(Feel free to hum the title to the tune of Grease's "Summer Lovin'", I did.)
At first, I had plans to make this summer completely school/learning free, but then I thought, 'hey, why not torture them a little longer?' Just kidding.
The idea came to mind as I was pondering unschooling, I have been pretty one sided in my opinion of unschooling, mostly because I believe that kids shouldn't be the ones in control of their learning experience because, well, they are kids. So I decided to do more research, since I am not one to judge without knowing the other side of things. I started by looking up several blogs specifically geared towards unschooling, and although I still stand firm on my previously stated beliefs, I was actually inspired by some of their methods. Hence : THE GREAT SUMMER UNSCHOOLING SPECIAL!!!! AKA lapbooking :)
So, lapbooking. I think that there is something pretty cliche about this in the homeschool world, but then again it seems to be something that makes kids WANT to learn about things, so I decided to give it a try. Fr anyone who doesn't know what lapbooking is, basically it is done by choosing a topic of interest, like baseball, for instance, and the child does research on that subject, formulating new questions as they go,and then seeking to answer them. It is presented in a fold out format, with several little mini-books, drawings, and graphs used to portray the answers to the questions that you researched. It is a colorful, exciting, ADD sort of project that should work well for the kids, since they can use online resources, documentaries, and library books to help them come up with answers, and they aren't tied down to the directional questions that we use to start with, but can learn about new things, and then question them as they go. It's actually pretty fun.
So I took the kiddos to the library the other day, and walked down the ten so aisles of children nonfiction to give them some ideas of things that they could choose as their topic, Julie chose ballet, Jake chose the human body, and Zander chose snakes. I sat down with each of them, and began helping them come up with research questions, like the stories behind famous ballets, how to identify poisonous and non-poisonous snakes, and what the different systems in the body do. The most exciting thing to me, was before we have even started, Jake had a real-life experience that sparked a new direction! Last night, he bumped his arm on the corner of a cabinet door, which instantly caused a little bruise. He then asked my what causes a bruise, and as I explained it to him, I got excited and realized it could be a new question for him to research! We were both pretty excited about it, actually.
(Zander's is more a read and learn, since he will be with his mother this summer, and more than likely will abandon the idea once he arrives there) So, to help with the projects, I have printed out a few lapbook templates on the human body and ballet, and checked out some documentaries. We will also be looking stuff up, perhaps learning hands-on in some cases, and doing interviews and maybe seeing a ballet, I'm not sure. Either way, it is something fun that the kids can do this summer to keep their brains busy, and still be creative, and hopefully not get bored!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Curriculum Choices
So I do things a little bit differently than some people who choose to homeschool, I suppose. but then again, there is no "right" way, which is the freedom of homeschool. This year I had two children who were in public school for the first nine weeks of school in first grade, however, once we started homeschooling, I was able to completely test them out of first grade by the sixth or seventh week. My oldest was starting third grade, and although I was excited for her in this, I knew that there were many things from first and second grade that had been rushed through before she truly got the concept. A lot of newbies to homeschooling like to take the schooling at home approach, and I am one of them, so this is the way that we did it this year and decided to continue doing in the next year.
So, I made the executive decision to teach all three children on the same level, what I would call a split curriculum. I used a four day school week, with the Fridays being used for our homeschool group as well as for testing on that week's materials. I began the week using second grade materials on a certain subject (this applies only to grammar and math); so if we were learning about nouns, we would start with nouns on a second grade level using Abeka, Carson Dellosa worksheets, and online sources, but by the end of the week, I would have integrated third grade level work on nouns using similar resources. So in essence, the children were learning on a second AND third grade level.
This year I used a mish-mash of resources, tapping into as many free things as I could early on, and then as my choices broadened financially, I began to add in new things toward the middle of the school year. Initially, I was using almost exclusively Abeka, which I had from another homeschooling mother, scanned pdf files only (and no printer at the time!!) so at first, school was done from my television screen from my living room floor. We were using either Abeka or Alpha Omega for Grammar, Science, Social Studies, and Math. I started the year out using memory verses randomly as their handwriting, but then began to use the Calvary Chapel curriculum to explore the Bible, and used their memory verses for copy work. I expired my resources in Social Studies, and then introduced "Maps, Graphs, and Globes" as our Geography work, using Book B and C. The kids LOVED it! It was a lot of fun, and I do plan on using the rest of the series in the future. For Spanish, I used "Kids Love Spanish" videos for Language, and those were a lot of fun, but certainly not usable for an entire school year, because we ran out, and I had to improvise using my Spanish textbook from college!
This coming school year will be much, MUCH better! We were able to afford REAL books this time, and in the case of Grammar, THREE books, which means all of the kids get their own copies so I do not have to copy pages for each of them. SO, here is what we are doing this year. This year we will be doing a combination of third and fourth grade. For Grammar we are using Houghton Mifflin Grammar 3; each child gets their own book to work from, and we will also be using the corresponding workbook. I love this book because it is the same book that we used in school, and it is also the same series that the kids would have been using if they had stayed in public school. For Math, we are going to give Saxon Math 3 a shot. This series tends to go way good or way bad, but what I liked about it was that it is repetitive and comprehensive. Every single day you go over a little of each thing that you have learned about (temperature, measurement, sequence, telling time, money), and then the lessons involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. This really appealed to me because I think that learning should not be done in blocks, but circles, where new information is added in with old information so all of the things learned can stay fresh.
As for our other subjects, we are doing "Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space" for Science. I am very excited about this book set, and if this year goes well, I plan on going into the other "Christian Kids Explore" books. For History, we are beginning "The History of US", books 1 and 2. This is a very story-like history program that also has great online resources and videos to correspond with it. For Reading, we are using two different books within the school year, first we will begin third grade Reading with Sylvan Reading program workbook. I L-O-V-E this book! It teaches the students how to read a little, and then stop and ask questions about what they have read instead of just rushing through and trying to remember everything. Then, once that book is finished, we will begin using the Spectrum fourth grade Reading workbook that has TONS of reading pages and questions.
The last subjects we go over are Bible and Language. I enjoyed the Calvary Chapel curriculum, so this year we will be finishing Genesis and Exodus with that program. We use our Bible memory verses to practice handwriting (and memory) each morning. For language this year, I am glad to say that we are beginning a very cool interactive web-based language program through our library called Mango. We will be continuing Spanish this year, but where we were learning words and phrases this year, in the coming year we will be learning actual use and conversational Spanish, which will come in handy around here :) This program is AWESOME! It is easy and fun to use, and it also incorporates my favorite thing- repetition! Within one little lesson, you repeat sayings and phrases, and then mix them up so that you have to remember what each part was and meant. The best part is that this program lasts a long time, there are three levels of each language, and each level has hundreds of lessons.This might be a tough thing to do with three kids, BUT, we got lucky (blessed?), and this year (as long as we get a table), we have a computer for EACH kid to have as their own for school and entertainment. These are going to be situated right in front of my desk so I can monitor what they are doing, and we are going to be installing a kid-friendly browser.
One more thing will be added this year, once a week, is Art! This is another subject that I am stoked about this year! A friend of mine shared her approach to art in her blog, and I was so excited about it that I 1. wanted to do it myself, and 2. wanted to start right away :) So, we will begin an art journal for each kid, working on Fridays to do projects, method research, art history, and artist methods. It won't be quite as technical as it may sound, because I am no art expert; I actually got some "leads" on some ways to go about this, lesson, and research ideas on the Crayola website. I will be loosely basing our journal on several of these lessons, but putting our own spin on them.
So there you have it, the plan in black and white! In another post, I'm going to outline our summer projects, and how we are going to go about them.
So, I made the executive decision to teach all three children on the same level, what I would call a split curriculum. I used a four day school week, with the Fridays being used for our homeschool group as well as for testing on that week's materials. I began the week using second grade materials on a certain subject (this applies only to grammar and math); so if we were learning about nouns, we would start with nouns on a second grade level using Abeka, Carson Dellosa worksheets, and online sources, but by the end of the week, I would have integrated third grade level work on nouns using similar resources. So in essence, the children were learning on a second AND third grade level.
This year I used a mish-mash of resources, tapping into as many free things as I could early on, and then as my choices broadened financially, I began to add in new things toward the middle of the school year. Initially, I was using almost exclusively Abeka, which I had from another homeschooling mother, scanned pdf files only (and no printer at the time!!) so at first, school was done from my television screen from my living room floor. We were using either Abeka or Alpha Omega for Grammar, Science, Social Studies, and Math. I started the year out using memory verses randomly as their handwriting, but then began to use the Calvary Chapel curriculum to explore the Bible, and used their memory verses for copy work. I expired my resources in Social Studies, and then introduced "Maps, Graphs, and Globes" as our Geography work, using Book B and C. The kids LOVED it! It was a lot of fun, and I do plan on using the rest of the series in the future. For Spanish, I used "Kids Love Spanish" videos for Language, and those were a lot of fun, but certainly not usable for an entire school year, because we ran out, and I had to improvise using my Spanish textbook from college!
This coming school year will be much, MUCH better! We were able to afford REAL books this time, and in the case of Grammar, THREE books, which means all of the kids get their own copies so I do not have to copy pages for each of them. SO, here is what we are doing this year. This year we will be doing a combination of third and fourth grade. For Grammar we are using Houghton Mifflin Grammar 3; each child gets their own book to work from, and we will also be using the corresponding workbook. I love this book because it is the same book that we used in school, and it is also the same series that the kids would have been using if they had stayed in public school. For Math, we are going to give Saxon Math 3 a shot. This series tends to go way good or way bad, but what I liked about it was that it is repetitive and comprehensive. Every single day you go over a little of each thing that you have learned about (temperature, measurement, sequence, telling time, money), and then the lessons involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. This really appealed to me because I think that learning should not be done in blocks, but circles, where new information is added in with old information so all of the things learned can stay fresh.
As for our other subjects, we are doing "Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space" for Science. I am very excited about this book set, and if this year goes well, I plan on going into the other "Christian Kids Explore" books. For History, we are beginning "The History of US", books 1 and 2. This is a very story-like history program that also has great online resources and videos to correspond with it. For Reading, we are using two different books within the school year, first we will begin third grade Reading with Sylvan Reading program workbook. I L-O-V-E this book! It teaches the students how to read a little, and then stop and ask questions about what they have read instead of just rushing through and trying to remember everything. Then, once that book is finished, we will begin using the Spectrum fourth grade Reading workbook that has TONS of reading pages and questions.
The last subjects we go over are Bible and Language. I enjoyed the Calvary Chapel curriculum, so this year we will be finishing Genesis and Exodus with that program. We use our Bible memory verses to practice handwriting (and memory) each morning. For language this year, I am glad to say that we are beginning a very cool interactive web-based language program through our library called Mango. We will be continuing Spanish this year, but where we were learning words and phrases this year, in the coming year we will be learning actual use and conversational Spanish, which will come in handy around here :) This program is AWESOME! It is easy and fun to use, and it also incorporates my favorite thing- repetition! Within one little lesson, you repeat sayings and phrases, and then mix them up so that you have to remember what each part was and meant. The best part is that this program lasts a long time, there are three levels of each language, and each level has hundreds of lessons.This might be a tough thing to do with three kids, BUT, we got lucky (blessed?), and this year (as long as we get a table), we have a computer for EACH kid to have as their own for school and entertainment. These are going to be situated right in front of my desk so I can monitor what they are doing, and we are going to be installing a kid-friendly browser.
One more thing will be added this year, once a week, is Art! This is another subject that I am stoked about this year! A friend of mine shared her approach to art in her blog, and I was so excited about it that I 1. wanted to do it myself, and 2. wanted to start right away :) So, we will begin an art journal for each kid, working on Fridays to do projects, method research, art history, and artist methods. It won't be quite as technical as it may sound, because I am no art expert; I actually got some "leads" on some ways to go about this, lesson, and research ideas on the Crayola website. I will be loosely basing our journal on several of these lessons, but putting our own spin on them.
So there you have it, the plan in black and white! In another post, I'm going to outline our summer projects, and how we are going to go about them.
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