Homeschooling The Whole Child

Reflections from Our First (Official) Year of Homeschooling: Day 1

2015-09-02T05:23:00.000-07:00

Day 1: August 31, 2015

I had the nervous, excited jitters last night, just like I would before my first days of teaching in a traditional classroom. This, among other things, reaffirms that it truly is God's will for us to homeschool our kids. We've been practicing different routines and curricula with our kids over the past two years, and I/we've found that the Five in a Row (FIAR) curriculum is the best starting point for us where we can add other projects, and eventually curriculum, to cover all of the necessary skills. One reason that I love the FIAR curriculum is that it gives suggestions for activities that encompass all aspects of development, including art, music, geography, science, and, in an additional text, it also gives suggestions for character and Biblical topics. As the title of this blog suggests, our goal is to educate the Whole child, and FIAR helps us do that with minimal prep.

To give you an idea of who I am working with: Our first guy just turned five, is incredibly creative and energetic, and seems to pick up on things quickly... when he can sit still long enough to listen. Our daughter will be three in February and was dying to be involved so she will be doing pre-K type activities and joining the FIAR stories. She seemed quite proud to be part of our lesson based upon the book titled The Story About Ping. She kept announcing that she could do things because she was "bigger, bigger, bigger!"which, of course, gave my oldest and I a big laugh. My youngest is barely one and keeps us on our toes. The older two never put anything except food in their mouths, and this little guy seems to find everything, though (praise God!) he seems to be getting pickier as he gets older. It is difficult to focus on anything while he's awake so most of today's lessons took place while he was napping. Anyone have magic tips for entertaining one year olds? Might need to visit Pinterest soon :).

Overall today seemed to go better than I expected. We enjoyed the story. I enjoyed teaching again! And the kids enjoyed being "big". We worked on number and letter recognition, number and letter order, and briefly touched on the concepts of buoyancy, fiction, and discernment. While the two littles slept, the first guy and I created his nature journal/ leaf collection. I am excited to see this develop over the course of the year as it was his suggestion, and nature has always been a favorite topic of mine. The book Keeping a Nature Journal is the inspiration for the layout, and I plan to do a journal right along with the kids. I know that my pictures will look nothing like those in the book, but I need to practice what I preach and look for "progress not perfection".

Final thoughts: I learned that we will someday have a paramedic and a princess in the family. Fitting jobs for our guy that rescues everyone and everything and our girl that must have everything that is pink or sparkly- preferably sparkly pink.

I am excited for tomorrow, but more than a little nervous since our housing area has a scheduled power outage from 8-4... yes, that would be 8 hours without power with three little ones. Running errands and staying in the AC is my only hope. I am going to bring along materials and test out the flexibility of homeschooling in a different environment.
How do you do school in unfamiliar settings? Is it worth it?

'Till Next Time,
Sarah

When Snack Times Meet Cooking Experiments

2015-04-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

Snack time taught me three very important lessons today:

1. Part of the joy of homeschooling is that I am there to experience the unexpected. Today I got to listen to my four year old son regale me with a "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" style cooking show complete with refrigeration, mixing of fruit pouches and cinnamon, and plenty of pouring back and forth. Aside from giving us a lot of laughs, the experiment taught him about responsibility and cleaning up, and I had a reminder to ignore the messes so that I can treasure these out-of-the-blue blessings.

2. If I want to be a patient parent and embrace the unexpected, I need to physically prepare myself. It is much more of a challenge to view this mess (... as well as the rest of the table... floor... bath tub... and everything else the camera didn't catch!) as a blessing in disguise when I am overly tired, hungry, stressed, etc. Keeping myself in balance makes for a more pleasant experience for everyone!

3. Keep coffee and cookies at the ready for those really big, time-consuming, or expensive experiments ;).

Book and Resource Reviews: Part 1

2014-03-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

Below you will find a list of books, curriculum, and resources that I have found useful in my homeschooling journey. Title and author are provided, as well as links to purchase if one is available. This list will be updated periodically. Please be sure to check the Book and Resource Review tab to see the current list.

(Disclaimer: I am not being rewarded or compensated in any way by the authors, publishers, or book sellers. These are materials that I have used/plan to use within my own home and have purchased on my own or have been given by friends.)

Homeschooling Advice/Methods:

Homeschooling: A Patchwork of Days by Nancy Lande
      This book follows 30 different families through a typical day at each house. It has given me great insight as to how the different methods would look actually played out in a home. The book can be purchased here as well as other websites/bookstores.

Homeschooling Methods: Seasoned Advice on Learning Styles by Paul Suarez, Gena Suarez, and Ruth Beechick
The authors have compiled information from experts in each of the common methods as well as practical advice. It is a great resource for those trying to learn about or decide on a method or methods. Perfect for someone like me that does not want to spend hours searching through websites, compiling information, and then trying to remember where you found it all. The work is done for you. This book can be purchased at Amazon as well as other sellers.

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

      Awesome benefit, that I just discovered when writing this- There is a bimontly, digital copy of the magazine available FREE online. Additionally there is a yearly print issue. I have purchased the print issue and enjoyed the different perspectives and the many potential resources that are listed. The subscription policies have changed recently (from what I understand) so please visit their website for details.

Scheduling/"Classroom" Management:

Managers of Their Homes by Steve and Teri Maxwell of Titus2 Ministries

      We all know how important a schedule and routine are in the lives of families, whether they are homeschooling or not. This book gives awesome practical advice for creating a schedule for each family member. There were some parts that will apply more in our future, as her personal story revolves around her eight children. However, the vast majority of information can be applied immediately, and there are stories/testimonies from other families of various sizes, ages, and homeschooling stages interspersed throughout the book that are easy to relate to. The best part is the worksheet packet at the back of the book that can be used as a manipulative to create your own family schedule. My husband and I enjoyed working together on this part. Although we have not magically stuck to a detailed schedule, we have learned a lot about the importance of routines as well as the how-tos of scheduling. As our children grow and homeschooling time increases, we find ourselves going back to the knowledge gained in this book. There are additional resources regarding chores, homeschooling itself and other topics, as well as ordering information on their website.

Your turn: What books or resources do you recommend to other homeschooling families? What is on your most used or read resource list?

Happy Teaching,
Sarah

Add Some POP to Your Life!

2013-09-23T05:26:00.000-07:00

It's your turn...

What would you do if this box of goodness showed up on your doorstep? Science activities? Art? Pop every single bubble?

It is currently in my office, awaiting your creative suggestions. I am excited to give a few a try and report back with the results!

Pom Pom Colors and Counting

2013-09-18T00:15:00.001-07:00

Pom Pom Colors and Counting

Materials:

pom poms of any size in the colors that you would like to practice

paper plates

crayons, colored pencils, or markers

Bonus:

All of these supplies should be available at your local dollar store!

Directions:

Draw and fill in a large circle in each of the colors of your pom poms.

Lay out the plates and place the pom poms in a plastic bag or container. Have your child place each pom pom on the correct color. This is a great opportunity to teach science vocabulary like classifying, sorting, grouping.

Once pom poms have been placed on the correct plates, you can extend the activity by having your child count the number on each one.

The same materials and concept can be used to learn numbers. Write a number on each plate. Then draw dots that are approximately the same size as your pom poms to represent the number on the plate. Have your child cover each of the dots with a pom pom. Count as he/she covers them.

My son loved these activities! He was two at the time, and he did well with sorting the colors. The numbers took more coaching, but he seemed to take pride in getting the pom poms onto the dots. The activities can be made more challenging by timing your child. Depending on the age of the child, they may be able to draw and color the circles or write the numbers. You can also work on fine motor skills by having your child use tongs, chopsticks, tweezers, or other items to pick up the pom poms.

How do you use craft pom poms in your teaching?

Sarah

Making Prayer Cards: A Tool to Help Us Be "Faithful in Prayer"

2013-09-15T23:38:00.000-07:00

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12 NIV

We find this verse under the heading of "Love in Action". What better way to show our love for our family and those around us than to pray for their needs on a consistent basis? But, let's be honest, even with the best of intentions, it is hard to keep track of everyone that we'd like to pray for, let alone find time for dedicated prayer. In my experience, deliberate steps must be taken in order to make this happen.

When I first set out to pray consistently, I tried to include people in our mealtime or bedtime prayers, but ended up praying for the same people repeatedly or forgetting altogether. A friend mentioned that her family has names of everyone they desired to pray for written on Popsicle sticks. They flipped the stick over after praying for that person and started over once everyone had been prayed for.

I really liked the idea of having all of the names in one place, but, as a homeschooling mom, I am always looking for ways to combine concepts and integrate them into our days. I decided to get decorative card stock and cut it into shapes since my toddler is/was working on learning his shapes. I then printed off pictures of people to pray for and made a label for each to promote face/name recognition. You can take it one step further and choose pictures that have the children with each person. This helps to jog a child's memory and is a good story starter. We live overseas so strengthening bonds with family members is especially important to me.

After attaching the pictures to the cut out shapes, I put them into a decorative vase and set it on our table. Our son loves to pick out a shape at meals, often remembering when I've forgotten. As of right now my husband or I pray for each person, but occasionally he will try. I intend for our family members to take turns praying as our kids get older.

After praying, I write the date that we prayed on the back of the card. I will put each card in that person's Christmas card so that they can see that they truly were prayed for, even knowing the exact day. After Christmas I will create new cards and start the process again.

Materials:

card stock (Use primary colors if you would also like to teach colors to young children.)
pictures of people to pray for (Can choose pictures that show each person with your children.)
each person's name to place under their picture
double sided tape or glue
wide mouth vase, jar, basket or other container
scrap-booking scissors
pen to leave in the jar if you desire to write the date that you pray on each card

A few notes:

Before beginning, compile a list of the people that you would like to pray for. Cross off names as you make their card.

Examples of people to pray for include: family, close friends, deployed service members and their families, children you may sponsor through programs like Compassion International, kids' friends, future spouses of your children (Obviously no picture here, but what a great opportunity to teach your children that marriage is important to God and not to be taken lightly.), community leaders, sick community members, and so on.

If you print pictures on computer paper, I would use double sided tape to connect them to the card stock or use photo paper when printing. When I used Elmer's glue on regular paper, the color ran and the card stock curled. I would recommend using true photos.
I used decorative scissors to cut around the pictures to add some contrast. Depending on the age of your child, this could be an exercise in cutting and gluing.
My child liked to pull the same cards because of the shape. I would recommend either rotating in an orderly manner or clipping together those that have been prayed for.
This is a great multi-tasking activity. Use conversation and questions to teach colors, shapes, names of family members, finding letters, and so on. ("Find a purple circle." "What letter does Micah start with?".... You get the idea :). )

I hope you enjoy creating these cards, sharing stories, and spending time in prayer with your children!

How do you encourage your children to pray? Have any cute prayers to share?

Sarah

Reading Strategies: Critical Thinking Questions

2012-10-18T06:15:00.000-07:00

The following questions are designed to promote comprehension and critical thinking while reading. It is always beneficial for children to be exposed to books in a variety of ways. Read with your child and to your child. Even older children enjoy being read to when the reader is expressive and enthusiastic. Listening to your child read will allow you to determine their level of fluency, but does not necessarily let you know how much of the material they comprehend. This is where the questions come in. Listen carefully to your child's responses to determine whether or not they truly understand the material. If the child seems to be struggling with the content or fluency, it may be best to set the book aside to read independently at a later time or read the story with or to the child so that you can provide assistance.

Author's Purpose:

· What is the author's purpose or purposes in this story? Persuade? Inform? Entertain? Express?

o How do you know?

· Why would the author include that detail?

· Look at the author's biography. Does any of the author's personal life show up in the book?

· Is the author using first person- words like I, me, we? Or third person- words like he, she, they?

o Why do you think they chose to write in that voice?

Characters:

· Why is that character important to the story?

· Who is the main character? How do you know?

· Do you like the main character? Why or why not?

· How would you describe this character? What made you choose those adjectives?

· Which character do you think is most like you? Why?

Plot:

· What problem or problems do you think the characters are facing?

· Predict: How do you think the problem or problems will be solved?

· How would you solve the problem or problems?

· What events led up to the problem being solved?

· Discuss and summarize the main events of a paragraph, page, or chapter.

· Discuss how the story ends. Do you like the ending? Why or why not?

· How else could the book have ended?

· Take one of the main characters out of the story. How do you think the story would have been different?

· If you could have added a character, who would it have been and why?

· What do you think would happen if the book continued?

Vocabulary:

· When your child comes across an unknown word, help them by first looking at and sounding out each syllable. Use clues such as pointing out whether it has a long or short vowel sound. (Long vowels say the name like in “make”. Short vowels have different sounds like in “cat”.)

· After sounding out the word, ask your child to explain the meaning. If they are unable to, direct them to look for context clues in the sentences and paragraphs before and after the word.

· If they are still unable to explain the meaning, have them consult a dictionary. Use a book format so that they can strengthen spelling and alphabetizing skills, research skills, and being able to discern which meaning of the word is being used in the context of their story.

What other questions have produced great responses from your children?

What other reading elements do you discuss as you read?

Week In Review

2012-10-14T22:32:00.000-07:00

Week of 10/8-10/13

Summary:

Non-Academic Skills:
   We are continuing to focus on teaching our son to say "No, please", "Minute, please", or "My turn, please" instead of just "NO!" We are starting to see him use these phrases without prompting, which is encouraging since this is an almost constant effort!
   Other goals that we work on include building excitement toward prayer and church, sharing, and showing respect to friends.

Academics:
This week we focused on four items: 1. recognizing the letter A; 2. recognizing and drawing circles; 3. recognizing, drawing, and grouping 1 and 2; 4. recognizing and identifying the colors blue and green.

Our son is somewhat familiar with all of these concepts, as we’ve talked about them often through the course of our play and our days: Hand me the blue cup, how old are you (2 yrs.), drawing circles with chalk, etc. As this is our first attempt at any “lessons”, I wanted to start by reinforcing concepts that he is familiar with before building on them.

Scaffolding is the technical term for using previous knowledge to build understanding of new concepts. For example, if he is aware that the word 2 has meaning, i.e. how old he his, it will be easier to teach him that number words refer to a particular number of items. When he has 1 and 2 down, he will have an easier time understanding 3, 4, etc.

Results: After completing the lessons listed below, our son frequently points out the letter A in various situations without prompting, but does not regularly say the name of the letter. He also finds circles and says "circle", points out blue and green- but not with 100% accuracy, and enjoys pointing out when he has two similar objects.

For detailed lessons, please continue reading:

Monday:

Goal: Focus on letter A and colors blue and green

Materials: Letter A/ a worksheets, blue and green paints, paintbrush, covered workspace

Procedure: I printed a copy of a capital letter A coloring sheet and a copy of a lower case ‘a’ worksheet. There are a ton of free printable worksheets available, but I chose to go with a simple block version with no additional wording. My son is only 2, and keeping a narrow focus on the letter will minimize the chance for distraction or over-stimulation. To keep the focus on the objective of learning blue and green, I only gave my son those two colors to paint with.

As he painted, we talked about the letter A, the sounds it makes, and things that start with A. We also talked about the colors. With a 2 year old, it isn’t so much actual conversation like you might have with a preschooler. Focus on repetition instead. The goals are to have him hear me say A, the sounds A makes, and the names of the colors multiple times. After that, he can point out the letter A, mimic the sounds, and identify the colors repeatedly himself.

Feedback: After working with fourth and fifth graders for the past few years, it was a bit of a shock to realize just how short the attention span of a toddler is. Shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it was.

Initially, he recognized the letter A as one we’ve talked about before since it starts his name, but he did not call the letter by name. He did identify both blue and green by name until the paints were mixed together.

Painting was a big hit, and the lesson served as exposure to the concepts. Future lessons should enable him to identify and label A, blue, and green.

Extensions: If you have pre-K or K age children, bogglesworldesl has great worksheets with coloring and tracing which would allow a child to practice forming the letters and beginning spelling and reading skills.

Tuesday:

One reason that we’ve decided to be more deliberate about planning lessons now, at the age of 2, is so that we can get comfortable with the homeschooling routine and scheduling. Today was an unusually busy day, and we were unable to do the planned lesson. Since I had a review day scheduled for tomorrow, we’ll make it up then.

Wednesday:

Goal: Focus on drawing and identifying circles and the numbers 1 and 2

Materials: at least 3 sheets of blank paper, marker

Procedure: I began by tracing several cups of different sizes with my son on my lap to “help”. We talked about making big and little circles as we did this. After the circles were cut out, I took 2 blank pieces of paper. On one, I wrote the number 1 and drew one small circle. On the second paper, I wrote the number 2 and drew 2 small circles.

After the papers were prepared, I talked with my son about circles, we practiced making 1 and 2 with our fingers (very cute to watch him try to get his fingers under control), I had him give 1 or 2 circles at a time to my husband, and we put the circles we cut out on top of the circles I had drawn next to the numbers.

Feedback: My son really enjoyed these activities. He is a VERY active child, and there were a lot of hands-on steps. He also enjoys playing with things that have a lot of pieces and had fun playing with all of the circles that were cut out. In fact, I’m still finding them around the house.

Watching our son’s reaction to different types of lessons reminds me that it is important to be aware of personality traits and learning styles and how they affect a child’s learning. I do believe it is important to expose children to all styles of teaching as the world in general will not revolve itself around a child’s learning preferences. They need to be able to adapt.

Extensions: If your child is already familiar with shapes and counting, you could have your child do a search for objects around the house that are circular, adding as many other shapes as you feel comfortable with.

Playing store or allowing your child to assist with paying for purchases are great opportunities to allow older children that become comfortable with counting and beginning mathematics.

Thursday:

Goals: Review the letter A, 1, 2, and Circle

Materials: blank paper; marker; Capital and lower case A, 1, and 2 stamps; ink pad

Procedure: I began by drawing a circle on blank paper and talking to my son about the shape asking questions as simple as, "What is this?". I did not plan on it, but he wanted to draw his own circle- a little nerve-wracking with the permanent marker on carpet! After that we moved on to the stamps. I initially asked him to find the letter A and 1,2 out of an alphabet set, but this proved difficult so I found the stamps needed and put the rest away. We talked about each of the letters and numbers as we stamped, practiced saying the name of A, and counting.

Feedback: My son really enjoyed this activity as it was the first time he used stamps and ink. In future lessons, I would choose different stamps as these were double sided and made it a challenge for him to stamp the desired letter/number.

Extensions: Older children should be able to complete the search for the correct letter and numbers from the set. They could also stamp the letter A and then complete a word that begins with or contains A. After stamping 1 and 2, kids can draw the correct number of objects of their choice or find objects around the house to match the numbers.

Friday and Saturday:

(I had initially scheduled this lesson to be used on one day with a second day of general review, but the skills required quite a bit of focus for my antsy boy so we broke it into smaller chunks over the course of two days.)

Goals: Introduce items that begin with the letter A; review circle, 1, 2, blue, and green

Materials: sheet with pictures of items that begin with A, crayons or markers- particularly blue and green, blank paper

Procedure: I began by creating a Word document with several pictures of items that begin with A. There are many worksheets available, but most also had other skills like tracing or writing the name incorporated into it, and I wanted to keep things simple. A Google images search for each item drew plenty of pictures. I then wrote the name of each item next to it, with the letter A capitalized and in a different color.
After creating the sheet, we sat down and talked about the name of each picture. After saying the name, I would point to the letter A and have my son repeat its name.
I also drew two circles on a blank paper and labeled one blue and the other green, using the respective color to write the label. I asked him to pick out the blue and green crayons and markers from our collection. I then asked him to color each circle the respective color. He began to color the green circle green, but then lost interest.

Feedback: He had the most trouble with talking about the pictures and saying then name of A. It could have been that the activity itself was difficult, the setting (lots of markers nearby), the fact that it was evening, or a bit of all. Although he can identify circles, identifying colors continues to be a bit of a challenge. I am trying to determine if it is because there are simply a lot of color names to remember or if he actually has a degree of color-blindness as my father does.

Extensions: There are many worksheets available with varying degrees of difficulty. Some examples can be found at Enchanted Learning. Older children may be able to create their own letter book by having the title page A/a and then finding or drawing pictures of items that begin with the letter A or have the A sound in them. The child or parent can write the name of the object or a sentence describing it as well.

Are there more extensions to these concepts that you can think of or have tried yourself?

10 Reasons to Homeschool

2012-10-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

10 Reasons to Homeschool Your Child- in no particular order:

1. Being responsible for your child’s education allows you to focus on all aspects of his/her development, not just academics.

2. Learning can be integrated into everyday tasks such as meal planning and cooking, and hands on experiences can be planned according to what is being studied.

3. Being involved in the daily activities of the home and caring for siblings means that life skills are learned before the required high school Home Ec. course.

4. Your time with your children extends far beyond the breakfast rush and dinner madness. When I taught fourth grade and took care of my 1 year old during my husband’s deployment, I saw my son as we rushed through morning prep., and again as we gobbled down dinner and crashed. Not much quality time with such a full schedule.

5. When you spend the majority of the day with your child, you know them- their personalities, likes and dislikes, who their friends are, etc. You also know exactly where they are academically and how to best help them.

6. Homeschooling also allows children to be home when the working parent is home. My husband works 24+ hour shifts, and the traditional school schedule would severely limit the time our children would be able to spend with him.

7. Most schools purchase and expect teachers to use very detailed curricula for each content area. This makes it difficult to use thematic units and to connect multiple content areas. When homeschooling, you have control over what is taught and how, and you can be as creative or as structured as you like.

8. Homeschooled children can be taught at exactly the level that they need, whether they are below, on, or above level. They can also move at their own pace, spending more time on difficult topics and moving on when a topic is mastered.

9. Despite the general public’s concern regarding the socialization of homeschooled children, there are plenty of opportunities to socialize such as sports teams, homeschooling communities or groups, community activities, organizations such as Pioneer Clubs, church programs, etc. Homeschooling also allows parents to help build their child’s self-esteem and responsibility so that they can better face peer pressure or negative influences.

10. Learning can take place in a variety of environments depending on the child’s age. Parks, libraries, nature museums, aquariums, while traveling to see family- very important to a military family, and with fellow homeschooling families are just a few examples.

I feel I’m barely scratching the surface with these 10 ideas.

What motivated you to begin homeschooling?