September 8, 2014

It has been quite awhile since I've sat down to write. We have been so busy! Both of my boys are playing football this year and I'm doing a secret count down. I cannot wait until the season is over. I want my Saturday back. I would love to have more than a 3 hour window to complete whatever is it *I* would like to do on a Saturday afternoon (with the kids, of course... I'm not that selfish with my Saturdays). We have football from 8:30 AM to about 10:30 AM, and then we're right back at football from 3:30 until 9 PM. Yikes! I get an extra hour depending if we have home games or not.

< / End Rant >

We've finally found our routine and.... let me tell you -- It. Is. Divine. 

I've completely chucked the poetry unit out the window. 10 weeks of poetry? Riiiight... How lovely would it be for my 10 year old to sit down and concentrate on Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, or even Emily Dickinson. Maybe when my children have completed their ventures in homeschooling, I could have them complete a salutatory oration in Latin. After which, each young stripling would write a novel or poem that brings praise to their polished upbringing.

Perhaps I'm in too much of a sarcastic mood to blog today. ;-) 

Since I am a fast paced individual, I am having trouble making myself slow down. Who wants to slow down when all the fun is starting!? So many books that I absolutely love are on my 10 year old's literature list for the year! Out with the poetry, and in with the... Jack London! A couple weeks ago we read To Build A Fire and now he is reading White Fang. Next on our list is My Side of the Mountain and Hatchet! I've got lots of stuff planned since I am attempting to wrap all these books up together with a little bit of science, history, and outdoorsy fun. Hatchet will be our final book before we take 2 weeks off. Off? Off to where? To the mountains! I've been planning this trip since July and we'll be hanging out in the Appalachians in just a few weeks. And yes, I've already researched bear spray... Just a wee bit nervous about that.

I have completely revamped my 6 year old's "studies". We stripped his daily workload and went down to Reading and Math only. One by one, we've re-added grammar, Latin, spelling words, and copy work. History finally picked up again last week. I'm going to get him back into Apologia's Astronomy soon so we will actually be meeting all of the state requirements. Please don't tell on me - my child needed a break because it was all just too much for him. Kids shouldn't hate to learn. It's fun to learn new things...and well, Drew wasn't having any fun. We're in a place now that both of the kids are enjoying their day.

Less is more. There is no reason for me to place a stack of books in front of each of my children and expect them to read it all. Workbook pages are now only 1-2 pages. My 10 year old's history is waaay more relaxed. I assign reading on Monday's. He has Tuesday and Wednesday to complete his student pages. Thursday is an online quiz for each chapter and then I possibly assign a re-read of the chapters depending on his score. Friday is his actual chapter test, or tests.... sometimes we do 1 chapter, sometimes we do 3.  

Coming into Homeschooling starts out with so many mixed emotions. I was nervous, hopeful, anxious, demanding, and  I had expectations through the roof. We're working things out and trying to relax more. Homeschooling is much easier than I thought it would be. The nerves and anxiety problems are leveling out. My expectations were completely unattainable. The amount of available curriculum is overwhelming. You feel as if you need to teach everything. In the short time since we've started, I've already learned that we don't need a tight knit schedule in order for us to keep pace. If my kids don't understand something, we stop and go back. We can do it over and over until it's understood. If there was ever a bonus for choosing to Home school, that would be it. 

My kid can't shut up!

For part of our character development, we've implemented Bible Verse Memorization. Most behavior problems aren't very severe. A lot of our problems sit back on understanding when to speak and when to listen.

Right now, we're having a lot of trouble understanding "family business" and "polite conversation". A lot of the problems are just my children having childish behaviors and that is perfectly fine. I would like to believe I can talk to my 10 year old without him telling the first person we come across every single thing he knows. I would like to think I can have a serious discussion with my oldest son. Maybe I really am expecting too much for his age.

It's bad. Very bad. Just the other day, a craft store cashier responded to his blunt outburst of knowledge by stating "Wow. You sure do give out a lot of information." I was purchasing some glass jars for a fun and creative way to keep track of trips we take as a family. My son told the cashier this... which isn't a problem. I think that is okay to talk about.

But wait! My son wasn't done explaining what we were to do with the jars. "We're taking the jars with us on a big trip that's coming up. It's going to cost a lot of money. Around $000 and we have $000 saved up right now in the bank. We live in xxxxxx and we're probably going to leave on this date and be gone about 0 weeks. And we're going to put dirt and stuff in the jars."

The entire time he was speaking, I was looking at him and saying his name. My jaw about his the floor when I heard the amount of information he was giving out to someone we don't even know... In the middle of a store... With a decent sized line behind us. I finally put my hand over his mouth so he would stop speaking. Once I did that, he laughed as if he thought I was only playing with him.

I explained to him in the car what was wrong. I hope he understood. This isn't the first time, and it most certainly will not be the last. I got very blunt with him. He cannot do that when we are not at home. He cannot tell random people how much money I am carrying on me, or what I have in the bank. I told him that people have been murdered for less than $20 before. He is to not EVER tell anyone what amount of money I have, or that he has.

Anyway, I started to turn this post into a little bit of a rant on my oldest son... And it's not.

This week's verse is Ecclesiastes 3

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

In his daily schedule print out, I absolutely did underline the end of verse 7. This is the longest verse memorization I've given them, but they can do it.

Does anyone else have thoughts on what to do? This needs to stop or I can't trust to take them in public anymore. It's dangerous if they spill too much to the wrong person at the wrong time. Especially if we are away on vacation.... Our next vacation is a camp trip, so we'll be out in the sticks... a bit vulnerable if he tells too much to people with not-so-nice intentions. I really don't want to be hacked into a billion pieces and thrown about the hills during our trip. The idea just doesn't thrill me much.

10 Weeks of Poetry and other things...

Obviously this is our first year of homeschooling. I want to make this transition easy on my boys. Some subjects I had to just break down and purchase a textbook. Other subjects are a bit more lenient, in my opinion. Literature is easy! Or it should be... I love literature and I didn't want to buy a box curriculum when we already own so many books. I created a literature packet, with the names of books that I would like to cover during the first year. 

First, my oldest is doing 10 weeks of Poetry. Here is the link -> 10 Weeks of Poetry Link. The first 3 weeks involved quite a bit of reading. We own a few poetry books with authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman, and William Shakespeare. We also checked out a huge poetry book from our local library.

My oldest started writing his own poetry. I read some of it...and...well.... :-/ It could use some work. That's okay though! I'm not sure what I expected - but let's just say it definitely wasn't 'O Captain! My Captain! :-) He also wrote me a paper on Edgar Allan Poe's Annabel Lee. It seems that paragraph writing may be another thing we need to work on... ;-) We'll just keep adding to the list.

He's really not having fun with poetry. At all. He would rather read books like Harry Potter, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, or even his Lord of the Rings book set. That's okay... I didn't like poetry much at his age, either. I keep thinking that if I keep it up with him, it will make writing so much easier as he gets older. 

After the 10 weeks of Poetry is complete, I would like him to continue writing poetry every Tuesday and Wednesday. Just regular free-writing assignments, but on topic with whatever book we may be covering. 

Does anyone else have to create extra assignments to ensure your children are actually reading the assignments? My oldest doesn't read. He skips pages and lies about reading what's assigned. Once he bombs a test and it's obvious he didn't read, he acts shocked. Does anyone run into this? More narrations? More comprehension checks? Outside of just beating him over the head with the text, I'm pretty lost on what to do.

Just kidding about beating him with the text.
#NotKidding

I really can't wait until we're through with this poetry unit. Our first actual book in literature is My Side of the Mountain! I LOVED that book when I was a kid. I still do. The idea is so fascinating to me. Wouldn't it be nice to just live off the land? I'm not as confident as the boy is in the story. My first forest meal would probably be joyfully delicious berries that have me lose it from both ends, then cause me to seizure into a coma. Once my body stops shuddering, I would just die by myself in the woods. 

I am not a pessimist. I'm a realist. 

A day in the life...

I wrote this about 2 weeks ago and saved it as a Draft.
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Right now... Our schedule is fresh and new. Among academics, we are also attempting to iron out behaviors that have been picked up. Routine will help. Keeping their hands busy will also help. My 10 year old is really trying to please, so he is doing better.... Until he is surrounded by other kids, that is. My 6 year old breaks down into toddler-like tantrums whenever he's asked to anything that isn't his own idea. It's my own fault for treating him like the family baby for so long, so I deserve this. He will come along, too. Even though he resorts to babyish behavior, he also wants to please.

Daily Schedule:
6-7 AM: I wake up, depending on how many alarms it takes to wake me up.
7:30, no later: Kids wake up. Eat. Shower. Dress. Play with the cat or dog. Beat head against a wall until fully awake. Whatever.
8-8:30: School starts!

** This is where our actual "timed" schedule stops. Both of the boys have a daily schedule printed.

My youngest starts off with Bible Verse study, Latin Study (unless it's Monday. Latin comes after the packet on Monday's), and then his worksheet packet. It covers:

• Math Practice (Add, Subtract, Basic Geometry, & Telling Time right now)
• Grammar Work (Capital Letters, Punctuation periods and exclamation points this week)
• Vocab (Synonyms, Antonyms, & Compound Words)
• Reading Skills (Finding the Main Idea, Reading for Details)
• Phonics/Spelling (Initial and Final Consonant Sounds, Special Consonants, etc)

After the Packet is complete, we will read from his 20th Century Children's Book Treasury, which is nursery rhymes and poetry.
Geography is next.
We finish up with some more easy reading.
Piano Practice.

My oldest starts off with his Bible Verse and Latin Flashcards (he created them, and he studies with his brother).
Roughly, this is what happens after Flashcard Studies

• Piano Practice
• Violin Practice
• Math - Saxon Mixed Practice 1-30. We do not skip problems and we only do the Mixed Practice.
• Science - A chapter section a day, unless there is supplemental reading, quizes, or a test coming up
• SoTW - At his own pace... Usually 2-3 chapters p/ week, plus supplemental reading
• Geography (I try to keep this sort of in line with his younger brothers studies so my youngest can pick up information from the older ones studies)
• Literature - 10 Weeks of Poetry is our current focus. Lots of supplemental reading and writing. Introducing him to Edgar Allan Poe, Maya Angelou, Walt Whitman, and many more. 
• Latin - Both of them work together. Monday is the beginning of a new lesson. Tuesday-Saturday is studying. Test after every 5 lessons on Vocab, Prayers, and Derivatives. 

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My oldest works independently...for the most part. He asks questions if he's confused. On Tuesday morning, I had let 2 math papers slip by ungraded. I've learned that I can't let that happen, because Monday's 30 questions came back with 13 incorrect. He gets sloppy...FAST... if he doesn't think anyone is watching him. Tuesday he redid the entire lesson. It's a little frustrating to see this happen when you are excited about how well your children are doing... But it's a process! We're all learning. :-)

My youngest can not stop talking. Ever. 

HS Year 1, Week 2

This is going much faster than I thought it would. There have been some definite ups and downs. On the first day of school, my children nearly took an entire day to complete their work. This had me in a complete panic. The largest struggle was my 6 year old, who wasn't able to work independently. At all. Thankfully, as the week progressed, our skills improved. My 10 year old can complete all required tasks in less than 3 hours.

Here is what we will be doing this week.

10 Year Old:
Our Weekly Bible Verse - "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct they path." - Proverbs 3:6

Saxon 7/6 Math - Lessons 17-22 (this completes over 1/6 of the book! Yay!)

Science - A Beka Chapters 1.5-1.8, 2 Quizes, and begin preparing for a Chapter 1 Test next week.

History - Story of the World Chapters 2 & 3, plus a small book on the Rosetta Stone (Hieroglyphs chapter)

Geography - Examining the Middle East and Northern Africa. Identifying modern day countries, rivers, seas, etc. 

Latin - Lesson 2 Consonants and Diphthongs, continuous review of previous lessons.

Literature - 10 Weeks of Poetry, Week 2... Poetry in Music. :-)

Music - Piano & Violin Studies

6 Year Old:

Weekly Bible Verse - Same as above!

Math - Telling Time, Place values, and add/subtract multiple digit #'s w/ carry. XtraMath! 

Comprehension - Short story reading w/ detailed narration afterwards. 

Reading - Daily readings.. 2-3 level books and 1 or 2 challenge books/chapters

Latin - Lessons 1 and 2

Geography - Printed a map of town, Understanding a Map Key, Reading a Compass, etc

Literature - Reading level appropriate poetry

Science - Literature reading (in a few months, I plan on using our Apologia Astronomy book)

Music - Piano Studies

I've eliminated the majority of textbooks from my youngest's schedule and we're doing our own curriculum. Most of everything he is doing is reading, and that's what I believe he needs to do right now. It seems like I'm having him read a lot of books daily, but really it's not. His level books take him a max of 10 minutes to read himself, without much help. His challenge book is usually read after lunch time, when we're trying to quiet down a bit. We also read his challenge book before bed, together. We are about half way through his Read With Me Bible, and I'm pretty proud of him. We've been working on it since the very end of May. Also, his comprehension passages are only 1 paragraph long. He may do 2 or 3 separate paragraphs, but it's not much. 

Anyway, we will all sit down to work around 8:30 AM. At this point, we've already eaten breakfast, showered, and gotten ready for the day. My oldest will go straight to work, without talking unless he has questions, and will work until he is finished. Last week, he was typically finished by 11:30. My youngest would sometimes be complete by noon or 1.

Today, I was ready to pull my hair out. We started about an hour earlier because of a local Summer Library Program from 9:30-11. We braked around 9:20 and went back to work at 11:15. My oldest was still done by noon. My 6 year old stopped to eat lunch, but did not get done until 2:40. Even then, he still didn't complete all his daily subjects. I have to stay on his butt! I thought I had changed my original "plan" for his schooling so that it would be easier for him... but wow! He does a lot of wall-starring. 

I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining. I'm excited and I want this to work! It's Monday, so I just need to see what the rest of the week brings. I'm sure he will be okay after awhile of working on the same schedule. :-)

Our First Week

Hello! My name is Leah and I have two boys, ages 6 and 10. This is our first week of home school! Everything is so overwhelming at the moment but I wanted to create some type of journal to look back at in a year. I want to see where we were, where we will be, and where I would like us to go. Since there are already so many home schooling blogs, I figured this would probably be the best way to keep some sort of record for our family. :-)

We started on Monday, July 14 2014. My oldest will be in 5th grade this year, and my youngest will be entering 1st. I think I could just list off what curriculum's or methods I have decided to go with this school year.

5th Grade Daily Curriculum, and in short what we are covering this week:

1. Verse Memorization: "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Galatians 6:9
2. Math, Saxon 7/6: Lesson's 11-16
3. Literature - 10 Weeks of Poetry: Week 1 - Cliches. 
4. History/Geography: Story of the World Vol 1: Introduction & Chapter 1
5. Science: A Beka Chapter 1.1-1.5
6. Copy Work (Hand writing):

1st Grade Daily Curriculum, and what he's covering currently:

1. Verse Memorization: Galatians 6:9
2. Math, Xtra Math and Saxon 1 (I do not like this at all. Saxon 1 does single digit addition and subtraction at the very end of the book, where my son is doing 2 digit addition and subtraction...I will soon be swapping methods, or utilizing Khan Academy until he's ready to start multiplication tables)
3. Literature: Reading Time Rhymes, Beginning Poetry for Children, 20th Century Children's Book Treasury
4. Reading: Read with Me Bible - he reads this out loud to me twice every day. We just finished talking about Elijah and Elisha before he went to bed. :-)
5. History/Geography: Story of the World Vol 1: Introduction, also using beginner map reading print outs
6. Science: Apologia Astronomy Chapter 1, supplemental beginning reading Astronomy books, Constellation and Planet print outs
7. Copy Work: Lessons in Manners (by Sandi Queen)

Group Lessons (both boys together):

1. Latin - Memoria Press: Prima Latina, Lesson's 1 & 2
2. Verse, Grammar, & Vocab Study

This covers everything we're doing so far. I have us scheduled out in Trimesters that are from 11-15 weeks long each. This trimester is 11 weeks, lining us up for my youngest son's 7th birthday. He has recently made a comment about how we always do big trips around his brother's birthday (late winter/early spring), but we never do trips around his birthday (very end of September), so I am trying to plan our schedule out so that we may do a nice trip during break. Hopefully it works out! :-)