We do Math from 10:15 to 11:30 every day. How much independence should you give your child in Math? How do you teach Math at multiple levels? I begin my Math period with a 5 minute Math drill for all grades. Some are working on addition and some are working on multiplication. We see how many problems out of 100 they can complete in that 5 minute timed drill. Tink does these drills with us.
Even the first grader is in on this. She doesn't have 100 problems nor is she really being timed but to include her as if she was part of it is good practice for later. Everybody puts their name on top of the paper including the first grader with her page of apples filled with little addition sums. At the mark they all begin the drill. This gives me a blessed 5 minutes to regroup and make sure I have everything ready to go at the end of the 5 minutes.
After the timed drill Tink and the two boys do oral multiplication drills with me. We use flash cards or just do recite them by rote, whichever the kids want to do that day.
After the multiplication practice Tink takes her books and heads for the computer to do Teaching Textbooks. She is working independently on her Math. Other days she moves on in her Math book in Bob Jones. I have already checked everything over and have written down exactly what she is suppose to do that day. If she hits a snag she checks to see what Lesson in Teaching Textbooks I have written down to correspond with that part of Bob Jones. To see more on how I use the Teaching Textbooks in conjunction with Bob Jones you can read this post; Teaching Textbooks and How They Measure Up.
You can see here that it is important that I have done my homework and lesson plans. If I wouldn't have plotted all this out for Tink the evening before or the weekend before I would now have to stop and try to figure things out while I have three others waiting. By writing this all out I have made it so that Tink is in charge of her own destination in Math. So now she is working independently and I turn my attention to the two boys who are both in 3rd grade Math.
The first grader is still working on her sheet of apples while I'm getting the boys started. I explain each section of Math that is due that day. I work out a few of the problems on the board and we solve them together. Then the boys on their own. I spend the rest of the time until 11:30 working with the first grader. We do her Math lesson in just a short period of time. She doesn't need that entire time for the Math she has. I use the rest of that period to do Reading with her. If you look at yesterdays post you will see that she doesn't do her Reading during the reading time slot with the other kids. I fit her Reading in here in the Math space.
After lunch I read a story to the kids. We are reading Snow Treasures. This is one of two times that we all come together every day. The first one is at eight in the morning when we all meet in the living room and sing our morning prayer, Father We Thank Thee, and then do our Bible Memory. These two activities keep us all together as a group and keep even the most independent student involved with everyone else.
Story time is finished at 12:30 pm. The next period is from 12:30 to 1:45. This is the time that we do phonics and grammar, language arts and spelling. Again all the children are involved for the first five minutes. We do drills on the parts of speech or the different kinds of sentences; interjection, question, statement, command. Then everyone is off to their own books. I have laid the worksheets to be completed on their desks during the lunch break so they know exactly what to do. I then go to each child and explain each section of their lesson. They then begin work.
At this point the first grader who has done her phonics in the early morning reading time will go to the living room and listen to her Hooked On Phonics Tape. This gives me time to drill with Peter who still needs phonics help even though he is in the third grade. We go over charts of beginning and ending digraphs and consonant blends. He does timed word drills that focus on whatever digraph we are working on.
Peter is a fast worker. While the other third grader does his Language Arts Peter not only completes the drills with me but he does his Language Arts in CLE and his phonics pages in Horizons and A Reason for Spelling. Twice a week he works in Science and Bible. These subjects are just fitted into the time slots when he finishes early.
For example if he finishes his reading before reading period is over he begins reading in his Science. In Math if he finishes early he will again pull out the Science and start from where he left off before. In this manner these two subjects get done. Any experiments are done after the other students leave in the evening.
I give all spelling tests on Thursday. I call out the words to each grade so everyone is taking the test at the same time. I call out their names and the word that is for them. It goes like this: K- run, P & P - struggle, Tink - appreciation and so on down the list. Spelling is over in ten minutes and every one has had their test.
In the afternoons Tink is working independently on her History and Language Arts and Vocabulary. She does the spelling with us. Once again that keeps Tink, the independent learner, involved with the rest of us.
Once a week we take 15 minutes at the end of the day to do Story of The World. All four of the students are included in that class.
Hopefully this gives you all some idea how to include independence with one on one learning in your homeschool. Independent learning should begin at the first grade. Even when your child has mastered independent learning he should never be left on his own at the grade school level. Include that child in all drills, and memorization and any class that covers multiple grade levels, such as; Story of The World.
Remember there is nothing set in stone about all this. Do what works but keep the end goal in mind. The end goal is an independent child that can pursue his future with confidence because his mother gave him the skills at a young age to do so.
Does this all make sense to you guys?
Showing posts with label Organization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Organization. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
More on Independent Study and Homeschool Structure
To school younger children who are less independent than the high school you will need to know your child and what they are capable of. Again remember that independence is the goal.
I discussed in the last post how I leave Tink on her own much of the time. But I still have three others to teach who are not independent learners yet. So how much independence should you give a child? A child at the first grade level will not be able to do a lot on their own. I start my first grader on handwriting first thing in the morning. The others start on their reading.
The first grader is doing handwriting because she can do that without help. The others are all doing reading. I start with the one reading at the second grade level. He reads to me the words from his word wall. Then we read in Pathway Phonics which is a wonderful book that teaches blends of sounds and then flows them into words. This takes about 15 minutes. I then release him to go read his story while I get the third grader. The third grade boy has been reading in his reader while I'm working with the second grader.
As the switch between the boys is being made I use this minute to switch the first grader into her phonics book. She will now be circling all the pictures that start with the letter w. Then she will circle all pictures that start with wa then we then wi and so on through the vowels. It doesn't matter at this point whether she gets them right or wrong. This just gives her something to wrap her brain around and try on her own until I have time to work with her.
Now the with the second grader reading his story and the first grader doing her phonics I turn my attention to the third grader. He reads the words on his word wall then he reads a page of his story with me. He doesn't need a separate phonics course, being very proficient at it. He gets a lot of phonics stuff in his reading workbook and language arts anyway. So he reads a page to me.
There is no need for him to read the entire story to me. One page can tell you if the child is comprehending or if there are words that he doesn't know in the story. So he reads the page to me. Then I have him read the next page after me. I read a about two sentences and then he reads those same two sentences. This is fluency practice. I do this with every reading class including Tinks.
If reading two sentences is two hard and the child is still hesitating I read just one sentence at a time. Sometimes I have them read right with me. We both read a passage aloud. This gives the child the idea of how reading flows without stopping. This sort of reading is a huge part of teaching fluency.
By the time we are done the second grader is done reading his story. I take him and do the exact same thing with him for fluency that I just did with the third grader. Then both boys finish reading whatever they haven't finished and then move on to the comprehension exercises in their workbooks.
At this point I turn my attention to the first grader and for the next 20 minutes before break we do our reading. The phonics she was working on will be corrected and done together by the two of us after lunch. But for now it is just 10am and time for a 15 minute break. After break we do Math. Of course, that is a post for another time. Hopefully though, this has given you some idea how to teach reading to multiple grades and how to foster independent learning at each level.
Note that by the time reading period is over each child, other than Tink, has worked independently for about an hour and with me for half an hour. The reading period lasts an hour and a half.
I discussed in the last post how I leave Tink on her own much of the time. But I still have three others to teach who are not independent learners yet. So how much independence should you give a child? A child at the first grade level will not be able to do a lot on their own. I start my first grader on handwriting first thing in the morning. The others start on their reading.
The first grader is doing handwriting because she can do that without help. The others are all doing reading. I start with the one reading at the second grade level. He reads to me the words from his word wall. Then we read in Pathway Phonics which is a wonderful book that teaches blends of sounds and then flows them into words. This takes about 15 minutes. I then release him to go read his story while I get the third grader. The third grade boy has been reading in his reader while I'm working with the second grader.
As the switch between the boys is being made I use this minute to switch the first grader into her phonics book. She will now be circling all the pictures that start with the letter w. Then she will circle all pictures that start with wa then we then wi and so on through the vowels. It doesn't matter at this point whether she gets them right or wrong. This just gives her something to wrap her brain around and try on her own until I have time to work with her.
Now the with the second grader reading his story and the first grader doing her phonics I turn my attention to the third grader. He reads the words on his word wall then he reads a page of his story with me. He doesn't need a separate phonics course, being very proficient at it. He gets a lot of phonics stuff in his reading workbook and language arts anyway. So he reads a page to me.
There is no need for him to read the entire story to me. One page can tell you if the child is comprehending or if there are words that he doesn't know in the story. So he reads the page to me. Then I have him read the next page after me. I read a about two sentences and then he reads those same two sentences. This is fluency practice. I do this with every reading class including Tinks.
If reading two sentences is two hard and the child is still hesitating I read just one sentence at a time. Sometimes I have them read right with me. We both read a passage aloud. This gives the child the idea of how reading flows without stopping. This sort of reading is a huge part of teaching fluency.
By the time we are done the second grader is done reading his story. I take him and do the exact same thing with him for fluency that I just did with the third grader. Then both boys finish reading whatever they haven't finished and then move on to the comprehension exercises in their workbooks.
At this point I turn my attention to the first grader and for the next 20 minutes before break we do our reading. The phonics she was working on will be corrected and done together by the two of us after lunch. But for now it is just 10am and time for a 15 minute break. After break we do Math. Of course, that is a post for another time. Hopefully though, this has given you some idea how to teach reading to multiple grades and how to foster independent learning at each level.
Note that by the time reading period is over each child, other than Tink, has worked independently for about an hour and with me for half an hour. The reading period lasts an hour and a half.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Organizing The Homeschool Files
What a beautiful summer afternoon. The temp has now reached 80 degrees and a brisk wind is blowing through the school room window. I have been deliciously busy sorting papers and organizing folders for the coming school year.
I'm tutoring my granddaughter once a week this summer and getting her ready for Kindergarten, Day care is not the best place to learn your letters and numbers! As I prepare the lessons every week I find myself prowling through half a dozen kindergarten and preschool worksheets to find the ones I want for each letter and number! Its so frustrating.
It dawned on me that it might be a good thing to organize this all so that's what I've been doing! I'm taking each letter of the alphabet and putting all the worksheets that go with that letter into that folder for the file. I have them stuck everywhere right now. I'm finding them in other file folders, some are filed under Vocabulary, still others are filed under a very broad file heading called Kindergarten, (what was I thinking?) and still more papers can be found under Scholastic Worksheets! By all the stripes on the flag, I have no idea what sort of filing system that is!
My system was slipshod to say the least! So now by the time school starts in the fall I am going to have a file folder for every letter of the alphabet, every number to 20 and one for all the worksheets teaching the colors!
I've also organized my flash cards into word families. I had done a large portion of this last year but I finished the job today. I need to buy more paper clips before I refile the cards into their box.
After all the Kindergarten stuff is done I'm going to start working on first grade. First grade also needs a system with all the vowels. I am also setting up file folders with all the different consonant blends and vowel digraphs and such. How nice it will be when I can say, "Oh, I need a worksheet on consonant digraphs" and there it is all filed neatly away.
I see I started this several years ago because in looking through my file I can see such folders as aw and ou but I need to complete this all and get it organized. I'm tutoring a first grader in the fall and this will help tremendously with her. You wouldn't believe the first grade papers I have stuck around from all the different books and from printing off the computer. I could compile an entire years worth of work just from loose leaf worksheets!
And speaking of Phonics, cause we were ya know, Peter can read well enough to go into third grade in the fall but he knows nothing about Phonics. I was going to put him into a self paced program written and published by the Mennonites called Christian Light Education but then I looked at the Level 100 Language Arts and realized he cant do it! He doesn't even know what a prefix and a suffix are! He doesn't know what a contraction is. He doesn't know what a compound word is! How frustrating.
The public school he attended taught the whole language approach and they didn't even use reading books! If a kid wondered how a word was spelled and what it was the teacher put it on a word wall and they all studied it! Thus Peter can read words like environment, nuclear, submarine, dynamite, and continent but he has no idea about long and short vowels! I could just scream!
So I've written to the company about this little issue and I'm waiting for a reply. I need to know if he has to do the first grade reader just because he's in first grade Language Arts! Do the two go hand in hand? How much you want to bet they do!
Then my sister in law from Central Oregon calls today and tells me she has all her curriculum ordered for her 3 school age kids for the fall already! Help! I've miles to go! Didn't I just tell you about all the organization that needs done in my school room?
On top of that we haven't even hit the canning season! Oi, this isn't looking good for me! I must get on the stick!
Okay, after writing this I spent the entire rest of the afternoon figuring the kids curriculum for next year. I'm going almost entirely with CLE as mentioned above. The only thing the kids aren't doing through CLE is Math. I'm keeping Peter in Bob Jones Math and I'm switching Tink to Teaching Textbooks which is a whole 'nother post!
So this fall Peter will have Language Arts, Reading, Handwriting, Science and Bible through CLE. He will have Math through Bob Jones. He will have History, Music Strings, and Story Writing through the Charter Academy. PE will be determined.
Tink will take Reading, Language Arts, and Social Studies through CLE. Math will be through Teaching Textbooks. Orchestra, Science, Volley Ball and Composition will be through the Charter Academy.
The Christian Academy where the kids take PE and choir hasn't weighed in yet on whether or not the homeschoolers are going to be involved so I'm waiting to hear from that arena, otherwise all these classes are signed up for and all curriculum has been bought save the Math. My CLE order for half a year came to $250.00 for both kids combined. I will order the other half when we get to winter term.
I can now breathe.
So where are you all in your planning for next fall? Are any of you stuck in yesteryear like I've been? Who's got all their curriculum ordered? Who hasn't even given it a thought? Come on, time to fess up here.
I'm tutoring my granddaughter once a week this summer and getting her ready for Kindergarten, Day care is not the best place to learn your letters and numbers! As I prepare the lessons every week I find myself prowling through half a dozen kindergarten and preschool worksheets to find the ones I want for each letter and number! Its so frustrating.
It dawned on me that it might be a good thing to organize this all so that's what I've been doing! I'm taking each letter of the alphabet and putting all the worksheets that go with that letter into that folder for the file. I have them stuck everywhere right now. I'm finding them in other file folders, some are filed under Vocabulary, still others are filed under a very broad file heading called Kindergarten, (what was I thinking?) and still more papers can be found under Scholastic Worksheets! By all the stripes on the flag, I have no idea what sort of filing system that is!
My system was slipshod to say the least! So now by the time school starts in the fall I am going to have a file folder for every letter of the alphabet, every number to 20 and one for all the worksheets teaching the colors!I've also organized my flash cards into word families. I had done a large portion of this last year but I finished the job today. I need to buy more paper clips before I refile the cards into their box.
After all the Kindergarten stuff is done I'm going to start working on first grade. First grade also needs a system with all the vowels. I am also setting up file folders with all the different consonant blends and vowel digraphs and such. How nice it will be when I can say, "Oh, I need a worksheet on consonant digraphs" and there it is all filed neatly away.I see I started this several years ago because in looking through my file I can see such folders as aw and ou but I need to complete this all and get it organized. I'm tutoring a first grader in the fall and this will help tremendously with her. You wouldn't believe the first grade papers I have stuck around from all the different books and from printing off the computer. I could compile an entire years worth of work just from loose leaf worksheets!
And speaking of Phonics, cause we were ya know, Peter can read well enough to go into third grade in the fall but he knows nothing about Phonics. I was going to put him into a self paced program written and published by the Mennonites called Christian Light Education but then I looked at the Level 100 Language Arts and realized he cant do it! He doesn't even know what a prefix and a suffix are! He doesn't know what a contraction is. He doesn't know what a compound word is! How frustrating.
The public school he attended taught the whole language approach and they didn't even use reading books! If a kid wondered how a word was spelled and what it was the teacher put it on a word wall and they all studied it! Thus Peter can read words like environment, nuclear, submarine, dynamite, and continent but he has no idea about long and short vowels! I could just scream!
So I've written to the company about this little issue and I'm waiting for a reply. I need to know if he has to do the first grade reader just because he's in first grade Language Arts! Do the two go hand in hand? How much you want to bet they do!
Then my sister in law from Central Oregon calls today and tells me she has all her curriculum ordered for her 3 school age kids for the fall already! Help! I've miles to go! Didn't I just tell you about all the organization that needs done in my school room?
On top of that we haven't even hit the canning season! Oi, this isn't looking good for me! I must get on the stick!
Okay, after writing this I spent the entire rest of the afternoon figuring the kids curriculum for next year. I'm going almost entirely with CLE as mentioned above. The only thing the kids aren't doing through CLE is Math. I'm keeping Peter in Bob Jones Math and I'm switching Tink to Teaching Textbooks which is a whole 'nother post!
So this fall Peter will have Language Arts, Reading, Handwriting, Science and Bible through CLE. He will have Math through Bob Jones. He will have History, Music Strings, and Story Writing through the Charter Academy. PE will be determined.
Tink will take Reading, Language Arts, and Social Studies through CLE. Math will be through Teaching Textbooks. Orchestra, Science, Volley Ball and Composition will be through the Charter Academy.
The Christian Academy where the kids take PE and choir hasn't weighed in yet on whether or not the homeschoolers are going to be involved so I'm waiting to hear from that arena, otherwise all these classes are signed up for and all curriculum has been bought save the Math. My CLE order for half a year came to $250.00 for both kids combined. I will order the other half when we get to winter term.
I can now breathe.
So where are you all in your planning for next fall? Are any of you stuck in yesteryear like I've been? Who's got all their curriculum ordered? Who hasn't even given it a thought? Come on, time to fess up here.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Procrastination In Children
My children have procrastination down to a fine science. It has gotten so bad that I finally decided I had to take drastic action! Yesterday morning I called a meeting with the kids after breakfast. I informed them that we were not going to start school work immediately, instead we were going to talk. I explained to the children that they have gotten very negligent in their chores and that schedules are not being kept and that we are all running ourselves ragged meeting deadlines unprepared.
I pulled out a paper and told the kids that they were going to help me figure out a way to make our schedule work for all of us. The first thing I wanted to address was our Thursday and Friday schedules. On those two days we do not have morning classes and the kids seem to treat those mornings as a Saturday morning. They want to sit around in their pajamas and take their good old time eating breakfast and getting ready for the day.
Somehow morning cartoons have once again crept into that morning time. So the new rule is now really an old rule revisited. No one is allowed to turn the TV on until after 4 pm. The children complained that they couldn't wake up and get started immediately on their work. So we brainstormed and this is what we came up with. They must be up by 8 am and be ready to start their school work by 9 am. Eight in the morning is still a late hour to them and they feel like they've gotten to sleep in. The other three days a week they have to be up by 7am so we can get to classes.
Between 8 and 9 the kids have to clean their rooms, get dressed and eat breakfast. We then made a list of things they could do if they finished early. With the kids help we put together this list: Reading, painting, clay, computer, typing, sewing, Lego's, tanagrams, trampoline, basketball.
To facilitate the other three mornings of the week the children now have to lay out all their stuff the night before. This involves more than you would initially think. On Sunday night they have to lay out the required uniform for their martial arts class, their clothes for school and Peter has to get his basketball uniform laid out. Tink has to make sure she has her violin and her book ready to go.
On Monday night they have to lay out the required clothes for the Christian Academy. That involves polo shirts and solid color pants and skirt for Tink. Because Tink has PE there she has to lay out her culottes.
On Tuesday night they lay out their martial arts clothes, their clothes they are going to wear for the day, and Peters basketball uniform again. Once again Tink has to make sure her violin and book are ready. Wednesday night they need to again prepare clothes for the Christian Academy. Vests and shirts for Awana along with their Awana books have to be gotten around and laid out on the table in their rooms. Besides the clothes they have to get the books around every night that they will need for Academy classes. Its a lot for kids to remember but it's totally imperative that this be done in order for our mornings to go more smoothly.
Mornings were becoming a rat race and I was tired of getting ready to leave only to discover that one or both of the kids couldn't find something. In trying to get more organized it became quickly apparent that I would need to purchase a few things to help this go more smoothly. I bought Tink a back pack so she could carry her books separately from Peters. I rounded up another white erase board and wrote the days classes on them and to which school we were going to be going to each day. Both kids already have their list of weekly assignments for their classes at home.
Chore lists were tackled in our breakfast meeting. The chore chart is working well but Tink thinks Peter needs more chores and Peter thinks he has way more than any other boy his age. In discussing this I discovered that Peter was feeling overwhelmed with his chores and school work. It's no wonder, poor boy. He's getting introduced to school at home and its a far cry from his days of boarding a bus and spending the entire day at a public school.
I realized Peter needed some help. So we discussed how to break his chores into smaller chunks. To prevent him from putting off his chores we are now setting a timer for each portion of the job. We also identified the hated parts of the chores. I discovered that he didn't mind bringing in the wood but he hated how dirty and cold his hands got. That's why he kept putting off the job. That was easily remedied by a pair of gloves. He didn't like putting his trucks on the shelves because they continually rolled off. Now Mr. Darling is going to put little tabs on the shelves so the trucks stay in place. Actually I know that frustration. I've had the same thing happen to me when I've tried to organize the trucks.
Peter said that when I sent him in to clean his room he didn't know where to start. My children's rooms are never messy as kids rooms go. Its usually just a few toys left out and his clothes from the day before thrown around. So we worked out a plan where he would gather all dirty clothes first, then move to trucks, then to any Legos, then on to straightening the toy shelves and lastly dusting his table and windowsills. His cleaning zone includes the upstairs family room so we broke that into small chunks too.
After we identified the hated parts I told the kids I would help them the first several times through. Tink doesn't seem to have any problems in this area. She loves cleaning and rarely complains when it comes time to clean her zone. Both kids told me they were frustrated with their Tae Kwon Do uniforms because they didn't know where to put them! They were right. I hadn't designated a spot for them.
Charting and planning are an essential part of every day. Organization is not an option. Its highly necessary to get through a day around here. The list of activities for morning time are on the white board by the computer. The days list of classes are on the white board in Tinks room. Beside the computer are papers for both kids; forms from Alliance Academy that need filled out for Technology. Every time the kids use technology for study they have to write it down; V for video, C for computer, I for Internet, A for Audio. The website of video or what ever they have used needs to be listed on the same line with the date and how much time was spent in the activity.
Tink fills out another sheet for every time she practices violin and for how long. They each record choir classes and any performances they have had that week.
Paper work is done for each child on their activities. Again there are abbreviations for the different sports and activities. P just simply means out door play time, T is trampoline, BB is basketball, V is volley ball, etc. There are about 10 different letters for all the activities. All these papers need filled out daily and handed to the ES once a month.
When I finally set down and figured all this out it dawned on me why I have been feeling like we are racing through our days unable to catch up! With a tight schedule we cant allow anything to slip through the cracks.
To come to this sort of organized day I had to ask myself a few questions. Why are the kids putting off what they are suppose to be doing? Why are they not prepared? What can we do to prepare in advance for each day? Do I need to implement a reward system? What will be the outcome if chores are not completed in a timely fashion? What happens if we get to a class and they don't have the right books or clothes for the class? What can I do to make things easier for the kids? Do they fully understand what their jobs are? Do they know how to do them?
I was amazed at how helpful the kids were in identifying the problem areas. They really got involved in the brain storming and in telling me how they felt about things. This morning I heard Tinks alarm go off. I was amazed when immediately afterward I heard her feet hit the floor. Within seconds she was in the shower and her day had begun. Peter was a little slower but much better than he had been the day before.
So now we'll see how this next week goes. Hopefully we all find a bit more sanity to our day! To help pinpoint the problem and to identify ways to change it I read the book, "The Procrastinating Child" by Rita Emmett. I found it at the library and Im about half way through it. I highly recommend it. It has been a life saver around here.
I pulled out a paper and told the kids that they were going to help me figure out a way to make our schedule work for all of us. The first thing I wanted to address was our Thursday and Friday schedules. On those two days we do not have morning classes and the kids seem to treat those mornings as a Saturday morning. They want to sit around in their pajamas and take their good old time eating breakfast and getting ready for the day.
Somehow morning cartoons have once again crept into that morning time. So the new rule is now really an old rule revisited. No one is allowed to turn the TV on until after 4 pm. The children complained that they couldn't wake up and get started immediately on their work. So we brainstormed and this is what we came up with. They must be up by 8 am and be ready to start their school work by 9 am. Eight in the morning is still a late hour to them and they feel like they've gotten to sleep in. The other three days a week they have to be up by 7am so we can get to classes.
Between 8 and 9 the kids have to clean their rooms, get dressed and eat breakfast. We then made a list of things they could do if they finished early. With the kids help we put together this list: Reading, painting, clay, computer, typing, sewing, Lego's, tanagrams, trampoline, basketball.
To facilitate the other three mornings of the week the children now have to lay out all their stuff the night before. This involves more than you would initially think. On Sunday night they have to lay out the required uniform for their martial arts class, their clothes for school and Peter has to get his basketball uniform laid out. Tink has to make sure she has her violin and her book ready to go.
On Monday night they have to lay out the required clothes for the Christian Academy. That involves polo shirts and solid color pants and skirt for Tink. Because Tink has PE there she has to lay out her culottes.
On Tuesday night they lay out their martial arts clothes, their clothes they are going to wear for the day, and Peters basketball uniform again. Once again Tink has to make sure her violin and book are ready. Wednesday night they need to again prepare clothes for the Christian Academy. Vests and shirts for Awana along with their Awana books have to be gotten around and laid out on the table in their rooms. Besides the clothes they have to get the books around every night that they will need for Academy classes. Its a lot for kids to remember but it's totally imperative that this be done in order for our mornings to go more smoothly.
Mornings were becoming a rat race and I was tired of getting ready to leave only to discover that one or both of the kids couldn't find something. In trying to get more organized it became quickly apparent that I would need to purchase a few things to help this go more smoothly. I bought Tink a back pack so she could carry her books separately from Peters. I rounded up another white erase board and wrote the days classes on them and to which school we were going to be going to each day. Both kids already have their list of weekly assignments for their classes at home.
Chore lists were tackled in our breakfast meeting. The chore chart is working well but Tink thinks Peter needs more chores and Peter thinks he has way more than any other boy his age. In discussing this I discovered that Peter was feeling overwhelmed with his chores and school work. It's no wonder, poor boy. He's getting introduced to school at home and its a far cry from his days of boarding a bus and spending the entire day at a public school.
I realized Peter needed some help. So we discussed how to break his chores into smaller chunks. To prevent him from putting off his chores we are now setting a timer for each portion of the job. We also identified the hated parts of the chores. I discovered that he didn't mind bringing in the wood but he hated how dirty and cold his hands got. That's why he kept putting off the job. That was easily remedied by a pair of gloves. He didn't like putting his trucks on the shelves because they continually rolled off. Now Mr. Darling is going to put little tabs on the shelves so the trucks stay in place. Actually I know that frustration. I've had the same thing happen to me when I've tried to organize the trucks.
Peter said that when I sent him in to clean his room he didn't know where to start. My children's rooms are never messy as kids rooms go. Its usually just a few toys left out and his clothes from the day before thrown around. So we worked out a plan where he would gather all dirty clothes first, then move to trucks, then to any Legos, then on to straightening the toy shelves and lastly dusting his table and windowsills. His cleaning zone includes the upstairs family room so we broke that into small chunks too.
After we identified the hated parts I told the kids I would help them the first several times through. Tink doesn't seem to have any problems in this area. She loves cleaning and rarely complains when it comes time to clean her zone. Both kids told me they were frustrated with their Tae Kwon Do uniforms because they didn't know where to put them! They were right. I hadn't designated a spot for them.
Charting and planning are an essential part of every day. Organization is not an option. Its highly necessary to get through a day around here. The list of activities for morning time are on the white board by the computer. The days list of classes are on the white board in Tinks room. Beside the computer are papers for both kids; forms from Alliance Academy that need filled out for Technology. Every time the kids use technology for study they have to write it down; V for video, C for computer, I for Internet, A for Audio. The website of video or what ever they have used needs to be listed on the same line with the date and how much time was spent in the activity.
Tink fills out another sheet for every time she practices violin and for how long. They each record choir classes and any performances they have had that week.
Paper work is done for each child on their activities. Again there are abbreviations for the different sports and activities. P just simply means out door play time, T is trampoline, BB is basketball, V is volley ball, etc. There are about 10 different letters for all the activities. All these papers need filled out daily and handed to the ES once a month.
When I finally set down and figured all this out it dawned on me why I have been feeling like we are racing through our days unable to catch up! With a tight schedule we cant allow anything to slip through the cracks.
To come to this sort of organized day I had to ask myself a few questions. Why are the kids putting off what they are suppose to be doing? Why are they not prepared? What can we do to prepare in advance for each day? Do I need to implement a reward system? What will be the outcome if chores are not completed in a timely fashion? What happens if we get to a class and they don't have the right books or clothes for the class? What can I do to make things easier for the kids? Do they fully understand what their jobs are? Do they know how to do them?
I was amazed at how helpful the kids were in identifying the problem areas. They really got involved in the brain storming and in telling me how they felt about things. This morning I heard Tinks alarm go off. I was amazed when immediately afterward I heard her feet hit the floor. Within seconds she was in the shower and her day had begun. Peter was a little slower but much better than he had been the day before.
So now we'll see how this next week goes. Hopefully we all find a bit more sanity to our day! To help pinpoint the problem and to identify ways to change it I read the book, "The Procrastinating Child" by Rita Emmett. I found it at the library and Im about half way through it. I highly recommend it. It has been a life saver around here.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The Value of Homeschool Organization
I have a tutoring job for next year if I want it. It would involve schooling the child for a couple of days a week like I did several students last year. I'm not sure if I want to do that. This lady has asked me because she feels overwhelmed with her day and even though she has home schooled this child for the last 6 years she is feeling very inadequate. This, along with my emails and comments I hear from friends, makes me wonder why people feel so unable to home educate their kids.
I want to take a closer look at this. There is one thing that must be admitted right off the top and that is that school will take a huge chunk of your day. On the other hand that doesn't mean you have to let it bury you.
I have a sister who homeschools 12 children and has been homeschooling for 20 years! I have another sister who home schools 9 children and has been doing it for almost that long.
What is the secret to successful homeschooling? That is the question I get most often.
Large families are finding success because they are not reinventing the wheel. They found what worked and went with it. Do not be lured by all the boxed curriculum and all the wonderful glitter and glam that is being sold for homeschoolers. Teach reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic and your child will be fine.
Two statements people make to me all the time are at polar opposite ends of the spectrum; "I positively could not do everything you do in a day" and the other one is this, "I could do it too if I only had 2 kids." I find myself bemused every time I hear those things. I am here to tell you all that you can homeschool and run an efficient household whether you have 2 children or twelve. I am also going to tell you that if you are unsuccessful in scheduling your day and homeschool with 12 kids you will be unsuccessful with 2 kids. Does that surprise you?
I'm trying to tell you that the amount of children you have does not determine success in your day.
A disciplined person is disciplined.
An undisciplined person is undisciplined.
Is that so hard to figure out? Do you know something else? Young mothers with 2 or 3 preschoolers is doing more hands on minutely care of her children than the mother with 12 children, that is if the mother of the 12 did her job correctly. You see when you have a bunch of kids the labor is less. The work is more but the labor at mothers hands is less because the older children have been trained to help. So lets not get caught up in numbers. Do not compare yourself with others on the home front or the homeschool front.
Even disciplined people have times when the day doesn't run smoothly.
Monday through Wednesday the children have to be up by 7 am to get out the door by 8:15 because of classes they are taking at the Academy. On Thursday and Friday mornings, days with only afternoon classes away, I have a rule that the kids have to be ready for school by 9:00 am. They get up when they want but the latest they can get up is 8:00 am. That gives them an hour to get ready for school; shower, make beds, eat breakfast, and do whatever else they want to do.
Some days we have been so busy that by Thursday morning, our first day of the week without morning classes, we are just exhausted. If I can tell the kids are still soundly asleep at 8 I will let them wake up on their own. This morning was one of those mornings. Now the problem with getting up an hour later is that it can throw off your entire school day and many will throw their hands in the air and declare they cant stay on a schedule so why bother. Let me tell you a secret.
Younger kids are incredibly unaware of the time. So your child got up at nine? Act as if its eight. Instead of rushing around and not giving them time to wake up and do their morning chores in the normal way just pretend its an hour earlier and do everything the same as you ordinarily would.
Don't give the children 5 minutes to eat breakfast while you shriek at them that once again you are behind schedule and if everyone hurries you will only be 15 minutes late in starting the day. You are setting the atmosphere in your home all wrong and the day will go backward from there.
If you have a child that falls anywhere on the autism spectrum you will know the wisdom in what I have just laid out. Those children like Tink cannot be rushed, They need rigid schedule to thrive. It leaves one to wonder how it effects the "normal" child? Just because the "normal" one doesn't act out does not mean he isn't stressed by your rushing and harsh words. He just has the skills to deal with it. So please, ladies keep the kids on a schedule and realize there will be times you will have to go with the flow.
My children stumbled out of their beds at 8:45 this morning. The 3 day Easter weekend was fast paced and chucked full of stuff for us. Monday morning we hit the road on the run and havent stopped. So I let them wake up in their own time. They got up at 8:45 so that means school begins at 9:45. It barely makes a ripple in our day! They still have their hour to get ready and do their normal morning things.
Now let me hasten to add that getting up late should be a rare thing.
Children need to learn the discipline of arising at the same time every morning and going to bed at the same time at night. When your kids get older they will most likely have to punch a time clock. Teach them to be on time now!
Make sure your children know what is expected of them on the household front. What chores do they have to get done and by what time? Have you planned their lessons or are you handing them a book and expecting your 8 year old to go on his own? Even a 6th grader will benefit from knowing exactly what lessons need done for the day or for the week.
This is the time of year that the homeschool mom starts to count pages and see how much needs assigned to end up where she wants her children to be by June or whenever you stop your school year. If you have fallen behind don't assign 10 pages a day in each subject to catch up. Instead figure out a good stopping place and stop; usually at the end of a unit or before a new concept is introduced.
Since teaching school is such a huge part of the life of the homeschool mother you will need to make sure that you are disciplined or the rest of your house will fall apart.
Last week I was talking to a homeschool mom of 5 children, all adopted, and all with learning disabilites. She told me she had gotten up at 2:30 am to get everything done that needed done and that it wasnt uncommon for her to start her day at that time.
Mothers we have grown lazy. We have made excuses. We have bought into the thought that we need our me time. We have been looking at the other side of the fence and thinking we have it harder. We count on each finger all the things we have to do that she doesn't and why that excuses us from discipline.
The following is a little story of a mother with 10 children.
Years ago I visited my sister when she just had 10 kids, nine boys and one girl. You think you have excuses because you have three and someone else only has one? I stayed at my sisters for a week and listen to what she did.
She got up at 5:00 am to prepare for her day. Her boys got up early and went to the barn to milk. She ground her own wheat to make her own flour. This particular morning was no different than any other. Eighty muffins and 3 gallons of milk were consumed at breakfast along with other stuff! She had ground all that wheat to make those muffins. She ground her own corn to make the cornmeal. She sprouted the sprouts.
She made her own yogurt by the gallons! She made all her own cheeses on the back porch, She hung all the laundry on the line to dry; laundry for 12 people. Her home was immaculate all 900 sq ft of it. Yes, she didn't have a huge beautiful kitchen. She had a house of 900 sq ft!!! Do you get that?
She was regimented about school. One room in that tiny house was set aside for the school room. In it were about 7 old fashioned school desks. They entered the school room at 9 am with all the morning chores done; cows milked and fed, kids dressed and fed and all the breakfast put away.
The baby slept in a basket at my sisters feet. The preschooler played with his toys quietly in the corner. They schooled all morning. By lunch time they were done for the day. As the boys grew into highschool ages they were disciplined enough to finish their work on their own in gaps in the afternoon farm work but mothers work in the academic department was done by midday. Then it was on to fixing lunch and the myriad of chores that await a mother of 10 children.
So now would you want to tell me your excuses again? Go ahead. Im listening.
I want to take a closer look at this. There is one thing that must be admitted right off the top and that is that school will take a huge chunk of your day. On the other hand that doesn't mean you have to let it bury you.
I have a sister who homeschools 12 children and has been homeschooling for 20 years! I have another sister who home schools 9 children and has been doing it for almost that long.
What is the secret to successful homeschooling? That is the question I get most often.
Large families are finding success because they are not reinventing the wheel. They found what worked and went with it. Do not be lured by all the boxed curriculum and all the wonderful glitter and glam that is being sold for homeschoolers. Teach reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic and your child will be fine.
Two statements people make to me all the time are at polar opposite ends of the spectrum; "I positively could not do everything you do in a day" and the other one is this, "I could do it too if I only had 2 kids." I find myself bemused every time I hear those things. I am here to tell you all that you can homeschool and run an efficient household whether you have 2 children or twelve. I am also going to tell you that if you are unsuccessful in scheduling your day and homeschool with 12 kids you will be unsuccessful with 2 kids. Does that surprise you?
I'm trying to tell you that the amount of children you have does not determine success in your day.
A disciplined person is disciplined.
An undisciplined person is undisciplined.
Is that so hard to figure out? Do you know something else? Young mothers with 2 or 3 preschoolers is doing more hands on minutely care of her children than the mother with 12 children, that is if the mother of the 12 did her job correctly. You see when you have a bunch of kids the labor is less. The work is more but the labor at mothers hands is less because the older children have been trained to help. So lets not get caught up in numbers. Do not compare yourself with others on the home front or the homeschool front.
Even disciplined people have times when the day doesn't run smoothly.
Monday through Wednesday the children have to be up by 7 am to get out the door by 8:15 because of classes they are taking at the Academy. On Thursday and Friday mornings, days with only afternoon classes away, I have a rule that the kids have to be ready for school by 9:00 am. They get up when they want but the latest they can get up is 8:00 am. That gives them an hour to get ready for school; shower, make beds, eat breakfast, and do whatever else they want to do.
Some days we have been so busy that by Thursday morning, our first day of the week without morning classes, we are just exhausted. If I can tell the kids are still soundly asleep at 8 I will let them wake up on their own. This morning was one of those mornings. Now the problem with getting up an hour later is that it can throw off your entire school day and many will throw their hands in the air and declare they cant stay on a schedule so why bother. Let me tell you a secret.
Younger kids are incredibly unaware of the time. So your child got up at nine? Act as if its eight. Instead of rushing around and not giving them time to wake up and do their morning chores in the normal way just pretend its an hour earlier and do everything the same as you ordinarily would.
Don't give the children 5 minutes to eat breakfast while you shriek at them that once again you are behind schedule and if everyone hurries you will only be 15 minutes late in starting the day. You are setting the atmosphere in your home all wrong and the day will go backward from there.
If you have a child that falls anywhere on the autism spectrum you will know the wisdom in what I have just laid out. Those children like Tink cannot be rushed, They need rigid schedule to thrive. It leaves one to wonder how it effects the "normal" child? Just because the "normal" one doesn't act out does not mean he isn't stressed by your rushing and harsh words. He just has the skills to deal with it. So please, ladies keep the kids on a schedule and realize there will be times you will have to go with the flow.
My children stumbled out of their beds at 8:45 this morning. The 3 day Easter weekend was fast paced and chucked full of stuff for us. Monday morning we hit the road on the run and havent stopped. So I let them wake up in their own time. They got up at 8:45 so that means school begins at 9:45. It barely makes a ripple in our day! They still have their hour to get ready and do their normal morning things.
Now let me hasten to add that getting up late should be a rare thing.
Children need to learn the discipline of arising at the same time every morning and going to bed at the same time at night. When your kids get older they will most likely have to punch a time clock. Teach them to be on time now!
Make sure your children know what is expected of them on the household front. What chores do they have to get done and by what time? Have you planned their lessons or are you handing them a book and expecting your 8 year old to go on his own? Even a 6th grader will benefit from knowing exactly what lessons need done for the day or for the week.
This is the time of year that the homeschool mom starts to count pages and see how much needs assigned to end up where she wants her children to be by June or whenever you stop your school year. If you have fallen behind don't assign 10 pages a day in each subject to catch up. Instead figure out a good stopping place and stop; usually at the end of a unit or before a new concept is introduced.
Since teaching school is such a huge part of the life of the homeschool mother you will need to make sure that you are disciplined or the rest of your house will fall apart.
Last week I was talking to a homeschool mom of 5 children, all adopted, and all with learning disabilites. She told me she had gotten up at 2:30 am to get everything done that needed done and that it wasnt uncommon for her to start her day at that time.
Mothers we have grown lazy. We have made excuses. We have bought into the thought that we need our me time. We have been looking at the other side of the fence and thinking we have it harder. We count on each finger all the things we have to do that she doesn't and why that excuses us from discipline.
The following is a little story of a mother with 10 children.
Years ago I visited my sister when she just had 10 kids, nine boys and one girl. You think you have excuses because you have three and someone else only has one? I stayed at my sisters for a week and listen to what she did.
She got up at 5:00 am to prepare for her day. Her boys got up early and went to the barn to milk. She ground her own wheat to make her own flour. This particular morning was no different than any other. Eighty muffins and 3 gallons of milk were consumed at breakfast along with other stuff! She had ground all that wheat to make those muffins. She ground her own corn to make the cornmeal. She sprouted the sprouts.
She made her own yogurt by the gallons! She made all her own cheeses on the back porch, She hung all the laundry on the line to dry; laundry for 12 people. Her home was immaculate all 900 sq ft of it. Yes, she didn't have a huge beautiful kitchen. She had a house of 900 sq ft!!! Do you get that?
She was regimented about school. One room in that tiny house was set aside for the school room. In it were about 7 old fashioned school desks. They entered the school room at 9 am with all the morning chores done; cows milked and fed, kids dressed and fed and all the breakfast put away.
The baby slept in a basket at my sisters feet. The preschooler played with his toys quietly in the corner. They schooled all morning. By lunch time they were done for the day. As the boys grew into highschool ages they were disciplined enough to finish their work on their own in gaps in the afternoon farm work but mothers work in the academic department was done by midday. Then it was on to fixing lunch and the myriad of chores that await a mother of 10 children.
So now would you want to tell me your excuses again? Go ahead. Im listening.
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