Valor's Dream School

Valor used to really enjoy school but recently he has changed his mind. He would rather be at home with us. Sadly, he is having an issue with his friends who don't seem to like him anymore, so this coming week (Spring Break) we'll be focusing on how to be a good friend and what a good friend is. I put together a curriculum about friendships, so hopefully it will help him.

I asked him what school would look like if he could make it be however he wanted. So, here is what he came up with...

Valor's Cool School

• We could make money
• 20 hours of recess
• 10 hours for lunch
• 10 hours of stations: play stamps, plastic chains that snap together, play checkers, puzzles, shaped blocks-build something, squares that stack together, read newspapers (president’s papers)
• 20 hours of computer lab: cool math games, painting, spelling city

• Free popcorn everyday
• Free lunches of any kind of food you want
• Free ice cream
• Free books
• Free candy

• No buses allowed
• No Kindergartners
• No First Graders
• No one has to listen to the teacher

What would your child's dream school look like? It might tell you something about the way (s)he learns best!

My dream is to home school (if we ever could adopt the boys) and then I could make some of his dream come true, too!

The Kids' Schooling, Preschool and Kindergarten

Uno's readers from school

Uno

Uno is really making progress in Kindergarten. His teacher was surprised at how well he did when she tested him again. He comes home singing all kinds of learning songs which, I assume, he is hearing at school. (counting by 5's and 10's, for instance.) He also seems to love science and always has something to say about catching ladybugs or planting a flower at school. About the only thing he cannot do yet is write a story, but, hey, he's only in Kindergarten!

The girls really caught onto this one.

The most exciting thing to me is that Uno is now reading! His teacher sent home some early readers and he read the first one through very well. I think we are now on book 3. Reading to the children is part of our evening routine, and sometimes Josh lets Uno read some easy words, too. When the children first arrived they could not sit still long enough for us to read a book to them. Now, they will choose to sit quite often throughout the day and "read" books!

...and on the back of the cards are the symbols.

Dos

The days have been so busy and I've been so tired that I haven't been as consistent with the girls' home schooling. I think I am supposed to have Dos enrolled in Headstart but they did not have an opening. She was disappointed because she wants to go to school like her brother. I plan to get her registered in May, though.

a homemade Montessori "sandpaper letters"

At this point, I am taking it slowly with her so she can master the concept of what the numbers and letters mean, as opposed to just teaching them the symbols. For instance, I am teaching the sounds of the letters of the alphabet, not the names yet. Although, for a while I taught them the A beka chart "A says a a apple, etc."

In Math, I am teaching what zero, one, two, and three mean instead of focusing on the symbols (0,1,2,3). I tried starting out that way actually, using both the symbol and quantity and they had no idea what I was talking about, so I started over with a different approach. I'm using a little bit of the Montessori method but not totally.

So far, Dos knows almost all of her colors except she usually mixes up yellow and blue. We play the memory matching game with color flash cards. She understands the quantities of zero, one, two, three, and four. I tried some pre-handwriting readiness worksheets but she doesn't seem to have the motor skills to write yet. I'm using the Montessori sandpaper letters, focusing on lower case only. It has been weeks since I went over the sounds of the letters with her but I just tested her and she still remembers 13 of the sounds! I had only gone over it a few days, maybe a week. I'm impressed.

girls still confused on this one

Tres

I am doing the same thing with Tres as I am with Dos but a little slower since she isn't quite getting it as fast.  She knows the names of the colors but seems to only recognize the color orange. She does, however, know which ones match. As far as quantities go, she understands zero, one, and two so far. I'll have to test her to  see which sounds she knows but often I'll see her point to a letter and say "horse!" (the letter h) or "apple" (the letter a). *I just tested her and she knew 7 of the sounds!

They love this matching game!

I want to work with the girls more, especially since I just tested them and they remembered so much after so many weeks!  Hopefully, I'll be able to work with all three of them this summer and get Uno caught up if he is still behind and give the girls a good foundation with their understanding of letters and numbers.

Cookie Cutter Curriculum

Have you ever thought that maybe your child is just not good at a particular subject? Perhaps you have been told your child has a learning disorder. I’m not dismissing the fact that some children might have real disorders or that learning can be challenging in a particular subject.

Would you take a moment to think outside the box with me, though? The “box” to which I am referring is boxed curriculum. You know, the box full of neatly organized lesson plans, teacher’s books, and student workbooks that you paid big bucks for?

In our homeschool endeavors we all need some of that structure that the boxed curriculum provides, but I am afraid that one particular curriculum just doesn’t cut it for every student. As you might have experienced in the clothing department, one size does not fit all.

Will the boxed curriculum fit some students’ learning style, abilities, and interests? We all know people who excelled in school, and good for them! My concern is the majority of other children whose learning style is kinesthetic or tactile and whose abilities show up more on the soccer field, for example, than in the classroom.

Is there hope for that kid who just doesn’t seem to grasp reading yet at eight years old, or the child who stares out the window and daydreams instead of working her math problems? Yes, I firmly believe there is hope! It takes an attentive, willing parent or teacher to discover their needs and assess their abilities, though. Beware of the cookie cutter curriculum. It doesn’t fit every child!

Falling Behind in Homeschooling and How to Catch Up

So your children are behind in their school work, maybe even a grade level or two. There are a thousand ways this can happen including family illness, vacation, moving, struggling in a particular subject, or the grandparents coming to visit.

The truth is that life happens.

Here are some things to keep in mind as you sit in the “depths of despair”, worried that your child is scarred for life because they are behind in math.

You are not alone. That family that looks like they’ve got it all together…doesn’t.

All children learn at different speeds. It is not unusual for a child to excel in one area and seem to be slow in another subject. They will get it on their time schedule.

Here are a few ideas I just sent to a friend who is struggling in this area:

• Consider combining subjects when you can. For instance, take note of the geographical location, time in history, and new vocabulary in whatever they are reading (family Bible time or another book you are reading aloud as a family). By having the children write a few sentences about what they just read/heard you are combining the three subjects mentioned above plus handwriting, spelling, and grammar! Sometimes math and science can be applied here, also.
• Another possibility is to just focus on the basics for now (math, reading, & writing). Chances are they will go through that history or science lesson again in a future grade.
• Cross out some of the questions on the math worksheet if there is a lot of repetition. It is common for some subjects to do several weeks of review. Consider eliminating this when it is obvious the child has already mastered the concept.
• I’m not sure if you have school all year long or take a summer break. Some people find that it keeps the rhythm better and eliminates the need for weeks of review when they aim to some do school work nearly every day, taking breaks when they need to for sickness or vacation.

I realize that you might not be comfortable with some of these suggestions, and that’s okay! They do require flexibility and a letting go of the feeling that we “must finish this workbook”. On the other hand, if they want to do an extra page or so in their spare time, go for it!

Here’s another article I recently read about falling behind in homeschooling.

Bible Curriculum for Children

These past few weeks I have been preparing the children's Bible curriculum for our church. One of my pet peeves is Sunday School curriculum that only teaches topical lessons for children and rarely puts Bible events in chronological order. For instance," let's learn to be kind like Abraham or Rebekah". Not that I'm against kindness or even topical Bible study, but at some point we need to get HIStory in proper order.

So what curriculum presents Bible events in chronological order? I'm glad you asked. Firm Foundations Children's Edition is an excellent example. But not only does Firm Foundations present the events in order, it also focuses on God and His plan of redemption. Because of this, it doesn't have every event recorded, or it would take years, but it beautifully illustrates how we became separated from God through sin and how God sent a Deliverer (Jesus) to reconcile us. (This curriculum is aimed at fourth graders but could be adapted for various ages.)

If you're looking for something for younger children, The Lamb is a beautifully illustrated book that clearly presents God's plan of redemption. I'll be starting this book with my 3-6 year old class* in two weeks. It is ten chapters/lessons long. I just finished putting together coloring pages to go with it.

*Update: We now have a primary class (1st-3rd grade) and I'll be teaching The Lamb to those children instead of the younger ones. The three and four year olds didn't seem to fully grasp the meaning of it.