Portfolio

I think I'm going to make a couple of these for Trevor and Conrad soon...



DIY art portfolio case (saw it at http://kristensbloglife.blogspot.com/2010/02/diy-kids-artwork-portfolio.html)

It's just a posterboard folded in half with the sides taped together with duct tape and ribbons attached for handles.  I looked online for some portfolios for the kids, and the ones I found were over $20 each!  I just need a place to put larger projects without them getting mashed.  I have such a hard time throwing away my kids' artwork!  Every time I go to toss something, I think to myself, "It's not great art, but he'll never be 2/5 again!"  Much too sentimental!

Right now, the boys each have a plastic drawer to put their "treasures" in.  They contain anything from paper cranes from Aunt Annie, hand-outs from church, their art projects, and old birthday cards.  When Trevor or Conrad have a special thing they've made and it keeps floating around the house and starting to turn into clutter, I just put it in their treasure drawer and they can take it out whenever they want to play with it.  We just need some portfolios for the larger items!

Ordering Materials for Kindergarten

Sean started his new job last week and life seems to be getting back to a normal grind for us.  I love it.  I really think all of us thrive on a normal, predictable schedule.  I've had a lot of thoughts about Maslow's hierarchy lately as it relates to education, so I think I'll write something up on that eventually, but I want to look up some books first.  Anyway, here's why I'm writing today...

I'm just about ready to start ordering the last few things I need for kindergarten.  I'm very pleased with how little I need to spend with how I've planned.  I already have books for phonics (but I'd like to look at Explode the Code for next year) and the library for easy readers to practice reading.  I'm thinking about doing some grammar and spelling (because Trevor asks grammar questions frequently and I just want to see how interested he is in spelling), but we'll do so little of both that I'm sure we won't need books.  For math, I've decided on Singapore math, after reviewing several programs and talking to friends.  I've also decided to do Handwriting Without Tears for Trevor. 

One thing that bothers me a little is that it feels like I'm just planning a bunch of worksheets for Trevor to do.  That is something I really wanted to avoid.  I admit, it really irks me.  I think that there does need to be a certain amount of drill and practice for building a good foundation in the basics, though, and worksheets--as long as they're good ones--can fill our requirements. 

Speaking of requirements, I made an appointment to speak with a Community Education rep. from the public schools here.  We talked about financing for homeschoolers and she gave me tons of forms and information.  I was worried that someone from the public school would look down on parents choosing to homeschool, but she was very respectful and helpful. 

I found out that the state gives about $80 per student for homeschool materials per year.  Trevor will get about $40 since kindergarteners only go half time.  So that almost completely covers the cost for the materials I have yet to order.  Awesome!  She had never heard of the financial programs I suggested to her, but offered to ask around and asked that I keep her updated if I root anything out myself. 

Lately Trevor and I have been doing 3 phonics worksheets together, as well as reading books, doing a short math lesson, and a scripture story every day while the younger ones nap.  He's shaping up to be a fine young man.

BOOK IT! for Homeschools

The Pizza Hut BOOK IT! program is now open for homeschool enrollment! (Thanks for the tip last year, Tiffany!)

Naivete is Stressful: An Epiphany!

I wonder if all homeschool moms go through the same sort of progression I'm going through.  I really don't know what I'm doing.  There.  I said it. 

I'm glad that's over.  Moving on...

If you scroll down and read about our typical day of homeschooling, you won't find anything negative.  That was pretty silly of me.  I hope it doesn't give the wrong impression.  I didn't mean for it to look so rosy.  Homeschooling is hard.  It's busy.  When I'm at home with the kids all day, dishes and laundry pile up, diapers need to be changed, tummies get hungry, kids get hurt and require medical intervention, and there are errands to run. 

Even if those things didn't need to be done, there's the fact that my kids are 4 years, 2 years, and 7 weeks old.  It's crazy around here!  As I mentioned in another post, at times, I'm literally dividing my attention between three people in order to get through lessons (and still my kids are brilliant--mommy pride speaking).  What I'm saying is that it's okay!!  It's hard, but it works.

I'm saying this because I didn't feel this way a few months ago.  It's a lesson that has been unfolding for me since the birth of Abigail, and I found myself continually asking, "Can I really do this?  Teach my 4 year old  to read and write while my two year old wants to play and my infant needs to nurse?  And when will I ever do chores in all this schooling?"  My naivete is melting away and I'm feeling more and more relieved as it does. 

A few things have helped.  I really like A Well-Trained Mind, and every time I read it I feel encouraged, so I decided to check out their website and blog.  I happened upon these articles: School at my House, by Susan Wise Bauer.  I read the one about doing school with young kids and a newborn.  Not only did I realize that my expecttions were much too high, but I realized that this is how homeschool is when you have young kids.  If Trevor doesn't have perfect silence and my undivided attention to do a writing assignment, it's okay!  He will still learn just fine. 

In one of those articles, she happened to write something that turned on a lightbulb for me.  She was talking about how the Spanish lesson (or maybe it was latin?) would be skipped that day because they got toward the end of the day and there just wasn't room for it.  Duh!  Spanish is not as important as reading (English), so it gets the backseat.  If I do everything by priority, the important things will get finished and the rest is icing on the cake.  So we're doing it that way now.  Reading, Phonics, and Math are priority (as well as our family's daily devotional, of course), and science, art, geography, etc. are last (if we get to them at all).

I also like the article, The Baby IS the Lesson, by Diane Hopkins. 

So my next order of business, if I can get away from the "busyness" for a few more minutes, is to write a new "typical day" post someday soon, a more painfully truthful one.  Right after I'm done nursing Abigail.  And making dinner.  And doing the dishes, laundry, taking the kids for a walk, solving sibling disputes, washing marker off the wall...

"What We Did Today" Wall

I thought of something that will help me remember what we're learning so I'm not so disorganized.  See, once we're done doing our lessons for the day, I usually put the materials away and forget where I put them or just get busy and forget what we did.  I really don't know how other moms don't lose their brains like I do!  Anyway, here's part of my solution (look on the wall, not at the silly boys below):

This way I can remember the next day what we did before and it will help me pick up where we left off easier.  I strategically put it on the wall by the table so we can talk about the lessons at meals and Sean can help me reinforce the things they've learned by quizzing them about the day's lessons.  Brilliant! 

I used sticky tack to put up a folder so we can put projects inside.  Each day Trevor uses special lined paper to write down what we did so Sean can read it.  Then the paper gets tacked to the folder.  I really like having Sean involved in our home life even when he can't actually be around, and he likes knowing what we've done all day.  I think it worries him a little when I'm so harebrained that I can't remember what we did all day.

We have basic lesson we do each day, which include reading, phonics, and math.  That's it.  We do those daily, and if there's extra time between chores and after the main subjects, we do things like science or art.  Most of our projects come from the extra stuff, so really that's all that gets put on the wall.  The material for the main subjects goes to the same spot on a bookcase every day, where there's a fabric drawer for odd things (like math manipulatives) that don't look nice and tidy on the shelf.  So each day we go to the shelf and go through each main subject one by one and do a lesson from each.  After those are done, we go to the table and do a fun project from an extra subject.

What's for Lunch?

Sisters from our ward have been SO kind!  I made tons of freezer meals before Abigail was born because I wanted a smooth transition after the birth, so when people from church ask if we need a meal, I always say no.  But they keep bringing them anyway!  I've had difficulty getting Abigail's sleep/wake cycle to fit into a routine, so it has been nice to not have to use up all those freezer meals right away. 

Because of the extra time these sisters have afforded our family, I've actually been able to do some school with the boys.  Today's lesson included a strange lunch.  How's this for appetizing?  Tortilla chips, lemon juice, cocoa powder, milk, brown sugar, peanut butter, orange peel, orange slices, apricot-pineapple preserves, beef sticks, and skittles.  Mmmm!  Can you guess what we're learning about?

The sense of taste, of course!  (Don't worry, we ate a real lunch about an hour before the lesson.)  All week we're learning about the five senses, and today's sense is taste.  My favorite!  I think we'll have to make something really tasty for dessert since I don't have to worry about making dinner! 

He's a Reader!!

Trevor finished the last of his 100 reading lessons on Monday!!  I'm so proud of him.  He would have finished a month ago if it wasn't for me.  I've been having issues getting Abigail to fit into a routine, so even though Trevor has begged for lessons some days, I've had to put him off a lot.  Some of our lessons were done with me standing holding Abigail and playing cars with Conrad at the same time.  But we didn't stop completely.  When he finished and put the last sticker on his chart, I told him he is a reader (though I've been telling him this long before his last lesson).  He said, "No I'm not" (his usual answer).  I showed him his chart and told him he finished all the lessons and he slowly brightened and started saying, "I'm a reader!  I'm a reader!"

The plan now for reading is to have Trevor read at least one book/story on his own every day for practice, as well as do 2-4 phonics worksheets from the Modern Curriculum Press books (see side of blog), and I want to find a book like the 100 Lessons book that does phonics (like blends and specific phonics rules and exceptions).  We also practice writing a little, though I want to use a specific program.  I'm sill trying to decide between two different programs.  Right now Trevor writes a little each day about what we've done in school.  He has also been writing letters lately (a get well card for Grandpa Peine, a birthday card for Grandma Arndt, and unfortunately, two apology letters for teachers at church for misbehaving) so we've had lessons on how to address an envelope and where a stamp goes.

I'm feeling very sentimental right now as Trevor is beginning his journey of reading.  I hope it opens doors for him and allows him to be wise.  I hope he learns to love learning from books as much as I do!  He is amazing.  I have more insights about schooling with a newborn, but I will have to make time for that later.