Over a year later!

We are still going strong with homeschooling. In fact, at the moment, we are much stronger than we were a year ago! We are in the groove, soaring through different curricula with our school drawer system in place. We have kept up with some of the same things, but a lot of our subjects are new. Here is a peak into a morning of school while the little boys were at preschool (which makes for a MUCH more productive morning!)

We have started typing! We are using Typing Web Tutor, which is a free set of typical typing lessons online. It is so nice, because I just pull up the site, log them in, and start the lesson. Of course, it is difficult while their hands are still small, but they do surprisingly well. Plus, I know now that their fingers and hands will be used to the proper way of typing on the keyboard.

 

Every day, J and T have a 15 minute time of reading quietly to themselves.

Of course, we have worksheets and workbooks for things like Phonics and Math.

We are using Horizons for Phonics and Spelling and Abeka for Arithmetic.

 

I created simple unit studies for History and Geography. 

For History, we are studying the U.S. Presidents: Their names, vice presidents, date of office, birthplace, and interesting facts.

For Geography, we are learning about the States. We study the capital, the abbreviation, the nickname, and some various interesting facts. Of course, we label it on the wall map, too!

 (We are also doing an Inventors and Inventions unit study from Confessions of a Homeschooler's blog, but we didn't get to it today...so no pictures!)

 They take turns reading aloud to me...

 (and occasionally that means standing in the kitchen reading while I make lunch!)

 

I try to fit in some fun things for T (he is in Kindergarten after all!), like cutting and pasting and other various crafts. J doesn't care so much about doing those things, so I make him practice his scissor skills and drawing during other lesson time.

They are both on track, if not ahead, with where they are "supposed" to be.

I love listening to them read and seeing the vast improvements. T is best at handwriting, reading, and drawing. J is best at math and science. It is so fun to see their different personalities and right brain vs. left brain tendencies and strengths. God truly created us each with unique abilities and gifts. 

Some other time, I hope to do a post on our preschool and tot school activities. E loves doing school at home and is so excited to be homeschooled next year. S could take it or leave it, but he sure does love his snack drawer :) 

-Until next time...

Special Activities from A to Z

With 4 kids six years of age and younger, school doesn't take all day.

J is doing Kindergarten/First grade this year, T is doing Preschool/Kindergarten, E is doing very early letter, number, and color recognition stuff, and j is tearing our house apart all morning :)

Really, we take a couple of hours in the morning to do seatwork-type stuff, then the big boys and I do our big read-aloud and tougher Arithmetic once the little boys are down for naps.

The afternoon, though? Well, we often find ourselves bored...believe it or not. (And maybe the kids aren't bored, maybe it's me feeling like we need the structure of our afternoons to at least be similar to the structure of our mornings.) Anyway, since I don't want to be a slave to a school-like daily schedule (one of my reasons for homeschooling!), I decided to come up with a list of ideas. We can use it, or not!! It's not a schedule or routine I will feel guilty about if we are all just having fun being outside all afternoon...but if everyone is fighting, children are misbehaving, and we need an organized activity, this list will come to the rescue :)

If you have any ideas of ANYTHING at all, I will be happy to steal it and use it in my home. Please do share!!

Special Activities from A to Z

*All can be done in the comfort of our own home!!

A: Art project

B: Bake something, bubbles, balloons, balls

C: Car wash (real or with toy cars), Cook dinner with Mom, "Create" box (a box full of random craft supplies, where imaginations can run wild)

D: Dance party!

E: Egg hunt (no matter what time of year)

F: Frisbee, Fruit Kabobs, Fence letter shooting,

G: Game Day, Gak/Goop

H: Horses (we have some down the street we like to pet and feed), Hide and Seek

I: Ice cream sundaes, Ice painting

J: Jump Rope

K: Kickball

L: Lemonade stand

M: Music, Motion (exercise), Mud pies

N: Nature walk (draw what we see/hear, make a treasure basket of our collections, or decorate a nature table from our findings)

O: Outside games/races, Obstacle course

P: Puzzles, painting, play dough, puddy, plastic cup pyramids, pillow pile, picnic (inside or outside)

Q: Q-tip painting with shaving cream and paint/food coloring

R: Read books on Mom and Dad's bed, Redbox movie, Relay races

S: Salt dough, shaving cream, special snack, sprinkler, swim, Skype with relative(s), Sidewalk chalk

T: Take a treat to neighbors

U: Undercover letter/number/color hunt

V: Make a volcano

W: Water fight, Wooden blocks, Water bottle bowling

X:

Y: Yoga balls (our kids love playing with the couple we have. Throw a yoga ball at a boy and knock him smack down to the floor, and you have apparently made his day.)

Z: Ziploc painting

Rare, but cute

We RARELY do school like this (everyone lined up all neatly at their desks), but I thought it made for a cute photo opportunity on this special occasion :)

Just another day...

This morning

still wearing his pajamas

outside

in his fort

doing phonics


Just another reason we LOVE homeschool :)

Kindergarten

Well, we are in the swing of things here at Frye Academy :)

We have quite the schedule/routine down, and while I know it could (and will) change eventually, the boys and I are thriving in it for the time being!! We work on the following subjects and curricula throughout the morning and into the afternoon, during the little boys' naps if things get too rowdy. Every day is a little different, because the middle littles are in Mother's Day Out 2 (E) and 3 (T) days a week. We save some things to do WITH T, and we have certain things we only do when E is out of the house...or when S (the baby) is sleeping ever so peacefully (or at least playing and not screaming his head off) in his bed :)

Handwriting

Science (Creation Unit: The World God Made, Creation Crafts...and after that, I plan on starting a book of really fun experiments called The Backyard Scientist)

Language Arts/Phonics (Explode the Code, Vocabulary cards from RRSP)

Art (We are learning how to draw...and by we, I mean WE; I also just bought a book called How to Teach Art to Children and am hoping it is as fabulous as its reviews claim!)

Reading (Read Aloud: Pinocchio (the original classic) and next, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Scott Foresman and McGraw-Hill curricula; Bob Books; Animal Antics books)

Math (Math U See, Scott Foresman, Addition/Subtraction, 1-100)

Bible (Memory Verses that go along with our Science curriculum...all about creation: Col. 1:16, Gen. 1:1, John 1:3; Jesus Storybook Bible along with Read and Share Devotional, Hero Tales, Vol IV, always going back to the Village Church's 5 foundational truths)

Speech

History/Geography (Maps, America/Texas, and thematic units...We are about to start one on Pilgrims and Indians in preparation for Thanksgiving)

My main focus for both of the older boys is Handwriting, Reading, and Math (you know...reading, writing, and arithmetic, right?!) All of the other subjects are basically ways to incorporate those 3 foundations in new and exciting ways and fun excuses to keep their brains working hard! We also still love using our school drawers, but things are more organized by subject at this point in the game :)

All in a Day's Work

I love reading homeschool blogs for inspiration, ideas, and encouragement. However, when those blogs muddy up my own ideas and teaching style, I need to separate myself from them and figure out what is best for me and the children God has placed in my life to teach. I was starting to feel so overwhelmed lately by all the (WONDERFUL) ideas I read on blogs that I seriously couldn't even hear myself think about my own ideas. The biggest joy of homeschooling, in my opinion, is that I get to decide what to do, when to do it, where to do it, and how to do whatever it is we are doing!!

Why did I concern myself so much with what everyone else was doing with their kids? Well, I don't really know. Our system is working quite well (for the moment anyway :) ), I have a LOT less stress, and my boys are having a great time! Here's a glimpse into our morning...

Good morning, Monkey!! :)

Some baseball in the playroom

Washing play dishes...just for the fun of it!

Hide and seek!

Fighting soldiers

Doing chores from our job jar

Time for school






Made some brownies


(ate lunch)

Had "recess" ;)



And finally, at 2:00, we had quiet time!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week: No school

No, it wasn't planned that way. I don't do much planning to speak of lately! ("Fail to plan, fail to plan," right? True here, I know that!) Anyway, this post is not about feeling bad about not doing school this week. It's actually the opposite. While we didn't DO school this week, we had plenty of learning experiences, teaching opportunities, and fun with friends.

My kids are counting to 100...just because they think it's fun. They do it all the time, without any prompting from me. I have to help them through many of the transitions (from 29 to 30, from 39 to 40, etc.), but they love counting to 100!! 100 is actually J's favorite number, I think. He told me today that when j (lower case j=Josiah; capital J=Justus), is 10 and he (J) is 105(!!!!), he would finally have someone to wrestle with. Ummmm, there are SO many routes I could have gone with that statement (you currently have 2 little brothers that you wrestle with very often, you will NOT be 105 when j is 10, you will probably not live to BE 105, you most CERTAINLY will not be wrestling if you do in fact live to be that old, etc., etc.) However, I just laughed and camped on the excitement that he was starting to talk about numbers above 100 ;)

Anyway, sorry for the rabbit trail...

What other learning went on this week? We sang songs, we read books, the coloring frenzy is still on in FULL force, the boys helped a lot around the house (without me asking...JOY!!), J is practicing writing letters and numbers totally on his own, and J is also trying to read things without my initiating it.

E's vocabulary and conversational skills are accelerating at HILARIOUS speeds. He is so fun to talk to, listen to, and especially to observe in conversation with his brothers. He wants to be just like them, and that therefore includes talking like them! It is amazing how much faster each of our kids has learned how to talk.

ALLLLL of that to say, learning was fun this week. (for everyone involved, I think) I think I gain more insight into everyone's different learning styles when I just sit back and watch them learn on their own. When they come to ME with questions, games, and activity ideas, I can simply join into their little lessons, asking questions to deepen the involvement and learning. (Wow! What color is that, E? T, which one of those animals is the fastest? J, what do you think is going to happen next?)

I love it.
A dear friend reminded me the other day that my kids really are still so young. Even at the age of five, J doesn't necessarily need to be sitting down for planned "lessons" every day of the week...and I shouldn't feel guilty when that hasn't happened. Well, I'm taking her advice a step farther. I am going to ENJOY the spontaneous lessons and bask in the unplanned-every-day opportunities that present themselves at JUST the right time.

"Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each."

Henry David Thoreau

Learning even when we're not trying to!!

Children are amazing...and creative...and inspiring. I can only speak from my experience with my own children, but on any typical day at any given moment, they are ready to learn. Whether I am actively engaging them in some kind of learning activity or not doesn't matter. Even when I give them activities, they take them to new levels. It makes a home schooling mom happy to see this!!!

Example 1: We were outside playing this week (enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather before our apparent "winter blast" is upon us), and I was taking pictures of the clouds. J asked me if we were going to have to go inside because of rain, and I said, "Oh, those aren't rain clouds, Bud." He replied, "Well, can we learn about clouds sometime, Mom?" Absolutely, sweet son of mine...I'll put it on the calendar for next week. (I have some studying to do first! :) )

Example 2 (my favorite): I gave J some M&Ms in one of his work boxes this week to use for a counting/number recognition exercise. After he laid out his M&Ms (and before he did his activity), he sorted his candy into different color groups and told me which one had the most, which had the least, and (of course) which group was therefore the "winner." (Everything is a competition in this little boy's eyes!)

Example 3: We went to the library today and came home with a ridiculous amount of books (of course.) J was sitting on the couch with one of the chapter books he had checked out, and he was flipping through each page so slowly and carefully (and silently! ha) He finally got through the last page, said quietly, "The end," closed the book, and looked up at me. "Mom, you really need to teach me how to read!" (Trust me, we're working on it! :) )

There are so many more examples, but the most encouraging thing to me is the fact that even when I feel like I am overwhelmed with dealing with the younger kids, the housework, etc. etc., my children are still learning. If we "skip school" one day, their brains are still being fed. Kids truly are little sponges. I love learning about each of my sons' interests. I love nurturing those interests (and helping them explore those interests) and wondering if they will end up using them in some way in their adult lives. I am BLESSED to be a home schooling mom...I wouldn't have it any other way :)

Our Vowel Game

Step 1: Put letters in plastic eggs (I used our wooden letters from Hobby Lobby.)

Step 2: Hide around the house.

Step 3: Release the hounds!



Step 4: Open eggs and sort vowels and consonants into different containers. (I hung our "My Father's World" vowel ladder for a reminder.)







Step 5 (at least at our house): Do this over and over and over and.....

I love home schooling!!

Sometimes I laugh when people ask me what curriculum I use for home schooling.

Exhibit A (scissor cutting practice...made by me...ha!) :
Many of the activities we do are inspired by the boys' imaginations:
(J said he wanted to make a kite, so he got out paper, scissors, glue, and some yarn and did the entire thing by himself while I watched!)
Of course, T wanted to make one as well.
I got out the Geoboard to practice some letters, numbers, and shapes. J decided to get out our "hundred blocks" to fill all of the 100 squares on the geoboard.
Sometimes, I combine items from 3 different sources to make one activity.
(Alphabet flashcards from My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum, magnets from a book about colors, and magnet board from our Magnetic Letter Pattern manipulative)
Sometimes, we draw pictures and write to our Compassion child!
Here, J is practicing his writing using some wooden letter blocks from Hobby Lobby and red paper inside a clear folder (with a dry erase marker.)

I love that the boys are using their imaginations. I love that they can learn things from each other without me saying a word. I love that we can do school in our pajamas...on any day we want, at any time of day we want to. I love that I can have one idea in mind for an activity, and my kids can change things up to make it a totally different activity where they learn and LOVE learning. I love that I hear my children laughing often when doing school. I love that I can combine different curricula with my own ideas, based on my kids' learning styles, my teaching style, and what we are interested in at the time. I love that we can really do whatever we want to, even if it means taking a day off from normal "school" activities and enjoying just being with each other and spending time in the 80 degree weather!!

Collecting leaves and sticks for our Autumn nature table
(I can't even keep them from doing school when I try! haha, JUST kidding, I would never try to stop them from learning.)

Check out that blue sky!!! WOW!
(J loves taking pictures. Here, he is laying on the street looking up at me.)

E looking for rocks for the nature table

I don't think you could pay me to send my kids to school!

~So blessed!! :)