Cousin Homeschool Day!

Monday was our first day of a week-long winter recess, and guess what we decided to do?  Homeschool!  Actually, my sweet niece (let's call her TS 4, shall we?), has been asking for me to homeschool her all year, so we chose Monday to do just that.  She slept over Sunday night and we had our Cousin Homeschool Day Monday.  Actually, it was just us girls.  The boys could not be convinced that it would be fun to pretend to do homeschool on our first day of break.  They promptly parked themselves in front of a variety of screens all day from TV to computer to iPod, until I called for a friend to come over and play.  

 TS 1 checking on spring training news on the iPad

TS 2 playing LEGO Harry Potter on the iPod

When we woke up Monday morning, my niece was so excited to get started.  She told me she was dreaming all night about homeschooling!  We started off with a pancake breakfast, complete with cookie cutters to make fun shapes.  

 TS 4 making a butterfly pancake

TS 3 with her flower pancake

After breakfast, TS 4 helped TS 3 with her morning chores while I got ready for the day.

We started with our usual morning activities: Bible, calendar, reading and writing.  My sister sent a list of CVC words and sight words that TS 4 is working on, and I used those for our reading and writing activities.  

Then it was time for audio book and center time.  The girls listened to Flat Stanley on CD in TS 3's room while I prepared a fun President's Day craft for center time.  I found this Log Cabin idea on Pinterest.

After center time, we had snack and a read aloud.  I read Abe Lincoln's Hat to the girls while they munched on goldfish.  They seemed to enjoy it and asked good questions during the story.

While they played together during break time, I pulled together some activities for math and science.  The girls did a simple addition with pictures worksheet I found online first.  Then I gave each of them a handful of coins to sort by president onto another President's Day sheet I found online.  They each got to keep their coins after, which they loved!  Finally, they practiced their addition facts with the Math Fact Master iPad app that we use daily.  TS 4 was even able to e-mail her results to her mom through the app.

For science, we read a few pages about the nervous system from the First Human Body Encyclopedia I have been working through with TS 3 all year.  We discussed the pages and then watched a couple of nervous system videos I had pinned on Pinterest during lunch.  The boys joined us for that.

We wrapped up our Cousin Homeschool Day with more reading.  The girls each took turns reading a story to me.  They were very proud of their accomplishment!

What better way to end a busy Cousin Homeschool Day than some Just Dance 3?

It was so much fun to bless my niece!  And she was a blessing to me.  About halfway through the day, she turned to me with a beaming smile and said, "Titi Natalie, I am having so much fun, I never want this day to end!"  Thanks for the wonderful endorsement, TS 4!

Weekly Wrap Up: The One with the Halfway Mark

Last week, we finished up our second quarter, so we are officially halfway through our school year.  It seems like a good time to recap what each of our three test subjects are up to in homeschool.  (You can check out a complete list of our curricula here, if you're interested.)

TS 1 has moved on to the second book in the Apologia worldview series, Who Am I?  It really holds his interest and is doing a great job of helping him apply biblical priniciples to real life situations. He is still enjoying the Dialectic level of Tapestry of Grace for history.  He did well on the Unit 3 Test, and is keeping up with the readings each week.  We continue to have a discussion at the end of each week plan, too.  We are on to Unit 4 now, the Age of Revolutions.  In Math, he is almost halfway through the Zeta book on Decimals and Percents, which keeps him on course to finish the book by the end of this school year.  This will allow him to move on to Pre-Algebra for seventh grade next year.  We are planning on participating in a Spelling Bee in the near future, so we have put aside our Spelling Power curriculum for awhile to study words from a spelling bee list.  TS 1 is working on writing five paragraph essays in his Following Narnia composition curriculum.  He seems to enjoy writing and this curriculum in particular.   His co-op enrichment class for the second half of the year is Geography and since TS 1 has developed a love for this subject recently, he is thoroughly enjoying this class.

TS 2 continues full steam ahead with the Gamma book for Math.  He has mastered all his multiplication facts and is working on multi-digit multiplication now.  He continues to enjoy history, though not as much as his older brother.  I have found myself reading most of his history assignments aloud this year so that TS 3 can join in with the lessons, too.  We have been focusing quite a bit on improving reading comprehension recently, so reading aloud the history assignments allows for extra practice with this.  While he does a lesson twice a week on SmartTutor for this skill, most of the work with reading comprehension has been accomplished through reading together and asking him to narrate back the main idea, to answer questions about the characters, setting and plot and to give predictions about what might happen next.  I have taken a gentle approach with reading comprehension, in the hopes of increasing his interest in reading.  As a result of this approach, coupled with a very helpful librarian and some high interest books, TS 2 seems to  be looking forward to reading now!  Writing is going well, too.  He has moved from writing his compositions with me to writing on his own with my edits and suggestions coming after he has completed the composition.

The boys are studying science together again this year using Apologia's Exploring Creation through Anatomy and Physiology.  It is considerably more complex than last year's study of Astronomy, which has made it more challenging to teach to both levels.  It can be easy to water it down too much for TS 1 or get too in-depth for TS 2.  We are going to try to do more of the hands on activities and experiments in the course and find more related YouTube videos to customize the learning to each boys' level more.  They have just begun studying the Nervous System, and we made models of the brain and a neuron this week.  (I have no clue how that little yellow guy got in the shot- lol!)

TS 3 is my most challenging test subject to teach, which might seem strange since she is only a Kindergartner.  However, she learns so differently from the boys, who seemed to progress in a (mostly) straight line without much regression at any given point.  TS 3, however, will have mastered something for a long time and one day out of the blue seem to have lost that knowledge.  This is a pattern we have seen since she was very small and beginning to learn simple concepts such as colors and shapes.  Because of these challenges, we have changed (or put on hold) quite a bit of her curricula since we started.  Looking back at where we started this year, though, her reading has come along beautifully.  She is reading CVC words, some blends and sight words very well.  She can spell the majority of the CVC words we have worked on, many blends and sight words as well.  She uses context clues while reading and is learning to use different inflections for dialogue, questions and exclamations.  In all, I am trying not to worry when I see regression, and just take time to review until she regains mastery and then return to the curriculum when she is ready.  

We are in the midst of a blizzard tonight, so weekend plans include hunkering down with my loves, good books, movies and comfort food!  

Weekly Wrap Up: The One in the Frozen Tundra

Brr!  It has been bitter cold in these parts this week!  It's weeks like this one that make me dream of moving south.  We have been spending much of our time indoors, or bundled up like Eskimos just to get from the house to the car.

On Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we had a half day of school.  All three test subjects worked on the three R's in the morning, and then went to a birthday party for their cousin in the afternoon.  It was a swimming party, and they had a blast.  Tom took them so I could continue to catch up on phone calls and paperwork.  It was so peaceful to be home alone for a few hours.  While I am able to find alone time most weeks, it is always out of the house.  To be home alone was a gift!

Speaking of MLK, we finished up our copy work this week, and had some great discussions about the meaning behind the quotes and what they told us about the kind of man he was.  We have yet to watch the documentary I mentioned last week, so I am hoping to schedule that in for some evening next week.

Late Monday afternoon we had some friends over to practice making these crochet hearts. Aren't they adorable?

On Tuesday, we had a busy homeschool day and our regular gymnastics class in the afternoon.  My dad was kind enough to take the kids to their gymnastics class, so I could spend a few hours at the hospital with a friend who is nearing the end of her life.  In the midst of the sadness, I feel such joy and hope knowing that we will see each other again in glory!

The highlight of my Wednesday was traveling into the city to have dinner with three of my four college roommates.  Since most of us live hours away from each other, and we have a total of 11 children between us, getting together is a rare event.  It was great fun!

As a result of all the Wednesday night fun, though, we all overslept about an hour on Thursday.  Even though it wasn't a longer day than usual, it felt that way because we started and ended later.  Besides that glitch, Thursday was a productive homeschool day.  I even found a few moments while the kids were taking a break to work on the Quarterly Reports that are due to our school district next week.  It's hard to believe that we are almost at the halfway point of our school year!

Friday is our co-op day, and despite this bitter cold, some the gym classes are still scheduled to be held outside.  I am so thankful that I am not assisting in the gym classes this year, but I am concerned for TS 1 who may spend 45 minutes out in the cold tomorrow.  He, of course, don't understand what all the fuss is about and is perfectly happy to be outdoors despite the frigid temps.  

On tap for the weekend: basketball games, a boy cousin play date at Dave and Busters and church!  

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 after Christmas Break

How is it possible that I have not written a weekly wrap up post since September?!?  That's just crazy!  It's certainly not from a lack of wanting to blog- I love documenting our great homeschool experiment here.  It seems, though, that  my free time and energy level has decreased exponentially with the addition of our third test subject.  

The first week of January seems like as good a time as any to get back to writing a weekly wrap up, so here goes:

Our (almost) two week Christmas break included the typical frenzy leading up to Christmas as well as family gatherings for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.  

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day 

Kid's Table 

Jesus's Birthday Cake 

 Christmas Day Attire- The difference in the way the boys and TS 3 dress makes me smile!

Some of the cousins on New Year's Eve

Cookies and Milk for the Kids' Toast

We started back to school on Wednesday, and although we have not yet gotten back to our pre-break schedule in terms of getting up on time and finishing on time, we were able to fall back into a full work load.  

We treated ourselves to a play date after our first day back to school.  While the kids played, the moms learned to crochet.  I felt like an old lady, and had resisted the trend for so long.  When I saw this blanket on my friend Vanessa's blog, though I succumbed to the peer pressure.  

Here is my first piece of work!  Isn't it cute?!?

Thursday morning we hit the books again.  We are wrapping up our Tapestry of Grace unit on Colonial Times.  It has been an engaging study for all of us!  We are hoping to join with some homeschooling friends for a unit celebration in the near future.  The kids are excited about the idea- we had so much fun at our Medieval Feast last year.

We are in the midst of a media fast this week for the kids.  I am convinced that there is much more peace in this home when we power down the iPods, iPad, TV and computer for an extended period and remember how to interact with one another and play creatively!  

After dinner, this little lady pulled out a workbook to "play" with last night.  

Co-op does not resume until January 18th, which gives us another day at home this week and next.  We are treating them as normal school days and following our regular routine.  

We have another play date scheduled for this afternoon.  We have been trying to have these friends over for months now!  (We are a bit over-scheduled after-school this year, but that is for another post.)  

Our weekend holds a basketball game both Saturday and Sunday for TS 1.  TS 2's team has the weekend off.  On Saturday, TS 3 and I will make our annual trip to the American Girl store with my sister, her daughter and our mom.  We are looking forward to an afternoon of browsing the store, wrapping up with dinner in the cafe!

I hope your holidays were filled with joy and peace and you make a smooth transition back to school, friends!