Chores. Allowance. Commission. Salary.
Lots of ideas out there when it comes to imparting responsibility to your children. We've tried several routes with varying degrees of success. We don't give allowance - that implies that you get money simply because you exist and that's not a belief that I care to foster in my children. You don't get something for nothing. We respect hard work and it is rewarded so any chore/money set up we've tried here has been more of a "commission" than anything else. I drank the Dave Ramsey Kool-Aid a long time ago and I wholeheartedly agree with his take on chores/money.
For the most part, and with minimal reminders, The Boy and The Girl are very good about keeping their rooms tidy, clearing their plates after dinner, cleaning up after themselves, etc. But finding a way/method to motivate them to shoulder a little more responsibility around the house has been challenging. And then I saw this: Fisher Kids. While it's great to have them help around the house, the responsibility for keeping track of their work and their pay usually fell to me and that didn't always work well. The biggest draw (for me) of this system is that the responsibility for keeping track of what they've done and what they've earned is THEIR responsibility. Not mine.
Just as an employee is responsible for clocking in and clocking out, The Boy and The Girl are responsible for keeping track of what chores they do, writing down how much they earned by doing said chores, etc. The only thing I have to be responsible for is having cash on hand (often an issue...I don't usually carry cash).
We just started this recently and so far, it's going well. In addition to their responsibilities as a part of this household (personal care, putting dirty laundry in the laundry room, putting away their clean laundry, clearing their plates after meals, tidying their rooms, etc.) they are expected to read for 20-30 minutes each day (above and beyond what is necessary for school) and do 2 chores. Most of the chores are pretty easy and only take 5-10 minutes. So they are quite do-able for a 7 and 10 year old.
The other thing I like about this system is that it teaches kids how to manage their money in that a percentage should go for 'giving', a percentage should go for 'saving', and the rest goes into 'spending'. We had a great talk about giving - why we give, to whom do we give, etc. They asked if they were able to choose to whom their money was given and the answer is most definitely. If you decide you want to give your money to Save The Whales, great. If you decide you want to give it all to a Salvation Army bell-ringer, wonderful. If you want to tithe at church, go right ahead. If you want to change things up, that's fine too. I had them each make a small list of places/organizations/entities to which they'd be interested in giving their money and we talked about each one.
Then we talked about saving and what kinds of things we save for: college, cars, trips to Hawaii, etc. We talked about the difference between long-term savings goals and short-term savings goals. We made lists of items that go in each. And then we talked about the fact that we don't take our money (the 'save' or the 'spend') and go looking for places to spend it. We don't walk into Target or Toys R Us with our money in our pocket and not have a specific item we plan to purchase. We tell our money where it goes, not the other way around. (this is good advice for me too...)
And there is math involved. I did my best to keep things to dollar and half-dollar amounts so that calculating percentages ('give', 'save', and 'spend') is relatively easy. The Girl is not quite done with division so we've not yet touched on percentages but calculating 10% ('give') is pretty easy and then doubling that for 20% ('save') isn't hard from there.
They love it thus far. They've always wanted to help around the house but never really knew what needed to be done and I failed at coming up with a way to set it up for them. And, after running a few numbers, I find that they are cheaper than a cleaning service! They are paid well for their work (I have high standards) and, while some parents might balk at what I pay them, the deal is that I will no longer buy toys for them upon request (I will still buy them birthday and Christmas presents as well as the occasional "I love you" gift but I will not bow to the "Can I just get one small toy?" when we're at a store). My answer now will be, "Of course you may get a small toy. How much money do you have? Figure out what toy you want and when we come back, you may bring your money and buy it."
The final thing that I like about this is that they WANT to help. I explained to them all of the things that Mommy and Daddy are responsible for in the course of a day and how much it helps for them to do these chores and earn their pay. I also explained to them that, while the money is great, their assistance around the house is something to take pride in. I like helping them tidy up their rooms from time to time and I tell them this. They like helping me around the house and it's nice to see it go both ways.
I am working to make sure this sticks!
- hfs
10.27.2011
9.22.2011
Aloha to the Sunflower State
Just a quick note to let everyone (all 3 of you!) know that we are still alive and kicking. Even though it's almost the end of September, we've not yet started our school year. The Army decided it was time for us to leave the Rock and move to the absolute center of the continental United States. The Sunflower state. About as far away from the ocean as is humanly possible while still being in the U.S. After 30+ days of visiting, traveling, and house-hunting, we are about settled in. Well, we have a house. No stuff to go IN it just yet but we have a house.
The wonderful thing about this move (well, there are MANY wonderful things about this move...and many not-so-wonderful things about this move but that's a different post for a different blog) is that, because we homeschool, we are not under the same time-constraints as public-schooled families. There was no rush to find a house in a "good school district" because we ARE the school district. And, if our house-hunting had gone on for months like it did when we moved to Hawaii in 2005, it would have been ok because we have our school books with us and could have started whenever we needed to. There was also little pressure to begin because both The Boy and The Girl are ahead in just about every subject.
So we will begin on October 3. The state we are living in requires that we register as a "non-accredited private school" and that we also name said "non-accredited private school" (or N.A.P.S., if you prefer). After much debate and some funny suggestions, we settled on the name "La'iki Puka Pa Academy". "La'iki Puka Pa" means "narrow gate" in Hawaiian. You can read Matthew 4:17 for the Biblical reference. I love that it combines both the biblical reference as well as Hawaiian words. And I love that no one at the DOE for this state will get what it means. I'm ok with that!
Once we get settled in our house and get internet set up, I'll post about our choices of curricula and how I see our upcoming year going.
Pau.
- hfs
The wonderful thing about this move (well, there are MANY wonderful things about this move...and many not-so-wonderful things about this move but that's a different post for a different blog) is that, because we homeschool, we are not under the same time-constraints as public-schooled families. There was no rush to find a house in a "good school district" because we ARE the school district. And, if our house-hunting had gone on for months like it did when we moved to Hawaii in 2005, it would have been ok because we have our school books with us and could have started whenever we needed to. There was also little pressure to begin because both The Boy and The Girl are ahead in just about every subject.
So we will begin on October 3. The state we are living in requires that we register as a "non-accredited private school" and that we also name said "non-accredited private school" (or N.A.P.S., if you prefer). After much debate and some funny suggestions, we settled on the name "La'iki Puka Pa Academy". "La'iki Puka Pa" means "narrow gate" in Hawaiian. You can read Matthew 4:17 for the Biblical reference. I love that it combines both the biblical reference as well as Hawaiian words. And I love that no one at the DOE for this state will get what it means. I'm ok with that!
Once we get settled in our house and get internet set up, I'll post about our choices of curricula and how I see our upcoming year going.
Pau.
- hfs
6.11.2011
Curriculum Round-Up
So we wrapped up our school year at the end of May. In many ways, it was more successful than I had hoped. And in some ways, it left a lot to be desired. Being that this was our first year, my focus was mainly on the 3Rs. We didn't make it as far in history as I had hoped so we're going to have to dedicate some of our summer to getting caught up. But that's ok - history is a subject my children enjoy so it won't be hard to get through it.
The Girl has some math to get through as well - I'd like her to get through her 4th grade math (remember we started her off back in 3rd grade math to firm up her multiplication skills at the beginning of the year) so that she will be on grade level at the beginning of 5th grade in the fall. She has about 10 lessons left so we'll aim to do 1 per week to get her caught up and keep her math skills fresh throughout the summer.
Which leads me to my assessment of our curriculum choices for the year. Overall, I was pleased. And The Boy and The Girl were pleased.
1. First Language Lessons - This curriculum was probably my favorite of the entire year. I'm a grammar nazi so that predisposes me to liking this curriculum but I really enjoyed how EASY it was - for me and for my children. Both of them used it this year - The Boy working his way quickly through Level 1 and into Level 2 and the The Girl working through Level 4 (their last...sadly we will have to move on to a different language curriculum for her next year).
The lessons in the 1/2 book (Levels 1 and 2 were combined in this edition...Peace Hill Press has since separated them from what I recall) were short, sweet, and to the point. Lots of repetition - both in practice and in theory - helped cement the concepts in my son's mind (and mine...it's been a while since I had an English lesson!). Plenty of practical application and copywork as well which worked nicely for my son who is very much a hands-on learner. And the curriculum draws from works of literature that he is familiar with so that was a bonus as well! And, given the fact that he is a 1st grade boy, the short lessons worked well with his developing attention span. He especially enjoyed the lessons in which a picture is given and we get to dissect it, using the parts of speech being studied as our guidelines for discussion.
Level 4 was much more in-depth than level 1/2 but my daughter enjoyed the challenge. I grew up in a district that (as far as I can recall) did not teach sentence diagramming. FLL is HEAVY on sentence diagramming (not as heavy as Abeka, from what I understand, but heavy nonetheless) which helped her (and me) solidify her understanding of the various parts of speech being studied. I almost wish I had started her at Level 3 just so that we'd have one more year of FLL for her! There are plenty of practical applications in this level as well, including addressing an envelope properly, writing a proper thank-you note, an introduction to creative writing, summarizing, and reports, and contractions. This was one of the subjects she and I looked forward to each day. As a teacher, I appreciated the "script" that came in the teachers' edition - with no formal language instruction training, I was a little hesitant in this area. Even though I am strong in language, I'm not sure I know how to articulate that knowledge for my 9 year old. So that helped a LOT.
2. Writing With Ease - For The Boy, this curriculum was PERFECT! His penmanship was atrocious coming into first grade. Part of this was due to the fact that he was a 6 year old boy and part of that had to do with the fact that the district here starts kindergartners off having them write original sentences once they learn their letters. To expect a child to be able to master the motor skills of penmanship AND come up with original sentences and thoughts on their own at the same time is expecting a LOT of a 5 or 6 year old brain. The human brain is better at handling one thing at a time when it comes to development. That's why children who are learning how to walk will often regress in their verbal skills (or vice versa) - the brain compartmentalizes it's abilities, focusing it's energies on one thing at a time. And, not only do the schools here teach children these two skills concurrently, the expectations of quality are high from the get-go. Needless to say, Kindergarten was frustrating for The Boy in this area.
However, WWE separates penmanship and creative writing/original sentences. Each week, the focus is on a different piece of childrens' literature: two days of the week are copywork, one day involves the teacher reading a piece of the literature and having the child dictate a narrative of the passage, and the final day has the teacher read a different passage, the child dictate a narrative, and then the child is to copy the dictation. I found that The Boy's narratives were MUCH more detailed when he was dictating to me as opposed to being asked to write down his own narration. The most obvious example of how well this curriculum worked is the difference between his first few assignments and his final, year-end evaluation. His penmanship improved DRASTICALLY. I'm sure part of that was simply a part of his physical maturation but a part of it came from the ability to focus solely on his writing mechanics throughout this year.
WWE for The Girl was much more challenging than I had expected, especially for her. She is above average in her verbal and language abilities but this was a CHALLENGING curriculum. Her level combined original sentence construction/summarization/narration and dictation. And let me tell you, the dictation was significant in it's difficulty. So much so that we stopped doing it about 1/2 way through the first semester. I think, had we started off in Level 3, it wouldn't have been so difficult. She would have been more familiar with it and the length of the dictation pieces would have been less.
Our plan for next year is to actually have her start over with The Boy when he starts dictation as part of his WWE curriculum. Her confidence was shaken by her inability to keep up and I'd like to get her more comfortable with it so we're going to go slow, just like we did in math. I think the dictation exercises are INVALUABLE in life and I want her to gain this skill so we will make sure not to shy away from it.
3. Spelling Workout - Both of my children liked this curriculum, though it was The Boy that really enjoyed it and begged me to give him his completed workbook so that he could re-read the stories in each lesson. The lessons are short, the words are challenging without being too difficult, and the format (a newspaper format) was engaging. The Boy started off at the first grade level but the first 10-15 lessons were too easy for him so I would test him on the words before having him actually do the lesson. If he spelled them all correctly, we skipped that week's lesson. I did the same with The Girl - if she scored 100% on the pretest, she didn't have to complete the lesson. The fourth grade book was too easy for her so I bumped her up to the 5th grade book. The one thing that I didn't do this year that I will do next year is have them keep a spelling journal (a composition book) where they will write down the lesson's rule (each lesson has a rule that applies to the words in the lesson), take their pretest and final test, and write down the words they misspell for future reference.
4. Wordly Wise 3000 - I started this one during the second half of the year because I realized that my children didn't really have much in the way of vocabulary. I tried creating my own, based on our Science and History lessons but that just wasn't enough. The activities in WW3000 are varied enough to keep my son's attention (we broke each lesson in to 4 parts and completed it throughout the week but did not test on the words) and give him plenty of different contexts for each word. The workbook format allowed my daughter to work at her own pace and she tore through the book (again, I bumped her up a grade level because the fourth grade words were too easy) at her own pace.
5. Math-U-See - This is probably my second favorite curriculum of the year. Mr. Steve and his approach to math is incredibly simple and straightforward. His reliance on manipulatives helps my son get a grasp of the concept and gives my daughter something to "fall back on" in case she can't work it out in her head. My biggest complaint is that he sometimes moves too quickly in his lesson the DVD but that's the beauty of the DVD - we can pause it and rewind it. The Boy is getting ready to move into the third level (3rd grade - Gamma - multiplication) and I still have the DVD and instructor's guide. Obviously The Girl used up the majority of the worksheets and the tests but MUS offers the ability to generate additional worksheets on line so, rather than order a new student workbook, I will just generate worksheets for The Boy. Saves us some money!
6. Story of the World - We love history. LOVE. IT. And this curriculum is incredible. The text itself is a great read - a wonderful story of history and something that I'd have no trouble sitting on the couch and reading on a rainy afternoon. The activity guide that goes with it is in-depth, varied, and an incredible resource. I love the different literature suggestions offered for each lesson - selections that the kids can read on their own and selections that are better suited to be read aloud. The activities are varied in their complexity and the materials are pretty easy to find, using many household items. Sadly, this is one subject that was pushed aside in order to get through the 3Rs. We are hoping to make headway with it this summer and then be able to move into Volume 2 at the start of the next school year. We did not use the tests this year - I'm mainly interested in exposing them to the material at this point. They are both sponges and retain most of what interests them and ancient history definitely interests them!
7. Explode the Code - I grabbed this after The Boy ripped through his spelling in one semester. I didn't really feel like pushing him on to the second level (though, in hindsight, I could have and he would have loved it because he loves the Spelling Workout Curriculum) so I found Explode the Code. It was a nice accompaniment to his spelling and reinforced a LOT of the spelling rules that he had been taught in Spelling Workout. It's repetitive but easy enough for him to do completely on his own - something that I think is important for him to learn to do in small doses. So much of The Boy's curriculum (given the fact that he was in first grade) is teacher-involved so it was nice to have a few things that he could do independently.
8. Real Science 4 Kids (Chemistry) - We did this with our homeschool co-op and it went quite well. The curriculum is quite narrow in scope but there are dozens of experiments that allowed them to really get down and dirty with the subject matter. And what child (or adult, for that matter) doesn't enjoy blowing things up? Doing this subject with our co-op was great because the moms traded off teaching each lesson so the kids were able to experience different approaches to the same subject matter. And some of the moms enlisted the help of the older teens in performing some of the experiments which was a lot of fun! They dressed up as "mad scientists" and did all kinds of crazy experiments (think Mentos and Diet Coke, Alka Seltzer in a film canister, etc.). My only concern is that this subject was so narrow in scope and, as much as I liked it, I'm wondering if - at the lower elementary level - they should be doing something a bit more broad in scope.
9. Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) - This was another subject covered with our co-op and The Girl participated in this one. It was a great curriculum and it really pushed my daughter to develop her writing skills beyond what her normal language curriculum expected of her. The stories that she came up with were creative and really stretched her imagination. She learned alternatives to "banned words" (words like said, go, eat), descriptive words (-ly words), paragraph structure, openings, closings, and the like. Because this class was only held in the first half of the year, she did not make it through the level so we will be pickup up with it again in the fall as an add on to her regular language curriculum. I might have The Boy start coming up with his own stories to dictate to me as well.
10. Handwriting Without Tears - This one was really important for The Boy. His penmanship left a lot to be desired and this curriculum was a gentle way of helping him with it. The mechanics are presented in an incredibly straightforward fashion - so much so that I did not need to consult the teachers' manual other than when I first received it. The pages were engaging and easy enough for him to follow on his own - again allowing him to work independently. For The Girl, it was great practice for her developing cursive and she did so well that I don't think it's necessary to continue this with her next year.
11. Typing Instructor (online) - Another great program that both of my children were able to do independently! The set up is engaging, the skills are challenging but reasonable, and kids move on quickly enough so as to not lose interest. In this day and age, keyboarding/typing skills are as important - if not moreso - as penmanship and this program teaches them those skills easily. Both of my children enjoyed seeing what their goal (WPM) was and by how much they had exceeded that goal. What a fantastic motivator!
12. Pianimals - We were blessed to be offered FREE piano instruction by a friend of ours from church. She is a piano/keyboard player for one of the Praise and Worship teams at our church but is not trained as a music teacher. However, she has the heart of a teacher, her fundamentals are incredibly strong, and this curriculum is FANTASTIC! The progression is not only easy enough for a 5 year old to learn (though their hands are so small) but easy enough for ME to learn (I'm following along in the books with my children)! The Girl took to the piano instantly and has literally plowed through the books more quickly than any of us anticipated. Our friend had to stall with other books until the next level book arrived in the mail! The Boy is making solid, steady progress and I am excited to see him begin to love music. His listening skills (auditory learning) are weak and I really think that music instruction will help him in this area. We started lessons just shortly before we took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (he scored in the low end of the average range for listening skills when every other skill was far above average) so I am curious to see what his listening skills scores are next year after he's had a year of piano lessons.
13. Song School Latin - What an amazing little program! It's the basics of Latin - our first language - set to music. Such an easy way to remember things, especially when you're young! The worksheets that come with the CD are easy, engaging, and fun! My kids look forward to this subject every day and begged me to upload the music to their iPods. We listen to them in the car and sing some of them at night when they go to bed as their melodies are sometimes quite sweet.
14. Daily Geography - I didn't know until I put together our "Independent Folders" that either of my children would love Geography as much as they do! They dove into this and would literally gobble it up like it was Turkish Delight. The Boy, instead of completing a section per week, completed a section per DAY. Which necessitated me purchasing the next level of Daily Geography before the end of the first semester. But that's ok - he thoroughly enjoyed it, as did The Girl! During Christmas break and Spring break, we put their newfound map-reading skills to the test. We took off to the zoo one day and each of them had animals to which they were required to navigate using the zoo's map. I also introduced them to a map of our community and had them both help me navigate to go get ice cream! Their map-reading skills came in handy during Cub Scout camping trips and day camps as well!
So there you have my thoughts on our curriculum for the year. The Girl will be entering 5th grade in the fall and therefore, based on the classical education structure, will be entering the Logic phase of learning (The Boy remains in the Grammar stage) so there will be some changes necessary in The Girl's curriculum. I'm not yet sure if I plan to change anything for The Boy but I'll be looking into that this summer as we make plans for next year. I'll post more about that once I've made my decisions.
Right now, I'm off to enjoy some ice cream!
Pau.
- hfs
The Girl has some math to get through as well - I'd like her to get through her 4th grade math (remember we started her off back in 3rd grade math to firm up her multiplication skills at the beginning of the year) so that she will be on grade level at the beginning of 5th grade in the fall. She has about 10 lessons left so we'll aim to do 1 per week to get her caught up and keep her math skills fresh throughout the summer.
Which leads me to my assessment of our curriculum choices for the year. Overall, I was pleased. And The Boy and The Girl were pleased.
1. First Language Lessons - This curriculum was probably my favorite of the entire year. I'm a grammar nazi so that predisposes me to liking this curriculum but I really enjoyed how EASY it was - for me and for my children. Both of them used it this year - The Boy working his way quickly through Level 1 and into Level 2 and the The Girl working through Level 4 (their last...sadly we will have to move on to a different language curriculum for her next year).
The lessons in the 1/2 book (Levels 1 and 2 were combined in this edition...Peace Hill Press has since separated them from what I recall) were short, sweet, and to the point. Lots of repetition - both in practice and in theory - helped cement the concepts in my son's mind (and mine...it's been a while since I had an English lesson!). Plenty of practical application and copywork as well which worked nicely for my son who is very much a hands-on learner. And the curriculum draws from works of literature that he is familiar with so that was a bonus as well! And, given the fact that he is a 1st grade boy, the short lessons worked well with his developing attention span. He especially enjoyed the lessons in which a picture is given and we get to dissect it, using the parts of speech being studied as our guidelines for discussion.
Level 4 was much more in-depth than level 1/2 but my daughter enjoyed the challenge. I grew up in a district that (as far as I can recall) did not teach sentence diagramming. FLL is HEAVY on sentence diagramming (not as heavy as Abeka, from what I understand, but heavy nonetheless) which helped her (and me) solidify her understanding of the various parts of speech being studied. I almost wish I had started her at Level 3 just so that we'd have one more year of FLL for her! There are plenty of practical applications in this level as well, including addressing an envelope properly, writing a proper thank-you note, an introduction to creative writing, summarizing, and reports, and contractions. This was one of the subjects she and I looked forward to each day. As a teacher, I appreciated the "script" that came in the teachers' edition - with no formal language instruction training, I was a little hesitant in this area. Even though I am strong in language, I'm not sure I know how to articulate that knowledge for my 9 year old. So that helped a LOT.
2. Writing With Ease - For The Boy, this curriculum was PERFECT! His penmanship was atrocious coming into first grade. Part of this was due to the fact that he was a 6 year old boy and part of that had to do with the fact that the district here starts kindergartners off having them write original sentences once they learn their letters. To expect a child to be able to master the motor skills of penmanship AND come up with original sentences and thoughts on their own at the same time is expecting a LOT of a 5 or 6 year old brain. The human brain is better at handling one thing at a time when it comes to development. That's why children who are learning how to walk will often regress in their verbal skills (or vice versa) - the brain compartmentalizes it's abilities, focusing it's energies on one thing at a time. And, not only do the schools here teach children these two skills concurrently, the expectations of quality are high from the get-go. Needless to say, Kindergarten was frustrating for The Boy in this area.
However, WWE separates penmanship and creative writing/original sentences. Each week, the focus is on a different piece of childrens' literature: two days of the week are copywork, one day involves the teacher reading a piece of the literature and having the child dictate a narrative of the passage, and the final day has the teacher read a different passage, the child dictate a narrative, and then the child is to copy the dictation. I found that The Boy's narratives were MUCH more detailed when he was dictating to me as opposed to being asked to write down his own narration. The most obvious example of how well this curriculum worked is the difference between his first few assignments and his final, year-end evaluation. His penmanship improved DRASTICALLY. I'm sure part of that was simply a part of his physical maturation but a part of it came from the ability to focus solely on his writing mechanics throughout this year.
WWE for The Girl was much more challenging than I had expected, especially for her. She is above average in her verbal and language abilities but this was a CHALLENGING curriculum. Her level combined original sentence construction/summarization/narration and dictation. And let me tell you, the dictation was significant in it's difficulty. So much so that we stopped doing it about 1/2 way through the first semester. I think, had we started off in Level 3, it wouldn't have been so difficult. She would have been more familiar with it and the length of the dictation pieces would have been less.
Our plan for next year is to actually have her start over with The Boy when he starts dictation as part of his WWE curriculum. Her confidence was shaken by her inability to keep up and I'd like to get her more comfortable with it so we're going to go slow, just like we did in math. I think the dictation exercises are INVALUABLE in life and I want her to gain this skill so we will make sure not to shy away from it.
3. Spelling Workout - Both of my children liked this curriculum, though it was The Boy that really enjoyed it and begged me to give him his completed workbook so that he could re-read the stories in each lesson. The lessons are short, the words are challenging without being too difficult, and the format (a newspaper format) was engaging. The Boy started off at the first grade level but the first 10-15 lessons were too easy for him so I would test him on the words before having him actually do the lesson. If he spelled them all correctly, we skipped that week's lesson. I did the same with The Girl - if she scored 100% on the pretest, she didn't have to complete the lesson. The fourth grade book was too easy for her so I bumped her up to the 5th grade book. The one thing that I didn't do this year that I will do next year is have them keep a spelling journal (a composition book) where they will write down the lesson's rule (each lesson has a rule that applies to the words in the lesson), take their pretest and final test, and write down the words they misspell for future reference.
4. Wordly Wise 3000 - I started this one during the second half of the year because I realized that my children didn't really have much in the way of vocabulary. I tried creating my own, based on our Science and History lessons but that just wasn't enough. The activities in WW3000 are varied enough to keep my son's attention (we broke each lesson in to 4 parts and completed it throughout the week but did not test on the words) and give him plenty of different contexts for each word. The workbook format allowed my daughter to work at her own pace and she tore through the book (again, I bumped her up a grade level because the fourth grade words were too easy) at her own pace.
5. Math-U-See - This is probably my second favorite curriculum of the year. Mr. Steve and his approach to math is incredibly simple and straightforward. His reliance on manipulatives helps my son get a grasp of the concept and gives my daughter something to "fall back on" in case she can't work it out in her head. My biggest complaint is that he sometimes moves too quickly in his lesson the DVD but that's the beauty of the DVD - we can pause it and rewind it. The Boy is getting ready to move into the third level (3rd grade - Gamma - multiplication) and I still have the DVD and instructor's guide. Obviously The Girl used up the majority of the worksheets and the tests but MUS offers the ability to generate additional worksheets on line so, rather than order a new student workbook, I will just generate worksheets for The Boy. Saves us some money!
6. Story of the World - We love history. LOVE. IT. And this curriculum is incredible. The text itself is a great read - a wonderful story of history and something that I'd have no trouble sitting on the couch and reading on a rainy afternoon. The activity guide that goes with it is in-depth, varied, and an incredible resource. I love the different literature suggestions offered for each lesson - selections that the kids can read on their own and selections that are better suited to be read aloud. The activities are varied in their complexity and the materials are pretty easy to find, using many household items. Sadly, this is one subject that was pushed aside in order to get through the 3Rs. We are hoping to make headway with it this summer and then be able to move into Volume 2 at the start of the next school year. We did not use the tests this year - I'm mainly interested in exposing them to the material at this point. They are both sponges and retain most of what interests them and ancient history definitely interests them!
7. Explode the Code - I grabbed this after The Boy ripped through his spelling in one semester. I didn't really feel like pushing him on to the second level (though, in hindsight, I could have and he would have loved it because he loves the Spelling Workout Curriculum) so I found Explode the Code. It was a nice accompaniment to his spelling and reinforced a LOT of the spelling rules that he had been taught in Spelling Workout. It's repetitive but easy enough for him to do completely on his own - something that I think is important for him to learn to do in small doses. So much of The Boy's curriculum (given the fact that he was in first grade) is teacher-involved so it was nice to have a few things that he could do independently.
8. Real Science 4 Kids (Chemistry) - We did this with our homeschool co-op and it went quite well. The curriculum is quite narrow in scope but there are dozens of experiments that allowed them to really get down and dirty with the subject matter. And what child (or adult, for that matter) doesn't enjoy blowing things up? Doing this subject with our co-op was great because the moms traded off teaching each lesson so the kids were able to experience different approaches to the same subject matter. And some of the moms enlisted the help of the older teens in performing some of the experiments which was a lot of fun! They dressed up as "mad scientists" and did all kinds of crazy experiments (think Mentos and Diet Coke, Alka Seltzer in a film canister, etc.). My only concern is that this subject was so narrow in scope and, as much as I liked it, I'm wondering if - at the lower elementary level - they should be doing something a bit more broad in scope.
9. Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) - This was another subject covered with our co-op and The Girl participated in this one. It was a great curriculum and it really pushed my daughter to develop her writing skills beyond what her normal language curriculum expected of her. The stories that she came up with were creative and really stretched her imagination. She learned alternatives to "banned words" (words like said, go, eat), descriptive words (-ly words), paragraph structure, openings, closings, and the like. Because this class was only held in the first half of the year, she did not make it through the level so we will be pickup up with it again in the fall as an add on to her regular language curriculum. I might have The Boy start coming up with his own stories to dictate to me as well.
10. Handwriting Without Tears - This one was really important for The Boy. His penmanship left a lot to be desired and this curriculum was a gentle way of helping him with it. The mechanics are presented in an incredibly straightforward fashion - so much so that I did not need to consult the teachers' manual other than when I first received it. The pages were engaging and easy enough for him to follow on his own - again allowing him to work independently. For The Girl, it was great practice for her developing cursive and she did so well that I don't think it's necessary to continue this with her next year.
11. Typing Instructor (online) - Another great program that both of my children were able to do independently! The set up is engaging, the skills are challenging but reasonable, and kids move on quickly enough so as to not lose interest. In this day and age, keyboarding/typing skills are as important - if not moreso - as penmanship and this program teaches them those skills easily. Both of my children enjoyed seeing what their goal (WPM) was and by how much they had exceeded that goal. What a fantastic motivator!
12. Pianimals - We were blessed to be offered FREE piano instruction by a friend of ours from church. She is a piano/keyboard player for one of the Praise and Worship teams at our church but is not trained as a music teacher. However, she has the heart of a teacher, her fundamentals are incredibly strong, and this curriculum is FANTASTIC! The progression is not only easy enough for a 5 year old to learn (though their hands are so small) but easy enough for ME to learn (I'm following along in the books with my children)! The Girl took to the piano instantly and has literally plowed through the books more quickly than any of us anticipated. Our friend had to stall with other books until the next level book arrived in the mail! The Boy is making solid, steady progress and I am excited to see him begin to love music. His listening skills (auditory learning) are weak and I really think that music instruction will help him in this area. We started lessons just shortly before we took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (he scored in the low end of the average range for listening skills when every other skill was far above average) so I am curious to see what his listening skills scores are next year after he's had a year of piano lessons.
13. Song School Latin - What an amazing little program! It's the basics of Latin - our first language - set to music. Such an easy way to remember things, especially when you're young! The worksheets that come with the CD are easy, engaging, and fun! My kids look forward to this subject every day and begged me to upload the music to their iPods. We listen to them in the car and sing some of them at night when they go to bed as their melodies are sometimes quite sweet.
14. Daily Geography - I didn't know until I put together our "Independent Folders" that either of my children would love Geography as much as they do! They dove into this and would literally gobble it up like it was Turkish Delight. The Boy, instead of completing a section per week, completed a section per DAY. Which necessitated me purchasing the next level of Daily Geography before the end of the first semester. But that's ok - he thoroughly enjoyed it, as did The Girl! During Christmas break and Spring break, we put their newfound map-reading skills to the test. We took off to the zoo one day and each of them had animals to which they were required to navigate using the zoo's map. I also introduced them to a map of our community and had them both help me navigate to go get ice cream! Their map-reading skills came in handy during Cub Scout camping trips and day camps as well!
So there you have my thoughts on our curriculum for the year. The Girl will be entering 5th grade in the fall and therefore, based on the classical education structure, will be entering the Logic phase of learning (The Boy remains in the Grammar stage) so there will be some changes necessary in The Girl's curriculum. I'm not yet sure if I plan to change anything for The Boy but I'll be looking into that this summer as we make plans for next year. I'll post more about that once I've made my decisions.
Right now, I'm off to enjoy some ice cream!
Pau.
- hfs
4.19.2011
Declaration of Independence
Did you know that there is a traveling version of the Declaration of Independence? Neither did I until a friend of mine sent me a link to a news story about it heading our way. It's only here for two days so we're hoping to go see it while it's in town.
What an incredible opportunity the Lear Foundation has provided to the American people. I was a senior in high school before I was able to get to Washington, D.C. to see the Declaration of Independence and here my 7 and 9 year old will get to see a copy before they are even out of grade school.
Pau.
- hfs
This rare copy of the Declaration of Independence was one of approximately 200 copies printed on the night of July 4, 1776 by Philadelphia printer John Dunlap. As of 1989, only 24 copies of the Dunlap broadsides were known to exist, until a flea market shopper bought a framed painting for four dollars. While inspecting a tear in the painting, the owner discovered a folded Dunlap broadside behind it.
This 25th copy of the Dunlap broadside was authenticated by Sotheby’s and an independent expert.
In June 2000, producer Norman Lear and his wife Lyn purchased the document on Sotheby’s online auction for $8 million and formed the Declaration of Independence Road Trip. Lear’s goal for the ten-year, cross-country tour was to exhibit in all 50 States, bringing the “People’s Document” directly to Americans – especially young people – to inspire them to participate in civic activism, to exercise their rights and, above all, to vote.
What an incredible opportunity the Lear Foundation has provided to the American people. I was a senior in high school before I was able to get to Washington, D.C. to see the Declaration of Independence and here my 7 and 9 year old will get to see a copy before they are even out of grade school.
Pau.
- hfs
3.28.2011
Pictures
I promised pictures. So here they are. Hopefully this will get me relatively caught up with things! See what we've been up to!
We hit the North Shore at 4am to watch what may have turned into the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddit Aikau surf competition. The waves weren't quite what the event organizers were hoping for so it wound up being just a great day to watch some surfing.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We went with our Cub Scout den to a local botanical garden and learned about the incredible varieties of plants that are native to Hawaii (and some that are not).
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We said "see you later" to some incredible friends (we refuse to say goodbye because we are hoping to catch up with them soon!).
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We celebrated birthdays!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We played with friends.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We made Spice Bread and learned about fractions and measurements and some kitchen chemistry (mixtures versus solutions). The results were so good that we gobbled them up before I had a chance to take a picture of the final product!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We raced in the Pinewood Derby (The Boy's car is the castle...2nd from the right).
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We learned about linking verbs (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been), nouns, and adjectives and how to build sentences using each, in addition to enjoying healthy snacks!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We hiked Diamond Head with some great friends!
Diamond Head lighthouse (below). The Admiral of the Coast Guard lives there. Can you imagine?
My camera was absconded with and The Boy and The Girl took several great shots. I think it's about time to get them their own point-and-shoot cameras and start working with them on composition, lighting, etc. They have good eyes!
And Flat Stanley came along for the ride as well. He'll be making a trip back to SoCal here soon. The Boy wishes he could go with Stanley in order to eat In-N-Out!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
And we rode BMX. The Girl has slowly been making progress in her age group and is coming close to placing first (8 first-place finishes are necessary in order to move from the Novice category to the Intermediate category. She's currently racing against a girl who has been doing this for 2 years and a boy that is bigger and stronger than she.) on several occasions and The Boy just aged up but is holding his own, even against boys much bigger than he! And I am even considering racing in an upcoming special event race!
So that's a sample of what all we've been up to as of late. Rarely do I take photos of our day-to-day stuff because, really, who wants to see us buried in language, math worksheets, and reading history? But I do my best to document the more exciting aspects of our days!
Hope you enjoyed!
Pau.
- hfs
We hit the North Shore at 4am to watch what may have turned into the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddit Aikau surf competition. The waves weren't quite what the event organizers were hoping for so it wound up being just a great day to watch some surfing.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We went with our Cub Scout den to a local botanical garden and learned about the incredible varieties of plants that are native to Hawaii (and some that are not).
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We said "see you later" to some incredible friends (we refuse to say goodbye because we are hoping to catch up with them soon!).
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We celebrated birthdays!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We played with friends.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We made Spice Bread and learned about fractions and measurements and some kitchen chemistry (mixtures versus solutions). The results were so good that we gobbled them up before I had a chance to take a picture of the final product!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We raced in the Pinewood Derby (The Boy's car is the castle...2nd from the right).
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*We learned about linking verbs (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been), nouns, and adjectives and how to build sentences using each, in addition to enjoying healthy snacks!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
We hiked Diamond Head with some great friends!
Diamond Head lighthouse (below). The Admiral of the Coast Guard lives there. Can you imagine?
My camera was absconded with and The Boy and The Girl took several great shots. I think it's about time to get them their own point-and-shoot cameras and start working with them on composition, lighting, etc. They have good eyes!
And Flat Stanley came along for the ride as well. He'll be making a trip back to SoCal here soon. The Boy wishes he could go with Stanley in order to eat In-N-Out!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
And we rode BMX. The Girl has slowly been making progress in her age group and is coming close to placing first (8 first-place finishes are necessary in order to move from the Novice category to the Intermediate category. She's currently racing against a girl who has been doing this for 2 years and a boy that is bigger and stronger than she.) on several occasions and The Boy just aged up but is holding his own, even against boys much bigger than he! And I am even considering racing in an upcoming special event race!
So that's a sample of what all we've been up to as of late. Rarely do I take photos of our day-to-day stuff because, really, who wants to see us buried in language, math worksheets, and reading history? But I do my best to document the more exciting aspects of our days!
Hope you enjoyed!
Pau.
- hfs
3.16.2011
Where did time go?
I guess it's a good thing that I have been entirely too wrapped up in schooling to blog much! But I also realize that I have been lax in keeping everyone up to date on our progress. Let's see if I can recap the past 5 months without getting distracted (SQUIRREL!).
THE BOY
The Boy is doing quite well. He exceeded my expectations in every subject and most days pushes for more than I am willing to give him. He finished up 1st grade language (First Language Lessons), spelling, and math at the end of the first semester. His writing (Writing With Ease) and handwriting are coming along at a reasonable pace and his penmanship is getting better, primarily when he slows down and concentrates on what he's doing, as is the case with most of us! Instead of starting him on 2nd grade spelling, I added in Explode the Code as a way to reinforce the concepts he learned in spelling. And, although he isn't all that fond of it (the curriculum is a bit dry and repetitive), it does what I wanted it to do - reinforce things he learned in his spelling.
A word about his spelling curriculum. We use Spelling Workout and he thoroughly enjoys it! He loves the news stories at the beginning of each lesson as well as the proofreading exercise at the end. He is bugging me to get him the next level of this curriculum and I may just give in and do so. He also asked me if he could keep his spelling book to re-read some of the stories in it. Works for me! The Girl likes it too although she's not tearing through it like he did.
We also added in Wordly Wise 3000 as part of our 2nd semester curriculum. I realized about half way through the first semester that we weren't really hitting vocabulary like I wanted. Yes, we reviewed the vocabulary from their science curriculum, our history curriculum, and from our various readings, as well as some in spelling, but not as much as I wanted. So I asked around (yay for homeschooling co-ops and other homeschooling moms!) as well as hitting a bookstore downtown that carries a decent selection of different homeschooling curricula, and settled on Wordly Wise. I've incorporated it into their "Daily Folders" and they can do most of it independently - even The Boy! They enjoy it and, during the last quarter of this school year, I am going to challenge them each week to write me a short story using a given number of their Wordly Wise vocabulary words each week.
Because he tore through math so quickly, I went ahead and ordered the next level of Math U See for him and he tore into it right after Christmas. He's currently about 1/3 of the way through the level and shows no signs of slowing down. He's adding 3 digit numbers (397 + 528), learning about perimeter, measurement (inches, feet, yards)...anything and everything his brain can soak up! He's still reversing some numbers but not as many (variety) as before and with decreased frequency. And, when asked if a number is facing the correct direction, he can see his mistake. So I don't worry too much about that.
Science is coming along well. They both have really enjoyed some of the experiments that they've been able to do with our co-op and I've enjoyed the fact that they get to do them as well because I am not sure I'd be able to find the time and the inclination to do them at home! It's a pretty in-depth curriculum (we're doing Chemistry through Real Science4Kids and it's been challenging! The Girl is overwhelmed and doesn't think she's doing as well as she really is. She gets frustrated because a few of the concepts are a little above her head. But, when questioned on the concepts, she can demonstrate a clear understanding of the basics so I don't think she's doing as poorly as she thinks she's doing. But she's her toughest critic so this is not surprising. The Boy is happy when he gets to blow things up or start fires through chemical reactions!
THE GIRL
The Girl amazes me daily. Not only is she smart (what parent doesn't think this of their child?) but her persistence and drive to improve get stronger each day. She's worrying less and less about "getting it wrong" and focusing more and more on finding the RIGHT answer. Early on this year, she was timid in her responses...always concerned that I'd be mad at her if she gave the wrong answer. Because, in school, the teachers would get frustrated if the students gave the wrong answer. And that usually happened in front of 28 other students. Quite stressful. Slowly, she is getting to the point where she understands that people make mistakes all the time and there is no shame in that. The shame comes when you fail to look for the right answer. She's learning to use the resources around her when appropriate and she's learning how to ferret out the information needed from whatever it is she's working on at the time. Quite the detective she's becoming!
Even though she got a bit of a late start on language due to me changing my mind with regard to curriculum at the last minute, she's ahead and should wrap up her language a few weeks before the end of the school year. With regard to her writing curriculum, we've eliminated the dictation portion of it. It was something she was wholly unfamiliar with and was a source of much stress. Coupled with the fact that her summarization skills were lacking, I chose to eliminate the dictation aspect of the curriculum and focus solely on the summarization aspect. She's getting better at it and needs less coaxing each day. I think, once The Boy starts in on 3rd grade language (where the concept of dictation is introduced) I will have her do it along with The Boy and ease her into it that way. But the 4th grade writing curriculum assumed that it was a skill she had been working on since the year before so it was overwhelming.
Her penmanship is coming along and her cursive (yes, we still do cursive!) is beautiful. We've also added in typing for both of them (we use Typing Instructor) which they see as more fun than instructional. It's one of the few times they get to get on the computer during the school day! She's also doing Wordly Wise 3000 and enjoying it. I'll go into more detail about our "Daily Folders" and their evolution in a later post.
Our one black mark this semester has been history. We are about 10 weeks behind but I am not too concerned. As we wrap up other subjects (writing, handwriting, spelling, etc.) we will be taking more time to add in history. Thankfully, it's one of those subjects that my children enjoy and I can take it into the summer months if necessary!
For our reading last semester, we read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo and what a great read it was! Both The Boy and The Girl were sad to see the story end. But we picked up A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle and they are loving it! My 3rd grade teacher, Miss Lowe, read it to our class and I remember just being enthralled and not wanting to wait for the next chapter. I remember begging my mom to let me check it out from the library but my mom didn't want to spoil the suspense of listening to it in class so she said no. My children now beg me to read the next chapter to them and I love it!
THE OTHER STUFF (i.e. "SOCIALIZATION")
I have lots of pictures to post - BMX riding, Cub Scouts, hiking Diamond Head with friends, etc. but I am going to save that for another post in the next few days. Anyone who has met my children will know that the one thing they do NOT lack is "socialization". The Girl can hold an intelligent conversation with just about anyone - Charles Manson, the Commanding General of 25ID, the pastor of our church, the kids down the street, the mail lady...you name it. And The Boy can as well - he's just not as outgoing as his sister but once he warms up, he can charm your socks off. But there are a LOT of pictures so I'll wait and post them another time.
I am going to try to stay more up-to-date with the posts here. But no promises - sometimes we are just having too much fun to stop and write about it! For now, have a great week!
Pau.
- hfs
THE BOY
The Boy is doing quite well. He exceeded my expectations in every subject and most days pushes for more than I am willing to give him. He finished up 1st grade language (First Language Lessons), spelling, and math at the end of the first semester. His writing (Writing With Ease) and handwriting are coming along at a reasonable pace and his penmanship is getting better, primarily when he slows down and concentrates on what he's doing, as is the case with most of us! Instead of starting him on 2nd grade spelling, I added in Explode the Code as a way to reinforce the concepts he learned in spelling. And, although he isn't all that fond of it (the curriculum is a bit dry and repetitive), it does what I wanted it to do - reinforce things he learned in his spelling.
A word about his spelling curriculum. We use Spelling Workout and he thoroughly enjoys it! He loves the news stories at the beginning of each lesson as well as the proofreading exercise at the end. He is bugging me to get him the next level of this curriculum and I may just give in and do so. He also asked me if he could keep his spelling book to re-read some of the stories in it. Works for me! The Girl likes it too although she's not tearing through it like he did.
We also added in Wordly Wise 3000 as part of our 2nd semester curriculum. I realized about half way through the first semester that we weren't really hitting vocabulary like I wanted. Yes, we reviewed the vocabulary from their science curriculum, our history curriculum, and from our various readings, as well as some in spelling, but not as much as I wanted. So I asked around (yay for homeschooling co-ops and other homeschooling moms!) as well as hitting a bookstore downtown that carries a decent selection of different homeschooling curricula, and settled on Wordly Wise. I've incorporated it into their "Daily Folders" and they can do most of it independently - even The Boy! They enjoy it and, during the last quarter of this school year, I am going to challenge them each week to write me a short story using a given number of their Wordly Wise vocabulary words each week.
Because he tore through math so quickly, I went ahead and ordered the next level of Math U See for him and he tore into it right after Christmas. He's currently about 1/3 of the way through the level and shows no signs of slowing down. He's adding 3 digit numbers (397 + 528), learning about perimeter, measurement (inches, feet, yards)...anything and everything his brain can soak up! He's still reversing some numbers but not as many (variety) as before and with decreased frequency. And, when asked if a number is facing the correct direction, he can see his mistake. So I don't worry too much about that.
Science is coming along well. They both have really enjoyed some of the experiments that they've been able to do with our co-op and I've enjoyed the fact that they get to do them as well because I am not sure I'd be able to find the time and the inclination to do them at home! It's a pretty in-depth curriculum (we're doing Chemistry through Real Science4Kids and it's been challenging! The Girl is overwhelmed and doesn't think she's doing as well as she really is. She gets frustrated because a few of the concepts are a little above her head. But, when questioned on the concepts, she can demonstrate a clear understanding of the basics so I don't think she's doing as poorly as she thinks she's doing. But she's her toughest critic so this is not surprising. The Boy is happy when he gets to blow things up or start fires through chemical reactions!
THE GIRL
The Girl amazes me daily. Not only is she smart (what parent doesn't think this of their child?) but her persistence and drive to improve get stronger each day. She's worrying less and less about "getting it wrong" and focusing more and more on finding the RIGHT answer. Early on this year, she was timid in her responses...always concerned that I'd be mad at her if she gave the wrong answer. Because, in school, the teachers would get frustrated if the students gave the wrong answer. And that usually happened in front of 28 other students. Quite stressful. Slowly, she is getting to the point where she understands that people make mistakes all the time and there is no shame in that. The shame comes when you fail to look for the right answer. She's learning to use the resources around her when appropriate and she's learning how to ferret out the information needed from whatever it is she's working on at the time. Quite the detective she's becoming!
Even though she got a bit of a late start on language due to me changing my mind with regard to curriculum at the last minute, she's ahead and should wrap up her language a few weeks before the end of the school year. With regard to her writing curriculum, we've eliminated the dictation portion of it. It was something she was wholly unfamiliar with and was a source of much stress. Coupled with the fact that her summarization skills were lacking, I chose to eliminate the dictation aspect of the curriculum and focus solely on the summarization aspect. She's getting better at it and needs less coaxing each day. I think, once The Boy starts in on 3rd grade language (where the concept of dictation is introduced) I will have her do it along with The Boy and ease her into it that way. But the 4th grade writing curriculum assumed that it was a skill she had been working on since the year before so it was overwhelming.
Her penmanship is coming along and her cursive (yes, we still do cursive!) is beautiful. We've also added in typing for both of them (we use Typing Instructor) which they see as more fun than instructional. It's one of the few times they get to get on the computer during the school day! She's also doing Wordly Wise 3000 and enjoying it. I'll go into more detail about our "Daily Folders" and their evolution in a later post.
Our one black mark this semester has been history. We are about 10 weeks behind but I am not too concerned. As we wrap up other subjects (writing, handwriting, spelling, etc.) we will be taking more time to add in history. Thankfully, it's one of those subjects that my children enjoy and I can take it into the summer months if necessary!
For our reading last semester, we read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo and what a great read it was! Both The Boy and The Girl were sad to see the story end. But we picked up A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle and they are loving it! My 3rd grade teacher, Miss Lowe, read it to our class and I remember just being enthralled and not wanting to wait for the next chapter. I remember begging my mom to let me check it out from the library but my mom didn't want to spoil the suspense of listening to it in class so she said no. My children now beg me to read the next chapter to them and I love it!
THE OTHER STUFF (i.e. "SOCIALIZATION")
I have lots of pictures to post - BMX riding, Cub Scouts, hiking Diamond Head with friends, etc. but I am going to save that for another post in the next few days. Anyone who has met my children will know that the one thing they do NOT lack is "socialization". The Girl can hold an intelligent conversation with just about anyone - Charles Manson, the Commanding General of 25ID, the pastor of our church, the kids down the street, the mail lady...you name it. And The Boy can as well - he's just not as outgoing as his sister but once he warms up, he can charm your socks off. But there are a LOT of pictures so I'll wait and post them another time.
I am going to try to stay more up-to-date with the posts here. But no promises - sometimes we are just having too much fun to stop and write about it! For now, have a great week!
Pau.
- hfs
1.05.2011
Still alive and kicking in 2011!
We are still here. We are still homeschooling. However, I've been busy WITH the homeschooling and haven't had time to update. It's coming though, I promise. Right now, I'm fighting with my PC and Windows 7 (and PhotoScape but I think it's more of a Windows issue...grr...can't stand Windows) to get pictures edited so I can post. Hopefully I can get it lined out this week.
But we're still here! And school starts TOMORROW! Eek!
Pau.
- hfs
But we're still here! And school starts TOMORROW! Eek!
Pau.
- hfs
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