Random Flexible Homeschool Life

As it is in our home, life is unpredictable (as is any home with 5 boys ages 6 and under-or any home with one little person and a parent for that matter)  and so our learning time has to be flexible.  Plans and good intentions get us so far, only to be let go for an option that involves less stress or conflict, or to carry through with an idea that came along right then and just sounds more fun.

Today we started with The Pledge of Allegiance, a prayer, and a scripture story followed by some reading aloud.  We never do things in the same order, or even in the same room.  We then took a break that was supposed to be 10-15 minutes and turned into I think 45 minutes.  (A lot of this is due to the beautiful 3 week old addition to our family.  The kids of course didn't mind some extra lego time.)

When we finally got started again we did some math and a science experiment.  The PLAN was to then do writing before lunch BUT everyone had so much fun with the science I could tell they were too wound up and it wouldn't be fun or pretty to get them to sit down and do their writing.  The other factor was that during the science experiment I had put a masking tape finish line on the carpet and remembered how fun it was over a year ago to make masking tape roads in the front room.

  So we built a little town with masking tape roads in the front room.  So fun!  We're going to leave it up for a couple days and probably add a few more roads.  

 I still planned on doing writing after lunch.

During lunch Spiderman's ukulele showed up on the front porch!  Yea!  We've been expecting it for over a week and he was SO happy!   He now gets to start learning his first instrument!  I think cute Robin is hoping to play it sometime too. :)

Of course after lunch we couldn't go straight to writing!  They had to experiment with the ukulele. They didn't care about me looking up what notes to tune it to first.  THIS was SO fun.  All of the boys got on an instrument.  Big brother Superman has now decided he wants them all to be a band when they get bigger.  We had Robin on the piano, Baby J on the drum, Superman-ukulele, and Spiderman-guitar  (I love how they were all playing the guitar like it was an upright bass--it made me want to get one.)  They rotated a couple times and although musically there wasn't a ton happening, they did all get on the same rhythm a few times, and that was pretty awesome.

Since I had Baby A 3 weeks ago, Robin (will be 4 in Nov) has become one of the big boys in the house.  He is VERY musical and I'm excited to see what comes out of him when he's older.

 Can you get over how cute it is to have that adorable 1 year old on that big drum!  I love it. :)

After the park I put Baby J to bed and tuned the ukulele. Spiderman learned the C chord, and I played a little progression on guitar while I shouted out notes for Superman to play on the piano.  I hope this happens many more times! 

We never got to our writing, or the other "work" I had in mind for the day, but that is the beauty of homeschool.  You don't have to do EVERY subject EVERY day and you have this beautiful opportunity to create special memories with these little people that bless your life.  

P.S. This was our second weekly NO SCREENS day.  I hope to write more about this later!

Vowel Song

(To the tune of "London Bridges")

I know the names of the vowels

A - E - I - O - U

I know the names of the vowels

A - E - I - O - U

Teaching Money

I didn't write this poem and I'm not sure who did, BUT I like it!  Sing it to the tune of "Skip to my Lou" or just recite it.  You could easily just end after the quarter verse if you prefer.  

We did something the kids really enjoyed that would work for auditory, kinesthetic, and visual learners.  My kids know the song pretty well, but are still working to identify the names of the coins correctly.  SO, today we got out each coin while we sang the song, as well as a piece of paper with each coin amount on it.  As we sang the song, we would hold up the coin, and then the number of cents for each coin with the appropriate lyric.  It was fun, hands on, and instructive.  They asked to do it again later in the day.

 Happy homeschooling!

MONEY POEM

Penny, penny, easy spent,
Copper brown and worth one cent.

Nickel, nickel, thick and fat,
You’re worth 5. I know that.

Dime, dime, little and thin,
I remember—you’re worth 10.

Quarter, quarter, big and bold,
You’re worth 25, I am told.

Half a dollar, half a dollar,
Giant size.
50 cents to buy some fries.
Dollar, dollar, green and long,
With 100 cents you can’t go wrong.

Enjoying Learning Again!

Every family's educational journey is so different, as it should be.  We learn as we

go.  We learn from our feelings, from our children's feelings, from learning styles,

and discovering what works for us as Mommy's and teachers.  Every parent is after all

a teacher.  Every child is too for that matter.  

(I'm trying to remember these

things in stressful moments....aka "teaching moments.")

I finally decided yesterday that for next year, I'm bringing "Superman" back home, after what will be a

total of 3 months in public school.  I may very well choose to send him or another child back to public

school at another time, but for now, this is what puts my heart and mind at ease and I am 

looking forward to it.

Here are a few pictures from a little tactile activity we did last week.  We started out doing letters

in some flour in individual cake pans then went to the next "station" and wrote

names and drew pictures with spaghetti noodles.

"Spiderman" is so big and suddenly very interested in learning to read and write.

Wish I could remember the story about his noodle picture....

SUPER happy "Robin"! :)  He made that "d" on his paper himself modeled after the "d" on 

the book next to him. :)

He keeps surprising me lately with his little 3 year old coordination!  

I could be because it's still so difficult to understand his speaking that I forget

how much he's growing up!

The noodle thing could be a fun way to change things up with spelling words too!

Lately I'm learning a few things that make OUR home learning work better for us.

1.  Don't always do school at the same time or same location.  

Again, this is totally tailored to THIS Mommy and her boys.  It probably goes against every other homeschool thing you've ever read.  We do school here and there, upstairs at desks or on the white board, downstairs at the snack bar or kitchen table or once every week or two, at a table at the library during story time.  

2.  I don't have to stick to anyone's curriculum to be a good teacher with well rounded children.

Curriculum can be lovely and helpful, but for me, they can also be stressful.  For half of

this past school year we did our best to almost exactly follow a curriculum and 90% of the time

we did it at desks.  WELL, that is wonderful for some families, but that led to burn out for me, and the kids were not looking forward to learning.  I can focus on the things that are important for my child to learn, when they are ready to learn it and if they are especially into one subject I'm going to let them run with it.  Basically now I'm just

taking helpful ideas from our curriculum and finding other supplementing things that I like from the library and internet.  

[Example:  Our curriculum has a week long plan for teaching each letter sound that incorporates Science, reading, character, and Bible.  I now prefer to let my child choose the next letter he learns,

get library books that go along with, use some of the curriculum sheets, maybe bring in movies

on a topic that starts with that letter and also include a letter that we are reviewing the second half of the week.  Too much planning makes me crazy!  I've gotta fly by the seat of my pants, and go with 

everyone's moods to keep feeling alive.]

3.  It helps me to be accountable to someone.  
I figured this out through public school and I will apply it to our homeschool by using a local charter school program that is set up for homeschoolers.  They have an independent learning program
that I can use where for one or two subjects I will need to let someone know every couple weeks what we have done in that subject.  That will be tremendously helpful to me.  They also have fun free kits we can use, like Rosetta Stone access, a typing game, and an astronomy package.  Fun, fun.

4.  Find out about free local programs and see how they can spice up your homeschool.
Next to our city library we have a literacy center.  They offer reading classes for elementary students as well as math tutoring for older kids.  The reading classes put them groups according to reading level and meet twice a week for fifty minutes.  I will be taking my two oldest to these classes to give them a little outlet together and to give me that little guaranteed bi-weekly time to focus on my little ones.  We'll probably go to the library next door and read together, or maybe go play at a nearby park sometimes.

Reflection on our public school experience

Things I have learned from "Superman" being in public Kindergarten since the end of February:

1.  I miss him when he's gone.

2.  In public school they have to stay on topics for a long period of time to make sure everyone gets it.  This has advantages and disadvantages.  Reinforcement is good to a degree, but at some point if something is totally easy for your child, you are just wasting time.

3.  Consistently revisiting things your child has learned throughout the year really helps them retain it.  I could use some improvement in this area.

4.  When you child is gone to school for hours and comes home with a bunch of things to do (homework, piano practice, soccer sometimes, dinner, and always wanting to play with friends) it's easy to become a drill sergeant parent.  "Superman" feels this and even said to me yesterday, "When can I get my own house.  I'm tired of being told I can't do stuff and getting time outs."  This is a result (at least partially) of the time crunched, drill sergeant parent business.  I REALLY don't want that kind of relationship with my children.  I don't want to be the schedule keeper all the time.

5.  I learned that I like being accountable to someone for doing our reading.  It really helps me stay consistent.

Why I am currently leaning toward homeschool again for next year:

1.  6 hours a day away from Mom and family is a lot for such a young child. 

2.  I believe that spending more time with your family allows you to all know each other better and be closer.  (I am not at all concerned about lack of socialization between neighbor friends, church, homeschool group and sports).

The next two are currently the ones I feel the strongest about....

3.  I feel that in general, homeschooled children have more of an opportunity to find out who THEY are and what THEY love.  What do THEY want to learn about and why?  

4.  We can move at the pace of each individual kid.  I don't have to wait for 30 other kids to be proficient in one area. As soon as my child gets it, we can move on to the next concept and he has an opportunity to excel.  At the same time, he won't KNOW he's excelling.  He won't feel superior to another kid in his class, and if he needs to move slower, he won't feel inferior.

5.  There are many resources in our community to give me support as a homeschooling mother.  There's a library literacy program as well as many other library programs.  There is also a charter school with free kits for independent study on topics my 6 year old is especially interested in.  (They also give you access to a typing program, and Rosetta Stone for Spanish).  Doing some things through that school will give me someone to be accountable to in a no pressure, not stressful kind of way.  

6.  Less of a schedule to stick to....learning things will be done earlier in the day, so he will have more time when friends are home from school to play.  Also, sometimes he will get to play with homeschool friends earlier in the day and already feel socially fulfilled.  I won't have to run my life by the school bus....if Dad wants to see us for lunch, we're free to do that.  

A few mixed feelings:

This past week "Superman" has really enjoyed public school.  He still says he will not be sad if I decide to do homeschool next year.  I'm glad for that but it's still fun that he enjoys school.  At this point I'm feeling that being slowed down in his learning potential and the one thing after another evenings outweigh the fact that he enjoys school.  I can always change my mind later. :)  It's nice to feel you have a choice.

I plan on homeschooling through the summer with the children.  I figure by the fall, I will know for sure what I want to do next year.