Rolling Along...6 weeks.

First Day of School Ziggy wasn't so sure about this school Business...It just means Mama and sisters are distracted from playing with him!

Last week wrapped up our 6th week of school! I've decided to make every 6th week an "easy" week, we don't do History, we do a fun audio book for language arts, and we take it easy.

We're trucking along with Brain Integration Therapy exercises I'm struggling with these, it's really hard to balance the fact that "if we're going to do this, we need to do it right!" and "we're just going to do the best we can and hopefully any thing we do is benefitting and helping to integrate and resolve midline issues."

The positive is that dd1 is doing her computer-based vision therapy every day.  The writing 8 exercises have improved their handwriting and are resolving reversals and issues they have in that regard.

It's just hard to balance my desire to be delight-driven in our school days, and our need to make progress and give them the best foot forward educationally. It has been really challenging and a bit intimidating.

Where have we landed?

Each year I go in with lots of big ideas and then life happens and things get sifted down to reality.  I end up finding a sweet spot of what is enjoyable and working, and what is not.

Reality...

Roo is completing her vision therapy, BIT exercises, A section of History and Timeline work, Two Miqon Math lab sheets, and alternate days of Science reading and a Journal page (a paragraph and optional illustration) daily. This is not with out some complaints and whining. I've come up with a reward situation where she gets 30 minutes of coveted time playing with a friend (it's an online server and she emails her friend to set up a time, yay for practice writing, spelling, online safety and communication- learning on several levels!) on a Star Stables game if she gets every thing done with a positive (or at least neutral) attitude.

So far that is working well. She also whips through books like nobodies business, she's reading 4-5 chapter books a month at this point, I can't say what a joy it is to see her taking off with reading. I also can't believe how reading has improved her spelling skills! She has jumped from phonetic spelling to rarely misspelling words in the last month. Again, I'm thrilled...It means so much, 3 years into this homeschooling thing to finally be seeing that she's getting it! And older homeschool Mom told me that usually homeschooled kids will often be behind grade level until 3rd or 4th grade and then ZIP they get it and jump well ahead of their peers on almost every  level, I am starting to see the truth in this statement. Not that I care if the kids are academically ahead, I just want them to enjoy learning, but it is rewarding to see I'm not stunting them by keeping them home, ya know? I was wondering there for a while...It's been quite a journey of faith.

Ziggy gets in on Miqon Math Labs too!

Friendly.. Friendly really enjoys school, most days we don't have a bit of trouble with her attitude. The only problem is when it takes longer to get to actually doing school because the baby is having a rough day. She completes her BIT exercises, a page of reading out loud (to me), two Miquon Math lab sheets,  and a journal writing page daily. She also listens to History and completes the timeline work and other assignments along side Roo. She is passionate writer and very interested in literature. She spends much of her days outside with her kindle listening to audio books or playing with Pip. 

 Pip...
I had lofty goals with Pip when we went into the school year, but it's landed where it always does...Enjoying reading things together and busy work. She's really a lot more academically focused than her sisters were at this age, and it's been a lot of fun to see her work at things. I bought her a bunch of these amazing busy books at the start of the school year and she just whips through at least 4 pages a day, she loves cutting and pasting and problem solving. We've been enjoying a daily chapter of Milly Molly Mandy together and a Bible story from this curriculum  (it has a coloring book to work on as well), it's been really quite perfect..Depending on the Bible story I'll throw in some Heart of Dakota finger play as well- she really just didn't like the stories from Heart of Dakota and it's not like she's my only student- there's too much going on to try to push through any thing she's not loving! I love the Finger plays though and the Bible Memory songs so it isn't all a waste. :D

Ziggy...
He's 1, enough said. Oh my goodness! Some days are awful. He's climbing every thing, into every thing, and often melting down because I'm not playing with him. Some days are awesome though, he's happy to play with whatever sibling isn't doing school, he enjoys watching Sesame Street with Pip...He discovered how crayons, markers, and pens work and we've taken to laying down big pieces of paper for him to scribble on...

He really is very much a little scientist and loves to try to figure stuff out, he will sit for quite some time just studying some thing, he spent a good 10 minutes (an eternity for a 1 year old) trying to get this hole punch tool to work on his paper.

 He also loves to take part in the BIT exercises, he finds his spot and does his lunges like his big sisters! :)

 And His Magic Yellow Stroller, it's so funny how different every baby has been!!! This little ones loves his stroller, it is many days the only way I get any sort of nap out of him at all. He prefers to nap in the middle of it all, he doesn't want to miss a thing and he seems to sleep best with a lot of noise in the background, some thing his sisters are happy to supply!

He fell asleep during read aloud time!

The rest of school has been outside, frankly I'm feeling a bit exhausted from all the Going we've been enjoying. We bough a pass to a local zoo and we've been taking advantage of a gorgeous and warm autumn, spending several days a week at parks and playgrounds. And Hubby Joy's work schedule has been crazy, so some times when he doesn't have a pressing deadline he takes a weekday morning off and joins us a the park.

Lots of sunshine and fun at home and around..

Pip teaching Ziggy how to use a shovel to put mulch in a bucket, he got it right away and has been filing buckets with dirt and mulch ever since! Homeschooling, starts at birth- they learn so much from their siblings!

Some Pip and Mama snuggles, she is growing so much my little snuggle bug is outgrowing my lap. :(

playing in the garden, it turned into a jungle but they don't mind!

An afternoon picnic reading our language arts assignments at the park bring back so many happy memories for me!

Visiting a replica of a Teepee at the the local Native American grounds near our home.

It's been a good school year so far, onwards towards The Holidays!

School Year on the Horizon...Realities

Okay to the school year...

My oldest is getting to the age where I'm feeling like I'm needing to push a little. Roo will be turning 8 this school year and I feel like it's time to have some daily requirements. Traditionally speaking kids wouldn't start school until they reached the age of 7, and studies have shown it is to their benefit to wait. So at many times in history and in many countries today, this really would be Roo's first year of school.

Thus far with school I have been very hands off. I haven't been stressed that she's taken her time with reading, that it hasn't "clicked" into voracious book love. I haven't pushed handwriting or math or really any thing. I love the idea of "child directed" learning and "delight directed" learning. In my heart I would love to un-school. In my reality I know it's not going to work with Roo.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think I've been doing any thing "wrong" so far.. This whole parenting thing is really just flying by the seat of your pants anyway. You research, you give it a shot, you celebrate when you find some thing that makes your child's life better, and you lick your wounds when you make mistakes. You learn, you grow...you try other things. And it's all very fair and good because when you think you figure "it" out, you have another kid that it doesn't work for, and you have to start all over. It is fun though, and it is amazing to watch how they grow and change and they help you do the same.

 Okay back to this school year, I feel like with this child [Roo] and her unique personality she'd happily float along for a very long time. She doesn't really mind that she doesn't know schooly things. Reading? It's a lot of work! She can do it, but why bother when she can listen to books and watch documentaries. Writing? Why? When she can draw fantastic pictures to communicate a story!

And you know what? She's not wrong, she does know how she learns best. She is very much a person who knows where she's comfortable and how she likes things to be, and until she's made uncomfortable by it, she's not going to change it.

She was the kid who couldn't dress herself with out help until she was 5. She did have some slight suspected fine motor delays (thanks to diagnosed vision issues). But really it was mostly a, "Why bother when I have loving hands to help me?"  or more, "I am the most comfortable this way, I just won't get dressed at all unless some one makes me." She lived her underwear or footie PJ's unless I force dressed her to take her places.
Once she was told that at her age (at 5 I had had more than enough!), she had to be do it herself, and she had to do it every day, she did. Some slight push back initially, a few meltdowns and then she got used to it and it was no big deal.

And I'm thinking that's again where we've landed. I see she can do it, I see she needs to be able to do it better, it's time to set her up to be a bit uncomfortable until she see's how "not a big deal" it can be.

I've had "rules" during the school year, "nothing but PBS shows" or "no TV before lunch" rules. Especially with the childcare kiddo, her parents didn't send her here to watch TV! And all except for my worst morning sickness days, the TV stayed OFF. And this year I think we're going to institute some slightly uncomfortable Bigger Kid Rules and I'm trying to decide what would work. It has to...

1) be possible to enforce with a newborn in the house.
 2) be a positively enforced rule that sets us up for success and help us meet our goals (in other words, proactive "this is the positive thing that happens when you" not reactive, "You didn't do it so now you will feel bad and miserable").

I am thinking our Rules for Second Grade will be some thing like...
 1. No TV, ipad, or minecraft until you've completed your...

• Reading assignment (read 7 pages from reader to Mom [these "pages" have about 2-3 sentences on them each).
• Writing assignment (write dictation assignment for the day, one brief sentence using a vocabulary word from our read aloud, OR complete a Grammar worksheet, OR Spelling You See workbook page [also includes handwriting]),
• 30 minutes of outside time 
• One Morning Chore

 I want to add "AND History, Science and Language Arts" but unless Hubby Joy takes on assignments I just don't know.
I can sit and listen to her read for 15 minutes every day. I can dig through 10 minutes of writing a sentence or completing her Spelling -even with drama. I can help her complete a work sheet or read Life of Fred with her. I can't guarantee I'll be up to all the reading every day of the week in history or Language Arts, at least until Ziggy is a few months old. I'm trying to be realistic...

I have a feeling some of the new rules will make Roo uncomfortable, she likes to do her thing and do it her way... I also think second grade is going to bring a lot of new growth for her as well! I am hoping in making it so that she has to practice reading daily (and not just with me, but in the day to day things she'll skip because it's too much of a bother) she'll start to see the NEED for it in her life and start to push past the plateau she's sat at for the last  year or so. It's comfortable to just avoid the need to read...This year, we practice and make it more of a focus.
Honestly, I don't know that Roo will ever be one of those kids to LOVE reading. I would be absolutely delighted if she does! But I've been trying to be realistic and not set expectations too high for her. She's got some vision issues that makes reading tiring. Vision issues that we haven't been able to fully address and are still unsure exactly how we will address them.
 It doesn't mean she can't overcome them and go on to be a book worm. But it could mean that she sticks to her strengths, auditory learning. And that is okay. I just want her to work past the struggle part, and master the concepts so that she can function on a more average level. I want to be able to leave her notes with simple directions, especially with the new baby coming. There are many days it would be great to write saying "Please make sure Pip gets a snack, if I'm not up by 8 please quietly come get me." She doesn't have to love it, but she needs some fluency to survive.

Oh, And here are the work sheets I promised in my last post! I've been using a few of these (especially the first and second grade grammer/phonics worksheets!) to fill in gaps or when the kids ask to do "school" and they mean do worksheets. :)
KINDERGARTEN 

READING BEAR (Learn to read with reading bear Free online Phonics program!)

Dynamically Created Kindergarten Worksheets MATH   (PDF's free printables!)

My Number Book (kindergarten printable number book)

Multiple Grade Levels
Make your own Handwriting Worksheets 
(a program to design and print your own handwriting practice sheets)

Free Dinosaur Worksheets (many different coloring pages multi grade level)
 Free Character Building Bible Lessons (multiple grade levels)

FREE Math Worksheets (K-6th)

Math Worksheet Factory (Free math worksheets)

FIRST GRADE
 First Grade PHONICS workbook (free printable workbook 258pages!)

Learn To Read Phonics Program (phonics concepts, printables)

First Grade Spelling Practice Book (Free printable workbook 128pages!)

SECOND GRADE
Second Grade Earth Science (full printable text book 112pages!)
Grammar Practice Book (free printable text book 158pages)

I found all of these on FREE Homeschooling 101 give them a follow they've been awesome!

Balalance

 

 

My lesson of this school year: baaaallaaaaalance. It's not always pretty. I have my goals for every child. I have so many fun and creative ways to meet those goals! I have the ideas, stories, and concepts I want to expose them to.

But on the flip side is the desire to balance it with genuine learning: playing. And not "educational playing", or "sneaky games that are teaching". But "go out, get dirty disagree and work it out with kindness, deep imaginative, dirty, all in PLAYING" the kind that is and leads to all other learning. 

I feel like our days are crammed and packed full, and in the center is this line I am tiptoeing on: exposing them to good books, connecting with them through games and activities, introducing them to the concepts and themes that are in-line with my hopes and goals for our school year.

I tiptoe along my plans, aiming at my goals... trying to  be sure I am making our school days as enriching as possible, scouring the library for a fun book to drive home the ideas and make the concepts more real to them. Honey Bee's aren't just little bugs that sting, but a real journey with "The Honeybee Man".

And then it falls flat (well that didn't, but other plans are quickly abandoned because there is 1 of me and 4 of them... or it isn't the right time of day). Or it isn't working and I feel like I am pulling a move PJ likes to do in her "dances", reeling off balance almost upside down trying to figure out what comes next.

I don't have the adorable toddler legs and Dora underwear to make it look cute. Some times the swinging of trying to find my balance between play, and meeting goals, getting stuff done, and being their Mom... well it makes me feel frustrated and cranky. Other times it's just too much for me. They're asking all their questions and wanting to read all the things and tackle all the projects NOW.

Home schooling is my favorite, I love the freedom. I love meeting my kids where they're at, finding ways to make it right for *them*. Always reaching find the balance of wanting them to know and learn the things they need to know, wanting them to grow strong righteous characters, and embracing the fact that they're all still so very little. Balancing my expectations too.

Up and down, tiptoeing through the day trying to figure out which end us up and what will be best for everyone.

It's a challenge!!!

Backyard Habitat Unit 1/ Day 4

Our Theme: Science and Nature Day!

This Day we headed to the park AJ was having a "seeky" morning and there was no way we could stay home with the disintegration at every turn. We headed out early while it was still cool.
 

We sketched and ate snacks. Pip started drawing PEOPLE for the first time ever. People with eyes, nose, mouth, hands, feet, legs, arms... she's 2!!

 We did "shows" and played and played!

 

 

 

and then we walked the 1.3 miles home with my Griswold Mobile of a stroller! The kids got Tired and I got to push 2 of them, wear 1 on my back, and play challenge games with which ever older kid was walking to encourage them to keep up their strength. :D

That was pretty much Science and Nature Day: we got outside!!!

Back Yard Unit Day1

Okay here we go...Day 1
Our Theme: Literature Day!

• Reading: 1 Chapter of Ribsy
• Genesis 1&2 ( Egermier's p. 11)
• One Small Square p. 3-9 

Other Books to enjoy together:

• My Garden by Keven Henkes
• We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury
• Poems to Read to the Very Young by Eloise Wilken

Investigation Activity:
We headed outside and each picked ours square looking high, low, inside, and underneath for signs of life. We found spiders, beetles, worms, ants, we carefully pulled up some soil to observe inside our glass jar.

Pre-School/Kindergarten Literacy Activity
Our Letter of the week is "A" and our Number is "1"

•  read about Albatrosses on page 91 of our DK Animal Encylopedia
•  HOD finger Play for letter "A"
• Fine Motor Activity (Painters Tape Letter A to floor, have children decorate A's with Pom Poms, legos, or blocks while listening to Bible Story)
• Letter 1 Activity (I had children find "1" thing to show and tell me about)

Arts and Crafts
Preschool: 

•  *Have little ones decorate the Letter "A" while watching  The Letter A youtube PLAYLIST

 (my other playlists are very much a work in progress. *Also please note: youtube is not a child-friendly place. I previewed all the videos in my playlist to be sure they were safe and appropriate. Even so, **Careful supervision is recommended**)
 Elementary:

• Fill in Notebooking Animal Profile page for one animal we found that morning
• Begin decorating divider pages (if children enjoy that sort of thing, my kids live for "art" and drawing!)

Diving Into Habitats: Back yard! Unit 1 Intro

Here we go!
I thought I would share the curriculum I am building as it unfolds, this way I have a place where the whole journey is well documented and others can dive into habitats as well!
The great thing about this curriculum is that it is a launching point for lots of exploration. I am gathering my frame from the One Small Square books. I am also challenging us to think of the habitat from all angles and all areas of our square: up high, on top, down low, inside, underneath, down below. From that place I am looking for *all* the creatures we can find in the habitat. From there we can all draw our own unique finds of living books and well illustrated resources with that in mind.

This week was mostly an introduction to habitats.

• What is a habitat? (common elements for all creatures: shelter, food, water)
• What senses do you use to investigate a habitat? (introduction/review of 5 senses)
• When we discover a new animal in our habitat how do they see the world? Do they have a nose like us? Touch like us? Eat like us? See like us?  What do they do?
• We explore human habitats- up high, down low, inside, and outside.
• We explore the life cycle and food cycles in our gardens

 I am also hoping to take another gap year (a break from our history spiral) when my youngest (doing Pre-K right now) is in the K-2nd grade range. Eventually this curriculum has the potential to be a K-6th grade options, exciting stuff.

As it stands now this curriculum is ideal for Pre-K-2nd grade. 

Supplies
A binder for each student
Notebook page dividers (4-6 depending on how detailed you wish to be)
A magnifying glass for each student (Dollar Tree!)
Notebook paper
Pencils
Crayons
Glue sticks
Glass Jars
Flash Light
A cookie sheet 
Library Card

Notebooking Options

For my 1st grader I broke down her note book into the categories of
Mammal
Reptile
Amphibian
Bird
Insect
Plants
We used a page divider for each category and during rest and quiet times she worked at decorating each page with drawings and stickers of each divider.

For my Kindergartener- who is easily frustrated and has some sensory challenges- I used a more simple format:
Animals
Bugs (her preference, whatever)
Plants

Curriculum Core Book List (Links further down)

• One Small Square Backyard by Donald Silver
• DK Animal Encyclopedia
• Secrets of the Garden Food Chains and the Food a web in our Backyard by Kathleen Weidner Zoedeld
• Alphabet Art: With A-Z Animal Art and Fingerplays by Williamson Little Hands Series)
• Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals (great sneaky hand writing and letter shape practice!) 

Week 1 Book List
One Small Square: Backyard  by Donald Silver (Core Curriculum, we own)

DK Animal Encyclopedia  (core curriculum, we own)

My Five Senses by Aliki (Library Loan)

Ribsy by Beverely Cleary (Audio Book, Library Loan)

Secrets of the Garden Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard by Kathhleen Weidner Zoefeld

Were also Using Heart of Dakota's "Little Hands to Heaven" Pre-K/Kindergarten curriculum for Bible and part of our Alphabet Theme. I have another 2 year old in my care during the school week, and the Finger Play ideas and Bible related projects are awesome! We're reading through Egermier's Childrens Story Book daily in line with the HOD resources.

Other Resources I shared on another post.

Okay Onwards to
Backyard Unit W1/D1
Backyard Unit W1/D2
Backyard Unit W1/D3
http://mamaojoy.blogspot.com/2014/09/backyard-unit-1-week-1day3.html
Backyard Unit W1/D4
http://mamaojoy.blogspot.com/2014/09/backyard-habitat-unit-week-1day-4.html
Backyard W1/D5
http://mamaojoy.blogspot.com/2014/09/backyard-unit-week-1-day-5.html

4 Resources I've Found Helpful on This Home Education Adventure!

This is not an earth shattering post by any means. I only have a year under my belt and I have many many years of home schooling ahead of me, but for some one starting out... this might be helpful!

6th grade science with my brother (middle) and future husband.
 Tuesday afternoons my Mom did "edible science" classes with us.

 

 That said, as a second generation home schooler, I like to think I have a bit more to carry into this than I might have other wise ... I remember what I loved about home schooling and what I wished away. I remember many hours with my siblings and how much I treasure what my Mom (and Dad) gave us: a slow childhood with them. As a matter of fact, that's the number one reason I want to home school.


my brother age 8, swinging in our back yard on a spring morning..

 

I want my kids to know the joy of getting to snuggle up in your own space and read the afternoon away. To play money games with their Dad on the living room floor, with REAL MONEY (big stuff when you're 6). To be surrounded by other kids who love to read and are used to doing things to the beat of their own drum too.  To spend the day exploring  parks, streams, creeks, and woods with friends (who also home school) for "P.E." days all while the class room kids were doing work sheets, standing in lines, stuck inside, only getting to talk freely and play for a few minutes at set times of the day. School isn't all bad, I went to school for several years. But I treasure the childhood I was blessed with, the slow cozy days with family. The afternoons riding bikes with my best friend (now husband) who home schooled down the street. The home-work free afternoons climbing trees like a monkey over my Mother's head ,while she read out loud on the ground below. The drama clubs, enrichment classes, music lessons 4H activities, and field studies we were free to experience with out rush. 

 

Okay enough rambling...   

So here is my list of 4 resources I have found invaluable in this journey of home education..

 

#1 I guess the number one site I have found helpful would be the Home School Review Website. If the curriculum is out there, you can probably read reviews on this site! I probably give them more traffic than I care to admit when I am geeking out over a curriculum I've just discovered.  

 

#2 I Read Books...Anything by John Holt, specifically  Learning All the Time 

 

 



The book also makes a great picnic snack cutting board FYI. 

I read this book back when I was pregnant with my youngest and it was fascinating and encouraging. It was also, I think, his easiest read. His obvious love for children, families, and vast experience as a teacher comes through loud and clear. His writing style is warm and interesting as he delves into how learning happens, the roots and the ends and what learning is not.  

If you're serious about home education, reading at least one of John Holts books (considered the Father of Home Schooling), will both educate and empower you.

 

This was also a good one, it's not just if you want to unschool.

 

 

 I would have to say that the book Plan To Be Flexible: Designing a Rhythm and Curriculum Plan That Works for Your Family by Alicia Kaszuc

 

This  is THE book I have found most helpful, and I would recommend reading if you're just starting out. Or maybe do it your way for a year, and then read it and wish you'd read it before! :D Actually the book is all about doing it your way! But it's like this more seasoned home school Mom took you out for coffee and said, "Here's what happened to us, it's a common challenge- if you hit this wall: don't throw the home schooling out with the bath water!" And then goes on to ask you challenging and helpful questions for you to evaluate both your goals as a family and the unique kids that you're teaching! She then has an action plan at the end of each chapter to help you set goals and get a strong picture of what you're doing and why! That curriculum I shared in my last post? She showed me I could do it. She also helped me remember why I wanted to do this. To really *choose* home schooling for my  kids. Not because I figured I would (but found it so much harder than I imagined), not because my husband is passionate about it too. Not because I hate the thought of my kids being away from me 40 hours a week- in my local (not stellar) public school. Not because of any lofty ideal or picture I had when I started out.

 

But because I looked at each child and their specific needs and I learned how to make this about relationship, not education or check lists. Alicia Kaszuc taught me that, and I am eternally grateful. Since I read that book (2 months ago?) we haven't had a single power struggle over "school", my kids are begging to dive in to what I planned, and we've been enjoying it immensely.

 

#3 CONNECT! I love message boards, there are several out there for home school support. The Mom's there? They are amazing resources! If all else fails, get thee self on local FB groups and home schooling message boards! Join some home schooling playdates! Playdates at parks are the best, kids are busy: moms can talk! Ask them your questions and get some answers! Ask them, read, listen! Find the older Mama's and ask them what works for them. It might not be what works for you, but knowing they're in this too, want this too, work at it too? Awesome encouraging stuff! 

 

#4 Go local, field trips are everywhere! Kind of in line with connecting, I always ask local people for field trip recommendations if we're heading to a new city or state. Educational opportunities and family fun are everywhere.:) 

Our trip to MayflowerII on our trip to New England during summer. Awkward family photo FTW!

 



 

 

School 2014-2015 Animals Animals!!

We're about to dive into our second official year of home schooling! This year I am embracing interest-lead learning by setting loose over-arching goals for each child and pulling from many resources to meet those goals.

 

 What will we be using?

 

Our theme this year is "Animals and Their Worlds" habitats and their ecosystems. I am using a lot of resources from the Winter's Promise A&TW Curriculum for K-4th grades but I have decided not to use their teachers guide. We'll be doing our own unit studies on 9 different habitats as well as a unit on the night sky and space. Our main text book resource will be from the "One Small Square" series for each Habitat. 

 

 

We're taking a "gap year" from History and focusing purely on geography in nature and science studies. My over arching goal is to use Living Books for each Habitat unit to really give us a peek into each corner of the world- some will be playful fictional books. Others will be books like Chipmunk Song to really get deeper, yet playful, real-life peeks into where and how animals live. We'll also be doing geography and reading a few fictional stories about the people who live near or in each habitat.

 

I am really building this as we go, and I think when we get to the end of the year I'll have built some thing really cool!

 

 Monday is Library and Literature day: which is really just a FREE day for planning. We'll focus on phonics (SPELLING u SEE and the "Hooked on Phonics" iPad app ) and our preschool Heart of Dakota curriculum activities (mainly our number, letter, and animal of  the week and a few Bible stories). We'll also be listening to our audio books together (most of our read aloud books will be animal themed as well, we're reading "Ribsy" by Beverly Cleary right now).
For planning I'll search key words on the library website for anything that might be fun for us to read in line with our habitat for the week. In the afternoon we'll be making a trip to the library and we'll get our books for the week. That evening I'll sit down and set loose goals for each day in line with the One Small Square Habitat study and our daily theme focus...

 

Maybe I should back up a bit, the true core of our curriculum is our Daily Themes:

 

 

 

 

Like I said "Monday is Library Literature Day"

Phonics and word fun is our main focus...

building letters and words!

 

Tuesday is Math and Life Skills Day

 

We created a Lego Math Game using math addition/subtraction dice and Lego blocks for manipulatives. We'll also be focusing heavily on our Math U See curriculum Tuesdays and math apps.

 

Wednesday is Art and Music Day

We'll be using Ed Emberley's "How to Draw Animals" it will be our main art and handwriting (Yes! Sneaky hand writing! All the animals use key letter shapes!)  resource this year. We'll use this day to create animals for our habitat dioramas, and work on filling our diorama box for the habitat unit. I think Wednesdays are going to be a favorite day, we love to craft!

 

 We'll also be touching on musical pieces and composers as well.

 

Thursday is Science and Nature Day this is the day we'll be doing "field studies" from The One Small Square and adding things to our Nature Note Book  

 

We'll also be going through the Rod and Staff Second Grade Science and Nature workbooks we used their fine motor and thinking skills books last year and the kids loved them!. https://www.milestonebooks.com/item/1-142--/

 

We'll also be reviewing our animals in the alphabet! We'll be using the DK Animal Encyclopedia (awesome!!!) and read again about the animal and add it to the ABC section of our nature notebook.

 

Friday is Geography and Adventure Day

We'll be reading Living Books about people who live near or in our habitats, putting stickers on our giant world map, and the afternoon will all be about getting out on an adventure... We are now proud members of our local Science center so we'll probably be heading over there on Fridays to explore the hands on exhibits and play.

 

I think we'll be dong pretty well with out a Teachers Guide-not missing out too much? ;)

 

On top of our busy mornings of learning we'll be adding in ballet and gymnastics to our week, and we have a little 2 year old Side Kick joining our days-it's going to be an interesting, busy, awesome school year!!! 

5 Things I Learned My First Year Homeschooling

The official school year is fast approaching! Every few days I find another sweet "First Day of School" picture in my Facebook newsfeed. The fresh faces full of anticipation for the new adventure: a school year!

We've continued to do "school" all summer, settling in, enjoying slow summer days of learning together. It's been a wonderful, wonderful summer!

With all those reminders of the coming seasons change, I find myself looking back over the past year.  I wanted to verbalize the things I've learned this past year.

So here they are:

5 Things I've Learned My First Year of Home Schooling...

1. Set loose Goals.
 Before the school year begins set out a SHORT (especially if your kids are young) bullet point list of the basic age-appropriate things you hope to learn together. Last year for example,I wanted to introduce these concepts and see where my oldest landed. Some of these might be too academic for some familes, and others might find my list too simple. These were things she had expressed interest in the concepts and we worked towards it and she "got it" to varying degrees.
My list looked some thing like this:

• count well to 100
• by 10's 
• by 5's 
• understand the concept of counting to 1,000.
• understand basic addition and subtraction.

Our goals for the rest of our curriculum were...

• to love and enjoy reading together even more.
• to read through the entire Bible (in general stories) from Genesis to Revelation.
• To give her a general idea of world history and the concept of time and dates.
• To really understand Seasons, Months, and Days

Our Seasons and Months Art Project. Our boxed curriculum had a great way for teaching Months of the years and all 3 of the kids can chant the rhyme pretty well- the littlest in her own way! :)

  
2. Ask any one you can what they do for school and follow a few homeschooling sites on FB.
This is a pretty personal one. All personalities are different and another homeschooling Mama might find this completely AWFUL. This is just my preference, I like to know about ALL the options, have a general sense of what they are, and be able to evaluate on a gut level if they'd be a good fit for one of my kids.
I have a binder that I call "All the Things Learning" and I have a section of the Binder that is just for this information. I have a plain piece of note book paper with each curriculum or resource I find as the title. I fill the page with bullet point snippets about the curriculum (from websites and online reviews). I may never use the curriculum, but if I wrote a lot about it I probably hope to! And it's there when I'm circling around to a new school cycle and am weighting my options for each child.

For *me* this is helpful. I don't find it overwhelming and I tend to only keep detailed information on curriculums that really catches my fancy. There are probably about a hundred times that one click on the website told me it wasn't a good fit, and I only wrote it on a list of "math curriculum options" or whatever. A glance at a website can often quickly tell you if it's worth any time for your child.

3. Just DO IT. 
You don't have to know all the curriculum out there. You don't even need to have a curriculum. Set some loose goals, and search (google and pinterest are handy!) for ways to make it fun and relationship building.

4. Know your child...Guiding them to Discovery brings JOY!
This is probably my favorite part of homeschooling. These are my favorite people, and discovering what interests them and what doesn't adds this beautiful dimension to life together. I want my kids to be interested and invested in whatever we're learning together.
This year we were using Heart of Dakota "Little Hearts for His Glory" and it was great! I loved it! It was open and Go and I would advise any first time homeschooler to get a "all in one" home school curriculum.
*Not because you'll use it all.
*Not because it will enable you to teach all the things it says your child will learn.
*Not because it is the best way to home school.

None of that was true here! But it gave us an awesome baseline. It said "this is what you can introduce to your child today...give it a shot!"

A lot, I discovered, my kids didn't like. They didn't want to do handwriting. They disliked some of the hands on activities, they looooved others!! They disliked math work sheets or being given a big thick book full of un-done work (one piece of paper please!). I learned a hundred more things about how they learn, what works best and all with in the frame work of that all in one homeschool curriculum.

We made paint together and learned about mixing colors...

We took a field trip together to a local Museum and got a hands on look at local History

I discovered SO much, and I am so glad for the experience. I also learned an "all inclusive" curriculum isn't a good fit for us right now. We need eclectic! We need to be interested! We need to be asked "what do you want to learn this week?" and then head off to the library, youtube, pinterest, and google to discover what's out there on the subject!

Which brings me to my next and final "thing I learned"...

5. There is no right way to homeschool...or unschool!
It's completely individual. The awesome and awful part -as with all things in parenting- you just have to dive in and figure out what's right for your family. Read books about it. Ask older home school Mom's to hear what they're doing and what their kids have enjoyed.  Also, home schooling doesn't have to be any thing like a class room.
 For many kids and parents learning together isn't going to involve a straight path of objectives and check marks. Learning is cyclical. It's a spiral. You introduce a concept, you find creative ways to help them practice new skills. It's holistic, you're working with a whole human being here, with many other areas of life they're growing in as well. Some months new math skills aren't going to be a good thing to investigate. If it's not working, if there is refusal to get involved, if there is upset over a subject...Step back! Ask yourself, "Do they HAVE to know this NOW to survive?"
 Learning happens, really happens, when the person is wanting to learn and invested in the knowledge. No one wants to grow up and be ignorant! Just like they learned to walk, and feed themselves, and talk- they'll do it! We all want to  know things.
Balancing the "they need to know this now" pressures from the outside can be tricky. "Does your 6 year old really need to know how to write perfectly and tidily, NOW? Maybe playing some letter shape games together with chalk or on a chalk board would be a better use of hand writing practice time. It doesn't have to fit in a box, learning is learning...and it is only learning if it is really LEARNED. :)

hand writing practice: playing Doc McStuffins together...She'd copy the words or sound out her own when it came to writing the "Diagnosis" in the Big Book of Booboo's. :)

Okay I lied, there's a #6
6. Challenge yourself.
What do you want to learn more about? Are there novels you've never tried to read before? Time periods you'd like to discover? Take some time to educate yourself, for fun! It really really is fun, and it is probably the most rewarding part of home education: you get hungry for knowledge too!

Next Post! 4 Resources I found helpful to me as a Mom on this learning Adventure...
http://mamaojoy.blogspot.com/2014/08/4-resources-ive-found-helpful-on-this.html

Autumn to December- what a rush!

self portrait by Friendly (aged 4)

 It's been a while! Our school year is going well... Friendly is just blowing my mind with her hungry little intellectual brain. And Roo is growing in leaps and bounds and asking such thoughtful and deep questions I am some times at a loss how to answer her (youtube to the rescue lol...well at least it answers "how are cars made?" But things like "why did Eve eat the fruit?" well geee...ummm)...

The girls can't get enough "school", it's a new kind of exhausting- but also a ton of fun!

I am still mostly loving a lot about Heart of Dakota curriculum. I love how short and sweet it is! We can do it "all" in 20 minutes, or we can stretch it out and take 3 hours and just soak in all the stuff.  It is very underwhelming and a great spring board for these ages- I definitely am glad I went with it this year. It has given us lots of time to spend outside during the sunshiney days of October and November....Lots of sweet moments:

Pip's favorite thing, ever: holding her sisters hands and being "big".

"The Heart of God" 100% by Roo

  We have been pretty much moseying through units 12/13 since Thanksgiving- skipping a lot of days to rest, run errands, work on house projects (more on that on the family blog shortly!) or just do other stuff.

At Thanksgiving we attempted finger print turkeys:

 What we actually ended up doing for the official was letting the girls finger paint a chinet plate and then we traced the girls hands on to it the next day and they added turkey features to their "hands".

 It has also been snowing a shocking amount for this time of year. We built a snow man together last weekend:

 Her name is (Roo declared): Miss "Lady"

 

In school this year so far we've covered The Old Testament from Creation up through the New Testament where we've just started in on Jesus' Ministry and the recounting of Jesus turning water into wine.

We finished "The World God Made" Kindergarten science book and have moved onto "Our Father's World" first grade science. Both are creation science books (covering the days of creation, the elements, animals, human anatomy, weather, seasons, months etc)...We're almost done the first grade book and I'm really not sure what to move onto next. Honestly all the Charlotte Mason-ish curriculum I have seen are not that big on science- and its' some thing that is a ton of fun to study together. I think researching new options is going to be my goal for Christmas Break.

What else have we done? We have followed the story of Reddy the Fox, Peter Cotton Tail, and are now in our 3rd book "Danny Meadow Mouse" - the girls are loving the books but Thorton Burgess and I love how bite sized they are and how HOD hones in on themes and draws out activities from the chapters.

So 4 months in, what do I still think of Heart of Dakota? I like it. Will I use it next year? I am not sure. I think it actually works really well for Roo (nearly 6). But I feel like I almost need some thing more driven and faster moving for Friendly (4). I am considering My Father's World Curriculum for her next year. We shall see.

 Another exciting thing (that has filled up many an afternoon!) was that Roo and Friendly got their *very own* library cards. It has been fun to take them on individual dates- cheap dates- and letting them walk out with a big stack of book they picked out themselves!

ADVENT....
We've been doing advent activities every day and are reading "The 24 Days of Christmas" by Madeline L'Engle

A tradition: paper chain!

wrapping paper, paper chain!

Tea times...

Decorating!

Glittery snow flake making (because nothing says "Christmas" like cleaning up glitter for the entire month!) Friendly took the initiative and taped her snowflake to the front door- isn't that great? Lots of tape too! :)

And typing out all that above and looking through the girls "binders" (we've been putting their projects and special papers in their own binder- the things are BURSTING they are so full of stuff they've written, created, and done in "school"). Well it feels good. Really good, I really like homeschooling. So much as a stay at home Mom I feel like I do a ton of things that get "undone" or that aren't really quantifiable...Some times it all feels pointless. I like check lists (though I try to be flexible), I like the reward of seeing I have accomplished some thing. And reading the above ...Well we have accomplished a lot this Autumn...It's been so much fun to learn and grow together.


I am hoping next year will bring more time to blog...to ponder and process. 2013 has been ridiculously amazingly busy and full of changes and blessings... Here's to a new year and more things to learn and grow in!

MERRY CHRISTMAS from the "Joy" Family (and Nana Joy too- oh and if you're wondering about our expressions- the person taking our picture their tree was falling over behind them- ha!)