Rewind

I keep forgetting about ideas and resources that I tried to develop/used before I started this record.  Here are a few I really don't want to forget:

1.  The Core Knowledge Series by E.D. Hirsch:  Included in the series are books titled, What Your Preschooler/Kindergartner/First Grader/etc. Needs to Know.  I first read The Knowledge Deficit, also by E.D. Hirsch, which explains the series better than the introduction inside the books.  I don't want to use one person's list exclusively for my kids, because I like to tailor their education based on what they need and what I believe is important, but there is a huge reason I like the idea (and product) these books are based on.  Though I don't want to give my kids a "conveyer belt" education that public schools tend to give, I also don't want any holes in their education.  The Core Knowledge Series helps with this.  Basically, E.D. Hirsch and his colleagues spent a lot of time researching what the basic knowledge of an educated person looks like.  They made a list of topics, stories, and lessons that a person would need to know to be able to read and understand texts such as The New York Times. 

I borrowed the preschooler book about a year ago and I liked it a lot.  It has sections from several subjects.  I never looked at the others until recently, but I like the kindergartener book even more than the preschooler book.  The stories have little tips and questions in the margins to help you bring things up to your kids as you read.  I think it would be a good go-to book for the days when I'm struggling to find something to teach the kids without using too much brain power.  I'm hoping to get the preschooler, kindergartener, and 1st grader books from my favorite used book websites (thriftbooks.com or betterworldbooks.com) and use them for one of our reading times.  You can get them for around $4 with free shipping, but I recommend checking them out from the library first to see if they work for your family (and maybe even reading part of The Knowledge Deficit as well).

2.Scripture Reading Plan. A friend of mine helped me remember something I was doing about a year ago, but stopped for some reason.  I had totally forgotten about it until Tiffany mentioned on her blog that she was thinking about making up her own Five in a Row (FIAR) baed on the scriptures.  I started something similar when I heard a talk in church by a man who said that reading scriptures doesn't have to be formal with kids.  He said you can tell them scripture stories in the car or while doing chores together or just be creative.  A lightbulb went off in my head and I created something a little less spontaneous, but worked really well while I did it.

The original plan was very simple: read/tell/review the same scripture story every day for a week, and have some sort of activity to go along with it.  I knew Trevor was capable of learning more about the scriptures, but he had a hard time sitting still every time we formally read the scriptures.  I also just love the primary songs and wanted to incorporate them into our study somehow.    This is the original schedule:

Day 1: Tell the story in my own words and draw a picture of the story (we then put it on the wall and referred back to the picture all week).
Day 2: Review the story (asking for lots of help from the boys) and sing a primary song related to the story.
Day 3: Read the story in the childrens version of the scriptures (and sing song)
Day 4: Role-play the story and sing the song. (The boys get a kick out of watching me act the stories out or acting them out themselves.)
Day 5: Do a craft based on the story.
Day 6: Tell story (or have Trevor tell it) and sing the song.
Day 7: Daddy Day - have Sean do something with the boys.  If he is unable to, then role-play the story again.

It's very simple, but it was a good starting point.  I think the boys just needed something a little different every day to help them remember and stay interested.  I also planned on getting the full gospel art kit and a cheap picture frame so I could put up a painting about the story, but I never went that far with it.  I'm so glad Tiffany helped me remember this because I think it would be a good thing to implement again (I'll post a revised schedule if we change it).  I was really amazed at how much the boys could remember when we stuck to the same story for several days.  It's hard to remember all the details when you have a new story each day!

Oh, and FYI, FIAR does make a scripture based program, but I assume it is only with the bible.

It was a pretty typical day.  I think I need to start recording examples of typical days more often.

Trevor had his reading lesson (lesson # 62).  He is sight-reading all sorts of words now.  The list is now too long to make.  A couple days ago Sean watched Trevor do half of his lesson, which is unusual, because we usually do Trevor's lessons while Sean is at school.  Sean was vocally amazed at Trevor's progress, which made Trevor beam and he read his story exceptionally fast that day. 

For Conrad's "lesson" we threw bean bags into containers.  I also taught Trevor the difference between underhand and overhand throwing.

For a practical life lesson, the boys peeled their own tangerines.  They don't really like citrus lately though, and just squished the wedges once they peeled the fruit.  I guess that's a sensory/tactile lesson, too.  :)  I'll just tell myself that so it doesn't feel completely wasteful.

For math, Trevor asked to do patterns again with the bag of buttons.

Trevor was asking this morning what green and red make when they're put together, so I thought it would be fun to copy my friend Tiffany's idea of food coloring and water mixtures.  I don't know why, but when I thought of teaching color blending (if that's what it's called), paint always popped into my mind.  I like the food coloring idea much better...it's less messy.  So we got out a notebook for Trevor and made three columns.  The first two columns were of colors he wanted to try together, and the last column was what color they made together.  Both boys loved it.  They used straws to stir, and drank plenty of the colorful water.  Trevor looked at me funny after his first sip and said, "It just tastes like colored water." 

After the art project, the boys just wanted to do their own thing with paper, crayons, markers, and scissors.  They've been doing that a lot lately, which makes me happy because Trevor hasn't really taken a huge interest in art until recently.  I think Conrad has influenced that new interest immensely because Conrad loves to cut and glue and color.  It's something they can do together with minimal contention since they work near each other, but independently.

We also had devotional with Sean and reading time somewhere in the mix.

After I finished this post, Trevor also wanted to make a book again.  This time I had him tell me the story, I wrote it on a piece of notebook paper, then I copied it into a homemade book made of construction paper, and he drew the pictures.  It was about a lost dog that is found by a man in a cop car.  It was cute.

The Montessori Review Post

As promised, here I am to talk about Montessori.  I still haven't researched it enough to feel like a resource on the topic, but we've implemented much of the method.  I don't think we'll get totally "into" it as much as other families might.  I'm really quite eclectic when it comes to education methods.  I just do what works, I suppose. 

I really like the ideas about setting up a classroom and managing it the Montessori way.  One of the biggest resources for ideas for anything homeschooling is all the other homeschool blogs on the internet.  When I wanted to set up a little space for the boys, I mostly used this blog post as a model.  Montessori suggests using child-size furniture, which I agree with after trying to give poor Trevor his reading lessons at the counter on bar stools.  He's afraid of falling and slips around a lot.  We bought chairs ($9.99 each) and a table ($3 in the clearance area) at Ikea (I also bought myself a short stool for $2 so I can sit with the boys).  Then I prepared materials for as many free activities as I could find in the books.  It is suggested that you use trays for each activity, but I just used what I had and bought various types of containers at the dollar store.  I think the point is for the materials to always be available and for the kids to be able to see and access them easily.  Here are photos of what we've done:

I also read a book called Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, by Angeline Stoll Lillard.  I like reading about others' ideas, but I also like knowing they're backed by research.  This book is just a lot of research backing each part of Montessori's methods.  I REALLY liked the chapter about time management and schedules.  I didn't like what the author said about behaviorism, and I think she got it wrong from several viewpoints.  I'm beginning to realize how aversive I truly am to "unschooling."  I like a lot of those ideas, too, but our family just needs a little more structure than unschooling gives.  I'd also like to read Montessori's own guidebook on her methods someday.

Two books I really liked for implementing Montessori (books I like enough to buy eventually and not just borrow) are David Gettman's Basic Montessori, and Maja Pitamic's Teach Me to Do It Myself.  Both books are full of Montessori activities and instructions.  Basic Montessori also gives a thorough and short summary of Montessori, complete with an explanation of the activity categories.  Pitamic's book is ecpecially helpful for two reasons: 1. It has activities that can be made with materials I have at home (cheap!), and 2. It has photos and drawings of the activities, as well as detailed instructions and variations.  Categories include life skills, developing the senses, language development, numeracy, and science.

This method works well for us.  Conrad especially loves Montessori and will quietly work with a tray of materials for quite some time before moving on.  And even at two he can learn the rules.  I usually set him up with a Montessori activity before starting a lesson with Trevor and I only have to help him once or twice, sometimes not at all, depending on the activity and how long he is interested.  Trevor also likes Montessori and plays with the materials during Conrad's naptime when he is expected to choose quiet activities or rest.  At first I tried having the boys do Montessori for a couple hours in the morning, but I might switch it around a little.  We still have a adjusting to do.

Trevor also finished his 56th reading lesson today.