the lesson-website-that-shall-not-be-named.)
3. spanish.
4. music theory.
5. piano lessons.
6. Bible.
7. art.
8. creative writing.
see? i have a problem.
i could seek professional help, but as one of my best friends also has this exact. same. problem. (only i'm thinking hers is like three times as bad as mine), i'm assuming resistance is futile at this point.
specifically, searching out new subjects to add to an ever-growing pile.
subjects we already cover: (in the order they were added)
1. history.
2. science.
3. handwriting.
4. literature. (which sounds really awesome and advanced and such, but really it's just reading aloud every night from books that i select that i'd like for the kids to be exposed to. so at the same time, it both is and is not as awesome as it sounds.)
5. math.
6. geography.
7. spelling.
subjects i want to add:
1. grammar. (starting next week)
2. language arts. (also, starting next week. this one is from the lesson-website-that-shall-not-be-named.)
3. spanish.
4. music theory.
5. piano lessons.
6. Bible.
7. art.
8. creative writing.
see? i have a problem.
i could seek professional help, but as one of my best friends also has this exact. same. problem. (only i'm thinking hers is like three times as bad as mine), i'm assuming resistance is futile at this point.
Friday, October 8, 2010
okay, so. music.
i've been looking at different music books online for a while now. it started as a desire of beau's to learn to play the piano. so i thought, hey, that's easy! just find a nice little primer piano book and we can get started!
not so easy. there aren't a lot of piano books geared to kids under the age of eight.
but. i found one that i seriously love. it uses animals for the notes; "e" for elephant, "c" for cat, "d" for dog, etc. example:
the only problem is that this book is primarily a piano book. i love that it teaches note names and positions on the keyboard, and the next book in the series teaches beginning timing. but that's really as far as it goes. i'm assuming that by that point, the child would be ready to move on to one of the piano books for eight-year-olds that you can find just about everywhere.
so i kept looking. and i found theory time.
i seriously love the look of these books. and they're dead cheap, too; like nine bucks for a workbook. they also go all the way from primer - grade 12. there are great worksheets included (which the other book does not have) that really cement the ideas and also look pretty fun.
also, it isn't just piano. there are sections on music history, different instruments, etc.
so my idea is to use them together
and so. probably starting next semester,in addition to everything else, we will also be starting music theory. this makes me incredibly happeh.
not so easy. there aren't a lot of piano books geared to kids under the age of eight.
but. i found one that i seriously love. it uses animals for the notes; "e" for elephant, "c" for cat, "d" for dog, etc. example:
 |
| cute, right? |
the only problem is that this book is primarily a piano book. i love that it teaches note names and positions on the keyboard, and the next book in the series teaches beginning timing. but that's really as far as it goes. i'm assuming that by that point, the child would be ready to move on to one of the piano books for eight-year-olds that you can find just about everywhere.
so i kept looking. and i found theory time.
 |
| MUAHAHAHAHA |
i seriously love the look of these books. and they're dead cheap, too; like nine bucks for a workbook. they also go all the way from primer - grade 12. there are great worksheets included (which the other book does not have) that really cement the ideas and also look pretty fun.
also, it isn't just piano. there are sections on music history, different instruments, etc.
so my idea is to use them together
and so. probably starting next semester,
Thursday, October 7, 2010
in which i have the attention span of an ADD ferret.
just a quick post before we head off to beau's LAST FOOTBALL PRACTICE OF THE SEASON THANK GOODNESS.
so. first week back = success. i know the week isn't over yet - according to my records, there's still one more day before i get to officially say that week seven is done - but i'm declaring it. i hope i don't jinx anything.
which brings me to something i hadn't bargained on. we are technically in week eight, since we took last week off. that's going to confuse the heck out of me. i'll just have to deal with it for now, since everything is labeled already and i don't want to have to go back and fix it now. we're just counting actual weeks of schoolwork. there. that makes it all nice and tidy in my mind.
anyway, next week we are starting two new subjects. i know. shut up. but we're adding a little at a time so as not to completely get overwhelmed...or at least that's what i'm telling myself. the reality is that every couple of weeks i notice something that we aren't doing that i feel needs to be done, so i research a little and add a new subject.
as i said before, shut up.
ooh, before i forget it, i need to send out an apology to a friend of mine who sometimes reads this blog. darlin, i am so dreadfully sorry i never emailed you back. i had this extremely long and well-thought-out email written and i had been adding to it for a couple of days when i had the chance (i don't have tons of time for some reason), so i left it up in my browser. well. i came home from school one day and the POWER HAD GONE OUT. my beautiful, intelligent email to you? gone. poof. so i said, oh i'll remember what i said and write it all out again later and i totally. haven't. done that. yet. for that, i am sorry.
and now i must apologize to the rest of you for making you read all of that. in my defense, it WAS homeschool-related, because we were having a lovely little chat about it. so nyeh.
what was i talking about? ah, new subjects.
grammar, for starters. i've put together something of my own from worksheets i found at different places online and a few scope and sequence .pdf's i scrounged up from different sources. basically, i know what needs to be learned in first grade grammar, and i'm about to get on that. for all you haters. *cough*rachel*cough*
also, language arts. FINALLY. i broke down and printed everything out from the lesson on the website that i use (which i won't mention because then i'll get a totally impersonal comment from them and it's unnecessary so neener neener) and put it all in my shiny green notebook. i'm even going to *gasp* laminate a game and keep it for next. year.
i know what you're thinking.
who IS this lady?
i totally am thinking the same thing. you aren't really that crazy. i'm just getting uber organized and we all know who to thank for that one. but i digress.
the point is that i'm stupidly excited for monday. and it's like light years away. but i'll live.
so. first week back = success. i know the week isn't over yet - according to my records, there's still one more day before i get to officially say that week seven is done - but i'm declaring it. i hope i don't jinx anything.
which brings me to something i hadn't bargained on. we are technically in week eight, since we took last week off. that's going to confuse the heck out of me. i'll just have to deal with it for now, since everything is labeled already and i don't want to have to go back and fix it now. we're just counting actual weeks of schoolwork. there. that makes it all nice and tidy in my mind.
anyway, next week we are starting two new subjects. i know. shut up. but we're adding a little at a time so as not to completely get overwhelmed...or at least that's what i'm telling myself. the reality is that every couple of weeks i notice something that we aren't doing that i feel needs to be done, so i research a little and add a new subject.
as i said before, shut up.
ooh, before i forget it, i need to send out an apology to a friend of mine who sometimes reads this blog. darlin, i am so dreadfully sorry i never emailed you back. i had this extremely long and well-thought-out email written and i had been adding to it for a couple of days when i had the chance (i don't have tons of time for some reason), so i left it up in my browser. well. i came home from school one day and the POWER HAD GONE OUT. my beautiful, intelligent email to you? gone. poof. so i said, oh i'll remember what i said and write it all out again later and i totally. haven't. done that. yet. for that, i am sorry.
and now i must apologize to the rest of you for making you read all of that. in my defense, it WAS homeschool-related, because we were having a lovely little chat about it. so nyeh.
what was i talking about? ah, new subjects.
grammar, for starters. i've put together something of my own from worksheets i found at different places online and a few scope and sequence .pdf's i scrounged up from different sources. basically, i know what needs to be learned in first grade grammar, and i'm about to get on that. for all you haters. *cough*rachel*cough*
also, language arts. FINALLY. i broke down and printed everything out from the lesson on the website that i use (which i won't mention because then i'll get a totally impersonal comment from them and it's unnecessary so neener neener) and put it all in my shiny green notebook. i'm even going to *gasp* laminate a game and keep it for next. year.
i know what you're thinking.
who IS this lady?
i totally am thinking the same thing. you aren't really that crazy. i'm just getting uber organized and we all know who to thank for that one. but i digress.
the point is that i'm stupidly excited for monday. and it's like light years away. but i'll live.
Monday, October 4, 2010
so how is your vacation going, jessica?
you know what the funniest thing about our vacation has been?
the fact that none of the children have mentioned "school" since the very first day.
i'm not entirely sure that's a good thing. hopefully they haven't forgotten their names or anything by the time we start back tomorrow.
the weirdest part is that i'm ready and rearin' to start back. the week off has been GREAT - with no having to think about worksheets or lesson planning or any of that...HOWEVER...
there has been no lesson planning. there have been no worksheets.
mommy has been slightly bored.
well, not bored, but it's just seemed like there's been nothing to do this week when i find myself sitting on the couch and casting around for something to do. (side note: i'm aware that sentence was redundant. see what being bored does to me? facebook has rotted my brain.)
so yeah, this week was an EXCELLENT idea. we kicked back and went to a birthday party, the kids had a slumber party with their nana, and we went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch with the local homeschool group. (note: as soon as i get the pictures from that from my dear friend, rachel, i will post about that funn experience...in the meantime, you are welcome to go here and see a few of the fifty kabillion pictures i took using her camera that day.)
we're going to be taking two more weeks off before the new year. one will be the week before thanksgiving, and the second will be christmas week. that makes five weeks on, one week off. and that totally works for me.
well, i'm off to enjoy our last day of vacation!
the fact that none of the children have mentioned "school" since the very first day.
i'm not entirely sure that's a good thing. hopefully they haven't forgotten their names or anything by the time we start back tomorrow.
the weirdest part is that i'm ready and rearin' to start back. the week off has been GREAT - with no having to think about worksheets or lesson planning or any of that...HOWEVER...
there has been no lesson planning. there have been no worksheets.
mommy has been slightly bored.
well, not bored, but it's just seemed like there's been nothing to do this week when i find myself sitting on the couch and casting around for something to do. (side note: i'm aware that sentence was redundant. see what being bored does to me? facebook has rotted my brain.)
so yeah, this week was an EXCELLENT idea. we kicked back and went to a birthday party, the kids had a slumber party with their nana, and we went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch with the local homeschool group. (note: as soon as i get the pictures from that from my dear friend, rachel, i will post about that funn experience...in the meantime, you are welcome to go here and see a few of the fifty kabillion pictures i took using her camera that day.)
we're going to be taking two more weeks off before the new year. one will be the week before thanksgiving, and the second will be christmas week. that makes five weeks on, one week off. and that totally works for me.
well, i'm off to enjoy our last day of vacation!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
i'm declaring vacation. which is different than defeat.
i should probably post. but there isn't really anything interesting to say other than i got new folders-which-allow-me-to-keep-my-mommy-teachery-things in them that go with the kids' weekly folders. mine are green. <3
yesterday, school was like pulling teeth. for me. the hooligans were like, "SKOOL!" and i was like, "please don't talk so loud. mommy needs her caffeine."
today, the thought of pushing worksheets at them almost literally gave me hives. i may be exaggerating slightly. i just know that i will lose my mind and/or temper if we continue this week. and homeschooling means i can declare a break whenever i feel like it.
which is now. i feel like it now.
beau totally just BEGGED me to do school today. and i was like, "yeah right, kid, go play lego star wars."
'cause that's how i FEEL.
we'll start back up on tuesday (or sooner, if this week slows down a bit and we get bored.) but i'm not pushing it until tuesday. the incas can wait. so can worksheets.
this week i'm going to cuddle with them on the couch and veg out to willy wonka. there may be naps involved.
and that. sounds. GREAT.
yesterday, school was like pulling teeth. for me. the hooligans were like, "SKOOL!" and i was like, "please don't talk so loud. mommy needs her caffeine."
today, the thought of pushing worksheets at them almost literally gave me hives. i may be exaggerating slightly. i just know that i will lose my mind and/or temper if we continue this week. and homeschooling means i can declare a break whenever i feel like it.
which is now. i feel like it now.
beau totally just BEGGED me to do school today. and i was like, "yeah right, kid, go play lego star wars."
'cause that's how i FEEL.
we'll start back up on tuesday (or sooner, if this week slows down a bit and we get bored.) but i'm not pushing it until tuesday. the incas can wait. so can worksheets.
this week i'm going to cuddle with them on the couch and veg out to willy wonka. there may be naps involved.
and that. sounds. GREAT.
Friday, September 24, 2010
the post that isn't remotely funny.
1. i pretty much stink as a friend because i can't ever find a babysitter for my hooligans so i can enjoy a grown-up lunch with any of them (my friends, not the kids), and most of my friends who are single don't really want to come hang out with us at the burger king play place and have our conversation interrupted every three seconds for me to yell at a kid for something.
2. i know i came into this semester wanting to live up to the name sooperhomeskoolmom and be and do everything and do it WELL, darn it, but i am now seriously contemplating taking next semester OFF from college. maybe i'm just tired right now and it's the exhaustion talking. but right now, being less busy sounds EXCELLENT.
3. something has gotten into the hooligans this week and they have been SUPREMELY naughty and grumpy every. day. or maybe they're picking up on the fact that my sleep has not been great this week and i'm not winning any mommy-of-the-year awards with my own attitude.
i think it has to do with we all have stinkin' runny noses and runny noses give people headaches. headaches make people grumpy. grumpy people make anyone else who did NOT have a headache develop headaches of their own and then the cycle begins again.
4. there are only FOUR MORE FOOTBALL PRACTICES LEFT. i hope. i'm holding on to that like a drowning woman to a life preserver because if i can hold on to my sanity for TWO MORE WEEKS we will be out of two nights a week of getting home at eight thirty and still having to do our entire bedtime routine so that no one really gets to bed until like ten o'clock.
that COULD have something to do with my sleep-deprivation. hmm....
oh? what's that? this is a home education blog and you'd like to know how my lovely little ones are coming along in school?
beau has zoomed through the first nine lessons in the math-u-see book. he finally hit one yesterday that he had a smidge of trouble with. so we'll do a couple more of the worksheets until he's got it down pat.
why am i excited about that? because i am. i think it's because i know that NOW the real learning is happening. all of that other stuff, he already knew. now i can see those little cogs in his brain turning away and he's CHALLENGED.
i really like to see him challenged. not struggling, mind you. just STIMULATED to the point where he's really learning.
AND I GET TO WATCH THAT HAPPEN.
i love that part.
he's enjoying geography, and i've cut back a leetle bit on the worksheets...shut up. i should say, i've cut back on the amount of UNNECESSARY handwriting work that he has to do. if he's already doing spelling words that day, no copywork. cuts down on the amount of time we spend at the table and the amount of time he complains about doing worksheets. everybody's happy.
and i know he's still getting enough practice because his handwriting is SO much better than it was just a few weeks ago. i also love that part.
xander? zooming through worksheets, tracing letters all by himself, fine tuning those fine motor skills like CRAZY. i can already tell that this is going to help next year (or next semester) when i start him in the HWT book.
bella just likes coloring. she stays between the lines tons more than she used to. her stick figure people are starting to have eyes and noses and things like that. oh, and she's getting better at tracing, too, which is AWESOME. all of this means that her (and xander's, naturally) first grade year won't be as much of a shock into writing that beau's was.
poor beau. he's our homeschooling guinea pig. if something isn't going to work out for us, he's the first one to find that out.
2. i know i came into this semester wanting to live up to the name sooperhomeskoolmom and be and do everything and do it WELL, darn it, but i am now seriously contemplating taking next semester OFF from college. maybe i'm just tired right now and it's the exhaustion talking. but right now, being less busy sounds EXCELLENT.
3. something has gotten into the hooligans this week and they have been SUPREMELY naughty and grumpy every. day. or maybe they're picking up on the fact that my sleep has not been great this week and i'm not winning any mommy-of-the-year awards with my own attitude.
i think it has to do with we all have stinkin' runny noses and runny noses give people headaches. headaches make people grumpy. grumpy people make anyone else who did NOT have a headache develop headaches of their own and then the cycle begins again.
4. there are only FOUR MORE FOOTBALL PRACTICES LEFT. i hope. i'm holding on to that like a drowning woman to a life preserver because if i can hold on to my sanity for TWO MORE WEEKS we will be out of two nights a week of getting home at eight thirty and still having to do our entire bedtime routine so that no one really gets to bed until like ten o'clock.
that COULD have something to do with my sleep-deprivation. hmm....
oh? what's that? this is a home education blog and you'd like to know how my lovely little ones are coming along in school?
beau has zoomed through the first nine lessons in the math-u-see book. he finally hit one yesterday that he had a smidge of trouble with. so we'll do a couple more of the worksheets until he's got it down pat.
why am i excited about that? because i am. i think it's because i know that NOW the real learning is happening. all of that other stuff, he already knew. now i can see those little cogs in his brain turning away and he's CHALLENGED.
i really like to see him challenged. not struggling, mind you. just STIMULATED to the point where he's really learning.
AND I GET TO WATCH THAT HAPPEN.
i love that part.
he's enjoying geography, and i've cut back a leetle bit on the worksheets...shut up. i should say, i've cut back on the amount of UNNECESSARY handwriting work that he has to do. if he's already doing spelling words that day, no copywork. cuts down on the amount of time we spend at the table and the amount of time he complains about doing worksheets. everybody's happy.
and i know he's still getting enough practice because his handwriting is SO much better than it was just a few weeks ago. i also love that part.
xander? zooming through worksheets, tracing letters all by himself, fine tuning those fine motor skills like CRAZY. i can already tell that this is going to help next year (or next semester) when i start him in the HWT book.
bella just likes coloring. she stays between the lines tons more than she used to. her stick figure people are starting to have eyes and noses and things like that. oh, and she's getting better at tracing, too, which is AWESOME. all of this means that her (and xander's, naturally) first grade year won't be as much of a shock into writing that beau's was.
poor beau. he's our homeschooling guinea pig. if something isn't going to work out for us, he's the first one to find that out.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
being a first grader means...
1. lots more writing than you are used to.
you're going to have to write for EVERYTHING. if you can still get away with dictating a few things and letting your mom write it for you, DO IT. because, i gotta tell you, writing is hard.
but you'll always have enough hand strength to play video games after lessons. every. time.
2. lots more subjects than you had last year.
oh, you had science and history last year? did you also have copywork, spelling, geography, and math? did you maybe have a subject in kindergarten that was COMPLETELY TO DO WITH COLORS? OR SHAPES?
psh. kindergarteners have all the luck.
3. not as much coloring.
in kindergarten, everything has to do with coloring. are you learning about the number seven? you get to color seven birds. are you learning about the letter "m"? you get to color a moon and a moose and a mule and a mammoth. are you learning about the statue of zeus because you're studying the seven wonders? you get to color it. (okay, so sometimes first graders get to color statues of zeus, too. however...)
in first grade, if you're learning how to add two numbers together, guess what? you have to write them. if you're learning about electricity in science, you have to write about it when you do the worksheet. if you're learning about globes in geography, you have to write the stinkin' word "globe" like fifty times.
4. it takes you longer than your brother (who is in kindergarten, the lucky kid) to do seatwork.
while he is over there scribbling to color in six red radishes, you are toiling over about fifteen different worksheets of first grade math. (note: may be a slight exaggeration.)
while he is learning about the sound the letter "a" makes, you are writing the letter "a" over and over again as you do your spelling and/or copywork.
while he gets to color in the squares he finds in the pictures, you are, guess what, doing more writing for the love of pete as you finish your geography worksheet.
and while he gets to run off and watch spongebob when he finishes his measly three worksheets, you are only halfway through with yours.
punk.
5. learning new stuff.
not everything is bad about being a first grader. having more subjects means you get to learn about more interesting things, like how the aztecs grew their food and how chemical energy gets changed to kinetic energy.
still. you have to write about all of it.
and finally,
6. being a first grader means getting to tell everyone you're in the first grade.
because "i'm in the first grade," sounds way better than "i'm in kindergarten."
'nuff said.
but you'll always have enough hand strength to play video games after lessons. every. time.
2. lots more subjects than you had last year.
oh, you had science and history last year? did you also have copywork, spelling, geography, and math? did you maybe have a subject in kindergarten that was COMPLETELY TO DO WITH COLORS? OR SHAPES?
psh. kindergarteners have all the luck.
 |
| kindergarteners can suck it. first grade stuff is WAY HARDER. |
3. not as much coloring.
in kindergarten, everything has to do with coloring. are you learning about the number seven? you get to color seven birds. are you learning about the letter "m"? you get to color a moon and a moose and a mule and a mammoth. are you learning about the statue of zeus because you're studying the seven wonders? you get to color it. (okay, so sometimes first graders get to color statues of zeus, too. however...)
in first grade, if you're learning how to add two numbers together, guess what? you have to write them. if you're learning about electricity in science, you have to write about it when you do the worksheet. if you're learning about globes in geography, you have to write the stinkin' word "globe" like fifty times.
while he is over there scribbling to color in six red radishes, you are toiling over about fifteen different worksheets of first grade math. (note: may be a slight exaggeration.)
while he is learning about the sound the letter "a" makes, you are writing the letter "a" over and over again as you do your spelling and/or copywork.
while he gets to color in the squares he finds in the pictures, you are, guess what, doing more writing for the love of pete as you finish your geography worksheet.
and while he gets to run off and watch spongebob when he finishes his measly three worksheets, you are only halfway through with yours.
punk.
5. learning new stuff.
not everything is bad about being a first grader. having more subjects means you get to learn about more interesting things, like how the aztecs grew their food and how chemical energy gets changed to kinetic energy.
still. you have to write about all of it.
and finally,
6. being a first grader means getting to tell everyone you're in the first grade.
because "i'm in the first grade," sounds way better than "i'm in kindergarten."
'nuff said.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
in which you will possibly question my sanity.
so, guys. we are finished with week 5.
this week, we started math-u-see primer. we are officially on lesson 6. originally, i had only intended on doing math maybe twice a week, like we do science and history, but beau kept zooming through the lessons, and i realized that math is slowly becoming his favorite part of seatwork.
so now i'm faced with the realization that we're probably going to have to buy the alpha book for christmas. which is actually kind of exciting.
and. starting tomorrow, we are starting two, count 'em, TWO new subjects.
#1, spelling. because it's about dern time. and #2, geography, because darn you rachel and your random curriculum you don't want and are willing to sell "for cheap."
both of which look seriously fun. (again, i know i'm a dork. shut up.) and yes, i am serious. the only problem is that now i have five extra worksheets a week and i have to figure out on what days to put them because i don't want beau exceedingly swamped with worksheets like two days a week with nothing in between.
i also downloaded this seriously cool (to seriously unhinged people, naturally) lesson planner which calmed the hives i was starting to get over the scheduling worksheets thing. i'm hive-free now. figuratively speaking.
and since i know you all want to know what it looks like, i'll include a link. click here to see the source of my sooper crazy, diet coke-induced excited-ness. also, superteacherworksheets.com (the source) is pretty much an EXCELLENT resource for printables.
speaking of moar and MOAR worksheets (which, by the way, would make an excellent name for a printables website), this site has lots of worksheets sorted by subject and grade level. just sayin.
i can say, totally completely without irony, that i am SOOPER EXCITED about school tomorrow. we're starting a unit on the aztecs in history and on heat and electric energy in science. also, spelling.
we are now OFFICIALLY covering all the subjects mentioned for first grade in home learning year by year. i. am. stoked.
this week, we started math-u-see primer. we are officially on lesson 6. originally, i had only intended on doing math maybe twice a week, like we do science and history, but beau kept zooming through the lessons, and i realized that math is slowly becoming his favorite part of seatwork.so now i'm faced with the realization that we're probably going to have to buy the alpha book for christmas. which is actually kind of exciting.
and. starting tomorrow, we are starting two, count 'em, TWO new subjects.
#1, spelling. because it's about dern time. and #2, geography, because darn you rachel and your random curriculum you don't want and are willing to sell "for cheap."
both of which look seriously fun. (again, i know i'm a dork. shut up.) and yes, i am serious. the only problem is that now i have five extra worksheets a week and i have to figure out on what days to put them because i don't want beau exceedingly swamped with worksheets like two days a week with nothing in between.
i also downloaded this seriously cool (to seriously unhinged people, naturally) lesson planner which calmed the hives i was starting to get over the scheduling worksheets thing. i'm hive-free now. figuratively speaking.
and since i know you all want to know what it looks like, i'll include a link. click here to see the source of my sooper crazy, diet coke-induced excited-ness. also, superteacherworksheets.com (the source) is pretty much an EXCELLENT resource for printables.
speaking of moar and MOAR worksheets (which, by the way, would make an excellent name for a printables website), this site has lots of worksheets sorted by subject and grade level. just sayin.
i can say, totally completely without irony, that i am SOOPER EXCITED about school tomorrow. we're starting a unit on the aztecs in history and on heat and electric energy in science. also, spelling.
we are now OFFICIALLY covering all the subjects mentioned for first grade in home learning year by year. i. am. stoked.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
you might be wondering...
...what happened with bella's ballet class yesterday?
oh, it was fun.
she was MEGA excited when we pulled up in the parking lot.
"is this where my class is gonna be? huh, momma, is it? is this where i will dance? what's my teacher's name?"
she wore her tiny little ballet slippers - and this little pink tutu that came with a set of pajamas she got last winter - into the building. we walked in, and there was already another little girl there with her mother.
and suddenly, my talkative, bubbly, always-making-friends all over the place little girl became painfully shy.
which is, of course, her custom.
other little girls piled in. there were about fifteen or so in all. i lost count, but i do know that i probably wouldn't have wanted to be the girl in charge of this class. that was a LOT of little black leotards.
anyway, so i take my boys and we leave to go to the park, waving as bella happily runs off into the studio with all the other bright-eyed little darlings stepping into dance for the first time.
exactly eleven minutes later, i receive a phone call.
something had happened in just over ten minutes that turned my little ballerina from this:
to this:
no idea what that something was.
i'm thinking that somebody's little girl had to be the one to cry on the first day. i just got lucky this time.
so, we're going to try again next week.
i'll let you know how that goes.
oh, it was fun.
she was MEGA excited when we pulled up in the parking lot.
"is this where my class is gonna be? huh, momma, is it? is this where i will dance? what's my teacher's name?"
she wore her tiny little ballet slippers - and this little pink tutu that came with a set of pajamas she got last winter - into the building. we walked in, and there was already another little girl there with her mother.
and suddenly, my talkative, bubbly, always-making-friends all over the place little girl became painfully shy.
which is, of course, her custom.
other little girls piled in. there were about fifteen or so in all. i lost count, but i do know that i probably wouldn't have wanted to be the girl in charge of this class. that was a LOT of little black leotards.
anyway, so i take my boys and we leave to go to the park, waving as bella happily runs off into the studio with all the other bright-eyed little darlings stepping into dance for the first time.
exactly eleven minutes later, i receive a phone call.
something had happened in just over ten minutes that turned my little ballerina from this:
 |
| before. |
to this:
 |
| after. (disclaimer: not actually bella) |
i'm thinking that somebody's little girl had to be the one to cry on the first day. i just got lucky this time.
so, we're going to try again next week.
i'll let you know how that goes.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
and we just. keep. adding. more.
today we were overachievers.
i totally didn't mean for us to be, but we skipped football practice this afternoon because mommy feels like she's going to throw up everywhere and didn't really feel like spreading that kind of love around.
so we started on worksheets. we all sat at the kitchen table, which hasn't happened in a little while because there's always been something on the table (side note: you should know that we very rarely eat at the table. all of that is about to change. but for the past couple of weeks, it's become a catch-all for anything and everything that doesn't have another place, and hasn't been available to us for schoolwork), but mommy got fierce this afternoon and cleared everything and my point is they were all sitting there like little darlings, EXCITED to do worksheets.
yeah.
so iforgot it wasn't wednesday decided to carpe diem and start a new math lesson. which then led to doing a science worksheet that was meant for tomorrow. that part was an accident, but oh well. that's what happens when you skip football get your days mixed up decide to be an overachiever.
all the worksheets were done WITHOUT tears, even xander's. he's started tracing all the letters by himself; in fact, it's become his favorite part of the worksheets. i'm stinkin' proud of that kid.
anyway, i got back to the computer to do grades, and beau came up behind me and was all like, "what are we learning today, mom?" all excited and junk. i was like, "we aren't doing anything new today on the computer." and he was like, "aww, not even a science experiment?"
so i logged into lessonpathways and looked around a bit. and i got stuck on the language arts section. i like it. i maybe want to do it. i know i'm nuts. we're already doing enough. but i think the kids would enjoy it. as long as we have time. i may do the crafts and things as sort of a reward system: if you do your history and science without whining, we can do the lessonpathways language arts lesson. something like that.
math is no longer a problem. i flipping LOVE math-u-see. it's fun and the kids like doing it. so far.
anyway, just wanted to write this down before ifell into an exhausted stupor in front of the television set forgot it.
i totally didn't mean for us to be, but we skipped football practice this afternoon because mommy feels like she's going to throw up everywhere and didn't really feel like spreading that kind of love around.
so we started on worksheets. we all sat at the kitchen table, which hasn't happened in a little while because there's always been something on the table (side note: you should know that we very rarely eat at the table. all of that is about to change. but for the past couple of weeks, it's become a catch-all for anything and everything that doesn't have another place, and hasn't been available to us for schoolwork), but mommy got fierce this afternoon and cleared everything and my point is they were all sitting there like little darlings, EXCITED to do worksheets.
yeah.
so i
all the worksheets were done WITHOUT tears, even xander's. he's started tracing all the letters by himself; in fact, it's become his favorite part of the worksheets. i'm stinkin' proud of that kid.
anyway, i got back to the computer to do grades, and beau came up behind me and was all like, "what are we learning today, mom?" all excited and junk. i was like, "we aren't doing anything new today on the computer." and he was like, "aww, not even a science experiment?"
so i logged into lessonpathways and looked around a bit. and i got stuck on the language arts section. i like it. i maybe want to do it. i know i'm nuts. we're already doing enough. but i think the kids would enjoy it. as long as we have time. i may do the crafts and things as sort of a reward system: if you do your history and science without whining, we can do the lessonpathways language arts lesson. something like that.
math is no longer a problem. i flipping LOVE math-u-see. it's fun and the kids like doing it. so far.
anyway, just wanted to write this down before i
Monday, September 13, 2010
mayans and tigers and bears.
did anybody else know that the one scene in the road to el dorado where they play the game with the golden hoop is actually the ancient mayan ballgame where the loser team's captain gets his head cut off?
yay for homeschool allowing us to do awesome things like adding this clip into our unit on the ancient mayan civilization and counting transformers: the revenge of the fallen as part of the ancient egypt study. you know. because of the pyramids.
we also began our introduction to energy unit, which was pretty fun because we got to make one of those old fashioned play phones made out of cups and string (which taught us about sound waves). it's fun when bella yells out, "when i sing like this, la la la la LAAAA, it's energy, right momma?" and she's all excited and cute.
also, BREAKING NEWS. beau did his math-u-see worksheets. and was like, "hey, this is fun!"
i was secretly like, "YESSSSSSSSSS!" complete with corny nineties fist pump. outwardly, i was all, "that's great, beau! we can move on to the next lesson on wednesday!" he also did the neatest copywork i've yet to see him do, and he's started correcting his letters when he sees he's done them incorrectly. and today was the first day he wrote his name on all his worksheets by himself, all the while saying, "hey, writing my name is really fun!" lol. he'll be charging five dollars for autographs any day now.
xander traced all the letters on his first two worksheets all. by. himself. which unfortunately tired him out mentally and he totally told me writing made his tummy hurt. so i helped him with the rest and he happily scampered off to play even more lego star wars. oh, the joy.
oh, and i will leave you with moar bella funness...we were looking at a book the other day and she saw a picture of the statue of liberty. she pointed at it and shouted, in this really excited voice, "momma! it's the collosus of rhodes!"
yay for homeschool allowing us to do awesome things like adding this clip into our unit on the ancient mayan civilization and counting transformers: the revenge of the fallen as part of the ancient egypt study. you know. because of the pyramids.
we also began our introduction to energy unit, which was pretty fun because we got to make one of those old fashioned play phones made out of cups and string (which taught us about sound waves). it's fun when bella yells out, "when i sing like this, la la la la LAAAA, it's energy, right momma?" and she's all excited and cute.
also, BREAKING NEWS. beau did his math-u-see worksheets. and was like, "hey, this is fun!"
i was secretly like, "YESSSSSSSSSS!" complete with corny nineties fist pump. outwardly, i was all, "that's great, beau! we can move on to the next lesson on wednesday!" he also did the neatest copywork i've yet to see him do, and he's started correcting his letters when he sees he's done them incorrectly. and today was the first day he wrote his name on all his worksheets by himself, all the while saying, "hey, writing my name is really fun!" lol. he'll be charging five dollars for autographs any day now.
xander traced all the letters on his first two worksheets all. by. himself. which unfortunately tired him out mentally and he totally told me writing made his tummy hurt. so i helped him with the rest and he happily scampered off to play even more lego star wars. oh, the joy.
oh, and i will leave you with moar bella funness...we were looking at a book the other day and she saw a picture of the statue of liberty. she pointed at it and shouted, in this really excited voice, "momma! it's the collosus of rhodes!"
 |
| close enough. |
i'm drowning.
in worksheets.
i swear, the amount of paper we go through in this house has increased exponentially in the past week alone.
at least i'm keeping my husband in business.
but yeah. yesterday was one of those days from hell where we aren't home at ALL insanely busy, so i didn't get to do my customary weekly gathering of papers and lesson planning. so i'm doing that THIS MORNING. and there are a LOT of worksheets.
i'm making copies as we speak.
it's nine o'clock and we still haven't started. also, i have to go to town in a bit to take a test for a class i haven't even looked at...way to go mom for being an excellent academic role model! i'll do fine. no worries.
no, what i'm worried about is tackling mount worksheet-more when i get back home.
oh &also, the accompanying whining that will go along with it.
i mean, the shining, smiling faces of my littlehooligans angels.
i swear, the amount of paper we go through in this house has increased exponentially in the past week alone.
at least i'm keeping my husband in business.
i'm making copies as we speak.
no, what i'm worried about is tackling mount worksheet-more when i get back home.
oh &also, the accompanying whining that will go along with it.
i mean, the shining, smiling faces of my little
Saturday, September 11, 2010
please ignore this post.
you. guys. i need a moment.
math-u-see came yesterday. i was so STOKED. i waited until it got here before we left to go to the library. that's how much of a dork/loser/crazy-person i am. i think i scared the UPS man a little with my enthusiasm. i wonder what he thought was in that little brown box. i'm pretty sure he wasn't thinking, "i bet it's a math curriculum!"
i waited until today to break it out. i was supposed to wait until monday, but yeah.
i watched the video by myself first. okay, so i watched the first lesson. then i called all my beautiful darlings back into the living room and sat them down in a row in front of the television set. i gave them each a few of the green "one" blocks, and pressed play.
they liked the video. all of them participated and yelled out answers and all of that fun stuff. meanwhile, i sat smugly on the couch, congratulating myself on finding a way to make math fun for all my children at the same time, with little to no stress on my part because i. am. not. the. teacher. the man on the screen is the teacher. and he has an EXCELLENT attitude about teaching. i haven't seen him yell YET. i was impressed.
anywho, the video went off, and i broke out the workbook, just to show them the ridiculously easy problems they'd be starting with, and how big the pictures were and how there were only THREE problems per worksheet and isn't that AWESOME?
apparently, no, it was not awesome.
here are beau's exact words.
"why did you give us these blocks? we don't even have to use them this time. this is stupid. (side note: okay, so he didn't SAY it was stupid, but he IMPLIED it) *rolls eyes* i KNOW what a number six looks like, mom. MOMMA. i DON'T want to do this! *heavy sigh*"
yes, i know it's a bit slow for beau right now. but it picks up SO fast and it will be fun for him in just a few lessons. he'll live while his brother and sister go a bit slower through this part. plus, i think it was more of a, "MORE worksheets?!" sort of thing.
if he only saw the amount of worksheets they do in first grade public school, he'd thank me.
also, i grounded him from video games for the rest of the day because he threw little green blocks at his sister in his grouchy attitude. seriously, son? did it make you feel better? was it worth having to watch your little brother play lego star wars all by himself while you sit sadly by and complain in a REALLY loud voice how it isn't fair and he's just rubbing it in? hmm?
i waited until today to break it out. i was supposed to wait until monday, but yeah.
i watched the video by myself first. okay, so i watched the first lesson. then i called all my beautiful darlings back into the living room and sat them down in a row in front of the television set. i gave them each a few of the green "one" blocks, and pressed play.
they liked the video. all of them participated and yelled out answers and all of that fun stuff. meanwhile, i sat smugly on the couch, congratulating myself on finding a way to make math fun for all my children at the same time, with little to no stress on my part because i. am. not. the. teacher. the man on the screen is the teacher. and he has an EXCELLENT attitude about teaching. i haven't seen him yell YET. i was impressed.
anywho, the video went off, and i broke out the workbook, just to show them the ridiculously easy problems they'd be starting with, and how big the pictures were and how there were only THREE problems per worksheet and isn't that AWESOME?
apparently, no, it was not awesome.
here are beau's exact words.
"why did you give us these blocks? we don't even have to use them this time. this is stupid. (side note: okay, so he didn't SAY it was stupid, but he IMPLIED it) *rolls eyes* i KNOW what a number six looks like, mom. MOMMA. i DON'T want to do this! *heavy sigh*"
yes, i know it's a bit slow for beau right now. but it picks up SO fast and it will be fun for him in just a few lessons. he'll live while his brother and sister go a bit slower through this part. plus, i think it was more of a, "MORE worksheets?!" sort of thing.
if he only saw the amount of worksheets they do in first grade public school, he'd thank me.also, i grounded him from video games for the rest of the day because he threw little green blocks at his sister in his grouchy attitude. seriously, son? did it make you feel better? was it worth having to watch your little brother play lego star wars all by himself while you sit sadly by and complain in a REALLY loud voice how it isn't fair and he's just rubbing it in? hmm?
Thursday, September 9, 2010
exhaustion.
yeah. that's how i feel. BUT, i still have a bit of energy left over to be excited about a few homeschool-related things.
first. MATH-U-SEE SHOULD GET HERE TOMORROW. this is important. i have been looking forward to this all summer long, and now i don't know what to do with myself now that it's finally almost here! i've been tracking our order like an uber dork yesterday and today on the UPS website, and they've estimated that it will be here tomorrow. which is extremely exciting. and also a bit daunting, because it means that we're going to have to figure out how to incorporate another subject into our already-too-busy lives...
second. we're almost through with week three (even though in my gradebook, it's technically week four, which never fails to throw me off JUST a bit) of my little trial period. see, a few weeks ago (you may recall), there was a MEGA breakdown in my family in which a couple of the homeschool nay-sayers were saying that i couldn't POSSIBLY do everything we had planned for this fall AND homeschool at the same time. hubby was worried as well, and he gave me sort of a "trial month" to see if i could handle it. at the end of the month, if i couldn't, i'd have to drop something or other. little did they all realize that i am sooper homeskool mom! with amazing powers to multitask and get stuff done!sort of.
anyway, the point is that the trial period is almost up, and i've been record-keeping like a crazy woman and we have TONS of work that i can just pull out at any time to show anyone who'd care to see it EXACTLY what we're doing. i know i sound like a broken record on that point, but it's very crucial to me.
third. bella starts ballet next week. which is going to throw us into yet ANOTHER loop since we're going to be starting math-u-see that week as well. we'll figure it out. meanwhile, she is more excited than any three year old little girl has ever been before about starting ballet. it's really quite funny.
fourth (man this is a long list). i'm putting this off until the week after next, unless something else happens and we need to wait yet another week, but i have these really cute little sight word books i bought for beau a couple of years back (which we never used because he didn't really like). i saved them because, hey, i have two other children, and sure enough, xander found them the other day and he wants to start doing them. so we'll start them in another week.
finally (what? i got tired of numbering), tomorrow at the library, THE FIRE TRUCK IS GOING TO BE THERE. i think i'm more excited than the kids. i've heard that the kids get to climb all up inside the truck and all of that awesomely fun stuff. i wonder if they let the mommies do that, because that sounds REALLY FUN...
i. am. so. tired. but i can handle this. i totally can. i'm going to stay positive. sure, there's a lot going on, but that doesn't mean that i can't do it. but if i hear one. more. thing. about lego star wars, i'm going toshoot myself scream throw the video game out the window give myself a time out.
well, i'd probably sit here and procrastinate cleaning for a while longer, but i've got to start getting the kids ready to go to beau's football practice. today is picture day and we have to be there fifteen minutes earlier than usual. yay.
first. MATH-U-SEE SHOULD GET HERE TOMORROW. this is important. i have been looking forward to this all summer long, and now i don't know what to do with myself now that it's finally almost here! i've been tracking our order like an uber dork yesterday and today on the UPS website, and they've estimated that it will be here tomorrow. which is extremely exciting. and also a bit daunting, because it means that we're going to have to figure out how to incorporate another subject into our already-too-busy lives...
second. we're almost through with week three (even though in my gradebook, it's technically week four, which never fails to throw me off JUST a bit) of my little trial period. see, a few weeks ago (you may recall), there was a MEGA breakdown in my family in which a couple of the homeschool nay-sayers were saying that i couldn't POSSIBLY do everything we had planned for this fall AND homeschool at the same time. hubby was worried as well, and he gave me sort of a "trial month" to see if i could handle it. at the end of the month, if i couldn't, i'd have to drop something or other. little did they all realize that i am sooper homeskool mom! with amazing powers to multitask and get stuff done!
anyway, the point is that the trial period is almost up, and i've been record-keeping like a crazy woman and we have TONS of work that i can just pull out at any time to show anyone who'd care to see it EXACTLY what we're doing. i know i sound like a broken record on that point, but it's very crucial to me.
third. bella starts ballet next week. which is going to throw us into yet ANOTHER loop since we're going to be starting math-u-see that week as well. we'll figure it out. meanwhile, she is more excited than any three year old little girl has ever been before about starting ballet. it's really quite funny.
fourth (man this is a long list). i'm putting this off until the week after next, unless something else happens and we need to wait yet another week, but i have these really cute little sight word books i bought for beau a couple of years back (which we never used because he didn't really like). i saved them because, hey, i have two other children, and sure enough, xander found them the other day and he wants to start doing them. so we'll start them in another week.
finally (what? i got tired of numbering), tomorrow at the library, THE FIRE TRUCK IS GOING TO BE THERE. i think i'm more excited than the kids. i've heard that the kids get to climb all up inside the truck and all of that awesomely fun stuff. i wonder if they let the mommies do that, because that sounds REALLY FUN...
i. am. so. tired. but i can handle this. i totally can. i'm going to stay positive. sure, there's a lot going on, but that doesn't mean that i can't do it. but if i hear one. more. thing. about lego star wars, i'm going to
well, i'd probably sit here and procrastinate cleaning for a while longer, but i've got to start getting the kids ready to go to beau's football practice. today is picture day and we have to be there fifteen minutes earlier than usual. yay.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
worksheet adventures.
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! xander actually WANTED to do his worksheets today. AND. he traced the number "1" all. by. himself.
that may not sound like much to you, but considering that yesterday we had a worksheet meltdown that came perilously close to not ending well, i'd say that's pretty dern awesome.
so. updates. we finished up the seven wonders of the ancient world on saturday! beau did AWESOME. he totally remembered all the names and locations of the seven wonders when we did our little "quiz" at the end of the section. i was sooper proud.
in science, we're going through the different states of matter. hopefully we can finish up this week's science quickly so we'll be finishing our science units at the same time as we finish our history units (a gal can dream, can't she?). it would just make the lesson plans look SO much neater.
i know. i caught the organization bug from rachel. i'm going to unschooler heck. go ahead and say it. but really, i like this so much better even though i SWORE TO MYSELF I'D NEVER DO IT THIS WAY.
the reason i like it better, you may ask?
it's so embarrassing for me to admit this, but this way, it actually LOOKS like we're doing somethingbesides watching spongebob all day. i have WRITTEN PROOF. and GRADES. *gasp*
myeh. it's kind of cool. it doesn't take oodles of timeyet. i'm hoping it sticks, cause it sure makes hubby happy. you know the old axiom "if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy?" well, it's the reverse in our house. if daddy ain't happy, you all had better run and hide until he's out of his funk. because it's. going. to. get. ugly.
i joke. but really, it's SO much smoother when he's on my side with this whole homeschooling thing. and i agree with him that it's easier for him to defend it when he has more to say than "well, the kid can read," when people ask him how beau is doing in school. and now he's got to answer all those same question with xander thrown into the mix. so yeah, it makes it easier on him. and for me as well, when i really think about it. i don't look so disorganized and out of controllike i am in every other aspect of my life like i did before.
plus, i LOVE my little folder system. rachel is right, everything goes TONS quicker when mom doesn't have to run around trying to gather materials and print copies of worksheets at the last second. because everything is planned out for at LEAST a week in advance (for now at least), all i have to do is pull it out and we're ready to go.
i still can't get over xander's positive attitude this afternoon with the worksheets. he called it his "homework." i know there are going to be bad days and there are going to be good days, but today i'm going to sit back and just be uber happy that today was a good day. that's all i need.
that may not sound like much to you, but considering that yesterday we had a worksheet meltdown that came perilously close to not ending well, i'd say that's pretty dern awesome.
so. updates. we finished up the seven wonders of the ancient world on saturday! beau did AWESOME. he totally remembered all the names and locations of the seven wonders when we did our little "quiz" at the end of the section. i was sooper proud.
in science, we're going through the different states of matter. hopefully we can finish up this week's science quickly so we'll be finishing our science units at the same time as we finish our history units (a gal can dream, can't she?). it would just make the lesson plans look SO much neater.
i know. i caught the organization bug from rachel. i'm going to unschooler heck. go ahead and say it. but really, i like this so much better even though i SWORE TO MYSELF I'D NEVER DO IT THIS WAY.
the reason i like it better, you may ask?
it's so embarrassing for me to admit this, but this way, it actually LOOKS like we're doing something
myeh. it's kind of cool. it doesn't take oodles of time
i joke. but really, it's SO much smoother when he's on my side with this whole homeschooling thing. and i agree with him that it's easier for him to defend it when he has more to say than "well, the kid can read," when people ask him how beau is doing in school. and now he's got to answer all those same question with xander thrown into the mix. so yeah, it makes it easier on him. and for me as well, when i really think about it. i don't look so disorganized and out of control
plus, i LOVE my little folder system. rachel is right, everything goes TONS quicker when mom doesn't have to run around trying to gather materials and print copies of worksheets at the last second. because everything is planned out for at LEAST a week in advance (for now at least), all i have to do is pull it out and we're ready to go.
i still can't get over xander's positive attitude this afternoon with the worksheets. he called it his "homework." i know there are going to be bad days and there are going to be good days, but today i'm going to sit back and just be uber happy that today was a good day. that's all i need.
Monday, August 30, 2010
week one, finished.
so i'm not sure how i got myself into this mess, but apparently there are a few people in my life who feel that i've taken too much on my plate. the main segment of them the very ones who are extremely anti-homeschool for reasons that haven't fully been made clear. it's almost as if they hate it, but even they don't know why.
so i've been walking around for the past two weeks, glancing nervously over my shoulder, preparing to be ambushed at any moment, hog-tied, and forced to watch as they ship my children off on yellow buses to the nearest public school. any public school, apparently.
and while my logical mind knows that this is impossible, that no one can make the decision regarding my children's education except for hubby (who's only concern is that they are "keeping up" with the kids in public school) and myself, it's STRESSING ME OUT, PEOPLE.
so i am decidedly relieved that week one is OVER. and i have lovely documentation of all the work we did, a copy of my lesson plan from last week on my hard drive and also printed out (to be placed in a manila envelope and filed away neatly (along with all the paperwork we did and possibly copies of the pictures of crafts we've done), and an actual gradebook with actual GRADES (which i HATE HATE HATE).
all of this is MEGA new to me, as i would, if left to my own devices, NEVER touch ANY of this stuff. but the nay-sayers are really starting to get to me, and in the end, having a bit more structure isn't so bad. i'm not going to go so far as to say that it's GOOD, especially since my hand has been forced with all of this, but it's all right.
it helps hubby sleep at night. and if i were ever educationally audited by the anti-homeschoolers in my life, i could simply pull out a file and a report card andrub their noses in it show them exactly what we've been doing.
/end rant.
today we finished up our nature detective science study and started on part two of the seven wonders of the ancient world unit. i also tweaked our weekly school schedule a bit, since last week was basically a test-run of the new schedule and i pretty much knew it wouldn't be permanent anyway. it looks and feels a lot better and more laid-back now.
mondays we do hardcore school. history and science, condensing two days of lessons into one, since we're basically home all day. even though we cover a lot of material, it still only takes about two hours. copywork and then we're done.
tuesdays, mommy has school from 8-2 and beau has football from 6-8pm. so, accounting for travel time, we are home for about two hours in the middle. BAM handwriting worksheets and copywork. and then i had the bright idea of sending a worksheet or two along to mimi's and whoosh! even yesser.
wednesdays, mommy has an hour-long class from 9-10. before nine, you can forget about getting my angels to concentrate on anything that isn't lego star wars or cereal. after school, we might go to the store OR the park. when we get home, we're all completely wiped and all we want to do is relax for some reason. so we do some handwriting worksheets and copywork, no pressure.
thursdays look EXACTLY like tuesdays.
fridays are library days. in the afternoon, if that ever comes, we MAY do a few worksheets. MAYBE.
saturdays are another hardcore school day. finish up history and science from earlier in the week. we try to review on the days in between so we don't forget. there's also a sheet of copywork in there somewhere.
in other news, I GET TO ORDER MATH-U-SEE THIS WEEK!!!
i am far too excited about that, as you can see. i have been looking forward to this practically all summer. although it's going to throw a bit of a wrench in our schedule, we'll adjust and i will feel SO much better knowing that math is being learned in this house from someone who isn't dora the explorer. i'm actually considering starting them all off on the primer, even little bella, all at the same time. we shall see when it gets here, though.
that's it for today! the best i can promise is weekly updates, if that!
so i've been walking around for the past two weeks, glancing nervously over my shoulder, preparing to be ambushed at any moment, hog-tied, and forced to watch as they ship my children off on yellow buses to the nearest public school. any public school, apparently.
and while my logical mind knows that this is impossible, that no one can make the decision regarding my children's education except for hubby (who's only concern is that they are "keeping up" with the kids in public school) and myself, it's STRESSING ME OUT, PEOPLE.
so i am decidedly relieved that week one is OVER. and i have lovely documentation of all the work we did, a copy of my lesson plan from last week on my hard drive and also printed out (to be placed in a manila envelope and filed away neatly (along with all the paperwork we did and possibly copies of the pictures of crafts we've done), and an actual gradebook with actual GRADES (which i HATE HATE HATE).
all of this is MEGA new to me, as i would, if left to my own devices, NEVER touch ANY of this stuff. but the nay-sayers are really starting to get to me, and in the end, having a bit more structure isn't so bad. i'm not going to go so far as to say that it's GOOD, especially since my hand has been forced with all of this, but it's all right.
it helps hubby sleep at night. and if i were ever educationally audited by the anti-homeschoolers in my life, i could simply pull out a file and a report card and
/end rant.
today we finished up our nature detective science study and started on part two of the seven wonders of the ancient world unit. i also tweaked our weekly school schedule a bit, since last week was basically a test-run of the new schedule and i pretty much knew it wouldn't be permanent anyway. it looks and feels a lot better and more laid-back now.
mondays we do hardcore school. history and science, condensing two days of lessons into one, since we're basically home all day. even though we cover a lot of material, it still only takes about two hours. copywork and then we're done.
tuesdays, mommy has school from 8-2 and beau has football from 6-8pm. so, accounting for travel time, we are home for about two hours in the middle. BAM handwriting worksheets and copywork. and then i had the bright idea of sending a worksheet or two along to mimi's and whoosh! even yesser.
wednesdays, mommy has an hour-long class from 9-10. before nine, you can forget about getting my angels to concentrate on anything that isn't lego star wars or cereal. after school, we might go to the store OR the park. when we get home, we're all completely wiped and all we want to do is relax for some reason. so we do some handwriting worksheets and copywork, no pressure.
thursdays look EXACTLY like tuesdays.
fridays are library days. in the afternoon, if that ever comes, we MAY do a few worksheets. MAYBE.
saturdays are another hardcore school day. finish up history and science from earlier in the week. we try to review on the days in between so we don't forget. there's also a sheet of copywork in there somewhere.
in other news, I GET TO ORDER MATH-U-SEE THIS WEEK!!!
i am far too excited about that, as you can see. i have been looking forward to this practically all summer. although it's going to throw a bit of a wrench in our schedule, we'll adjust and i will feel SO much better knowing that math is being learned in this house from someone who isn't dora the explorer. i'm actually considering starting them all off on the primer, even little bella, all at the same time. we shall see when it gets here, though.
that's it for today! the best i can promise is weekly updates, if that!
Monday, August 23, 2010
i can't believe i thought i used to be busy.
new year! today was our first day back since, well, since my english class TOOK OVER MY LIFE. no, seriously. it got crazy. we are just settling into our new routine of football practice and new college courses for mommy. and actually, starting mid-september, we'll be throwing ballet classes for bella into the mix as well. oh, and we recently acquired a new member to our family...a nine-week-old german shepherd puppy named alice. we are house-training her as i'm typing this.
whew. can we do it? YES, WE CAN!
i hope.
recent circumstances have caused me to need to be more record-take-y, so i completely hijacked my friend rachel's organization system, turned it upside down, tweaked it A LOT, and basically it only barely resembles her method anymore. i thought it was such a good idea, though, and i figured it would help me out a BUNCH to have written lesson plans.
it's already imploding.
but i am going to keep plugging away at it! here's a screenshot of our plans for this week (since i am not sooperwoman like some people i know who plan the entire semester at once). baby steps, people.
today, we have done everything on our schedule except for the copywork (another gem i stole from rachel...here's hoping she remembers that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!) and the second handwriting without tears (HWT) worksheet for today.
there are two handwriting worksheets per page in the workbook because i take the HWT pages and basically go into paint and create extra practice pages for us. beau needs extra practice because his handwriting is still mostly illegible at this point. i know. i fail. in my defense, though, most of his education up till this point has been through time4learning.com and TONS of reading. we did practice handwriting now and then, when he asked, but i'd never made it a major priority until now.
now it is most DEFINITELY a priority, partially because i am beginning to feel uncomfortable that his handwriting isn't better, and partially because he is starting to become really interested in writing. the point is, he's ready now to sit at the kitchen table and practice printing for extended periods of time, whereas before, i couldn't PAY him to do worksheets.
something i noticed today: xander has to be tricked into doing schoolwork. i honestly have no idea how i'm going to manage him this year, especially with everyone harping at me that he's in kindergarten and he needs to be doing work, too, and blah blah blah. he HATES worksheets. hates coloring on demand. he WILL listen to read-aloud stuff, and he particularly enjoys charlie and the chocolate factory at bedtime. he'll even answer questions about what happened in the previous chapter and be correct about 89% of the time. so i guess it isn't such a big deal that he isn't into worksheets right now. he's five.
it's just hard to document those sorts of things. and documentation is what the people want.
anywho! today we learned about two of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the statue of zeus at olympia and the pyramids of giza. i leave you with a picture of the play dough models we made of the statue of zeus:
whew. can we do it? YES, WE CAN!
i hope.
recent circumstances have caused me to need to be more record-take-y, so i completely hijacked my friend rachel's organization system, turned it upside down, tweaked it A LOT, and basically it only barely resembles her method anymore. i thought it was such a good idea, though, and i figured it would help me out a BUNCH to have written lesson plans.
it's already imploding.
but i am going to keep plugging away at it! here's a screenshot of our plans for this week (
 |
| still looks kinda impressive, though, right? |
there are two handwriting worksheets per page in the workbook because i take the HWT pages and basically go into paint and create extra practice pages for us. beau needs extra practice because his handwriting is still mostly illegible at this point. i know. i fail. in my defense, though, most of his education up till this point has been through time4learning.com and TONS of reading. we did practice handwriting now and then, when he asked, but i'd never made it a major priority until now.
now it is most DEFINITELY a priority, partially because i am beginning to feel uncomfortable that his handwriting isn't better, and partially because he is starting to become really interested in writing. the point is, he's ready now to sit at the kitchen table and practice printing for extended periods of time, whereas before, i couldn't PAY him to do worksheets.
something i noticed today: xander has to be tricked into doing schoolwork. i honestly have no idea how i'm going to manage him this year, especially with everyone harping at me that he's in kindergarten and he needs to be doing work, too, and blah blah blah. he HATES worksheets. hates coloring on demand. he WILL listen to read-aloud stuff, and he particularly enjoys charlie and the chocolate factory at bedtime. he'll even answer questions about what happened in the previous chapter and be correct about 89% of the time. so i guess it isn't such a big deal that he isn't into worksheets right now. he's five.
it's just hard to document those sorts of things. and documentation is what the people want.
anywho! today we learned about two of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the statue of zeus at olympia and the pyramids of giza. i leave you with a picture of the play dough models we made of the statue of zeus:
 |
| mine on the left (which still managed to look crazy even though i took a ridiculous amount of time and trouble trying to make it "authentic"), beau's in the middle (looking quite a bit like alf), and xander's on the end. bella told me hers "wasn't ready" at the time of this photograph. |
Thursday, July 1, 2010
busy day!
today was my first day of class on campus this summer, and i honestly didn't expect to get much done at home, what with the general craziness of a new schedule. i prepared to chalk today up to be one of those homeschool skip days.
but. i got home from school and found that all i had to do was *mention* lessonpathways and beau was in.
so, we finished up the king tut unit, which turned out to be extremely interesting. we shied around the mummies, since beau didn't really want to go there (he doesn't like to think about death in general), but we learned about the nile river and we even found a transformers reference when we started talking about pyramids! planning to watch that movie later so we can talk about the different kinds of pyramids they show in the movie. (i didn't know there were different kinds and that the step pyramids predate the smoother ones! i'm learning, too!)
then he worked on a handwriting worksheet for a little while, and already we're seeing a huge improvement. i suppose we have to give credit to all those fine motor skills it takes to play video games...beau is better at video games than most adults i know! i don't object as long as they're age-appropriate or lego-based because the ones we have foster problem-solving skills and critical thinking.
i'm going to order a handwriting without tears workbook; we downloaded a few sample pages and it was really fun to watch beau's reaction go from, "but mommm, i don't *want* to do worksheets!" to "hey, this is pretty fun!"
and that is why we homeschool. 'cause i get to see those moments. and i wouldn't trade that for quiet midmornings, uninterrupted showers, or even an afternoon spent reading a good book. how is any of that worth missing my son's big ah-ha moments?
but. i got home from school and found that all i had to do was *mention* lessonpathways and beau was in.
so, we finished up the king tut unit, which turned out to be extremely interesting. we shied around the mummies, since beau didn't really want to go there (he doesn't like to think about death in general), but we learned about the nile river and we even found a transformers reference when we started talking about pyramids! planning to watch that movie later so we can talk about the different kinds of pyramids they show in the movie. (i didn't know there were different kinds and that the step pyramids predate the smoother ones! i'm learning, too!)
then he worked on a handwriting worksheet for a little while, and already we're seeing a huge improvement. i suppose we have to give credit to all those fine motor skills it takes to play video games...beau is better at video games than most adults i know! i don't object as long as they're age-appropriate or lego-based because the ones we have foster problem-solving skills and critical thinking.
i'm going to order a handwriting without tears workbook; we downloaded a few sample pages and it was really fun to watch beau's reaction go from, "but mommm, i don't *want* to do worksheets!" to "hey, this is pretty fun!"
and that is why we homeschool. 'cause i get to see those moments. and i wouldn't trade that for quiet midmornings, uninterrupted showers, or even an afternoon spent reading a good book. how is any of that worth missing my son's big ah-ha moments?
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
like whoa.
beau's handwriting...leaves something to be desired. most of his education so far has been through online games and reading and him asking questions with me answering, so i hadn't paid incredible attention to the handwriting thing yet, really.
but when he went to vacation bible school last week, he couldn't (or wouldn't, which is more likely the case) write his name. so i thought, hey, let's work on this whole handwriting thing.
whew. it isn't as bad as it could be, of course; i mean, he knows all his letters and he can *read*, for goodness' sakes, but his letters are incredibly shaky and they definitely need work. so i'm off to download some letter worksheets! fun fun.
i'm thinking twice a day working on worksheets, and he should be up to speed in no time.
but when he went to vacation bible school last week, he couldn't (or wouldn't, which is more likely the case) write his name. so i thought, hey, let's work on this whole handwriting thing.
whew. it isn't as bad as it could be, of course; i mean, he knows all his letters and he can *read*, for goodness' sakes, but his letters are incredibly shaky and they definitely need work. so i'm off to download some letter worksheets! fun fun.
i'm thinking twice a day working on worksheets, and he should be up to speed in no time.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
whoosh.
so this afternoon i'm sitting here, looking at lessonpathways.com, and suddenly...
i'm thinking of starting xander on the pre-k program.
nothing out of the ordinary, really; i should have probably done this last year, but he wasn't ready then. he's ready now.
but i'm not.
i feel like the mom dropping her baby off on the first day, crying in the car all the way home: "my baby, my baby!" except i won't have to leave him, obviously, but i'm about to help usher him into the wide-eyed world of letters and numbers and pencils and shaky renditions of his name written by his own chubby hands.
i'm crying. this is all so exciting and yet it stinks big time all in the same moment.
but he's five. it's time. he's showing interest in things he never looked twice at before. i've just got to suck it up. i'm the mom.
whoosh.
i'm thinking of starting xander on the pre-k program.
nothing out of the ordinary, really; i should have probably done this last year, but he wasn't ready then. he's ready now.
but i'm not.
i feel like the mom dropping her baby off on the first day, crying in the car all the way home: "my baby, my baby!" except i won't have to leave him, obviously, but i'm about to help usher him into the wide-eyed world of letters and numbers and pencils and shaky renditions of his name written by his own chubby hands.
i'm crying. this is all so exciting and yet it stinks big time all in the same moment.
but he's five. it's time. he's showing interest in things he never looked twice at before. i've just got to suck it up. i'm the mom.
whoosh.
summer school
for some reason, i tend to get really excited about homeschooling in the middle of summer. :) it probably dates back to me hating the summer about three weeks in because i would be so BORED with nothing to do.
we're jumping back in. hubs wants to see something concrete that we're learning, and so do i. unschooling is very freeing...but it's really difficult to explain to friends and family, and sometimes, to myself. i know it's normal to feel a bit freaked and wondering if they're learning anything at all, but i'm thinking it's time for a change. time for a shift in priorities. time to jump in.
we're jumping back in. hubs wants to see something concrete that we're learning, and so do i. unschooling is very freeing...but it's really difficult to explain to friends and family, and sometimes, to myself. i know it's normal to feel a bit freaked and wondering if they're learning anything at all, but i'm thinking it's time for a change. time for a shift in priorities. time to jump in.
Friday, January 29, 2010
It’s hard having a big brother.
I know, I’ve been there.
You want to play with his toys; he doesn’t let you. You want to play the game he’s playing; he doesn’t want you to. He’s impossibly faster than you, being older, and you can never keep up. Playing hide and seek with him isn’t fair, either; he knows all the best hiding places and he can run faster than you so you pretty much are always “it.”
I see Xander trying to keep up with Beau in everything. Mostly, they play together really nicely – best friends. But Beau *is* older, and he doesn’t always want his little brother constantly tagging along everywhere he goes. Xander is almost lost without Beau sometimes; he misses him when Beau spends some quality alone time with his Nana.
Bella gets a double dose. Beau is really good with her; he lets her play all his games and makes allowances for her since she’s smaller.
But.
Xander has gotten it into his head that girls can’t do things that boys do. He doesn’t like to play with Bella, and this really makes Bella sad. She doesn’t understand, and I hate to see this “sex discrimination” in my own household, lol. But there isn’t anything I can do, really, except try to argue with a four year old that girls can do everything boys can and that he should let his sister play.
It doesn’t help that he’s already pretty bossy, lol. I see a lot of my bossiness in him. I remember being that way when I was his age. Talk about reaping what you sow!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
It’s been a while.
It HAS been a while…since I posted.
That doesn’t mean that learning hasn’t taken place, though. Beau has picked up reading SO quickly that it’s almost given me whiplash. He has gone from not being able to read Kindergarten-level things at the beginning of the “school" year to being able to read at almost a second-grade level now. His only problem is the fluency bit – he still sounds a little like a robot when he reads aloud. :) He is DEFINITELY getting there, though.
I’ve been checking my copy of “Home Learning Year by Year” this afternoon, trying to see the gaps that need to be filled in. Beau is right on track to be considered a first-grader; he’s only behind in history and a bit in science. I’m going to make a trip to the library (with or without the kids) to check out some books “Year by Year” recommended for history. Science can be filled in using Lesson Pathways once we get signed up again next month.
Also, something very strange occurred to me just now. I realized just how much I had been letting the traditional “school year” hold me back. I’d been reluctant to consider starting new material on a new grade level with Beau because it’s the “middle of the year.” What nonsense!
That’s part of the beauty of homeschooling, isn’t it? We can learn what and how we like, no matter what the school system is doing.
So I considered making OUR school year begin in January, contrary to the traditional school year. Or maybe I could just let go of the concept of a “school year” altogether and just focus on what the kids are learning and how much they know to classify them in “grade levels” (for the benefit of family members’ collective sanity, lol).
I thought a bit about standardized testing. I don’t really know how I feel about it and won’t until we actually pick a program and try it on for size. I know I don’t personally agree with testing and grading in *general*, but for assessment purposes, I can see the appeal. It would help assuage everyone’s worries about whether or not Beau is getting a proper education and is on par with others his age. At any rate, I’m thinking we’ll wait until next year (or next semester) to worry about it.
I generally regroup about twice a year and assess the progress and direction of our homeschooling. For my own purposes, I’m calling them “semesters,” because that’s a term I’m familiar with and it’s the best word I can think of to describe dividing the year into essentially two parts: Spring and Fall.
So now is really the beginning of the spring semester. The “plan” for this semester is to get signed up with Lesson Pathways (already in the process of that) for the Science and Math sections, at least; library it for the History section; continue to be hands-off in Reading, except to possibly read more books with the kids and take more trips to the library.
Goodness, I feel like I could write TONS more, but the kids want to go outside and play and I’ve got to get them bundled up!
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