Random thoughts about planning ahead...

’ve been doing a LOT of thinking lately, about how we’re homeschooling, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I actually need some organization. Not an actual schedule, mind you, but maybe a sort of general plan. I think if we were a little more organized in our approach, we’d be more productive without additional stress. So here is my plan… First, we are cutting actual sit-down homeschooling down to 4 days a week. On those days we will do reading/writing work, story time, and math. On two of the days we’ll work on social studies, and science on the other two. That’s it! Not much of a plan, is it? I don’t want to get over-structured – too much (i.e. a schedule) wouldn’t suit our family right now. I just want a general plan so that I know I am hitting the important things! We get plenty of art, music, etc. into every day, so I am not even worrying about those right now. I also have spent some time lately looking at California Education Standards over the past couple of weeks, for kindergarten through 3rd grade. The way they organize history/social studies confuses me… for example, in 3rd grade, they study Native Americans, early settlers, and the three branches of the government as they are today. I can see how the first two subjects fit together, but then you throw in modern government? M & I have been debating back and forth if it is better to approach history through geography (study you state’s history, then your country’s history, then move outward) or sequentially through time, starting of course with ancient civilizations. If you read this, what is your opinion on teaching/learning history? Next year we are actually taking an idea from the California Dept. of Education, and will be studying countries around the globe and their customs/foods/etc (social studies, not history yet). For science we can study the country of choice’s animals, geological features, plant life, and so forth. I can see having a LOT of fun with this! Second grade is supposed to be about people that have made a contribution to the world, such as George Washington, Einstein, etc. This could potentially be a lot of fun as well, since we get to pick and choose whom to study. Maybe I am thinking too much about this whole thing! All you veteran homeschoolers out there, does it work better for your family to plan ahead a bit, or to take each day as it comes?

Thursday, Friday, Saturday & today...

Thursday: We got absolutely no school done, whatsoever. I had a nice quiet afternoon & evening planned... soccer practice had been canceled, so I though we'd actually get a bunch of schoolwork done! I left work at 2, stopped at the store to pick up milk, got back in my SUV and... nothing. Wouldn't even turn over. So I called my mom, who has Triple A (which I need to get myself), she called a tow truck, and my sister came in case I needed a ride. The mechanic jump-started the SUV (about an hour had passed now), and I started off merrily down the road, figuring I could easily make it 2 miles. Stop-light... and there it goes again. Completely dead. Not even my hazard lights would work. Thankfully, a really nice guy pulled up behind me, turned on his hazard lights, and pushed my car out of the intersection, into the entrance to a senior citizen mobile home park. I wrote a note, to let residents know it was broken down and I was going to call a tow truck, and while I was doing this, the wind blew the door shut, with my keys inside, of course. I walked to my mom's house (2 blocks away), we called the tow truck again, and I went back to wait. It has now been 2 hours since it stopped in the first place. About 45 minutes later, the same tow truck guy shows up, spends 15 minutes popping open the lock (which actually pops out of the door, oops), and recharges the battery, then follows me home. I got home at 6 pm, ehausted from the sheer stress, so we got nothing done.
 
Friday: We borrowed my mom's car and went to C.J.'s gymnastics class - the last one in the month we paid for through the city rec department. I talked to her teacher/coach afterwards, and then to M when I got home, and we have decided to enroll her in classes through the gymnastics facility itself. Bonus - they offer afternoon classes, unlike the city, so I will get to take her, instead of asking my mom to , do it. Plus, if C.O. decided he wants to try it, they have classes for boys his age right before or after the options for her classes! And then we went to the library. Returned some books and checked out a bunch more, plus Magic Schoolbus videos on bugs and plants. We got the stories of Johnny Appleseed and Paul Bunyan, plus a bunch of books on farms, plants and farm animals. The kids were really good at the library, so we stopped and got yogurt smoothies on the way home. Meanwhile, M left for the weekend, heading down to a friend's to help with some roofing.  At home, we watched one of the episodes on bugs (bees actually), did a quick math lesson, and then the kids headed out front to ride bikes. I started dinner, and when it started getting dark, the kids came back in, and we worked on Maps, Graphs, Globes, then HM Phonics and HWOT, while C.J. colored and counted on a chart. Then we started a science experiement on capillary action. After dinner we watched "Bambi" (C.J.'s library pick).
 
Yesterday: Spent the early am reading Curious George stories. Then, C.O. had a soccer game (they lost by a long shot this time). After that, we went over to the playground, and ran into D4, H3 and their mom! She never actually went into labor the other day - the contractions went all night, then stopped. So all the kids played together for about an hour, then we headed to the grocery store, the movie rental place, and home. Both kids elected to have some quiet time after their busy morning - they wanted to watch "Over the Hedge", and C.J. actually fell asleep before long. After that, they played outside some more. We did Saxon Math 18A & B, and worked with the reader and letter cards again, then checked on their science project, which is doing well. We watched "Over the Hedge" on the couch with popcorn before bed.
 
Today: I am taking the car, if it starts, over to a mechanic friend at about noon - current theory is that the alternator has died. Currently the kids are watching the Little Einsteins Halloween episode. We made muffins this morning (cooking lesson, plus math and science!), and later on we'll sit down to do some more math, reading, etc. I also need to do some laundry and some grocery shopping. We hope to carve our pumpkins tonight as well!

Monday, Tuesday & today...

Monday: We started out with math, doing some counting exercises, where you say "43 is 40 plus 3". We were going all the way from 1-100. C.O. was doing pretty well with it, and we were going through moderately quickly, but he was getting a little tired of it by about 84. No problem though, because C.J., who was busy coloring a duck picture, piped in "84 is 80 plus 4, 85 is 80 plus 5..." and so on, up to 90! Then C.O. took back over and we finished that up. Then he did lessons 16 A & B in his Saxon math workbook. We moved on to Maps, Graphs, Globes and tied that in to local geography, so we spent some time pouring over maps of northern California and our area. After that, they just wanted to play, so they went outside and had P.E., which meant they rode bikes around on the sidewalks that circle the lawn, tried to climb trees, and played keep-away with neighbor kids until dark.
 
Tuesday: Had a playdate with D4 and H3. Their mom is due on Friday (a second girl), and partway through the playdate I realized she was being pretty quiet - turns out she had been having regular contractions for over an hour! She had planned this as the last activity of the week, and was determined to allow the kids to have a good time. After the playdate, we hurried off to soccer practice. C.O. did well with one-on-one kicking practice, but seemed a bit tired by the time they got to full-team practice. I think he might be happier with a more individualized activity, so he's seriously debating between Aikido and gymnastics for after the soccer season.
Then we came home, made a pasta dinner, sat down to eat, and C.J. got halfway through and fell asleep in her plate. So, C.J. and I had some nice quiet time after dinner to do Saxon math 17, and a few pages in HWOT, then two pages in HM phonics.
 
Wednesday: C.J. had some alone time with M today, so they repotted some succulents that M has had for about 8 years, while C.O. was at his enrichment class. This afternoon we are doing some HWOT, followed by work on C.O.'s new readers (we're starting with Dan Drum). After that, we may do some math, since that is C.O.'s favorite subject at the moment. Then I'll finally get to read them the family tree book I got from the library!

Saturday & today...

Saturday: Had a soccer game first thing in the morning. C.O.'s team won for the first time! Plus he blocked a pass once really well (with his knee), so we got smoothies to celebrate! During the game, I was talking to my dad, who shows up to watch most games... he asked me how homeschooling is going, so I told him what the kids were doing, and that C.O. got another 100% on a math assessment, and my dad's response? "So, is he going to a real school next year?"
After the game, then playtime in the playground, and smoothies, we came back home and had a fun, relaxed day. M's brother (the kids' Uncle E) was over, and we played tag and spinning out on the front lawn for a couple of hours. Then, the other local kids all came out to play, so I sat under a tree to work on my homework while they all played. Later in the evening, we got Chinese food and Uncle W came over (Uncle E was gone by this time).
Good day, very calm. We also got two packages in the mail for the kids - The Babar Treasury, and the stories of Curious George. We spent the late evening reading voraciously!
 
Today: The kids asked to draw pictures and "write" another letter to their penpals, so we did that first. Then C.O. wanted to read all the license plates out in the parking lot, so we spent about half an hour doing that. He got them all right! I figure it's good letter and number recognition practice. We might play our Dora the Explorer ABC game later, and will probably read some more. The kids have also watched 2 episodes of Little Einsteins today, which is one of the few cartoon shows I can actually tolerate.
This afternoon, we're going for a leaf collecting walk, and then I'll try pressing the leaves in waxed paper. I'm also looking through our science experiment book for fall ideas - there are a number of good ideas in there! Tonight the kids are spending the night at their Nonna's (my mom) house, and I am going to use the peace and quiet to finish my essay on stages of female emotional growth in English lit.

Wednesday, Thursday & today...

Wednesday - First I met with C.O.'s teacher. We handed in a few sample pages of his work, and got back a bunch of the arts & crafts he's been doing in his enrichment classes. We also picked up a beginning reading guide (I'll look at the name later) and 4 beginning readers to work on over the next month.
After that, we went to a pumpkin patch, with the local homeschooling group. First time we did anything with them, so as usual, I felt pretty shy around them. Groups are always a bit uncomfortable for me. Not the kids though! There was a small hay bale maze with a tunnel thing, and a bunch of kids, so mine had loads of fun! C.J. met another girl with her name, and about the same age, which she thought was pretty funny. What I liked was watching all the kids playing together, and hearing the parents (mainly moms, but one dad was there) talking about their approaches to homeschooling, and a lot of them seem to be at least semi-unschooling, much like us! We also went in a corn maze and on a tractor-hay ride of sorts. Both kids picked out pumpkins too, and both have said they can't wait to "play with all those fun kids" again!
As far as schooling goes, C.O studied the heart and blood vessel system, etc. in his enrichment class. At home we read a few stories, and worked on pattern sequencing with his math manipulatives.
 
Thursday - More pattern sequencing, and we worked on HWOT. Then C.O. suddenly threw up, everywhere, so that was the end of that. He fell asleep for about 2 hours, then woke up and threw up all over my bed, and me. After that he was fine, and he's still okay today!
 
Today - We're going to do lesson 15 in Saxon Math (which is a written assessment), some HWOT and some HM Phonics, after the kids watch an episode or two of Little Einsteins. C.O wants to finish a sticker sheet he's been working on for sequencing. C.J. is working on the letter E now, so she'll probably color a couple of pages in her giant alphabet coloring/work book. We're also going to check on the growth of our catnip, and I am hoping to read them a book about family trees I picked up last week at the library, so maybe we'll get into that!
C.J. had gymnastics again today too, the second to last of the series we signed up for. She wants to continue with it rather than move into ballet, so I guess we'll be signing up for another 4 week session.

The last week...

I won't even try to give a day-by-day rundown, as it's been a week since I updated, so here are the highlights of our week:
 
C.J. is doing very well in gymnastics - Friday they did beginning balance beam work, and she didn't need any assistance! She loves the class and has asked if she can keep going, so I guess we'll be signing her up for another month!
 
We went camping at a fairly local park over the weekend. There were good, and of course, bad parts. Good: We saw loads of animals - deer, squirrels, hawks, geese, ducks, lizards, and more; we went on a nighttime hike with flashlights that the kids really enjoyed; hanging out around the campfire in the evening was really nice; we had a good time at a nearby park Sunday afternoon, where the kids played in the playground and went on a train ride. Bad: the sky never cleared up as much as the weather report promised; the kids are still in that hit-each-other-and-scream-bloody-murder phase, which by the way echoes very loudly through the woods; C.O. snuck some marshmallows out of the cabinet, and ate so many he threw up inside the tent; C.J was still getting over a cold or flu, and started throwing up too. Fortunately, both kids are fine now!
 
We haven't done much sit-down schoolwork over the last week. Part of that is that I've been trying to fill in at work for the other 2 secretaries in my department, both of whom are now out on medical leave. I sat down yesterday and spoke with the department director, and will be scaling back a bit, so we'll probably "catch up" again this week!

Went camping this weekend

A little on the cold side, but at least it didn't rain! We just went to a campground across town for 2 nights, because we wanted to go camping at least once before winter hits, and somehow we never got a chance this summer. Good parts: we hiked around a lake; the kids saw deer, hawks, lizards and sqirrels, as well as a couple of hundred ducks, and some geese; we saw some beautiful autumn foliage; sitting around a campfire in the dark was fun; and we took a cool nighttime hike with flashlights. Bad parts: the kids are still in that hit-each-other-and-scream phase; C.O. ate so many marshmallows last night that he threw up in the tent, so I had to share my sleeping bag with C.J. so that C.O. could use hers; the sun didn't shine enough; C.J. now appears to have a flu, and has been vomiting all day off and on, though C.O. seems fine now.

Work is okay. I say only okay because I took this on as a part-time job, and now with both other secretaries out on medical leave, I keep getting more and more hours, which on top of school, homeschooling, play dates, soccer, gymnastics, field trips, etc., makes me feel like I have no time at all to spare. Hopefully, one of the secretaries will be back in 1-2 weeks, and the other a few weeks after that, then things can begin to calm down. I have dropped one class (that hadn't even started yet) because with everything else, I can't take on more homework right now - I am barely keeping up with the homework I have!

Back to work momentarily - the work isn't at all bad itself. I've gotten the hang of most everything I am responsible for, and I am learning an incredible amount about the special education processes around here! I work with both program specialists and behavioral specialists. Though my kids aren't special ed, I find a lot of the behavioral techniques work with them, and would likely work with a wide variety of children.

We may have a new project coming up in the spring... my brother-in-law may go in on a fixer home purchase with us (he'd make the downpayment and a percentage of the monthly payments, we'd cover the rest of the monthly payments and the costs to fix it all up)... then we'd fix it up, sell it, and split any profits (otherwise known as houseflipping). We're talking cosmetic fixer, not something that needs to be rebuilt!

Saturday, Sunday, Monday & today...

Saturday - the Harvest Fair was so much fun! We looked at about a million goats, pet some llamas (my personal favorite) and talked with a llama breeder, went to the petting zoo where C.J. fulfilled a dream by petting a sheep, went on a couple of small rides (train, hay ride), and generally had loads of fun. C.O. liked the pigs best, followed by the deer in the petting zoo, C.J. liked the sheep and cows. We also checked out the giant prize-winning pumpkins and a bit of the art exhibit.
 
Sunday - We went shopping for sleeping bags for the kids. We're going camping this weekend, and M & I still have good sleeping bags from all our pre-child backpacking, but the kids needed them too. We let them pick them out, with a little guidance - C.O. picked out a navy blue one with bright orange trim, and C.J of course picked deep bright pink. After that, we came back, and settled down for some school work. C.O. did math, another couple of pages in HWOT, some sorting, and 2 pages in HM Phonics. C.J. sorted beads by color, then ran off to play with her daddy.
 
Monday - Had a meeting with C.O.'s teacher. She loved the pictures of the volcano experiment, and after asking C.O. about letter sounds, said she'll give us a bunch of early readers on Wednesday as she thinks he's ready! She also gave us a bunch of cool math manipulatives - geometric shapes in bright colors, interlocking cubes, etc. After the meeting we went to the library and checked out a slew of books. It's the first time we've gone to the library since we moved here, and this one is nice! They have a great play area for little kids, and tons of good books. We got "Blueberries for Sal", three "Franklin the Turtle" books, a lovely little one called "Lemon Moon" and some on farming, plus a few for me! The kids were really well behaved thankfully. In the evening, we read a few of the books, did another page and a half of math, and 2 more pages in HWOT. We also studied and colored the parts of a plant, then wrote which type of vegetable the pictures were - root, stem or leaf.
 
Today - We'll start by reading again - that worked out really well yesterday, so I think I might start each lesson period that way, then we'll probably play with the new manipulatives, check on the catnip seeds, and work on the calendar. We might do some work in HM Phonics today too. This afternoon we have a playdate with D5 and H3, then C.O. has soccer practice. C.O. requested turkey meatloaf for dinner, so I think the kids will help me cook tonight too!

Yesterday (Thursday) & today...

Thursday - C.O. was much more focused than in the past on his schoolwork, and we made our way through a lot of it! We started with math (lessons 13A & B), with sorting various objects, in this case colored paper triangles and squares, both by color and shape. We added the word "angle" to C.O.'s vocabulary. The we worked on Maps, Globes and Graphs, which does improve quite a bit after the first section! The new section we did was on looking at pictures to find objects and to notice differences. We also worked a bit in HM Phonics and HWOT.
C.J. worked on the letter A. She colored a large picture of an alligator holding a big "A", and then found & circled all 5 "A's" in another picture, followed by more coloring.
Today - C.J. had her first gymnastics class, and she loved it! I was afarid she'd be a little shy, but nope! She marched in there yelling "I'm here for dimnastics!". They did circuits of different activities, like climbing, using hands & feet to go over parallel bars, somersaulting, and her favorite, lots of trampoline work! The gymnastics center here has a play area for other kids too, with loads of toys, which was great for C.O.
Right now, the kids are making video clips with M. In a bit, we're cleaning up the back patio, and planting all of the pansies we picked up today, plus starting, finally, the catnip. I have some great worksheets on planting seeds and plant growth that we can work through later, plus we will likely work on some math and phonics.
On another note, I am seriously considering signing up as the volunteer editor for the gardening newsletter put out monthly by C.O.'s charter school. I think it might be fun!
Tomorrow we are off to a local harvest fair! This fits right in with our nature table, which we are still setting up, and the farm/plant studies we're getting into.

More on Sunday, then Monday, Tuesday & today...

Sunday - we did make it to the Fairy Folk Festival, and had a good time! C.O. and C.J. each got a crown and a pair of wings - C.O.'s are black dragon wings with blue 'jewels' and C.J.'s are pink and purple fairy wings. C.O. spent the rest of the day telling us that he is a dragon king - now he wants a sword and shield, so M and I are looking at crafting those! I think I might dig up some good tales of knights, etc., and see if this new interest goes anywhere.
Monday - C.O. took his blue teddy bear to class for a 'teddy bear tea', which he said was lots of fun. He is learning a lot of nice little songs in class. We did a bunch of school work in the evening, finishing off with doing the volcano experiment again. We also looked at, and colored, diagrams of the 4 layers of the Earth, which he now can name from memory. C.J. sat down and, for the first time, purposefully wrote a number (9)! She's left-handed, so it's a bit different teaching her to write than it has been with C.O.
Tuesday - Coming down with colds, all of us, so we missed soccer practice and our playdate. Still did school stuff though - C.O. did lessons 12A and 12B in Saxon Math, working on placement (first, second, third, etc.), which he seems to understand pretty well. It seems like math might be one of my imaginative, playful child's stronger points! I've been looking at this as a possible supplement - The Noble Knights of Knowledge. I think with a little creativity (I hear the story lines aren't all that fantastic), it could be fun. We also worked on writing a couple of letters and some more letter sounds. He is starting to really connect the sounds with the visuals, asking about words he sees while out and about. It's actually really cool watching him go through the steps of learning to read. C.J. only wanted to color and look at a book of farm animals, but that was fine.
Today - We are officially having a 'sick' day. I had to call in to work, and call C.O. in to his class. This cold is nasty! We've watched movies all morning (Shrek and Shrek 2, now Pippi Goes on Board), the kids took a warm bath, we're all drinking lots of hot tea, and just resting. We've upped our vitamins and taken echinacea this week, so hopefully this cold will pass as quickly as it came on!

Thursday, Friday, Saturday & today...

Thursday - Had a good, though quiet day. Soccer practice was cancelled, so we had an unhurried evening for once. M & I took the kids to the local plant nursery during the afternoon, which was loads of fun! They looked at every fountain, spent 10-15 minutes at the Koi pond, looked at the herb selection and bedding plants, played with windchimes and more! They also spotted some tiny, new kittens that belonged to one of the nursery's semi-feral cats. I got them a catnip growing kit, so that they can plant the seeds and watch them grow, plus Donovan will probably enjoy it! C.O. did 2 pages in Maps, Graphs and Globes (we're not thrilled with this, so I think we might look for something else), and worked on more letter sounds. He's really starting to make that connection - that all letters have sounds, and that he is learning the beginning basics of reading!
Friday - Another fairly quiet day. We did math, letters and writing, plus we went to Sequoia Floral Supply to look at flowers, wreaths, and so forth. The kids really liked a basket of wicker apples they found, but we didn't quite have enough money to buy it.
Saturday - Soccer game first thing. C.O. is getting much better! He's focusing a lot more (focusing is a slight problem for him, but he's been taking EFA supplements and I think it's helping), so he got in a few good kicks! After soccer, we came home to get ready for the kids' first official playdate! We met another family at the park that is just starting out on their homeschooling journey, with a 4.5 year old son, and a 3 year-old daughter. The mom and I exchanged phone numbers so that the kids could try playing together. Before we went to the park though, we went grocery shopping and bought C.J. a leotard for her gymnastics classes that will start on Fridays. She is still very interested in ballet, but there aren't any ballet classes starting right now through the city, so she's doing 4 weeks of gymnastics in the meantime.
Then we headed off to the park, and the kids had a blast! They ran, and dug in the sand, and climbed all the things they could possibly find to climb. C.O. said towards the end that he liked playing with D because "D uses his imagination". C.J. had a great time with H too, as both love to pretend they're monkeys, dangling off any bar they can reach! We're all set to meet them at the park again on Tuesday. In the evening, my friend W came over (he's still here actually) for dinner, so it was a really good day.
Today - We are heading off to a Fairy Folk Festival for the afternoon. Admission is a little on the steep side, but the kids get in for free, so we figure it all evens out. We also need to sit down for a few lessons later.