Owlhaven » Homeschooling

Mucho randomness

Owlhaven — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:30:46 +0000

The tail end of summer is roaring past me at ridiculous speed.

We opted to skip the ‘big’ fair this year– it costs so much!– but had a great time going to a church carnival on Saturday. They had 50-cent hot dogs, corn dogs, burgers, ice cream, snow cones and cotton candy, if you can believe it, plus free drinks and watermelon. We gave the kids 3 food coupons each and they had great fun eating their way around the place and hanging out with friends. There was also face painting, a bike demo, a car show, a Boy Scout rope bridge and other coolness. Good fun.

My tomatoes are finally coming on– got 9 quarts canned with the able assistance of the kids today. Hooray for them! I’ve done my fill of cucumbers already…might do a bit more relish later this week since my family really loves that. Am also planning to buy peaches this week for canning.

My $700/month pay-only-cash-for-groceries went well this month. I’m feeling like it is doable long term, tho I will definitely benefit from meal planning to keep it feeling easy and not tight. Sometimes I just fly by the seat of my pants with meals, which results in more trips to the store. Much better for the budget to have a plan. The other day I made 3 lasagnas, which felt like a nice accomplishment, and reminded me how nice it is to have prepped food in the freezer. I’m thinking of doing a major cooking day in the next week or two– make a bunch of casseroles, brown some burger, cook some chicken, so I’ll have a bunch of easy meals handy as we start school soon.

Speaking of school, this summer I had the kids continue to do a bit of math and reading all summer, and I really liked it. No one had the chance to forget things, and we definitely fit in learning, albeit at a more relaxed pace. This summer we’ve worked through a couple of the Little House books with the youngest girls, and I’ve so enjoyed it. This year I want to do more reading aloud TO the kids– interesting books that we’ll all enjoy. And having done some school all summer, I’m not dreading jumping back in like I often do near the end of the summer. It’s nice.

We’ll be butchering one of the cows at the end of the month. I’m looking forward to getting my freezer stocked again. John is wondering if we should just butcher both, to save on hay (and livestock hassle) this winter, but I really have no idea where we’d put two cows. When we butchered one a couple years ago, I had to borrow freezer space from my dear MIL, and I’m pretty darned sure she doesn’t have that much space… Am thinking maybe the butcher might rent us space? But I have no idea how much that might cost…

One final bit of news: I’ve been asked to speak at the Oklahoma state homeschool conventions next April. I’ll be leading 3 breakout sessions, which is pretty exciting. Among other things, I’ll be talking about grocery budgeting, streamlining your kitchen time, and prioritizing time when you’re homeschooling multiple children. Speaking of prioritizing time, I’m also trying to figure out how many of my Oklahoma friends I can meet up with while there. It should be really fun!

homeschool kindergarten

Owlhaven — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:13:25 +0000

My youngest daughter just turned 5 in November. Most days I am so caught up in getting her older siblings through their school that she doesn’t get much that looks like ‘official’ school. However, she is a champion ‘joiner’. Anytime a sibling is doing something interesting, she’s there watching and participating to the best of her ability. Every day I’m grateful for her happy little presence bopping contentedly around during the school day. Here’s what she spent time doing in just one day:

Said the Bible memory verse with siblings at breakfast– she’s got it memorized as well as anyone
Practiced guitar with her 12 year old sister. They sing and play together, following instructions on a Marcy Marxer video– actually, her older sister follows the directions– she just strums randomly and sings along
Made a tent with her 7 year old sister and sat inside eating Cheerios
Practiced phonics with her 7 and 12 year old sisters
Listened to a story read by the 7 year old, and another by mom
Ran in the back yard with the dog
Played Barbies with the 7 year old
Practiced counting while playing ‘Sequence’ with the 7 year old
Practiced her writing –she writes ABC’s randomly, and laughs at me as I sound out the gibberish for her
Played outdoors on scooters in the driveway– she rides a mean scooter and can keep up with any of her brothers
Went for a walk with mom and siblings

I think the child is doing just fine!

School today

Owlhaven — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:55:02 +0000

Books, books, books!

Owlhaven — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:39:57 +0000

I’ve had a terrible time lately finding time to do book reviews! In an attempt to catch up on months of neglect in one fell swoop, I’m going to tell you briefly about each of the books I’ve gotten recently.

E is For Ethics contains several dozen short stories about various ethical dilemmas and include discussions of virtues such as honesty, loyalty, and compassion. I’ve read several chapters out loud to my kids at lunch time. In each case the stories were interesting conversation starters. Since the book is not faith-based, I do think the book just begins the conversation. I can’t talk about ethics without talking about faith too. But I did like that the book has given us a reason to talk about a variety of topics. Bonus: here’s a link for a free coloring book that goes with the book.

I got The Colors of Grief from Tapestry, an online bookstore that specializes in adoption-related books. It took me awhile to get around to picking up this book. Frankly, it is a tough topic, and not one that I tend to be ready to focus on at the end of a long day. However, when I did pick this up, I was soon reminded of just how important this topic is to our adopted kids. They have experienced great loss–yes, even the ones who came to me as preverbal infants. And the more I understand and acknowledge that loss, the more compassionate I can be in my dealings with them.

Head First 2D Geometry is billed as a way to give a non-math-oriented kid a boost up in understanding geometry. The lively illustrations are reminiscent of a comic book— actually, if you own any of the Tightwad Gazette books, that’s the style of this book. Lots of stories, lots of pictures. It is definitely a livelier explanation of geometry than I’ve ever seen. This book looks to be a great boost to a kid who struggles with math but really needs to get through geometry.

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I will be giving away a copy of each of these books. In comments, tell me which of these books sounds most interesting to you, and next week I will pick one winner for each.

The new math

Owlhaven — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:55:37 +0000

Our new Teaching Textbooks computer math program came a couple weeks ago, and I am completely loving it. Setting it up for multiple kids on one computer was a bit tricky– basically you create user accounts on the computer for every kid and install the program into each user. But once we got all that straightened around, the program worked wonderfully.

Each lesson contains an audio lecture, practice problems, and a lesson containing 20 problems. Graphics accompany every description, and there’s a full explanation of every problem. That way if kids get a problem wrong, they can immediately see and hear the solution for the problem.

My kids who grew up in America listen to each lecture just once. My girls who came to America in 2007 do each lecture 3 times before attempting the lesson. The repetition helps their comprehension of math AND English– a real bonus.

Before, using my old math program, I spent at least an hour each morning checking and rechecking math for multiple children, not to mention all the time I was explaining the same concepts over and over to many kids. Now all three of the kids doing 7th grade math are computer-taught and computer-graded. All I do is peek in the grade book (also on the computer) when they’re done to see how it went.

The computer math only goes through 7th grade. My son doing pre-Algebra (the next grade up) gets to listen to a lecture on the computer, but his math is then done on paper. I grade it, but it’s still quicker and with better instruction than what I was doing before. Teaching Textbooks is adding 3rd grade math this summer. When they do, I will be snatching it up for my going-into-3rd grade daughter!

This computer based math give more more time to listen to kids read– hugely important. And– bonus– now that I’m spending more time listening to kids read, I actually have a bit of time each day to knit. (I’ve found that staying busy with something like knitting or peeling potatoes really helps me stay happier and more patient while listening to early readers.)

Love the new math!!

Best SAT Essay Tips

Owlhaven — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

I spent half an hour this morning googling SAT essay tips and thought I’d share the best links I found just in case any of you have student taking the SAT this year.

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On this day last year I was writing about my wedding day.

Technorati Tags: essay tips, SAT, SAT essay

Homeschooling: what curriculum do you use?

Owlhaven — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:03:57 +0000

These days there is a huge variety of choice when it comes to homeschool curriculum, with almost as many good options are their are homeschooling families. Below I am going to list my favorite curriculum. I hope you will add your own favorites in comments, below.

MARY’S HOMESCHOOL FAVORITES

MATH
Grades K-3 — Alpha Omega Horizon
Grades 4 and up – Saxon math

SCIENCE

Beginning around 4th grade we start Apologia science
PHONICS and READING

ABeka Phonics

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

BOB books (very early readers)

Sonlight Curriculum -we don’t do the whole curriculum, but we have many of the readers. I love the diversity of the characters, and the way each stories illuminates a specific place and time in history. (Many different reading levels here)

HISTORY

Childhood of Famous Americans– This very diverse series of biographies is great for kids 2nd-6th grade, and is another great way to get reading and history at the same time.

Note: The above link will take you to paperbackswap.com, a great way to get affordable books. If you look at the site and decide to sign up, list me (owlhaven at aol dot com) as the person who referred you, OK? I’ll get a book credit, which will delight my kids, because they’ll get to pick books!
HANDWRITING

A Reason for Writing- Kids get writing practice by writing Bible verses

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Rosetta Stone- insanely expensive, but really good. Kids are able to work on their own, without parents having to know the language.

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OK, all experienced homeschoolers, it’s your turn. What homeschool curriculum do you love?

Planning a new school year

Owlhaven — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:25:41 +0000

Apparently I got the griping out of my system the other day, because I’m feeling more cheerful about the start of school. I’ve organized my existing books, and ordered more, including handwriting and a 3rd copy of Saxon 7/6 math — the latter on paperbackswap.com– hooray!

Last night I got a new chore chart made. I like to leave kids assigned to a job for long enough that they get excellent at it. But I also like them to be competent at multiple jobs. So at the start of each school year everyone gets a new job list.

Erika heads off to college on Friday, and our 17 year old will be juggling a job and a busy senior year of high school, so I’m basically assigning jobs to only the 7 youngest. My 15 year old also has a busy high school load — his only job besides yard work is cleaning the kitchen after lunch every day.

Next in the lineup we have our 14 year old daughter, then three 11 year olds. The four of them will be doing breakfast and dinner dishes, 3 meals per week per child, either M-W-F or T-Th-S. This summer I trialed having pairs of kids doing dishes together, but ended up deciding that kids were more industrious when they knew the entire task was their own to complete. This fall they’ll be working alone, but doing dishes a bit less often.

Kids in this age group also feed animals, sweep kitchen, clean living room and family room, and tidy both kids’ bathrooms each day. These jobs get done in the afternoon once school is done, for a total work time of about an hour per kid per day, maybe a little longer if they are moving slowly.

I am working on phasing our 7 year old daughter into more ‘serious’ housework. She will be washing out the laundry room sink every day and spot-mopping the kitchen floor with a damp rag. (Our kitchen floor can always use some wiping, it seems.)

The four year old will be sorting clean silverware, sweeping the hearth and windexing the front glass door. Neither job will get done perfectly, but I can live with 4 year old effort in both those areas.

Now that we have the job list figured out, next on my list is actual school planning. Maybe this week. Along with picking a few pictures to bring to the fair, canning tomatoes, freezing corn, and begging people to take my cucumbers.

Because I do NOT need more pickles.

Homeschooling with preschoolers

Owlhaven — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:02:59 +0000

Homeschooling older children with little ones in the house can be a real challenge. Toddlers and preschoolers are energetic, inquisitive, and mobile. They make things happen. Woe to you if you’re not watching them while they’re making things happen. But how can you occupy them in a way that will still allow you to also teach older ones?

One of the things that has helped me over the years is an idea adapted from Montessori preschools. “Play stations” are independent activities set up in designated spaces on the floor. Children stay with one activity for 5 to 10 minutes. When a timer rings, they rotate to another station. Good activities include: dollhouse and people, Cheerios to string, blocks, stacking cups, Legos, simple puzzles, and stories on tapes.

Play stations require a little bit of training. At first you may want to be flexible with the time. With young toddlers, you’ll want to keep the time short– maybe 2-3 rotations of 5 minutes each once a day. Or you can let your child do an activity for as long as it holds his interest, and then pull out the next thing.

As kids settle in and their attention span increases, you can gradually increase the number of rotations, and the amount of time at each activity. If play is going really well, I’ll sometimes just turn the timer off rather than interrupt the child when he is really engrossed in an activity.

Vary activities often to suit your child’s interests. To keep several kids occupied at once, 4-6 activities are adequate. Set up stations a few feet apart to avoid squabbles. The time it takes to set up play stations will be rewarded by the sight of your little ones learning to play happily— and independently — near you.

MORE IDEAS

1.) Indoor ‘sandbox’: Put uncooked rice into a large bowl on a bed sheet on the floor. Add cups, funnels, and spoons. Afterward your child can help clean up with a small broom and dustpan.

2.) Toy Dump: Suspend a plastic bucket from the ceiling about a foot off the floor. Put a plastic dishpan under it full of small toys. Toddlers fill the bucket and dump it back into the dishpan.

3.) Ball Toss: Use a bucket and aluminum foil balls, and make a masking tape ‘free-throw’ line to stand behind.

4.) Sewing Cards: Glue a picture to cardboard, then outline the picture with a hole punch. Your child ‘sews’ the picture using a long shoelace.

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More homeschooling posts

Homeschooling: how we began
Homeschooling: why we stuck with it
Holy Experience: Pros and cons of homeschooling
Raising Five: Shelter is not a place

Technorati Tags: Homeschooling

Gearing up

Owlhaven — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:41:16 +0000

I’m not about to claim that I am READY for school to start, but I did at least get a start on pre-school organizing. All last year, the laundry room counter was the dumping grounds for kids’ books at the end of each school day. Books were supposed to be stacked neatly, but of course that never happened. With sharing books and working around laundry and many people in and out of the room all day, it was hard to pin down who left messes and made heaps tip– frustrating for mom.

Adding to the mess was an influx of new books someone had given to us. I knew that before I could do any serious school planning, I had to sort through what I had, give away what I didn’t need, and find space for what I intended to use.

I spent parts of two days sorting books and organizing them by subject in the upper cupboards. Once the counter was clear, I was able to move the school computer onto that counter. I think it will be a good place for kids to use the computer for typing, Spanish, Korean, or games. Last year the computer was in the living room, which when running tended to distract kids doing other work.

Once all that was done, my husband made cubby-style shelving for the books the kids use every day. The 6 youngest kids now each have their own slot in which (theoretically) to return their own books at the end of each day. I’m hoping this will make them more accountable, and also simply more able to put their own things away neatly.

Next step: lesson planning. It feels so much more possible now that the books are in order.