Homeschoolers Rock! week of 02/23

[Valgal]

I totally forgot to start a thread this morning. I got sidetracked stocking my cart with goods for the sale and then had to get going for the day

How's everyone doing? Weekend go ok?

[YepBrook]

It's okayyyyy.

The kids had such bad attitudes about doing school today. They are at the table now, doing something... something that's definitely not what I told them to do. It's one of those days. They are fighting me and I honestly don't have the energy for a battle. They will just have to do extra work later in the week to make up for this terrible day.

[kristijoy]

My little math class was so awesome today! I took this idea from Rebecca's pinboard with the cards: Spiral Card Game. I had 3 decks of cards (minus face cards). I let the kids set them out and they totally got into it!! They made up a special design (2 spirals linked together) decided to turn over a few cards (which when you landed there gave you a turbo boost of 3 spaces). When you landed on a number you had to say 3 times 'number on card' = 'fill in the blank'. It kept them engaged for over 45 minutes. After they did it once they modified the game and made a new road...You gotta try this.

[kelley]

I feel for you Brook! That happens around here more than I'd like too - it definitely wears a mama out!

My day went pretty well - my husband was off work today. Anytime he is home the kids are extra good, extra focused, and get their work done more quickly.

The weekend was nice - I didn't do much besides chill and scrap. I finally got caught up on some sleep, and so I don't feel like a zombie at the moment which is a good thing.

[adi&co.]

homeschoolers** I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!! I can't do it. Grammar is too ingrained in me. My dad is a Linguist and English Major so we were pretty grilled with grammar daily.

[Valgal]

Originally Posted by adi&co.

homeschoolers** I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!! I can't do it. Grammar is too ingrained in me. My dad is a Linguist and English Major so we were pretty grilled with grammar daily.

WHY do I keep doing that???? I Know better!

[scrap2day]

Hi home schooling families,

Today Amazon has a Kindle Kids Daily Deal that might be of interest.

Kitchen Science Lab for Kids: 52 Family Friendly Experiments from the Pantry


In the interest of full disclosure, I am an Amazon Associate but I have NOT included my code in that link. I will get nothing if you decide to purchase. I just thought it looked really good and wanted to point it out when it was such a low price. I'm probably going to purchase it myself.

[MamaBee]

Thanks, Tracy! I'll have to check that book out!

My week is starting out okay... with being so busy last week, it's like of hard to get back into "routine..." Plus today I woke with a headache and not "feeling"... how bad is that! So, kiddo got art time - which he was happy for, we usually run out of time to do that... and he can work on math and grammar independently. This afternoon, I think we will cuddle on the sofa and watch "Brain Games" on Netflix - I heard really good things about this show - hopefully it will live up to the hype.

[Valgal]

Rebecca, we watch Brain Games all the time. The older ones on Netflix are hour long shows I think, but they're only about 30 minutes now.

[kelley]

Hmmm, I've never heard of Brain Games! I will have to check that out.

[adi&co.]

I'm glad you don't hate me for correcting you. I'm sorry! It's literally something I can't help but do. It's awful I know.

[Valgal]

No, I don't care. I notice everyone's grammar errors so I'm surprised when I do it myself!

Ok, so we're working through our early America unit and I let Eden come up with any project she wanted to do. I'm thinking some kind of Powerpoint presentation, or a clay project or painting or something, but what does she want to do? Build a weaving loom! <face palm> So we find ourselves at Lowes wandering around the lumber department because I had no idea how to buy the wood we needed, lol! We were walking around giggling and arguing about what to purchase and the one other guy shopping gave us a weird look.

Wish me luck! I'm sure I'll make a lo about it. Hope no one loses a finger.

[kristijoy]

Originally Posted by Valgal

No, I don't care. I notice everyone's grammar errors so I'm surprised when I do it myself!

Ok, so we're working through our early America unit and I let Eden come up with any project she wanted to do. I'm thinking some kind of Powerpoint presentation, or a clay project or painting or something, but what does she want to do? Build a weaving loom! <face palm> So we find ourselves at Lowes wandering around the lumber department because I had no idea how to buy the wood we needed, lol! We were walking around giggling and arguing about what to purchase and the one other guy shopping gave us a weird look.

Wish me luck! I'm sure I'll make a lo about it. Hope no one loses a finger.

I LOVE IT! I've always wanted to build a weaving loom. That is fabulous!!

[crystalbella77]

Going ok. The kids finished a couple of things so I picked up random supplements until I decide what I want to use.

What do you all use for Language arts and reading? I was thinking I might just pick out age appropriate books and then have them do mini book reports. I loved book reports when I was young LOL! But I was a nerd. :/ Suggestions?

[adi&co.]

sounds fun about the weaving loom! I can't wait until my kids are older. Our only fun thing is crazy art projects and sometimes science projects.

[Valgal]

Originally Posted by crystalbella77

Going ok. The kids finished a couple of things so I picked up random supplements until I decide what I want to use.

What do you all use for Language arts and reading? I was thinking I might just pick out age appropriate books and then have them do mini book reports. I loved book reports when I was young LOL! But I was a nerd. :/ Suggestions?

We're just reading a minimum of 30 minutes a day of her choice of books, but that doesn't include the time she spends reading at bedtime. She is to be in bed at 9:30 reading and can read as long as she wants. She basically does what I do... reads till she can't keep her eyes open. I'm not doing book reports or anything because I'm trying to not turn everything into an official 'assignment.' KWIM? However, she does want to read The Hobbit and do a study guide with it, probably because that's what her big brother did

We do grammar (Easy Grammar and Daily Grams) and spelling (Spelling Workout) and I have a cool writing unit on my wishlist at TPT. Not sure when I'm going to work that in yet.

[adi&co.]

I feel silly admitting this, but we're playing Pokemon as our school today. I've got their collections extremely organized in separate binders and I like to put placeholder cards with the name of the pokemon that we take out of the binders on them. The boys are writing out their own placeholder cards to practice writing, making their own decks to practice counting to 60, reading all their own attacks to practice reading (obviously haha) and calculating their own damage amounts to practice skip counting by tens and adding/subtracting.

Our week has been completely thrown off by the website we usually use being down. The website is about half of our schoolwork, so I'm having to fill the time I'm not use to filling and I"m finding it hard!

[kristijoy]

Originally Posted by adi&co.

I feel silly admitting this, but we're playing Pokemon as our school today. I've got their collections extremely organized in separate binders and I like to put placeholder cards with the name of the pokemon that we take out of the binders on them. The boys are writing out their own placeholder cards to practice writing, making their own decks to practice counting to 60, reading all their own attacks to practice reading (obviously haha) and calculating their own damage amounts to practice skip counting by tens and adding/subtracting.

Our week has been completely thrown off by the website we usually use being down. The website is about half of our schoolwork, so I'm having to fill the time I'm not use to filling and I"m finding it hard!

Love it! Plus playing I think helps you develop logical thinking because you have to work your strategy! We've only been playing for about 2 months and I've really seen his ability to judge 'cause and effect', 'predict' what might happen if he makes a certain move, and 'plan ahead' by setting up your Pokémon on the bench. These are all awesome skills that I've seen him struggle with. Especially the 'cause and effect': "If I choose to do this, then I can or can't do that next". That to me is huge. We've struggled so much with that in everyday life: "If I choose to play with this toy the last 1/2 hour of the day, then I won't have time to do this other activity."

Pokémon is awesome!

[Valgal]

Ugh. I am sooooooo groggy already. Woke up at 4:30 and read to try to go back to sleep but it just wasn't happening. Too late to go back to bed now, so I'll push through and get as much done around here as I can and take a nap this afternoon.

I hope I hope I hope.

[adi&co.]

Originally Posted by kristijoy

Love it! Plus playing I think helps you develop logical thinking because you have to work your strategy! We've only been playing for about 2 months and I've really seen his ability to judge 'cause and effect', 'predict' what might happen if he makes a certain move, and 'plan ahead' by setting up your Pokémon on the bench. These are all awesome skills that I've seen him struggle with. Especially the 'cause and effect': "If I choose to do this, then I can or can't do that next". That to me is huge. We've struggled so much with that in everyday life: "If I choose to play with this toy the last 1/2 hour of the day, then I won't have time to do this other activity."

Pokémon is awesome!

EXACTLY!!!!! I love that other people get it! I adore pokemon so much and it's so much more than the childhood memories and playing games with my kids. Jamesen was the biggest sore loser in the universe and would bawl his eyes out when he lost but now he shakes hands and says "good game!" no matter the outcome. Still working on graciously winning with Marcus, haha! And yes, the cause and effect things is super awesome!

[kelley]

For LA right now, we are also doing 30 minutes minimum of free reading right now. I don't want my kids to hate reading, and a couple of them do, so I'm trying to make it more fun for them. I know in school I hated being forced to read books I didn't want to. I do assign some books, but I let them choose when to read them. My girls will read for hours on their own so I'm not worried about them.

We also do 10 min or more on IXL in LA each day for everyone except my 1st grader (since the LA there starts at 2nd), and they write at least a page on their stories (an ongoing story they are each doing) at least once a week.

[Kara]

We just finished up our Friday afternoon routine of free play in the church gym and then a trip to the library.

Is anyone else in planning mode for next year yet?

This is our first year of homeschooling and I"ve gotten a better idea of what works for us and what doesn't. The options are sometimes overwhelming, though!

[crystalbella77]

Thanks for the LA recs guys! Right now I just have them reading books of their choice and doing one of those big spectrum books you can find everywhere that has english and comprehension and all that jazz in it, but they don't love them. Really need to find some creative ways to do that kind of stuff that they will enjoy. I personally love to read and always have but my kids hate it and that is heartbreaking for me. Not sure what to do! Maybe I'll go to Pinterest and find some good resources!

And Kara I have totally been thinking about next year! Now that I have done this a few years I am working on finding a groove and am definitely excited about getting next years goodies. I love buying the books...lol I don't love spending money but I love looking through all my catalogs and going online and buying all the curriculum lol! It is so overwhelming for me still at times though. That's why I have been struggling with language arts!

[Valgal]

So, Adrienne... what you're say is you love Pokemon?

[adi&co.]

Originally Posted by crystalbella77

I personally love to read and always have but my kids hate it and that is heartbreaking for me.

This is us too. My boys dislike reading but I'm wondering if they have dyslexia so that might explain it.... They both have symptoms (but it's still a bit too early to tell). If you figure something out, please share! The only thing that gets my kids reading is pokemon cards, haha!

Speaking of which.... No Val, I don't know why you would ask such a thing!

[kristijoy]

My son loves to be read to. Even at 8 I still read to him regularly. He's been reading well all year. But I'm just starting to notice signs that he is beginning to 'choose' to read because it's fun. I really think a lot of it has to do with proficiency. Now that he can pick up a book and really understand and grasp the majority of words it's more 'fun' than 'work'.

One book I read on helping kids learn to read suggested that the 'learning to read' books (where they are working with you) should be somewhat challenging. But that the 'recreational books' to read on their own should be much much easier, below where they are actually learning. I think the hope is that when it's easier it is more likely to be 'fun' rather than 'school work'.

[MamaBee]

No official reading program here... Jake reads a lot - many times I have to tell him to stop reading so we can get stuff done... haha. We do go in cycles, though - for a long time he would only read non-fiction books on subjects he was interested in... then he wanted to read comics... and now he is obsessed with Geronimo Stilton books. I do quiz him on comprehension... and maybe next year we will do book reports when we get more writing into his schedule.

For language arts - all over the place... spelling is Jake's trouble area and haven't been able to find a program that works... grammar is First Languages, switching to Shurley next year.

[Kara]

As for reading and LA, here's what we do:

For Language Arts, we use Christian Light Education. It is a very thorough curriculum but presents information in tiny bites so it's very manageable. It includes grammar, spelling and handwriting. I like it for those things but supplement the writing because I don't think it's enough.

For reading, we don't use an official reading program but instead read lots of books, both out loud and independently, and discuss them. I tend towards more of a classical approach so we do a lot of narration.

I choose the read-alouds (we actually do a lot as audiobooks in the car.)

For their independent reading, I choose some and they choose some. They can always choose their own books for free reading time before bed, but I choose most of their school reading (considering their interests, tie-ins with history, geography or science, reading level, etc.)

I also supplement at times with reading comprehension & analysis exercises from Evan-Moor Teacher Filebox.