Weekly Report~ October 9, 2009

School. I always loved it. The books, the teachers, the desks (especially the kind with the lids that opened and closed), the worksheets, listening to the chalk on the chalkboard, recess, my friends, sharpening my pencils, and reading. The actual *learning* part of school was ok, but not my top priority. I was in love with the physical and social experience of "school".

D, on the other hand, seems to be in love with the actual learning and could care less about the rest of the school experience. I want to give him what is best for HIM, but that's not always an easy thing to figure out with a kid like D. He's had two more meltdowns concerning school, and continues to express the desire to be homeschooled so that he can "be taught lots of stuff and do lots of science and not just sit around playing games like I do at school". And he's so intense and adamant in his proclamations that it's hard to argue with his logic. At the same time, on an emotional level, I feel that going to school has really been helpful in teaching him to listen to/follow directions from other adults, to learn there are certain rules that need to be followed, and to learn to respect authority. He has also made a handful of friends, but he does that everywhere he goes! The other bonus of going to school is that he consistently has a well-rounded week filled with gym, art, music, reading in group settings, learning how to get along with his peers for longer periods of time, and spending less time in front of the television.

As far as afterschooling, I let him take the lead this week. The LAST thing I want to do is push him too hard, or make learning a chore. The main reason I'm supplementing with him at all is because of his love of learning and his need for moremoremore. I'd hate to kill that passion by forcing him to do a lot of unneccesary work. Here's some of what we did do throughout the week:

• Lots of nature study (October is sooooooo my favorite month!)
• Finished our books on mummies and pyramids; read about Sargon taking over Mesopotamia in SOTW1
• Writing.... this is his favorite thing at the moment. He makes books and writes stories to read to me every night. The stories are typically about a boy going on an adventure and in some way or another discovering a crystal. :)
• Two math lessons in Singapore 1A
• Reviewing common nouns & proper nouns, doing picture study & narration in FLL

No science this week. I have a few experiments planned for this weekend, as D has 4 days off of school and we'll have a lot of free time to fill. As for my little guy--B--we've had more time together with D in school all week, and it's been nice to just hang out with him. We went to the library story hour, ran errands, played together, and spent a lot of time snuggling.

Weekly Report~ October 2, 2009

Fall is in the air, and the leaves are changing colors before our eyes. It seems a bit early this year, perhaps due to the rainy summer? All I know is that it will be over in the blink of an eye and we want to get out and enjoy autumn in New England while we can. In the meantime, D had an *excellent* week at school. And B made it to all three days of preschool~ no more fever or snoogy nose. I am in the process of trying to find a balance between school, playtime, screen time, outdoor time, play dates, and afterschooling for D. Luckily, he has a LOT less interest in television now that his days are full, but he does still ask to play on the computer almost every day. He also wants to be outside alot, he asks for playdates almost every day, he craves 'alone time' as well as the occasional 'brother time', he wants to build with his Legos, and he wants to draw. Every day. Now, we all know there are not enough hours in a day to fit all this in, but try telling that to an argumentative six year old!!

I encourage spending time outside as well as playing indoors with or without friends/brother until dinner time, and after dinner is when we focus on afterschooling (although he chooses most of what he wants to do at this point and considers it as 'fun time', so let's not ruin things by calling it school).

Here is a taste of what we did this week:

Real Science 4 Kids Pre-Chemistry~ Unit 1 & lab; Janice Van Cleave experiment book~ two chemistry related experiments and notebooking pages.

Math~ Timed addition sheets, a "math maze", and other review problems.

SOTW~Section on Egyptian pyramids; map, maze, and built a pyramid out of Legos.

FLL~ Learned the definition of common and proper nouns; did a few pages out of a workbook I bought at the bookstore.

Independent Reading and read-alouds

This coming weekend I will give D a placement test to see which level of Singapore Math I need to order for him. Other than that, DH is working his tail off trying to get our house ready to go on the market a week from Saturday. We can't wait for that house to S.E.L.L.

Weekly Report~ September 25, 2009

We made the decision to send D to public school this year, but not for academic reasons. He desperately needed to be a part of a structured setting where there were (non-Mom) rules to follow and (non-Mom) directions to be listened to. He needed socialization that I was unable to provide him, on a consistent and daily basis. During his K year, I joined a homeschool support group and he made a few friends, but we only got together once a month or so. I signed him up for hockey, homeschool gym class, and a homeschool art class. The only one he really liked was art, but there was only one other boy in class with him who was not only older but very quiet. So no solid, regular connections were being made. Now that he's in school, he's thriving socially and his behavior at school AND at home has already improved quite a bit. He's making friends and looks forward to seeing them every day.

However, last night he had a meltdown over something small that led to him admitting to me that he was feeling really bored with what he's learning at school, saying that they are doing stuff he did in preschool. I explained that it'll get more challenging as the year goes on, but asked him what it was he wanted to learn. He told me, "SCIENCE! And math. And how to draw. And about Egypt." Although I've been 'afterschooling' him in order to supplement his academics, I've been doing it casually. After last night's tear-fest, we spent the next hour or so doing addition drill sheets, learning the definition of a noun and memorizing the poem The Caterpillar from FLL lessons 1-4; reading a chapter in SOTW (Story of the World) about mummies and pyramids, and doing a science experiement, complete with discussion sheet. To wrap it all up, we mummified an Egyptian god.... thanks to this online BBC game: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/launch_gms_mummy_maker.shtml

We did more last night in an impromptu afterschooling session than we did on any one day of homeschooling last year (or at least without the complaining and procrastination that used to go along with it). D's attitude towards learning and his ability to focus has improved drastically in just a few months time.

I'll be posting my weekly report regardless of whether we do much afterschooling or not. It gives me that extra push to get online and keep an informal record of what we're doing, so that I can review it as the year goes on. I also hope to share my experience with other families who have also chosen to afterschool their children, as well as with homeschooling families who have been--and continue to be--an inspiration and support in my life. I'm looking forward to reading your blogs as well!!

Weekly Report~May 1, 2009

We bid farewell to D's very first loose tooth, which was successfully yanked out by yours truly and magically transformed into $2.00 by the generous tooth fairy. A major milestone in the life of any six-year-old boy. D was thrilled~ I actually thought he'd be incredibly upset, based on his past reactions to any form of bodily harm. I think the impending tooth fairy visit was what kept him excited, especially since he's been saving all his pennies in order to earn a new box of Legos.

We've been very casual about school this month. Things seem to be winding down. D needs extra practice with his addition of numbers 1-20, so we're slowing down a bit with his workbook in order to practice. Phonics comes very easy for him, but I insist he continues with his ETC workbook because it's actually giving him plenty of handwriting practice. I would never tell that to him, however, because he reacts very negatively to the idea of "doing handwriting". He has also been reading Level 1 readers to me at night before I read bedtime stories to him and B. For social studies, we read The Littlest Matryoshka and played with my set of nesting dolls. The boys also colored a map of Russia and the flag.

Science has been almost non-existant this month, at least in terms of anything formal. With the arrival of spring and nicer weather, we've been spending more time outside and observing nature. We took a walk by a wetland area of our neighborhood and watched to see if we could find any frogs. We took a walk through our backyard woods and found a pile of deer poop which we identified by looking it up on the internet. And the boys have excitedly watched our daffodils bloom and the buds appear on all of our trees, as if by magic. We took a walk and found a handful of rocks that had broken in half, giving us the opportunity to observe what a rock looks like inside. D thinks they're all "crystals" and we have them displayed on our nature table. D will begin gymnastics next Tuesday, with his very best buddy in class with him. He did a trial class last week and loved it, although (not surpisingly) the teacher mentioned that he really needs to work on not talking over her and listening to her while she talks. Hopefully he will be able to control his need to constantly chatter.

That's about it for this week. I need to get cracking on ordering curriculum for next year, finishing up this year's paperwork and organizing all of D's work, and making sure to fill out an Intent to Homeschool form, as we'll be "officially" homeschooling next fall once D is in first grade. Kindergarten is not legally mandatory here in NH, so this felt a bit like a "practice year". I'd better get focused!! Hey, isn't that what I'm always telling D?? Like mother, like son.

Weekly Report~ February 27, 2009

The past two weeks have been a mixture of school, vacation days, snow days and sick days. We've lost our routine and the flow of the day that I worked so hard to achieve prior to the holidays. My goal for the month of March is to ease back into that routine so the remainder of the school year has a sense of structure to it. Although it feels like we haven't been accomplishing much lately, D continues to improve his reading, writing and math skills. We're about 1/2 way through Unit 4 in his new math book, solidifying his addition facts (1-10) and currently working on subtraction. D finished the first two lessons in his new ETC Level 3 book and is demonstrating a firm grasp on the concept of words ending with "silent e". He has discovered that learning to read opens whole new worlds for him to explore, from leveled readers to LEGO catalogs.

Our learning about the continents has stalled during the past month. We spent a week on Mexico, reading a few books and coloring the map and flag, but haven't moved on from there. I intend to spend two more weeks on Mexico and South America before moving on to our next country. I'd still like to fit in Russia, the Middle East, Canada, and America before the end of June.

We read about the solar system a lot over this past month, but haven't been doing any experiments to go along with it. Last Friday we spent the afternoon at the Children's Museum, and at the end of the day the boys got to pick out a little pouch and four polished rocks to go in it. I figured this was a great way to introduce them to our next unit on rocks (geology).

The most rewarding accomplishment this past week was reading the Great Illustrated Classics edition of The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Although the story is adapted from the original, it works well as a family read-aloud due to the amount of illustrations included. It is a great stepping stone from reading picture books to reading more advanced books without losing his interest in the process. An additional bonus is that B loves to sit with us and it keeps his attention throughout.

One reason our routine has failed us lately is due to attending gym class every Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It truly takes up most of the day. By the time we get home, it's already into the afternoon. D has made a few friends there, including his new girl-friend Catherine. I am pleased as punch with this new friendship, considering that just a few weeks ago he wouldn't speak to, sit near, play with, or look at a girl. NO GIRLS ALLOWED seemed to be his motto. Luckily, that phase didn't last long and now he has a sweet new friend to show for it. It doesn't hurt that C's mommy is incredibly easy to get along with either. It's hard to find like-minded moms even among homeschooling crowds, and it's been nice to have someone to chat with and get to know while sitting through 3 hours of gym class every week! D has also been taking ice-skating lessons on the weekends, and it is a love/hate relationship. One second he's cold, his feet hurt, and he never wants to skate again. Then in the blink of an eye he's skating around the ice with a huge smile on his face. Personally, I'm looking forward to the lessons coming to an end. It's been a challenge, to say the least.

Weekly Report~ February 6, 2009

Another week has flown by in the blink of an eye. I have no new photos to share and nothing very exciting to report~ yup, it's definitely February. D did unit 2 in his new math book, and seems to be enjoying it so far. He especially likes the exercises that have you figure out a problem and then spell out a secret code. He completed his ETC book 2 and will be starting book 3 next Monday (or possibly today, we'll see how it goes). We're reading about Mexico but didn't get to it as much as I would've liked to. I'm hoping to catch up a bit over the weekend. His handwriting is improving.....slowly..... as long as he concentrates while writing his letters.

As for the rest of the family, DH enjoyed his trip to Florida with his father and came home with fun goodies for everyone. He gave D a real, working pirate pocket watch that thrilled D to pieces. It's also been useful in teaching D more about telling time. B has been flourishing lately in so many ways, especially with his wanting to "write" in his notebook all day long and scribble pictures. He loves using his scissors and markers (Daddy even had to make a special trip to the store just to buy him more since his wore out), and continues to love play-doh. As for me?? Well, LOST has started again, I finally dug out my scrapbook supplies and photos (first time since before the holidays), and I sold my first item ever on Ebay. Nothing too exciting, but like I said, it's February in New England.

Weekly Report~ January 30, 2009

And the snow just keeps on coming!! We had a 'snow day' on Wednesday and spent the day building Zoobs, reading the rest of The Invention of Hugo Cabret (part one), and playing in the snow. I haven't been keeping up with my weekly reports lately due to transitioning to my new (awesome) computer. I am now located downstairs right in the middle of all the action, which I love. But I've yet to install Word, Excel, and my photo software..... which are the three main things I use for recording/planning our school and blogging. In the meantime, I've snuck back upstairs to the old computer in hopes of posting a quick report.

D continues to show great progress in reading. It has come so naturally for him, and for that I am grateful. He has completed his Singapore EarlyBird 2B workbook, so yesterday we began first grade math (Singapore Primary Math 1A standards edition). I want him to master his math facts before proceeding to the next level, but he gets bored and frustrated with too much repetition. So we spent two weeks playing math games, finishing up EB 2B, and doing some worksheets before jumping into our new book. D really enjoyed our unit on outer space, but to my surprise B has become fascinated with all things space as well. He proclaimed he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up, builds Lego spaceships all day long, and often wants me to read space books throughout the day. It's fun to see his personality taking shape and his interests developing.

The rest of the week we spent going to homeschool gym class, finishing up D's Explode the Code 2 workbook, working on handwriting, and reading Hugo Cabret (D loves loves loves this book.... thank you Uncle K and Uncle C). It is truly the most unique, captivating read aloud we've ever done and it has inspired D to find a little notebook and fill it with sketches and 'secrets' of all kinds.

Weekly Report~ January 16, 2009

I came downstairs yesterday morning to find the boys side by side, D playing his Leapster and B "working on my computer" as he would say. If you know my kids, you would realize how rare moments like this are. Although they *do* seem to be happening a bit more often lately. After awhile I told D to turn off his game and get ready for school. He said, "Just one more game, mom. Besides, I'm doing math so this IS school". I couldn't argue with that logic, and gave in to the 'just one more game' request.

This week of school has been fantastic. I'm not quite sure why the change in attitude, but D has done his work quickly and neatly. When he puts his mind to it, his lessons get done in less than an hour. Maybe he's finally realizing that when his work gets done, it leaves more time for playing. Another difference this week is that we started a homeschool gym class. It meets twice a week for 1.5 hours at a time. I think getting out of the house, being around other kids, and running around playing sports for a few hours was just what the boys needed to burn off all that pent-up energy that's been brewing.

Here's a summary of our week:

Handwriting~ Cc, Dd, Ee
ETC~ Lesson 8, began Lesson 9
Reading~ OPG Lesson 85-87; LSLF "Funny Ann"
Math~ P.66, Lesson 18, Review 1, Power Math Unit 11 (p. 211-213)
Social Studies~ Read Bimwili & The Zimwi; Mirandy and Brother Wind with narration; mapwork
Science~ Began unit on Astronomy: Read Sun, Moon and Stars and crafts (made a space telescope)
Music~ Listened to classical music and The Musical Life of Gustav Mole book/CD
Religion~ Bible stories

Weekly Report~ January 9, 2009

Our first week back to school after a couple weeks off for the holidays was filled with activity. Admittedly, Monday was disasterous. D wanted nothing to do with anything even remotely related to school. Somehow we managed to get through that day, and the rest of the week flew by. We spent an afternoon at the Children's Museum where D played with anyone and everyone while B played on the computer designing kaleidoscopic images. Wednesday and Thursday were snowy days so we had some much-needed outdoor time in between lessons.

We are currently studying Africa and the boys really seem to be enjoying the stories as well as the African Playground CD I've been playing for them. D especially enjoyed By The Baobab Tree (book on CD with accompanying song) by John Archambault, so we expanded on his interest by making our own baobab tree and putting on a show with our new puppet theater. I love being able to go off on little tangents now and again when D shows excitement about something.
As for the core subjects, D is reviewing counting by 10's to 100, simple addition, and money. He continues to read from OPG, about a page per day. This week he learned about "ai" blends, along with homophones such as made/maid and plane/plain. And finally, he continues working through his handwriting book and ETC (phonics).

Weekly Report~ December 19, 2008

I haven't been keeping up with my Weekly Report spreadsheet over the past month due to being inundated with holidays, a birthday, sickness, and the recent power outage. We have been completing lessons and a lot of projects, but mostly just "winging it". It seems to be working, though, because D has been a bit more cooperative and engaged while doing his school work. The past two mornings we were up and doing school by 7:30am per D's request. Beginning our science unit on magnets had a lot to do with his enthusiasm this morning. I had a few photos I wanted to share, but my camera battery died as soon as I attempted to upload the pictures. So, here is a very brief report of what we've been doing this past week:

Math~ Coin recognition; continuing addition drills and learning to tell time
Language Arts~ Ending blends (-st, -sk, -mp); OPG lessons; reading out loud
Science~ Finished up unit on floating and sinking; Beginning unit on magnets
Geography~ Our travels have taken us to the continent of Africa this week
Music~ Piano lesson(s)
Handwriting~ A few pages from his Getty-Dubay Italics workbook

Next week we'll be on vacation for the holidays, but will continue to fit in lots of reading and some math during this time. More importantly--and more FUN--will be baking lots of Christmas cookies, wrapping presents, making decorations, and celebrating with family. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Weekly Report

The news of the week is that D had his first official piano lesson. The bigger news?? He LOVED it. Originally, I was determined to send him to somebody else for lessons. I think, ultimately, it was because I was filled with fear that I wouldn't be able to teach him myself. I had six years of lessons when I was younger, and realistically there is no reason I shouldn't be able to at least get him started learning how to play. After a bit of research, I decided on the My First Piano Adventure series by Nancy and Randall Faber. It is incredibly child-friendly and FUN.

The past few weeks of school have been all about crafts, games and fun. As a result, D got right back to his book work this week with fewer complaints and a bit more focus. He's excited to be learning about physics this month, waking up each morning and asking, "What are we doing today, mom??" He loves doing science experiments, and what better way to learn about floating and sinking, gravity, and magnetics than through hands-on exploration?? Here's a few highlights of what we've been up to lately:

Reading about the first Thanksgiving, making hand-print turkeys, and collecting twigs to make our first Tree of Gratitude for our Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Studying France~ this has been a big hit. The boys love the CD's I've been playing of French children's songs, and have a new found crush on all things Madeline. B now points out the Eiffel Tower everywhere we go, even if it's just a cell phone tower along the highway! This week we've moved on to England, and D really enjoyed our read-aloud of The Tailor Of Gloucester (Beatrix Potter). We'll continue our journey through England next week as well. D is working on memorizing the poem "I'm Glad" (Anonymous) but for some reason doesn't seem to enjoying it as much as some of the others he's learned.

Here he is doing a floating and sinking experiment, where you squeeze the bottle to see the 'jellyfish' float. We also discovered that raisins continue to rise and fall if you put them in a jar filled with Sprite. Last night we read the Magic School Bus Ups and Downs: A Book About Floating and Sinking.

In math we've been working with our pocket chart calendar to learn about the days of the week and the months of the year. This week in OPG we covered the differences between TO, TOO, and TWO; hard c/ soft c; hard g/ soft g. He much prefers reading a leveled reader book to me than reading out of the OPG book, so I've been trying to do a little of both. And he's happy to be starting his new handwriting book this week~ Getty-Dubay Italics Book B. Each page is a bit more in-depth than Book A, and he doesn't seem to be as bored. That could also be because I'm only having him do 2 pages per week instead of one every day. He gets plenty of handwriting practice in other areas throughout the week.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we've switched gears. We are now in BIRTHDAY mode. And of course, with the beginning of Advent, the Christmas season has officially begun and we're looking forward to all the celebrations that fill the month ahead.

Weekly Report~ November 21, 2008

After a week of DS complaining about "hating school" because "I don't want to just sit there and stare at a workbook all day", I decided today will be Fun School. We'll read the pile of books that have been neglected due to his procrastination on his other work (math, phonics, handwriting). He can color a map of France while listening to Classical Kids, do some spin art, read a book to me, watch a DVD about France that I received from Netflix, bake something yummy, and do his last lesson from ETC orally. I'll see how many complaints I get doing things this way compared to when I ask him to sit down and "do school". As I write about our day ahead, I realize that this is what I want out of our homeschooling experience more than anything else, not just once in awhile but on a more regular basis. I'm having a hard time balancing book work with the fun stuff, but KNOW that it doesn't have to be one or the other. It can be---and should be---a combination of both.

Speaking of doing school, here is our week in review:

Weekly Report~ November 14, 2008

Finally!! A week to be satisfied with. D was calm (disclaimer: compared to last week), somewhat focused, and went about doing his assigned work until it was completed, with minimal complaining. I can credit his behavior to three distinct happenings: (1) I took away his Halloween candy and gum to give him a break from all the red dye--and all the artificial coloring and flavors--he's been ingesting; (2) He's been sleeping better due to his little brother not waking up as often during he night, and (3) We're not turning on the television until ALL school work is done. Before, I was turning on the tv after breakfast in order to take my shower and get dressed, but I am desperately trying to break the boys of their television addiction and it seems to be working. That being said, I've been unable to take a morning shower and have had a lot less time online, but it's worth it....more than words can say.

We'll see how next week goes. In the meantime, the company my DH works for has been bought-out, which makes for a lot of uncertainty concerning the future of his job. Please keep us in your prayers, if you are so inclined.

Weekly Report~ November 7, 2008

An early post and an informal one at that.... I am busy getting ready for a much-anticipated SCRAPBOOKING retreat. An entire weekend away, just me, my friends, and my stack of neglected photos waiting to be scrapped. I'd leave tonight if I could!! Not enough school got done this week (and there's "no school" tomorrow since I'll be leaving early), without anything to use as an excuse other than (1) a wild, uninterested student, (2) a crabby, non-napping, pants-wetting 3-year-old and (3) an impatient mommy who spent too much time hiding away in her room. What we DID get done:

Singapore Math Earlybird 2A: Lessons 6 and 7
OPG (phonics): Lessons 63-65
ETC (phonics practice): Lesson 3
Getty-Dubay Italics Handwriting: Letter o
Science: Read Tusk, Tusk by David McKee
Art: Class at studio~ drew/painted portrait of classmate

Once again, we managed to get the "core subjects" done, but I don't feel like it was quality work. D speeds through the pages and there is little to no discussion on my part. He just doesn't like me 'teaching' him when he thinks he can do it all on his own. I suppose if I sit back and ponder this for a moment, it's actually a good trait on his part. It's the beginning of his ability to "learn how to learn" and a step towards the more independent learning he'll be capable of in future years. There, now I feel better ;).

Weekly Report~ October 31, 2008

Somehow we manage to get things accomplished each week, although I feel like we are spending way too much time just trying to get through the core subjects with little time or energy left over for the "fun" stuff (science, history, music, art, etc.). Most of this is due to D's inability to stay focused for very long, his need to move around ALL the time, and my need to continually redirect him to the task at hand. Once he focuses, he actually does the work rather quickly and easily. Whenever I find myself becoming frustrated with him I remind myself that these behaviors are a big reason why we're homeschooling him in the first place, and that I need to be extra patient with him at moments like this. Ohhh, so much easier said than done!!

Weekly Report~ October 24th, 2008

The week started off on a sour note with D refusing any sort of instruction or direction from me, arguing with B to the point of tears, and wiggling and squirming so much he was unable to concentrate (or even hold a pencil for that matter). It made me evaluate how I've been presenting D's lessons to him and I took some time to rethink my approach as well as my expectations. One thing that seems to be helping is making sure he only does one or two pages of math and phonics per day, and one lesson from OPG (learning to read). I have to keep in mind that even though some of the lessons may seem easy to him, or that he grasps a concept more quickly than expected, he does tire easily and has a low tolerance for repetition (read: VERY low tolerance for anything repetitive). The rest of the week improved, to the point that D completed all his lessons yesterday with almost NO complaints whatsoever.

Today is a light workload day, with grandma coming to visit and a trip to the playground planned. Hubby and I are going on a DATE tonight.... ahhhh, how long has it been??? He got tickets to a UNH Wildcats hockey game from a friend at work, and I'm getting excited to go. It's been decades since I've been to a hockey game, and I love the sport. Go Wildcats!

Weekly Report~ October 17, 2008

The beautiful fall weather kept us outside and away from our books more than it should have this week. The way I see it, we'll have plenty of days stuck inside this coming winter to make up any work we miss out on this month. The month of October in New England is a gift to behold, not one to miss out on. We enjoyed a week of pumpkin picking, hayrides, corn mazes, picnics at the park and getting together with friends, both old and new. While D's favorite activity seemed to be playing with other kids everywhere we went, B was content to befriend some farm animals at Emery farm and to hang out painting his pumpkin at a homeschool group's park day/birthday celebration.


We did manage to get some lessons accomplished in between all the fall fun. For science, we finished our unit on the human body by outlining D's body on butcher paper, and he proceeded to fill in and color his entire anatomy, including his brain, lungs, espophagus, veins, bones and muscles. We're traveling through India this week and next for social studies. After mapping out India on the globe, we read a handful of stories and folktales including The Magic Cooking Pot. Both boys enjoyed this story so much that I decided to pull out the clay and have them create a magic cooking pot of their own. Here is D's so far~ he plans to paint it to make it look "more like a real pot". Although B also played with the clay, he ended up with a wet, messy heap as opposed to anything paintable. It's fun to watch his creativity developin as he takes my instructions and interprets them however he feels fit.

Weekly Report~ September 26, 2008

Better late than never! I think this may be a trend with me. I'm finding it difficult to complete and post a weekly report before the week is actually even over (Friday mornings), half the time guessing what will be accomplished that day. Not only that, but it takes awhile to review everything we've done that week and to type it all up.

I created this blog for many reasons, but my main goal was to utilize it as a means of keeping track of our homeschooling, not only for accountability to the state, but also for myself. It is an important aspect of my blog that I insist on keeping up with. One thing I may try in the future (especially once B starts school and I'll have two weekly reports to maintain) is to post bi-weekly or even monthly. This may help keep me consistent enough to stick with it. We shall see.

Weekly Report~ September 19, 2008

I've neglected my blog over the past few weeks, but only from your end as a reader. Whenever I had a few moments, I was downloading photos, working on my weekly reports, and thinking about all of the things I want to write about. And that's as far as I would get. I'm not as computer savvy as a lot of bloggers out there, so it takes me a l-o-n-g time to figure out simple things, like adding my weekly report as a document (above). This is the spreadsheet I created to record everything we do each week. Once a week I type it up, print it out, and add it to my Teacher's Notebook. In addition to that, I was trying to come online and re-type everything on my blog as the Weekly Report. It was redundant and time-consuming, which is why it hasn't been done lately. So today I *think* I've finally figured it out!! Double click on the image above to get a closer look at our week. We've been busy, but we've been having a lot of fun.

Weekly Report, Week of August 25th

This week flew by. I have quickly learned that all of the activites, books, crafts and outings I plan each week are not getting done. Don't get me wrong, all of the important areas like math, reading, and writing get done on a daily basis. It's when the 3 R's are combined with breaks, playing outdoors, snacks, lunch, the occasional outing, and "behavior management", there isn't much time left for things like making a Japanese Hinu doll or doing our science experiments. Luckily, with no set school hours, we can squeeze in an extra story before dinner or save our science experiments for when daddy is home on the weekends. I'd love to have time every day to dedicate to hands-on activites, because this is what D thrives on. In the upcoming weeks I will try to tailor our schedule to accomodate this goal by planning ONE crafty thing per day and lessening my overall expectations of what can realistically be accomplished. That being said, when I look at what we've done this week, I see that we are covering quite a bit of material and am really pleased with D's eagerness (albeit unfocused, silly, moody, and non-compliant at times) to learn.

• Math: Singapore EB1 ~ Lessons 8, 9, 12; Power Math Unit 4
• OPG~ Lessons 32-35 (He's having trouble with the short-e sound, continually mixing it up with the short-i sound. We need to practice this more over the weekend); Reading Bob Books
• ETC~ Lesson 5
• Handwriting~ Ww, Xx, Zz
• Religion~ Lesson 3-Adam & Eve; Mirror craft, Made up a thank-you prayer to God, copywork, and drew a self-portrait
• Literature~ Winnie-The-Pooh stories (1) In Which We Are Introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh and Some Bees, and the Story Begins (2) In Which Eeyore Loses a Tail and Pooh Finds One; Aesop's For Children (selected tales)
• Geography~ Japan- Read: The Crane's Gratitude, How the Sea Became Salty, and Momotaro; Mapped out Japan on our large world map and on the globe; watched the video "Big Bird in Japan"
• Science~ Read more about the weather and seasons; will do experiments this weekend about air pressure and/or the rotation of the sun
• Extracurricular~Spent the day at the Children's Museum of NH followed by a picnic at the park. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post soon.