The "A-ha!" moment.........(or was it the "Duh!" moment?)

I cannot really explain why I haven't blogged here for so long.  If I am completely honest, I suspect it has something to do with the fact that I haven't felt for several months that my homeschooling with the boys is quite how I wanted it to be.  Without making this post just about that topic, let me just say that for quite a while we've been getting our "basics" done every day, but we haven't delved much into the more "meaty" curricular areas such as history and science as much as I'd wanted to.  When I decided to homeschool my sons, the idea of learning with them was one of the things that really appealed to me.  I got off to a great start at the beginning of the year planning all kinds of enriching activities and projects, then after Dad passed away in October, pretty much all I could manage for a while was getting in the three Rs.  I'm not trying to use his death as an excuse, though, because I'm sure that could have happened anyway since in addition to homeschooling the boys I'm teaching 12 piano lessons and 2 Kindermusik classes each week to bring in additional money for our family.  Anyway........for quite a while it's been weighing heavily on me that I wanted to be giving the boys "more" in terms of content.........so over the past few weeks, I've been researching and planning and I now feel like things are coming back together again the way I'd envisioned.

In addition to not being completely happy with the breadth and depth of our content area study, for quite a while now I haven't been really thrilled with math for my youngest son.  I started the year doing Right Start for both my 4th grader and 1st grader.  I'm still happy with it for my oldest, but got to a point where I wasn't keen on it for my youngest anymore.  I ordered Math Mammoth which we tried for a few weeks.  It's very workbook oriented, which I didn't like.  He didn't seem to mind, but it wasn't what I wanted.  Then I ordered Singapore, but when I got it, I realized that what I'd ordered was too easy.  It was also mostly workbooks, so that was a negative for me as well.  I also looked into MEP which is actually very good (and free)........we used that for a while when I had the "a-ha!" moment that I refer to in the title of this post.

As many of you know, I am a trained Montessori teacher for 3-6 year olds.  I wrote a Montessori blog called My Montessori Journey for three years.  When I stopped writing that blog to start this one, I had a few comments and emails from my faithful Montessori readers asking me why I wasn't using a Montessori curriculum for homeschool.  I responded to their questions in THIS POST.  My "A-ha!" moment, resulting from my dissatisfaction with my first grader's math program, caused me to ask myself why I wasn't using Montessori math materials with him.  I have always believed the Montessori method to be excellent and the math materials/curriculum to be superior to anything else I've ever seen.  So............over the last week or so I've been digging into these great Montessori elementary teacher albums that you can access online and printing and laminating a TON of materials.  Over the course of the next few weeks, I'll be writing a lot about how I'm incorporating these ideas and materials into our homeschool day.  DUH!!!  Why didn't I do this sooner?  I am super excited to share with you all about it!

".........and then we're gonna dig him a nice hole!"

These are the words just uttered by my 10-year-old, preceded by the words, "I'm gonna get some more water......".  While speaking these words he hurried into the kitchen to get some water in a plastic dish.  A few minutes prior I was informed that "the worm (what worm?) is under the water now."  Good to know.  Ummmm........what worm?  And don't worms drown in water?  I'm a creature-lover and was a bit concerned for said worm's welfare.  However, my oldest assured me that he (the worm) was still moving and that worms can survive underwater, something he learned not from yours truly, but from watching Wild Kratts on TV.  Ha!

Like any other homeschooling mama, I've had my nagging concerns about the "socialization" of my children when I chose to withdraw them from a public school setting.  At the same time, I'm well aware that one of the many benefits of homeschooling is that it draws siblings closer together than they would be otherwise.  I think this is certainly becoming the case in our family.  I love seeing my guys interact and converse with one another in a relaxed, pressure-free setting.  To me, this is a much  more natural example of socialization than what often occurs in a setting where only same-age children are grouped together.  (Think bullying........pressure to "fit in".........pack mentality.)  So let the worm-habitat-building continue!  What a fantastic way to spend "recess" on a beautiful fall day!  I'm going to go photograph the worm so you can see for yourself why I love homeschooling!

Sidenote:  All this industriousness has been accompanied by the tap-tap-tapping of a hammer........my youngest is busy opening walnuts he's gathered from the backyard.  A squirrel's best friend in the making indeed.

Sadly, the photographer fears that the subject matter may be (ahem) deceased.  Please be forewarned that the contents of the next two photos may not be suitable for young children.

The little purplish-pink spot in the center/left is the worm.  Or perhaps I should say was the worm.  My son told me the worm had been moving right before I came outside, so there may yet be hope.

Just keeping it real here...........documenting the muddy fingerprints all over the door from multiple trips inside for water using mud-covered hands to get in and out........

And let's not forget the mud-covered kitchen faucet.  Homeschooling may not be for those who like to keep a pristine home at all times.  My philosophy.........if you don't get a little dirty, was it really that much fun?  (Inwardly I cringe a bit when I see mud-strewn around my living space BUT I try as much as possible to keep my mouth shut.  In this case, I did throw out a couple of feeble, "Honey, don't touch anything with your mud-covered hands, okay?...........these words were mostly ignored.  :-)

Slacking or supporting? You be the judge.

I sat down a bit ago to quickly check email and facebook and Google Reader and Pinterest before we started school  (we usually start around 9:30).  My plan was to start close to "on time" (which is a flexible concept in homeschooling).  As I sat here at the computer, I could overhear my two sons in my oldest son's bedroom.  They have a box from the recycling bin and from what I can tell are planning to add that box to a box my husband has told them they can have on Friday (?) to build something very cool.  About 10 minutes ago I told them as they hurried past me, seriously discussing their "plans", that we would start school in about 10 minutes.  They gave the obligatory "OK" as they rushed on to continue their scheming. Since they do not ALWAYS see eye to eye or get along, I am hesitant to break up their collaboration to start school.  Even as I type these words at this moment, they have come out and my littlest is showing me a drawing of their plans which he has sketched with red marker on white paper.  He is now asking me where we can buy springs.  I am enthralled and captivated when they work together like this.  Little guy is now out on the deck and I can hear him telling his brother, "It's good.  We can go to the hardware store and buy springs for the launcher.  It's really good......it will be so easy."  Now he is calling to me "Hey, Mommy!  Look how tall the Nile River is getting.  The grass here is really fresh (he slides open the screen to tell me this)."  Though I feel a teeny tiny bit like a slacker for not calling them together to being "school", the larger part of me feels grateful that I can support their interactions by allowing them to unfold naturally.  I am fully aware that the  natural unfolding may soon result in disagreement which may or may not take the form of angry words and/or punches.  THEN............it will be time to start school.

One of the best things about homeschooling............

...............watching my oldest son reading fiction for pleasure.  YAY!!  I snapped a few quick and sneaky photos of him during his daily 30 minutes of independent reading.  Once he was sitting outside on the deck on a beautiful day (something he couldn't do in public school) and the other time he was all cuddled up under a quilt on my bed (also something he couldn't do in public school).  Reading while cuddled up in bed........a man after my own heart!!

Dreamgirl, whoopie pies, and why homeschooling rocks!!

I just had to hop on here quickly and post about what's been on my mind recently.  I have a TON of things that I should be doing right now, but I never claimed to prioritize well.  ahem........

First of all, the boys and I had "life skills day" on Thursday and quickly whipped up a batch of homemade whoopie pies for Daddy right after he left for work.  Then we rushed up to surprise him with them at work.  His work is about a 25 minute drive from our home.  I brought matches and candles and we sang "Happy Birthday" to him and had him blow out the candles.  I know he was both surprised and touched.  And we would never have been able to pull this off if the boys were in school.

During the time we were at Daddy's office (he's a college professor), my boys were visiting with Daddy's colleagues.  At one point my six-year-old grabbed me, planted a kiss right on my lips and announced to everyone that I am his "dreamgirl".  Words to warm a momma's heart.  I know there will come a day when I'm no longer his "dreamgirl" and that role will be filled by someone who is a.) closer to his age and b.) not his MOM!  And of course that should happen because it would just be weird for him to exhibit the same behavior and say those words as a sixteen-year-old!!!  Still...........I am realizing more and more that homeschooling is allowing me to keep a close connection to my precious boys, one that would surely be challenged and perhaps even strained if they attended school all day.  Inevitably, the influence of their peers would take greater precedence than the influence of their parents.  And I definitely want to continue to nurture our relationship as long as possible.  It's great to be a homeschooler...............especially if you're also a "dreamgirl."  :-)

Taking a little detour

We are now about 4 weeks into our homeschool journey.  Overall, things are going very well.  However, after reflecting a bit about the curriculum I've chosen and how it's working/not working for us, we are making a few changes.

As you may know if you've read my curriculum page, I chose A World of Adventure from Learning Adventures as my main curriculum for my oldest son who is in fourth grade.  In hindsight, I admit that I chose it because it reflects the kind of education that I wanted to give him and I liked the fact that Dorian (the author) had done all the work for me so I could just open to "today's" lesson and be good to go.  I should have known myself and my child better than that, but I'm sure that many a homeschool-newbie has followed this same path or something similar.  Before I go on to explain some of the changes we're making, please know that I think this is an excellent curriculum and as of now we are not abandoning it entirely.  It's good stuff.

So............here's what's going on.  First of all, I really wanted a curriculum that presented history in a chronological manner and I really, really wanted the literature we read to correlate with the history period we were focusing on.  AWOA completely fit the bill in this department and that's largely why I chose it.  The first six-week unit in AWOA is Ancient Egypt, and the main literature selection is The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw.  The literature selection is recommended to be read aloud and then there are comprehension questions for discussion in addition to vocabulary and written language assignments.  Although my son was not complaining (bless his heart!), I soon realized that this particular text is pretty advanced for a fourth grader to easily comprehend, even when it's being read aloud.  Keep in mind that my fourth grader is a gifted learner.  And still, I found that it was really hard for him to keep track of the characters and all the details of the plot.  So I asked my mom for advice.  She taught reading and language arts in the upper elementary grades for MANY years and is truly the voice of experience.  She basically confirmed to me what I already knew.........my son would not make gains in reading comprehension from a text that was too difficult nor would he grow to love literature (remember, he's a non-fiction kid) if only presented with texts that are either a.) too difficult or b.) not interesting to him or c.) both a and b.  Essentially, she gave me permission to abandon the book entirely and try to find something that my son was more interested in and that was better suited for him.  And I had to get over my need to have our literature align with our history study.  Which was a bit hard, but I'm over it now. :-)

Luckily, my mom (the veteran retired teacher and lover of books) had a whole stash of great upper elementary chapter books in her basement.  I hauled about 12 to 15 home and the next day I allowed my son to (gasp!) read the cover blurbs and choose which book he would read next.  (Sidenote:  The Book Whisperer author would be so proud of me.  I actually heard her voice whispering in my ear as we made this transition.  I'm totally serious.)

So now we are happily reading The Cricket in Times Square by George Seldin.  I LOVED this book as a child.  Fortunately there are a ton of free resources for this book online.  For example, Lesson Pathways has a really comprehensive list of very cool activities and links to enhance a child's experience with this book.  THIS LINK has been invaluable as it has an online quiz for each chapter as well as activities, vocabulary and English lessons.  I've been having my son take the online quiz after reading each chapter.  In a future post I'll share what we're doing with the vocabulary lists.  I haven't used much yet from THIS link, but it looks like a bunch of good stuff.  And of course there is a great bunch of resources at Homeschoolshare.  Many of them are for making a lapbook.  I'm not yet sure if we'll be doing a lapbook.  If so, I'll be sure to post about it.

I feel much better about our literature now that we've made this switch.  I think The Golden Goblet is a really wonderful book.  In fact, I may finish it myself to see what happens.  We may just hold off a few years and try it again.  As of now, I'm not sure how we'll be using AWOA.  After abandoning the literature component, my plan was to continue using it for our study of history as well as for some of the science units it includes.  However, the further I go into this journey, the more I find myself wanting to tap into my children's interests and to build learning experiences around those topics.  I'm realizing that by randomly (although it was far from random..........weeks and weeks of research went into my curricular choices!) choosing curriculum without considering their interests and needs, what I am offering them is really not a whole lot different than what they'd get in public school.  So I'm taking some time to reflect on this realization and to think about what it means for us and what direction I want to go next in our exciting journey.  I'll be sure to post more on what transpires very soon!!

I'd love to hear from you if you've had similar issues.  I am 100% positive that I'm not the only one!! 

About Montessori

A few of you have asked why I haven't set up a Montessori curriculum for my sons this year as I started homeschooling them.  While I understand why you're curious, it surprised me a bit because I honestly hadn't thought about the fact that I wasn't using a Montessori curriculum for them.  After it was brought to my attention, I was forced to reflect on why I hadn't set up our homeschool environment in a "Montessori" way.  So I'll do my best to put my thoughts about that into writing here.  Please don't hesitate to email me or leave a comment if you'd like.  I love getting comments!

OK, first of all, my Montessori training is for 3-6 year olds and that is the curriculum I'm most comfortable with in regard to Montessori education.  I can assure you that if I'd started homeschooling back when they were in preschool or younger, our "schoolroom" would have had a definite Montessori vibe with open shelves and materials from which they could self-select.  That said, I don't have the training in Montessori Elementary education.  I have thought about getting it in the past, but it just hasn't been feasible from either a financial or time-commitment standpoint. 

Next, my oldest son (who is turning 10 soon) attended a private Montessori elementary for first and second grade.  It was a wonderful school and I feel he got a great introduction and exposure to the key elements of a Montessori elementary education.  If he were attending a Montessori school this fall, he'd be in the 9-12 year old class.......and that is definitely out of my realm of expertise when it comes to Montessori training.  I think Montessori is a wonderful model, even at the older age levels.  I just don't feel that I could replicate it in a homeschool setting.  As I researched homeschool curricula almost obsessively last winter, I wasn't able to come up with a resource for "doing" Montessori with upper elementary children in a home setting.  If any of you have any suggestions or references for something like this, I'd be thrilled to take a look!

From the little I know about Montessori education at the elementary level, I know that there is a great deal of emphasis placed on non-fiction reading and reading for research purposes.  While I believe these to be very valid and necessary goals for children, my oldest son excels in this area and would spend all his time reading non-fiction or for research if given the choice.   Reading and understanding fiction at a higher reading level is an area that I felt I needed to focus on with him this year.  So when I chose our main curriculum (A World of Adventure by Learning Adventures), I was looking for something that had literature at its core and which tied in the history and science with the literature components.  In many ways, I can see that the structure of AWOA actually closely matches what I can imagine would be emphasized in an upper-elementary Montessori setting:  lots of content reading from "real books", learning history in chronological order, and hands-on projects to reinforce concepts.

Finally, I think one of the basic tenets that characterizes Montessori education is to "follow the child".  This, more than any material or exercise, is what I believe to be the essential message of Maria Montessori.  Given that, I will definitely be implementing a "follow the child" philosophy in our homeschool setting as I try to build on my children's interests and strengths while simultaneously matching my support and encouragement to their areas of need or struggle.

I truly appreciate being asked this question.  It has been very thought-provoking and reflective for me to ponder.  And I hope I've adequately explained my reasoning for choosing the path I've chosen.  If any of you are using a Montessori approach with your older children, I would really love to hear about it!!  I love how blogging connects people of similar interests and allows us to learn from each other. 

I. Love. It.

My intention is to write on this blog more regularly than once a week, but, boy!, homeschooling sure is keeping me busy!  On top of homeschooling my 2 boys, this week I added teaching 8 piano lessons and 3 Kindermusik classes.  Perhaps that explains why I've been absent in this space!  Also, when we get going with our school days I find that I forget to take many pictures.  I'll try to be better about that!

Here's what I love about homeschooling so far:

I love not having to rush myself and the boys out the door each morning.  We are easing into our school day gradually, trying to start around 9:00 every morning.  This allows me time to exercise before school as well as time to check email, clean up after breakfast, throw in a load of laundry, and gather any last minute things I need for our day.

I love starting each school day cuddled on the couch with my two favorite guys in the whole world.  We have been reading a short devotion from the book Jesus Calling each morning.  It starts our time together on a positive note, which I feel is very important.

I love that I've had time to make homemade bread for us to enjoy twice this week so far.  It disappears quickly! Is there anything better than homemade bread fresh from the oven?

 I love being able to incorporate my boys' interests into their school day.  One way I've done this with my little guy is to have him create a scene with his Legos.  I then took photos of several "action" shots as he manipulated the scene to tell a story.  I printed each photo on printer paper and each day he's been writing the words to go with one page.  When he's finished, he'll have his own book!  This is a much more motivating way for me to get him to write than anything else I've come up with!

I love having the flexibility to add in little field trips that support our learning.  Yesterday I took the boys apple picking at an orchard since we read How To Make an Apple Pie and See the World this week for FIAR.  I'll post more about that later.

So.......I'm loving it.  

A few of you asked about why I'm not incorporating a lot of Montessori materials into our homeschooling.  Which is a fair question since many of you followed me for that last several years over at My Montessori Journey.  I've been thinking about how to answer that question and will try to do a post about that soon.  I just wanted to pop in here today so you'd know I was still around.  :-)

Our First Day!!!

Monday the 22nd (yesterday) was our first day of homeschool!  I was really ready to start our routine and the boys were game too.  (I don't think they actually know that the public school kids around here don't start until Wednesday and Thursday.  Shhhhhhhh!!)

I wanted to record a few details about our first day, mostly for my own sake.  First off, a week or so ago I came up with the idea of taking them out for breakfast on the first day to make it special.  So we did that this morning.  They were both really excited about this, exclaiming over and over again that we NEVER go out for breakfast (which is true.........in their young lives we've only ever gone out for breakfast when on vacation).  We got a bit of a late start because of an insanely long and drawn-out thunder/hailstorm that lasted most of the night!  Enough already!  Anyway, the four of us enjoyed a special breakfast out.  My oldest (SC) claims that I also promised that we'd go out for breakfast at the beginning of each quarter of school.  I have no memory of saying this, but I'm pretty sure it will be hard to make HIM forget it.  And having breakfast out four times a year versus zero DOES sound pretty fun!

By the time we got home from breakfast it was about 9:30.  I gathered the boys on the couch and read them a book I'd picked up especially for this first day.   If you haven't read it, it's a must-read.  So uplifting and encouraging.  And true!  It's called The Boy Who Changed the World  by Andy Andrews. I had the privilege of hearing Andy speak at the Women of Faith conference about a week ago and that's when I bought the book.  Without giving you a full book review, I'll just say that the gist of it is that everything we do makes a difference and any single one of us can make choices and take actions that can ultimately change the world for good!  After I read this to my precious boys, I told them that Daddy and I believe in them and love them so much and that one reason we've decided to school them at home is so we can do our best to help them develop into men that can change the world.  It was an empowering way to start the day and I know they both enjoyed the book. 

After reading this book, we went into our schoolroom and got started learning about China in our Expedition Earth binders.  One of the things that tickled me most this morning was when I told them I was going to read some "fun facts" about China that they could try to learn and remember.  My little one (LG) in all seriousness stated that he thought he'd better "write this down so he doesn't forget".  He then proceeded to get a piece of paper from the printer and wrote a few notes about what I was saying.  I was not expecting such industriousness on the first day, especially from him!  Hopefully it isn't just part of the "homeschool honeymoon period"!!

My biggest concern for our first day was the balance between work together and working with the boys individually.  My youngest is CRAZY for LEGOs (thus his nickname on the blog "Lego Guy"  aka LG) and always has various constructions nearby.  When I was working with his brother he wanted to play with his Legos while he waited.  I decided this might be a good way for him to be occupied, but told him that when I was ready to work with him he had to put the Legos away without arguing or they would be off limits until school work was done.  He was very agreeable to this and it ended up working out well.  As we go along he'll have more independent assignments that he can work on that are "school" related, but it was nice to know that I might be able to allow this when needed.  After all, we're schooling at home.  And playing with his Legos more is one of the advantages that we pointed out when helping him see the "benefits" of homeschool versus traditional school.

Another moment I really loved was when my boys got into a discussion about the land size and population of various countries while looking at our big world map.  This conversation came about during our study of China.  I was getting a little anxious because I wanted to show them something on the laptop and Hubs was using it at the time.  It was a good reminder to me to go with the flow and allow learning in the moment to evolve between the boys.  If we hadn't had the delay in using the computer, they might not have had such a good conversation.  

One other memory from today is how hard they both giggled when we put their names into Google Translate and listened to the digital voice say their names (and mommy and daddy's and all our pet's names) in Mandarin.  It was really fun to see them get so tickled.  I did use it as a chance to point out that there might be some little Chinese boys on the other side of the world using Google Translate to listen to their names in English and that they might be falling down laughing too about how different it sounds.

I feel great about our first day.  I am going to love this special time with my boys.  Being a homeschooler is awesome!!

Hey, everybody!

I just got back from a little trip out of town with the boys.  We visited my good friend, Beth, and her family and had a super time! It's good to be home though.  I am really excited and energized to start writing and sharing a lot in this place.  However, I have a van full of vacation "stuff" to unpack, laundry to do, etc.  So, tonight I just wanted to share a blog I've been reading for a while that I just love.  It's called "Skipping School" or "Unschooled" and is written by a young woman named Kate who lives in Manhattan, is a gifted writer and blogs about being homeschooled all the way through from early childhood to high school.  I really love Kate's writing and find it fascinating to read about homeschooling from her perspective.  Please head over and check it out.  If we bombard her site with Montessori Journey traffic it would be fun to leave her a bunch of kind comments.  I know there are a lot of homeschooling mamas who read my MJ blog and who have now headed over here.  Let's all give Kate a big pat on the back for sharing her thoughts on this topic.  Now GO SEE KATE!!