A Lazy Mom Teaches Geography

Homeschooling five children is not for the faint of heart!  For me, one of the most difficult parts is balancing everyone's individual needs and dividing my attention among them.  When I can find a way to fulfill an educational need by doing the kinds of things we would be doing anyway, it's a win for all of us.

That's why this year, Ben (2nd grade) and Alaine (kindergarten) are learning geography through a series of library books that I'm reading aloud to them.

We began with the Bella and Harry seriesby Lisa Manzione.  These are aimed toward younger children (maybe ages 3 through 7), but my older kids have been known to peek over my shoulder...or even sit by my side while we read.  The books follow two Chihuahuas around the world as they travel with their human unnamed family.  The dogs sample local cuisine and stop at major landmarks in cities such as Athens, Jerusalem, and Venice.  My favorite part is the short glossary of foreign words in the back of each book. We have fun trying to pronounce the words and figure out what they mean before we peek at the translations.  There are close to twenty books in this series and they do not need to be read in order.

In February, we switched to the Dodsworth seriesby Tim Egan.  These books are a little longer, short enough to be read in one sitting, but comprised of short chapters.  Dodsworth is a mouse who reluctantly travels with an annoying duck (?!) to visits five major cities. (It's a short series.)  These books follow a basic storyline so they may make more sense read in order.  The first book, Dodsworth in New York, is light on geography.  It mentions various NYC tourist destinations, but its primary role is to set up the rest of the series.

Do you find lazy ways to teach your children?  Share your secrets.

Notes On Next Year

After sharing my thoughts (and fears) on our next school year, I promised to talk curriculum.  I'm in the very beginning stages of planning.  It's barely beyond the thinking stage, though some subjects are easy.  We'll simply move onto the next chronological time period or grade level.  Also, I'm only mentioning the Big Four here-- history, math, science, and English. (We incorporate Bible, music, art, health, typing, and P.E. into our days, too, though not everything in every season.)  

As a frame of reference, I will have five kids in school next year, ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade. 

History:

We'll more than likely continue reading though Genevieve Foster's books.  We'll start with George Washington's Worldand continue on to this one, too. We'll supplement with applicable literature or explore some topics in more depth.  Since we discovered that Owen (currently eight and in third grade) learns better visually,  he will delve into the same time period with a selection of books on his reading level.  We especially enjoy the series by the d'Aulaires.

Math:

Our kids start Saxon Math at the 5th grade level (Saxon  54).  Even my math-hating kids say they hate math a little less with Saxon.  My three oldest kids are in varying levels of Saxon and will continue next year. For elementary math, I've had tremendous success with cheap grocery store workbooks so Ben (currently six and in first grade) will probably use Second Grade Big Workbook. 

Science:

I'm not a science person so when I was reviewing what we had done for science this year,  I was surprised to discover that we had done a lot.  So much that we could quit science today and have more than enough credit for the year.  Between a forensics class the kids took over the summer, our nature study text, a series of at-home chemistry science experiments Gavin organized throughout the fall (and explained and demonstrated for his brothers and sisters), a long list of books we read for health, the Wild Kratts TV show (!), and at least a book a week someone brings home from the library about animals (or planets or rocks, etc.), we have science covered.

I think next year we'll continue to let science happen as it did this year and supplement with a reproducible workbook from McDonald Publishing, both to widen our science base and to give the older kids practice in expository writing.

English:

I generally pull together an eclectic collection of resources for English. The three oldest kids currently use Daily Grams or something comparable. (One of them actually uses a book I found at a used curriculum sale in the same format but different publisher. We like it just as well.)  We'll continue with that short, daily practice and add in writing prompts, penpal letters, pleasure reading, copywork, or poetry as the urge strikes. We go in phases and we do not study it all at the same time or even the same year!

I think Alaine (currently four-and-a-half) will soon have interest in learning to read so it's about time for me to borrow Alpha-Phonics again.  Ben  loves Explode the Code  so he'll continue moving through the series and also reading lots of library books aloud to me. (It's our special one-on-one time in the evening.)

What about you?  Want to join the curriculum talk? Have you started planning for next year?

January Learning

We're smack in the middle of our winter break from school.  After working steadily at the book work since the beginning of August, we look forward to this time of resting and recharging every year.  It's a good balance to our longer break in the summer.

I use our 6-week winter break to sneak in a bit of learning, taking care not to label it "school."  It's a mental thing for both the kids and me.  It is more leisurely and exciting when we sneak in a few things optionally without regards to a schedule.  It's also a way to fit in things we don't take time for during the school year.

Here's a peek at what's piquing our curiosity this January:

I'm a person who loves a good list or plan so on December 31st, I asked my kids if they had any goals for the new year.  Most of them shrugged and said, "Nope," or, "I don't know."  However, Owen, my 8-year-old mini-me who also thrives on organization,  immediately piped up and said, "Yes!  I want to learn to play the piano!" So we began. I teach him a lesson every couple of days, he practices (and usually memorizes) his songs, and then we move on to the next lesson.

Right before we closed the history book in December, we read a few sentences about Henry VIII, but we want to fill in a few details so I borrowed Wicked Rulers: You Wouldn't Want to Know!  from the library and ordered a used copy of Brilliant Brits: Henry VIII by Richard Brassey from Amazon.  Both books are conversational and fun.

One of the kids picked up a book of Shel Silverstein poetryon our last library visit so we're reading a few silly poems a day. Sometimes we get lucky at the library and find a gem like this, too.

During lunch every day (or dinner if we're not all together in the afternoon), Brian has been leading us through Our 24 Family Ways: A Family Devotional Guide by Clay Clarkson, picking up where we left off last spring when he went back to work.

 

Too much free time can lead to grumpy, whiny kids so we've been placing an importance on creativity this month. We're working on a set of 5 Art Appreciation Lessons, using supplies we already have around our home. 

source

School or not, I spend a large part of my days in the kitchen, but the kids want to be more involved. Maddie has asked to make a banana layer cake together and Owen wants to make pumpkin bread since we never got around to it in the fall.  We're going to put our new KitchenAid to the test.

What are your learning in January?  You don't have to homeschool (or even have kids) to learn!

What We're Learning This Year

I considered skipping my annual back-to-school books and curriculum post.  In fact, I didn't give it much thought at all this year, but when I put out the question on my Facebook page, the overwhelming response was, "Yes, please write it!"

So here goes.


{This post contains multiple Amazon affiliate links.}

As much as possible, I've tried to establish a group learning environment where we all learn alongside each other.  The kids range in age from Gavin who is almost 12 and in 7th grade to Alaine who is 4 and not formally in school so it can be a challenge, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

These are the subjects we learn together and the books or resources we use:

Bible (daily): Egermeier's Bible Story Book, Our 24 Family Ways: A Family Devotional Guide, scripture memory box

History (daily, starting in November): The World of Columbus and Sons, The World of Captain John Smith

Science (bi-weekly): The Burgess Bird Book for Children, National Wildlife Federation's World of Birds: A Beginner's Guide, notebooking

Art (daily through October):  unit on architecture using Frank Lloyd Wright for Kids: His Life and Ideas (with 21 Activities) as our main text and supplementing with books like this oneand this one

Music (weekly): Alfred's Basic Piano Course Theory, Level 1A

The three oldest are also working independently through Typing Instructor for Kids Platinum 5.

Either before or after our together work, each child has a list of  subjects to accomplish alone. For the first time this year, I gave each child a copy of their schedule so instead of me telling them what to do next, they can look at it and manage their own time.  I did not expect them to like that approach so much and I'm more than pleased at how they are showing initiative to finish their work ahead of schedule!

Gavin (7th grade, almost 12 years old)

Math (daily): Saxon Math 8/7 with Pre-algebra

English (daily): writing prompts, Daily Grams 5 Student Workbook

Health (weekly): Christian Liberty Nature Reader, Book 5

Art supplement (weekly, starting after winter break): Let's Make Some Great Art

Maddie (5th grade, 10 years old)

Math (daily): Saxon Math 54

English (daily): writing prompts, Daily Grams 4 Student Workbook

Health (weekly): Period.: A Girl's Guide

Art supplement (weekly, starting after winter break): Draw Me A House: A Book of Colouring In, Ideas and Architectural Inspiration

Owen (3rd grade, 8 years old)

Math (daily): Saxon Math 54

English (daily): writing prompts, Daily Language Review 2

Health with Ben (summer): unit on the human body using various library books such as this oneand this one

Art supplement (weekly, starting after winter break): Let's Make Some Great Art

Ben (1st grade, almost 6 years old)

Math (daily): First Grade Big Workbook!, Usborne's Dot-to-Dot Animals

English (daily): Explode the Code series

Health with Owen (summer): unit on the human body using various library books such as this oneand this one

Art (weekly): Usborne's I Can Draw Animals

Music (summer): unit on Mozart using various library books such as this one

{This post contains multiple Amazon affiliate links.}

(I did not include a section for Alaine who is 4 years old and will not start kindergarten until next year. She comes to the table every day, though, with her pencils and crayons and asks to do several pages in her workbook. If anyone is interested in a list of workbooks, busy bags, books, and ideas of how I keep her engaged during school hours, I will be happy to write a post about that, too.)