Home school adventures

Today everything was all quiet and what did I see?

Two little boys reading on the couch.

To be honest James has memorized this book and loves to read it.

So far he can recognize 15 letters on sight and the other 11 he either knows the sound once we tell him the letter, knows the letter but not the sound, or completely draws a blank. He gets a little better everyday. Because he wants to read so badly he is trying harder.

Damian trying to read the kid version of The Last of The Mohicans in 1 hour. He will probably make it and move on to The Red Badge of Honor and finish that one today as well. He wants to read his new Birthday books but he has a stack of books from the library he needs to finish first.

 

 

That is what home school looks like today in our house. In a little while there will be some crying and begging and general chaos but now it is beautiful.

I hope your day is filled with sunshine and rainbows, lots of love and laughter. Be well my friends.

Home school days; Beowulf and Disguises

Sometimes when we are doing school (yeah, it sounds like we are playing school instead of learning,but we all learn most days.) one of my favorite things is when Damian reads to us.





He is reading Beowulf.

He is a very expressive reader. He reads with passion just like his father.

He even makes sure that we see the pictures.

James does school work too. We have a starfall app on the Ipad.

Which is happy to use when he wants to do school work.

Sometimes we take a break from math to have lunch.

Honestly the last week we have been relaxed on all of the school work slowly building up to the new school year. That and it is the first week of my little summer vacation from college so I have been crocheting slippers, scarves,a purse, and planning out hats and blankets. So you see this week I have been the problem. That is really hard to admit to being the problem. Monday marks the start of our six weeks on one week off schedule. The only problem I see in my future is James. Unless he wants to learn during his time he will fight me tooth and nail. Really our conversation goes like this:

Me, "James repeat after me, A is the first vowel we say"

James, "No"

Me, "A is the first vowel we say"

James, ". . . "

Me, "James repeat after me, a is the short A Sound"

James is looking at the yellow walls behind the table, "No. I am done."

Me, "James, What is the short a sound"

James, "P!"

Me, "a is the short a sound."

James, "I done?"

Me, "Point to the A" there is a card in front of him

James points to the card, "Now?"

Me, "Um, I guess."



James thinks I will not recognize him and make him do school work in this disguise.



James is a very independent little boy who likes to do things on his time and wants to learn things on his own. This kid potty trained himself at two years old while we were living in a hotel room (when we moved here). This kid decided to pull himself up to a standing position at six months old and was running by eight months. This kid decided to ride a two wheel bike with training wheels and just did. So every night I pray that he will learn to read from osmosis, that my constant jabber sinks in and he surprises me by reading a book by himself. I can hope. Keep in mind this kid did talk until he was two an a half. His speech therapist said his only problem was compliance. A nice way to say that he is super stubborn. Is my hair turning grey? Yes and falling out.

 I love my kids and most days I am happy that I have this job and I get to watch them grow and learn. I feel so blessed to have this life, to live this life, and to be me. You should be blessed to have your life. After all it is the only one we have. If you don't like how something is going do not be afraid to change. You are worthy of happiness.

I hope that today you are blessed with love and laughter. Be well my friends. 

Upcoming Homeschool Year

The next school year in our house starts on May 1. Second grade has felt like a transitional period where we experimented with different ways to homeschool. What I found is Damian does better with structure which I kind of suck at in general but I believe that I can do better. Damian is starting third grade, and James will be learning to read. James will not have a grade level attached to him until he can read. I believe reading is the foundation of knowledge. James is finally showing signs of reading readiness and I am ready to watch him fall in love with reading. This year I have decided on six weeks school one week off. Christmas will be two weeks off. This way I can assign reading to Damian during school weeks and he will have a whole week of just piano practice and fun reading to look forward too. I want to show what the basic matrials look like for the school year.

These are the baskets of school books. Third grade books on the left and the teaching reading books on the right. 

I am using this book to teach James to read. Fingers crossed.

Third grade is looking harder then second grade. All of this work plus the weekly classic that goes along with the lessons. We are going to be busy.

Here is how our daily schedule is going to work.

James will do one reading lesson for 15-30 minutes in the morning.

Damian's schedule looks like this

Language arts 60 minutes

Math 30-60 minutes

History 30 minutes

Science 30 minutes

Latin 30 minutes

Piano practice 30 minutes

Reading at least 60 minutes

On average a school day will last about 4-5 hours depending on how willing the kids are to do the work. He is growing up fast. We are excited to start the new school year and we are starting with hope in our hearts. Wish me luck I am going to need it.

I hope that your day is filled with Love and Laughter. Be well my friends.