Trevor finished his 50th reading lesson today!  It went so well, and he read the story so quickly at the end.  I had to think back to when we first started the lessons this past summer and I was so cautious, worrying that four was too young to start him with reading lessons.  I just want to mention one thing about consistency that I keep learning over and over.  I may have said this before, but I have to be just as disciplined as Trevor in order for him to enjoy his lessons.  Sometimes it's so easy to make an excuse for not initiating the lesson for the day because Conrad might be in the mood to interrupt too often or maybe I just didn't sleep well the night before.

I have found, however, that if I allow myself to become lax and skip too many lesson in a row, Trevor loses progress and struggles a little.  Of course that is no fun (or fair) for him to have to muddle through a lesson because I was not disciplined enough to start one for a few days.  He only enjoys reading if we're consistent and diligent.  Otherwise he actually tells me he doesn't like lessons.  If I wasn't discerning enough to understand that he is really just telling me he is having a hard time, I might be tempted to quit giving him lessons for a long while.  Even a half lesson or portion of a lesson is better than no lesson at all. 

I need to remember this whenever we start any sort of lessons or units--that I better look before I leap and be sure I am willing to follow through with it consistently, for Trevor's sake. 

Two Math Lessons

Trevor's math lessons are a bit random right now.  I just create them from whatever he's interested in, while supplementing with examples from a very visual "My First Math Book". 

Last week's lesson: Actually, this counts for the week before as well.  We've started addition!  Trevor just soaks up knowledge when it's hands-on.  I made some Paper Plate Numbers from The Toddler's Busy Book (but since he already knows his numbers through 10, we use them for addition rather than learning numbers).  He's supposed to put the beans on top of the shapes and then count them up and look for the plate that equals the sum of the two numbers he's adding.  Then he puts the beans on the shapes of the answer plate to check his answer to see if he added correctly.  He really enjoys it.  And Conrad actually plays at counting with these, too.  He says, "duh, duh, duh," each time I put a bean on a shape.  It makes him feel like he's doing important schoolwork like his big brother. 

This week: Today he was working on an art project outside while I was doing my own painting project (very exciting Christmas gift for the boys!  I'll post something about that on our family blog eventually).  Trevor decided to draw a picture of the earth being flooded and glued a drawing of the ark onto the earth.  Then he started cutting out squares so he could make a house.  I finally realized he was trying to make a 3D house by taping the squares together, so I decided it was a great time to talk about 3D shapes.  We made a net (pattern) for a cube, then we cut it out and made a house out of it.  Then we got out the trusty picture math book and talked about cubes, cylinders, pyramids and the like.  And he got to play with it afterwards!  Here he is holding up the net and the picture he drew of the earth flooding (2nd photo), with his cube house on the table.  He's now telling me his toy chicken also needs a garage.  Sheesh!  Spoiled poultry!

Homemade Books

I am so proud of myself!  I can't believe I figured out how to do this myself.  Apparently my videos were too big for Blogger (it's 59 seconds for goodness' sake!), so I figured out how to post them through youtube--by myself!  Now if I can just figure out how to put two videos on one post... 

Trevor was inspired by his friend from the preschool co-op to make his own book.  Of course Conrad had to make one as well, so I stapled some paper together and they made their own books.  Trevor actually wrote words in his, and it was so cute to watch him try to sound out the words made from random letters he put together.  And it was pretty adorable watching Trevor read Conrad's book to him, asking him what each page was about.

Preschool Co-op Update

This finishes up Week Two of our preschool co-op.  I'm pleased with it so far.  I definitely need to brush up on my "teacher" skills (not that I ever developed any anyway!), but everything is going well. 

We plan to start out with a lesson from Five in a Row, though we didn't get to use the manual until this past Thursday, so I can't really say how FIAR will go.  The FIAR part is my job.  Last week I tried mimicking FIAR without the manual using the book Ming Lo Moves the Mountain by Arnold Lobel and made up my own lessons.  I think my lessons were well-planned and simple, but I it will take me a little while to learn the group dynamics and how to keep the chaos down to a minimum. 

We tried to have a little break and snack between the FIAR and Montessori portions.  The Montessori part went well, too.  The other mom had everything organized so nicely and the kids were definitely interested.  I think that part will go more smoothly the more the kids get to know the materials.  I still don't know very much about the philosophy of Montessori, so I'm reading up on it, but I definitely like what I see so far.  It's all hands-on learning, which is great for active little boys, especially after having to sit and listen to me read and give a lesson. 

This last week was a little rough because ironically both families were having sleep issues and the other mom also found out she's expecting as well.  This should be exciting!  But we're committed and we're planning to continue tweaking it until it's right for our little group.  I'm also very happy about how well the kids are all getting along.  Trevor and the 6 year old boy really hit it off and enjoy playing and learning together.  Conrad is a bit young to really single anyone out to be friends, but the 3 year old likes Conrad and always wants to sit with him. 

One day this week was particularly difficult and both of us moms admitted to almost cancelling for the morning.  We ended up letting the kids have a playdate instead of doing any lessons, and the older boys ended up finding their own productive activities while us moms watched the toddlers.  They opened up a paper airplane shop and made and decorated paper airplanes for everyone, and then they painted pictures, without any guidance from the moms! 

Having a preschool co-op has other definite advantages for moms as well as the kids.  Not only do the moms get to talk to an adult for a little, but we get to talk specifically about homeschooling and get a peek at how other people do it.  It has been especially beneficial for me to watch a homeschool mom who has twice as many kids as I do and a wider range of ages.  I'm amazed at how well she can keep track of everyone's lessons and needs.  I hope I can develop a little of that!

photo: the boys played dress-up one day after preschool

What is Five in a Row?

I just want to put a little review in for the Five in a Row (FIAR).  It's an early education program that is based on children's literature.  Basically, the author chose a book for each "unit", which you're supposed to read to your kids once each day for five days.  Then she has brief lesson plans for each of five subjects: applied math, social studies, art, language, and science. 

It was created to be very flexible, so you can use any of the many ideas on any given day.  So if you want to have Monday be art day, you can do all the art lessons on Monday.  But if you want to do a little of every subject each day, you can pick and choose which lessons to do.  She also includes a blank planner in the back of the book so you can plan everything out for the week. 

I believe the first volume (shown) is for ages 4-7.  I plan to use it for Conrad too (he's 2 now), but I think he'll end up being an observer for the most part.  So the age recommendation is probably accurate.  There is a volume called Before Five in a Row that we might end up using for Conrad once we decide for sure if we like this program or not.  Trevor would like that one, as well.  The books on the list just look a little more interactive and engaging for kids under 4. 

We just got the book in the mail this week to use for our co-op (directed toward four boys, ages 2, 3, 4, and 6).  We have done one lesson, which uses The Story of Ping by Marjorie Flack.  The parts we chose to do for one session: talk about China and the Yangtze River (looking at a map), talk about the difference between fiction and non-fiction and ask the kids to think of some examples, talk about relationships and the things Ping faced after he got himself lost (danger, fear, loneliness), and we did an art project in their journals (they used colored pencils like the illustrator used to make the pictures in the story).  One child decided on his own to make a non-fiction book out of some large index cards.  One part I'm excited to have the kids do is to talk about buoyancy and find objects that sink or float (talk about the boy with the barrel on his back). 

There are a few ideas that go with all of the lessons.  One I really like is the story disks.  One of the worksheets in the back is a sheet of circles that have a picture in each one representing each story.  You're supposed to cut the disks out and velcro or use sticky tack to place them on a map (wherever the setting is) each time you read a story. 

So far I really like the concept of Five in a Row.  I'll post an update when I've used it more!

Book List for Five in a Row volumes 1-4

Book List for Before Five in a Row

I'm not so keen on the official Five in a Row website, but here's a link for another website that explains the concept much better.

Spontaneous Learning

I love learning that just kind of happens.  It feels much less forced.  Trevor's lessons have pointed out a few things besides just sounds, and last night during our bedtime book time, he pointed out every punctuation mark and either told me what they were (he knows period, question marks, and quotation marks) or asked me what they were (exclamation marks, commas, and apostrophes).  He got just as excited about that as he does about science topics!  It's really nice when you have a pet subject that you want your kids to LOVE without you forcing them and they pick it up on their own.  Sigh...I love this mom stuff. 

We did lesson 44 today.

New Plan

If there's one thing I'm learning about homeschooling, it's that there are so many available resources.  I'm learning to see all the adjustment-making as an adventure instead of a frustrating chore.  At first I thought I'd just choose some sort of curriculum and stick with it until I send my kids off to college.  Ha ha!  Maybe some parents are able to do it thiat way, but I have a very specific idea of how I want my children educated and I don't think I'll ever find a curriculum out there that fits my ideas completely. 

So the new plan?  Well, I was given an LDS curriculum along with many other used homeschool books when a homeschooling mom I know put her kids in public school (at their choice).  It's written by Ken and Teri Ebert, and it's called The Four Year Plan (the first book called Going in Circles).  I finally got around to reading it (I put the whole box of books on the shelf while I had morning sickness).  It's a revolving curriculum of four years, based on history and the scriptures (with science and English also).  What I like is that it's cheap (I got it for free, but the books are all under $30 I believe), it involves all ages (I want to be able to do school with all my kids at once as well as the individualized lessons--I think it would be so much more unifying to have all of us learning the same things, even if we're all at different levels), and it's simple (basically an outline with comments, a reading list, and suggested field trips, and recommended books),  based on the scriptures.  I looked into a couple other curricula that use scriptures as a base and involve all ages, but they aren't cheap and they're not LDS, so they don't include the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants or Pearl of Great Price.  Call me lazy, but I don't want to be constantly saying to my kids, "That's what this religion believes, but we believe X." (Of course I DO want my kids to know what other religions believe, but I don't want to have to put a discaimer on everything I teach.)  And I don't want to have to figure out a way to incorporate the Book of Mormon and D&C on my own (yet). 

What I don't like (or what doesn't fit for our family) is that it doesn't include all the subjects I'd want to teach (like math) and it has a heavy emphasis on co-ops (which is great, but I've only tried preschool co-ops and I don't yet know if I could organize one for older kids, though of course I'd be interested in trying).  Also, the whole time I was reading it, I just had a strong feeling that this is what is right for their family.  It's great, and the Eberts did a wonderful job, but I wuld be lying to myself if I said it was already perfect for us. 

So ultimately I realized I can't use The Four Year Plan exclusively, but there is so much I do like about it, that I'm still going to use it as a rough outline.  I am gaining confidence in myself very quickly as I learn to ignore negative influences and listen only to the Spirit tell me what is right for us.  I thought at first that I would want a "canned" curriculum for the first year at least, so I could get my feet under me, but that isn't how I really want to do things so why start that way?  And we really can't afford to buy an expensive curriculum and have me skip half of it because I decide it isn't 100% perfect for us. 

Summary and Final Plan:

After speaking to a homeschool mom with similar views and finding out what she is planning for her family, I was given some very good, wise suggestions for starting out.  She recommended that I do a daily devotional (of course), use Five in a Row (and Before Five in a Row for Conrad), and buy a phonics curriculum and math curriculum separately.  And for Conrad, I would make lots of inexpensive Montessori activities (I'm falling in love with Montessori, esp. for toddlers).  Inexpensive, easy, and much more to my liking.  And this other mom isn't so keen on The Four Year Plan, but there's so much I like about it that I'm planning on using it for our devotional to incorporate history (I just can't leave out history, it's one of my favorites!) and science (definitely Trevor's favorite).  I'm really excited about this plan, moreso than any other I've come up with.  It feels so right for us and will be so much cheaper!  I haven't felt this good about a plan through all my researching.  I know I might end up tweaking it a lot (and I still have to choose a math and phonics curriculum), but even if I didn't change it a bit I would be okay with that.  It will be cheap enough that if I decide to change something I will still have wiggle room, instead of using all our allotted money on one curriculum, hating it, and being stuck with it. 

I still have to post about our first week of the preschool co-op!  I'll get to that another time. but that's exciting too!