Weekly Wrap Up: Homeschool Mother's Journal Style

In my life this week…

I had quite a bit of paperwork and phone calls to catch up with this week.  I still have more paperwork, phone call and appointments to take care of, but I'm beginning to see the light.  

In our homeschool this week…

We began Unit 4 of Year 2 of Tapestry of Grace this week, the Age of Revolutions.  We all learned about Benjamin Franklin.  TS 1 also read about England's colonization of India, while TS 2 and TS 3 learned about John Harrison and how his sea clocks solved the problem of sailors knowing their longitude at sea.

We also spent some time learning more about Martin Luther King, Jr. this week thanks to the ideas Mary posted on her blog, Homegrown Learners.  If you are looking for at your fingertips ideas you can carry out easily to teach about MLK, that post is the place to go!  The boys have been working on the copy work pages Mary created.  They both read Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.?  this week, too.  We all watched MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech on You Tube.  I'm planning for us to watch the documentary Mary mentioned next week.

Some computer learning 

 TOG Unit 2 Lapbook Complete

One of TS 3's journal entries

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

Slow down, read aloud more and listen to your children.  (Reminding myself here, too!)  I am certainly guilty of speeding around and being too "busy" to really listen.  I've been making more of an effort to do just that, both during the homeschool day and during our family time.  It's been a blessing, not just to my children, but to me as well!

I am inspired by…

From Benjamin Franklin to John Harrison to Martin Luther King, Jr., this was an uplifting week for all of us as we studied these interesting, inspiring and world-changing men!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

Dance class, gymnastics, basketball practices and games, baseball clinic and playdates- oh my!

My favorite thing this week was…

Returning to co-op!  I am not teaching this semester, and as much as I loved teaching the U.S. Government and Elections classes in the fall, I am grateful for the semester off.  No prep work the night before, no lugging posters and bags back and forth the morning of, and no rushing out the door to arrive early for set up on Friday mornings.  The kids seem to love their new classes as well as the ones that are continuing from first semester.  

What’s working/not working for us…

We seem to be chugging along fairly smoothly overall right now, except for TS 3's math.  We are floundering a bit, and I am trying to decide what to do.  As you may remember, TS 3 was in Kindergarten at school last year, and we are doing Kindergarten here at home this year as well.  She is on the younger end of the spectrum for her grade, so I wanted to give her more time for some basic concepts to gel. I did decide on the Alpha level of Math-U-See, however, for her this year, rather than the Primer level because that seemed too basic for her.  She has been doing well up until now.  It seems we need to shore up some of her fundamental math concepts before going on with the addition facts, though.  I have been supplementing with games and ideas from friends, but I am thinking about getting the Kindergarten or 1A level of Singapore Math as a supplement as well.  I would use it to build up some fundamental skills and when she seems ready, we would return to Math-U-See.

Things I’m working on…

Getting back to a more consistent Quiet Time routine each morning.  I am a night owl by nature, so I struggle to get myself to bed before 11 p.m. on any given night.  That makes rising at 6 a.m. very difficult for me.  I know how important it is for me to spend time alone with the Lord before the demands of the day begin, so I am trying to reset the body clock to do just that.

I’m grateful for…

Endless resources and helps for homeschool, both online and real life.  The opportunity to learn alongside my children, and to be (with my husband) the primary shapers of their worldview.

Friends that make me laugh, and the ability to stay connected with them through texting and social media right in the midst of this homeschool experiment of ours.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."  

-Dr.  Martin Luther King, Jr.

Weekly Wrap Up: The One in which We Got Our Groove Back

This first (almost) month of school has been a whirlwind!  While homeschooling three has turned out to be quite a feat (for me, at least), I think I can finally say that we have found our groove.  We tried several different schedules before I felt we fell into a workable one.  

First, we tried a "little ones first" schedule, which equated to me spending about 90 minutes with my daughter for kindergarten followed by 30-45 minutes with my third grader.  This left my oldest waiting until after lunch for any focused time with me, which was just not working out for us.

Then we tried a modified "little ones first" schedule, which meant I still met with TS 3 first, but for a shorter time.  Then I met with TS 2 for about 45 minutes for Language Arts, and tried to squeeze in a little time in with TS 1 before lunch.  This schedule just left all of us feeling rushed all day long.

Our current schedule, which seems to be flowing more smoothly, looks something like this:
8:30-9:30       Meet with TS 3
9:30-10          Meet with TS 2
10:00-10:30  Meet with TS 1
10:30-11       Snack/Read Aloud
11-11:30       Meet with TS 3 while TS 1 & 2 take a short break
11:30-12       Meet with TS 2  while TS 3 takes her break
12-12:30       Meet with TS 1
12:30-1         Lunch
1-1:30           Meet with TS 3 while TS 1 & 2 have recess
1:30-2           Meet as needed (Recess for TS 3)
2-3                Meet as needed

While I am still bouncing from one test subject to the other all day, there is less waiting time for any one child for my help.  I was reluctant to separate the kids for their breaks, but I was noticing that TS 3 was choosing to do her own thing anyway during break time while the boys played baseball outside.  If she starts to feel lonely and wants to play with them during breaks, I will have to rethink this.  For now, though, we are all enjoying our homeschool groove :)

Everyone seems to be far enough into their studies at this point to know what to expect in a typical day in each subject.  This is probably also helping us to feel like we are in a groove with school.  

In other news, we had a great first week at co-op last Friday!  My first experience teaching at co-op went really well. I am teaching two U.S. Government and Election classes to two age groups, 1-3 grade and 4-6 grade.  I am so glad I did most of the planning and preparation over the summer!  I cannot imagine if I had to plan and prepare two group lessons every week.  Since most of the work is done already, I simply have to review my lessons beforehand and perhaps prepare a chart or two for visuals.

The weather was so beautiful after co-op on Friday that we wound up staying afterwards for almost three hours!  The kids had a blast playing outside together and the moms had the chance to catch up from the long summer break.

We went apple and pumpkin picking last Saturday.  

TS 3 and I have been reading lots of great picture books about apples these past few weeks, so it was a fun experience to tie into our reading.  She and I have been baking with apples all week.  We made apple muffins on Sunday.  

On Wednesday afternoon, we made an apple crisp to share with our home Bible study group.  We are thinking about making applesauce over the weekend.  

We have our homeschool group's kick off meeting this Saturday, which should make for a fun afternoon.  If we have another "groovy" week here at the lab, perhaps I'll have some time to share about what each test subject is working on in their various subjects :)

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

Weekly Wrap Up: The One with 2 Baptisms and a Birthday

Phew!  Homeschooling three test subjects is kicking my butt!  Moving from two to three students has increased the demands and busyness of my day exponentially.  I am still trying to find a schedule that seems fair and manageable for each of us.  In addition to the hectic school day, a few after-school activities, namely dance and baseball, started up again this week, too.

I am still working with TS 3 first thing in the morning for about an hour, and then sending her off to do centers and computer work while I rotate among the boys.  I have decided, though, that TS 1 must get to his math in the morning, so meeting with him in the morning is also a priority.  He doesn't really need me to teach him the material.  My presence at math time is usually more for moral support than anything else.  If he has to wait until the afternoon to begin math though, it usually ends in tears or conflict.  

I am also re-evaluating how much work I have been assigning TS 2.  He is an industrious worker for the most part and does not waste much time, yet he is often the last to finish each day.  Considering he is only in third grade, while big brother is in sixth, I need to figure this out.  As I mentioned last week, I am contemplating moving him back to Lower Grammar in TOG to see if that helps.

Moments like these, make all the frenzy of this adjustment period worth it:

TS 2 reviewing sight words and phonograms with TS 3 

Switching gears for a bit, I have to share that both of our boys decided to get baptized this Sunday!  TS 2 was the first to tell us that he wanted to be baptized when he heard an announcement at church about upcoming baptisms.  TS 1 was not sure if he was ready even up to Sunday morning.  We want our children to take the step of baptism out of of obedience to God and of their own accord and not under pressure from us, so we talked to him about why a believer gets baptized and we helped him decide if the reasons he had for and against baptism were valid.  In the end, though, we left him to wrestle with the decision on his own.  Of course, we rejoiced that they both decided to enter the waters of baptism.  It was a beautiful day!

Today is TS 3's sixth birthday!  SIX years ago today, the most beautiful little girl in the world was born in Guatemala!  A little girl, 2,000 miles away, was born in our hearts and changed our lives forever. 

We started the day today with her requested breakfast treat: chocolate chip pancakes.

Tonight we will celebrate as a family with her birthday dinner at the local Mexican restaurant we go to for all our birthdays.  Obligatory birthday girl in sombrero picture forthcoming :)  Cousins and friends will join us on Sunday afternoon for a gymnastics birthday party.

Well, friends, I think this is about all I can muster today.  I am wiped out!  And next week, co-op starts!  I think I can, I think I can...

Weekly Wrap Up: The One Featuring Back to School!

After a productive Labor Day weekend which included a healthy balance of work (garage and attic clean out) 

and play,

we started back to homeschool on Tuesday.  

If I believed in Murphy's law, which I don't, but if I did, I would have expected the unexplained and out of the blue fever that TS 2 came down with on Monday night.  He was so excited for the first day of school that he came downstairs on Tuesday morning fairly close to our regular wake up time anyway and even worked through part of his schedule.  I encouraged him to take lots of breaks throughout the day, which he did whenever the Motrin wore off and the fever crept back up.  He had fever on and off on Wednesday, too, but has been fine since then.

I had this idea that since we already had a year of homeschooling under our belts that we would just launch full speed ahead on the first day of this school year.  (Stop laughing!  I'm still a newbie, you know :)  After that first day, I took all of our electives out of our schedule and pared us down to the basics for the next week or so.  Once we are on a predictable schedule again, we will add subjects like Spanish and keyboarding back into our days.   

After this reality check, Wednesday went much more smoothly.  My biggest challenge right now is figuring out how to balance my time between the three test subjects.  The way my schedule is set up right now, I spend about an hour first thing in the morning one-on-one with TS 3, working through her main curricula (Bible, Calendar Time, Reading, Writing and Math).  

Then while she is off doing some independent activities (Center Time, Reading Eggs, Audio Books), I spend 30 minutes or so individually with the other test subjects to review math and any other subjects that need my attention.  I circle back with TS 3 for history or science later in the day.  This routine is working well enough, but I feel like the the boys are getting frustrated when they have to wait an hour or more for my focused attention.  I know part of this process is training them to wait, but part of their frustration is understandable because sometimes they need my help before they can move on with their assignments.

A dear friend and veteran homeschooling mom gave me this index card idea, which has been very effective in guarding the individual meeting times I have with each test subject.

I keep one of these colored index cards out on the table (or couch) beside me to indicate whether I am available to help anyone but the child I am working with at the time.  Red says, "please do not interrupt us at all right now."  Yellow says, "you may ask a quick question."  Green says, "you are free to ask anything, or tell me whatever you have been waiting to tell me."  It has been working very well so far, although one test subject, who shall remain nameless, keeps forgetting to check the card before calling across the room for me.  

Thursday was another productive day, but, boy, was I worn out by 3 p.m.!  Homeschooling three children is hard work.  I have a feeling there will be a revival in my prayer life this year.  After only three days, I'm fully aware that I will not be able to do this in my own strength!  

It's Friday, and we seemed to have found our groove now.  I am still contemplating possible tweaks to our schedule, but I want to wait on any changes until the end of next week.  The other issue I am wondering about is my decision to try TS 2 in the Upper Grammar level of TOG this year. The jump in reading (both the amount and the level) per week might be too much for him.  Again, I am not making any big decisions just yet, but I am thinking about changing over to a mix of Lower and Upper Grammar for him.

Some of my favorite moments from our Back to School Week:

TS 1 and 2 climbing the walls, literally

All three test subjects creating baseball stadiums during "recess"

The finished products

Big brother "teaching" little sister during center time

When all three wandered into the same room to work- love being together!

Summer's Here and Here's the Plan!

Summer break started just yesterday for us here at the lab, and in an effort to ward off the "I'm boreds" that are sure to arrive by Monday, I've come up with a little plan :)  Our summer is shaping up to be a mix of pool and playdates, time to veg out at home and a few mini-vacations and one week of summer day camp for all three test subjects- all with a little bit of math and reading sprinkled in. 

I know we all want a break from the more regimented days of the school year.  And, yes, we do need a change!  However, I have discovered, for our family anyway, that it is best to have a loose routine even during the summer.  An hour or two at home in the morning for chores and some "school" work and then the rest of the day for fun in the sun is how we have managed a balance here for the past three summers.


For two summers consecutively, when the test subjects were 3, 5 and 8 and then 4, 6 and 9, we worked through the wonderful books and activities found in Five in a Row (FIAR).  We were all enchanted by the rich stories and vivid illustrations in these classic picture books.  We often did a few corresponding activities for each book, as well as watched the DVDs that were available for some of the books. I highly recommend FIAR for families with small children!


Last summer, in preparation for our great homeschool experiment, we worked through Volume One of The Story of the World.  We wanted to join friends who were embarking on Year Two of world history this fall with Tapestry of Grace, so we read a chapter a day from The Story of the World: Ancient History.  This gave the test subjects an overview of world history from creation up to the Fall of Rome.  TS 1 & 2 each completed the map work for each chapter, while TS 3 worked on the chapter's corresponding coloring page.  Over the course of the summer we did a few enrichment activities and additional reading from the Activity Guide, but usually only if we had a slow week.

For this summer, I'd like each of the test subjects to begin their day with a devotional time.  TS 1 & 2 will continue working a few minutes a day in the Bible curriculum they used all year.  (You can find the links for them here, if you're interested.)  TS 2 will probably finish his curriculum sometime in the summer, while I expect TS 1 will continue with his into the fall.  While the boys have their devotional time independently, I will spend a few minutes with TS 3 in her new Explorer's Bible Study.  


After the devotional time, I'd like the boys to do a page or two in their math books.  TS 2 will continue to work through his Math Made Easy workbook, which we used this as a supplement to Math-U-See Beta this year.  TS 1 will continue to work through the second half of the Math-U-See Epsilon book.  


While the boys work on math, TS 3 and I will review the sight words and phonograms she learned in Kindergarten.  She is also doing a lesson here and there on Reading Eggs, which we both love, so she will continue that over the summer.  


Finally, as I mentioned in this post, inspired by my reading in A Charlotte Mason Companion and Honey for a Child's Heart, I've compiled a list of read alouds for the summer.  If you'd like to see my complete list, along with some of my thoughts about each book, check out this post.  I will definitely add some picture books to the mix, but here is what I am planning so far:

• Charlotte's Web by E.B. White 
• Homer Price by Robert Mc Closkey
• The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett
• Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
• Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia by C.S. Lewis
• The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
• Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John
• The Light Princess by George Mac Donald
• Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
• Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

What are you planning for summer?  Feel free to post your plans in the comments or a link to your blog post there.  

Sharing a slice of summer with Heart of the Matter Online!

Top 10 Read Alouds on Our Summer Wish List

As I mentioned in my last Weekly Wrap Up post, I've been having a blast devouring A Charlotte Mason Companion and Honey for a Child's Heart these last few weeks.  As part of our summer plan (more to come soon, I promise!), I've compiled the following Top 10 Read Alouds on Our Summer Wish List:

1.  Charlotte's Web by E.B. White 

We are currently reading this wonderful classic together.  The boys had it read aloud to them at school in first grade, but neither remember the story line very much.  It's TS 3's first time entering the world on Zuckerman's farm.  We are truly enjoying this gem so far and each time I close the book until next time, it is usually met with pleas for just one more chapter.  I love it!

2.  Homer Price by Robert Mc Closkey

I chose this book based on the recommendation in Honey for a Child's Heart.  Sandwiched between two poignant books, I'm hoping Homer Price will bring some light-hearted comic relief!

3.  The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett

Oh, how I loved this book as a little girl!  Such a beautiful and captivating story.  I only hope the test subjects will love it like I did!

4.  Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

Can you believe we have never read this classic?  I hope the boys do not think it too babyish for them.  I just know TS 3 will adore Pooh and his adventures!

5.  Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia by C.S. Lewis

We listened to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe audiobook this spring and fell in love with the characters and magic of Narnia.  TS 1 and I enjoyed the Christian symbolism that is all at once obvious yet beautifully subtle in the tale.  We are tackling Prince Caspian next in the series, following the reading order recommended by many and found here.

6.  The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham

I chose this book simply because it was recommended so often and so enthusiastically in the pages of Honey for a Child's Heart.  I did not read this book as a child, so I am looking forward to experiencing it for the first time with my children.

7.  Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John

Another new book for us heartily endorsed in Honey for a Child's Heart.  

8.  The Light Princess by George Mac Donald

When I learned that the George Mac Donald profoundly influenced C.S. Lewis, I could not pass up this tale of a princess rescued by one who loved her enough to die for her.

9.  Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Another Honey for a Child's Heart recommendation for a fun and humorous read.

10.  Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

An adventure story set in pioneer Wisconsin in the 1860's filled with excitement, humor and fun?  Count us in!