An impromptu experiment

Today we went to the Grapevine Arboretum. It is fairly new and honestly doesn't have a lot to look at. (Nevermind that it is January and everything is dead!) The kids needed to burn off some pent up energy and Troy and I just needed a break with them! (I didn't take my camera).

While we were there and the kids were able to explore freely we found many things; fish, leaves, bird nests with babies, rocks, squirrels, hawks, and even horse apples! We found one rather large one and the girls and I decided to cut it open and see what was inside when we got home.

We started with a list of "Observations"

We wrote different things about our horse apple. What it looked like, how it felt, how much it weighed, etc.

We also decided to compare the size with other fruit in the house. Is it bigger than an apple? How about a small grapefruit?

I don't have a scale (shame on me!) so we decided to compare the weight with other items in the house. We determined that 4 lbs of sugar and a 2 lb can of beans was too heavy. But the 1 lb can was just right!

Then it was time to make a hypothesis! What does the inside look like? How does it feel and smell? Are there seeds?

The girls were almost dead on with their guesses! I was very proud. This was a lot of fun and we learned about weight, measurements, comparison, and nature in general. We even looked up if it was okay to eat one of these apples! We also looked up why we write "lb" for pound!

 
Our finished "Observation Sheets".

The girls loved this and so did I. Jackson wasn't interested which was fine. He and his Daddy are working on their own projects! This is just a small part of what we do in our unschooling day!

What we have done so far!

I have neglected this blog!  Not on purpose. Life has just been busy. The last time I posted it was about Unschooling. I would like to update you on that!

Since we have started school we have moved to the DFW area.  We are now living with my parents. I do not have as much control over when the TV is on or off anymore and because we are sharing a living space our day looks a lot different than what I had first hoped. The good news? We have adjusted well!

Our day starts with the kids playing outside, or legos, or some other fun playtime.  At this time I wake up!  The good thing about having grandparents in the house is that I can sleep in a bit! I wake up, check email, facebook and blogs. We start school about 9 am.

We always start with Bible (Sonlight). The kids and I enjoy memorizing Scripture, praying and talking about the story or lesson.  This Sonlight curriculum has a lot of read-alouds! So I have incorporated drawing or painting of the Bible lesson into our morning while I read the, sometimes endless, pages.

Then we go on to History, Geography (sonlight), and then science.  We started the year with Apologia but I quickly realized that this was not a good fit for our family.  So we are switching (as of January) to unit studies. We just read a fun story "Owls in the Family" and the kids wanted to learn more about owls so we are working on a lapbook about owls.

Then it is time for individual work. Ellie is still very dependent on me for most of her work. So Jackson usually starts with math. I only help when it is a new concept or if he is confused. This leaves me time to work with Ellie.  She is really not getting math.  I noticed recently that she is relying on me to tell her the answers. So we have started over.  We are taking it very slowly. Today was the first day I saw the light bulb turn on.  She is starting to understand the concept of adding.  We will most likely do Kindergarten math again later in the semester. For now we are sticking with some little books that are meant to reinforce addition and other basic concepts.

I also like to take this time to help Charlotte. She only gives me about 10 minutes max!  She loves to play Sound-o Bingo, which is bingo with only letters and their sounds.  She also loves playing cards. Ellie joins in too.

Ellie reads to me and works on other LA and is usually done well before lunch. Then she is off to play with her sister!

Jackson and I work on ELA together and then he is working on an additional geography program that is based on the US.

That is it!  Oh, we have just started Health too.  Like just started today! So I don't know how that will go yet,

The unschooling has not really happened like I wanted but I feel a lot less pressure this year than I have in years past. We have had a lot of big life changes since October including: a move, Troy out of work for 2 months, 2 deaths, and me having to be the full time caregiver for my father. I have learned to let a lot of things go. My kids are benefiting from that.

All-in-all, it has been a good year!

Unschooling

Did I get your attention?

We have been homeschooling for 3 years now.  Already we are looking into year 4.  Jackson will be in the 4th grade, Ellie will be in 1st and dear Charlotte will be only 4 years old (I don't believe in homeschooling that young but we do have some fun activities planned). I have actually purchased all of our curriculum.  We are doing a variety of things.

There is a giant box in my living room full of books. Some are for reading some are text books and some are teacher's books.  This big box is starting to feel daunting.  I don't know if I can do ALL of that next year!  We live a very busy life and the thought of getting behind is overwhelming!! 

I have been scoping the blogs and have come across several unschoolers.  Here is a quick definition: Unschooling is when you don't necessarily have a structured "school environment".  Children are free to learn through play and exploration.  Some extreme unschoolers wait for their kids to ask to learn.

I am not on board with the extreme scenario of unschoolers but I have been thinking that maybe, just maybe this could be for us.  Jackson HATES sitting at the table with a text book and hours of writing and reading.  The boy is smart, he just wants to move around. Why not let him have that freedom? We already take more time for breaks than we do for learning.  In the meantime he is outside exploring, playing legos and now...wait for it....reading! All of these "breaks" include some kind of learning.

So how can I incorporate this with out school day?

I am thinking.  I still want to use that big box but I also want to not feel tied down to that big box. So one idea that I am working on is "Unschooling Boxes".  These will be little boxes (or baskets) with different items like crayons, lego, magnifying glasses, paper, pens etc.  The kids will always have access to them and will be able to work on them whenever they want.  The catch? There will be no more TV and video games!!  I am so excited to try this.  I will have to blog about it and let you all know how it goes!! :)

Learning to read..take 2!

Two years ago I started teaching Jackson to read.  The experience was traumatic to say the least! There was a lot of crying and yelling.  From both of us.  So when Ellie started showing signs of readiness I was a little nervous.  Ellie's personality is nothing like Jackson's.  I knew that it would be different.  I was just worried that I might make the same mistakes as before. 

We have taken this whole entire process very slow.  She has finally started to express frustration because she cannot read.  One of her good friends is an excellent reader.  This frustrates her.  I have been preparing her for reading since June.  That is when I formally started teaching her letters and sounds.  The reason why I waited is because I wanted to make sure she got it.  A lot of times letters and numbers are taught at a very early age and I don't think kids really get them.  I think they memorize but then don't know how to apply them.  This is one of the problems that Jackson had.  Anyway, I started with just teaching her letters and sounds.  We worked and worked on them until I felt she was ready for the next step.  Last week we took the plunge.  We have officially started SSR&W.

It is not as easy as she had thought.  We are learning to blend letters like "b-a". Today she was very frustrated.  She really just wanted to read a book.  So today was not as easy as she had hoped.  I on the other hand knew it would not be so I was able to remain calm when she got upset.  I know she will get it.  Jackson did and he was hard for me!

Baby Steps

Jackson has really been struggling with ELA.  He hates grammar. He hates reading. He hates writing.  Now that he is in the third grade the curriculum expects him to be doing much more of ALL of these things.  Today we started out the day struggling.  We took a break at the bowling alley!  When we got home it was time to start up again.  He saved Friends and Heroes for the end today.  He had to write a mini-report.  He was able to choose from 3 different things and today he chose Nile Crocodiles.  We researched and then it was time to write.  He was upset.  But I decided to be merciful (something I couldn't do earlier) and told him as long as they were complete sentences written correctly he only had to write 3.  I figure since we are still getting used to all of this this would be a reasonable amount of work.  He was still a little discouraged until I told him I would not grade his spelling.  Amazingly out of 3 sentences only 3 words were misspelled! He was so proud of his report when he was done.

baby steps...

For reading today I told him he could pick any book.  He chose The Snake Dictionary. He has not been able to put it down. He is reading on his own without help.  This is monumental people!

It just goes to show that when you let go of what YOU want to do and allow what really needs to, happen.  Your day gets a whole lot better!!!!!!  I am so glad our day ended this way! :)

Busy with School!

The kids and I have been busy with school!  We have been going through the motions and it has been pretty good...for the most part!  We still struggle with attitudes and that can be a bit challenging, especially when I am not in the mood.

Jackson finished an ETC book last week.  It felt like it took forever (because it did) but he finished.  I asked if he wanted me to take a picture and he said "No!".  Oh well.  We have also taken a break from Horizon's Math.  I could tell that he was getting too frustrated with it and for the last 3 weeks we have been only working on fast facts on the computer.  He really likes doing it and it takes less than 5 minutes sometimes.  There are parts of me that think he should be doing more but then the laid back, just let him work at his own pace cause this is why we chose to homeschool, part of me says that 5 minutes of math is fine if he is learning.  He finished a chapter book that was part of the Hooked on Phonics program we are using.  He really enjoyed the story line and I could tell he was really proud of himself when he finished.

Ellie is still trucking away at ETC.  We will be starting SSRW before Thanksgiving I am sure.  Part of me wonders if I should wait until after the new year.  I probably won't because she is so willing to learn right now.  We are still working on number recognition and some addition. She is doing well with it.

Charlotte is craving some school time.  I have started working with colors and shapes with her.  We are also learning "C" for Charlotte.  Last week we talked about circles, purple and the number 8 by making a spider.  She really liked it.  I will have to take a picture of the project.

Overall we have been doing lots of fun things.  There have been times I thought about taking pictures but then didn't because I was enjoying my time with the kids. 

Something Different

Yesterday my sweet friend was sharing her struggles with homeschooling with me.  I encouraged her to try something a little different and today she said it worked! 

Taking my own advice we went outside and picked up leaves and pine cones.  The kids even picked little pink flowers off of my crepe myrtles (is that how you spell that?). Oh well!  Anyway we came in and painted with leaves and used tissue paper and crayons and even googly eyes to decorate all that we got.  It was great!  We had 3 extra kids over so you can imagine I did NOT get pictures! :(  But the kids made some really cool collages. I will post pics of the finished masterpieces soon!

What kind of fun things do you do to break up the monotony of the day? Ours was impromptu, what about you?

Get Set....DONE!!!

Ellie is blowing through ETC! Last week she finished book two of the "Before the Code series, Get Set for the Code".  If we hadn't had so many breaks over the last couple of weeks she would be even further along!  I am so proud of how hard she works and her WONDERFUL attitude toward learning. We have also been supplementing with Reading Eggs.  Not that we need to, it is just something fun!  We have already started Go For the Code!  When we are done with this book we will start Sing, Spell, Read and Write!

As always here is a picture of Ellie with her completed workbook!

Charlotte

Each day we start with breakfast and a few chores.  Then we go on to start our school day.  Charlotte is old enough to realize that she is missing out on something.  Lately she has been asking for her "school".  She has a few things that she just loves!  Some of them are independent play and others are with Mommy!

Matching these bears is always fun!  She is learning size and color with this activity.  As I type she and Ellie are pretend playing with them.  They have each grouped them by color making "families". 

Puzzles are always fun.  She has actually begun to do more difficult puzzles.  She is learning how to look at the colors on the pieces of a traditional puzzle and is able to match them up.  She still can't quite finish one but she is getting really close!  Luckily, Ellie is a puzzle whiz and is very patient and loves to teach her sister!

She also LOVES to color!  You can see that she is a lefty! She has excellent fine motor skills and has been holding a pencil/crayon correctly for about 9 months now.  Recently I noticed that she was starting to color in the lines really well.  Occasionally she will scribble on the paper, mostly when she is being silly.  She is also starting to "write letters" with a pencil or pen.  She already recognizes what writing looks like and is very intentional with the lines and curves that she makes on a piece of paper.

We also LOVE to read together.  Each morning when the big kids are done Charlotte and I pick 3 or 4 books and read them together.  I have started asking her context clue questions and have even asked her to read to me.  I love the stories she makes up just by looking at the pictures.  She even does the voices! :)

We also have started going to PBSKIDS.org.  She does not use the mouse but I let her point to the place she wants me to pick.  She really enjoys that!

All in all she is doing really well.  She is very bright.  I don't want to push her.  I want this to be as organic as it can be.  I am going to continue to put things in front of her that interest her.  After all she did JUST turn 3!!!!!

Counting and Patterns

When I pulled Jackson out of first grade he could not count past 20.  We worked tirelessly but he finally got it.  Now with Ellie in Kindergarten we are working on numbers.  She is adding already!  But I noticed that she is having difficulty with numbers 11-30 and for the life of me I can't remember what I did with Jackson!  So I put out a cry for help today on facebook.  And I got some wonderful ideas.  But one stuck out and we tried it.

I was really wanting Ellie to realize that counting is just a pattern of 0-9 repeated over and over.  So this is what I did.  I took note cards and wrote 0-29 on them.  I also used different colors for 0-9, 10-19 and 20-29.  I then had her lay out each group of numbers in order.  She has 0-9 down!  So we went to the next set.  She couldn't figure out what came after 11.  She knew it was 12 but wanted to lay down 15.  I asked her to look and see if there was a pattern.  Her little eyes lit up!  "Look!  0 and 0 and 1 and 1!!".  She quickly laid out the rest of the cards!  She was so excited.  We counted each one aloud.  We will keep practicing and eventually I will time her.  Here are some pics!

Sorry the last one is crooked...

Friends and Heroes: A science experiment

We LOVE our Friends and Heroes curriculum!  Today we did science.  In the story, the boy Macky helps his father sell items like silver.  We learned how valuable it was all of those years ago.  We also learned about things like; luster, malleable, conductor and tarnish.  We then did a really cool experiment.  In the past our experiments have not been very successful but today it was!!!

We started with some very tarnished silver.  I had two rings that I have been meaning to take to get cleaned.

Then we put them into a pan lined with aluminum foil.

We brought water to a boil. (This is the mom part!).

Then we measured the baking soda.  It takes 1/4 cup per liter of water.  We talked about the different ways to measure and how each went together.  We also went over fractions again.

Then we added the boiling water and the baking soda to the pan.  The frothing was very quick!  And the tarnish came off just as quickly!

We used tongs to get the hot rings out and study them better!  We had a lot of fun today!

It doesn't seem like it could even be possible that we are struggling ALREADY this year, but we are.  For the most part we are getting our assignments done.  It just seems that the overall moral is a little down.  I think part of that is the fact that I have been in a little funk lately. 

Here are some things we are working on:

Hearts: I truly believe I have great kids.  For the most part they are well-mannered and obedient.  But we have been struggling lately with bad attitudes and disobedience.  There are many different opinions from the masses on what I should be doing to correct these things.  There are several different approaches that I have been trying.  Some are working and some are not.  What I do know is that I am starting to see a slight shift in their behavior which means it is all downhill from there...right?

School is boring: I had all of these ideas about school this year.  I had planned out the curriculum and thought "okay this is going to be good".  Well, it's not!  The kids are bored.  Yesterday after Ellie was finished with her assignments she asked if she could play a game.  I pulled out the pack of Crazy Eight's cards that we got from the Dollar Store and she and I played.  It was her first time and she WON!  As we were playing I realized that we were practicing shapes, numbers and colors.  She didn't even know that she was learning.  Afterwards we put on some dance music and I let the kids get up on their desks and dance.  We had so much fun!  So I want to start doing more things like this.  I don't want it to be monotonous for them. I want them to be glad they are homeschooled because of all of the fun things they get to do!  I mean what kid in public school can say I played cards today for math and that was it!? 

As you can see this is all a process.  If you are willing and able to look at the big picture then it can become really fun.  Making adjustments to your schedule and your lessons can lead to a whole lot more exciting times for you and your kids!

Two new fun links!

Let me start by telling you that I am not getting anything for endorsing these two sites.  But I do like them!

The first is Reading Eggs.  My friend Mindy told me about this one and we started playing it yesterday.  Ellie LOVES it!  We are just starting to learn letters.  She knows 85% of them.  We have been using ETC but I noticed that she was having some difficulty recalling some of the letters.  I wanted something that would help reinforce what we are already learning.  (ETC does have an online program too).  When we started Reading Eggs I thought, "Wow this is really going to be fun". And it is! We were able to get a discounted rate at Homeschool Buyers Co-op.

The next site is a FREE site! Sheppard Software has free math games for all ages.  Ellie and Jackson are using this site to reinforce what they are learning.  So far it has been a hit!

Do any of you have a site that you love to use?  Let me know!

Isn't that the way it goes

Right after I hit the "publish post" button my son decided he would slow down so much that he would not finish school.  Luckily this is not my first rodeo and I stuck with it.  He finally finished a good 3 hours later!  It was a good day otherwise. 


Today he is struggling again.  I am trying to be patient.  We all struggle at times.  It just looks different to each and every one of us.  So what do you all struggle with at home, if you homeschool?  And if you don't, what does your child struggle with at school?

An encouragement....

We started a new curriculum and schedule today.  A schedule is something that we, as a family, struggle with.  I can never keep up and the kids always do something to mess it up! But that is okay..I think! :)

So this morning as I was reading over the teacher's notes for the lesson today I read a prayer that was so good.  It put me in check and I really appreciate it.  I thought I would share it because as a mom this is such a battle.  Not just for homeschoolers but for ALL moms out there!

"Diana just wanted to protect her family. She was going wrong because she was relying on her own strength, rather than crying out to the Lord for help. When she was reminded of the story of Daniel and the lions' den her heart was softened. It is very easy to rely on our own strength and get stressed. This robs peace from the whole household. Today take courage that there is no lion's mouth that God can't shut, and when you trust Him you do not need to fear."

"Dear Jesus, I call on your name to strengthen me to raise my children to love you. I surrender to You and ask that will lead our day. Please give me wisdom, grace, and energy. To your glory alone, amen."

We started our day with this prayer and the Lord is so good.  Instead of being frustrated with the fact that the schedule was already out the window at 9:15 am, I was gracious to my children.  And because of that my son asked me some really good "God questions".  I could have missed them if I had been consumed with myself today!

New Curriculum

Every homeschool mom knows that it can be very overwhelming when it comes to choosing curriculum.  Especially if you have a bunch of friends that homeschool or are a part of several homeschool forums.  They all have opinions and every single one them is doing something different.

I received a new curriculum (I believe it is new this year maybe even came out in 2010) for free in the mail last week.  It is a 13 unit study (per series) and I received unit 1 from series 1 for free.  It came with a DVD and PDF files so that the curriculum could be used by more than one student.  It is based on the Friends and Heroes DVD series.  The unit includes; history, geography, science, Bible, character building and art.  Because I got it for free we are going to try it.  But just looking at it I think this is the route we are going to go.  Check out the website here.  They have free online games and coloring pages too!

We need a good Language Arts curriculum.  Up until now we have relied on Sing Spell Read and Write and more recently Hooked on Phonics.  It was a great curriculum for J but he needs more.  So I am going with Rod and Staff English 2.  I know that he is in 3rd grade but we have not had any other formal LA teaching.  (My main focus has been on reading!).  So we are starting with 2nd grade.  If he gets it quickly we will be in 3rd faster! :)  Jackson will also continue with Hooked on Phonics.  He is doing very well with it! We are also continuing with Explode the Code (for Jackson) and the pre-requisites to ETC, Get Ready/Get Set/and Go For the Code (for Ellie).  She is actually almost done with book A; Get Ready for the Code.  And she loves it!
*Edit* Here is the link for the store for Friends and Heroes.  It is a different website.  Sorry about that! :)
We are sticking with Horizon's Math.  Jackson does well with it and now Ellie has started it.  She loves it.  Jackson hates it (but it is not because of the curriculum). 

We are also going to sprinkle in some other Unit Studies.  We did a few last year and are continuing through the summer.  We are making mini-lapbooks on the 50 states.  The kids will really enjoy it.

So what are you doing next year?

New Curriculum...Why do we have to change?

Something you may not know about the homeschool world is that there are SO MANY CHOICES!  Oh my goodness!  I love that there are a million blogs and I have a ton of friends that homeschool but goodness me...there is so much to choose from. Everybody has their favorites, including me. 

This is the time of year that everything goes on sale.  So I am reading blogs and forums and even receiving emails from websites about all of the great deals.  I am getting sucked into thinking that I need to change.  Well it ain't broke so I shouldn't fix it!  So I am not.  But I am!  Ha! I know same old Christi, can't make up her mind! :) 

I purchased Hooked on Phonics.  Not because I wanted to use it (no comments Mindy) but because I wanted to resell it.  I bought it for a super cheap price and I knew I could make some cash off of it.  It arrived.  I opened it and now I think I want to use it!  It is for older kids 2nd-6th grade.  Jackson is almost done with Sing Spell Read and Write that he has been doing since we pulled him out.  So we actually do need something new.  This is actually a perfect transition.  SSRW is extremely expensive and I just don't have the money for it right now.  So I guess God had a different plan for J. Hunter this year!  So on Monday we are starting Hooked on Phonics! I will let you know how it goes! :)

I feel as though I should post something.  It has been a while.  I have thought of several posts but I have scratched each one.  Not because the content wasn't important but really because it was too emotionally charged.  I have struggled over the last week or so with some strong emotions. Part of me wants to blame others the other part knows that it is me and me alone that can take the blame for the hurt feelings or anger. So I choose not to blog about it. 

We are still unsure of Troy's job situation.  It looks like he has two offers on the table by two different companies.  Now it is time to pray.  I can't imagine that God would so clearly shut doors in this process (7 months to be exact) just to give us this very difficult decision at the very end.  The thing is one job would be extremely rewarding..he would be helping those in need (much like we have been). But the pay is not that great...actually it is not good at all.  But there is a possibility that they will offer more (we will know on Monday).  The next job is much more rewarding financially.  The pay is more than he made at BAE and we would be comfortable when it came to paying bills (something that has not happened in a while).  To many this is a no-brainer, but to us it is a difficult decision.  God calls us to do things that are not the "norm" and if we are obedient then he will reward us in that. 

So that is all I've got.  At least about the Troy-job stuff. We are still schooling.  It is hard because I am done and so are the kids.  But we are going to school all summer.  I know it sounds crazy but I really want to take off November and December.  If we school this summer we should not get off schedule too much. 

I still don't have a camera, but I am working on it.  The kids are enjoying our unit study on shells (yes we are still doing it!).  Hopefully we will actually get it finished soon and get to move on.  I have a Memorial Day study that I would like to do...so we better get crackin'! 

Until next time....Be blessed!

Spring Lapbook

My kids have been asking a lot of questions about Spring.  They are excited that it is getting warmer and they are ready for Spring to get here.  Today I realized we are only 5 days away from Spring! So I surfed the web and found a Spring Unit Study.  We are going to make a lapbook.  I am also excited because there is a lot of information about weather and I also purchased a weather unit study!  So we are starting tomorrow and I will post pics and let you know how it all goes!

I should post something...

It has been busy.  So busy that we have not had school the last 2 weeks!  As a whole our family was sick for 2 weeks and then last week we were in DFW visiting my parents and grandmother.  So this week, this Spring Break, the kids and I are buckling down and attempting to get back on track.

We are not trying to catch up because, well, I threw out the lesson plans the 3rd week of school! :)  My goal is to just get a full weeks worth of work to get done.  That means Jackson has a lot of work ahead of him!  Today he did great with very little complaint.  I must say I am very proud of his attitude toward school.  He is so much better.  He also started reading a new chapter book today (independent reading).  He is doing so well I can't believe it!

We are also in the process of potty training Charlotte.  She was almost potty trained several months ago but I was in the midst of my funk and didn't have the will or the want-to to get her completely trained.  Today my funk is gone and I am ready to get back on track.  So we took off the diapers and wore panties all day long!  She did not have any accidents!  She did both number 1 & 2 in the potty without issue!  I am so proud!

Ellie is still Ellie.  She is doing great.  She is really turning into a little momma.  She wants to help with EVERYTHING.  She begs to watch cooking shows and she talks about what she wants to do when she grows up to be a mom.  I have started teaching her the steps to different things like cleaning and cooking.  When I was little I knew I was going to grow up and be a mom and I dreamed about cleaning house and cooking.  So I know how she feels!  I like being able to train up this little girl.

Other then that life is good.  Troy got a job and that is always a good thing.  My Pampered Chef business has been very successful and has done what I want it to.  Until next time....