Ongoing Revisions – We Have Time

Posted on September 20, 2010 by heidi

I can’t stick to our proposed science & history schedule so we’re reworking things. I had written them up with just October off for maternity leave and it’s not happening. We’re still struggling to even stick to a schedule right now with me having to take it easy and spending what little energy I have to tackle pre-baby projects. We are managing to get our language and math done each week and we’re fitting in a few specials (piano, art, history) but it’s really hit or miss.

I have my schedule still written up but I just removed the months associated with it. I may be ready to start again in November, I may not be ready to start again until January. Considering the amount of history Christopher’s studying on his own with his current greek fascination I’m confident he’s getting plenty of history work covered. We need to be better about science but again, the kids are so young that I don’t really expect significant science to really stick when they are 8 and 7 years old. We do read Magic School Bus books and we check out lots of Bill Nye science videos and the house is filled with science books. They’re getting something. And we’ve got time.

That’s what I keep telling myself. We have time. The kids are advancing, they are learning and exploring and creative and playful and thoughtful. If we don’t cover some concept now then we’ll pick it up next year or the year after. How much do we remember from our elementary academics anyway?? That’s why we repeat it again in junior high and again in high school and again in college.

Along those lines, I’m giving up on the idea of kindergarden for Bennett this semester. He’s doing his speech preschool 2x a week, PE 2x a week, swimming 1x a week and possibly starting feeding therapy. He’s reading silently to himself, he’s drawing and writing letters, he’s counting and doing basic math. I don’t want to push the Saxon 1 (first grade math) or the SWR (spelling) and handwriting just yet. Maybe in January when he’s six I’ll feel more up to it and he’ll feel more ready but I feel like for now we need to focus on his speech and deal with the patching and therapy and make sure he’s got enjoying reading. I may do some handwriting practice with him since he is already writing… but I don’t think he’s ready for much sit down book work and I know I am not ready!

So we’re backing way off. We’ll continue our language & math with the kids and as much of our specials as I can manage but we’re going to be taking it easy for the rest of this calendar year. I think it will help us be ready to start in January.

Circle Time Ideas

Posted on September 13, 2010 by heidi

For little ones this is all the formal lesson they get but it covers a wide range, depending on what we’re in the mood to do that morning. This is followed by other lessons for the big kids but it’s a good official start for our day.

– Welcome Song then any combination of the following:

Memorization work:
– Song Mo’s memorizing (primary)
– Scripture mastery from C
– Articles of Faith
– Poem

Mathematics:
– Date (days of the week, months of the year song)
– Counting by 1s, 2s, 3s, etc, forward & backwards.
– Finding shapes in room (shape scavenger hunt)
– What time is it?

Science:
– Weather (check forecast & temperature)
– What season is it?
– Planets song
– Colors song

Social Studies:
– Holidays this month
– States song
– Name continents and oceans
– Pick a postcard (from our penpal collection) and find on map

Show & Tell
Parent or older child read short story to younger kids

Throw in an art project and some outdoor time for exercise and exploration and you’ve covered all the basics!

Activity Ideas for Little Ones:
Usually I only need 10 to 20 minutes to focus on teaching a new concept and helping an older child check a lesson. When I need to buy us some time and keep little ones occupied here are some ideas (and reminders to self) – they require varying degrees of supervision/intervention from me:
– Busy Box
– Magnet board
– workbooks
– coloring books
– playdough
– educational links (see below)
– educational shows (PBS Kids, Hulu, Netflix I hear?)
– DVDs from library
– yard
– chalk outside or on black paper inside
– rice box (BIG mess but fun)
– obstacle course, relay race
– trampoline
– yoga DVD
– kid scissors & paper to cut into bits
– activity cards & dry erase marker
– storytime with older sibling
– rotate toy bins (trains, Little People, etc)
– put on puppet show
– dress up box
– play kitchen, assign a “meal” to prepare
– dollhouse
– scavenger hunt, draw or write them list of what to find around the house or give specific color, shape, etc and they must draw or write down item found and return to you.
– chores: sort clean laundry into piles, set table, pick up living or sunroom, sort crayons into colors, collect all kids’ books from around the house
– have them “read” book and draw book report
– stretchy sack, rocking horse, other OT games
– have them set up a library & check out books
– play doctor, identifying their body parts and giving them spare band-aids to use as they deem fit. 🙂
– puzzles
– dominoes
– Memory, Candyland, Chutes & Ladders
– give them “lessons” like write out numbers, ABCs, draw me certain shapes
– pictionary, tell them what to draw and let each other guess or they draw and I guess

First Day/Back to School Traditions

Posted on August 2, 2010 by heidi

I’m consolidating all my prior posts and adding some new traditions we just learned about.

– decorate a new t-shirt for the school year (be sure to include year)
– butcher paper banner across the door, decorated with school year on it for kids to run through!
– back to school cake & special dinner.
– kindercones (Schultute) w/treats and new school supplies.
– new composition book/journal and let them decorate it (modpodge it.)
– Kit suggested buying some easy lunch stuff for the first week back into school so Mommy will eat. 🙂
– new school year blessings at FHE.
– breakfast of ABC pancakes.
– let them pick whatever they want for bfast, lunch or dinner.
– go out for a special lunch or pack a picnic lunch.
– go have school pictures taken.
– pick special new outfit for school pictures.
– go shopping for school supplies (best sales are in fall) & let them do a scavenger hunt to find them or pack into backpacks.
– have a “teacher” meeting to go over curriculum, goals
and routines with both parents. August & January.
– plan a special back to school fieldtrip to a location like the park, zoo, or a museum. Most PS don’t have fieldtrips in the first of the year so those places are empty.
– make “All About Me” sheets at the beginning and
end of school year, including self portraits and list of favorites.
– have a family conference and let each child pick the areas of focus they want for the next year. With young kids maybe pick one special topic. With older kids this needs to be a much more in depth special date to go over their areas of concern, what they want to focus on, having them establish their schedule, setting up time to review with them, etc. But for grammar stage, just picking a couple special topics to get library books or coordinate field trips around.
– write a list of books to read aloud as a family
– “NOT back to school” picnic with other homeschool families.

New Ones:
– Russian Day of Knowledge on September 1st, students bring flowers to teacher (that would be me, right? 🙂 ) Make tissue paper flowers or get real ones.
– Japanese nyugakushiki, formal celebration: dress up for a candle lit family dinner the night before school starts.
– Maori haka: show children “primary school haka” on internet and let them create their own new school year dance.
– Indian Praveshanotsavam (admission day) is during monsoon season. Make a fruit smoothie with marshmallow “rain clouds” and paper cocktail parasol.
– Israeli kita aleph (first grade) walk under canopy or arch of older student’s arms, release balloons. Create an arch of balloons or tissue paper, etc at home and take photos under it, write new school year wishes on rainbow arch, get balloons to keep around home and cheer up first new week.

This was fun, from our first back to school picnic with friends in 2007:

Dance Class Cuties

Posted on July 30, 2010 by heidi

Joseph mostly ran around watching, Emy watched (and occassionally shimmied) and for the first time Bennett really got into it! The older three all learned most of their routine for our at home recital next week. I’m impressed at how quickly they picked it up!

Encouraging Creativity – Not Brainstorming

Posted on July 28, 2010 by heidi

Interesting article link my sister sent from an art program she’s attending this week.

– Don’t tell someone to be creative (too much pressure/expectation.)
– Get moving (increase activity level.)
– Take a break, switch between projects if you hit a wall.
– Reduce screen time, decreases creativity.
– Explore other cultures (adaption, flexibility, awareness of another way of thinking.)
– Follow a passion (finding the zone.)
– Ditch the suggestion box (encourage individual action, not waiting for someone else to implement change.)

Child Development

Posted on July 20, 2010 by heidi

I cannot summarize this article but go read it – Teaching your Child. Fascinating, some of it I knew but some of it I knew and forgot and it will be changing how we approach things. Reminds me of Charlotte Mason in that we need to let children develop skills and have time to explore at their own pace before we attempt to turn them into academics and push them faster. Let them be kids and spare all of us a lot of grief by forcing something they aren’t ready for (and maybe shouldn’t ever be ready for! I went insane trapped at a desk for hours a day in school and I would go insane if I had to do it as an adult.)

Technology & Kids

Posted on July 6, 2010 by heidi

Cam

As the kids loudly proclaimed, “IT’S A BABY iPAD!”

Kit’s work just ordered his new laptop and it came with the option of a free iTouch (after rebate) so we went for it. How could we pass that up, it’s like a little iPad? 🙂 And goodness knows we’ve had enough fights over the various laptops/iPhones/iPads around here. The kids are begging me to install all their games & tools but I’ve no clue how (waiting on Kit) but I am excited to have it. We’ve mostly done free apps but we did spring for a couple educational ones and I’m sold – the iPad (or iPhone/iTouch) are fantastic educational tools. C can do his multiplication flashcards (self correcting) which he knows is required before playing any games but there are also great educational games. I’ll have Kit and the kids write up a better post later to explain what they love about these lovely new tech tools.

Boys Adrift – Types of Knowledge

Posted on June 16, 2010 by heidi

Fascinating book my sister suggested, Boys Adrift discussed the difference between a theoretical or academic knowledge (wissen in German) and an experiential or personal knowledge (kennen in German.) In many languages (besides english) there are two different verbs for knowledge:

In biblical Hebrew, the word know refers primarily to experiential learning… In English, we read about “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” but the Hebrew might be better translated as, “the tree of experience of good and evil.” Adam and Eve are forbidden to eat from that tree. They are forbidden the experience of evil.

I’m reading the chapter on how boys fare in school, he speaks of how children need hands on knowledge and references the nature deficit book to reiterate that ALL children need experiential knowledge and they’re not getting that in the current classroom setting, which is starting at younger and younger ages. The author has another book called Girls on the Edge I’ll try to get next.

Books like this are fascinating to me as a mother with girls and boys but also intriguing to me because I did a lot of my undergrad & graduate focus on sociology of gender.

ThadenPierce School

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