Staying Organized

I have played around with several different systems, but for now this is what works for us. I just take a ruler and eyeball 10 columns and 14 rows with a thin row at the top for the subject titles. I use the width of the ruler for columns (cutting the first in hald for Date and Bible). For the rows, I also do one ruler width first, then go back and half them.

My goal is to hit each subject each day, or at least frequently for things like music and art. I also keep track of how many days we do in a month, with the goal each school year being 180. If we don't do anything in that subject for the day, I fill the box with an X. That way, if I scan and a column, say art, has too many Xs, then I know that we need to do some art. If I do three or four social study lessons in one day, then I fill in 4 boxes, either ahead or behind as needed.

I like the size of the boxes because they let me keep track of what we did in a little more detail than just my checkmark system from kindergarten. I don't do the chart on the computer because I lose a lot of space that way. Doing it by hand let's me use the whole page.

Across the top it says:
Date
Bible
Language
Math
Science
SS-Hist-Geo
Art
Music
PE-Health
Extra

Year E Month 2

These are the books Raccoon and I will be using this month and perhaps longer. And a picture of his latest "invention," an airplane. (I'm posting this from my phone and don't know how to rotate pics.)

The Kindergarten Scholar book is to help his pre-writing skills since he's pretty much got the concepts. But I want to expose him to traditional formats, following directions, and some pencil/paper stuff. I thought the Dust Bowl book would be fun because it's dry season here and very dusty/windy.

Kitty is having fun with sensory activities and gross motor tasks, like running and forward rolls. She doesn't talk much yet but I'm expecting a language explosion any day now. Her receptive language is great in Spanish and English. She's 18 months old. She's in Year B. :)

And I figured out something about myself. I love my children and I have a wonderful life but my brain is bored. I don't have a lot of time or energy for a big pursuit, but I am going to start teaching myself Quechua, a local language here. That is what the Busy Words book is for, me to make a picture dictionary. I'm hoping that the kids will pick up a few words too. Otherwise I've been driving my husband to distraction collecting pets. I need some sort of intellectual outlet because my brain feels like it's turning to mush. We'll see how this goes. I wonder if there's an app for that...

Year E begins!!

We have a schoolroom! My mother and father came to visit for a wonderful month, and while I was busy with kid stuff, my mom organized my new shelves and learning materials in what used to be our laundry/storage area made into a room with a bookshelf wall. The last step is to hang a curtain to keep visiting kids out of the fragile things.

Another important homeschooling step was the decision to try year-round schooling, so our schedule will run from July 2014 to June 2015. Although I don't have to register as a homeschooling family in WA (our state of residence) until Raccoon is 8, I feel concerned about getting in the required 180 school days. I am not so worried about the 11 required subjects: reading, writing, spelling, language, math, science, social studies, history, health, occupational education, and art and music appreciation. Having a soft start in July is like school days' extra credit before our more structured schedule begins in September. We'll see how it goes; we're three days in so far.

What are we up to? Raccoon's current passion is catching bugs for his two insect boxes that his Grama gave him. He has all of his neighborhood friends also chasing after tarantulas and grasshoppers along with him. So far the only thing we can sustain in captivity is garden spiders. We have abundant flies and a nifty little jar with a pivoting door to catch them. It has been interesting to have an arachnid on our kitchen counter. We are now onto spider #4 because spider #1 was released into the wild, spider #2 hid in the container instead of being released with its roommate #1, then it ate spider #3. We got spider #4 from a beautiful web in our back yard. I was hoping it would spin a web in the box, but with the abundance of flies it seems to be content with a few silk threads here and there.

My mom also brought down a lot of hands-on kits (pictured below), so we jumped right into those. What we're doing doesn't even feel like school to Raccoon, which is why I like the year-round model for now.

Spider #4

Sneaking in some pre-writing activities

Music, Art, and Language

Science

Raccoon's first microscope! Unfortunately it only works on at 100X but not at the 300X nor the 600X settings. It was pretty cheap though, and my goal was just to familiarize with handling the slides and microscope. He was so excited when we bought it and says he wants to be a scientist when he grows up. The next thing he wants is his own lab, like Johnny Test's sisters. :)

The chemistry kit is pretty basic but Raccoon likes it since it came with balloons, straws, pipets, etc. He's more interested in combining things to do his own "experiments," but we've done several of the activities so far.

Math

This is a bit beyond Raccoon, but we've put together several of the circuits. I think it's good exposure to a grid system (the instructions give coordinates like A4) and for following directions. We made a Star Wars alarm today. My only complaint is that I still have no idea how electricity works even after making the models. I plan to do a little research of my own so I can explain it better to Raccoon. He thinks the parts can just be put together willy nilly. The plastic cases are good for protection but they also make it so that neither one of us knows what is actually going on.

This was Raccoon's book at occupational therapy in the US, which his therapist kindly gave to us when we left.  He has never been much of a pencil and paper guy, so I think the activities in here will be good practice for him. He does not like to color at all, although he will draw or paint things occasionally. This is the only school thing that he would not choose to do on his own, but I have promised him a prize upon completion of the entire book.

Let the Games Begin!

We have officially started homeschooling as of this week. March 18 was our first day, odd perhaps but why not? That's what homeschooling is about - right? - freedom.

Celosia School Year D Week 1 (March 17-21)                    3 weeks on, 1 week off (make-up)



MONDAY             TUESDAY             WEDNESDAY      THURSDAY

Language	Math	Science	Music	Physical Activity	Alternate Activity	Art
Read Diary of a Worm, pick something he wants to record	Number sheets with noodles, rocks, household items	Scientific Salad Dressing p. 16 1) Oil w/garlic 2) Vinegar w/herb	Review instruments p. 6-11 CYHI #1	Monday 10 -11 am Recess at school	Read about Scat and Tracks	Take pictures for diary (him, cat, dog)
Diary of a cat entry, Raising Rock Stars	Add one, subtract one with cars, candy, marbles, money	Solvent or Solute? p. 17 1) water w/sugar 2) water w/sand 3) water w/salt 4 water w/rocks	CYHI #3	Gymbo Thurs 3 - 4 pm	Make a scat and tracks book with labels, Caleb trace first letters	Take photos of scat and tracks
Diary of a dog entry, Raising Rock Stars	Math book activity	Perfume Chemistry p. 19 1) Alcohol and cinnamon 2) Alcohol and orange peel 3) Alcohol and rose petals	CYHI #2	Trampoline, Soccer, and Running		Gymbo Thurs 6-7 pm

Books:

Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
Super Science Concoctions by Jill Frankel Hauser 
Can You Hear It? (for music/art appreciation)

That's the plan and we're about halfway through. We got off to a slower start since he was sick on Monday.

Homeschool is a Go for Fall 2014 (K)

The King and I (*smile* do you like my new name for hubby?) have officially decided to homeschool Raccoon next year for kindergarten. We were pretty sure that this was the best choice for us, but there were a few factors that confirmed it:

1) His birthday misses our preferred school's kindergarten cutoff by six weeks, no exceptions, so it's homeschool or another year of pre-k (which would not be a good fit for him).

2) Unless the Lord steps in, we will be living in a semi-remote location in South America next fall, so our access to local schools would be limited anyway.

There are other considerations, such as our plan to do school only a few days a week and my excitement over not having to get everyone going in the morning, so overall homeschooling is a win-win for our family at this point.

All this is to say that I am finally biting the bullet and looking at curriculum!!! Since it's kindergarten and I want to ease into things, I'm not going to invest in a box set, but am going to do things piecemeal. Raccoon is also fairly asynchronous and needs a full body approach to learning, so it may take us awhile to find our groove. I'm okay with that. I will also have to figure out where Robin fits in as I want to do some Tot School things with her while Raccoon and I "do school." I am hoping that she'll be past the mouthing, grabbing, and ripping stages by then so that she can join us (She'll be 19 months... I may be asking for too much. Plan B for her is... nap time.)

I was hoping to find a bookstore with used curriculum. I have to look at something in order to decide it's usefulness, online descriptions don't work for me. I'm a page-flipper. Sadly, there aren't any used bookstores in my area, I think they have all gone out of business, but I did find a large book section at Goodwill. It's like hunting for treasure. Amongst the every-TV-show-known-to-children beginning readers, there are also amazing Usborne, DK, and other resource books. I have spent $20 (can't beat $1 each!) and I have everything except health and math and social studies. Confession: I don't even really know what social studies is, isn't it part of history or how society works or something? I'm off to Wikipedia for that one... "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence." Oh.

Where was I? So several of the books that I have should last us several years as they are more comprehensive sources, such as "Everything You Need to Know About English Homework." I have a few of these on different subjects, and plan to use them as a starting point for different unit studies once I discover what works and doesn't work with Raccoon. I have specific lesson books for subjects like art, science, and music appreciation. As I look over the books tonight, I do wonder where they came from before Goodwill, and why, if they're so good, they still look like new. Hmmmmmm.....

Well, I'm off to make lists and plans and dream... have I mentioned that I loved school. At least, I loved the thought of school - unlimited learning and access to new ideas - but I have to remind myself that Raccoon's style and needs are different from my own. But still, I bought resources that I enjoy, because if I'm not interested, then how could I expect him to be?

P.S. Why all the books you say when you can find everything you need online?
1) We won't have high speed internet. It's back to dial-up days (almost) for us when we move.
2) I still love books and want to pass that on.
3) $1 a book saves me on printer ink and paper.
4) Recycle! 

Brainstorming for Fall 2013

Tonight I am attending my first parent orientation night for Raccoon. He will be going to preschool twice a week for three hours a day. But after this year, my husband and I feel like homeschooling is still the best choice for him. With this in mind, I want to begin figuring out what works for him and what helps him learn.

I LOVE this post about following the lead of the child. One of Celosia's rules is: If it's not working, stop. I haven't even started school with Raccoon and I already feel like my natural teaching inclinations are not going to work. I need a better plan. When Raccoon's hunger to learn is not satisfied, we are all miserable.

So, first, a list of what he likes with ideas of how I could make it school-y:

* taking pictures (he evaluates and chooses what he likes and wants to display, vocabulary, composition, lighting)
* physical activity (following directions through an obstacle course, a walk in the woods, scavenger hunt with labels)
* videos (educational clips, Netflix profile)
* being read to (books, magazines)
* likes freestyle crafts (cutting, gluing, glitter, tape, materials)
* imaginary play (write and perform skits, mini-movies)
* writing in the sand
* sensory play
* social / emotional role play
* field trips with learning pages

I also need to come up with new ways to use what we have. And keeping Robin involved but safe is going to be challenging as well.

Focusing on Strengths

"It is easy for those working with children with disabilities, including their parents, to dwell upon the deficiencies. But if children experience success in their strength areas, they become more confident in their abilities." SENG August newsletter


A social work major in college, I chose the strengths perspective as the foundation of my approach to family problem-solving. For me, it's the idea that everyone brings something to the table which can be used for the good of all. In homeschooling I hope to use my son's strengths - imagination, curiosity, energy, and marching to his own drum - to also improve his areas of weakness. I think we'll have the most success with project-based learning based on his areas of interest, incorporating reading, writing, and public speaking as means to the end.



Coming soon: a summer and book update.  

Letting Go

No matter how good something might seem, it may just not work for your family. I think this is especially true for homeschooling.

"...we also suck in messages from everything from the television to advertising to marketing, etcetera. These are hugely powerful forces that define what we want and how we view ourselves. What I want to argue for is not that we should give up on our ideas of success, but that we should make sure that they are our own. We should focus in on our ideas and make sure that we own them, that we’re truly the authors of our own ambitions." Alain de Botton

I am not going to do typical sit-down school with my son. I have known this for awhile, but somehow I keep coming back to it. I need to accept it, the sooner the better, and find instead what will work for us. As a little girl, I would have loved for someone to supply me with endless, increasingly difficult workbooks on various topics which I would have then happily completed. (By upper elementary, not so much. All I wanted to do at that point was read.)

Although it may seem like a trivial thing, I came to this realization (again) about our "school" by reading a post about a program called Reading Eggs (to which I'm not affiliated in any way). It sounds like a wonderful program and has worked for many families whose blogs I read. It would have worked for me as a child, for sure. But my son may never enjoy sitting down at the computer to complete a lesson, no matter how engaging it is designed to be. And definitely not now.

This isn't a bad thing, and at some point in his development there will be a need for seatwork and computer programs, but I have to accept that for now at least, this isn't us.