C.S. Lewis

In the less than eloquent, albeit sincere, words of Thing1,

"C.S. Lewis sure did write some good books."

Chill

Yesterday was unusual because Thing1 and I had a day to ourselves at home.

Instead of regular schoolwork (you know, where he checks off his predictable, everyday tasks as he does them), we did real life. I was chill. Chill is usually not my strong suit.

He recently discovered he could make cookies by himself, so he decided to use that for his weekly presentation. (Every Tuesday the kids have to give a presentation in front of other homeschoolers.)

First, he typed out the recipe to hand out to his classmates. Honestly, he typed the ingredients, and I typed the directions. It was quite a task for a hunt-and-peck 8-year-old. We discussed margins, page layout and setup, and the function of the shift key. I am determined that next year he will learn to type for real.

Next, he made the cookies. He learned that brown sugar is difficult to measure when it gets hard. He pointed out that the package says to store it in an airtight container. Yes, sir. I will try to do better in the future. The cookies were good. Too good. Much better than the last time he made them.

He listed three things he learned about cookie making, packed up the recipe cards and cookies, and the presentation prep was done.

Later, we reviewed some memory work. He and I both aspire to be Memory Masters this year, so we took turns asking each other questions. (Have you ever noticed how much more seriously a kid takes something when the parent asks for his help? Interesting.) We had fun using dry erase markers on our new, huge, European blackline map. The kid loves maps.

We never cracked a workbook all day long, but we were busy learning all day.

Before he went to bed last night, he hugged me and told me spontaneously that he had a great day and that he loved me. A little affirmation goes a long way with this Mama.

Another Schedule Revision and an Initiative Experiment

Well, the schedule I posted here is already obsolete.  We used it until the routine was semi-established and then reverted back to the old goal chart.  I know some veteran ACE homeschoolers who might remember those...The Husband, for one.

I purposely did not purchase planning software this year (big change for me) in an effort to get away from "doing school" and to get closer to "learning as a way of life."  However, there are some tasks, usually the mundane ones, that we forget to do if they are not spelled out for us in a schedule.  So, after using a handwritten goal chart successfully for a week, I created another Excel spreadsheet to use with Thing1.

It is similar to last year when I printed out a daily task list, but this one is for the whole week.  I saved the template in Excel so that I can change the assignments for the week each Sunday night.  The peaceful feeling I get when I look at those red marks reminds me of why I enjoy planning software.

My dilemma now (because I always have one) is how much initiative to expect from a 7-year-old in completing the goals.  I want to put some responsibility on him because he needs it, but when I see "7-year-old" typed out in black and white, I back up a little.  How much prodding throughout the week is appropriate for his age?  Obviously, the tasks that require my attention (spelling, writing, history, and science) are done on my time.  The independent work is the challenge.  My solution for now is to insist on work before play but not to hound him about lolligagging (difficult for me).  Usually a wordless, appropriate consequence works better than my endless nagging.

Last week, he did not accomplish all of his goals before Saturday and, as a consequence, had to stay inside to complete them on Saturday while The Husband and Thing2 were outside working on projects.  I felt bad for him, and I really wanted to let him off the hook.  But with the hope that a couple of disappointing Saturdays would help the initiative development along, I stuck to my guns.

My conclusion from my last schedule experiment is that it was profitable for a few weeks.  I am hoping this goal chart method will last a bit longer.

As for the initiative experiment, results will take time...11 years, perhaps.  Remind me to post the results then.

The Reluctant Dragon

It's about time for a book review. I love to look back at the kids' reactions of books from last year (or maybe the year before) when I used to take time to do this.

As with many of our favorite reads this year, this suggestion came from Thing1's Writing With Ease Level 1 Workbook. When he has to listen to and copy from an excerpt, he usually wants to read the whole thing. This is the major reason I am considering using the workbook again next year.

Thing1:
The Reluctant Dragon [by Kenneth Grahame] is really a good story. It is about a boy who makes a friend with a dragon who is a nice dragon. St. George comes, and they talk it all out that he will get him where he has lots of layers of skin and scales during the fight. They had to fight because the villagers told St. George to come. When the fight was over, the boy came over to the dragon, and the dragon opened one eye and winked at him to tell him that he was okay. The villagers learned to not tell people that they need to fight when they do not know about the enemy.

Thing2:
I like the front of it because it has a good picture. I liked when St. George and the little boy took the dragon home. St. George and the dragon and the boy are all my favorite.

Also popular with Thing1 lately:
 The Saturdays
Then There Were Five
The Basketball Mystery

Sadly, he has run out of Happy Hollisters. He will have to reread the ones we have collected since the libraries around here don't carry them.

More popular books with Thing2:
Moving Day
Tic-Tac-Toe Mystery
Flat Track

Cooler.

I love Story of the World, but I do shy away from building complicated replicas.

In Chapter 12, one project idea was to use tiny dowel rods and a small gift box to build an Egyptian chariot then play like an Egyptian prince is running out the Hyksos. As always, Satori Smiles (hers is pictured below) has an excellent example of the project.

Beautiful. And very realistic.

However, the first question I ask when considering a history project is this: "Can it be done with Legos?" If the answer is "yes," we will attempt the project. And by "we," I mean Thing1.

Thing1's chariot:

When I asked about the guns and lights, his explanation was, "It's like the Egyptians, only cooler. It's a nowadays motor-powered chariot."

Every cowboy hero has a different MO.

I learned this tidbit at the supper table recently. I got permission to share just in case you ever get these guys mixed up.

The Lone Ranger beats up the gangs that split up. (Two against the gang.) The Long Ranger jumps from his horse to the bad guy's horse and fist fights him until the Lone Ranger wins!

Hopalong Cassidy finds out stuff and tells the sheriff. He leaves it all to the sheriff, but if he can help, he helps.

The Rifleman corners people. If his son is with him, he tells him to go tell the sheriff. The son says, "Alright, Pa." The son always helps his dad.

It's okay to build your pyramid with Legos.

Sugar Cube Pyramid. Great idea! Looks like fun. Hands-on learning.

Too complicated. Not enough time. (Three to six hours for the glue to dry? No way.) Skipping to next page of SOTW Activity Book.

Whoa! Stop turning the page.

"OR you can use 55 square Lego blocks."

Hmm.

No sugar cubes. (Who keeps sugar cubes in the pantry, anyway?)

No glue.

No mess.

10 minutes later, Thing1 is thrilled with his pyramid, and we have enough time left to make Khufu.

The homeschooler's compromise: Where ideal and real meet.

Video games are not all bad...Right?

Maybe video games are not all bad...In moderation...If you are diligent in searching for a benefit.

I sat by Thing1 while he played his DS the other day and told him to practice having a good attitude even when he "died" and got the "Game Over" message.

After a few good rounds, he started relapsing then caught himself and exhaled loudly.

He immediately looked up and forced a smile.  "All I did was blow out air."

We'll keep working on this.

Good attitude practice can be found anywhere...even in a video game.

Thing1 told me he would like to go to public shool for first grade.

This was not the first time he has mentioned it, but since we were alone this morning and things were calm, I thought it would be a good time to talk about it.

The challenge was to convey the advantages of homeschool to him without being negative about public schoolers.  I would feel horrible if after touting the advantages of homeschool, he left our conversation with the impression that his public school friends are disadvantaged.  Then I would feel even more horrible if he repeated the conversation to them as if he were more privileged than they were.  (I knew some kids like that growing up, and it was not nice.)

I started by telling him that I was glad he told me his feelings.  I would much rather hear the kids' feelings, likes, and dislikes in a respectful way than to think they are scared to tell me.  Then I told him that although there were good things about public schools, The Husband and I have prayed about it and believe that homeschooling is the best option for our family right now.

Finally, I tackled the sticky part:  How to cause Thing1 to appreciate the advantages of homeschooling without feeling prideful about it.  I told him that I thought he would get excited about the things I had planned for first grade.  "Like what?"  I was happy he was interested.  I told him about my plans including music lessons and emphasized the reading he would do (he loves stories and has already read some of the historical books I have accumulated for next year),  Next I explained the public school schedule compared to our schedule and listed some things that he would have to give up if he committed to a public school schedule. He seemed to accept the information positively, especially when I focused on his favorite time of day, free reading during rest time.

As the conversation dwindled, I had an afterthought that I am so thankful for now.  I asked him what part of public school he thinks he would like.  I discovered that he thought he could go to his cousins' school (not our school district) and that he knows that they do a lot of crafts because he saw the craft room once when we were there. Ahhh.  I'm glad I closed my mouth and listened.  I explained to him about school districts and proposed that we plan a weekly craft for first grade. 

Thing1's conclusion was, "I'd like to homeschool."

"By the way," I mentioned as Thing1 started up Mario Brothers on his DS.  "They don't allow you to take a DS or any other toy to school with you, so you can't do this after your work is done like you can here."

Thing1's mouth gaped in surprised.  "I didn't know that, but now I do.  Thanks for telling me."

Stamps make anything more fun!

Okay, so memorizing addition facts still isn't fun, but these stamps helped a lot today.

 

The castle stamp is from the Knight Story Kit (Aladine Brand) from Fat Brain Toys.

I asked Thing1 the problem and gave him 5 seconds.  If he responded correctly within the time limit, we stamped it.  It felt like a game at first, although the whole sheet was a little much for him.  Tomorrow we'll try for the ones he missed with a king stamp and blue ink..

In the Alpha level in Math U See, we are to the point of learning subtraction facts.  But since we don't have all the addition facts memorized, I am taking it slow on the lessons and concentrating on memorizing them.  He knows how to figure them out, but I want him to be able to spit out the answer without having to figure it out first.  My theory is that if the addition facts are memorized, subtraction will be easy!

I was thinking...We could use stamps for lots of things other than math facts.  Any ideas?

 

Mom, the Psychologist

Today is our first day with nothing out of the ordinary planned in a long time.  Thus the first blog post in a long time.

I did a little psychology experiment today.

When the boys woke up, I assumed a stern demeanor and said, "I know you don't want to, but I am going to insist that you play today.  I'll let you do chores and school work first, but after that, you must play.  I will not let you get by without playing today."

I spied the shadow of a smile on Thing1's face before he protested, but Thing2 never missed a beat.  He immediately began complaining about not wanting to play and how he would rather work.

The good news is that chores were done in record time this morning.  Thing2 even picked up his room without Thing1's help.  Thing1's school work did not take long, either. Despite his initial complaints, Thing2 has taken his play seriously today.

The bad news is that the results of this experiment confirmed my hypothesis.  My kids complain solely for the sake of complaining.

 

Expense of Experience

Sometimes I walk into a room (usually the school room) and recoil at the sight of one of the boys using copious amounts of some household item on work that does not look important to me, and I wonder why I never laid down the law about using these things without my permission.


Recently, I found a pyramid-shaped stack of skinny markers bound together with layers of Scotch tape attached to Thing1's desk.  He informed me it was a cannon.  He had to use scissors to cut it apart when he needed the markers.  There is still tape on some of our markers.

Thing2 likes to wrap gifts.  The more tape, the better.

A favorite "work" is to staple all the way around a stack of scrap paper and then take all the staples back out again. 

They used $0.50 worth of toothpicks the day they made marshmallow sculptures.  Dressed up like cowboys.

While helping his dad build a shed, Thing1 used a drill motor to screw these four boards together...With about 30 screws.  The Husband plans to have Thing1 use the drill to take out the screws so he can reuse them next time he wants to build something.  Those screws are not cheap.

I try to dwell on the benefits of their work rather than the cost so as not to dampen their industry.  Then I explain to them that getting the job done is important, but using more than you need is wasteful.

After the initial shock, I remind myself (or The Husband reminds me) of all they are learning by experiencing real life, and I write off the expense as "curriculum." 

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

From Thing1 and Thing2.

Thank you, Marmee, for the decals.

oo

Today Thing1's Phono-Graphix-inspired phonics assignment was to listen to me read a story and write all the 'oo' words he heard.

He needed help with June, you'll (snuck in a contraction lesson), and group.

I am excited about this exercise for the way it makes him think, the spelling practice, and the handwriting practice.  Obviously we are still working on letter reversals...mostly S. I plan to do this exercise again with our next sound picture.

Big Kid Books

Thing1 began his first big-kid chapter book Wednesday.  The story was interesting to him, but the biggest challenge was the small print.  When he lost his place, he thought it was impossible to find it without reading it all again.  Something to work on.  One page was enough for the first day, but on the second day he read an entire chapter.  Since Wednesday, he finished the first 10-chapter book and started on a second.

The book was The Mystery of the Laughing Cat, part of a series I enjoyed when I was a kid.  My maiden name is scrawled inside the front cover.  I can't find that particular book on sale now, but I did find a current list of books in the series.  It looks like they have been redone since I collected them.

If he takes to it, a whole new world opens to him!  I have lots of books in this young, fluent-reader category probably because my fondest childhood memories involve this type of reading.  The thrill of having a child realize he can read and love it surpasses every thrill so far in my homeschool adventure.

His summary of the book:

Sound Picture: ea

There are a lot of different ways to sound out ea!  This is something you probably won't consider if you never teach someone to read.

 

Accidental Inclined Plane

While Thing1 was supposed to be doing math, he was actually doodling with the manipulatives.  I was cooking, not paying much attention, when he piped up, "This is an inclined plane."

Okay.  Pretty sure I have not said those words since I was in school, much less to him.

While I took this picture, he was explaining that the slide outside is also an inclined plane.

Yay for Sid the Science Kid!

Yes, he is wearing a Navy Uniform with a play rifle strapped across his chest while he does math.  I did, however, remove the bowl of Nerds before I snapped the picture because that would definitely look too casual and unhealthy for school time.

*No affiliate links in this post.*

Cinnamon Critters

Thing1 and I made these Cinnamon Critters from Highlights the other day.

By the way, I just discovered the HighlightsKids website.  You can listen to the entire High Five magazines, listen to stories from Highlights, do Hidden Pictures, and a lot more I have yet to discover.  (These links are for your benefit, not mine!)

 I didn't have any dinner roll dough, so we used what we had on hand to make some biscuit dough with wheat flour.

Thing1 rolled the dough into these shapes, rolled them in cinnamon and sugar, then (again, using what we had on hand) arranged mint chocolate chips on top of the dough for eyes and spots.

After baking, this is how they came out.   They may not look like much, but Thing1 was proud to serve these at supper.

This next tidbit is not for the weak-stomached.

Of course Thing1 was more specific than "critters" when he created these.  One is a worm, one is a tick, and one is a mouse.

I warned you.

Chain Letters

We spent our entire school time this morning on a chain letter.  (Thank you, Ceridwen.  Look out, Friends Who Have Kids the Same Age as Mine.  You're next!)

I couldn't help but think of Barney's chain letter.



Don't worry...Ours was not this kind of letter.  It was a sticker club letter.  I thought we would do it instead of handwriting today since he would have to write the names of eight friends.  (I used the Handwriting Without Tears slate to write the example so he could copy the name correctly.)

Well, after it took more than an hour, I decided it was more than just handwriting.  He cut out stickers, wrote names, and learned about addressing and mailing a letter.  (This makes me feel better.)  We'll do math and reading during Thing2's rest time.

Now the boys want to watch the rest of that Andy Griffith episode....

Countries of Africa

Who knew there were 56 or 52 or somewhere in that vicinity (the current, correct number is unclear to me) countries in Africa?

Thing1 said he would like to learn the Africa song next on our Geography Songs CD.  Okay.  Since there are several counties over there, I'll listen to the song and type the words so that we can practice a few at a time in the order they are sung.  Oh my word!  I spent more than an hour on that this morning!

We like to point to the countries on a map as we sing them (we have only learned Central America and the continents so far).  But they jump around the map so much on the Africa song, I don't know how this is going to work out.  It will take awhile.  I hope we can stick with it.  Sheer determination and rote memorization is the only way I know to do it...Someone else might have a better idea, though, which would be welcome.

As I was searching for a more organized approach, a song organized by regions, maybe, I found some things that made me laugh, but this one is the best:

Africa Rap from Rhythm Rhyme Results.  I had no idea there was a website devoted to educational rap. In this one, the countries are arranged north, south, east, west, central, and islands.

We may be incorporating some rap into our homeschool soon...