It’s been a long time since I last posted (nothing new there), but I finally feel as if I’ve got the energy and the understanding to write about what we’re up to these days.  I mentioned in my last post the fact that we were on the brink of a big change (for us anyway).  Now we’ve made that step and are a couple of weeks into it.  I’ve been able to see how it’s going to work for us, and I’ve decided that it actually is (for the time being anyway).  So here it is:  online curriculum, specifically Time 4 Learning.  There are so many reasons for this and the benefits are different for each of my kids, but it really does seem to have solved some of the issues we were having. 

 I had been feeling for a long time that I was just Tired (yes, with a capital “t”).  Tired of planning out lessons, trying to come up with creative ways of learning, trying to figure out my kids and how they learn and what they want to learn, trying to fit in these creative lessons with each of them all around my toddler’s schedule and needs, trying to persuade kids who didn’t want to do an activity or unit I had planned to go along with it.  Just tired.  I felt as if I was trying so hard to do everything right for everyone and also to do this version of homeschooling that I’d decided long ago was “the right one” for us.  I had “rebelled” against traditional schooling (although it really did work fine for me and my learning style) because I wanted what I thought would be better for my kids – more living books, more creative projects, more hands-on, more field trips, more fun.  But the truth is this:  I’m really not very good at many of those things (except for the living books – I’m great at finding and using those) and also, at least one of my kids (Ben) doesn’t really want that kind of learning (he really likes to just read and then take a quiz and move on – and he actually remembers what he’s read – it’s taken me all the way to this year to really understand that).  After a long time (years, we’re talking here) of trying to figure something else out and always coming back to the same method of me busting my tail to mix together an eclectic and creative mix of learning resources and activities, I decided to give Time 4 Learning a try.  They have a two week trial period.  I had the recommendation of an IRL friend (Robin of Martinzoo).  My kids seemed excited to try something different.  What did I have to lose? 

So a few weeks ago, we started it.  Madeline and Ellie loved it right away.  Ben, at first, thought it was going to be too annoying and babyish, but he realized after I really made him sit down and give it a try that it was right up his alley.  Since then he has sat down at the beginning of each week and scheduled out his lessons for the week.  He does Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science online and still uses his Math U See curriculum for math (although he may go in and use some of the math for topics that aren’t covered in his Pre-Alg curriculum but that he’d like to review or get more practice with).  He is very pleased that he is doing SS and Science (which he hasn’t really been doing for a couple of years, formally) in a way that is working for him at this time, and I’m pleased that he is so independent and feels so confident with this.  Madeline is working through her topics very systematically too and really loves to get on there each day.  For her, the math has been a great thing because, while she loves, loves, loves math, she hates workbooks.  She approaches math in a very “living math” manner which is wonderful, but she also needs frequent practice to keep her from losing skills, so this provides that in a way that she enjoys and looks forward to.  For Ellie, it is more about learning (and reviewing) in a fun way.  I’d be fine with her not doing any of this and just unschooling at this point, but she likes it and it gives her some structured learning each day.  

Another good thing about the T4L for us is the Language Arts for the older kids.  I have never done any formal LA program with my kids.  They all love to read and were early and mainly self-taught readers.  They read voraciously still.  They are good natural spellers and have a good grasp of basic grammar and usage (both from lots of reading and from other “living” resources such as the Ruth Heller books, Mad Libs, etc.).  But one area that has worried me a bit is formal instruction about reading comprehension.  Mostly I feel that one learns to comprehend by reading and discussing, reading and discussing, reading and discussing.  But there is that school-educated, elementary teacher part of me that wonders if children do need a bit of formal instruction in such skills as “determining cause and effect”, “making inferences and drawing conclusions”, “determining author’s purpose”, and “finding the main idea and supporting details.”  Both of the older children are getting all of this and more in the LA section of T4L and enjoying it.  Ben just said to me today that he likes it because it is new and different.   *insert sigh of relief here* 

So, the kids each get on for anywhere from a half an hour to a little over an hour each day (Ellie for less time, the older kids for more, usually).  They sometimes argue to see who will get to go first.  They often get annoyed when they have to wait too long for their turn.  This is happening more frequently lately since the new computer that replaced our dead laptop (our secondary computer) is having problems and is temporarily out of commission and we’re down to one computer for three kids. 

 So what else are they doing?  Ben does his Math U See (almost done with Pre-Algebra and looking forward to moving on to Algebra), reads books I’ve selected for him that extend what he’s been doing on T4L or that I just think he’d be interested in (lately it’s been books about WWI and WWII and I’m trying to get him interested in a book I found called Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku), and reads his own books of course.  There is still a lack of writing going on, but I’m pushing that aside for now.  He did mention that he’s been writing the dialogue for a comic series he wants to create on the computer sometime.

Madeline reads, reads, reads.  I get a bagful of books from the library each week that are not related to anything, they just look interesting.  She is the kid most likely to pick those up and read every one of them cover to cover.  Also, she is working on a series of writings to go along with a world that she has created.  Her dad finds her cool pictures of magical looking places online and she determines what they might be within her world and then writes a description to go along with the picture.  She is going to compile these into a booklet when she is finished.  She also wants to start a blog about her world.  She continues to be a wonderful help with Sam. 

Ellie reads a lot too.  We’ve been doing some math activities together lately to strengthen her number sense skills (understanding of the hundred chart, skip counting, ones and tens places, etc.).  We’ve all been doing some art projects, painting and making rainbow crafts with contact paper and tissue paper.  She plays with Sam a bunch when he’s about which is great for both of them and for me too. 

The girls and I are doing a short, fun reading activity in which we are taking familiar stories/fairy tales and reading alternate versions of them (“fractured fairy tales”).  I’m using this booklist website for titles.  So far we’ve found a bunch of fun versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  Next we’re going to do The Little Red Hen.  It’s just a fun way to get a little bit of reading in and to get them thinking about how an author creates a story.  I’d love for them to pick the idea up on their own and start creating their own “fractured fairy tales” but I’m not “assigning” it and if they don’t it’s not a big deal. 

Read-alouds are happening as usual.  Madeline and her dad are reading Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban.  Ellie and I recently finished Little House in the Big Woods and The House on Pooh Corner (that one for her book club) and are now reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (also for her book club)

I’m sure there is so much more that they do.  And I keep thinking that I should start keeping track again.  I almost wish (sometimes) that our state required more log-keeping because it would force me to do it if only for my own personal records. 

 Now, I have to say that while the first part of my post might sound like an advertisement for Time 4 Learning, I really don’t mean it that way.  It’s been a good thing for us, for now.  It’s definitely not an absolutely complete curriculum in my mind since it can’t replace reading real books, doing real science experiments (although there are a few on there), going to real places, etc.  But it has filled a gap for us, has provided me with a simple way to cover some basics, and is solving a problem for me at this time (me being the be-all, end-all of our homeschool).  I don’t know where we’ll head next.  I seem destined to not settle into any routine for too long.  But this is our homeschool for now. 

It’s good to be back here at the blog.  I’d love to hear from you if there are any readers out there who made it through this huge post!

Ten miscellaneous things that have happened around here lately or other such stuff:

1.  We’re off to join the masses on the highways tomorrow to head up to my in-laws house for Thanksgiving.  Mostly looking forward to it.  The food is great, we enjoy their company for the most part, I get to see my baby niece, it’s a break from the usual life around here, and we’ll be back on Saturday to still have a bit of weekend at home. 

2.  Sam has gone to the bathroom (#2) on the toilet twice in the last few days!  He’s only going on 20 months old, and I never expected him to start potty training this early.  Each of my other kids did earlier than the last, though, so maybe he really might.  On the other hand, it could just be a fluke.  We’ll see what happens.  I can say, though, that this would be much easier if it were summertime – he’s wearing too many layers to make this simple and quick to get him on the john each time!

3.  Madeline mentioned to me today when she was on Webkinz that she always keeps a $1000 balance on her account at all times.  She makes money, then works on one of her pets rooms each time she goes on there but never takes her account lower than $1000.  And she does this with her real money too, but with a minimum balance of $15.  I never knew that she was so practical with money this way.  She’s always been a saver rather than a spender, but I didn’t know that she had “rules” for herself. 

4. Ellie’s been working her way through the A to Z mystery series lately.  I can’t say I like the books – they’re really twaddley – but she’s enjoying plowing through them.  Funny, though, how she’s reading them – not in order and not even finishing one before she picks up another.  She’s leaving them all over the house just picking them up and reading when she comes across one then putting it down and grabbing another when she finds it.  The other two kids read these too – Ben very slowly from A to Z and then maybe one more time all the way through the series; Madeline sped through them in order also, but then read and reread her favorites or as the mood struck.  Really interesting how it highlights their personalities. 

5.  Speaking of reading, we’re reading From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler all together.  Ben is less than thrilled – his words (loosely paraphrased) were “It’s not exciting enough.  I don’t want to read a book unless it is exciting and has lots of action.”  I’m not sure how I feel about that.  There are lots of wonderful reads out there that aren’t “exciting” per se.  Is it something that he will grow into, reading books with less action?  Is it just a guy thing?  Am I going to have to “require” him to read less exciting books just so that he will be exposed to other types of books and to some classics he might otherwise choose?  Hmmm…

6.  Feeling a bit of Thanksgiving overload here – looking around at too many blogs where the crafty folk hang out and feeling quite inadequate in the “doing cool and cute crafts for Thanksgiving” department.  I know, not the point, but still something that I wish I did better.  I’m just not a very crafty mom. 

7.  We’re going to be having pics done of my kids and my nephew and two nieces tomorrow.  Gift for my in-laws.  We do this every couple of years – last time there were 5 kids in the photo, this year there will be 7.  Poor photographer!  Then next week I’ll be doing the same with my other SIL (well, her kids and mine) for my parents.  The first time we’ve done the grandkid photo on that side of the family, also 7 kids.  Deep breath. 

8.  Finished up our Brazil notebook pages today (the girls, that is).  Also finished reading The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat with Madeline.  Ben finished lesson 13 of his Pre-Algebra Math U See.  Starting next week we’ll be on “light, Christmas season” school.  I’ve told the kids that we’ll be focusing on just doing a ton of read-alouds (with a few math activities and games thrown in here and there), some baking, some focused and purposeful giving, purging the kids’ rooms of unused toys (etc.), and preparations for Christmas.  I’ve got a long list of read-alouds ready to go and hope to be able to read a bunch of them.  Ben wants to keep his math and logic puzzle work going, though. 

9.  So excited to find these teas at the local grocery store today:  Candy Cane Lane and Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride .  We loved the first one last season and couldn’t find the other one in the stores but thought it sounded yummy.  Can’t wait to have some holiday teatimes with these and some good books!

10.  Ben has become a walking encyclopedia of Yu-Gi-Oh knowledge.  He seems to think of nothing else, want to do nothing else, and have interest in nothing else.  He recites facts and strategies constantly and thinks nothing of talking on and on about this topic whether or not his listener has any understanding of what he is saying.  This is worrisome to me.  And just a tad annoying.  But I do find it fascinating how much he knows and how impressive his logical thinking skills are when it comes to his explanations of how to put together a strong deck (because, you know, this isn’t just about trading cards or fun and games, it’s serious stuff and you really have to know what you’re doing to create a strategically strong deck; blows me away how seriously he takes it all).  What do I do with this? 

Whew!  Ten is a big number, but I’m glad I jotted down some of those little tidbits of our life.  The rest of this week will probably be a blur of food, travel, and visiting so I might not get to the other posts, but I might try.   They are supposed to be What We’re Reading Wednesday, Thoughtful Thursday (for those more in depth topics), and Friday Files (learning notes from the week).  

In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday week! 

A few thoughts and things going on…

1.  We’re having a Geography week here (the girls and I).  We’re learning about Brazil this time (M’s choice) by investigating the country and its geography and culture online, reading a couple of books of traditional stories from Brazil, and looking at books and watching an Imax video about the Amazon rainforest (those are for tomorrow, actually).  They’ll add maps, flags, pics of the money and other things particular to Brazil to their notebooks. 

2.  Madeline and I have almost finished reading The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat.  This week we’ve been investigating Mobious strips, tangrams, magic squares, number patterns, and triangle numbers.  When asked if she wants to order the sequel to this book, M answered *gasp* “Yes!!!”.  

3.  Ben has been moving right along with his MathUSee PreAlgebra book – he’s on lesson 12 already and seems to be doing just fine with this.  I’m not sure where we’re headed after he finishes this book – the next MUS book or something else, perhaps a Life of Fred book?  He’s also been working in a new Grid Perplexors book (logic puzzles), writing a story (Bionicle related) on his own (well, I told him that I wanted him to be doing some kind of writing, either my topics or Freewrite ideas or his own choice of writing – he chose to write a story;  he won’t let me read it though – should I insist?).  We need to figure out how to get work done with his Chemistry kit.  Dad’s supposed to be doing it, but it’s been hard to get to it. 

4.  We’ve had a couple of kids with colds/coughs this week so it’s been a bit of a down week. 

5.  I got out for a desperately needed evening out by myself and a homeschool group meeting last night.  Dinner by myself at Panera (ahh, the peace and quiet!), a quick trip to Target to buy a bday present for a friend’s son, a splurge on a Starbuck’s coffee to take to the meeting with me, the meeting (very informal – just mostly chatting with friends in my hs group), then a bit of a chat with one good friend from the group afterward.  Came home to a quiet house with everyone including hubby in bed! 

 6.  Reading around in various places about reading material for kids – twaddle? classics? This is a big issue for me as well and one I’ve struggled with even before I began homeschooling, when I was still teaching elementary school.  I hope to write down my thoughts about this topic soon. 

7.  We’re gearing up for a big garage clean-out weekend.  We’ve got to tame the clutter beast that is our garage, not just because it desperately needs it, but also because we’re having our house treated for termites on Monday and we’ve got to have everything pulled away from the walls on the inside of the garage.  Less stuff in there in the first place means less stuff to move away from the walls.  Just not sure how we’re going to get it done with little Mr. Tornado around needing to be watched every moment.  Wish us luck!

8.  Thinking that next week is going to be a very light week as we’ll be leaving on Wednesday morning for a long holiday visit with my in-laws.  Should be a fun time – I get to see my new 3 month old niece again (they were just here visiting this past weekend, but how could I not be thrilled to see her again?  It’s just the thing when your “baby” is getting closer to two years old than to one…)

That’s enough miscellany for one evening.  Just needed to jot some of these things down.  More another time!

I’m having one of those days when nothing feels right.  It’s a bit overcast here and quite chilly (well, more so than it has been yet this fall) and I’m just in a grumpy mood.  I’d much prefer to go into a comfy corner and just read all afternoon than interact with the other people in my house.  And instead of recognizing that and figuring out some postive way to work around it or change it or something, I’ve just been snappish and peevish all day so far.  Ugh.

We’re supposed to have park day this afternoon, but I’m really not in the mood to chase Sam around the playground in this chilly weather.  Not many others seem to be going from our group.  So I think we’ll just stay home.  But I need to figure something out so that I don’t end up doing the crazy mommy thing all afternoon.  I might try some kind of a read-aloud, but I’m not sure what and Ben won’t want to listen anyway and Sam might make it impossible (he tends to holler at me a lot when I try to read aloud to the kids these days – very frustrating).  Maybe we’ll figure out some kind of craft to do.  Or bake something.  Maybe they have a Mythbusters episode left to watch.  I think they do.  Then they have Tae Kwon Do this afternoon.  Hmmm. 

 Oh, a friend just called to see if we were going to the park.  I told her pretty much the above and then asked if she and her daughter (Ellie’s age) would like to come over – she would.  So, at least no sulking allowed (on my part, that is), something for Ellie to do, a grown-up for me to talk to, Sam can nap as long as he needs to… just need to find something for the bigger kids to do.  Ben needs to practice his drums anyway.  Maybe I can get them going on a game of Monopoly or they can have computer time for a bit.    We’ll figure it out.  Okay, end of pity party.  Time to make sure the house is at least minimally appropriate for guests!  And perhaps turn on the heat just a bit?? 

 Hope your day is going swimmingly and that you’re not in a fall funk too! 

One thing that has been a real challenge for us this year so far is figuring out how to get any learning time in with my girls.  Ben is much more independent this year, but the girls still need more of my one-on-one time with me (or they enjoy learning more and will do more when I do it this way).  But because of where Sam is right now, it’s hard to get much done when he’s around and awake.  So these days I try to do all of their learning time with me when Sam is asleep. He usually takes about a 2-3 hour nap each day.  The problem is that’s not quite enough time to get several “subjects” of work done.  I was just feeling like I was racing around for those few hours, trying frantically to accomplish everything that I’d thought we’d do that day (often over lunchtime) and not really feeling like we were accomplishing anything at all.  So a few weeks ago I started to do a block type of planning.  Each week we do math and one other subject that we focus on for the week.  One week we did Lentil Science, the next a week of history learning about Lewis and Clark, another week we had a geography week during which we learned about Ireland (the girls’ chosen country for our Around the World geography).  Last week and this we’re doing a special Halloween theme with all of our activities focused around Halloween.  So far this block planning has been working a bit better for us.  At least I feel that I’m a bit less frantic and that we’re able to focus more on one topic instead of jumping around.  The girls like it too because they know what to expect each week and we only work on something for a week and then move on to something else, actually finishing stuff in the process.  They tend to be ready to change topics about then anyway. 

So our Halloween themed weeks have been going well.  We’ve done the following things (to the best of my memory):

• read and discussed Halloween themed poems
• read Halloween themed books (mostly picture books but Madeline also read The Best Halloween Ever by Barbara Robinson and some stories from Great Writers and Kids Write Spooky Stories
• math activities from Mathwire and Mathcats (the links are to pages from those websites specifically geared towards autumn and Halloween)
• read/learned about bats, spiders, and the skeletal system (nothing very in depth, just a few books/websites and a worksheet or activity here and there)
• art projects including waxing leaves, making symmetrical ghosties (white paint on black paper folded in half to make a symmetrical design then draw on a face with black sharpie), and of course we’ll carve our pumpkins later in the week
• writing recipes for magic potions (complete with list of ingredients, directions, and explanation of how the potion works) – did this yesterday; they came out so well!  I should post them…
• writing description of Halloween related things (a monster, a haunted house, the perfect Halloween) using lots of great adjectives (we haven’t done this yet…)

I think that pretty much sums it up.  They’ve been having a fairly good time with it all.  I think that it’s been a bit light academically (for Madeline especially) but with the kids so hyped up about Halloween this week (and even last week – egads!) I figured if I couldn’t beat ‘em I’d just as well join ‘em!  So next week it’s back to another subject for our block studies.  Not sure what yet.  It might be Lentil Science again or it might be an intensive Language Arts block.  Need to get to the planning!

And by the way, is it considered bribery if they think it up themselves?  Madeline, upon discovering that I’d bought bags of candy corn, created an “incentive system” that could be called “Will Work for Candy Corn”.  They are to earn one regular candy corn for every “job” done (school work or chore) and then a chocolate-caramel candy corn for every three of the regular ones they earn.  They love this, and I gave in to this bribery system with the warning that after Halloween it goes back to business as usual.  In the meantime, I get candy corn for every job done too.  As determined by, well, me. 

Our homeschooling journey has not always been a smooth one.  My oldest is a very intense, spirited, gifted child who has always been “more” of everything.  He learns quickly but isn’t easy to teach.  He loves to learn new things but only if and when he wants to learn them.  And even when he’s interested in something, my attempts to help him learn more can often send him running the other way.  We’ve always struggled to find the right way to approach his learning.  I don’t really worry about how much he’s learning or if he’s behind on this or that skill.  I struggle much more with worrying about whether he’s being challenged enough and whether or not he’s bored.  I do also worry about his seemingly narrow and often obsessive interests.  He does fascinate me, though, and I am always amazed at how much he knows and remembers and how quickly he catches on to new ideas. 

Last year I began to notice a bit more independence in him, a pulling away from me.  It started with math – we switched him to Math U See from Singapore.  The video instruction allowed him to be almost completely independent (which is good since he is about to overtake me in mathematical ability!).  I read more and more on Cindy’s blog Applestars  (see her sidbar) about her philosophy of collaborative learning.  This seemed to me to be the best of both interest-led learning and unschooling, and a way to really connect with your child and have a meaningful way to facilitate their learning while honoring who they are.   We’ve never been complete unschoolers, but rather have had “unschooly” periods.  It drives me batty, though, to see my kids doing “nothing” and for Ben this is truly what happens when he is left to his own devices.  I witnessed this during this past summer when he became very fidgety and even more irritable and seemed quite uninterested in anything.  As we went into this “school year”, I made a point of sitting down with him to discuss what he might want to learn/do/explore.  He seemed relieved to have “things to do” and to know that his brain was going to be more engaged again and that there would be expectations for him to be productive each day.  I think that he really values those things. 

He told me immediately that he wanted to continue on with the level of Math U See where he’d left off (he has now finished that and is waiting on me to get him the next level) and together we chose a couple of other resources, including Challenge Math. 

Next we looked at the Thames and Cosmos science kits together, as I felt that this might be a good route for him to take science-wise, and I let him tell me what he was interested in.  He excitedly chose the Chemistry one so we ordered that (Chem C2000), and he’ll begin that hopefully this week.  He also chose on his own to read The Mystery of the Periodic Table which I’d tried to introduce to him two years ago but he wasn’t interested in – I mentioned it again in light of his science kit choice and he’s already read through it totally on his own over the past few weeks and apparently enjoyed it. 

His other big thing was that he wanted to learn some computer programming and video game creation types of skills this year.  I feel that this is such an important part of who he is, and I really want to make this happen for him.  My problem, though, is that I am quite computer illiterate, and I have very little understanding of what he needs to learn and how to go about finding resources for him.  We discussed how he might go about doing this – a class, a tutor, a book, an online tutorial – and he chose to try online tutorials for now.  The first thing he was using was an introductory programming tool called Scratch which just uses blocks of programmed information (see, I’m not even sure I’m explaining this right!) that you piece together to create either a video/animation or a game.  He has now (over the past few weeks) made several animations and a couple of games.  He really has a lot of fun playing around with it and seemed to catch on rather quickly.  He even taught Madeline how to use it and helped her to create some animations too.  Just yesterday he began to use a free online tutorial that will teach him HTML.  Then after that he wants to learn Java and Flash.  We’ll see how this goes!  I’m very excited that he’s actually beginning to learn these things, but so nervous because I have no idea how to help him if he gets stuck.  And he’s such a perfectionist that I’m sure he chose this route so that he won’t have to make mistakes in front of another person.  Maybe if he gets stuck we can find a “… for Dummies” book on the topic.  

So we are making big progress in finding him outlets for his main interests (math, science, computers).  He is already an avid reader and reads for at least a few hours every day.  He mostly reads sci fi/fantasy stuff like Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Eragon, Animorphs, etc. as well as his beloved Muse magazine (this thing is truly amazing).  He also reads a book each month for his book club (often books that he wouldn’t necessarily pick up on his own), but his dad and I are thinking that we’d also like to encourage him to read other books (he has a fairly narrow interest range in reading material) so I’m compiling a list of other books for him to choose from (one a month or so). 

Then there’s history.  He hates it, he says.  Doesn’t want to have anything to do with it (“I’m a modern kid in the technological age.  Why do I have to learn about all this old stuff?”)  So I asked him if there are any parts of history that he might be interested in at all.  He told me maybe he’d be interested in how we got to this point in technology (maybe a look at the Industrial Age and then on to find out how more modern technology came to be??) and that he might be somewhat interested in WWI and WWII.  We had just finished up through the American Rev in our chronological study of history – haven’t gotten to any of the stuff he might be interested in yet.  I suppose I need to start to think outside the box for him history-wise.  I’m also considering finding out about history documentaries that would be accessible for a bright 11 yo since I think he’d find that more appealing than even the most interesting living history book.   I’ve also heard about the Horrible History series and need to check that out. 

Finally, to round things out a bit, I handed him a catalog of learning resources and told him to see what he could find in it that sounded interesting.  He chose a logic workbook (Orbiting with Logic) that teaches all kinds of logical thinking.  He’s been working through this a couple of pages a day and seems to be enjoying that.  He also chose a book about the periodic table which turned out to be a dud and a book called Philosophy for Kids which I was surprised at but pleased.  We haven’t gotten into it yet, but I hope to this week.  It’s more of a read and discuss kind of thing. 

So, all in all, collaborative learning seems to be going very well this year and seems right on track for what Cindy has said (I think).  I am seeing much more independence on his part, much more of an interest in working with me to find resources to meet his needs, still a fascination with his own hobbies/interests (Bionicle and Yu-Gi-Oh and video/computer games), but also a willingness to meet me partway to get to topics/skills that I feel he needs to get to.   And it really is so helpful when he does communicate with me (which now that he’s a bit older he can do better) to tell me what he needs/wants so that I can go out there and find the right resources for him and be a good facilitator to help meet his learning needs. 

I’m trying to apply this approach to my younger kids too and trust that what I’ve seen happening with Ben this year will happen with them too and just let them go a bit.   It’s such a complicated process for me.  But I think I’m learning…

(Yes, we did learn things the week before last, I just never got around to posting it here… keeping a written log too, just organizing it all here when I can remember to.) 

(I should note that Sam was sick all week, so it’s been a rough one and is light on work and outings because of that.)

Ben: 

• finished Math U See Zeta (fractions/decimals/percents) – did all corrections, took last unit test and took final test; I still need to grade it (we don’t keep grades, but he likes to see how he did)
• began working through a new book he chose called Orbiting with Logic; did the first several pages involving analogies (visual and word)
• read several more chapters of The Mystery of the Periodic Table (he’s almost done with it)
• continued working on creating videos and games using the Scratch programming tool; I’m hoping this will be a good stepping stone to learning more programming later this year – he’s interested in learning HTML, Flash, Java and more
• reading Redwall
• listened to a couple of chapters of The Master Puppeteer (group read-aloud)
• listened to a couple of chapters of Story of the World (Vol. 3)
• began to learn how to mow the lawn (with Dad) -did most of the middle of the back yard (the non-hilly, just-straight-lines part)
• watched a couple of episodes of Mythbusters
• Park Day with homeschool group
• Tae Kwon Do – 1 hour; will test for his purple belt tomorrow

Madeline:

• math this week:  played a game called Skeleton Key from this book involving factors and multiples which we had reviewed last week, read a chapter of The Number Devil about triangle numbers, practiced multiplication by 1 digit numbers and began to learn how to multiply by multiples of ten using Singapore 4A and working on a whiteboard, played Factor Bowling (also from      ) to review factors/multiples more, did a problem from Singapore Brain Maths book involving algebraic reasoning
• did a couple more Which Way USA puzzle books this week (Indiana and South Carolina, I think) – she loves those things…
• worked with Lentil Science program some more – this is way too easy for her and way too light-weight; need to figure out how to move it along faster so we can get to something else or bulk it up a bit at least, or both
• began to learn how to use the Scratch programming tool also (Ben taught her) and made a couple of small videos
• read several back issues of Spider magazine
• Master Puppeteer read-aloud
• finished reading P is for Passport
• listened to a couple of chapters of Story of the World
• Mythbusters
• Tae Kwon Do – also tests for purple belt tomorrow
• Park Day
• watched “Beethoven Lives Upstairs” dvd
• worked some more on “characters” from her made-up world, drawing them and thinking about their character
• independent reading:  Knight’s Castle, Rowan of Rin, and who knows what else (the girl reads so fast I can’t keep up with what she’s reading…)
• painted several characters for Chinese words

Ellie:

• math:  played “1’s, 10’s, 100’s” game with me (place value), read through the rest of Anno’s Math Games which we’d started last week, listened in on The Number Devil, played at Math Cats online mostly with the Tesselation Town and the Polygon Playground, played Number Island (finding combinations that make 10)
• Lentil Science (this week was about searching, some about camoflage)
• The Master Puppeteer
• finished reading P is for Passport
• listened to a couple of chapters of Story of the World
• Park Day
• Tae Kwon Do
• gymnastics
• Yogakids video
• read several back issues of Spider magazine
• painted several characters for Chinese words

We started this week, as many others did, to incorporate some more formal, structured learning into our days.  It was still a light week for many reasons, but this was okay since I’m really finding it hard to get my bearings and figure out how to do this (keeping three older kids engaged) while keeping track of my busy little man.  Sam is very active, very into all kinds of things that he really shouldn’t be, and not very good at entertaining himself yet.  He now takes one long nap in the middle(ish) part of the day, usually from about 11 until about 2, give or take.  So this is when we try to do most of our learning/activities that involve me.  And for the girls most of it does.  Ben is more independent than ever this year, but still doesn’t have a lot going on (I’ll explain in another post) so he’s been at loose ends a bit.  But here’s a run-down of what we did this week in no particular order…

• Lentil Science – I’m using this kit from TOPS this year with E(primary) and M (intermediate).  They love it so far, but I’m not too sure how I feel about it yet.  I think that it is good for thinking skills, but it’s not heavy in actual science.  We’ll see how it goes as we get further into it.  They do read quite a bit and watch shows related to science topics so they are getting science info that way too.  This will probably take us through the first few months and then we’ll find something else. We did this two days this week.
• Began reading The Number Devil to M (E is listening in too).  She loves it so far.
• M and I also played Number Ladder from one of our new math game books (I hope to write up a page of our math materials for this year sometime soon).  She loved that too.  Is really into math right now and is eager to do math our new way (more about that later too).
• Played Number Ladder with E also (a more basic version) as well as a game called Odd or Even. Discussed what an equation is, how one is made and the basic language of equations (=, +, -).  Also played “Make 100″ to review place value to 100 (we play this non-competitively, just trying to get from zero blocks to a 100 blocks together).  Also, read One Hundred Hungry Ants and “played it out” with our Math U See blocks. 
• Ben worked on his Math U See Zeta  this week, trying to finish up the last few lessons (he did two lessons, I think, four pages of each).  Then I need to order Pre-Algebra for him.  He’s eager to move along.
• New read-alouds started this week:  The Children of Green Knowe (me to M), The Mouse and the Motorcycle (dh to E), The Master Puppeteer (me to all kids)
• M has been working through her Which Way USA puzzle books from Highlights – each covers a different state and are good for problem solving, map reading, interpreting information and data, and learning about the states.  She gets these out on her own in her free time to work on.
• E helped me to make hummus one day (needed to interpret fractions – 4 – 1/2 teaspoons = 2 tsp); M made hummus on her own one day.
• B began a new game of Civilization on his own, discussing with his dad the ins and outs of it, strategies and meanings of various things in the game.
• M and B and I had an in depth discussion about prime numbers one evening after dinner; can’t remember how or why it came up, but it was interesting
• M and E began to research China with me for our Around the World geography; basically we are going to learn about countries they are interested in, create lapbooks (E) or travel brochures (M) if they choose to, and then put a “stamp” in their “passports” when they are done ”traveling” to that country.  I need to work out a better system for doing this, though, since I’m spending too much time trying to find things online for them.  I’m hoping to find stuff at the library, but books on other countries seem scarce and often outdated.
• E built a helicopter from a new Lego set she bought with her allowance.
• Tae Kwon Do for all three older kids (E just started this too and loves it so far)
• Park Day on Wed with our hs group – tons of fun for the older kids; I mostly followed Sam around, kept him from eating woodchips, and wished I could be sitting in the shade chatting with the moms; this will take some getting used to again!
• Friday was our big Not Back to School picnic with our hs group – it was a blast.  The woman who hosted it lives on a small pond/lake and there was swimming and boating (canoes and kyaks) for the kids, lots of great food, and visiting with hs friends old and new.  It started at noon and as we were heading home at around 4:10 we saw a school bus dropping off elementary kids.  I was glad to be where I was at that moment…How lucky we are…

Last year, with a friend, I formed a book club for some of the girls in our hs group.  Ben already belonged to a group that had been started by another mom that turned out to be all boys (although it hadn’t been billed as that from the start -just turned out that way).  We decided that we wanted something for the girls also, so we got one going.  I turned out to be a good thing, although the girls were often a bit quieter and more shy about sharing their opinions on the books than I would have liked.  This year we realized we had so many younger girls who potentially wanted to join and this would make the group really too big, so we thought we would try dividing into a younger group and an older group.  We’ve done this, figured out all of the logistics, and chosen the first book (today at an informal meeting at our house).  There is also a younger boys group forming this fall as well, so for our little local hs group we have four book clubs, two for boys and two for girls.  We all meet on the same day at the same time in a wonderful hs facility in the area which offers space for this kind of thing.  We may also be adding an informal “storytime” group for the younger siblings of all of these book club members (the 3-6 yo group) and a “book swap” system for the moms.  How cool is that?  All of these kids (and moms) getting together to read, share book findings, discuss books, etc.  One of the greatest things about this (in my mind) is that the kids end up reading books that they normally wouldn’t pick up on their own.  And since mine tend to be in-a-rut types of readers, this is a huge help to me.  They’ve even liked most of the books they read over the past year with their book clubs.   The way both groups are set up, each child is assigned a month to choose a book for the group to read and to act as host for the meeting (provide snacks and lead the discussion with the help of a parent if needed).  For next month, Madeline’s group (she’s in the older group by just a hair, it’s for 9 and up and she turns 9 in Sept.) is reading Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech.  Ben’s group will be reading Redwall by Brian Jacques.  Ben is not at all thrilled about this one.  He resisted reading it for many years but recently tried it because a friend loves the series and talked him into it.  He put it down after a bit, just not at all interested in the storyline or characters.  Now he is dreading reading it for book club, but knows that if he wants to participate he needs to read it or at least give most of it a very good try.  It’s good for him, I think, to have to read something outside his comfort zone and even not good in his eyes and then to have to come up with the concrete reasons why he didn’t like it.   He’ll do fine in the end, I think.  And I think we’re all looking forward to continuing with this great activity! 

We’re finishing up our American Revolution unit study this week (hopefully). Ben and Madeline read a lot and learned a lot (I hope) about this subject and after much anguish and trial-and-error, I think we’ve come to a conclusion about how we’re going to conclude the unit – they’re taking a test. Yep. Sounds weird to me to even think about that. It’s just not the way I’ve envisioned our homeschool.  I wanted them to show learning about a subject without me having to use an “artificial tool of measurement” to determine it.  At the beginning of the unit, I had all of these high hopes (as usual) about reading a bunch of living books on the topic and using Homeschool in the Woods’ great Time Travelers unit study which includes map-making, note-booking/lapbooking projects, charts, a time-line, and lots of other hands-on activities. Well, Ben wanted nothing to do with all of that. And he didn’t want to do the reading together (a ton of great books – I’ll list them later if I get a chance), and didn’t even want to do much reading at all (“I hate history, Mom!”). So he and I agreed on a finite list of books for him to read that (I think) would give him a good overview of the topic. Then we discussed options for him to show me what he’d learned. He chose a test. He wants to just get the info and take a test and be done with it. I don’t like this at all, but it’s what he wants.   I thought about what I want him to get out of history – bare minimum.  I’d love for him to be intrigued by the stories, to have favorite time periods and favorite people from the past.  I’d love for him to be drawn in to the lives of a group of people and to wonder what happened to them, to care about them (or not as the case may be) and want to learn about how those people and the events of their lives affected our world today.  But the truth is, he’s not interested.  As he said to me, “I’m a modern kid born in the technological age.  All the stuff that happened long ago doesn’t interest me much.”  Now, as much as I’d like to continue to find ways to get around this and to help him find history more interesting, I do see that his interests lie in other areas.  So I decided that what’s important to me right now for him is exposure.  I want him to get the basics of our world’s and our nation’s history.  I want him to hear a few of the major stories that have contributed to the creation of our modern world.  And if that means that he reads a few books on a subject and takes a test to show me what he’s learned (he refuses to do narration or anything of that sort) and then moves on, then so be it. 

Madeline, on the other hand, was doing okay at first with the reading and projects.  I’d give her a book to read and an activity to go with it.  She was moving right along until the middle of last week when she also decided that she’d had enough of projects and activities and writing and just wanted to read and take a test and move on.  I think summer fever has hit. 

So, we’re finishing up our reading this week, finishing our timeline (which we have been keeping up with), doing a map of the battles together, playing a couple of the games from the unit study for review, and then taking a test (which I still need to create).  I plan to make it a mix of objective questions (matching, multiple choice, fill in the blanks) and short answer (probably less of that for Madeline).  Still debating with myself over whether to actually grade it (?? we don’t keep grades in our homeschool so I’m not sure why I’d even do this, but maybe they’re expecting it??), to just correct it and then review it with them, or to mark the answers right or wrong and then have them correct their errors (looking up the answers if they don’t know them).  I guess I’m leaning towards the last partly because I want them to make sure they know the info (at least for a little while). 

Then when we’re done with this I really need to evaluate how we’re learning history and how I want to do it in the future.  We’ve been wandering our way through (plodding?  trudging?  marching determinedly? …) chronologically for 5 years now because it was the way that made the most sense to me when we started out, and then it made sense to finish what we’d started (we still have 2+ centuries to go!).  But maybe it’s not the most interesting or effective for my kids?  Maybe a topical approach would be better?  Choosing a person or a group of people, a period in time, a specific event and focus on that.  Perhaps creating a timeline as we go, connecting the pieces and weaving them together in a historical collage even as we jump around.  Each child could focus on a topic of particular interest to him or her and hopefully it would be more meaningful/interesting then?  I’ll be thinking about this throughout the summer.

 Here is a list of the books we used for this topic (if I knew how to get the little pictures of them to put in the post and have them be nifty little links to Amazon or whatever, I’d do that; but unless someone wants to take the time to explain to me how to do that, you’ll just have to put up with a plain old list!):

Liberty or Death: The American Revolution (Maestro)

The Liberty Tree (Penner)

American Revolution (Masoff)

Yankee Doodle America (Minor)

The Boston Tea Party (Kroll)

Paul Revere’s Ride (Longfellow, illus. by Ted Rand)

Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride (Krensky)

George vs. George: The American Revolution as seen from Both Sides (Schanzer

When Washington Crossed the Delaware (Cheney)

The Journey of our One and Only Declaration of Independence (St. George)

A More Perfect Union: The Story of our Constitution (Maestro)

… if You Were There When They Signed the Constitution (Levy)

Patriots in Petticoats: Heroines of the American Revolution (Redmond)

Farmer George Plants a Nation (Thomas)

Nathan Hale: Hero of the American Revolution (Libertson)

(For Ellie who wanted to be included…)

Let’s Ride, Paul Revere! (Roop)

Paul Revere’s Ride (Corey)

Sam the Minuteman (Benchley)

Betsy Ross and the Silver Thimble (Greene)