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.

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