Spring break has officially started, and what am I doing? Relaxing? Having fun? Catching up on sleep or reading?
Nope.
I'm working on high school plans, in part so I can set some plans in place for the rest of the school year for my son.
I've
actually been working on things all week. I started a separate blog for
people homeschooling high school in Alberta, I've been asking questions
of people regarding getting credits (it's not the same here as many
homeschoolers in the US do it, although at least we can earn official
credits here as homeschoolers; not the case in all provinces). I've been
thinking and mulling and trying to figure out how we can move in a
direction where my son is reading and writing more and how we can do
social studies, in particular, but also science next year, without
relying on the textbook. Or ideally, touching the textbooks at all.
Well, maybe some of the assignments or self-checks.
So,
I find myself here shortly after noon on a cloudy Saturday morning,
first full day of Spring Break, having already taken the car in for an
oil change and eaten 3 chocolate chip cookies (what does that have to do
with anything? no clue--catching up on sleep might be a better choice
today) sitting on my laptop researching Montessori high school.
At the Austin Montessori School, this opening sentence catches my eye:
In
the Austin Montessori Adolescent Community the adults collaborate to
prepare an environment which meets the cognitive, social, and physical
needs of adolescents so that they can continue their individual self
development.
What are my son's cognitive needs?
*One,
to learn to pay more attention. He is not ADD; more off in LaLaLand a
lot. Not here and present. Perhaps having him learn meditation and other
activities that encourage focus in the now would be useful. Other than
watching YouTube videos of people playing video games.
*Stimulating,
challenging, interesting, growing in logic, analysis, synthesis... He
also needs to learn things like reviewing to prepare for tests and how
to actually do things to remember information you might not remember
automatically (I've been reading Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
and know, now, that I will quiz him often and train him to quiz himself
and do things like narration in small bits, working up to larger
sections to narrate and so on). Heck, he might even like some of the
memory training tactics or speed reading and such. These are things that
academics and other courses will address or incorporate, although I'm
not sure they address logic as much as I'd like them to. Not explicitly.
I do have a book for that, one we'd even started. I don't know if it
has been found since we moved. (I still can't find our copy of The
Hobbit...)
What are his social needs?
*He needs
activities in which he can interact with others, but as an introvert, he
doesn't need a huge amount of this. He does, however, need more than
he's getting. He actually said one day not too long ago something to the
effect that he does what he does (mostly be on his iPad) because he
doesn't have friends around to do things with. The reality of living in a
large city where homeschoolers are all spread out, he doesn't see ones
his age very often, can't establish friendships with them, so, really,
99% of his friends are his 3 cousins (okay, I guess it's really 75%--he
has one other friend) who all go to school and live at least a 25-minute
drive away. It's tough. But I need to remind myself this
is a need. My daughter has this need more than he does and it's one in
which we've really struggled to get it filled without her heading to
school (which, honestly, I think would not work well for her; as she's
been spending more time with coworkers--who are, for the most part,
older than her by at least a couple of years--I think she's seeing that
her lack of "fitting in" very well is that, while most of her
homeschooling comrades are younger than her, she does fit in better with
a group that's older than her, despite her petite size, which high
school kids seem to be very quick to dismiss her for for some reason,
but I digress).
*Finding his place in this world. Okay, maybe not
entirely, but getting a sense of having a role in the greater world.
While he has shown interest in a job for the financial aspect of it, it
could help with this social need, as could volunteering. (Note to self:
Bring the kids to that one homeless charity's thrift shop that's just
down the street! See if there's some way we can help.)
What are his physical needs?
*Healthy
foods. I'm not sure why, but he said to me just yesterday or Thursday
that he wants something set up so he can try to aim for a certain number
of fruits and vegetables every day.
*Health class addresses some of this.
*Physical
education--My plan is for him to do phys. ed. all the way through high
school. Largely because he needs those credits, but also because he has a
tendency, since becoming an adolescent, to just do NOTHING. His dad
keeps bringing up that he (the 14-year old) should be on a team of some
kind (although his dad makes it such a "grander" thing, "He needs to be
part of something greater than himself", as though sports teams are the
only way? but that's a whole other thing). I think the only way that
would happen is to get him out and watching some of these sports in
action, maybe get him going, "Hm, that looks like fun," AND having
someone on the team that he knows. He is soooo introverted and it's a
serious threat to not know anybody, or not know them well, when
surrounded by a group of strangers. That said, if we were willing to
dish out the money for a membership to the rec centres (which would end
up being over $1000/year just for the two of us, or let's say we just do
6 months of winter, under $600...), I could set something up where
other families/teen boys meet up with us every week to do sports. Not
quite a team, but it would give him greater variety and wouldn't involve
us trying to coordinate 4 vastly different schedules with only 2
vehicles. He really doesn't like the idea of having to go to a practice
or two a week plus a game for something he's not super interested in and
I can't blame him. His dad, on the other hand, played soccer all
through elementary, junior high, high school and still today, in his
40s. He has a completely different mentality about it, so a sports team
is always his solution. ;)
*Sleep.
*Good environment: Fresh air, air quality inside the home, etc.
There are probably others, but I'm getting tired of typing about this. Hahaha.
Okay, so with those three aspects in mind, how would you organize your homeschooling during the high school years? :D
Hm,
you know, they've left out emotional in this, but I guess it's often
classified as socio-emotional. Or psychological/emotional. I'm not sure
where my idea fits in exactly, but the idea of a sense of
accomplishment. This might just be a personal sense of accomplishment or
one where there's a sense of making a difference for others (that's
part of the social need, I suppose).
Where am I going
with this?? My brain has shut off. All I know is I want something
engaging, stimulating, interesting, even though most
of the content will be decided for us. Something that truly respects his
development. His sister decided to do the online classes and didn't
really want me involved in it at all--her need for feeling like she can
take care of things herself--but he's not the same child at all and
isn't just going to take charge and get things done. I need to plan and prepare.
So,
has my babble confused you? Inspired you? Informed you? How have you
organized your homeschooling during the high school years
Montessori-style?
Showing posts with label babbling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label babbling. Show all posts
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Thursday, March 26, 2015
14-Year Olds Are Big Toddlers
I made the mistake yesterday of introducing my son to a scientific calculator during our math time. (I say "our", but it's really "his", isn't it?)
That is not to say that he's never seen or used a calculator before. It's just that, at least so far this school year and probably all of last year, he did not use a calculator or if he did, it was just a basic calculator without any fancy things. His math so far has used numbers that I expected him to work it out in his head or on paper.
But the questions yesterday were a little more complicated and I didn't want the focus concepts to be bogged down with his having to do all the calculations (which he's slow at, so maybe I should have).
Problem was: It didn't speed things up AT ALL. O.M.G. It slowed things down ridiculously because it was like letting a toddler loose in a toy store where everything was available to play with.
I wish the calculator had more memory of what he put in it so I could share the sequence with you properly. Let's just say it started out fine, with him learning where the squared button was and how to used the 2ND button to do the opposite of squaring: square root. Okay, well, actually, no, that did get messed up a bit because he went 3242 for 32 + 42, but it was otherwise okay. After that, though, all heck broke loose.
He was pressing anything and everything and then sharing with me the results. (Um, why?) He was supposed to be figuring out angles and sides using the Pythagorean theorem or just from the fact that all angles in a triangle add up to 180. It was supposed to be a review that we'd go through pretty quickly to then tackle the first section from a local textbook dealing with circles, tangents and triangles with the circles and tangents, figuring out missing degrees and sides.
But nooOOOooo.
"Oh, look. Somethingsomething something nPr somethingorother." With giggles.
"Um, yeah, that's for probability which you'll do for grade 12 math [if you live that long]. Can you get back to the question?" (Okay, I admit it, I was laughing with my frustration and laughed just now writing it.)
More giggles from him as he shows me various things that have nothing to do with any of the questions he's supposed to be working on. Giggles from this 5'7"-5'8" 14-year old boy with a darkening upper lip and slightly lower voice that's still changing and occasionally cracking, especially when he laughs.
More pressing of buttons. "Look! Blah blah blah blah-nothing-to-do-with-what-he's-supposed-to-be-doing = 0." (Square root of a negative decimal number to some ridiculous exponent.)
"OMG, would you just do the question??"
Giggles. Pressing this and pressing that and more comments and more not doing one of the first couple of questions. "Look, One og...." I glance over. "That's 'log'." (Yes, I admit, I didn't help any by contributing.) "It looks like a 1." "It's an L. Trust me."
He finally does the question. By this point, it's possible only one question has actually gotten done. I'm not sure. My patience is wearing thin all while I'm actually laughing quite a bit. After some more aimless exploring of the calculator (why do I hear Maria Montessori going, "Tsk, tsk"?), he gets to a question where he has to figure out 'a' from a2 + b2 = c2.
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Use the calculator to figure out a."
Punching things. Not aimless exploring this time, but he seems perplexed.
"I can't find the a."
"What?"
"On the calculator. I can't find a."
*headpalm*
This is not the first question where he's had to find the missing letter value. What is his mind doing??
"You can't just put 'a' in the calculator."
"But you said to use the calculator to figure out a."
Pure literal moment going on negating everything he'd just done before. (What would they do with him in school?) I think it was at this point that I said to him, "Oh my gosh, you are going to be the death of me." Followed by, "You can't put 'a' in the calculator and have it figure it out for you. You have to do it like the other questions, figure out this part [point to paper], then use the calculator to do the calculations to figure out a."
"Oh."
That was not the end of it all. More giggles did end up popping up. It all led to us switching to something else before he'd finished the work I had anticipated him getting done yesterday.
Naturally, when we were all done for the day, he had no further interest in his calculator-exploring pursuits on his own time. I couldn't help thinking of Maria Montessori likening the first part of adolescence (ages 12-15) to the first plane of development (ages 0-3), which, while she was more focused on the intensity of physical and mental development, many have said that behaviourly it matches up, too, making the 14-year old in some respects like the 2-year old.
I looked at the calculator later on and found this on it:
755π925+63
Why? I then remembered his discovering "cos" and giggling as he read it aloud to me.
How old is this boy?
Oh, right: Second toddlerhood.
Something to keep in mind for next time.
That is not to say that he's never seen or used a calculator before. It's just that, at least so far this school year and probably all of last year, he did not use a calculator or if he did, it was just a basic calculator without any fancy things. His math so far has used numbers that I expected him to work it out in his head or on paper.
But the questions yesterday were a little more complicated and I didn't want the focus concepts to be bogged down with his having to do all the calculations (which he's slow at, so maybe I should have).
Problem was: It didn't speed things up AT ALL. O.M.G. It slowed things down ridiculously because it was like letting a toddler loose in a toy store where everything was available to play with.
I wish the calculator had more memory of what he put in it so I could share the sequence with you properly. Let's just say it started out fine, with him learning where the squared button was and how to used the 2ND button to do the opposite of squaring: square root. Okay, well, actually, no, that did get messed up a bit because he went 3242 for 32 + 42, but it was otherwise okay. After that, though, all heck broke loose.
He was pressing anything and everything and then sharing with me the results. (Um, why?) He was supposed to be figuring out angles and sides using the Pythagorean theorem or just from the fact that all angles in a triangle add up to 180. It was supposed to be a review that we'd go through pretty quickly to then tackle the first section from a local textbook dealing with circles, tangents and triangles with the circles and tangents, figuring out missing degrees and sides.
But nooOOOooo.
"Oh, look. Somethingsomething something nPr somethingorother." With giggles.
"Um, yeah, that's for probability which you'll do for grade 12 math [if you live that long]. Can you get back to the question?" (Okay, I admit it, I was laughing with my frustration and laughed just now writing it.)
More giggles from him as he shows me various things that have nothing to do with any of the questions he's supposed to be working on. Giggles from this 5'7"-5'8" 14-year old boy with a darkening upper lip and slightly lower voice that's still changing and occasionally cracking, especially when he laughs.
More pressing of buttons. "Look! Blah blah blah blah-nothing-to-do-with-what-he's-supposed-to-be-doing = 0." (Square root of a negative decimal number to some ridiculous exponent.)
"OMG, would you just do the question??"
Giggles. Pressing this and pressing that and more comments and more not doing one of the first couple of questions. "Look, One og...." I glance over. "That's 'log'." (Yes, I admit, I didn't help any by contributing.) "It looks like a 1." "It's an L. Trust me."
He finally does the question. By this point, it's possible only one question has actually gotten done. I'm not sure. My patience is wearing thin all while I'm actually laughing quite a bit. After some more aimless exploring of the calculator (why do I hear Maria Montessori going, "Tsk, tsk"?), he gets to a question where he has to figure out 'a' from a2 + b2 = c2.
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Use the calculator to figure out a."
Punching things. Not aimless exploring this time, but he seems perplexed.
"I can't find the a."
"What?"
"On the calculator. I can't find a."
*headpalm*
This is not the first question where he's had to find the missing letter value. What is his mind doing??
"You can't just put 'a' in the calculator."
"But you said to use the calculator to figure out a."
Pure literal moment going on negating everything he'd just done before. (What would they do with him in school?) I think it was at this point that I said to him, "Oh my gosh, you are going to be the death of me." Followed by, "You can't put 'a' in the calculator and have it figure it out for you. You have to do it like the other questions, figure out this part [point to paper], then use the calculator to do the calculations to figure out a."
"Oh."
That was not the end of it all. More giggles did end up popping up. It all led to us switching to something else before he'd finished the work I had anticipated him getting done yesterday.
Naturally, when we were all done for the day, he had no further interest in his calculator-exploring pursuits on his own time. I couldn't help thinking of Maria Montessori likening the first part of adolescence (ages 12-15) to the first plane of development (ages 0-3), which, while she was more focused on the intensity of physical and mental development, many have said that behaviourly it matches up, too, making the 14-year old in some respects like the 2-year old.
I looked at the calculator later on and found this on it:
755π925+63
Why? I then remembered his discovering "cos" and giggling as he read it aloud to me.
How old is this boy?
Oh, right: Second toddlerhood.
Something to keep in mind for next time.
Friday, December 19, 2014
It's the Last Day Before Christmas Break!!!
I'm so excited about it, but really, I don't know that we've really done any school this week. My 17yo has finished her biology course, my son did a few math questions and some reading--and his guitar practice--but other than that, it's been shopping and trying to fight off or get over illness and lots and lots of Doctor Who. :D
I've got things percolating in my brain for things to implement after Christmas; the unfortunate thing is that I forgot to write some of the ideas down and can't think of them at the moment. I should probably sit down and just brainstorm on paper (or here); it might come back to me. (Yes, yes, here is Christmas, almost here, shopping not yet done and all that, and I'm living in the future. *sigh*)
Okay, let me bring myself back to the present: It's the last day before Christmas break! My husband is a teacher (yep! we are both trained teachers and chose to homeschool) and will be off as of noon. My daughter has already bought her brother's gifts and is painting for everybody else. She did my mom and step-dad's gift; I suppose I should get myself out of the house for a bit so she has a space and time to paint for me and her dad with around.
What am I babbling about? I'm not even sure. My husband's alarm went off, as usual, at 5:45 this morning, but since I got to bed after midnight, I think my thinking skills are a little fuzzy today. Now that's something to be excited about for Christmas break: no more alarms to wake me up so early for a couple of weeks! lol
I've got things percolating in my brain for things to implement after Christmas; the unfortunate thing is that I forgot to write some of the ideas down and can't think of them at the moment. I should probably sit down and just brainstorm on paper (or here); it might come back to me. (Yes, yes, here is Christmas, almost here, shopping not yet done and all that, and I'm living in the future. *sigh*)
Okay, let me bring myself back to the present: It's the last day before Christmas break! My husband is a teacher (yep! we are both trained teachers and chose to homeschool) and will be off as of noon. My daughter has already bought her brother's gifts and is painting for everybody else. She did my mom and step-dad's gift; I suppose I should get myself out of the house for a bit so she has a space and time to paint for me and her dad with around.
What am I babbling about? I'm not even sure. My husband's alarm went off, as usual, at 5:45 this morning, but since I got to bed after midnight, I think my thinking skills are a little fuzzy today. Now that's something to be excited about for Christmas break: no more alarms to wake me up so early for a couple of weeks! lol
Thursday, December 18, 2014
*sigh* My old blog gets more hits than this one
My old blog was doing very well, getting lots of hits. But I ran into a "life snag" that meant that continuing it--and having someone in particular reading it--was potentially a safety issue but just also one in which this person could create stories about me to other homeschoolers. Given how homeschooling "communities" function and part of my income has everything to do with the homeschooling community, I felt I had to walk away.
I finally figured out today which account that blog was tied with (and a particular blog I was actually looking to post in after 2 years away) and have seen the stats: That blog gets more daily hits than this one. Still. After 4 years of not posting on it. *sigh*
Truth be told, there is a LOT of Montessori-for-the-young-and-early-elementary child on there; much more search-worthy than this one. But still, it's frustrating. And I don't particularly want to advertise this one too much because the nature of the person in question is such that her finding out about this blog could reignite her desire to try to connect with me--or just mess with my life.
Ah well, such is life.
I finally figured out today which account that blog was tied with (and a particular blog I was actually looking to post in after 2 years away) and have seen the stats: That blog gets more daily hits than this one. Still. After 4 years of not posting on it. *sigh*
Truth be told, there is a LOT of Montessori-for-the-young-and-early-elementary child on there; much more search-worthy than this one. But still, it's frustrating. And I don't particularly want to advertise this one too much because the nature of the person in question is such that her finding out about this blog could reignite her desire to try to connect with me--or just mess with my life.
Ah well, such is life.
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Babble Planning--Junior High/Middle School
I've decided to babble plan. What is that? Just me babbling on "paper" while trying to plan out a homeschooling week.
My plans for my son have not been specific enough and so a lot of things haven't gotten done as I had planned. So, I will babble here and perhaps it will be of some sort of help to others--even if it's just inspiration to sit down and make a plan. ;)
FRENCH
*What has he done so far for French? ... Absolutely nothing. Okay, so what can he do? Reading, writing, grammar. I have not had him start writing a journal entry a day about what he's been doing. I was hoping his dad would get more into it, actually ask him, but things have been kind of chaotic and our son isn't up before Dad leaves for work, so... I can introduce it to him. Maybe have him write it like letters. "Cher Papa, aujourd'hui j'ai..." I also have grammar workbooks for him to work through, even just a page a day. For reading... I can resume reading Le voyage au centre de la Terre--except he's become quite bored with it (always that question: do you keep going? because you suspect he will enjoy it later? or just to see things through?)--or find something for him to read. Or maybe just start a different French novel for now, something simpler.
So, this means for this week:
-writing each day in the journal
-grammar each day (I need to find a book and have one specific page each day for him to do)
-at least being read to in French each day
ENGLISH
*What has he been doing for English? We started Writing Strands, but haven't really done anything this past week. I'm not convinced it's a good fit for him. Getting him to write even just a paragraph a day in French might actually be enough right now, although I do still like the idea of perhaps doing mini Writers Workshop sessions. (I'd need to refresh my mind how they work.) He's been reading Lone Survivor. And I've had a few days of reading The Hobbit to him and we discuss things here and there. I could always add in Sequential Spelling, grammar... COPYWORK! Ach. He desperately needs to work on his handwriting.
So, for this week:
-continue with silent reading each day from Lone Survivor (at least 30 minutes)
-reinstitute copywork each day; what will he copy???? Ha, Calvin and Hobbes dialogues came as the first answer. lol. (He still loves Calvin and Hobbes!)
-Writers' Workshop?? Would have to see what I can find online (ooh, my search has led me to finding something useful for readers' workshops http://www.appstate.edu/~smithtw/rcoe/RE_3150_web/Reading_Minilessons/Reading%20minilessons.htm). Looking at this document http://www.ttms.org/PDFs/05%20Writers%20Workshop%20v001%20%28Full%29.pdf , it's hitting me that the best place to start would be a mini-lesson on journal entries, possibly start from the beginning with sentences. Having him write about things he wants, too, and why, like an electric guitar and an amp ("Why do you want it and why should Maman and Papa help you purchase it?") or a hamster.
-ooh, last-minute thought: have him read poetry. But what? ("Shakespeare's sonnets.") Oooh.
MATH
-he's been doing a bit of The Key to Algebra series, now in book 2. Just need to do it more consistently and perhaps for longer periods! And I've restarted him on multiplication table drills.
So, for this week:
-at least 30 minutes a day The Key to Algebra
-multiplication table drills, like I set up the other day (I should probably just take a picture, but it's closing in on midnight here and I don't feel like it ;) ). Basically, I just wrote out things like 1 x 3, 2 x 3, 4 x 3, 3 x 3, 6 x 3, 3 x 4, 5 x 3, 3 x 6... Lots of repetition with the x3s.
SCIENCE
-we've touched on the school textbook a bit for the biology unit and the space unit. Could go back and touch on those or look at the other units.
-we haven't done any hands-on activities yet
So, for this week:
-touch on a different science unit each day (okay, except maybe Thursday--it'll be his birthday); I still haven't printed off the actual outcomes, which I think would be a better option to follow (research the outcomes) than simply following the textbook
-plan for at least one hands-on activity, ideally something connected with the science units
SOCIAL STUDIES
-we started watching Canada: A People's History
For this week:
I'd like to continue it and have him write something about what we watch. We also have some books and magazines out from the library on Canadian history, like issues from this magazine. Just a matter of being more consistent and deciding each day how much and what to do.
PHYS. ED.
I haven't been having him track his hours, although he has been doing some exercise with the punching bag. I could always have him look up rules for things like playing badminton (we play sometimes at the rec. centre), tips for shooting baskets, something. Perhaps a year-long plan for phys. ed. topics would be in order.
LUA PROGRAMMING
Just need to sit down and do it with him.
---
I'm reminded by finding this http://teacherweb.com/ON/MA/juniorhigh/apt76.aspx that I haven't at all been doing a morning meeting with him. This will be important to discuss the work to do each day and have a routine to get moving with. And I either need to just set a schedule for him (which he seems fine with me doing) or a checklist (which might be more for me than for him). A daily checklist in a specific order that he can use as a schedule or can check things off in any order. There, sounds good.
Ok, it is shortly after midnight now. I can either stop and wait until morning to post or just post now. I think I'll post now. ;)
How do you plan for your middle school child?
My plans for my son have not been specific enough and so a lot of things haven't gotten done as I had planned. So, I will babble here and perhaps it will be of some sort of help to others--even if it's just inspiration to sit down and make a plan. ;)
FRENCH
*What has he done so far for French? ... Absolutely nothing. Okay, so what can he do? Reading, writing, grammar. I have not had him start writing a journal entry a day about what he's been doing. I was hoping his dad would get more into it, actually ask him, but things have been kind of chaotic and our son isn't up before Dad leaves for work, so... I can introduce it to him. Maybe have him write it like letters. "Cher Papa, aujourd'hui j'ai..." I also have grammar workbooks for him to work through, even just a page a day. For reading... I can resume reading Le voyage au centre de la Terre--except he's become quite bored with it (always that question: do you keep going? because you suspect he will enjoy it later? or just to see things through?)--or find something for him to read. Or maybe just start a different French novel for now, something simpler.
So, this means for this week:
-writing each day in the journal
-grammar each day (I need to find a book and have one specific page each day for him to do)
-at least being read to in French each day
ENGLISH
*What has he been doing for English? We started Writing Strands, but haven't really done anything this past week. I'm not convinced it's a good fit for him. Getting him to write even just a paragraph a day in French might actually be enough right now, although I do still like the idea of perhaps doing mini Writers Workshop sessions. (I'd need to refresh my mind how they work.) He's been reading Lone Survivor. And I've had a few days of reading The Hobbit to him and we discuss things here and there. I could always add in Sequential Spelling, grammar... COPYWORK! Ach. He desperately needs to work on his handwriting.
So, for this week:
-continue with silent reading each day from Lone Survivor (at least 30 minutes)
-reinstitute copywork each day; what will he copy???? Ha, Calvin and Hobbes dialogues came as the first answer. lol. (He still loves Calvin and Hobbes!)
-Writers' Workshop?? Would have to see what I can find online (ooh, my search has led me to finding something useful for readers' workshops http://www.appstate.edu/~smithtw/rcoe/RE_3150_web/Reading_Minilessons/Reading%20minilessons.htm). Looking at this document http://www.ttms.org/PDFs/05%20Writers%20Workshop%20v001%20%28Full%29.pdf , it's hitting me that the best place to start would be a mini-lesson on journal entries, possibly start from the beginning with sentences. Having him write about things he wants, too, and why, like an electric guitar and an amp ("Why do you want it and why should Maman and Papa help you purchase it?") or a hamster.
-ooh, last-minute thought: have him read poetry. But what? ("Shakespeare's sonnets.") Oooh.
MATH
-he's been doing a bit of The Key to Algebra series, now in book 2. Just need to do it more consistently and perhaps for longer periods! And I've restarted him on multiplication table drills.
So, for this week:
-at least 30 minutes a day The Key to Algebra
-multiplication table drills, like I set up the other day (I should probably just take a picture, but it's closing in on midnight here and I don't feel like it ;) ). Basically, I just wrote out things like 1 x 3, 2 x 3, 4 x 3, 3 x 3, 6 x 3, 3 x 4, 5 x 3, 3 x 6... Lots of repetition with the x3s.
SCIENCE
-we've touched on the school textbook a bit for the biology unit and the space unit. Could go back and touch on those or look at the other units.
-we haven't done any hands-on activities yet
So, for this week:
-touch on a different science unit each day (okay, except maybe Thursday--it'll be his birthday); I still haven't printed off the actual outcomes, which I think would be a better option to follow (research the outcomes) than simply following the textbook
-plan for at least one hands-on activity, ideally something connected with the science units
SOCIAL STUDIES
-we started watching Canada: A People's History
For this week:
I'd like to continue it and have him write something about what we watch. We also have some books and magazines out from the library on Canadian history, like issues from this magazine. Just a matter of being more consistent and deciding each day how much and what to do.
http://www.coverssell.com/?p=7573
PHYS. ED.
I haven't been having him track his hours, although he has been doing some exercise with the punching bag. I could always have him look up rules for things like playing badminton (we play sometimes at the rec. centre), tips for shooting baskets, something. Perhaps a year-long plan for phys. ed. topics would be in order.
LUA PROGRAMMING
Just need to sit down and do it with him.
---
I'm reminded by finding this http://teacherweb.com/ON/MA/juniorhigh/apt76.aspx that I haven't at all been doing a morning meeting with him. This will be important to discuss the work to do each day and have a routine to get moving with. And I either need to just set a schedule for him (which he seems fine with me doing) or a checklist (which might be more for me than for him). A daily checklist in a specific order that he can use as a schedule or can check things off in any order. There, sounds good.
Ok, it is shortly after midnight now. I can either stop and wait until morning to post or just post now. I think I'll post now. ;)
How do you plan for your middle school child?
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Babble, babble
My 15yo is doing a science unit test right now (only the science exam left to do! well, for science... tons of other stuff to do this week for English and social studies) and I don't feel like cleaning, so I'll babble about next year.
She has decided to not do the weekly homeschool program she's been doing this year and instead is adding on another dance class right before another already planned dance class. This works just fine because it's not an extra outing for me by adding on this class and by taking away the homeschool program, it frees up our week somewhat more and I don't have the complication of driving her to the program in the morning, coming home, picking up my nieces and nephew from school between 3 and 4 and then driving back to pick her up and finally getting home around 4:30. This change is good.
In terms of courses she's taking, she's planning on doing one of them this summer and just handing in the work in September (the information is all available online!), which will leave her with English Language Arts and math for her core subjects, then a first music course to finish first semester, and phys. ed. and art to get at least half-done. If she can make a habit of getting up between 8:30 and 9, she could get the core subjects out of the way by noon and have the afternoons open for music, art and phys. ed. We've learned a lot with this chaotic end of semester about pushing through stress and getting things done, and I'm prepared to keep up with the same level of insistence in the fall so that she stays on track with her courses. I think it's going to be a very good semester!! She's come a long way in terms of accepting that a lot of questions aren't about knowing but about thinking but she does still have some work to do with her perfectionism and writing assignments--always convinced what she's written is stupid, even though she's getting an A on most of it. (I'm really glad she's signed up to have other teachers mark her work because she has never believed me about the quality of her writing and now she has other people saying it!) She is very excited about the fall, not about English and math, but music and dance and now with the schedule more open during the day, we can go to the recreation centre weekly, to be honest, if we want. And meet up with other people there while we're at it.
This does have my brain turning to violin programs that she can use to self-teach. She's not really interested in having someone else direct her at this point, but is open to it if she feels she just needs some extra help. There are some places where we can just set up a lesson at a time, so that's good. (Yes, I've already done some research.) What she does need is resources that will help her. She's already thought of YouTube, but I'm thinking some sort of book/program that we can also use as a way of measuring progress, which will also help in terms of meeting some of the specific outcomes she's supposed to learn. I think I can leave the YouTube finding up to her, but I'll see what I can find in terms of a book or other kind of program.
--
This week is a crazy week. The poor girl is sick AND stressed AND has tons of work to get done. She is doing the one test now, but she has the exam in two days and has not even begun studying the first unit. She has 2 unit assignments to do for social studies, plus the unit tests AND the final exam--all for this week. And she's got to finish going through Romeo and Juliet, answer two packets of questions and do a small project or a test on the play; well, and she has to finish up what she's started for the movie study and her Animal Farm project. All this week. Well, before 1:30 on Friday because we are having company.
Which reminds me...
Those of you who have known me or been following for sometime--as in, from the old blog--might remember I was homeschooling a girl from another family during her grade 1 to grade 5 years. She moved a bit away for grade 6 and then they moved to Belize! She is back in Canada and after various things happening, it looks as though she might be going back to homeschooling and is interested in doing a couple of days per week with us--and is coming this Friday afternoon to chat about it. My daughter and I hope this will work out! Yes, that means that our weeks will be a little less open, but 2 days a week of having her here to work with us doesn't feel like something's being taken away from our week at all. Having a friend to work beside and chat with would add to my daughter's days, even if the two aren't working exactly on the same thing. I'll know more about what she has in mind once we talk on Friday.
Is this enough of a babble? lol
She has decided to not do the weekly homeschool program she's been doing this year and instead is adding on another dance class right before another already planned dance class. This works just fine because it's not an extra outing for me by adding on this class and by taking away the homeschool program, it frees up our week somewhat more and I don't have the complication of driving her to the program in the morning, coming home, picking up my nieces and nephew from school between 3 and 4 and then driving back to pick her up and finally getting home around 4:30. This change is good.
In terms of courses she's taking, she's planning on doing one of them this summer and just handing in the work in September (the information is all available online!), which will leave her with English Language Arts and math for her core subjects, then a first music course to finish first semester, and phys. ed. and art to get at least half-done. If she can make a habit of getting up between 8:30 and 9, she could get the core subjects out of the way by noon and have the afternoons open for music, art and phys. ed. We've learned a lot with this chaotic end of semester about pushing through stress and getting things done, and I'm prepared to keep up with the same level of insistence in the fall so that she stays on track with her courses. I think it's going to be a very good semester!! She's come a long way in terms of accepting that a lot of questions aren't about knowing but about thinking but she does still have some work to do with her perfectionism and writing assignments--always convinced what she's written is stupid, even though she's getting an A on most of it. (I'm really glad she's signed up to have other teachers mark her work because she has never believed me about the quality of her writing and now she has other people saying it!) She is very excited about the fall, not about English and math, but music and dance and now with the schedule more open during the day, we can go to the recreation centre weekly, to be honest, if we want. And meet up with other people there while we're at it.
This does have my brain turning to violin programs that she can use to self-teach. She's not really interested in having someone else direct her at this point, but is open to it if she feels she just needs some extra help. There are some places where we can just set up a lesson at a time, so that's good. (Yes, I've already done some research.) What she does need is resources that will help her. She's already thought of YouTube, but I'm thinking some sort of book/program that we can also use as a way of measuring progress, which will also help in terms of meeting some of the specific outcomes she's supposed to learn. I think I can leave the YouTube finding up to her, but I'll see what I can find in terms of a book or other kind of program.
--
This week is a crazy week. The poor girl is sick AND stressed AND has tons of work to get done. She is doing the one test now, but she has the exam in two days and has not even begun studying the first unit. She has 2 unit assignments to do for social studies, plus the unit tests AND the final exam--all for this week. And she's got to finish going through Romeo and Juliet, answer two packets of questions and do a small project or a test on the play; well, and she has to finish up what she's started for the movie study and her Animal Farm project. All this week. Well, before 1:30 on Friday because we are having company.
Which reminds me...
Those of you who have known me or been following for sometime--as in, from the old blog--might remember I was homeschooling a girl from another family during her grade 1 to grade 5 years. She moved a bit away for grade 6 and then they moved to Belize! She is back in Canada and after various things happening, it looks as though she might be going back to homeschooling and is interested in doing a couple of days per week with us--and is coming this Friday afternoon to chat about it. My daughter and I hope this will work out! Yes, that means that our weeks will be a little less open, but 2 days a week of having her here to work with us doesn't feel like something's being taken away from our week at all. Having a friend to work beside and chat with would add to my daughter's days, even if the two aren't working exactly on the same thing. I'll know more about what she has in mind once we talk on Friday.
Is this enough of a babble? lol
Saturday, December 29, 2012
The New Year Is Almost Here
Just taking some time this Saturday morning to think about this fall, my kids' schooling, what went well, what needs to be tweaked and what might need to be thrown out all together with 2013 starting. ;) But, let's face it, my mind is more on starting off 2013.
As we sort out my daughter's health issues, I do believe that will help get things on track better with her. She has already decided that she will resume math next week, with the aim of getting the second-last unit done the first or second day officially back. She has until the end of January to get the math done--the unit work, a project she needs to do and the final exam--but it's the only subject she has with these sort of requirements, so it should be okay. I think we do need to sit down and go subject-by-subject with things and figure out a plan for January in terms of what to get done. Her novel study for English ought to be one thing--if she gets that done, she will be on track for a full-year course. But art is getting neglected, her phys. ed. hours haven't been tallied and sent in, German... who knows where that is. She has science and social studies starting second semester and they will likely take up a good amount of her time.
As I write all this, my mind goes back to her health. We can have all the plans we want, but if she's not feeling well, then it's very hard to push things through. At the same time, my mind is going we need some sort of routine. Routines help. They can be hard to start, but they help in the long run. I'll need to think about this more.
When it comes to my son, I reread what I last wrote. I do definitely want more "real life" work with him. Some ideas off the top of my head:
*menu planning
*cooking
*inside gardening: what kinds of things could we grow in the house? what would we need?
*household care--his laundry, dealing with stains, fixing things in his room, cleaning his room... ;) ; he already has been using the snowblower this winter and shovelling the driveway and walks, largely because my husband broke his big toe and developped an infection in it and really had to stop doing as much
*pet care--he keeps saying he'd like this pet or that pet, which are all impractical at this point (like a rabbit), imho, but if he can participate more in the animal care around here, and we can get his room clean (only possible place for a caged animal), then it might be a possibility
*building things--um, what could he build?
He's gone grocery shopping with me a couple of times recently. I had been in the habit of going alone for years--it was faster and we bought less. (lol) I do think bringing him along more often will be good and can be tied in with things like the menu planning: "How much does it cost to buy everything we need for that meal? Etc." He did get a lesson in looking at the price tags and comparing prices based on volume and started using it right away with other things.
He does still love doing science things so I do need to resume that. He loves working with the chemistry sets and experiments and all that.
One thing that definitely is not working is allowing him to go off into his room each morning under the guise of reading. I've realized lately that he's actually laying down for most of it, just reading his comics. Hm. There's more to life than laying in bed reading comics! It's my job to show him that. I'll really need to do more reading and research and get a plan and perhaps schedule in place. Schedule--that has me thinking...
As I face the next part of our school year and current schedule, I know in my heart I don't want this schedule next year. It is good income with the French classes and is fun, but the schedule makes it hard on us: Monday afternoons I'm unavailable, all day Thursday, busy. There's something about it that affects our flow. Granted, dd is in a program on Thursdays which will be starting on Jan. 10, so there's that upheaval anyhow, but... As much as I am loving teaching the French class kids, my heart is yearning for something different, for it to be just us. Income-wise, this means I'm going to have to figure something out, but I've got some time for that. Online classes through Learn It Live, perhaps, or writing or some online business I can work on early in the morning or in the evening or get more earnings from Stampin' Up or a combination thereof or... Something. I'll put this desire out there with the faith and hope that the answer will come to me. :)
For right now, that's enough thinking. It's no longer Saturday morning, but 12 noon and I'm hungry. :)
As we sort out my daughter's health issues, I do believe that will help get things on track better with her. She has already decided that she will resume math next week, with the aim of getting the second-last unit done the first or second day officially back. She has until the end of January to get the math done--the unit work, a project she needs to do and the final exam--but it's the only subject she has with these sort of requirements, so it should be okay. I think we do need to sit down and go subject-by-subject with things and figure out a plan for January in terms of what to get done. Her novel study for English ought to be one thing--if she gets that done, she will be on track for a full-year course. But art is getting neglected, her phys. ed. hours haven't been tallied and sent in, German... who knows where that is. She has science and social studies starting second semester and they will likely take up a good amount of her time.
As I write all this, my mind goes back to her health. We can have all the plans we want, but if she's not feeling well, then it's very hard to push things through. At the same time, my mind is going we need some sort of routine. Routines help. They can be hard to start, but they help in the long run. I'll need to think about this more.
When it comes to my son, I reread what I last wrote. I do definitely want more "real life" work with him. Some ideas off the top of my head:
*menu planning
*cooking
*inside gardening: what kinds of things could we grow in the house? what would we need?
*household care--his laundry, dealing with stains, fixing things in his room, cleaning his room... ;) ; he already has been using the snowblower this winter and shovelling the driveway and walks, largely because my husband broke his big toe and developped an infection in it and really had to stop doing as much
*pet care--he keeps saying he'd like this pet or that pet, which are all impractical at this point (like a rabbit), imho, but if he can participate more in the animal care around here, and we can get his room clean (only possible place for a caged animal), then it might be a possibility
*building things--um, what could he build?
He's gone grocery shopping with me a couple of times recently. I had been in the habit of going alone for years--it was faster and we bought less. (lol) I do think bringing him along more often will be good and can be tied in with things like the menu planning: "How much does it cost to buy everything we need for that meal? Etc." He did get a lesson in looking at the price tags and comparing prices based on volume and started using it right away with other things.
He does still love doing science things so I do need to resume that. He loves working with the chemistry sets and experiments and all that.
One thing that definitely is not working is allowing him to go off into his room each morning under the guise of reading. I've realized lately that he's actually laying down for most of it, just reading his comics. Hm. There's more to life than laying in bed reading comics! It's my job to show him that. I'll really need to do more reading and research and get a plan and perhaps schedule in place. Schedule--that has me thinking...
As I face the next part of our school year and current schedule, I know in my heart I don't want this schedule next year. It is good income with the French classes and is fun, but the schedule makes it hard on us: Monday afternoons I'm unavailable, all day Thursday, busy. There's something about it that affects our flow. Granted, dd is in a program on Thursdays which will be starting on Jan. 10, so there's that upheaval anyhow, but... As much as I am loving teaching the French class kids, my heart is yearning for something different, for it to be just us. Income-wise, this means I'm going to have to figure something out, but I've got some time for that. Online classes through Learn It Live, perhaps, or writing or some online business I can work on early in the morning or in the evening or get more earnings from Stampin' Up or a combination thereof or... Something. I'll put this desire out there with the faith and hope that the answer will come to me. :)
For right now, that's enough thinking. It's no longer Saturday morning, but 12 noon and I'm hungry. :)
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
It Is Hump Day For Sure!
Today has been a huge hump day. Been pretty much impossible to get over the huge hump. Goodness. And you know it's bad when I'm blogging twice in a single day after not blogging for a while--it's my way of procrastinating. :P
I woke up tired. My son woke up tired. My daughter didn't wake up until after 9am, I think. She finally managed to get herself together and do a bit of her religion course reading. I knew I was unfit for anything. My son eventually wrapped himself completely up in a blanket and just lay on the couch. He's a mover: you know things aren't well with him if he's just wrapped up and he's not doing something.
This means that work-wise... Not much got done. Actually, I think dd's religion reading was the only thing that got done. But that's one of the joys of homeschooling: you can take a day off when you just seem to need it. And we all needed it. We did eventually venture out. I can't find an unfinished amigurumi project I had decided I would finish and give to my half-sister who is turning 14 soon. (Actually, coincidentally, her birthday is the same as mine! :D) We stopped at the library for the book with the patterns and then headed to Michaels for the yarn. We came home and I had a nap. The kids have been playing https://minecraft.net/ ever since, I believe. Although dd may have worked on some skins she had promised she would do for people. In any case (my mind's mush and I'm lead off-track quickly, sorry), I had my nap, it turned out I didn't have to go pick up my nieces and nephew today so I've been... wasting time playing Farmville 2 in Facebook. Good grief.
Tomorrow is "Crazy Day"--morning advanced homeschool French class, afternoon "beginner" class with 9 boys and 1 girl (boy, do I need to make sure to plan well for that one). Thursdays are the one day I can't really work with my kids, although dd is part of the morning French class. (Her French doesn't count for credit, unfortunately, but will certainly build up her skills.) Where was I going with this? I told you my mind was mush. lol.
All right, I have managed to do a bit of tidying and now I need to get started on the said amigurumi before I get supper going.
I woke up tired. My son woke up tired. My daughter didn't wake up until after 9am, I think. She finally managed to get herself together and do a bit of her religion course reading. I knew I was unfit for anything. My son eventually wrapped himself completely up in a blanket and just lay on the couch. He's a mover: you know things aren't well with him if he's just wrapped up and he's not doing something.
This means that work-wise... Not much got done. Actually, I think dd's religion reading was the only thing that got done. But that's one of the joys of homeschooling: you can take a day off when you just seem to need it. And we all needed it. We did eventually venture out. I can't find an unfinished amigurumi project I had decided I would finish and give to my half-sister who is turning 14 soon. (Actually, coincidentally, her birthday is the same as mine! :D) We stopped at the library for the book with the patterns and then headed to Michaels for the yarn. We came home and I had a nap. The kids have been playing https://minecraft.net/ ever since, I believe. Although dd may have worked on some skins she had promised she would do for people. In any case (my mind's mush and I'm lead off-track quickly, sorry), I had my nap, it turned out I didn't have to go pick up my nieces and nephew today so I've been... wasting time playing Farmville 2 in Facebook. Good grief.
Tomorrow is "Crazy Day"--morning advanced homeschool French class, afternoon "beginner" class with 9 boys and 1 girl (boy, do I need to make sure to plan well for that one). Thursdays are the one day I can't really work with my kids, although dd is part of the morning French class. (Her French doesn't count for credit, unfortunately, but will certainly build up her skills.) Where was I going with this? I told you my mind was mush. lol.
All right, I have managed to do a bit of tidying and now I need to get started on the said amigurumi before I get supper going.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Sort of starting tomorrow! Yikes!
I feel completely unprepared for tomorrow when my nieces and nephew will be back during the day since their parents' summer holiday time is over. I guess it's okay if I have nothing planned since they usually just contentedly play the first couple days back, but I would like to have a kind of plan. And actually make an attempt to implement it.
As I was cleaning up our "school shelf" area yesterday, not the shelves themselves but the stuff below, I was saddened by how they are not really used by my kids. I guess part of it is they are too old and I haven't shown my son enough, so he won't turn to a bunch of it. The other part is that there is stuff in there I could use with my nieces, but I don't. Reminds of the saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Now, sometimes my plans fall apart, but I know I won't move forward with Montessori stuff for my nieces (who are 7 and almost 5) until I at least plan things.
I have been thinking I ought to sit down and brainstorm a bit, so that's what I'm doing here. :) Perfect way to not lose what I've written down. :P
Some thoughts and not just for my nieces, but for my nephew and my kids, not in any particular order necessarily and my apologies at the potential lack of coherence (consider the following stream-of-consciousness writing):
A routine of some sort would be good. Things like morning story time or pre-lunch cleanup or walking the dog together each day at a specific time.
Lessons: a grid to plan for each of the little girls would be good so I can tackle their very different needs. The 4.5yo likes working on language and math but I can't forget that she also needs practical life and sensorial.
That makes me think that it would be good to have a time each week, or every couple of days or something, where the practical life is cooking or baking. I have a great kids cookbook, can't remember the name at the moment, but it has some great ideas. The kids always love baked goods but moving away from sweets would be good.
Sandpaper letters are a must. I think K (7yo) would love to 100 chain.
What did Maria Montessori do for her first schedule? She had care of self and then care of the environment. There are habits that are too ingrained with this bunch for them to think it just great to start doing chores once they arrive. :P I'm going to have to play around a bit with how the day starts out, or maybe just spend a great deal of time observing. At the same time, I have my own personal list of things I'd like to get done, so how observant will I be?
Things to do during a week: library, outside time, baking/cooking, art/craft time, music time--we have the recorders and the piano and guitars... What else? Language--read-alouds and sandpaper letters and I Spy. The older kids have a wealth of books available to them to read. (Should we have a quiet time after lunch for reading or some other individual quiet activity? That was nice when we did that.) Math--I'm not sure where I left of with J (4.5yo) and her math stuff, so I should probably pull out Gettman and have a look at the beginning math stuff. Culture: Maps... I'm not sure what else is appropriate geography-wise. Science--all kinds of stuff in Gettman for the younger girls and there are some kits my son has that he and my nephew would love. I also have the microscope, which I could set up on the little table. I really need to get a book about how to prepare slides and all that so we can start making our own. What else? Phys. ed.? Walks and yoga and outside time for skipping, soccer, playing at the park, catch... Hm... Anything else I can think of? I do wonder about the Great Lessons. I had started them with my son this past year but we didn't get very far. If I did an abbreviated version of the first one (I find it soooo long) and made sure to make it very dramatic and story-like, then found books at the library for follow up ideas... Then move onto the second lesson. Perhaps not do any Key Lessons (especially since I don't really know what they all are). To present all the lessons to them before my nieces and nephew head off to school at the end of August could be really good. Am I missing anything? Probably. ;)
On a typical day, what do I envision? They'll get here, they'll probably all head off to play--things at other people's places are always more interesting, especially when you haven't seen the stuff in a month ;P--but I need to be ready with stuff. Do I want a list to run through? Do I want a list of ideas and to pick one as I see it is needed? For example, if I have the list "read-aloud, lesson time, outdoor time, art time...", can I just randomly pick? Well, of course I *can*, but is that what I want? *mindgoesblank* (5 seconds later) *mindisstillblank* lol
I'm not looking to get into any serious work stuff, although I know K wants to work on cursive and higher math stuff; I will kind of have to move through some of the math sequence to get a feel for where she is. Does she know thousands? I know she can count to 100, but does that mean something to her? Probably lots of Golden Bead work with her, including operations work. That's what she really wants. She's already been shown a bit of multiplication by her brother and cousin (she's only heading into grade 2 in a public school--they don't do multiplication yet). It would be helpful to have a chart for her with the various lessons in it and space for me to note if she's been presented the material and level of mastery. Same goes for her sister!
For M (12yo nephew), he's hit a phase... I'm not looking to provide as much "education", you could say, to him as to the girls, but I do want to offer him a variety of things he can connect with, things he will enjoy that he won't get to do in school. He's been very different here the past few months when he has come after school: less likely to play with the others, more likely to just read or find something to do by himself. I find it a little worrying, only because I really don't know what's going on. That kind of retreating from others can be a sign of bigger problems--or it can just be a sign of him needing some more alone time after a day of dealing with school. He's headed off to junior high in the fall. I want here to be a place that can engage him, plant seeds of interest... I do worry about how jr. high will be for him. Maybe his is, too.
What about my kids? Well, the activities I brainstormed above can work for them, too. They both like read-alouds and reading. I won't do any work-specific stuff probably with them, although MadLibs are always good, Scrabble's good... All kinds of language games that can be played. Math-wise, they accept that we'll ask them a question that is connected with something we're talking about, even if sometimes what we're talking about is something dh has taught to his grade 9 students for math. :D What other math things could potentially engage them? *mindgoesblank* Science was already mentioned; my 14yo might join in on that or not. Oh, and I already talked about the Great Lessons. There's all kinds of stuff we have for geography and history, too. Things to think about more.
What are my days going to look like? What would I like them to look like? I would like to offer at least one thing for the little girls each day, one thing for the boys, have some outdoor time each day where I'm with them outside instead of my usual staying inside. Oh, just had more thoughts: crafty stuff like finger knitting and crochet and knitting and other craft stuff we have. I also have all kinds of grade 2 workbooks (K loves workbooks!) and more. But I've lost my train of thought. Each day would have a preparation for an activity/presentation/lesson for the different kids. My dd is probably fine without something specific each day for her, but time set aside just for art at least once a week, something where it can be adapted to her and to the little girls would be good. The boys are in the middle so they'll be fine if they choose to join in. So what's that leave me? Daily "lesson" time, outdoor time, I'd like daily read-aloud (any specific time? it's been up until now one of those activities great to start when things get a little goofy; gets their attention and they calm down and listen right away, esp. the girls). Do I want the after-lunch quiet time? Even just 10 minutes would be good. Oh, oh, oh, I want a lunch routine. I want us to do something we used to do: Somebody is responsible for putting the "nappe" (English word's not coming to me at the moment) on the table and then we all sit down together to eat. We could say grace before lunch (that's not been a habit around here) and one day, I think it would be great if we did the Angelus; dd learned it at camp in previous years. I've never learned it. It would be something more to show the others. When we had our lunch routine in the past, somebody was responsible for clearing the table so we could have lunch, others were responsible for making sure the kitchen was clean afterward. This might not work quite so well since my nieces and nephew come with school-style lunches most of the time and it's really not their job, I don't think, to be helping clean up my stuff, dh's stuff and my kids' stuff! It could be worked out with dd and ds who will do what for after lunch cleaning (dishes, sink, counters...). At the same time, perhaps we could change things a bit and instead of eating from their lunch kits, my nieces and nephew could put their food on plates, not have their lunch kits on the table while they eat, and then they participate in the clean-up. I could give them the option, too.
---
Wow. I'm not sure I can say I feel like I know what I'm doing tomorrow, but just getting all of that out of my brain was great! Let me see what I can specifically plan for tomorrow:
*J and K's lesson: sandpaper letters (they both love them); J, especially, loves playing Sandpaper Letter Hide-and-Seek. :)
*Pull out ds's chemistry kit for a lesson/activity with the older kids
*walk the dog (if weather permits; forecast for this week isn't fantastic)
*music time in the afternoon sometime
*maybe go to the library
*for me to do: read up on the first Great Lesson, work on lesson charts, create activities lists according to type (a list for outdoor activities, for example; another list with food prep that can be done)
All right, that is plenty for now. I wonder how many people will actually read to this part? ;D
As I was cleaning up our "school shelf" area yesterday, not the shelves themselves but the stuff below, I was saddened by how they are not really used by my kids. I guess part of it is they are too old and I haven't shown my son enough, so he won't turn to a bunch of it. The other part is that there is stuff in there I could use with my nieces, but I don't. Reminds of the saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Now, sometimes my plans fall apart, but I know I won't move forward with Montessori stuff for my nieces (who are 7 and almost 5) until I at least plan things.
I have been thinking I ought to sit down and brainstorm a bit, so that's what I'm doing here. :) Perfect way to not lose what I've written down. :P
Some thoughts and not just for my nieces, but for my nephew and my kids, not in any particular order necessarily and my apologies at the potential lack of coherence (consider the following stream-of-consciousness writing):
A routine of some sort would be good. Things like morning story time or pre-lunch cleanup or walking the dog together each day at a specific time.
Lessons: a grid to plan for each of the little girls would be good so I can tackle their very different needs. The 4.5yo likes working on language and math but I can't forget that she also needs practical life and sensorial.
That makes me think that it would be good to have a time each week, or every couple of days or something, where the practical life is cooking or baking. I have a great kids cookbook, can't remember the name at the moment, but it has some great ideas. The kids always love baked goods but moving away from sweets would be good.
Sandpaper letters are a must. I think K (7yo) would love to 100 chain.
What did Maria Montessori do for her first schedule? She had care of self and then care of the environment. There are habits that are too ingrained with this bunch for them to think it just great to start doing chores once they arrive. :P I'm going to have to play around a bit with how the day starts out, or maybe just spend a great deal of time observing. At the same time, I have my own personal list of things I'd like to get done, so how observant will I be?
Things to do during a week: library, outside time, baking/cooking, art/craft time, music time--we have the recorders and the piano and guitars... What else? Language--read-alouds and sandpaper letters and I Spy. The older kids have a wealth of books available to them to read. (Should we have a quiet time after lunch for reading or some other individual quiet activity? That was nice when we did that.) Math--I'm not sure where I left of with J (4.5yo) and her math stuff, so I should probably pull out Gettman and have a look at the beginning math stuff. Culture: Maps... I'm not sure what else is appropriate geography-wise. Science--all kinds of stuff in Gettman for the younger girls and there are some kits my son has that he and my nephew would love. I also have the microscope, which I could set up on the little table. I really need to get a book about how to prepare slides and all that so we can start making our own. What else? Phys. ed.? Walks and yoga and outside time for skipping, soccer, playing at the park, catch... Hm... Anything else I can think of? I do wonder about the Great Lessons. I had started them with my son this past year but we didn't get very far. If I did an abbreviated version of the first one (I find it soooo long) and made sure to make it very dramatic and story-like, then found books at the library for follow up ideas... Then move onto the second lesson. Perhaps not do any Key Lessons (especially since I don't really know what they all are). To present all the lessons to them before my nieces and nephew head off to school at the end of August could be really good. Am I missing anything? Probably. ;)
On a typical day, what do I envision? They'll get here, they'll probably all head off to play--things at other people's places are always more interesting, especially when you haven't seen the stuff in a month ;P--but I need to be ready with stuff. Do I want a list to run through? Do I want a list of ideas and to pick one as I see it is needed? For example, if I have the list "read-aloud, lesson time, outdoor time, art time...", can I just randomly pick? Well, of course I *can*, but is that what I want? *mindgoesblank* (5 seconds later) *mindisstillblank* lol
I'm not looking to get into any serious work stuff, although I know K wants to work on cursive and higher math stuff; I will kind of have to move through some of the math sequence to get a feel for where she is. Does she know thousands? I know she can count to 100, but does that mean something to her? Probably lots of Golden Bead work with her, including operations work. That's what she really wants. She's already been shown a bit of multiplication by her brother and cousin (she's only heading into grade 2 in a public school--they don't do multiplication yet). It would be helpful to have a chart for her with the various lessons in it and space for me to note if she's been presented the material and level of mastery. Same goes for her sister!
For M (12yo nephew), he's hit a phase... I'm not looking to provide as much "education", you could say, to him as to the girls, but I do want to offer him a variety of things he can connect with, things he will enjoy that he won't get to do in school. He's been very different here the past few months when he has come after school: less likely to play with the others, more likely to just read or find something to do by himself. I find it a little worrying, only because I really don't know what's going on. That kind of retreating from others can be a sign of bigger problems--or it can just be a sign of him needing some more alone time after a day of dealing with school. He's headed off to junior high in the fall. I want here to be a place that can engage him, plant seeds of interest... I do worry about how jr. high will be for him. Maybe his is, too.
What about my kids? Well, the activities I brainstormed above can work for them, too. They both like read-alouds and reading. I won't do any work-specific stuff probably with them, although MadLibs are always good, Scrabble's good... All kinds of language games that can be played. Math-wise, they accept that we'll ask them a question that is connected with something we're talking about, even if sometimes what we're talking about is something dh has taught to his grade 9 students for math. :D What other math things could potentially engage them? *mindgoesblank* Science was already mentioned; my 14yo might join in on that or not. Oh, and I already talked about the Great Lessons. There's all kinds of stuff we have for geography and history, too. Things to think about more.
What are my days going to look like? What would I like them to look like? I would like to offer at least one thing for the little girls each day, one thing for the boys, have some outdoor time each day where I'm with them outside instead of my usual staying inside. Oh, just had more thoughts: crafty stuff like finger knitting and crochet and knitting and other craft stuff we have. I also have all kinds of grade 2 workbooks (K loves workbooks!) and more. But I've lost my train of thought. Each day would have a preparation for an activity/presentation/lesson for the different kids. My dd is probably fine without something specific each day for her, but time set aside just for art at least once a week, something where it can be adapted to her and to the little girls would be good. The boys are in the middle so they'll be fine if they choose to join in. So what's that leave me? Daily "lesson" time, outdoor time, I'd like daily read-aloud (any specific time? it's been up until now one of those activities great to start when things get a little goofy; gets their attention and they calm down and listen right away, esp. the girls). Do I want the after-lunch quiet time? Even just 10 minutes would be good. Oh, oh, oh, I want a lunch routine. I want us to do something we used to do: Somebody is responsible for putting the "nappe" (English word's not coming to me at the moment) on the table and then we all sit down together to eat. We could say grace before lunch (that's not been a habit around here) and one day, I think it would be great if we did the Angelus; dd learned it at camp in previous years. I've never learned it. It would be something more to show the others. When we had our lunch routine in the past, somebody was responsible for clearing the table so we could have lunch, others were responsible for making sure the kitchen was clean afterward. This might not work quite so well since my nieces and nephew come with school-style lunches most of the time and it's really not their job, I don't think, to be helping clean up my stuff, dh's stuff and my kids' stuff! It could be worked out with dd and ds who will do what for after lunch cleaning (dishes, sink, counters...). At the same time, perhaps we could change things a bit and instead of eating from their lunch kits, my nieces and nephew could put their food on plates, not have their lunch kits on the table while they eat, and then they participate in the clean-up. I could give them the option, too.
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Wow. I'm not sure I can say I feel like I know what I'm doing tomorrow, but just getting all of that out of my brain was great! Let me see what I can specifically plan for tomorrow:
*J and K's lesson: sandpaper letters (they both love them); J, especially, loves playing Sandpaper Letter Hide-and-Seek. :)
*Pull out ds's chemistry kit for a lesson/activity with the older kids
*walk the dog (if weather permits; forecast for this week isn't fantastic)
*music time in the afternoon sometime
*maybe go to the library
*for me to do: read up on the first Great Lesson, work on lesson charts, create activities lists according to type (a list for outdoor activities, for example; another list with food prep that can be done)
All right, that is plenty for now. I wonder how many people will actually read to this part? ;D
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