Thursday, August 19, 2010

Week 1

Vikings!


Name Bracelets (Above) and Red, White and Blue Snack (Below)




This week was a great first week of school and daycare. I got really nervous over the weekend, that I wasn't prepared enough, or that the kids wouldn't like the new style of learning... who knows. But it went really well. We learned about the meaning of our names, made name pancakes, posters, and bracelets. We learned about patriotism and the pledge of allegiance and made a red white and blue snack. Did you know the pledge has been revised several times from the original, with adding Under God the latest rendition? Crazy, the things I'm still learning as an adult. We learned about map reading and the Vikings. Today we did a science experiment about floating. All of the children I was watching had so much fun seeing what would float in plain water and salt water and what wouldn't. We read Harold and the Purple crayon all week, which taught us about creativity, the use of puns, and the children made purple pictures with the use of the vanishing point technique. We pretended to be in a hot air balloon and took a ride (with the use of google maps) from our roof all the way to space, where we could see the earth... little by little. Perspective is a wonderful thing. We've spent an hour or more every night, curled up on the couch reading book after book from the library. What wonderful time spent with my children. Last night we read a chapter book, "The chalk box kid" to go along with the same type of creativity portrayed in Harold and the Purple Crayon, and today we too made chalk gardens, like the chalk box kid. How fun it was to see my children's imaginations blooming. They are inspired by learning about how creative God was in the story of Creation. It has been a topic of conversation all week, as we take our morning walks around the nature preserve in our neighborhood. It hasn't come without challenges... Dominic isn't a fan of workbooks at all, so math is definitely not his favorite, but he still does it. And I've learned that he is just not ready for Powerglide Spanish yet, as I had hoped he'd be. Oh well, Abigail is in her prime and loving it, and Dom will just have to get it by osmosis. I'm almost certain I'll be impressed with what he retains from listening to her do it. I've also had a few extra daycare children from time to time this week... a welcome addition to our home. But Abbi does have trouble staying focused with older children in the house who don't have to learn these things. We've incorporated them as much as possible, and it's been fun. I've learned that I can be flexible, and that my plans are great building blocks... that can be manipulated, changed, or even crossed out without any of my children lacking anything integral to their childhood. I'd rather see them playing and learning what is inspiring them in the moment, and fit the rest in when I can. We are finishing our week, on Friday FUN DAY, we had a Vikings Day. We made Vikings costumes from foil and sheets... held an epic battle over lands... and even made hommeade vikings bread (dense and seedy) with beef and barley soup, and vino (grape juice) from horns! for lunch. And Friday night, Abigail read us the FIAR book Harold and the Purple Crayon, and we had a Harold 9 Pie Picnic dinner. We made homemade empanads (meat pies) and had purple (blueberry) pie for dinner.


Saturday, August 14, 2010

Homeschool Journey

This is my first post about homeschooling... probably one of many to come. We chose to begin homeschooling our children last year. Given the baby (Logan) on the way and other factors, we choose to use a traditional style curriculum, along with videos to help the year go smoothly. It worked wonders for our family, and Abigail really came to love learning at home. Homeschooling is not a lifelong choice for us. Simply a year-to-year decision based on what is best for our family. Well, this year, we have chosen to do it again. Except now, we'll have 2 kids in school, and I'm operating a small daycare in my home to supplement the budget. AND, I've decided we need a different approach this year. We are going to give the 'living books' approach a try, with an ecclectic feel. Definitely more hands on. We've chosen to use Adventures in My Fathers World for Abigail (3rd), and Five in a Row for Dominic (K). In addition, we're adding Singapore Math, Primary Language Lessons by Emma Surl, Teach your Child to Read in 100 easy lessons, Powerglide Spanish, computer keyboarding lessons, and Spectrum Spelling. We are SO excited about this school year. Crafts, recipes, read-aloud stories, and fun activities will fill our days. We've also decided to get more involved with activities for social exposure this year. Both children will be participating in a weekly homeschool co-op in which they'll have the opportunity to take up to 3 classes. They'll also be joining AWANA, which I'm really excited about. Additionally, Dominic will be taking up soccer and Abigail will continue with horseback riding. I've kept our afternoons free for Occupational and Physical Therapy, especially since the daycare children will all need naps. I am beginning to wonder if we've filled our schedule too full, and not allowed enough margin. I pray this is not the case, but will not hesitate to trim down our obligations if family time is not abundant.

This week, my goal was to visit the New Hanover County Library, because the Brunswick County Library does not have sufficient resources to meet our needs. (Ie. NHC has 31 of the 33 books I need for Dominic's FIAR curriculum, as compared to BC - 13!) We had to pay $30 for library card... but it was well worth it. I can actually turn in my book lists for the whole year, with dates for picking them up, and the childrens department, will find all of my books (even through inter-library loan if needed), as well as add supplemental books they see fit, and I just pick them up. This will take hours of work off my plate. Praise God!

Well, today is Saturday... our year will kick-off in 2 days on Monday. To celebrate the occasion, we made "name" pancakes this morning with each pereson getting mini pancakes in the shape of each letter of their name. "Mom" and "Dad" included. I wish I had thought to take a picture! This week, we'll be learning about Jesus' name... our names... The pledge of allegiance... and reading "Harold and the Purple Crayon".