This is why we do it...

There are a thousand reasons to school at home, but this is one of my favorites.  A lunchtime snuggle with Daddy!  He works twenty-four hour shifts and often needs naps when he's home.  He was gone over ninety hours this week between work and EMS classes he was teaching.  He misses his kids when he's gone, and they miss him.  So, I don't mind letting Miss M take a longer lunch break if it means she can snuggle up with her daddy on the couch.  They are like two peas in a pod, two sides of the same coin.  And they need their time together.  Miss M and I can do her math on Saturday (and we have!) if need be.  We can finish up our English at four o'clock if that's what works best for our day.  We can do two social studies lessons in one morning if we missed one the day before.  That's why this school plan fits our lives.  Some may consider this to be haphazard or disorganized.  Maybe it is.  But I prefer to look at it as fluid and flexible, a way to make room for real life.  A schedule is important.  But so is a daddy's hug.

ABC Bible Verses

Instead of listing the Bible verse each week, I'll just edit this page and add the verses as we learn them!

All we like sheep have gone astray.  Isaiah 53:6

Be kind, one to another.  Ephesians 4:32

Children, obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do.  Ephesians 6:1

Do not fret or worry.  It only leads to harm.  Psalm 37:8

Every good and perfect gift is from above.  James 1:17

"Follow me," said Jesus, "and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

God is love.   1 John 4:16

Where is the other kid?

I realize most of my posts are about Miss M.  That's mostly because she's a second-grader and doing "real" school work.  Mr. J has been a bit of a challenge for me.  He knows lots and lots of information, but he's not ready for formal schooling yet.  When Miss M was his age, I could pick up any book, read it to her, and then we could discuss the characters, setting, history, plot, etc.  She wanted to make crafts and pretend to be characters.  We could listen to music and paint our feelings.  She learns well through literature and discussion, so that was easy for me when she was four.  Mr. J has a comlpetely different learning style.   He doesn't want to sit at a desk and practice writing letters.  And he definitely isn't going to sit down and paint his feelings for me.  He is a linear thinker and totally a hands-on learner.  He is frustrated easily when things don't go the way he feels they should.  He needs a lot of transition time between activities.  So these are challenges for me because I still need to keep Miss M on task.  Should I force him into Miss M's learning mode and frustrate everybody?  No. 

So I am learning to adapt.  It is one thing to know young children (even up through third grade!) should be learning mostly in a hands-on manner, but it is an entirely different experience to have a child who is not going to do it any other way.  He is completely content to stay downstairs and play with his train tracks all morning or watch videos of trains plowing through snow set to Miley Cyrus music (who are these people that make YouTube videos???)  But I want him to interact with Miss M and I and feel like he's not beling left out.  And I want him to know that learning is fun

This week, I moved all the puzzles upstairs to the classroom.  We pulled out all the pattern blocks.  He brought up some trains and cars.  Well, he takes those everywhere.  We sang songs and danced the Hokey Pokey.  I am gathering as much information as possible to help me with this early childhood teaching that I've taken on.  {Special thanks inserted here to Grandma M for her awesome list of ideas!} He had a great time playing with us, and he even asked one night if he could come play puzzles with us the next morning.  And when I heard him say, "Wow!  That's a really cool trapezoid!" while playing with the pattern blocks, I knew we were on the right track for the day.

Lesson Learned:  My children are amazingly different, and for that I'm thankful!  They learn differently, their personalities are different, their needs and challenges are different.  These differences are shaping the way I teach and interact with each one.  These differences are pushing me to be a better teacher and mom.  Thank you, God, for these unique little human!

The Substitute

Miss M needed some encouragement to work on her independent reading, so we set a twenty book goal, and she's been working diligently on it.  I'm hoping it will help her build confidence as a reader.  One of her favorite characters is Miss Nelson.  So, she's been plugging away at the books.

Miss M had her own substitute this week, and he was MUCH better than Viola Swamp.  The kids and I all came down with something this week, so Dad volunteered to be the substitute teacher one day when he was home from work for a few hours so I could rest.  (Thanks, Honey!)  Dad did a great hands-on lesson with Miss M on the three states of matter.  They studied ice, water, and steam.  She helped him boil water on the stove.  He taught her words like "freezing point" and "boiling point".  It was a good lesson.

Lesson Learned:  
Did Dad and Miss M do everything I would have done had I been feeling 100%?  No.  Did any of my lesson plans get followed for the day?  No.  Did Miss M learn something and have a great time with her dad?  Yes!  Did they bond?  Yes!  Was he a great substitute?  YES!  Was he better-dressed than Viola Swamp?  Certainly!

The kids are my full-time job right now.  I am with them so much that I have a hard time knowing how not to be with them, how not to be in charge.  But I'm learning.  And I'm so thankful for the substitute partner I have to help me along the way.

Delicious Autumn

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot

So, I like fall.   I REALLY like fall.  It might be because my birthday is in October, but I've always loved fall and look forward to it every year.  Turning leaves, hot cider, plump pumpkins, juicy apples.  Delicious!  But a wise man told me yesterday that fall all of the time would be like having Christmas every day.  Eventually it wouldn't seem special anymore.  How true. 

We are, therefore, taking advantage of fall activities as much as possible to enjoy the time while we have it.  Mr. J and Miss M both made fall trees from paper, and Miss M and I made a paper garland with fall words on it to decorate our learning space.  Miss M made the "monster" shown above with left-overs from our garden.  Every time we're out driving somewhere, we look for changing trees, and this past week has produced some beauties!  We already have Halloween costumes planned, and I heard Miss M tell Grandma J that we would be making pumpkin cookies soon.  So, I guess we're doing that, too. 


Lesson Learned: 
Being at home with both kids all of the time and having the added responsibility of educating them can be a lot of pressure.  But God has provided so many lessons for us in nature (and in humanity).  I am still learning to feel less guilty about the "schedule" I can't seem to follow correctly.  And I am learning to wait for God to give us some of our best learning moments.  Writing a letter to a friend who has a sick mom, watching squirrels in the backyard and then sketching them or finding baby birds in the garden and dropping sunflower seeds for them are beautiful ways to spend time. We are so thankful for the beautiful autumn we've had so far, and I'm so grateful to be spending it with my family.  It has truly been delicious.

Outside the Classroom

I think we spent more time outside the classroom than inside the classroom this week.  I felt guilty about this for about three seconds before remembering that this is EXACTLY why we chose homeschooling in the first place.  Miss M and Mr. J both participated in tennis and badminton practice with our homeschooling group.  Miss M had dance and gymnastics and also a playdate with a friend.  Both kids went to our church's mid-week afternoon program.  Mr. J helped me at our food co-op by carrying boxes.  We ended our week as a family watching Miss M have her first horse riding lesson.  Due to her NF1 diagnosis, she is eligible for therapeutic riding lessons with some WONDERFUL and loving instructors.  What a blessing for all of us to watch her start these lessons. 

A year ago, we wouldn't have been able to do many of these things because Miss M was in school.  There are many things we loved about school, but none of those things can compare to how much we love spending time together as a family.  Next week we'll probably spend a little more time inside our classroom.  I haven't given up on direct instruction altogether.  It's just reassuring to see how much my children learn even when we're not in our school environment. 

Education is not preparation for life;  education is life itself. 
- John Dewey

Student as Teacher

One day this week I was just struggling to get everything done.  I ran downstairs to make lunch, thinking of all the things Miss M and I had NOT gotten done that morning.  Then I realized the kids were giggling and talking sweetly to each other and decided to see what was happening.  When I peeked upstairs, this is what I saw.  Miss M was sitting on the couch with her brother, reading a book to him.

Miss M's lessons this week:  We continue to work on doubles and "plus one" facts in math, and Miss M had her first math test, which went very well.  She especially enjoys working with pattern blocks.  I admit, they're pretty fun.  We also studied Leif Ericson and added a verb jingle to our ever-growing list of songs and dances we use to remember information.

Children, obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do.  Ephesians 6:1

Mr. J's lessons this week:  He had a private tutoring session with Miss M and Elmo that covered letters, shapes, and colors.

Lesson Learned:
Watching the kids quietly reading together was another moment of homeschooling clarity to me.  Sticking to the schedule and accomplishing everything I have planned doesn't always need to be the goal.  Watching my daughter point out colors and letters and shapes to her brother is a valid learning experience for both of them. If I had rushed her off to "finish her work" I would have intruded on a special time the two of them needed. They probably started fighting ten minutes later, but that's okay, too.

I also began reading The Well-Trained Mind, a book I've heard about for years but had never read.  I am loving it and gaining a wealth of information.  It has given me reassurance that this decision to homeschool is best for us, and it's given me many new ideas for future learning.  I borrowed this copy from our library, but I'll be purchasing it soon!