The last couple weeks of homeschooling have been hard. It's been so upsetting because the first week-ish went so well! He doesn't want to do school, he claims he's "sick for school", he messes around and goofs off the entire time, he just doesn't want to listen!
Monday and Tuesday were rough, so we went ahead an implemented the new three-day week I've been considering (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday). I took an entirely new approach yesterday (Thursday) and it went really well. I am so hopeful that we are on track now!
We were veeeery laid back. We got out of bed and dressed and ate and all those things. He got on the computer and played his Word World game for a bit, and I didn't push him to finish. Then we went ahead and started a new math lesson (I'm having a hard time believing he is going through the math so fast, but I think he genuinely gets bored with the material after the first time he goes through it...I'm sure that will change...right??), and stopped that as soon as he wanted. He then went back and played some more Word World. We basically went back and forth between the computer, snacks, lunch, and lessons until about 1:30 (during the first week we were done by 10!). Yesterday was the first day he asked "Can we do more letters?" Letters are his least favorite thing, so that was a big deal! I considered it, but I wanted to stop while he was still enjoying himself; I worried that continuing would take the fun he was experiencing out and I definitely do NOT want that. If he asks to do more letters today, we will, even though today is technically our science/library/off day.
One thing I have learned without a doubt: absolutely NO TV before school. None. Ever. Bad idea. I've noticed for a long time that the TV tends to turn him into a different kid, but sometimes the temptation for a few minutes of quiet is too great. It's not worth it; the 30 minutes of peaceful Dora time turns into an entire day of cranky "I wanna watch my shows! School is stupid!". Lesson learned! He was allowed to watch Despicable Me once we finished school, but the TV went right off afterwards. It seemed to work well.
I did add "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" to our rotation. We've only done one lesson so far, but he seemed to have fun with it. So I'm hopeful that will be a good supplement for us.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Teeth and Bragging
We'll start with my baby girl; she has TWO teeth! We had an appointment on Thursday the 8th to re-measure her head (don't know if I mentioned it here, but at her 4-month appointment she had a 5th percentile head so we had to go back in after a month to re-check it). Her head is now up to the 15th and she is perfectly fine. Well, on our way out the ped said "and you know she has some teeth coming in, right?" We knew she was teething, but didn't realize how close she was to popping a tooth; the first one was out the next day, and the second followed on Saturday. My poor girl is a whiney, non-sleeping mess. This baby who has slept through the night almost since birth is now waking several times a night, and last night was every hour. She is currently napping and has been for three hours, with one short wake-up to nurse. I'm hoping her being able to sleep now means that the pain and fussiness is starting to subside and we can both get some rest tonight! I spent a little while on Friday crying and feeling sorry for myself since my baby is growing up. I didn't expect her to get a tooth so early, at just shy of 5 1/2 months. I'm going to miss her beautiful gummy grin, and I just don't know if we will have another baby to experience that with. I'm not crying anymore, so I guess I'm feeling better about it.
Now, for my brag. I ran 9 miles yesterday. Seriously, RAN a full 9 miles. No walking. Just running. It was AMAZING. I have been training for my half marathon for 11 weeks now, and I have been so discouraged. It is hot here in Texas (haha), and people kept trying to tell me that the heat is HARD to run in. I didn't believe it, I thought I was just not trying hard enough or that I'm just not made for running. I wasn't having fun AT ALL. I was having difficulties running for more than a mile without walking. Then, last Tuesday, the evening temperature dropped into the 80s. I set out on a 4-mile run and it felt great! I was so surprised and I felt like I could run forever! It got dark and I got afraid (and some jerkwad honked and yelled at me just to scare me while I was running), so my run was cut to 3.11 miles but I ran the entire thing. It was a first and I was so giddy afterwards.
Thursday was my next run for the week, another 4-miler, but this time I tried taking the kids in the jogging stroller; it was horrible. Ian whined the entire time and I could only run about .6 miles before needing to walk. That stroller gets heavy with two kids totalling 60lbs sitting in it! And then on Saturday I woke up feeling awful, but had a 3 mile run that I needed to do. I made it just over a mile before the dizzyness and nausea hit. I did just over two miles and slept most of the day. I was really fearing for the nine mile run that was waiting for me the next day, especially since the previous week I'd had a 7-miler that I walked half of. No fun!
I got to the base (only place I feel comfortable running in the dark, and if I don't want to die of heat stroke it has to be done in the dark), and I felt really good. I started off thinking "If I could run 6.25, that would be awesome. That would be double what I ran on Tuesday." So I ran, and ran, and ran and I just wasn't tired. I was breathing easily, my body wasn't hurting, no cramping. I just listened to my music and ran all over, looking at everything and getting myself pumped up. At mile 5 I had my first GU experience (a gel that endurance sport people use...full of carbs and caffeine to fuel and energize your body during strenuous exercise). That stuff was interesting, I tell you. I'm so glad I was completely alone when I took it because I'm sure my face was horrendous. Swallowing it was so difficult...definitely going to have to get used to the texture! At that point I realized "Wow! I'm still not tired...I think I'm going to run this entire thing!" I kept going, and going, and still felt great. My iPod died at 6.25 miles which was just depressing. I was stuck with just my thoughts then, and I am not the most interesting person to talk to...all I could think was "I hope the baby doesn't wake up hungry, I hope the baby doesn't wake up hungry" since she adamently refuses bottles of pumped milk (going to try a sippy next...I'd really like her to accept one of those before my next long runs and before the race!).
Finally, with 7.75ish miles completed, the fatigue started to set in. The GU had given me a huge energy kick from the caffeine, and I was struggling for those miles to not go too fast. That eighth mile actually ended up being my fastest, at 12:05. I kept staring at my Garmin, and the mile just went soooo sloooowly. Once it beeped that my eighth mile was complete, I told myself there was no way I was going to run that far and walk the last mile. No way. So I made myself go, despite the fact that my legs and chest were starting to burn. I finished in an hour and 57 minutes, with a 13:05 average pace. I suddenly feel like a "runner" and feel pretty confident that I will finish my race next month, and I will finish it with a smile on my face. I can't wait.
Now, for my brag. I ran 9 miles yesterday. Seriously, RAN a full 9 miles. No walking. Just running. It was AMAZING. I have been training for my half marathon for 11 weeks now, and I have been so discouraged. It is hot here in Texas (haha), and people kept trying to tell me that the heat is HARD to run in. I didn't believe it, I thought I was just not trying hard enough or that I'm just not made for running. I wasn't having fun AT ALL. I was having difficulties running for more than a mile without walking. Then, last Tuesday, the evening temperature dropped into the 80s. I set out on a 4-mile run and it felt great! I was so surprised and I felt like I could run forever! It got dark and I got afraid (and some jerkwad honked and yelled at me just to scare me while I was running), so my run was cut to 3.11 miles but I ran the entire thing. It was a first and I was so giddy afterwards.
Thursday was my next run for the week, another 4-miler, but this time I tried taking the kids in the jogging stroller; it was horrible. Ian whined the entire time and I could only run about .6 miles before needing to walk. That stroller gets heavy with two kids totalling 60lbs sitting in it! And then on Saturday I woke up feeling awful, but had a 3 mile run that I needed to do. I made it just over a mile before the dizzyness and nausea hit. I did just over two miles and slept most of the day. I was really fearing for the nine mile run that was waiting for me the next day, especially since the previous week I'd had a 7-miler that I walked half of. No fun!
I got to the base (only place I feel comfortable running in the dark, and if I don't want to die of heat stroke it has to be done in the dark), and I felt really good. I started off thinking "If I could run 6.25, that would be awesome. That would be double what I ran on Tuesday." So I ran, and ran, and ran and I just wasn't tired. I was breathing easily, my body wasn't hurting, no cramping. I just listened to my music and ran all over, looking at everything and getting myself pumped up. At mile 5 I had my first GU experience (a gel that endurance sport people use...full of carbs and caffeine to fuel and energize your body during strenuous exercise). That stuff was interesting, I tell you. I'm so glad I was completely alone when I took it because I'm sure my face was horrendous. Swallowing it was so difficult...definitely going to have to get used to the texture! At that point I realized "Wow! I'm still not tired...I think I'm going to run this entire thing!" I kept going, and going, and still felt great. My iPod died at 6.25 miles which was just depressing. I was stuck with just my thoughts then, and I am not the most interesting person to talk to...all I could think was "I hope the baby doesn't wake up hungry, I hope the baby doesn't wake up hungry" since she adamently refuses bottles of pumped milk (going to try a sippy next...I'd really like her to accept one of those before my next long runs and before the race!).
Finally, with 7.75ish miles completed, the fatigue started to set in. The GU had given me a huge energy kick from the caffeine, and I was struggling for those miles to not go too fast. That eighth mile actually ended up being my fastest, at 12:05. I kept staring at my Garmin, and the mile just went soooo sloooowly. Once it beeped that my eighth mile was complete, I told myself there was no way I was going to run that far and walk the last mile. No way. So I made myself go, despite the fact that my legs and chest were starting to burn. I finished in an hour and 57 minutes, with a 13:05 average pace. I suddenly feel like a "runner" and feel pretty confident that I will finish my race next month, and I will finish it with a smile on my face. I can't wait.
Learning. Boy Are We Learning
I am a schedules person. We do this at this time, we do that at that time. We must have worksheets and tangible, see-able proof that we have been working today. MUST, MUST, MUST. It ain't working.
Ian is a very hands-on kid. He likes to build, he likes to play, he likes to color, he likes to run. I've been getting frustrated because he doesn't want to stop playing with his math blocks. I've been allowing him to play for a few minutes, and then telling him it's time to get on with our lesson. This hasn't been working. He gets annoyed at me, and then refuses to do anything because he just wants to play. I get annoyed because we are supposed to be schooling, and he won't cooperate. Obviously not a very productive situation.
So today we tried something a little new. It was basically a "back-off, Mom" day where he got to choose what we were going to do, when. We still got to everything, but I let him have a lot more play time and I followed his lead. We generally start our day with our Bible Story, with some kind of book and craft. I have a fun Adam and Eve book that also has a DVD with the story and games on it for this week. I was excited to try it out, and so was Ian, but he was MORE excited to move onto Lesson 11 in math. So that's what we did. We threw out the schedule and we started with math. We built with the blocks, we took our time, and when he was acting "done" I just asked that he finish the last two problems on the sheet we were working on and we would move on. It seemed to work...no meltdowns!
After our Bible Story, he decided he needed a break. So we took that time for recess. He was allowed to pick a game on the computer and play for a little bit. When he was done, we made the letter "D" with the play-doh we made for science last week and worked on handwriting. We were going to play a matching game, but it became clear quickly that he didn't want to. I didn't get frustrated, I accepted it, and we finished for the day.
We didn't get everything done that I had hoped to, but it's okay. He learned and he played and we stopped before either of us were in breakdown mode. I hope I can continue with this more relaxed approach. It's not "me" but the point of homeschooling is to tailor it to "him". I need to keep that thought at the forefront of my mind otherwise, what are we doing this for?
We may cut our school week down to three days depending on how the next couple of days go. Right now we do Monday-Thursday and Science on Friday. We may do a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday schedule keeping Science on Friday (he has no idea we are doing school during Science-time...seriously, he looks for bugs and makes play-doh!). The last couple of weeks have been difficult, with him being *DONE* by Thursday, which of course gets me agitated because we don't get anything accomplished. So we'll try one more week with the four days and the new laid-back approach, and if we are still having problems we will try the other schedule next week. This year is going to be full of trial and error.
Ian is a very hands-on kid. He likes to build, he likes to play, he likes to color, he likes to run. I've been getting frustrated because he doesn't want to stop playing with his math blocks. I've been allowing him to play for a few minutes, and then telling him it's time to get on with our lesson. This hasn't been working. He gets annoyed at me, and then refuses to do anything because he just wants to play. I get annoyed because we are supposed to be schooling, and he won't cooperate. Obviously not a very productive situation.
So today we tried something a little new. It was basically a "back-off, Mom" day where he got to choose what we were going to do, when. We still got to everything, but I let him have a lot more play time and I followed his lead. We generally start our day with our Bible Story, with some kind of book and craft. I have a fun Adam and Eve book that also has a DVD with the story and games on it for this week. I was excited to try it out, and so was Ian, but he was MORE excited to move onto Lesson 11 in math. So that's what we did. We threw out the schedule and we started with math. We built with the blocks, we took our time, and when he was acting "done" I just asked that he finish the last two problems on the sheet we were working on and we would move on. It seemed to work...no meltdowns!
After our Bible Story, he decided he needed a break. So we took that time for recess. He was allowed to pick a game on the computer and play for a little bit. When he was done, we made the letter "D" with the play-doh we made for science last week and worked on handwriting. We were going to play a matching game, but it became clear quickly that he didn't want to. I didn't get frustrated, I accepted it, and we finished for the day.
We didn't get everything done that I had hoped to, but it's okay. He learned and he played and we stopped before either of us were in breakdown mode. I hope I can continue with this more relaxed approach. It's not "me" but the point of homeschooling is to tailor it to "him". I need to keep that thought at the forefront of my mind otherwise, what are we doing this for?
We may cut our school week down to three days depending on how the next couple of days go. Right now we do Monday-Thursday and Science on Friday. We may do a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday schedule keeping Science on Friday (he has no idea we are doing school during Science-time...seriously, he looks for bugs and makes play-doh!). The last couple of weeks have been difficult, with him being *DONE* by Thursday, which of course gets me agitated because we don't get anything accomplished. So we'll try one more week with the four days and the new laid-back approach, and if we are still having problems we will try the other schedule next week. This year is going to be full of trial and error.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
My Reviews
Sorry this has taken me so long. I really shouldn't say that I will post something by a certain time because it never happens. And holiday weekends are the absolute worst to try and accomplish anything, especially this particular one since the temps in Texas dropped about 20 degrees--woo-hoo!
Okay, on with it. Keep in mind we are only on week 2, so these reviews may change. But these are my initial impressions.
Math U See (I will commonly refer to this as MUS): WONDERFUL. I LOVE this program. It is so much fun and so hands on. Ian is so completely enthralled with the blocks, they get him excited for math (his favorite subject, for now at least). He enjoys watching the short video before each lesson, and is always eager to dive in. It is so much fun to watch him "get" it. He can now recognize numbers through 99 just because of the way the DVD explains everything. I was pretty "eh" about the DVD, but apparently there is something about the guy and the words he uses that helps things "click" for young kids. This program is split into 6-page lessons. Three pages cover the new material for the lesson, and three pages are a review of the current lesson and all previous lessons. There are some days that Ian can get through an entire lesson in one day, and days where he only wants to do the practice and doesn't end up doing any of the pages in the lesson. This seems to happen when he doesn't fully get what we're doing, but once the concept sticks with him, he flies through the lesson. To show how well he is doing with this program, we are on lesson 10, and we have only been doing school for 6 days (we do Monday-Thursday). He loves it.
Handwriting Without Tears (HWT): This one has its plusses and minuses. I didn't order the wood pieces that you can "build" the letters with, but I did use the template in the teachers guide to cut some out of cardboard. He likes playing with those and making the letters. The problem with this program isn't the program's fault. One of the concepts is to use a small chalkboard for "wet, dry, try". I write the letter with chalk, then Ian uses the "rules" to trace the letter with a wet sponge, then a dry cloth. The point is repitition. This part works great, the problem comes during "try", where he takes the chalk and writes the letter himself. The issue is that he doesn't like getting the chalk dust on his hands (little kids, I tell ya...) so he runs to the bathroom after every "try" to wash them (on the days he's willing to try. Most days he refuses). So I'm going to get him a little whiteboard to "try" on. We'll do the "wet, dry" on the chalkboard and then he can "try" on the whiteboard. Hopefully that will solve some of the problem, and still allow us to get the repitition he needs. The program doesn't teach the letters in order, they are grouped by the way that they are written. For example, F, E, D, B, P, M, and N are all together because they are "frog-jump" letters. What this means is that you start at the top, draw the first line, then "frog-jump" back to the top to continue the letter. Using that kind of language seems to really help Ian remember how to form the letters.
Hooked on Phonics (HoP): It's hard to review this one so far. I went too quickly at first, and now he is all confused. I also made the mistake of trying to teach him different letters than he was learning to write (HoP does go in alphabetical order), but I've adapted it so that we are learning the same letter in Hop as HWT. It makes some of the activities for HoP a little difficult to time (after each group of letters there is a review), but it keeps me from bombarding him with too much information, which just causes him to shut down. Hopefully this new strategy will allow me to undo the confusion I first caused. I do really like the kit that we got. I went ahead and ordered the PreK rather than the Kindergarten since he doesn't know all his letters and sounds (this stuff doesn't interest him the way numbers do), so I wanted to start at the basics, with the hope that we will be able to get through it fairly quickly and then start on the Kindergarten kit also this year. Our kit, the PreK Learning to Read, comes with TONS of stuff. Two CD Roms with games that Ian really enjoys, several flashcards, three workbooks, a picture dictionary, three story books and three progress posters with stickers. The progress pictures really get him excited, and there is a set of flascards that allows us to play "Memory", one of his current favorites, with the letters he knows. There are some really big cards that I like. I pull out the letter that we are working on and I show it to him periodically through the day, making sure he remembers it. The size makes them great because they are hard to lose and he can see them from a distance.
So those are the actual "curriculums" that we are using. I'm pretty much winging it for social studies, science, and Bible Study. I've found some free sites that give ideas and free printables for him to color. For science, we get a child's book each week and then do the activity in the book. For example, last week we read "Under One Rock: Bugs, Slugs, and Other Ughs" all about a little boy who lifted a rock and found all sorts of bugs. After reading, we went outside and lifted rocks, and then drew pictures of what we found. Very simple, but a lot of fun for him and he got to learn about bugs he didn't know about before.
Okay, on with it. Keep in mind we are only on week 2, so these reviews may change. But these are my initial impressions.
Math U See (I will commonly refer to this as MUS): WONDERFUL. I LOVE this program. It is so much fun and so hands on. Ian is so completely enthralled with the blocks, they get him excited for math (his favorite subject, for now at least). He enjoys watching the short video before each lesson, and is always eager to dive in. It is so much fun to watch him "get" it. He can now recognize numbers through 99 just because of the way the DVD explains everything. I was pretty "eh" about the DVD, but apparently there is something about the guy and the words he uses that helps things "click" for young kids. This program is split into 6-page lessons. Three pages cover the new material for the lesson, and three pages are a review of the current lesson and all previous lessons. There are some days that Ian can get through an entire lesson in one day, and days where he only wants to do the practice and doesn't end up doing any of the pages in the lesson. This seems to happen when he doesn't fully get what we're doing, but once the concept sticks with him, he flies through the lesson. To show how well he is doing with this program, we are on lesson 10, and we have only been doing school for 6 days (we do Monday-Thursday). He loves it.
Handwriting Without Tears (HWT): This one has its plusses and minuses. I didn't order the wood pieces that you can "build" the letters with, but I did use the template in the teachers guide to cut some out of cardboard. He likes playing with those and making the letters. The problem with this program isn't the program's fault. One of the concepts is to use a small chalkboard for "wet, dry, try". I write the letter with chalk, then Ian uses the "rules" to trace the letter with a wet sponge, then a dry cloth. The point is repitition. This part works great, the problem comes during "try", where he takes the chalk and writes the letter himself. The issue is that he doesn't like getting the chalk dust on his hands (little kids, I tell ya...) so he runs to the bathroom after every "try" to wash them (on the days he's willing to try. Most days he refuses). So I'm going to get him a little whiteboard to "try" on. We'll do the "wet, dry" on the chalkboard and then he can "try" on the whiteboard. Hopefully that will solve some of the problem, and still allow us to get the repitition he needs. The program doesn't teach the letters in order, they are grouped by the way that they are written. For example, F, E, D, B, P, M, and N are all together because they are "frog-jump" letters. What this means is that you start at the top, draw the first line, then "frog-jump" back to the top to continue the letter. Using that kind of language seems to really help Ian remember how to form the letters.
Hooked on Phonics (HoP): It's hard to review this one so far. I went too quickly at first, and now he is all confused. I also made the mistake of trying to teach him different letters than he was learning to write (HoP does go in alphabetical order), but I've adapted it so that we are learning the same letter in Hop as HWT. It makes some of the activities for HoP a little difficult to time (after each group of letters there is a review), but it keeps me from bombarding him with too much information, which just causes him to shut down. Hopefully this new strategy will allow me to undo the confusion I first caused. I do really like the kit that we got. I went ahead and ordered the PreK rather than the Kindergarten since he doesn't know all his letters and sounds (this stuff doesn't interest him the way numbers do), so I wanted to start at the basics, with the hope that we will be able to get through it fairly quickly and then start on the Kindergarten kit also this year. Our kit, the PreK Learning to Read, comes with TONS of stuff. Two CD Roms with games that Ian really enjoys, several flashcards, three workbooks, a picture dictionary, three story books and three progress posters with stickers. The progress pictures really get him excited, and there is a set of flascards that allows us to play "Memory", one of his current favorites, with the letters he knows. There are some really big cards that I like. I pull out the letter that we are working on and I show it to him periodically through the day, making sure he remembers it. The size makes them great because they are hard to lose and he can see them from a distance.
So those are the actual "curriculums" that we are using. I'm pretty much winging it for social studies, science, and Bible Study. I've found some free sites that give ideas and free printables for him to color. For science, we get a child's book each week and then do the activity in the book. For example, last week we read "Under One Rock: Bugs, Slugs, and Other Ughs" all about a little boy who lifted a rock and found all sorts of bugs. After reading, we went outside and lifted rocks, and then drew pictures of what we found. Very simple, but a lot of fun for him and he got to learn about bugs he didn't know about before.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Observations From a Newbie Homeschooler
Overall, things this week went really well. But there were some lessons learned along the way, and I am sure I have many more coming. So, some things that I learned this week:
1. Do not think that because a child "got" the letter of the day yesterday he is going to remember that letter the next day. It's best to make sure that info stuck before moving onto the next letter. The result is a child who confuses "F", "E", and "D" (and randomly names them "W" for unknown reasons).
2. The lesson plan needs to be fluid and allow for changes. Yes, I had three pages of math planned. It's okay if only one (or half of one) gets done. That's the beauty of homeschooling--the child can set his pace!
3. Find a way to do math when the baby is either very happy or sleeping. Cranky awake babies suck all the concentration out of a 5-year-old doing his math. It's very frustrating when he's understanding a concept for the first time and the baby starts to scream. Stopping for 15 minutes to get the baby down for a nap completely rids him of any desire to do the problems that he was doing so well on before.
4. If a subject or lesson isn't going well, MOVE ON. Once he's made up his mind not to do it, it's not going to get done. Period. I'm only going to frustrate him and make him whiny if I push it. It's really not worth the trouble--we can try again tomorrow.
5. Just because I think I know what's coming up in a lesson, doesn't mean I do. It's a really good idea to take a look at the teacher's guide BEFORE we have started the lesson. It really stinks to stop in the middle to make flashcards I should have known about the night before.
I'll write my initial reviews on our curriculum choices this weekend. So far I think we've made good choices, and I'm excited to share how they are working for us.
1. Do not think that because a child "got" the letter of the day yesterday he is going to remember that letter the next day. It's best to make sure that info stuck before moving onto the next letter. The result is a child who confuses "F", "E", and "D" (and randomly names them "W" for unknown reasons).
2. The lesson plan needs to be fluid and allow for changes. Yes, I had three pages of math planned. It's okay if only one (or half of one) gets done. That's the beauty of homeschooling--the child can set his pace!
3. Find a way to do math when the baby is either very happy or sleeping. Cranky awake babies suck all the concentration out of a 5-year-old doing his math. It's very frustrating when he's understanding a concept for the first time and the baby starts to scream. Stopping for 15 minutes to get the baby down for a nap completely rids him of any desire to do the problems that he was doing so well on before.
4. If a subject or lesson isn't going well, MOVE ON. Once he's made up his mind not to do it, it's not going to get done. Period. I'm only going to frustrate him and make him whiny if I push it. It's really not worth the trouble--we can try again tomorrow.
5. Just because I think I know what's coming up in a lesson, doesn't mean I do. It's a really good idea to take a look at the teacher's guide BEFORE we have started the lesson. It really stinks to stop in the middle to make flashcards I should have known about the night before.
I'll write my initial reviews on our curriculum choices this weekend. So far I think we've made good choices, and I'm excited to share how they are working for us.
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