This morning we went to a local homeschooling park day - another town that is about 20 min from our home and has a huge homeschooling community. There were at least 14 families there! Mavster had a great time playing with several boys his age, and I truly enjoyed the adult conversation with other homeschooling moms! There was even one Dad there that walked through - talk about a group of protective Mama bears! When he first arrived all of the women watched him closely until they saw him sit down with one of the moms and we all relaxed. :)
Mavster said he learned that, "girls don't get very scared by dead bugs, but live ones make them scream!"
We are working on our methodology for "Friday Fun Day" for the Mavster after working hard all week. Today after lunch, he wanted to play some math games from school last year which was fine for me, and then I wanted to get a few school things done before the end of the day. We finished some artwork making our Shield of Faith, and then I asked him to do his 5 min of handwriting.
He was learning "d" today using Handwriting Without Tears, and he sometimes wanted to make an incorrect stroke which I tried to correct before he got too far, but he started to get pretty upset about it. "I hate cursive!" he said. I asked "Why?" and he got even madder. "I hate questions like that!" "Why?" I asked again and he had to take a moment to calm down. So we ended up having some philosophical discussions about schooling, and that I just want to help make cursive easier for him, and that as we reprogram his muscle memory it will get easier and easier. He also shared some more information about what he went through last year (and at the private school for K/1st) - lots and lots of erasing what wasn't good enough. His 3rd grade teacher was known for even making them start a whole page over and taking the (messed up) one and crumpling it up and throwing it away. Apparently she was also known for having a short fuse about things. So I told Mavster to let me know what things he didn't like so I could make me a "Mommy Don't Do" list. :)
So far, my list is:
1) Don't be mean
2) No erasing
3) No crumpling up work and throwing it away
4) No getting upset easily
Well, that's easy. I told him he could add to it and refer to it as necessary to remind me of my rules. Ah, perhaps I need to make a list of rules for him, too, now. :) We have been pretty clear that he needs to do what I ask, no video games during the day, and that he can disagree with something/suggest an alternative, but I have the final say.
I asked him what the best part of this week (other than our 3! playday outings) was - and he said when we looked at an example of the comics for Beast Academy (math curriculum) yesterday was the funniest part. Yesterday he was frustrated with Life of Fred. "It's not how I learn and it's confusing." It is a bit abstract - you have to actually think about the story and figure out the math yourself, although the solutions are right there if you need them. The reason I didn't get Beast Academy right away was because it is only for 3rd grade (so far) - which he just finished and I thought he would be past it. But what I'm finding is that right now he doesn't have a lot of confidence in his math skills. (Vent! Grrrr! He loved Math so much in K and the beginning of 1st!) So, I think this will be a fun and challenging way to improve that. We'll reinforce what he did learn last year, and take everything a step further. Beast Academy is not simple - and possibly a whole grade ahead of 3rd in some places. Yes, it is on it's way to arrive next week!
The other part that he enjoyed the most was "that chemical thing we did yesterday." Ah, yes, Chemistry, the Periodic Table. Yay! So, my instincts about what he would enjoy the most are pretty right on. We will plug through History/LA and follow Heart of Dakota there (he does appreciate learning about how history and the Bible work together), but there will be days where we follow our passions in Math and Science!
My favorite parts of the week were the play groups where our son was able to make real connections with other kids, and learn through experience with them. Living in the country, those play times have been somewhat limited to his sister and school. Last year, being advanced a year at school, those play times did not really happen as much as he probably needed developmentally. It just felt really good today to see him truly playing with other boys, enjoying himself, being free to experiment/learn with what was around him, and just generally learning the way kids should learn - outdoors. We do live in the country, but unlike my childhood, we don't live in a suburb with lots of other families/kids around where you could stay outside playing each evening. I am so glad to have found a way for him to have those same kinds of experiences with other kids!
My very favorite moment came at the end of our day today when we were talking about homeschooling and our goals, etc. I asked Mavster, "Why do you think we are homeschooling this year?" His answer: "Because you love me!"
AMEN!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday
Thursday we had all of our studies done by lunchtime! Yay! We started learning Chemistry by Real Science 4 Kids and Mavster got a kick out of it! We introduced him to the periodic table, and then went through some food labels looking for chemicals and identifying them on the periodic table. The funniest part was when we were looking at a granola bar and we found it had iron in it! He almost panicked! I explained iron is a mineral we all need in our bodies to help produce red blood cells and he relaxed - but the look of shock on his face was priceless!
It was fun getting back to learning about protons, neutrons, and electrons for me - I always loved chemistry in high school.
Mavster then continued working on his "ScratchCraft" program. His Papa gave him some great pointers about version control this morning which he has taken to heart.
Last night he had soccer practice, and he made a great score one time (that the coach sadly missed). But at the end of practice, the coach was asking the team, "What kind of team are we?!" and he got answers such as "a passing team" but our sweet son said, "The kind of team that doesn't give up!" YAY for Mavster!
It was fun getting back to learning about protons, neutrons, and electrons for me - I always loved chemistry in high school.
Mavster then continued working on his "ScratchCraft" program. His Papa gave him some great pointers about version control this morning which he has taken to heart.
Last night he had soccer practice, and he made a great score one time (that the coach sadly missed). But at the end of practice, the coach was asking the team, "What kind of team are we?!" and he got answers such as "a passing team" but our sweet son said, "The kind of team that doesn't give up!" YAY for Mavster!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Can you feel the peace?
After our busy/stressful day yesterday, I planned to take it easier today. We had a planned play date with others from the co-op that we have joined that meets every Weds. We spent two hours at a local park, with 2 other families (6 kids). All 7 kids spent almost the entire time about 200 yards away from the 3 moms, in a creekbed that was dry but still had enough moisture to house some tadpoles and baby frogs/toads. They were entranced the whole time - running occasionally to the pond to get more water or whatever they needed, just exploring the way children naturally do when they are given the opportunity. Mavster came up to me only one time with his hands covered in mud nearly to his elbows to ask where the bathroom was so he could wash up. He ran back to play/discovery as fast as he could.
Once home, we had lunch, and Mavster had some free time to create a program in Scratch. He has a passion for Minecraft right now, which we are working on taming, and minimizing his time playing. He knows he can't play any video games at all until after his sister is home from school (3:30), and then we limit it to about an hour. So, he wanted to make his own version of Minecraft on Scratch, "ScratchCraft," and I was impressed with his persistence and creativity! He has created graphics so that if you click on a square to "mine" it, the square disappears and looks like it breaks apart. He has designed a game avatar, and trees, for at total of 3 different textures so far (grass, bark, leaves). When DD6 got home, he started to teach her how to use Scratch as well. Not for ScratchCraft, but the very basics we started him with last year.
Tonight, DD6 had soccer practice and Mavster played with some other siblings that were there while family members practiced. He had a small group of 3-4 boys following him around, and he was leading their pretend-play.
So, what did my son learn today? He learned how to make "mud glue." I think he also learned a lot more than that and the experiences were all very valuable to him.
Ah, back to the title of this post - what I am seeing in my son is a very calm, relaxed boy who is not stressed out like he was last year. He does what I ask of him and is upbeat about things in general. I think he even wants to learn! :) Yay! I hope this continues that way and keeps getting even better each day!
Once home, we had lunch, and Mavster had some free time to create a program in Scratch. He has a passion for Minecraft right now, which we are working on taming, and minimizing his time playing. He knows he can't play any video games at all until after his sister is home from school (3:30), and then we limit it to about an hour. So, he wanted to make his own version of Minecraft on Scratch, "ScratchCraft," and I was impressed with his persistence and creativity! He has created graphics so that if you click on a square to "mine" it, the square disappears and looks like it breaks apart. He has designed a game avatar, and trees, for at total of 3 different textures so far (grass, bark, leaves). When DD6 got home, he started to teach her how to use Scratch as well. Not for ScratchCraft, but the very basics we started him with last year.
Tonight, DD6 had soccer practice and Mavster played with some other siblings that were there while family members practiced. He had a small group of 3-4 boys following him around, and he was leading their pretend-play.
So, what did my son learn today? He learned how to make "mud glue." I think he also learned a lot more than that and the experiences were all very valuable to him.
Ah, back to the title of this post - what I am seeing in my son is a very calm, relaxed boy who is not stressed out like he was last year. He does what I ask of him and is upbeat about things in general. I think he even wants to learn! :) Yay! I hope this continues that way and keeps getting even better each day!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
First Day of Homeschooling!
Yesterday was our first day of homeschooling! We are so excited to begin this journey with DS8, who I will refer to as Maverick, the Mavster, Mav, etc. It has taken a few years and trying different things in the brick & mortar school system to come to the conclusion that homeschooling is the best option for our sweet son. We also have a sweet daughter, DD6, who is truly enjoying her public school experience, and we support her in that! The school is able to meet her needs and keep her excited about learning, and we have decided that is the right path for her, until it needs to change. That's the good thing about living in a homeschooling friendly state; if things don't work, we can always change again if needed.
Yesterday, we had a short educational day because we attended the local annual "Not Back to School Pool Party." I was overwhelmed to see well over 100 kids at the party, and to realize that so many local families are homeschooling. Our local area homeschooling support group has around 2,000 members. To actually see so many children (happy, healthy, friendly, children) in one place really helped me know I am not at all alone!
For our curriculum this year, we are using Heart of Dakota's Preparing Hearts for His Glory. Each day has a well-laid out plan and is easy to follow along, and interesting for our son. We got about half of a day's work done yesterday before the party, and I saw some sincere interest in how the Bible connects to history which in turn connects to his life.
The party was a lot of fun - he made fast friends with another boy his age who enjoys some of the same activities, and really had a great time. He also went off a diving board for the first time ever! No fear at all, just went up to the end and jumped right off! Brave kid! :)
Today was our second day, and we have no plans out of the house until soccer this evening, so we could focus and get back on track.
We start out with a good breakfast followed by caring for the animals (dogs, horses, chickens). Today we even spent an hour out at the barn and riding a horse!
Each day we do some Brain Gym exercises to get us ready to learn, and also to help strengthen our eyes and their ability to work together.
Our first activity today included learning to draw a plant with step by step direction, and I was impressed with the detail and patience our son showed. He was able to work on it until he was really done - and I thought of how he might be rushed or forced to use color vs. pencil in regular school.
Mav is enjoying listening to stories on the couch and the ability to stretch out when he needs to. He is very good at listening no matter his position, and I'm working on improving eye contact when I ask him questions. One of our activities was to read a Psalm from the Bible, and we saw how it was different between versions - and even different Bibles that were all considered NIV. I also have a digital version which settled which one was the most up to date, but we had some discussion about how the Bible has been translated so many times.
We got through our language arts lessons and found that it took a little more processing time to figure out the alphabetical order of 5 words than I expected, but it improved with each exercise - he had to figure out his own method.
The most surprising thing about today was when I asked him to copy one sentence in cursive. He had been practicing cursive all last year in 3rd grade on worksheets I had seen (no formal writing paragraphs yet). As he began, I was astonished to find that for some reason, he had not been taught the proper formation of many of his letters. When he was done with the letter, it looked mostly right, but how he got it that way was labored and not the correct method at all. When we talked about it and he realized he had been doing it wrong for a whole year and no one had corrected him or watched him in detail before, he broke down into tears. He was so frustrated; cursive had been so hard for him all year and he had worked so hard to do what was asked of him. We talked about how if it is learned correctly that it is actually much easier on your hands than printing, that we need to sign our names and checks, and to be able to read cursive. We agreed on 5 min a day or one worksheet, whichever ends first. :)
I am so glad we made the decision to homeschool!
Yesterday, we had a short educational day because we attended the local annual "Not Back to School Pool Party." I was overwhelmed to see well over 100 kids at the party, and to realize that so many local families are homeschooling. Our local area homeschooling support group has around 2,000 members. To actually see so many children (happy, healthy, friendly, children) in one place really helped me know I am not at all alone!
For our curriculum this year, we are using Heart of Dakota's Preparing Hearts for His Glory. Each day has a well-laid out plan and is easy to follow along, and interesting for our son. We got about half of a day's work done yesterday before the party, and I saw some sincere interest in how the Bible connects to history which in turn connects to his life.
The party was a lot of fun - he made fast friends with another boy his age who enjoys some of the same activities, and really had a great time. He also went off a diving board for the first time ever! No fear at all, just went up to the end and jumped right off! Brave kid! :)
Today was our second day, and we have no plans out of the house until soccer this evening, so we could focus and get back on track.
We start out with a good breakfast followed by caring for the animals (dogs, horses, chickens). Today we even spent an hour out at the barn and riding a horse!
Each day we do some Brain Gym exercises to get us ready to learn, and also to help strengthen our eyes and their ability to work together.
Our first activity today included learning to draw a plant with step by step direction, and I was impressed with the detail and patience our son showed. He was able to work on it until he was really done - and I thought of how he might be rushed or forced to use color vs. pencil in regular school.
Mav is enjoying listening to stories on the couch and the ability to stretch out when he needs to. He is very good at listening no matter his position, and I'm working on improving eye contact when I ask him questions. One of our activities was to read a Psalm from the Bible, and we saw how it was different between versions - and even different Bibles that were all considered NIV. I also have a digital version which settled which one was the most up to date, but we had some discussion about how the Bible has been translated so many times.
We got through our language arts lessons and found that it took a little more processing time to figure out the alphabetical order of 5 words than I expected, but it improved with each exercise - he had to figure out his own method.
The most surprising thing about today was when I asked him to copy one sentence in cursive. He had been practicing cursive all last year in 3rd grade on worksheets I had seen (no formal writing paragraphs yet). As he began, I was astonished to find that for some reason, he had not been taught the proper formation of many of his letters. When he was done with the letter, it looked mostly right, but how he got it that way was labored and not the correct method at all. When we talked about it and he realized he had been doing it wrong for a whole year and no one had corrected him or watched him in detail before, he broke down into tears. He was so frustrated; cursive had been so hard for him all year and he had worked so hard to do what was asked of him. We talked about how if it is learned correctly that it is actually much easier on your hands than printing, that we need to sign our names and checks, and to be able to read cursive. We agreed on 5 min a day or one worksheet, whichever ends first. :)
I am so glad we made the decision to homeschool!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)