Thursday, December 30, 2010

I have really enjoyed this week of homeschooling. I'm sure it's partly because we are only having 2-hour days, and I've been fairly organized and completing my preparations for the next day as soon as they're done with the current day. I even had extra time yesterday to finally complete a poster center for Joel about life during the colonial times:

Joel is learning about bird eggs. We had fun cracking open, and TRYING to crack open, eggs while learning the different parts.

Joel learned that mom birds don't crush the eggs because it is impossible to crush an egg if you apply EVEN pressure. He got to try to crush one:

But he couldn't! The egg already in the bowl was purposely cracked to be able to see the different parts. We could clearly see the inner membrane and chalaza (the stringy white things that hold the yolk in place.) Also, after we rinsed the shell out, Joel got to stick his finger to the other end and feel the air cell. He popped it just as a baby bird does right before cracking out of the shell. After washing our hands, we went on to English. Joel has successfully memorized two poems. I was dubious when the curriculum we use suggested memorization, but Joel seems to really like it. I know my grandmother would approve and wish he'd known them while she was still alive because one of her favorite questions was, "Do you have a piece to speak?" and then she would whip out some of her repertoire of memorized pieces. Joel would finally have had a piece to speak!

Not sure I will blog tomorrow, but if you are reading, thanks, and I wish you a wonderful 2011!



Wednesday, December 29, 2010

It's been so long since I blogged that we couldn't remember our password and had to reset it. Yikes!

Homeschooling can be very overwhelming. I got to the point where I had to put aside some things, including this blog, to try to stay afloat. A week off at Thanksgiving and a week off last week helped our mental state a lot. I wish I had done more homeschool work, but I did get some planning done. We are doing just our core subjects this week (Bible, Reading, Science, Math & Social Studies plus Vocabulary/ spelling). This only takes us about two hours. We were originally planning to have this week off, but decided to take a trip to Disney in February so we need to get instructional time in this week in order to take that one off.

Homeschooling often feels a lot like planning and preparing a Thanksgiving meal. It takes hours, and then is over lickety split.
 I spend so much time planning and preparing for their next school day, and then they finish it in less than two hours. Something that has helped  me enormously is making myself plan for the entire week over the weekend. Then, each night I just have to refill each box and grade the work they did that day. In this way, I usually spend an hour or two getting ready for the next day. I am also getting better about keeping my grade log up-to-date. This will be a great  help when it's time for our second report cards to come out!

Here are some goals/ areas for improvement I need/want to work on:

*Adding more electives (again, so overwhelmed just planning our basics that I am scared to add more). Jason needs to do *Spanish.
*Add more logic- I have the materials but need to fit it in to the schedule.
*Joel needs to start cursive... maybe next week? He also needs typing.
I have lots of *review centers/ file folder activities made or laminated and ready to be cut out. I need to work these into our schedule.
We need to do *final copies of our writing. I am not pushing this because it seems drudgery to them and I am so happy with how excited they are about writing and thus don't want to dampen that. Also, in real life, we don't always do final copies of our writing with the huge exception of those who make a living at writing! Plus, Jason's current story is very long; it will take forever to do the final copy. I hope he can dictate it to me while I type it up and vice-versa.
**ANY IDEAS OR SUGGESTIONS WELCOME!!**

Next year, I want each core subject to start off with answering review questions in a notebook. Repetition is great for ensuring they don't forget things. With homeschool we definitely have the luxury of reviewing the material since we are not as curriculum driven as public schools.

I am very excited about attending the Southeast Homeschool convention in March. My goal there is to really evaluate Social Studies, Grammar, and Spelling/ Vocabulary curriculum for next year. I am happy with the Math and Science curriculum we currently use. I wouldn't mind something that tells me exactly what to do; less planning will help me!!

Jason loved the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. We watched the movie when he completed it. He turned around and read the entire novel again. It really made an impression on him. Joel started My Side of the Mountain  this week. I ended up having lots of teaching materials on it even though I never taught it, don't remember where the material came from, and it is not even in the 6th grade curriculum, which is the only grade I ever taught. One of many weird times where sometime in the past I unknowingly prepared for the future teaching of my own children. What would I do without all the files I compulsively saved even though I am not a saver??

There was a time before Christmas when I completely lost it and screamed, "I QUIT!! YOU ARE GOING BACK TO SCHOOL AFTER CHRISTMAS BREAK!" (As Joel described it at our Apex Baptist Homeschool Christmas party to another mom, "My mom sometimes throws a fit." Did I mention this was the first time we'd met these people??!) What precipitated this (and a few mini fits earlier) is Jason and Math. Jason decided he didn't like math. He would become angry every time he got to his math box. I'll spare the details out of respect for him but I will tell you my ugly thoughts: "I spend so much time planning and preparing and this is the thanks I get? You only go to school for 4 hours a day AT THE MOST and our school doesn't start until 9 and you are still complaining??You HAVE to learn math; what kind of mom would I be if you didn't??"  Self-righteous feelings, while arguably sometimes justified, never lead to a good outcome. That was a very low point. I did a few things which haven't made things perfect but somewhat helped: 1. Jason always has math last. 2. His dad worked with him on some of the things he didn't understand. I felt somewhat better (not rightly so) when Jason copped an attitude with him, too. Moving onto the next unit helped too; I do think that unit was a particularly frustrating one for both of us. I had to relearn a lot of the material as well and even taught him a wrong fact about multiplying negative numbers. Oops. I am having to make peace with the fact that with 11-14 subjects going at once, I sometimes am not going to be an expert at all they are learning. While this would be a complete disgrace in the public schools, here at home it's just more proof that we are three imperfect human beings doing the best we can.



Thursday, October 7, 2010

My husband is off of work, so I'm sure you can guess where he is. At work. He took the kids to the Lego store this morning so we are doing our schoolwork in the afternoon. Luckily the boys got right to work proving they can handle a disruption on their schedule. If we're going to homeschool, at least we can take advantage of the flexibility in schedule.

Joel said school was depressing today because he had to make cards about extinct and endangered animals. It is actually quite sad. We learned the Carolina Parakeet, the only native parrot for N. America, is extinct.

We made a pocket to keep Joel's Endangered/ Extinct animal cards in his science notebook.

I have already burned through an ink cartridge. This will get expensive if I keep on this way! I try to print off everything with the hopes I can either resell my books or lend them to my sister-in-law or another homeschooler. I am going to try an experiment: placing the math sheet originals in a page protector and having them complete the problems with an overhead projector pen. Then I can grade it and erase and slip the new sheet in. This could either be a great idea or one that will challenge my flimsy grasp on sanity. We'll see!!

Page protector, overhead pen for "save paper" math experiment. Also, another binder ring flip book, this time with the "5" multiplication flashcards for Joel. It's easier to go through flash cards if they are on a binder ring. Have I mentioned how much I love them? I use them to save Christmas cards by year (punch holes in the top corner of the cards, you'll still be able to read the inside and everything!), and to make Christmas ornaments out of photos.

Wednesday October 6

My top six favorite things about homeschooling:
1. Later mornings, more relaxed days
2. No packing lunches
3. Using the Internet to instantly add to the learning experience
4. Seeing how my boys learn and appreciating their strengths while learning more about their weaknesses
5. How the subjects interconnect by coincidence
6. Teaching and learning again

My top six least favorite things about homeschooling:
1. In the house all the time
2. But no time to clean said house
3. Not exercising as much (and I have a half-marathon in less than a month!! Not good!!)
4. It has taken over my entire downstairs (yes, there is a copier on my kitchen table and an easel and filing cabinet in the dining room)
5. I spend over 8 hours a day doing homeschool and my brain is fried
6. My DVR is bursting at the seams

DAY 8 & 9

Oops... did not blog on Friday! We were happy to make it one full week. So far, so good. Jason did a science experiment on chemical reactions, and part of it was the reaction between vinegar and baking soda. Trying to be smart, I decided he should conduct that one in my kitchen disposal so it could be cleaned at the same time. Cleaning + Science= happy. (Maybe I will devise a homeschool science curriculum in which all the experiments/ projects involve something that directly helps with a household chore.) My camera decided not to work so no pictures were taken on Friday.

Today, my husband is off and was supposed to help Joel with his science experiment but due to helping a friend with a move to the beach that has gone awry, is still not home and thus the show had to go on. Luckily, Jason finished up early as is often the case since he never has any "Work with Mom" workboxes and can go so much quicker. So after I walked Joel through the stages of the scientific method, Jason helped him construct two gliders to test the effect of wing size and distance traveled.

Construcing the two gliders (different wing sizes)

Gliders plus chalk to mark landings

Measuring distance traveled

DAY 7

I purposely planned a short day for today; we finished by 11:30. I was hoping to get plugged into the homeschooling group at my church, and I thought they had open gym hours on Thursdays, but no one was there. It's possible we got there too early but I didn't want to wait around. We went to Kroger because I actually made out a grocery list for dinners and lunches next week! (As an aside, my new favorite website is www.ziplist.com, which makes it a breeze to make out a grocery list. It automatically catogorizes your items by section of the store. Love it!) I forgot how much I dislike shopping with the boys, but did use it as an opportunity to test Joel on some math facts in the produce section (if limes are 5 for $1, how much are they each?) I lucked out in that one of Jason's friends was there and the boys hung out with him for awhile leaving me in blissful silence. I also miss the freedom of being able to walk to my van without having to worry about the safety of two boys who aren't always paying attention.

Joel is VERY SELF-CONSCIOUS about being out and about during the day. I've tried to tell him that people that actually give a darn assume that either he is homeschooled or on year-round (and hello? there were a lot of kids out today shopping!). Still, on the way to Kroger he told me he was going to pretend to be sick. So he coughed a few times on purpose in the parking lot. Honestly I think most people would notice/ care more about me dragging a kid with TB around than someone missing school!!

Joel said something funny yesterday too which at first struck fear in my heart: "Mommy, do we have one of those signs that says 'Caution: Wet Floor'"? Turns out a bottle of rubbing alcohol had fallen in the laundry room and spilled a little. (It had been on top of the refrigerator...)

Also took the boys to Target and then to Borders to buy books as their consolation prize for not having any fun today. Joel picked out another bird book; he is obsessed with birds, especially vultures. (Have I mentioned his science curriculum includes birds :)) I swear, this homeschooling is going to suck up all my money and time. It's all worth it.

DAY 6

A full week down! I will let Jason blog today so it will be short!

Doing an experiment about the movement of atoms using boiling water, cold water and food coloring.

Teaching Joel about the Amazon Rain Forest

Logo for animation class

DAY 5 Planning, the Internet, and experiment

Last night I finally finished planning out the year. I'd already spent hours on it. Think of it: I know I want to get in 32 weeks of schooling between now and the end of our homeschool year. I have curriculum I want to follow with each boy for science, math, science, social studies, and grammar. I had to go through each of these and find out how much needs to be covered each week in order to finish up by June 10. Throw in novels, art electives, typing, Spanish, cursive writing, economics, spelling, and logic that also have to be worked in. My head hurts!!

Weekly schedules

I have decided at least for this year to largely follow the Wake County traditional calendar since J&J began that way and our neighbors are on this calendar. However, I prefer to take off an entire week at a time just to make it easier planning wise (since I don't have the mental capacity right now to break up my weekly plans). Thus, there will be 8 days we are in school that Wake County will have off. I hope this goes okay! What if all the kids are outside playing? Maybe I will have to move school to my parents' for some of those days. All the logistics are overwhelming challenging.

I have two favorite things from today: the Internet and our Apologia Science Curriculum (thanks to my sister-in-law Rene and niece Katy for filtering through the curriculum and arriving at a winner, saving me work, heartache, and time!!). Since we homeschool in the kitchen/ dining room area and keep the laptop on the kitchen desk, we can spontaneously look things up on the Internet and not even get off task for long. Today, Pangaea came up in Joel's curriculum. I was explaining how the continents nearly fit together like a puzzle. Jason was on a break so he immediately searched the Internet and found a website with a wonderful graphic of the continents put together as they once were. Also, Joel was to find a few interesting facts about one of the animals from the Ice Age and stumbled across a YouTube video from BBC that had an animated video of what the woolly mammoth, sloth, and saber-tooth tiger looked like and how they moved and hunted.


Pangaea




looking up Ice Age animals on You Tube

Jason got to do a science center experiment today on density. It was simple and I had everything he needed on hand!  Jason recording data in his notebook.

conducting the experiment

Final results of experiment involving layers of vegetable oil, water, and corn syrup. The rock he dropped in went all the way down to the bottom through all the layers, the grape tomato stayed on the second layer, the ice cube stayed on the third layer, and the small piece of cork stayed on the very top. Cool!

DAY 4



Joel putting together a US puzzle as part of his US Geography center. I am using the lids from plastic bins for the centers because they can easily be slid under the couch put away!  I am  trying not to have homeschooling materials take over the entire downstairs but am only somewhat succeeding.



FROM MOM: We will have a 2-hr. delay on Mondays and skip Reading/ Writing Workshop. Today is the first day the kids have had separate grammar and science lessons, and Joel also got to start his United States Geography center. I am making some progress. I still want to implement typing and Spanish, but not have the days be too long. I love how quiet the house is during homeschool!

Jason and Joel (below) are making little flip books using binder rings. They have their vocabulary words on one side and the definition on the other. Jason is writing in  his definitions; I typed up Joel's using a flashcard maker I found on Scholastic.com. This site has a ton of things to use, including lesson plans! Joel also needs practice using scissors so he cut his cards out as part of his work today.  The vocabulary words come from the novels they are studying (Jason: To Kill a Mockingbird, Joel: How to eat Fried Worms)

FROM JASON:

In science I just went over the beginnings of science. In social studies I reviewed landforms. Grammar had a pretest. In animation, I finished my model in LeoCad, which took about half an hour. Then I exported it in about five minutes. Then I had to import it onto Blender, which took about half an hour.

DAY 3

Our school T-shirts

From Mom: The boys finished early today, which hopefully may give me some time to get some planning in before Reading/ Writing Workshop (which is scheduled for after lunch). I found some great online resources to help Joel learn the states and their location. He learned the New England states today. The website even pronounces the state's name for him as he clicks on it so he can hear it said correctly. He also listened to a book on the states. So far, Math has been easy for both boys since it is still review. Next week, I will be adding in some things but hopefully morning work will be done by 1 at the latest, followed by an hour break for lunch/ chores, etc., then R/W Workshop and exercise (treadmill). This is the plan anyway!



Mommy/ Joel's art Lesson 2 Surface/ Foreshortening



DAY 2

Mommy's day: Still having to take this slowly because honestly I haven't had the time/ energy/ mental clarity to learn all I need to know about some parts of the curriculum to implement it. We are taking our lunch/ free time break now from 12 until 1, and then we will do reading/ writing workshop. The boys did well with using the Workbox System (by Sue Patrick). I spent a lot of money on the Math U See curriculum, but am glad I did because it includes a DVD where a competent person teaches them each lesson. The lessons are quick, they can use the math blocks that come with the system, and the instructor is male so they won't always be just listening to my (female) voice.



Math Center manipulatives



Joel doing his Math practice after watching lesson

The Social Studies book that Jason is using includes access to an online site where he can do charts/ graphic organizers online and then print them out. It even adds his name and date.

Jason reading from SS book



Printing out graphic organizer



Joel's Social Studies: file folder center on US map

  Jason spray painted a back drop to use in his animation video and then taught Joel a drawing lesson. Today had lots of good quiet work time (and lots of review) but I do think when they are doing all the subjects it will seem like a long day. I hope they adjust. I have a lot of work ahead of me.


FROM JASON: (not a man of many words.... yet)
Animation is not going so well. I have a computer animation program that is impossible to figure out even with how to videos explaining it. There is also a program that allows you to build legos with computer animation then export it to the above program. That will not work because every time I try to open it, it makes me download it. On a good note the other subjects are going well.

J&J Academy Day 1

This is mommy posting. We enjoyed a leisurely morning so the boys could have a little downtime. They were eager to get started. Joel was disheartened that he had to listen a lot today as I explained the procedures for using the Workbox system and Reading/ Writing Workshop. Once we got into generating a list of writing ideas (our "Writing Idea Bank")  he was a lot more excited. In Writing Workshop, Joel started a story about an evil gumball machine that is following an unsuspecting family. Jason began prewriting a story about demons and ninjas. He drew some of the things he will have to describe in the story. (Teaching note: drawing a picture is the best prewriting you can do for descriptive writing!) Apparently, the boys like a little violence with their writing. I journaled about the first day while they wrote. We put together a folder with a copious amount of writing topic ideas. There will never be an "I don't know what to write about" day!

Jason worked on some animation things while Joel learned about "foreshortening" in drawing (3D). Jason and I also discussed some of the topics he will be exposed to in To Kill a Mockingbird. We talked a little about the author, setting, and characters.

My new printer/ scanner arrived and Jason is almost done setting it up. All the math curriculum came in the mail today as well. I am overwhelmed by the sheer amount of books/ information. I need a teacher workday!