Homeschool Blog

  • Evolution

    Submitted by Homeschool on Tue, 06/28/2011 - 10:14pm

    This homeschooling decision is definitely changing the landscape for our family life next year. Every time I think I know what things will look like for us in the fall, something else changes... my own work schedule, our decisions for Eliana's schooling, opportunities for homeschooling activities, you name it! But it is exciting and really seems to be falling into place amazingly well. Although I hesitate to say that, since it's still early in the summer.

    I was excited yesterday to get to Target and see that their summer workbooks had made it to the dollar spot and William was with me! I showed him half a dozen that he said looked interesting and he would like. They will be good for practice and for spinning off with other ideas. He's already done a science experiment in one of the books.

    We also made a trip to the craft store the other day for more pipe cleaners (we have a caterpillar infestation at our house) and googly eyes. Now the caterpillars are super cute.

    And the pipe cleaners are becoming all sorts of other great creations (I have drawn the line on caterpillars.) We have stag beetles, crowns, a comb, and my favorite: a black puppy!

    We are on a puzzle kick as well. The three-year-old thinks it's really great to do 100-piece puzzles,

    especially if they have pictures of fairies or princesses, although she still needs a lot of help (great for big brother.) The six-year-old asked for a 500-piece world map puzzle at the craft store... like I could say no to that! It's a Melissa and Doug puzzle and an excellent learning tool. I even got it for half price! So I guess we're doing a world geography unit! One of the Target dollar spot workbooks is also on World Countries. And our library's summer reading program is One World, Many Stories. See how the planning is happening without me even trying? I love it!

  • Co-op

    Submitted by Homeschool on Thu, 06/23/2011 - 10:27am

    We are completing our paperwork to join a homeschool co-op that meets twice monthly for classes like Phy Ed, Folk Songs, and book discussions. We have to sign and date almost as many times as we did for our mortgage, it's a little nutty! But they definitely cover all their bases from liability to statement of faith. It's a Christian group, but doesn't seem to focus a whole lot on faith. While it's not the case for us, one of the reasons many families homeschool is so they can teach religion at home. But they may sing some hymns and celebrate the holidays with the co-op. The co-op has also pushed us over the edge regarding preschool for Eliana next year. I was concerned about sending her along with 4 & 5 year olds for the three-day a week program when she's only 3. She is perfectly capable, but she's tiny and slow-to-warm up to new situations. I love her daycare and she was very comfortable there. She was always off and running as soon as she got through the door. So I talked to her daycare mom and she can take her again next year! That way she'll be free to go along to the co-op, which has a class for the younger ones. I'm hoping to help out in her room - it would be a perfect fit for me. It's a big change for our family, but things are shaping up.

    Today we are enjoying yet another rainy day with no sports activities. We've been to the library for new books and church for bible study. We've played some Wii for exercise, Number Rings for math practice and Doodle Dice for fun. Now we are mass producing pipe cleaner caterpillars and playing dress-up. We have learned some interesting facts about William's stag beetles (or stag beetle, as I think the other two have died). Thinking they might be hungry or thirsty, we put a few fruit pieces in their cage to see if they like them. Our learning continues...

  • This new adventure

    Submitted by Homeschool on Tue, 06/14/2011 - 1:25pm

    The adventure has just begun, but it's feeling great! We joined our first homeschool group at the park today for fun at the splash pad and playground. William renewed an old friendship and I got to meet lots of homeschooling moms. Everyone was kind and friendly. I even met one mom who was in the same hospital having her son on the same day that William was born!

    Our most recent study has been a unit on origami. RobH has many great tutorials on YouTube. The ninja star has been our most often played tutorial

    He uses a lot of geometry terms for the various shapes and it's great for fine motor and direction following. The reward for hard work is a lot of fun!

  • Committed to Homeschooling

    Submitted by Homeschool on Sun, 06/05/2011 - 5:01pm

    We recently committed to homeschool for William next year. He is bright and self motivated to learn, but he's young for his grade and this school year left him a little burnt out. Today he asked when second grade starts at his old school and said that he should start homeschool then. He is obviously excited for summer vacation. But we told him that maybe he should start homeschool today. He was apprehensive about that until we detailed his homeschool achievements for the day:

    Art - He created a little tent, a figure and a pillow using card stock, tape and markers before I even got out of bed this morning. It's Sunday :)
    Religion - We went to church. Again, it's Sunday.
    Writing - He dictated a blog entry.
    Social studies - William asked for a US map to trace the route we took on our recent road trip.
    Science - He developed a curiosity about queen ants. We googled queen ant to find out that they start as regular ants and are nourished to become queens that will fly off to mate and start a new colony.
    Math - This is an area that we'll need to be more deliberate about to keep him challenged. But yesterday we made plans for his weekly allowance and today we discussed our homeschool budget.

    Last night I subscribed to two magazines, which I decided will be the bulk of our curriculum - Ask and Appleseeds. I am really excited about the unschooling approach. I feel that's best for us at this point. We need to nourish William's natural love of learning which has already taken him so far. "School" was not a good fit. He obviously learns a lot when left to his own devices. I'm excited to see where his schooling will take us. I have no doubt that these two magazines will inspire learning if we are ever in need of inspiration.

    As for Eliana, our current plan has her going to preschool three mornings a week next school year. She thrives on social interaction. The letters she knows are all letters in people's names... what does that tell you? Personally, I predict that she will love school and excel there. But we're taking things one step at a time and doing the best that we can for each of our kids. I'm excited to blog about our unschooling experiences starting now, not in the fall :)