We are approaching the one year anniversary of pulling the kids out of public school, so I thought it would be a good time to reflect upon all of the things we've done this year. As I started compiling the list I realized why I've felt so busy this past year! We've had so many changes and learned so much.
It took me about 9 months, but I think I've finally been able to place both kids where they need to be for math. We started with second grade books and are now doing ALEKS at the 5th and 6th grade levels. They've learned multiplication, division, long division, factors, greatest common factors, simplifying factors, all kinds of geometry, percentages, algebra, order of operations, all kinds of properties, and probably 100 other things that I can't even remember. The most important thing is that they are learning something new each day, and are able to progress at their own pace.
Through our curriculum we've covered lots of different science and social studies units. The units included ancient Egypt, the Middle Ages, American Heroes, states of matter, motion, weight, balance, American Government, magnetism and electricity, forces of nature, Africa, Asia, rocks and minerals and Ben Franklin. They also completed units that I designed on Japan and volcanoes.
I'm also happy with their progress in reading and writing. They've both read 10 books as part of their literature curriculum. This doesn't count the 3 reading parties they've earned, the book clubs we've joined, and the amazing amount of free reading that I don't even count toward our home school hours. Both of the children have dramatically improved their intonation while reading aloud, spelling and vocabulary.
They have also been learning all kinds of things with our electives. They've both learned to type, read and write cursive handwriting, and have started learning Spanish. We've continued with piano lessons and have started taking Taekwondo. Both kids would like to finish Suzuki book one by the end of 2010, and they're both yellow first in Taekwondo. We've also taken countless field trips including a great trip to Philadelphia.
Both of them have been continuously challenged. This was probably the hardest adjustment they had to make. Neither one of them knew how to deal with something they didn't know how to do. They've since learned how to work past the frustration and complete their tasks. I have to say that those are the moments that fill me with the most pride. It is hard to watch them struggle, but it's so rewarding to teach them how to get past that.
During the course of the year we've gone from lessons being completely driven by me, to a weekly task list. This has been a great change! It has taught them time management, organization, and how hard work can pay off. They have never left something unfinished (probably because they aren't willing to pay the consequences of not finishing their list!), and I don't have to motivate them to do their work.
When we originally decided to home school I thought we'd try it for a year and see how things went. Now that the year is up and we're evaluating how things have gone, I couldn't imagine our lives any other way. Zoë has become much more confident in herself and her abilities, and Aiden has learned how to focus.
The past year hasn't always been easy. There have been times that I question my ability to educate them, or wish for some free-time. But as time has gone on those feelings have waned. When I see their excitement while we work on activities I know that we've made the best choice. Our whole lives have become more full and at the same time more relaxed.
I'm excited to see what the next year will bring!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Our week off
This week we do not have any classes. Of course that doesn't mean they aren't learning things. Aiden has been very focused on finishing the Gregor the Overlander series. He's on the last book now. Zoë has even gotten into the frenzy and is on the second book. And they've both started turning the artroom into their own Underland. They've made characters from the book and hung them all over the room. Now they're waiting for the refrigerator box from their grandparents to complete the process.
Aiden has also started writing his own underland story. He spent Monday and Tuesday developing characters, new animals found there, and beginning to write his story. I've had to spend a little time with him making sure he understands it's not how long a story is that makes it good, but how good the characters and the plot are that make it enjoyable. At first he was very focused on how many words the story would be. Now he's busy giving descriptions of the characters and telling the story. I'm really hoping he finishes this one. He has a habit of starting stories, but never finishing them.
Zoë has been in a creative mood also and has spent the week putting on magic shows (she's gotten MUCH better at these!) and drawing. Everyone in the house has been given a personalized cat drawing that she has made. This morning she's convinced Aiden to help her develop a new level on "Little Big Planet," and they've been quietly working together on the couch creating and testing their game.
I get to spend the rest of the day preparing for the next three weeks and making sure all of my record keeping is up to date. Fortunately, I was finally able to fix my computer, so we'll be ready to do math in different rooms next week. We'll see how that works. Something tells me we're going to have arguments about who gets to use my computer.
Aiden has also started writing his own underland story. He spent Monday and Tuesday developing characters, new animals found there, and beginning to write his story. I've had to spend a little time with him making sure he understands it's not how long a story is that makes it good, but how good the characters and the plot are that make it enjoyable. At first he was very focused on how many words the story would be. Now he's busy giving descriptions of the characters and telling the story. I'm really hoping he finishes this one. He has a habit of starting stories, but never finishing them.
Zoë has been in a creative mood also and has spent the week putting on magic shows (she's gotten MUCH better at these!) and drawing. Everyone in the house has been given a personalized cat drawing that she has made. This morning she's convinced Aiden to help her develop a new level on "Little Big Planet," and they've been quietly working together on the couch creating and testing their game.
I get to spend the rest of the day preparing for the next three weeks and making sure all of my record keeping is up to date. Fortunately, I was finally able to fix my computer, so we'll be ready to do math in different rooms next week. We'll see how that works. Something tells me we're going to have arguments about who gets to use my computer.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Holes and Rocks
This week we started our geology unit. The kids have had a great time learning about the different kinds of rocks. So far they've studied igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. Their first "lab" was to test 5 different rocks to figure out what kind they were. I remember doing that in college labs! They did streak tests, hardness tests, acid tests, and magnetism tests on each sample. They both did great, and were able to identify all 5 samples correctly (the samples were hematite, magnetite, calcite, quartz, and talc). It worked out really well, because Aiden decided to do more math while Zoë did her experiment. That way they came up with their own answers and did the tests on their own. They did a great job understanding the differences in the types of rocks. Of course I'm thrilled to be teaching this unit. (For those of you that don't know, I actually went to college to become a geological engineer before I decided to switch majors).
Everyone is busy plugging away at their ALEKS math. I'm so proud of Zoë. She is constantly feeling like it's "too hard," but each day she continues to work out the problems. I just keep reminding her that the reason the pie pieces aren't filled in is because there are things she doesn't know how to do, and with most things it seems hard when you don't know how to do things. They both had assessments to complete this week, and they continue to progress through the level. I usually sit in the computer room working on other things while they work on their math, so I'm available to answer questions and keep Aiden focused. I've noticed that lately Aiden has needed very little refocusing, and seldom asks questions. When he does ask a question I can just remind him to click "explain" and he figures it out from their explanation. Zoë prefers to have me read the explanations to her, but gets frustrated with herself so easily. Usually after she's mastered the problem in only 3 examples she realizes that it wasn't that hard, and she actually did well.
So far the only problem we have with math is that all of the computers are in the same place. Aiden likes to think out loud and Zoë needs quiet. So in an effort to fix that problem I moved my computer out into the kitchen. Of course now it isn't working! I've spent the last week trying to diagnose the problem and now I'm waiting on a fan to arrive so I can fix it. Until then we still have lots of "Aiden be quiet!" going on. Next week is our week off, so I should have it ready to go by then (if not, I might take a bat to it!)
We're reading Holes for our literature unit. This week we'll cover the first 12 chapters. Hopefully they'll really like this book. It seems like a good one so far.
Aiden has finally taken a liking to reading. In the last week he's read half of the Gregor the Overlander series. The first book he read in one day. Fortunately, I've read them too, so we've had some great discussions about the books. The other night he had to read a part to me, because he was so excited about it. I was amazed at his ability to read every single word! A few times he would stop to ask me what a word meant, but he could always pronounce them. His intonation and phrasing has really improved as well.
Everyone is busy plugging away at their ALEKS math. I'm so proud of Zoë. She is constantly feeling like it's "too hard," but each day she continues to work out the problems. I just keep reminding her that the reason the pie pieces aren't filled in is because there are things she doesn't know how to do, and with most things it seems hard when you don't know how to do things. They both had assessments to complete this week, and they continue to progress through the level. I usually sit in the computer room working on other things while they work on their math, so I'm available to answer questions and keep Aiden focused. I've noticed that lately Aiden has needed very little refocusing, and seldom asks questions. When he does ask a question I can just remind him to click "explain" and he figures it out from their explanation. Zoë prefers to have me read the explanations to her, but gets frustrated with herself so easily. Usually after she's mastered the problem in only 3 examples she realizes that it wasn't that hard, and she actually did well.
So far the only problem we have with math is that all of the computers are in the same place. Aiden likes to think out loud and Zoë needs quiet. So in an effort to fix that problem I moved my computer out into the kitchen. Of course now it isn't working! I've spent the last week trying to diagnose the problem and now I'm waiting on a fan to arrive so I can fix it. Until then we still have lots of "Aiden be quiet!" going on. Next week is our week off, so I should have it ready to go by then (if not, I might take a bat to it!)
We're reading Holes for our literature unit. This week we'll cover the first 12 chapters. Hopefully they'll really like this book. It seems like a good one so far.
Aiden has finally taken a liking to reading. In the last week he's read half of the Gregor the Overlander series. The first book he read in one day. Fortunately, I've read them too, so we've had some great discussions about the books. The other night he had to read a part to me, because he was so excited about it. I was amazed at his ability to read every single word! A few times he would stop to ask me what a word meant, but he could always pronounce them. His intonation and phrasing has really improved as well.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Quilting
We spent last week busy making "quilts" with the information the kids researched about a few countries in Asia. This weekend we sewed them together and they turned out great. If I get an extra moment, I'll take a picture with them and post it. They each researched six different countries and made a quilt block for each country. They had to write a paragraph about what a person might see if they went to the country, include a picture of a person from there, a map of the country, what a typical house would look like there, and an animal that would be found there. Then we printed them onto t-shirt transfer paper and ironed them onto fabric that we sewed onto a big piece of felt.
Today we cried our way through the end of "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes." Then we spent some time talking about war, and why it was important that Americans read a book like this. They also designed and made models of their own peace monuments and researched the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan that was erected in memory of Sadako. After all that we all decided we liked adventure or comedy books better.
The rest of this week will be spent wrapping up the unit on Asia and Africa. Next week is Geology!! I'm really looking forward to that unit. They'll be doing some of the same things I had to do in college lab classes...testing hardness values, etc. For the literature portion we'll be reading "Holes."
In the car today Aiden told us that he thought learning made more technologies and bigger cultures. When I asked him why he thought that he said, "because if you're studying about one thing, and then you come up with a brilliant idea from something else you know, you could create a whole new thing. That is what makes better technology." He didn't get to the part about bigger cultures, but I'm interested to hear what he means about that too.
Today we cried our way through the end of "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes." Then we spent some time talking about war, and why it was important that Americans read a book like this. They also designed and made models of their own peace monuments and researched the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan that was erected in memory of Sadako. After all that we all decided we liked adventure or comedy books better.
The rest of this week will be spent wrapping up the unit on Asia and Africa. Next week is Geology!! I'm really looking forward to that unit. They'll be doing some of the same things I had to do in college lab classes...testing hardness values, etc. For the literature portion we'll be reading "Holes."
In the car today Aiden told us that he thought learning made more technologies and bigger cultures. When I asked him why he thought that he said, "because if you're studying about one thing, and then you come up with a brilliant idea from something else you know, you could create a whole new thing. That is what makes better technology." He didn't get to the part about bigger cultures, but I'm interested to hear what he means about that too.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Prime factorization and a box of tissues
Yesterday was our first day back to school, and it went much better than I anticipated. Both of the kids were up, showered, fed, and on the computer doing their math by 8 am. I have really been enjoying the ALEKS system. Both of them are more than halfway done with their levels and they just started the program in November. Among other things Aiden is currently working on prime factorization and Zoë is doing common denominators. Of course within the hour that they work on the program they're doing at least 4 different topics, but those were the last things they worked on today. Aiden was especially proud of himself when he solved the equation 35 = 3X - 13. He came running into the kitchen shouting "Mom, mom, look at the algebra I did!"
Right now we are studying Asia and reading the book "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes." I'm thinking they should have included a box of tissues with this literature unit! It's my second time reading the book, and it's not any easier this time around. I've decided that Zoë is so empathetic that it wouldn't be a good idea if she read the book alone. So we sat in front of the fire today and read aloud half of the book. Aiden did a great job and would step in reading whenever I was too choked up to go on. Zoë listened while she knitted, and we all discussed it together. Part of me was tempted to skip this part of the curriculum, but when I evaluated my reasoning for this, I realized it was really just my desire to shield them from bad things, and in the end they would be better served by having an honest discussion about the book and how we felt reading it. So next week we'll have our box of tissues ready, and hopefully make it through the end of the story. I still can't figure out why they would pick this book as part of a gifted curriculum knowing that extreme empathy is often associated with giftedness!
On a completely different note, I heard that Missouri is trying to put forth legislation to allow open enrollment. I'm crossing my fingers that this goes through. One of the districts near us has a gifted school and I would certainly look into having them attend there if we could. In the meantime, I'll do some research into the program and see if we can't write some letters to our representatives urging them to push the legislation through! Once again I'm reminded how stupid it is to base education on arbitrary boundaries and dates of birth instead of abilities. Now if we could just convince people that "athletic prowess" is NOT a legitimate reason to hold kids back from receiving a better education!
Right now we are studying Asia and reading the book "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes." I'm thinking they should have included a box of tissues with this literature unit! It's my second time reading the book, and it's not any easier this time around. I've decided that Zoë is so empathetic that it wouldn't be a good idea if she read the book alone. So we sat in front of the fire today and read aloud half of the book. Aiden did a great job and would step in reading whenever I was too choked up to go on. Zoë listened while she knitted, and we all discussed it together. Part of me was tempted to skip this part of the curriculum, but when I evaluated my reasoning for this, I realized it was really just my desire to shield them from bad things, and in the end they would be better served by having an honest discussion about the book and how we felt reading it. So next week we'll have our box of tissues ready, and hopefully make it through the end of the story. I still can't figure out why they would pick this book as part of a gifted curriculum knowing that extreme empathy is often associated with giftedness!
On a completely different note, I heard that Missouri is trying to put forth legislation to allow open enrollment. I'm crossing my fingers that this goes through. One of the districts near us has a gifted school and I would certainly look into having them attend there if we could. In the meantime, I'll do some research into the program and see if we can't write some letters to our representatives urging them to push the legislation through! Once again I'm reminded how stupid it is to base education on arbitrary boundaries and dates of birth instead of abilities. Now if we could just convince people that "athletic prowess" is NOT a legitimate reason to hold kids back from receiving a better education!
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