I saw there was a question about what grade we're doing for the kids and figured I should just make a new post 'cuz not sure if it'll be seen otherwise :) The big hugaboo is doing a mix of K-2nd grade stuff. Age wise he's technically supposed to be in K (and maturity wise too I guess) but academically he's a 1st grader and thats what he tells people when they ask. This year we have 1st grade books for Bible and Science and 2nd grade books for Social Studies - these are all LifePacs from Alpha Omega Homeschooling I love that religion is incorperated in all the subjects. For math and reading he's doing the second half of the grade K Horizons books left over from last year. They are handwriting heavy and probably not a good fit for him right now (too boring.) We're also going to be using volume 1 of Story of the World which is made for 1-4th grade. Last year he did My Father's World for Kindergarten. What really got him reading though is ReadingEggs.com
That all said, we aren't really using much of any of this! I've come to the realization that a classical education is not a good fit for him (and me!). He's not a workbook kid. At all. Its just not gonna work for him. While I really like the Charlotte Mason ideas thats still too rigid for us. And I worry that the minimums I expect won't be met by unschooling. So, that makes us Eclectic using the best of various methodologies to work for our family.
Why homeschool? Why not? If your kids are in a regular school because you checked out all your options and decided thats the best choice for your family then I applaude you! But if your reason is simply because its the norm or what your social network expects, then I'm a bit disappointed. When it comes right down to it, we decided to homeschool because I didn't have an overwhelming reason to send my kids to a "regular" school. Before our kids were even born my husband and I had decided we wanted just a few things in life for our kids 1.) Happiness 2.) Good Health and 3) to do 1&2 with help from God. I just don't think these basic needs can be met for our kids at this point in time at a regular school. This may change. We may decide that these needs can be met at regular school in the future, but for right now, this age, this is the best way to do the best for our kids. More of my random ramblings to come later I'm sure....
Monday, August 31, 2009
Colors & Handwriting
Today the big guy did a lot of work! He started out by going down to the school room and rearranging his schedule (ahem) and putting "snack" on top. I explained he could actually have breakfast before school and still have snack later, but he insisted that he wanted snack food not breakfast and therefore the schedule had to be changed. Hence, ravioli for breakfast- er, snack.
He listened to several books at Tumblebooks.com including one exceptionally long (and uh, sorta boring) one in Spanish. Then he did some handwriting practice. We're using Handwriting Without Tears which I was skeptical about at first, but he really does seem to be liking it way more than any other type of handwriting stuff (he's been extremely resistant to doing any type of handwriting previously.) But I'm not going to push too much handwriting anyway because in all honesty I don't think its necessary this young. Right now we're taking a few steps backward and forward with it since he already has some writing skills. He does really enjoy using the chalkboard (I write it, then he wipes it with a sponge, then he writes it himself.) There were three other workboxes setup for him too that were all done by himself which allowed me to get some laundry done!
Oh, and the little one is sick today again (was all weekend.) I found a color/word matching game that I printed off and laminated. I then had fun with velcro and realized that its a game that works well for both kids. I read the words to her and she has to find the color (she's just learning her colors) and the big guy is learning to read the words himself.
Now, off to blow bubbles. Because afterall, what fun would school be without some bubbles?
He listened to several books at Tumblebooks.com including one exceptionally long (and uh, sorta boring) one in Spanish. Then he did some handwriting practice. We're using Handwriting Without Tears which I was skeptical about at first, but he really does seem to be liking it way more than any other type of handwriting stuff (he's been extremely resistant to doing any type of handwriting previously.) But I'm not going to push too much handwriting anyway because in all honesty I don't think its necessary this young. Right now we're taking a few steps backward and forward with it since he already has some writing skills. He does really enjoy using the chalkboard (I write it, then he wipes it with a sponge, then he writes it himself.) There were three other workboxes setup for him too that were all done by himself which allowed me to get some laundry done!
Oh, and the little one is sick today again (was all weekend.) I found a color/word matching game that I printed off and laminated. I then had fun with velcro and realized that its a game that works well for both kids. I read the words to her and she has to find the color (she's just learning her colors) and the big guy is learning to read the words himself.
Now, off to blow bubbles. Because afterall, what fun would school be without some bubbles?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Twelve Days of Homeschool
I have seen this several times before and came across it again so I thought I'd post it here for friends and family to enjoy :) Not sure who the author is to give proper credit, but here you go!
Oh, and BTW, these questions are REALLY asked of us very often! Numbers 2, 6, and 11 usually occur in sequence. And for those who say they don't think they could homeschool, let me say that if you feel you're qualified enough to be a parent you're definately qualified to homeschool. Teaching your kids starts at birth, not kindergarten.
(sing to the tune of “THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS”)
“On the first day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, “Can you homeschool legally?”
On the second day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, “Are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the third day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, “Do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the fourth day of home school my neighbor said to me, “What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the fifth day of home school my neighbor said to me, “YOU ARE SO STRANGE! What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the Sixth day of home school my neighbor said to me, “How long will you homeschool, YOU ‘RE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the seventh day of home school my neighbor said to me, “Look at what they’re missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?”
On the eighth day of home school my neighbor said to me, “Why do you do this, look at what they’re missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, hat about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?
On the ninth day of home school my neighbor said to me, “They’ll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they’re missing, how long will you home school, YOU ‘RE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?”
On the tenth day of home school my neighbor said to me, “What about graduation, they’ll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they’re missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the eleventh day of home school my neighbor said to me, “I could never do that, what about graduation, they’ll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they’re missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, “Can they go to college, I could never do that, what about graduation, they’ll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they’re missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: “They can go to college, yes you can do this, and they can graduate, we don’t need the prom, we do it cuz we like it, they aren’t missing anything, we’ll homeschool forever, WE’RE NOT STRANGE!, We give them P.E., life it self’s a test, they are socialized, AND WE HOMESCHOOL LEGALLY!
On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, “How can I get started, why didn’t you tell me, where do I buy curriculum, when is the next conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE’RE STRANGE? I think we can do this, if you will help us, can we join P.E. and we’ll homeschool legally.
Oh, and BTW, these questions are REALLY asked of us very often! Numbers 2, 6, and 11 usually occur in sequence. And for those who say they don't think they could homeschool, let me say that if you feel you're qualified enough to be a parent you're definately qualified to homeschool. Teaching your kids starts at birth, not kindergarten.
(sing to the tune of “THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS”)
“On the first day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, “Can you homeschool legally?”
On the second day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, “Are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the third day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, “Do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the fourth day of home school my neighbor said to me, “What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the fifth day of home school my neighbor said to me, “YOU ARE SO STRANGE! What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the Sixth day of home school my neighbor said to me, “How long will you homeschool, YOU ‘RE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the seventh day of home school my neighbor said to me, “Look at what they’re missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?”
On the eighth day of home school my neighbor said to me, “Why do you do this, look at what they’re missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, hat about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?
On the ninth day of home school my neighbor said to me, “They’ll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they’re missing, how long will you home school, YOU ‘RE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?”
On the tenth day of home school my neighbor said to me, “What about graduation, they’ll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they’re missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the eleventh day of home school my neighbor said to me, “I could never do that, what about graduation, they’ll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they’re missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, “Can they go to college, I could never do that, what about graduation, they’ll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they’re missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?”
On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: “They can go to college, yes you can do this, and they can graduate, we don’t need the prom, we do it cuz we like it, they aren’t missing anything, we’ll homeschool forever, WE’RE NOT STRANGE!, We give them P.E., life it self’s a test, they are socialized, AND WE HOMESCHOOL LEGALLY!
On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, “How can I get started, why didn’t you tell me, where do I buy curriculum, when is the next conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE’RE STRANGE? I think we can do this, if you will help us, can we join P.E. and we’ll homeschool legally.
Crab Lapbook Activity
I must admit I'm not entirely sure why these are called lapbooks, but this was fun to put together. I also must admit that I feel like I did most of the work for this. My hope is that the kids will be more involved as we do them more often, but I did do most of the cutting and layout stuff for this. I got the ideas and printable materials from http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ Its supposed to go along with the Eric Carle book A Home for Hermit Crab but would you believe that our library doesn't have a copy? I'll have to go over to the other side of town to get a copy as I did see they have one listed in their online catalog. Anyway, here you go....
On the front will be a picture the little one colored of a crab. The back has a game that goes along with the book to practice sequencing and also the months of the year.
On the front will be a picture the little one colored of a crab. The back has a game that goes along with the book to practice sequencing and also the months of the year.
Big hugaboo can recite his address, the house shaped booklet has our address printed inside so he can see it in written form. There's also a little fan book with several words that start with the CR- blend.
We talked about different types of arthropods and what types of things define a creature as one.
And made a couple different booklets with various sea life/creatures as well as one for types of shells.
He did handwriting practice on the types of shells book.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Class Pets
What school would be complete without a class pet? Well with two kids we obviously needed two class pets :) I would like to introduce Frankie (short for Frankenstein of course) and Lollipop. Can you guess which kid named which hermit crab? Frankie is the one with the "spikey" shell and Lollipop is much bigger. We'll be doing a lapbook project on hermit crabs on Friday so they kids can learn more about them, but until then they will be under close observation :)
The first thing big hugaboo did when we got in the car, was to say a prayer that they wouldn't die right away LOL The next thing he did was introduce himself and his sister, tell them about me and daddy, then he said a prayer that they would learn their phone number so if they get lost they can call home. I think we'll need to chat about the feasibility of that prayer! This was pretty amazing to me because I've never seen him actually close his eyes and fold his hands to pray without being coached, so I was pretty happy!
The first thing big hugaboo did when we got in the car, was to say a prayer that they wouldn't die right away LOL The next thing he did was introduce himself and his sister, tell them about me and daddy, then he said a prayer that they would learn their phone number so if they get lost they can call home. I think we'll need to chat about the feasibility of that prayer! This was pretty amazing to me because I've never seen him actually close his eyes and fold his hands to pray without being coached, so I was pretty happy!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Second day activities
And no, I won't be posting every day LOL Just wanted to do a bit extra this week so everyone can see the types of activities we will be doing. Today we used dominos to practice addition (had to add the numbers on the domino before matching) then of course practiced putting the dominos up and knocking them down! Also did tangrams independently, and a US States puzzle by himself while listening to a Spanish CD.
Monday, August 24, 2009
First Day Fun!
We had a VERY busy "first day" of school today. We are using a heavily modified workbox type schedule. One of the biggest differences is the boxes are not numbered to be done only in a sequencial order, but rather at this time I'm just letting him pick his own order in which to complete the activities. After reading and then doing workboxes, we went to the YMCA and the kids played there, then to the Children's Museum (first fieldtrip of the school year!) and then they played at McDonalds playland. Got back, practiced the penotonic scales (not sure if I spelled that right!) on the guitar, then wrapped up the afternoon with ReadingEggs.com
So here's what was in the boxes for today...
No picture of the first two boxes, but we did a short Bible lesson (reviewing the Lord's Prayer and copywork of this week's Bible verse) and did two pages of rhyming worksheets together.
Addition cards- he's never done these before and only needed help on two of the dozen or so problems. One of the issues was the sum number was a 9 turned upside down LOL
ETA: Here are pictures from the field trip taken on my cell phone!
So here's what was in the boxes for today...
No picture of the first two boxes, but we did a short Bible lesson (reviewing the Lord's Prayer and copywork of this week's Bible verse) and did two pages of rhyming worksheets together.
Addition cards- he's never done these before and only needed help on two of the dozen or so problems. One of the issues was the sum number was a 9 turned upside down LOL
He also did some spelling word cards for the first time too. I was actually a little suprised at how quickly he did these. With no help at all!
Then worked with cuisinaire rods.
And fun ReadingEggs.com game!
And for her first day of preschool, she worked on matching pictures in a cowboy theme.
Worked with magnetic ABC's.
And of course some art!
ETA: Here are pictures from the field trip taken on my cell phone!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Getting Ready for School!
We'll be starting "school" tomorrow using our new workbox system. The kids are pretty excited about the system and I'm looking forward to see how they'll adjust! We've moved the TV out of our main living room area too as of Friday, so they've already gone the weekend adjusting to that alone!
Last night I spent three hours prepping our first lapbooks as well. Printing and then for the little hugaboo I also did the cutting. Since the big hugaboo had never even seen a lapbook before I did go ahead and pretty much make his as well for one of the books, all he'll need to do is fill in some of the little foldout books, but its all prepped. Pictures of the school room & lapbooks to come!
Last night I spent three hours prepping our first lapbooks as well. Printing and then for the little hugaboo I also did the cutting. Since the big hugaboo had never even seen a lapbook before I did go ahead and pretty much make his as well for one of the books, all he'll need to do is fill in some of the little foldout books, but its all prepped. Pictures of the school room & lapbooks to come!
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