Transitioning into Independence

As a mom your kids rely on you for everything. As a homeschool mom there is even more on top of your "Mom pile" of work. Not only do you get them fed and ready for the day, but you also school them, you are the major source of their moral upbringing, and your attitude directly influences them for the bulk of their days. 

Beginning homeschooling with little ones, we manage everything. The clothes they wear, the books they read, the food they eat, their sleep patterns (if they sleep), and what they learn. As they get older and start to flex their wings, we have to step back. If they don't learn to stand on their own they will never walk, right? Fast forward a few more years and you are still a mom that schedules their lessons and activities, reminds them about due dates for co-op, and other outside obligations. When do you stop doing all of that for them? How do you stop yourself from coming in and saving the day?

My son is now in 7th grade and we are moving toward independence. I know it will be a long road, but I am hopeful that by the end of 7th grade, he will be scheduling completely independent of me. Home subjects and co-op classes may still require that he meet with me for lectures or clarification, but I won't be hand holding him through things. 

The first step on this road is scheduling. I have always organized all of our work into days and told the kids their assignments as we go. I have tried to post this on the board and let them pick through the day. I have created Evernote notes with their assignments in checklist form. I have written out all of their assignments in a planner for them. The point is, previously, I have done all of the scheduling. 

Last week I wrote out all of my son's assignments in a planner. I organized the lessons by day and he highlighted them as he finished. 

Last week.

I did this for this week also. Yesterday, was not a very successful day for him. He decided to sleep in and then take a huge "break" between lessons. He didn't finish his work until 7:45 pm. His dad did not let him go to scouts because he wasn't finished. That was his consequence. Hopefully, he learned from that. 

This week.

For next week he is getting a list of all of his assignments with due dates. He has two due dates. The first, is for co-op stuff he has to finish before class. The second, is for regular work I require. I will help him with this if he asks me. I am definitely going to check that all of the co-op work is scheduled before class, but the rest will be up to him. 

Due Date: 

Tuesday, October 13

Sunday, October 18

Week 14

Science

Complete Ch. 6.3 Test

Review all Ch. 6 notes

Write about Gallium's compounds formed

Write about Gallium's fun or interesting facts

Review flashcards

Organize your paragraphs into an outline

Write your rough draft in Writewell. Print to edit.

Math

Area of 2D flipbook 1 & 2 & 3 & 4

Lesson 27 (Do: 1,4,5,9,11,13,14,19,27)

History

Write your rough draft in Writewell. Print to edit.

Write your final

Read Ch. 21-28

Pick your topic

Write your topic sentence and questions

Read rest of Colonial Times

Research your questions (use notecards)

Write your outline

Art

Unit 5, Lesson 2

Look at Van Gogh's art (pick a favorite and add it to your Evernote with the title)

Spanish

2 - Practice Duolingo

Review Worksheets

2 - Watch videos 6-9

2 - Estar cards

Classics

Holes to @pg 120

I am interested to see if he schedules himself all of the work for individual classes together on one day or spreads each subject out. Who wants to do four math lessons in one day? I don't know, maybe he will. I can pretty much guarantee that will only happen once, if it happens at all. 


How are you helping your kids to schedule themselves? How is it working?

Happy Homeschooling
-Michele

Not Your Ordinary Book Report!

The book reports of my youth seem outdated and boring to me now. With all the technology out there and alternative education methods, it seemed to me that I should be offering my kids a different approach to book reports.

Reviewing books is a great way to reinforce learning and comprehension. It doesn't have to be a bore though. I presented my son with this list at the beginning of the year. He can choose any he likes for his report, but he can only do them once. Otherwise, I am sure to get a stack of t-shirt designs! Here is my list of 21 Book Report Options that allow a great amount of customization.

25 Book Report Options

1. Design a t-shirt. This should include the book title, author, and perhaps a sentence or repeated phrase.

2. Design a costume for a character. If you are especially crafty you could design and sew it, but designing on paper and explaining why it's appropriate will do.

3. Create a picture book. Draw an illustration complete with caption for each chapter of the book. Don't forget to provide a cover and then staple or bind it together.

4. Write a letter to a character. What would you say to a character?

5. Write the author. Got a question or two about the book that didn't get answered? Want to praise the author for a job well done? Put it down in a letter. Extra points for actually sending it!

6. The book has ended. What happens next? Write a short story.

7. Assemble a diorama. Got a favorite scene from the book? Now's your chance to recreate it.

8. Write an Amazon listing. Take a look at how Amazon lists books (don't look for your book). Write a listing to market this book. Look for your book after you have written your listing and compare the two.

9. Book vs. Movie. Compare and contrast.

10. Make a video review.

11. Resume or Facebook profile for a character. How would the character describe him/herself?

12. Good ole' book report.

13. Write interview questions and the responses for a character.

14. Make a movie trailer.

15. Create a collage for the book or a character.

16. Write an alternate ending and why you prefer it.

17. Make a stop-motion animation of your favorite scene.

18. Create a comic book strip of your favorite scene or a summary of the book.

19. Write a poem, song, or riddle about the book.

20. Award Ceremony. Create a list of awards for each of the characters in the book. Explain why they deserve the award.

21. Bookshelf. What is on a particular character's bookshelf? What books are there, CD's, pictures, or knick knacks? Draw it out or make a collage with pictures.

22. Past, Present, and Future. Create a past, summarize the present, and predict a future for a character.

23. Commercial. Make a television commercial for the book.

24. Design a poster or new book cover. What if the book were being made into a movie? What might the poster look like?

25. It's Your Birthday! Make a list of characters and the birthday presents you would give them. Don't forget to include your reasoning behind the gifts.

Do you have any ideas for alternatives to book reports?

Happy Homeschooling
-Michele

Free Discovery Education for the Summer!

I just signed up through Homeschool Buyers Co-op for a free summer of Discovery Education. It seems that the Co-op has deals on Dicovery Ed frequently, so I thought I would give it a try. This may be a valuable resource for our own co-op this year.

Happy Homeschooling
-Michele

Curriculum Plan 2015 - 2016

The kids after they decided February was a good time to try out the pool.

We are going into our 8th year of homeschooling! I find it very hard to believe that I have a 5th and 7th grader. I have a middle schooler now. Wow. Never thought we would still be homeschooling this many years (although I hoped I would).

This year some fabulous ladies in our homeschool group have put together a co-op. This will definitely be a learning experience, but we are all excited about this new opportunity for group learning. It will be once a week, with the kids working on "homework" at home. I will be leading two classes and one club, so you can look forward to posts this year about Zoology/Human Body, American History, and Drama.

I added "Group Lessons" to our day this year. It's the catch all for everything I want to cover, but seems to be pushed aside due to time. We will do this first thing and then the kids will spread out to finish independently.

Extra Curriculars

PE/Park day - once a week
Boy Scouts - once a week
Yearbook Club (my girl) - a few times in the year
Drama Club - twice a month
Relaxation and Focusing Class - at co-op each week. They both want to try this.
Violin (my girl) - self study
Piano (my boy) - self study
4H Archery (both) - twice a month
4H Bread (both) - once a month
4H Robotics (my boy) - once a month
4H Cake Decorating (both) - short session. My daughter said, "if it involves frosting, I'm there."

Group Lessons

Logic
I am using Logic Countdown and Logic Liftoff (2 lessons a week) and Brain Teaser workbooks (2 pages a week).

Mastering Vocabulary will take us two years to get through. It is for grades 5 and up. We are covering about one Unit a week.

Reading Aloud
The kids will take turns reading aloud. Our books this year will be: Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood (the kids really liked this one), Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge, McGuffey's Eclectic Reader Volume 3, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Gift of the Magi, Night Before Christmas, and Legends Every Child Should Know by Hamilton Wright Mabie. I will add more if needed.

Tuesday Math
Tuesdays we have PE/Park day and 4H activities planned. The kids are usually tired and not really able to sit down to a full math lesson. This year on Tuesdays we will use The Everything Kids Math Puzzles Book and Singapore Math Challenge Grade 5+. We will work through the books together. After the group math, the kids are then to complete 30 minutes of Khan Academy in their respective grade levels. They like to compete for points!

5th Grade

My Pokemon princess

Reading
Along with poems from various authors, she will also be reading a few books. The list is: A World of Fairy Tales by Andrew Lang, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brian, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, The Cricket in Times Square by George Seldon, Peter Pan by James M. Barrie, and Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter.

The kids are going to be participating in the co-op Classic Books Club. They will be reading The Bully Book by Eric Kahn Gale, Redwall by Brian Jacques, and others.

Math
Saxon 6/5

Language Arts
KISS - I really like the looks of this program. We are using the 6th grade level.

Science
We are starting out the year with reading The Care and Keeping of You each day. She is then working on a lapbook about plants and another about weather. After that she will have Zoology (there will be two Zoology units on my blog. I didn't really like the first one and decided to make another one that has more of everything) and then Human Body in co-op. If we have any days to fill, she can do free study.

History
She is reading the Introductions and Conclusions in Human Odyssey Volume 2. This is just as a review. She is going to be taking Story of the World, Volume 3 in co-op. It has a great lapbook to go with it, that she will be adding to a notebook with a timeline.

Art
We are working our way through ancient art with the help of Cave Paintings to Picasso and various library books. The kids are just reading and looking. They can paint in the style they are learning about if they wish. When co-op starts, they will begin Artistic Pursuits, Middle Grades Book 1. They have a wonderful art teacher that will be continuing from last year.

Spanish
This will not start until co-op. The leaders will be using various materials. The kids will be using a Spanish/English dictionary and First Thousand Words in Spanish. This book is a little basic for the age my kids are, but they really wanted it. I think because it looked easy, but there is a lot jammed into those pages.

7th Grade

My young man 

Reading
Along with poems from various authors, he will also be reading a few books. The list is: The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Classics for Young Readers, The Call of the Wild by Jack London, The Spy by James Fenimore Cooper, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, and The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare.

The kids are going to be participating in the co-op Classic Books Club. They will be reading The Bully Book, Redwall, and others.

Language Arts
KISS grammar program

Math
Saxon Algebra 1/2 
Khan Academy as supplement

Science
Before co-op starts, he is reading through The Boy's Body Book and completing lapbooks on Introduction to Chemistry and the Periodic Table. For co-op, he will be working through CK12.org's Middle School Physical Science textbook.

History
He is also reading through the Human Odyssey volumes. In co-op this year, he will be covering the first five books in the A History of Us series by Joy Hakim for American History 1.

Art and Spanish
Same as 5th grader.


Happy Homeschooling
-Michele