Another busy-at-work week, so homeschooling suffered a little. Next week is practically back to normal as far as my hours go - what a relief! The extra money for extra hours is nice, but I really, really dislike being away from home that much.
This week we...
Read more of The Search for Delicious. I highly recommend this book. It is delightful, intriguing, a little suspenseful without being scary, and the kids and I are very much enjoying it.
Had a chemistry lesson with a friend! Jenny has a book on teaching chemistry in the kitchen and so we are doing chemistry classes at her house. We learned about calories this week, and the kids, both hers and mine, took a lot of delight in burning various foods to determine calories. We're looking forward to more lessons!
The kids swam a lot this week, played on a trampoline, decided they want Taekwondo lessons in the fall, drew pictures, played card games, watched a couple of movies, did their chores, played at the park, and had a great time at my mom's.
Right now I am in the process of compiling a short list of some books I think Cyrus might like this upcoming year: Stuart Little, Abel's Island, The Magician's Elephant, The Phantom Tollbooth, and a few others. I am also working on books to share with Cassia, among them Pippi Longstocking, Charlotte's Web, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Ordinary Princess, and The Girl Who Could Fly. Just because Cassia can't read these yet herself does not mean she's not ready to enjoy them!
I am also reading more in Home Education. And have come to the conclusion that while Charlotte Mason is definitely a big part of our homeschooling approach, I would truly classify us as eclectic. To me, building a curriculum - that is, a course of study - for my children is like puzzle building... a piece here, a piece or two there, and soon the whole thing comes together!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Reading...
I just got, and have been thumbing through Home Education by Charlotte Mason. I was, and am, particularly interested in the section on reading. I have decided to go ahead and try the approach outlined with Cassia - I'll let you know if it works. So here is the process as I understand it... just a quick note: I am using this with The Elson Readers Primer...
Pre-work: I typed up the entire first story in a large simple font to be cut apart word by word. I already have alphabet "tiles" I made on card stock.
Step 1: I introduce one word by writing it on a whiteboard and reading it.
Step 2: Cassia studies the word until she is comfortable enough to make it with her letter tiles, without looking at the whiteboard.
Step 3: Cassia finds the word in her pile of cut-apart words. She also finds the word on the page in the book itself.
Step 4: We repeat the entire process with the rest of the words in the first sentence, and then she can read the whole sentence to me.
Step 5ish: As we go, she puts the cut-up words into a column, and then toward the end of the lesson, she can play with them, picking out sentences I dictate, or making sentences of her own.
Step 6: The next day, we review the first sentence (or two) that we learned the day before, then follow the whole process again for the next line or two. We can also introduce spelling the second day, by using one of the word families present in the story and our letter cards (and the whiteboard so she can see the word first.)
Supposedly, this process takes very little actual time. It will be an interesting trial at least! There's more to it than that, but I think this is a good starting place.
Pre-work: I typed up the entire first story in a large simple font to be cut apart word by word. I already have alphabet "tiles" I made on card stock.
Step 1: I introduce one word by writing it on a whiteboard and reading it.
Step 2: Cassia studies the word until she is comfortable enough to make it with her letter tiles, without looking at the whiteboard.
Step 3: Cassia finds the word in her pile of cut-apart words. She also finds the word on the page in the book itself.
Step 4: We repeat the entire process with the rest of the words in the first sentence, and then she can read the whole sentence to me.
Step 5ish: As we go, she puts the cut-up words into a column, and then toward the end of the lesson, she can play with them, picking out sentences I dictate, or making sentences of her own.
Step 6: The next day, we review the first sentence (or two) that we learned the day before, then follow the whole process again for the next line or two. We can also introduce spelling the second day, by using one of the word families present in the story and our letter cards (and the whiteboard so she can see the word first.)
Supposedly, this process takes very little actual time. It will be an interesting trial at least! There's more to it than that, but I think this is a good starting place.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Weekly Report 7/18-7/22...
This week will be both a regular, weekly wrap-up and a participating entry for Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers' Annual Curriculum Special Edition. First, curriculum, which I have all picked out, and am happy and excited about! To make it simple, here is a link to the page I already have set up...
Now, a more regular weekly wrap-up...
This was a busy week for me at work, as I picked up additional hours, so we didn't do a whole lot of sit-down learning. What we did do was:
- Card games
- Piano practice & a lesson
- Reading practice (Cassia)
- I read aloud from The Search for Delicious
- We talked about fractions, and the kids did mental addition with fractions
- We started watching Walking with Cavemen
- We watched a documentary on food and food politics in the USA... it is called What's On Your Plate? and was put together in large part by two 11 year olds, who decided to research food systems in New York. This led to a lot of interesting discussions about food, nutrients, gardening, farming, corporations, and more
- Art - drawings, a couple of paintings, collages, etc.
- They built a house from cardboard boxes at their Nonna's house
- We had our second Spiral Scouts meeting today. The kids presented a drawing each, of their five favorite things (part of the work toward an award), and we began learning about using compasses/orienteering for another award. When we got home, their uniforms had arrived (I ordered the dark green polo shirts and a khaki skirt for Cassia from a school uniform place. Thankfully, Cyrus already has khaki pants!) so now they are "breaking them in"
Friday, July 15, 2011
4H thoughts...
We've decided to go ahead and enroll in 4H once more. We've been with our homeschool club off and on for a few years now, and I like the idea of continuity. That and a friend asked me to stay in the club! I think I may even lead a project, this time focused on art. I am thinking of using the lovely Usborne Art Treasury as the main source... since this will ensure we do the projects ourselves! Maybe I could add in a story for each artist from this list. M wants to help me run a two-day project sometime next spring in kite building and flying that I think would be a blast!
I have told the kids we will limit the number of projects they are in. It also helps that they didn't run for any offices this year since we were not sure we'd be able to return. Instead, we can simply attend the meetings, choose and enjoy projects, and help with clean-up as much as possible! Looking at the calendar, it seems that there are going to be some good projects in the works, helping replace the idea of the charter school for hands-on stuff. It looks like our club is smaller this year too, which has both good and bad points.
To be done this week...
We're getting ready for our second Spiral Scouts meeting. Cassia needs to finish decorating her canvas bags toward her recycling badge. Cyrus needs to work on a piece of art (representing our circle) for an art award. Both need to make a piece of art representing five favorite things, for another badge. I am looking at uniform bits and pieces.
Cyrus has only two songs for piano practice this week, but has been given the task of memorizing one.
Cassia and I will continue to work on phonics and reading this week.
I am working on a spreadsheet correlating extra resources with the lessons (primarily history and science) from the Core Knowledge sequence. I am only planning out one unit at a time.
I also want to practice making spring rolls for our Around the World potluck the following week. And we want to finish watching our documentaries on China.
In reading, Cyrus is making his way through the second Harry Potter book, and Wizardology. For our read-aloud, we have decided to hold off on the rest of The Red Pyramid until we study Egypt, and so have started The Search for Delicious, which we're really enjoying!
That should be enough to keep us busy for a week!
I have told the kids we will limit the number of projects they are in. It also helps that they didn't run for any offices this year since we were not sure we'd be able to return. Instead, we can simply attend the meetings, choose and enjoy projects, and help with clean-up as much as possible! Looking at the calendar, it seems that there are going to be some good projects in the works, helping replace the idea of the charter school for hands-on stuff. It looks like our club is smaller this year too, which has both good and bad points.
To be done this week...
We're getting ready for our second Spiral Scouts meeting. Cassia needs to finish decorating her canvas bags toward her recycling badge. Cyrus needs to work on a piece of art (representing our circle) for an art award. Both need to make a piece of art representing five favorite things, for another badge. I am looking at uniform bits and pieces.
Cyrus has only two songs for piano practice this week, but has been given the task of memorizing one.
Cassia and I will continue to work on phonics and reading this week.
I am working on a spreadsheet correlating extra resources with the lessons (primarily history and science) from the Core Knowledge sequence. I am only planning out one unit at a time.
I also want to practice making spring rolls for our Around the World potluck the following week. And we want to finish watching our documentaries on China.
In reading, Cyrus is making his way through the second Harry Potter book, and Wizardology. For our read-aloud, we have decided to hold off on the rest of The Red Pyramid until we study Egypt, and so have started The Search for Delicious, which we're really enjoying!
That should be enough to keep us busy for a week!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Various bits and pieces...
I asked the kids this week what THEY want in homeschooling. What subjects do they want more of? I asked this because we saw the list of classes offered at our old charter school , and Cyrus said maybe he'd like to go back. I have mixed emotions about this... I can understand why my art-and-science guy would want hands-on science and art classes. And that my daughter would enjoy the garden club and ceramics classes offered to her. But at the same time, it makes me feel like... well, that we're lacking in our private school (one of the legal routes here in California.) And it made me wonder if I can address those gaps without going back to the charter school? Since we likely won't be doing 4H this year, I wonder too about the fact that they'll be spending more time with me, and less time with other kids. Of course, part of me says that's not a problem!
And then there is Cassia's reading issue. If we went back to the charter school, I am about 99% sure that they would want her tested and put into special ed for reading. I don't think either she or I want that. I think at the heart of her reading issue is what she so baldly stated a month or two ago, that she doesn't want to read. She has no real interest in it. And no testing or special classes would change that. I did give her a reading test a couple of days ago, and truthfully, she did better than I expected, scoring at a mid first grade level. This means we're making progress! I hope to get her up to a solid second grade level by the end of summer. The Nora Gaydos leveled readers appeal to her, and I've dropped all gimmicky computer instruction in favor of an old standby. Oh, but I do let her play on Starfall, for letter reinforcement.
So with all that, I went back over my plans for fall, and you know what? For once, I didn't change a thing. Not one thing! I think I have all the bases covered for their interests, which are by the way as follows...
Cyrus: Art, science with hands-on stuff, history (because it is pretty cool), and strangely enough, math. Yes, math.
Cassia: nature, stories, and art, and hands-on projects
At Park Day last week, some of the other moms were talking about approaches to homeschooling. They unschool. Every one of them, as far as I know, unless I am missing something. One mom, new to our group, asked if anyone uses curriculum, and yes, I raised my hand. And I explained that my kids both said, independently of one another, that in unschooling for the main part this last year, they felt that they didn't learn enough. They want lessons, books, projects, and more. What followed this proclamation? Dead silence. For at least 20 seconds, and when it is suddenly that quiet, it seems forever!
I have no problem with the theories of unschooling. In fact, I think overall, Cyrus would be a pretty good unschooler. Cassia on the other hand would sit on the couch and watch TV all day if I let her. However, I chose homeschooling as that. Home schooling. And I think my kids are proud of themselves when they get to a new level in math, or happy when they get to create a project that reflects our history education. I'm not saying that unschoolers don't do any of that - I know they do. But unschooling just doesn't work for us. And now I am a freak, but then, I've always been one anyway!
I showed (and read aloud) my proposed units of study for fall. I told the kids what I had to fill in the gaps they felt. And they both said they love the plans! They have missed unit studies (which is how I am dividing up the history and science in the Core Knowledge sequence), and both loved the looks of the Phonics of Drawing (especially Cyrus) so I think it will be a very good year indeed. Except I have to figure out ceramics at home ;)
And then there is Cassia's reading issue. If we went back to the charter school, I am about 99% sure that they would want her tested and put into special ed for reading. I don't think either she or I want that. I think at the heart of her reading issue is what she so baldly stated a month or two ago, that she doesn't want to read. She has no real interest in it. And no testing or special classes would change that. I did give her a reading test a couple of days ago, and truthfully, she did better than I expected, scoring at a mid first grade level. This means we're making progress! I hope to get her up to a solid second grade level by the end of summer. The Nora Gaydos leveled readers appeal to her, and I've dropped all gimmicky computer instruction in favor of an old standby. Oh, but I do let her play on Starfall, for letter reinforcement.
So with all that, I went back over my plans for fall, and you know what? For once, I didn't change a thing. Not one thing! I think I have all the bases covered for their interests, which are by the way as follows...
Cyrus: Art, science with hands-on stuff, history (because it is pretty cool), and strangely enough, math. Yes, math.
Cassia: nature, stories, and art, and hands-on projects
At Park Day last week, some of the other moms were talking about approaches to homeschooling. They unschool. Every one of them, as far as I know, unless I am missing something. One mom, new to our group, asked if anyone uses curriculum, and yes, I raised my hand. And I explained that my kids both said, independently of one another, that in unschooling for the main part this last year, they felt that they didn't learn enough. They want lessons, books, projects, and more. What followed this proclamation? Dead silence. For at least 20 seconds, and when it is suddenly that quiet, it seems forever!
I have no problem with the theories of unschooling. In fact, I think overall, Cyrus would be a pretty good unschooler. Cassia on the other hand would sit on the couch and watch TV all day if I let her. However, I chose homeschooling as that. Home schooling. And I think my kids are proud of themselves when they get to a new level in math, or happy when they get to create a project that reflects our history education. I'm not saying that unschoolers don't do any of that - I know they do. But unschooling just doesn't work for us. And now I am a freak, but then, I've always been one anyway!
I showed (and read aloud) my proposed units of study for fall. I told the kids what I had to fill in the gaps they felt. And they both said they love the plans! They have missed unit studies (which is how I am dividing up the history and science in the Core Knowledge sequence), and both loved the looks of the Phonics of Drawing (especially Cyrus) so I think it will be a very good year indeed. Except I have to figure out ceramics at home ;)
Saturday, July 9, 2011
A backyard visitor...
I have a thing for dragonflies, I always have, so this was more than welcome visitor. Isn't s/he gorgeous?There was more to this post, but I think for now we'll just stick with the dragonfly!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Weekly Wrap-Up... 6/27 - 7/1
Ahhhh, summer vacation. Anyhow, here's a brief rundown of our week.
Monday:
Beach Day! After the kids did their chores, with the spiffy new wipe-off chore charts I made to remind them, we went out to the coast to meet with some friends. It was an overcast day, but not too cold. They had loads of fun playing in the sand, collecting bits of shell and driftwood, and getting a bit wet. Cyrus helped another kid build a pretty solid and impressive sand fort with a moat, while Cassia crusted herself in sand while getting thoroughly soaked in the waves.
Once home again, we started reading an old book called Our California Home. It covers California's history in a story format, and was published by the Department of Education back in the early 1930's. So far, it is quite delightful, much more so than the modern textbooks put of by the same DOE, and the kids and I are enjoying it. I also had Cassia review one of the Nora Gaydos books. We also finished watching The Fellowship of the Ring. These are the "extended" versions, so each movie (2 discs) is taking us two evenings to watch.
Tuesday:
Nature decided to do my watering for me, and it rained quite a bit. The kids headed off to my mom's for a morning of crafts, art, and general fun while I headed off to a local homeschool group meeting. We're in the process of becoming a nonprofit, so we ratified bylaws, elected a board, and formed committees. Naturally, since I never seem to have quite enough going on, I signed up for two committees - field trips, and community outreach. I also picked up a few new freebies from the Free Table. It was a great meeting, full of positive energy.
Back at home, I had the kids do a few chores, Cyrus practiced piano, and Cassia and I "read" some of her favorite poems. Then, I brought out a surprise for them, and they made their own egg tempera paints! I don't think we used quite enough pigment, so the paint, when dried, was on the light side, though we did notice the lovely glaze the egg yolks impart. The instructions for the project also covered the historical use of egg tempera paint, so I shared that with them as they mixed.
Cassia's work, also an abstract
In the evening, we started watching The Two Towers. We talked a bit about world wars, and how war influenced Tolkien's writings. The kids also noted some similarities between Tolkien's Middle Earth and Lewis' Narnia.
Wednesday:
Started out the day again with chores, then errands, and then Cyrus had his piano lesson while Cassia played with the piano teacher's daughters. I read some more in Pocketful of Pinecones (yes, I am re-reading it while waiting for the 2nd book), and listened to the music. After that, we took a short walk, and purchased The Sentence Family from the author himself, who also gave a tour of the lovely property of the little school, church, and living complex. I barely made it home before I had the book open to peruse. This looks like it will be a great addition to homeschooling!
In the evening I worked, and the kids went to my mom's for an overnight, since I also had work scheduled very early the following morning.
Thursday:
After work (I got off very early in the afternoon), we headed home for some relaxation and reading. We read a bit more in Our California Home, and All of a Kind Family. We played Uno, the kids watched an episode of Meerkat Manor, and then we headed off to buy a pool! We spent the early evening setting it up, with the kids helping every step of the way, and then of course the kids tested it out. We finished up the evening with the second part of The Two Towers.
Today:
As I type this, I am watching the kids play in the pool. They already watched an episode of The Addams Family, and did a couple of chores. Other plans for the day include the kids making dinner (Cyrus has a Sloppy Joe recipe we all love, and Cassia makes homemade coleslaw dressing easily), some more reading, a bot of phonics work for Cassia, multiplication review for Cyrus, and then I have work. We opted not to go to Park Day today because a) the new pool is so much fun and it is getting hot, and b) I hate hurrying them away from Park Day to go to work. have watering to do, and laundry to fold.
And there's our week!
Monday:
Beach Day! After the kids did their chores, with the spiffy new wipe-off chore charts I made to remind them, we went out to the coast to meet with some friends. It was an overcast day, but not too cold. They had loads of fun playing in the sand, collecting bits of shell and driftwood, and getting a bit wet. Cyrus helped another kid build a pretty solid and impressive sand fort with a moat, while Cassia crusted herself in sand while getting thoroughly soaked in the waves.
Once home again, we started reading an old book called Our California Home. It covers California's history in a story format, and was published by the Department of Education back in the early 1930's. So far, it is quite delightful, much more so than the modern textbooks put of by the same DOE, and the kids and I are enjoying it. I also had Cassia review one of the Nora Gaydos books. We also finished watching The Fellowship of the Ring. These are the "extended" versions, so each movie (2 discs) is taking us two evenings to watch.
Tuesday:
Nature decided to do my watering for me, and it rained quite a bit. The kids headed off to my mom's for a morning of crafts, art, and general fun while I headed off to a local homeschool group meeting. We're in the process of becoming a nonprofit, so we ratified bylaws, elected a board, and formed committees. Naturally, since I never seem to have quite enough going on, I signed up for two committees - field trips, and community outreach. I also picked up a few new freebies from the Free Table. It was a great meeting, full of positive energy.
Back at home, I had the kids do a few chores, Cyrus practiced piano, and Cassia and I "read" some of her favorite poems. Then, I brought out a surprise for them, and they made their own egg tempera paints! I don't think we used quite enough pigment, so the paint, when dried, was on the light side, though we did notice the lovely glaze the egg yolks impart. The instructions for the project also covered the historical use of egg tempera paint, so I shared that with them as they mixed.
Cyrus's abstract painting
Cassia's work, also an abstract
In the evening, we started watching The Two Towers. We talked a bit about world wars, and how war influenced Tolkien's writings. The kids also noted some similarities between Tolkien's Middle Earth and Lewis' Narnia.
Wednesday:
Started out the day again with chores, then errands, and then Cyrus had his piano lesson while Cassia played with the piano teacher's daughters. I read some more in Pocketful of Pinecones (yes, I am re-reading it while waiting for the 2nd book), and listened to the music. After that, we took a short walk, and purchased The Sentence Family from the author himself, who also gave a tour of the lovely property of the little school, church, and living complex. I barely made it home before I had the book open to peruse. This looks like it will be a great addition to homeschooling!
In the evening I worked, and the kids went to my mom's for an overnight, since I also had work scheduled very early the following morning.
Thursday:
After work (I got off very early in the afternoon), we headed home for some relaxation and reading. We read a bit more in Our California Home, and All of a Kind Family. We played Uno, the kids watched an episode of Meerkat Manor, and then we headed off to buy a pool! We spent the early evening setting it up, with the kids helping every step of the way, and then of course the kids tested it out. We finished up the evening with the second part of The Two Towers.
Today:
As I type this, I am watching the kids play in the pool. They already watched an episode of The Addams Family, and did a couple of chores. Other plans for the day include the kids making dinner (Cyrus has a Sloppy Joe recipe we all love, and Cassia makes homemade coleslaw dressing easily), some more reading, a bot of phonics work for Cassia, multiplication review for Cyrus, and then I have work. We opted not to go to Park Day today because a) the new pool is so much fun and it is getting hot, and b) I hate hurrying them away from Park Day to go to work. have watering to do, and laundry to fold.
And there's our week!