Brenna wanted to help so I put her in charge of handing Dad tin screws. She thought it was pretty cool being up on the ladder. :)
I will have to take a picture of the finished result and post it soon.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Porch Roof
We finally finished putting up our porch roof last weekend! Yea! It looks soooo much better then the old one did. No more rotten boards and it looks so clean (the white paint was getting ugly). I am actually pretty proud of Brendon and me - I think we did a good job for people who had no clue what they were doing! We sure did learn a whole lot though. Now we need to finish painting the rest of the house so the porch will match! LOL
Brenna wanted to help so I put her in charge of handing Dad tin screws. She thought it was pretty cool being up on the ladder. :)
I will have to take a picture of the finished result and post it soon.
Brenna wanted to help so I put her in charge of handing Dad tin screws. She thought it was pretty cool being up on the ladder. :)
I will have to take a picture of the finished result and post it soon.
Field Trip
Brenna and I went on a field trip on Wednesday with the homeschool group to the Sea Turtle place on the island. It was very interesting and a lot of fun. Brenna was fascinated with the turtles and really wants to go back again. My friend Mieree and her two daughters came with us. I had two car seats and Brenna's booster seat all in my back seat. That was pretty interesting (and a very tight fit!) but we managed. LOL
After our visit to the sea turtle place we all went down to the beach and had a picnic lunch at one of the pavilions. All the people in our homeschool group stayed for about an hour or two but Mieree and I had decided to stay all afternoon. We have both been wanting to do a beach trip very badly and made a whole day of it. We brought our chairs, lots of food and drinks, an umbrella and a small tent for baby Maisy to take naps in. It all worked out wonderfully and the girls had such a great time!
After our visit to the sea turtle place we all went down to the beach and had a picnic lunch at one of the pavilions. All the people in our homeschool group stayed for about an hour or two but Mieree and I had decided to stay all afternoon. We have both been wanting to do a beach trip very badly and made a whole day of it. We brought our chairs, lots of food and drinks, an umbrella and a small tent for baby Maisy to take naps in. It all worked out wonderfully and the girls had such a great time!
Brenna's Drawings
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Basketball
Brenna and I went and signed her up for basketball yesterday!
Basketball, of all things.
No, I am not against her playing sports at all but Brenna has never really been the sporty kind of kid. She tried soccer when she was 4 and hated it. We've had a basketball hoop in our driveway for about four years and she never plays. Yes, she goes outside and kicks a ball around but other then that, she's not very athletic.
I got an email through my homeschool group the other day about basketball sign-ups and I mentioned it to Brenna (thinking she would say no) but she surprised me and really showed an interest in it. She insisted that she wanted to sign up.
So off we went yesterday to the Boys and Girls Club and got her name down. They said that they were not sure if she would be able to get on a team or not since they were pretty full.
Today I got a call from her coach and she is going to be on the team of the school that she went to pre-school and the school that I used to work at. Her coach is actually going to be one of my Mom's good friends and someone that I have known for years so I think that is wonderful! I will not feel weird about leaving her at practice if I have to run to the store or something.
Yesterday Brenna and I spent about an hour outside and she practiced dribbling and making some baskets. She did way better then I expected and I think she's really going to like this a lot.
Her practices start Monday and they are twice a week. Her games will be on Saturday mornings. I will post some pictures on here soon.
Basketball, of all things.
No, I am not against her playing sports at all but Brenna has never really been the sporty kind of kid. She tried soccer when she was 4 and hated it. We've had a basketball hoop in our driveway for about four years and she never plays. Yes, she goes outside and kicks a ball around but other then that, she's not very athletic.
I got an email through my homeschool group the other day about basketball sign-ups and I mentioned it to Brenna (thinking she would say no) but she surprised me and really showed an interest in it. She insisted that she wanted to sign up.
So off we went yesterday to the Boys and Girls Club and got her name down. They said that they were not sure if she would be able to get on a team or not since they were pretty full.
Today I got a call from her coach and she is going to be on the team of the school that she went to pre-school and the school that I used to work at. Her coach is actually going to be one of my Mom's good friends and someone that I have known for years so I think that is wonderful! I will not feel weird about leaving her at practice if I have to run to the store or something.
Yesterday Brenna and I spent about an hour outside and she practiced dribbling and making some baskets. She did way better then I expected and I think she's really going to like this a lot.
Her practices start Monday and they are twice a week. Her games will be on Saturday mornings. I will post some pictures on here soon.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
100th Post, Co-ops and a little less stress! LOL
So I just realized that my post that I wrote yesterday was my 100th post on my blog!! That's pretty cool and I never thought I would get this far. :) Eventually I would like to turn this into a book so I will have it to look back on when Brenna is grown with a family of her own. I'll have to find a place on-line that I can do that. I have so many thoughts and struggles and things that have happened, all in this one place. It's the closest thing that I have to a diary I guess.
So today we had our third co-op with the homeschool group. I haven't been writing much about that. We've been having a great time though and the kids are all so wonderful. Like I said before, we are doing a patriotic theme this time and they've been learning about George Washington, our flag, money and the symbols of the USA. The kids in Brenna's class are voting as well - for their snacks for the following week. They have a good time doing that. :)
Next week we are not doing co-op (it's a one week break between the six weeks that we are doing). We will be going to the island for a field trip to the sea turtle place. I've already 'called off' for that day at my Grandma's so Brenna and I will be able to stay the entire time and participate in the picnic afterwards. I have not been able to take Brenna on a field trip in quite a while. Lisa has taken her the past few times because I have had to go to my Grandparents. I called my Grandma today and told her that I will not be there next Wednesday.
My predicament that I am in, with taking care of my Grandpa, does make it kinda hard to do the things that I would like to do. But Brenna and I deal with it though and she knows that we have to take care of her Papa and that's our 'job' (and a very rewarding job I might add that teaches her a lot). She's such a big help too. She has her jobs there and usually helps me with her Papa's lunch and helps me clean a little as well. Not very many kids can say that they get to spend just about everyday with their Great-Grandparents. She will remember that for the rest of her life.
Today at co-ops we had our Mom's chat, as usual, and discussed the different grammar curriculum's that we all use. Since I do not use a grammar curriculum just yet (most Mom's in my chat have kids that are older then Brenna), I just sat and took in all the information. I did get quite a few great ideas for things when Brenna gets a little older.
I also was able to have a one-on-one conversation with a mom who has five daughters and has been homeschooling for about 13 years. Through our Mom chats I have come to realize that we are very similar in our homeschooling methods. She is not one to force anything on her daughters, just like me, and when she sees one of her kids really struggling with something, she backs off. She is the one that I actually got the idea from with Brenna's spelling curriculum. When I talked to her today she told me that she did not start spelling with any of her kids until they were either in the 2nd or 3rd grade. I told her about all of the trouble that I have been having with Brenna and she told me to stop and to not push it.
So I think that I have decided to back off of our spelling curriculum. I actually had a conversation with Brenna tonight about it and she told me that she "does not like a book telling us what to do" and she thinks that we need to come up with our own spelling list. So I think what we will do from now on, for the rest of the school year, is work together on her spelling list and come up with about 10-15 words a week to study and then take a test on Friday's. We'll see how that works.
As for her math though, I told her that we will continue to do that on a daily basis and she seemed fine with that. It really is very easy and things that she already knows how to do. That just means we should be able to fly right through it.
OK, time for me to go to bed. I could stay up for another couple hours debating what I should or should not be doing but I need to rest my brain. LOL This stuff has really been stressing me out. I guess I should just follow my heart a little more and not stress out so much about this stuff.
Like one Mom in my group said, "You have six years to teach reading, writing and basic math. Anything else they learn is wonderful but don't stress out about it that much."
So today we had our third co-op with the homeschool group. I haven't been writing much about that. We've been having a great time though and the kids are all so wonderful. Like I said before, we are doing a patriotic theme this time and they've been learning about George Washington, our flag, money and the symbols of the USA. The kids in Brenna's class are voting as well - for their snacks for the following week. They have a good time doing that. :)
Next week we are not doing co-op (it's a one week break between the six weeks that we are doing). We will be going to the island for a field trip to the sea turtle place. I've already 'called off' for that day at my Grandma's so Brenna and I will be able to stay the entire time and participate in the picnic afterwards. I have not been able to take Brenna on a field trip in quite a while. Lisa has taken her the past few times because I have had to go to my Grandparents. I called my Grandma today and told her that I will not be there next Wednesday.
My predicament that I am in, with taking care of my Grandpa, does make it kinda hard to do the things that I would like to do. But Brenna and I deal with it though and she knows that we have to take care of her Papa and that's our 'job' (and a very rewarding job I might add that teaches her a lot). She's such a big help too. She has her jobs there and usually helps me with her Papa's lunch and helps me clean a little as well. Not very many kids can say that they get to spend just about everyday with their Great-Grandparents. She will remember that for the rest of her life.
Today at co-ops we had our Mom's chat, as usual, and discussed the different grammar curriculum's that we all use. Since I do not use a grammar curriculum just yet (most Mom's in my chat have kids that are older then Brenna), I just sat and took in all the information. I did get quite a few great ideas for things when Brenna gets a little older.
I also was able to have a one-on-one conversation with a mom who has five daughters and has been homeschooling for about 13 years. Through our Mom chats I have come to realize that we are very similar in our homeschooling methods. She is not one to force anything on her daughters, just like me, and when she sees one of her kids really struggling with something, she backs off. She is the one that I actually got the idea from with Brenna's spelling curriculum. When I talked to her today she told me that she did not start spelling with any of her kids until they were either in the 2nd or 3rd grade. I told her about all of the trouble that I have been having with Brenna and she told me to stop and to not push it.
So I think that I have decided to back off of our spelling curriculum. I actually had a conversation with Brenna tonight about it and she told me that she "does not like a book telling us what to do" and she thinks that we need to come up with our own spelling list. So I think what we will do from now on, for the rest of the school year, is work together on her spelling list and come up with about 10-15 words a week to study and then take a test on Friday's. We'll see how that works.
As for her math though, I told her that we will continue to do that on a daily basis and she seemed fine with that. It really is very easy and things that she already knows how to do. That just means we should be able to fly right through it.
OK, time for me to go to bed. I could stay up for another couple hours debating what I should or should not be doing but I need to rest my brain. LOL This stuff has really been stressing me out. I guess I should just follow my heart a little more and not stress out so much about this stuff.
Like one Mom in my group said, "You have six years to teach reading, writing and basic math. Anything else they learn is wonderful but don't stress out about it that much."
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Frustrated... but working through it
So for the tenth million time I am in the process of really deciding what it is that I want to accomplish in this whole homeschooling journey that I have decided to take on. This stuff sure is a heck of a lot tougher than I ever thought it would be.
Okay, that's it -- she's just going to school!! It would solve everything. NOT!!! LOL
If only it were that easy. *sigh* Do I want to take on this challenge? More than ever!
I am in need of some major re-evaluation though and I am as confused as ever. I guess that's what I get for reading so many books and researching so many different things when it comes to methods of homeschooling. I have so many options and I have a very individual child on my hands. :) And only one to deal with, for that matter, instead of a whole classroom full. I guess that is what is so stressful about it. I can actually cater to one learning style instead of many different ones and I want to do it right. I only have one chance.
Okay, so my whole dilemma.... I soooo want to be a completely relaxed homeschooler (no curriculum at all - just child-led learning). I want to so bad that I feel it in my heart and really think that is what I should be doing. I can really see how my child benefits from that and how much she learns doing that. I mean, she learned how to read, for crying out loud, taking that approach ! I never used curriculum of any kind when it came to teaching phonics and reading. I read to her since she was 6 months old - she picked it up - period. Now she reads at a 3rd grade level. I have learned that she is a sight reader and not a phonics reader. She just knows what the word is - it is actually pretty unbelievable. It has been just amazing seeing her progression. She reads words now that I just could not even fathom having my six year old read. I started out by pushing it when she was about five and she shut down, hated reading and did not want anything to do with it. I stopped being so pushy and within six months she wanted to read and craved it. Now I find her sitting on the couch, at any given day, reading for pleasure. Would she have been doing that right now if I would have continued forcing her? I can't say for sure but if I would have to take an educated guess, I would say no.
So now I wonder if that is the case for math and spelling as well? If I keep making her do our math and spelling curriculum that I bought will she end up hating it? If I just stop forcing her in spelling, for example, will she just all of a sudden get it in a year from now and love it and crave it like she did reading and pick it up very quickly? It is quite a struggle for her right now.
Why is it so important that my six year old knows how to spell anyway? Who am I out to impress? What difference does it make if she learns when she's six or when she's eight? She's still going to learn, right? And if it's easier to do when she's seven or eight then why not wait? She's still going to learn either way.
As for math, she learned by the time she was five to count by fives and tens to 100. She knows addition and subtraction and even some fractions, all without the help of a structured curriculum. We do math every single day just from playing and her asking questions. Is it stopping at all? No way! Math is part of everyday life.
Brenna absolutely craves knowledge. She is so curious and asks so many questions and learns so much each and every day. One reason why I do not send her to school is so that craving doesn't get crushed by curriculum and by the reasoning that "we're not on that subject yet so I'm not going to teach you" (even though you want to know all about it!).
Today I had someone call me regarding my last post. Okay, so I will just say that it was my all-time best mentor and one of my best friends, who happens to be my sister-in-law, Lisa. Thank you Lisa! She is homescholing her daughter, Kastine, and one of the people that made me realize that homeschooling was right for our family. She never pressured me (never even brought it up for that matter or made me feel that is what I should be doing) but because of what she was doing, she really got me interested in it. Anyways, she called me today and gave me the best advise that I have have gotten in a long time. "Do what is in your heart Brandi. You are the only one who knows your child and how she learns best." Very simple but yet very powerful for me and I think that is what I really needed to hear. She told me not to worry about what other people think. But, yes, I do worry about what other people think when it comes to us homeschooling and she's probably right and I probably shouldn't. But this is what I hear ---- "What did you learn today Brenna?" "How is your spelling curriculum going?" "What did you do in math today?" The questions come from everyone. I feel that because I am homeschooling, I am being judged and that my daughter is being quizzed by so many people. Is it in my imagination? Probably. Do I feel inadequate when Brenna answers, "I don't know"? Yes. But she doesn't know that difference between scholastic learning and just living life and learning through that. She learns so much everyday but to her that is such a natural thing that she can't answer the question, "What did you learn today?". That is just way to broad for her. You ask her specific questions and she can answer those much better. I guess my point is that learning is such an everyday thing and she doesn't even think twice about it. Learning is living. That is what the entire 'unschooling' method is about that I love so much.
Then there is the other (small) part of me that feels I should be doing a more "school at home" type thing. We should be sitting at the table everyday and doing math and spelling and science and grammar. She should have something to show for her learning, like workbook pages and math problems on paper. Isn't that what school is all about? Tests and worksheets?
Or is it?
I'm sure that there are things that Brenna is not learning this year that she would be taught in school but on the other hand, I know there are things that she is learning that are well beyond her grade level. Who's to say what kids should learn and at what age?
Is that what we are just used to and what we feel that school should consist of? Shouldn't learning be more of a natural thing and something we crave? I don't know about a lot of you but a lot of what I have learned, and what matters to me in my everyday life, is what I have learned as an adult (after I got out of school) because I actually cared and was interested in.
I'm not looking for answers or for someone to tell me exactly what I should be doing. I'm just trying to figure things out.
Am I open to suggestions? Absolutely!! (I appreciate everything that everyone has helped me with!)
Am I scared to death about homeschooling my daughter? Maybe, but not really.
I think what scares me is all of the expectations and all of the "this is what kids should learn at this age" kind of things.
Who actually made that timeline? Schools? Teachers? Superintendents? Government?
I'm not convinced.
I'm not convinced because I see my daughter excelling just fine without all of the timelines and expectations.
Maybe I am starting to figure out what it is that I need and should be doing. This blog is a wonderful thing to help me get my thoughts out. :)
Okay, that's it -- she's just going to school!! It would solve everything. NOT!!! LOL
If only it were that easy. *sigh* Do I want to take on this challenge? More than ever!
I am in need of some major re-evaluation though and I am as confused as ever. I guess that's what I get for reading so many books and researching so many different things when it comes to methods of homeschooling. I have so many options and I have a very individual child on my hands. :) And only one to deal with, for that matter, instead of a whole classroom full. I guess that is what is so stressful about it. I can actually cater to one learning style instead of many different ones and I want to do it right. I only have one chance.
Okay, so my whole dilemma.... I soooo want to be a completely relaxed homeschooler (no curriculum at all - just child-led learning). I want to so bad that I feel it in my heart and really think that is what I should be doing. I can really see how my child benefits from that and how much she learns doing that. I mean, she learned how to read, for crying out loud, taking that approach ! I never used curriculum of any kind when it came to teaching phonics and reading. I read to her since she was 6 months old - she picked it up - period. Now she reads at a 3rd grade level. I have learned that she is a sight reader and not a phonics reader. She just knows what the word is - it is actually pretty unbelievable. It has been just amazing seeing her progression. She reads words now that I just could not even fathom having my six year old read. I started out by pushing it when she was about five and she shut down, hated reading and did not want anything to do with it. I stopped being so pushy and within six months she wanted to read and craved it. Now I find her sitting on the couch, at any given day, reading for pleasure. Would she have been doing that right now if I would have continued forcing her? I can't say for sure but if I would have to take an educated guess, I would say no.
So now I wonder if that is the case for math and spelling as well? If I keep making her do our math and spelling curriculum that I bought will she end up hating it? If I just stop forcing her in spelling, for example, will she just all of a sudden get it in a year from now and love it and crave it like she did reading and pick it up very quickly? It is quite a struggle for her right now.
Why is it so important that my six year old knows how to spell anyway? Who am I out to impress? What difference does it make if she learns when she's six or when she's eight? She's still going to learn, right? And if it's easier to do when she's seven or eight then why not wait? She's still going to learn either way.
As for math, she learned by the time she was five to count by fives and tens to 100. She knows addition and subtraction and even some fractions, all without the help of a structured curriculum. We do math every single day just from playing and her asking questions. Is it stopping at all? No way! Math is part of everyday life.
Brenna absolutely craves knowledge. She is so curious and asks so many questions and learns so much each and every day. One reason why I do not send her to school is so that craving doesn't get crushed by curriculum and by the reasoning that "we're not on that subject yet so I'm not going to teach you" (even though you want to know all about it!).
Today I had someone call me regarding my last post. Okay, so I will just say that it was my all-time best mentor and one of my best friends, who happens to be my sister-in-law, Lisa. Thank you Lisa! She is homescholing her daughter, Kastine, and one of the people that made me realize that homeschooling was right for our family. She never pressured me (never even brought it up for that matter or made me feel that is what I should be doing) but because of what she was doing, she really got me interested in it. Anyways, she called me today and gave me the best advise that I have have gotten in a long time. "Do what is in your heart Brandi. You are the only one who knows your child and how she learns best." Very simple but yet very powerful for me and I think that is what I really needed to hear. She told me not to worry about what other people think. But, yes, I do worry about what other people think when it comes to us homeschooling and she's probably right and I probably shouldn't. But this is what I hear ---- "What did you learn today Brenna?" "How is your spelling curriculum going?" "What did you do in math today?" The questions come from everyone. I feel that because I am homeschooling, I am being judged and that my daughter is being quizzed by so many people. Is it in my imagination? Probably. Do I feel inadequate when Brenna answers, "I don't know"? Yes. But she doesn't know that difference between scholastic learning and just living life and learning through that. She learns so much everyday but to her that is such a natural thing that she can't answer the question, "What did you learn today?". That is just way to broad for her. You ask her specific questions and she can answer those much better. I guess my point is that learning is such an everyday thing and she doesn't even think twice about it. Learning is living. That is what the entire 'unschooling' method is about that I love so much.
Then there is the other (small) part of me that feels I should be doing a more "school at home" type thing. We should be sitting at the table everyday and doing math and spelling and science and grammar. She should have something to show for her learning, like workbook pages and math problems on paper. Isn't that what school is all about? Tests and worksheets?
Or is it?
I'm sure that there are things that Brenna is not learning this year that she would be taught in school but on the other hand, I know there are things that she is learning that are well beyond her grade level. Who's to say what kids should learn and at what age?
Is that what we are just used to and what we feel that school should consist of? Shouldn't learning be more of a natural thing and something we crave? I don't know about a lot of you but a lot of what I have learned, and what matters to me in my everyday life, is what I have learned as an adult (after I got out of school) because I actually cared and was interested in.
I'm not looking for answers or for someone to tell me exactly what I should be doing. I'm just trying to figure things out.
Am I open to suggestions? Absolutely!! (I appreciate everything that everyone has helped me with!)
Am I scared to death about homeschooling my daughter? Maybe, but not really.
I think what scares me is all of the expectations and all of the "this is what kids should learn at this age" kind of things.
Who actually made that timeline? Schools? Teachers? Superintendents? Government?
I'm not convinced.
I'm not convinced because I see my daughter excelling just fine without all of the timelines and expectations.
Maybe I am starting to figure out what it is that I need and should be doing. This blog is a wonderful thing to help me get my thoughts out. :)
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Well it's been almost a week since I last posted. I guess I still am a little sporadic BUT I have become better.
Brendon and I have not really got too much done on the back porch since I last wrote. It is a very slow LEARNING process. But the great thing, I guess, is that we ARE learning. LOL We figured out that we needed to put some cross beams between the main beams to support, as well as screw, the tin on to. So that has been our project this weekend. We have more than half of the boards up. We would have finished today but it started to rain. Great excuse to watch the Dallas Cowboys game too. LOL :) Hopefully next weekend we will finally get the roof on. *fingers crossed* I will try to finish the cross boards this week and paint them. I should have known that this would be a 'more than one weekend' thing. It will get finished eventually.
It has been a learning time for Brenna as well --- learning to occupy and entertain herself while Mom and Dad work! :) She is very good at that though and always has been and I think that is very important. I can not stand it when kids are needy and clingy and always need somebody to tell them what to do or entertain them. That's another problem with kids going to school. They are always told what to do, when to do it, how to do it, ect... Kids need time to be by themselves and figure things out and use their imagination. Children in school get very little of that. They can't just be themselves and do things that THEY want to do and discover things that they love and are passionate about. For example, Brenna absolutely loves to draw and will stop doing what she is doing sometimes just so she can draw a picture of what she is doing or what she's learning about. She is a wonderful artist and has become so much better because she's just able to do it whenever she wants - no restrictions. Do you think that if she was in school and learning about Columbus that she would just be able to stop and draw a few pictures about what she thought the Pinta, Nina and Santa Maria ships looked like? Not if it wasn't in the schedule or part of the curriculum.
I have started to become a little obsessed about "unschooling" again, which I think is a great philosophy when homeschooling younger children. I have a book on it that I have read before but am starting to read for the second time. I love reading books again because I think you get much more from it the second time around. It has been a while since I read it anyway. I have talked about unschooling before but for those who don' t know about it, it is basically a child-led learning style. Nothing is forced on the child and they learn about things that they are interested in. A lot of what Brenna and I do right now is considered the unschooling method. She learns so much just by asking questions and being curious about things. Here's a few paragraphs from the book I'm reading that I thought was great:
From the book 'The Unschooling Handbook : How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom'
Trust That the Child Will Learn
For many people, this last characteristic - trusting that the child will learn - is one of the most difficult hurdles to understanding how unschooling works. "But how do you know that you are covering everything important?" " How do you know your kids aren't missing some crucial topic?" " What if they don't learn all the stuff they're supposed to know?"
This is partly a reaction to our own educational experiences and our observation of school children. Years in school teach most of us to rely on what the experts - teachers, textbook writers, standardized test developers, government officials - tell us what we need to know. Eager, hand-waving "Me, me, call on me!!" first graders become less enthusiastic - even indifferent - by the time they are ten or eleven. Too many times, they are told to settle down, wait until next period, until tomorrow, until next year, we'll cover that later. It doesn't take more than two or three years for kids to quit exhibiting their natural curiosity, to learn to wait more or less patiently - if uninterestedly - to be told what the next "important" thing to learn will be.
Developing the trust that kids can and will learn on their own is usually easier for parents who start homeschooling before their children reach school age. It's hard to watch your children learn to walk, learn to understand and use language, and learn to get into anything and everything within reach, without believing that they are capable of learning about anything they are curious about. Most small children have such a broad range of interests that it's easy to believe they may eventually become curious about almost everything.
This has been a little difficult with me when it comes to Brenna's spelling. She is really doing a wonderful job with it and I know in my heart that she is completely capable of doing the work. There are "moments" though during each lesson that she pretty much has a meltdown and tells me that it is too much pressure and that she hates spelling (usually at the beginning). I push her though and she always completes the lesson. The thing that I have noticed though, is that she is no longer making her little books with stories like she used to before we started the spelling curriculum. She would write things (whether they were spelled correctly or not) and always enjoyed it. She doesn't even TRY to spell anymore. Now it's like she has no confidence in her spelling capabilities. It makes me wonder if what I am doing is completely crushing her desire. Is it better that I stop the curriculum and just let her learn on her own (which was working pretty damn well to begin with and she learned so much)? Or do I continue to force her and end up with a child who absolutely hates writing and spelling?
I really am so torn on this and honestly don't know what to do. On one hand, I love the unschooling, child-led learning but on the other hand it's not like I am asking much of her.
I guess it is really the type of child I have as well. Brenna does learn and retain things very well, which I think is very important (and really is the whole point of learning!), when SHE wants to. For example, she is so into the Magic School Bus episodes right now, which teaches science type things. I have a timer set up and we record all of them. They are pretty much the only thing that she has been watching on TV right now. She watched one on spiders today and while we were outside tonight she saw a spider making a web and was absolutely fascinated. She LOVED it! She started telling me all these little facts about spiders that she learned from the show.
I guess my whole dilemma that I have right now is all of the options that I have when it comes to homeschooling. Do I want to be the type who makes their child sit down and learn things? Or do I want to be the type of parent who lets their child learn things that they are passionate about? Maybe it's a more of an "in-between" kinda thing.
I guess I'll figure all this out just like everything else in parenthood. :)
Brendon and I have not really got too much done on the back porch since I last wrote. It is a very slow LEARNING process. But the great thing, I guess, is that we ARE learning. LOL We figured out that we needed to put some cross beams between the main beams to support, as well as screw, the tin on to. So that has been our project this weekend. We have more than half of the boards up. We would have finished today but it started to rain. Great excuse to watch the Dallas Cowboys game too. LOL :) Hopefully next weekend we will finally get the roof on. *fingers crossed* I will try to finish the cross boards this week and paint them. I should have known that this would be a 'more than one weekend' thing. It will get finished eventually.
It has been a learning time for Brenna as well --- learning to occupy and entertain herself while Mom and Dad work! :) She is very good at that though and always has been and I think that is very important. I can not stand it when kids are needy and clingy and always need somebody to tell them what to do or entertain them. That's another problem with kids going to school. They are always told what to do, when to do it, how to do it, ect... Kids need time to be by themselves and figure things out and use their imagination. Children in school get very little of that. They can't just be themselves and do things that THEY want to do and discover things that they love and are passionate about. For example, Brenna absolutely loves to draw and will stop doing what she is doing sometimes just so she can draw a picture of what she is doing or what she's learning about. She is a wonderful artist and has become so much better because she's just able to do it whenever she wants - no restrictions. Do you think that if she was in school and learning about Columbus that she would just be able to stop and draw a few pictures about what she thought the Pinta, Nina and Santa Maria ships looked like? Not if it wasn't in the schedule or part of the curriculum.
I have started to become a little obsessed about "unschooling" again, which I think is a great philosophy when homeschooling younger children. I have a book on it that I have read before but am starting to read for the second time. I love reading books again because I think you get much more from it the second time around. It has been a while since I read it anyway. I have talked about unschooling before but for those who don' t know about it, it is basically a child-led learning style. Nothing is forced on the child and they learn about things that they are interested in. A lot of what Brenna and I do right now is considered the unschooling method. She learns so much just by asking questions and being curious about things. Here's a few paragraphs from the book I'm reading that I thought was great:
From the book 'The Unschooling Handbook : How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom'
Trust That the Child Will Learn
For many people, this last characteristic - trusting that the child will learn - is one of the most difficult hurdles to understanding how unschooling works. "But how do you know that you are covering everything important?" " How do you know your kids aren't missing some crucial topic?" " What if they don't learn all the stuff they're supposed to know?"
This is partly a reaction to our own educational experiences and our observation of school children. Years in school teach most of us to rely on what the experts - teachers, textbook writers, standardized test developers, government officials - tell us what we need to know. Eager, hand-waving "Me, me, call on me!!" first graders become less enthusiastic - even indifferent - by the time they are ten or eleven. Too many times, they are told to settle down, wait until next period, until tomorrow, until next year, we'll cover that later. It doesn't take more than two or three years for kids to quit exhibiting their natural curiosity, to learn to wait more or less patiently - if uninterestedly - to be told what the next "important" thing to learn will be.
Developing the trust that kids can and will learn on their own is usually easier for parents who start homeschooling before their children reach school age. It's hard to watch your children learn to walk, learn to understand and use language, and learn to get into anything and everything within reach, without believing that they are capable of learning about anything they are curious about. Most small children have such a broad range of interests that it's easy to believe they may eventually become curious about almost everything.
This has been a little difficult with me when it comes to Brenna's spelling. She is really doing a wonderful job with it and I know in my heart that she is completely capable of doing the work. There are "moments" though during each lesson that she pretty much has a meltdown and tells me that it is too much pressure and that she hates spelling (usually at the beginning). I push her though and she always completes the lesson. The thing that I have noticed though, is that she is no longer making her little books with stories like she used to before we started the spelling curriculum. She would write things (whether they were spelled correctly or not) and always enjoyed it. She doesn't even TRY to spell anymore. Now it's like she has no confidence in her spelling capabilities. It makes me wonder if what I am doing is completely crushing her desire. Is it better that I stop the curriculum and just let her learn on her own (which was working pretty damn well to begin with and she learned so much)? Or do I continue to force her and end up with a child who absolutely hates writing and spelling?
I really am so torn on this and honestly don't know what to do. On one hand, I love the unschooling, child-led learning but on the other hand it's not like I am asking much of her.
I guess it is really the type of child I have as well. Brenna does learn and retain things very well, which I think is very important (and really is the whole point of learning!), when SHE wants to. For example, she is so into the Magic School Bus episodes right now, which teaches science type things. I have a timer set up and we record all of them. They are pretty much the only thing that she has been watching on TV right now. She watched one on spiders today and while we were outside tonight she saw a spider making a web and was absolutely fascinated. She LOVED it! She started telling me all these little facts about spiders that she learned from the show.
I guess my whole dilemma that I have right now is all of the options that I have when it comes to homeschooling. Do I want to be the type who makes their child sit down and learn things? Or do I want to be the type of parent who lets their child learn things that they are passionate about? Maybe it's a more of an "in-between" kinda thing.
I guess I'll figure all this out just like everything else in parenthood. :)
Monday, October 06, 2008
Back on track
For some reason we took all of last week off when it came to Brenna's school work. Our week was pretty full though with co-ops and lots of playdates. Today we finally did some of her spelling. I was a little worried that she wouldn't remember some things since we went a whole week without doing it but she surprised me and did wonderful! She is at 25 words now and it takes about 30 minutes. She's getting better at not getting so frustrated and it's not such a fight anymore getting her to do it. I keep reminding her though that there are other kids her age that do waaaay more table work then what I require of her.
So here's her spelling words that she did today:
ups
cupping
my puppy's eye
So here's her spelling words that she did today:
ups
cupping
my puppy's eye
supping
good
wooden
good
wooden
stood
could
would
wouldn't
moods
brooding
could
would
wouldn't
moods
brooding
outing
shouting
about
stout
shouting
about
stout
clouting
flouting
pouting
spouting
routing
shouldn't
couldn't
eyes
Anyways, this past weekend was a pretty busy one for Brendon and I. We tore down the roof of our back porch and are in the process of putting up a new one. The old one was rotten in some places and leaked a lot. Here are a couple before and after pictures. Today we are going to start on the roof.
Next we have to finish painting the back of the house. We got the front painted the beginning of the year and now we need to finish. The thing that was preventing us from doing the back was the porch, so now that that's done hopefully we'll get it all finished very soon.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Lock down
Another "lock down" today at an elementary school here in the Valley. I turned on the news at my Grandparents house this afternoon to see live coverage at the school. Apparently someone was shooting at someone right by an elementary school. School officials were notified and all the gates and classrooms were locked. No one in, no one out.
Yes, I can understand the safety precautions but can you imagine being a parent and seeing your kids' school on the news with something like that going on? Do they even call and notify the parents in a situation like that or do they (the parents) find out about it from TV? If I were in that predicament I would want to go and snatch my child up right away and take her home!
Things have just become so scary at schools. Makes me grateful that I am able to do what I do.
Yes, I can understand the safety precautions but can you imagine being a parent and seeing your kids' school on the news with something like that going on? Do they even call and notify the parents in a situation like that or do they (the parents) find out about it from TV? If I were in that predicament I would want to go and snatch my child up right away and take her home!
Things have just become so scary at schools. Makes me grateful that I am able to do what I do.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
So I go on this huge posting frenzy and then I don't write for a whole week. I guess that doesn't surprise me (or anybody else who's been keeping up here). LOL
Brenna is at Ben and William's house (the twins that live across the alley from us) so I thought I would get on here and write something. It is way too quiet in the house right now. It always seems so odd when Brenna's gone. I kinda miss her. It's not so bad when Brendon and I are out doing something and Brenna is somewhere else (like my Mom's house). But when I'm at home without her, it's like she's SUPPOSED to be here and when she's not then something is missing. What would I do if she were at school all day?? THAT would be hard to get used to. I just happen to be one of those weird people who actually LIKE being with my daughter all day. LOL It kinda irks me when I hear people say things like, "I can't wait for school to start! My kids are driving me crazy!". To me, that is just sad. I tend to feel a bit sorry for the kids.
It's funny though because when she's here and I'm trying to do something, like post on my blog, I would just give anything to have some peace. It's always, "Mom! I need help!", "Mom! Look at this!", "Hey Mom, come here please!". I now know exactly what my Mom meant when she used to tell us, "I'm going to change my name!". LOL But I would not change what we have for anything.
Anyway, we have had a fairly good week so far. Monday and Tuesday were pretty uneventful - nothing exciting. Wednesday morning was the first day of co-ops for the homeschool group and that went very well. Brenna LOVES co-ops and I wish we had them more then just twice a year. This time it is only for six weeks (every Wednesday) and our theme is America. It is all patriotic stuff with the elections coming up and all. I am teaching in Brenna's class (K-1st) and we are doing things like George Washington, Lincoln, flags, ect... It has been a little difficult, just like it was last time, getting my lesson plans together for that class. Five and six year olds in the same class can be hard because they are all so different. I have kids that can read fluently and I have kids that can't read at all. So I have to come up with things that they will ALL have fun doing - that can be a little challenging at times. In fact, the first day really gave me a lot of insight on what some can and can't do so I think I am going to have to tweak some of my plans a little for the next five weeks. This time around we have more Kindergarten kids then 1st grade. In fact, from what I can remember, I think Brenna may be the only one in the class that can read this year. The other kids who could read last year have gone on to the 2nd-3rd grade class.
Speaking of Brenna reading, I tested her yesterday with something that I found on the computer and, according to what I used, she is at a 4th grade reading level. I knew she was advanced for her age but never thought it was a 4th grade level. I want to find another reading test and see if it corresponds with the one she took. It's not that I don't think it could be right - I guess I would just like a comparison.
So nothing new with "school" this week. We have not done any math or spelling. Tomorrow my goal is to at least do a spelling lesson. To be honest, "school" for us starts right when she wakes up and ends when she goes to bed. It is our lifestyle I guess. So just because we don't do her curriculum doesn't necessarily mean that she didn't learn anything. In fact, Brenna has been watching a lot of the "Magic Tree House" series on Discovery Kids and learning a lot from them. Today she watched the one about warm/coldbloodedness. They are cartoons and really teach kids about a lot of stuff. I guess you could say that is our science curriculum right now. LOL The cool thing about Brenna though is when she watches stuff like that, she remembers it.
Well Brenna should be home soon. I need to try and get a couple things done before then. :)
Brenna is at Ben and William's house (the twins that live across the alley from us) so I thought I would get on here and write something. It is way too quiet in the house right now. It always seems so odd when Brenna's gone. I kinda miss her. It's not so bad when Brendon and I are out doing something and Brenna is somewhere else (like my Mom's house). But when I'm at home without her, it's like she's SUPPOSED to be here and when she's not then something is missing. What would I do if she were at school all day?? THAT would be hard to get used to. I just happen to be one of those weird people who actually LIKE being with my daughter all day. LOL It kinda irks me when I hear people say things like, "I can't wait for school to start! My kids are driving me crazy!". To me, that is just sad. I tend to feel a bit sorry for the kids.
It's funny though because when she's here and I'm trying to do something, like post on my blog, I would just give anything to have some peace. It's always, "Mom! I need help!", "Mom! Look at this!", "Hey Mom, come here please!". I now know exactly what my Mom meant when she used to tell us, "I'm going to change my name!". LOL But I would not change what we have for anything.
Anyway, we have had a fairly good week so far. Monday and Tuesday were pretty uneventful - nothing exciting. Wednesday morning was the first day of co-ops for the homeschool group and that went very well. Brenna LOVES co-ops and I wish we had them more then just twice a year. This time it is only for six weeks (every Wednesday) and our theme is America. It is all patriotic stuff with the elections coming up and all. I am teaching in Brenna's class (K-1st) and we are doing things like George Washington, Lincoln, flags, ect... It has been a little difficult, just like it was last time, getting my lesson plans together for that class. Five and six year olds in the same class can be hard because they are all so different. I have kids that can read fluently and I have kids that can't read at all. So I have to come up with things that they will ALL have fun doing - that can be a little challenging at times. In fact, the first day really gave me a lot of insight on what some can and can't do so I think I am going to have to tweak some of my plans a little for the next five weeks. This time around we have more Kindergarten kids then 1st grade. In fact, from what I can remember, I think Brenna may be the only one in the class that can read this year. The other kids who could read last year have gone on to the 2nd-3rd grade class.
Speaking of Brenna reading, I tested her yesterday with something that I found on the computer and, according to what I used, she is at a 4th grade reading level. I knew she was advanced for her age but never thought it was a 4th grade level. I want to find another reading test and see if it corresponds with the one she took. It's not that I don't think it could be right - I guess I would just like a comparison.
So nothing new with "school" this week. We have not done any math or spelling. Tomorrow my goal is to at least do a spelling lesson. To be honest, "school" for us starts right when she wakes up and ends when she goes to bed. It is our lifestyle I guess. So just because we don't do her curriculum doesn't necessarily mean that she didn't learn anything. In fact, Brenna has been watching a lot of the "Magic Tree House" series on Discovery Kids and learning a lot from them. Today she watched the one about warm/coldbloodedness. They are cartoons and really teach kids about a lot of stuff. I guess you could say that is our science curriculum right now. LOL The cool thing about Brenna though is when she watches stuff like that, she remembers it.
Well Brenna should be home soon. I need to try and get a couple things done before then. :)
Thursday, September 25, 2008
To my Mom and Dad
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!
My Mom and Dad have been married for 32 years today (Thursday the 25th). This is the first year EVER that they have not been together on this day. My Dad is in Houston being a hero and helping to restore the power after Hurricane Ike. He should be home on Wednesday, after being gone for two and a half weeks. We had my Mom over to dinner tonight. I know that it's not the same for her without my Dad though. They are such an inspiration and we really look up to them.
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! We love you very much.
My Mom and Dad have been married for 32 years today (Thursday the 25th). This is the first year EVER that they have not been together on this day. My Dad is in Houston being a hero and helping to restore the power after Hurricane Ike. He should be home on Wednesday, after being gone for two and a half weeks. We had my Mom over to dinner tonight. I know that it's not the same for her without my Dad though. They are such an inspiration and we really look up to them.
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! We love you very much.
Sleep.. such a great thing!
Wow, I have been posting like crazy lately. Hopefully everyone is keeping up with all of my blogging that I have been doing. I have to point out that I now have over 2000 hits on my blog!! I guess that is what keeps me writing. Thank you all who are interested in our life. :) LOL
Anyways, I was on one of my bulletin boards online tonight. It is 'Class of 2020' (that's when Brenna will be graduating) on Babycenter.com. Most of the moms there have kids going to public school (there are a couple homeschooling mom's there as well). There was a thread today about bed times. It had about 18 posts and as I was reading all of them I was just in awe about how early these kids who go to school have to wake up! All of these kids have to wake up anywhere between 6:15 - 7am ---- oh I could not even imagine having to wake my kid up that early. ESPECIALLY with as young as she is. Brenna gets as much sleep as she needs and for that I am sooooo thankful! Sleep is very important, for her development as well as her MOOD! LOL I was reading about how hard is it to wake them up and how grumpy they are all day (according to the teachers I guess??) and how unpleasant they are when they get home cuz they are just so TIRED. I just feel that my life is so much less stressful because we don't have a completely structured bedtime. Now don't get me wrong - Brenna DOES have a bedtime of about 9pm (weekends included) but it doesn't consume our evenings making sure that she gets to bed by 'this time' because she has to wake up at the crack of dawn to go to school. It's really not that big of a deal if she doesn't get to bed until almost 9:30 or 10. If she happens to fall asleep about 9pm then I know that she will be waking up at about 7:45 -- if she goes to bed closer to 10 then she will likely sleep until 8:30 or so.
I guess I just love the fact that, because I homeschool, my daughter gets all the sleep she needs and doesn't have to wake up at a ridiculous time to be sent off to school to be tired all day and made to do stuff that she really is not interested in at all.
Okay, so forgive me.... I have been on this "why I love to homeschool" kick all week - just ask Brendon (poor guy). I do this every now and again and I guess you all will just have to deal with it. HAHAHA!! :) I'm sure there will be more in the coming days. :) :) :)
Anyways, I was on one of my bulletin boards online tonight. It is 'Class of 2020' (that's when Brenna will be graduating) on Babycenter.com. Most of the moms there have kids going to public school (there are a couple homeschooling mom's there as well). There was a thread today about bed times. It had about 18 posts and as I was reading all of them I was just in awe about how early these kids who go to school have to wake up! All of these kids have to wake up anywhere between 6:15 - 7am ---- oh I could not even imagine having to wake my kid up that early. ESPECIALLY with as young as she is. Brenna gets as much sleep as she needs and for that I am sooooo thankful! Sleep is very important, for her development as well as her MOOD! LOL I was reading about how hard is it to wake them up and how grumpy they are all day (according to the teachers I guess??) and how unpleasant they are when they get home cuz they are just so TIRED. I just feel that my life is so much less stressful because we don't have a completely structured bedtime. Now don't get me wrong - Brenna DOES have a bedtime of about 9pm (weekends included) but it doesn't consume our evenings making sure that she gets to bed by 'this time' because she has to wake up at the crack of dawn to go to school. It's really not that big of a deal if she doesn't get to bed until almost 9:30 or 10. If she happens to fall asleep about 9pm then I know that she will be waking up at about 7:45 -- if she goes to bed closer to 10 then she will likely sleep until 8:30 or so.
I guess I just love the fact that, because I homeschool, my daughter gets all the sleep she needs and doesn't have to wake up at a ridiculous time to be sent off to school to be tired all day and made to do stuff that she really is not interested in at all.
Okay, so forgive me.... I have been on this "why I love to homeschool" kick all week - just ask Brendon (poor guy). I do this every now and again and I guess you all will just have to deal with it. HAHAHA!! :) I'm sure there will be more in the coming days. :) :) :)
Nice Article
One of the Mom's in my homeschool group sent this out to everyone via email the other day. I thought it was worth posting on my blog. Kinda long but worth reading.
Knowing When to Back Off
By Barbara Frank
Sometimes new homeschooling moms ask me when they should teach their kids to read, or when to sign their children up for music lessons. New homeschooling moms naturally have a lot of questions, and some of them are "when" questions.
I think one of the most important questions a homeschooling mom can ask is when to back off, because sometimes we moms are so eager to do everything right that we overdo it.
For example, let's say your child is learning how to subtract fractions, and it's not going well. You can see that he's coming close to the point of losing it. You try to explain the concept in a different way but he's still not getting it. Instead, he's getting teary-eyed.
No matter what the "experts" say about what grade a child should be in when he learns how to subtract fractions, if you've got a child on the edge, you need to back off. He might not say so in words, but you know him well enough to see that he's hit the wall. Trust your knowledge of your child. Take a break from fractions for a while. You can always come back to it later.
Knowing when to back off doesn't just apply to the child who is overwhelmed by his schoolwork. Sometimes, we need to back off when our child is enthused about something. Years ago, I recall getting all excited over my kids' enthusiasm about frogs. It started when they found a frog in the basement window well and requested a container to put it in. I gave them an empty coffee can, and they caught the frog, named it, carried it around in the coffee can, and showed it to their friends. They gave it some grass and learned it wasn't interested in grass. They put a little water in the can in case it got thirsty. They were really into this frog.
Being a proactive mom who couldn't wait to capitalize on their newly discovered interest in frogs, I brought home a stack of library books about frogs, expecting them to pore over them in their excitement over their new pet. But they ignored the books. So I had them sit down with me so we could read about frogs. And you know what? That pretty much extinguished their interest in frogs. I didn't even get a chance to do the art project about frogs that I found in one of the books. In fact, I had to let the poor frog escape from his coffee can when his young owners forgot about him.
Over time I discovered that I had to let the kids learn freely instead of jumping in and turning an interest into a learning experience. This wasn't easy for me. My own reaction to something new that interests me is to investigate it by reading about it. But I needed to let my kids learn in their own way. I had to learn when to back off.
You can see where we often need to back off even though our intentions are good. But what if it's not a matter of intentions but instructions? For instance, the guide to the curriculum we're using has a timetable that's been tested by the experts. We won't complete the curriculum by the end of the year unless we stick to the timetable. And yet life keeps intervening, and we fall further and further behind, until it becomes obvious that we're never going to finish this curriculum in time.
What to do? We could:
institute seven-day-a-week school in order to catch up (that'll go over well, won't it?)
cut out something else that the kids are doing to leave more time for the curriculum.
just back off of the curriculum.
You knew I was going to pick #3, didn't you? Remember, curriculum is meant to serve you; you are not supposed to serve the curriculum. When you fall behind on a curriculum, something is wrong. The timetable might be too ambitious for your family. You might want to stretch the program over a longer time period, or combine lessons where possible. Or perhaps it's just not the right curriculum for you and your kids.
It's ok to admit that, by the way. Yes, I know you spent good money on it, but most of the time, you have no way of knowing how a curriculum will work for your family without actually trying it. Also, the curriculum might have been written for actual schools, which are very different from home schools. Such programs are more appropriate for captive audiences (i.e. schoolrooms) than people having a life.
Whatever the problem is, back off of the curriculum and come up with an alternate plan. Expect that this will often happen to you when you homeschool. If you're not already a flexible person, you will become one!
Of course, backing off is not something that comes naturally to most homeschooling moms. We're used to being proactive when it comes to our children's education. But if we can become aware of situations where backing off is the smart thing to do, we will see that homeschooling becomes easier for us. And that's always a good thing!
Copyright 2008 Barbara Frank/Cardamom Publishers
Knowing When to Back Off
By Barbara Frank
Sometimes new homeschooling moms ask me when they should teach their kids to read, or when to sign their children up for music lessons. New homeschooling moms naturally have a lot of questions, and some of them are "when" questions.
I think one of the most important questions a homeschooling mom can ask is when to back off, because sometimes we moms are so eager to do everything right that we overdo it.
For example, let's say your child is learning how to subtract fractions, and it's not going well. You can see that he's coming close to the point of losing it. You try to explain the concept in a different way but he's still not getting it. Instead, he's getting teary-eyed.
No matter what the "experts" say about what grade a child should be in when he learns how to subtract fractions, if you've got a child on the edge, you need to back off. He might not say so in words, but you know him well enough to see that he's hit the wall. Trust your knowledge of your child. Take a break from fractions for a while. You can always come back to it later.
Knowing when to back off doesn't just apply to the child who is overwhelmed by his schoolwork. Sometimes, we need to back off when our child is enthused about something. Years ago, I recall getting all excited over my kids' enthusiasm about frogs. It started when they found a frog in the basement window well and requested a container to put it in. I gave them an empty coffee can, and they caught the frog, named it, carried it around in the coffee can, and showed it to their friends. They gave it some grass and learned it wasn't interested in grass. They put a little water in the can in case it got thirsty. They were really into this frog.
Being a proactive mom who couldn't wait to capitalize on their newly discovered interest in frogs, I brought home a stack of library books about frogs, expecting them to pore over them in their excitement over their new pet. But they ignored the books. So I had them sit down with me so we could read about frogs. And you know what? That pretty much extinguished their interest in frogs. I didn't even get a chance to do the art project about frogs that I found in one of the books. In fact, I had to let the poor frog escape from his coffee can when his young owners forgot about him.
Over time I discovered that I had to let the kids learn freely instead of jumping in and turning an interest into a learning experience. This wasn't easy for me. My own reaction to something new that interests me is to investigate it by reading about it. But I needed to let my kids learn in their own way. I had to learn when to back off.
You can see where we often need to back off even though our intentions are good. But what if it's not a matter of intentions but instructions? For instance, the guide to the curriculum we're using has a timetable that's been tested by the experts. We won't complete the curriculum by the end of the year unless we stick to the timetable. And yet life keeps intervening, and we fall further and further behind, until it becomes obvious that we're never going to finish this curriculum in time.
What to do? We could:
institute seven-day-a-week school in order to catch up (that'll go over well, won't it?)
cut out something else that the kids are doing to leave more time for the curriculum.
just back off of the curriculum.
You knew I was going to pick #3, didn't you? Remember, curriculum is meant to serve you; you are not supposed to serve the curriculum. When you fall behind on a curriculum, something is wrong. The timetable might be too ambitious for your family. You might want to stretch the program over a longer time period, or combine lessons where possible. Or perhaps it's just not the right curriculum for you and your kids.
It's ok to admit that, by the way. Yes, I know you spent good money on it, but most of the time, you have no way of knowing how a curriculum will work for your family without actually trying it. Also, the curriculum might have been written for actual schools, which are very different from home schools. Such programs are more appropriate for captive audiences (i.e. schoolrooms) than people having a life.
Whatever the problem is, back off of the curriculum and come up with an alternate plan. Expect that this will often happen to you when you homeschool. If you're not already a flexible person, you will become one!
Of course, backing off is not something that comes naturally to most homeschooling moms. We're used to being proactive when it comes to our children's education. But if we can become aware of situations where backing off is the smart thing to do, we will see that homeschooling becomes easier for us. And that's always a good thing!
Copyright 2008 Barbara Frank/Cardamom Publishers
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
More Spelling....
Ok, yes, I have been posting a lot about Brenna's spelling that we have been doing. I guess, as a Mom, I just think it is so amazing what my little girl has been accomplishing and I just want to share it with everyone. She has been doing far more then I would have ever expected of her at this age and I am just in awe.
The first week and a half were a little rocky and she really fought me on it a lot - there were a lot of nerves tested and quite a few time-outs. LOL Most of you know my whole philosophy on homeschooling and learning (no force, make it fun, ect...) and this was really hard for me to deal with and I was extremely confused about what I was doing and what I should be doing. I really felt like I was going against everything that I believed and felt so strongly about. On one hand, I hated seeing her not like learning and just not having fun with it; but on the other hand I was thinking, "Okay kid - I am only asking about 15 minutes of your time. It's not like I am making you sit at the table and do hours and hours of work. Everyone has to do things that they don't like at SOME point." So after much debate with MYSELF I decided to just stick with it. Boy am I glad that I did! She has been doing fabulous and this week there has been no fighting or whining and she actually WANTS to do her spelling. We have been doing it the past two days at my Grandparent's house and they are both so proud of her and she is very eager to show them her work when she is finished.
Here was her spelling list from yesterday (the ones with an * are the one's that she really needed help with):
up
cup
pup
sup
good
wood
stood
could *
would
food
mood
brood
out *
shout
bout
lout
clout
flout
pout
spout
rout
grout
route *
should
eye
Today I gave her a 20 word test of random words from the first eight days and she did very well. She actually did better than I thought she would.
Now I think I need to have her start actually USING these words in sentences. Ooooo, maybe I will give her 10 spelling words and have her make a story using those 10 words?? She loves making books and drawing pictures and writing short little stories. We'll have to wait and see if she shoots my idea down - you never can tell with her. LOL
We also did some math tonight while I was cooking dinner. I had her do the review/test page from the latest lesson that we completely skipped and she got them all right. So tomorrow we will be on to the next lesson.
Another thing we did with math today was make hummingbird food. I love my hummingbirds and am always refilling my three feeders. I use one part sugar to four parts water and had Brenna figure it out for me. I gave her a 1/4 cup and asked her how many of them we needed to make a cup - she got it right. She then figured out the water and made it all by herself. Then I tested her knowledge and asked her how much sugar and water we would need to double it and she figured it out and got it right with no help!
I really am having such a great time with all this! It is so fun being a 'teacher' and seeing my daughter learn something new. It is very rewarding.
The first week and a half were a little rocky and she really fought me on it a lot - there were a lot of nerves tested and quite a few time-outs. LOL Most of you know my whole philosophy on homeschooling and learning (no force, make it fun, ect...) and this was really hard for me to deal with and I was extremely confused about what I was doing and what I should be doing. I really felt like I was going against everything that I believed and felt so strongly about. On one hand, I hated seeing her not like learning and just not having fun with it; but on the other hand I was thinking, "Okay kid - I am only asking about 15 minutes of your time. It's not like I am making you sit at the table and do hours and hours of work. Everyone has to do things that they don't like at SOME point." So after much debate with MYSELF I decided to just stick with it. Boy am I glad that I did! She has been doing fabulous and this week there has been no fighting or whining and she actually WANTS to do her spelling. We have been doing it the past two days at my Grandparent's house and they are both so proud of her and she is very eager to show them her work when she is finished.
Here was her spelling list from yesterday (the ones with an * are the one's that she really needed help with):
up
cup
pup
sup
good
wood
stood
could *
would
food
mood
brood
out *
shout
bout
lout
clout
flout
pout
spout
rout
grout
route *
should
eye
Today I gave her a 20 word test of random words from the first eight days and she did very well. She actually did better than I thought she would.
Now I think I need to have her start actually USING these words in sentences. Ooooo, maybe I will give her 10 spelling words and have her make a story using those 10 words?? She loves making books and drawing pictures and writing short little stories. We'll have to wait and see if she shoots my idea down - you never can tell with her. LOL
We also did some math tonight while I was cooking dinner. I had her do the review/test page from the latest lesson that we completely skipped and she got them all right. So tomorrow we will be on to the next lesson.
Another thing we did with math today was make hummingbird food. I love my hummingbirds and am always refilling my three feeders. I use one part sugar to four parts water and had Brenna figure it out for me. I gave her a 1/4 cup and asked her how many of them we needed to make a cup - she got it right. She then figured out the water and made it all by herself. Then I tested her knowledge and asked her how much sugar and water we would need to double it and she figured it out and got it right with no help!
I really am having such a great time with all this! It is so fun being a 'teacher' and seeing my daughter learn something new. It is very rewarding.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Just found this....
Apparently there was a show on Fox News tonight about homeschooling. Since I don't watch Fox News I found this on their website pertaining to it. Thought it was interesting.
"Homeschooling is no longer just an offbeat trend or an avant-garde educational choice. It is growing exponentially and its proponents are fighting for new legal rights in the U.S.
With more than 2 million homeschooled students in the United States, parents' reasons for opting out of traditional public school are as varied as their demographics.
"It used to be that homeschooling was the domain of people on the two extremes of the political spectrum, and now you have families from every possible religious, political, philosophical, socio-economic position," said Celeste Land, chairwoman of the Government Affairs Committee for the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers. "You name it, we've got it."
Land says many parents who decide to take on home education come to the decision after realizing they want more for their children than school districts are required to provide by law.
It's also the law that presents some of the toughest challenges. States and school districts have a disjointed jumble of ordinances and measures that can make it tough for parents to know exactly what they are permitted to do as homeschoolers.
The situation has galvanized a nationwide movement. Legal fights to establish homeschooling rights have been launched from California to Pennsylvania. In most cases, Land says, parents are just looking for clarification.
"A family comes to us and says the school district is looking for more than the law requires or won't let them do something they want to do," she said.
Dawn Johnson, a mother of four, believes the challenges are well worth the payoff. "I don't think anything beats one-on-one tutoring, and I am allowed to talk and teach each of my children individually based on their strengths and weaknesses and learning styles," she said. "They're not held back by students in a classroom."
Her strategy appears to be working. According to Johnson, her children are now testing at two grade levels ahead of their age group. Socialization is also covered, with Johnson committing her children to activities from soccer to choir at least four days a week.
"They're probably more socialized than kids who go to school and see the same children every day because we're doing different things every day," she said.
As for financial considerations, many homeschooling parents believe the time and money they spend teaching from home is a bargain compared to private school tuition.
"You get to choose your own curriculum," said Johnson. "You can get everything free online if you want."
Some parents are also fighting for tax credits, since their tax dollars are paying for a system their children aren't using. Land says it's "very tempting" to look at education tax credits as an option for homeschoolers, but cautioned that the credits could come with strings attached, and could invite even more unwanted regulation."
I really don't like that homeschooling is coming more and more prevalent. I like being under the radar because then less people are pushing for the Goverment to step in. The more popular it is the more I fear that federal changes may come and I don't know that it will be for the better.
Just my thoughts....
"Homeschooling is no longer just an offbeat trend or an avant-garde educational choice. It is growing exponentially and its proponents are fighting for new legal rights in the U.S.
With more than 2 million homeschooled students in the United States, parents' reasons for opting out of traditional public school are as varied as their demographics.
"It used to be that homeschooling was the domain of people on the two extremes of the political spectrum, and now you have families from every possible religious, political, philosophical, socio-economic position," said Celeste Land, chairwoman of the Government Affairs Committee for the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers. "You name it, we've got it."
Land says many parents who decide to take on home education come to the decision after realizing they want more for their children than school districts are required to provide by law.
It's also the law that presents some of the toughest challenges. States and school districts have a disjointed jumble of ordinances and measures that can make it tough for parents to know exactly what they are permitted to do as homeschoolers.
The situation has galvanized a nationwide movement. Legal fights to establish homeschooling rights have been launched from California to Pennsylvania. In most cases, Land says, parents are just looking for clarification.
"A family comes to us and says the school district is looking for more than the law requires or won't let them do something they want to do," she said.
Dawn Johnson, a mother of four, believes the challenges are well worth the payoff. "I don't think anything beats one-on-one tutoring, and I am allowed to talk and teach each of my children individually based on their strengths and weaknesses and learning styles," she said. "They're not held back by students in a classroom."
Her strategy appears to be working. According to Johnson, her children are now testing at two grade levels ahead of their age group. Socialization is also covered, with Johnson committing her children to activities from soccer to choir at least four days a week.
"They're probably more socialized than kids who go to school and see the same children every day because we're doing different things every day," she said.
As for financial considerations, many homeschooling parents believe the time and money they spend teaching from home is a bargain compared to private school tuition.
"You get to choose your own curriculum," said Johnson. "You can get everything free online if you want."
Some parents are also fighting for tax credits, since their tax dollars are paying for a system their children aren't using. Land says it's "very tempting" to look at education tax credits as an option for homeschoolers, but cautioned that the credits could come with strings attached, and could invite even more unwanted regulation."
I really don't like that homeschooling is coming more and more prevalent. I like being under the radar because then less people are pushing for the Goverment to step in. The more popular it is the more I fear that federal changes may come and I don't know that it will be for the better.
Just my thoughts....
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Good Week
Wow, did we have a GREAT week! First of all, the weather was so wonderful and it was in the low 80's just about everyday. No humidity and it was actually really pleasent to be outside - you didn't start to sweat after only five minutes. LOL It has warmed up quite a bit in the last couple days so that's kinda a bummer. Yes, we are getting extremely tired of the hot summer weather and we are ready for FALL! And we are ready for another camping trip too! Hopefully sometime next month we will be able to plan something (if's it cooler!) because all three of us are itching to go. My Mom and Dad might go with us - I actually talked my Mom into it! Her? Sleeping in a tent?! Yes, I think it might actually happen. :) (Love ya Mom!) Hunting season will be starting very soon so now I guess we'll have to see if we can drag my Dad away from the lease for a weekend. They have been going up a lot getting things prepared. Right now he is in Houston though helping restore the power from Hurricane Ike (he works for the electric company). He's been there for a week and should be home next Sunday.
So back to our fabulous week.... On Tuesday it was just way to beautiful to be inside for even a minute. Brenna spent most of the time in the backyard in her playhouse at my Grandma's while we were there. When we left there we went home, gathered her spelling curriculum, some snacks and drinks and headed to the park. We ended up staying at the park for three hours! We sat at the picnic table and did her spelling (which she did wonderful at!). I thought I'd make it a little fun and brought a candy bar with us, which she was able to take a bite of with every word she got correct. Well, with as good as she is spelling, the entire thing was gone after doing twenty words. My sister-in-law, Jenny and my cute little niece, Keira, met us there so it was nice because I actually got a picture with me in it. 
It was nice doing her school work at the park. What an advantage of homeschooling! I think we might do that a lot more once it starts to stay cool on a regular basis. Maybe next time we will even bring her math and a few books to read.
Speaking of math.... we have not really been doing it on a daily basis. I guess about three times a week has been the norm for us. I'm really not too worried about it because the stuff that we are doing right now is so easy for her and like I have said before, we are definitely not structured at all. We have actually skipped a lot of the worksheets and on a lot of the lessons I have just gone straight to the review/test page. She does it by herself, gets them all right and we are on to the next thing. No need spending a lot of time on "What's 7+0?" when she is already doing easy multiplication and adding bigger numbers. Now don't get me wrong, the entire curriculum is not going to be like this. After we get through a lot of the 'easy stuff' it will become a little more challenging for her. There are things like time and money that she has not mastered yet as wellas double digit addition, which we will be getting to very soon. In fact, I might just skip the next couple lessons completely because she is getting very bored with it already and she is just NOT having fun at all.
Here's a picture that I took a few weeks ago of her learning place value. She did have a blast with that and really seemed to enjoy it! It uses a big poster and it is called "Decimal Street". We played a few games and she picked it up very quickly.
So on Wednesday Brenna and I had a field trip with the homeschool group to the Arts and Heritage museum. It was pretty interesting and Brenna seemed to have a good time. I think her favorite part was getting to see her friends though. LOL At the museum they had the first house built in our city, along with the first post office, hospital and dentist. There were so many things from the 'oldin' days' (as Brenna calls it) and she got a kick out of seeing everything. Even though Brenna was very interested in certain things, I think it is a place that she would appreciate MORE if she were a little older.
Here's a couple pictures from the field trip....
Brenna's Map
Monday, September 15, 2008
New Stuff and One Proud Mama
Brenna and I have decided to start incorporating some geography into her home schooling and start learning about maps as well. I got on Amazon and ordered a few books about maps and simple geography stuff and figured we would start there. I've already received two of the three books and Brenna seems to like them a lot. One is about maps and globes and goes into detail about a lot of things, like making a map to scale and legends. The other book is called Geography From A to Z and has definitions along with pictures. Anyone know what a ford is? Well I will admit that I didn't. A ford is a shallow place in a stream where people and animals can safely wade from one bank to another. Please don't tell me that I am the only one who did not know that! LOL I think I will be learning a lot of cool stuff along with Brenna! :)
Anyway, I figured we would study a few definitions a week and do little art projects or find pictures on the Internet of the particular thing we are talking about. As far as the maps, I already have our world map up on the wall and she will be learning the seven continents and where they are located. We have a globe as well so I am sure that will come in handy. Maybe we'll even study a few little facts about some of the countries along the way.
The book from Amazon that I am waiting for is called Me On the Map. I remember my niece, Kastine, having that book and I thought it was really neat. It's about this kid and starts with a map of his room, then his house, then his street, city, state, ect... I think it does a good job at putting things in perspective for children.
In fact, today Brenna and I made a map of her room. We had the best time doing that and she did a great job. We worked on it for about an hour. It was a little difficult explaining to her how to look at her room from the top and just draw a rectangle for her bed instead of the actual bed with legs and everything (which she is so used to). She got it pretty quick though and did the whole room by herself. She made a legend and everything! I have some pictures on my camera that I took but I have to charge it before I can download them. I will try to remember to post them tomorrow.
Anyway, today was Brenna's fifth day for spelling and guess what word she spelled all by herself!!?? Beginning. Yep, that's right - my darling little 6 year old knows how to spell beginning. This curriculum is absolutely amazing. So how exactly did she get to spelling that word? It started with in, then be, then begin, then inning and before you know it we were at beginning today and she got it right! And it was so cool because on the very first day it has the student write the sentence, "We are all beginning to be good spellers" on a piece of paper. Now of course most of the words were not spelled right. Her sentence looked like this :
We r all begeney to bee good spelrs.
On the fifth day it says to show the student the paper again and show them how they spelled the word beginning. When Brenna saw that she actually spelled it right after only five days, she had the biggest and proudest smile on her face and I think it was right then and there that she realized what exactly she has been accomplishing. It was definitely one of those priceless moments that make me so grateful and happy to be my child's teacher.
Anyway, I figured we would study a few definitions a week and do little art projects or find pictures on the Internet of the particular thing we are talking about. As far as the maps, I already have our world map up on the wall and she will be learning the seven continents and where they are located. We have a globe as well so I am sure that will come in handy. Maybe we'll even study a few little facts about some of the countries along the way.
The book from Amazon that I am waiting for is called Me On the Map. I remember my niece, Kastine, having that book and I thought it was really neat. It's about this kid and starts with a map of his room, then his house, then his street, city, state, ect... I think it does a good job at putting things in perspective for children.
In fact, today Brenna and I made a map of her room. We had the best time doing that and she did a great job. We worked on it for about an hour. It was a little difficult explaining to her how to look at her room from the top and just draw a rectangle for her bed instead of the actual bed with legs and everything (which she is so used to). She got it pretty quick though and did the whole room by herself. She made a legend and everything! I have some pictures on my camera that I took but I have to charge it before I can download them. I will try to remember to post them tomorrow.
Anyway, today was Brenna's fifth day for spelling and guess what word she spelled all by herself!!?? Beginning. Yep, that's right - my darling little 6 year old knows how to spell beginning. This curriculum is absolutely amazing. So how exactly did she get to spelling that word? It started with in, then be, then begin, then inning and before you know it we were at beginning today and she got it right! And it was so cool because on the very first day it has the student write the sentence, "We are all beginning to be good spellers" on a piece of paper. Now of course most of the words were not spelled right. Her sentence looked like this :
We r all begeney to bee good spelrs.
On the fifth day it says to show the student the paper again and show them how they spelled the word beginning. When Brenna saw that she actually spelled it right after only five days, she had the biggest and proudest smile on her face and I think it was right then and there that she realized what exactly she has been accomplishing. It was definitely one of those priceless moments that make me so grateful and happy to be my child's teacher.
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