Spring Break
Hey, hey, hey to all of you who like to
follow our home school journey! I know I have talked about priorities
before and how this blog isn't high up on the list of what needs
accomplished on a daily basis. I do intend to update about every 6
weeks or so (more if I can). We are currently on our Spring Break! I
scheduled us 2 weeks off on our calendar, and full disclosure, even
that isn't enough time!
I love Spring cleaning. It does
something to my soul when I can get some big organization and
cleaning done. We cleaned all the windows inside and out, I am pretty
sure I am a weirdo here, but it gives me the warm and fuzzies when I
can look out a clear window! The patio is bleached, the outside
furniture is cleaned up, and I am ready for the weather to decide
it's time for it to be warm for good. We only have a few days left
and I still have several things that did not get marked off my to do
list... but is there ever really enough time?
Even though we are on break from our
regular sit down school time the kids are still learning. Free
Learning. They have full access to our classroom area right now to
“play” with what they want to. They have certain things they have
to help me do during the day (regular chores and helping with Spring
cleaning stuff too), but they have several hours of free time. My
oldest has put together all the lego kits he received for Christmas
(4 of them I believe). My daughter did a headband kit, a bracelet
making kit, and she is in the middle of making a tie together quilt.
We planted and are taking care of some cotton seeds, and they have
done several cooking/baking “experiments.” I love to see all 3 of
my kiddos playing well together, and they have been raking up a lot
of play time! Barbies, shopkins, angry birds, transformers, playing
outside and using there imagination in all of it. As I am writing
this I just realized they have chosen to do very little screen time,
yay!
Even though I know I am not going to
get my entire to-do list accomplished I know we are going to be able
to sit down for some school work on Tuesday feeling refreshed. That
is the point of our breaks- to rejuvenate! Our schedule is roughly 6
weeks on 1 week off, 2 weeks off at Christmas and Spring, and we will
do 4 weeks off in the Summer. This next 6 week stint is a normal
schedule, but after our next week off we will be starting a shorter
schedule during the warmer months- 3 days a week until mid September.
I'm feeling confident with our schedule!
**side note.- I need a schedule. I know
some home school families work best just taking it one day at a time,
but I need a schedule of days to work and break times. It keeps me
and the kids accountable. We are serious about schooling at home,
this is not a free for all Summer break all year long situation like
some people perceive. There is a thing called Unschooling that is
basically interest based schooling, only following what the kids want
to learn when they want to learn it, and that is totally fine if that
is something that works for you and your family. Even though we “kind
of” do that with some of our subjects; for Reading, Writing, and
Arithmetic I need to know that we are progressing at socially
appropriate pace.*
So now that Break time has been covered
lets look back at what we have been doing and where we are going from
here...
My oldest, 8 year old 2nd
grader is doing Teaching Textbooks 3 for Math. I'm pretty sure I've
said this before, but I really like this program and so does he. It's
a CD-Rom program that keeps a grade book, goes through lessons and
then quizzes him. I can sit in and listen to lessons with him and I
can go in and delete lessons or problems so he can do them again if
needed. I am letting him work independently with the program and
after each lesson I check if he missed anything. If he did we go back
in and redo those problems and talk about why he got them wrong. I/we
do not fix quizzes. So whatever grade he gets on his quiz is his
grade for that lesson. He knows if he isn't confident with all the
material covered in the lessons then he should not take the quiz and
move on yet. It gives him control of how fast things are covered and
I get the reassurance that he is learning what he needs to in the
right way. I am not confident in math personally, so I needed
something that would teach him and I could be there for backup.
He is reading through the “Diary of a
Minecraft Zombie” book series, and he really likes it. I think it
is so important to find books that the kids want to read. His reading
speed and confidence has noticeably improved because he is eager to
read these books.
My daughter, 7 year old 1st
grader, is doing a math workbook and worksheets with me for addition
and subtraction, money, and time. For reading we are still working
through the Usborne Reading Library and some of the Billie B Brown
books. She finished the Hooked on Phonics 1st grade kit,
but we frequently go back through and look at certain lessons again.
My oldest is an independent learner who
likes to take the reigns, but my daughter needs me to sit and be more
involved with her. Her confidence isn't strong, she needs reassurance
that she is doing it right and if she doesn't think she is she gets
emotional. They both have very different learning styles!
They are continuing to take P.E and
Music class at our local grade school. Their Spring music program is
coming up soon and they are very excited to be a part of it.
Everything else we do together. Science
projects, social studies, history, etc. are all interest led. If they
find something they are curious about we explore it. Writing is
journaling and a little bit of copy work, which they both are not a
fan of. Art is pretty much free reign creativity, but we do some
crafty projects together sometimes too.
For now we are learning Spanish on
YouTube with repetition and memorization. The alphabet, numbers,
months, days, etc we are learning through different songs. I have
found a couple of good programs that I want to start to delve more
into the language, but I want to get some basics down first- as this
is new to me also.
I also want to point out that YouTube
is an amazing tool for every subject. Seriously, you can search
anything and there is a video explaining or singing about it!
The kids help each other and they
frequently “play school” and teach each other, which I think is
such a great thing because it not only reiterates things for them,
but it is also teaching my 2 year old. He can already do his alphabet
and count to 10 and its all because my older two are teaching him.
Looks like they are going to be the ones to home school him haha!
Learning as We Grow ya'll and loving
every minute!
**If anyone has any questions feel free
to ask. The point of the blog is to give those who are interested in
the subject of home schooling our point of view, and to keep family
and friends updated on our adventure.**
