First day of School!

Though we started school last week, and were able to begin "counting days" for the State, we did not have our official first day until today. Today is the day we ran full schedule for the first time, adding in all of the subjects of study. Brett chooses his own outfit to wear, so today he picked out his favorite shorts with sharks embroidered on them. Here he is on this first official morning! Can you believe we have a full fledged kindergartner on our hands? It just doesn't seem possible!

Our kitchen is the classroom and we set up a circle time area with a bright rug and beanbags just for a change of pace from the table. It's Brett's favorite spot, so we took his picture there :)


Even though we are at home, Brett wants to bring his lunch in a lunchbox to eat. So we picked out a Star Wars lunch box and he helps me pack a sandwich and veggies and fruit. We add in a snack for our snack time too. It helps him feel like he's really going to school, so I humor him in this area. That's the one thing he's struggling with...realizing that just because we are home doesn't mean its not real school. He'll get it though, its new to all of us!

Bubbles!

Bubbles are one of Brett's favorite things, so we decided to do a little investigating :) We learned that bubbles are pockets of air trapped inside a liquid and also that the surface tension in water causes its molecules to cling together so that on it's own, water doesn't produce many of these air pockets. It needs to have more space in between the molecules. So, when you add soap, it breaks the surface tension allowing the pockets to form-resulting in bubbles!


Next, we made bubble art by adding tempera paint to a mixture of water and Dawn soap...then we used "found items" (lids and sponges) to make a book on bubbles...(the last picture shows the pages in his book. )

Crayons Crayons Crayons!!!!

Everyone loves crayons! I especially, with my freakish love of all things school supplies, think there is nothing better than a brand new box of perfectly sharpened Crayolas :)

We decided to do a little investigating on crayon techniques, what crayons are made of, neat things you can do with a crayon and what color people prefer most. So....without further ado, here's the play by play...

Working on a Crayon Resist project....

Using his favorite color, Green, to make a book called, My Crayon!

Melting down old crayons to make new swirly ones...

The finished product...(I especially like the one at the bottom that looks like Earth!)

Charting the data collected...

It looks like Blue is the winner of the favorite color!

On a Roll!

We began "practice school" a couple of weeks ago, doing some little activities and science explorations just to practice getting into some type of routine. Then, last week we registered Brett in his Umbrella Program at a local Christian private school. At that point we were able to begin counting our "days." In our state we are required to go 180 days for 4 hours/day. We are following a more traditional day schedule right now, based on the recommendation of my mother (who is a school teacher) so we are actually doing about 5 to 5 1/2 hours of school, but I've found that to really cover everything and give practice time, we need to have more than the 4 hours...especially since we are doing a 4 day school week with a light day/enrichment day on the 5th day.

Here is what our days are looking like...

8:30- Pledge/Bible time
9:00-Phonics
9:20-Circle time
9:50-snack time/break
10:00-Math
10:25-Directed Play
10:40-Handwriting
11:00- Sonlight Read Aloud time
11:30-Lunch
12:30-Science/skill development/Thinking Skills/Art
12:50-break/play
1:00-Sonlight History
1:30-recess (outside time, or indoor games if weather is bad)
2:00 nap/quiet time

It's Like Christmas!

Our box from Sonlight arrived the other day! It was so exciting to pull everything out :) It was like Christmas in July...at least for me! At the time, noone else was home :) I'm not sure it was quite as exciting for everyone else when they did see it, but I am a freak when it comes to school and office supplies...I could spend hours (literally) wandering the aisles in Office Depot. Don't even get me started on the Back to School aisles at the big box stores...There is just something about the smell of notebook paper and binders that I love. (By the way, Steve and Brett are really excited, just maybe not at my level...)

Okay, back to the topic....Out of the box comes a Teacher's Guide. I'm in love already! Next, the inserts for the guide...woo hoo! Then, I reach in and begin pulling out book after book...I'm talking about good stuff here! The Boxcar Children, The Light at Tern Rock, Mary on Horseback, Johnny Appleseed, The Story of William Tell, The Hundred Dresses, The Usborne Book of Living Long Ago, The Usborne's Internet Linked Children's Encyclopedia, The Family Under the Bridge, The Adventures of Winnie The Pooh, Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes....it goes on and on. There are so many! I think 24 or 25 in all. Not to mention the K level readers for Brett to begin sounding out words and reading. Then out comes a fully laminated GIGANTIC foldable map of the U.S. on one side and World Map on the other side. We also received a book called "The Book of Time". It is an empty timeline to chart events on as we study them...pretty cool.

I seriously think I need an intervention at this point, I'm so excited!

I sat Brett down on Monday and showed him everything...he loved it all. I'm building his suspense of school starting by leaving things out where he can see them, but we aren't using them yet. I think its beginning to drive him nuts and its only Thursday! Every day he says, "Mommy! Is today the day we start school?" He can hardly wait to get into all those books!

I am thanking God right now that we chose Sonlight...I can't think of a better fit for us!

We did it!

Well, we have ordered Brett's curriculum for the year :) Woo Hoo!

We will be using Horizons math for computation and supplementing with Singapore math (which is more word problems, critical thinking/logic).

Then we will be using the Core K curriculum from Sonlight. This will be for history (exposure to various cultures and locations all over the world), and Literature (classic books which will be read aloud to Brett: The Boxcar Children, Johnny Appleseed, The Family Under the Bridge, etc...) along with appropriate age readers to assist in his learning to read.

The thing I love about Sonlight is that while they teach from a sound Biblical viewpoint, they don't limit themselves strictly to Christian texts. They allow a child to be exposed to many things and ideas, presenting all sides of an argument. They teach how to use logic to understand and support belief systems. They teach a child to reason through why a certain viewpoint is against what they know as a Christian and to be able to defend their faith to others with reason in gracious strength and humility.

For science, we are just going to be doing little lessons through the month on seasons, water, weather,plants, environments (pond, desert, jungle...) that will begin to expose him to scientific topics.

Bible will consist of using daily devotions, scripture memory work and we will also be using a book from Doorposts called Plants Grown Up. (Doorposts is a great company by the way! Check them out at doorposts.com)
Handwriting will be practiced starting with letters and motor skills using a pencil, but will lead up to printing memory verses once he gains coordination in writing.

We will also be incorporating little lessons on body care and basic hygiene habits, safety and healthy living.

Lastly, we will be incorporating Anna Comstock's Outdoor Hour into our school time...you can see what we do by clicking on Our Family's Outdoor Hour in the side bar.

I know some of this is a repeat of my last entry, but now that we have made the decisions and finalized things, I wanted to share it with you.

Getting Excited

Well, a couple of weeks ago, my mom, Brett and I loaded up and went to our local homeschool convention. We went last year too, so this time it was still overwhelming, but not quite so intimidating. We had a plan and knew (for the most part) what we wanted to see. We aren't yet sure if we are going to do a curriculum with Brett for Kindergarten, but if we do, I've been leaning towards Sonlight.

At the fair, I was able to talk with someone from Sonlight at length and I just feel really good about their program and the literature based learning they offer. As Brett gets a bit older, we will probably throw some of Charlotte Mason's approach in there too. Like Sonlight, The Charlotte Mason approach uses "living texts", but she also was very much a believer in being outside in nature and the need for journaling.

As someone who loves to write, the journaling approach speaks to me. I want Brett to develop a love for the written word, not just in what he reads, but in what he can write and dream on his own. To tie in her methods, we will be using the outdoor nature study by Anna Comstock. You can find the links to both the Outdoor Hour site, plus documentation of our own outdoor hour using the study in the right hand column of this blog.

We will be using a math program right now by combining texts from Horizons and also Singapore Math. We are using the Horizons for their computation and the Singapore for their reasoning and problem solving approach.

As for science, we will eventually use Apologia, I believe, but for now, we are just doing basic things with nature and things Brett is curious about. For example, we are going to be doing a small unit on bubbles in the next week or two. I'll post about that when we do it. I've found Mailbox magazine's Science for All Seasons book to be a great resource in this area.

During the summer, we will mostly be doing fun activity books you can pick up at any store like Walmart or Target. Brett likes them because he can do two or three pages or, if he wants to do twenty pages, he can. I'm not a big fan of workbooks, but he likes doing them, so for summer activities I'm okay with it.

I'm still pretty nervous about everything, (funny how I wasn't nervous when I was teaching school, but I'm scared to death about messing up with my own child!) but, I'm getting very excited as we begin laying the foundations for what Brett will be learning this fall. Mostly, I just don't want to get so caught up in "school" that we forget to have fun. I think that is where the biggest disadvantage is for me as a former teacher. I'm having to retrain my thinking on how to teach and also remember that learning doesn't just have to happen at "school time." It should be a part of every day life!

I read something from another homeschooling mom who has a preschooler and she called their daily activities "Playing with Purpose." I really like that and am trying my best to incorporate it into my own philosophy. I want Brett's experience to be everything God wants it to be, and everything my own personal experience with school was not. I want it to be fun, and enriching. I want it to inspire him to learn, and not stifle his natural curiosity.
My prayer is that, as we travel this road together as a family, God will quell my fears and help me trust in His plan for our family and that we will all discover a joy for learning as we go.


Until next time...

Jennifer

Why are we Homeschooling?

3 John 1:4 says “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth”. This is the premise of this site and the purpose behind our choice to homeschool. In today’s world it is imperative that a child be equipped with the wisdom to discern truth from lie, fact from fiction. In our home, the ultimate Truth is Jesus and His Word. This is the only standard to which we hold.

This is a decision we as a family have entered into after much prayer, forethought and research.
As with everything in life, there are pros and cons and I do realize that homeschooling is not an option for every family. I do feel that it is where God is leading us as a family though and below are a few reasons why.

As a product of the public school system, I do have some good memories, but unfortunately, there are many bad memories that outweigh those good ones. I know that this happens to many children. I've witnessed it both as a student and as a teacher. Between the bullying, taunting, and labeling that occurs, it is no wonder that many of us leave the system with low self esteem, and a sense of unworthiness. Some of us even feel scared to ask questions, because teachers reprimanded us or made us feel stupid for “thinking outside of the box”…(which they are supposed to encourage, by the way.)

I am not here to bash anyone for their choice in not homeschooling and so, would appreciate the same courtesy in our choice to homeschool. I will however, state the TRUTH as I experienced it not only as a student, but as a teacher. I became a public school teacher so that I could be the one that made a difference in the school and in the classroom, only to have the agendas of the state and government shoved down my throat. I was told that I would have to teach evolution in my science classes and false religions in my ancient culture class, but not to breathe a word of Creationism or Christianity. I refused to do so. This is not to mention the practice of “teaching to the test”... which occurs in all schools everywhere in America. The government does not care if our children actually learn. They want us to pass tests with good scores. Therefore, instead of teaching a child how to learn and to strive for excellence, we are told to teach to the bottom half of the class and dumb down the lessons. And this is in what is considered one of THE top middle schools in our state.

We do not want our son to go through this. We want him to strive for excellence and reach for the stars. We believe that God has called us as parents to “train up our child in the way he should go”, according to Proverbs 22:6. How can we as parents do that when our child is away from us for multiple hours of the day and in a classroom with a teacher that may or may not hold our faith and values? I do realize that a child must be exposed to the world and that we can not shelter Brett forever, but I also know that it is my job as his parent to guide him and teach him and grow him in his faith and 5 seems very young to just throw him out there and see what sticks, so to speak.

Forgive me if this sounds prejudiced towards those who publicly educate…it is not intended to be. It is simply my thoughts on why we are choosing this path based on our experiences and research. I am a proud daughter of a public educator who makes a difference every time she steps through her classroom door. She is amazing and loves her students with a love that is beyond belief. She is, sometimes, the only smiling face and the only hug some of the students she teaches has all day long. If I am half the teacher to Brett that she is to her class each day, then I will have succeeded.

I am thrilled to be sharing this journey with you…come back often and see what’s happening!