ThadenPierce School

Here’s a huge list someone compiled of basic science concepts explained one blog post at a time.

If you feel like your science background is lacking, or you just want to refresh some ideas that may have grown fuzzy over time, this is a pretty good place to start.

So, no excuses now! Go educate yourself!

Still exploring it but here’s a website with spelling lists by grade – if you love or hate it, let me know.

In this post I said I would post what we don’t love about homeschooling. Here goes… my questions and my answers to myself.

There is a sometimes crushing sense of responsibility with schooling – as with parenting. What if I forget something? What if I completely screw my child up??

You WILL forget things. Did your teachers cover everything? Do you remember everything you were taught? Have you safely stored it all? No, right? The goal is to teach the child to teach themselves – to be motivated to find the answers. I finally realized it’s not my child to provide answers, it’s my job to encourage THEM to find answers and to be a resource.

And I’m just anticipating I’m going to completely screw up my kids so that pressure is off.

What if they don’t make friends? What if they have no social skills?

They will. So long as we don’t lock them into their rooms 24/7, they will make friends. And this year, seeing them develop friendships with so many great kids, that really helped me relax. And I was there to witness it, to help them fine tune some of those social skills, to facilitate communication, to watch their friendships grow – and for all of us as parents to step in and promptly redirect when something was happening we didn’t like.

I think kids need one good friend. More is nice, but one true friend can get us through (as I learned over the many, many moves of my life.) Right now my focus is helping our kids learn how to BE that friend – to be kind and thoughtful and reach out to others. They’ll be okay.

What if I NEED A BREAK FROM MY CHILDREN??

Sometimes we all need a break, but I find if I take those little moments of time each day that I am recharged enough to keep going. I feed the kids lunch and then let them have quiet time (or in other words, stick them in front of the tv) while Emy naps and I sit down and eat and read my scriptures. If they interrupt I remind them that Mommy needs this time. When I wasn’t pregnant Kit would send me out in the mornings to go run. The kids would sometimes cry when I left but I KNOW I am a better mother when I take care of myself and they are learning to respect that Mommy is also Heidi and she needs time to meet her needs. As Kit and I like to say, “Put on your own oxygen mask first!” If I need a break from my kids, it’s often because I’ve allowed something in my life to become out of balance. Regain that balance, and I am okay again. Sometimes that means time away and that’s okay.

I think it’s important to schedule time with a good friend or time for just me and time for Kit and me. Put it on the calendar and knowing it’s there helps me stay focused – knowing a break is coming.

But truly it’s those daily moments of peace that keep me going. A minute here to stretch and do some deep breathing. A minute here to read an email from a friend. An extra few minutes in a hot shower. A walk around the block. And quiet time every morning when Kit feeds all the kids breakfast and I have time to start my day with prayer.

I’ve really been pondering what I don’t love about homeschooling, and it’s only been a year so I’m really still madly in love with it. It’s hard, but it’s hard in a good way. In a “I’m learning and stretching and growing and meeting so many amazing people and I love how my relationship with my children is growing” type of way. The only aspect of this that leaves me with a sense of ickiness is having to deal with the responses from people who really take our choice personally. But I suspect those same people are also really bothered by our choice to give birth without drugs, to have a VBAC — outside of a hospital, to nurse past a year, to co-sleep, to have five children, etc… OH, and we’re LDS. That offends some people. You get the point. I’m sure we are offensive in so very many ways that homeschooling is just another issue for them. But it is a reality that for those of us making any choice that sends us against the mainstream, we are going to be confronted by a lot of questions/accusations/comments from people. Some well meaning but ill-informed and others just deeply insecure… and I think that’s the only thing I find unpleasant about homeschooling. (Or having five kids. Or using a birth center. Or doing any of those crazy, controversial things we do. I just need a tougher skin. )

Oh, and side note. CONGRATULATIONS to my friends that have all recently made the decision to homeschool or are exploring it. Slippery slope, I’m telling you… but I am SO EXCITED for each of your families and it does my heart good to hear from more and more of you as you consider this possibility. I love to see this amazing network grow!!

How do you organize your kids’ books? We have them everywhere and I love it, but they’re constantly scattered everywhere. We have shelves in the kids’ rooms and living room but they (okay, mostly Bennett) pull them off to see the covers and don’t put them back. We have the board books for the toddlers in bins in the living room so they can just pull them out and read them but again – they pull out BOTH bins and dump them out everywhere so they can see them.

I’m wondering if we need those shelves like at the store that have the books with covers facing out? But I have no clue where to get them. If you know, let me know or tell me how you keep your books manageable! Tips?

My sister sent me this link for how to make inexpensive, cute, forward facing bookshelves from rain gutters. I think we’re going to try it, I’ll post pictures! Kit’s taking the kids to Home Depot (or Lowe’s, can’t remember which) in a couple weeks to make these wooden valentine’s boxes and I’ll have him grab the stuff.

Kit just showed me this book (watch the Trailer) and I asked if we should get it for C’s birthday. Kit doesn’t want to wait, so we’re probably going to get it for Mo’s birthday (because as Kit said, girls need this, too.)

Update: Thanks to Brianna for the tip, we found the “Daring Book for Girls” and we ordered both from Amazon. They have used copies that qualify for free shipping (I love it!) and we also ordered our next language book since I did the math on that and Christopher will finish up First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind in May, so we ordered their grade 3 book. Now I just have to find Saxon 2, because he’ll be done with Saxon 1 by the end of March! I’m hoping I can find it for a deal somewhere, let me know if you see it!

So, we’ve been homeschooling for one year now and lately I’ve been asked by more and more people the why (see below) and the how and such. Here are my reflections, advice to myself, and thoughts after our first year. If it helps you, I’m all the happier. But really this is Heidi speaking to Heidi.

1. RELAX. Relax, relax, relax. This should be at least semi-fun, you are not going to break your child, and honestly it’s not likely you can do worse than the alternative because you LOVE your child and you have their best interests at heart. You will screw up, but the good news is kids are resilient, very forgiving (be sure to apologize and ask forgiveness! Teach by example…) and you are not likely to cause permanent damage.

2. You cannot cover it all and do not try. You will forget things, you will skip things, you will wake up in a sweat in the middle of the night when you realize you have overlooked something so crucial to your child’s educational well-being that the homeschool police are going to show up and arrest you. See number one – relax. If you don’t cover it this year, the good news it that you have at least until your child is 16 before they can escape. You have a relatively captive audience and if you skip it this year, you’ll pick it up next year. Write yourself a note and move on.

3. This does NOT have to cost a lot of money! It really doesn’t. And don’t buy every curriculum or book you see. For kindergarden you can seriously get away with one of those all in one K workbooks from Sams or Walmart because all you need is some phonics, some handwriting, some math. That’s it! Check out the math and language guidelines link we have posted, it’s for Texas but covers first and second grade. You can teach your child all those things and it won’t cost you a dime! Though buying things certainly can make it easier… We really like “Learn at Home Grade K” and Grade 1 but ultimately fell in love with some other options. However, for a good fall back that you know will cover EVERYTHING you need, those books are good and include lesson plans and worksheets all nicely spread out for you and they are a bargain at less than $20 for the entire curriculum.

4. Network. On-line, in the community, in church. We really prayed to find good friends in the homeschool community and we have been blessed beyond our wildest dreams. Friends help you feel not alone, give the kids’ playmates during the day, give you great tips on books and activities, encourage you, laugh at you, laugh with you… put the word out and you will find a community of support. And when you find it, be sure to reach out to others and help and serve in that community.

5. Have fun. If your child is under 7 or 8 years old then this should not take more than 1 to 2 hours a day for academic work (30 minutes for 5 years old, maybe an hour for 6) and it should be fun. Take breaks. Let them stand on their head while reciting math facts. Do phonics in the backyard. HAVE FUN. What’s the point of having this flexibility if you don’t take advantage of it? Let them do lessons in their pajamas if it helps them concentrate, let them choose their free reading books, make it apply to real life. Working on handwriting, send a letter to a penpal and get mail in return! Talk about motivation. Learn fractions while making cookies. Get those bodies moving, avoid sitting at a desk (except with handwriting when learning cursive, I think then proper desk sitting helps) but otherwise let them write and work and read where they feel comfortable. And get outside time EVERY single possible day. THIS IS NOT SCHOOL AT HOME. Desks are not required, nor is raising your hand or holding still. This is homeschool – do it YOUR way.

6. Pray. A lot, every day, with your kids and with your spouse and alone. Pray about goals for your children and your family, pray about what they need to learn, pray to be motivated when you are not. Pray for opportunities to serve, pray to see teaching moments, pray to help them feel the Spirit. Pray with them, pray so they hear your faith and love. Pray so you can remember why you chose this.

Okay, that is all I can think of for now.

Curriculum – Christopher is technically in his kindergarden year but we started in January before, so he was ready to start a lot of first grade stuff by last fall. We are using Saxon 1 (but not all of it, it’s way too much daily work – we pick and choose.) “First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind” for grammar which covers 1st and 2nd grade. Spelling lists we printed off-line (google first grade spelling lists or I’ll ask Kit where he got ours.) Reading – various classics suggested by Ambleside Online and “The Well Trained Mind” but you can google classics for kids and find a ton of ideas. We read those to Christopher and have him read us books every day (but obviously he can’t read us the classics yet.) Those are the basics – phonics/reading, grammar/language and math. I’ll mention the history, science & art we found later but again – those truly are optional at this stage. Language and math. The basics.

Here are some articles explaining why it’s not good for kids to “W” sit – I couldn’t remember them all, I just knew our two OTs said DON’T DO IT!

From a PT.
From an OT with pictures.

We first learned about this with Moira and it was explained it’s related to her tone issues, the dyspraxia & her coordination (or lack thereof) so we needed to train her to use her body differently. We’re noticing a HUGE difference with her since using the Ready Bodies, Learning Mind program at home.

Thought from bedtime tonight – if we focus on giving our children opportunities to feel, recognize & act on promptings of the Spirit, then we’ve accomplished one of the most important goals of this life.

I read to the kids from the illustrated Book of Mormon tonight and as we discussed it Christopher told Moira, “Did you know our whole entire life is a TEST?” Moira asks, with a bit of concern, “What kind of test?” I remind her that we’re learning about faith and obedience and repentance and Jesus (she doesn’t get “Atonement” yet so we say “Jesus” to summarize that) and I want to give concrete examples so I say, “Like keeping the commandments? We don’t lie, we don’t steal, we don’t kill?”

Moira continues for me, “We don’t pick our nose, we don’t bite our nails…”

Yes, sweetie, but those aren’t commandments and you will still pass “the test” if you bite your nails. Don’t want to add any undue pressure.

It was a sweet moment to read with the kids and see their faces and reverence as we learned more about our Savior. We didn’t do math today, but I know they learned and felt something more important.

Realizing this is utterly controversial and deeply offensive to some people, it’s my blog so I’m gonna post it.

The short answer is we felt prompted – with no research, no single event inspiring us, nothing that we just loved or hated – we just felt prompted, “Explore homeschooling.” Every step of the way we felt strong confirmation that this is absolutely what we need to do for our family.

So we did it, and the millions of reasons fall mostly into three main categories – academics, time, and social aspects. We feel we are better able to meet the academic needs of our children, we enjoy the time with our children and the flexibility, and we feel homeschooling provides opportunities for social growth that are not available in the classroom setting.

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The last poem Christopher memorized in his first grade work from First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind – though he was a bit distracted by others in the room.

The Goops by Gelett Burgess
The Goops they lick their fingers,
And the Goops they lick their knives,
They spill their broth on the tablecloth-
Oh, they lead disgusting lives!

The Goops they talk while eating,
And loud and fast they chew
And that is why I’m glad that I
Am not a Goop – are you?