Some things are changing around here…

When we were thinking about homeschooling, I started reading books about, well, homeschooling. First in general, then more specific books about different types of homeschooling. When I read The Well Trained Mind, that was it for me. I felt like it was exactly what I want to do. Mostly. Actually, part of me said “I love this!” and the other part said “It doesn’t really sound fun…” but my DH pushed my doubts away: school doesn’t have to be fun, right?

I don’t think I agree. Over the last few weeks, our schedule has been so busy, we have only been doing “core” subjects – reading, math, bible. And we have been finishing everything I felt “needed” to be finished. I feel like Madison is learning SO much, and even though it doesn’t really matter what other people think, I have gotten so many compliments on how smart Madison is. I like that. It makes me feel successful.

So what’s the problem? The problem is we are no longer having fun. Madison does what I ask her, but doesn’t like it. That is NOT how I want school to be. It is definitely not the precedent I want to set in preschool. Preschool is SUPPOSED to be fun…

What’s the solution? I’m not 100% sure, because most of what we have been doing is what I think is important for her to learn. And while I loved school as a kid, most kids don’t think school is fun. I know there are going to be things she needs to learn that she may not like learning. I am okay with that. But I also want her to have things she looks forward to as part of homeschool, you know?

Enter Homeschool Share. Thanks to Rachel from Keep the Way for sharing this website with me a few months ago. In the fall, when we technically start kindergarten (another think I am struggling with – look for a post about this in the future…), we are planning to use FIAR, which I am really excited about. Homeschool Share also has many units based on great books, the same concept as FIAR, so I thought why not start early with some of the units offered by HSS? Hopefully this will be a way I can add in some fun without taking away what I think is important.

For this week, I chose the unit based on the book “The Art Lesson” by Tomie dePaola. Madison loves art, and so far, she has loved the unit. We are painting, making cookies, making our own chalk, using oil pastels, and we are planning to go to the art museum on Thursday (believe it or not, she loves the art museum). I think this is going to be the start of a great improvement in our homeschool. I already picked out other units for the rest of the year and I am really excited about them.

Another great thing about Homeschool Share is the contest they have going on right now. When you create your own unit studies and share them at HSS, you can be entered to win great prizes! I am so excited about this. Creating curriculum, especially over literature (I was an English minor) was my very favorite part of teaching. I already signed up to make two unit studies, and when I finish those I might sign up to make more. If you are interested, click on the button below for more info:

I am also making a few other subtle changes to our day: adding coloring to our reading lessons, playing more games before math, actually doing science rather than just planning on it, etc. Even with those little changes, I have seen a big change in Madison’s attitude. Or maybe it is a change in my own attitude – I have to keep telling myself to lighten up. She is only four. Nothing I am doing right now is going to scar her for life, right? Someone tell me I’m right…

Week Seven Report

Once again, another late report… I did good for a few weeks…

We had a really excellent week. I got quite a bit of planning accomplished. I think I have pretty much mapped out our 12 year plan, and I have made some definite decisions about Kindergarten.

We are going to go with Five in a Row for Reading/Science/Social Studies for K. After reviewing the program, I am really optimistic about this. One thing that has been a problem for me with science this year is that it is not planned out in a logical order for me. I have been picking experiments out of the Mudpies to Magnets book, but it is one of the first things that gets shoved to the side, mostly because there is no long term schedule or goal right now. Another perk for FIAR is the social studies – because this is built into the program, I feel comfortable doing this for a year and starting with Tapestry of Grace the following year. I like the “story discs” also – you order them and place them on a map where the story takes place, so it’s like geography is built in as well. And, most importantly, I love the relaxing, fun, cozy approach, tied together with great books. I am really looking forward to Kindergarten. If you are interested in seeing the rest of our kindergarten curriculum, check it out here.

As far as actual school this week, Madison is blowing me away. It is like something has clicked in her head and now she is moving at lightening speed. She keeps asking for more work and I don’t have any more to give her.

Language Arts:

Our letter of the week was supposed to be P, but Madison was working on her ETC book one night while I was fixing dinner and when I turned around, she had worked ahead to the next lesson; she ended up doing S, N, and part of J as well. We made Nibble Sticks for our recipe and I am just going to continue to let her work at what ever speed she wants (as long as we do one letter a week). We will just watch the United Streaming videos as we get to the letters, and she will have to choose one recipe each week.

Headsprout is also great – she can read three of their books now, and asked to do extra lessons last week. I think she is starting to be a lot more comfortable with her reading, especially the more she reads the books they provide.

Math:

Doing great here as well – we changed to doing one lesson a day, four days a week (we were doing 2 lessons, 2 days a week). We started counting by tens and she has really done well with that, and she can count to thirty correctly now – I want to attribute that to our memory CD.

In other areas, she has memorized her books of the New Testament to Colossians, we actually did do a science experiment this week (tornado in a jar which was not very successful) and we did some Japanese culture study. I got my First Thousand Words in Japanese book in the mail, so I am hoping to start with some vocabulary this week. Another thing we did this past week is implement a schedule – which works really great when we follow it! I will post a copy of it later this week

And two other non-school-related-but-still-exciting events:

First, Madison had her first sleepover this week. On Wednesday, we went to the mall with some friends, and then on Friday, her friend came over and stayed the night. They had pizza and a movie and made crowns on Friday night,and on Saturday morning we went to the National Cowboy Museum for a puppet/magic show. Madison and her friend got to help with a magic trick, which was pretty neat.

And second, we got a new camera today! So this will hopefully be the last picture-less weekly report

Have a great week!