Swamped

A homeschool blog that I follow, Latter-day Homeschooling, has a post that asks homeschooling moms to share their schedules. It's always nice to hear different ideas on how different families organize their days. I always need it because it's inspirational. And I'm planning on linking this to the site. Not because I think my schedule is amazing. It's not. I'm not even following it. It's because our lives are swamped right now, yet we're doing what we need to do. And I'm sure we're not the only family out there who is swamped. So...this is for those moms who are swamped and might feel guilty about how organized others are when life just isn't allowing you to be organized yet.

It's okay! That's where I am, too!

I have a 6yo, a 4yo, and a 2yo, so I feel blessed that our schooling doesn't have to be rigorous right now while life is swamped. We can just stick to the basics and encourage learning in anything the kids are interested in and that's fine! It always amazes me how often the kids choose to do something academic when they are not pushed to do it.

We started our school year in the middle of August because public school starts then, too. I've decided to do 6 week sessions with 6 weeks on and 1 week off. We just do "school work" Mon-Thurs with a break on Friday. I started the first 6 weeks following a routine schedule (I'm not ready to go by the clock...I enjoy my freedom too much!)...breakfast, KidSchool/devotional, family work, lunch, quiet time/reading, project time, dinner. On school days, they are not allowed to watch TV and I occasionally allow them to play an "educational" computer game. If they get bored, I encourage them to do a learning activity or work.

But life happens. My husband's work schedule has been very erratic lately (he just started a business last January and has his practice open for patients on different days to keep operating costs down). He's great at doing educational things with the kids, but he's not the best at following a routine schedule. So, my routine schedule has mostly gone out the window. :) (It hasn't helped that we've had unexpected company, sickness, new demanding church callings, and always working to boost business.)

That's okay. The kids are still learning. Mainly, I have felt the need to teach them more about family work. So that has been one of our foci (plural for focus, right?). Mon and Thurs are laundry days, Wed is clean-the-house day, Tues is errands (generally). Fri is daily basics, and oddly, they often want to do an art project or play an educational game on Fridays! If only we didn't have so much housework to do! (Maybe I need to re-think the amount of work we do every day...to free up time for school?)

Amazingly, my 6yo has made a significant jump in his reading skills just in the last week (yea for having him read his own verse during family scripture study!). We still make regular visits to the library, which always results in bringing many books home. The kids have adjusted well to no TV on school days, and it does really create that boredom vacuum where they choose to do something educational (and to me, a 6yo following a complicated Lego instruction booklet for a couple of hours each day for a week to complete a Lego design is educational...it stretched his concentration, problem solving skills, matching, patterns, etc) . The 6yo started 4H and is really excited about that. The 4yo and 6yo begin soccer tomorrow. We participate in a weekly Adventure group where we attend a museum, go to a park, or a lake with other homeschool families.

And just feeding the natural curiosity of a child helps them learn. I answer their questions, and let them play (I try hard not to interrupt it...if I need to, I wait until the play-harmony is gone, then I step in). The other day, they watched The Restoration video and then went outside, rearranged some rocks in our backyard, and searched for the Golden Plates. At the very least, my busy-ness allows them ample opportunities to play. And when I listen to their play, I can hear them grow in their understanding of the world around them. And, oddly, I'm at peace with how their education is going right now.

Gettin Organized

With the start of a new school year comes the itch to not only figure out some curriculum, but also to GET ORGANIZED! Ahhh. It always feels so good to organize a little. But it didn't turn out as I planned. This was my plan: toys in the closet, school toys in the armoire (so I could put a child lock on it and theoretically only allow the children access to those items at certain times of the day. It's The Closet idea taken from TJed families, best explained on this blog.).

My 4yo did not like the idea of me moving his toys out of the armoire. So, after tears, settling down, and sincere "please," I changed it around. School toys, science projects, learning games, puppets, art supplies, Legos are now in their closet and the toys are back where they once were. And none of it looks as good now as it did then. :) At least the kids pick up after themselves!

As I was working on that, I decided to act on an idea I've had for months...to get another book shelf in our Living Room and use some of the shelves for homeschooling supplies. During some of my several back-to-school shopping runs to Target (I just love their $1 Spot at school time for inexpensive workbooks, games, and books), I luckily ran into some darling storage things that were actually in my price range (aka, almost free. j/k but under $5)!

before

after

I just love how it turned out! The left bookshelf houses a lot of our family albums, pictures, and scrapbooks. The middle bookshelf is full of fiction and non-fiction. The right bookshelf is mainly dedicated to piano books on the bottom, curriculum and school journals in the middle, markers and colored pencils up high, and the baskets hold art supplies (paint, playdough, etc) that just need to stay out of the reach of my toddler.

For once, we have bookshelves with a little bit of room for decoration! (Not to mention the 3 boxes of books out in the garage that could maybe use a place for display in the home.) But I hope to be buying more books this year, so some of that decoration space will get filled up with books. And that's fine!

6 Week Schedule

This summer, I kept flip-flopping between homeschool and regular school. I realized I hadn't really researched all the schools in the area (we have open enrollment and charter schools) so I looked into a Waldorf-inspired charter school and a Montessori-inspired charter school. My biggest hang-up still is this...I will be responsible for my kids' education, until they take it on themselves and go to college (hopefully, they'll take full responsibility before that). But I also was just plain scared to start...for real (my oldest will be 6 this month).

And then I went to a leadership seminar. And the speaker talked about how kids/youth are so well trained in mediocrity and following others. And then I remembered one of my number one reasons for homeschooling: leadership education.

For some of you, you will recognize that it sounds like the Thomas Jefferson Leadership Education. And it does. I've read their 3 books on how to make a leadership education happen in your home. And I want that end result for my kids, too. But I have put them on the shelf for the last few months because I know that I need to teach my children my way.

I respect the leadership education model, especially "teaching" by example, independent learning on the child's part, teaching through classics, holding off on rigorous education until the child's brain is ready for it. But truthfully, I'm not passionate about becoming a Constitutionalist, a Freedom Fighter, or anything else political. And so many of the TJed webinars and classes point somewhere in that direction because they firmly believe (as I take it) that this educational model will produce the next generation of Jeffersons, Adams, and Washingtons to save our country. Not that it's a bad thing. It just isn't my thing (or mission, as a TJed-er would say). So, I'm being my own leader and doing it in my own way.

When I came across the 6 week homeschool schedule, I thought, yeah...this really could work for me (TJed recommends a 3 month schedule, with larger breaks every 6 months to purge your home and reorganize)! 6 weeks on, one week off. I can do this! I can follow a schedule for 6 weeks! I can have a week off to breath, plan, then get back to work again!

I asked my kids what they want to learn about, and both said "Outer Space!" So, it looks like our first 6 weeks will focus on Outer Space. And it looks like I'm headed towards unit studies...

But, that's what homeschool is all about...coming up with ways and revamping them constantly to give our children the education they deserve! (I still think my blog title is relevant...hsing is always an experiment!)

Sing a Song

The other day, I had a cute idea to turn a Nursery Rhyme into an activity, so they could understand what it means better. I chose "Sing a Song of Sixpence" because of the numbers in it (I have to make a point to do math with my kids, so I try to bring it in whenever I can). Boy, did they have fun with this!!

Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye.

Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing,
Was not this a dainty dish to set before the king?

Before we started making the play-dough birds, I asked how many birds we (4) each would have to make in order to get 24. I counted on six fingers 4 times to get to 24. They didn't really get it at all, but I was happy to have at least introduced the concept of multiplication to them. They also had A LOT of fun with the play dough. Then they wanted to dress up. The king is a pumpkin king. We all loved this morning activity!

Bonus pics because they're just too cute!

Figuring Out What's Mine

Today I have found myself reflecting. I have observed other children just naturally do and do well. Yesterday at the park, I was observing a 10 year old boy playing with the agility of a seasoned athlete and a 4 year old boy playing catch with his grandpa (or dad?) with much better skill than my 5 year old (I know, I'm comparing and I shouldn't). The other day, I was reading friends' blogs. I enjoyed reading about the things they do with their children...outings, art projects, soccer games, silliness, healthy eating habits, etc. My kids also watched a video on Yahoo! made by a dad and narrated by his pre-schooler that was really cute.

I couldn't help thinking (because I'm always thinking about homeschool...now that it's a part of our life)...am I really giving my kids what they need with homeschool? Are they going to be well rounded?

And when I honestly answer myself, I have to say probably not. And that is something I'll have to continually address. But I can give them ample opportunities to learn what interests them and to participate in activities that interest them. And I can teach them what is Mine. But I have to think about what is Mine because it's hard to obviously see...it's what is a part of me and my learning and my individual intelligence. But it's there...and it's what I naturally gravitate in teaching my children. And my kids are already learning that stuff.

Here is an example of teaching something that is Mine. As my 5yo was climbing into bed (literally, since he sleeps on the top bunk), he started talking about the 3 times the devil tempted Jesus as recorded in Matthew 4. I couldn't remember talking with him about this and I quickly looked at his Primary handout...and it doesn't look like they talked about that today, either, but I decided to roll with it. I wanted to get it right so I pulled out the Bible and paraphrased the story with them...interspersing real scripture phrases with the story. The boys were enthralled!

When I finished, my 4yo asked me to tell the story again! So I retold it in a watered-down version. Then we had a discussion about the devil and how he tries to get us to make wrong choices. We talked about him having no body and never being able to have a body because of his wrong choice...and that he is jealous of our bodies. My 5yo kept asking deep questions like where the devil lives. And my 4yo said how important it is for us to obey Jesus and not Satan (and I heard him telling that to his little sister earlier today, too).

I think that the kids are ready for the whole Plan of Salvation lesson for Family Home Evening tomorrow.

This list is more for me than anything. Things that are mine:
Scripture and religion
Music...playing the piano, flute, guitar, harmonica, recorder, tapping beats
Appreciation of nature through hiking, outdoor exercise, camping, bird watching, observing plants, wading in creeks, playing in the sand...they take it a step further with their fascination in bugs
Geography (we have a world map hanging above our living room couch...it creates a lot of spontaneous teaching moments)
Astronomy (very amateur)
Geology (also very amateur)
Travel (right now we take advantage of close trips...someday, we will hopefully be able to go abroad)
People and cultures, especially Chilean (where I served my mission), Middle Eastern (especially Egypt thanks to The Prince of Egypt and my experience to do a Study Abroad in Jerusalem), and Korean (where my husband served his mission)
Spanish
Literature...right now we're still just reading great children's books
Human anatomy (it's easy when the children are on my level!)
Agency
Responsibility
Baking
Cooking
Reading
Swimming
Soccer/back-yard games (like tag, croquet)
Singing

Hey, that list isn't that bad! It's more well-rounded than I thought! It's just lacking in the things I knew it would...art and math. At least the kids are self-motivated to do art and math doesn't scare me. I just have to make a point of doing those things.

A Good Day

One thing about homeschooling is that "productivity" is unpredictable. Especially in the sporadic way I go about it! But today was a good, productive day. Although I didn't get all the cleaning done I was hoping to do (the blasted vacuum), the kids were very interested in learning. So I went with it. And I learned something, too.

Also, I've had a friend ask me how I homeschool. This is a glance at how I do it. I try to inspire my kids with books and learning in general, but I also follow their lead when they are interested in learning or doing something educational.

5yo...he did lesson 53 in his Reading lesson book. He practiced counting to 100...and he did most of it himself, with only a little prodding from me with getting his 10s right (he kept wanting to say "thirteen" for 30 and so on). I also had him place beans on a 1-100 number card...I figured that was a good prep exercise for future games like putting beans on random numbers and skip counting. He also insisted on "writing" in oatmeal. I put about a cup of oatmeal on a cookie sheet and he practices his letters. The oatmeal then became the desert for his animal toys. And, here's the best part, almost everything he did today was his own idea! Yeah!! (I'm all for self-guided learning!)

For both boys, we worked on and worked on and worked on picking up what we get out before moving on to the next activity. That still needs a lot of working on.

4yo...he couldn't keep his hands off of anything. It did drive me crazy at one point, but I think we're both learning lessons on how to channel his curiosities in a positive way. Okay, so, what was he doing? He kept taking things apart on the vacuum...(it's not his fault it wasn't working...I just bought it from a yard sale and the person missinformed me about its usefulness). Well, he happened to remove the bagless container after I had vacuumed, and since it's a new vacuum to us, he didn't know that a certain lever would open it and...very dirty couch, yelling mom, time out, learn a lesson, help mom clean it all up.
My 5yo took out a stapler for a craft, and while we were doing the reading lesson, the 4yo was trying to figure out how it worked. He successfully removed the spring, stretched it in the process, and couldn't put it back together again...because the spring had lost its sprung.
He also kept fidgeting with our new printer.
And he asked me how soda was made. We found a couple of videos on YouTube, this one is our favorite (it's very entertaining). He watched it over and over...and then he had to show his brother and then watched it over and over. I think we'll have to make some home made soda.

So, my 4yo is clearly into tinkering and figuring out how things work. I've known this for a long time, but he has never been into so many things in one day. I've decided that we need to set up some rules: like where to tinker and with what. So, instead of trying to sell our ink-guzzling old printer on Craig's list, I think I'll let him tinker with it. Instead of trashing the old vacuum (not the garage sale one...I'm going to try to get my money back for that), I'll let him tinker with it...in the garage.

I'm really excited about this "discovery." I do want to allow him a safe environment where he has things he can take apart and try to put back together. He has already asked me what motors are and what engines do. I remember hearing (or reading) about how Steven Spielberg's mother allowed him to rearrange the house to create sets for the movies he created when he was younger...and he later became an amazing movie director. So, I don't want to hold my little guy back just because it makes a mess. I want him to explore his potential so he can reach greater heights.

And my 21mo--she "helped" me with putting away laundry, "helped" with making breakfast, made us laugh, went to time out for fake crying too much, ran around being teased and teasing back, pulled books off of shelves, wore everyone's shoes at least once, and pointed to a car in a book and said "maw, maw." I guess that's her word for car. Yay. She's learning more words! She also looked at almost every page in my "coffee table" book about the country of Jordan. She kept pointing at the ancient Roman ruins and she loved the waterfall. She also enjoyed the buildings of Petra. Who knows what future mysteries this girl will unravel?

Little Explorers

Right now, I'm reading this book called Homeschooling for Success, which I found out about on Homeschool.com. I just have to say that I really, really like it. I'm finding so many things in there that I agree with...and so many things that are very encouraging to me. Here is a sample of something I read today that I really like. It's in the chapter that talks about "Finding Your Child's Special Genius," which talks about the many different learning styles and how suggestions in teaching to those styles.

"Allow your child to 'sample' different interests

"While this might seem easier to apply to your homeschooling than learning styles or intelligences, there is a catch: You have to let your child quit. Yes, you have to let her quit piano after only two months if she decides piano is not for her. (She may come back to it later.) (Story about a girl who wanted to learn to dance at 3yro and quit soon after. She started again at 6 and danced for 12 years and decided to make dance her life's work.)

"Children have to sample many different things in life so that first 'spark' of interest in something can ignite. They are building up a library of what the world has to offer. If they are stuck in piano, they might never have a chance to discover they have a special talent in guitar, drums, or singing. As a parent, you have to have to be your child's 'interest advocate.' And this is going to be hard. You have to stand up to other adults and maybe even grandparents that think you are raising a quitter. Your children are not quitters, they're explorers. Give them this special time in life to explore what they find interesting. Often one pursuit lends itself to another but is not easily apparent to the parent. This was the case for Adam.

"(Story about Adam who loved science and math and was heading toward a career in that path. At 13, he picked up a guitar by chance and had a natural talent. His parents allowed him to immerse himself into it. Over the next 2 years, he made the correlation between math and music theory and "intensely began to experiment with charting music by hand and playing other instruments like the trombone and piano. He dove deep into music history and listened to every type of music he could get his hands on. He began to play his original guitar compositions in public and at age 15 was invited by an acclaimed international guitarist to participate in a 10 day guitar seminar in France").

Anyway, I thought that was really cool...let a child quit because they are not quitters, they are explorers!

Learning to Read

My 5yo developed a fascination with Harry Potter and told me that he wanted to read the book. Since his reading skills are at a minimum right now, I figured this would be a great motivation for him to do his reading lessons (taken from the book, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons).

We made a chart with the numbers 1-100 on it (which is also helping him learn those numbers) and he gets a sticker every time he finishes a lesson. When he finishes all 100 lessons, I will buy him a copy of the first Harry Potter book, which he has to read before he can watch the movie (I figure if he can read the book, he can handle the movie...he still gets easily scared about stuff, so if he knows what will happen beforehand, then he shouldn't get nightmares). So, he is learning how to read! He's already on lesson 28 (well, we started in October then went very sporadically through the first dozen lessons). He's been really good about learning how to read, and I catch him reading other things, too.

So exciting!

To reinforce what he learns in his reading lessons, I also encourage him to read Bob Books (which is a collection of phonics-based books that teaches kids to read a few letters and concepts at a time). My 3yo also likes to read those books (one letter at a time, while bobbing up and down off the couch...a little kinetic learner).

To The Mooooooonnnnnn!!!

We love to go to outer space. Literally. We have to have an outer space class about once a month. Why? Because we get to dress up like astronauts and jump around on the moon! This is my 3yo's top requested "class." Yesterday, they saw Wallace and Grommit's trip to the moon, so today, they had to do it, too. I didn't get pictures of it today, but this is what it's like...

Pillows and bean bags and sheets turn into craters and low gravity. Today, we listened to Fanfare for the Common Man, by Aaron Copland (just go listen to the first 30 sec on iTunes...and you'll see why). That is such an inspiring song. To me, it speaks of the amazing accomplishments that common men have done and still do. It speaks of the great potential we have within us, that as we reach down and search and work for it, we begin to realize it and become our greatest selves.

(For some reason, I associate the advancements in space with that song...so I looked it up in Wikipedia to see if it was a theme song for a shuttle mission or something. Not so. It was written during WWII to uplift and encourage people during the war.)

Speaking of a common man, I had taught the kids before that Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon. Today, my oldest remembered that! It was amazing! So, we repeated that oft repeated phrase, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." As the music was playing, I excitedly told the kids how normal people do amazing things...like Neil Armstrong and Aaron Copland. They just loved it! And I just loved how they loved it!

Other things we have done with this space "class":

• use star and sun paper punches and glue stars and suns on black construction paper
• go to the St Louis Planetarium to see a show about stars and learn where the current locations of stars and planets are (for a few weeks, we knew right where Jupiter...or was it Venus...sat in the sky)
• go to National Geographic's interactive Solar System web site to learn more about our Solar System

One fact I have re-learned: Pluto is no longer considered a planet. We only have 8 planets orbiting our sun. But there are at least 3 dwarf planets, Pluto included, that orbit the sun (I thought I remember learning about a 4th at the Planetarium...but the NG website says 3). A dwarf planet has not "cleared the neighborhood" around its orbit, which means it shares it's orbit with other objects.

Interesting, huh.