Moving Along

The other day, while I was looking at the curriculum for next year, I saw that Sonlight had chosen the same book I had kept coming back to for my C, about growing up and body changes. That was so cool. I love Sonlight, I feel like we are a perfect match! It is so nice to not have to worry about picking out what I need for this or that subject- but to just order it as a whole and know my children are getting an exceptional education. I cannot say enough good things about this company.

Well, we are moving along in school...I solved my solution to the whole book reading dilemma. The kids have to read 2 chapters everyday before anything else is allowed (TV. video games, things along those lines). That is for 7days a week. They are also required to take their book everywhere we go, that way they can do a little reading in the car or here and there any chance they get. This has really worked out awesome and I haven't gotten any complaints! This works out so much better than doing the whole "timed" reading. This way they go at their own pace for the day and make their own choices - BUT the reading must get done. C is still whipping through books, but E is getting faster and his attitude is so much better! With this schedule we do not have to drop any books, which makes me happy because how can you pick between Old Yeller and say Harriet Tubman or Thomas Alva Edison? We need to read them all!

This week in school

Wow- this week is flying by for me and I feel like it hasn't been that good of one. J has been switching his schedule around and working 3 days a week. I finally had to ask him to stop because it is really putting a strain on home school. I need at least 3 good teaching days w/o lil'c climbing all over me :) . Next week is going to be a little stressful too, but after that he said he would not do any more changes. He is only doing them so we can go out Fridays, but right now, I really need to put school first and maybe we can just go out during the week.

 

We had fun doing our experiments in science and studying about Lincoln in history. I have really started to develop a LOVE of history. It is strange, I feel I could read on and on for hours about our past.  I also am developing a taste for politics. Something, that until recently didn't interest me too much. I mean I exercise my right to vote and try to keep up with everything going on, but lately with all this studying /teaching it really has me curious about the way it all works.?.

   Anyhow, we all really enjoyed our study on William Wilberforce! He was an amazing man who persevered even though he was met with so much opposition. His journey was an incredible one and a great example for all of us!

  We are behind in some of our readings, I have not found our groove when it comes to all the reading Sonlight has you do. I went ahead and dropped a book we were supposed to read (which was hard for me to do) – but there are only so many hours in a day! It is their suggestion that you pick and choose and not attempt to do everything unless you stretch it out over 1 ½ to 2yrs. So, that is really what I am trying to do. At any given time we are reading from 7 different books. All exceptional picks, so knowing which ones to drop is a difficult task. I decided to have each child read a separate book instead of buying 2 copies or making one wait while the other is finishing, so that has helped. Then they just switch when they complete it. The only problem with that is C sometimes flies through her books while E is a little slower. He does better when the book is interesting, but not every book is going to be exactly what he wants. He has been whining about this lately and it really drains me of energy. Two days in a row I have spent encouraging this little guy to stick w/ it because he is going to be better for it; if he develops a passion for reading now! As I write this though, it has to be a little hard for a kid to have to read one book after another w/ no real break in between. When I think about it we really DO move from one book straight into the next. Hmmm..maybe I will look into that. I don’t know. He has to read, it will only get easier. I am not sure what is going on with him, I need to sit down and find out what we can do together to make this work.

  I need to really pray more about all of this! I have not been good about finding alone time with God. I hate to even admit to that. My lack of effort has made my well run dry. It is no wonder my life has been so chaotic. My prayer is that I will crave a closer relationship with God and draw on Him to give me the strength to make it through this. I don’t want to just “survive” my days, I really want to “thrive” !

R reading her words with her Zebra ears on :)

She looked cute & comfy!

School Computer

I am pleased to say that I am finally able to get the Internet on our schoolroom computer! Yea! My husband just finished setting it up for me. He apologized for how long it has taken him –but to be perfectly honest, I had forgotten. I am just so excited it is finally up & running!

  That is my excitement for today, nothing much going on here. It has been quite a dreary day. It was a good day of school though and the kids played well together. They spent their free time working on a Lego City, in hopes of winning a $100 prize thru Lego magazine. There was a lot of good teamwork going on.
  Well, it’s late now and I have a lot of prep work to do for my co-op classes tomorrow. In Science we will be experimenting w/ magnets and in Art we will be making colorful creations on our homemade looms! We have to pass out our Valentines during my art class; I assume that will take a good 20min chunk out of the hour, so they will have to finish it up at home.
  I hate that I am always up so late on the Thurs. before co-op; seriously, I wish I had my act together. Prepping for 40 kids is sometimes overwhelming! Why do I always put it off until the night before? My husband certainly doesn’t mind, it means he get to play as much Madden as he feels like because I am busy working.

New Approach

On the days my husband works, school looks a lot different. We do a more laid back approach. What else can you do, when you have an 18mos old wondering around? Today, Cl decided she didn't want to take a nap and screamed off and on and then just on "momma, momma, momma!" until I came & freed her from her bed. We had a little talk and I brought her down, fed her and then I put her back to bed hoping it would 'stick' this time. No such luck. I ended up having to go get her again and just toss in the towel. I can't stand to just leave her up there screaming simply because it is naptime. I have never been that strict. Now, as I write this she is playing so nicely with the crayons, folders and her baby.

Back to why the 'laid back' approach-
 In the past, as I tried to teach the children, I'd be doing so over loud singing, noisy toys, or happy yelling. Gone were the days of reading aloud to the kids in her presence. I was either holding her as she tried to wriggle free or pulling her away from things she was NOT suppose to touch, because of course those things are more fun than her toys. And she could only be still for so long, before I knew it she had all of them rolling in laughter because she was climbing all over them in search of perfect spot, which she never did find. If we were in the schoolroom, as one child got up from their desk, Cl would sneakily slide in.
 It was just a circus trying to do things that way. It is not that I haven't childproofed the area; I have, as best I can w/o keeping everything under lock and key. We are talking about a strong-willed sneaky toddler who will reach, climb and stop at nothing, not even the occasional smacking of the hand, to get what she wants.
 So, I changed school on those days to the laid back approach. In the mornings, before Cl's nap, I assign all the written work and anything that I can easily teach in about 5-15mins. That is usually her limit and about all the time I can dedicate at a single time. I bring my white board and stand to the back living room (her play area) and do any teaching I can from there. When she finally does go down for her nap, we tackle the spelling tests, dictation and one on one work I need to do with R, my first grader. We do our reading at night when my husband is home and fit anything else we need in here and there so we can stay on track.
I truly LOVE this age that Cl is at; it is the absolute cutest time! It does however pose many challenges to the home schooling mom, which I have not quite figured out how to conquer. For now, this is our solution and I feel good about it, unless anyone has any other suggestions?

I Needed Today

Today was a wonderful day of home school! The house is a wreck and the baby didn't get dressed (neither did I for that matter) but what a great day. It was a good reminder as to why I do this and why I LOVE doing it. As I looked at my four children all sitting on the floor of our living room doing their experiments with electricity, happy and excited, my heart was full. I love that the 4 of them, age’s 18mos to 9yrs, were all having fun together, learning. Watching the excitement in their eyes from making their light bulbs glow and seeing their minds at work; it made everything else- not matter. It didn't matter that I haven't made it to the gym in over a month. It didn't matter that the house was a wreck, we were surrounded by laundry that needed folding and I hadn't planned dinner. We were together laughing, learning and growing. Our youngest even got into it- I am amazed at how much she wants to be involved. We had to get her a science notebook of her own, w/ a crayon to "record" her experiment. She was great and of course she couldn't help but scribble in her brother and sisters notebooks, steal a battery, pencil or whatever her little hands could grasp, when they weren't looking. Nothing is safe with a toddler around! Today was a fun, CRAZY & very memorable day, that I needed!