Organizing

In addition to our normal school days, I've been spending the afternoons organizing things for next year. I've decided to start the 2009-2010 school year on June 1. This will enable us to do 3 weeks on then 1 week off throughout the year, while still meeting Missouri's annual 1000 hours requirement.

Aiden took his final test in math yesterday. We were happy with his 92%, but more importantly I was amazed that he sat still for an entire hour answering all the questions. That's a lot to ask of a 6 year old, but he wanted to keep going. So in less than 2 months, he's done an entire year's worth of math. At this rate by Christmas I'm going to have to find math textbooks and start him on pre-Algebra!

Zoë took her math mid-term yesterday, and also did very well. Today she did 2 1/2 chapters and is well on her way to finishing her book too. She had a little difficulty comparing fractions today, but it clicked for her after a few problems. She was pretty frustrated, but finally worked through it.

Both of the kids are working on balance, force, motion, and friction; as well as researching an ancient civilization. Instead of doing separate lessons, I've just grouped them together and have them both doing the same thing for science/social studies. This seems to work much better.

Learning, learning and more learning!

I have been so impressed with the kids desire to learn new things recently. Both Zoë and Aiden have taught themselves a new song on the piano this week (Aiden learned 2). Zoë has developed her own civilization called "Pixia." It has it's own alphabet, customs, occupations, etc. They've been having a great time playing in the yard pretending to be in their made up civilization.

Aiden has been diligently working on math pre-tests. We have an arrangement that if he gets 80% or higher on a pre-test, he can skip the chapter. He has yet to be even below 90%. In the last 2 days he's skipped 5 chapters. This was after getting a 93% on the midterm test. He seems much more motivated to continue to progress since I instituted this policy. I still can't believe all the things he already knows how to do!

We had a great time yesterday playing with Haley, Maddie, and Hunter. It's so great to have another family on the same page! Heather is filled with so many great ideas, and she continues to motivate me all the time.

Now if I could just find someone to do all the household chores, things would be perfect (for now anyway)!

Mondays

Today was a rather difficult day. No one felt like being in the classroom, so I quickly redid our schedule to include some fun. The morning was spent working on math and writing exercises. Then we went to the library to check out books on Earth for Aiden and Ben Franklin for Zoë. The afternoon was spent baking cookies and listening to a litany of facts from Zoë about Ben Franklin. One of the facts was that Franklin became a vegetarian so he could save money to buy more books. Zoë decided that was reason enough to start public libraries.

The cookies were interesting. They came from a mix and were really more about coloring and forming cookies into any shape you want than tasting good. We had ducks, compound volcanoes, flowers, cookies with names on them, umbrellas, etc. After they cooked everyone got to eat one. Of course Aiden picked his volcano to eat since it took up almost half of the pan. After a few bites he said to Zoë, "you want this? These are crap!" They were tasteless, but they had fun making them and messing with mixing colors.

Praise

I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about the article I posted last and analyzing the praise that the kids get. Fortunately for us, we're believers in the Suzuki method of learning, and the idea of praise is very similar. We find one specific thing to comment on, and one specific thing to improve. This has become a habit with piano practice, but not so much with daily life. So today I really concentrated on applying this idea while we did our school lessons. I was amazed at how quickly it became apparent that this is an extremely successful approach to learning. The kids were both eager to work just a little harder to earn that very specific praise. It certainly takes a lot of energy on my part to do this, but it will be so worth it in the end. Eventually, it might even come as naturally as piano lessons do on some days.

Self-esteem and praise

I found this very interesting article about praise and gifted children today. The gist of the article is they have found that children will try harder tasks if they are praised for their ability to try something and not for being "smart." It goes further and talks about the relationship between praise and self-esteem. I can't even count the number of times I've told the kids "wow, you're smart" after they've completed something! And after having them at home for 2 months now I was beginning to wonder why sometimes they had a difficult time wanting to try new things. I'm going to have to run our own little experiment at home and see how things improve by just changing the kind of praise they recieve.

Today the kids started art classes. They loved drawing African animals and should finish their projects in a couple more sessions. The morning was very busy with classes, and we got a lot done!

Questions

After great piano lessons this morning, we spent the rest of school time working on questions for a book club and an interview with Mary. Last night I registered the kids for zoo camp. They're really excited. They'll get to spend a week in June at the zoo learning about the animals and conservation efforts the zoo makes. At the end of the week they spend the night at the zoo. It should be a lot of fun. I've also been researching foreign language classes. They'll probably end up taking Spanish classes through the St. Charles Home school group. They were the only reasonable priced things I've found.

Aiden has gotten excited about math again. I've been having him work through pretests and told him if he got an 80% or higher on the test we'd skip the chapter. It's amazing how motivated it has made him to take his time and get the right answers. So far we've been able to skip 3 chapters. He's going to start working on the division pretest tomorrow. I wouldn't be too surprised if he can skip that one too. Learning to skip things has been the challenge for me. I'm such a task oriented person that I find it difficult to skip things. I've just adjusted my task to be finding him a challenge instead of completing problems. I think everyone is happier with this change. I'm doing the same thing for Zoë too.

Weekend bliss

We had a fantastic weekend. It was extremely busy, but a whole lot of fun. Friday night we spent playing a game with the kids. Saturday was soccer, cleaning, cooking, and then the 5 Browns concert. Before the concert we got to go back to the green room and meet the 5 of them. They were extremely nice. The kids acted nervous, but all of the Browns asked them questions and talked with them about how long they had been playing piano. The show was by far the best classical preformance I've ever seen. It was delightful to see 5 people so excited about what they are doing. They literally ran to their pianos! Before each piece they spoke to the audience about the song, the composer, and how they felt while playing the song. It was very interesting to hear the details.

My favorite part of the evening was the look on the kids face when the encore began. Since we ordered the tickets sometime last fall all the kids talked about was that they hoped they played "Hall of the Mountain King." I had gotten the set lists about a month before the show and knew that they weren't going to be playing their favorite piece. Aiden almost jumped out of his seat giggling after the first two notes of the encore! Yep you guessed it, "Hall of the Mountain King." We sat mesmerized at the speed of their fingers (we were in the 3rd row). Aiden and Zoë were all smiles and mouths agape throughout the song. It was a perfect way to end the show! If you want more details read Tom's blog.

The other interesting thing I discovered (really it's no surprise) is that the Browns were all Homeschooled. There's a nice little video of them talking about their Homeschool experiences on youtube. I'd love to talk with their parents!


Sunday's meal turned out excellent, and we all enjoyed having company over. Then that evening we got to visit with Tom's Grandma and Aunt at his parents house. At one point in the evening GiGi (short for Great Grandma) pulled me to the side to tell me how proud she was of me for working so hard with the kids and how excited she was that we were homeschooling. I was floored! I am so grateful to be surrounded by people that support our decision! We're planning a trip to her house to interview her about the changes she has seen our country and the world go through. She'll be 93 this fall, and I'm sure she has seen some amazing things. It all fits right in with Zoë's unit on change, so we're really excited about it. Plus, who doesn't love a trip to visit their Great Grandma!

This week has been slightly different because the kids had JET on Tuesday instead of Friday. Today they have a math test (it took them 2 days to do the entire chapter). Everyone is either in the middle of or starting final projects for the end of a small unit. Next week they start art classes with a former art teacher out of her home. I'm also looking for a good way to have them start learning a language. Aiden wants to learn Spanish and Zoë wants to learn Russian. Basically, it's the usual whirlwind of activity around here!

Long days

When I started this blog I intended to make about 3 posts per week. That barely seems plausible at this point. It seems like Fridays are the only days I get a chance to sit down while my brain is still functioning enough to write!

It has been a busy week as usual. On top of schooling I've been trying to get together everything to order for next year, meet with an attorney to make out our will, refinance the house, and try to fit exercise back into my routine. I'm still extremely bitter that about the only time I have to myself is from 5:30-6:30 am! I abhor mornings, but I guess it has to be done.

Aiden is still working on matter. He's also memorizing multiplication tables and created a background for a fictional character. Zoë is wrapping up her literature unit about ancient Egypt and the Middle Ages. We adapted the project in the curriculum to be a movie about some of the differences between now and the Middle Ages. She spent part of the morning working on the storyboard for the movie. Filming should start Monday. She's also doing the character background and multiplication tables.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Heather's house letting the kids play together while Heather and I got the curriculum orders figured out. Aiden and Maddison (5 1/2) played a duet together of Allegro (Aiden's favorite piano song). Maddi was on the violin and Aiden played the piano. The problem was that the songs were in a different key. Although both did a great job playing their parts, together they sounded worse than a horde of dying cats. It was worth the grueling sound to see the excitement on their faces when they finished though. They were both so proud. Zoë and Aiden were happy to see that they have friends who have to practice music too.

Tomorrow starts soccer season and at night we have tickets to see the 5 Browns at Powell Symphony Hall. We get to meet them before the show since we're part of the Suzuki Piano Institute. Apparently, the Browns were Suzuki trained as well. The kids are really looking forward to this. So are Tom and I actually! I think they will like seeing what a group of young people can do on the piano.

Sunday we're hosting dinner for some friends. I've planned a big Italian style dinner complete with homemade focaccia and chocolate cake among 3 other courses. I always enjoy the opportunity to cook for other people, but it is a lot of work! One of these times I'll actually plan something simple instead of these ornate meals that require days of preparation. At least the kids are getting to the age that they can help and not just make a bigger mess of the kitchen.