Today for Art Class we did . . . Tie-dye!
Will post pics with the fun-tabulous results soon!
(Although probably not soon enough for the kids. They don't want to wait for their projects to cure!)
jonah rockin' the xylophone
8 years ago
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Trialing And Erroring
There seems to be doing A LOT of trialing and erroring going on these days -- and a little heavy on the erroring. Guess you know I'm referring to homeschooling!
In my heart of hearts, I know we are going to make it. We have peace about homeschooling this year, so I KNOW we'll make it through. I'm just hoping my kids don't have to cry their weight in tears, or I don't eat a whole chocolate cake in one sitting before we get to that point! I'm such a follow directions/list-type person. I'm not very creative or a big problem solver especially after I had three kids and half my brain cells were fried! I wish there was a book or a homeschool method that says, "Start at 8:00 with Arithmetic, then do Spelling and Language. Break at 10:15." -- you get the drift. But I know that is pretty much fantasy. I'm still trying to figure out what subject I should be sitting in with each of the kids or what subject they can do independently and how to schedule that so I don't have to be two places at once. And if I don't have everything (papers, teaching aids, etc.) laid out the night before, I'm DOOMED!
Today I sat the girls down and had a serious talk with them because they are both at the point of not wanting to do school ever again -- on Day 8. I know, seriously?!? I told them there were rules about going to school -- that it was required. ("Remember the field trip we just took to Harrisburg? The buildings Daddy showed you were our representatives and law makers work?" Man, I love it when things come together nicely like that.) I also told them that just like if we are speeding and the policeman/woman pulls us over that we will have to pay a fine for breaking the law -- that there are consequences for not schooling our children. It wasn't pretty. I told them the police would come take them away and put them in another family that would make them do school. There were tears, but we turned it around and talked about having a bell in each of their rooms to ring when they needed me -- although I did tell them I'd cut off their hand if they rang it incessantly! To which Makenna said she'd keep ringing the bell with her stub! HA! They would to torture me to my death!
Along with the "bad", there has been good. I don't think I've gotten as many hugs and had as many kids say "I love you, Mom" in a long time as I have in the last couple weeks. I am praying that we turn things around -- find a routine that works for us and can coast a little more smoothly through the rest of the school year. I'd really like to be able to do art class or "home ec" or go to the park in the afternoon. We've spend most of our days just trying to get school done before dinner and keep our heads above water.
Today I found this comic while searching for some sanity.
It gave me a ray of hope. Which reminds me. I think some told me that Einstein wasn't very good at spelling and that spelling is not directly linked to intelligence -- you can be smart and not be good at spelling. Makenna struggles with spelling. Not sure if it was her faulty phonics foundation or if she just doesn't have the knack for it. Yesterday was her first Trial Spelling Test. She only missed 1 out of 20 of the ones she studied, but for some reason didn't study the other 10 vocabulary words (of which she missed 9). Attached to her trial test was a post it note: "I think I got an F. I am hurible at spelling." I just had to laugh. She is so cute, and I love her to pieces. I am so thankful for the relationship we are building with this extra time we have to spend together.
In my heart of hearts, I know we are going to make it. We have peace about homeschooling this year, so I KNOW we'll make it through. I'm just hoping my kids don't have to cry their weight in tears, or I don't eat a whole chocolate cake in one sitting before we get to that point! I'm such a follow directions/list-type person. I'm not very creative or a big problem solver especially after I had three kids and half my brain cells were fried! I wish there was a book or a homeschool method that says, "Start at 8:00 with Arithmetic, then do Spelling and Language. Break at 10:15." -- you get the drift. But I know that is pretty much fantasy. I'm still trying to figure out what subject I should be sitting in with each of the kids or what subject they can do independently and how to schedule that so I don't have to be two places at once. And if I don't have everything (papers, teaching aids, etc.) laid out the night before, I'm DOOMED!
Today I sat the girls down and had a serious talk with them because they are both at the point of not wanting to do school ever again -- on Day 8. I know, seriously?!? I told them there were rules about going to school -- that it was required. ("Remember the field trip we just took to Harrisburg? The buildings Daddy showed you were our representatives and law makers work?" Man, I love it when things come together nicely like that.) I also told them that just like if we are speeding and the policeman/woman pulls us over that we will have to pay a fine for breaking the law -- that there are consequences for not schooling our children. It wasn't pretty. I told them the police would come take them away and put them in another family that would make them do school. There were tears, but we turned it around and talked about having a bell in each of their rooms to ring when they needed me -- although I did tell them I'd cut off their hand if they rang it incessantly! To which Makenna said she'd keep ringing the bell with her stub! HA! They would to torture me to my death!
Along with the "bad", there has been good. I don't think I've gotten as many hugs and had as many kids say "I love you, Mom" in a long time as I have in the last couple weeks. I am praying that we turn things around -- find a routine that works for us and can coast a little more smoothly through the rest of the school year. I'd really like to be able to do art class or "home ec" or go to the park in the afternoon. We've spend most of our days just trying to get school done before dinner and keep our heads above water.
Today I found this comic while searching for some sanity.
(The chalkboard should read E=MC2 if you didn't get that.)
It gave me a ray of hope. Which reminds me. I think some told me that Einstein wasn't very good at spelling and that spelling is not directly linked to intelligence -- you can be smart and not be good at spelling. Makenna struggles with spelling. Not sure if it was her faulty phonics foundation or if she just doesn't have the knack for it. Yesterday was her first Trial Spelling Test. She only missed 1 out of 20 of the ones she studied, but for some reason didn't study the other 10 vocabulary words (of which she missed 9). Attached to her trial test was a post it note: "I think I got an F. I am hurible at spelling." I just had to laugh. She is so cute, and I love her to pieces. I am so thankful for the relationship we are building with this extra time we have to spend together.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Homeschool Humor - Fractions
One nice thing about homschooling is there is a large network of folks that I can share with, ask questions of and commiserate with regarding "issues" we face as homeschooling moms.
As I run across things or have things shared with me, I will post them here.
Tonight, I'm not sure if I'm just overtired or if it's just because I felt this way after homeshooling Makenna for part of 4th grade, but this was histerical to me!
As I run across things or have things shared with me, I will post them here.
Tonight, I'm not sure if I'm just overtired or if it's just because I felt this way after homeshooling Makenna for part of 4th grade, but this was histerical to me!
(click to enlarge)
First Day Of 2011-2012 School Year
The first day of (home) school went well ~ PRAISE THE LORD! I can't say as much for the other days, but we're off to a good start. (Please excuse the poor quality in the photos. I had to use my cell phone.)
Makenna in her (school) room
Madison in her (school) room
Isaiah proudly showing off the YELLOW school bus he colored in class
We've tried to employ a few ideas that make school run more smoothly. Nana helps supply our Snack Basket. We keep this in the kitchen and the kids can pick out something and serve themselves a snack while other are still schooling or Momma is playing catch-up trying to get lessons together for the remainder of the school day!
We also have a Prize Box the kids can pick something out of when they do a good job on their school work and have a good attitude. Papaw helped supply items for the Prize Box and Mommy bought a few things from Oriental Trading Company (bubbles, pencils, erasers) and added a few miniture Snickers, Swedish Fish and Smarties!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Here Goes Nothing!
UPDATE 8/10/11: Today was AWESOME!! Zaya was a bit quirky, but he did well once I set up a small desk for him and moved him away from the kitchen table. I'll elaborate more (hopefully) later. Just wanted to say THANK YOU for all the prayers said on our behalf!!!!
**********************************
As much as this post title exudes confidence (HA!), I'm not so sure of the adventure we are about to embark on -- TOMORROW!!
Don't know if I would ever feel prepared enough, but we have prayed about and discussed our goals in homeschooling. We want our children to receive a good education (from professional educators). We don't want to just bide our time -- filling it with crafts and field trips (as this image I found online suggests).
I'm also praying that I can remain sane (no, SERIOUSLY!!), and my kids don't end up warped.
Also found this saying (and adapted it to a photo I liked). Think I may print it out and hang it prominently in the house somewhere.
I hope to have many good things to report and fun photos to post. As much as Makenna griped about school work I tried to get her to review this summer, she's pretty excited about starting A Beka Book DVD program. I think the others are too, but she's got that "so excited I can't sleep" excitement going on! Hopefully that carries over til tomorrow!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
