a blurb about homeschool

homeschooling has been a good experience this year.  we're not done yet of course, but we do have great incentive to finish asap ... water park!!  we are equally excited for that.


besides the academic development, we're learning a lot about each other.  many days have been tough, but the daily communication, patience, and respect that is required for such a thing has brought our relationship to a whole new level.  if he were in school, he'd be building this with his teacher and with other kids ... which isn't bad, but me loving my kid so much, I'm just glad its with me this year.  next year might be a different story ... not the loving my kid part, but you know ...


we do school work M-F ... that's the plan anyway.  it seems whenever hubby is around, there is a tendency that schoolwork gets pushed to the side because something else comes up - errands to run, a spontaneous special trip, or whatever.  but that's the beauty of homeschool I suppose.  we missed yesterday, so Saturday schoolwork it is.  but even if we didn't miss it, I have no problem doing work on the weekends.  if you only have 2 hours a work a day, then we probably SHOULD do it on the weekends anyway!


I give Sam multiple "warnings" that school time is starting soon.  he needs this constant heads up to mentally prep for it ... half the time this seems to work.  the other half, I get lots of whining "I don't wanna!"  "schoolwork is boring!"  haven't found a cure for that.  I did not go to school to become a teacher, I don't have lots of tricks or special projects to do, I am close to clueless on adding fun to work.  I am very much a by-the-book person, so unfortunately for Sam, this is more like how I teach, using mostly workbooks.


I can easily to get discouraged because there are many blogs and websites dedicated to crafts, projects, experiments, etc to do every single day.  it seems more people are "unschooling" their kids, and it leaves me to wonder if that's better.  sometimes I can see where/when it is, but I always come back to reading, writing, and arithmatic.

I try to limit my reading time to those blogs ... no offense of course.


luckily for everyone I'm not a complete idiot - hahaha - and we do have craft time and take trips to the zoo, but overall, its the workbooks .... but you know what, it works.  this kid is SMART!


I am actually typing this in-between helping Sam with his work ... so apparently I need to vent, just not to him.
it HAS been a good experience, and I mean that.  it's very awesome to be able to watch him grow this way.  and even with the very difficult days, I'd still recommend parents try homeschooling.  its still worth it ... just don't read my blog to tell you how to do it!

it was a crafty kind of day

everyday most days I allow for a free choice session in our homeschool day.  this could be writing to our pen pal, arts & crafts, baking, or science experiments.  I do hope to take pictures and post on this stuff more regularly.


now when I say free choice I don't actually say it out loud, because if I did, Sam would think he has the choice.  in actuality, its my choice.  ok, well, sometimes Sam does get to choose, but only if I choose to let him choose.  if I don't care what we get into, then its his choice.   * hahahaha *  that's just how I do it and it goes much smoother that way!


we hadn't done arts & crafts for awhile.  when we do this, I try to start before Elliott's naptime so he can participate too.  this is why I get to choose.  having Elliott participate is a great learning experience for him, but some days, I'm simply not up for the challenge if you know what I'm sayin' ... and I think you do.


I have been using Abeka's 1st grade curriculum, and so far, I like it.  I wanted to have something that made the schedule for me.  I am better at cutting what needs to be cut & adding what I feel like we ought to add when there is an existing system.  I did my research and was able to get 3/4 of our stuff off of ebay.  in doing that I got a few extras, one being an arts & crafts book.


the project for January was better than most of the others, so I thought I'd share it with you.  your welcome :)


they suggest to make pictures out of toothpicks.  assemble your toothpicks on construction paper (a darker color will get the toothpicks to stand out a bit more), and you can make anything ... things with straight edges are easier of course.  a few ideas they gave - house, tree, toy, car, building, letters, numbers ... on and on you could go.  after you get a layout, glue them on.


there are toothpicks that have a flat edge, which makes this process easier.  I have also seen colored toothpicks ... such a thing as colored AND flat edged??  a crafter can only hope.


and of course when I decided to do this one, I discovered I didn't have any toothpicks whatsoever.  that happens to me a lot.  but I did have spaghetti!  and that worked just as well.  in fact, maybe a bit better for a couple of reasons.
1. you can break them to create various sizes
2. Elliott can eat them!  if it were toothpicks, I'm sure he'd try to eat those too ... so maybe this is more for my peace of mind than anything

and here is Sam's masterpiece.  excuse his psycho look, I think I just snapped the picture at the wrong milisecond :)  but he was awfully happy to do crafts today.  I guess its been awhile since we got into it.


he made a house and then got his name in there at the top.  he loved it.
2 thumbs up from us!

this counts as science in my book

I posted awhile ago that my boy(s) need recess first before concentrating on school ... or anything that takes focus.  they both just wake up with FULL energy levels.

I've been slacking on that, and yesterday when I realized their morning cartoons were finally turned off right before lunch.  that doesn't happen daily, but still, I felt so guilty.


it hit me like a ton of bricks; we all get so unmotivated to do anything if we're couch potatoes first thing ... and I don't even watch, I get caught up in reading the news, blogs, facebook, emails, etc.


bad mommy.  bad teacher.  bad example.


today is a new day.  luckily I got another chance.
today, they got up at 630am.  not cool.  at least wait for the sun to come up!!  right?!!
for me that means, no walk = 1+ cup of coffee.


we still watch cartoons, but only for an hour or so.  we have breakfast, then its out the door to discover what's out there ... even if its just a walk within our gated complex.  no shower required.  just throw on whatever + shoes + my camera!


today we woke up to clouds and a bit of rain.  that's winter in Hawaii.  no sun makes it cool, but definitely not cold.  jacket optional.

but having this "winter weather" allows us to see things we don't normally get to see everyday.  the snails were out.  the peacocks stay out longer since its not hot.  the air smells different.  the mountains looks different.  and as far as bugs go, its like a whole new world.  needless to say, Samuel LOVED it.




look what he found today ...

this is the beauty of homeschool.  isn't it great?!

18 of 30

earlier this morning I heard the boys playing in the other room. I could tell it was getting heated, as in, Elliott was doing something toddlers love to do, and in turn, it drives older siblings crazy. it has been a process in teaching Sam how to deal with someone who doesn't know better ... I'll just leave it at that ... but before I heard hitting &/or screaming that normally follows, I hear Sam say "it was YOUR choice not to listen Elliott!"

guess who usually says that in this house?

this afternoon, as we're doing our schoolwork, Sam says to me "will you excuse me for a minute mom?"

after that instant shock wore off, I said "of course!"

this bad mommy will admit, my manners are not quite THAT good. that is one I don't usually say (ok, I never say that) but am thankful he picked it up wherever he did!

Moms, let us try not to focus on the bazillion times we have to say things, but rather, know that it gets in there, somewhere around the 500th time is my guess. it eventually comes out into practice, this one I'd say is closer to the 1,000,000th time its said.

think of the payoff that comes. as always, it will be when you least expect it. and, its something to be thankful for.

recess comes first

2 in 1 day. wowsers.

its been a tad difficult to begin homeschool. first off, I started it late. oops.
I didn't feel bad at first because Hawaii begins soooooo early. but now that I've started, I've realize that a goal within homeschooling is to finish when the kids attending an actual school finish.
duh, right? so we're doing 2 lessons in 1 day. it still doesn't take too long, and luckily, the first part of any grade is the review time of the previous grade. Samuel is simply kickin' its butt! he's awesome. and if we can keep at 2 lessons per day, then in theory, we'll finish early. right? in theory, anyway.

secondly, homeschool is just plain frustrating to start. once you get through the process of choosing a curriculum (which is a HUGE chore within itself) comes the time to actually doing it. I am using Abeka's 1st grade curriculum, and they have the lessons all planned out day by day. I'm not so much a go-with-the-flow type person with this type of stuff, but now that we are finding a groove, that is coming much easier.
I can now see how and why someone would start and then quit. up until this point, it really hasn't been fun ... but we're not quitters over here!

the biggest revelation to finding this groove is = RECESS.
boys are physical. period. Samuel is the one "in school," however, because its homeschool, Elliott is "in" too. he just doesn't know it.
in my perfect world, we'd get up in the morning, have our breakfast, and get right to our schoolwork. that way we could have the rest of the day to do ... whatever. we could be done by 11am if we were focused, and that's what I would strive for ... which is why it was so frustrating. it never worked out.
that perfect world is in my head, its not a real place.
isn't it funny [or some days, not-so-funny] how children wake up, INSTANTLY ready to go? their energy levels are INSTANTLY high. they don't usually need that wake up time you and I do ... or at least I do. they just have an on/off switch, and nothing else.
it can't be just my kid ... tell me its not just my kid!
I had to integrate that "whatever" time first thing in the morning, rather than later in the day. that's the beauty of homeschool, right? that I can do just that. so now, we do recess first thing to get some of that excess energy out.
today we went swimming for an hour & a half, came home, had a snack, and focus for schoolwork was instantly there. it was magical.

coincidentally, I read this article today.

I've committed to doing 1st grade at home. after that, we'll re-evaluate. I make no promises, but, so far so good.

playdough

I just made playdough for the very first time and I must say it was so so easy!  if your little ones love playing with playdough, try making it yourself before you go buy more.  I think it's much better than the store-bought stuff; it's smooth and doesn't have that smell.

mix the following ingredients in a big 6 quart pot.  cook on low heat.  stir constantly until it thickens and forms a ball, you know, the consistency of playdough!

2C flour

2C water

1C salt

4tsp cream of tartar

4tbsp veggie oil

once done, take it out and knead it.  depending on how many different colors you want, divide it up and add any food coloring.

this is very simple and easy so the kids can help make it too.  try it out and let me know how you like it.  enjoy!

practice homeschool

since Sam won't be attending until fall, I've decided to wing it and [try to] do some schooling at home. it's not too structured and I don't really have a plan worked out for the week. I just try to get online, check a few websites, and have it ready for the next day.

my goal is to have 3 days a week dedicated to school work. not all day of course, but my guess is about 4 hours/day. of course I have to figure out how to deal with Elliott while this is going on, fit in time to make and eat lunch, and whatever else that's going on. any supermoms out there that can give me advice?

we had a letter A day! one easy project I made up (but I'm sure it's been done before somewhere) is to cut out a big letter A from construction paper, then take old magazines and find any/all pictures that begin with the letter A, cut them out and glue them on. we learn what A sounds like, we get practice using scissors and pay attention to the details - like don't cut the head off of the animal you're cutting out - and it's something mellow we can sit, talk, and do together. fun and easy.
eventually I'd like to hang his alphabet around the "classroom" here at home. I read somewhere that's it important to display your child's art at home in a place that he can see it, knowing that he did something original and creative; something he can be proud of ... and show off to everyone that comes over!

Sam also practiced writing his A's, big and small. I got these practice sheets from a book in the $1 bins at Target. (again, yay Target!)

we're also working on a book; All About Me. page 1 is a self portrait. so I got out a mirror and we analyzed all his facial features. we talked about shapes, big and small, colors, etc. Sam did this picture totally on his own. looks like him, right?! here is the link to check it out for yourself.

it amazes me how often this kid blows my mind. he catches on fast. he's only 4!

hubby and I often wonder when his first memory will be. most adults don't/can't seem to remember anything before 3 or 4 years old. will he remember his first big boy bike he got for his 4th birthday? will he remember all these crafts with mama? will he remember when Elliott came home? will remember the stitches he got? eventually he'll remember just about everything, but I wonder what that first memory will be. I pray it's a happy one!

coming this fall

good news -
we found THE perfect school for Sam. it's christian based, and it's part time classroom, part time at home. I was never totally sure if I could do homeschool; committing to every single day. I was going to try it, but I wasn't totally comfortable with it. someone my hubby works with refered us to this school, and now that we have found this place I feel much more confident about the homeschooling side of it.
it's the best of both worlds - Sam will get the social interaction he needs with other kids and his teacher 2 days per week, and I will be doing our thing the other 3 days per week. awesome, right? I'm excited about it. he will start this fall, so it's still a ways away. we are registering him now because it's basically a private school, and once they're full, they're full. we're meeting with the administrator next week to get it all set up. whoo hoo!
so in the meantime I'm trying to put together a preschool cirriculum, something we can do until fall rolls around. if you're in the same boat, check out this blog. this will give you just about everything you need - this and a trip to Michael's craft store, and you'll be totally set!
I always thought my kids would go to preschool. maybe it's because I did. it never happend because we never had the money, and because we moved around too much to get Sam settled in any one school. but I'm not too worried about it. Sam is ready now and he really wants to learn. it's true what they say - kids are like sponges!

off the grid

Colorado has many things California doesn't, but the one thing that is the same is the sea of houses you see from any hilltop. out here there is a HUGE air force base, so there are thousands of military families in addition to the thousands of families that are already here.

I think a couple different things when I see that kind of view. one of my reactions is wow, look at all these people! all these people that God created, with a plan for each one. and one house doesn't equal one person, it probably equals more like 3 to 5 per household. but usually I think wow, look at all these people, what a rat-race! are we living on a compound of some kind?! all these houses look the same; it's one humongous maze of people.

and I suppose this is how it is in most of our country now. I guess what else can you expect with billions of people; where else would they go? you have to put houses that close together now, with a grocery store and a playground in every neighborhood.
have you seen Edward Scissorhands? remember the scene when all the husbands are off to work, having the same car, backing out of the driveway at the same time, all the wives waving goodbye from the house, which are all the same except painted a different color? I also love the intro to the show Weeds. both are exactly what I'm talking about.

that's what I tend to see, it sort of disgusts me. why? we all got here the same way (meaning God made us all without us asking for it) so I'm just like them, right? I'm not doubting God at all or questioning his plan, I'm having issues with how the world has changed His intention. I think I just really want to be in a place where I feel close to God, and suburbia just doesn't cut it for me.
the world has really imposed negativity on our lives - you need this, this, and that to be successful. and that list of things you need always seems to get longer, and it always takes money, and it's become so ingrained as an obligation instead of for passion or for a calling.

there is so much to vent about.

what hubby and I have come to the conclusion on is that life needs to be simpler. it's become so complicated; for many reasons I suppose. when we sit and think about what is really important, we always come back to how our lives will impact our children. what will we pass on? that you must conform?

you may have guessed, we're back on the home-schooling route.

hubby likes to call it "getting off the grid." that doesn't [necessarily] mean we're going to be farmers. he still needs a job to make money; that part we can't get around. but as we live a simpler life, we won't need to spend as much.
we are here for now, in suburbia. but as we learn the area (because we plan on staying here) we'll be looking around for a house with land.

our current house has a good sized backyard, so we plan to start practicing. we want to grow our own herbs and veggies, which means we'll be starting a compost, we'd like a greenhouse, and I want some chickens. cluck cluck! basically, we want to liver greener, and I don't mean just buy organically (sorry, but that to me seems so trendy) but to really use natural resources.

it will be journey, but it's one we both totally agree on ... and for those of you who know us, we don't agree on much. this is the first time in a loooooong time that hubby and I are loving being together, fighting the same fight. it's exciting!

homeschooling II

so with our new location, homeschool might not be as necessary as I thought.  CA does not have good schools; poor ratings, low budget, children with too much attitude ... ok, that last one is mine ... but the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, right?

in CO, the public schools are in the top 5 (I think), top 10 for sure.  so being in a place that has qualified schools, is there a need to homeschool anymore?

one of my main concerns is including God in every area of life, including my kids' education, which is something I can easily do at home.  I think God should be taught at home, and not necessarily at school.  there is too much left to interpretation, which is where people usually disagree.  we would stick to what the bible says, and honestly, I wouldn't trust any school 100% to do just that.

also to homeschool Sam, it would keep him and I close(r).  I miss him already and he's not even in preschool.  he's growing up so fast - cliche I know.  but while I'm with Elliott, usually nursing, I think of the bond we are creating.  it's still there with Sam, but only when he comes for it, so it's not constant anymore.  yes, it's selfish.  he's only 4, and it's just SO hard to let go already.

I think Sam would benefit from both methods.  homeschool would offer him lessons at his own pace, in his own style, on our terms.  public school would help in socially, which is something he needs.  he's always been a loner.  he loves people, but it seems he doesn't have a great first impression on kids.  it seems he thinks the way him and daddy play is the way you play with everyone - their silly made-up games, wrestling, or with our inside jokes.  he needs a bit more exposure.

ugh ... what's a mom to do?! 

home-schooling

so I've finally decided to home-school Sam.  I don't want to put him in school somewhere just to pull him out, again and again.  only God knows when and where we'll settle down for good ... if ever ... so at least this will be something consistent that Sam can rely on.   plus, this can only bring us closer together as a family, which is of course is something every mother wants.  God may move us wherever, but as long as we know we have each other along the way, than by all means!

I could go on and on about the cons of public school, but I won't.  I found this while researching different curriculums, and I thought it sums it all up perfectly.

Once upon a time, the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of "A New World".  So they organized a school.

They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming, and flying.  To make it easier to administer the curriculum all the animals took all the subjects.

The duck was excellent in swimming, in fact better than his instructor; but he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running.  Sine he was slow in in running, he had to stay after school, and then he had to drop swimming in order to practice running.  This was kept up until his webbed feet were badly worn and he became only average in swimming.  But average was acceptable in school so no one worried except the duck.

The rabbit started at the top of the class in running, but had a nervous breakdown because of so much make-up work in swimming.

The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class, where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the treetop down.  He also developed a "charley horse" from overexertion and then got a C in climbing and a D in running.

The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely.  In the climbing class he beat all the others to the treetop but insisted on using his own way to get there.

At the end of the year, an abnormal, retarded gopher that could swim exceedingly well and also run, climb, and fly a little had the highest average, beat the system, and was valedictorian.

if you are home-schooling your child(ren), what curriculum do you plan on using?