Learning On The Go

Today, we took PE class to the beach.  Little G is waist hooping like it's his job, and my sweet Reezle is just behind him practicing her halos.  I'm really impressed with their skills, and glad they enjoy hooping so much.  It's wonderful exercise, and I've noticed a difference in G's motor skills since he's begun hooping almost daily.

We grabbed a local map (Little G has been absolutely obsessed with the K12 map Reezle received with her 3rd grade curriculum because it's much more detailed than the K-2 maps), and took History and Geography on the road.  The kiddos read road signs and told me where they thought I should be going.  I won't be letting them navigate just yet, but it was fun anyway.  It gets them familiar with what signs are for and what the various different ones mean.  Social studies?  Anyway...

We did math at the mall, where we made a quick stop to get a "special treat" (candy from a local chocolatier) and check out the Halloween decorations.  The kiddos used division to figure out how many pieces of candy we would each be able to have if we all got equal portions.  They also used addition to estimate the cost of the Halloween decorations mommy, um, kind of splurged on.  What can I say?  We all love Halloween.  A lot.

We even worked in some OT. Little man was doing some great work with balancing. Too bad he wasn't quite as coordinated with running; he took a flying dive into a pile of gravel and got a stone embedded in his palm. He's got a nice hole to show for it, but he didn't shed a tear. Tough guy! I'm not ashamed to admit I probably would have cried! Ha!

Miss Reezle, as we were leaving one of our stops, said, "I sure wish I could use the camera and take some pictures."  I had two options; I could hand over my cell phone and let her take some low-quality snaps that would be heavily blurred once I started driving, or I could ::gulp:: hand over my Rebel and let her click to her heart's content.  Her interest seemed very genuine, and she's mentioned taking photos a lot lately, so I let her use my baby, er, camera. Ha!  She handled it with great care and took some really great pictures!  The one of her sparkly shoes wasn't exactly the most brilliant of all, but it was fun and cute, and something about it made me smile.  Maybe it was just the ability to see from her perspective, if just one little thing and only for a moment.

Based on her interest and some of the really good shots she captured today, I think it might be time to give her my SX20 to tote around when she goes out. Maybe I'll even try to find a fun little padded case so she can carry it safely around. Her birthday is coming right up!

As for me, I'm exhausted.  Sleepy time!

Heading Into Week Two

We spent the weekend working ahead on some of our school subjects and getting familiarized with Reezle's Spanish course. I had been waiting on her teacher to explain how to log in to the course, but I hadn't heard back. As it turns out, simply logging in using Reezle's user info did the trick. She completed the first 3 units, and the course looks great! Little G is even following along.

Reezle spent a good amount of time enjoying some books and her favorite Poptropica computer game, while Little G worked on Math almost non-stop from the moment he woke up each day until he went to bed. It is rare to see the little guy without his math workbook. He encountered a bit of frustration when doing math problems which required him to borrow more than once, especially when zeros were involved. He is an extreme perfectionist and has absolutely no patience for his own mistakes. It took me a bit of time to convince him that it is a perfectly acceptable part of learning to make mistakes, and that these can even help us to learn better. He wasn't having it at first, but he eventually calmed down and accepted it. He did a retake on his assessment, and scored 100% the second time. He was fine after that, of course.

We also did some writing, vocabulary, analogies, and spelling, but typing out all of our spelling words for each unit - especially at the rate at which my kids are currently burning through them - is tedious and probably not enjoyable to read anyhow. Suffice it to say they are tackling some pretty challenging words and doing an exceptional job. I'm very proud of both of them.

Much like last year, we are continuing our hoopdance practice and doing mostly that and running for our physical education. We did a lot of it over the past week. I incorporate nutrition and information about how physical activity benefits the body into our PE curriculum. It seems there is a huge overlap between our health and PE material, so I kind of wing it with how much individual time we're giving to each. We probably do a lot more physical activity than I log for PE, all of it educational, but I was actually told to stop logging it last year due to the amount of hours. Heh. Better a bit more than needed than not enough, in my opinion.

On the agenda for tomorrow is Study Island, in addition to our typical studies. They changed the format and wow, what a positive change. Little G has his first Aimsweb assessment of the year later this week, and we're also planning a family field trip in the very near future. I love getting back into a routine again!

Hoopdance

One of the questions I often get from people about homeschooling is, surprisingly, about gym class (i.e. physical education). People are curious if we are required to do it at all, and if we are, how we go about it. While there are a lot of ways to fulfill this part of our curriculum, one of our year-round favorites is hoopdance! I started about 2 years ago.

It didn't take long for both of my children to become interested as well. My husband and I started making hoops, and the kids each have their own custom-sized hoops. They are really quick at picking up new skills, and they have so much fun!

And it's super adorable. And great exercise. And it builds strength, promotes flexibility, and helps them with balance and coordination. And...well, I could praise hooping all day long. Mostly, it's just something we really love to do.

The best part about doing PE this way? We can hoop at home in the living room, out in the yard, at the beach, on road trips when we stop for a break, at the park, and so many more places that we probably couldn't come up with a comprehensive list if we tried. We're not confined to any particular space, and we love that!

The kiddos also have fun decorating their own hoops. Heck, even I enjoy making pretty hoops. My only problem? I want to keep them all! Heh.

PS: It's September already? Whew. What happened to August!?

Hoopcrafting

The hubby has been busy making some hoops for me. I'm giving some thought to decorating them all pretty and maybe doing a giveaway to spread the hoop love. Only problem is...I really, really hate taping hoops! Of course, this might be due to the fact that I'm really, really bad at it.

These are both 100 psi hoops, 37" and 35" in diameter. I love the 37" one. It's preferable for neck and off-body hooping, in my opinion. The weight difference is substantial from the standard 160 psi hoops.

I finally decided to buy some Hoopnotica DVDs for myself and actually keep them this time. Ha! I gave one to my niece and, while I have no regrets, I think I need some better instruction than I can find on YouTube. The kids are really picking up quickly. Little G is doing some crazy awesome off-body stuff, while Reezle is trying to perfect getting from halo to waist more gracefully. I'm so impressed with them! I love that hooping is something we all really enjoy. Now, if only I could get my husband to hoop...

Yeah, probably not going to happen.

Beautiful Autumn Days

The phone rang just before 5AM today. It was my husband's work calling, as sometimes happens. I couldn't find sleep again, so I figured it would be a good time to assess where we're at with school and put together a plan for getting back on track in terms of what the online school says we should be doing.

Every day, my children have some form of Language Arts. We read every day, taking turns. We have Technology daily as well, because I allow at least 30 minutes each day of educational computer games. This is a special interest for my son, who really enjoys ABCya and iXL. Another favorite of his is a website that allows him to put together meals and desserts with various ingredients. The boy loves to cook! My daughter loves it, too.

We also have music daily, because the kids and I just love music. It is a great way to boost energy ad improve mood in mere minutes with very little effort. Since the three of us love hooping, we usually take breaks by turning on some of the kids' favorite tunes and hooping for 20-40 minutes each day. We're all better prepared to focus on school work afterward, and it's keeping us fit and healthy. Since we can hoop indoors, even though it is more fun to hoop outdoors, it's a great activity for staying fit and active during the winter months. Nature has been very generous so far this year, though; the incredibly beautiful and warm autumn days might be part of the reason we're a tad behind on some of the OLS items. You know, maybe. Heh. But in this snowy part of the world, November doesn't typically offer much in the way of gorgeous autumn days that beg us to open all the doors and windows and head outside to hoop and swing. We're taking advantage when we can, before the snow starts falling. And I love the smell of autumn. Except when people are burning leaves, I could do without that.

Today is pleasant, but overcast and somewhat gloomy. Reezle noted that the trees are quite bare now, though the remaining leaves are putting on quite a colorful show for us. The yellows and reds are absolutely brilliant and photo-worthy. Too bad my good camera is in need of major repairs. We took the gloomy day coupled with the 5AM start to my day as an opportunity to do a lot of work and catch up. Reezle really worked hard today, tackling several lessons in Math, Language Arts, Music, History, and Science. No complaints at all! I'm so proud of her. She is currently enjoying some free time on the computer since the majority of her lessons today did not involve a lot of screen time.

Little G spent most of the day curled up in the recliner with Reezle's Math workbook. He copies problems out of there onto scrap paper and asks me to print him worksheets. When Reezle gets stuck on a problem, he helps her understand it. The boy amazes me. He definitely did not get the math genes from Mama. He also helped Reezle with some of her spelling, as he has been doing since early last year. He picks things up so fast that there is very little effort involved in teaching him anything. Reezle does get frustrated with him, though. She is very bright herself, so being corrected by her brother, who is two years younger, doesn't always sit well. He just can't seem to help himself. I guess if there is some good to be found in it, the sibling rivalry element sure beats bullying, and it does seem to inspire Reezle to push herself more to really grasp the material. A little healthy competition is fine, as long as no one starts having self-esteem issues. So far, that doesn't appear to be the case.

My daughter is happier than she was last year. She does miss her friends, but she isn't having tummy aches all the time and is no longer extremely moody. She smiles more, enjoys her studying, and says that I make it fun. That warms my heart. Little G, well, I stand by the belief that traditional schools would not have been able to handle him. He gets so frustrated, even with first grade math, because he knows (or learns after one quick explanation) most of the material. He does not appear to be challenged even by his sister's second grade math, which he actually helps her with when she gets stuck. Too bad his conceptual understanding and whatever it is that goes on in his head doesn't translate well into actually teaching others; he becomes impatient rather quickly when others don't understand things as rapidly as he does. Boy, I suspect he is going to be a handful as he gets older!

We're all looking forward to the holidays while at the same time enjoying these amazing days that autumn is offering up before the snow flies. We've been fortunate not to have any of the white stuff yet. It's difficult to look forward to it when I know it's going to stick around until April. But at least the warmth of the holidays helps dampen the effects of the bitter chill and brighten even these dark days as the sun sets much too early for our liking.

After completing our first 9 weeks of homeschool and being well on our way into the next 9 weeks, we're all still enjoying our adventure...including watching the bus go by without making a stop here! It feels right being together and learning as a family. Yes, it can be hard work sometimes, but I can say without any doubt that this was absolutely the best choice for all of us.

Happy Halloween!

Whew. October is a busy month for us! I just realized that I have not been posting much about our actual homeschooling, so I thought I would catch up a bit.

We celebrated Reezle's birthday recently, and she is now 8 years old! I can't quite wrap my head around that yet, but I'm trying. My husband and I also celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary earlier this month. And we are also preparing to celebrate Halloween, a favorite holiday in our family. Pumpkins are out, candy is bought, and costumes are ready! Reezle is going to be a beautiful witch, and Little G is going to be an awesome superhero. Even I have some PJs with skulls!

I've also been trying to make the most of these last few nice days before winter takes a firm hold of our area. Its seemingly relentless grip can last well into spring, with temperatures well below zero, epic snowfalls, and ice storms. Last winter, our final snow of the season occurred on April 18th.

But there has also been lots of learning happening here at home. My little Kindergartner is progressing quickly in his first grade Math, Phonics, and Language Arts. He is on par to finish with first graders in Phonics, and he is just a handful of days away from being caught up with the first graders in Math and LA. Considering he started 5 weeks behind the children an academic year ahead of him and will likely surpass them before the holidays, I am thoroughly impressed. He loves school, and the first thing out of his mouth each morning is, "Can I do school today?" Yes, even on weekends.

Reezle is similarly enthusiastic. Though we have had a couple of difficult days, mostly in the beginning, I never have to ask them to do their school work because they always wake up ready to get started and eager to learn.

Having completed the first 9 weeks of the school year, I am more confident than ever that this was absolutely the right choice for our family. We are happy, we are together, the children are learning (and retaining) so much. Because my husband and I are always aware of exactly what the content of the curriculum is, we can randomly ask questions and discuss topics in greater depth. Right now, R is studying Roman history and G is learning bits and pieces as well. Both my husband and I feel pleased with their levels of comprehension and retention of the material, some of which we had forgotten ourselves since our gradeschool years.

Our PE classes are lots of fun; we've been learning hoopdance! The kids are really picking up on it quickly, and it provides such great proprioceptive input for G. Public school gym class was 30 minutes once weekly. We do our PE classes almost daily, and almost always for longer than 30 minutes. None of us want to put down the hoop! I'm trying to figure out how to share video of the kids hooping without compromising their privacy.

I have much more to share, once I have the chance to organize and post it. That won't be happening today. Today, we are preparing for our little Halloween celebration tomorrow!

Happy Halloween!

New Materials

These are Little G's first grade materials. My 5 year-old first grader is pretty stoked.

There is also new Math materials, not pictured here since it was a lot more of the same items we had for Kindergarten and I've already put them away. We do have Math+ Green now, and apparently the color change is pretty exciting stuff. There will be plenty of pictures soon.

The weather remains unseasonably warm and beautiful for October. My husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary yesterday, and the warmth and sunshine reminded me of the weather when we got married in 2001. I've got all of the windows open and we're taking advantage of these beautiful days before the dreaded snow starts to fly. Outdoor hooping for the win!

Wednesday Randomness

Dear Study Island,

I am using you. Yes, using you. Not to test what my children know, as is your intended purpose, but to assess what I need to focus most on when I am teaching them and to determine their strengths so I can use those strengths to their benefit. Or maybe that is part of your purpose. I dunno. But I'm using you. So yeah.

-Mama Bonn

It's been a long day, so you'll have to forgive my case of mommybrain/whatever that letter above was. Our lessons began this morning and didn't really wrap up until late this evening. We didn't need to go on that long, but material-related interests kept sprouting up like flowers after a thunderstorm and we went with it.

Miss R seems to be taking quite an interest in 9/11 this year. You'll hear no complaints from me; I am addicted to political and historical documentaries and events, and there are no shortage of these on the topic of 9/11. There is a short Nick News program called What Happened?, available in full on the Nickelodeon website. We watched that together, but it did not answer all of her questions. She has many questions about everything. (I like that.) So I also let her watch some of the live news coverage from that day, explaining what it felt like and what I thought about as I watched it unfold that morning. She had many questions, and I answered them as best I could, but told her that some questions simply cannot be answered.

On other matters, I am learning what works for my children and what doesn't. Strangers were in charge of my daughter's education for two years, so I am at a bit of a disadvantage with her compared to my son in terms of knowing her learning style and academic strengths and weaknesses. I find that the way some of the material is presented makes it more complicated than it actually is. For example, R is learning place values in Math, working with base 10 blocks and doing regrouping exercises. While these exercises are quite valuable, she already knows how to add two-digit and three-digit numbers, and can't understand why she has to basically back track and break down into simpler terms what is already fairly easy for her. But, since she actually seems to struggle with it to some degree, I am going to have her do an activity where she draws hundreds, tens, and ones blocks instead of working with the actual 3-D blocks. Since she is drawn to drawing (heh, I are so funny), I figure maybe that will help. You know, especially if I encourage the use of multiple crayon colors.

For PE, we're doing a lot of hooping for now. We can practice indoors or out. The weather has either been ridiculously hot or chilly and rainy recently, but once we get a nice day with some sunshine I will be taking some blogworthy pictures of our happy hooping. For now, these photos of G and myself will have to do.


R is a pro at this, and G is catching on quickly! Only occasionally do we have a hoop go flying while trying a new trick...and it's usually mine. It's so cool to watch my children learn new things, from Math to hooping and everything in between. We are all really enjoying this experience, and I am so thankful for it.