An Atypical Homeschool Day

I haven't blogged about a typical homeschool day in quite a while, and I'll keep it in the back of my mind to do it fairly soon, since I know how curious y'all are. This post is about this past Monday, when we were all set to go to the Crayola Experience. It's been on our schedule for quite a while, marked as "field trip" on the kids' calendar. But Monday morning as we were starting to get ready, I had this feeling I should check the website to make sure they'd be open. I vaguely remembered something about them being closed on certain weekdays, except in summer. Sure enough, Crayola was closed. I had to break it gently to the kids and decided that since the field trip to Crayola would have been considered a school day, we could find some fun things to do instead of breaking out the heavy academics. We decided to make it a PE and Art Day.

We had recently, accidentally, ended up at a local park area which boasts an "Interpretive Trail." The kids had wanted to check it out, but like I said, we were there accidentally, and had our true destination to get to. (I was lost. With a GPS.) So, the Interpretive Trail was first on our list for PE and Art Day. There were stations along the way to teach us about biofilters, habitats, geology, and more. There was a giant "bird's nest." I'm not sure how much of the information the kids actually digested, but hey, it was still PE!

Afterwards, we found a shady picnic spot.

Our next stop was playground time for more PE. By the time we left, we had racked up about four hours of PE between the trail and the playground!

Finally, we made our way home for Art. Free Choice Painting.

Sometimes it's fun to have an atypical homeschool day.

Catching Up: August

We decided to start our school year extra early this year. August is just too hot for much outdoor play, so I'd rather be inside schooling, and save our days off for good weather. Here are my handsome students:

 I also took Alexander and Jack on a big boy camping trip with some of our extended family. It was a great success. I missed the little ones, but it was nice to be able to give my full attention to the big boys, and it afforded me the opportunity to allow them to do some things that they wouldn't have been able to do if my attention had been split. We went tubing down the river, thus conquering the bad memory of the previous time we attempted doing so when Alexander was about four years old, and fell in the river, got momentarily pulled under, and freaked himself and me out. They also got to slide down a natural waterslide, go on a few short hikes, ride bikes, throw rocks in the river, play soccer, roast marshmallows, and sleep in a tent! (All of the camping photos were taken by my dad.)

 

Catching Up: June

In June, we completed our second  year of homeschooling. Although it does seem like forever since we stepped foot into a brick and mortar school, it also seems like we've only just begun on this homeschool journey. I have doubts almost every day about whether we are making the right choice for our kids. It's not easy, but parenting isn't easy. Having four little boys is just not easy no matter what choices you make for their education. So, we will just keep taking it as it comes.

Alexander finished up his third grade year, scoring very well on his standardized test, and having truly enjoyed a good many of the things he accomplished. He did not love every activity, of course, but in general I think he found a great number of things that he connected with. He enjoyed learning about Ben Franklin, the American Revolution, other inventors, and electricity, among other things. He continued to dislike writing and I continued to have hopes that, in time, he'll come to find pleasure in it as both his father and I do. He did well in his extracurricular sports: swimming, karate, tai kwon do, and soccer.

Jack finished up a gentle kindergarten year, impressing me with the speed at which he picks up math. He was easily working through second grade math by the middle of the year! He's steadily improving with his reading, although that doesn't come as easily as the math does. He is working diligently, though, and it was a pleasure to see him grow academically over the year.

While I did not do any formal preschool activities specifically for Kai, he picked up plenty just by hanging around. He wormed his way in to many of Jack's activities and ended the year reading at about a second grade level. It's fabulous to see what homeschooling does for the younger siblings. At times I worry that I am not giving the little ones the same amount of attention they would have to themselves if their brothers were at school for seven hours a day. However, they do get the benefit of overhearing some really rich lessons which I wouldn't necessarily think to present to a three or four year old, but that some preschoolers are in fact interested in and able to comprehend. They also get to participate in our art projects, field trips, and playdates, and they get to spend extra time with their brothers than they would if their brothers were at school all day.

We celebrated our last day of school with bowling, which the kids loved.

 

Sewing!

Last week we invited a homeschool friend over for a sewing play date. The kids were excited to sew their own pillows, but the other mom and I both thought they'd last maybe ten minutes and be bored to tears. To our surprise, our 9, 7, and 6 year old children sat quietly concentrating long enough to complete their entire pillows themselves! I also made one for Kai. They were all incredibly pleased with themselves and their pillows, and I was definitely impressed with their focus!

Fire Safety Day

Last Friday our local fire station put on a great presentation for the homeschool group we belong to. We started with a few short movies about fire safety. We then toured the station, explored the fire trucks, and were even allowed to spray the fire hose! Afterwards the kids received goody bags and fire helmets and we picnicked and played on the nearby playground. When we got home, we practiced our fire drills several times, which the kids find unbelievable exciting. It was a successful fire safety day! PA homeschool requirement complete!

 

 

First Day of School Photos

Cute-faced Kai, but with food on his face.

Jack was actually thrilled about school, but not about photos

After his brothers didn't cooperate well for photos, Alexander promised that he would....

2013-2014 Curriculum- Kindergarten- Jack

It may seem surprising, but I am more nervous about Jack's kindergarten curriculum than Alexander's third grade curriculum. Specifically, I am nervous about teaching him how to read. It's more than an important skill. It's the skill. The one we use every single day, and the one we use to learn other things. If he can't read well, he won't be able to read the instructions in his math books, or street signs, or the directions on his nose-hair trimmer (and wouldn't that be catastrophic), or a love note from an admirer, or a description of the Big Bang. It will impede not only his education, but his entire life. And that's a big deal. Someone else taught Alexander to read, so Jack and Kai are my first attempt. I've been teaching them to read, but they've got a long way to go from reading "Dot has a cat" to breezing through the Declaration of Independence.

So, all that being said, I feel a bit frozen in indecision about Jack's reading program. I know that I want to focus on phonics, with just a side of sight reading. I've decided to stay the course we're on, without purchasing too far ahead of ourselves, and with frequent gut checks to make sure it's still working out for us. So, we will continue to use Explode The Code workbooks, BOB easy readers, and plenty of games.

Like Alexander, Jack will be using Singapore Math. I perused the kindergarten workbooks and decided they were really too easy for Jack, who's been doing very well in math concepts this past year. So I purchased Levels 1A and 1B, normally used in first grade, with the expectation that we may need to slow the pace as the difficulty increases.

As far as the state of Pennsylvania goes, Jack would be entering kindergarten this year. Since he is being homeschooled, though, they actually don't have any requirements for what I teach him until the year that he turns eight. Because I believe that kindergarten should be a gentle introduction to "formal schooling" (whatever that might mean), reading and math are the two subjects that I am going to be the most organized with. However, that definitely does not mean that is all we will be doing!

I've been spending time going through Alexander's entire book list for his curriculum this year, for language arts, science, and social studies. For every book that Alexander reads, I've searched the library's website and found a similar book on Jack's level. So, while Alexander reads The Little House in the Big Woods, I will be reading to Jack from the My First Little House Books series. When Alexander is reading an advanced book about magnetism, I will read to Jack from a more basic book. Jack will be able to participate in many of the hands-on activities that Alexander is assigned through his Moving Beyond the Page curriculum. That will involve him in a wide variety of language arts, science, and social studies activities that I will keep very relaxed and age-appropriate for him. I believe it will be a nice way to have cohesiveness in our homeschool and not feel like we're jumping from theme to theme. I think doing things this way will allow us the flexibility to keep things really fun at the kindergarten level without sacrificing exposure to a great variety of rich topics. Art, Music, and Physical Education will be the most organic this year. Jack is an eager, focused little learner, and I know he will grow in leaps and bounds this year.

2013-2014 Curriculum- 3rd Grade- Alexander

Just in case y'all think we're just farting around, I thought I'd share our curriculum choices for this coming year. Alexander will be in third grade. Some of the text below is copied from the educational objectives that I've written to submit to the school district so that they don't think we're just farting around.

Moving Beyond the Page: For language arts, science, and social studies, we've chosen to use Moving Beyond the Page. It is a literature based, interdisciplinary, comprehensive curriculum. Alexander will read and analyze some great literature including The Little House in the Big Woods, The Sign of the Beaver, Native American Animal Stories, Ben and Me, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The BFG, Akimbo and Sadako, Holes, Charlotte in Giverny, Abel's Island, Pedro's Journal, and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

For writing, Alexander will continue to strengthen his paragraph writing skills and will focus on pre and post writing skills such as planning and revision. He will write for different audiences and purposes, write to record ideas and reflections, to demonstrate understanding, and to express feelings and ideas. He will polish his writing for correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling at a level appropriate for his age. All of this work will be related to the literature he is reading.

Alexander will be studying the following science topics: Dirt and Plants, Ecosystems and Ecology, Magnetism and Electricity, Forces of Nature, Rocks and Minerals, Animal Adaptations, and Work, Tools, and Simple Machines. The Moving Beyond the Page curriculum uses many hands-on experiments and requires a final project at the end of each unit. 

He will be studying the following social studies concepts: Native Americans, The Power of People, Africa and Asia, Europe, and Early Explorers. These concepts will be intertwined with his literature units so that he can form meaningful connections. He will do a final project at the end of each social studies unit as well. 

Moving Beyond the Page booklets, *some* of the kits that go with it, and 2/3 of his math

Spelling: While the Moving Beyond the Page curriculum does include spelling in its language arts lessons, we are choosing to continue using Sequential Spelling instead, because I like the way it teaches how to build words instead of just memorizing lists of words (which is also sometimes helpful, of course).

Math: Alexander will be using Singapore Math levels 2B, 3A, and 3B. Because it's an advanced curriculum, they advise that an average third grader would use 2B and 3A. Since we've already covered many of the topics in 2B and some of the topics covered in 3A, we plan to pick our way through those, covering just the topics that we haven't mastered yet, leaving plenty of time to go through 3B at a normal pace. If we do need to slow down and don't get to 3B, he will still be on grade level.

Penmanship: Alexander will continue to learn cursive using Handwriting Without Tears .

We're also required to (and want to) have lessons in physical education, health and safety, fire safety, art, and music. We will absolutely be doing those things, but they are less structured, so I have less to say about them. Moving Beyond the Page actually includes many arts and crafts activities, and I enjoy planning our own as well. My kids are not art starved! We'll be doing sports at the YMCA, including swimming and probably some type of martial arts. When Alexander turns nine, he will be old enough to take a class about, and use, the kids' gym. For music, Alexander will continue with his recorder, and I will probably have him learn the 50 states song and some holiday songs. We'll visit a fire station and have a fire safety day at home.

Alexander helped choose his curriculum, to the extent that it was appropriate for him to do so. I know he is excited about much of it. I will write up a separate post about Jack's kindergarten curriculum, but I know he is excited, too. I'm the most excited of all of us!

Next year is going to be great!