We have had a very relaxing and fun weekend. Lots of entertaining and lazy time with or without friends around. Today we're putting everything together for the time capsule and burying it if the weather allows.
The kids did a great job gathering items for the time capsule. We had one problem and lost all of our data while trying to save, but I've found everything again and we're ready to go. They had to find things to represent several different areas of our culture including jobs, homes, entertainment, transportation, food, and something personal. They found pictures of everyone's ipods, found lists of top selling books, music singles, movies, and tv shows to represent entertainment in our culture. For homes they decided to use a blueprint of our house. For food we got a menu from our favorite place to eat (McGurk's), and put in copies of some of our favorite recipes. They also found pictures of the cars we drive, and have all taken a picture by "the Hamlet tree" to include to show how both they and the tree grow over the years. Both the kids had to write a letter to include talking about what was going on in our world now, and make some predictions about what things will be like in the future. Zoë did an excellent job of summarizing many current events such as housing foreclosures, job loss, poor economy, wars. I'm amazed at how much they must pick things up just from having npr on in the car or listening to dinner conversations. Well, that and I really do include them in our conversations and make sure they understand what is being discussed.
Now I just need to work on something to include!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
A time for reflection
Although the kids have JET on Friday, tomorrow is our last day for the year. For the past few days I've been feeling very discouraged about my ability to continue this and if they're actually learning anything. So today I sat down and went over some of the things they have worked on in the last 3 months. Wow, what an amazing feeling that has been! Here's a very small summary of what they've accomplished since Valentine's Day.
Aiden has one more chapter left in the fourth grade math book (which he probably won't have to do because it's measurement, and I doubt he'll score below 90% on the pretest). That means technically he's done 3 years of math in 3 months time. He has read at least 5 chapter books, learned 4 songs hands together on the piano, built countless machines using legos, kinexs, or marble runs, learned about photosynthesis, force, friction, inertia, momentum, done at least 15 science experiments, learned 100s of facts about volcanoes, learned about ancient Greece and Rome, studied WWII and can tell you how the war started, completed 5 beautiful art projects, has asked thousands of questions... The list goes on and on. My fantastic homeschool tracker couldn't even keep track of all the things we've done!
Zoë is only a few chapters behind Aiden in math. I couldn't possibly count the number of books she's read since February (she gets about 6 books a time at the library), studied Ancient Egypt Greece and Rome and the Middle Ages, written several short stories, learned about several famous people including an in depth look at Benjamin Franklin, learned about the California Gold Rush, built dioramas, created her own civilization called "Pixia", written and preformed in several skits/plays, created 100s of craft/art projects, also knows all about volcanoes, made us laugh 100s of times with her witty humor, and really seems to have a much better sense of herself and her abilities.
Not only have we done all of these things and much more, but somehow we've managed to keep the house relatively clean, continue a social life, and had lots of time to just play. Of course we have run head on into several road blocks, but in the end we have navigated around them. I am completely overwhelmed at all we have done when I reread through this post. I'm not even sure why I've been having feelings of doubt. Perhaps it's the perfectionist in me that can always think of one more thing that could be done instead of focusing on all that has already been done!
Overall, I couldn't be happier with their progression. My only real goal for the past 3 months was to undo the negative things they had learned in public school, and get them back to being excited about learning. Even if we had done nothing else, at least I can say we have certainly met my goal of being excited about learning. The rest is really icing on the cake to me. I'm looking forward to seeing what they accomplish for the 2009-2010 school year. Imagine what I can do with them for an entire year!! Anyone know any good math tutors? At this rate I'm going to need one.
Aiden has one more chapter left in the fourth grade math book (which he probably won't have to do because it's measurement, and I doubt he'll score below 90% on the pretest). That means technically he's done 3 years of math in 3 months time. He has read at least 5 chapter books, learned 4 songs hands together on the piano, built countless machines using legos, kinexs, or marble runs, learned about photosynthesis, force, friction, inertia, momentum, done at least 15 science experiments, learned 100s of facts about volcanoes, learned about ancient Greece and Rome, studied WWII and can tell you how the war started, completed 5 beautiful art projects, has asked thousands of questions... The list goes on and on. My fantastic homeschool tracker couldn't even keep track of all the things we've done!
Zoë is only a few chapters behind Aiden in math. I couldn't possibly count the number of books she's read since February (she gets about 6 books a time at the library), studied Ancient Egypt Greece and Rome and the Middle Ages, written several short stories, learned about several famous people including an in depth look at Benjamin Franklin, learned about the California Gold Rush, built dioramas, created her own civilization called "Pixia", written and preformed in several skits/plays, created 100s of craft/art projects, also knows all about volcanoes, made us laugh 100s of times with her witty humor, and really seems to have a much better sense of herself and her abilities.
Not only have we done all of these things and much more, but somehow we've managed to keep the house relatively clean, continue a social life, and had lots of time to just play. Of course we have run head on into several road blocks, but in the end we have navigated around them. I am completely overwhelmed at all we have done when I reread through this post. I'm not even sure why I've been having feelings of doubt. Perhaps it's the perfectionist in me that can always think of one more thing that could be done instead of focusing on all that has already been done!
Overall, I couldn't be happier with their progression. My only real goal for the past 3 months was to undo the negative things they had learned in public school, and get them back to being excited about learning. Even if we had done nothing else, at least I can say we have certainly met my goal of being excited about learning. The rest is really icing on the cake to me. I'm looking forward to seeing what they accomplish for the 2009-2010 school year. Imagine what I can do with them for an entire year!! Anyone know any good math tutors? At this rate I'm going to need one.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Everything can be a learning experience
Somehow last night turned into a giant physics lesson. Don't tell the kids though, they thought they were having fun! We pushed back all the couches and built a giant marble run (16 meters long) in the living room. It included lots of test runs and discussions regarding how to improve the track. In the end we had a working marble run (as long as you used the lighter marble). They pointed out you couldn't use the heavier marble because the force of gravity was stronger on the loop since it weighed more, and that's why it wouldn't complete the circuit. We also spent a little time discussing how the company that made the parts could have improved them. Our biggest complaint was the lack of weight in the bases for the uprights. As you can see from the picture we had to weigh the bases down with books. So if you're ever designing a toy like this, keep that in mind.
Regardless of some of the flaws, we had a great time. Some days it can be completely overwhelming to challenge the children, but then we have nights like last night that remind me why we're doing this in the first place!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Winding down, though LONG winded
Things are starting to wind down for the year here. Yesterday, we finished the unit on matter and movement culminating in a wordless skit the kids put on showing different forces and balance. They had to come up with 3 different ways to pantomime push, pull, gravity, balance and friction. Two of my favorite parts were Zoë as the human balance with boxes on her hand, and watching Aiden keep track of Zoë eating a balanced diet of pretend food. I just love that given free reign to formulate the skit, Aiden came up with a balanced diet to represent the idea of balance. The kids practiced the skit a couple of times, then preformed it last night for Tom and me.
We're also starting the final project for the unit on change. We've taken the curriculum's idea of a time capsule and expanded on it. Today we spent some time discussing what important parts of our culture we should include in the time capsule. This is going to be a lot of fun, and all four of us are going to put some things in it. My hope is that when the kids are grown, and (hopefully) have their own children, we'll dig it up and look through it. I guess the key will be burying it in a spot we can find in 20+ years!
Today in math we made lists of the steps for multiplying multiple digits (for Zoë) and long division (for Aiden). It dawned on me that these concepts would be easier if we spent some time listing out each step. It did seem to work. Zoë did a great job with her problems overall, she just needs to remember to add anything carried over. Aiden continued to befuddle me by being able to do story problems in his head, but struggling with the mathematically written version. If he's not a visual-spacial learner, then no one is! Either way it was a vast improvement over yesterday's math lesson, and we got donuts for a morning snack to celebrate their hard work.
I've received the samples from Saxon for their middle grades math curriculum. Meh... My initial thoughts are that it is entirely too repetitive for Aiden still, but maybe Zoë would like it. Part of me (the lazy part) wants to just order it and say tough. It would be so much easier to just hand them their book and say "do today's lesson." I just don't think that will work well with children who grasp the big concepts so quickly. I think part of me is scared they might miss something if I don't use a curriculum. Of course the reality is that we are using grade based math workbooks, so I really don't think they'll miss anything. Maybe it's more that I can't wrap my head around the idea that some people don't need to work as hard to learn basic math concepts. Perhaps I've forgotten what I felt like at their age.
We're also starting the final project for the unit on change. We've taken the curriculum's idea of a time capsule and expanded on it. Today we spent some time discussing what important parts of our culture we should include in the time capsule. This is going to be a lot of fun, and all four of us are going to put some things in it. My hope is that when the kids are grown, and (hopefully) have their own children, we'll dig it up and look through it. I guess the key will be burying it in a spot we can find in 20+ years!
Today in math we made lists of the steps for multiplying multiple digits (for Zoë) and long division (for Aiden). It dawned on me that these concepts would be easier if we spent some time listing out each step. It did seem to work. Zoë did a great job with her problems overall, she just needs to remember to add anything carried over. Aiden continued to befuddle me by being able to do story problems in his head, but struggling with the mathematically written version. If he's not a visual-spacial learner, then no one is! Either way it was a vast improvement over yesterday's math lesson, and we got donuts for a morning snack to celebrate their hard work.
I've received the samples from Saxon for their middle grades math curriculum. Meh... My initial thoughts are that it is entirely too repetitive for Aiden still, but maybe Zoë would like it. Part of me (the lazy part) wants to just order it and say tough. It would be so much easier to just hand them their book and say "do today's lesson." I just don't think that will work well with children who grasp the big concepts so quickly. I think part of me is scared they might miss something if I don't use a curriculum. Of course the reality is that we are using grade based math workbooks, so I really don't think they'll miss anything. Maybe it's more that I can't wrap my head around the idea that some people don't need to work as hard to learn basic math concepts. Perhaps I've forgotten what I felt like at their age.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Improvement
Fortunately, no visits to the principal were necessary this week. After laying down the law on Monday, everything has gone smoothly. Tuesday and Wednesday were extremely busy and productive. We've built diorama's from ancient Greece and Rome. Studied Alexander the Great, learned about gladiators and Roman cities, and compared and contrasted Greek and Roman civilizations. We've also studied gravity as a force and friction, and built mobiles with geometric shapes to learn about the center of gravity of different objects.
Aiden is ready to move on to the next math concept of long division. After a little confusion with multiplying 2 digit numbers on the first day, he's learned the ideas and is doing well. Zoë is finishing up her final test and will be ready to start multiplying 2 digit numbers on Monday. They're both moving very quickly through the concepts. Their memorization levels can't keep up with how quickly they master the ideas. I'm guessing after a summer of TimezAttack this won't be an issue though.
Yesterday everyone got to get a fun book to read at the library. The kids spent the afternoon with their books reading in the tree. It was really cute. Zoë is actually reading a fantasy book that I just finished. I can't believe she's able to read it, but we've been having discussions about it, and she doesn't seem to be having any problems (with the exception of pronouncing names, but who doesn't have that problem with the fantasy genre!). Aiden found a series of books by Cornelia Funke that he's enjoying. Oh, and he lost his two front teeth last week!
Aiden is ready to move on to the next math concept of long division. After a little confusion with multiplying 2 digit numbers on the first day, he's learned the ideas and is doing well. Zoë is finishing up her final test and will be ready to start multiplying 2 digit numbers on Monday. They're both moving very quickly through the concepts. Their memorization levels can't keep up with how quickly they master the ideas. I'm guessing after a summer of TimezAttack this won't be an issue though.
Yesterday everyone got to get a fun book to read at the library. The kids spent the afternoon with their books reading in the tree. It was really cute. Zoë is actually reading a fantasy book that I just finished. I can't believe she's able to read it, but we've been having discussions about it, and she doesn't seem to be having any problems (with the exception of pronouncing names, but who doesn't have that problem with the fantasy genre!). Aiden found a series of books by Cornelia Funke that he's enjoying. Oh, and he lost his two front teeth last week!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Missing Patience
It was bound to happen sooner or later, but this morning I lost all of my patience. Zoë was in tears and Aiden was hiding under a blanket as I laid into them about their inability to at least pretend they were thinking and paying attention. After a string of "I don't know" answers, jumping on the furniture and flailing limbs, I made everyone sit down in the middle of the floor and laid out some expectations.
I know that I'm over-sensitive to Aiden's "active" lifestyle, but I had just had enough! I told them both if they wanted to continue not thinking or listening they should just sit in public school classes for 7 hours. I know I expect a lot from them, but they are capable of much more. I listened to all of their complaints, helped them find solutions, but in the end told them if they couldn't behave I would start doling out more punishments and taking away rewards. Needless to say, we're all looking forward to the week off at the end of May.
Things weren't all bad. We're spending the afternoon at the library researching Ancient Greece for Aiden, and the Roman Empire for Zoë. We talked about myths and learned about Narcissus and Pandora. We also discussed force and did an experiment throwing objects. In math Aiden has started learning how to multiply 2-digit numbers and Zoë was working on probability. She's about ready to move up to the next math book now.
Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.
I know that I'm over-sensitive to Aiden's "active" lifestyle, but I had just had enough! I told them both if they wanted to continue not thinking or listening they should just sit in public school classes for 7 hours. I know I expect a lot from them, but they are capable of much more. I listened to all of their complaints, helped them find solutions, but in the end told them if they couldn't behave I would start doling out more punishments and taking away rewards. Needless to say, we're all looking forward to the week off at the end of May.
Things weren't all bad. We're spending the afternoon at the library researching Ancient Greece for Aiden, and the Roman Empire for Zoë. We talked about myths and learned about Narcissus and Pandora. We also discussed force and did an experiment throwing objects. In math Aiden has started learning how to multiply 2-digit numbers and Zoë was working on probability. She's about ready to move up to the next math book now.
Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.
Friday, May 1, 2009
More testing
I'm still stumbling over where to put Aiden for math. He's been spending most of his math time for the last 2 weeks continuously doing tests or pretests. I've been looking through the Saxon stuff again, but this time for the middle grades. I'm going to request a sample and see how that turns out. The younger stuff was entirely too repetitive for either Zoë or Aiden, but maybe they've gotten past that for the middle school grades.
I still have a little bit of lesson planning to do for the next school year, but that's looking good so far. My challenge will be to figure out how to get each of the children to think on their own. Having them do the same curriculum requires a lot less time, but it can cause some lazy thinking. I find it interesting that already if a math question is asked, Zoë won't answer, but if it doesn't involve basic math skills Aiden won't answer. Of course this isn't true every time, but certainly a majority. I have a few ideas to balance this, but I'm sure more will come up as time goes on.
I still have a little bit of lesson planning to do for the next school year, but that's looking good so far. My challenge will be to figure out how to get each of the children to think on their own. Having them do the same curriculum requires a lot less time, but it can cause some lazy thinking. I find it interesting that already if a math question is asked, Zoë won't answer, but if it doesn't involve basic math skills Aiden won't answer. Of course this isn't true every time, but certainly a majority. I have a few ideas to balance this, but I'm sure more will come up as time goes on.
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