Reading For Writing and 'Rithmetic

Some weeks are jam-packed with planned activities and you wonder how you will find time to breathe, let alone fit in a decent amount of school work.  This was supposed to be one of those weeks for us, but then one full afternoon of activities was cancelled, and the relentless rain drove Brian home from work for two-and-a-half days so our week was more peaceful than anticipated.  

Some weeks it is easier to lower expectations anyway and be unconventional.  Games of Monopoly, decorating for fall, baking, trying a new soup recipe, and sorting fall clothes count as practical learning, right?

Yes, we did keep up with algebra and science, but we also read these picture books and called it school!

Math:

Math Curse by Jon Scieszka I picked up especially for Gavin who loves to say that math is something he will never use again.  Okay.  Granted, he may never use some of the more abstract concepts of algebra or trigonometry, but this book was a fun way to emphasize how much we use math every day. 

English: 

Yaks Yak: Animal Word Pairs by Linda Sue Park was loads of fun for me, an person who loves words and grammar. It was fun to see my kids "get" the puns on each page.  For example, "kids kid"... as in, goats teasing each other and "slugs slug"...as in, slugs in a boxing match!  There are little notes on each page with definitions of words a child may not know. 

Art: 

Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt is  about a boy who meets Vincent Van Gogh.  It is fictional and told in story form, but biographical details are sprinkled throughout, and reflections of Van Gogh's paintings and style of work can be found in the illustrations.  

History: 

Six Dots by Jen Bryant focuses on the childhood of Louis Braille, recounting the injury that caused his blindness. It follows him through school and  how he was inspired to create the Braille alphabet. My children have always been especially fascinated by picture books that tell a true story!

When Plans Fall Flat Before They Begin

That title sounds more dramatic than I intended, but it describes our experience with high school science so far.  This just may be the homeschool year that kicks my butt.  

There have been a few baby issues.  First it was a cold, then teething, then realizing she had insomnia caused by her continuing dairy insensitivity.  Good-bye again, cheese and butter! All that makes for a mama who is tired, distracted, and not her best self. 

Our primary stumbling block, though, has been high school.  More than the increase in work or the difficulty of the work itself, it is navigating new expectations.  I'm putting pressure on myself.  I'm putting pressure on Gavin.  He's putting pressure on himself.  We both need to take a deep breath and realize it's not as hard as we're making it. 

I mentioned in another post that we shelved what I had planned for science.   One of the joys of homeschooling is tailoring the work to our children's interests, but it doesn't mean they must love everything they do.  Algebra is not going away just because some of my kids hate math!  We're teaching them that sometimes in life you have to do something just because it has been given you to do. 

That being said, in the first weeks of school as we slowly began each subject, we avoided Gavin's science day after day until finally it was the only subject left to begin so we cracked open the book, The black and white pages with very little color, the experiment supply lists, and the lack of insight on what was important and what aspects could be skimmed over...it was too overwhelming.  Two weeks into school and we put the book back on the shelf and started a search for new science curriculum. 

At the same time, I was pondering where to plug in the 3-D printing class Gavin took over the summer.  I wanted to give him credit for the 15 hours of classroom time, but wasn't sure what it could "count" towards.  My mom sent me this link, telling me she thought it sounded like Gavin, and the pieces all clicked for me.

The traditional sciences (biology, chemistry, etc.) will wait as Gavin dives into The Way Things Work Now by David Macaulay.  The subtitle says it all: From Lasers to Levers, Windmills to Wi-Fi,  a Visual Guide to the World of Machines.

I almost ordered a used copy of The New Way Things Work  at an incredible price, I might add, but I decided to pre-order (at full price) the new edition that comes out in October because the topics and technology covered are more up-to-date and include a section on 3-D printers. 

While we wait, we checked  How Machines Work: Zoo Break by the same author out of the library.  It is an incredibly fun, hands-on look at simple machines, and I had Gavin teach it to the younger kids. It was his idea to build an example of each simple machine with Duplo blocks as they read the book. They each (Gavin included) also illustrated a chart for their school portfolios. 

I'm sure there will be more bumps in our journey this school year, but this has put us on a more confident path.  Fellow mamas, don't be afraid to insist that your kids do hard things, but don't be afraid to change course if it's the better choice.

Bonus points if you can give us a name for this science course.  It goes beyond general science and I don't think it quite fits the description of physical science.  Help! 

Another Year of School

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We have a little more than a week of the new school year under our belts. This is our first year with FIVE students and it's the first time I've added a new student without feeling overly nervous.  Perhaps it's because Alaine, our little kindergartener, has being joining us at the table for the past several years so other than becoming an "official" student, nothing has changed.

Maddie (6th grade), Owen (4th grade), Ben (2nd grade), Alaine (kindergarten)

I've  had more anxiety comparing photos of Gavin from the beginning of last year when he was entering 7th grade... to this year, entering 8th grade.  The change in his face and maturity is startling and it's a sobering reminder to me that our years are limited.

Mentally I divide our school year into two semesters because of the schedule we've chosen to adopt.  We always begin in August and work until the week before Christmas.  Then we take a long break until the first of February so we can enjoy Brian's winter break from work.  After we resume, we work through until mid- or late-May. This year we are expecting a baby at the end of January so I am undecided how we will structure our winter break.  (Work in January and take off February instead?  Take off January as usual, plus a week or two in February? Have the kids work in February on their independent work but take a break from the rest?)

Regardless, I have a primary goal for our first semester. I want to foster a sense of independence in my older learners.  I have no plans to require them do all their work alone, but  

• I want them to have the ability and confidence to work independently while I'm busy with the new baby.  
• I want them to have the initiative to move onto the next thing without needing to ask.   
• I want them to follow a schedule and stick to their tasks. 

With these goals in mind, this is a look at our curriculum choices for this year:

We are continuing with Saxon math which has proved to be a good fit for us.  Owen loves math, Gavin tolerates it, and even Maddie who borders on despising math has admitted that Saxon is preferable to other programs she's used. 

Saxon is designed to be self-taught, and this year with Gavin beginning Algebra 1, I'm also allowing him to self-check his work.  Owen questioned how that can be fair.  "Can't Gavin just see the answer and change what he wrote on his paper?" he asked.  I explained to him that in upper-level math, simply seeing that the answer is 40 doesn't mean you know how to get to that result.  Gavin still has to do the calculations to arrive at the correct answer.

We do not begin Saxon in the early elementary years.  I'm using a mixture of cheap workbooks and busy bag activities to teach Alaine basic kindergarten and first grade math skills.  Ben is using the math sections of  Second Grade Big Workbook after his success  with the first grade workbook last year.

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We are also working towards independence in science.  Maddie and Owen are using Christian Liberty Nature Readers three days a week.  They read for a set amount of time each day.  When they reach a review section, we discuss the questions together before they do a nature sketch or more thoroughly answer one or more of the questions on paper.

I thought I had Gavin's science figured out until mid-July when he was telling me everything (yes, everything) he had learned about a particular variety of sharks and I remembered that Apologia had devoted an entire science book to aquatic animals. I borrowed Exploring Creation with Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day from a friend and he is more enthused about this book than I've seen him about any school subject ever!  

The two youngest kids are doing a unit on weather from Second Grade Big Workbook.  Ben is keeping a weather chart for the month of August and we are supplementing with a few experiments from More Mudpies to Magnets: Science for Young Children that I picked up at the library.  We'll probably do a similar informal unit of seeds in the spring.

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English is an independent subject for almost everyone.  I'm most hands-on with Alaine.  I am teaching her to read with  Bob Books and we're working on writing and reading uppercase letters with  Kumon Uppercase Letters workbook which I found at Five Below during the summer.  

Ben is continuing on to Explode the Code 6 this year, but his ultimate goal is to become fluent enough in reading that he can stop Explode the Code before Book 7 and read the  Young Cam Jansen series like his older brother, Owen, did when he was in second grade. 

Gavin, Maddie, and Owen do daily grammar practice (with either Daily Language Review or Daily Grams), plus they are continuing with writing prompts or extemporaneous writing two or three days a week.  They also started Mavis Beacon Typing this year after they each hit a rut with the program they used last year (and the year before). 

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History is more complicated for me to explain than it is for us to implement.  We have cycled through history over the past three years and have arrived back at early American history.  All of the kids are learning about the Colonial era but with different books and in varying degrees of depth.  I am reading through George Washington's World with the two oldest kids. It branches beyond American life and covers the time period on a global scale.  The book is divided into four sections and after each section, we have planned a break for each student to read a related biography or historical fiction book.

Since Owen learns better visually, I've assigned him his own book list with vocabulary discussion, copywork, coloring, and narrating activities added in for variety. We particularly enjoy biographies by the d'Aulaires.

 

The youngest two are learning about American history for the first time so we are focused on learning about Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.  

What are you learning this year?  Any exciting new book or curriculum you have found? 

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?