Kindegarten, Week 23

     We took a week off.  I figured we didn't take enough time off for the holidays and I deserved to.  NOT.  What really happened is that I got hit with a cold virus that actually wasn't too bad except I lost my voice.  I can't really teach if I can't speak.  We were able to do some copywork, math and review our Classical Conversations facts, but I couldn't do much else.  And, because I like a challenge, after 5 days of not having a voice but finally feeling better, my daughter and I decided it was time for a stomach virus to hit us.  We both ended up in the E.R. hooked up to I.V.s  That was an adventure.

     Thankfully, my daughter bounced right back a day later.  I, on the other hand, took a bit longer to recover.  Even as I write this, my appetite isn't 100% back.  Still, I'm on the mend and praise God that my daughter got better quickly and that my son and husband did not get sick.

     Other than that, our week went as smoothly as it could (I was still feeling weak).  Our Bible study took us to the story of Queen Esther, which I was happy to read to my daughter because a few months ago our church did a sermon about Queen Esther.  I was able to share some of the insight that our pastor passed on to us; how God had His hand on her from her orphaned youth to her victory as a queen.

     My favorite part of our week this time around was when my daughter decided to hold a study group:

Explaining her copywork

     Ah, the simple things!  Have a wonderful week.

Kindergarten, Week 19

     As you may have noticed, I'm playing with the title of my homeschooling posts.  This blog is all about homeschooling and our experiences; I figured it was redundant to keep putting it in the weekly title.  I started putting kindergarten in the title and I'll stick with that for now, since it's just my Little Toughie that I'm homeschooling.  If that changes (or if I come up with something better) then, I'll make another change.

     We took a week off for Thanksgiving and got back on track the Monday after.  We began reading A Grain of Rice, which has become a new favorite.  It was a short and clever story that intrigued my daughter and made her smile at the end.

     Speaking of smiling...I couldn't help but giggle when I saw what my daughter came up with for her history copywork.  With Classical Conversations, the children learn a history fact every week.  I have my daughter write out that sentence and draw a picture for it.  Below is what she came up with for this week:

     What you don't see is the rest of the sentence on the back which says, "aristocrats heads were removed by the guillotine."  When she showed me her picture she said, "See, mommy.  There's blood there because their heads were chopped off."  Giggling ensued.

     We spent a couple of afternoons running errands, so during those busy days we took a very short break and just powered through the work.  My Little Toughie was a trooper and went along with it.  I think she liked the change of pace and the fact that by lunch time school was pretty much done.  (There was at least one assignment she had to complete.)  Our weekend ended with a wonderful cookie making party hosted by one of our dear friends.  We all had a joyful time.

     All in all, it was another good week.  Thanks be to GOD!

Homeschooling, Week 10

     Week 10 moved at a snail's pace.  (Ironically, in my last post I said every week passes quickly!)  This week was slow because both my daughter and I had a cold.  My daughter was feeling a bit under the weather Monday afternoon and when we got home from the park, she passed on lunch and slept.  The next day I awoke with a sore throat and immediately knew I was coming down with something.  I was able to go through school work on Tuesday, but come Wednesday I had no voice and my head was throbbing.  We took that day "off".  I gave her history and science copywork and called it a day.  We took Saturday morning to go over the day that we missed and now we're back on track.

     As I mentioned in my last post our Classical Conversations community began meeting.  When we had the opportunity to enroll our daughter midway early Spring, I was immediately hooked on how the kids were learning, what they were learning and the fact it had plenty of parent participation.  It is what opened the idea of me homeschooling my daughter.  I can't imagine it any other way.

     This was our second week of CC.  In Classical Conversations the kids learn what is referred to as a Timeline; points and people in history from Creation to Modern Times.  By the end of the CC year the kids will have memorized 161 events and people in chronological order.  There are fact cards that go along with each event or person listed on the Timeline.  The cards go into more detail about that occurrence or person.  Last CC year I purchased the fact cards but didn't really use them since we started so late.  This year I didn't buy any new cards because I thought we already had all of them.  Unfortunately,  much to my daughter's disappointment, I learned that I did not have the current cards and had yet to purchase them.  She wanted to practice putting the cards in order, as we do when our community meets.

     Since my daughter was so eager to work with them she decided to make her own.  They're like those fact cards of the U.S. Presidents that you see; with the picture and name on the front and the details on the back.  She wrote the name of the event and drew pictures to go along with it.  She made 14 cards because that is how many events we have covered to date.

     That very first card you see at the bottom is one for "Age of Ancient Empires" and she drew a Sphinx, which she remembered is on that particular fact card.  The next one is "Creation and The Fall".  She chose to draw Adam and Eve at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

     I was delighted to see her take initiative and make her own cards.  To me it's a sign that she is enjoying what she's learning and is seeking more.  Plus, I get to see what she comes up with for each card.  I mean, what would you draw for "Babylonians"?

     I've ordered the cards and they're on their way.  While I know she wouldn't mind creating all the cards herself (and she still might do so) and this is a great way to reinforce what she's learning, we'll need the cards for when she gets older and the details on the back become more significant.

     That is our week.  We're starting Week 11, cold-free (mostly) and ready for Autumn!

Homeschooling, Week 6

 

     This week was all over the place.  Some days I was slow to get around (I was getting over a sore throat).  Other days the kids would get around at a snail's pace (they were being lazy).  In the end, we slowly made our way through our lessons and ended up getting excited about the things we were learning.

     Remember last week when I showed you my son's copywork?  This week I wanted to share with you my daughter's copywork.  Now, I don't always set up her copywork this way but I wanted to try it this week after finding these cool dry erase pockets at The Container Store.
   
     I liken being in The Container Store to how a child must feel at Toys R Us, "Oooh, I want that and that and that.  Oh, and can I have that?"  We have a very strict budget that keeps us me from buying everything I think we I need.  (Side note:  we use Dave Ramsey's approach to our budget.  Works great!)

     Anyway, the pockets were at our local store and came 5 to a pack for $12.99 (I think.  It may have been a couple of dollars less, but no more than $12.99)  Other parents also use page protector sheets or have blank lined sheets laminated for repeated use.  Basically there are a few options out there.  I've used both of those options.  I even carry laminated blank sheets in my homeschool binder just in case we're out and about and I forget to restock the paper supply!

      Below is the C-line pocket ready for my Little Toughie to use:

     Here she is using a low odor, non-toxic, wet erase markers:

     Here is her finished copywork:

     And, viola!  I wipe it down and it's ready for her to use again:

     At the end of the week I pulled the sheet out and let her write directly on it.  The downside of any dry erase work is the tendency for my kids to get it all over their hands and then every where else.  This may be something that I use more for Geography instead.  They're thicker than page protector sheets but not as convenient since they don't fit into my binder well.  A smaller, stitched edge one with 3-ring holes would be perfect but it seems I'll have to wait until they get that into production.

     On that note, I bid you adieu!  Have a wonderful weekend.

Homeschooling, Week 5

     This week started a little rough but ended quite nicely.  On Monday my Little Toughie had an appointment with her Urologist (whom she sees every 6 months) and there were many tests given.  Nothing unusual.  The appointment was much longer than I had expected (Three hours!) and then the doctor told us that she was severely constipated and needed to be completely cleaned out.  Without going into too many details, she had to go through a regimen quite similar to what an adult has to endure prior to a colonoscopy.  It was painful for her.  She's okay, now.  That was the rough bit.

     The rest of the week went smoothly.  Sort of.  Both kids had to report to the Principal this week for goofing off in the classroom.  He set them straight.  There were a few interruptions as well, like my daughter coming up to me during my prep time and wanting to make a banjo because apparently everyone needs a banjo!  It was a nice break and I didn't mind getting creative.

     We're 5 weeks in and I'm slowly building more into our curriculum.  Not a whole lot.  I'm just trying to reinforce some of the things we're studying.  For example, the Presidents.  If you ask either one of my kids to list all the Presidents by last name, they can and will (They'll either sing it or say it, depending on their mood.)  To reinforce this for my son, his copy work includes writing the Presidents' full names as well as the continents, since we're studying them in Geography.

What I wrote for my son to copy

His completed copy work

     If you've read The Core, you already know the importance of copy work.  For my son it's especially helpful.  He struggles with keeping his letters neat, straight and the same height.  It's because of his syndrome that he struggles with this.

     When he was first diagnosed we watched a video on Williams Syndrome and I remember they showed a girl, roughly as old as my son is now, and she was asked to name the parts of a bicycle, from the wheels to the seat to the handle bars, etc.  They girl could do it perfectly, no problem.  However, when asked to draw that bicycle, most of the parts were in the wrong place.  It was fascinating (and heartbreaking) to see how her mind just couldn't put it together.

     Now, my son is a big fan of cursive writing and we thank God that he can do it.  I wanted him to go back to printing first, to perfect that before completing his work for me in cursive.  As you can see in the work above, he's coming along very well.  There are days when he's in too much of a rush and I ask him to write it again.  He's not a fan of that, but he does it and understands that I expect him to do his best and that I know when he's not putting that forth.  My husband recently remarked on how much our son's printing has improved, so I know it's working.

     Our week ended with a trip to the Getty Villa.  Our first field trip of the year!  I'll have a follow up post on our excursion later on in the week.

     Enjoy your weekend!

Homeschooling, Week Two

     This week was even better than last!  Aside from a little excitement early in the week, we had fun learning about Ancient Egypt as well as the different components of the weather.  The kids are getting into the routine and are even grabbing books off the homeschool shelf before I'm ready to start.  Talk about eager!  I pray that they are always that enthusiastic about learning.

     We've implemented a couple of new things into our schedule.  We now start with the Pledge of Allegiance (we even have a flag) and then begin our prayer time.  Our prayers are more organized now so that the kids give more thought to who and/or what they are praying for.  At first, we were a bit all over the place.  I remembered our pastor encouraging us to designate a different day of the week to pray for something/someone specific.  I found this schedule online and I like that it coincided with the first letter of the day, so I went with it.  (It helps my daughter memorize the days of the week as well.  Bonus!)  It may change a bit as we find our footing, but I thought this was a great start:

• Mondays:  Missionaries
• Tuesdays:  Teachers (including therapists, coaches, church teachers)
• Wednesday:  Wisdom to witness (I tell my kids that most people don't read the bible, they read the Christian.)
• Thursday:  Those in authority (from local government and on, as well as our military and civil service members and those in the medical field who we seek for treatment.)
• Friday:  Family and friends (though we pray for them everyday, these prayers are more specific)
• Saturday:  Salvation (for those who are lost)
• Sunday:  The sick and suffering

     We started this schedule on a Thursday and I led the kids in prayer, giving them a moment to add to it before we closed.  When I told my daughter that it was "Family and Friends" prayer day, my daughter immediately wanted to pray for her good friend Connor, whom she misses dearly.  My kids always pray, thanks be to God.  Even at church I'm told by their teachers that they're always the first ones to raise their hands to volunteer to pray.  It's a lovely thing!

     My favorite part of this week was when during our Bible study discussion (somehow our discussion went from Isaac and Rebekah to heaven) my daughter asked, "When we go see Jesus will we need space suits?"  We had learned the different parts of the atmosphere and she remembered that in the exosphere, oxygen tanks and space suits are needed.  She needed clarification.

     My other favorite part (Can I have two favorite parts?) was when my son showed me his math work.  He's memorized his multiplication tables through 11x20.  Awesome!  My goal is to have him memorize all the way to 20x20, sooner than later.  He's doing great.  I may not be officially homeschooling him come September but that doesn't mean that I can't work with him now or even implement of few of the lessons I learned while reading The Core, even when he starts school. (Great book, by the way, and not as daunting as The Well-Trained Mind, which I will tackle one of these days.)

     We do copy work everyday but we ended this week with a fun one.  The kids had to write and send out an invitation.  Below is a picture of my Kindergartner at work:

Focused on copy work

     I'm in the process of getting a whiteboard to use, though I'm not sure if I want to get a tabletop one (for easy transport) or if I want to get one to hang on the wall.  (We've made very good use of our space at home, so finding a place to hang a whiteboard will be a little difficult.)  Or I might get both!  Maybe.

     That's it for this week!