There really is nothing like homeschool

Today it was just the kids and I. We spent some intense time in the books. On Fridays I like to dig into the stuff that we cant hit during the rest of the week because of all the outside classes and the tutoring students coming and going.

A couple months ago I identified the crux of Tinks learning disabilities. Yes, she has a processing disorder but I wasn't content with just knowing that. After homeschooling her for four years I began to notice a pattern in both the state testing and the daily school work. I am now convinced that the problem lies in her vocabulary.

To help in this area I once again returned to Wordly Wise for help. To be able to define a word one must be able to pronounce it and then use it in context. Tink is having trouble with pronouncing words she reads. She can get the answers correct because the word is defined in the book and she can always check it's definition, but when I have her read me the list of the vocabulary words she cannot pronounce the words that she has been writing the definitions for.

Here are a few of the words in this weeks word list: conquer, crevice, assign, impatient, thwart, terse. Tink is 13 and she cant read these words. If she sees them in context in a story she does much better than just trying to read a word list, but when she is asked to define words on her state tests they are not in context. They are in list form and she fails it every time!

On Fridays we go over the words together...over and over and over...until she gets tired of going over them. We go over these same words throughout the week but on Friday we dig into the list and drill and drill. On Monday Tink does not know the words. But there is progress. She can read about half of them but that doesn't mean she will remember the definitions.

Wordly Wise goes over the words in many different ways including putting them in context in story form. Then the student does page after page of definitions. It's the best vocabulary program I know of.

I'm not worried about Tinks struggles with vocabulary. My heart goes out to her when I watch her trying to decipher the words but I know we will get through this just like we have gotten through everything else.

That's what I like about Fridays. We move from the school room upstairs into the downstairs living room. There by the fire we tackle the subjects that my kids struggle with the most. They are allowed to eat popcorn and drink hot chocolate while they work or to have their blankets and stuffed animals cuddled up next to them.

We don't worry about how far we get in the curriculum. We don't stress about getting all the subjects in for the day. If we stay on one page the entire time that is okay. We only work about two hours instead of the normal 6 hours on the other four days of the week but the work we do goes deep, deep into the content on the page!

For Peter it was all about preparing for Oregon Battle of the Books, which is the book club competition he is trying out for. He listened for over an hour to an audio of Gregor the Overlander while following along in the book. We then wrote out 40 questions about the material he had just read. Every little detail is fair game to the judges during the Battle of the Books.

I love days like this when we go deeper into the material then the time usually allows. I wish everyone knew the joy that comes from teaching your children at home! When you teach at home their entire education is in your hands. You can expose them to things they are interested in. You can work on their problem areas and help them soar in the areas they are gifted. It's an amazing, heady, yet humbling feeling.

How To Make Firewood; By Peter Darling

First you need to cut a tree down. You need a chainsaw and some gloves and some safety glasses and ear muffs.

And then you cut the limbs. You need a chainsaw or some clippers.

Next you use your tape measure to measure the wood and then take a chainsaw and cut your wood.

Then split it with axe. If it isn’t splitting you need a wedge to help.

The wood is ready to be stacked now. You need some pallets to keep the wood dry from the wet ground.

Be Peter

We are learning to write stories here at Blueberry House. Peter first had to use a graphic organizer to do his How To paper. I told him I wanted him to choose something he knew how to do and then list the steps to get it done. On the left column of the paper he wrote the steps. In the right column he wrote the items needed for each step.

Then we moved on to the rough draft. This version here is his rough draft. I left it just like he wrote it; typos and all. He is just so proud of this paper. I make him type his papers in Microsoft Word. As you know, if you are even close to the right spelling of that program will correct the word for you.

I have a whole article written by a teacher about this new twenty first century way of teaching our kids to write. Handwriting is out since our kids will most likely be using the computer for even the most mundane writing in the future. And the computer will be far more advanced than these clunky things we have now. We already see that in the IPods and hand held computers. But anyway that's a subject for another post.

Now I'm out the door for the academy and the Thanksgiving feast. My little Indian is so excited. I've made a pumpkin pie and he cant wait to take his pie to the class. Hopefully I will remember to take some pics!

The Parts of Speech

This is just terrible! I cant seem to get a tiny minute to update this blog! You know me, there's just gobs of stuff I have to say and not enough to time to say it in. Life is so busy and so full - which in reality is a good thing but it sure makes for a busy day. It also means I don't have time to do the things I want to do for fun which includes blogging here in my corner of the blogosphere and reading all you peoples good blogs.

So here I am trying to school Tink in the differences between the three forms of the word to and then on to labeling the parts of a sentence. She knows this like the back of her hand but is being obstinate because she wants to go volunteer in Peters PE class. The teacher told her she could a couple of weeks ago and I wish the teacher would have never said that because this 10-11:00 hour was when I worked with Tink on her studies between classes. Now she wont concentrate and it's become an hour of battling with the wills.

I told Tink today that if she completes this Language Arts page she can go help but now she is trying to ask me every question instead of figuring it out on her own. Now its time to implement stage 2. Now the rule is if I have to help her on this entire page we have to do another one so she can prove to me she understands it. Amazingly enough she is now sailing through the page. Hmmm, how did she suddenly remember it all?

Tink is working with the different forms a word and identifying the parts of speech for the italicized word. The sentences are like this:

1. The apple is on the ground.
2. The miller ground the wheat.
3. The grocer sellsgroundcoffee.

The answers are as follows:
1. noun
2. verb
3. adjective

Could you do this?

Lets try one:

1. She enjoys many hobbies like knitting and sewing.
2. She put like colors together.
3. Do you like peanut butter?

Can you identify the parts of speech for the word like? If you know them leave your answers in the comments. Lets see what we moms still remember. Sometimes teaching the different parts of speech seems so trivial and unnecessary when dealing with a learning disabled child and yet, who knows what she could become? As a writer or a teacher she would have to know this stuff. Admittedly, most people never have use for this knowledge after leaving school; and to think that we spend long hours and months studying this!

Well I am running out of time. Both kids are going to tech class in about ten minutes so I have to pack up and get out of here so I can join them in tech. My coffee that was steaming hot from McDonald's is now cold from sitting on the window sill here in the library. Its a shame. Coffee should never be allowed to grow cold!

Oh, one more thing. I'm reading a book entitled, Why Christian Kids Rebel. Its an incredible book and I plan on sharing with you the thoughts of the author later this week. I have very little time for reading so when I do I make sure my books are loaded with practical advice and lots of food for thought. I have about 10 library books loaded with "thought food" on my shelf at home and no time to read them. Its a sad commentary of my life, I'm afraid.

Okay, so now I'm outta here and on to tech. Oh and I must stop at the office here and sign both kids up for Mad Science. Man that class is expensive; $75 for just one kid and I'm enrolling two. Madness for sure! And yet Tink told me that she knew most of the answers on her state test from what she had learned in Mad Science. So it behooves me to enroll the kids - we do all we can to appease the State gods.

From there it's off to the music store to buy Tink a new violin book. Then out to the Christian Academy for another PE class. You cant have too many PE classes when you have a son like Peter who loves to eat and who is gaining weight at the rate of 1.5 pounds a month! He's been adding in a lot of bike riding lately and he's still gaining weight. He's involved in two hours of PE and two hours of Martial Arts a week besides all his outdoor play at home. I have no idea how he can gain weight like he does!

Anyway while the kids are in PE I'm going to be cleaning house like a maniac, unless...well...unless I get caught up in some good conversation at the Academy. Oh woe is me. I like to visit with friends far more than is good for me.