Seven Quick Takes: Memorable Moments

Thanks to Jen at Conversion Diary for hosting. :-)

This week there was nothing earth shaking happening at our house, but sometimes it's all about the little moments.

1. Marty was being carried somewhere by one of his aunties. Apropo of nothing, he popped his head up and said "HEY!  Imma love you!"

2. Upon being given a donut, Kittybean (15mo) made happy smacking sounds with her mouth, punctuated by waving her arms in the air.  This is her rendition of the "happy dance."

3. At a coffee shop, I was putting cream and sugar in my coffee.  My curious Robbie was watching and started commenting. "Don't put in too much sugar." "Why do you need that much cream?"  "I think that's enough cream now, Mom.  You should stop now." Because a six year old who has never tasted coffee is of course an expert.

4. Girls' night at the cafe with dessert and coffee was awesome.  My girlfriends are wise, geeky, and the perfect group for me. Not to mention funny and supportive.  Love 'em to pieces.

5. While I was watching my son do his work sheet, he looked up and smiled ear to ear.  He loves his homeschooling.

6. Bri actually asked for more school work after she finished her quota. Her sister grabbed her crayon  and, instead of coloring on her sister's worksheet, made coloring motions over where Bri had already colored.  She's getting it!

7. Every day there are little moments where my kids interact with each other that warm my heart.  Yes, four is a lot and five will be more.  Yes, they keep me busy and a little tired.  But they fit together like puzzle pieces.  They love and help each other.  They belong together.

Notes from the Trenches, Vol. 2

Since today is a national holiday, I'm giving the kids the day off of school.  I haven't decided yet if we're going to catch up tomorrow or if I'll just re-boot my lesson plan making up for the missed day.

I tried out my new religion plan this week.  The first day we focused on learning a prayer, the second day we read a story from the old Testament and the third day we read from the new Testament.  I like the rhythm and it keeps the kids thinking about  what we're studying and why.  I'm keeping it. :-)

We also did math this week, using Saxon K.  Because I actually did all my lesson prep in advance it was much easier than winging it, which was what I was doing before.  It worked seamlessly into our work week.

This week we didn't have any "weak" points per se, unlike last week.  While I feel good about that, we did run into a couple of other snags.

Yesterday, the 6 year old Robbie and 4 year old Bri both started having trouble focussing about 2/3 of the way into our school time.  I'm not sure if it was the fact that we have out of town company or the couple added subjects this week.  Either way, they ran out of steam, so I backed off.  We did all the essentials, but some of the optionals fell by the wayside.  Which is fine.  That's why they're "optionals".

Also, 15 month old Kitty has developed an aversion to school time.  I think she feels left out when she's not the center of attention.  It's okay, though.  She will get used to it.

3 year old Marty still loves read aloud time and poetry time.  And I found out yesterday that he will do coloring sheets if, and only if, I hand him the crayon at the same time as I hand him the page.

Have a great week, everyone.  Happy lesson planning!

Five Favorites: Homeschool Newbie Edition II

Thank you to Hallie at Moxie Wife for hosting this week!

1. Work Sheet Works

This nifty little website lets you make your own handwriting sheets (if you click on the one that says "Handwriting Practice").  You get to customize how many lines appear, what the worksheet will say, how big the text is, the works.  The best part?  It's FREE.  Easiest part of my lesson planning week is to plug in what I want the kids to work on writing this week.  There's all kinds of other good stuff, but I go there for the customized work sheets.

2. The Dollar Tree

For manipulatives for my 15 month old, this place is hard to beat.  They have basic craft supplies and right now they're starting to gear up for the school year, which means flash cards, handwriting pads, work books and school room accessories that stay in my budget.  While I still don't buy sketchy tooth whitening or grooming supplies, this is my go-to to keep my busy baby busy.

3.

This I borrowed from a friend and dusted off this week to help with my weak math lessons.
The content is varied enough that it keeps it interesting for my six year old student, but scripted enough that I can teach a math lesson even with every things else going on in the background.  It's heavily focused on manipulatives and playing with numbers, so it's a fun introduction and won't induced later groans and "Math? Do I have to?"'s from reluctant math students.

4.

One of the joys of having very young students is being able to match them with things that they love and things that they are good at.  To see that lightbulb moment when they know they are learning and they feel happy and strong because they are learning.  This poetry compilation was put together by Laura Berquist, foundress of Mother of Divine Grace homeschool program (and my boss).  She walked the homeschool walk with her kids and this book is a collection of poems that she taught her kids over the years and has something for each grade level.  For example, did you know Robert Lewis Stevenson wrote poetry for small children?  He did, and they're part of this collection.  My littles are learning his sweet little poems and being able to recite poetry is one of the best parts of their day.

5. Dessert: Door County Renaissance Faire

At the end of the school week, our reward is going to be going to the Door County Renaissance Faire for a "field trip".  It's important to remember that part of learning is having fun and experiencing new things.  Plus, we've been working on costumes all week.  The kids have a say in the creative direction of their costumes and they love watching the outfits come together.  We talk about things like planning for the weather, what kind of colors they are hoping for, etc.  It's a bonding experience for me and for them, plus they get to exercise their creativity in a new way.  The six year old actually drew pictures of a coat he was hoping for (and that boy has swagger!  It was a very stylish coat.).  Plus, the theme this year is pirates. Yargh!



I did not receive a promotional consideration for any of these products.  I did not get paid in freebies or otherwise for these product reviews.  The content here is solely the result of wanting to share with other homeschooling parents things that I have found helpful.  But if you click on my Amazon links I might get a couple pennies if you buy stuff.

You might be a homeschool mom of many if...

You might be a homeschooling mom of many if you find yourself saying things like:

"No, no.  Please don't sit on the math book."

"No, you can't color on the lesson plan."

"See?  She's just trying to show that she knows what the crayon is for!"

And that was just today.

Rock on, homeschool mommies.

Hello, Monday!

After a wild and crazy weekend, I'm so, so glad I did my lesson planning last week.

Believe it or not, *not* flying by the seat of your pants increases the probability of getting things done by 1000%. I'm sure wiser heads than mine have pointed that out, but sometimes being a beginner means making your own mistakes.

Also, we have a full docket this week: out of town guests, Fourth of July festivities and rounding up the week  with a weekend at the Door County Renaissance Faire.  I'm making everyone pirate costumes this week (Except for B, who wants to be a blue pirate fairy princess.).  I'm running errands and meeting friends and getting our garden in shape (as much as a 35 week pregnancy will let me) and I am still confident that we are going to get our school work done this week.

Also, the kids keep asking to make sure that we're going to get our schoolwork in.

I always promised myself I would be a "summer off" kind of homeschool mom.  However, our little curriculum only takes about an hour, so they get the majority of the day off.  Plus, they will be ready to start the school year with a bang, since their mental hinges will all be oiled and in top working shape when A. the new baby comes in a month B. my teaching from home job kicks back in and C. harvest season rolls around.

And that's the thing about homeschooling. If you find something that works, roll with it.  If you find something doesn't work, change it.  There's a real beauty to flexibility.

Seven Quick Takes

1. Power outages stink.  They re-set everything in the house and the kids wake up scared because their night lights aren't working.  It's also hard for a pregnant mama to use a windowless bathroom.

2. Husbands who get up at 4:30 a.m. because the power is out and their kids are scared are awesome.

3. Husbands who figure out how to use a match to light the gas stove to make coffee are even more awesome.

4. Getting the kids out of the house so they stop being squirrelly because the TV and the toaster both aren't working seems to be the Thing To Do.

Because then you get these:

5. First strawberry picking:

6. Contented, post strawberry smiles:

7. Coming home to a house where the power is back on and all is right with the world.  

Notes from the Trenches (Vol. 1)

So, it is late Thursday and we officially finished our school week.  Tomorrow I'm going to set up a craft and an educational show, after I go over with the kidlets what we did this week.

We're done with the hard stuff, for now.

So, this is my round-up of random information gleaned from homeschooling a 6 year old, a 4 year old, a   3 year old and a 15 month old, while being 34 weeks pregnant.  I'm calling it notes from the trenches, because, whatever else homeschooling is, it is hard.  So, for all you newbie homeschoolers and moms of many out there, have hope!  You're not alone.

My lesson plan system worked. It worked so well that this afternoon I went ahead and did my lesson planning for *next week* because, carpe diem, people!

It turns out, to my surprise, I am not a color by number syllabus person.  At least, not when my hands are so full.  It turns out that when I reach down and try to relate to each child at their own level, schooling became easier.  Rolling with the differences is actually a lot less stressful than trying to impose the same mold on the whole crowd from the top down.

So, the 15 month old spent the week playing with foam blocks and a muffin time, augmented on different days by a wooden spoon, various sippy cups, and a plastic snack container with a hinged lid.  Also, for some reason, her sibs who were waiting for their turns at different times were also interested in these things.  School time for her was an adjustment, but she's getting the hang of it.

The 3 year old spent the week learning "This little piggy went to market..." He had coloring sheets as well, but he was not interested.  He  did enjoy the group reading and poetry time, though, and felt included enough that he didn't disrupt his older learning siblings.

The 4 year old spent the week tracing letters and numbers and doing simple phonics.  She also got to color, which she thoroughly enjoyed.  I think her favorite part was getting a sticker on finished assignments, though.

The big kid, the 6 year old, started slow and gained momentum.  The first couple days it seemed like he had lost all interest in reading and all knowledge of phonics.  By this morning, however, he was buzzing through his reading and phonics so fast it was like he was playing a game.

The highlights seemed to be the end-of-the-lesson chapter of Winnie the Pooh.  They were good listeners.

This week was weak in religion and math.  Frankly, this has always seemed like a weak spot in our school, but now there is a plan on the books to improve this.  I've located the appropriate lesson in Saxon Kindergarten, so we'll be starting that and I've designed a religion lesson that covers all the weaknesses in the other religion programs I've had trouble with.  Both of those are now part of the lesson plan, so they *will* get done.  They have their own special boxes like all the other important subjects.

Designing my curriculum as I go was stressful initially, realizing all the bases I had to cover.  However, it enabled me to roll with the punches this week, taking notes, mentally re-working things in my head.  It's the last day of the school week and I don't feel burnt out.  That's a first.

And that's all from the trenches this week, folks.